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diff --git a/old/106-0.txt b/old/106-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index f5c0641..0000000 --- a/old/106-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,7938 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg eBook of Jungle Tales of Tarzan, by Edgar Rice Burroughs - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and -most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms -of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you -will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before -using this eBook. - -Title: Jungle Tales of Tarzan - -Author: Edgar Rice Burroughs - -Release Date: February, 1994 [eBook #106] -[Most recently updated: July 12, 2023] - -Language: English - -Produced by: Judith Boss - -*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK JUNGLE TALES OF TARZAN *** - - - - -[Illustration] - - - - -Jungle Tales of Tarzan - -by Edgar Rice Burroughs - - - - -Contents - - CHAPTER I. Tarzan’s First Love - CHAPTER II. The Capture of Tarzan - CHAPTER III. The Fight for the Balu - CHAPTER IV. The God of Tarzan - CHAPTER V. Tarzan and the Black Boy - CHAPTER VI. The Witch-Doctor Seeks Vengeance - CHAPTER VII. The End of Bukawai - CHAPTER VIII. The Lion - CHAPTER IX. The Nightmare - CHAPTER X. The Battle for Teeka - CHAPTER XI. A Jungle Joke - CHAPTER XII. Tarzan Rescues the Moon - - - - -CHAPTER I -Tarzan’s First Love - - -Teeka, stretched at luxurious ease in the shade of the tropical forest, -presented, unquestionably, a most alluring picture of young, feminine -loveliness. Or at least so thought Tarzan of the Apes, who squatted -upon a low-swinging branch in a near-by tree and looked down upon her. - -Just to have seen him there, lolling upon the swaying bough of the -jungle-forest giant, his brown skin mottled by the brilliant equatorial -sunlight which percolated through the leafy canopy of green above him, -his clean-limbed body relaxed in graceful ease, his shapely head partly -turned in contemplative absorption and his intelligent, gray eyes -dreamily devouring the object of their devotion, you would have thought -him the reincarnation of some demigod of old. - -You would not have guessed that in infancy he had suckled at the breast -of a hideous, hairy she-ape, nor that in all his conscious past since -his parents had passed away in the little cabin by the landlocked -harbor at the jungle’s verge, he had known no other associates than the -sullen bulls and the snarling cows of the tribe of Kerchak, the great -ape. - -Nor, could you have read the thoughts which passed through that active, -healthy brain, the longings and desires and aspirations which the sight -of Teeka inspired, would you have been any more inclined to give -credence to the reality of the origin of the ape-man. For, from his -thoughts alone, you could never have gleaned the truth—that he had been -born to a gentle English lady or that his sire had been an English -nobleman of time-honored lineage. - -Lost to Tarzan of the Apes was the truth of his origin. That he was -John Clayton, Lord Greystoke, with a seat in the House of Lords, he did -not know, nor, knowing, would have understood. - -Yes, Teeka was indeed beautiful! - -Of course Kala had been beautiful—one’s mother is always that—but Teeka -was beautiful in a way all her own, an indescribable sort of way which -Tarzan was just beginning to sense in a rather vague and hazy manner. - -For years had Tarzan and Teeka been play-fellows, and Teeka still -continued to be playful while the young bulls of her own age were -rapidly becoming surly and morose. Tarzan, if he gave the matter much -thought at all, probably reasoned that his growing attachment for the -young female could be easily accounted for by the fact that of the -former playmates she and he alone retained any desire to frolic as of -old. - -But today, as he sat gazing upon her, he found himself noting the -beauties of Teeka’s form and features—something he never had done -before, since none of them had aught to do with Teeka’s ability to race -nimbly through the lower terraces of the forest in the primitive games -of tag and hide-and-go-seek which Tarzan’s fertile brain evolved. -Tarzan scratched his head, running his fingers deep into the shock of -black hair which framed his shapely, boyish face—he scratched his head -and sighed. Teeka’s new-found beauty became as suddenly his despair. He -envied her the handsome coat of hair which covered her body. His own -smooth, brown hide he hated with a hatred born of disgust and contempt. -Years back he had harbored a hope that some day he, too, would be -clothed in hair as were all his brothers and sisters; but of late he -had been forced to abandon the delectable dream. - -Then there were Teeka’s great teeth, not so large as the males, of -course, but still mighty, handsome things by comparison with Tarzan’s -feeble white ones. And her beetling brows, and broad, flat nose, and -her mouth! Tarzan had often practiced making his mouth into a little -round circle and then puffing out his cheeks while he winked his eyes -rapidly; but he felt that he could never do it in the same cute and -irresistible way in which Teeka did it. - -And as he watched her that afternoon, and wondered, a young bull ape -who had been lazily foraging for food beneath the damp, matted carpet -of decaying vegetation at the roots of a near-by tree lumbered -awkwardly in Teeka’s direction. The other apes of the tribe of Kerchak -moved listlessly about or lolled restfully in the midday heat of the -equatorial jungle. From time to time one or another of them had passed -close to Teeka, and Tarzan had been uninterested. Why was it then that -his brows contracted and his muscles tensed as he saw Taug pause beside -the young she and then squat down close to her? - -Tarzan always had liked Taug. Since childhood they had romped together. -Side by side they had squatted near the water, their quick, strong -fingers ready to leap forth and seize Pisah, the fish, should that wary -denizen of the cool depths dart surfaceward to the lure of the insects -Tarzan tossed upon the face of the pool. - -Together they had baited Tublat and teased Numa, the lion. Why, then, -should Tarzan feel the rise of the short hairs at the nape of his neck -merely because Taug sat close to Teeka? - -It is true that Taug was no longer the frolicsome ape of yesterday. -When his snarling-muscles bared his giant fangs no one could longer -imagine that Taug was in as playful a mood as when he and Tarzan had -rolled upon the turf in mimic battle. The Taug of today was a huge, -sullen bull ape, somber and forbidding. Yet he and Tarzan never had -quarreled. - -For a few minutes the young ape-man watched Taug press closer to Teeka. -He saw the rough caress of the huge paw as it stroked the sleek -shoulder of the she, and then Tarzan of the Apes slipped catlike to the -ground and approached the two. - -As he came his upper lip curled into a snarl, exposing his fighting -fangs, and a deep growl rumbled from his cavernous chest. Taug looked -up, batting his blood-shot eyes. Teeka half raised herself and looked -at Tarzan. Did she guess the cause of his perturbation? Who may say? At -any rate, she was feminine, and so she reached up and scratched Taug -behind one of his small, flat ears. - -Tarzan saw, and in the instant that he saw, Teeka was no longer the -little playmate of an hour ago; instead she was a wondrous thing—the -most wondrous in the world—and a possession for which Tarzan would -fight to the death against Taug or any other who dared question his -right of proprietorship. - -Stooped, his muscles rigid and one great shoulder turned toward the -young bull, Tarzan of the Apes sidled nearer and nearer. His face was -partly averted, but his keen gray eyes never left those of Taug, and as -he came, his growls increased in depth and volume. - -Taug rose upon his short legs, bristling. His fighting fangs were -bared. He, too, sidled, stiff-legged, and growled. - -“Teeka is Tarzan’s,” said the ape-man, in the low gutturals of the -great anthropoids. - -“Teeka is Taug’s,” replied the bull ape. - -Thaka and Numgo and Gunto, disturbed by the growlings of the two young -bulls, looked up half apathetic, half interested. They were sleepy, but -they sensed a fight. It would break the monotony of the humdrum jungle -life they led. - -Coiled about his shoulders was Tarzan’s long grass rope, in his hand -was the hunting knife of the long-dead father he had never known. In -Taug’s little brain lay a great respect for the shiny bit of sharp -metal which the ape-boy knew so well how to use. With it had he slain -Tublat, his fierce foster father, and Bolgani, the gorilla. Taug knew -these things, and so he came warily, circling about Tarzan in search of -an opening. The latter, made cautious because of his lesser bulk and -the inferiority of his natural armament, followed similar tactics. - -For a time it seemed that the altercation would follow the way of the -majority of such differences between members of the tribe and that one -of them would finally lose interest and wander off to prosecute some -other line of endeavor. Such might have been the end of it had the -CASUS BELLI been other than it was; but Teeka was flattered at the -attention that was being drawn to her and by the fact that these two -young bulls were contemplating battle on her account. Such a thing -never before had occurred in Teeka’s brief life. She had seen other -bulls battling for other and older shes, and in the depth of her wild -little heart she had longed for the day when the jungle grasses would -be reddened with the blood of mortal combat for her fair sake. - -So now she squatted upon her haunches and insulted both her admirers -impartially. She hurled taunts at them for their cowardice, and called -them vile names, such as Histah, the snake, and Dango, the hyena. She -threatened to call Mumga to chastise them with a stick—Mumga, who was -so old that she could no longer climb and so toothless that she was -forced to confine her diet almost exclusively to bananas and -grub-worms. - -The apes who were watching heard and laughed. Taug was infuriated. He -made a sudden lunge for Tarzan, but the ape-boy leaped nimbly to one -side, eluding him, and with the quickness of a cat wheeled and leaped -back again to close quarters. His hunting knife was raised above his -head as he came in, and he aimed a vicious blow at Taug’s neck. The ape -wheeled to dodge the weapon so that the keen blade struck him but a -glancing blow upon the shoulder. - -The spurt of red blood brought a shrill cry of delight from Teeka. Ah, -but this was something worth while! She glanced about to see if others -had witnessed this evidence of her popularity. Helen of Troy was never -one whit more proud than was Teeka at that moment. - -If Teeka had not been so absorbed in her own vaingloriousness she might -have noted the rustling of leaves in the tree above her—a rustling -which was not caused by any movement of the wind, since there was no -wind. And had she looked up she might have seen a sleek body crouching -almost directly over her and wicked yellow eyes glaring hungrily down -upon her, but Teeka did not look up. - -With his wound Taug had backed off growling horribly. Tarzan had -followed him, screaming insults at him, and menacing him with his -brandishing blade. Teeka moved from beneath the tree in an effort to -keep close to the duelists. - -The branch above Teeka bent and swayed a trifle with the movement of -the body of the watcher stretched along it. Taug had halted now and was -preparing to make a new stand. His lips were flecked with foam, and -saliva drooled from his jowls. He stood with head lowered and arms -outstretched, preparing for a sudden charge to close quarters. Could he -but lay his mighty hands upon that soft, brown skin the battle would be -his. Taug considered Tarzan’s manner of fighting unfair. He would not -close. Instead, he leaped nimbly just beyond the reach of Taug’s -muscular fingers. - -The ape-boy had as yet never come to a real trial of strength with a -bull ape, other than in play, and so he was not at all sure that it -would be safe to put his muscles to the test in a life and death -struggle. Not that he was afraid, for Tarzan knew nothing of fear. The -instinct of self-preservation gave him caution—that was all. He took -risks only when it seemed necessary, and then he would hesitate at -nothing. - -His own method of fighting seemed best fitted to his build and to his -armament. His teeth, while strong and sharp, were, as weapons of -offense, pitifully inadequate by comparison with the mighty fighting -fangs of the anthropoids. By dancing about, just out of reach of an -antagonist, Tarzan could do infinite injury with his long, sharp -hunting knife, and at the same time escape many of the painful and -dangerous wounds which would be sure to follow his falling into the -clutches of a bull ape. - -And so Taug charged and bellowed like a bull, and Tarzan of the Apes -danced lightly to this side and that, hurling jungle billingsgate at -his foe, the while he nicked him now and again with his knife. - -There were lulls in the fighting when the two would stand panting for -breath, facing each other, mustering their wits and their forces for a -new onslaught. It was during a pause such as this that Taug chanced to -let his eyes rove beyond his foeman. Instantly the entire aspect of the -ape altered. Rage left his countenance to be supplanted by an -expression of fear. - -With a cry that every ape there recognized, Taug turned and fled. No -need to question him—his warning proclaimed the near presence of their -ancient enemy. - -Tarzan started to seek safety, as did the other members of the tribe, -and as he did so he heard a panther’s scream mingled with the -frightened cry of a she-ape. Taug heard, too; but he did not pause in -his flight. - -With the ape-boy, however, it was different. He looked back to see if -any member of the tribe was close pressed by the beast of prey, and the -sight that met his eyes filled them with an expression of horror. - -Teeka it was who cried out in terror as she fled across a little -clearing toward the trees upon the opposite side, for after her leaped -Sheeta, the panther, in easy, graceful bounds. Sheeta appeared to be in -no hurry. His meat was assured, since even though the ape reached the -trees ahead of him she could not climb beyond his clutches before he -could be upon her. - -Tarzan saw that Teeka must die. He cried to Taug and the other bulls to -hasten to Teeka’s assistance, and at the same time he ran toward the -pursuing beast, taking down his rope as he came. Tarzan knew that once -the great bulls were aroused none of the jungle, not even Numa, the -lion, was anxious to measure fangs with them, and that if all those of -the tribe who chanced to be present today would charge, Sheeta, the -great cat, would doubtless turn tail and run for his life. - -Taug heard, as did the others, but no one came to Tarzan’s assistance -or Teeka’s rescue, and Sheeta was rapidly closing up the distance -between himself and his prey. - -The ape-boy, leaping after the panther, cried aloud to the beast in an -effort to turn it from Teeka or otherwise distract its attention until -the she-ape could gain the safety of the higher branches where Sheeta -dared not go. He called the panther every opprobrious name that fell to -his tongue. He dared him to stop and do battle with him; but Sheeta -only loped on after the luscious titbit now almost within his reach. - -Tarzan was not far behind and he was gaining, but the distance was so -short that he scarce hoped to overhaul the carnivore before it had -felled Teeka. In his right hand the boy swung his grass rope above his -head as he ran. He hated to chance a miss, for the distance was much -greater than he ever had cast before except in practice. It was the -full length of his grass rope which separated him from Sheeta, and yet -there was no other thing to do. He could not reach the brute’s side -before it overhauled Teeka. He must chance a throw. - -And just as Teeka sprang for the lower limb of a great tree, and Sheeta -rose behind her in a long, sinuous leap, the coils of the ape-boy’s -grass rope shot swiftly through the air, straightening into a long thin -line as the open noose hovered for an instant above the savage head and -the snarling jaws. Then it settled—clean and true about the tawny neck -it settled, and Tarzan, with a quick twist of his rope-hand, drew the -noose taut, bracing himself for the shock when Sheeta should have taken -up the slack. - -Just short of Teeka’s glossy rump the cruel talons raked the air as the -rope tightened and Sheeta was brought to a sudden stop—a stop that -snapped the big beast over upon his back. Instantly Sheeta was up—with -glaring eyes, and lashing tail, and gaping jaws, from which issued -hideous cries of rage and disappointment. - -He saw the ape-boy, the cause of his discomfiture, scarce forty feet -before him, and Sheeta charged. - -Teeka was safe now; Tarzan saw to that by a quick glance into the tree -whose safety she had gained not an instant too soon, and Sheeta was -charging. It was useless to risk his life in idle and unequal combat -from which no good could come; but could he escape a battle with the -enraged cat? And if he was forced to fight, what chance had he to -survive? Tarzan was constrained to admit that his position was aught -but a desirable one. The trees were too far to hope to reach in time to -elude the cat. Tarzan could but stand facing that hideous charge. In -his right hand he grasped his hunting knife—a puny, futile thing indeed -by comparison with the great rows of mighty teeth which lined Sheeta’s -powerful jaws, and the sharp talons encased within his padded paws; yet -the young Lord Greystoke faced it with the same courageous resignation -with which some fearless ancestor went down to defeat and death on -Senlac Hill by Hastings. - -From safety points in the trees the great apes watched, screaming -hatred at Sheeta and advice at Tarzan, for the progenitors of man have, -naturally, many human traits. Teeka was frightened. She screamed at the -bulls to hasten to Tarzan’s assistance; but the bulls were otherwise -engaged—principally in giving advice and making faces. Anyway, Tarzan -was not a real Mangani, so why should they risk their lives in an -effort to protect him? - -And now Sheeta was almost upon the lithe, naked body, and—the body was -not there. Quick as was the great cat, the ape-boy was quicker. He -leaped to one side almost as the panther’s talons were closing upon -him, and as Sheeta went hurtling to the ground beyond, Tarzan was -racing for the safety of the nearest tree. - -The panther recovered himself almost immediately and, wheeling, tore -after his prey, the ape-boy’s rope dragging along the ground behind -him. In doubling back after Tarzan, Sheeta had passed around a low -bush. It was a mere nothing in the path of any jungle creature of the -size and weight of Sheeta—provided it had no trailing rope dangling -behind. But Sheeta was handicapped by such a rope, and as he leaped -once again after Tarzan of the Apes the rope encircled the small bush, -became tangled in it and brought the panther to a sudden stop. An -instant later Tarzan was safe among the higher branches of a small tree -into which Sheeta could not follow him. - -Here he perched, hurling twigs and epithets at the raging feline -beneath him. The other members of the tribe now took up the -bombardment, using such hard-shelled fruits and dead branches as came -within their reach, until Sheeta, goaded to frenzy and snapping at the -grass rope, finally succeeded in severing its strands. For a moment the -panther stood glaring first at one of his tormentors and then at -another, until, with a final scream of rage, he turned and slunk off -into the tangled mazes of the jungle. - -A half hour later the tribe was again upon the ground, feeding as -though naught had occurred to interrupt the somber dullness of their -lives. Tarzan had recovered the greater part of his rope and was busy -fashioning a new noose, while Teeka squatted close behind him, in -evident token that her choice was made. - -Taug eyed them sullenly. Once when he came close, Teeka bared her fangs -and growled at him, and Tarzan showed his canines in an ugly snarl; but -Taug did not provoke a quarrel. He seemed to accept after the manner of -his kind the decision of the she as an indication that he had been -vanquished in his battle for her favors. - -Later in the day, his rope repaired, Tarzan took to the trees in search -of game. More than his fellows he required meat, and so, while they -were satisfied with fruits and herbs and beetles, which could be -discovered without much effort upon their part, Tarzan spent -considerable time hunting the game animals whose flesh alone satisfied -the cravings of his stomach and furnished sustenance and strength to -the mighty thews which, day by day, were building beneath the soft, -smooth texture of his brown hide. - -Taug saw him depart, and then, quite casually, the big beast hunted -closer and closer to Teeka in his search for food. At last he was -within a few feet of her, and when he shot a covert glance at her he -saw that she was appraising him and that there was no evidence of anger -upon her face. - -Taug expanded his great chest and rolled about on his short legs, -making strange growlings in his throat. He raised his lips, baring his -fangs. My, but what great, beautiful fangs he had! Teeka could not but -notice them. She also let her eyes rest in admiration upon Taug’s -beetling brows and his short, powerful neck. What a beautiful creature -he was indeed! - -Taug, flattered by the unconcealed admiration in her eyes, strutted -about, as proud and as vain as a peacock. Presently he began to -inventory his assets, mentally, and shortly he found himself comparing -them with those of his rival. - -Taug grunted, for there was no comparison. How could one compare his -beautiful coat with the smooth and naked hideousness of Tarzan’s bare -hide? Who could see beauty in the stingy nose of the Tarmangani after -looking at Taug’s broad nostrils? And Tarzan’s eyes! Hideous things, -showing white about them, and entirely unrimmed with red. Taug knew -that his own blood-shot eyes were beautiful, for he had seen them -reflected in the glassy surface of many a drinking pool. - -The bull drew nearer to Teeka, finally squatting close against her. -When Tarzan returned from his hunting a short time later it was to see -Teeka contentedly scratching the back of his rival. - -Tarzan was disgusted. Neither Taug nor Teeka saw him as he swung -through the trees into the glade. He paused a moment, looking at them; -then, with a sorrowful grimace, he turned and faded away into the -labyrinth of leafy boughs and festooned moss out of which he had come. - -Tarzan wished to be as far away from the cause of his heartache as he -could. He was suffering the first pangs of blighted love, and he didn’t -quite know what was the matter with him. He thought that he was angry -with Taug, and so he couldn’t understand why it was that he had run -away instead of rushing into mortal combat with the destroyer of his -happiness. - -He also thought that he was angry with Teeka, yet a vision of her many -beauties persisted in haunting him, so that he could only see her in -the light of love as the most desirable thing in the world. - -The ape-boy craved affection. From babyhood until the time of her -death, when the poisoned arrow of Kulonga had pierced her savage heart, -Kala had represented to the English boy the sole object of love which -he had known. - -In her wild, fierce way Kala had loved her adopted son, and Tarzan had -returned that love, though the outward demonstrations of it were no -greater than might have been expected from any other beast of the -jungle. It was not until he was bereft of her that the boy realized how -deep had been his attachment for his mother, for as such he looked upon -her. - -In Teeka he had seen within the past few hours a substitute for -Kala—someone to fight for and to hunt for—someone to caress; but now -his dream was shattered. Something hurt within his breast. He placed -his hand over his heart and wondered what had happened to him. Vaguely -he attributed his pain to Teeka. The more he thought of Teeka as he had -last seen her, caressing Taug, the more the thing within his breast -hurt him. - -Tarzan shook his head and growled; then on and on through the jungle he -swung, and the farther he traveled and the more he thought upon his -wrongs, the nearer he approached becoming an irreclaimable misogynist. - -Two days later he was still hunting alone—very morose and very unhappy; -but he was determined never to return to the tribe. He could not bear -the thought of seeing Taug and Teeka always together. As he swung upon -a great limb Numa, the lion, and Sabor, the lioness, passed beneath -him, side by side, and Sabor leaned against the lion and bit playfully -at his cheek. It was a half-caress. Tarzan sighed and hurled a nut at -them. - -Later he came upon several of Mbonga’s black warriors. He was upon the -point of dropping his noose about the neck of one of them, who was a -little distance from his companions, when he became interested in the -thing which occupied the savages. They were building a cage in the -trail and covering it with leafy branches. When they had completed -their work the structure was scarcely visible. - -Tarzan wondered what the purpose of the thing might be, and why, when -they had built it, they turned away and started back along the trail in -the direction of their village. - -It had been some time since Tarzan had visited the blacks and looked -down from the shelter of the great trees which overhung their palisade -upon the activities of his enemies, from among whom had come the slayer -of Kala. - -Although he hated them, Tarzan derived considerable entertainment in -watching them at their daily life within the village, and especially at -their dances, when the fires glared against their naked bodies as they -leaped and turned and twisted in mimic warfare. It was rather in the -hope of witnessing something of the kind that he now followed the -warriors back toward their village, but in this he was disappointed, -for there was no dance that night. - -Instead, from the safe concealment of his tree, Tarzan saw little -groups seated about tiny fires discussing the events of the day, and in -the darker corners of the village he descried isolated couples talking -and laughing together, and always one of each couple was a young man -and the other a young woman. - -Tarzan cocked his head upon one side and thought, and before he went to -sleep that night, curled in the crotch of the great tree above the -village, Teeka filled his mind, and afterward she filled his dreams—she -and the young black men laughing and talking with the young black -women. - -Taug, hunting alone, had wandered some distance from the balance of the -tribe. He was making his way slowly along an elephant path when he -discovered that it was blocked with undergrowth. Now Taug, come into -maturity, was an evil-natured brute of an exceeding short temper. When -something thwarted him, his sole idea was to overcome it by brute -strength and ferocity, and so now when he found his way blocked, he -tore angrily into the leafy screen and an instant later found himself -within a strange lair, his progress effectually blocked, -notwithstanding his most violent efforts to forge ahead. - -Biting and striking at the barrier, Taug finally worked himself into a -frightful rage, but all to no avail; and at last he became convinced -that he must turn back. But when he would have done so, what was his -chagrin to discover that another barrier had dropped behind him while -he fought to break down the one before him! Taug was trapped. Until -exhaustion overcame him he fought frantically for his freedom; but all -for naught. - -In the morning a party of blacks set out from the village of Mbonga in -the direction of the trap they had constructed the previous day, while -among the branches of the trees above them hovered a naked young giant -filled with the curiosity of the wild things. Manu, the monkey, -chattered and scolded as Tarzan passed, and though he was not afraid of -the familiar figure of the ape-boy, he hugged closer to him the little -brown body of his life’s companion. Tarzan laughed as he saw it; but -the laugh was followed by a sudden clouding of his face and a deep -sigh. - -A little farther on, a gaily feathered bird strutted about before the -admiring eyes of his somber-hued mate. It seemed to Tarzan that -everything in the jungle was combining to remind him that he had lost -Teeka; yet every day of his life he had seen these same things and -thought nothing of them. - -When the blacks reached the trap, Taug set up a great commotion. -Seizing the bars of his prison, he shook them frantically, and all the -while he roared and growled terrifically. The blacks were elated, for -while they had not built their trap for this hairy tree man, they were -delighted with their catch. - -Tarzan pricked up his ears when he heard the voice of a great ape and, -circling quickly until he was down wind from the trap, he sniffed at -the air in search of the scent spoor of the prisoner. Nor was it long -before there came to those delicate nostrils the familiar odor that -told Tarzan the identity of the captive as unerringly as though he had -looked upon Taug with his eyes. Yes, it was Taug, and he was alone. - -Tarzan grinned as he approached to discover what the blacks would do to -their prisoner. Doubtless they would slay him at once. Again Tarzan -grinned. Now he could have Teeka for his own, with none to dispute his -right to her. As he watched, he saw the black warriors strip the screen -from about the cage, fasten ropes to it and drag it away along the -trail in the direction of their village. - -Tarzan watched until his rival passed out of sight, still beating upon -the bars of his prison and growling out his anger and his threats. Then -the ape-boy turned and swung rapidly off in search of the tribe, and -Teeka. - -Once, upon the journey, he surprised Sheeta and his family in a little -overgrown clearing. The great cat lay stretched upon the ground, while -his mate, one paw across her lord’s savage face, licked at the soft -white fur at his throat. - -Tarzan increased his speed then until he fairly flew through the -forest, nor was it long before he came upon the tribe. He saw them -before they saw him, for of all the jungle creatures, none passed more -quietly than Tarzan of the Apes. He saw Kamma and her mate feeding side -by side, their hairy bodies rubbing against each other. And he saw -Teeka feeding by herself. Not for long would she feed thus in -loneliness, thought Tarzan, as with a bound he landed amongst them. - -There was a startled rush and a chorus of angry and frightened snarls, -for Tarzan had surprised them; but there was more, too, than mere -nervous shock to account for the bristling neck hair which remained -standing long after the apes had discovered the identity of the -newcomer. - -Tarzan noticed this as he had noticed it many times in the past—that -always his sudden coming among them left them nervous and unstrung for -a considerable time, and that they one and all found it necessary to -satisfy themselves that he was indeed Tarzan by smelling about him a -half dozen or more times before they calmed down. - -Pushing through them, he made his way toward Teeka; but as he -approached her the ape drew away. - -“Teeka,” he said, “it is Tarzan. You belong to Tarzan. I have come for -you.” - -The ape drew closer, looking him over carefully. Finally she sniffed at -him, as though to make assurance doubly sure. - -“Where is Taug?” she asked. - -“The Gomangani have him,” replied Tarzan. “They will kill him.” - -In the eyes of the she, Tarzan saw a wistful expression and a troubled -look of sorrow as he told her of Taug’s fate; but she came quite close -and snuggled against him, and Tarzan, Lord Greystoke, put his arm about -her. - -As he did so he noticed, with a start, the strange incongruity of that -smooth, brown arm against the black and hairy coat of his lady-love. He -recalled the paw of Sheeta’s mate across Sheeta’s face—no incongruity -there. He thought of little Manu hugging his she, and how the one -seemed to belong to the other. Even the proud male bird, with his gay -plumage, bore a close resemblance to his quieter spouse, while Numa, -but for his shaggy mane, was almost a counterpart of Sabor, the -lioness. The males and the females differed, it was true; but not with -such differences as existed between Tarzan and Teeka. - -Tarzan was puzzled. There was something wrong. His arm dropped from the -shoulder of Teeka. Very slowly he drew away from her. She looked at him -with her head cocked upon one side. Tarzan rose to his full height and -beat upon his breast with his fists. He raised his head toward the -heavens and opened his mouth. From the depths of his lungs rose the -fierce, weird challenge of the victorious bull ape. The tribe turned -curiously to eye him. He had killed nothing, nor was there any -antagonist to be goaded to madness by the savage scream. No, there was -no excuse for it, and they turned back to their feeding, but with an -eye upon the ape-man lest he be preparing to suddenly run amuck. - -As they watched him they saw him swing into a near-by tree and -disappear from sight. Then they forgot him, even Teeka. - -Mbonga’s black warriors, sweating beneath their strenuous task, and -resting often, made slow progress toward their village. Always the -savage beast in the primitive cage growled and roared when they moved -him. He beat upon the bars and slavered at the mouth. His noise was -hideous. - -They had almost completed their journey and were making their final -rest before forging ahead to gain the clearing in which lay their -village. A few more minutes would have taken them out of the forest, -and then, doubtless, the thing would not have happened which did -happen. - -A silent figure moved through the trees above them. Keen eyes inspected -the cage and counted the number of warriors. An alert and daring brain -figured upon the chances of success when a certain plan should be put -to the test. - -Tarzan watched the blacks lolling in the shade. They were exhausted. -Already several of them slept. He crept closer, pausing just above -them. Not a leaf rustled before his stealthy advance. He waited in the -infinite patience of the beast of prey. Presently but two of the -warriors remained awake, and one of these was dozing. - -Tarzan of the Apes gathered himself, and as he did so the black who did -not sleep arose and passed around to the rear of the cage. The ape-boy -followed just above his head. Taug was eyeing the warrior and emitting -low growls. Tarzan feared that the anthropoid would awaken the -sleepers. - -In a whisper which was inaudible to the ears of the Negro, Tarzan -whispered Taug’s name, cautioning the ape to silence, and Taug’s -growling ceased. - -The black approached the rear of the cage and examined the fastenings -of the door, and as he stood there the beast above him launched itself -from the tree full upon his back. Steel fingers circled his throat, -choking the cry which sprang to the lips of the terrified man. Strong -teeth fastened themselves in his shoulder, and powerful legs wound -themselves about his torso. - -The black in a frenzy of terror tried to dislodge the silent thing -which clung to him. He threw himself to the ground and rolled about; -but still those mighty fingers closed more and more tightly their -deadly grip. - -The man’s mouth gaped wide, his swollen tongue protruded, his eyes -started from their sockets; but the relentless fingers only increased -their pressure. - -Taug was a silent witness of the struggle. In his fierce little brain -he doubtless wondered what purpose prompted Tarzan to attack the black. -Taug had not forgotten his recent battle with the ape-boy, nor the -cause of it. Now he saw the form of the Gomangani suddenly go limp. -There was a convulsive shiver and the man lay still. - -Tarzan sprang from his prey and ran to the door of the cage. With -nimble fingers he worked rapidly at the thongs which held the door in -place. Taug could only watch—he could not help. Presently Tarzan pushed -the thing up a couple of feet and Taug crawled out. The ape would have -turned upon the sleeping blacks that he might wreak his pent vengeance; -but Tarzan would not permit it. - -Instead, the ape-boy dragged the body of the black within the cage and -propped it against the side bars. Then he lowered the door and made -fast the thongs as they had been before. - -A happy smile lighted his features as he worked, for one of his -principal diversions was the baiting of the blacks of Mbonga’s village. -He could imagine their terror when they awoke and found the dead body -of their comrade fast in the cage where they had left the great ape -safely secured but a few minutes before. - -Tarzan and Taug took to the trees together, the shaggy coat of the -fierce ape brushing the sleek skin of the English lordling as they -passed through the primeval jungle side by side. - -“Go back to Teeka,” said Tarzan. “She is yours. Tarzan does not want -her.” - -“Tarzan has found another she?” asked Taug. - -The ape-boy shrugged. - -“For the Gomangani there is another Gomangani,” he said; “for Numa, the -lion, there is Sabor, the lioness; for Sheeta there is a she of his own -kind; for Bara, the deer; for Manu, the monkey; for all the beasts and -the birds of the jungle is there a mate. Only for Tarzan of the Apes is -there none. Taug is an ape. Teeka is an ape. Go back to Teeka. Tarzan -is a man. He will go alone.” - - - - -CHAPTER II -The Capture of Tarzan - - -The black warriors labored in the humid heat of the jungle’s stifling -shade. With war spears they loosened the thick, black loam and the deep -layers of rotting vegetation. With heavy-nailed fingers they scooped -away the disintegrated earth from the center of the age-old game trail. -Often they ceased their labors to squat, resting and gossiping, with -much laughter, at the edge of the pit they were digging. - -Against the boles of near-by trees leaned their long, oval shields of -thick buffalo hide, and the spears of those who were doing the -scooping. Sweat glistened upon their smooth, ebon skins, beneath which -rolled rounded muscles, supple in the perfection of nature’s -uncontaminated health. - -A reed buck, stepping warily along the trail toward water, halted as a -burst of laughter broke upon his startled ears. For a moment he stood -statuesque but for his sensitively dilating nostrils; then he wheeled -and fled noiselessly from the terrifying presence of man. - -A hundred yards away, deep in the tangle of impenetrable jungle, Numa, -the lion, raised his massive head. Numa had dined well until almost -daybreak and it had required much noise to awaken him. Now he lifted -his muzzle and sniffed the air, caught the acrid scent spoor of the -reed buck and the heavy scent of man. But Numa was well filled. With a -low, disgusted grunt he rose and slunk away. - -Brilliantly plumaged birds with raucous voices darted from tree to -tree. Little monkeys, chattering and scolding, swung through the -swaying limbs above the black warriors. Yet they were alone, for the -teeming jungle with all its myriad life, like the swarming streets of a -great metropolis, is one of the loneliest spots in God’s great -universe. - -But were they alone? - -Above them, lightly balanced upon a leafy tree limb, a gray-eyed youth -watched with eager intentness their every move. The fire of hate, -restrained, smoldered beneath the lad’s evident desire to know the -purpose of the black men’s labors. Such a one as these it was who had -slain his beloved Kala. For them there could be naught but enmity, yet -he liked well to watch them, avid as he was for greater knowledge of -the ways of man. - -He saw the pit grow in depth until a great hole yawned the width of the -trail—a hole which was amply large enough to hold at one time all of -the six excavators. Tarzan could not guess the purpose of so great a -labor. And when they cut long stakes, sharpened at their upper ends, -and set them at intervals upright in the bottom of the pit, his -wonderment but increased, nor was it satisfied with the placing of the -light cross-poles over the pit, or the careful arrangement of leaves -and earth which completely hid from view the work the black men had -performed. - -When they were done they surveyed their handiwork with evident -satisfaction, and Tarzan surveyed it, too. Even to his practiced eye -there remained scarce a vestige of evidence that the ancient game trail -had been tampered with in any way. - -So absorbed was the ape-man in speculation as to the purpose of the -covered pit that he permitted the blacks to depart in the direction of -their village without the usual baiting which had rendered him the -terror of Mbonga’s people and had afforded Tarzan both a vehicle of -revenge and a source of inexhaustible delight. - -Puzzle as he would, however, he could not solve the mystery of the -concealed pit, for the ways of the blacks were still strange ways to -Tarzan. They had entered his jungle but a short time before—the first -of their kind to encroach upon the age-old supremacy of the beasts -which laired there. To Numa, the lion, to Tantor, the elephant, to the -great apes and the lesser apes, to each and all of the myriad creatures -of this savage wild, the ways of man were new. They had much to learn -of these black, hairless creatures that walked erect upon their hind -paws—and they were learning it slowly, and always to their sorrow. - -Shortly after the blacks had departed, Tarzan swung easily to the -trail. Sniffing suspiciously, he circled the edge of the pit. Squatting -upon his haunches, he scraped away a little earth to expose one of the -cross-bars. He sniffed at this, touched it, cocked his head upon one -side, and contemplated it gravely for several minutes. Then he -carefully re-covered it, arranging the earth as neatly as had the -blacks. This done, he swung himself back among the branches of the -trees and moved off in search of his hairy fellows, the great apes of -the tribe of Kerchak. - -Once he crossed the trail of Numa, the lion, pausing for a moment to -hurl a soft fruit at the snarling face of his enemy, and to taunt and -insult him, calling him eater of carrion and brother of Dango, the -hyena. Numa, his yellow-green eyes round and burning with concentrated -hate, glared up at the dancing figure above him. Low growls vibrated -his heavy jowls and his great rage transmitted to his sinuous tail a -sharp, whiplike motion; but realizing from past experience the futility -of long distance argument with the ape-man, he turned presently and -struck off into the tangled vegetation which hid him from the view of -his tormentor. With a final scream of jungle invective and an apelike -grimace at his departing foe, Tarzan continued along his way. - -Another mile and a shifting wind brought to his keen nostrils a -familiar, pungent odor close at hand, and a moment later there loomed -beneath him a huge, gray-black bulk forging steadily along the jungle -trail. Tarzan seized and broke a small tree limb, and at the sudden -cracking sound the ponderous figure halted. Great ears were thrown -forward, and a long, supple trunk rose quickly to wave to and fro in -search of the scent of an enemy, while two weak, little eyes peered -suspiciously and futilely about in quest of the author of the noise -which had disturbed his peaceful way. - -Tarzan laughed aloud and came closer above the head of the pachyderm. - -“Tantor! Tantor!” he cried. “Bara, the deer, is less fearful than -you—you, Tantor, the elephant, greatest of the jungle folk with the -strength of as many Numas as I have toes upon my feet and fingers upon -my hands. Tantor, who can uproot great trees, trembles with fear at the -sound of a broken twig.” - -A rumbling noise, which might have been either a sign of contempt or a -sigh of relief, was Tantor’s only reply as the uplifted trunk and ears -came down and the beast’s tail dropped to normal; but his eyes still -roved about in search of Tarzan. He was not long kept in suspense, -however, as to the whereabouts of the ape-man, for a second later the -youth dropped lightly to the broad head of his old friend. Then -stretching himself at full length, he drummed with his bare toes upon -the thick hide, and as his fingers scratched the more tender surfaces -beneath the great ears, he talked to Tantor of the gossip of the jungle -as though the great beast understood every word that he said. - -Much there was which Tarzan could make Tantor understand, and though -the small talk of the wild was beyond the great, gray dreadnaught of -the jungle, he stood with blinking eyes and gently swaying trunk as -though drinking in every word of it with keenest appreciation. As a -matter of fact it was the pleasant, friendly voice and caressing hands -behind his ears which he enjoyed, and the close proximity of him whom -he had often borne upon his back since Tarzan, as a little child, had -once fearlessly approached the great bull, assuming upon the part of -the pachyderm the same friendliness which filled his own heart. - -In the years of their association Tarzan had discovered that he -possessed an inexplicable power to govern and direct his mighty friend. -At his bidding, Tantor would come from a great distance—as far as his -keen ears could detect the shrill and piercing summons of the -ape-man—and when Tarzan was squatted upon his head, Tantor would lumber -through the jungle in any direction which his rider bade him go. It was -the power of the man-mind over that of the brute and it was just as -effective as though both fully understood its origin, though neither -did. - -For half an hour Tarzan sprawled there upon Tantor’s back. Time had no -meaning for either of them. Life, as they saw it, consisted principally -in keeping their stomachs filled. To Tarzan this was a less arduous -labor than to Tantor, for Tarzan’s stomach was smaller, and being -omnivorous, food was less difficult to obtain. If one sort did not come -readily to hand, there were always many others to satisfy his hunger. -He was less particular as to his diet than Tantor, who would eat only -the bark of certain trees, and the wood of others, while a third -appealed to him only through its leaves, and these, perhaps, just at -certain seasons of the year. - -Tantor must needs spend the better part of his life in filling his -immense stomach against the needs of his mighty thews. It is thus with -all the lower orders—their lives are so occupied either with searching -for food or with the processes of digestion that they have little time -for other considerations. Doubtless it is this handicap which has kept -them from advancing as rapidly as man, who has more time to give to -thought upon other matters. - -However, these questions troubled Tarzan but little, and Tantor not at -all. What the former knew was that he was happy in the companionship of -the elephant. He did not know why. He did not know that because he was -a human being—a normal, healthy human being—he craved some living thing -upon which to lavish his affection. His childhood playmates among the -apes of Kerchak were now great, sullen brutes. They felt nor inspired -but little affection. The younger apes Tarzan still played with -occasionally. In his savage way he loved them; but they were far from -satisfying or restful companions. Tantor was a great mountain of calm, -of poise, of stability. It was restful and satisfying to sprawl upon -his rough pate and pour one’s vague hopes and aspirations into the -great ears which flapped ponderously to and fro in apparent -understanding. Of all the jungle folk, Tantor commanded Tarzan’s -greatest love since Kala had been taken from him. Sometimes Tarzan -wondered if Tantor reciprocated his affection. It was difficult to -know. - -It was the call of the stomach—the most compelling and insistent call -which the jungle knows—that took Tarzan finally back to the trees and -off in search of food, while Tantor continued his interrupted journey -in the opposite direction. - -For an hour the ape-man foraged. A lofty nest yielded its fresh, warm -harvest. Fruits, berries, and tender plantain found a place upon his -menu in the order that he happened upon them, for he did not seek such -foods. Meat, meat, meat! It was always meat that Tarzan of the Apes -hunted; but sometimes meat eluded him, as today. - -And as he roamed the jungle his active mind busied itself not alone -with his hunting, but with many other subjects. He had a habit of -recalling often the events of the preceding days and hours. He lived -over his visit with Tantor; he cogitated upon the digging blacks and -the strange, covered pit they had left behind them. He wondered again -and again what its purpose might be. He compared perceptions and -arrived at judgments. He compared judgments, reaching conclusions—not -always correct ones, it is true, but at least he used his brain for the -purpose God intended it, which was the less difficult because he was -not handicapped by the second-hand, and usually erroneous, judgment of -others. - -And as he puzzled over the covered pit, there loomed suddenly before -his mental vision a huge, gray-black bulk which lumbered ponderously -along a jungle trail. Instantly Tarzan tensed to the shock of a sudden -fear. Decision and action usually occurred simultaneously in the life -of the ape-man, and now he was away through the leafy branches ere the -realization of the pit’s purpose had scarce formed in his mind. - -Swinging from swaying limb to swaying limb, he raced through the middle -terraces where the trees grew close together. Again he dropped to the -ground and sped, silently and light of foot, over the carpet of -decaying vegetation, only to leap again into the trees where the -tangled undergrowth precluded rapid advance upon the surface. - -In his anxiety he cast discretion to the winds. The caution of the -beast was lost in the loyalty of the man, and so it came that he -entered a large clearing, denuded of trees, without a thought of what -might lie there or upon the farther edge to dispute the way with him. - -He was half way across when directly in his path and but a few yards -away there rose from a clump of tall grasses a half dozen chattering -birds. Instantly Tarzan turned aside, for he knew well enough what -manner of creature the presence of these little sentinels proclaimed. -Simultaneously Buto, the rhinoceros, scrambled to his short legs and -charged furiously. Haphazard charges Buto, the rhinoceros. With his -weak eyes he sees but poorly even at short distances, and whether his -erratic rushes are due to the panic of fear as he attempts to escape, -or to the irascible temper with which he is generally credited, it is -difficult to determine. Nor is the matter of little moment to one whom -Buto charges, for if he be caught and tossed, the chances are that -naught will interest him thereafter. - -And today it chanced that Buto bore down straight upon Tarzan, across -the few yards of knee-deep grass which separated them. Accident started -him in the direction of the ape-man, and then his weak eyes discerned -the enemy, and with a series of snorts he charged straight for him. The -little rhino birds fluttered and circled about their giant ward. Among -the branches of the trees at the edge of the clearing, a score or more -monkeys chattered and scolded as the loud snorts of the angry beast -sent them scurrying affrightedly to the upper terraces. Tarzan alone -appeared indifferent and serene. - -Directly in the path of the charge he stood. There had been no time to -seek safety in the trees beyond the clearing, nor had Tarzan any mind -to delay his journey because of Buto. He had met the stupid beast -before and held him in fine contempt. - -And now Buto was upon him, the massive head lowered and the long, heavy -horn inclined for the frightful work for which nature had designed it; -but as he struck upward, his weapon raked only thin air, for the -ape-man had sprung lightly aloft with a catlike leap that carried him -above the threatening horn to the broad back of the rhinoceros. Another -spring and he was on the ground behind the brute and racing like a deer -for the trees. - -Buto, angered and mystified by the strange disappearance of his prey, -wheeled and charged frantically in another direction, which chanced to -be not the direction of Tarzan’s flight, and so the ape-man came in -safety to the trees and continued on his swift way through the forest. - -Some distance ahead of him Tantor moved steadily along the well-worn -elephant trail, and ahead of Tantor a crouching, black warrior listened -intently in the middle of the path. Presently he heard the sound for -which he had been hoping—the cracking, snapping sound which heralded -the approach of an elephant. - -To his right and left in other parts of the jungle other warriors were -watching. A low signal, passed from one to another, apprised the most -distant that the quarry was afoot. Rapidly they converged toward the -trail, taking positions in trees down wind from the point at which -Tantor must pass them. Silently they waited and presently were rewarded -by the sight of a mighty tusker carrying an amount of ivory in his long -tusks that set their greedy hearts to palpitating. - -No sooner had he passed their positions than the warriors clambered -from their perches. No longer were they silent, but instead clapped -their hands and shouted as they reached the ground. For an instant -Tantor, the elephant, paused with upraised trunk and tail, with great -ears up-pricked, and then he swung on along the trail at a rapid, -shuffling pace—straight toward the covered pit with its sharpened -stakes upstanding in the ground. - -Behind him came the yelling warriors, urging him on in the rapid flight -which would not permit a careful examination of the ground before him. -Tantor, the elephant, who could have turned and scattered his -adversaries with a single charge, fled like a frightened deer—fled -toward a hideous, torturing death. - -And behind them all came Tarzan of the Apes, racing through the jungle -forest with the speed and agility of a squirrel, for he had heard the -shouts of the warriors and had interpreted them correctly. Once he -uttered a piercing call that reverberated through the jungle; but -Tantor, in the panic of terror, either failed to hear, or hearing, -dared not pause to heed. - -Now the giant pachyderm was but a few yards from the hidden death -lurking in his path, and the blacks, certain of success, were screaming -and dancing in his wake, waving their war spears and celebrating in -advance the acquisition of the splendid ivory carried by their prey and -the surfeit of elephant meat which would be theirs this night. - -So intent were they upon their gratulations that they entirely failed -to note the silent passage of the man-beast above their heads, nor did -Tantor, either, see or hear him, even though Tarzan called to him to -stop. - -A few more steps would precipitate Tantor upon the sharpened stakes; -Tarzan fairly flew through the trees until he had come abreast of the -fleeing animal and then had passed him. At the pit’s verge the ape-man -dropped to the ground in the center of the trail. Tantor was almost -upon him before his weak eyes permitted him to recognize his old -friend. - -“Stop!” cried Tarzan, and the great beast halted to the upraised hand. - -Tarzan turned and kicked aside some of the brush which hid the pit. -Instantly Tantor saw and understood. - -“Fight!” growled Tarzan. “They are coming behind you.” But Tantor, the -elephant, is a huge bunch of nerves, and now he was half panic-stricken -by terror. - -Before him yawned the pit, how far he did not know, but to right and -left lay the primeval jungle untouched by man. With a squeal the great -beast turned suddenly at right angles and burst his noisy way through -the solid wall of matted vegetation that would have stopped any but -him. - -Tarzan, standing upon the edge of the pit, smiled as he watched -Tantor’s undignified flight. Soon the blacks would come. It was best -that Tarzan of the Apes faded from the scene. He essayed a step from -the pit’s edge, and as he threw the weight of his body upon his left -foot, the earth crumbled away. Tarzan made a single Herculean effort to -throw himself forward, but it was too late. Backward and downward he -went toward the sharpened stakes in the bottom of the pit. - -When, a moment later, the blacks came they saw even from a distance -that Tantor had eluded them, for the size of the hole in the pit -covering was too small to have accommodated the huge bulk of an -elephant. At first they thought that their prey had put one great foot -through the top and then, warned, drawn back; but when they had come to -the pit’s verge and peered over, their eyes went wide in astonishment, -for, quiet and still, at the bottom lay the naked figure of a white -giant. - -Some of them there had glimpsed this forest god before and they drew -back in terror, awed by the presence which they had for some time -believed to possess the miraculous powers of a demon; but others there -were who pushed forward, thinking only of the capture of an enemy, and -these leaped into the pit and lifted Tarzan out. - -There was no scar upon his body. None of the sharpened stakes had -pierced him—only a swollen spot at the base of the brain indicated the -nature of his injury. In the falling backward his head had struck upon -the side of one of the stakes, rendering him unconscious. The blacks -were quick to discover this, and equally quick to bind their prisoner’s -arms and legs before he should regain consciousness, for they had -learned to harbor a wholesome respect for this strange man-beast that -consorted with the hairy tree folk. - -They had carried him but a short distance toward their village when the -ape-man’s eyelids quivered and raised. He looked about him wonderingly -for a moment, and then full consciousness returned and he realized the -seriousness of his predicament. Accustomed almost from birth to relying -solely upon his own resources, he did not cast about for outside aid -now, but devoted his mind to a consideration of the possibilities for -escape which lay within himself and his own powers. - -He did not dare test the strength of his bonds while the blacks were -carrying him, for fear they would become apprehensive and add to them. -Presently his captors discovered that he was conscious, and as they had -little stomach for carrying a heavy man through the jungle heat, they -set him upon his feet and forced him forward among them, pricking him -now and then with their spears, yet with every manifestation of the -superstitious awe in which they held him. - -When they discovered that their prodding brought no outward evidence of -suffering, their awe increased, so that they soon desisted, half -believing that this strange white giant was a supernatural being and so -was immune from pain. - -As they approached their village, they shouted aloud the victorious -cries of successful warriors, so that by the time they reached the -gate, dancing and waving their spears, a great crowd of men, women, and -children were gathered there to greet them and hear the story of their -adventure. - -As the eyes of the villagers fell upon the prisoner, they went wild, -and heavy jaws fell open in astonishment and incredulity. For months -they had lived in perpetual terror of a weird, white demon whom but few -had ever glimpsed and lived to describe. Warriors had disappeared from -the paths almost within sight of the village and from the midst of -their companions as mysteriously and completely as though they had been -swallowed by the earth, and later, at night, their dead bodies had -fallen, as from the heavens, into the village street. - -This fearsome creature had appeared by night in the huts of the -village, killed, and disappeared, leaving behind him in the huts with -his dead, strange and terrifying evidences of an uncanny sense of -humor. - -But now he was in their power! No longer could he terrorize them. -Slowly the realization of this dawned upon them. A woman, screaming, -ran forward and struck the ape-man across the face. Another and another -followed her example, until Tarzan of the Apes was surrounded by a -fighting, clawing, yelling mob of natives. - -And then Mbonga, the chief, came, and laying his spear heavily across -the shoulders of his people, drove them from their prey. - -“We will save him until night,” he said. - -Far out in the jungle Tantor, the elephant, his first panic of fear -allayed, stood with up-pricked ears and undulating trunk. What was -passing through the convolutions of his savage brain? Could he be -searching for Tarzan? Could he recall and measure the service the -ape-man had performed for him? Of that there can be no doubt. But did -he feel gratitude? Would he have risked his own life to have saved -Tarzan could he have known of the danger which confronted his friend? -You will doubt it. Anyone at all familiar with elephants will doubt it. -Englishmen who have hunted much with elephants in India will tell you -that they never have heard of an instance in which one of these animals -has gone to the aid of a man in danger, even though the man had often -befriended it. And so it is to be doubted that Tantor would have -attempted to overcome his instinctive fear of the black men in an -effort to succor Tarzan. - -The screams of the infuriated villagers came faintly to his sensitive -ears, and he wheeled, as though in terror, contemplating flight; but -something stayed him, and again he turned about, raised his trunk, and -gave voice to a shrill cry. - -Then he stood listening. - -In the distant village where Mbonga had restored quiet and order, the -voice of Tantor was scarcely audible to the blacks, but to the keen -ears of Tarzan of the Apes it bore its message. - -His captors were leading him to a hut where he might be confined and -guarded against the coming of the nocturnal orgy that would mark his -torture-laden death. He halted as he heard the notes of Tantor’s call, -and raising his head, gave vent to a terrifying scream that sent cold -chills through the superstitious blacks and caused the warriors who -guarded him to leap back even though their prisoner’s arms were -securely bound behind him. - -With raised spears they encircled him as for a moment longer he stood -listening. Faintly from the distance came another, an answering cry, -and Tarzan of the Apes, satisfied, turned and quietly pursued his way -toward the hut where he was to be imprisoned. - -The afternoon wore on. From the surrounding village the ape-man heard -the bustle of preparation for the feast. Through the doorway of the hut -he saw the women laying the cooking fires and filling their earthen -caldrons with water; but above it all his ears were bent across the -jungle in eager listening for the coming of Tantor. - -Even Tarzan but half believed that he would come. He knew Tantor even -better than Tantor knew himself. He knew the timid heart which lay in -the giant body. He knew the panic of terror which the scent of the -Gomangani inspired within that savage breast, and as night drew on, -hope died within his heart and in the stoic calm of the wild beast -which he was, he resigned himself to meet the fate which awaited him. - -All afternoon he had been working, working, working with the bonds that -held his wrists. Very slowly they were giving. He might free his hands -before they came to lead him out to be butchered, and if he did—Tarzan -licked his lips in anticipation, and smiled a cold, grim smile. He -could imagine the feel of soft flesh beneath his fingers and the -sinking of his white teeth into the throats of his foemen. He would let -them taste his wrath before they overpowered him! - -At last they came—painted, befeathered warriors—even more hideous than -nature had intended them. They came and pushed him into the open, where -his appearance was greeted by wild shouts from the assembled villagers. - -To the stake they led him, and as they pushed him roughly against it -preparatory to binding him there securely for the dance of death that -would presently encircle him, Tarzan tensed his mighty thews and with a -single, powerful wrench parted the loosened thongs which had secured -his hands. Like thought, for quickness, he leaped forward among the -warriors nearest him. A blow sent one to earth, as, growling and -snarling, the beast-man leaped upon the breast of another. His fangs -were buried instantly in the jugular of his adversary and then a half -hundred black men had leaped upon him and borne him to earth. - -Striking, clawing, and snapping, the ape-man fought—fought as his -foster people had taught him to fight—fought like a wild beast -cornered. His strength, his agility, his courage, and his intelligence -rendered him easily a match for half a dozen black men in a -hand-to-hand struggle, but not even Tarzan of the Apes could hope to -successfully cope with half a hundred. - -Slowly they were overpowering him, though a score of them bled from -ugly wounds, and two lay very still beneath the trampling feet, and the -rolling bodies of the contestants. - -Overpower him they might, but could they keep him overpowered while -they bound him? A half hour of desperate endeavor convinced them that -they could not, and so Mbonga, who, like all good rulers, had circled -in the safety of the background, called to one to work his way in and -spear the victim. Gradually, through the milling, battling men, the -warrior approached the object of his quest. - -He stood with poised spear above his head waiting for the instant that -would expose a vulnerable part of the ape-man’s body and still not -endanger one of the blacks. Closer and closer he edged about, following -the movements of the twisting, scuffling combatants. The growls of the -ape-man sent cold chills up the warrior’s spine, causing him to go -carefully lest he miss at the first cast and lay himself open to an -attack from those merciless teeth and mighty hands. - -At last he found an opening. Higher he raised his spear, tensing his -muscles, rolling beneath his glistening, ebon hide, and then from the -jungle just beyond the palisade came a thunderous crashing. The -spear-hand paused, the black cast a quick glance in the direction of -the disturbance, as did the others of the blacks who were not occupied -with the subjugation of the ape-man. - -In the glare of the fires they saw a huge bulk topping the barrier. -They saw the palisade belly and sway inward. They saw it burst as -though built of straws, and an instant later Tantor, the elephant, -thundered down upon them. - -To right and left the blacks fled, screaming in terror. Some who -hovered upon the verge of the strife with Tarzan heard and made good -their escape, but a half dozen there were so wrapt in the blood-madness -of battle that they failed to note the approach of the giant tusker. - -Upon these Tantor charged, trumpeting furiously. Above them he stopped, -his sensitive trunk weaving among them, and there, at the bottom, he -found Tarzan, bloody, but still battling. - -A warrior turned his eyes upward from the melee. Above him towered the -gigantic bulk of the pachyderm, the little eyes flashing with the -reflected light of the fires—wicked, frightful, terrifying. The warrior -screamed, and as he screamed, the sinuous trunk encircled him, lifted -him high above the ground, and hurled him far after the fleeing crowd. - -Another and another Tantor wrenched from the body of the ape-man, -throwing them to right and to left, where they lay either moaning or -very quiet, as death came slowly or at once. - -At a distance Mbonga rallied his warriors. His greedy eyes had noted -the great ivory tusks of the bull. The first panic of terror relieved, -he urged his men forward to attack with their heavy elephant spears; -but as they came, Tantor swung Tarzan to his broad head, and, wheeling, -lumbered off into the jungle through the great rent he had made in the -palisade. - -Elephant hunters may be right when they aver that this animal would not -have rendered such service to a man, but to Tantor, Tarzan was not a -man—he was but a fellow jungle beast. - -And so it was that Tantor, the elephant, discharged an obligation to -Tarzan of the Apes, cementing even more closely the friendship that had -existed between them since Tarzan as a little, brown boy rode upon -Tantor’s huge back through the moonlit jungle beneath the equatorial -stars. - - - - -CHAPTER III -The Fight for the Balu - - -Teeka had become a mother. Tarzan of the Apes was intensely interested, -much more so, in fact, than Taug, the father. Tarzan was very fond of -Teeka. Even the cares of prospective motherhood had not entirely -quenched the fires of carefree youth, and Teeka had remained a -good-natured playmate even at an age when other shes of the tribe of -Kerchak had assumed the sullen dignity of maturity. She yet retained -her childish delight in the primitive games of tag and hide-and-go-seek -which Tarzan’s fertile man-mind had evolved. - -To play tag through the tree tops is an exciting and inspiring pastime. -Tarzan delighted in it, but the bulls of his childhood had long since -abandoned such childish practices. Teeka, though, had been keen for it -always until shortly before the baby came; but with the advent of her -first-born, even Teeka changed. - -The evidence of the change surprised and hurt Tarzan immeasurably. One -morning he saw Teeka squatted upon a low branch hugging something very -close to her hairy breast—a wee something which squirmed and wriggled. -Tarzan approached filled with the curiosity which is common to all -creatures endowed with brains which have progressed beyond the -microscopic stage. - -Teeka rolled her eyes in his direction and strained the squirming mite -still closer to her. Tarzan came nearer. Teeka drew away and bared her -fangs. Tarzan was nonplussed. In all his experiences with Teeka, never -before had she bared fangs at him other than in play; but today she did -not look playful. Tarzan ran his brown fingers through his thick, black -hair, cocked his head upon one side, and stared. Then he edged a bit -nearer, craning his neck to have a better look at the thing which Teeka -cuddled. - -Again Teeka drew back her upper lip in a warning snarl. Tarzan reached -forth a hand, cautiously, to touch the thing which Teeka held, and -Teeka, with a hideous growl, turned suddenly upon him. Her teeth sank -into the flesh of his forearm before the ape-man could snatch it away, -and she pursued him for a short distance as he retreated incontinently -through the trees; but Teeka, carrying her baby, could not overtake -him. At a safe distance Tarzan stopped and turned to regard his -erstwhile play-fellow in unconcealed astonishment. What had happened to -so alter the gentle Teeka? She had so covered the thing in her arms -that Tarzan had not yet been able to recognize it for what it was; but -now, as she turned from the pursuit of him, he saw it. Through his pain -and chagrin he smiled, for Tarzan had seen young ape mothers before. In -a few days she would be less suspicious. Still Tarzan was hurt; it was -not right that Teeka, of all others, should fear him. Why, not for the -world would he harm her, or her balu, which is the ape word for baby. - -And now, above the pain of his injured arm and the hurt to his pride, -rose a still stronger desire to come close and inspect the new-born son -of Taug. Possibly you will wonder that Tarzan of the Apes, mighty -fighter that he was, should have fled before the irritable attack of a -she, or that he should hesitate to return for the satisfaction of his -curiosity when with ease he might have vanquished the weakened mother -of the new-born cub; but you need not wonder. Were you an ape, you -would know that only a bull in the throes of madness will turn upon a -female other than to gently chastise her, with the occasional exception -of the individual whom we find exemplified among our own kind, and who -delights in beating up his better half because she happens to be -smaller and weaker than he. - -Tarzan again came toward the young mother—warily and with his line of -retreat safely open. Again Teeka growled ferociously. Tarzan -expostulated. - -“Tarzan of the Apes will not harm Teeka’s balu,” he said. “Let me see -it.” - -“Go away!” commanded Teeka. “Go away, or I will kill you.” - -“Let me see it,” urged Tarzan. - -“Go away,” reiterated the she-ape. “Here comes Taug. He will make you -go away. Taug will kill you. This is Taug’s balu.” - -A savage growl close behind him apprised Tarzan of the nearness of -Taug, and the fact that the bull had heard the warnings and threats of -his mate and was coming to her succor. - -Now Taug, as well as Teeka, had been Tarzan’s play-fellow while the -bull was still young enough to wish to play. Once Tarzan had saved -Taug’s life; but the memory of an ape is not overlong, nor would -gratitude rise above the parental instinct. Tarzan and Taug had once -measured strength, and Tarzan had been victorious. That fact Taug could -be depended upon still to remember; but even so, he might readily face -another defeat for his first-born—if he chanced to be in the proper -mood. - -From his hideous growls, which now rose in strength and volume, he -seemed to be in quite the mood. Now Tarzan felt no fear of Taug, nor -did the unwritten law of the jungle demand that he should flee from -battle with any male, unless he cared to from purely personal reasons. -But Tarzan liked Taug. He had no grudge against him, and his man-mind -told him what the mind of an ape would never have deduced—that Taug’s -attitude in no sense indicated hatred. It was but the instinctive urge -of the male to protect its offspring and its mate. - -Tarzan had no desire to battle with Taug, nor did the blood of his -English ancestors relish the thought of flight, yet when the bull -charged, Tarzan leaped nimbly to one side, and thus encouraged, Taug -wheeled and rushed again madly to the attack. Perhaps the memory of a -past defeat at Tarzan’s hands goaded him. Perhaps the fact that Teeka -sat there watching him aroused a desire to vanquish the ape-man before -her eyes, for in the breast of every jungle male lurks a vast egotism -which finds expression in the performance of deeds of derring-do before -an audience of the opposite sex. - -At the ape-man’s side swung his long grass rope—the play-thing of -yesterday, the weapon of today—and as Taug charged the second time, -Tarzan slipped the coils over his head and deftly shook out the sliding -noose as he again nimbly eluded the ungainly beast. Before the ape -could turn again, Tarzan had fled far aloft among the branches of the -upper terrace. - -Taug, now wrought to a frenzy of real rage, followed him. Teeka peered -upward at them. It was difficult to say whether she was interested. -Taug could not climb as rapidly as Tarzan, so the latter reached the -high levels to which the heavy ape dared not follow before the former -overtook him. There he halted and looked down upon his pursuer, making -faces at him and calling him such choice names as occurred to the -fertile man-brain. Then, when he had worked Taug to such a pitch of -foaming rage that the great bull fairly danced upon the bending limb -beneath him, Tarzan’s hand shot suddenly outward, a widening noose -dropped swiftly through the air, there was a quick jerk as it settled -about Taug, falling to his knees, a jerk that tightened it securely -about the hairy legs of the anthropoid. - -Taug, slow of wit, realized too late the intention of his tormentor. He -scrambled to escape, but the ape-man gave the rope a tremendous jerk -that pulled Taug from his perch, and a moment later, growling -hideously, the ape hung head downward thirty feet above the ground. - -Tarzan secured the rope to a stout limb and descended to a point close -to Taug. - -“Taug,” he said, “you are as stupid as Buto, the rhinoceros. Now you -may hang here until you get a little sense in your thick head. You may -hang here and watch while I go and talk with Teeka.” - -Taug blustered and threatened, but Tarzan only grinned at him as he -dropped lightly to the lower levels. Here he again approached Teeka -only to be again greeted with bared fangs and menacing growls. He -sought to placate her; he urged his friendly intentions, and craned his -neck to have a look at Teeka’s balu; but the she-ape was not to be -persuaded that he meant other than harm to her little one. Her -motherhood was still so new that reason was yet subservient to -instinct. - -Realizing the futility of attempting to catch and chastise Tarzan, -Teeka sought to escape him. She dropped to the ground and lumbered -across the little clearing about which the apes of the tribe were -disposed in rest or in the search of food, and presently Tarzan -abandoned his attempts to persuade her to permit a close examination of -the balu. The ape-man would have liked to handle the tiny thing. The -very sight of it awakened in his breast a strange yearning. He wished -to cuddle and fondle the grotesque little ape-thing. It was Teeka’s -balu and Tarzan had once lavished his young affections upon Teeka. - -But now his attention was diverted by the voice of Taug. The threats -that had filled the ape’s mouth had turned to pleas. The tightening -noose was stopping the circulation of the blood in his legs—he was -beginning to suffer. Several apes sat near him highly interested in his -predicament. They made uncomplimentary remarks about him, for each of -them had felt the weight of Taug’s mighty hands and the strength of his -great jaws. They were enjoying revenge. - -Teeka, seeing that Tarzan had turned back toward the trees, had halted -in the center of the clearing, and there she sat hugging her balu and -casting suspicious glances here and there. With the coming of the balu, -Teeka’s care-free world had suddenly become peopled with innumerable -enemies. She saw an implacable foe in Tarzan, always heretofore her -best friend. Even poor old Mumga, half blind and almost entirely -toothless, searching patiently for grubworms beneath a fallen log, -represented to her a malignant spirit thirsting for the blood of little -balus. - -And while Teeka guarded suspiciously against harm, where there was no -harm, she failed to note two baleful, yellow-green eyes staring fixedly -at her from behind a clump of bushes at the opposite side of the -clearing. - -Hollow from hunger, Sheeta, the panther, glared greedily at the -tempting meat so close at hand, but the sight of the great bulls beyond -gave him pause. - -Ah, if the she-ape with her balu would but come just a trifle nearer! A -quick spring and he would be upon them and away again with his meat -before the bulls could prevent. - -The tip of his tawny tail moved in spasmodic little jerks; his lower -jaw hung low, exposing a red tongue and yellow fangs. But all this -Teeka did not see, nor did any other of the apes who were feeding or -resting about her. Nor did Tarzan or the apes in the trees. - -Hearing the abuse which the bulls were pouring upon the helpless Taug, -Tarzan clambered quickly among them. One was edging closer and leaning -far out in an effort to reach the dangling ape. He had worked himself -into quite a fury through recollection of the last occasion upon which -Taug had mauled him, and now he was bent upon revenge. Once he had -grasped the swinging ape, he would quickly have drawn him within reach -of his jaws. Tarzan saw and was wroth. He loved a fair fight, but the -thing which this ape contemplated revolted him. Already a hairy hand -had clutched the helpless Taug when, with an angry growl of protest, -Tarzan leaped to the branch at the attacking ape’s side, and with a -single mighty cuff, swept him from his perch. - -Surprised and enraged, the bull clutched madly for support as he -toppled sidewise, and then with an agile movement succeeded in -projecting himself toward another limb a few feet below. Here he found -a hand-hold, quickly righted himself, and as quickly clambered upward -to be revenged upon Tarzan, but the ape-man was otherwise engaged and -did not wish to be interrupted. He was explaining again to Taug the -depths of the latter’s abysmal ignorance, and pointing out how much -greater and mightier was Tarzan of the Apes than Taug or any other ape. - -In the end he would release Taug, but not until Taug was fully -acquainted with his own inferiority. And then the maddened bull came -from beneath, and instantly Tarzan was transformed from a good-natured, -teasing youth into a snarling, savage beast. Along his scalp the hair -bristled: his upper lip drew back that his fighting fangs might be -uncovered and ready. He did not wait for the bull to reach him, for -something in the appearance or the voice of the attacker aroused within -the ape-man a feeling of belligerent antagonism that would not be -denied. With a scream that carried no human note, Tarzan leaped -straight at the throat of the attacker. - -The impetuosity of this act and the weight and momentum of his body -carried the bull backward, clutching and clawing for support, down -through the leafy branches of the tree. For fifteen feet the two fell, -Tarzan’s teeth buried in the jugular of his opponent, when a stout -branch stopped their descent. The bull struck full upon the small of -his back across the limb, hung there for a moment with the ape-man -still upon his breast, and then toppled over toward the ground. - -Tarzan had felt the instantaneous relaxation of the body beneath him -after the heavy impact with the tree limb, and as the other turned -completely over and started again upon its fall toward the ground, he -reached forth a hand and caught the branch in time to stay his own -descent, while the ape dropped like a plummet to the foot of the tree. - -Tarzan looked downward for a moment upon the still form of his late -antagonist, then he rose to his full height, swelled his deep chest, -smote upon it with his clenched fist and roared out the uncanny -challenge of the victorious bull ape. - -Even Sheeta, the panther, crouched for a spring at the edge of the -little clearing, moved uneasily as the mighty voice sent its weird cry -reverberating through the jungle. To right and left, nervously, glanced -Sheeta, as though assuring himself that the way of escape lay ready at -hand. - -“I am Tarzan of the Apes,” boasted the ape-man; “mighty hunter, mighty -fighter! None in all the jungle so great as Tarzan.” - -Then he made his way back in the direction of Taug. Teeka had watched -the happenings in the tree. She had even placed her precious balu upon -the soft grasses and come a little nearer that she might better witness -all that was passing in the branches above her. In her heart of hearts -did she still esteem the smooth-skinned Tarzan? Did her savage breast -swell with pride as she witnessed his victory over the ape? You will -have to ask Teeka. - -And Sheeta, the panther, saw that the she-ape had left her cub alone -among the grasses. He moved his tail again, as though this closest -approximation of lashing in which he dared indulge might stimulate his -momentarily waned courage. The cry of the victorious ape-man still held -his nerves beneath its spell. It would be several minutes before he -again could bring himself to the point of charging into view of the -giant anthropoids. - -And as he regathered his forces, Tarzan reached Taug’s side, and then -clambering higher up to the point where the end of the grass rope was -made fast, he unloosed it and lowered the ape slowly downward, swinging -him in until the clutching hands fastened upon a limb. - -Quickly Taug drew himself to a position of safety and shook off the -noose. In his rage-maddened heart was no room for gratitude to the -ape-man. He recalled only the fact that Tarzan had laid this painful -indignity upon him. He would be revenged, but just at present his legs -were so numb and his head so dizzy that he must postpone the -gratification of his vengeance. - -Tarzan was coiling his rope the while he lectured Taug on the futility -of pitting his poor powers, physical and intellectual, against those of -his betters. Teeka had come close beneath the tree and was peering -upward. Sheeta was worming his way stealthily forward, his belly close -to the ground. In another moment he would be clear of the underbrush -and ready for the rapid charge and the quick retreat that would end the -brief existence of Teeka’s balu. - -Then Tarzan chanced to look up and across the clearing. Instantly his -attitude of good-natured bantering and pompous boastfulness dropped -from him. Silently and swiftly he shot downward toward the ground. -Teeka, seeing him coming, and thinking that he was after her or her -balu, bristled and prepared to fight. But Tarzan sped by her, and as he -went, her eyes followed him and she saw the cause of his sudden descent -and his rapid charge across the clearing. There in full sight now was -Sheeta, the panther, stalking slowly toward the tiny, wriggling balu -which lay among the grasses many yards away. - -Teeka gave voice to a shrill scream of terror and of warning as she -dashed after the ape-man. Sheeta saw Tarzan coming. He saw the -she-ape’s cub before him, and he thought that this other was bent upon -robbing him of his prey. With an angry growl, he charged. - -Taug, warned by Teeka’s cry, came lumbering down to her assistance. -Several other bulls, growling and barking, closed in toward the -clearing, but they were all much farther from the balu and the panther -than was Tarzan of the Apes, so it was that Sheeta and the ape-man -reached Teeka’s little one almost simultaneously; and there they stood, -one upon either side of it, baring their fangs and snarling at each -other over the little creature. - -Sheeta was afraid to seize the balu, for thus he would give the ape-man -an opening for attack; and for the same reason Tarzan hesitated to -snatch the panther’s prey out of harm’s way, for had he stooped to -accomplish this, the great beast would have been upon him in an -instant. Thus they stood while Teeka came across the clearing, going -more slowly as she neared the panther, for even her mother love could -scarce overcome her instinctive terror of this natural enemy of her -kind. - -Behind her came Taug, warily and with many pauses and much bluster, and -still behind him came other bulls, snarling ferociously and uttering -their uncanny challenges. Sheeta’s yellow-green eyes glared terribly at -Tarzan, and past Tarzan they shot brief glances at the apes of Kerchak -advancing upon him. Discretion prompted him to turn and flee, but -hunger and the close proximity of the tempting morsel in the grass -before him urged him to remain. He reached forth a paw toward Teeka’s -balu, and as he did so, with a savage guttural, Tarzan of the Apes was -upon him. - -The panther reared to meet the ape-man’s attack. He swung a frightful -raking blow for Tarzan that would have wiped his face away had it -landed, but it did not land, for Tarzan ducked beneath it and closed, -his long knife ready in one strong hand—the knife of his dead father, -of the father he never had known. - -Instantly the balu was forgotten by Sheeta, the panther. He now thought -only of tearing to ribbons with his powerful talons the flesh of his -antagonist, of burying his long, yellow fangs in the soft, smooth hide -of the ape-man, but Tarzan had fought before with clawed creatures of -the jungle. Before now he had battled with fanged monsters, nor always -had he come away unscathed. He knew the risk that he ran, but Tarzan of -the Apes, inured to the sight of suffering and death, shrank from -neither, for he feared neither. - -The instant that he dodged beneath Sheeta’s blow, he leaped to the -beast’s rear and then full upon the tawny back, burying his teeth in -Sheeta’s neck and the fingers of one hand in the fur at the throat, and -with the other hand he drove his blade into Sheeta’s side. - -Over and over upon the grass rolled Sheeta, growling and screaming, -clawing and biting, in a mad effort to dislodge his antagonist or get -some portion of his body within range of teeth or talons. - -As Tarzan leaped to close quarters with the panther, Teeka had run -quickly in and snatched up her balu. Now she sat upon a high branch, -safe out of harm’s way, cuddling the little thing close to her hairy -breast, the while her savage little eyes bored down upon the -contestants in the clearing, and her ferocious voice urged Taug and the -other bulls to leap into the melee. - -Thus goaded the bulls came closer, redoubling their hideous clamor; but -Sheeta was already sufficiently engaged—he did not even hear them. Once -he succeeded in partially dislodging the ape-man from his back, so that -Tarzan swung for an instant in front of those awful talons, and in the -brief instant before he could regain his former hold, a raking blow -from a hind paw laid open one leg from hip to knee. - -It was the sight and smell of this blood, possibly, which wrought upon -the encircling apes; but it was Taug who really was responsible for the -thing they did. - -Taug, but a moment before filled with rage toward Tarzan of the Apes, -stood close to the battling pair, his red-rimmed, wicked little eyes -glaring at them. What was passing in his savage brain? Did he gloat -over the unenviable position of his recent tormentor? Did he long to -see Sheeta’s great fangs sink into the soft throat of the ape-man? Or -did he realize the courageous unselfishness that had prompted Tarzan to -rush to the rescue and imperil his life for Teeka’s balu—for Taug’s -little balu? Is gratitude a possession of man only, or do the lower -orders know it also? - -With the spilling of Tarzan’s blood, Taug answered these questions. -With all the weight of his great body he leaped, hideously growling, -upon Sheeta. His long fighting fangs buried themselves in the white -throat. His powerful arms beat and clawed at the soft fur until it flew -upward in the jungle breeze. - -And with Taug’s example before them the other bulls charged, burying -Sheeta beneath rending fangs and filling all the forest with the wild -din of their battle cries. - -Ah! but it was a wondrous and inspiring sight—this battle of the -primordial apes and the great, white ape-man with their ancestral foe, -Sheeta, the panther. - -In frenzied excitement, Teeka fairly danced upon the limb which swayed -beneath her great weight as she urged on the males of her people, and -Thaka, and Mumga, and Kamma, with the other shes of the tribe of -Kerchak, added their shrill cries or fierce barkings to the pandemonium -which now reigned within the jungle. - -Bitten and biting, tearing and torn, Sheeta battled for his life; but -the odds were against him. Even Numa, the lion, would have hesitated to -have attacked an equal number of the great bulls of the tribe of -Kerchak, and now, a half mile away, hearing the sounds of the terrific -battle, the king of beasts rose uneasily from his midday slumber and -slunk off farther into the jungle. - -Presently Sheeta’s torn and bloody body ceased its titanic struggles. -It stiffened spasmodically, twitched and was still, yet the bulls -continued to lacerate it until the beautiful coat was torn to shreds. -At last they desisted from sheer physical weariness, and then from the -tangle of bloody bodies rose a crimson giant, straight as an arrow. - -He placed a foot upon the dead body of the panther, and lifting his -blood-stained face to the blue of the equatorial heavens, gave voice to -the horrid victory cry of the bull ape. - -One by one his hairy fellows of the tribe of Kerchak followed his -example. The shes came down from their perches of safety and struck and -reviled the dead body of Sheeta. The young apes refought the battle in -mimicry of their mighty elders. - -Teeka was quite close to Tarzan. He turned and saw her with the balu -hugged close to her hairy breast, and put out his hands to take the -little one, expecting that Teeka would bare her fangs and spring upon -him; but instead she placed the balu in his arms, and coming nearer, -licked his frightful wounds. - -And presently Taug, who had escaped with only a few scratches, came and -squatted beside Tarzan and watched him as he played with the little -balu, and at last he too leaned over and helped Teeka with the -cleansing and the healing of the ape-man’s hurts. - - - - -CHAPTER IV -The God of Tarzan - - -Among the books of his dead father in the little cabin by the -land-locked harbor, Tarzan of the Apes found many things to puzzle his -young head. By much labor and through the medium of infinite patience -as well, he had, without assistance, discovered the purpose of the -little bugs which ran riot upon the printed pages. He had learned that -in the many combinations in which he found them they spoke in a silent -language, spoke in a strange tongue, spoke of wonderful things which a -little ape-boy could not by any chance fully understand, arousing his -curiosity, stimulating his imagination and filling his soul with a -mighty longing for further knowledge. - -A dictionary had proven itself a wonderful storehouse of information, -when, after several years of tireless endeavor, he had solved the -mystery of its purpose and the manner of its use. He had learned to -make a species of game out of it, following up the spoor of a new -thought through the mazes of the many definitions which each new word -required him to consult. It was like following a quarry through the -jungle—it was hunting, and Tarzan of the Apes was an indefatigable -huntsman. - -There were, of course, certain words which aroused his curiosity to a -greater extent than others, words which, for one reason or another, -excited his imagination. There was one, for example, the meaning of -which was rather difficult to grasp. It was the word GOD. Tarzan first -had been attracted to it by the fact that it was very short and that it -commenced with a larger g-bug than those about it—a male g-bug it was -to Tarzan, the lower-case letters being females. Another fact which -attracted him to this word was the number of he-bugs which figured in -its definition—Supreme Deity, Creator or Upholder of the Universe. This -must be a very important word indeed, he would have to look into it, -and he did, though it still baffled him after many months of thought -and study. - -However, Tarzan counted no time wasted which he devoted to these -strange hunting expeditions into the game preserves of knowledge, for -each word and each definition led on and on into strange places, into -new worlds where, with increasing frequency, he met old, familiar -faces. And always he added to his store of knowledge. - -But of the meaning of GOD he was yet in doubt. Once he thought he had -grasped it—that God was a mighty chieftain, king of all the Mangani. He -was not quite sure, however, since that would mean that God was -mightier than Tarzan—a point which Tarzan of the Apes, who acknowledged -no equal in the jungle, was loath to concede. - -But in all the books he had there was no picture of God, though he -found much to confirm his belief that God was a great, an all-powerful -individual. He saw pictures of places where God was worshiped; but -never any sign of God. Finally he began to wonder if God were not of a -different form than he, and at last he determined to set out in search -of Him. - -He commenced by questioning Mumga, who was very old and had seen many -strange things in her long life; but Mumga, being an ape, had a faculty -for recalling the trivial. That time when Gunto mistook a sting-bug for -an edible beetle had made more impression upon Mumga than all the -innumerable manifestations of the greatness of God which she had -witnessed, and which, of course, she had not understood. - -Numgo, overhearing Tarzan’s questions, managed to wrest his attention -long enough from the diversion of flea hunting to advance the theory -that the power which made the lightning and the rain and the thunder -came from Goro, the moon. He knew this, he said, because the Dum-Dum -always was danced in the light of Goro. This reasoning, though entirely -satisfactory to Numgo and Mumga, failed fully to convince Tarzan. -However, it gave him a basis for further investigation along a new -line. He would investigate the moon. - -That night he clambered to the loftiest pinnacle of the tallest jungle -giant. The moon was full, a great, glorious, equatorial moon. The -ape-man, upright upon a slender, swaying limb, raised his bronzed face -to the silver orb. Now that he had clambered to the highest point -within his reach, he discovered, to his surprise, that Goro was as far -away as when he viewed him from the ground. He thought that Goro was -attempting to elude him. - -“Come, Goro!” he cried, “Tarzan of the Apes will not harm you!” But -still the moon held aloof. - -“Tell me,” he continued, “if you be the great king who sends Ara, the -lightning; who makes the great noise and the mighty winds, and sends -the waters down upon the jungle people when the days are dark and it is -cold. Tell me, Goro, are you God?” - -Of course he did not pronounce God as you or I would pronounce His -name, for Tarzan knew naught of the spoken language of his English -forbears; but he had a name of his own invention for each of the little -bugs which constituted the alphabet. Unlike the apes he was not -satisfied merely to have a mental picture of the things he knew, he -must have a word descriptive of each. In reading he grasped a word in -its entirety; but when he spoke the words he had learned from the books -of his father, he pronounced each according to the names he had given -the various little bugs which occurred in it, usually giving the gender -prefix for each. - -Thus it was an imposing word which Tarzan made of GOD. The masculine -prefix of the apes is BU, the feminine MU; g Tarzan had named LA, o he -pronounced TU, and d was MO. So the word God evolved itself into -BULAMUTUMUMO, or, in English, he-g-she-o-she-d. - -Similarly he had arrived at a strange and wonderful spelling of his own -name. Tarzan is derived from the two ape words TAR and ZAN, meaning -white skin. It was given him by his foster mother, Kala, the great -she-ape. When Tarzan first put it into the written language of his own -people he had not yet chanced upon either WHITE or SKIN in the -dictionary; but in a primer he had seen the picture of a little white -boy and so he wrote his name BUMUDE-MUTOMURO, or he-boy. - -To follow Tarzan’s strange system of spelling would be laborious as -well as futile, and so we shall in the future, as we have in the past, -adhere to the more familiar forms of our grammar school copybooks. It -would tire you to remember that DO meant b, TU o, and RO y, and that to -say he-boy you must prefix the ape masculine gender sound BU before the -entire word and the feminine gender sound MU before each of the -lower-case letters which go to make up boy—it would tire you and it -would bring me to the nineteenth hole several strokes under par. - -And so Tarzan harangued the moon, and when Goro did not reply, Tarzan -of the Apes waxed wroth. He swelled his giant chest and bared his -fighting fangs, and hurled into the teeth of the dead satellite the -challenge of the bull ape. - -“You are not Bulamutumumo,” he cried. “You are not king of the jungle -folk. You are not so great as Tarzan, mighty fighter, mighty hunter. -None there is so great as Tarzan. If there be a Bulamutumumo, Tarzan -can kill him. Come down, Goro, great coward, and fight with Tarzan. -Tarzan will kill you. I am Tarzan, the killer.” - -But the moon made no answer to the boasting of the ape-man, and when a -cloud came and obscured her face, Tarzan thought that Goro was indeed -afraid, and was hiding from him, so he came down out of the trees and -awoke Numgo and told him how great was Tarzan—how he had frightened -Goro out of the sky and made him tremble. Tarzan spoke of the moon as -HE, for all things large or awe inspiring are male to the ape folk. - -Numgo was not much impressed; but he was very sleepy, so he told Tarzan -to go away and leave his betters alone. - -“But where shall I find God?” insisted Tarzan. “You are very old; if -there is a God you must have seen Him. What does He look like? Where -does He live?” - -“I am God,” replied Numgo. “Now sleep and disturb me no more.” - -Tarzan looked at Numgo steadily for several minutes, his shapely head -sank just a trifle between his great shoulders, his square chin shot -forward and his short upper lip drew back, exposing his white teeth. -Then, with a low growl he leaped upon the ape and buried his fangs in -the other’s hairy shoulder, clutching the great neck in his mighty -fingers. Twice he shook the old ape, then he released his tooth-hold. - -“Are you God?” he demanded. - -“No,” wailed Numgo. “I am only a poor, old ape. Leave me alone. Go ask -the Gomangani where God is. They are hairless like yourself and very -wise, too. They should know.” - -Tarzan released Numgo and turned away. The suggestion that he consult -the blacks appealed to him, and though his relations with the people of -Mbonga, the chief, were the antithesis of friendly, he could at least -spy upon his hated enemies and discover if they had intercourse with -God. - -So it was that Tarzan set forth through the trees toward the village of -the blacks, all excitement at the prospect of discovering the Supreme -Being, the Creator of all things. As he traveled he reviewed, mentally, -his armament—the condition of his hunting knife, the number of his -arrows, the newness of the gut which strung his bow—he hefted the war -spear which had once been the pride of some black warrior of Mbonga’s -tribe. - -If he met God, Tarzan would be prepared. One could never tell whether a -grass rope, a war spear, or a poisoned arrow would be most efficacious -against an unfamiliar foe. Tarzan of the Apes was quite content—if God -wished to fight, the ape-man had no doubt as to the outcome of the -struggle. There were many questions Tarzan wished to put to the Creator -of the Universe and so he hoped that God would not prove a belligerent -God; but his experience of life and the ways of living things had -taught him that any creature with the means for offense and defense was -quite likely to provoke attack if in the proper mood. - -It was dark when Tarzan came to the village of Mbonga. As silently as -the silent shadows of the night he sought his accustomed place among -the branches of the great tree which overhung the palisade. Below him, -in the village street, he saw men and women. The men were hideously -painted—more hideously than usual. Among them moved a weird and -grotesque figure, a tall figure that went upon the two legs of a man -and yet had the head of a buffalo. A tail dangled to his ankles behind -him, and in one hand he carried a zebra’s tail while the other clutched -a bunch of small arrows. - -Tarzan was electrified. Could it be that chance had given him thus -early an opportunity to look upon God? Surely this thing was neither -man nor beast, so what could it be then other than the Creator of the -Universe! The ape-man watched the every move of the strange creature. -He saw the black men and women fall back at its approach as though they -stood in terror of its mysterious powers. - -Presently he discovered that the deity was speaking and that all -listened in silence to his words. Tarzan was sure that none other than -God could inspire such awe in the hearts of the Gomangani, or stop -their mouths so effectually without recourse to arrows or spears. -Tarzan had come to look with contempt upon the blacks, principally -because of their garrulity. The small apes talked a great deal and ran -away from an enemy. The big, old bulls of Kerchak talked but little and -fought upon the slightest provocation. Numa, the lion, was not given to -loquacity, yet of all the jungle folk there were few who fought more -often than he. - -Tarzan witnessed strange things that night, none of which he -understood, and, perhaps because they were strange, he thought that -they must have to do with the God he could not understand. He saw three -youths receive their first war spears in a weird ceremony which the -grotesque witch-doctor strove successfully to render uncanny and -awesome. - -Hugely interested, he watched the slashing of the three brown arms and -the exchange of blood with Mbonga, the chief, in the rites of the -ceremony of blood brotherhood. He saw the zebra’s tail dipped into a -caldron of water above which the witch-doctor had made magical passes -the while he danced and leaped about it, and he saw the breasts and -foreheads of each of the three novitiates sprinkled with the charmed -liquid. Could the ape-man have known the purpose of this act, that it -was intended to render the recipient invulnerable to the attacks of his -enemies and fearless in the face of any danger, he would doubtless have -leaped into the village street and appropriated the zebra’s tail and a -portion of the contents of the caldron. - -But he did not know, and so he only wondered, not alone at what he saw -but at the strange sensations which played up and down his naked spine, -sensations induced, doubtless, by the same hypnotic influence which -held the black spectators in tense awe upon the verge of a hysteric -upheaval. - -The longer Tarzan watched, the more convinced he became that his eyes -were upon God, and with the conviction came determination to have word -with the deity. With Tarzan of the Apes, to think was to act. - -The people of Mbonga were keyed to the highest pitch of hysterical -excitement. They needed little to release the accumulated pressure of -static nerve force which the terrorizing mummery of the witch-doctor -had induced. - -A lion roared, suddenly and loud, close without the palisade. The -blacks started nervously, dropping into utter silence as they listened -for a repetition of that all-too-familiar and always terrorizing voice. -Even the witch-doctor paused in the midst of an intricate step, -remaining momentarily rigid and statuesque as he plumbed his cunning -mind for a suggestion as how best he might take advantage of the -condition of his audience and the timely interruption. - -Already the evening had been vastly profitable to him. There would be -three goats for the initiation of the three youths into full-fledged -warriorship, and besides these he had received several gifts of grain -and beads, together with a piece of copper wire from admiring and -terrified members of his audience. - -Numa’s roar still reverberated along taut nerves when a woman’s laugh, -shrill and piercing, shattered the silence of the village. It was this -moment that Tarzan chose to drop lightly from his tree into the village -street. Fearless among his blood enemies he stood, taller by a full -head than many of Mbonga’s warriors, straight as their straightest -arrow, muscled like Numa, the lion. - -For a moment Tarzan stood looking straight at the witch-doctor. Every -eye was upon him, yet no one had moved—a paralysis of terror held them, -to be broken a moment later as the ape-man, with a toss of head, -stepped straight toward the hideous figure beneath the buffalo head. - -Then the nerves of the blacks could stand no more. For months the -terror of the strange, white, jungle god had been upon them. Their -arrows had been stolen from the very center of the village; their -warriors had been silently slain upon the jungle trails and their dead -bodies dropped mysteriously and by night into the village street as -from the heavens above. - -One or two there were who had glimpsed the strange figure of the new -demon and it was from their oft-repeated descriptions that the entire -village now recognized Tarzan as the author of many of their ills. Upon -another occasion and by daylight, the warriors would doubtless have -leaped to attack him, but at night, and this night of all others, when -they were wrought to such a pitch of nervous dread by the uncanny -artistry of their witch-doctor, they were helpless with terror. As one -man they turned and fled, scattering for their huts, as Tarzan -advanced. For a moment one and one only held his ground. It was the -witch-doctor. More than half self-hypnotized into a belief in his own -charlatanry he faced this new demon who threatened to undermine his -ancient and lucrative profession. - -“Are you God?” asked Tarzan. - -The witch-doctor, having no idea of the meaning of the other’s words, -danced a few strange steps, leaped high in the air, turning completely -around and alighting in a stooping posture with feet far outspread and -head thrust out toward the ape-man. Thus he remained for an instant -before he uttered a loud “Boo!” which was evidently intended to -frighten Tarzan away; but in reality had no such effect. - -Tarzan did not pause. He had set out to approach and examine God and -nothing upon earth might now stay his feet. Seeing that his antics had -no potency with the visitor, the witch-doctor tried some new medicine. -Spitting upon the zebra’s tail, which he still clutched in one hand, he -made circles above it with the arrows in the other hand, meanwhile -backing cautiously away from Tarzan and speaking confidentially to the -bushy end of the tail. - -This medicine must be short medicine, however, for the creature, god or -demon, was steadily closing up the distance which had separated them. -The circles therefore were few and rapid, and when they were completed, -the witch-doctor struck an attitude which was intended to be awe -inspiring and waving the zebra’s tail before him, drew an imaginary -line between himself and Tarzan. - -“Beyond this line you cannot pass, for my medicine is strong medicine,” -he cried. “Stop, or you will fall dead as your foot touches this spot. -My mother was a voodoo, my father was a snake; I live upon lions’ -hearts and the entrails of the panther; I eat young babies for -breakfast and the demons of the jungle are my slaves. I am the most -powerful witch-doctor in the world; I fear nothing, for I cannot die. -I—” But he got no further; instead he turned and fled as Tarzan of the -Apes crossed the magical dead line and still lived. - -As the witch-doctor ran, Tarzan almost lost his temper. This was no way -for God to act, at least not in accordance with the conception Tarzan -had come to have of God. - -“Come back!” he cried. “Come back, God, I will not harm you.” But the -witch-doctor was in full retreat by this time, stepping high as he -leaped over cooking pots and the smoldering embers of small fires that -had burned before the huts of villagers. Straight for his own hut ran -the witch-doctor, terror-spurred to unwonted speed; but futile was his -effort—the ape-man bore down upon him with the speed of Bara, the deer. - -Just at the entrance to his hut the witch-doctor was overhauled. A -heavy hand fell upon his shoulder to drag him back. It seized upon a -portion of the buffalo hide, dragging the disguise from him. It was a -naked black man that Tarzan saw dodge into the darkness of the hut’s -interior. - -So this was what he had thought was God! Tarzan’s lip curled in an -angry snarl as he leaped into the hut after the terror-stricken -witch-doctor. In the blackness within he found the man huddled at the -far side and dragged him forth into the comparative lightness of the -moonlit night. - -The witch-doctor bit and scratched in an attempt to escape; but a few -cuffs across the head brought him to a better realization of the -futility of resistance. Beneath the moon Tarzan held the cringing -figure upon its shaking feet. - -“So you are God!” he cried. “If you be God, then Tarzan is greater than -God,” and so the ape-man thought. “I am Tarzan,” he shouted into the -ear of the black. “In all the jungle, or above it, or upon the running -waters, or the sleeping waters, or upon the big water, or the little -water, there is none so great as Tarzan. Tarzan is greater than the -Mangani; he is greater than the Gomangani. With his own hands he has -slain Numa, the lion, and Sheeta, the panther; there is none so great -as Tarzan. Tarzan is greater than God. See!” and with a sudden wrench -he twisted the black’s neck until the fellow shrieked in pain and then -slumped to the earth in a swoon. - -Placing his foot upon the neck of the fallen witch-doctor, the ape-man -raised his face to the moon and uttered the long, shrill scream of the -victorious bull ape. Then he stooped and snatched the zebra’s tail from -the nerveless fingers of the unconscious man and without a backward -glance retraced his footsteps across the village. - -From several hut doorways frightened eyes watched him. Mbonga, the -chief, was one of those who had seen what passed before the hut of the -witch-doctor. Mbonga was greatly concerned. Wise old patriarch that he -was, he never had more than half believed in witch-doctors, at least -not since greater wisdom had come with age; but as a chief he was well -convinced of the power of the witch-doctor as an arm of government, and -often it was that Mbonga used the superstitious fears of his people to -his own ends through the medium of the medicine-man. - -Mbonga and the witch-doctor had worked together and divided the spoils, -and now the “face” of the witch-doctor would be lost forever if any saw -what Mbonga had seen; nor would this generation again have as much -faith in any future witch-doctor. - -Mbonga must do something to counteract the evil influence of the forest -demon’s victory over the witch-doctor. He raised his heavy spear and -crept silently from his hut in the wake of the retreating ape-man. Down -the village street walked Tarzan, as unconcerned and as deliberate as -though only the friendly apes of Kerchak surrounded him instead of a -village full of armed enemies. - -Seeming only was the indifference of Tarzan, for alert and watchful was -every well-trained sense. Mbonga, wily stalker of keen-eared jungle -creatures, moved now in utter silence. Not even Bara, the deer, with -his great ears could have guessed from any sound that Mbonga was near; -but the black was not stalking Bara; he was stalking man, and so he -sought only to avoid noise. - -Closer and closer to the slowly moving ape-man he came. Now he raised -his war spear, throwing his spear-hand far back above his right -shoulder. Once and for all would Mbonga, the chief, rid himself and his -people of the menace of this terrifying enemy. He would make no poor -cast; he would take pains, and he would hurl his weapon with such great -force as would finish the demon forever. - -But Mbonga, sure as he thought himself, erred in his calculations. He -might believe that he was stalking a man—he did not know, however, that -it was a man with the delicate sense perception of the lower orders. -Tarzan, when he had turned his back upon his enemies, had noted what -Mbonga never would have thought of considering in the hunting of -man—the wind. It was blowing in the same direction that Tarzan was -proceeding, carrying to his delicate nostrils the odors which arose -behind him. Thus it was that Tarzan knew that he was being followed, -for even among the many stenches of an African village, the ape-man’s -uncanny faculty was equal to the task of differentiating one stench -from another and locating with remarkable precision the source from -whence it came. - -He knew that a man was following him and coming closer, and his -judgment warned him of the purpose of the stalker. When Mbonga, -therefore, came within spear range of the ape-man, the latter suddenly -wheeled upon him, so suddenly that the poised spear was shot a fraction -of a second before Mbonga had intended. It went a trifle high and -Tarzan stooped to let it pass over his head; then he sprang toward the -chief. But Mbonga did not wait to receive him. Instead, he turned and -fled for the dark doorway of the nearest hut, calling as he went for -his warriors to fall upon the stranger and slay him. - -Well indeed might Mbonga scream for help, for Tarzan, young and -fleet-footed, covered the distance between them in great leaps, at the -speed of a charging lion. He was growling, too, not at all unlike Numa -himself. Mbonga heard and his blood ran cold. He could feel the wool -stiffen upon his pate and a prickly chill run up his spine, as though -Death had come and run his cold finger along Mbonga’s back. - -Others heard, too, and saw, from the darkness of their huts—bold -warriors, hideously painted, grasping heavy war spears in nerveless -fingers. Against Numa, the lion, they would have charged fearlessly. -Against many times their own number of black warriors would they have -raced to the protection of their chief; but this weird jungle demon -filled them with terror. There was nothing human in the bestial growls -that rumbled up from his deep chest; there was nothing human in the -bared fangs, or the catlike leaps. - -Mbonga’s warriors were terrified—too terrified to leave the seeming -security of their huts while they watched the beast-man spring full -upon the back of their old chieftain. - -Mbonga went down with a scream of terror. He was too frightened even to -attempt to defend himself. He just lay beneath his antagonist in a -paralysis of fear, screaming at the top of his lungs. Tarzan half rose -and kneeled above the black. He turned Mbonga over and looked him in -the face, exposing the man’s throat, then he drew his long, keen knife, -the knife that John Clayton, Lord Greystoke, had brought from England -many years before. He raised it close above Mbonga’s neck. The old -black whimpered with terror. He pleaded for his life in a tongue which -Tarzan could not understand. - -For the first time the ape-man had a close view of the chief. He saw an -old man, a very old man with scrawny neck and wrinkled face—a dried, -parchment-like face which resembled some of the little monkeys Tarzan -knew so well. He saw the terror in the man’s eyes—never before had -Tarzan seen such terror in the eyes of any animal, or such a piteous -appeal for mercy upon the face of any creature. - -Something stayed the ape-man’s hand for an instant. He wondered why it -was that he hesitated to make the kill; never before had he thus -delayed. The old man seemed to wither and shrink to a bag of puny bones -beneath his eyes. So weak and helpless and terror-stricken he appeared -that the ape-man was filled with a great contempt; but another -sensation also claimed him—something new to Tarzan of the Apes in -relation to an enemy. It was pity—pity for a poor, frightened, old man. - -Tarzan rose and turned away, leaving Mbonga, the chief, unharmed. - -With head held high the ape-man walked through the village, swung -himself into the branches of the tree which overhung the palisade and -disappeared from the sight of the villagers. - -All the way back to the stamping ground of the apes, Tarzan sought for -an explanation of the strange power which had stayed his hand and -prevented him from slaying Mbonga. It was as though someone greater -than he had commanded him to spare the life of the old man. Tarzan -could not understand, for he could conceive of nothing, or no one, with -the authority to dictate to him what he should do, or what he should -refrain from doing. - -It was late when Tarzan sought a swaying couch among the trees beneath -which slept the apes of Kerchak, and he was still absorbed in the -solution of his strange problem when he fell asleep. - -The sun was well up in the heavens when he awoke. The apes were astir -in search of food. Tarzan watched them lazily from above as they -scratched in the rotting loam for bugs and beetles and grubworms, or -sought among the branches of the trees for eggs and young birds, or -luscious caterpillars. - -An orchid, dangling close beside his head, opened slowly, unfolding its -delicate petals to the warmth and light of the sun which but recently -had penetrated to its shady retreat. A thousand times had Tarzan of the -Apes witnessed the beauteous miracle; but now it aroused a keener -interest, for the ape-man was just commencing to ask himself questions -about all the myriad wonders which heretofore he had but taken for -granted. - -What made the flower open? What made it grow from a tiny bud to a -full-blown bloom? Why was it at all? Why was he? Where did Numa, the -lion, come from? Who planted the first tree? How did Goro get way up -into the darkness of the night sky to cast his welcome light upon the -fearsome nocturnal jungle? And the sun! Did the sun merely happen -there? - -Why were all the peoples of the jungle not trees? Why were the trees -not something else? Why was Tarzan different from Taug, and Taug -different from Bara, the deer, and Bara different from Sheeta, the -panther, and why was not Sheeta like Buto, the rhinoceros? Where and -how, anyway, did they all come from—the trees, the flowers, the -insects, the countless creatures of the jungle? - -Quite unexpectedly an idea popped into Tarzan’s head. In following out -the many ramifications of the dictionary definition of GOD he had come -upon the word CREATE—“to cause to come into existence; to form out of -nothing.” - -Tarzan almost had arrived at something tangible when a distant wail -startled him from his preoccupation into sensibility of the present and -the real. The wail came from the jungle at some little distance from -Tarzan’s swaying couch. It was the wail of a tiny balu. Tarzan -recognized it at once as the voice of Gazan, Teeka’s baby. They had -called it Gazan because its soft, baby hair had been unusually red, and -GAZAN in the language of the great apes, means red skin. - -The wail was immediately followed by a real scream of terror from the -small lungs. Tarzan was electrified into instant action. Like an arrow -from a bow he shot through the trees in the direction of the sound. -Ahead of him he heard the savage snarling of an adult she-ape. It was -Teeka to the rescue. The danger must be very real. Tarzan could tell -that by the note of rage mingled with fear in the voice of the she. - -Running along bending limbs, swinging from one tree to another, the -ape-man raced through the middle terraces toward the sounds which now -had risen in volume to deafening proportions. From all directions the -apes of Kerchak were hurrying in response to the appeal in the tones of -the balu and its mother, and as they came, their roars reverberated -through the forest. - -But Tarzan, swifter than his heavy fellows, distanced them all. It was -he who was first upon the scene. What he saw sent a cold chill through -his giant frame, for the enemy was the most hated and loathed of all -the jungle creatures. - -Twined in a great tree was Histah, the snake—huge, ponderous, slimy—and -in the folds of its deadly embrace was Teeka’s little balu, Gazan. -Nothing in the jungle inspired within the breast of Tarzan so near a -semblance to fear as did the hideous Histah. The apes, too, loathed the -terrifying reptile and feared him even more than they did Sheeta, the -panther, or Numa, the lion. Of all their enemies there was none they -gave a wider berth than they gave Histah, the snake. - -Tarzan knew that Teeka was peculiarly fearful of this silent, repulsive -foe, and as the scene broke upon his vision, it was the action of Teeka -which filled him with the greatest wonder, for at the moment that he -saw her, the she-ape leaped upon the glistening body of the snake, and -as the mighty folds encircled her as well as her offspring, she made no -effort to escape, but instead grasped the writhing body in a futile -effort to tear it from her screaming balu. - -Tarzan knew all too well how deep-rooted was Teeka’s terror of Histah. -He scarce could believe the testimony of his own eyes then, when they -told him that she had voluntarily rushed into that deadly embrace. Nor -was Teeka’s innate dread of the monster much greater than Tarzan’s own. -Never, willingly, had he touched a snake. Why, he could not say, for he -would admit fear of nothing; nor was it fear, but rather an inherent -repulsion bequeathed to him by many generations of civilized ancestors, -and back of them, perhaps, by countless myriads of such as Teeka, in -the breasts of each of which had lurked the same nameless terror of the -slimy reptile. - -Yet Tarzan did not hesitate more than had Teeka, but leaped upon Histah -with all the speed and impetuosity that he would have shown had he been -springing upon Bara, the deer, to make a kill for food. Thus beset the -snake writhed and twisted horribly; but not for an instant did it loose -its hold upon any of its intended victims, for it had included the -ape-man in its cold embrace the minute that he had fallen upon it. - -Still clinging to the tree, the mighty reptile held the three as though -they had been without weight, the while it sought to crush the life -from them. Tarzan had drawn his knife and this he now plunged rapidly -into the body of the enemy; but the encircling folds promised to sap -his life before he had inflicted a death wound upon the snake. Yet on -he fought, nor once did he seek to escape the horrid death that -confronted him—his sole aim was to slay Histah and thus free Teeka and -her balu. - -The great, wide-gaping jaws of the snake turned and hovered above him. -The elastic maw, which could accommodate a rabbit or a horned buck with -equal facility, yawned for him; but Histah, in turning his attention -upon the ape-man, brought his head within reach of Tarzan’s blade. -Instantly a brown hand leaped forth and seized the mottled neck, and -another drove the heavy hunting knife to the hilt into the little -brain. - -Convulsively Histah shuddered and relaxed, tensed and relaxed again, -whipping and striking with his great body; but no longer sentient or -sensible. Histah was dead, but in his death throes he might easily -dispatch a dozen apes or men. - -Quickly Tarzan seized Teeka and dragged her from the loosened embrace, -dropping her to the ground beneath, then he extricated the balu and -tossed it to its mother. Still Histah whipped about, clinging to the -ape-man; but after a dozen efforts Tarzan succeeded in wriggling free -and leaping to the ground out of range of the mighty battering of the -dying snake. - -A circle of apes surrounded the scene of the battle; but the moment -that Tarzan broke safely from the enemy they turned silently away to -resume their interrupted feeding, and Teeka turned with them, -apparently forgetful of all but her balu and the fact that when the -interruption had occurred she just had discovered an ingeniously hidden -nest containing three perfectly good eggs. - -Tarzan, equally indifferent to a battle that was over, merely cast a -parting glance at the still writhing body of Histah and wandered off -toward the little pool which served to water the tribe at this point. -Strangely, he did not give the victory cry over the vanquished Histah. -Why, he could not have told you, other than that to him Histah was not -an animal. He differed in some peculiar way from the other denizens of -the jungle. Tarzan only knew that he hated him. - -At the pool Tarzan drank his fill and lay stretched upon the soft grass -beneath the shade of a tree. His mind reverted to the battle with -Histah, the snake. It seemed strange to him that Teeka should have -placed herself within the folds of the horrid monster. Why had she done -it? Why, indeed, had he? Teeka did not belong to him, nor did Teeka’s -balu. They were both Taug’s. Why then had he done this thing? Histah -was not food for him when he was dead. There seemed to Tarzan, now that -he gave the matter thought, no reason in the world why he should have -done the thing he did, and presently it occurred to him that he had -acted almost involuntarily, just as he had acted when he had released -the old Gomangani the previous evening. - -What made him do such things? Somebody more powerful than he must force -him to act at times. “All-powerful,” thought Tarzan. “The little bugs -say that God is all-powerful. It must be that God made me do these -things, for I never did them by myself. It was God who made Teeka rush -upon Histah. Teeka would never go near Histah of her own volition. It -was God who held my knife from the throat of the old Gomangani. God -accomplishes strange things for he is ‘all-powerful.’ I cannot see Him; -but I know that it must be God who does these things. No Mangani, no -Gomangani, no Tarmangani could do them.” - -And the flowers—who made them grow? Ah, now it was all explained—the -flowers, the trees, the moon, the sun, himself, every living creature -in the jungle—they were all made by God out of nothing. - -And what was God? What did God look like? Of that he had no conception; -but he was sure that everything that was good came from God. His good -act in refraining from slaying the poor, defenseless old Gomangani; -Teeka’s love that had hurled her into the embrace of death; his own -loyalty to Teeka which had jeopardized his life that she might live. -The flowers and the trees were good and beautiful. God had made them. -He made the other creatures, too, that each might have food upon which -to live. He had made Sheeta, the panther, with his beautiful coat; and -Numa, the lion, with his noble head and his shaggy mane. He had made -Bara, the deer, lovely and graceful. - -Yes, Tarzan had found God, and he spent the whole day in attributing to -Him all of the good and beautiful things of nature; but there was one -thing which troubled him. He could not quite reconcile it to his -conception of his new-found God. - -Who made Histah, the snake? - - - - -CHAPTER V -Tarzan and the Black Boy - - -Tarzan of the Apes sat at the foot of a great tree braiding a new grass -rope. Beside him lay the frayed remnants of the old one, torn and -severed by the fangs and talons of Sheeta, the panther. Only half the -original rope was there, the balance having been carried off by the -angry cat as he bounded away through the jungle with the noose still -about his savage neck and the loose end dragging among the underbrush. - -Tarzan smiled as he recalled Sheeta’s great rage, his frantic efforts -to free himself from the entangling strands, his uncanny screams that -were part hate, part anger, part terror. He smiled in retrospection at -the discomfiture of his enemy, and in anticipation of another day as he -added an extra strand to his new rope. - -This would be the strongest, the heaviest rope that Tarzan of the Apes -ever had fashioned. Visions of Numa, the lion, straining futilely in -its embrace thrilled the ape-man. He was quite content, for his hands -and his brain were busy. Content, too, were his fellows of the tribe of -Kerchak, searching for food in the clearing and the surrounding trees -about him. No perplexing thoughts of the future burdened their minds, -and only occasionally, dimly arose recollections of the near past. They -were stimulated to a species of brutal content by the delectable -business of filling their bellies. Afterward they would sleep—it was -their life, and they enjoyed it as we enjoy ours, you and I—as Tarzan -enjoyed his. Possibly they enjoyed theirs more than we enjoy ours, for -who shall say that the beasts of the jungle do not better fulfill the -purposes for which they are created than does man with his many -excursions into strange fields and his contraventions of the laws of -nature? And what gives greater content and greater happiness than the -fulfilling of a destiny? - -As Tarzan worked, Gazan, Teeka’s little balu, played about him while -Teeka sought food upon the opposite side of the clearing. No more did -Teeka, the mother, or Taug, the sullen sire, harbor suspicions of -Tarzan’s intentions toward their first-born. Had he not courted death -to save their Gazan from the fangs and talons of Sheeta? Did he not -fondle and cuddle the little one with even as great a show of affection -as Teeka herself displayed? Their fears were allayed and Tarzan now -found himself often in the role of nursemaid to a tiny anthropoid—an -avocation which he found by no means irksome, since Gazan was a -never-failing fount of surprises and entertainment. - -Just now the apeling was developing those arboreal tendencies which -were to stand him in such good stead during the years of his youth, -when rapid flight into the upper terraces was of far more importance -and value than his undeveloped muscles and untried fighting fangs. -Backing off fifteen or twenty feet from the bole of the tree beneath -the branches of which Tarzan worked upon his rope, Gazan scampered -quickly forward, scrambling nimbly upward to the lower limbs. Here he -would squat for a moment or two, quite proud of his achievement, then -clamber to the ground again and repeat. Sometimes, quite often in fact, -for he was an ape, his attention was distracted by other things, a -beetle, a caterpillar, a tiny field mouse, and off he would go in -pursuit; the caterpillars he always caught, and sometimes the beetles; -but the field mice, never. - -Now he discovered the tail of the rope upon which Tarzan was working. -Grasping it in one small hand he bounced away, for all the world like -an animated rubber ball, snatching it from the ape-man’s hand and -running off across the clearing. Tarzan leaped to his feet and was in -pursuit in an instant, no trace of anger on his face or in his voice as -he called to the roguish little balu to drop his rope. - -Straight toward his mother raced Gazan, and after him came Tarzan. -Teeka looked up from her feeding, and in the first instant that she -realized that Gazan was fleeing and that another was in pursuit, she -bared her fangs and bristled; but when she saw that the pursuer was -Tarzan she turned back to the business that had been occupying her -attention. At her very feet the ape-man overhauled the balu and, though -the youngster squealed and fought when Tarzan seized him, Teeka only -glanced casually in their direction. No longer did she fear harm to her -first-born at the hands of the ape-man. Had he not saved Gazan on two -occasions? - -Rescuing his rope, Tarzan returned to his tree and resumed his labor; -but thereafter it was necessary to watch carefully the playful balu, -who was now possessed to steal it whenever he thought his great, -smooth-skinned cousin was momentarily off his guard. - -But even under this handicap Tarzan finally completed the rope, a long, -pliant weapon, stronger than any he ever had made before. The discarded -piece of his former one he gave to Gazan for a plaything, for Tarzan -had it in his mind to instruct Teeka’s balu after ideas of his own when -the youngster should be old and strong enough to profit by his -precepts. At present the little ape’s innate aptitude for mimicry would -be sufficient to familiarize him with Tarzan’s ways and weapons, and so -the ape-man swung off into the jungle, his new rope coiled over one -shoulder, while little Gazan hopped about the clearing dragging the old -one after him in childish glee. - -As Tarzan traveled, dividing his quest for food with one for a -sufficiently noble quarry whereupon to test his new weapon, his mind -often was upon Gazan. The ape-man had realized a deep affection for -Teeka’s balu almost from the first, partly because the child belonged -to Teeka, his first love, and partly for the little ape’s own sake, and -Tarzan’s human longing for some sentient creature upon which to expend -those natural affections of the soul which are inherent to all normal -members of the GENUS HOMO. Tarzan envied Teeka. It was true that Gazan -evidenced a considerable reciprocation of Tarzan’s fondness for him, -even preferring him to his own surly sire; but to Teeka the little one -turned when in pain or terror, when tired or hungry. Then it was that -Tarzan felt quite alone in the world and longed desperately for one who -should turn first to him for succor and protection. - -Taug had Teeka; Teeka had Gazan; and nearly every other bull and cow of -the tribe of Kerchak had one or more to love and by whom to be loved. -Of course Tarzan could scarcely formulate the thought in precisely this -way—he only knew that he craved something which was denied him; -something which seemed to be represented by those relations which -existed between Teeka and her balu, and so he envied Teeka and longed -for a balu of his own. - -He saw Sheeta and his mate with their little family of three; and -deeper inland toward the rocky hills, where one might lie up during the -heat of the day, in the dense shade of a tangled thicket close under -the cool face of an overhanging rock, Tarzan had found the lair of -Numa, the lion, and of Sabor, the lioness. Here he had watched them -with their little balus—playful creatures, spotted leopard-like. And he -had seen the young fawn with Bara, the deer, and with Buto, the -rhinoceros, its ungainly little one. Each of the creatures of the -jungle had its own—except Tarzan. It made the ape-man sad to think upon -this thing, sad and lonely; but presently the scent of game cleared his -young mind of all other considerations, as catlike he crawled far out -upon a bending limb above the game trail which led down to the ancient -watering place of the wild things of this wild world. - -How many thousands of times had this great, old limb bent to the savage -form of some blood-thirsty hunter in the long years that it had spread -its leafy branches above the deep-worn jungle path! Tarzan, the -ape-man, Sheeta, the panther, and Histah, the snake, it knew well. They -had worn smooth the bark upon its upper surface. - -Today it was Horta, the boar, which came down toward the watcher in the -old tree—Horta, the boar, whose formidable tusks and diabolical temper -preserved him from all but the most ferocious or most famished of the -largest carnivora. - -But to Tarzan, meat was meat; naught that was edible or tasty might -pass a hungry Tarzan unchallenged and unattacked. In hunger, as in -battle, the ape-man out-savaged the dreariest denizens of the jungle. -He knew neither fear nor mercy, except upon rare occasions when some -strange, inexplicable force stayed his hand—a force inexplicable to -him, perhaps, because of his ignorance of his own origin and of all the -forces of humanitarianism and civilization that were his rightful -heritage because of that origin. - -So today, instead of staying his hand until a less formidable feast -found its way toward him, Tarzan dropped his new noose about the neck -of Horta, the boar. It was an excellent test for the untried strands. -The angered boar bolted this way and that; but each time the new rope -held him where Tarzan had made it fast about the stem of the tree above -the branch from which he had cast it. - -As Horta grunted and charged, slashing the sturdy jungle patriarch with -his mighty tusks until the bark flew in every direction, Tarzan dropped -to the ground behind him. In the ape-man’s hand was the long, keen -blade that had been his constant companion since that distant day upon -which chance had directed its point into the body of Bolgani, the -gorilla, and saved the torn and bleeding man-child from what else had -been certain death. - -Tarzan walked in toward Horta, who swung now to face his enemy. Mighty -and muscled as was the young giant, it yet would have appeared but the -maddest folly for him to face so formidable a creature as Horta, the -boar, armed only with a slender hunting knife. So it would have seemed -to one who knew Horta even slightly and Tarzan not at all. - -For a moment Horta stood motionless facing the ape-man. His wicked, -deep-set eyes flashed angrily. He shook his lowered head. - -“Mud-eater!” jeered the ape-man. “Wallower in filth. Even your meat -stinks, but it is juicy and makes Tarzan strong. Today I shall eat your -heart, O Lord of the Great Tusks, that it shall keep savage that which -pounds against my own ribs.” - -Horta, understanding nothing of what Tarzan said, was none the less -enraged because of that. He saw only a naked man-thing, hairless and -futile, pitting his puny fangs and soft muscles against his own -indomitable savagery, and he charged. - -Tarzan of the Apes waited until the upcut of a wicked tusk would have -laid open his thigh, then he moved—just the least bit to one side; but -so quickly that lightning was a sluggard by comparison, and as he -moved, he stooped low and with all the great power of his right arm -drove the long blade of his father’s hunting knife straight into the -heart of Horta, the boar. A quick leap carried him from the zone of the -creature’s death throes, and a moment later the hot and dripping heart -of Horta was in his grasp. - -His hunger satisfied, Tarzan did not seek a lying-up place for sleep, -as was sometimes his way, but continued on through the jungle more in -search of adventure than of food, for today he was restless. And so it -came that he turned his footsteps toward the village of Mbonga, the -black chief, whose people Tarzan had baited remorselessly since that -day upon which Kulonga, the chief’s son, had slain Kala. - -A river winds close beside the village of the black men. Tarzan reached -its side a little below the clearing where squat the thatched huts of -the Negroes. The river life was ever fascinating to the ape-man. He -found pleasure in watching the ungainly antics of Duro, the -hippopotamus, and keen sport in tormenting the sluggish crocodile, -Gimla, as he basked in the sun. Then, too, there were the shes and the -balus of the black men of the Gomangani to frighten as they squatted by -the river, the shes with their meager washing, the balus with their -primitive toys. - -This day he came upon a woman and her child farther down stream than -usual. The former was searching for a species of shellfish which was to -be found in the mud close to the river bank. She was a young black -woman of about thirty. Her teeth were filed to sharp points, for her -people ate the flesh of man. Her under lip was slit that it might -support a rude pendant of copper which she had worn for so many years -that the lip had been dragged downward to prodigious lengths, exposing -the teeth and gums of her lower jaw. Her nose, too, was slit, and -through the slit was a wooden skewer. Metal ornaments dangled from her -ears, and upon her forehead and cheeks; upon her chin and the bridge of -her nose were tattooings in colors that were mellowed now by age. She -was naked except for a girdle of grasses about her waist. Altogether -she was very beautiful in her own estimation and even in the estimation -of the men of Mbonga’s tribe, though she was of another people—a trophy -of war seized in her maidenhood by one of Mbonga’s fighting men. - -Her child was a boy of ten, lithe, straight and, for a black, handsome. -Tarzan looked upon the two from the concealing foliage of a near-by -bush. He was about to leap forth before them with a terrifying scream, -that he might enjoy the spectacle of their terror and their incontinent -flight; but of a sudden a new whim seized him. Here was a balu -fashioned as he himself was fashioned. Of course this one’s skin was -black; but what of it? Tarzan had never seen a white man. In so far as -he knew, he was the sole representative of that strange form of life -upon the earth. The black boy should make an excellent balu for Tarzan, -since he had none of his own. He would tend him carefully, feed him -well, protect him as only Tarzan of the Apes could protect his own, and -teach him out of his half human, half bestial lore the secrets of the -jungle from its rotting surface vegetation to the high tossed pinnacles -of the forest’s upper terraces. - -* * * - -Tarzan uncoiled his rope, and shook out the noose. The two before him, -all ignorant of the near presence of that terrifying form, continued -preoccupied in the search for shellfish, poking about in the mud with -short sticks. - -Tarzan stepped from the jungle behind them; his noose lay open upon the -ground beside him. There was a quick movement of the right arm and the -noose rose gracefully into the air, hovered an instant above the head -of the unsuspecting youth, then settled. As it encompassed his body -below the shoulders, Tarzan gave a quick jerk that tightened it about -the boy’s arms, pinioning them to his sides. A scream of terror broke -from the lad’s lips, and as his mother turned, affrighted at his cry, -she saw him being dragged quickly toward a great white giant who stood -just beneath the shade of a near-by tree, scarcely a dozen long paces -from her. - -With a savage cry of terror and rage, the woman leaped fearlessly -toward the ape-man. In her mien Tarzan saw determination and courage -which would shrink not even from death itself. She was very hideous and -frightful even when her face was in repose; but convulsed by passion, -her expression became terrifyingly fiendish. Even the ape-man drew -back, but more in revulsion than fear—fear he knew not. - -Biting and kicking was the black she’s balu as Tarzan tucked him -beneath his arm and vanished into the branches hanging low above him, -just as the infuriated mother dashed forward to seize and do battle -with him. And as he melted away into the depth of the jungle with his -still struggling prize, he meditated upon the possibilities which might -lie in the prowess of the Gomangani were the hes as formidable as the -shes. - -Once at a safe distance from the despoiled mother and out of earshot of -her screams and menaces, Tarzan paused to inspect his prize, now so -thoroughly terrorized that he had ceased his struggles and his -outcries. - -The frightened child rolled his eyes fearfully toward his captor, until -the whites showed gleaming all about the irises. - -“I am Tarzan,” said the ape-man, in the vernacular of the anthropoids. -“I will not harm you. You are to be Tarzan’s balu. Tarzan will protect -you. He will feed you. The best in the jungle shall be for Tarzan’s -balu, for Tarzan is a mighty hunter. None need you fear, not even Numa, -the lion, for Tarzan is a mighty fighter. None so great as Tarzan, son -of Kala. Do not fear.” - -But the child only whimpered and trembled, for he did not understand -the tongue of the great apes, and the voice of Tarzan sounded to him -like the barking and growling of a beast. Then, too, he had heard -stories of this bad, white forest god. It was he who had slain Kulonga -and others of the warriors of Mbonga, the chief. It was he who entered -the village stealthily, by magic, in the darkness of the night, to -steal arrows and poison, and frighten the women and the children and -even the great warriors. Doubtless this wicked god fed upon little -boys. Had his mother not said as much when he was naughty and she -threatened to give him to the white god of the jungle if he were not -good? Little black Tibo shook as with ague. - -“Are you cold, Go-bu-balu?” asked Tarzan, using the simian equivalent -of black he-baby in lieu of a better name. “The sun is hot; why do you -shiver?” - -Tibo could not understand; but he cried for his mamma and begged the -great, white god to let him go, promising always to be a good boy -thereafter if his plea were granted. Tarzan shook his head. Not a word -could he understand. This would never do! He must teach Go-bu-balu a -language which sounded like talk. It was quite certain to Tarzan that -Go-bu-balu’s speech was not talk at all. It sounded quite as senseless -as the chattering of the silly birds. It would be best, thought the -ape-man, quickly to get him among the tribe of Kerchak where he would -hear the Mangani talking among themselves. Thus he would soon learn an -intelligible form of speech. - -Tarzan rose to his feet upon the swaying branch where he had halted far -above the ground, and motioned to the child to follow him; but Tibo -only clung tightly to the bole of the tree and wept. Being a boy, and a -native African, he had, of course, climbed into trees many times before -this; but the idea of racing off through the forest, leaping from one -branch to another, as his captor, to his horror, had done when he had -carried Tibo away from his mother, filled his childish heart with -terror. - -Tarzan sighed. His newly acquired balu had much indeed to learn. It was -pitiful that a balu of his size and strength should be so backward. He -tried to coax Tibo to follow him; but the child dared not, so Tarzan -picked him up and carried him upon his back. Tibo no longer scratched -or bit. Escape seemed impossible. Even now, were he set upon the -ground, the chance was remote, he knew, that he could find his way back -to the village of Mbonga, the chief. Even if he could, there were the -lions and the leopards and the hyenas, any one of which, as Tibo was -well aware, was particularly fond of the meat of little black boys. - -So far the terrible white god of the jungle had offered him no harm. He -could not expect even this much consideration from the frightful, -green-eyed man-eaters. It would be the lesser of two evils, then, to -let the white god carry him away without scratching and biting, as he -had done at first. - -As Tarzan swung rapidly through the trees, little Tibo closed his eyes -in terror rather than look longer down into the frightful abysses -beneath. Never before in all his life had Tibo been so frightened, yet -as the white giant sped on with him through the forest there stole over -the child an inexplicable sensation of security as he saw how true were -the leaps of the ape-man, how unerring his grasp upon the swaying limbs -which gave him hand-hold, and then, too, there was safety in the middle -terraces of the forest, far above the reach of the dreaded lions. - -And so Tarzan came to the clearing where the tribe fed, dropping among -them with his new balu clinging tightly to his shoulders. He was fairly -in the midst of them before Tibo spied a single one of the great hairy -forms, or before the apes realized that Tarzan was not alone. When they -saw the little Gomangani perched upon his back some of them came -forward in curiosity with upcurled lips and snarling mien. - -An hour before little Tibo would have said that he knew the uttermost -depths of fear; but now, as he saw these fearsome beasts surrounding -him, he realized that all that had gone before was as nothing by -comparison. Why did the great white giant stand there so unconcernedly? -Why did he not flee before these horrid, hairy, tree men fell upon them -both and tore them to pieces? And then there came to Tibo a numbing -recollection. It was none other than the story he had heard passed from -mouth to mouth, fearfully, by the people of Mbonga, the chief, that -this great white demon of the jungle was naught other than a hairless -ape, for had not he been seen in company with these? - -Tibo could only stare in wide-eyed horror at the approaching apes. He -saw their beetling brows, their great fangs, their wicked eyes. He -noted their mighty muscles rolling beneath their shaggy hides. Their -every attitude and expression was a menace. Tarzan saw this, too. He -drew Tibo around in front of him. - -“This is Tarzan’s Go-bu-balu,” he said. “Do not harm him, or Tarzan -will kill you,” and he bared his own fangs in the teeth of the nearest -ape. - -“It is a Gomangani,” replied the ape. “Let me kill it. It is a -Gomangani. The Gomangani are our enemies. Let me kill it.” - -“Go away,” snarled Tarzan. “I tell you, Gunto, it is Tarzan’s balu. Go -away or Tarzan will kill you,” and the ape-man took a step toward the -advancing ape. - -The latter sidled off, quite stiff and haughty, after the manner of a -dog which meets another and is too proud to fight and too fearful to -turn his back and run. - -Next came Teeka, prompted by curiosity. At her side skipped little -Gazan. They were filled with wonder like the others; but Teeka did not -bare her fangs. Tarzan saw this and motioned that she approach. - -“Tarzan has a balu now,” he said. “He and Teeka’s balu can play -together.” - -“It is a Gomangani,” replied Teeka. “It will kill my balu. Take it -away, Tarzan.” - -Tarzan laughed. “It could not harm Pamba, the rat,” he said. “It is but -a little balu and very frightened. Let Gazan play with it.” - -Teeka still was fearful, for with all their mighty ferocity the great -anthropoids are timid; but at last, assured by her great confidence in -Tarzan, she pushed Gazan forward toward the little black boy. The small -ape, guided by instinct, drew back toward its mother, baring its small -fangs and screaming in mingled fear and rage. - -Tibo, too, showed no signs of desiring a closer acquaintance with -Gazan, so Tarzan gave up his efforts for the time. - -During the week which followed, Tarzan found his time much occupied. -His balu was a greater responsibility than he had counted upon. Not for -a moment did he dare leave it, since of all the tribe, Teeka alone -could have been depended upon to refrain from slaying the hapless black -had it not been for Tarzan’s constant watchfulness. When the ape-man -hunted, he must carry Go-bu-balu about with him. It was irksome, and -then the little black seemed so stupid and fearful to Tarzan. It was -quite helpless against even the lesser of the jungle creatures. Tarzan -wondered how it had survived at all. He tried to teach it, and found a -ray of hope in the fact that Go-bu-balu had mastered a few words of the -language of the anthropoids, and that he could now cling to a -high-tossed branch without screaming in fear; but there was something -about the child which worried Tarzan. He often had watched the blacks -within their village. He had seen the children playing, and always -there had been much laughter; but little Go-bu-balu never laughed. It -was true that Tarzan himself never laughed. Upon occasion he smiled, -grimly, but to laughter he was a stranger. The black, however, should -have laughed, reasoned the ape-man. It was the way of the Gomangani. - -Also, he saw that the little fellow often refused food and was growing -thinner day by day. At times he surprised the boy sobbing softly to -himself. Tarzan tried to comfort him, even as fierce Kala had comforted -Tarzan when the ape-man was a balu, but all to no avail. Go-bu-balu -merely no longer feared Tarzan—that was all. He feared every other -living thing within the jungle. He feared the jungle days with their -long excursions through the dizzy tree tops. He feared the jungle -nights with their swaying, perilous couches far above the ground, and -the grunting and coughing of the great carnivora prowling beneath him. - -Tarzan did not know what to do. His heritage of English blood rendered -it a difficult thing even to consider a surrender of his project, -though he was forced to admit to himself that his balu was not all that -he had hoped. Though he was faithful to his self-imposed task, and even -found that he had grown to like Go-bu-balu, he could not deceive -himself into believing that he felt for it that fierce heat of -passionate affection which Teeka revealed for Gazan, and which the -black mother had shown for Go-bu-balu. - -The little black boy from cringing terror at the sight of Tarzan passed -by degrees into trustfulness and admiration. Only kindness had he ever -received at the hands of the great white devil-god, yet he had seen -with what ferocity his kindly captor could deal with others. He had -seen him leap upon a certain he-ape which persisted in attempting to -seize and slay Go-bu-balu. He had seen the strong, white teeth of the -ape-man fastened in the neck of his adversary, and the mighty muscles -tensed in battle. He had heard the savage, bestial snarls and roars of -combat, and he had realized with a shudder that he could not -differentiate between those of his guardian and those of the hairy ape. - -He had seen Tarzan bring down a buck, just as Numa, the lion, might -have done, leaping upon its back and fastening his fangs in the -creature’s neck. Tibo had shuddered at the sight, but he had thrilled, -too, and for the first time there entered his dull, Negroid mind a -vague desire to emulate his savage foster parent. But Tibo, the little -black boy, lacked the divine spark which had permitted Tarzan, the -white boy, to benefit by his training in the ways of the fierce jungle. -In imagination he was wanting, and imagination is but another name for -super-intelligence. - -Imagination it is which builds bridges, and cities, and empires. The -beasts know it not, the blacks only a little, while to one in a hundred -thousand of earth’s dominant race it is given as a gift from heaven -that man may not perish from the earth. - -While Tarzan pondered his problem concerning the future of his balu, -Fate was arranging to take the matter out of his hands. Momaya, Tibo’s -mother, grief-stricken at the loss of her boy, had consulted the tribal -witch-doctor, but to no avail. The medicine he made was not good -medicine, for though Momaya paid him two goats for it, it did not bring -back Tibo, nor even indicate where she might search for him with -reasonable assurance of finding him. Momaya, being of a short temper -and of another people, had little respect for the witch-doctor of her -husband’s tribe, and so, when he suggested that a further payment of -two more fat goats would doubtless enable him to make stronger -medicine, she promptly loosed her shrewish tongue upon him, and with -such good effect that he was glad to take himself off with his zebra’s -tail and his pot of magic. - -When he had gone and Momaya had succeeded in partially subduing her -anger, she gave herself over to thought, as she so often had done since -the abduction of her Tibo, in the hope that she finally might discover -some feasible means of locating him, or at least assuring herself as to -whether he were alive or dead. - -It was known to the blacks that Tarzan did not eat the flesh of man, -for he had slain more than one of their number, yet never tasted the -flesh of any. Too, the bodies always had been found, sometimes dropping -as though from the clouds to alight in the center of the village. As -Tibo’s body had not been found, Momaya argued that he still lived, but -where? - -Then it was that there came to her mind a recollection of Bukawai, the -unclean, who dwelt in a cave in the hillside to the north, and who it -was well known entertained devils in his evil lair. Few, if any, had -the temerity to visit old Bukawai, firstly because of fear of his black -magic and the two hyenas who dwelt with him and were commonly known to -be devils masquerading, and secondly because of the loathsome disease -which had caused Bukawai to be an outcast—a disease which was slowly -eating away his face. - -Now it was that Momaya reasoned shrewdly that if any might know the -whereabouts of her Tibo, it would be Bukawai, who was in friendly -intercourse with gods and demons, since a demon or a god it was who had -stolen her baby; but even her great mother love was sorely taxed to -find the courage to send her forth into the black jungle toward the -distant hills and the uncanny abode of Bukawai, the unclean, and his -devils. - -Mother love, however, is one of the human passions which closely -approximates to the dignity of an irresistible force. It drives the -frail flesh of weak women to deeds of heroic measure. Momaya was -neither frail nor weak, physically, but she was a woman, an ignorant, -superstitious, African savage. She believed in devils, in black magic, -and in witchcraft. To Momaya, the jungle was inhabited by far more -terrifying things than lions and leopards—horrifying, nameless things -which possessed the power of wreaking frightful harm under various -innocent guises. - -From one of the warriors of the village, whom she knew to have once -stumbled upon the lair of Bukawai, the mother of Tibo learned how she -might find it—near a spring of water which rose in a small rocky cañon -between two hills, the easternmost of which was easily recognizable -because of a huge granite boulder which rested upon its summit. The -westerly hill was lower than its companion, and was quite bare of -vegetation except for a single mimosa tree which grew just a little -below its summit. - -These two hills, the man assured her, could be seen for some distance -before she reached them, and together formed an excellent guide to her -destination. He warned her, however, to abandon so foolish and -dangerous an adventure, emphasizing what she already quite well knew, -that if she escaped harm at the hands of Bukawai and his demons, the -chances were that she would not be so fortunate with the great -carnivora of the jungle through which she must pass going and -returning. - -The warrior even went to Momaya’s husband, who, in turn, having little -authority over the vixenish lady of his choice, went to Mbonga, the -chief. The latter summoned Momaya, threatening her with the direst -punishment should she venture forth upon so unholy an excursion. The -old chief’s interest in the matter was due solely to that age-old -alliance which exists between church and state. The local witch-doctor, -knowing his own medicine better than any other knew it, was jealous of -all other pretenders to accomplishments in the black art. He long had -heard of the power of Bukawai, and feared lest, should he succeed in -recovering Momaya’s lost child, much of the tribal patronage and -consequent fees would be diverted to the unclean one. As Mbonga -received, as chief, a certain proportion of the witch-doctor’s fees and -could expect nothing from Bukawai, his heart and soul were, quite -naturally, wrapped up in the orthodox church. - -But if Momaya could view with intrepid heart an excursion into the -jungle and a visit to the fear-haunted abode of Bukawai, she was not -likely to be deterred by threats of future punishment at the hands of -old Mbonga, whom she secretly despised. Yet she appeared to accede to -his injunctions, returning to her hut in silence. - -She would have preferred starting upon her quest by day-light, but this -was now out of the question, since she must carry food and a weapon of -some sort—things which she never could pass out of the village with by -day without being subjected to curious questioning that surely would -come immediately to the ears of Mbonga. - -So Momaya bided her time until night, and just before the gates of the -village were closed, she slipped through into the darkness and the -jungle. She was much frightened, but she set her face resolutely toward -the north, and though she paused often to listen, breathlessly, for the -huge cats which, here, were her greatest terror, she nevertheless -continued her way staunchly for several hours, until a low moan a -little to her right and behind her brought her to a sudden stop. - -With palpitating heart the woman stood, scarce daring to breathe, and -then, very faintly but unmistakable to her keen ears, came the stealthy -crunching of twigs and grasses beneath padded feet. - -All about Momaya grew the giant trees of the tropical jungle, festooned -with hanging vines and mosses. She seized upon the nearest and started -to clamber, apelike, to the branches above. As she did so, there was a -sudden rush of a great body behind her, a menacing roar that caused the -earth to tremble, and something crashed into the very creepers to which -she was clinging—but below her. - -Momaya drew herself to safety among the leafy branches and thanked the -foresight which had prompted her to bring along the dried human ear -which hung from a cord about her neck. She always had known that that -ear was good medicine. It had been given her, when a girl, by the -witch-doctor of her town tribe, and was nothing like the poor, weak -medicine of Mbonga’s witch-doctor. - -All night Momaya clung to her perch, for although the lion sought other -prey after a short time, she dared not descend into the darkness again, -for fear she might encounter him or another of his kind; but at -daylight she clambered down and resumed her way. - -Tarzan of the Apes, finding that his balu never ceased to give evidence -of terror in the presence of the apes of the tribe, and also that most -of the adult apes were a constant menace to Go-bu-balu’s life, so that -Tarzan dared not leave him alone with them, took to hunting with the -little black boy farther and farther from the stamping grounds of the -anthropoids. - -Little by little his absences from the tribe grew in length as he -wandered farther away from them, until finally he found himself a -greater distance to the north than he ever before had hunted, and with -water and ample game and fruit, he felt not at all inclined to return -to the tribe. - -Little Go-bu-balu gave evidences of a greater interest in life, an -interest which varied in direct proportion to the distance he was from -the apes of Kerchak. He now trotted along behind Tarzan when the -ape-man went upon the ground, and in the trees he even did his best to -follow his mighty foster parent. The boy was still sad and lonely. His -thin, little body had grown steadily thinner since he had come among -the apes, for while, as a young cannibal, he was not overnice in the -matter of diet, he found it not always to his taste to stomach the -weird things which tickled the palates of epicures among the apes. - -His large eyes were very large indeed now, his cheeks sunken, and every -rib of his emaciated body plainly discernible to whomsoever should care -to count them. Constant terror, perhaps, had had as much to do with his -physical condition as had improper food. Tarzan noticed the change and -was worried. He had hoped to see his balu wax sturdy and strong. His -disappointment was great. In only one respect did Go-bu-balu seem to -progress—he readily was mastering the language of the apes. Even now he -and Tarzan could converse in a fairly satisfactory manner by -supplementing the meager ape speech with signs; but for the most part, -Go-bu-balu was silent other than to answer questions put to him. His -great sorrow was yet too new and too poignant to be laid aside even -momentarily. Always he pined for Momaya—shrewish, hideous, repulsive, -perhaps, she would have been to you or me, but to Tibo she was mamma, -the personification of that one great love which knows no selfishness -and which does not consume itself in its own fires. - -As the two hunted, or rather as Tarzan hunted and Go-bu-balu tagged -along in his wake, the ape-man noticed many things and thought much. -Once they came upon Sabor moaning in the tall grasses. About her romped -and played two little balls of fur, but her eyes were for one which lay -between her great forepaws and did not romp, one who never would romp -again. - -Tarzan read aright the anguish and the suffering of the huge mother -cat. He had been minded to bait her. It was to do this that he had -sneaked silently through the trees until he had come almost above her, -but something held the ape-man as he saw the lioness grieving over her -dead cub. With the acquisition of Go-bu-balu, Tarzan had come to -realize the responsibilities and sorrows of parentage, without its -joys. His heart went out to Sabor as it might not have done a few weeks -before. As he watched her, there rose quite unbidden before him a -vision of Momaya, the skewer through the septum of her nose, her -pendulous under lip sagging beneath the weight which dragged it down. -Tarzan saw not her unloveliness; he saw only the same anguish that was -Sabor’s, and he winced. That strange functioning of the mind which -sometimes is called association of ideas snapped Teeka and Gazan before -the ape-man’s mental vision. What if one should come and take Gazan -from Teeka. Tarzan uttered a low and ominous growl as though Gazan were -his own. Go-bu-balu glanced here and there apprehensively, thinking -that Tarzan had espied an enemy. Sabor sprang suddenly to her feet, her -yellow-green eyes blazing, her tail lashing as she cocked her ears, and -raising her muzzle, sniffed the air for possible danger. The two little -cubs, which had been playing, scampered quickly to her, and standing -beneath her, peered out from between her forelegs, their big ears -upstanding, their little heads cocked first upon one side and then upon -the other. - -With a shake of his black shock, Tarzan turned away and resumed his -hunting in another direction; but all day there rose one after another, -above the threshold of his objective mind, memory portraits of Sabor, -of Momaya, and of Teeka—a lioness, a cannibal, and a she-ape, yet to -the ape-man they were identical through motherhood. - -It was noon of the third day when Momaya came within sight of the cave -of Bukawai, the unclean. The old witch-doctor had rigged a framework of -interlaced boughs to close the mouth of the cave from predatory beasts. -This was now set to one side, and the black cavern beyond yawned -mysterious and repellent. Momaya shivered as from a cold wind of the -rainy season. No sign of life appeared about the cave, yet Momaya -experienced that uncanny sensation as of unseen eyes regarding her -malevolently. Again she shuddered. She tried to force her unwilling -feet onward toward the cave, when from its depths issued an uncanny -sound that was neither brute nor human, a weird sound that was akin to -mirthless laughter. - -With a stifled scream, Momaya turned and fled into the jungle. For a -hundred yards she ran before she could control her terror, and then she -paused, listening. Was all her labor, were all the terrors and dangers -through which she had passed to go for naught? She tried to steel -herself to return to the cave, but again fright overcame her. - -Saddened, disheartened, she turned slowly upon the back trail toward -the village of Mbonga. Her young shoulders now were drooped like those -of an old woman who bears a great burden of many years with their -accumulated pains and sorrows, and she walked with tired feet and a -halting step. The spring of youth was gone from Momaya. - -For another hundred yards she dragged her weary way, her brain half -paralyzed from dumb terror and suffering, and then there came to her -the memory of a little babe that suckled at her breast, and of a slim -boy who romped, laughing, about her, and they were both Tibo—her Tibo! - -Her shoulders straightened. She shook her savage head, and she turned -about and walked boldly back to the mouth of the cave of Bukawai, the -unclean—of Bukawai, the witch-doctor. - -Again, from the interior of the cave came the hideous laughter that was -not laughter. This time Momaya recognized it for what it was, the -strange cry of a hyena. No more did she shudder, but she held her spear -ready and called aloud to Bukawai to come out. - -Instead of Bukawai came the repulsive head of a hyena. Momaya poked at -it with her spear, and the ugly, sullen brute drew back with an angry -growl. Again Momaya called Bukawai by name, and this time there came an -answer in mumbling tones that were scarce more human than those of the -beast. - -“Who comes to Bukawai?” queried the voice. - -“It is Momaya,” replied the woman; “Momaya from the village of Mbonga, -the chief. - -“What do you want?” - -“I want good medicine, better medicine than Mbonga’s witch-doctor can -make,” replied Momaya. “The great, white, jungle god has stolen my -Tibo, and I want medicine to bring him back, or to find where he is -hidden that I may go and get him.” - -“Who is Tibo?” asked Bukawai. - -Momaya told him. - -“Bukawai’s medicine is very strong,” said the voice. “Five goats and a -new sleeping mat are scarce enough in exchange for Bukawai’s medicine.” - -“Two goats are enough,” said Momaya, for the spirit of barter is strong -in the breasts of the blacks. - -The pleasure of haggling over the price was a sufficiently potent lure -to draw Bukawai to the mouth of the cave. Momaya was sorry when she saw -him that he had not remained within. There are some things too -horrible, too hideous, too repulsive for description—Bukawai’s face was -of these. When Momaya saw him she understood why it was that he was -almost inarticulate. - -Beside him were two hyenas, which rumor had said were his only and -constant companions. They made an excellent trio—the most repulsive of -beasts with the most repulsive of humans. - -“Five goats and a new sleeping mat,” mumbled Bukawai. - -“Two fat goats and a sleeping mat.” Momaya raised her bid; but Bukawai -was obdurate. He stuck for the five goats and the sleeping mat for a -matter of half an hour, while the hyenas sniffed and growled and -laughed hideously. Momaya was determined to give all that Bukawai asked -if she could do no better, but haggling is second nature to black -barterers, and in the end it partly repaid her, for a compromise -finally was reached which included three fat goats, a new sleeping mat, -and a piece of copper wire. - -“Come back tonight,” said Bukawai, “when the moon is two hours in the -sky. Then will I make the strong medicine which shall bring Tibo back -to you. Bring with you the three fat goats, the new sleeping mat, and -the piece of copper wire the length of a large man’s forearm.” - -“I cannot bring them,” said Momaya. “You will have to come after them. -When you have restored Tibo to me, you shall have them all at the -village of Mbonga.” - -Bukawai shook his head. - -“I will make no medicine,” he said, “until I have the goats and the mat -and the copper wire.” - -Momaya pleaded and threatened, but all to no avail. Finally, she turned -away and started off through the jungle toward the village of Mbonga. -How she could get three goats and a sleeping mat out of the village and -through the jungle to the cave of Bukawai, she did not know, but that -she would do it somehow she was quite positive—she would do it or die. -Tibo must be restored to her. - -Tarzan coming lazily through the jungle with little Go-bu-balu, caught -the scent of Bara, the deer. Tarzan hungered for the flesh of Bara. -Naught tickled his palate so greatly; but to stalk Bara with Go-bu-balu -at his heels, was out of the question, so he hid the child in the -crotch of a tree where the thick foliage screened him from view, and -set off swiftly and silently upon the spoor of Bara. - -Tibo alone was more terrified than Tibo even among the apes. Real and -apparent dangers are less disconcerting than those which we imagine, -and only the gods of his people knew how much Tibo imagined. - -He had been but a short time in his hiding place when he heard -something approaching through the jungle. He crouched closer to the -limb upon which he lay and prayed that Tarzan would return quickly. His -wide eyes searched the jungle in the direction of the moving creature. - -What if it was a leopard that had caught his scent! It would be upon -him in a minute. Hot tears flowed from the large eyes of little Tibo. -The curtain of jungle foliage rustled close at hand. The thing was but -a few paces from his tree! His eyes fairly popped from his black face -as he watched for the appearance of the dread creature which presently -would thrust a snarling countenance from between the vines and -creepers. - -And then the curtain parted and a woman stepped into full view. With a -gasping cry, Tibo tumbled from his perch and raced toward her. Momaya -suddenly started back and raised her spear, but a second later she cast -it aside and caught the thin body in her strong arms. - -Crushing it to her, she cried and laughed all at one and the same time, -and hot tears of joy, mingled with the tears of Tibo, trickled down the -crease between her naked breasts. - -Disturbed by the noise so close at hand, there arose from his sleep in -a near-by thicket Numa, the lion. He looked through the tangled -underbrush and saw the black woman and her young. He licked his chops -and measured the distance between them and himself. A short charge and -a long leap would carry him upon them. He flicked the end of his tail -and sighed. - -A vagrant breeze, swirling suddenly in the wrong direction, carried the -scent of Tarzan to the sensitive nostrils of Bara, the deer. There was -a startled tensing of muscles and cocking of ears, a sudden dash, and -Tarzan’s meat was gone. The ape-man angrily shook his head and turned -back toward the spot where he had left Go-bu-balu. He came softly, as -was his way. Before he reached the spot he heard strange sounds—the -sound of a woman laughing and of a woman weeping, and the two which -seemed to come from one throat were mingled with the convulsive sobbing -of a child. Tarzan hastened, and when Tarzan hastened, only the birds -and the wind went faster. - -And as Tarzan approached the sounds, he heard another, a deep sigh. -Momaya did not hear it, nor did Tibo; but the ears of Tarzan were as -the ears of Bara, the deer. He heard the sigh, and he knew, so he -unloosed the heavy spear which dangled at his back. Even as he sped -through the branches of the trees, with the same ease that you or I -might take out a pocket handkerchief as we strolled nonchalantly down a -lazy country lane, Tarzan of the Apes took the spear from its thong -that it might be ready against any emergency. - -Numa, the lion, did not rush madly to attack. He reasoned again, and -reason told him that already the prey was his, so he pushed his great -bulk through the foliage and stood eyeing his meat with baleful, -glaring eyes. - -Momaya saw him and shrieked, drawing Tibo closer to her breast. To have -found her child and to lose him, all in a moment! She raised her spear, -throwing her hand far back of her shoulder. Numa roared and stepped -slowly forward. Momaya cast her weapon. It grazed the tawny shoulder, -inflicting a flesh wound which aroused all the terrific bestiality of -the carnivore, and the lion charged. - -Momaya tried to close her eyes, but could not. She saw the flashing -swiftness of the huge, oncoming death, and then she saw something else. -She saw a mighty, naked white man drop as from the heavens into the -path of the charging lion. She saw the muscles of a great arm flash in -the light of the equatorial sun as it filtered, dappling, through the -foliage above. She saw a heavy hunting spear hurtle through the air to -meet the lion in midleap. - -Numa brought up upon his haunches, roaring terribly and striking at the -spear which protruded from his breast. His great blows bent and twisted -the weapon. Tarzan, crouching and with hunting knife in hand, circled -warily about the frenzied cat. Momaya, wide-eyed, stood rooted to the -spot, watching, fascinated. - -In sudden fury Numa hurled himself toward the ape-man, but the wiry -creature eluded the blundering charge, side-stepping quickly only to -rush in upon his foe. Twice the hunting blade flashed in the air. Twice -it fell upon the back of Numa, already weakening from the spear point -so near his heart. The second stroke of the blade pierced far into the -beast’s spine, and with a last convulsive sweep of the fore-paws, in a -vain attempt to reach his tormentor, Numa sprawled upon the ground, -paralyzed and dying. - -Bukawai, fearful lest he should lose any recompense, followed Momaya -with the intention of persuading her to part with her ornaments of -copper and iron against her return with the price of the medicine—to -pay, as it were, for an option on his services as one pays a retaining -fee to an attorney, for, like an attorney, Bukawai knew the value of -his medicine and that it was well to collect as much as possible in -advance. - -The witch-doctor came upon the scene as Tarzan leaped to meet the -lion’s charge. He saw it all and marveled, guessing immediately that -this must be the strange white demon concerning whom he had heard vague -rumors before Momaya came to him. - -Momaya, now that the lion was past harming her or hers, gazed with new -terror upon Tarzan. It was he who had stolen her Tibo. Doubtless he -would attempt to steal him again. Momaya hugged the boy close to her. -She was determined to die this time rather than suffer Tibo to be taken -from her again. - -Tarzan eyed them in silence. The sight of the boy clinging, sobbing, to -his mother aroused within his savage breast a melancholy loneliness. -There was none thus to cling to Tarzan, who yearned so for the love of -someone, of something. - -At last Tibo looked up, because of the quiet that had fallen upon the -jungle, and saw Tarzan. He did not shrink. - -“Tarzan,” he said, in the speech of the great apes of the tribe of -Kerchak, “do not take me from Momaya, my mother. Do not take me again -to the lair of the hairy, tree men, for I fear Taug and Gunto and the -others. Let me stay with Momaya, O Tarzan, God of the Jungle! Let me -stay with Momaya, my mother, and to the end of our days we will bless -you and put food before the gates of the village of Mbonga that you may -never hunger.” - -Tarzan sighed. - -“Go,” he said, “back to the village of Mbonga, and Tarzan will follow -to see that no harm befalls you.” - -Tibo translated the words to his mother, and the two turned their backs -upon the ape-man and started off toward home. In the heart of Momaya -was a great fear and a great exultation, for never before had she -walked with God, and never had she been so happy. She strained little -Tibo to her, stroking his thin cheek. Tarzan saw and sighed again. - -“For Teeka there is Teeka’s balu,” he soliloquized; “for Sabor there -are balus, and for the she-Gomangani, and for Bara, and for Manu, and -even for Pamba, the rat; but for Tarzan there can be none—neither a she -nor a balu. Tarzan of the Apes is a man, and it must be that man walks -alone.” - -Bukawai saw them go, and he mumbled through his rotting face, swearing -a great oath that he would yet have the three fat goats, the new -sleeping mat, and the bit of copper wire. - - - - -CHAPTER VI -The Witch-Doctor Seeks Vengeance - - -Lord Greystoke was hunting, or, to be more accurate, he was shooting -pheasants at Chamston-Hedding. Lord Greystoke was immaculately and -appropriately garbed—to the minutest detail he was vogue. To be sure, -he was among the forward guns, not being considered a sporting shot, -but what he lacked in skill he more than made up in appearance. At the -end of the day he would, doubtless, have many birds to his credit, -since he had two guns and a smart loader—many more birds than he could -eat in a year, even had he been hungry, which he was not, having but -just arisen from the breakfast table. - -The beaters—there were twenty-three of them, in white smocks—had but -just driven the birds into a patch of gorse, and were now circling to -the opposite side that they might drive down toward the guns. Lord -Greystoke was quite as excited as he ever permitted himself to become. -There was an exhilaration in the sport that would not be denied. He -felt his blood tingling through his veins as the beaters approached -closer and closer to the birds. In a vague and stupid sort of way Lord -Greystoke felt, as he always felt upon such occasions, that he was -experiencing a sensation somewhat akin to a reversion to a prehistoric -type—that the blood of an ancient forbear was coursing hot through him, -a hairy, half-naked forbear who had lived by the hunt. - -And far away in a matted equatorial jungle another Lord Greystoke, the -real Lord Greystoke, hunted. By the standards which he knew, he, too, -was vogue—utterly vogue, as was the primal ancestor before the first -eviction. The day being sultry, the leopard skin had been left behind. -The real Lord Greystoke had not two guns, to be sure, nor even one, -neither did he have a smart loader; but he possessed something -infinitely more efficacious than guns, or loaders, or even twenty-three -beaters in white smocks—he possessed an appetite, an uncanny woodcraft, -and muscles that were as steel springs. - -Later that day, in England, a Lord Greystoke ate bountifully of things -he had not killed, and he drank other things which were uncorked to the -accompaniment of much noise. He patted his lips with snowy linen to -remove the faint traces of his repast, quite ignorant of the fact that -he was an impostor and that the rightful owner of his noble title was -even then finishing his own dinner in far-off Africa. He was not using -snowy linen, though. Instead he drew the back of a brown forearm and -hand across his mouth and wiped his bloody fingers upon his thighs. -Then he moved slowly through the jungle to the drinking place, where, -upon all fours, he drank as drank his fellows, the other beasts of the -jungle. - -As he quenched his thirst, another denizen of the gloomy forest -approached the stream along the path behind him. It was Numa, the lion, -tawny of body and black of mane, scowling and sinister, rumbling out -low, coughing roars. Tarzan of the Apes heard him long before he came -within sight, but the ape-man went on with his drinking until he had -had his fill; then he arose, slowly, with the easy grace of a creature -of the wilds and all the quiet dignity that was his birthright. - -Numa halted as he saw the man standing at the very spot where the king -would drink. His jaws were parted, and his cruel eyes gleamed. He -growled and advanced slowly. The man growled, too, backing slowly to -one side, and watching, not the lion’s face, but its tail. Should that -commence to move from side to side in quick, nervous jerks, it would be -well to be upon the alert, and should it rise suddenly erect, straight -and stiff, then one might prepare to fight or flee; but it did neither, -so Tarzan merely backed away and the lion came down and drank scarce -fifty feet from where the man stood. - -Tomorrow they might be at one another’s throats, but today there -existed one of those strange and inexplicable truces which so often are -seen among the savage ones of the jungle. Before Numa had finished -drinking, Tarzan had returned into the forest, and was swinging away in -the direction of the village of Mbonga, the black chief. - -It had been at least a moon since the ape-man had called upon the -Gomangani. Not since he had restored little Tibo to his grief-stricken -mother had the whim seized him to do so. The incident of the adopted -balu was a closed one to Tarzan. He had sought to find something upon -which to lavish such an affection as Teeka lavished upon her balu, but -a short experience of the little black boy had made it quite plain to -the ape-man that no such sentiment could exist between them. - -The fact that he had for a time treated the little black as he might -have treated a real balu of his own had in no way altered the vengeful -sentiments with which he considered the murderers of Kala. The -Gomangani were his deadly enemies, nor could they ever be aught else. -Today he looked forward to some slight relief from the monotony of his -existence in such excitement as he might derive from baiting the -blacks. - -It was not yet dark when he reached the village and took his place in -the great tree overhanging the palisade. From beneath came a great -wailing out of the depths of a near-by hut. The noise fell disagreeably -upon Tarzan’s ears—it jarred and grated. He did not like it, so he -decided to go away for a while in the hopes that it might cease; but -though he was gone for a couple of hours the wailing still continued -when he returned. - -With the intention of putting a violent termination to the annoying -sound, Tarzan slipped silently from the tree into the shadows beneath. -Creeping stealthily and keeping well in the cover of other huts, he -approached that from which rose the sounds of lamentation. A fire -burned brightly before the doorway as it did before other doorways in -the village. A few females squatted about, occasionally adding their -own mournful howlings to those of the master artist within. - -The ape-man smiled a slow smile as he thought of the consternation -which would follow the quick leap that would carry him among the -females and into the full light of the fire. Then he would dart into -the hut during the excitement, throttle the chief screamer, and be gone -into the jungle before the blacks could gather their scattered nerves -for an assault. - -Many times had Tarzan behaved similarly in the village of Mbonga, the -chief. His mysterious and unexpected appearances always filled the -breasts of the poor, superstitious blacks with the panic of terror; -never, it seemed, could they accustom themselves to the sight of him. -It was this terror which lent to the adventures the spice of interest -and amusement which the human mind of the ape-man craved. Merely to -kill was not in itself sufficient. Accustomed to the sight of death, -Tarzan found no great pleasure in it. Long since had he avenged the -death of Kala, but in the accomplishment of it, he had learned the -excitement and the pleasure to be derived from the baiting of the -blacks. Of this he never tired. - -It was just as he was about to spring forward with a savage roar that a -figure appeared in the doorway of the hut. It was the figure of the -wailer whom he had come to still, the figure of a young woman with a -wooden skewer through the split septum of her nose, with a heavy metal -ornament depending from her lower lip, which it had dragged down to -hideous and repulsive deformity, with strange tattooing upon forehead, -cheeks, and breasts, and a wonderful coiffure built up with mud and -wire. - -A sudden flare of the fire threw the grotesque figure into high relief, -and Tarzan recognized her as Momaya, the mother of Tibo. The fire also -threw out a fitful flame which carried to the shadows where Tarzan -lurked, picking out his light brown body from the surrounding darkness. -Momaya saw him and knew him. With a cry, she leaped forward and Tarzan -came to meet her. The other women, turning, saw him, too; but they did -not come toward him. Instead they rose as one, shrieked as one, fled as -one. - -Momaya threw herself at Tarzan’s feet, raising supplicating hands -toward him and pouring forth from her mutilated lips a perfect cataract -of words, not one of which the ape-man comprehended. For a moment he -looked down upon the upturned, frightful face of the woman. He had come -to slay, but that overwhelming torrent of speech filled him with -consternation and with awe. He glanced about him apprehensively, then -back at the woman. A revulsion of feeling seized him. He could not kill -little Tibo’s mother, nor could he stand and face this verbal geyser. -With a quick gesture of impatience at the spoiling of his evening’s -entertainment, he wheeled and leaped away into the darkness. A moment -later he was swinging through the black jungle night, the cries and -lamentations of Momaya growing fainter in the distance. - -It was with a sigh of relief that he finally reached a point from which -he could no longer hear them, and finding a comfortable crotch high -among the trees, composed himself for a night of dreamless slumber, -while a prowling lion moaned and coughed beneath him, and in far-off -England the other Lord Greystoke, with the assistance of a valet, -disrobed and crawled between spotless sheets, swearing irritably as a -cat meowed beneath his window. - -As Tarzan followed the fresh spoor of Horta, the boar, the following -morning, he came upon the tracks of two Gomangani, a large one and a -small one. The ape-man, accustomed as he was to questioning closely all -that fell to his perceptions, paused to read the story written in the -soft mud of the game trail. You or I would have seen little of interest -there, even if, by chance, we could have seen aught. Perhaps had one -been there to point them out to us, we might have noted indentations in -the mud, but there were countless indentations, one overlapping another -into a confusion that would have been entirely meaningless to us. To -Tarzan each told its own story. Tantor, the elephant, had passed that -way as recently as three suns since. Numa had hunted here the night -just gone, and Horta, the boar, had walked slowly along the trail -within an hour; but what held Tarzan’s attention was the spoor tale of -the Gomangani. It told him that the day before an old man had gone -toward the north in company with a little boy, and that with them had -been two hyenas. - -Tarzan scratched his head in puzzled incredulity. He could see by the -overlapping of the footprints that the beasts had not been following -the two, for sometimes one was ahead of them and one behind, and again -both were in advance, or both were in the rear. It was very strange and -quite inexplicable, especially where the spoor showed where the hyenas -in the wider portions of the path had walked one on either side of the -human pair, quite close to them. Then Tarzan read in the spoor of the -smaller Gomangani a shrinking terror of the beast that brushed his -side, but in that of the old man was no sign of fear. - -At first Tarzan had been solely occupied by the remarkable -juxtaposition of the spoor of Dango and Gomangani, but now his keen -eyes caught something in the spoor of the little Gomangani which -brought him to a sudden stop. It was as though, finding a letter in the -road, you suddenly had discovered in it the familiar handwriting of a -friend. - -“Go-bu-balu!” exclaimed the ape-man, and at once memory flashed upon -the screen of recollection the supplicating attitude of Momaya as she -had hurled herself before him in the village of Mbonga the night -before. Instantly all was explained—the wailing and lamentation, the -pleading of the black mother, the sympathetic howling of the shes about -the fire. Little Go-bu-balu had been stolen again, and this time by -another than Tarzan. Doubtless the mother had thought that he was again -in the power of Tarzan of the Apes, and she had been beseeching him to -return her balu to her. - -Yes, it was all quite plain now; but who could have stolen Go-bu-balu -this time? Tarzan wondered, and he wondered, too, about the presence of -Dango. He would investigate. The spoor was a day old and it ran toward -the north. Tarzan set out to follow it. In places it was totally -obliterated by the passage of many beasts, and where the way was rocky, -even Tarzan of the Apes was almost baffled; but there was still the -faint effluvium which clung to the human spoor, appreciable only to -such highly trained perceptive powers as were Tarzan’s. - -It had all happened to little Tibo very suddenly and unexpectedly -within the brief span of two suns. First had come Bukawai, the -witch-doctor—Bukawai, the unclean—with the ragged bit of flesh which -still clung to his rotting face. He had come alone and by day to the -place at the river where Momaya went daily to wash her body and that of -Tibo, her little boy. He had stepped out from behind a great bush quite -close to Momaya, frightening little Tibo so that he ran screaming to -his mother’s protecting arms. - -But Momaya, though startled, had wheeled to face the fearsome thing -with all the savage ferocity of a she-tiger at bay. When she saw who it -was, she breathed a sigh of partial relief, though she still clung -tightly to Tibo. - -“I have come,” said Bukawai without preliminary, “for the three fat -goats, the new sleeping mat, and the bit of copper wire as long as a -tall man’s arm.” - -“I have no goats for you,” snapped Momaya, “nor a sleeping mat, nor any -wire. Your medicine was never made. The white jungle god gave me back -my Tibo. You had nothing to do with it.” - -“But I did,” mumbled Bukawai through his fleshless jaws. “It was I who -commanded the white jungle god to give back your Tibo.” - -Momaya laughed in his face. “Speaker of lies,” she cried, “go back to -your foul den and your hyenas. Go back and hide your stinking face in -the belly of the mountain, lest the sun, seeing it, cover his face with -a black cloud.” - -“I have come,” reiterated Bukawai, “for the three fat goats, the new -sleeping mat, and the bit of copper wire the length of a tall man’s -arm, which you were to pay me for the return of your Tibo.” - -“It was to be the length of a man’s forearm,” corrected Momaya, “but -you shall have nothing, old thief. You would not make medicine until I -had brought the payment in advance, and when I was returning to my -village the great, white jungle god gave me back my Tibo—gave him to me -out of the jaws of Numa. His medicine is true medicine—yours is the -weak medicine of an old man with a hole in his face.” - -“I have come,” repeated Bukawai patiently, “for the three fat—” But -Momaya had not waited to hear more of what she already knew by heart. -Clasping Tibo close to her side, she was hurrying away toward the -palisaded village of Mbonga, the chief. - -And the next day, when Momaya was working in the plantain field with -others of the women of the tribe, and little Tibo had been playing at -the edge of the jungle, casting a small spear in anticipation of the -distant day when he should be a full-fledged warrior, Bukawai had come -again. - -Tibo had seen a squirrel scampering up the bole of a great tree. His -childish mind had transformed it into the menacing figure of a hostile -warrior. Little Tibo had raised his tiny spear, his heart filled with -the savage blood lust of his race, as he pictured the night’s orgy when -he should dance about the corpse of his human kill as the women of his -tribe prepared the meat for the feast to follow. - -But when he cast the spear, he missed both squirrel and tree, losing -his missile far among the tangled undergrowth of the jungle. However, -it could be but a few steps within the forbidden labyrinth. The women -were all about in the field. There were warriors on guard within easy -hail, and so little Tibo boldly ventured into the dark place. - -Just behind the screen of creepers and matted foliage lurked three -horrid figures—an old, old man, black as the pit, with a face half -eaten away by leprosy, his sharp-filed teeth, the teeth of a cannibal, -showing yellow and repulsive through the great gaping hole where his -mouth and nose had been. And beside him, equally hideous, stood two -powerful hyenas—carrion-eaters consorting with carrion. - -Tibo did not see them until, head down, he had forced his way through -the thickly growing vines in search of his little spear, and then it -was too late. As he looked up into the face of Bukawai, the old -witch-doctor seized him, muffling his screams with a palm across his -mouth. Tibo struggled futilely. - -A moment later he was being hustled away through the dark and terrible -jungle, the frightful old man still muffling his screams, and the two -hideous hyenas pacing now on either side, now before, now behind, -always prowling, always growling, snapping, snarling, or, worst of all, -laughing hideously. - -To little Tibo, who within his brief existence had passed through such -experiences as are given to few to pass through in a lifetime, the -northward journey was a nightmare of terror. He thought now of the time -that he had been with the great, white jungle god, and he prayed with -all his little soul that he might be back again with the white-skinned -giant who consorted with the hairy tree men. Terror-stricken he had -been then, but his surroundings had been nothing by comparison with -those which he now endured. - -The old man seldom addressed Tibo, though he kept up an almost -continuous mumbling throughout the long day. Tibo caught repeated -references to fat goats, sleeping mats, and pieces of copper wire. “Ten -fat goats, ten fat goats,” the old Negro would croon over and over -again. By this little Tibo guessed that the price of his ransom had -risen. Ten fat goats? Where would his mother get ten fat goats, or thin -ones, either, for that matter, to buy back just a poor little boy? -Mbonga would never let her have them, and Tibo knew that his father -never had owned more than three goats at the same time in all his life. -Ten fat goats! Tibo sniffled. The putrid old man would kill him and eat -him, for the goats would never be forthcoming. Bukawai would throw his -bones to the hyenas. The little black boy shuddered and became so weak -that he almost fell in his tracks. Bukawai cuffed him on an ear and -jerked him along. - -After what seemed an eternity to Tibo, they arrived at the mouth of a -cave between two rocky hills. The opening was low and narrow. A few -saplings bound together with strips of rawhide closed it against stray -beasts. Bukawai removed the primitive door and pushed Tibo within. The -hyenas, snarling, rushed past him and were lost to view in the -blackness of the interior. Bukawai replaced the saplings and seizing -Tibo roughly by the arm, dragged him along a narrow, rocky passage. The -floor was comparatively smooth, for the dirt which lay thick upon it -had been trodden and tramped by many feet until few inequalities -remained. - -The passage was tortuous, and as it was very dark and the walls rough -and rocky, Tibo was scratched and bruised from the many bumps he -received. Bukawai walked as rapidly through the winding gallery as one -would traverse a familiar lane by daylight. He knew every twist and -turn as a mother knows the face of her child, and he seemed to be in a -hurry. He jerked poor little Tibo possibly a trifle more ruthlessly -than necessary even at the pace Bukawai set; but the old witch-doctor, -an outcast from the society of man, diseased, shunned, hated, feared, -was far from possessing an angelic temper. Nature had given him few of -the kindlier characteristics of man, and these few Fate had eradicated -entirely. Shrewd, cunning, cruel, vindictive, was Bukawai, the -witch-doctor. - -Frightful tales were whispered of the cruel tortures he inflicted upon -his victims. Children were frightened into obedience by the threat of -his name. Often had Tibo been thus frightened, and now he was reaping a -grisly harvest of terror from the seeds his mother had innocently sown. -The darkness, the presence of the dreaded witch-doctor, the pain of the -contusions, with a haunting premonition of the future, and the fear of -the hyenas combined to almost paralyze the child. He stumbled and -reeled until Bukawai was dragging rather than leading him. - -Presently Tibo saw a faint lightness ahead of them, and a moment later -they emerged into a roughly circular chamber to which a little daylight -filtered through a rift in the rocky ceiling. The hyenas were there -ahead of them, waiting. As Bukawai entered with Tibo, the beasts slunk -toward them, baring yellow fangs. They were hungry. Toward Tibo they -came, and one snapped at his naked legs. Bukawai seized a stick from -the floor of the chamber and struck a vicious blow at the beast, at the -same time mumbling forth a volley of execrations. The hyena dodged and -ran to the side of the chamber, where he stood growling. Bukawai took a -step toward the creature, which bristled with rage at his approach. -Fear and hatred shot from its evil eyes, but, fortunately for Bukawai, -fear predominated. - -Seeing that he was unnoticed, the second beast made a short, quick rush -for Tibo. The child screamed and darted after the witch-doctor, who now -turned his attention to the second hyena. This one he reached with his -heavy stick, striking it repeatedly and driving it to the wall. There -the two carrion-eaters commenced to circle the chamber while the human -carrion, their master, now in a perfect frenzy of demoniacal rage, ran -to and fro in an effort to intercept them, striking out with his cudgel -and lashing them with his tongue, calling down upon them the curses of -whatever gods and demons he could summon to memory, and describing in -lurid figures the ignominy of their ancestors. - -Several times one or the other of the beasts would turn to make a stand -against the witch-doctor, and then Tibo would hold his breath in -agonized terror, for never in his brief life had he seen such frightful -hatred depicted upon the countenance of man or beast; but always fear -overcame the rage of the savage creatures, so that they resumed their -flight, snarling and bare-fanged, just at the moment that Tibo was -certain they would spring at Bukawai’s throat. - -At last the witch-doctor tired of the futile chase. With a snarl quite -as bestial as those of the beast, he turned toward Tibo. “I go to -collect the ten fat goats, the new sleeping mat, and the two pieces of -copper wire that your mother will pay for the medicine I shall make to -bring you back to her,” he said. “You will stay here. There,” and he -pointed toward the passage which they had followed to the chamber, “I -will leave the hyenas. If you try to escape, they will eat you.” - -He cast aside the stick and called to the beasts. They came, snarling -and slinking, their tails between their legs. Bukawai led them to the -passage and drove them into it. Then he dragged a rude lattice into -place before the opening after he, himself, had left the chamber. “This -will keep them from you,” he said. “If I do not get the ten fat goats -and the other things, they shall at least have a few bones after I am -through.” And he left the boy to think over the meaning of his -all-too-suggestive words. - -When he was gone, Tibo threw himself upon the earth floor and broke -into childish sobs of terror and loneliness. He knew that his mother -had no ten fat goats to give and that when Bukawai returned, little -Tibo would be killed and eaten. How long he lay there he did not know, -but presently he was aroused by the growling of the hyenas. They had -returned through the passage and were glaring at him from beyond the -lattice. He could see their yellow eyes blazing through the darkness. -They reared up and clawed at the barrier. Tibo shivered and withdrew to -the opposite side of the chamber. He saw the lattice sag and sway to -the attacks of the beasts. Momentarily he expected that it would fall -inward, letting the creatures upon him. - -Wearily the horror-ridden hours dragged their slow way. Night came, and -for a time Tibo slept, but it seemed that the hungry beasts never -slept. Always they stood just beyond the lattice growling their hideous -growls or laughing their hideous laughs. Through the narrow rift in the -rocky roof above him, Tibo could see a few stars, and once the moon -crossed. At last daylight came again. Tibo was very hungry and thirsty, -for he had not eaten since the morning before, and only once upon the -long march had he been permitted to drink, but even hunger and thirst -were almost forgotten in the terror of his position. - -It was after daylight that the child discovered a second opening in the -walls of the subterranean chamber, almost opposite that at which the -hyenas still stood glaring hungrily at him. It was only a narrow slit -in the rocky wall. It might lead in but a few feet, or it might lead to -freedom! Tibo approached it and looked within. He could see nothing. He -extended his arm into the blackness, but he dared not venture farther. -Bukawai never would have left open a way of escape, Tibo reasoned, so -this passage must lead either nowhere or to some still more hideous -danger. - -To the boy’s fear of the actual dangers which menaced him—Bukawai and -the two hyenas—his superstition added countless others quite too -horrible even to name, for in the lives of the blacks, through the -shadows of the jungle day and the black horrors of the jungle night, -flit strange, fantastic shapes peopling the already hideously peopled -forests with menacing figures, as though the lion and the leopard, the -snake and the hyena, and the countless poisonous insects were not quite -sufficient to strike terror to the hearts of the poor, simple creatures -whose lot is cast in earth’s most fearsome spot. - -And so it was that little Tibo cringed not only from real menaces but -from imaginary ones. He was afraid even to venture upon a road that -might lead to escape, lest Bukawai had set to watch it some frightful -demon of the jungle. - -But the real menaces suddenly drove the imaginary ones from the boy’s -mind, for with the coming of daylight the half-famished hyenas renewed -their efforts to break down the frail barrier which kept them from -their prey. Rearing upon their hind feet they clawed and struck at the -lattice. With wide eyes Tibo saw it sag and rock. Not for long, he -knew, could it withstand the assaults of these two powerful and -determined brutes. Already one corner had been forced past the rocky -protuberance of the entrance way which had held it in place. A shaggy -forearm protruded into the chamber. Tibo trembled as with ague, for he -knew that the end was near. - -Backing against the farther wall he stood flattened out as far from the -beasts as he could get. He saw the lattice give still more. He saw a -savage, snarling head forced past it, and grinning jaws snapping and -gaping toward him. In another instant the pitiful fabric would fall -inward, and the two would be upon him, rending his flesh from his -bones, gnawing the bones themselves, fighting for possession of his -entrails. - -* * * - -Bukawai came upon Momaya outside the palisade of Mbonga, the chief. At -sight of him the woman drew back in revulsion, then she flew at him, -tooth and nail; but Bukawai threatening her with a spear held her at a -safe distance. - -“Where is my baby?” she cried. “Where is my little Tibo?” - -Bukawai opened his eyes in well-simulated amazement. “Your baby!” he -exclaimed. “What should I know of him, other than that I rescued him -from the white god of the jungle and have not yet received my pay. I -come for the goats and the sleeping mat and the piece of copper wire -the length of a tall man’s arm from the shoulder to the tips of his -fingers.” “Offal of a hyena!” shrieked Momaya. “My child has been -stolen, and you, rotting fragment of a man, have taken him. Return him -to me or I shall tear your eyes from your head and feed your heart to -the wild hogs.” - -Bukawai shrugged his shoulders. “What do I know about your child?” he -asked. “I have not taken him. If he is stolen again, what should -Bukawai know of the matter? Did Bukawai steal him before? No, the white -jungle god stole him, and if he stole him once he would steal him -again. It is nothing to me. I returned him to you before and I have -come for my pay. If he is gone and you would have him returned, Bukawai -will return him—for ten fat goats, a new sleeping mat and two pieces of -copper wire the length of a tall man’s arm from the shoulder to the -tips of his fingers, and Bukawai will say nothing more about the goats -and the sleeping mat and the copper wire which you were to pay for the -first medicine.” - -“Ten fat goats!” screamed Momaya. “I could not pay you ten fat goats in -as many years. Ten fat goats, indeed!” - -“Ten fat goats,” repeated Bukawai. “Ten fat goats, the new sleeping mat -and two pieces of copper wire the length of—” - -Momaya stopped him with an impatient gesture. “Wait!” she cried. “I -have no goats. You waste your breath. Stay here while I go to my man. -He has but three goats, yet something may be done. Wait!” - -Bukawai sat down beneath a tree. He felt quite content, for he knew -that he should have either payment or revenge. He did not fear harm at -the hands of these people of another tribe, although he well knew that -they must fear and hate him. His leprosy alone would prevent their -laying hands upon him, while his reputation as a witch-doctor rendered -him doubly immune from attack. He was planning upon compelling them to -drive the ten goats to the mouth of his cave when Momaya returned. With -her were three warriors—Mbonga, the chief, Rabba Kega, the village -witch-doctor, and Ibeto, Tibo’s father. They were not pretty men even -under ordinary circumstances, and now, with their faces marked by -anger, they well might have inspired terror in the heart of anyone; but -if Bukawai felt any fear, he did not betray it. Instead he greeted them -with an insolent stare, intended to awe them, as they came and squatted -in a semi-circle before him. - -“Where is Ibeto’s son?” asked Mbonga. - -“How should I know?” returned Bukawai. “Doubtless the white devil-god -has him. If I am paid I will make strong medicine and then we shall -know where is Ibeto’s son, and shall get him back again. It was my -medicine which got him back the last time, for which I got no pay.” - -“I have my own witch-doctor to make medicine,” replied Mbonga with -dignity. - -Bukawai sneered and rose to his feet. “Very well,” he said, “let him -make his medicine and see if he can bring Ibeto’s son back.” He took a -few steps away from them, and then he turned angrily back. “His -medicine will not bring the child back—that I know, and I also know -that when you find him it will be too late for any medicine to bring -him back, for he will be dead. This have I just found out, the ghost of -my father’s sister but now came to me and told me.” - -Now Mbonga and Rabba Kega might not take much stock in their own magic, -and they might even be skeptical as to the magic of another; but there -was always a chance of _something_ being in it, especially if it were -not their own. Was it not well known that old Bukawai had speech with -the demons themselves and that two even lived with him in the forms of -hyenas! Still they must not accede too hastily. There was the price to -be considered, and Mbonga had no intention of parting lightly with ten -goats to obtain the return of a single little boy who might die of -smallpox long before he reached a warrior’s estate. - -“Wait,” said Mbonga. “Let us see some of your magic, that we may know -if it be good magic. Then we can talk about payment. Rabba Kega will -make some magic, too. We will see who makes the best magic. Sit down, -Bukawai.” - -“The payment will be ten goats—fat goats—a new sleeping mat and two -pieces of copper wire the length of a tall man’s arm from the shoulder -to the ends of his fingers, and it will be made in advance, the goats -being driven to my cave. Then will I make the medicine, and on the -second day the boy will be returned to his mother. It cannot be done -more quickly than that because it takes time to make such strong -medicine.” - -“Make us some medicine now,” said Mbonga. “Let us see what sort of -medicine you make.” - -“Bring me fire,” replied Bukawai, “and I will make you a little magic.” - -Momaya was dispatched for the fire, and while she was away Mbonga -dickered with Bukawai about the price. Ten goats, he said, was a high -price for an able-bodied warrior. He also called Bukawai’s attention to -the fact that he, Mbonga, was very poor, that his people were very -poor, and that ten goats were at least eight too many, to say nothing -of a new sleeping mat and the copper wire; but Bukawai was adamant. His -medicine was very expensive and he would have to give at least five -goats to the gods who helped him make it. They were still arguing when -Momaya returned with the fire. - -Bukawai placed a little on the ground before him, took a pinch of -powder from a pouch at his side and sprinkled it on the embers. A cloud -of smoke rose with a puff. Bukawai closed his eyes and rocked back and -forth. Then he made a few passes in the air and pretended to swoon. -Mbonga and the others were much impressed. Rabba Kega grew nervous. He -saw his reputation waning. There was some fire left in the vessel which -Momaya had brought. He seized the vessel, dropped a handful of dry -leaves into it while no one was watching and then uttered a frightful -scream which drew the attention of Bukawai’s audience to him. It also -brought Bukawai quite miraculously out of his swoon, but when the old -witch-doctor saw the reason for the disturbance he quickly relapsed -into unconsciousness before anyone discovered his _faux pas_. - -Rabba Kega, seeing that he had the attention of Mbonga, Ibeto, and -Momaya, blew suddenly into the vessel, with the result that the leaves -commenced to smolder, and smoke issued from the mouth of the -receptacle. Rabba Kega was careful to hold it so that none might see -the dry leaves. Their eyes opened wide at this remarkable demonstration -of the village witch-doctor’s powers. The latter, greatly elated, let -himself out. He shouted, jumped up and down, and made frightful -grimaces; then he put his face close over the mouth of the vessel and -appeared to be communing with the spirits within. - -It was while he was thus engaged that Bukawai came out of his trance, -his curiosity finally having gotten the better of him. No one was -paying him the slightest attention. He blinked his one eye angrily, -then he, too, let out a loud roar, and when he was sure that Mbonga had -turned toward him, he stiffened rigidly and made spasmodic movements -with his arms and legs. - -“I see him!” he cried. “He is far away. The white devil-god did not get -him. He is alone and in great danger; but,” he added, “if the ten fat -goats and the other things are paid to me quickly there is yet time to -save him.” - -Rabba Kega had paused to listen. Mbonga looked toward him. The chief -was in a quandary. He did not know which medicine was the better. “What -does your magic tell you?” he asked of Rabba Kega. - -“I, too, see him,” screamed Rabba Kega; “but he is not where Bukawai -says he is. He is dead at the bottom of the river.” - -At this Momaya commenced to howl loudly. - -Tarzan had followed the spoor of the old man, the two hyenas, and the -little black boy to the mouth of the cave in the rocky cañon between -the two hills. Here he paused a moment before the sapling barrier which -Bukawai had set up, listening to the snarls and growls which came -faintly from the far recesses of the cavern. - -Presently, mingled with the beastly cries, there came faintly to the -keen ears of the ape-man, the agonized moan of a child. No longer did -Tarzan hesitate. Hurling the door aside, he sprang into the dark -opening. Narrow and black was the corridor; but long use of his eyes in -the Stygian blackness of the jungle nights had given to the ape-man -something of the nocturnal visionary powers of the wild things with -which he had consorted since babyhood. - -He moved rapidly and yet with caution, for the place was dark, -unfamiliar and winding. As he advanced, he heard more and more loudly -the savage snarls of the two hyenas, mingled with the scraping and -scratching of their paws upon wood. The moans of a child grew in -volume, and Tarzan recognized in them the voice of the little black boy -he once had sought to adopt as his balu. - -There was no hysteria in the ape-man’s advance. Too accustomed was he -to the passing of life in the jungle to be greatly wrought even by the -death of one whom he knew; but the lust for battle spurred him on. He -was only a wild beast at heart and his wild beast’s heart beat high in -anticipation of conflict. - -In the rocky chamber of the hill’s center, little Tibo crouched low -against the wall as far from the hunger-crazed beasts as he could drag -himself. He saw the lattice giving to the frantic clawing of the -hyenas. He knew that in a few minutes his little life would flicker out -horribly beneath the rending, yellow fangs of these loathsome -creatures. - -Beneath the buffetings of the powerful bodies, the lattice sagged -inward, until, with a crash it gave way, letting the carnivora in upon -the boy. Tibo cast one affrighted glance toward them, then closed his -eyes and buried his face in his arms, sobbing piteously. - -For a moment the hyenas paused, caution and cowardice holding them from -their prey. They stood thus glaring at the lad, then slowly, -stealthily, crouching, they crept toward him. It was thus that Tarzan -came upon them, bursting into the chamber swiftly and silently; but not -so silently that the keen-eared beasts did not note his coming. With -angry growls they turned from Tibo upon the ape-man, as, with a smile -upon his lips, he ran toward them. For an instant one of the animals -stood its ground; but the ape-man did not deign even to draw his -hunting knife against despised Dango. Rushing in upon the brute he -grasped it by the scruff of the neck, just as it attempted to dodge -past him, and hurled it across the cavern after its fellow which -already was slinking into the corridor, bent upon escape. - -Then Tarzan picked Tibo from the floor, and when the child felt human -hands upon him instead of the paws and fangs of the hyenas, he rolled -his eyes upward in surprise and incredulity, and as they fell upon -Tarzan, sobs of relief broke from the childish lips and his hands -clutched at his deliverer as though the white devil-god was not the -most feared of jungle creatures. - -When Tarzan came to the cave mouth the hyenas were nowhere in sight, -and after permitting Tibo to quench his thirst in the spring which rose -near by, he lifted the boy to his shoulders and set off toward the -jungle at a rapid trot, determined to still the annoying howlings of -Momaya as quickly as possible, for he shrewdly had guessed that the -absence of her balu was the cause of her lamentation. - -“He is not dead at the bottom of the river,” cried Bukawai. “What does -this fellow know about making magic? Who is he, anyway, that he dare -say Bukawai’s magic is not good magic? Bukawai sees Momaya’s son. He is -far away and alone and in great danger. Hasten then with the ten fat -goats, the—” - -But he got no further. There was a sudden interruption from above, from -the branches of the very tree beneath which they squatted, and as the -five blacks looked up they almost swooned in fright as they saw the -great, white devil-god looking down upon them; but before they could -flee they saw another face, that of the lost little Tibo, and his face -was laughing and very happy. - -And then Tarzan dropped fearlessly among them, the boy still upon his -back, and deposited him before his mother. Momaya, Ibeto, Rabba Kega, -and Mbonga were all crowding around the lad trying to question him at -the same time. Suddenly Momaya turned ferociously to fall upon Bukawai, -for the boy had told her all that he had suffered at the hands of the -cruel old man; but Bukawai was no longer there—he had required no -recourse to black art to assure him that the vicinity of Momaya would -be no healthful place for him after Tibo had told his story, and now he -was running through the jungle as fast as his old legs would carry him -toward the distant lair where he knew no black would dare pursue him. - -Tarzan, too, had vanished, as he had a way of doing, to the -mystification of the blacks. Then Momaya’s eyes lighted upon Rabba -Kega. The village witch-doctor saw something in those eyes of hers -which boded no good to him, and backed away. - -“So my Tibo is dead at the bottom of the river, is he?” the woman -shrieked. “And he’s far away and alone and in great danger, is he? -Magic!” The scorn which Momaya crowded into that single word would have -done credit to a Thespian of the first magnitude. “Magic, indeed!” she -screamed. “Momaya will show you some magic of her own,” and with that -she seized upon a broken limb and struck Rabba Kega across the head. -With a howl of pain, the man turned and fled, Momaya pursuing him and -beating him across the shoulders, through the gateway and up the length -of the village street, to the intense amusement of the warriors, the -women, and the children who were so fortunate as to witness the -spectacle, for one and all feared Rabba Kega, and to fear is to hate. - -Thus it was that to his host of passive enemies, Tarzan of the Apes -added that day two active foes, both of whom remained awake long into -the night planning means of revenge upon the white devil-god who had -brought them into ridicule and disrepute, but with their most -malevolent schemings was mingled a vein of real fear and awe that would -not down. - -Young Lord Greystoke did not know that they planned against him, nor, -knowing, would have cared. He slept as well that night as he did on any -other night, and though there was no roof above him, and no doors to -lock against intruders, he slept much better than his noble relative in -England, who had eaten altogether too much lobster and drank too much -wine at dinner that night. - - - - -CHAPTER VII -The End of Bukawai - - -When Tarzan of the Apes was still but a boy he had learned, among other -things, to fashion pliant ropes of fibrous jungle grass. Strong and -tough were the ropes of Tarzan, the little Tarmangani. Tublat, his -foster father, would have told you this much and more. Had you tempted -him with a handful of fat caterpillars he even might have sufficiently -unbended to narrate to you a few stories of the many indignities which -Tarzan had heaped upon him by means of his hated rope; but then Tublat -always worked himself into such a frightful rage when he devoted any -considerable thought either to the rope or to Tarzan, that it might not -have proved comfortable for you to have remained close enough to him to -hear what he had to say. - -So often had that snakelike noose settled unexpectedly over Tublat’s -head, so often had he been jerked ridiculously and painfully from his -feet when he was least looking for such an occurrence, that there is -little wonder he found scant space in his savage heart for love of his -white-skinned foster child, or the inventions thereof. There had been -other times, too, when Tublat had swung helplessly in midair, the noose -tightening about his neck, death staring him in the face, and little -Tarzan dancing upon a near-by limb, taunting him and making unseemly -grimaces. - -Then there had been another occasion in which the rope had figured -prominently—an occasion, and the only one connected with the rope, -which Tublat recalled with pleasure. Tarzan, as active in brain as he -was in body, was always inventing new ways in which to play. It was -through the medium of play that he learned much during his childhood. -This day he learned something, and that he did not lose his life in the -learning of it, was a matter of great surprise to Tarzan, and the fly -in the ointment, to Tublat. - -The man-child had, in throwing his noose at a playmate in a tree above -him, caught a projecting branch instead. When he tried to shake it -loose it but drew the tighter. Then Tarzan started to climb the rope to -remove it from the branch. When he was part way up a frolicsome -playmate seized that part of the rope which lay upon the ground and ran -off with it as far as he could go. When Tarzan screamed at him to -desist, the young ape released the rope a little and then drew it tight -again. The result was to impart a swinging motion to Tarzan’s body -which the ape-boy suddenly realized was a new and pleasurable form of -play. He urged the ape to continue until Tarzan was swinging to and fro -as far as the short length of rope would permit, but the distance was -not great enough, and, too, he was not far enough above the ground to -give the necessary thrills which add so greatly to the pastimes of the -young. - -So he clambered to the branch where the noose was caught and after -removing it carried the rope far aloft and out upon a long and powerful -branch. Here he again made it fast, and taking the loose end in his -hand, clambered quickly down among the branches as far as the rope -would permit him to go; then he swung out upon the end of it, his -lithe, young body turning and twisting—a human bob upon a pendulum of -grass—thirty feet above the ground. - -Ah, how delectable! This was indeed a new play of the first magnitude. -Tarzan was entranced. Soon he discovered that by wriggling his body in -just the right way at the proper time he could diminish or accelerate -his oscillation, and, being a boy, he chose, naturally, to accelerate. -Presently he was swinging far and wide, while below him, the apes of -the tribe of Kerchak looked on in mild amaze. - -Had it been you or I swinging there at the end of that grass rope, the -thing which presently happened would not have happened, for we could -not have hung on so long as to have made it possible; but Tarzan was -quite as much at home swinging by his hands as he was standing upon his -feet, or, at least, almost. At any rate he felt no fatigue long after -the time that an ordinary mortal would have been numb with the strain -of the physical exertion. And this was his undoing. - -Tublat was watching him as were others of the tribe. Of all the -creatures of the wild, there was none Tublat so cordially hated as he -did this hideous, hairless, white-skinned, caricature of an ape. But -for Tarzan’s nimbleness, and the zealous watchfulness of savage Kala’s -mother love, Tublat would long since have rid himself of this stain -upon his family escutcheon. So long had it been since Tarzan became a -member of the tribe, that Tublat had forgotten the circumstances -surrounding the entrance of the jungle waif into his family, with the -result that he now imagined that Tarzan was his own offspring, adding -greatly to his chagrin. - -Wide and far swung Tarzan of the Apes, until at last, as he reached the -highest point of the arc the rope, which rapidly had frayed on the -rough bark of the tree limb, parted suddenly. The watching apes saw the -smooth, brown body shoot outward, and down, plummet-like. Tublat leaped -high in the air, emitting what in a human being would have been an -exclamation of delight. This would be the end of Tarzan and most of -Tublat’s troubles. From now on he could lead his life in peace and -security. - -Tarzan fell quite forty feet, alighting on his back in a thick bush. -Kala was the first to reach his side—ferocious, hideous, loving Kala. -She had seen the life crushed from her own balu in just such a fall -years before. Was she to lose this one too in the same way? Tarzan was -lying quite still when she found him, embedded deeply in the bush. It -took Kala several minutes to disentangle him and drag him forth; but he -was not killed. He was not even badly injured. The bush had broken the -force of the fall. A cut upon the back of his head showed where he had -struck the tough stem of the shrub and explained his unconsciousness. - -In a few minutes he was as active as ever. Tublat was furious. In his -rage he snapped at a fellow-ape without first discovering the identity -of his victim, and was badly mauled for his ill temper, having chosen -to vent his spite upon a husky and belligerent young bull in the full -prime of his vigor. - -But Tarzan had learned something new. He had learned that continued -friction would wear through the strands of his rope, though it was many -years before this knowledge did more for him than merely to keep him -from swinging too long at a time, or too far above the ground at the -end of his rope. - -The day came, however, when the very thing that had once all but killed -him proved the means of saving his life. - -He was no longer a child, but a mighty jungle male. There was none now -to watch over him, solicitously, nor did he need such. Kala was dead. -Dead, too, was Tublat, and though with Kala passed the one creature -that ever really had loved him, there were still many who hated him -after Tublat departed unto the arms of his fathers. It was not that he -was more cruel or more savage than they that they hated him, for though -he was both cruel and savage as were the beasts, his fellows, yet too -was he often tender, which they never were. No, the thing which brought -Tarzan most into disrepute with those who did not like him, was the -possession and practice of a characteristic which they had not and -could not understand—the human sense of humor. In Tarzan it was a -trifle broad, perhaps, manifesting itself in rough and painful -practical jokes upon his friends and cruel baiting of his enemies. - -But to neither of these did he owe the enmity of Bukawai, the -witch-doctor, who dwelt in the cave between the two hills far to the -north of the village of Mbonga, the chief. Bukawai was jealous of -Tarzan, and Bukawai it was who came near proving the undoing of the -ape-man. For months Bukawai had nursed his hatred while revenge seemed -remote indeed, since Tarzan of the Apes frequented another part of the -jungle, miles away from the lair of Bukawai. Only once had the black -witch-doctor seen the devil-god, as he was most often called among the -blacks, and upon that occasion Tarzan had robbed him of a fat fee, at -the same time putting the lie in the mouth of Bukawai, and making his -medicine seem poor medicine. All this Bukawai never could forgive, -though it seemed unlikely that the opportunity would come to be -revenged. - -Yet it did come, and quite unexpectedly. Tarzan was hunting far to the -north. He had wandered away from the tribe, as he did more and more -often as he approached maturity, to hunt alone for a few days. As a -child he had enjoyed romping and playing with the young apes, his -companions; but now these play-fellows of his had grown to surly, -lowering bulls, or to touchy, suspicious mothers, jealously guarding -helpless balus. So Tarzan found in his own man-mind a greater and a -truer companionship than any or all of the apes of Kerchak could afford -him. - -This day, as Tarzan hunted, the sky slowly became overcast. Torn -clouds, whipped to ragged streamers, fled low above the tree tops. They -reminded Tarzan of frightened antelope fleeing the charge of a hungry -lion. But though the light clouds raced so swiftly, the jungle was -motionless. Not a leaf quivered and the silence was a great, dead -weight—insupportable. Even the insects seemed stilled by apprehension -of some frightful thing impending, and the larger things were -soundless. Such a forest, such a jungle might have stood there in the -beginning of that unthinkably far-gone age before God peopled the world -with life, when there were no sounds because there were no ears to -hear. - -And over all lay a sickly, pallid ocher light through which the -scourged clouds raced. Tarzan had seen all these conditions many times -before, yet he never could escape a strange feeling at each recurrence -of them. He knew no fear, but in the face of Nature’s manifestations of -her cruel, immeasurable powers, he felt very small—very small and very -lonely. - -Now he heard a low moaning, far away. “The lions seek their prey,” he -murmured to himself, looking up once again at the swift-flying clouds. -The moaning rose to a great volume of sound. “They come!” said Tarzan -of the Apes, and sought the shelter of a thickly foliaged tree. Quite -suddenly the trees bent their tops simultaneously as though God had -stretched a hand from the heavens and pressed His flat palm down upon -the world. “They pass!” whispered Tarzan. “The lions pass.” Then came a -vivid flash of lightning, followed by deafening thunder. “The lions -have sprung,” cried Tarzan, “and now they roar above the bodies of -their kills.” - -The trees were waving wildly in all directions now, a perfectly -demoniacal wind threshed the jungle pitilessly. In the midst of it the -rain came—not as it comes upon us of the northlands, but in a sudden, -choking, blinding deluge. “The blood of the kill,” thought Tarzan, -huddling himself closer to the bole of the great tree beneath which he -stood. - -He was close to the edge of the jungle, and at a little distance he had -seen two hills before the storm broke; but now he could see nothing. It -amused him to look out into the beating rain, searching for the two -hills and imagining that the torrents from above had washed them away, -yet he knew that presently the rain would cease, the sun come out again -and all be as it was before, except where a few branches had fallen and -here and there some old and rotted patriarch had crashed back to enrich -the soil upon which he had fatted for, maybe, centuries. All about him -branches and leaves filled the air or fell to earth, torn away by the -strength of the tornado and the weight of the water upon them. A gaunt -corpse toppled and fell a few yards away; but Tarzan was protected from -all these dangers by the wide-spreading branches of the sturdy young -giant beneath which his jungle craft had guided him. Here there was but -a single danger, and that a remote one. Yet it came. Without warning -the tree above him was riven by lightning, and when the rain ceased and -the sun came out Tarzan lay stretched as he had fallen, upon his face -amidst the wreckage of the jungle giant that should have shielded him. - -Bukawai came to the entrance of his cave after the rain and the storm -had passed and looked out upon the scene. From his one eye Bukawai -could see; but had he had a dozen eyes he could have found no beauty in -the fresh sweetness of the revivified jungle, for to such things, in -the chemistry of temperament, his brain failed to react; nor, even had -he had a nose, which he had not for years, could he have found -enjoyment or sweetness in the clean-washed air. - -At either side of the leper stood his sole and constant companions, the -two hyenas, sniffing the air. Presently one of them uttered a low growl -and with flattened head started, sneaking and wary, toward the jungle. -The other followed. Bukawai, his curiosity aroused, trailed after them, -in his hand a heavy knob-stick. - -The hyenas halted a few yards from the prostrate Tarzan, sniffing and -growling. Then came Bukawai, and at first he could not believe the -witness of his own eyes; but when he did and saw that it was indeed the -devil-god his rage knew no bounds, for he thought him dead and himself -cheated of the revenge he had so long dreamed upon. - -The hyenas approached the ape-man with bared fangs. Bukawai, with an -inarticulate scream, rushed upon them, striking cruel and heavy blows -with his knob-stick, for there might still be life in the apparently -lifeless form. The beasts, snapping and snarling, half turned upon -their master and their tormentor, but long fear still held them from -his putrid throat. They slunk away a few yards and squatted upon their -haunches, hatred and baffled hunger gleaming from their savage eyes. - -Bukawai stooped and placed his ear above the ape-man’s heart. It still -beat. As well as his sloughed features could register pleasure they did -so; but it was not a pretty sight. At the ape-man’s side lay his long, -grass rope. Quickly Bukawai bound the limp arms behind his prisoner’s -back, then he raised him to one of his shoulders, for, though Bukawai -was old and diseased, he was still a strong man. The hyenas fell in -behind as the witch-doctor set off toward the cave, and through the -long black corridors they followed as Bukawai bore his victim into the -bowels of the hills. Through subterranean chambers, connected by -winding passageways, Bukawai staggered with his load. At a sudden -turning of the corridor, daylight flooded them and Bukawai stepped out -into a small, circular basin in the hill, apparently the crater of an -ancient volcano, one of those which never reached the dignity of a -mountain and are little more than lava-rimmed pits closed to the -earth’s surface. - -Steep walls rimmed the cavity. The only exit was through the passageway -by which Bukawai had entered. A few stunted trees grew upon the rocky -floor. A hundred feet above could be seen the ragged lips of this cold, -dead mouth of hell. - -Bukawai propped Tarzan against a tree and bound him there with his own -grass rope, leaving his hands free but securing the knots in such a way -that the ape-man could not reach them. The hyenas slunk to and fro, -growling. Bukawai hated them and they hated him. He knew that they but -waited for the time when he should be helpless, or when their hatred -should rise to such a height as to submerge their cringing fear of him. - -In his own heart was not a little fear of these repulsive creatures, -and because of that fear, Bukawai always kept the beasts well fed, -often hunting for them when their own forages for food failed, but ever -was he cruel to them with the cruelty of a little brain, diseased, -bestial, primitive. - -He had had them since they were puppies. They had known no other life -than that with him, and though they went abroad to hunt, always they -returned. Of late Bukawai had come to believe that they returned not so -much from habit as from a fiendish patience which would submit to every -indignity and pain rather than forego the final vengeance, and Bukawai -needed but little imagination to picture what that vengeance would be. -Today he would see for himself what his end would be; but another -should impersonate Bukawai. - -When he had trussed Tarzan securely, Bukawai went back into the -corridor, driving the hyenas ahead of him, and pulling across the -opening a lattice of laced branches, which shut the pit from the cave -during the night that Bukawai might sleep in security, for then the -hyenas were penned in the crater that they might not sneak upon a -sleeping Bukawai in the darkness. - -Bukawai returned to the outer cave mouth, filled a vessel with water at -the spring which rose in the little cañon close at hand and returned -toward the pit. The hyenas stood before the lattice looking hungrily -toward Tarzan. They had been fed in this manner before. - -With his water, the witch-doctor approached Tarzan and threw a portion -of the contents of the vessel in the ape-man’s face. There was -fluttering of the eyelids, and at the second application Tarzan opened -his eyes and looked about. - -“Devil-god,” cried Bukawai, “I am the great witch-doctor. My medicine -is strong. Yours is weak. If it is not, why do you stay tied here like -a goat that is bait for lions?” - -Tarzan understood nothing the witch-doctor said, therefore he did not -reply, but only stared straight at Bukawai with cold and level gaze. -The hyenas crept up behind him. He heard them growl; but he did not -even turn his head. He was a beast with a man’s brain. The beast in him -refused to show fear in the face of a death which the man-mind already -admitted to be inevitable. - -Bukawai, not yet ready to give his victim to the beasts, rushed upon -the hyenas with his knob-stick. There was a short scrimmage in which -the brutes came off second best, as they always did. Tarzan watched it. -He saw and realized the hatred which existed between the two animals -and the hideous semblance of a man. - -With the hyenas subdued, Bukawai returned to the baiting of Tarzan; but -finding that the ape-man understood nothing he said, the witch-doctor -finally desisted. Then he withdrew into the corridor and pulled the -latticework barrier across the opening. He went back into the cave and -got a sleeping mat, which he brought to the opening, that he might lie -down and watch the spectacle of his revenge in comfort. - -The hyenas were sneaking furtively around the ape-man. Tarzan strained -at his bonds for a moment, but soon realized that the rope he had -braided to hold Numa, the lion, would hold him quite as successfully. -He did not wish to die; but he could look death in the face now as he -had many times before without a quaver. - -As he pulled upon the rope he felt it rub against the small tree about -which it was passed. Like a flash of the cinematograph upon the screen, -a picture was flashed before his mind’s eye from the storehouse of his -memory. He saw a lithe, boyish figure swinging high above the ground at -the end of a rope. He saw many apes watching from below, and then he -saw the rope part and the boy hurtle downward toward the ground. Tarzan -smiled. Immediately he commenced to draw the rope rapidly back and -forth across the tree trunk. - -The hyenas, gaining courage, came closer. They sniffed at his legs; but -when he struck at them with his free arms they slunk off. He knew that -with the growth of hunger they would attack. Coolly, methodically, -without haste, Tarzan drew the rope back and forth against the rough -trunk of the small tree. - -In the entrance to the cavern Bukawai fell asleep. He thought it would -be some time before the beasts gained sufficient courage or hunger to -attack the captive. Their growls and the cries of the victim would -awaken him. In the meantime he might as well rest, and he did. - -Thus the day wore on, for the hyenas were not famished, and the rope -with which Tarzan was bound was a stronger one than that of his -boyhood, which had parted so quickly to the chafing of the rough tree -bark. Yet, all the while hunger was growing upon the beasts and the -strands of the grass rope were wearing thinner and thinner. Bukawai -slept. - -It was late afternoon before one of the beasts, irritated by the -gnawing of appetite, made a quick, growling dash at the ape-man. The -noise awoke Bukawai. He sat up quickly and watched what went on within -the crater. He saw the hungry hyena charge the man, leaping for the -unprotected throat. He saw Tarzan reach out and seize the growling -animal, and then he saw the second beast spring for the devil-god’s -shoulder. There was a mighty heave of the great, smooth-skinned body. -Rounded muscles shot into great, tensed piles beneath the brown -hide—the ape-man surged forward with all his weight and all his great -strength—the bonds parted, and the three were rolling upon the floor of -the crater snarling, snapping, and rending. - -Bukawai leaped to his feet. Could it be that the devil-god was to -prevail against his servants? Impossible! The creature was unarmed, and -he was down with two hyenas on top of him; but Bukawai did not know -Tarzan. - -The ape-man fastened his fingers upon the throat of one of the hyenas -and rose to one knee, though the other beast tore at him frantically in -an effort to pull him down. With a single hand Tarzan held the one, and -with the other hand he reached forth and pulled toward him the second -beast. - -And then Bukawai, seeing the battle going against his forces, rushed -forward from the cavern brandishing his knob-stick. Tarzan saw him -coming, and rising now to both feet, a hyena in each hand, he hurled -one of the foaming beasts straight at the witch-doctor’s head. Down -went the two in a snarling, biting heap. Tarzan tossed the second hyena -across the crater, while the first gnawed at the rotting face of its -master; but this did not suit the ape-man. With a kick he sent the -beast howling after its companion, and springing to the side of the -prostrate witch-doctor, dragged him to his feet. - -Bukawai, still conscious, saw death, immediate and terrible, in the -cold eyes of his captor, so he turned upon Tarzan with teeth and nails. -The ape-man shuddered at the proximity of that raw face to his. The -hyenas had had enough and disappeared through the small aperture -leading into the cave. Tarzan had little difficulty in overpowering and -binding Bukawai. Then he led him to the very tree to which he had been -bound; but in binding Bukawai, Tarzan saw to it that escape after the -same fashion that he had escaped would be out of the question; then he -left him. - -As he passed through the winding corridors and the subterranean -apartments, Tarzan saw nothing of the hyenas. - -“They will return,” he said to himself. - -In the crater between the towering walls Bukawai, cold with terror, -trembled, trembled as with ague. - -“They will return!” he cried, his voice rising to a fright-filled -shriek. - -And they did. - - - - -CHAPTER VIII -The Lion - - -Numa, the lion, crouched behind a thorn bush close beside the drinking -pool where the river eddied just below the bend. There was a ford there -and on either bank a well-worn trail, broadened far out at the river’s -brim, where, for countless centuries, the wild things of the jungle and -of the plains beyond had come down to drink, the carnivora with bold -and fearless majesty, the herbivora timorous, hesitating, fearful. - -Numa, the lion, was hungry, he was very hungry, and so he was quite -silent now. On his way to the drinking place he had moaned often and -roared not a little; but as he neared the spot where he would lie in -wait for Bara, the deer, or Horta, the boar, or some other of the many -luscious-fleshed creatures who came hither to drink, he was silent. It -was a grim, a terrible silence, shot through with yellow-green light of -ferocious eyes, punctuated with undulating tremors of sinuous tail. - -It was Pacco, the zebra, who came first, and Numa, the lion, could -scarce restrain a roar of anger, for of all the plains people, none are -more wary than Pacco, the zebra. Behind the black-striped stallion came -a herd of thirty or forty of the plump and vicious little horselike -beasts. As he neared the river, the leader paused often, cocking his -ears and raising his muzzle to sniff the gentle breeze for the -tell-tale scent spoor of the dread flesh-eaters. - -Numa shifted uneasily, drawing his hind quarters far beneath his tawny -body, gathering himself for the sudden charge and the savage assault. -His eyes shot hungry fire. His great muscles quivered to the excitement -of the moment. - -Pacco came a little nearer, halted, snorted, and wheeled. There was a -pattering of scurrying hoofs and the herd was gone; but Numa, the lion, -moved not. He was familiar with the ways of Pacco, the zebra. He knew -that he would return, though many times he might wheel and fly before -he summoned the courage to lead his harem and his offspring to the -water. There was the chance that Pacco might be frightened off -entirely. Numa had seen this happen before, and so he became almost -rigid lest he be the one to send them galloping, waterless, back to the -plain. - -Again and again came Pacco and his family, and again and again did they -turn and flee; but each time they came closer to the river, until at -last the plump stallion dipped his velvet muzzle daintily into the -water. The others, stepping warily, approached their leader. Numa -selected a sleek, fat filly and his flaming eyes burned greedily as -they feasted upon her, for Numa, the lion, loves scarce anything better -than the meat of Pacco, perhaps because Pacco is, of all the -grass-eaters, the most difficult to catch. - -Slowly the lion rose, and as he rose, a twig snapped beneath one of his -great, padded paws. Like a shot from a rifle he charged upon the filly; -but the snapped twig had been enough to startle the timorous quarry, so -that they were in instant flight simultaneously with Numa’s charge. - -The stallion was last, and with a prodigious leap, the lion catapulted -through the air to seize him; but the snapping twig had robbed Numa of -his dinner, though his mighty talons raked the zebra’s glossy rump, -leaving four crimson bars across the beautiful coat. - -It was an angry Numa that quitted the river and prowled, fierce, -dangerous, and hungry, into the jungle. Far from particular now was his -appetite. Even Dango, the hyena, would have seemed a tidbit to that -ravenous maw. And in this temper it was that the lion came upon the -tribe of Kerchak, the great ape. - -One does not look for Numa, the lion, this late in the morning. He -should be lying up asleep beside his last night’s kill by now; but Numa -had made no kill last night. He was still hunting, hungrier than ever. - -The anthropoids were idling about the clearing, the first keen desire -of the morning’s hunger having been satisfied. Numa scented them long -before he saw them. Ordinarily he would have turned away in search of -other game, for even Numa respected the mighty muscles and the sharp -fangs of the great bulls of the tribe of Kerchak, but today he kept on -steadily toward them, his bristled snout wrinkled into a savage snarl. - -Without an instant’s hesitation, Numa charged the moment he reached a -point from where the apes were visible to him. There were a dozen or -more of the hairy, manlike creatures upon the ground in a little glade. -In a tree at one side sat a brown-skinned youth. He saw Numa’s swift -charge; he saw the apes turn and flee, huge bulls trampling upon little -balus; only a single she held her ground to meet the charge, a young -she inspired by new motherhood to the great sacrifice that her balu -might escape. - -Tarzan leaped from his perch, screaming at the flying bulls beneath and -at those who squatted in the safety of surrounding trees. Had the bulls -stood their ground, Numa would not have carried through that charge -unless goaded by great rage or the gnawing pangs of starvation. Even -then he would not have come off unscathed. - -If the bulls heard, they were too slow in responding, for Numa had -seized the mother ape and dragged her into the jungle before the males -had sufficiently collected their wits and their courage to rally in -defense of their fellow. Tarzan’s angry voice aroused similar anger in -the breasts of the apes. Snarling and barking they followed Numa into -the dense labyrinth of foliage wherein he sought to hide himself from -them. The ape-man was in the lead, moving rapidly and yet with caution, -depending even more upon his ears and nose than upon his eyes for -information of the lion’s whereabouts. - -The spoor was easy to follow, for the dragged body of the victim left a -plain trail, blood-spattered and scentful. Even such dull creatures as -you or I might easily have followed it. To Tarzan and the apes of -Kerchak it was as obvious as a cement sidewalk. - -Tarzan knew that they were nearing the great cat even before he heard -an angry growl of warning just ahead. Calling to the apes to follow his -example, he swung into a tree and a moment later Numa was surrounded by -a ring of growling beasts, well out of reach of his fangs and talons -but within plain sight of him. The carnivore crouched with his -fore-quarters upon the she-ape. Tarzan could see that the latter was -already dead; but something within him made it seem quite necessary to -rescue the useless body from the clutches of the enemy and to punish -him. - -He shrieked taunts and insults at Numa, and tearing dead branches from -the tree in which he danced, hurled them at the lion. The apes followed -his example. Numa roared out in rage and vexation. He was hungry, but -under such conditions he could not feed. - -The apes, if they had been left to themselves, would doubtless soon -have left the lion to peaceful enjoyment of his feast, for was not the -she dead? They could not restore her to life by throwing sticks at -Numa, and they might even now be feeding in quiet themselves; but -Tarzan was of a different mind. Numa must be punished and driven away. -He must be taught that even though he killed a Mangani, he would not be -permitted to feed upon his kill. The man-mind looked into the future, -while the apes perceived only the immediate present. They would be -content to escape today the menace of Numa, while Tarzan saw the -necessity, and the means as well, of safeguarding the days to come. - -So he urged the great anthropoids on until Numa was showered with -missiles that kept his head dodging and his voice pealing forth its -savage protest; but still he clung desperately to his kill. - -The twigs and branches hurled at Numa, Tarzan soon realized, did not -hurt him greatly even when they struck him, and did not injure him at -all, so the ape-man looked about for more effective missiles, nor did -he have to look long. An out-cropping of decomposed granite not far -from Numa suggested ammunition of a much more painful nature. Calling -to the apes to watch him, Tarzan slipped to the ground and gathered a -handful of small fragments. He knew that when once they had seen him -carry out his idea they would be much quicker to follow his lead than -to obey his instructions, were he to command them to procure pieces of -rock and hurl them at Numa, for Tarzan was not then king of the apes of -the tribe of Kerchak. That came in later years. Now he was but a youth, -though one who already had wrested for himself a place in the councils -of the savage beasts among whom a strange fate had cast him. The sullen -bulls of the older generation still hated him as beasts hate those of -whom they are suspicious, whose scent characteristic is the scent -characteristic of an alien order and, therefore, of an enemy order. The -younger bulls, those who had grown up through childhood as his -playmates, were as accustomed to Tarzan’s scent as to that of any other -member of the tribe. They felt no greater suspicion of him than of any -other bull of their acquaintance; yet they did not love him, for they -loved none outside the mating season, and the animosities aroused by -other bulls during that season lasted well over until the next. They -were a morose and peevish band at best, though here and there were -those among them in whom germinated the primal seeds of -humanity—reversions to type, these, doubtless; reversions to the -ancient progenitor who took the first step out of ape-hood toward -humanness, when he walked more often upon his hind feet and discovered -other things for idle hands to do. - -So now Tarzan led where he could not yet command. He had long since -discovered the apish propensity for mimicry and learned to make use of -it. Having filled his arms with fragments of rotted granite, he -clambered again into a tree, and it pleased him to see that the apes -had followed his example. - -During the brief respite while they were gathering their ammunition, -Numa had settled himself to feed; but scarce had he arranged himself -and his kill when a sharp piece of rock hurled by the practiced hand of -the ape-man struck him upon the cheek. His sudden roar of pain and rage -was smothered by a volley from the apes, who had seen Tarzan’s act. -Numa shook his massive head and glared upward at his tormentors. For a -half hour they pursued him with rocks and broken branches, and though -he dragged his kill into densest thickets, yet they always found a way -to reach him with their missiles, giving him no opportunity to feed, -and driving him on and on. - -The hairless ape-thing with the man scent was worst of all, for he had -even the temerity to advance upon the ground to within a few yards of -the Lord of the Jungle, that he might with greater accuracy and force -hurl the sharp bits of granite and the heavy sticks at him. Time and -again did Numa charge—sudden, vicious charges—but the lithe, active -tormentor always managed to elude him and with such insolent ease that -the lion forgot even his great hunger in the consuming passion of his -rage, leaving his meat for considerable spaces of time in vain efforts -to catch his enemy. - -The apes and Tarzan pursued the great beast to a natural clearing, -where Numa evidently determined to make a last stand, taking up his -position in the center of the open space, which was far enough from any -tree to render him practically immune from the rather erratic throwing -of the apes, though Tarzan still found him with most persistent and -aggravating frequency. - -This, however, did not suit the ape-man, since Numa now suffered an -occasional missile with no more than a snarl, while he settled himself -to partake of his delayed feast. Tarzan scratched his head, pondering -some more effective method of offense, for he had determined to prevent -Numa from profiting in any way through his attack upon the tribe. The -man-mind reasoned against the future, while the shaggy apes thought -only of their present hatred of this ancestral enemy. Tarzan guessed -that should Numa find it an easy thing to snatch a meal from the tribe -of Kerchak, it would be but a short time before their existence would -be one living nightmare of hideous watchfulness and dread. Numa must be -taught that the killing of an ape brought immediate punishment and no -rewards. It would take but a few lessons to insure the former safety of -the tribe. This must be some old lion whose failing strength and -agility had forced him to any prey that he could catch; but even a -single lion, undisputed, could exterminate the tribe, or at least make -its existence so precarious and so terrifying that life would no longer -be a pleasant condition. - -“Let him hunt among the Gomangani,” thought Tarzan. “He will find them -easier prey. I will teach ferocious Numa that he may not hunt the -Mangani.” - -But how to wrest the body of his victim from the feeding lion was the -first question to be solved. At last Tarzan hit upon a plan. To anyone -but Tarzan of the Apes it might have seemed rather a risky plan, and -perhaps it did even to him; but Tarzan rather liked things that -contained a considerable element of danger. At any rate, I rather doubt -that you or I would have chosen a similar plan for foiling an angry and -a hungry lion. - -Tarzan required assistance in the scheme he had hit upon and his -assistant must be equally as brave and almost as active as he. The -ape-man’s eyes fell upon Taug, the playmate of his childhood, the rival -in his first love and now, of all the bulls of the tribe, the only one -that might be thought to hold in his savage brain any such feeling -toward Tarzan as we describe among ourselves as friendship. At least, -Tarzan knew, Taug was courageous, and he was young and agile and -wonderfully muscled. - -“Taug!” cried the ape-man. The great ape looked up from a dead limb he -was attempting to tear from a lightning-blasted tree. “Go close to Numa -and worry him,” said Tarzan. “Worry him until he charges. Lead him away -from the body of Mamka. Keep him away as long as you can.” - -Taug nodded. He was across the clearing from Tarzan. Wresting the limb -at last from the tree he dropped to the ground and advanced toward -Numa, growling and barking out his insults. The worried lion looked up -and rose to his feet. His tail went stiffly erect and Taug turned in -flight, for he knew that warming signal of the charge. - -From behind the lion, Tarzan ran quickly toward the center of the -clearing and the body of Mamka. Numa, all his eyes for Taug, did not -see the ape-man. Instead he shot forward after the fleeing bull, who -had turned in flight not an instant too soon, since he reached the -nearest tree but a yard or two ahead of the pursuing demon. Like a cat -the heavy anthropoid scampered up the bole of his sanctuary. Numa’s -talons missed him by little more than inches. - -For a moment the lion paused beneath the tree, glaring up at the ape -and roaring until the earth trembled, then he turned back again toward -his kill, and as he did so, his tail shot once more to rigid erectness -and he charged back even more ferociously than he had come, for what he -saw was the naked man-thing running toward the farther trees with the -bloody carcass of his prey across a giant shoulder. - -The apes, watching the grim race from the safety of the trees, screamed -taunts at Numa and warnings to Tarzan. The high sun, hot and brilliant, -fell like a spotlight upon the actors in the little clearing, -portraying them in glaring relief to the audience in the leafy shadows -of the surrounding trees. The light-brown body of the naked youth, all -but hidden by the shaggy carcass of the killed ape, the red blood -streaking his smooth hide, his muscles rolling, velvety, beneath. -Behind him the black-maned lion, head flattened, tail extended, racing, -a jungle thoroughbred, across the sunlit clearing. - -Ah, but this was life! With death at his heels, Tarzan thrilled with -the joy of such living as this; but would he reach the trees ahead of -the rampant death so close behind? - -Gunto swung from a limb in a tree before him. Gunto was screaming -warnings and advice. - -“Catch me!” cried Tarzan, and with his heavy burden leaped straight for -the big bull hanging there by his hind feet and one forepaw. And Gunto -caught them—the big ape-man and the dead weight of the slain -she-ape—caught them with one great, hairy paw and whirled them upward -until Tarzan’s fingers closed upon a near-by branch. - -Beneath, Numa leaped; but Gunto, heavy and awkward as he may have -appeared, was as quick as Manu, the monkey, so that the lion’s talons -but barely grazed him, scratching a bloody streak beneath one hairy -arm. - -Tarzan carried Mamka’s corpse to a high crotch, where even Sheeta, the -panther, could not get it. Numa paced angrily back and forth beneath -the tree, roaring frightfully. He had been robbed of his kill and his -revenge also. He was very savage indeed; but his despoilers were well -out of his reach, and after hurling a few taunts and missiles at him -they swung away through the trees, fiercely reviling him. - -Tarzan thought much upon the little adventure of that day. He foresaw -what might happen should the great carnivora of the jungle turn their -serious attention upon the tribe of Kerchak, the great ape, but equally -he thought upon the wild scramble of the apes for safety when Numa -first charged among them. There is little humor in the jungle that is -not grim and awful. The beasts have little or no conception of humor; -but the young Englishman saw humor in many things which presented no -humorous angle to his associates. - -Since earliest childhood he had been a searcher after fun, much to the -sorrow of his fellow-apes, and now he saw the humor of the frightened -panic of the apes and the baffled rage of Numa even in this grim jungle -adventure which had robbed Mamka of life, and jeopardized that of many -members of the tribe. - -It was but a few weeks later that Sheeta, the panther, made a sudden -rush among the tribe and snatched a little balu from a tree where it -had been hidden while its mother sought food. Sheeta got away with his -small prize unmolested. Tarzan was very wroth. He spoke to the bulls of -the ease with which Numa and Sheeta, in a single moon, had slain two -members of the tribe. - -“They will take us all for food,” he cried. “We hunt as we will through -the jungle, paying no heed to approaching enemies. Even Manu, the -monkey, does not so. He keeps two or three always watching for enemies. -Pacco, the zebra, and Wappi, the antelope, have those about the herd -who keep watch while the others feed, while we, the great Mangani, let -Numa, and Sabor, and Sheeta come when they will and carry us off to -feed their balus. - -“Gr-r-rmph,” said Numgo. - -“What are we to do?” asked Taug. - -“We, too, should have two or three always watching for the approach of -Numa, and Sabor, and Sheeta,” replied Tarzan. “No others need we fear, -except Histah, the snake, and if we watch for the others we will see -Histah if he comes, though gliding ever so silently.” - -And so it was that the great apes of the tribe of Kerchak posted -sentries thereafter, who watched upon three sides while the tribe -hunted, scattered less than had been their wont. - -But Tarzan went abroad alone, for Tarzan was a man-thing and sought -amusement and adventure and such humor as the grim and terrible jungle -offers to those who know it and do not fear it—a weird humor shot with -blazing eyes and dappled with the crimson of lifeblood. While others -sought only food and love, Tarzan of the Apes sought food and joy. - -One day he hovered above the palisaded village of Mbonga, the chief, -the jet cannibal of the jungle primeval. He saw, as he had seen many -times before, the witch-doctor, Rabba Kega, decked out in the head and -hide of Gorgo, the buffalo. It amused Tarzan to see a Gomangani -parading as Gorgo; but it suggested nothing in particular to him until -he chanced to see stretched against the side of Mbonga’s hut the skin -of a lion with the head still on. Then a broad grin widened the -handsome face of the savage beast-youth. - -Back into the jungle he went until chance, agility, strength, and -cunning backed by his marvelous powers of perception, gave him an easy -meal. If Tarzan felt that the world owed him a living he also realized -that it was for him to collect it, nor was there ever a better -collector than this son of an English lord, who knew even less of the -ways of his forbears than he did of the forbears themselves, which was -nothing. - -It was quite dark when Tarzan returned to the village of Mbonga and -took his now polished perch in the tree which overhangs the palisade -upon one side of the walled enclosure. As there was nothing in -particular to feast upon in the village there was little life in the -single street, for only an orgy of flesh and native beer could draw out -the people of Mbonga. Tonight they sat gossiping about their cooking -fires, the older members of the tribe; or, if they were young, paired -off in the shadows cast by the palm-thatched huts. - -Tarzan dropped lightly into the village, and sneaking stealthily in the -concealment of the denser shadows, approached the hut of the chief, -Mbonga. Here he found that which he sought. There were warriors all -about him; but they did not know that the feared devil-god slunk -noiselessly so near them, nor did they see him possess himself of that -which he coveted and depart from their village as noiselessly as he had -come. - -Later that night, as Tarzan curled himself for sleep, he lay for a long -time looking up at the burning planets and the twinkling stars and at -Goro the moon, and he smiled. He recalled how ludicrous the great bulls -had appeared in their mad scramble for safety that day when Numa had -charged among them and seized Mamka, and yet he knew them to be fierce -and courageous. It was the sudden shock of surprise that always sent -them into a panic; but of this Tarzan was not as yet fully aware. That -was something he was to learn in the near future. - -He fell asleep with a broad grin upon his face. - -Manu, the monkey, awoke him in the morning by dropping discarded bean -pods upon his upturned face from a branch a short distance above him. -Tarzan looked up and smiled. He had been awakened thus before many -times. He and Manu were fairly good friends, their friendship operating -upon a reciprocal basis. Sometimes Manu would come running early in the -morning to awaken Tarzan and tell him that Bara, the deer, was feeding -close at hand, or that Horta, the boar, was asleep in a mudhole hard -by, and in return Tarzan broke open the shells of the harder nuts and -fruits for Manu, or frightened away Histah, the snake, and Sheeta, the -panther. - -The sun had been up for some time, and the tribe had already wandered -off in search of food. Manu indicated the direction they had taken with -a wave of his hand and a few piping notes of his squeaky little voice. - -“Come, Manu,” said Tarzan, “and you will see that which shall make you -dance for joy and squeal your wrinkled little head off. Come, follow -Tarzan of the Apes.” - -With that he set off in the direction Manu had indicated and above him, -chattering, scolding and squealing, skipped Manu, the monkey. Across -Tarzan’s shoulders was the thing he had stolen from the village of -Mbonga, the chief, the evening before. - -The tribe was feeding in the forest beside the clearing where Gunto, -and Taug, and Tarzan had so harassed Numa and finally taken away from -him the fruit of his kill. Some of them were in the clearing itself. In -peace and content they fed, for were there not three sentries, each -watching upon a different side of the herd? Tarzan had taught them -this, and though he had been away for several days hunting alone, as he -often did, or visiting at the cabin by the sea, they had not as yet -forgotten his admonitions, and if they continued for a short time -longer to post sentries, it would become a habit of their tribal life -and thus be perpetuated indefinitely. - -But Tarzan, who knew them better than they knew themselves, was -confident that they had ceased to place the watchers about them the -moment that he had left them, and now he planned not only to have a -little fun at their expense but to teach them a lesson in preparedness, -which, by the way, is even a more vital issue in the jungle than in -civilized places. That you and I exist today must be due to the -preparedness of some shaggy anthropoid of the Oligocene. Of course the -apes of Kerchak were always prepared, after their own way—Tarzan had -merely suggested a new and additional safeguard. - -Gunto was posted today to the north of the clearing. He squatted in the -fork of a tree from where he might view the jungle for quite a distance -about him. It was he who first discovered the enemy. A rustling in the -undergrowth attracted his attention, and a moment later he had a -partial view of a shaggy mane and tawny yellow back. Just a glimpse it -was through the matted foliage beneath him; but it brought from Gunto’s -leathern lungs a shrill “Kreeg-ah!” which is the ape for beware, or -danger. - -Instantly the tribe took up the cry until “Kreeg-ahs!” rang through the -jungle about the clearing as apes swung quickly to places of safety -among the lower branches of the trees and the great bulls hastened in -the direction of Gunto. - -And then into the clearing strode Numa, the lion—majestic and mighty, -and from a deep chest issued the moan and the cough and the rumbling -roar that set stiff hairs to bristling from shaggy craniums down the -length of mighty spines. - -Inside the clearing, Numa paused and on the instant there fell upon him -from the trees near by a shower of broken rock and dead limbs torn from -age-old trees. A dozen times he was hit, and then the apes ran down and -gathered other rocks, pelting him unmercifully. - -Numa turned to flee, but his way was barred by a fusilade of -sharp-cornered missiles, and then, upon the edge of the clearing, great -Taug met him with a huge fragment of rock as large as a man’s head, and -down went the Lord of the Jungle beneath the stunning blow. - -With shrieks and roars and loud barkings the great apes of the tribe of -Kerchak rushed upon the fallen lion. Sticks and stones and yellow fangs -menaced the still form. In another moment, before he could regain -consciousness, Numa would be battered and torn until only a bloody mass -of broken bones and matted hair remained of what had once been the most -dreaded of jungle creatures. - -But even as the sticks and stones were raised above him and the great -fangs bared to tear him, there descended like a plummet from the trees -above a diminutive figure with long, white whiskers and a wrinkled -face. Square upon the body of Numa it alighted and there it danced and -screamed and shrieked out its challenge against the bulls of Kerchak. - -For an instant they paused, paralyzed by the wonder of the thing. It -was Manu, the monkey, Manu, the little coward, and here he was daring -the ferocity of the great Mangani, hopping about upon the carcass of -Numa, the lion, and crying out that they must not strike it again. - -And when the bulls paused, Manu reached down and seized a tawny ear. -With all his little might he tugged upon the heavy head until slowly it -turned back, revealing the tousled, black head and clean-cut profile of -Tarzan of the Apes. - -Some of the older apes were for finishing what they had commenced; but -Taug, sullen, mighty Taug, sprang quickly to the ape-man’s side and -straddling the unconscious form warned back those who would have struck -his childhood playmate. And Teeka, his mate, came too, taking her place -with bared fangs at Taug’s side. Others followed their example, until -at last Tarzan was surrounded by a ring of hairy champions who would -permit no enemy to approach him. - -It was a surprised and chastened Tarzan who opened his eyes to -consciousness a few minutes later. He looked about him at the -surrounding apes and slowly there returned to him a realization of what -had occurred. - -Gradually a broad grin illuminated his features. His bruises were many -and they hurt; but the good that had come from his adventure was worth -all that it had cost. He had learned, for instance, that the apes of -Kerchak had heeded his teaching, and he had learned that he had good -friends among the sullen beasts whom he had thought without sentiment. -He had discovered that Manu, the monkey—even little, cowardly Manu—had -risked his life in his defense. - -It made Tarzan very glad to know these things; but at the other lesson -he had been taught he reddened. He had always been a joker, the only -joker in the grim and terrible company; but now as he lay there half -dead from his hurts, he almost swore a solemn oath forever to forego -practical joking—almost; but not quite. - - - - -CHAPTER IX -The Nightmare - - -The blacks of the village of Mbonga, the chief, were feasting, while -above them in a large tree sat Tarzan of the Apes—grim, terrible, -empty, and envious. Hunting had proved poor that day, for there are -lean days as well as fat ones for even the greatest of the jungle -hunters. Oftentimes Tarzan went empty for more than a full sun, and he -had passed through entire moons during which he had been but barely -able to stave off starvation; but such times were infrequent. - -There once had been a period of sickness among the grass-eaters which -had left the plains almost bare of game for several years, and again -the great cats had increased so rapidly and so overrun the country that -their prey, which was also Tarzan’s, had been frightened off for a -considerable time. - -But for the most part Tarzan had fed well always. Today, though, he had -gone empty, one misfortune following another as rapidly as he raised -new quarry, so that now, as he sat perched in the tree above the -feasting blacks, he experienced all the pangs of famine and his hatred -for his lifelong enemies waxed strong in his breast. It was -tantalizing, indeed, to sit there hungry while these Gomangani filled -themselves so full of food that their stomachs seemed almost upon the -point of bursting, and with elephant steaks at that! - -It was true that Tarzan and Tantor were the best of friends, and that -Tarzan never yet had tasted of the flesh of the elephant; but the -Gomangani evidently had slain one, and as they were eating of the flesh -of their kill, Tarzan was assailed by no doubts as to the ethics of his -doing likewise, should he have the opportunity. Had he known that the -elephant had died of sickness several days before the blacks discovered -the carcass, he might not have been so keen to partake of the feast, -for Tarzan of the Apes was no carrion-eater. Hunger, however, may blunt -the most epicurean taste, and Tarzan was not exactly an epicure. - -What he was at this moment was a very hungry wild beast whom caution -was holding in leash, for the great cooking pot in the center of the -village was surrounded by black warriors, through whom not even Tarzan -of the Apes might hope to pass unharmed. It would be necessary, -therefore, for the watcher to remain there hungry until the blacks had -gorged themselves to stupor, and then, if they had left any scraps, to -make the best meal he could from such; but to the impatient Tarzan it -seemed that the greedy Gomangani would rather burst than leave the -feast before the last morsel had been devoured. For a time they broke -the monotony of eating by executing portions of a hunting dance, a -maneuver which sufficiently stimulated digestion to permit them to fall -to once more with renewed vigor; but with the consumption of appalling -quantities of elephant meat and native beer they presently became too -loggy for physical exertion of any sort, some reaching a stage where -they no longer could rise from the ground, but lay conveniently close -to the great cooking pot, stuffing themselves into unconsciousness. - -It was well past midnight before Tarzan even could begin to see the end -of the orgy. The blacks were now falling asleep rapidly; but a few -still persisted. From before their condition Tarzan had no doubt but -that he easily could enter the village and snatch a handful of meat -from before their noses; but a handful was not what he wanted. Nothing -less than a stomachful would allay the gnawing craving of that great -emptiness. He must therefore have ample time to forage in peace. - -At last but a single warrior remained true to his ideals—an old fellow -whose once wrinkled belly was now as smooth and as tight as the head of -a drum. With evidences of great discomfort, and even pain, he would -crawl toward the pot and drag himself slowly to his knees, from which -position he could reach into the receptacle and seize a piece of meat. -Then he would roll over on his back with a loud groan and lie there -while he slowly forced the food between his teeth and down into his -gorged stomach. - -It was evident to Tarzan that the old fellow would eat until he died, -or until there was no more meat. The ape-man shook his head in disgust. -What foul creatures were these Gomangani? Yet of all the jungle folk -they alone resembled Tarzan closely in form. Tarzan was a man, and -they, too, must be some manner of men, just as the little monkeys, and -the great apes, and Bolgani, the gorilla, were quite evidently of one -great family, though differing in size and appearance and customs. -Tarzan was ashamed, for of all the beasts of the jungle, then, man was -the most disgusting—man and Dango, the hyena. Only man and Dango ate -until they swelled up like a dead rat. Tarzan had seen Dango eat his -way into the carcass of a dead elephant and then continue to eat so -much that he had been unable to get out of the hole through which he -had entered. Now he could readily believe that man, given the -opportunity, would do the same. Man, too, was the most unlovely of -creatures—with his skinny legs and his big stomach, his filed teeth, -and his thick, red lips. Man was disgusting. Tarzan’s gaze was riveted -upon the hideous old warrior wallowing in filth beneath him. - -There! the thing was struggling to its knees to reach for another -morsel of flesh. It groaned aloud in pain and yet it persisted in -eating, eating, ever eating. Tarzan could endure it no longer—neither -his hunger nor his disgust. Silently he slipped to the ground with the -bole of the great tree between himself and the feaster. - -The man was still kneeling, bent almost double in agony, before the -cooking pot. His back was toward the ape-man. Swiftly and noiselessly -Tarzan approached him. There was no sound as steel fingers closed about -the black throat. The struggle was short, for the man was old and -already half stupefied from the effects of the gorging and the beer. - -Tarzan dropped the inert mass and scooped several large pieces of meat -from the cooking pot—enough to satisfy even his great hunger—then he -raised the body of the feaster and shoved it into the vessel. When the -other blacks awoke they would have something to think about! Tarzan -grinned. As he turned toward the tree with his meat, he picked up a -vessel containing beer and raised it to his lips, but at the first -taste he spat the stuff from his mouth and tossed the primitive tankard -aside. He was quite sure that even Dango would draw the line at such -filthy tasting drink as that, and his contempt for man increased with -the conviction. - -Tarzan swung off into the jungle some half mile or so before he paused -to partake of his stolen food. He noticed that it gave forth a strange -and unpleasant odor, but assumed that this was due to the fact that it -had stood in a vessel of water above a fire. Tarzan was, of course, -unaccustomed to cooked food. He did not like it; but he was very hungry -and had eaten a considerable portion of his haul before it was really -borne in upon him that the stuff was nauseating. It required far less -than he had imagined it would to satisfy his appetite. - -Throwing the balance to the ground he curled up in a convenient crotch -and sought slumber; but slumber seemed difficult to woo. Ordinarily -Tarzan of the Apes was asleep as quickly as a dog after it curls itself -upon a hearthrug before a roaring blaze; but tonight he squirmed and -twisted, for at the pit of his stomach was a peculiar feeling that -resembled nothing more closely than an attempt upon the part of the -fragments of elephant meat reposing there to come out into the night -and search for their elephant; but Tarzan was adamant. He gritted his -teeth and held them back. He was not to be robbed of his meal after -waiting so long to obtain it. - -He had succeeded in dozing when the roaring of a lion awoke him. He sat -up to discover that it was broad daylight. Tarzan rubbed his eyes. -Could it be that he had really slept? He did not feel particularly -refreshed as he should have after a good sleep. A noise attracted his -attention, and he looked down to see a lion standing at the foot of the -tree gazing hungrily at him. Tarzan made a face at the king of beasts, -whereat Numa, greatly to the ape-man’s surprise, started to climb up -into the branches toward him. Now, never before had Tarzan seen a lion -climb a tree, yet, for some unaccountable reason, he was not greatly -surprised that this particular lion should do so. - -As the lion climbed slowly toward him, Tarzan sought higher branches; -but to his chagrin, he discovered that it was with the utmost -difficulty that he could climb at all. Again and again he slipped back, -losing all that he had gained, while the lion kept steadily at his -climbing, coming ever closer and closer to the ape-man. Tarzan could -see the hungry light in the yellow-green eyes. He could see the slaver -on the drooping jowls, and the great fangs agape to seize and destroy -him. Clawing desperately, the ape-man at last succeeded in gaining a -little upon his pursuer. He reached the more slender branches far aloft -where he well knew no lion could follow; yet on and on came devil-faced -Numa. It was incredible; but it was true. Yet what most amazed Tarzan -was that though he realized the incredibility of it all, he at the same -time accepted it as a matter of course, first that a lion should climb -at all and second that he should enter the upper terraces where even -Sheeta, the panther, dared not venture. - -To the very top of a tall tree the ape-man clawed his awkward way and -after him came Numa, the lion, moaning dismally. At last Tarzan stood -balanced upon the very utmost pinnacle of a swaying branch, high above -the forest. He could go no farther. Below him the lion came steadily -upward, and Tarzan of the Apes realized that at last the end had come. -He could not do battle upon a tiny branch with Numa, the lion, -especially with such a Numa, to which swaying branches two hundred feet -above the ground provided as substantial footing as the ground itself. - -Nearer and nearer came the lion. Another moment and he could reach up -with one great paw and drag the ape-man downward to those awful jaws. A -whirring noise above his head caused Tarzan to glance apprehensively -upward. A great bird was circling close above him. He never had seen so -large a bird in all his life, yet he recognized it immediately, for had -he not seen it hundreds of times in one of the books in the little -cabin by the land-locked bay—the moss-grown cabin that with its -contents was the sole heritage left by his dead and unknown father to -the young Lord Greystoke? - -In the picture-book the great bird was shown flying far above the -ground with a small child in its talons while, beneath, a distracted -mother stood with uplifted hands. The lion was already reaching forth a -taloned paw to seize him when the bird swooped and buried no less -formidable talons in Tarzan’s back. The pain was numbing; but it was -with a sense of relief that the ape-man felt himself snatched from the -clutches of Numa. - -With a great whirring of wings the bird rose rapidly until the forest -lay far below. It made Tarzan sick and dizzy to look down upon it from -so great a height, so he closed his eyes tight and held his breath. -Higher and higher climbed the huge bird. Tarzan opened his eyes. The -jungle was so far away that he could see only a dim, green blur below -him, but just above and quite close was the sun. Tarzan reached out his -hands and warmed them, for they were very cold. Then a sudden madness -seized him. Where was the bird taking him? Was he to submit thus -passively to a feathered creature however enormous? Was he, Tarzan of -the Apes, mighty fighter, to die without striking a blow in his own -defense? Never! - -He snatched the hunting blade from his gee-string and thrusting upward -drove it once, twice, thrice into the breast above him. The mighty -wings fluttered a few more times, spasmodically, the talons relaxed -their hold, and Tarzan of the Apes fell hurtling downward toward the -distant jungle. - -It seemed to the ape-man that he fell for many minutes before he -crashed through the leafy verdure of the tree tops. The smaller -branches broke his fall, so that he came to rest for an instant upon -the very branch upon which he had sought slumber the previous night. -For an instant he toppled there in a frantic attempt to regain his -equilibrium; but at last he rolled off, yet, clutching wildly, he -succeeded in grasping the branch and hanging on. - -Once more he opened his eyes, which he had closed during the fall. -Again it was night. With all his old agility he clambered back to the -crotch from which he had toppled. Below him a lion roared, and, looking -downward, Tarzan could see the yellow-green eyes shining in the -moonlight as they bored hungrily upward through the darkness of the -jungle night toward him. - -The ape-man gasped for breath. Cold sweat stood out from every pore, -there was a great sickness at the pit of Tarzan’s stomach. Tarzan of -the Apes had dreamed his first dream. - -For a long time he sat watching for Numa to climb into the tree after -him, and listening for the sound of the great wings from above, for to -Tarzan of the Apes his dream was a reality. - -He could not believe what he had seen and yet, having seen even these -incredible things, he could not disbelieve the evidence of his own -perceptions. Never in all his life had Tarzan’s senses deceived him -badly, and so, naturally, he had great faith in them. Each perception -which ever had been transmitted to Tarzan’s brain had been, with -varying accuracy, a true perception. He could not conceive of the -possibility of apparently having passed through such a weird adventure -in which there was no grain of truth. That a stomach, disordered by -decayed elephant flesh, a lion roaring in the jungle, a picture-book, -and sleep could have so truly portrayed all the clear-cut details of -what he had seemingly experienced was quite beyond his knowledge; yet -he knew that Numa could not climb a tree, he knew that there existed in -the jungle no such bird as he had seen, and he knew, too, that he could -not have fallen a tiny fraction of the distance he had hurtled -downward, and lived. - -To say the least, he was a very puzzled Tarzan as he tried to compose -himself once more for slumber—a very puzzled and a very nauseated -Tarzan. - -As he thought deeply upon the strange occurrences of the night, he -witnessed another remarkable happening. It was indeed quite -preposterous, yet he saw it all with his own eyes—it was nothing less -than Histah, the snake, wreathing his sinuous and slimy way up the bole -of the tree below him—Histah, with the head of the old man Tarzan had -shoved into the cooking pot—the head and the round, tight, black, -distended stomach. As the old man’s frightful face, with upturned eyes, -set and glassy, came close to Tarzan, the jaws opened to seize him. The -ape-man struck furiously at the hideous face, and as he struck the -apparition disappeared. - -Tarzan sat straight up upon his branch trembling in every limb, -wide-eyed and panting. He looked all around him with his keen, -jungle-trained eyes, but he saw naught of the old man with the body of -Histah, the snake, but on his naked thigh the ape-man saw a -caterpillar, dropped from a branch above him. With a grimace he flicked -it off into the darkness beneath. - -And so the night wore on, dream following dream, nightmare following -nightmare, until the distracted ape-man started like a frightened deer -at the rustling of the wind in the trees about him, or leaped to his -feet as the uncanny laugh of a hyena burst suddenly upon a momentary -jungle silence. But at last the tardy morning broke and a sick and -feverish Tarzan wound sluggishly through the dank and gloomy mazes of -the forest in search of water. His whole body seemed on fire, a great -sickness surged upward to his throat. He saw a tangle of almost -impenetrable thicket, and, like the wild beast he was, he crawled into -it to die alone and unseen, safe from the attacks of predatory -carnivora. - -But he did not die. For a long time he wanted to; but presently nature -and an outraged stomach relieved themselves in their own therapeutic -manner, the ape-man broke into a violent perspiration and then fell -into a normal and untroubled sleep which persisted well into the -afternoon. When he awoke he found himself weak but no longer sick. - -Once more he sought water, and after drinking deeply, took his way -slowly toward the cabin by the sea. In times of loneliness and trouble -it had long been his custom to seek there the quiet and restfulness -which he could find nowhere else. - -As he approached the cabin and raised the crude latch which his father -had fashioned so many years before, two small, blood-shot eyes watched -him from the concealing foliage of the jungle close by. From beneath -shaggy, beetling brows they glared maliciously upon him, maliciously -and with a keen curiosity; then Tarzan entered the cabin and closed the -door after him. Here, with all the world shut out from him, he could -dream without fear of interruption. He could curl up and look at the -pictures in the strange things which were books, he could puzzle out -the printed word he had learned to read without knowledge of the spoken -language it represented, he could live in a wonderful world of which he -had no knowledge beyond the covers of his beloved books. Numa and Sabor -might prowl about close to him, the elements might rage in all their -fury; but here at least, Tarzan might be entirely off his guard in a -delightful relaxation which gave him all his faculties for the -uninterrupted pursuit of this greatest of all his pleasures. - -Today he turned to the picture of the huge bird which bore off the -little Tarmangani in its talons. Tarzan puckered his brows as he -examined the colored print. Yes, this was the very bird that had -carried him off the day before, for to Tarzan the dream had been so -great a reality that he still thought another day and a night had -passed since he had lain down in the tree to sleep. - -But the more he thought upon the matter the less positive he was as to -the verity of the seeming adventure through which he had passed, yet -where the real had ceased and the unreal commenced he was quite unable -to determine. Had he really then been to the village of the blacks at -all, had he killed the old Gomangani, had he eaten of the elephant -meat, had he been sick? Tarzan scratched his tousled black head and -wondered. It was all very strange, yet he knew that he never had seen -Numa climb a tree, or Histah with the head and belly of an old black -man whom Tarzan already had slain. - -Finally, with a sigh he gave up trying to fathom the unfathomable, yet -in his heart of hearts he knew that something had come into his life -that he never before had experienced, another life which existed when -he slept and the consciousness of which was carried over into his -waking hours. - -Then he commenced to wonder if some of these strange creatures which he -met in his sleep might not slay him, for at such times Tarzan of the -Apes seemed to be a different Tarzan, sluggish, helpless and -timid—wishing to flee his enemies as fled Bara, the deer, most fearful -of creatures. - -Thus, with a dream, came the first faint tinge of a knowledge of fear, -a knowledge which Tarzan, awake, had never experienced, and perhaps he -was experiencing what his early forbears passed through and transmitted -to posterity in the form of superstition first and religion later; for -they, as Tarzan, had seen things at night which they could not explain -by the daylight standards of sense perception or of reason, and so had -built for themselves a weird explanation which included grotesque -shapes, possessed of strange and uncanny powers, to whom they finally -came to attribute all those inexplicable phenomena of nature which with -each recurrence filled them with awe, with wonder, or with terror. - -And as Tarzan concentrated his mind on the little bugs upon the printed -page before him, the active recollection of the strange adventures -presently merged into the text of that which he was reading—a story of -Bolgani, the gorilla, in captivity. There was a more or less lifelike -illustration of Bolgani in colors and in a cage, with many remarkable -looking Tarmangani standing against a rail and peering curiously at the -snarling brute. Tarzan wondered not a little, as he always did, at the -odd and seemingly useless array of colored plumage which covered the -bodies of the Tarmangani. It always caused him to grin a trifle when he -looked at these strange creatures. He wondered if they so covered their -bodies from shame of their hairlessness or because they thought the odd -things they wore added any to the beauty of their appearance. -Particularly was Tarzan amused by the grotesque headdresses of the -pictured people. He wondered how some of the shes succeeded in -balancing theirs in an upright position, and he came as near to -laughing aloud as he ever had, as he contemplated the funny little -round things upon the heads of the hes. - -Slowly the ape-man picked out the meaning of the various combinations -of letters on the printed page, and as he read, the little bugs, for as -such he always thought of the letters, commenced to run about in a most -confusing manner, blurring his vision and befuddling his thoughts. -Twice he brushed the back of a hand smartly across his eyes; but only -for a moment could he bring the bugs back to coherent and intelligible -form. He had slept ill the night before and now he was exhausted from -loss of sleep, from sickness, and from the slight fever he had had, so -that it became more and more difficult to fix his attention, or to keep -his eyes open. - -Tarzan realized that he was falling asleep, and just as the realization -was borne in upon him and he had decided to relinquish himself to an -inclination which had assumed almost the proportions of a physical -pain, he was aroused by the opening of the cabin door. Turning quickly -toward the interruption Tarzan was amazed, for a moment, to see bulking -large in the doorway the huge and hairy form of Bolgani, the gorilla. - -Now there was scarcely a denizen of the great jungle with whom Tarzan -would rather not have been cooped up inside the small cabin than -Bolgani, the gorilla, yet he felt no fear, even though his quick eye -noted that Bolgani was in the throes of that jungle madness which -seizes upon so many of the fiercer males. Ordinarily the huge gorillas -avoid conflict, hide themselves from the other jungle folk, and are -generally the best of neighbors; but when they are attacked, or the -madness seizes them, there is no jungle denizen so bold and fierce as -to deliberately seek a quarrel with them. - -But for Tarzan there was no escape. Bolgani was glowering at him from -red-rimmed, wicked eyes. In a moment he would rush in and seize the -ape-man. Tarzan reached for the hunting knife where he had lain it on -the table beside him; but as his fingers did not immediately locate the -weapon, he turned a quick glance in search of it. As he did so his eyes -fell upon the book he had been looking at which still lay open at the -picture of Bolgani. Tarzan found his knife, but he merely fingered it -idly and grinned in the direction of the advancing gorilla. - -Not again would he be fooled by empty things which came while he slept! -In a moment, no doubt, Bolgani would turn into Pamba, the rat, with the -head of Tantor, the elephant. Tarzan had seen enough of such strange -happenings recently to have some idea as to what he might expect; but -this time Bolgani did not alter his form as he came slowly toward the -young ape-man. - -Tarzan was a bit puzzled, too, that he felt no desire to rush -frantically to some place of safety, as had been the sensation most -conspicuous in the other of his new and remarkable adventures. He was -just himself now, ready to fight, if necessary; but still sure that no -flesh and blood gorilla stood before him. - -The thing should be fading away into thin air by now, thought Tarzan, -or changing into something else; yet it did not. Instead it loomed -clear-cut and real as Bolgani himself, the magnificent dark coat -glistening with life and health in a bar of sunlight which shot across -the cabin through the high window behind the young Lord Greystoke. This -was quite the most realistic of his sleep adventures, thought Tarzan, -as he passively awaited the next amusing incident. - -And then the gorilla charged. Two mighty, calloused hands seized upon -the ape-man, great fangs were bared close to his face, a hideous growl -burst from the cavernous throat and hot breath fanned Tarzan’s cheek, -and still he sat grinning at the apparition. Tarzan might be fooled -once or twice, but not for so many times in succession! He knew that -this Bolgani was no real Bolgani, for had he been he never could have -gained entrance to the cabin, since only Tarzan knew how to operate the -latch. - -The gorilla seemed puzzled by the strange passivity of the hairless -ape. He paused an instant with his jaws snarling close to the other’s -throat, then he seemed suddenly to come to some decision. Whirling the -ape-man across a hairy shoulder, as easily as you or I might lift a -babe in arms, Bolgani turned and dashed out into the open, racing -toward the great trees. - -Now, indeed, was Tarzan sure that this was a sleep adventure, and so -grinned largely as the giant gorilla bore him, unresisting, away. -Presently, reasoned Tarzan, he would awaken and find himself back in -the cabin where he had fallen asleep. He glanced back at the thought -and saw the cabin door standing wide open. This would never do! Always -had he been careful to close and latch it against wild intruders. Manu, -the monkey, would make sad havoc there among Tarzan’s treasures should -he have access to the interior for even a few minutes. The question -which arose in Tarzan’s mind was a baffling one. Where did sleep -adventures end and reality commence? How was he to be sure that the -cabin door was not really open? Everything about him appeared quite -normal—there were none of the grotesque exaggerations of his former -sleep adventures. It would be better then to be upon the safe side and -make sure that the cabin door was closed—it would do no harm even if -all that seemed to be happening were not happening at all. - -Tarzan essayed to slip from Bolgani’s shoulder; but the great beast -only growled ominously and gripped him tighter. With a mighty effort -the ape-man wrenched himself loose, and as he slid to the ground, the -dream gorilla turned ferociously upon him, seized him once more and -buried great fangs in a sleek, brown shoulder. - -The grin of derision faded from Tarzan’s lips as the pain and the hot -blood aroused his fighting instincts. Asleep or awake, this thing was -no longer a joke! Biting, tearing, and snarling, the two rolled over -upon the ground. The gorilla now was frantic with insane rage. Again -and again he loosed his hold upon the ape-man’s shoulder in an attempt -to seize the jugular; but Tarzan of the Apes had fought before with -creatures who struck first for the vital vein, and each time he -wriggled out of harm’s way as he strove to get his fingers upon his -adversary’s throat. At last he succeeded—his great muscles tensed and -knotted beneath his smooth hide as he forced with every ounce of his -mighty strength to push the hairy torso from him. And as he choked -Bolgani and strained him away, his other hand crept slowly upward -between them until the point of the hunting knife rested over the -savage heart—there was a quick movement of the steel-thewed wrist and -the blade plunged to its goal. - -Bolgani, the gorilla, voiced a single frightful shriek, tore himself -loose from the grasp of the ape-man, rose to his feet, staggered a few -steps and then plunged to earth. There were a few spasmodic movements -of the limbs and the brute was still. - -Tarzan of the Apes stood looking down upon his kill, and as he stood -there he ran his fingers through his thick, black shock of hair. -Presently he stooped and touched the dead body. Some of the red -life-blood of the gorilla crimsoned his fingers. He raised them to his -nose and sniffed. Then he shook his head and turned toward the cabin. -The door was still open. He closed it and fastened the latch. Returning -toward the body of his kill he again paused and scratched his head. - -If this was a sleep adventure, what then was reality? How was he to -know the one from the other? How much of all that had happened in his -life had been real and how much unreal? - -He placed a foot upon the prostrate form and raising his face to the -heavens gave voice to the kill cry of the bull ape. Far in the distance -a lion answered. It was very real and, yet, he did not know. Puzzled, -he turned away into the jungle. - -No, he did not know what was real and what was not; but there was one -thing that he did know—never again would he eat of the flesh of Tantor, -the elephant. - - - - -CHAPTER X -The Battle for Teeka - - -The day was perfect. A cool breeze tempered the heat of the equatorial -sun. Peace had reigned within the tribe for weeks and no alien enemy -had trespassed upon its preserves from without. To the ape-mind all -this was sufficient evidence that the future would be identical with -the immediate past—that Utopia would persist. - -The sentinels, now from habit become a fixed tribal custom, either -relaxed their vigilance or entirely deserted their posts, as the whim -seized them. The tribe was far scattered in search of food. Thus may -peace and prosperity undermine the safety of the most primitive -community even as it does that of the most cultured. - -Even the individuals became less watchful and alert, so that one might -have thought Numa and Sabor and Sheeta entirely deleted from the scheme -of things. The shes and the balus roamed unguarded through the sullen -jungle, while the greedy males foraged far afield, and thus it was that -Teeka and Gazan, her balu, hunted upon the extreme southern edge of the -tribe with no great male near them. - -Still farther south there moved through the forest a sinister figure—a -huge bull ape, maddened by solitude and defeat. A week before he had -contended for the kingship of a tribe far distant, and now battered, -and still sore, he roamed the wilderness an outcast. Later he might -return to his own tribe and submit to the will of the hairy brute he -had attempted to dethrone; but for the time being he dared not do so, -since he had sought not only the crown but the wives, as well, of his -lord and master. It would require an entire moon at least to bring -forgetfulness to him he had wronged, and so Toog wandered a strange -jungle, grim, terrible, hate-filled. - -It was in this mental state that Toog came unexpectedly upon a young -she feeding alone in the jungle—a stranger she, lithe and strong and -beautiful beyond compare. Toog caught his breath and slunk quickly to -one side of the trail where the dense foliage of the tropical -underbrush concealed him from Teeka while permitting him to feast his -eyes upon her loveliness. - -But not alone were they concerned with Teeka—they roved the surrounding -jungle in search of the bulls and cows and balus of her tribe, though -principally for the bulls. When one covets a she of an alien tribe one -must take into consideration the great, fierce, hairy guardians who -seldom wander far from their wards and who will fight a stranger to the -death in protection of the mate or offspring of a fellow, precisely as -they would fight for their own. - -Toog could see no sign of any ape other than the strange she and a -young balu playing near by. His wicked, blood-shot eyes half closed as -they rested upon the charms of the former—as for the balu, one snap of -those great jaws upon the back of its little neck would prevent it from -raising any unnecessary alarm. - -Toog was a fine, big male, resembling in many ways Teeka’s mate, Taug. -Each was in his prime, and each was wonderfully muscled, perfectly -fanged and as horrifyingly ferocious as the most exacting and -particular she could wish. Had Toog been of her own tribe, Teeka might -as readily have yielded to him as to Taug when her mating time arrived; -but now she was Taug’s and no other male could claim her without first -defeating Taug in personal combat. And even then Teeka retained some -rights in the matter. If she did not favor a correspondent, she could -enter the lists with her rightful mate and do her part toward -discouraging his advances, a part, too, which would prove no mean -assistance to her lord and master, for Teeka, even though her fangs -were smaller than a male’s, could use them to excellent effect. - -Just now Teeka was occupied in a fascinating search for beetles, to the -exclusion of all else. She did not realize how far she and Gazan had -become separated from the balance of the tribe, nor were her defensive -senses upon the alert as they should have been. Months of immunity from -danger under the protecting watchfulness of the sentries, which Tarzan -had taught the tribe to post, had lulled them all into a sense of -peaceful security based on that fallacy which has wrecked many -enlightened communities in the past and will continue to wreck others -in the future—that because they have not been attacked they never will -be. - -Toog, having satisfied himself that only the she and her balu were in -the immediate vicinity, crept stealthily forward. Teeka’s back was -toward him when he finally rushed upon her; but her senses were at last -awakened to the presence of danger and she wheeled to face the strange -bull just before he reached her. Toog halted a few paces from her. His -anger had fled before the seductive feminine charms of the stranger. He -made conciliatory noises—a species of clucking sound with his broad, -flat lips—that were, too, not greatly dissimilar to that which might be -produced in an osculatory solo. - -But Teeka only bared her fangs and growled. Little Gazan started to run -toward his mother, but she warned him away with a quick “Kreeg-ah!” -telling him to run high into a tall tree. Evidently Teeka was not -favorably impressed by her new suitor. Toog realized this and altered -his methods accordingly. He swelled his giant chest, beat upon it with -his calloused knuckles and swaggered to and fro before her. - -“I am Toog,” he boasted. “Look at my fighting fangs. Look at my great -arms and my mighty legs. With one bite I can slay your biggest bull. -Alone have I slain Sheeta. I am Toog. Toog wants you.” Then he waited -for the effect, nor did he have long to wait. Teeka turned with a -swiftness which belied her great weight and bolted in the opposite -direction. Toog, with an angry growl, leaped in pursuit; but the -smaller, lighter female was too fleet for him. He chased her for a few -yards and then, foaming and barking, he halted and beat upon the ground -with his hard fists. - -From the tree above him little Gazan looked down and witnessed the -stranger bull’s discomfiture. Being young, and thinking himself safe -above the reach of the heavy male, Gazan screamed an ill-timed insult -at their tormentor. Toog looked up. Teeka had halted at a little -distance—she would not go far from her balu; that Toog quickly realized -and as quickly determined to take advantage of. He saw that the tree in -which the young ape squatted was isolated and that Gazan could not -reach another without coming to earth. He would obtain the mother -through her love for her young. - -He swung himself into the lower branches of the tree. Little Gazan -ceased to insult him; his expression of deviltry changed to one of -apprehension, which was quickly followed by fear as Toog commenced to -ascend toward him. Teeka screamed to Gazan to climb higher, and the -little fellow scampered upward among the tiny branches which would not -support the weight of the great bull; but nevertheless Toog kept on -climbing. Teeka was not fearful. She knew that he could not ascend far -enough to reach Gazan, so she sat at a little distance from the tree -and applied jungle opprobrium to him. Being a female, she was a past -master of the art. - -But she did not know the malevolent cunning of Toog’s little brain. She -took it for granted that the bull would climb as high as he could -toward Gazan and then, finding that he could not reach him, resume his -pursuit of her, which she knew would prove equally fruitless. So sure -was she of the safety of her balu and her own ability to take care of -herself that she did not voice the cry for help which would soon have -brought the other members of the tribe flocking to her side. - -Toog slowly reached the limit to which he dared risk his great weight -to the slender branches. Gazan was still fifteen feet above him. The -bull braced himself and seized the main branch in his powerful hands, -then he commenced shaking it vigorously. Teeka was appalled. Instantly -she realized what the bull purposed. Gazan clung far out upon a swaying -limb. At the first shake he lost his balance, though he did not quite -fall, clinging still with his four hands; but Toog redoubled his -efforts; the shaking produced a violent snapping of the limb to which -the young ape clung. Teeka saw all too plainly what the outcome must be -and forgetting her own danger in the depth of her mother love, rushed -forward to ascend the tree and give battle to the fearsome creature -that menaced the life of her little one. - -But before ever she reached the bole, Toog had succeeded, by violent -shaking of the branch, to loosen Gazan’s hold. With a cry the little -fellow plunged down through the foliage, clutching futilely for a new -hold, and alighted with a sickening thud at his mother’s feet, where he -lay silent and motionless. Moaning, Teeka stooped to lift the still -form in her arms; but at the same instant Toog was upon her. - -Struggling and biting she fought to free herself; but the giant muscles -of the great bull were too much for her lesser strength. Toog struck -and choked her repeatedly until finally, half unconscious, she lapsed -into quasi submission. Then the bull lifted her to his shoulder and -turned back to the trail toward the south from whence he had come. - -Upon the ground lay the quiet form of little Gazan. He did not moan. He -did not move. The sun rose slowly toward meridian. A mangy thing, -lifting its nose to scent the jungle breeze, crept through the -underbrush. It was Dango, the hyena. Presently its ugly muzzle broke -through some near-by foliage and its cruel eyes fastened upon Gazan. - -Early that morning, Tarzan of the Apes had gone to the cabin by the -sea, where he passed many an hour at such times as the tribe was -ranging in the vicinity. On the floor lay the skeleton of a man—all -that remained of the former Lord Greystoke—lay as it had fallen some -twenty years before when Kerchak, the great ape, had thrown it, -lifeless, there. Long since had the termites and the small rodents -picked clean the sturdy English bones. For years Tarzan had seen it -lying there, giving it no more attention than he gave the countless -thousand bones that strewed his jungle haunts. On the bed another, -smaller, skeleton reposed and the youth ignored it as he ignored the -other. How could he know that the one had been his father, the other -his mother? The little pile of bones in the rude cradle, fashioned with -such loving care by the former Lord Greystoke, meant nothing to -him—that one day that little skull was to help prove his right to a -proud title was as far beyond his ken as the satellites of the suns of -Orion. To Tarzan they were bones—just bones. He did not need them, for -there was no meat left upon them, and they were not in his way, for he -knew no necessity for a bed, and the skeleton upon the floor he easily -could step over. - -Today he was restless. He turned the pages first of one book and then -of another. He glanced at pictures which he knew by heart, and tossed -the books aside. He rummaged for the thousandth time in the cupboard. -He took out a bag which contained several small, round pieces of metal. -He had played with them many times in the years gone by; but always he -replaced them carefully in the bag, and the bag in the cupboard, upon -the very shelf where first he had discovered it. In strange ways did -heredity manifest itself in the ape-man. Come of an orderly race, he -himself was orderly without knowing why. The apes dropped things -wherever their interest in them waned—in the tall grass or from the -high-flung branches of the trees. What they dropped they sometimes -found again, by accident; but not so the ways of Tarzan. For his few -belongings he had a place and scrupulously he returned each thing to -its proper place when he was done with it. The round pieces of metal in -the little bag always interested him. Raised pictures were upon either -side, the meaning of which he did not quite understand. The pieces were -bright and shiny. It amused him to arrange them in various figures upon -the table. Hundreds of times had he played thus. Today, while so -engaged, he dropped a lovely yellow piece—an English sovereign—which -rolled beneath the bed where lay all that was mortal of the once -beautiful Lady Alice. - -True to form, Tarzan at once dropped to his hands and knees and -searched beneath the bed for the lost gold piece. Strange as it might -appear, he had never before looked beneath the bed. He found the gold -piece, and something else he found, too—a small wooden box with a loose -cover. Bringing them both out he returned the sovereign to its bag and -the bag to its shelf within the cupboard; then he investigated the box. -It contained a quantity of cylindrical bits of metal, cone-shaped at -one end and flat at the other, with a projecting rim. They were all -quite green and dull, coated with years of verdigris. - -Tarzan removed a handful of them from the box and examined them. He -rubbed one upon another and discovered that the green came off, leaving -a shiny surface for two-thirds of their length and a dull gray over the -cone-shaped end. Finding a bit of wood he rubbed one of the cylinders -rapidly and was rewarded by a lustrous sheen which pleased him. - -At his side hung a pocket pouch taken from the body of one of the -numerous black warriors he had slain. Into this pouch he put a handful -of the new playthings, thinking to polish them at his leisure; then he -replaced the box beneath the bed, and finding nothing more to amuse -him, left the cabin and started back in the direction of the tribe. - -Shortly before he reached them he heard a great commotion ahead of -him—the loud screams of shes and balus, the savage, angry barking and -growling of the great bulls. Instantly he increased his speed, for the -“Kreeg-ahs” that came to his ears warned him that something was amiss -with his fellows. - -While Tarzan had been occupied with his own devices in the cabin of his -dead sire, Taug, Teeka’s mighty mate, had been hunting a mile to the -north of the tribe. At last, his belly filled, he had turned lazily -back toward the clearing where he had last seen the tribe and presently -commenced passing its members scattered alone or in twos or threes. -Nowhere did he see Teeka or Gazan, and soon he began inquiring of the -other apes where they might be; but none had seen them recently. - -Now the lower orders are not highly imaginative. They do not, as you -and I, paint vivid mental pictures of things which might have occurred, -and so Taug did not now apprehend that any misfortune had overtaken his -mate and their off-spring—he merely knew that he wished to find Teeka -that he might lie down in the shade and have her scratch his back while -his breakfast digested; but though he called to her and searched for -her and asked each whom he met, he could find no trace of Teeka, nor of -Gazan either. - -He was beginning to become peeved and had about made up his mind to -chastise Teeka for wandering so far afield when he wanted her. He was -moving south along a game trail, his calloused soles and knuckles -giving forth no sound, when he came upon Dango at the opposite side of -a small clearing. The eater of carrion did not see Taug, for all his -eyes were for something which lay in the grass beneath a tree—something -upon which he was sneaking with the cautious stealth of his breed. - -Taug, always cautious himself, as it behooves one to be who fares up -and down the jungle and desires to survive, swung noiselessly into a -tree, where he could have a better view of the clearing. He did not -fear Dango; but he wanted to see what it was that Dango stalked. In a -way, possibly, he was actuated as much by curiosity as by caution. - -And when Taug reached a place in the branches from which he could have -an unobstructed view of the clearing he saw Dango already sniffing at -something directly beneath him—something which Taug instantly -recognized as the lifeless form of his little Gazan. - -With a cry so frightful, so bestial, that it momentarily paralyzed the -startled Dango, the great ape launched his mighty bulk upon the -surprised hyena. With a cry and a snarl, Dango, crushed to earth, -turned to tear at his assailant; but as effectively might a sparrow -turn upon a hawk. Taug’s great, gnarled fingers closed upon the hyena’s -throat and back, his jaws snapped once on the mangy neck, crushing the -vertebrae, and then he hurled the dead body contemptuously aside. - -Again he raised his voice in the call of the bull ape to its mate, but -there was no reply; then he leaned down to sniff at the body of Gazan. -In the breast of this savage, hideous beast there beat a heart which -was moved, however slightly, by the same emotions of paternal love -which affect us. Even had we no actual evidence of this, we must know -it still, since only thus might be explained the survival of the human -race in which the jealousy and selfishness of the bulls would, in the -earliest stages of the race, have wiped out the young as rapidly as -they were brought into the world had not God implanted in the savage -bosom that paternal love which evidences itself most strongly in the -protective instinct of the male. - -In Taug the protective instinct was not alone highly developed; but -affection for his offspring as well, for Taug was an unusually -intelligent specimen of these great, manlike apes which the natives of -the Gobi speak of in whispers; but which no white man ever had seen, -or, if seeing, lived to tell of until Tarzan of the Apes came among -them. - -And so Taug felt sorrow as any other father might feel sorrow at the -loss of a little child. To you little Gazan might have seemed a hideous -and repulsive creature, but to Taug and Teeka he was as beautiful and -as cute as is your little Mary or Johnnie or Elizabeth Ann to you, and -he was their firstborn, their only balu, and a he—three things which -might make a young ape the apple of any fond father’s eye. - -For a moment Taug sniffed at the quiet little form. With his muzzle and -his tongue he smoothed and caressed the rumpled coat. From his savage -lips broke a low moan; but quickly upon the heels of sorrow came the -overmastering desire for revenge. - -Leaping to his feet he screamed out a volley of “Kreegahs,” punctuated -from time to time by the blood-freezing cry of an angry, challenging -bull—a rage-mad bull with the blood lust strong upon him. - -Answering his cries came the cries of the tribe as they swung through -the trees toward him. It was these that Tarzan heard on his return from -his cabin, and in reply to them he raised his own voice and hurried -forward with increased speed until he fairly flew through the middle -terraces of the forest. - -When at last he came upon the tribe he saw their members gathered about -Taug and something which lay quietly upon the ground. Dropping among -them, Tarzan approached the center of the group. Taug was still roaring -out his challenges; but when he saw Tarzan he ceased and stooping -picked up Gazan in his arms and held him out for Tarzan to see. Of all -the bulls of the tribe, Taug held affection for Tarzan only. Tarzan he -trusted and looked up to as one wiser and more cunning. To Tarzan he -came now—to the playmate of his balu days, the companion of innumerable -battles of his maturity. - -When Tarzan saw the still form in Taug’s arms, a low growl broke from -his lips, for he too loved Teeka’s little balu. - -“Who did it?” he asked. “Where is Teeka?” - -“I do not know,” replied Taug. “I found him lying here with Dango about -to feed upon him; but it was not Dango that did it—there are no fang -marks upon him.” - -Tarzan came closer and placed an ear against Gazan’s breast. “He is not -dead,” he said. “Maybe he will not die.” He pressed through the crowd -of apes and circled once about them, examining the ground step by step. -Suddenly he stopped and placing his nose close to the earth sniffed. -Then he sprang to his feet, giving a peculiar cry. Taug and the others -pressed forward, for the sound told them that the hunter had found the -spoor of his quarry. - -“A stranger bull has been here,” said Tarzan. “It was he that hurt -Gazan. He has carried off Teeka.” - -Taug and the other bulls commenced to roar and threaten; but they did -nothing. Had the stranger bull been within sight they would have torn -him to pieces; but it did not occur to them to follow him. - -“If the three bulls had been watching around the tribe this would not -have happened,” said Tarzan. “Such things will happen as long as you do -not keep the three bulls watching for an enemy. The jungle is full of -enemies, and yet you let your shes and your balus feed where they will, -alone and unprotected. Tarzan goes now—he goes to find Teeka and bring -her back to the tribe.” - -The idea appealed to the other bulls. “We will all go,” they cried. - -“No,” said Tarzan, “you will not all go. We cannot take shes and balus -when we go out to hunt and fight. You must remain to guard them or you -will lose them all.” - -They scratched their heads. The wisdom of his advice was dawning upon -them, but at first they had been carried away by the new idea—the idea -of following up an enemy offender to wrest his prize from him and -punish him. The community instinct was ingrained in their characters -through ages of custom. They did not know why they had not thought to -pursue and punish the offender—they could not know that it was because -they had as yet not reached a mental plane which would permit them to -work as individuals. In times of stress, the community instinct sent -them huddling into a compact herd where the great bulls, by the weight -of their combined strength and ferocity, could best protect them from -an enemy. The idea of separating to do battle with a foe had not yet -occurred to them—it was too foreign to custom, too inimical to -community interests; but to Tarzan it was the first and most natural -thought. His senses told him that there was but a single bull connected -with the attack upon Teeka and Gazan. A single enemy did not require -the entire tribe for his punishment. Two swift bulls could quickly -overhaul him and rescue Teeka. - -In the past no one ever had thought to go forth in search of the shes -that were occasionally stolen from the tribe. If Numa, Sabor, Sheeta or -a wandering bull ape from another tribe chanced to carry off a maid or -a matron while no one was looking, that was the end of it—she was gone, -that was all. The bereaved husband, if the victim chanced to have been -mated, growled around for a day or two and then, if he were strong -enough, took another mate within the tribe, and if not, wandered far -into the jungle on the chance of stealing one from another community. - -In the past Tarzan of the Apes had condoned this practice for the -reason that he had had no interest in those who had been stolen; but -Teeka had been his first love and Teeka’s balu held a place in his -heart such as a balu of his own would have held. Just once before had -Tarzan wished to follow and revenge. That had been years before when -Kulonga, the son of Mbonga, the chief, had slain Kala. Then, -single-handed, Tarzan had pursued and avenged. Now, though to a lesser -degree, he was moved by the same passion. - -He turned toward Taug. “Leave Gazan with Mumga,” he said. “She is old -and her fangs are broken and she is no good; but she can take care of -Gazan until we return with Teeka, and if Gazan is dead when we come -back,” he turned to address Mumga, “I will kill you, too.” - -“Where are we going?” asked Taug. - -“We are going to get Teeka,” replied the ape-man, “and kill the bull -who has stolen her. Come!” - -He turned again to the spoor of the stranger bull, which showed plainly -to his trained senses, nor did he glance back to note if Taug followed. -The latter laid Gazan in Mumga’s arms with a parting: “If he dies -Tarzan will kill you,” and he followed after the brown-skinned figure -that already was moving at a slow trot along the jungle trail. - -No other bull of the tribe of Kerchak was so good a trailer as Tarzan, -for his trained senses were aided by a high order of intelligence. His -judgment told him the natural trail for a quarry to follow, so that he -need but note the most apparent marks upon the way, and today the trail -of Toog was as plain to him as type upon a printed page to you or me. - -Following close behind the lithe figure of the ape-man came the huge -and shaggy bull ape. No words passed between them. They moved as -silently as two shadows among the myriad shadows of the forest. Alert -as his eyes and ears, was Tarzan’s patrician nose. The spoor was fresh, -and now that they had passed from the range of the strong ape odor of -the tribe he had little difficulty in following Toog and Teeka by scent -alone. Teeka’s familiar scent spoor told both Tarzan and Taug that they -were upon her trail, and soon the scent of Toog became as familiar as -the other. - -They were progressing rapidly when suddenly dense clouds overcast the -sun. Tarzan accelerated his pace. Now he fairly flew along the jungle -trail, or, where Toog had taken to the trees, followed nimbly as a -squirrel along the bending, undulating pathway of the foliage branches, -swinging from tree to tree as Toog had swung before them; but more -rapidly because they were not handicapped by a burden such as Toog’s. - -Tarzan felt that they must be almost upon the quarry, for the scent -spoor was becoming stronger and stronger, when the jungle was suddenly -shot by livid lightning, and a deafening roar of thunder reverberated -through the heavens and the forest until the earth trembled and shook. -Then came the rain—not as it comes to us of the temperate zones, but as -a mighty avalanche of water—a deluge which spills tons instead of drops -upon the bending forest giants and the terrified creatures which haunt -their shade. - -And the rain did what Tarzan knew that it would do—it wiped the spoor -of the quarry from the face of the earth. For a half hour the torrents -fell—then the sun burst forth, jeweling the forest with a million -scintillant gems; but today the ape-man, usually alert to the changing -wonders of the jungle, saw them not. Only the fact that the spoor of -Teeka and her abductor was obliterated found lodgment in his thoughts. - -Even among the branches of the trees there are well-worn trails, just -as there are trails upon the surface of the ground; but in the trees -they branch and cross more often, since the way is more open than among -the dense undergrowth at the surface. Along one of these well-marked -trails Tarzan and Taug continued after the rain had ceased, because the -ape-man knew that this was the most logical path for the thief to -follow; but when they came to a fork, they were at a loss. Here they -halted, while Tarzan examined every branch and leaf which might have -been touched by the fleeing ape. - -He sniffed the bole of the tree, and with his keen eyes he sought to -find upon the bark some sign of the way the quarry had taken. It was -slow work and all the time, Tarzan knew, the bull of the alien tribe -was forging steadily away from them—gaining precious minutes that might -carry him to safety before they could catch up with him. - -First along one fork he went, and then another, applying every test -that his wonderful junglecraft was cognizant of; but again and again he -was baffled, for the scent had been washed away by the heavy downpour, -in every exposed place. For a half hour Tarzan and Taug searched, until -at last, upon the bottom of a broad leaf, Tarzan’s keen nose caught the -faint trace of the scent spoor of Toog, where the leaf had brushed a -hairy shoulder as the great ape passed through the foliage. - -Once again the two took up the trail, but it was slow work now and -there were many discouraging delays when the spoor seemed lost beyond -recovery. To you or me there would have been no spoor, even before the -coming of the rain, except, possibly, where Toog had come to earth and -followed a game trail. In such places the imprint of a huge handlike -foot and the knuckles of one great hand were sometimes plain enough for -an ordinary mortal to read. Tarzan knew from these and other -indications that the ape was yet carrying Teeka. The depth of the -imprint of his feet indicated a much greater weight than that of any of -the larger bulls, for they were made under the combined weight of Toog -and Teeka, while the fact that the knuckles of but one hand touched the -ground at any time showed that the other hand was occupied in some -other business—the business of holding the prisoner to a hairy -shoulder. Tarzan could follow, in sheltered places, the changing of the -burden from one shoulder to another, as indicated by the deepening of -the foot imprint upon the side of the load, and the changing of the -knuckle imprints from one side of the trail to the other. - -There were stretches along the surface paths where the ape had gone for -considerable distances entirely erect upon his hind feet—walking as a -man walks; but the same might have been true of any of the great -anthropoids of the same species, for, unlike the chimpanzee and the -gorilla, they walk without the aid of their hands quite as readily as -with. It was such things, however, which helped to identify to Tarzan -and to Taug the appearance of the abductor, and with his individual -scent characteristic already indelibly impressed upon their memories, -they were in a far better position to know him when they came upon him, -even should he have disposed of Teeka before, than is a modern sleuth -with his photographs and Bertillon measurements, equipped to recognize -a fugitive from civilized justice. - -But with all their high-strung and delicately attuned perceptive -faculties the two bulls of the tribe of Kerchak were often sore pressed -to follow the trail at all, and at best were so delayed that in the -afternoon of the second day, they still had not overhauled the -fugitive. The scent was now strong, for it had been made since the -rain, and Tarzan knew that it would not be long before they came upon -the thief and his loot. Above them, as they crept stealthily forward, -chattered Manu, the monkey, and his thousand fellows; squawked and -screamed the brazen-throated birds of plumage; buzzed and hummed the -countless insects amid the rustling of the forest leaves, and, as they -passed, a little gray-beard, squeaking and scolding upon a swaying -branch, looked down and saw them. Instantly the scolding and squeaking -ceased, and off tore the long-tailed mite as though Sheeta, the -panther, had been endowed with wings and was in close pursuit of him. -To all appearances he was only a very much frightened little monkey, -fleeing for his life—there seemed nothing sinister about him. - -And what of Teeka during all this time? Was she at last resigned to her -fate and accompanying her new mate in the proper humility of a loving -and tractable spouse? A single glance at the pair would have answered -these questions to the utter satisfaction of the most captious. She was -torn and bleeding from many wounds, inflicted by the sullen Toog in his -vain efforts to subdue her to his will, and Toog too was disfigured and -mutilated; but with stubborn ferocity, he still clung to his now -useless prize. - -On through the jungle he forced his way in the direction of the -stamping ground of his tribe. He hoped that his king would have -forgotten his treason; but if not he was still resigned to his fate—any -fate would be better than suffering longer the sole companionship of -this frightful she, and then, too, he wished to exhibit his captive to -his fellows. Maybe he could wish her on the king—it is possible that -such a thought urged him on. - -At last they came upon two bulls feeding in a parklike grove—a -beautiful grove dotted with huge boulders half embedded in the rich -loam—mute monuments, possibly, to a forgotten age when mighty glaciers -rolled their slow course where now a torrid sun beats down upon a -tropic jungle. - -The two bulls looked up, baring long fighting fangs, as Toog appeared -in the distance. The latter recognized the two as friends. “It is -Toog,” he growled. “Toog has come back with a new she.” - -The apes waited his nearer approach. Teeka turned a snarling, fanged -face toward them. She was not pretty to look upon, yet through the -blood and hatred upon her countenance they realized that she was -beautiful, and they envied Toog—alas! they did not know Teeka. - -As they squatted looking at one another there raced through the trees -toward them a long-tailed little monkey with gray whiskers. He was a -very excited little monkey when he came to a halt upon the limb of a -tree directly overhead. “Two strange bulls come,” he cried. “One is a -Mangani, the other a hideous ape without hair upon his body. They -follow the spoor of Toog. I saw them.” - -The four apes turned their eyes backward along the trail Toog had just -come; then they looked at one another for a minute. “Come,” said the -larger of Toog’s two friends, “we will wait for the strangers in the -thick bushes beyond the clearing.” - -He turned and waddled away across the open place, the others following -him. The little monkey danced about, all excitement. His chief -diversion in life was to bring about bloody encounters between the -larger denizens of the forest, that he might sit in the safety of the -trees and witness the spectacles. He was a glutton for gore, was this -little, whiskered, gray monkey, so long as it was the gore of others—a -typical fight fan was the graybeard. - -The apes hid themselves in the shrubbery beside the trail along which -the two stranger bulls would pass. Teeka trembled with excitement. She -had heard the words of Manu, and she knew that the hairless ape must be -Tarzan, while the other was, doubtless, Taug. Never, in her wildest -hopes, had she expected succor of this sort. Her one thought had been -to escape and find her way back to the tribe of Kerchak; but even this -had appeared to her practically impossible, so closely did Toog watch -her. - -As Taug and Tarzan reached the grove where Toog had come upon his -friends, the ape scent became so strong that both knew the quarry was -but a short distance ahead. And so they went even more cautiously, for -they wished to come upon the thief from behind if they could and charge -him before he was aware of their presence. That a little gray-whiskered -monkey had forestalled them they did not know, nor that three pairs of -savage eyes were already watching their every move and waiting for them -to come within reach of itching paws and slavering jowls. - -On they came across the grove, and as they entered the path leading -into the dense jungle beyond, a sudden “Kreeg-ah!” shrilled out close -before them—a “Kreeg-ah” in the familiar voice of Teeka. The small -brains of Toog and his companions had not been able to foresee that -Teeka might betray them, and now that she had, they went wild with -rage. Toog struck the she a mighty blow that felled her, and then the -three rushed forth to do battle with Tarzan and Taug. The little monkey -danced upon his perch and screamed with delight. - -And indeed he might well be delighted, for it was a lovely fight. There -were no preliminaries, no formalities, no introductions—the five bulls -merely charged and clinched. They rolled in the narrow trail and into -the thick verdure beside it. They bit and clawed and scratched and -struck, and all the while they kept up the most frightful chorus of -growlings and barkings and roarings. In five minutes they were torn and -bleeding, and the little graybeard leaped high, shrilling his primitive -bravos; but always his attitude was “thumbs down.” He wanted to see -something killed. He did not care whether it were friend or foe. It was -blood he wanted—blood and death. - -Taug had been set upon by Toog and another of the apes, while Tarzan -had the third—a huge brute with the strength of a buffalo. Never before -had Tarzan’s assailant beheld so strange a creature as this slippery, -hairless bull with which he battled. Sweat and blood covered Tarzan’s -sleek, brown hide. Again and again he slipped from the clutches of the -great bull, and all the while he struggled to free his hunting knife -from the scabbard in which it had stuck. - -At length he succeeded—a brown hand shot out and clutched a hairy -throat, another flew upward clutching the sharp blade. Three swift, -powerful strokes and the bull relaxed with a groan, falling limp -beneath his antagonist. Instantly Tarzan broke from the clutches of the -dying bull and sprang to Taug’s assistance. Toog saw him coming and -wheeled to meet him. In the impact of the charge, Tarzan’s knife was -wrenched from his hand and then Toog closed with him. Now was the -battle even—two against two—while on the verge, Teeka, now recovered -from the blow that had felled her, slunk waiting for an opportunity to -aid. She saw Tarzan’s knife and picked it up. She never had used it, -but knew how Tarzan used it. Always had she been afraid of the thing -which dealt death to the mightiest of the jungle people with the ease -that Tantor’s great tusks deal death to Tantor’s enemies. - -She saw Tarzan’s pocket pouch torn from his side, and with the -curiosity of an ape, that even danger and excitement cannot entirely -dispel, she picked this up, too. - -Now the bulls were standing—the clinches had been broken. Blood -streamed down their sides—their faces were crimsoned with it. Little -graybeard was so fascinated that at last he had even forgotten to -scream and dance; but sat rigid with delight in the enjoyment of the -spectacle. - -Back across the grove Tarzan and Taug forced their adversaries. Teeka -followed slowly. She scarce knew what to do. She was lame and sore and -exhausted from the frightful ordeal through which she had passed, and -she had the confidence of her sex in the prowess of her mate and the -other bull of her tribe—they would not need the help of a she in their -battle with these two strangers. - -The roars and screams of the fighters reverberated through the jungle, -awakening the echoes in the distant hills. From the throat of Tarzan’s -antagonist had come a score of “Kreeg-ahs!” and now from behind came -the reply he had awaited. Into the grove, barking and growling, came a -score of huge bull apes—the fighting men of Toog’s tribe. - -Teeka saw them first and screamed a warning to Tarzan and Taug. Then -she fled past the fighters toward the opposite side of the clearing, -fear for a moment claiming her. Nor can one censure her after the -frightful ordeal from which she was still suffering. - -Down upon them came the great apes. In a moment Tarzan and Taug would -be torn to shreds that would later form the _pièce de résistance_ of -the savage orgy of a Dum-Dum. Teeka turned to glance back. She saw the -impending fate of her defenders and there sprung to life in her savage -bosom the spark of martyrdom, that some common forbear had transmitted -alike to Teeka, the wild ape, and the glorious women of a higher order -who have invited death for their men. With a shrill scream she ran -toward the battlers who were rolling in a great mass at the foot of one -of the huge boulders which dotted the grove; but what could she do? The -knife she held she could not use to advantage because of her lesser -strength. She had seen Tarzan throw missiles, and she had learned this -with many other things from her childhood playmate. She sought for -something to throw and at last her fingers touched upon the hard -objects in the pouch that had been torn from the ape-man. Tearing the -receptacle open, she gathered a handful of shiny cylinders—heavy for -their size, they seemed to her, and good missiles. With all her -strength she hurled them at the apes battling in front of the granite -boulder. - -The result surprised Teeka quite as much as it did the apes. There was -a loud explosion, which deafened the fighters, and a puff of acrid -smoke. Never before had one there heard such a frightful noise. -Screaming with terror, the stranger bulls leaped to their feet and fled -back toward the stamping ground of their tribe, while Taug and Tarzan -slowly gathered themselves together and arose, lame and bleeding, to -their feet. They, too, would have fled had they not seen Teeka standing -there before them, the knife and the pocket pouch in her hands. - -“What was it?” asked Tarzan. - -Teeka shook her head. “I hurled these at the stranger bulls,” and she -held forth another handful of the shiny metal cylinders with the dull -gray, cone-shaped ends. - -Tarzan looked at them and scratched his head. - -“What are they?” asked Taug. - -“I do not know,” said Tarzan. “I found them.” - -The little monkey with the gray beard halted among the trees a mile -away and huddled, terrified, against a branch. He did not know that the -dead father of Tarzan of the Apes, reaching back out of the past across -a span of twenty years, had saved his son’s life. - -Nor did Tarzan, Lord Greystoke, know it either. - - - - -CHAPTER XI -A Jungle Joke - - -Time seldom hung heavily upon Tarzan’s hands. Even where there is -sameness there cannot be monotony if most of the sameness consists in -dodging death first in one form and then in another; or in inflicting -death upon others. There is a spice to such an existence; but even this -Tarzan of the Apes varied in activities of his own invention. - -He was full grown now, with the grace of a Greek god and the thews of a -bull, and, by all the tenets of apedom, should have been sullen, -morose, and brooding; but he was not. His spirits seemed not to age at -all—he was still a playful child, much to the discomfiture of his -fellow-apes. They could not understand him or his ways, for with -maturity they quickly forgot their youth and its pastimes. - -Nor could Tarzan quite understand them. It seemed strange to him that a -few moons since, he had roped Taug about an ankle and dragged him -screaming through the tall jungle grasses, and then rolled and tumbled -in good-natured mimic battle when the young ape had freed himself, and -that today when he had come up behind the same Taug and pulled him over -backward upon the turf, instead of the playful young ape, a great, -snarling beast had whirled and leaped for his throat. - -Easily Tarzan eluded the charge and quickly Taug’s anger vanished, -though it was not replaced with playfulness; yet the ape-man realized -that Taug was not amused nor was he amusing. The big bull ape seemed to -have lost whatever sense of humor he once may have possessed. With a -grunt of disappointment, young Lord Greystoke turned to other fields of -endeavor. A strand of black hair fell across one eye. He brushed it -aside with the palm of a hand and a toss of his head. It suggested -something to do, so he sought his quiver which lay cached in the hollow -bole of a lightning-riven tree. Removing the arrows he turned the -quiver upside down, emptying upon the ground the contents of its -bottom—his few treasures. Among them was a flat bit of stone and a -shell which he had picked up from the beach near his father’s cabin. - -With great care he rubbed the edge of the shell back and forth upon the -flat stone until the soft edge was quite fine and sharp. He worked much -as a barber does who hones a razor, and with every evidence of similar -practice; but his proficiency was the result of years of painstaking -effort. Unaided he had worked out a method of his own for putting an -edge upon the shell—he even tested it with the ball of his thumb—and -when it met with his approval he grasped a wisp of hair which fell -across his eyes, grasped it between the thumb and first finger of his -left hand and sawed upon it with the sharpened shell until it was -severed. All around his head he went until his black shock was rudely -bobbed with a ragged bang in front. For the appearance of it he cared -nothing; but in the matter of safety and comfort it meant everything. A -lock of hair falling in one’s eyes at the wrong moment might mean all -the difference between life and death, while straggly strands, hanging -down one’s back were most uncomfortable, especially when wet with dew -or rain or perspiration. - -As Tarzan labored at his tonsorial task, his active mind was busy with -many things. He recalled his recent battle with Bolgani, the gorilla, -the wounds of which were but just healed. He pondered the strange sleep -adventures of his first dreams, and he smiled at the painful outcome of -his last practical joke upon the tribe, when, dressed in the hide of -Numa, the lion, he had come roaring upon them, only to be leaped upon -and almost killed by the great bulls whom he had taught how to defend -themselves from an attack of their ancient enemy. - -His hair lopped off to his entire satisfaction, and seeing no -possibility of pleasure in the company of the tribe, Tarzan swung -leisurely into the trees and set off in the direction of his cabin; but -when part way there his attention was attracted by a strong scent spoor -coming from the north. It was the scent of the Gomangani. - -Curiosity, that best-developed, common heritage of man and ape, always -prompted Tarzan to investigate where the Gomangani were concerned. -There was that about them which aroused his imagination. Possibly it -was because of the diversity of their activities and interests. The -apes lived to eat and sleep and propagate. The same was true of all the -other denizens of the jungle, save the Gomangani. - -These black fellows danced and sang, scratched around in the earth from -which they had cleared the trees and underbrush; they watched things -grow, and when they had ripened, they cut them down and put them in -straw-thatched huts. They made bows and spears and arrows, poison, -cooking pots, things of metal to wear around their arms and legs. If it -hadn’t been for their black faces, their hideously disfigured features, -and the fact that one of them had slain Kala, Tarzan might have wished -to be one of them. At least he sometimes thought so, but always at the -thought there rose within him a strange revulsion of feeling, which he -could not interpret or understand—he simply knew that he hated the -Gomangani, and that he would rather be Histah, the snake, than one of -these. - -But their ways were interesting, and Tarzan never tired of spying upon -them, and from them he learned much more than he realized, though -always his principal thought was of some new way in which he could -render their lives miserable. The baiting of the blacks was Tarzan’s -chief divertissement. - -Tarzan realized now that the blacks were very near and that there were -many of them, so he went silently and with great caution. Noiselessly -he moved through the lush grasses of the open spaces, and where the -forest was dense, swung from one swaying branch to another, or leaped -lightly over tangled masses of fallen trees where there was no way -through the lower terraces, and the ground was choked and impassable. - -And so presently he came within sight of the black warriors of Mbonga, -the chief. They were engaged in a pursuit with which Tarzan was more or -less familiar, having watched them at it upon other occasions. They -were placing and baiting a trap for Numa, the lion. In a cage upon -wheels they were tying a kid, so fastening it that when Numa seized the -unfortunate creature, the door of the cage would drop behind him, -making him a prisoner. - -These things the blacks had learned in their old home, before they -escaped through the untracked jungle to their new village. Formerly -they had dwelt in the Belgian Congo until the cruelties of their -heartless oppressors had driven them to seek the safety of unexplored -solitudes beyond the boundaries of Leopold’s domain. - -In their old life they often had trapped animals for the agents of -European dealers, and had learned from them certain tricks, such as -this one, which permitted them to capture even Numa without injuring -him, and to transport him in safety and with comparative ease to their -village. - -No longer was there a white market for their savage wares; but there -was still a sufficient incentive for the taking of Numa—alive. First -was the necessity for ridding the jungle of man-eaters, and it was only -after depredations by these grim and terrible scourges that a lion hunt -was organized. Secondarily was the excuse for an orgy of celebration -was the hunt successful, and the fact that such fetes were rendered -doubly pleasurable by the presence of a live creature that might be put -to death by torture. - -Tarzan had witnessed these cruel rites in the past. Being himself more -savage than the savage warriors of the Gomangani, he was not so shocked -by the cruelty of them as he should have been, yet they did shock him. -He could not understand the strange feeling of revulsion which -possessed him at such times. He had no love for Numa, the lion, yet he -bristled with rage when the blacks inflicted upon his enemy such -indignities and cruelties as only the mind of the one creature molded -in the image of God can conceive. - -Upon two occasions he had freed Numa from the trap before the blacks -had returned to discover the success or failure of their venture. He -would do the same today—that he decided immediately he realized the -nature of their intentions. - -Leaving the trap in the center of a broad elephant trail near the -drinking hole, the warriors turned back toward their village. On the -morrow they would come again. Tarzan looked after them, upon his lips -an unconscious sneer—the heritage of unguessed caste. He saw them file -along the broad trail, beneath the overhanging verdure of leafy branch -and looped and festooned creepers, brushing ebon shoulders against -gorgeous blooms which inscrutable Nature has seen fit to lavish most -profusely farthest from the eye of man. - -As Tarzan watched, through narrowed lids, the last of the warriors -disappear beyond a turn in the trail, his expression altered to the -urge of a newborn thought. A slow, grim smile touched his lips. He -looked down upon the frightened, bleating kid, advertising, in its fear -and its innocence, its presence and its helplessness. - -Dropping to the ground, Tarzan approached the trap and entered. Without -disturbing the fiber cord, which was adjusted to drop the door at the -proper time, he loosened the living bait, tucked it under an arm and -stepped out of the cage. - -With his hunting knife he quieted the frightened animal, severing its -jugular; then he dragged it, bleeding, along the trail down to the -drinking hole, the half smile persisting upon his ordinarily grave -face. At the water’s edge the ape-man stooped and with hunting knife -and quick strong fingers deftly removed the dead kid’s viscera. -Scraping a hole in the mud, he buried these parts which he did not eat, -and swinging the body to his shoulder took to the trees. - -For a short distance he pursued his way in the wake of the black -warriors, coming down presently to bury the meat of his kill where it -would be safe from the depredations of Dango, the hyena, or the other -meat-eating beasts and birds of the jungle. He was hungry. Had he been -all beast he would have eaten; but his man-mind could entertain urges -even more potent than those of the belly, and now he was concerned with -an idea which kept a smile upon his lips and his eyes sparkling in -anticipation. An idea, it was, which permitted him to forget that he -was hungry. - -The meat safely cached, Tarzan trotted along the elephant trail after -the Gomangani. Two or three miles from the cage he overtook them and -then he swung into the trees and followed above and behind them—waiting -his chance. - -Among the blacks was Rabba Kega, the witch-doctor. Tarzan hated them -all; but Rabba Kega he especially hated. As the blacks filed along the -winding path, Rabba Kega, being lazy, dropped behind. This Tarzan -noted, and it filled him with satisfaction—his being radiated a grim -and terrible content. Like an angel of death he hovered above the -unsuspecting black. - -Rabba Kega, knowing that the village was but a short distance ahead, -sat down to rest. Rest well, O Rabba Kega! It is thy last opportunity. - -Tarzan crept stealthily among the branches of the tree above the -well-fed, self-satisfied witch-doctor. He made no noise that the dull -ears of man could hear above the soughing of the gentle jungle breeze -among the undulating foliage of the upper terraces, and when he came -close above the black man he halted, well concealed by leafy branch and -heavy creeper. - -Rabba Kega sat with his back against the bole of a tree, facing Tarzan. -The position was not such as the waiting beast of prey desired, and so, -with the infinite patience of the wild hunter, the ape-man crouched -motionless and silent as a graven image until the fruit should be ripe -for the plucking. A poisonous insect buzzed angrily out of space. It -loitered, circling, close to Tarzan’s face. The ape-man saw and -recognized it. The virus of its sting spelled death for lesser things -than he—for him it would mean days of anguish. He did not move. His -glittering eyes remained fixed upon Rabba Kega after acknowledging the -presence of the winged torture by a single glance. He heard and -followed the movements of the insect with his keen ears, and then he -felt it alight upon his forehead. No muscle twitched, for the muscles -of such as he are the servants of the brain. Down across his face crept -the horrid thing—over nose and lips and chin. Upon his throat it -paused, and turning, retraced its steps. Tarzan watched Rabba Kega. Now -not even his eyes moved. So motionless he crouched that only death -might counterpart his movelessness. The insect crawled upward over the -nut-brown cheek and stopped with its antennae brushing the lashes of -his lower lid. You or I would have started back, closing our eyes and -striking at the thing; but you and I are the slaves, not the masters of -our nerves. Had the thing crawled upon the eyeball of the ape-man, it -is believable that he could yet have remained wide-eyed and rigid; but -it did not. For a moment it loitered there close to the lower lid, then -it rose and buzzed away. - -Down toward Rabba Kega it buzzed and the black man heard it, saw it, -struck at it, and was stung upon the cheek before he killed it. Then he -rose with a howl of pain and anger, and as he turned up the trail -toward the village of Mbonga, the chief, his broad, black back was -exposed to the silent thing waiting above him. - -And as Rabba Kega turned, a lithe figure shot outward and downward from -the tree above upon his broad shoulders. The impact of the springing -creature carried Rabba Kega to the ground. He felt strong jaws close -upon his neck, and when he tried to scream, steel fingers throttled his -throat. The powerful black warrior struggled to free himself; but he -was as a child in the grip of his adversary. - -Presently Tarzan released his grip upon the other’s throat; but each -time that Rabba Kega essayed a scream, the cruel fingers choked him -painfully. At last the warrior desisted. Then Tarzan half rose and -kneeled upon his victim’s back, and when Rabba Kega struggled to arise, -the ape-man pushed his face down into the dirt of the trail. With a bit -of the rope that had secured the kid, Tarzan made Rabba Kega’s wrists -secure behind his back, then he rose and jerked his prisoner to his -feet, faced him back along the trail and pushed him on ahead. - -Not until he came to his feet did Rabba Kega obtain a square look at -his assailant. When he saw that it was the white devil-god his heart -sank within him and his knees trembled; but as he walked along the -trail ahead of his captor and was neither injured nor molested his -spirits slowly rose, so that he took heart again. Possibly the -devil-god did not intend to kill him after all. Had he not had little -Tibo in his power for days without harming him, and had he not spared -Momaya, Tibo’s mother, when he easily might have slain her? - -And then they came upon the cage which Rabba Kega, with the other black -warriors of the village of Mbonga, the chief, had placed and baited for -Numa. Rabba Kega saw that the bait was gone, though there was no lion -within the cage, nor was the door dropped. He saw and he was filled -with wonder not unmixed with apprehension. It entered his dull brain -that in some way this combination of circumstances had a connection -with his presence there as the prisoner of the white devil-god. - -Nor was he wrong. Tarzan pushed him roughly into the cage, and in -another moment Rabba Kega understood. Cold sweat broke from every pore -of his body—he trembled as with ague—for the ape-man was binding him -securely in the very spot the kid had previously occupied. The -witch-doctor pleaded, first for his life, and then for a death less -cruel; but he might as well have saved his pleas for Numa, since -already they were directed toward a wild beast who understood no word -of what he said. - -But his constant jabbering not only annoyed Tarzan, who worked in -silence, but suggested that later the black might raise his voice in -cries for succor, so he stepped out of the cage, gathered a handful of -grass and a small stick and returning, jammed the grass into Rabba -Kega’s mouth, laid the stick crosswise between his teeth and fastened -it there with the thong from Rabba Kega’s loin cloth. Now could the -witch-doctor but roll his eyes and sweat. Thus Tarzan left him. - -The ape-man went first to the spot where he had cached the body of the -kid. Digging it up, he ascended into a tree and proceeded to satisfy -his hunger. What remained he again buried; then he swung away through -the trees to the water hole, and going to the spot where fresh, cold -water bubbled from between two rocks, he drank deeply. The other beasts -might wade in and drink stagnant water; but not Tarzan of the Apes. In -such matters he was fastidious. From his hands he washed every trace of -the repugnant scent of the Gomangani, and from his face the blood of -the kid. Rising, he stretched himself not unlike some huge, lazy cat, -climbed into a near-by tree and fell asleep. - -When he awoke it was dark, though a faint luminosity still tinged the -western heavens. A lion moaned and coughed as it strode through the -jungle toward water. It was approaching the drinking hole. Tarzan -grinned sleepily, changed his position and fell asleep again. - -When the blacks of Mbonga, the chief, reached their village they -discovered that Rabba Kega was not among them. When several hours had -elapsed they decided that something had happened to him, and it was the -hope of the majority of the tribe that whatever had happened to him -might prove fatal. They did not love the witch-doctor. Love and fear -seldom are playmates; but a warrior is a warrior, and so Mbonga -organized a searching party. That his own grief was not unassuagable -might have been gathered from the fact that he remained at home and -went to sleep. The young warriors whom he sent out remained steadfast -to their purpose for fully half an hour, when, unfortunately for Rabba -Kega—upon so slight a thing may the fate of a man rest—a honey bird -attracted the attention of the searchers and led them off for the -delicious store it previously had marked down for betrayal, and Rabba -Kega’s doom was sealed. - -When the searchers returned empty handed, Mbonga was wroth; but when he -saw the great store of honey they brought with them his rage subsided. -Already Tubuto, young, agile and evil-minded, with face hideously -painted, was practicing the black art upon a sick infant in the fond -hope of succeeding to the office and perquisites of Rabba Kega. Tonight -the women of the old witch-doctor would moan and howl. Tomorrow he -would be forgotten. Such is life, such is fame, such is power—in the -center of the world’s highest civilization, or in the depths of the -black, primeval jungle. Always, everywhere, man is man, nor has he -altered greatly beneath his veneer since he scurried into a hole -between two rocks to escape the tyrannosaurus six million years ago. - -The morning following the disappearance of Rabba Kega, the warriors set -out with Mbonga, the chief, to examine the trap they had set for Numa. -Long before they reached the cage, they heard the roaring of a great -lion and guessed that they had made a successful bag, so it was with -shouts of joy that they approached the spot where they should find -their captive. - -Yes! There he was, a great, magnificent specimen—a huge, black-maned -lion. The warriors were frantic with delight. They leaped into the air -and uttered savage cries—hoarse victory cries, and then they came -closer, and the cries died upon their lips, and their eyes went wide so -that the whites showed all around their irises, and their pendulous -lower lips drooped with their drooping jaws. They drew back in terror -at the sight within the cage—the mauled and mutilated corpse of what -had, yesterday, been Rabba Kega, the witch-doctor. - -The captured lion had been too angry and frightened to feed upon the -body of his kill; but he had vented upon it much of his rage, until it -was a frightful thing to behold. - -From his perch in a near-by tree Tarzan of the Apes, Lord Greystoke, -looked down upon the black warriors and grinned. Once again his -self-pride in his ability as a practical joker asserted itself. It had -lain dormant for some time following the painful mauling he had -received that time he leaped among the apes of Kerchak clothed in the -skin of Numa; but this joke was a decided success. - -After a few moments of terror, the blacks came closer to the cage, rage -taking the place of fear—rage and curiosity. How had Rabba Kega -happened to be in the cage? Where was the kid? There was no sign nor -remnant of the original bait. They looked closely and they saw, to -their horror, that the corpse of their erstwhile fellow was bound with -the very cord with which they had secured the kid. Who could have done -this thing? They looked at one another. - -Tubuto was the first to speak. He had come hopefully out with the -expedition that morning. Somewhere he might find evidence of the death -of Rabba Kega. Now he had found it, and he was the first to find an -explanation. - -“The white devil-god,” he whispered. “It is the work of the white -devil-god!” - -No one contradicted Tubuto, for, indeed, who else could it have been -but the great, hairless ape they all so feared? And so their hatred of -Tarzan increased again with an increased fear of him. And Tarzan sat in -his tree and hugged himself. - -No one there felt sorrow because of the death of Rabba Kega; but each -of the blacks experienced a personal fear of the ingenious mind which -might discover for any of them a death equally horrible to that which -the witch-doctor had suffered. It was a subdued and thoughtful company -which dragged the captive lion along the broad elephant path back to -the village of Mbonga, the chief. - -And it was with a sigh of relief that they finally rolled it into the -village and closed the gates behind them. Each had experienced the -sensation of being spied upon from the moment they left the spot where -the trap had been set, though none had seen or heard aught to give -tangible food to his fears. - -At the sight of the body within the cage with the lion, the women and -children of the village set up a most frightful lamentation, working -themselves into a joyous hysteria which far transcended the happy -misery derived by their more civilized prototypes who make a business -of dividing their time between the movies and the neighborhood funerals -of friends and strangers—especially strangers. - -From a tree overhanging the palisade, Tarzan watched all that passed -within the village. He saw the frenzied women tantalizing the great -lion with sticks and stones. The cruelty of the blacks toward a captive -always induced in Tarzan a feeling of angry contempt for the Gomangani. -Had he attempted to analyze this feeling he would have found it -difficult, for during all his life he had been accustomed to sights of -suffering and cruelty. He, himself, was cruel. All the beasts of the -jungle were cruel; but the cruelty of the blacks was of a different -order. It was the cruelty of wanton torture of the helpless, while the -cruelty of Tarzan and the other beasts was the cruelty of necessity or -of passion. - -Perhaps, had he known it, he might have credited this feeling of -repugnance at the sight of unnecessary suffering to heredity—to the -germ of British love of fair play which had been bequeathed to him by -his father and his mother; but, of course, he did not know, since he -still believed that his mother had been Kala, the great ape. - -And just in proportion as his anger rose against the Gomangani his -savage sympathy went out to Numa, the lion, for, though Numa was his -lifetime enemy, there was neither bitterness nor contempt in Tarzan’s -sentiments toward him. In the ape-man’s mind, therefore, the -determination formed to thwart the blacks and liberate the lion; but he -must accomplish this in some way which would cause the Gomangani the -greatest chagrin and discomfiture. - -As he squatted there watching the proceeding beneath him, he saw the -warriors seize upon the cage once more and drag it between two huts. -Tarzan knew that it would remain there now until evening, and that the -blacks were planning a feast and orgy in celebration of their capture. -When he saw that two warriors were placed beside the cage, and that -these drove off the women and children and young men who would have -eventually tortured Numa to death, he knew that the lion would be safe -until he was needed for the evening’s entertainment, when he would be -more cruelly and scientifically tortured for the edification of the -entire tribe. - -Now Tarzan preferred to bait the blacks in as theatric a manner as his -fertile imagination could evolve. He had some half-formed conception of -their superstitious fears and of their especial dread of night, and so -he decided to wait until darkness fell and the blacks partially worked -to hysteria by their dancing and religious rites before he took any -steps toward the freeing of Numa. In the meantime, he hoped, an idea -adequate to the possibilities of the various factors at hand would -occur to him. Nor was it long before one did. - -He had swung off through the jungle to search for food when the plan -came to him. At first it made him smile a little and then look dubious, -for he still retained a vivid memory of the dire results that had -followed the carrying out of a very wonderful idea along almost -identical lines, yet he did not abandon his intention, and a moment -later, food temporarily forgotten, he was swinging through the middle -terraces in rapid flight toward the stamping ground of the tribe of -Kerchak, the great ape. - -As was his wont, he alighted in the midst of the little band without -announcing his approach save by a hideous scream just as he sprang from -a branch above them. Fortunate are the apes of Kerchak that their kind -is not subject to heart failure, for the methods of Tarzan subjected -them to one severe shock after another, nor could they ever accustom -themselves to the ape-man’s peculiar style of humor. - -Now, when they saw who it was they merely snarled and grumbled angrily -for a moment and then resumed their feeding or their napping which he -had interrupted, and he, having had his little joke, made his way to -the hollow tree where he kept his treasures hid from the inquisitive -eyes and fingers of his fellows and the mischievous little manus. Here -he withdrew a closely rolled hide—the hide of Numa with the head on; a -clever bit of primitive curing and mounting, which had once been the -property of the witch-doctor, Rabba Kega, until Tarzan had stolen it -from the village. - -With this he made his way back through the jungle toward the village of -the blacks, stopping to hunt and feed upon the way, and, in the -afternoon, even napping for an hour, so that it was already dusk when -he entered the great tree which overhung the palisade and gave him a -view of the entire village. He saw that Numa was still alive and that -the guards were even dozing beside the cage. A lion is no great novelty -to a black man in the lion country, and the first keen edge of their -desire to worry the brute having worn off, the villagers paid little or -no attention to the great cat, preferring now to await the grand event -of the night. - -Nor was it long after dark before the festivities commenced. To the -beating of tom-toms, a lone warrior, crouched half doubled, leaped into -the firelight in the center of a great circle of other warriors, behind -whom stood or squatted the women and the children. The dancer was -painted and armed for the hunt and his movements and gestures suggested -the search for the spoor of game. Bending low, sometimes resting for a -moment on one knee, he searched the ground for signs of the quarry; -again he poised, statuesque, listening. The warrior was young and lithe -and graceful; he was full-muscled and arrow-straight. The firelight -glistened upon his ebon body and brought out into bold relief the -grotesque designs painted upon his face, breasts, and abdomen. - -Presently he bent low to the earth, then leaped high in air. Every line -of face and body showed that he had struck the scent. Immediately he -leaped toward the circle of warriors about him, telling them of his -find and summoning them to the hunt. It was all in pantomime; but so -truly done that even Tarzan could follow it all to the least detail. - -He saw the other warriors grasp their hunting spears and leap to their -feet to join in the graceful, stealthy “stalking dance.” It was very -interesting; but Tarzan realized that if he was to carry his design to -a successful conclusion he must act quickly. He had seen these dances -before and knew that after the stalk would come the game at bay and -then the kill, during which Numa would be surrounded by warriors, and -unapproachable. - -With the lion’s skin under one arm the ape-man dropped to the ground in -the dense shadows beneath the tree and then circled behind the huts -until he came out directly in the rear of the cage, in which Numa paced -nervously to and fro. The cage was now unguarded, the two warriors -having left it to take their places among the other dancers. - -Behind the cage Tarzan adjusted the lion’s skin about him, just as he -had upon that memorable occasion when the apes of Kerchak, failing to -pierce his disguise, had all but slain him. Then, on hands and knees, -he crept forward, emerged from between the two huts and stood a few -paces back of the dusky audience, whose whole attention was centered -upon the dancers before them. - -Tarzan saw that the blacks had now worked themselves to a proper pitch -of nervous excitement to be ripe for the lion. In a moment the ring of -spectators would break at a point nearest the caged lion and the victim -would be rolled into the center of the circle. It was for this moment -that Tarzan waited. - -At last it came. A signal was given by Mbonga, the chief, at which the -women and children immediately in front of Tarzan rose and moved to one -side, leaving a broad path opening toward the caged lion. At the same -instant Tarzan gave voice to the low, coughing roar of an angry lion -and slunk slowly forward through the open lane toward the frenzied -dancers. - -A woman saw him first and screamed. Instantly there was a panic in the -immediate vicinity of the ape-man. The strong light from the fire fell -full upon the lion head and the blacks leaped to the conclusion, as -Tarzan had known they would, that their captive had escaped his cage. - -With another roar, Tarzan moved forward. The dancing warriors paused -but an instant. They had been hunting a lion securely housed within a -strong cage, and now that he was at liberty among them, an entirely -different aspect was placed upon the matter. Their nerves were not -attuned to this emergency. The women and children already had fled to -the questionable safety of the nearest huts, and the warriors were not -long in following their example, so that presently Tarzan was left in -sole possession of the village street. - -But not for long. Nor did he wish to be left thus long alone. It would -not comport with his scheme. Presently a head peered forth from a -near-by hut, and then another and another until a score or more of -warriors were looking out upon him, waiting for his next move—waiting -for the lion to charge or to attempt to escape from the village. - -Their spears were ready in their hands against either a charge or a -bolt for freedom, and then the lion rose erect upon its hind legs, the -tawny skin dropped from it and there stood revealed before them in the -firelight the straight young figure of the white devil-god. - -For an instant the blacks were too astonished to act. They feared this -apparition fully as much as they did Numa, yet they would gladly have -slain the thing could they quickly enough have gathered together their -wits; but fear and superstition and a natural mental density held them -paralyzed while the ape-man stooped and gathered up the lion skin. They -saw him turn then and walk back into the shadows at the far end of the -village. Not until then did they gain courage to pursue him, and when -they had come in force, with brandished spears and loud war cries, the -quarry was gone. - -Not an instant did Tarzan pause in the tree. Throwing the skin over a -branch he leaped again into the village upon the opposite side of the -great bole, and diving into the shadow of a hut, ran quickly to where -lay the caged lion. Springing to the top of the cage he pulled upon the -cord which raised the door, and a moment later a great lion in the -prime of his strength and vigor leaped out into the village. - -The warriors, returning from a futile search for Tarzan, saw him step -into the firelight. Ah! there was the devil-god again, up to his old -trick. Did he think he could twice fool the men of Mbonga, the chief, -the same way in so short a time? They would show him! For long they had -waited for such an opportunity to rid themselves forever of this -fearsome jungle demon. As one they rushed forward with raised spears. - -The women and the children came from the huts to witness the slaying of -the devil-god. The lion turned blazing eyes upon them and then swung -about toward the advancing warriors. - -With shouts of savage joy and triumph they came toward him, menacing -him with their spears. The devil-god was theirs! - -And then, with a frightful roar, Numa, the lion, charged. - -The men of Mbonga, the chief, met Numa with ready spears and screams of -raillery. In a solid mass of muscled ebony they waited the coming of -the devil-god; yet beneath their brave exteriors lurked a haunting fear -that all might not be quite well with them—that this strange creature -could yet prove invulnerable to their weapons and inflict upon them -full punishment for their effrontery. The charging lion was all too -lifelike—they saw that in the brief instant of the charge; but beneath -the tawny hide they knew was hid the soft flesh of the white man, and -how could that withstand the assault of many war spears? - -In their forefront stood a huge young warrior in the full arrogance of -his might and his youth. Afraid? Not he! He laughed as Numa bore down -upon him; he laughed and couched his spear, setting the point for the -broad breast. And then the lion was upon him. A great paw swept away -the heavy war spear, splintering it as the hand of man might splinter a -dry twig. - -Down went the black, his skull crushed by another blow. And then the -lion was in the midst of the warriors, clawing and tearing to right and -left. Not for long did they stand their ground; but a dozen men were -mauled before the others made good their escape from those frightful -talons and gleaming fangs. - -In terror the villagers fled hither and thither. No hut seemed a -sufficiently secure asylum with Numa ranging within the palisade. From -one to another fled the frightened blacks, while in the center of the -village Numa stood glaring and growling above his kills. - -At last a tribesman flung wide the gates of the village and sought -safety amid the branches of the forest trees beyond. Like sheep his -fellows followed him, until the lion and his dead remained alone in the -village. - -From the nearer trees the men of Mbonga saw the lion lower his great -head and seize one of his victims by the shoulder and then with slow -and stately tread move down the village street past the open gates and -on into the jungle. They saw and shuddered, and from another tree -Tarzan of the Apes saw and smiled. - -A full hour elapsed after the lion had disappeared with his feast -before the blacks ventured down from the trees and returned to their -village. Wide eyes rolled from side to side, and naked flesh contracted -more to the chill of fear than to the chill of the jungle night. - -“It was he all the time,” murmured one. “It was the devil-god.” - -“He changed himself from a lion to a man, and back again into a lion,” -whispered another. - -“And he dragged Mweeza into the forest and is eating him,” said a -third, shuddering. - -“We are no longer safe here,” wailed a fourth. “Let us take our -belongings and search for another village site far from the haunts of -the wicked devil-god.” - -But with morning came renewed courage, so that the experiences of the -preceding evening had little other effect than to increase their fear -of Tarzan and strengthen their belief in his supernatural origin. - -And thus waxed the fame and the power of the ape-man in the mysterious -haunts of the savage jungle where he ranged, mightiest of beasts -because of the man-mind which directed his giant muscles and his -flawless courage. - - - - -CHAPTER XII -Tarzan Rescues the Moon - - -The moon shone down out of a cloudless sky—a huge, swollen moon that -seemed so close to earth that one might wonder that she did not brush -the crooning tree tops. It was night, and Tarzan was abroad in the -jungle—Tarzan, the ape-man; mighty fighter, mighty hunter. Why he swung -through the dark shadows of the somber forest he could not have told -you. It was not that he was hungry—he had fed well this day, and in a -safe cache were the remains of his kill, ready against the coming of a -new appetite. Perhaps it was the very joy of living that urged him from -his arboreal couch to pit his muscles and his senses against the jungle -night, and then, too, Tarzan always was goaded by an intense desire to -know. - -The jungle which is presided over by Kudu, the sun, is a very different -jungle from that of Goro, the moon. The diurnal jungle has its own -aspect—its own lights and shades, its own birds, its own blooms, its -own beasts; its noises are the noises of the day. The lights and shades -of the nocturnal jungle are as different as one might imagine the -lights and shades of another world to differ from those of our world; -its beasts, its blooms, and its birds are not those of the jungle of -Kudu, the sun. - -Because of these differences Tarzan loved to investigate the jungle by -night. Not only was the life another life; but it was richer in numbers -and in romance; it was richer in dangers, too, and to Tarzan of the -Apes danger was the spice of life. And the noises of the jungle -night—the roar of the lion, the scream of the leopard, the hideous -laughter of Dango, the hyena, were music to the ears of the ape-man. - -The soft padding of unseen feet, the rustling of leaves and grasses to -the passage of fierce beasts, the sheen of opalesque eyes flaming -through the dark, the million sounds which proclaimed the teeming life -that one might hear and scent, though seldom see, constituted the -appeal of the nocturnal jungle to Tarzan. - -Tonight he had swung a wide circle—toward the east first and then -toward the south, and now he was rounding back again into the north. -His eyes, his ears and his keen nostrils were ever on the alert. -Mingled with the sounds he knew, there were strange sounds—weird sounds -which he never heard until after Kudu had sought his lair below the far -edge of the big water—sounds which belonged to Goro, the moon—and to -the mysterious period of Goro’s supremacy. These sounds often caused -Tarzan profound speculation. They baffled him because he thought that -he knew his jungle so well that there could be nothing within it -unfamiliar to him. Sometimes he thought that as colors and forms -appeared to differ by night from their familiar daylight aspects, so -sounds altered with the passage of Kudu and the coming of Goro, and -these thoughts roused within his brain a vague conjecture that perhaps -Goro and Kudu influenced these changes. And what more natural that -eventually he came to attribute to the sun and the moon personalities -as real as his own? The sun was a living creature and ruled the day. -The moon, endowed with brains and miraculous powers, ruled the night. - -Thus functioned the untrained man-mind groping through the dark night -of ignorance for an explanation of the things he could not touch or -smell or hear and of the great, unknown powers of nature which he could -not see. - -As Tarzan swung north again upon his wide circle the scent of the -Gomangani came to his nostrils, mixed with the acrid odor of wood -smoke. The ape-man moved quickly in the direction from which the scent -was borne down to him upon the gentle night wind. Presently the ruddy -sheen of a great fire filtered through the foliage to him ahead, and -when Tarzan came to a halt in the trees near it, he saw a party of half -a dozen black warriors huddled close to the blaze. It was evidently a -hunting party from the village of Mbonga, the chief, caught out in the -jungle after dark. In a rude circle about them they had constructed a -thorn boma which, with the aid of the fire, they apparently hoped would -discourage the advances of the larger carnivora. - -That hope was not conviction was evidenced by the very palpable terror -in which they crouched, wide-eyed and trembling, for already Numa and -Sabor were moaning through the jungle toward them. There were other -creatures, too, in the shadows beyond the firelight. Tarzan could see -their yellow eyes flaming there. The blacks saw them and shivered. Then -one arose and grasping a burning branch from the fire hurled it at the -eyes, which immediately disappeared. The black sat down again. Tarzan -watched and saw that it was several minutes before the eyes began to -reappear in twos and fours. - -Then came Numa, the lion, and Sabor, his mate. The other eyes scattered -to right and left before the menacing growls of the great cats, and -then the huge orbs of the man-eaters flamed alone out of the darkness. -Some of the blacks threw themselves upon their faces and moaned; but he -who before had hurled the burning branch now hurled another straight at -the faces of the hungry lions, and they, too, disappeared as had the -lesser lights before them. Tarzan was much interested. He saw a new -reason for the nightly fires maintained by the blacks—a reason in -addition to those connected with warmth and light and cooking. The -beasts of the jungle feared fire, and so fire was, in a measure, a -protection from them. Tarzan himself knew a certain awe of fire. Once -he had, in investigating an abandoned fire in the village of the -blacks, picked up a live coal. Since then he had maintained a -respectful distance from such fires as he had seen. One experience had -sufficed. - -For a few minutes after the black hurled the firebrand no eyes -appeared, though Tarzan could hear the soft padding of feet all about -him. Then flashed once more the twin fire spots that marked the return -of the lord of the jungle and a moment later, upon a slightly lower -level, there appeared those of Sabor, his mate. - -For some time they remained fixed and unwavering—a constellation of -fierce stars in the jungle night—then the male lion advanced slowly -toward the boma, where all but a single black still crouched in -trembling terror. When this lone guardian saw that Numa was again -approaching, he threw another firebrand, and, as before, Numa retreated -and with him Sabor, the lioness; but not so far, this time, nor for so -long. Almost instantly they turned and began circling the boma, their -eyes turning constantly toward the firelight, while low, throaty growls -evidenced their increasing displeasure. Beyond the lions glowed the -flaming eyes of the lesser satellites, until the black jungle was shot -all around the black men’s camp with little spots of fire. - -Again and again the black warrior hurled his puny brands at the two big -cats; but Tarzan noticed that Numa paid little or no attention to them -after the first few retreats. The ape-man knew by Numa’s voice that the -lion was hungry and surmised that he had made up his mind to feed upon -a Gomangani; but would he dare a closer approach to the dreaded flames? - -Even as the thought was passing in Tarzan’s mind, Numa stopped his -restless pacing and faced the boma. For a moment he stood motionless, -except for the quick, nervous upcurving of his tail, then he walked -deliberately forward, while Sabor moved restlessly to and fro where he -had left her. The black man called to his comrades that the lion was -coming, but they were too far gone in fear to do more than huddle -closer together and moan more loudly than before. - -Seizing a blazing branch the man cast it straight into the face of the -lion. There was an angry roar, followed by a swift charge. With a -single bound the savage beast cleared the boma wall as, with almost -equal agility, the warrior cleared it upon the opposite side and, -chancing the dangers lurking in the darkness, bolted for the nearest -tree. - -Numa was out of the boma almost as soon as he was inside it; but as he -went back over the low thorn wall, he took a screaming negro with him. -Dragging his victim along the ground he walked back toward Sabor, the -lioness, who joined him, and the two continued into the blackness, -their savage growls mingling with the piercing shrieks of the doomed -and terrified man. - -At a little distance from the blaze the lions halted, there ensued a -short succession of unusually vicious growls and roars, during which -the cries and moans of the black man ceased—forever. - -Presently Numa reappeared in the firelight. He made a second trip into -the boma and the former grisly tragedy was reenacted with another -howling victim. - -Tarzan rose and stretched lazily. The entertainment was beginning to -bore him. He yawned and turned upon his way toward the clearing where -the tribe would be sleeping in the encircling trees. - -Yet even when he had found his familiar crotch and curled himself for -slumber, he felt no desire to sleep. For a long time he lay awake -thinking and dreaming. He looked up into the heavens and watched the -moon and the stars. He wondered what they were and what power kept them -from falling. His was an inquisitive mind. Always he had been full of -questions concerning all that passed around him; but there never had -been one to answer his questions. In childhood he had wanted to KNOW, -and, denied almost all knowledge, he still, in manhood, was filled with -the great, unsatisfied curiosity of a child. - -He was never quite content merely to perceive that things happened—he -desired to know WHY they happened. He wanted to know what made things -go. The secret of life interested him immensely. The miracle of death -he could not quite fathom. Upon innumerable occasions he had -investigated the internal mechanism of his kills, and once or twice he -had opened the chest cavity of victims in time to see the heart still -pumping. - -He had learned from experience that a knife thrust through this organ -brought immediate death nine times out of ten, while he might stab an -antagonist innumerable times in other places without even disabling -him. And so he had come to think of the heart, or, as he called it, -“the red thing that breathes,” as the seat and origin of life. - -The brain and its functionings he did not comprehend at all. That his -sense perceptions were transmitted to his brain and there translated, -classified, and labeled was something quite beyond him. He thought that -his fingers knew when they touched something, that his eyes knew when -they saw, his ears when they heard, his nose when it scented. - -He considered his throat, epidermis, and the hairs of his head as the -three principal seats of emotion. When Kala had been slain a peculiar -choking sensation had possessed his throat; contact with Histah, the -snake, imparted an unpleasant sensation to the skin of his whole body; -while the approach of an enemy made the hairs on his scalp stand erect. - -Imagine, if you can, a child filled with the wonders of nature, -bursting with queries and surrounded only by beasts of the jungle to -whom his questionings were as strange as Sanskrit would have been. If -he asked Gunto what made it rain, the big old ape would but gaze at him -in dumb astonishment for an instant and then return to his interesting -and edifying search for fleas; and when he questioned Mumga, who was -very old and should have been very wise, but wasn’t, as to the reason -for the closing of certain flowers after Kudu had deserted the sky, and -the opening of others during the night, he was surprised to discover -that Mumga had never noticed these interesting facts, though she could -tell to an inch just where the fattest grubworm should be hiding. - -To Tarzan these things were wonders. They appealed to his intellect and -to his imagination. He saw the flowers close and open; he saw certain -blooms which turned their faces always toward the sun; he saw leaves -which moved when there was no breeze; he saw vines crawl like living -things up the boles and over the branches of great trees; and to Tarzan -of the Apes the flowers and the vines and the trees were living -creatures. He often talked to them, as he talked to Goro, the moon, and -Kudu, the sun, and always was he disappointed that they did not reply. -He asked them questions; but they could not answer, though he knew that -the whispering of the leaves was the language of the leaves—they talked -with one another. - -The wind he attributed to the trees and grasses. He thought that they -swayed themselves to and fro, creating the wind. In no other way could -he account for this phenomenon. The rain he finally attributed to the -stars, the moon, and the sun; but his hypothesis was entirely unlovely -and unpoetical. - -Tonight as Tarzan lay thinking, there sprang to his fertile imagination -an explanation of the stars and the moon. He became quite excited about -it. Taug was sleeping in a nearby crotch. Tarzan swung over beside him. - -“Taug!” he cried. Instantly the great bull was awake and bristling, -sensing danger from the nocturnal summons. “Look, Taug!” exclaimed -Tarzan, pointing toward the stars. “See the eyes of Numa and Sabor, of -Sheeta and Dango. They wait around Goro to leap in upon him for their -kill. See the eyes and the nose and the mouth of Goro. And the light -that shines upon his face is the light of the great fire he has built -to frighten away Numa and Sabor and Dango and Sheeta. - -“All about him are the eyes, Taug, you can see them! But they do not -come very close to the fire—there are few eyes close to Goro. They fear -the fire! It is the fire that saves Goro from Numa. Do you see them, -Taug? Some night Numa will be very hungry and very angry—then he will -leap over the thorn bushes which encircle Goro and we will have no more -light after Kudu seeks his lair—the night will be black with the -blackness that comes when Goro is lazy and sleeps late into the night, -or when he wanders through the skies by day, forgetting the jungle and -its people.” - -Taug looked stupidly at the heavens and then at Tarzan. A meteor fell, -blazing a flaming way through the sky. - -“Look!” cried Tarzan. “Goro has thrown a burning branch at Numa.” - -Taug grumbled. “Numa is down below,” he said. “Numa does not hunt above -the trees.” But he looked curiously and a little fearfully at the -bright stars above him, as though he saw them for the first time, and -doubtless it was the first time that Taug ever had seen the stars, -though they had been in the sky above him every night of his life. To -Taug they were as the gorgeous jungle blooms—he could not eat them and -so he ignored them. - -Taug fidgeted and was nervous. For a long time he lay sleepless, -watching the stars—the flaming eyes of the beasts of prey surrounding -Goro, the moon—Goro, by whose light the apes danced to the beating of -their earthen drums. If Goro should be eaten by Numa there could be no -more Dum-Dums. Taug was overwhelmed by the thought. He glanced at -Tarzan half fearfully. Why was his friend so different from the others -of the tribe? No one else whom Taug ever had known had had such queer -thoughts as Tarzan. The ape scratched his head and wondered, dimly, if -Tarzan was a safe companion, and then he recalled slowly, and by a -laborious mental process, that Tarzan had served him better than any -other of the apes, even the strong and wise bulls of the tribe. - -Tarzan it was who had freed him from the blacks at the very time that -Taug had thought Tarzan wanted Teeka. It was Tarzan who had saved -Taug’s little balu from death. It was Tarzan who had conceived and -carried out the plan to pursue Teeka’s abductor and rescue the stolen -one. Tarzan had fought and bled in Taug’s service so many times that -Taug, although only a brutal ape, had had impressed upon his mind a -fierce loyalty which nothing now could swerve—his friendship for Tarzan -had become a habit, a tradition almost, which would endure while Taug -endured. He never showed any outward demonstration of affection—he -growled at Tarzan as he growled at the other bulls who came too close -while he was feeding—but he would have died for Tarzan. He knew it and -Tarzan knew it; but of such things apes do not speak—their vocabulary, -for the finer instincts, consisting more of actions than words. But now -Taug was worried, and he fell asleep again still thinking of the -strange words of his fellow. - -The following day he thought of them again, and without any intention -of disloyalty he mentioned to Gunto what Tarzan had suggested about the -eyes surrounding Goro, and the possibility that sooner or later Numa -would charge the moon and devour him. To the apes all large things in -nature are male, and so Goro, being the largest creature in the heavens -by night, was, to them, a bull. - -Gunto bit a sliver from a horny finger and recalled the fact that -Tarzan had once said that the trees talked to one another, and Gozan -recounted having seen the ape-man dancing alone in the moonlight with -Sheeta, the panther. They did not know that Tarzan had roped the savage -beast and tied him to a tree before he came to earth and leaped about -before the rearing cat, to tantalize him. - -Others told of seeing Tarzan ride upon the back of Tantor, the -elephant; of his bringing the black boy, Tibo, to the tribe, and of -mysterious things with which he communed in the strange lair by the -sea. They had never understood his books, and after he had shown them -to one or two of the tribe and discovered that even the pictures -carried no impression to their brains, he had desisted. - -“Tarzan is not an ape,” said Gunto. “He will bring Numa to eat us, as -he is bringing him to eat Goro. We should kill him.” - -Immediately Taug bristled. Kill Tarzan! “First you will kill Taug,” he -said, and lumbered away to search for food. - -But others joined the plotters. They thought of many things which -Tarzan had done—things which apes did not do and could not understand. -Again Gunto voiced the opinion that the Tarmangani, the white ape, -should be slain, and the others, filled with terror about the stories -they had heard, and thinking Tarzan was planning to slay Goro, greeted -the proposal with growls of accord. - -Among them was Teeka, listening with all her ears; but her voice was -not raised in furtherance of the plan. Instead she bristled, showing -her fangs, and afterward she went away in search of Tarzan; but she -could not find him, as he was roaming far afield in search of meat. She -found Taug, though, and told him what the others were planning, and the -great bull stamped upon the ground and roared. His bloodshot eyes -blazed with wrath, his upper lip curled up to expose his fighting -fangs, and the hair upon his spine stood erect, and then a rodent -scurried across the open and Taug sprang to seize it. In an instant he -seemed to have forgotten his rage against the enemies of his friend; -but such is the mind of an ape. - -Several miles away Tarzan of the Apes lolled upon the broad head of -Tantor, the elephant. He scratched beneath the great ears with the -point of a sharp stick, and he talked to the huge pachyderm of -everything which filled his black-thatched head. Little, or nothing, of -what he said did Tantor understand; but Tantor is a good listener. -Swaying from side to side he stood there enjoying the companionship of -his friend, the friend he loved, and absorbing the delicious sensations -of the scratching. - -Numa, the lion, caught the scent of man, and warily stalked it until he -came within sight of his prey upon the head of the mighty tusker; then -he turned, growling and muttering, away in search of more propitious -hunting grounds. - -The elephant caught the scent of the lion, borne to him by an eddying -breeze, and lifting his trunk trumpeted loudly. Tarzan stretched back -luxuriously, lying supine at full length along the rough hide. Flies -swarmed about his face; but with a leafy branch torn from a tree he -lazily brushed them away. - -“Tantor,” he said, “it is good to be alive. It is good to lie in the -cool shadows. It is good to look upon the green trees and the bright -colors of the flowers—upon everything which Bulamutumumo has put here -for us. He is very good to us, Tantor; He has given you tender leaves -and bark, and rich grasses to eat; to me He has given Bara and Horta -and Pisah, the fruits and the nuts and the roots. He provides for each -the food that each likes best. All that He asks is that we be strong -enough or cunning enough to go forth and take it. Yes, Tantor, it is -good to live. I should hate to die.” - -Tantor made a little sound in his throat and curled his trunk upward -that he might caress the ape-man’s cheek with the finger at its tip. - -“Tantor,” said Tarzan presently, “turn and feed in the direction of the -tribe of Kerchak, the great ape, that Tarzan may ride home upon your -head without walking.” - -The tusker turned and moved slowly off along a broad, tree-arched -trail, pausing occasionally to pluck a tender branch, or strip the -edible bark from an adjacent tree. Tarzan sprawled face downward upon -the beast’s head and back, his legs hanging on either side, his head -supported by his open palms, his elbows resting on the broad cranium. -And thus they made their leisurely way toward the gathering place of -the tribe. - -Just before they arrived at the clearing from the north there reached -it from the south another figure—that of a well-knit black warrior, who -stepped cautiously through the jungle, every sense upon the alert -against the many dangers which might lurk anywhere along the way. Yet -he passed beneath the southernmost sentry that was posted in a great -tree commanding the trail from the south. The ape permitted the -Gomangani to pass unmolested, for he saw that he was alone; but the -moment that the warrior had entered the clearing a loud “Kreeg-ah!” -rang out from behind him, immediately followed by a chorus of replies -from different directions, as the great bulls crashed through the trees -in answer to the summons of their fellow. - -The black man halted at the first cry and looked about him. He could -see nothing, but he knew the voice of the hairy tree men whom he and -his kind feared, not alone because of the strength and ferocity of the -savage beings, but as well through a superstitious terror engendered by -the manlike appearance of the apes. - -But Bulabantu was no coward. He heard the apes all about him; he knew -that escape was probably impossible, so he stood his ground, his spear -ready in his hand and a war cry trembling on his lips. He would sell -his life dearly, would Bulabantu, under-chief of the village of Mbonga, -the chief. - -Tarzan and Tantor were but a short distance away when the first cry of -the sentry rang out through the quiet jungle. Like a flash the ape-man -leaped from the elephant’s back to a near-by tree and was swinging -rapidly in the direction of the clearing before the echoes of the first -“Kreeg-ah” had died away. When he arrived he saw a dozen bulls circling -a single Gomangani. With a blood-curdling scream Tarzan sprang to the -attack. He hated the blacks even more than did the apes, and here was -an opportunity for a kill in the open. What had the Gomangani done? Had -he slain one of the tribe? - -Tarzan asked the nearest ape. No, the Gomangani had harmed none. Gozan, -being on watch, had seen him coming through the forest and had warned -the tribe—that was all. The ape-man pushed through the circle of bulls, -none of which as yet had worked himself into sufficient frenzy for a -charge, and came where he had a full and close view of the black. He -recognized the man instantly. Only the night before he had seen him -facing the eyes in the dark, while his fellows groveled in the dirt at -his feet, too terrified even to defend themselves. Here was a brave -man, and Tarzan had deep admiration for bravery. Even his hatred of the -blacks was not so strong a passion as his love of courage. He would -have joyed in battling with a black warrior at almost any time; but -this one he did not wish to kill—he felt, vaguely, that the man had -earned his life by his brave defense of it on the preceding night, nor -did he fancy the odds that were pitted against the lone warrior. - -He turned to the apes. “Go back to your feeding,” he said, “and let -this Gomangani go his way in peace. He has not harmed us, and last -night I saw him fighting Numa and Sabor with fire, alone in the jungle. -He is brave. Why should we kill one who is brave and who has not -attacked us? Let him go.” - -The apes growled. They were displeased. “Kill the Gomangani!” cried -one. - -“Yes,” roared another, “kill the Gomangani and the Tarmangani as well.” - -“Kill the white ape!” screamed Gozan, “he is no ape at all; but a -Gomangani with his skin off.” - -“Kill Tarzan!” bellowed Gunto. “Kill! Kill! Kill!” - -The bulls were now indeed working themselves into the frenzy of -slaughter; but against Tarzan rather than the black man. A shaggy form -charged through them, hurling those it came in contact with to one side -as a strong man might scatter children. It was Taug—great, savage Taug. - -“Who says ‘kill Tarzan’?” he demanded. “Who kills Tarzan must kill -Taug, too. Who can kill Taug? Taug will tear your insides from you and -feed them to Dango.” - -“We can kill you all,” replied Gunto. “There are many of us and few of -you,” and he was right. Tarzan knew that he was right. Taug knew it; -but neither would admit such a possibility. It is not the way of bull -apes. - -“I am Tarzan,” cried the ape-man. “I am Tarzan. Mighty hunter; mighty -fighter. In all the jungle none so great as Tarzan.” - -Then, one by one, the opposing bulls recounted their virtues and their -prowess. And all the time the combatants came closer and closer to one -another. Thus do the bulls work themselves to the proper pitch before -engaging in battle. - -Gunto came, stiff-legged, close to Tarzan and sniffed at him, with -bared fangs. Tarzan rumbled forth a low, menacing growl. They might -repeat these tactics a dozen times; but sooner or later one bull would -close with another and then the whole hideous pack would be tearing and -rending at their prey. - -Bulabantu, the black man, had stood wide-eyed in wonder from the moment -he had seen Tarzan approaching through the apes. He had heard much of -this devil-god who ran with the hairy tree people; but never before had -he seen him in full daylight. He knew him well enough from the -description of those who had seen him and from the glimpses he had had -of the marauder upon several occasions when the ape-man had entered the -village of Mbonga, the chief, by night, in the perpetration of one of -his numerous ghastly jokes. - -Bulabantu could not, of course, understand anything which passed -between Tarzan and the apes; but he saw that the ape-man and one of the -larger bulls were in argument with the others. He saw that these two -were standing with their back toward him and between him and the -balance of the tribe, and he guessed, though it seemed improbable, that -they might be defending him. He knew that Tarzan had once spared the -life of Mbonga, the chief, and that he had succored Tibo, and Tibo’s -mother, Momaya. So it was not impossible that he would help Bulabantu; -but how he could accomplish it Bulabantu could not guess; nor as a -matter of fact could Tarzan, for the odds against him were too great. - -Gunto and the others were slowly forcing Tarzan and Taug back toward -Bulabantu. The ape-man thought of his words with Tantor just a short -time before: “Yes, Tantor, it is good to live. I should hate to die.” -And now he knew that he was about to die, for the temper of the great -bulls was mounting rapidly against him. Always had many of them hated -him, and all were suspicious of him. They knew he was different. Tarzan -knew it too; but he was glad that he was—he was a MAN; that he had -learned from his picture-books, and he was very proud of the -distinction. Presently, though, he would be a dead man. - -Gunto was preparing to charge. Tarzan knew the signs. He knew that the -balance of the bulls would charge with Gunto. Then it would soon be -over. Something moved among the verdure at the opposite side of the -clearing. Tarzan saw it just as Gunto, with the terrifying cry of a -challenging ape, sprang forward. Tarzan voiced a peculiar call and then -crouched to meet the assault. Taug crouched, too, and Bulabantu, -assured now that these two were fighting upon his side, couched his -spear and sprang between them to receive the first charge of the enemy. - -Simultaneously a huge bulk broke into the clearing from the jungle -behind the charging bulls. The trumpeting of a mad tusker rose shrill -above the cries of the anthropoids, as Tantor, the elephant, dashed -swiftly across the clearing to the aid of his friend. - -Gunto never closed upon the ape-man, nor did a fang enter flesh upon -either side. The terrific reverberation of Tantor’s challenge sent the -bulls scurrying to the trees, jabbering and scolding. Taug raced off -with them. Only Tarzan and Bulabantu remained. The latter stood his -ground because he saw that the devil-god did not run, and because the -black had the courage to face a certain and horrible death beside one -who had quite evidently dared death for him. - -But it was a surprised Gomangani who saw the mighty elephant come to a -sudden halt in front of the ape-man and caress him with his long, -sinuous trunk. - -Tarzan turned toward the black man. “Go!” he said in the language of -the apes, and pointed in the direction of the village of Mbonga. -Bulabantu understood the gesture, if not the word, nor did he lose time -in obeying. Tarzan stood watching him until he had disappeared. He knew -that the apes would not follow. Then he said to the elephant: “Pick me -up!” and the tusker swung him lightly to his head. - -“Tarzan goes to his lair by the big water,” shouted the ape-man to the -apes in the trees. “All of you are more foolish than Manu, except Taug -and Teeka. Taug and Teeka may come to see Tarzan; but the others must -keep away. Tarzan is done with the tribe of Kerchak.” - -He prodded Tantor with a calloused toe and the big beast swung off -across the clearing, the apes watching them until they were swallowed -up by the jungle. - -Before the night fell Taug killed Gunto, picking a quarrel with him -over his attack upon Tarzan. - -For a moon the tribe saw nothing of Tarzan of the Apes. Many of them -probably never gave him a thought; but there were those who missed him -more than Tarzan imagined. Taug and Teeka often wished that he was -back, and Taug determined a dozen times to go and visit Tarzan in his -seaside lair; but first one thing and then another interfered. - -One night when Taug lay sleepless looking up at the starry heavens he -recalled the strange things that Tarzan once had suggested to him—that -the bright spots were the eyes of the meat-eaters waiting in the dark -of the jungle sky to leap upon Goro, the moon, and devour him. The more -he thought about this matter the more perturbed he became. - -And then a strange thing happened. Even as Taug looked at Goro, he saw -a portion of one edge disappear, precisely as though something was -gnawing upon it. Larger and larger became the hole in the side of Goro. -With a scream, Taug leaped to his feet. His frenzied “Kreeg-ahs!” -brought the terrified tribe screaming and chattering toward him. - -“Look!” cried Taug, pointing at the moon. “Look! It is as Tarzan said. -Numa has sprung through the fires and is devouring Goro. You called -Tarzan names and drove him from the tribe; now see how wise he was. Let -one of you who hated Tarzan go to Goro’s aid. See the eyes in the dark -jungle all about Goro. He is in danger and none can help him—none -except Tarzan. Soon Goro will be devoured by Numa and we shall have no -more light after Kudu seeks his lair. How shall we dance the Dum-Dum -without the light of Goro?” - -The apes trembled and whimpered. Any manifestation of the powers of -nature always filled them with terror, for they could not understand. - -“Go and bring Tarzan,” cried one, and then they all took up the cry of -“Tarzan!” “Bring Tarzan!” “He will save Goro.” But who was to travel -the dark jungle by night to fetch him? - -“I will go,” volunteered Taug, and an instant later he was off through -the Stygian gloom toward the little land-locked harbor by the sea. - -And as the tribe waited they watched the slow devouring of the moon. -Already Numa had eaten out a great semicircular piece. At that rate -Goro would be entirely gone before Kudu came again. The apes trembled -at the thought of perpetual darkness by night. They could not sleep. -Restlessly they moved here and there among the branches of trees, -watching Numa of the skies at his deadly feast, and listening for the -coming of Taug with Tarzan. - -Goro was nearly gone when the apes heard the sounds of the approach -through the trees of the two they awaited, and presently Tarzan, -followed by Taug, swung into a nearby tree. - -The ape-man wasted no time in idle words. In his hand was his long bow -and at his back hung a quiver full of arrows, poisoned arrows that he -had stolen from the village of the blacks; just as he had stolen the -bow. Up into a great tree he clambered, higher and higher until he -stood swaying upon a small limb which bent low beneath his weight. Here -he had a clear and unobstructed view of the heavens. He saw Goro and -the inroads which the hungry Numa had made into his shining surface. - -Raising his face to the moon, Tarzan shrilled forth his hideous -challenge. Faintly and from afar came the roar of an answering lion. -The apes shivered. Numa of the skies had answered Tarzan. - -Then the ape-man fitted an arrow to his bow, and drawing the shaft far -back, aimed its point at the heart of Numa where he lay in the heavens -devouring Goro. There was a loud twang as the released bolt shot into -the dark heavens. Again and again did Tarzan of the Apes launch his -arrows at Numa, and all the while the apes of the tribe of Kerchak -huddled together in terror. - -At last came a cry from Taug. “Look! Look!” he screamed. “Numa is -killed. Tarzan has killed Numa. See! Goro is emerging from the belly of -Numa,” and, sure enough, the moon was gradually emerging from whatever -had devoured her, whether it was Numa, the lion, or the shadow of the -earth; but were you to try to convince an ape of the tribe of Kerchak -that it was aught but Numa who so nearly devoured Goro that night, or -that another than Tarzan preserved the brilliant god of their savage -and mysterious rites from a frightful death, you would have -difficulty—and a fight on your hands. - -And so Tarzan of the Apes came back to the tribe of Kerchak, and in his -coming he took a long stride toward the kingship, which he ultimately -won, for now the apes looked up to him as a superior being. - -In all the tribe there was but one who was at all skeptical about the -plausibility of Tarzan’s remarkable rescue of Goro, and that one, -strange as it may seem, was Tarzan of the Apes. - - - - -*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK JUNGLE TALES OF TARZAN *** - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed. - -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the -United States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms -of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online -at <a href="https://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a>. If you -are not located in the United States, you will have to check the laws of the -country where you are located before using this eBook. -</div> -<div style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:1em; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Title: Jungle Tales of Tarzan</div> -<div style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:1em; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Author: Edgar Rice Burroughs</div> -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>Release Date: February, 1994 [eBook #106]<br /> -[Most recently updated: July 12, 2023]</div> -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>Language: English</div> -<div style='display:block; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Produced by: Judith Boss</div> -<div style='margin-top:2em; margin-bottom:4em'>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK JUNGLE TALES OF TARZAN ***</div> - -<div class="fig" style="width:55%;"> -<img src="images/cover.jpg" style="width:100%;" alt="[Illustration]" /> -</div> - -<h1>Jungle Tales of Tarzan</h1> - -<h2 class="no-break">by Edgar Rice Burroughs</h2> - -<div class="chapter"> - -<h2>Contents</h2> - -<table summary="" style=""> - -<tr> -<td> <a href="#chap01">CHAPTER I. Tarzan’s First Love</a></td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td> <a href="#chap02">CHAPTER II. The Capture of Tarzan</a></td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td> <a href="#chap03">CHAPTER III. The Fight for the Balu</a></td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td> <a href="#chap04">CHAPTER IV. The God of Tarzan</a></td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td> <a href="#chap05">CHAPTER V. Tarzan and the Black Boy</a></td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td> <a href="#chap06">CHAPTER VI. The Witch-Doctor Seeks Vengeance</a></td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td> <a href="#chap07">CHAPTER VII. The End of Bukawai</a></td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td> <a href="#chap08">CHAPTER VIII. The Lion</a></td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td> <a href="#chap09">CHAPTER IX. The Nightmare</a></td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td> <a href="#chap10">CHAPTER X. The Battle for Teeka</a></td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td> <a href="#chap11">CHAPTER XI. A Jungle Joke</a></td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td> <a href="#chap12">CHAPTER XII. Tarzan Rescues the Moon</a></td> -</tr> - -</table> - -</div><!--end chapter--> - -<div class="chapter"> - -<h2><a name="chap01"></a>CHAPTER I<br/> -Tarzan’s First Love</h2> - -<p> -Teeka, stretched at luxurious ease in the shade of the tropical forest, -presented, unquestionably, a most alluring picture of young, feminine -loveliness. Or at least so thought Tarzan of the Apes, who squatted upon a -low-swinging branch in a near-by tree and looked down upon her. -</p> - -<p> -Just to have seen him there, lolling upon the swaying bough of the -jungle-forest giant, his brown skin mottled by the brilliant equatorial -sunlight which percolated through the leafy canopy of green above him, his -clean-limbed body relaxed in graceful ease, his shapely head partly turned in -contemplative absorption and his intelligent, gray eyes dreamily devouring the -object of their devotion, you would have thought him the reincarnation of some -demigod of old. -</p> - -<p> -You would not have guessed that in infancy he had suckled at the breast of a -hideous, hairy she-ape, nor that in all his conscious past since his parents -had passed away in the little cabin by the landlocked harbor at the jungle’s -verge, he had known no other associates than the sullen bulls and the snarling -cows of the tribe of Kerchak, the great ape. -</p> - -<p> -Nor, could you have read the thoughts which passed through that active, healthy -brain, the longings and desires and aspirations which the sight of Teeka -inspired, would you have been any more inclined to give credence to the reality -of the origin of the ape-man. For, from his thoughts alone, you could never -have gleaned the truth—that he had been born to a gentle English lady or that -his sire had been an English nobleman of time-honored lineage. -</p> - -<p> -Lost to Tarzan of the Apes was the truth of his origin. That he was John -Clayton, Lord Greystoke, with a seat in the House of Lords, he did not know, -nor, knowing, would have understood. -</p> - -<p> -Yes, Teeka was indeed beautiful! -</p> - -<p> -Of course Kala had been beautiful—one’s mother is always that—but Teeka was -beautiful in a way all her own, an indescribable sort of way which Tarzan was -just beginning to sense in a rather vague and hazy manner. -</p> - -<p> -For years had Tarzan and Teeka been play-fellows, and Teeka still continued to -be playful while the young bulls of her own age were rapidly becoming surly and -morose. Tarzan, if he gave the matter much thought at all, probably reasoned -that his growing attachment for the young female could be easily accounted for -by the fact that of the former playmates she and he alone retained any desire -to frolic as of old. -</p> - -<p> -But today, as he sat gazing upon her, he found himself noting the beauties of -Teeka’s form and features—something he never had done before, since none of -them had aught to do with Teeka’s ability to race nimbly through the lower -terraces of the forest in the primitive games of tag and hide-and-go-seek which -Tarzan’s fertile brain evolved. Tarzan scratched his head, running his fingers -deep into the shock of black hair which framed his shapely, boyish face—he -scratched his head and sighed. Teeka’s new-found beauty became as suddenly his -despair. He envied her the handsome coat of hair which covered her body. His -own smooth, brown hide he hated with a hatred born of disgust and contempt. -Years back he had harbored a hope that some day he, too, would be clothed in -hair as were all his brothers and sisters; but of late he had been forced to -abandon the delectable dream. -</p> - -<p> -Then there were Teeka’s great teeth, not so large as the males, of course, but -still mighty, handsome things by comparison with Tarzan’s feeble white ones. -And her beetling brows, and broad, flat nose, and her mouth! Tarzan had often -practiced making his mouth into a little round circle and then puffing out his -cheeks while he winked his eyes rapidly; but he felt that he could never do it -in the same cute and irresistible way in which Teeka did it. -</p> - -<p> -And as he watched her that afternoon, and wondered, a young bull ape who had -been lazily foraging for food beneath the damp, matted carpet of decaying -vegetation at the roots of a near-by tree lumbered awkwardly in Teeka’s -direction. The other apes of the tribe of Kerchak moved listlessly about or -lolled restfully in the midday heat of the equatorial jungle. From time to time -one or another of them had passed close to Teeka, and Tarzan had been -uninterested. Why was it then that his brows contracted and his muscles tensed -as he saw Taug pause beside the young she and then squat down close to her? -</p> - -<p> -Tarzan always had liked Taug. Since childhood they had romped together. Side by -side they had squatted near the water, their quick, strong fingers ready to -leap forth and seize Pisah, the fish, should that wary denizen of the cool -depths dart surfaceward to the lure of the insects Tarzan tossed upon the face -of the pool. -</p> - -<p> -Together they had baited Tublat and teased Numa, the lion. Why, then, should -Tarzan feel the rise of the short hairs at the nape of his neck merely because -Taug sat close to Teeka? -</p> - -<p> -It is true that Taug was no longer the frolicsome ape of yesterday. When his -snarling-muscles bared his giant fangs no one could longer imagine that Taug -was in as playful a mood as when he and Tarzan had rolled upon the turf in -mimic battle. The Taug of today was a huge, sullen bull ape, somber and -forbidding. Yet he and Tarzan never had quarreled. -</p> - -<p> -For a few minutes the young ape-man watched Taug press closer to Teeka. He saw -the rough caress of the huge paw as it stroked the sleek shoulder of the she, -and then Tarzan of the Apes slipped catlike to the ground and approached the -two. -</p> - -<p> -As he came his upper lip curled into a snarl, exposing his fighting fangs, and -a deep growl rumbled from his cavernous chest. Taug looked up, batting his -blood-shot eyes. Teeka half raised herself and looked at Tarzan. Did she guess -the cause of his perturbation? Who may say? At any rate, she was feminine, and -so she reached up and scratched Taug behind one of his small, flat ears. -</p> - -<p> -Tarzan saw, and in the instant that he saw, Teeka was no longer the little -playmate of an hour ago; instead she was a wondrous thing—the most wondrous in -the world—and a possession for which Tarzan would fight to the death against -Taug or any other who dared question his right of proprietorship. -</p> - -<p> -Stooped, his muscles rigid and one great shoulder turned toward the young bull, -Tarzan of the Apes sidled nearer and nearer. His face was partly averted, but -his keen gray eyes never left those of Taug, and as he came, his growls -increased in depth and volume. -</p> - -<p> -Taug rose upon his short legs, bristling. His fighting fangs were bared. He, -too, sidled, stiff-legged, and growled. -</p> - -<p> -“Teeka is Tarzan’s,” said the ape-man, in the low gutturals of the great -anthropoids. -</p> - -<p> -“Teeka is Taug’s,” replied the bull ape. -</p> - -<p> -Thaka and Numgo and Gunto, disturbed by the growlings of the two young bulls, -looked up half apathetic, half interested. They were sleepy, but they sensed a -fight. It would break the monotony of the humdrum jungle life they led. -</p> - -<p> -Coiled about his shoulders was Tarzan’s long grass rope, in his hand was the -hunting knife of the long-dead father he had never known. In Taug’s little -brain lay a great respect for the shiny bit of sharp metal which the ape-boy -knew so well how to use. With it had he slain Tublat, his fierce foster father, -and Bolgani, the gorilla. Taug knew these things, and so he came warily, -circling about Tarzan in search of an opening. The latter, made cautious -because of his lesser bulk and the inferiority of his natural armament, -followed similar tactics. -</p> - -<p> -For a time it seemed that the altercation would follow the way of the majority -of such differences between members of the tribe and that one of them would -finally lose interest and wander off to prosecute some other line of endeavor. -Such might have been the end of it had the CASUS BELLI been other than it was; -but Teeka was flattered at the attention that was being drawn to her and by the -fact that these two young bulls were contemplating battle on her account. Such -a thing never before had occurred in Teeka’s brief life. She had seen other -bulls battling for other and older shes, and in the depth of her wild little -heart she had longed for the day when the jungle grasses would be reddened with -the blood of mortal combat for her fair sake. -</p> - -<p> -So now she squatted upon her haunches and insulted both her admirers -impartially. She hurled taunts at them for their cowardice, and called them -vile names, such as Histah, the snake, and Dango, the hyena. She threatened to -call Mumga to chastise them with a stick—Mumga, who was so old that she could -no longer climb and so toothless that she was forced to confine her diet almost -exclusively to bananas and grub-worms. -</p> - -<p> -The apes who were watching heard and laughed. Taug was infuriated. He made a -sudden lunge for Tarzan, but the ape-boy leaped nimbly to one side, eluding -him, and with the quickness of a cat wheeled and leaped back again to close -quarters. His hunting knife was raised above his head as he came in, and he -aimed a vicious blow at Taug’s neck. The ape wheeled to dodge the weapon so -that the keen blade struck him but a glancing blow upon the shoulder. -</p> - -<p> -The spurt of red blood brought a shrill cry of delight from Teeka. Ah, but this -was something worth while! She glanced about to see if others had witnessed -this evidence of her popularity. Helen of Troy was never one whit more proud -than was Teeka at that moment. -</p> - -<p> -If Teeka had not been so absorbed in her own vaingloriousness she might have -noted the rustling of leaves in the tree above her—a rustling which was not -caused by any movement of the wind, since there was no wind. And had she looked -up she might have seen a sleek body crouching almost directly over her and -wicked yellow eyes glaring hungrily down upon her, but Teeka did not look up. -</p> - -<p> -With his wound Taug had backed off growling horribly. Tarzan had followed him, -screaming insults at him, and menacing him with his brandishing blade. Teeka -moved from beneath the tree in an effort to keep close to the duelists. -</p> - -<p> -The branch above Teeka bent and swayed a trifle with the movement of the body -of the watcher stretched along it. Taug had halted now and was preparing to -make a new stand. His lips were flecked with foam, and saliva drooled from his -jowls. He stood with head lowered and arms outstretched, preparing for a sudden -charge to close quarters. Could he but lay his mighty hands upon that soft, -brown skin the battle would be his. Taug considered Tarzan’s manner of fighting -unfair. He would not close. Instead, he leaped nimbly just beyond the reach of -Taug’s muscular fingers. -</p> - -<p> -The ape-boy had as yet never come to a real trial of strength with a bull ape, -other than in play, and so he was not at all sure that it would be safe to put -his muscles to the test in a life and death struggle. Not that he was afraid, -for Tarzan knew nothing of fear. The instinct of self-preservation gave him -caution—that was all. He took risks only when it seemed necessary, and then he -would hesitate at nothing. -</p> - -<p> -His own method of fighting seemed best fitted to his build and to his armament. -His teeth, while strong and sharp, were, as weapons of offense, pitifully -inadequate by comparison with the mighty fighting fangs of the anthropoids. By -dancing about, just out of reach of an antagonist, Tarzan could do infinite -injury with his long, sharp hunting knife, and at the same time escape many of -the painful and dangerous wounds which would be sure to follow his falling into -the clutches of a bull ape. -</p> - -<p> -And so Taug charged and bellowed like a bull, and Tarzan of the Apes danced -lightly to this side and that, hurling jungle billingsgate at his foe, the -while he nicked him now and again with his knife. -</p> - -<p> -There were lulls in the fighting when the two would stand panting for breath, -facing each other, mustering their wits and their forces for a new onslaught. -It was during a pause such as this that Taug chanced to let his eyes rove -beyond his foeman. Instantly the entire aspect of the ape altered. Rage left -his countenance to be supplanted by an expression of fear. -</p> - -<p> -With a cry that every ape there recognized, Taug turned and fled. No need to -question him—his warning proclaimed the near presence of their ancient enemy. -</p> - -<p> -Tarzan started to seek safety, as did the other members of the tribe, and as he -did so he heard a panther’s scream mingled with the frightened cry of a -she-ape. Taug heard, too; but he did not pause in his flight. -</p> - -<p> -With the ape-boy, however, it was different. He looked back to see if any -member of the tribe was close pressed by the beast of prey, and the sight that -met his eyes filled them with an expression of horror. -</p> - -<p> -Teeka it was who cried out in terror as she fled across a little clearing -toward the trees upon the opposite side, for after her leaped Sheeta, the -panther, in easy, graceful bounds. Sheeta appeared to be in no hurry. His meat -was assured, since even though the ape reached the trees ahead of him she could -not climb beyond his clutches before he could be upon her. -</p> - -<p> -Tarzan saw that Teeka must die. He cried to Taug and the other bulls to hasten -to Teeka’s assistance, and at the same time he ran toward the pursuing beast, -taking down his rope as he came. Tarzan knew that once the great bulls were -aroused none of the jungle, not even Numa, the lion, was anxious to measure -fangs with them, and that if all those of the tribe who chanced to be present -today would charge, Sheeta, the great cat, would doubtless turn tail and run -for his life. -</p> - -<p> -Taug heard, as did the others, but no one came to Tarzan’s assistance or -Teeka’s rescue, and Sheeta was rapidly closing up the distance between himself -and his prey. -</p> - -<p> -The ape-boy, leaping after the panther, cried aloud to the beast in an effort -to turn it from Teeka or otherwise distract its attention until the she-ape -could gain the safety of the higher branches where Sheeta dared not go. He -called the panther every opprobrious name that fell to his tongue. He dared him -to stop and do battle with him; but Sheeta only loped on after the luscious -titbit now almost within his reach. -</p> - -<p> -Tarzan was not far behind and he was gaining, but the distance was so short -that he scarce hoped to overhaul the carnivore before it had felled Teeka. In -his right hand the boy swung his grass rope above his head as he ran. He hated -to chance a miss, for the distance was much greater than he ever had cast -before except in practice. It was the full length of his grass rope which -separated him from Sheeta, and yet there was no other thing to do. He could not -reach the brute’s side before it overhauled Teeka. He must chance a throw. -</p> - -<p> -And just as Teeka sprang for the lower limb of a great tree, and Sheeta rose -behind her in a long, sinuous leap, the coils of the ape-boy’s grass rope shot -swiftly through the air, straightening into a long thin line as the open noose -hovered for an instant above the savage head and the snarling jaws. Then it -settled—clean and true about the tawny neck it settled, and Tarzan, with a -quick twist of his rope-hand, drew the noose taut, bracing himself for the -shock when Sheeta should have taken up the slack. -</p> - -<p> -Just short of Teeka’s glossy rump the cruel talons raked the air as the rope -tightened and Sheeta was brought to a sudden stop—a stop that snapped the big -beast over upon his back. Instantly Sheeta was up—with glaring eyes, and -lashing tail, and gaping jaws, from which issued hideous cries of rage and -disappointment. -</p> - -<p> -He saw the ape-boy, the cause of his discomfiture, scarce forty feet before -him, and Sheeta charged. -</p> - -<p> -Teeka was safe now; Tarzan saw to that by a quick glance into the tree whose -safety she had gained not an instant too soon, and Sheeta was charging. It was -useless to risk his life in idle and unequal combat from which no good could -come; but could he escape a battle with the enraged cat? And if he was forced -to fight, what chance had he to survive? Tarzan was constrained to admit that -his position was aught but a desirable one. The trees were too far to hope to -reach in time to elude the cat. Tarzan could but stand facing that hideous -charge. In his right hand he grasped his hunting knife—a puny, futile thing -indeed by comparison with the great rows of mighty teeth which lined Sheeta’s -powerful jaws, and the sharp talons encased within his padded paws; yet the -young Lord Greystoke faced it with the same courageous resignation with which -some fearless ancestor went down to defeat and death on Senlac Hill by -Hastings. -</p> - -<p> -From safety points in the trees the great apes watched, screaming hatred at -Sheeta and advice at Tarzan, for the progenitors of man have, naturally, many -human traits. Teeka was frightened. She screamed at the bulls to hasten to -Tarzan’s assistance; but the bulls were otherwise engaged—principally in giving -advice and making faces. Anyway, Tarzan was not a real Mangani, so why should -they risk their lives in an effort to protect him? -</p> - -<p> -And now Sheeta was almost upon the lithe, naked body, and—the body was not -there. Quick as was the great cat, the ape-boy was quicker. He leaped to one -side almost as the panther’s talons were closing upon him, and as Sheeta went -hurtling to the ground beyond, Tarzan was racing for the safety of the nearest -tree. -</p> - -<p> -The panther recovered himself almost immediately and, wheeling, tore after his -prey, the ape-boy’s rope dragging along the ground behind him. In doubling back -after Tarzan, Sheeta had passed around a low bush. It was a mere nothing in the -path of any jungle creature of the size and weight of Sheeta—provided it had no -trailing rope dangling behind. But Sheeta was handicapped by such a rope, and -as he leaped once again after Tarzan of the Apes the rope encircled the small -bush, became tangled in it and brought the panther to a sudden stop. An instant -later Tarzan was safe among the higher branches of a small tree into which -Sheeta could not follow him. -</p> - -<p> -Here he perched, hurling twigs and epithets at the raging feline beneath him. -The other members of the tribe now took up the bombardment, using such -hard-shelled fruits and dead branches as came within their reach, until Sheeta, -goaded to frenzy and snapping at the grass rope, finally succeeded in severing -its strands. For a moment the panther stood glaring first at one of his -tormentors and then at another, until, with a final scream of rage, he turned -and slunk off into the tangled mazes of the jungle. -</p> - -<p> -A half hour later the tribe was again upon the ground, feeding as though naught -had occurred to interrupt the somber dullness of their lives. Tarzan had -recovered the greater part of his rope and was busy fashioning a new noose, -while Teeka squatted close behind him, in evident token that her choice was -made. -</p> - -<p> -Taug eyed them sullenly. Once when he came close, Teeka bared her fangs and -growled at him, and Tarzan showed his canines in an ugly snarl; but Taug did -not provoke a quarrel. He seemed to accept after the manner of his kind the -decision of the she as an indication that he had been vanquished in his battle -for her favors. -</p> - -<p> -Later in the day, his rope repaired, Tarzan took to the trees in search of -game. More than his fellows he required meat, and so, while they were satisfied -with fruits and herbs and beetles, which could be discovered without much -effort upon their part, Tarzan spent considerable time hunting the game animals -whose flesh alone satisfied the cravings of his stomach and furnished -sustenance and strength to the mighty thews which, day by day, were building -beneath the soft, smooth texture of his brown hide. -</p> - -<p> -Taug saw him depart, and then, quite casually, the big beast hunted closer and -closer to Teeka in his search for food. At last he was within a few feet of -her, and when he shot a covert glance at her he saw that she was appraising him -and that there was no evidence of anger upon her face. -</p> - -<p> -Taug expanded his great chest and rolled about on his short legs, making -strange growlings in his throat. He raised his lips, baring his fangs. My, but -what great, beautiful fangs he had! Teeka could not but notice them. She also -let her eyes rest in admiration upon Taug’s beetling brows and his short, -powerful neck. What a beautiful creature he was indeed! -</p> - -<p> -Taug, flattered by the unconcealed admiration in her eyes, strutted about, as -proud and as vain as a peacock. Presently he began to inventory his assets, -mentally, and shortly he found himself comparing them with those of his rival. -</p> - -<p> -Taug grunted, for there was no comparison. How could one compare his beautiful -coat with the smooth and naked hideousness of Tarzan’s bare hide? Who could see -beauty in the stingy nose of the Tarmangani after looking at Taug’s broad -nostrils? And Tarzan’s eyes! Hideous things, showing white about them, and -entirely unrimmed with red. Taug knew that his own blood-shot eyes were -beautiful, for he had seen them reflected in the glassy surface of many a -drinking pool. -</p> - -<p> -The bull drew nearer to Teeka, finally squatting close against her. When Tarzan -returned from his hunting a short time later it was to see Teeka contentedly -scratching the back of his rival. -</p> - -<p> -Tarzan was disgusted. Neither Taug nor Teeka saw him as he swung through the -trees into the glade. He paused a moment, looking at them; then, with a -sorrowful grimace, he turned and faded away into the labyrinth of leafy boughs -and festooned moss out of which he had come. -</p> - -<p> -Tarzan wished to be as far away from the cause of his heartache as he could. He -was suffering the first pangs of blighted love, and he didn’t quite know what -was the matter with him. He thought that he was angry with Taug, and so he -couldn’t understand why it was that he had run away instead of rushing into -mortal combat with the destroyer of his happiness. -</p> - -<p> -He also thought that he was angry with Teeka, yet a vision of her many beauties -persisted in haunting him, so that he could only see her in the light of love -as the most desirable thing in the world. -</p> - -<p> -The ape-boy craved affection. From babyhood until the time of her death, when -the poisoned arrow of Kulonga had pierced her savage heart, Kala had -represented to the English boy the sole object of love which he had known. -</p> - -<p> -In her wild, fierce way Kala had loved her adopted son, and Tarzan had returned -that love, though the outward demonstrations of it were no greater than might -have been expected from any other beast of the jungle. It was not until he was -bereft of her that the boy realized how deep had been his attachment for his -mother, for as such he looked upon her. -</p> - -<p> -In Teeka he had seen within the past few hours a substitute for Kala—someone to -fight for and to hunt for—someone to caress; but now his dream was shattered. -Something hurt within his breast. He placed his hand over his heart and -wondered what had happened to him. Vaguely he attributed his pain to Teeka. The -more he thought of Teeka as he had last seen her, caressing Taug, the more the -thing within his breast hurt him. -</p> - -<p> -Tarzan shook his head and growled; then on and on through the jungle he swung, -and the farther he traveled and the more he thought upon his wrongs, the nearer -he approached becoming an irreclaimable misogynist. -</p> - -<p> -Two days later he was still hunting alone—very morose and very unhappy; but he -was determined never to return to the tribe. He could not bear the thought of -seeing Taug and Teeka always together. As he swung upon a great limb Numa, the -lion, and Sabor, the lioness, passed beneath him, side by side, and Sabor -leaned against the lion and bit playfully at his cheek. It was a half-caress. -Tarzan sighed and hurled a nut at them. -</p> - -<p> -Later he came upon several of Mbonga’s black warriors. He was upon the point of -dropping his noose about the neck of one of them, who was a little distance -from his companions, when he became interested in the thing which occupied the -savages. They were building a cage in the trail and covering it with leafy -branches. When they had completed their work the structure was scarcely -visible. -</p> - -<p> -Tarzan wondered what the purpose of the thing might be, and why, when they had -built it, they turned away and started back along the trail in the direction of -their village. -</p> - -<p> -It had been some time since Tarzan had visited the blacks and looked down from -the shelter of the great trees which overhung their palisade upon the -activities of his enemies, from among whom had come the slayer of Kala. -</p> - -<p> -Although he hated them, Tarzan derived considerable entertainment in watching -them at their daily life within the village, and especially at their dances, -when the fires glared against their naked bodies as they leaped and turned and -twisted in mimic warfare. It was rather in the hope of witnessing something of -the kind that he now followed the warriors back toward their village, but in -this he was disappointed, for there was no dance that night. -</p> - -<p> -Instead, from the safe concealment of his tree, Tarzan saw little groups seated -about tiny fires discussing the events of the day, and in the darker corners of -the village he descried isolated couples talking and laughing together, and -always one of each couple was a young man and the other a young woman. -</p> - -<p> -Tarzan cocked his head upon one side and thought, and before he went to sleep -that night, curled in the crotch of the great tree above the village, Teeka -filled his mind, and afterward she filled his dreams—she and the young black -men laughing and talking with the young black women. -</p> - -<p> -Taug, hunting alone, had wandered some distance from the balance of the tribe. -He was making his way slowly along an elephant path when he discovered that it -was blocked with undergrowth. Now Taug, come into maturity, was an evil-natured -brute of an exceeding short temper. When something thwarted him, his sole idea -was to overcome it by brute strength and ferocity, and so now when he found his -way blocked, he tore angrily into the leafy screen and an instant later found -himself within a strange lair, his progress effectually blocked, -notwithstanding his most violent efforts to forge ahead. -</p> - -<p> -Biting and striking at the barrier, Taug finally worked himself into a -frightful rage, but all to no avail; and at last he became convinced that he -must turn back. But when he would have done so, what was his chagrin to -discover that another barrier had dropped behind him while he fought to break -down the one before him! Taug was trapped. Until exhaustion overcame him he -fought frantically for his freedom; but all for naught. -</p> - -<p> -In the morning a party of blacks set out from the village of Mbonga in the -direction of the trap they had constructed the previous day, while among the -branches of the trees above them hovered a naked young giant filled with the -curiosity of the wild things. Manu, the monkey, chattered and scolded as Tarzan -passed, and though he was not afraid of the familiar figure of the ape-boy, he -hugged closer to him the little brown body of his life’s companion. Tarzan -laughed as he saw it; but the laugh was followed by a sudden clouding of his -face and a deep sigh. -</p> - -<p> -A little farther on, a gaily feathered bird strutted about before the admiring -eyes of his somber-hued mate. It seemed to Tarzan that everything in the jungle -was combining to remind him that he had lost Teeka; yet every day of his life -he had seen these same things and thought nothing of them. -</p> - -<p> -When the blacks reached the trap, Taug set up a great commotion. Seizing the -bars of his prison, he shook them frantically, and all the while he roared and -growled terrifically. The blacks were elated, for while they had not built -their trap for this hairy tree man, they were delighted with their catch. -</p> - -<p> -Tarzan pricked up his ears when he heard the voice of a great ape and, circling -quickly until he was down wind from the trap, he sniffed at the air in search -of the scent spoor of the prisoner. Nor was it long before there came to those -delicate nostrils the familiar odor that told Tarzan the identity of the -captive as unerringly as though he had looked upon Taug with his eyes. Yes, it -was Taug, and he was alone. -</p> - -<p> -Tarzan grinned as he approached to discover what the blacks would do to their -prisoner. Doubtless they would slay him at once. Again Tarzan grinned. Now he -could have Teeka for his own, with none to dispute his right to her. As he -watched, he saw the black warriors strip the screen from about the cage, fasten -ropes to it and drag it away along the trail in the direction of their village. -</p> - -<p> -Tarzan watched until his rival passed out of sight, still beating upon the bars -of his prison and growling out his anger and his threats. Then the ape-boy -turned and swung rapidly off in search of the tribe, and Teeka. -</p> - -<p> -Once, upon the journey, he surprised Sheeta and his family in a little -overgrown clearing. The great cat lay stretched upon the ground, while his -mate, one paw across her lord’s savage face, licked at the soft white fur at -his throat. -</p> - -<p> -Tarzan increased his speed then until he fairly flew through the forest, nor -was it long before he came upon the tribe. He saw them before they saw him, for -of all the jungle creatures, none passed more quietly than Tarzan of the Apes. -He saw Kamma and her mate feeding side by side, their hairy bodies rubbing -against each other. And he saw Teeka feeding by herself. Not for long would she -feed thus in loneliness, thought Tarzan, as with a bound he landed amongst -them. -</p> - -<p> -There was a startled rush and a chorus of angry and frightened snarls, for -Tarzan had surprised them; but there was more, too, than mere nervous shock to -account for the bristling neck hair which remained standing long after the apes -had discovered the identity of the newcomer. -</p> - -<p> -Tarzan noticed this as he had noticed it many times in the past—that always his -sudden coming among them left them nervous and unstrung for a considerable -time, and that they one and all found it necessary to satisfy themselves that -he was indeed Tarzan by smelling about him a half dozen or more times before -they calmed down. -</p> - -<p> -Pushing through them, he made his way toward Teeka; but as he approached her -the ape drew away. -</p> - -<p> -“Teeka,” he said, “it is Tarzan. You belong to Tarzan. I have come for you.” -</p> - -<p> -The ape drew closer, looking him over carefully. Finally she sniffed at him, as -though to make assurance doubly sure. -</p> - -<p> -“Where is Taug?” she asked. -</p> - -<p> -“The Gomangani have him,” replied Tarzan. “They will kill him.” -</p> - -<p> -In the eyes of the she, Tarzan saw a wistful expression and a troubled look of -sorrow as he told her of Taug’s fate; but she came quite close and snuggled -against him, and Tarzan, Lord Greystoke, put his arm about her. -</p> - -<p> -As he did so he noticed, with a start, the strange incongruity of that smooth, -brown arm against the black and hairy coat of his lady-love. He recalled the -paw of Sheeta’s mate across Sheeta’s face—no incongruity there. He thought of -little Manu hugging his she, and how the one seemed to belong to the other. -Even the proud male bird, with his gay plumage, bore a close resemblance to his -quieter spouse, while Numa, but for his shaggy mane, was almost a counterpart -of Sabor, the lioness. The males and the females differed, it was true; but not -with such differences as existed between Tarzan and Teeka. -</p> - -<p> -Tarzan was puzzled. There was something wrong. His arm dropped from the -shoulder of Teeka. Very slowly he drew away from her. She looked at him with -her head cocked upon one side. Tarzan rose to his full height and beat upon his -breast with his fists. He raised his head toward the heavens and opened his -mouth. From the depths of his lungs rose the fierce, weird challenge of the -victorious bull ape. The tribe turned curiously to eye him. He had killed -nothing, nor was there any antagonist to be goaded to madness by the savage -scream. No, there was no excuse for it, and they turned back to their feeding, -but with an eye upon the ape-man lest he be preparing to suddenly run amuck. -</p> - -<p> -As they watched him they saw him swing into a near-by tree and disappear from -sight. Then they forgot him, even Teeka. -</p> - -<p> -Mbonga’s black warriors, sweating beneath their strenuous task, and resting -often, made slow progress toward their village. Always the savage beast in the -primitive cage growled and roared when they moved him. He beat upon the bars -and slavered at the mouth. His noise was hideous. -</p> - -<p> -They had almost completed their journey and were making their final rest before -forging ahead to gain the clearing in which lay their village. A few more -minutes would have taken them out of the forest, and then, doubtless, the thing -would not have happened which did happen. -</p> - -<p> -A silent figure moved through the trees above them. Keen eyes inspected the -cage and counted the number of warriors. An alert and daring brain figured upon -the chances of success when a certain plan should be put to the test. -</p> - -<p> -Tarzan watched the blacks lolling in the shade. They were exhausted. Already -several of them slept. He crept closer, pausing just above them. Not a leaf -rustled before his stealthy advance. He waited in the infinite patience of the -beast of prey. Presently but two of the warriors remained awake, and one of -these was dozing. -</p> - -<p> -Tarzan of the Apes gathered himself, and as he did so the black who did not -sleep arose and passed around to the rear of the cage. The ape-boy followed -just above his head. Taug was eyeing the warrior and emitting low growls. -Tarzan feared that the anthropoid would awaken the sleepers. -</p> - -<p> -In a whisper which was inaudible to the ears of the Negro, Tarzan whispered -Taug’s name, cautioning the ape to silence, and Taug’s growling ceased. -</p> - -<p> -The black approached the rear of the cage and examined the fastenings of the -door, and as he stood there the beast above him launched itself from the tree -full upon his back. Steel fingers circled his throat, choking the cry which -sprang to the lips of the terrified man. Strong teeth fastened themselves in -his shoulder, and powerful legs wound themselves about his torso. -</p> - -<p> -The black in a frenzy of terror tried to dislodge the silent thing which clung -to him. He threw himself to the ground and rolled about; but still those mighty -fingers closed more and more tightly their deadly grip. -</p> - -<p> -The man’s mouth gaped wide, his swollen tongue protruded, his eyes started from -their sockets; but the relentless fingers only increased their pressure. -</p> - -<p> -Taug was a silent witness of the struggle. In his fierce little brain he -doubtless wondered what purpose prompted Tarzan to attack the black. Taug had -not forgotten his recent battle with the ape-boy, nor the cause of it. Now he -saw the form of the Gomangani suddenly go limp. There was a convulsive shiver -and the man lay still. -</p> - -<p> -Tarzan sprang from his prey and ran to the door of the cage. With nimble -fingers he worked rapidly at the thongs which held the door in place. Taug -could only watch—he could not help. Presently Tarzan pushed the thing up a -couple of feet and Taug crawled out. The ape would have turned upon the -sleeping blacks that he might wreak his pent vengeance; but Tarzan would not -permit it. -</p> - -<p> -Instead, the ape-boy dragged the body of the black within the cage and propped -it against the side bars. Then he lowered the door and made fast the thongs as -they had been before. -</p> - -<p> -A happy smile lighted his features as he worked, for one of his principal -diversions was the baiting of the blacks of Mbonga’s village. He could imagine -their terror when they awoke and found the dead body of their comrade fast in -the cage where they had left the great ape safely secured but a few minutes -before. -</p> - -<p> -Tarzan and Taug took to the trees together, the shaggy coat of the fierce ape -brushing the sleek skin of the English lordling as they passed through the -primeval jungle side by side. -</p> - -<p> -“Go back to Teeka,” said Tarzan. “She is yours. Tarzan does not want her.” -</p> - -<p> -“Tarzan has found another she?” asked Taug. -</p> - -<p> -The ape-boy shrugged. -</p> - -<p> -“For the Gomangani there is another Gomangani,” he said; “for Numa, the lion, -there is Sabor, the lioness; for Sheeta there is a she of his own kind; for -Bara, the deer; for Manu, the monkey; for all the beasts and the birds of the -jungle is there a mate. Only for Tarzan of the Apes is there none. Taug is an -ape. Teeka is an ape. Go back to Teeka. Tarzan is a man. He will go alone.” -</p> - -</div><!--end chapter--> - -<div class="chapter"> - -<h2><a name="chap02"></a>CHAPTER II<br/> -The Capture of Tarzan</h2> - -<p> -The black warriors labored in the humid heat of the jungle’s stifling shade. -With war spears they loosened the thick, black loam and the deep layers of -rotting vegetation. With heavy-nailed fingers they scooped away the -disintegrated earth from the center of the age-old game trail. Often they -ceased their labors to squat, resting and gossiping, with much laughter, at the -edge of the pit they were digging. -</p> - -<p> -Against the boles of near-by trees leaned their long, oval shields of thick -buffalo hide, and the spears of those who were doing the scooping. Sweat -glistened upon their smooth, ebon skins, beneath which rolled rounded muscles, -supple in the perfection of nature’s uncontaminated health. -</p> - -<p> -A reed buck, stepping warily along the trail toward water, halted as a burst of -laughter broke upon his startled ears. For a moment he stood statuesque but for -his sensitively dilating nostrils; then he wheeled and fled noiselessly from -the terrifying presence of man. -</p> - -<p> -A hundred yards away, deep in the tangle of impenetrable jungle, Numa, the -lion, raised his massive head. Numa had dined well until almost daybreak and it -had required much noise to awaken him. Now he lifted his muzzle and sniffed the -air, caught the acrid scent spoor of the reed buck and the heavy scent of man. -But Numa was well filled. With a low, disgusted grunt he rose and slunk away. -</p> - -<p> -Brilliantly plumaged birds with raucous voices darted from tree to tree. Little -monkeys, chattering and scolding, swung through the swaying limbs above the -black warriors. Yet they were alone, for the teeming jungle with all its myriad -life, like the swarming streets of a great metropolis, is one of the loneliest -spots in God’s great universe. -</p> - -<p> -But were they alone? -</p> - -<p> -Above them, lightly balanced upon a leafy tree limb, a gray-eyed youth watched -with eager intentness their every move. The fire of hate, restrained, smoldered -beneath the lad’s evident desire to know the purpose of the black men’s labors. -Such a one as these it was who had slain his beloved Kala. For them there could -be naught but enmity, yet he liked well to watch them, avid as he was for -greater knowledge of the ways of man. -</p> - -<p> -He saw the pit grow in depth until a great hole yawned the width of the trail—a -hole which was amply large enough to hold at one time all of the six -excavators. Tarzan could not guess the purpose of so great a labor. And when -they cut long stakes, sharpened at their upper ends, and set them at intervals -upright in the bottom of the pit, his wonderment but increased, nor was it -satisfied with the placing of the light cross-poles over the pit, or the -careful arrangement of leaves and earth which completely hid from view the work -the black men had performed. -</p> - -<p> -When they were done they surveyed their handiwork with evident satisfaction, -and Tarzan surveyed it, too. Even to his practiced eye there remained scarce a -vestige of evidence that the ancient game trail had been tampered with in any -way. -</p> - -<p> -So absorbed was the ape-man in speculation as to the purpose of the covered pit -that he permitted the blacks to depart in the direction of their village -without the usual baiting which had rendered him the terror of Mbonga’s people -and had afforded Tarzan both a vehicle of revenge and a source of inexhaustible -delight. -</p> - -<p> -Puzzle as he would, however, he could not solve the mystery of the concealed -pit, for the ways of the blacks were still strange ways to Tarzan. They had -entered his jungle but a short time before—the first of their kind to encroach -upon the age-old supremacy of the beasts which laired there. To Numa, the lion, -to Tantor, the elephant, to the great apes and the lesser apes, to each and all -of the myriad creatures of this savage wild, the ways of man were new. They had -much to learn of these black, hairless creatures that walked erect upon their -hind paws—and they were learning it slowly, and always to their sorrow. -</p> - -<p> -Shortly after the blacks had departed, Tarzan swung easily to the trail. -Sniffing suspiciously, he circled the edge of the pit. Squatting upon his -haunches, he scraped away a little earth to expose one of the cross-bars. He -sniffed at this, touched it, cocked his head upon one side, and contemplated it -gravely for several minutes. Then he carefully re-covered it, arranging the -earth as neatly as had the blacks. This done, he swung himself back among the -branches of the trees and moved off in search of his hairy fellows, the great -apes of the tribe of Kerchak. -</p> - -<p> -Once he crossed the trail of Numa, the lion, pausing for a moment to hurl a -soft fruit at the snarling face of his enemy, and to taunt and insult him, -calling him eater of carrion and brother of Dango, the hyena. Numa, his -yellow-green eyes round and burning with concentrated hate, glared up at the -dancing figure above him. Low growls vibrated his heavy jowls and his great -rage transmitted to his sinuous tail a sharp, whiplike motion; but realizing -from past experience the futility of long distance argument with the ape-man, -he turned presently and struck off into the tangled vegetation which hid him -from the view of his tormentor. With a final scream of jungle invective and an -apelike grimace at his departing foe, Tarzan continued along his way. -</p> - -<p> -Another mile and a shifting wind brought to his keen nostrils a familiar, -pungent odor close at hand, and a moment later there loomed beneath him a huge, -gray-black bulk forging steadily along the jungle trail. Tarzan seized and -broke a small tree limb, and at the sudden cracking sound the ponderous figure -halted. Great ears were thrown forward, and a long, supple trunk rose quickly -to wave to and fro in search of the scent of an enemy, while two weak, little -eyes peered suspiciously and futilely about in quest of the author of the noise -which had disturbed his peaceful way. -</p> - -<p> -Tarzan laughed aloud and came closer above the head of the pachyderm. -</p> - -<p> -“Tantor! Tantor!” he cried. “Bara, the deer, is less fearful than you—you, -Tantor, the elephant, greatest of the jungle folk with the strength of as many -Numas as I have toes upon my feet and fingers upon my hands. Tantor, who can -uproot great trees, trembles with fear at the sound of a broken twig.” -</p> - -<p> -A rumbling noise, which might have been either a sign of contempt or a sigh of -relief, was Tantor’s only reply as the uplifted trunk and ears came down and -the beast’s tail dropped to normal; but his eyes still roved about in search of -Tarzan. He was not long kept in suspense, however, as to the whereabouts of the -ape-man, for a second later the youth dropped lightly to the broad head of his -old friend. Then stretching himself at full length, he drummed with his bare -toes upon the thick hide, and as his fingers scratched the more tender surfaces -beneath the great ears, he talked to Tantor of the gossip of the jungle as -though the great beast understood every word that he said. -</p> - -<p> -Much there was which Tarzan could make Tantor understand, and though the small -talk of the wild was beyond the great, gray dreadnaught of the jungle, he stood -with blinking eyes and gently swaying trunk as though drinking in every word of -it with keenest appreciation. As a matter of fact it was the pleasant, friendly -voice and caressing hands behind his ears which he enjoyed, and the close -proximity of him whom he had often borne upon his back since Tarzan, as a -little child, had once fearlessly approached the great bull, assuming upon the -part of the pachyderm the same friendliness which filled his own heart. -</p> - -<p> -In the years of their association Tarzan had discovered that he possessed an -inexplicable power to govern and direct his mighty friend. At his bidding, -Tantor would come from a great distance—as far as his keen ears could detect -the shrill and piercing summons of the ape-man—and when Tarzan was squatted -upon his head, Tantor would lumber through the jungle in any direction which -his rider bade him go. It was the power of the man-mind over that of the brute -and it was just as effective as though both fully understood its origin, though -neither did. -</p> - -<p> -For half an hour Tarzan sprawled there upon Tantor’s back. Time had no meaning -for either of them. Life, as they saw it, consisted principally in keeping -their stomachs filled. To Tarzan this was a less arduous labor than to Tantor, -for Tarzan’s stomach was smaller, and being omnivorous, food was less difficult -to obtain. If one sort did not come readily to hand, there were always many -others to satisfy his hunger. He was less particular as to his diet than -Tantor, who would eat only the bark of certain trees, and the wood of others, -while a third appealed to him only through its leaves, and these, perhaps, just -at certain seasons of the year. -</p> - -<p> -Tantor must needs spend the better part of his life in filling his immense -stomach against the needs of his mighty thews. It is thus with all the lower -orders—their lives are so occupied either with searching for food or with the -processes of digestion that they have little time for other considerations. -Doubtless it is this handicap which has kept them from advancing as rapidly as -man, who has more time to give to thought upon other matters. -</p> - -<p> -However, these questions troubled Tarzan but little, and Tantor not at all. -What the former knew was that he was happy in the companionship of the -elephant. He did not know why. He did not know that because he was a human -being—a normal, healthy human being—he craved some living thing upon which to -lavish his affection. His childhood playmates among the apes of Kerchak were -now great, sullen brutes. They felt nor inspired but little affection. The -younger apes Tarzan still played with occasionally. In his savage way he loved -them; but they were far from satisfying or restful companions. Tantor was a -great mountain of calm, of poise, of stability. It was restful and satisfying -to sprawl upon his rough pate and pour one’s vague hopes and aspirations into -the great ears which flapped ponderously to and fro in apparent understanding. -Of all the jungle folk, Tantor commanded Tarzan’s greatest love since Kala had -been taken from him. Sometimes Tarzan wondered if Tantor reciprocated his -affection. It was difficult to know. -</p> - -<p> -It was the call of the stomach—the most compelling and insistent call which the -jungle knows—that took Tarzan finally back to the trees and off in search of -food, while Tantor continued his interrupted journey in the opposite direction. -</p> - -<p> -For an hour the ape-man foraged. A lofty nest yielded its fresh, warm harvest. -Fruits, berries, and tender plantain found a place upon his menu in the order -that he happened upon them, for he did not seek such foods. Meat, meat, meat! -It was always meat that Tarzan of the Apes hunted; but sometimes meat eluded -him, as today. -</p> - -<p> -And as he roamed the jungle his active mind busied itself not alone with his -hunting, but with many other subjects. He had a habit of recalling often the -events of the preceding days and hours. He lived over his visit with Tantor; he -cogitated upon the digging blacks and the strange, covered pit they had left -behind them. He wondered again and again what its purpose might be. He compared -perceptions and arrived at judgments. He compared judgments, reaching -conclusions—not always correct ones, it is true, but at least he used his brain -for the purpose God intended it, which was the less difficult because he was -not handicapped by the second-hand, and usually erroneous, judgment of others. -</p> - -<p> -And as he puzzled over the covered pit, there loomed suddenly before his mental -vision a huge, gray-black bulk which lumbered ponderously along a jungle trail. -Instantly Tarzan tensed to the shock of a sudden fear. Decision and action -usually occurred simultaneously in the life of the ape-man, and now he was away -through the leafy branches ere the realization of the pit’s purpose had scarce -formed in his mind. -</p> - -<p> -Swinging from swaying limb to swaying limb, he raced through the middle -terraces where the trees grew close together. Again he dropped to the ground -and sped, silently and light of foot, over the carpet of decaying vegetation, -only to leap again into the trees where the tangled undergrowth precluded rapid -advance upon the surface. -</p> - -<p> -In his anxiety he cast discretion to the winds. The caution of the beast was -lost in the loyalty of the man, and so it came that he entered a large -clearing, denuded of trees, without a thought of what might lie there or upon -the farther edge to dispute the way with him. -</p> - -<p> -He was half way across when directly in his path and but a few yards away there -rose from a clump of tall grasses a half dozen chattering birds. Instantly -Tarzan turned aside, for he knew well enough what manner of creature the -presence of these little sentinels proclaimed. Simultaneously Buto, the -rhinoceros, scrambled to his short legs and charged furiously. Haphazard -charges Buto, the rhinoceros. With his weak eyes he sees but poorly even at -short distances, and whether his erratic rushes are due to the panic of fear as -he attempts to escape, or to the irascible temper with which he is generally -credited, it is difficult to determine. Nor is the matter of little moment to -one whom Buto charges, for if he be caught and tossed, the chances are that -naught will interest him thereafter. -</p> - -<p> -And today it chanced that Buto bore down straight upon Tarzan, across the few -yards of knee-deep grass which separated them. Accident started him in the -direction of the ape-man, and then his weak eyes discerned the enemy, and with -a series of snorts he charged straight for him. The little rhino birds -fluttered and circled about their giant ward. Among the branches of the trees -at the edge of the clearing, a score or more monkeys chattered and scolded as -the loud snorts of the angry beast sent them scurrying affrightedly to the -upper terraces. Tarzan alone appeared indifferent and serene. -</p> - -<p> -Directly in the path of the charge he stood. There had been no time to seek -safety in the trees beyond the clearing, nor had Tarzan any mind to delay his -journey because of Buto. He had met the stupid beast before and held him in -fine contempt. -</p> - -<p> -And now Buto was upon him, the massive head lowered and the long, heavy horn -inclined for the frightful work for which nature had designed it; but as he -struck upward, his weapon raked only thin air, for the ape-man had sprung -lightly aloft with a catlike leap that carried him above the threatening horn -to the broad back of the rhinoceros. Another spring and he was on the ground -behind the brute and racing like a deer for the trees. -</p> - -<p> -Buto, angered and mystified by the strange disappearance of his prey, wheeled -and charged frantically in another direction, which chanced to be not the -direction of Tarzan’s flight, and so the ape-man came in safety to the trees -and continued on his swift way through the forest. -</p> - -<p> -Some distance ahead of him Tantor moved steadily along the well-worn elephant -trail, and ahead of Tantor a crouching, black warrior listened intently in the -middle of the path. Presently he heard the sound for which he had been -hoping—the cracking, snapping sound which heralded the approach of an elephant. -</p> - -<p> -To his right and left in other parts of the jungle other warriors were -watching. A low signal, passed from one to another, apprised the most distant -that the quarry was afoot. Rapidly they converged toward the trail, taking -positions in trees down wind from the point at which Tantor must pass them. -Silently they waited and presently were rewarded by the sight of a mighty -tusker carrying an amount of ivory in his long tusks that set their greedy -hearts to palpitating. -</p> - -<p> -No sooner had he passed their positions than the warriors clambered from their -perches. No longer were they silent, but instead clapped their hands and -shouted as they reached the ground. For an instant Tantor, the elephant, paused -with upraised trunk and tail, with great ears up-pricked, and then he swung on -along the trail at a rapid, shuffling pace—straight toward the covered pit with -its sharpened stakes upstanding in the ground. -</p> - -<p> -Behind him came the yelling warriors, urging him on in the rapid flight which -would not permit a careful examination of the ground before him. Tantor, the -elephant, who could have turned and scattered his adversaries with a single -charge, fled like a frightened deer—fled toward a hideous, torturing death. -</p> - -<p> -And behind them all came Tarzan of the Apes, racing through the jungle forest -with the speed and agility of a squirrel, for he had heard the shouts of the -warriors and had interpreted them correctly. Once he uttered a piercing call -that reverberated through the jungle; but Tantor, in the panic of terror, -either failed to hear, or hearing, dared not pause to heed. -</p> - -<p> -Now the giant pachyderm was but a few yards from the hidden death lurking in -his path, and the blacks, certain of success, were screaming and dancing in his -wake, waving their war spears and celebrating in advance the acquisition of the -splendid ivory carried by their prey and the surfeit of elephant meat which -would be theirs this night. -</p> - -<p> -So intent were they upon their gratulations that they entirely failed to note -the silent passage of the man-beast above their heads, nor did Tantor, either, -see or hear him, even though Tarzan called to him to stop. -</p> - -<p> -A few more steps would precipitate Tantor upon the sharpened stakes; Tarzan -fairly flew through the trees until he had come abreast of the fleeing animal -and then had passed him. At the pit’s verge the ape-man dropped to the ground -in the center of the trail. Tantor was almost upon him before his weak eyes -permitted him to recognize his old friend. -</p> - -<p> -“Stop!” cried Tarzan, and the great beast halted to the upraised hand. -</p> - -<p> -Tarzan turned and kicked aside some of the brush which hid the pit. Instantly -Tantor saw and understood. -</p> - -<p> -“Fight!” growled Tarzan. “They are coming behind you.” But Tantor, the -elephant, is a huge bunch of nerves, and now he was half panic-stricken by -terror. -</p> - -<p> -Before him yawned the pit, how far he did not know, but to right and left lay -the primeval jungle untouched by man. With a squeal the great beast turned -suddenly at right angles and burst his noisy way through the solid wall of -matted vegetation that would have stopped any but him. -</p> - -<p> -Tarzan, standing upon the edge of the pit, smiled as he watched Tantor’s -undignified flight. Soon the blacks would come. It was best that Tarzan of the -Apes faded from the scene. He essayed a step from the pit’s edge, and as he -threw the weight of his body upon his left foot, the earth crumbled away. -Tarzan made a single Herculean effort to throw himself forward, but it was too -late. Backward and downward he went toward the sharpened stakes in the bottom -of the pit. -</p> - -<p> -When, a moment later, the blacks came they saw even from a distance that Tantor -had eluded them, for the size of the hole in the pit covering was too small to -have accommodated the huge bulk of an elephant. At first they thought that -their prey had put one great foot through the top and then, warned, drawn back; -but when they had come to the pit’s verge and peered over, their eyes went wide -in astonishment, for, quiet and still, at the bottom lay the naked figure of a -white giant. -</p> - -<p> -Some of them there had glimpsed this forest god before and they drew back in -terror, awed by the presence which they had for some time believed to possess -the miraculous powers of a demon; but others there were who pushed forward, -thinking only of the capture of an enemy, and these leaped into the pit and -lifted Tarzan out. -</p> - -<p> -There was no scar upon his body. None of the sharpened stakes had pierced -him—only a swollen spot at the base of the brain indicated the nature of his -injury. In the falling backward his head had struck upon the side of one of the -stakes, rendering him unconscious. The blacks were quick to discover this, and -equally quick to bind their prisoner’s arms and legs before he should regain -consciousness, for they had learned to harbor a wholesome respect for this -strange man-beast that consorted with the hairy tree folk. -</p> - -<p> -They had carried him but a short distance toward their village when the -ape-man’s eyelids quivered and raised. He looked about him wonderingly for a -moment, and then full consciousness returned and he realized the seriousness of -his predicament. Accustomed almost from birth to relying solely upon his own -resources, he did not cast about for outside aid now, but devoted his mind to a -consideration of the possibilities for escape which lay within himself and his -own powers. -</p> - -<p> -He did not dare test the strength of his bonds while the blacks were carrying -him, for fear they would become apprehensive and add to them. Presently his -captors discovered that he was conscious, and as they had little stomach for -carrying a heavy man through the jungle heat, they set him upon his feet and -forced him forward among them, pricking him now and then with their spears, yet -with every manifestation of the superstitious awe in which they held him. -</p> - -<p> -When they discovered that their prodding brought no outward evidence of -suffering, their awe increased, so that they soon desisted, half believing that -this strange white giant was a supernatural being and so was immune from pain. -</p> - -<p> -As they approached their village, they shouted aloud the victorious cries of -successful warriors, so that by the time they reached the gate, dancing and -waving their spears, a great crowd of men, women, and children were gathered -there to greet them and hear the story of their adventure. -</p> - -<p> -As the eyes of the villagers fell upon the prisoner, they went wild, and heavy -jaws fell open in astonishment and incredulity. For months they had lived in -perpetual terror of a weird, white demon whom but few had ever glimpsed and -lived to describe. Warriors had disappeared from the paths almost within sight -of the village and from the midst of their companions as mysteriously and -completely as though they had been swallowed by the earth, and later, at night, -their dead bodies had fallen, as from the heavens, into the village street. -</p> - -<p> -This fearsome creature had appeared by night in the huts of the village, -killed, and disappeared, leaving behind him in the huts with his dead, strange -and terrifying evidences of an uncanny sense of humor. -</p> - -<p> -But now he was in their power! No longer could he terrorize them. Slowly the -realization of this dawned upon them. A woman, screaming, ran forward and -struck the ape-man across the face. Another and another followed her example, -until Tarzan of the Apes was surrounded by a fighting, clawing, yelling mob of -natives. -</p> - -<p> -And then Mbonga, the chief, came, and laying his spear heavily across the -shoulders of his people, drove them from their prey. -</p> - -<p> -“We will save him until night,” he said. -</p> - -<p> -Far out in the jungle Tantor, the elephant, his first panic of fear allayed, -stood with up-pricked ears and undulating trunk. What was passing through the -convolutions of his savage brain? Could he be searching for Tarzan? Could he -recall and measure the service the ape-man had performed for him? Of that there -can be no doubt. But did he feel gratitude? Would he have risked his own life -to have saved Tarzan could he have known of the danger which confronted his -friend? You will doubt it. Anyone at all familiar with elephants will doubt it. -Englishmen who have hunted much with elephants in India will tell you that they -never have heard of an instance in which one of these animals has gone to the -aid of a man in danger, even though the man had often befriended it. And so it -is to be doubted that Tantor would have attempted to overcome his instinctive -fear of the black men in an effort to succor Tarzan. -</p> - -<p> -The screams of the infuriated villagers came faintly to his sensitive ears, and -he wheeled, as though in terror, contemplating flight; but something stayed -him, and again he turned about, raised his trunk, and gave voice to a shrill -cry. -</p> - -<p> -Then he stood listening. -</p> - -<p> -In the distant village where Mbonga had restored quiet and order, the voice of -Tantor was scarcely audible to the blacks, but to the keen ears of Tarzan of -the Apes it bore its message. -</p> - -<p> -His captors were leading him to a hut where he might be confined and guarded -against the coming of the nocturnal orgy that would mark his torture-laden -death. He halted as he heard the notes of Tantor’s call, and raising his head, -gave vent to a terrifying scream that sent cold chills through the -superstitious blacks and caused the warriors who guarded him to leap back even -though their prisoner’s arms were securely bound behind him. -</p> - -<p> -With raised spears they encircled him as for a moment longer he stood -listening. Faintly from the distance came another, an answering cry, and Tarzan -of the Apes, satisfied, turned and quietly pursued his way toward the hut where -he was to be imprisoned. -</p> - -<p> -The afternoon wore on. From the surrounding village the ape-man heard the -bustle of preparation for the feast. Through the doorway of the hut he saw the -women laying the cooking fires and filling their earthen caldrons with water; -but above it all his ears were bent across the jungle in eager listening for -the coming of Tantor. -</p> - -<p> -Even Tarzan but half believed that he would come. He knew Tantor even better -than Tantor knew himself. He knew the timid heart which lay in the giant body. -He knew the panic of terror which the scent of the Gomangani inspired within -that savage breast, and as night drew on, hope died within his heart and in the -stoic calm of the wild beast which he was, he resigned himself to meet the fate -which awaited him. -</p> - -<p> -All afternoon he had been working, working, working with the bonds that held -his wrists. Very slowly they were giving. He might free his hands before they -came to lead him out to be butchered, and if he did—Tarzan licked his lips in -anticipation, and smiled a cold, grim smile. He could imagine the feel of soft -flesh beneath his fingers and the sinking of his white teeth into the throats -of his foemen. He would let them taste his wrath before they overpowered him! -</p> - -<p> -At last they came—painted, befeathered warriors—even more hideous than nature -had intended them. They came and pushed him into the open, where his appearance -was greeted by wild shouts from the assembled villagers. -</p> - -<p> -To the stake they led him, and as they pushed him roughly against it -preparatory to binding him there securely for the dance of death that would -presently encircle him, Tarzan tensed his mighty thews and with a single, -powerful wrench parted the loosened thongs which had secured his hands. Like -thought, for quickness, he leaped forward among the warriors nearest him. A -blow sent one to earth, as, growling and snarling, the beast-man leaped upon -the breast of another. His fangs were buried instantly in the jugular of his -adversary and then a half hundred black men had leaped upon him and borne him -to earth. -</p> - -<p> -Striking, clawing, and snapping, the ape-man fought—fought as his foster people -had taught him to fight—fought like a wild beast cornered. His strength, his -agility, his courage, and his intelligence rendered him easily a match for half -a dozen black men in a hand-to-hand struggle, but not even Tarzan of the Apes -could hope to successfully cope with half a hundred. -</p> - -<p> -Slowly they were overpowering him, though a score of them bled from ugly -wounds, and two lay very still beneath the trampling feet, and the rolling -bodies of the contestants. -</p> - -<p> -Overpower him they might, but could they keep him overpowered while they bound -him? A half hour of desperate endeavor convinced them that they could not, and -so Mbonga, who, like all good rulers, had circled in the safety of the -background, called to one to work his way in and spear the victim. Gradually, -through the milling, battling men, the warrior approached the object of his -quest. -</p> - -<p> -He stood with poised spear above his head waiting for the instant that would -expose a vulnerable part of the ape-man’s body and still not endanger one of -the blacks. Closer and closer he edged about, following the movements of the -twisting, scuffling combatants. The growls of the ape-man sent cold chills up -the warrior’s spine, causing him to go carefully lest he miss at the first cast -and lay himself open to an attack from those merciless teeth and mighty hands. -</p> - -<p> -At last he found an opening. Higher he raised his spear, tensing his muscles, -rolling beneath his glistening, ebon hide, and then from the jungle just beyond -the palisade came a thunderous crashing. The spear-hand paused, the black cast -a quick glance in the direction of the disturbance, as did the others of the -blacks who were not occupied with the subjugation of the ape-man. -</p> - -<p> -In the glare of the fires they saw a huge bulk topping the barrier. They saw -the palisade belly and sway inward. They saw it burst as though built of -straws, and an instant later Tantor, the elephant, thundered down upon them. -</p> - -<p> -To right and left the blacks fled, screaming in terror. Some who hovered upon -the verge of the strife with Tarzan heard and made good their escape, but a -half dozen there were so wrapt in the blood-madness of battle that they failed -to note the approach of the giant tusker. -</p> - -<p> -Upon these Tantor charged, trumpeting furiously. Above them he stopped, his -sensitive trunk weaving among them, and there, at the bottom, he found Tarzan, -bloody, but still battling. -</p> - -<p> -A warrior turned his eyes upward from the melee. Above him towered the gigantic -bulk of the pachyderm, the little eyes flashing with the reflected light of the -fires—wicked, frightful, terrifying. The warrior screamed, and as he screamed, -the sinuous trunk encircled him, lifted him high above the ground, and hurled -him far after the fleeing crowd. -</p> - -<p> -Another and another Tantor wrenched from the body of the ape-man, throwing them -to right and to left, where they lay either moaning or very quiet, as death -came slowly or at once. -</p> - -<p> -At a distance Mbonga rallied his warriors. His greedy eyes had noted the great -ivory tusks of the bull. The first panic of terror relieved, he urged his men -forward to attack with their heavy elephant spears; but as they came, Tantor -swung Tarzan to his broad head, and, wheeling, lumbered off into the jungle -through the great rent he had made in the palisade. -</p> - -<p> -Elephant hunters may be right when they aver that this animal would not have -rendered such service to a man, but to Tantor, Tarzan was not a man—he was but -a fellow jungle beast. -</p> - -<p> -And so it was that Tantor, the elephant, discharged an obligation to Tarzan of -the Apes, cementing even more closely the friendship that had existed between -them since Tarzan as a little, brown boy rode upon Tantor’s huge back through -the moonlit jungle beneath the equatorial stars. -</p> - -</div><!--end chapter--> - -<div class="chapter"> - -<h2><a name="chap03"></a>CHAPTER III<br/> -The Fight for the Balu</h2> - -<p> -Teeka had become a mother. Tarzan of the Apes was intensely interested, much -more so, in fact, than Taug, the father. Tarzan was very fond of Teeka. Even -the cares of prospective motherhood had not entirely quenched the fires of -carefree youth, and Teeka had remained a good-natured playmate even at an age -when other shes of the tribe of Kerchak had assumed the sullen dignity of -maturity. She yet retained her childish delight in the primitive games of tag -and hide-and-go-seek which Tarzan’s fertile man-mind had evolved. -</p> - -<p> -To play tag through the tree tops is an exciting and inspiring pastime. Tarzan -delighted in it, but the bulls of his childhood had long since abandoned such -childish practices. Teeka, though, had been keen for it always until shortly -before the baby came; but with the advent of her first-born, even Teeka -changed. -</p> - -<p> -The evidence of the change surprised and hurt Tarzan immeasurably. One morning -he saw Teeka squatted upon a low branch hugging something very close to her -hairy breast—a wee something which squirmed and wriggled. Tarzan approached -filled with the curiosity which is common to all creatures endowed with brains -which have progressed beyond the microscopic stage. -</p> - -<p> -Teeka rolled her eyes in his direction and strained the squirming mite still -closer to her. Tarzan came nearer. Teeka drew away and bared her fangs. Tarzan -was nonplussed. In all his experiences with Teeka, never before had she bared -fangs at him other than in play; but today she did not look playful. Tarzan ran -his brown fingers through his thick, black hair, cocked his head upon one side, -and stared. Then he edged a bit nearer, craning his neck to have a better look -at the thing which Teeka cuddled. -</p> - -<p> -Again Teeka drew back her upper lip in a warning snarl. Tarzan reached forth a -hand, cautiously, to touch the thing which Teeka held, and Teeka, with a -hideous growl, turned suddenly upon him. Her teeth sank into the flesh of his -forearm before the ape-man could snatch it away, and she pursued him for a -short distance as he retreated incontinently through the trees; but Teeka, -carrying her baby, could not overtake him. At a safe distance Tarzan stopped -and turned to regard his erstwhile play-fellow in unconcealed astonishment. -What had happened to so alter the gentle Teeka? She had so covered the thing in -her arms that Tarzan had not yet been able to recognize it for what it was; but -now, as she turned from the pursuit of him, he saw it. Through his pain and -chagrin he smiled, for Tarzan had seen young ape mothers before. In a few days -she would be less suspicious. Still Tarzan was hurt; it was not right that -Teeka, of all others, should fear him. Why, not for the world would he harm -her, or her balu, which is the ape word for baby. -</p> - -<p> -And now, above the pain of his injured arm and the hurt to his pride, rose a -still stronger desire to come close and inspect the new-born son of Taug. -Possibly you will wonder that Tarzan of the Apes, mighty fighter that he was, -should have fled before the irritable attack of a she, or that he should -hesitate to return for the satisfaction of his curiosity when with ease he -might have vanquished the weakened mother of the new-born cub; but you need not -wonder. Were you an ape, you would know that only a bull in the throes of -madness will turn upon a female other than to gently chastise her, with the -occasional exception of the individual whom we find exemplified among our own -kind, and who delights in beating up his better half because she happens to be -smaller and weaker than he. -</p> - -<p> -Tarzan again came toward the young mother—warily and with his line of retreat -safely open. Again Teeka growled ferociously. Tarzan expostulated. -</p> - -<p> -“Tarzan of the Apes will not harm Teeka’s balu,” he said. “Let me see it.” -</p> - -<p> -“Go away!” commanded Teeka. “Go away, or I will kill you.” -</p> - -<p> -“Let me see it,” urged Tarzan. -</p> - -<p> -“Go away,” reiterated the she-ape. “Here comes Taug. He will make you go away. -Taug will kill you. This is Taug’s balu.” -</p> - -<p> -A savage growl close behind him apprised Tarzan of the nearness of Taug, and -the fact that the bull had heard the warnings and threats of his mate and was -coming to her succor. -</p> - -<p> -Now Taug, as well as Teeka, had been Tarzan’s play-fellow while the bull was -still young enough to wish to play. Once Tarzan had saved Taug’s life; but the -memory of an ape is not overlong, nor would gratitude rise above the parental -instinct. Tarzan and Taug had once measured strength, and Tarzan had been -victorious. That fact Taug could be depended upon still to remember; but even -so, he might readily face another defeat for his first-born—if he chanced to be -in the proper mood. -</p> - -<p> -From his hideous growls, which now rose in strength and volume, he seemed to be -in quite the mood. Now Tarzan felt no fear of Taug, nor did the unwritten law -of the jungle demand that he should flee from battle with any male, unless he -cared to from purely personal reasons. But Tarzan liked Taug. He had no grudge -against him, and his man-mind told him what the mind of an ape would never have -deduced—that Taug’s attitude in no sense indicated hatred. It was but the -instinctive urge of the male to protect its offspring and its mate. -</p> - -<p> -Tarzan had no desire to battle with Taug, nor did the blood of his English -ancestors relish the thought of flight, yet when the bull charged, Tarzan -leaped nimbly to one side, and thus encouraged, Taug wheeled and rushed again -madly to the attack. Perhaps the memory of a past defeat at Tarzan’s hands -goaded him. Perhaps the fact that Teeka sat there watching him aroused a desire -to vanquish the ape-man before her eyes, for in the breast of every jungle male -lurks a vast egotism which finds expression in the performance of deeds of -derring-do before an audience of the opposite sex. -</p> - -<p> -At the ape-man’s side swung his long grass rope—the play-thing of yesterday, -the weapon of today—and as Taug charged the second time, Tarzan slipped the -coils over his head and deftly shook out the sliding noose as he again nimbly -eluded the ungainly beast. Before the ape could turn again, Tarzan had fled far -aloft among the branches of the upper terrace. -</p> - -<p> -Taug, now wrought to a frenzy of real rage, followed him. Teeka peered upward -at them. It was difficult to say whether she was interested. Taug could not -climb as rapidly as Tarzan, so the latter reached the high levels to which the -heavy ape dared not follow before the former overtook him. There he halted and -looked down upon his pursuer, making faces at him and calling him such choice -names as occurred to the fertile man-brain. Then, when he had worked Taug to -such a pitch of foaming rage that the great bull fairly danced upon the bending -limb beneath him, Tarzan’s hand shot suddenly outward, a widening noose dropped -swiftly through the air, there was a quick jerk as it settled about Taug, -falling to his knees, a jerk that tightened it securely about the hairy legs of -the anthropoid. -</p> - -<p> -Taug, slow of wit, realized too late the intention of his tormentor. He -scrambled to escape, but the ape-man gave the rope a tremendous jerk that -pulled Taug from his perch, and a moment later, growling hideously, the ape -hung head downward thirty feet above the ground. -</p> - -<p> -Tarzan secured the rope to a stout limb and descended to a point close to Taug. -</p> - -<p> -“Taug,” he said, “you are as stupid as Buto, the rhinoceros. Now you may hang -here until you get a little sense in your thick head. You may hang here and -watch while I go and talk with Teeka.” -</p> - -<p> -Taug blustered and threatened, but Tarzan only grinned at him as he dropped -lightly to the lower levels. Here he again approached Teeka only to be again -greeted with bared fangs and menacing growls. He sought to placate her; he -urged his friendly intentions, and craned his neck to have a look at Teeka’s -balu; but the she-ape was not to be persuaded that he meant other than harm to -her little one. Her motherhood was still so new that reason was yet subservient -to instinct. -</p> - -<p> -Realizing the futility of attempting to catch and chastise Tarzan, Teeka sought -to escape him. She dropped to the ground and lumbered across the little -clearing about which the apes of the tribe were disposed in rest or in the -search of food, and presently Tarzan abandoned his attempts to persuade her to -permit a close examination of the balu. The ape-man would have liked to handle -the tiny thing. The very sight of it awakened in his breast a strange yearning. -He wished to cuddle and fondle the grotesque little ape-thing. It was Teeka’s -balu and Tarzan had once lavished his young affections upon Teeka. -</p> - -<p> -But now his attention was diverted by the voice of Taug. The threats that had -filled the ape’s mouth had turned to pleas. The tightening noose was stopping -the circulation of the blood in his legs—he was beginning to suffer. Several -apes sat near him highly interested in his predicament. They made -uncomplimentary remarks about him, for each of them had felt the weight of -Taug’s mighty hands and the strength of his great jaws. They were enjoying -revenge. -</p> - -<p> -Teeka, seeing that Tarzan had turned back toward the trees, had halted in the -center of the clearing, and there she sat hugging her balu and casting -suspicious glances here and there. With the coming of the balu, Teeka’s -care-free world had suddenly become peopled with innumerable enemies. She saw -an implacable foe in Tarzan, always heretofore her best friend. Even poor old -Mumga, half blind and almost entirely toothless, searching patiently for -grubworms beneath a fallen log, represented to her a malignant spirit thirsting -for the blood of little balus. -</p> - -<p> -And while Teeka guarded suspiciously against harm, where there was no harm, she -failed to note two baleful, yellow-green eyes staring fixedly at her from -behind a clump of bushes at the opposite side of the clearing. -</p> - -<p> -Hollow from hunger, Sheeta, the panther, glared greedily at the tempting meat -so close at hand, but the sight of the great bulls beyond gave him pause. -</p> - -<p> -Ah, if the she-ape with her balu would but come just a trifle nearer! A quick -spring and he would be upon them and away again with his meat before the bulls -could prevent. -</p> - -<p> -The tip of his tawny tail moved in spasmodic little jerks; his lower jaw hung -low, exposing a red tongue and yellow fangs. But all this Teeka did not see, -nor did any other of the apes who were feeding or resting about her. Nor did -Tarzan or the apes in the trees. -</p> - -<p> -Hearing the abuse which the bulls were pouring upon the helpless Taug, Tarzan -clambered quickly among them. One was edging closer and leaning far out in an -effort to reach the dangling ape. He had worked himself into quite a fury -through recollection of the last occasion upon which Taug had mauled him, and -now he was bent upon revenge. Once he had grasped the swinging ape, he would -quickly have drawn him within reach of his jaws. Tarzan saw and was wroth. He -loved a fair fight, but the thing which this ape contemplated revolted him. -Already a hairy hand had clutched the helpless Taug when, with an angry growl -of protest, Tarzan leaped to the branch at the attacking ape’s side, and with a -single mighty cuff, swept him from his perch. -</p> - -<p> -Surprised and enraged, the bull clutched madly for support as he toppled -sidewise, and then with an agile movement succeeded in projecting himself -toward another limb a few feet below. Here he found a hand-hold, quickly -righted himself, and as quickly clambered upward to be revenged upon Tarzan, -but the ape-man was otherwise engaged and did not wish to be interrupted. He -was explaining again to Taug the depths of the latter’s abysmal ignorance, and -pointing out how much greater and mightier was Tarzan of the Apes than Taug or -any other ape. -</p> - -<p> -In the end he would release Taug, but not until Taug was fully acquainted with -his own inferiority. And then the maddened bull came from beneath, and -instantly Tarzan was transformed from a good-natured, teasing youth into a -snarling, savage beast. Along his scalp the hair bristled: his upper lip drew -back that his fighting fangs might be uncovered and ready. He did not wait for -the bull to reach him, for something in the appearance or the voice of the -attacker aroused within the ape-man a feeling of belligerent antagonism that -would not be denied. With a scream that carried no human note, Tarzan leaped -straight at the throat of the attacker. -</p> - -<p> -The impetuosity of this act and the weight and momentum of his body carried the -bull backward, clutching and clawing for support, down through the leafy -branches of the tree. For fifteen feet the two fell, Tarzan’s teeth buried in -the jugular of his opponent, when a stout branch stopped their descent. The -bull struck full upon the small of his back across the limb, hung there for a -moment with the ape-man still upon his breast, and then toppled over toward the -ground. -</p> - -<p> -Tarzan had felt the instantaneous relaxation of the body beneath him after the -heavy impact with the tree limb, and as the other turned completely over and -started again upon its fall toward the ground, he reached forth a hand and -caught the branch in time to stay his own descent, while the ape dropped like a -plummet to the foot of the tree. -</p> - -<p> -Tarzan looked downward for a moment upon the still form of his late antagonist, -then he rose to his full height, swelled his deep chest, smote upon it with his -clenched fist and roared out the uncanny challenge of the victorious bull ape. -</p> - -<p> -Even Sheeta, the panther, crouched for a spring at the edge of the little -clearing, moved uneasily as the mighty voice sent its weird cry reverberating -through the jungle. To right and left, nervously, glanced Sheeta, as though -assuring himself that the way of escape lay ready at hand. -</p> - -<p> -“I am Tarzan of the Apes,” boasted the ape-man; “mighty hunter, mighty fighter! -None in all the jungle so great as Tarzan.” -</p> - -<p> -Then he made his way back in the direction of Taug. Teeka had watched the -happenings in the tree. She had even placed her precious balu upon the soft -grasses and come a little nearer that she might better witness all that was -passing in the branches above her. In her heart of hearts did she still esteem -the smooth-skinned Tarzan? Did her savage breast swell with pride as she -witnessed his victory over the ape? You will have to ask Teeka. -</p> - -<p> -And Sheeta, the panther, saw that the she-ape had left her cub alone among the -grasses. He moved his tail again, as though this closest approximation of -lashing in which he dared indulge might stimulate his momentarily waned -courage. The cry of the victorious ape-man still held his nerves beneath its -spell. It would be several minutes before he again could bring himself to the -point of charging into view of the giant anthropoids. -</p> - -<p> -And as he regathered his forces, Tarzan reached Taug’s side, and then -clambering higher up to the point where the end of the grass rope was made -fast, he unloosed it and lowered the ape slowly downward, swinging him in until -the clutching hands fastened upon a limb. -</p> - -<p> -Quickly Taug drew himself to a position of safety and shook off the noose. In -his rage-maddened heart was no room for gratitude to the ape-man. He recalled -only the fact that Tarzan had laid this painful indignity upon him. He would be -revenged, but just at present his legs were so numb and his head so dizzy that -he must postpone the gratification of his vengeance. -</p> - -<p> -Tarzan was coiling his rope the while he lectured Taug on the futility of -pitting his poor powers, physical and intellectual, against those of his -betters. Teeka had come close beneath the tree and was peering upward. Sheeta -was worming his way stealthily forward, his belly close to the ground. In -another moment he would be clear of the underbrush and ready for the rapid -charge and the quick retreat that would end the brief existence of Teeka’s -balu. -</p> - -<p> -Then Tarzan chanced to look up and across the clearing. Instantly his attitude -of good-natured bantering and pompous boastfulness dropped from him. Silently -and swiftly he shot downward toward the ground. Teeka, seeing him coming, and -thinking that he was after her or her balu, bristled and prepared to fight. But -Tarzan sped by her, and as he went, her eyes followed him and she saw the cause -of his sudden descent and his rapid charge across the clearing. There in full -sight now was Sheeta, the panther, stalking slowly toward the tiny, wriggling -balu which lay among the grasses many yards away. -</p> - -<p> -Teeka gave voice to a shrill scream of terror and of warning as she dashed -after the ape-man. Sheeta saw Tarzan coming. He saw the she-ape’s cub before -him, and he thought that this other was bent upon robbing him of his prey. With -an angry growl, he charged. -</p> - -<p> -Taug, warned by Teeka’s cry, came lumbering down to her assistance. Several -other bulls, growling and barking, closed in toward the clearing, but they were -all much farther from the balu and the panther than was Tarzan of the Apes, so -it was that Sheeta and the ape-man reached Teeka’s little one almost -simultaneously; and there they stood, one upon either side of it, baring their -fangs and snarling at each other over the little creature. -</p> - -<p> -Sheeta was afraid to seize the balu, for thus he would give the ape-man an -opening for attack; and for the same reason Tarzan hesitated to snatch the -panther’s prey out of harm’s way, for had he stooped to accomplish this, the -great beast would have been upon him in an instant. Thus they stood while Teeka -came across the clearing, going more slowly as she neared the panther, for even -her mother love could scarce overcome her instinctive terror of this natural -enemy of her kind. -</p> - -<p> -Behind her came Taug, warily and with many pauses and much bluster, and still -behind him came other bulls, snarling ferociously and uttering their uncanny -challenges. Sheeta’s yellow-green eyes glared terribly at Tarzan, and past -Tarzan they shot brief glances at the apes of Kerchak advancing upon him. -Discretion prompted him to turn and flee, but hunger and the close proximity of -the tempting morsel in the grass before him urged him to remain. He reached -forth a paw toward Teeka’s balu, and as he did so, with a savage guttural, -Tarzan of the Apes was upon him. -</p> - -<p> -The panther reared to meet the ape-man’s attack. He swung a frightful raking -blow for Tarzan that would have wiped his face away had it landed, but it did -not land, for Tarzan ducked beneath it and closed, his long knife ready in one -strong hand—the knife of his dead father, of the father he never had known. -</p> - -<p> -Instantly the balu was forgotten by Sheeta, the panther. He now thought only of -tearing to ribbons with his powerful talons the flesh of his antagonist, of -burying his long, yellow fangs in the soft, smooth hide of the ape-man, but -Tarzan had fought before with clawed creatures of the jungle. Before now he had -battled with fanged monsters, nor always had he come away unscathed. He knew -the risk that he ran, but Tarzan of the Apes, inured to the sight of suffering -and death, shrank from neither, for he feared neither. -</p> - -<p> -The instant that he dodged beneath Sheeta’s blow, he leaped to the beast’s rear -and then full upon the tawny back, burying his teeth in Sheeta’s neck and the -fingers of one hand in the fur at the throat, and with the other hand he drove -his blade into Sheeta’s side. -</p> - -<p> -Over and over upon the grass rolled Sheeta, growling and screaming, clawing and -biting, in a mad effort to dislodge his antagonist or get some portion of his -body within range of teeth or talons. -</p> - -<p> -As Tarzan leaped to close quarters with the panther, Teeka had run quickly in -and snatched up her balu. Now she sat upon a high branch, safe out of harm’s -way, cuddling the little thing close to her hairy breast, the while her savage -little eyes bored down upon the contestants in the clearing, and her ferocious -voice urged Taug and the other bulls to leap into the melee. -</p> - -<p> -Thus goaded the bulls came closer, redoubling their hideous clamor; but Sheeta -was already sufficiently engaged—he did not even hear them. Once he succeeded -in partially dislodging the ape-man from his back, so that Tarzan swung for an -instant in front of those awful talons, and in the brief instant before he -could regain his former hold, a raking blow from a hind paw laid open one leg -from hip to knee. -</p> - -<p class="p2"> -It was the sight and smell of this blood, possibly, which wrought upon the -encircling apes; but it was Taug who really was responsible for the thing they -did. -</p> - -<p> -Taug, but a moment before filled with rage toward Tarzan of the Apes, stood -close to the battling pair, his red-rimmed, wicked little eyes glaring at them. -What was passing in his savage brain? Did he gloat over the unenviable position -of his recent tormentor? Did he long to see Sheeta’s great fangs sink into the -soft throat of the ape-man? Or did he realize the courageous unselfishness that -had prompted Tarzan to rush to the rescue and imperil his life for Teeka’s -balu—for Taug’s little balu? Is gratitude a possession of man only, or do the -lower orders know it also? -</p> - -<p> -With the spilling of Tarzan’s blood, Taug answered these questions. With all -the weight of his great body he leaped, hideously growling, upon Sheeta. His -long fighting fangs buried themselves in the white throat. His powerful arms -beat and clawed at the soft fur until it flew upward in the jungle breeze. -</p> - -<p> -And with Taug’s example before them the other bulls charged, burying Sheeta -beneath rending fangs and filling all the forest with the wild din of their -battle cries. -</p> - -<p> -Ah! but it was a wondrous and inspiring sight—this battle of the primordial -apes and the great, white ape-man with their ancestral foe, Sheeta, the -panther. -</p> - -<p> -In frenzied excitement, Teeka fairly danced upon the limb which swayed beneath -her great weight as she urged on the males of her people, and Thaka, and Mumga, -and Kamma, with the other shes of the tribe of Kerchak, added their shrill -cries or fierce barkings to the pandemonium which now reigned within the -jungle. -</p> - -<p> -Bitten and biting, tearing and torn, Sheeta battled for his life; but the odds -were against him. Even Numa, the lion, would have hesitated to have attacked an -equal number of the great bulls of the tribe of Kerchak, and now, a half mile -away, hearing the sounds of the terrific battle, the king of beasts rose -uneasily from his midday slumber and slunk off farther into the jungle. -</p> - -<p> -Presently Sheeta’s torn and bloody body ceased its titanic struggles. It -stiffened spasmodically, twitched and was still, yet the bulls continued to -lacerate it until the beautiful coat was torn to shreds. At last they desisted -from sheer physical weariness, and then from the tangle of bloody bodies rose a -crimson giant, straight as an arrow. -</p> - -<p> -He placed a foot upon the dead body of the panther, and lifting his -blood-stained face to the blue of the equatorial heavens, gave voice to the -horrid victory cry of the bull ape. -</p> - -<p> -One by one his hairy fellows of the tribe of Kerchak followed his example. The -shes came down from their perches of safety and struck and reviled the dead -body of Sheeta. The young apes refought the battle in mimicry of their mighty -elders. -</p> - -<p> -Teeka was quite close to Tarzan. He turned and saw her with the balu hugged -close to her hairy breast, and put out his hands to take the little one, -expecting that Teeka would bare her fangs and spring upon him; but instead she -placed the balu in his arms, and coming nearer, licked his frightful wounds. -</p> - -<p> -And presently Taug, who had escaped with only a few scratches, came and -squatted beside Tarzan and watched him as he played with the little balu, and -at last he too leaned over and helped Teeka with the cleansing and the healing -of the ape-man’s hurts. -</p> - -</div><!--end chapter--> - -<div class="chapter"> - -<h2><a name="chap04"></a>CHAPTER IV<br/> -The God of Tarzan</h2> - -<p> -Among the books of his dead father in the little cabin by the land-locked -harbor, Tarzan of the Apes found many things to puzzle his young head. By much -labor and through the medium of infinite patience as well, he had, without -assistance, discovered the purpose of the little bugs which ran riot upon the -printed pages. He had learned that in the many combinations in which he found -them they spoke in a silent language, spoke in a strange tongue, spoke of -wonderful things which a little ape-boy could not by any chance fully -understand, arousing his curiosity, stimulating his imagination and filling his -soul with a mighty longing for further knowledge. -</p> - -<p> -A dictionary had proven itself a wonderful storehouse of information, when, -after several years of tireless endeavor, he had solved the mystery of its -purpose and the manner of its use. He had learned to make a species of game out -of it, following up the spoor of a new thought through the mazes of the many -definitions which each new word required him to consult. It was like following -a quarry through the jungle—it was hunting, and Tarzan of the Apes was an -indefatigable huntsman. -</p> - -<p> -There were, of course, certain words which aroused his curiosity to a greater -extent than others, words which, for one reason or another, excited his -imagination. There was one, for example, the meaning of which was rather -difficult to grasp. It was the word GOD. Tarzan first had been attracted to it -by the fact that it was very short and that it commenced with a larger g-bug -than those about it—a male g-bug it was to Tarzan, the lower-case letters being -females. Another fact which attracted him to this word was the number of -he-bugs which figured in its definition—Supreme Deity, Creator or Upholder of -the Universe. This must be a very important word indeed, he would have to look -into it, and he did, though it still baffled him after many months of thought -and study. -</p> - -<p> -However, Tarzan counted no time wasted which he devoted to these strange -hunting expeditions into the game preserves of knowledge, for each word and -each definition led on and on into strange places, into new worlds where, with -increasing frequency, he met old, familiar faces. And always he added to his -store of knowledge. -</p> - -<p> -But of the meaning of GOD he was yet in doubt. Once he thought he had grasped -it—that God was a mighty chieftain, king of all the Mangani. He was not quite -sure, however, since that would mean that God was mightier than Tarzan—a point -which Tarzan of the Apes, who acknowledged no equal in the jungle, was loath to -concede. -</p> - -<p> -But in all the books he had there was no picture of God, though he found much -to confirm his belief that God was a great, an all-powerful individual. He saw -pictures of places where God was worshiped; but never any sign of God. Finally -he began to wonder if God were not of a different form than he, and at last he -determined to set out in search of Him. -</p> - -<p> -He commenced by questioning Mumga, who was very old and had seen many strange -things in her long life; but Mumga, being an ape, had a faculty for recalling -the trivial. That time when Gunto mistook a sting-bug for an edible beetle had -made more impression upon Mumga than all the innumerable manifestations of the -greatness of God which she had witnessed, and which, of course, she had not -understood. -</p> - -<p> -Numgo, overhearing Tarzan’s questions, managed to wrest his attention long -enough from the diversion of flea hunting to advance the theory that the power -which made the lightning and the rain and the thunder came from Goro, the moon. -He knew this, he said, because the Dum-Dum always was danced in the light of -Goro. This reasoning, though entirely satisfactory to Numgo and Mumga, failed -fully to convince Tarzan. However, it gave him a basis for further -investigation along a new line. He would investigate the moon. -</p> - -<p> -That night he clambered to the loftiest pinnacle of the tallest jungle giant. -The moon was full, a great, glorious, equatorial moon. The ape-man, upright -upon a slender, swaying limb, raised his bronzed face to the silver orb. Now -that he had clambered to the highest point within his reach, he discovered, to -his surprise, that Goro was as far away as when he viewed him from the ground. -He thought that Goro was attempting to elude him. -</p> - -<p> -“Come, Goro!” he cried, “Tarzan of the Apes will not harm you!” But still the -moon held aloof. -</p> - -<p> -“Tell me,” he continued, “if you be the great king who sends Ara, the -lightning; who makes the great noise and the mighty winds, and sends the waters -down upon the jungle people when the days are dark and it is cold. Tell me, -Goro, are you God?” -</p> - -<p> -Of course he did not pronounce God as you or I would pronounce His name, for -Tarzan knew naught of the spoken language of his English forbears; but he had a -name of his own invention for each of the little bugs which constituted the -alphabet. Unlike the apes he was not satisfied merely to have a mental picture -of the things he knew, he must have a word descriptive of each. In reading he -grasped a word in its entirety; but when he spoke the words he had learned from -the books of his father, he pronounced each according to the names he had given -the various little bugs which occurred in it, usually giving the gender prefix -for each. -</p> - -<p> -Thus it was an imposing word which Tarzan made of GOD. The masculine prefix of -the apes is BU, the feminine MU; g Tarzan had named LA, o he pronounced TU, and -d was MO. So the word God evolved itself into BULAMUTUMUMO, or, in English, -he-g-she-o-she-d. -</p> - -<p> -Similarly he had arrived at a strange and wonderful spelling of his own name. -Tarzan is derived from the two ape words TAR and ZAN, meaning white skin. It -was given him by his foster mother, Kala, the great she-ape. When Tarzan first -put it into the written language of his own people he had not yet chanced upon -either WHITE or SKIN in the dictionary; but in a primer he had seen the picture -of a little white boy and so he wrote his name BUMUDE-MUTOMURO, or he-boy. -</p> - -<p> -To follow Tarzan’s strange system of spelling would be laborious as well as -futile, and so we shall in the future, as we have in the past, adhere to the -more familiar forms of our grammar school copybooks. It would tire you to -remember that DO meant b, TU o, and RO y, and that to say he-boy you must -prefix the ape masculine gender sound BU before the entire word and the -feminine gender sound MU before each of the lower-case letters which go to make -up boy—it would tire you and it would bring me to the nineteenth hole several -strokes under par. -</p> - -<p> -And so Tarzan harangued the moon, and when Goro did not reply, Tarzan of the -Apes waxed wroth. He swelled his giant chest and bared his fighting fangs, and -hurled into the teeth of the dead satellite the challenge of the bull ape. -</p> - -<p> -“You are not Bulamutumumo,” he cried. “You are not king of the jungle folk. You -are not so great as Tarzan, mighty fighter, mighty hunter. None there is so -great as Tarzan. If there be a Bulamutumumo, Tarzan can kill him. Come down, -Goro, great coward, and fight with Tarzan. Tarzan will kill you. I am Tarzan, -the killer.” -</p> - -<p> -But the moon made no answer to the boasting of the ape-man, and when a cloud -came and obscured her face, Tarzan thought that Goro was indeed afraid, and was -hiding from him, so he came down out of the trees and awoke Numgo and told him -how great was Tarzan—how he had frightened Goro out of the sky and made him -tremble. Tarzan spoke of the moon as HE, for all things large or awe inspiring -are male to the ape folk. -</p> - -<p> -Numgo was not much impressed; but he was very sleepy, so he told Tarzan to go -away and leave his betters alone. -</p> - -<p> -“But where shall I find God?” insisted Tarzan. “You are very old; if there is a -God you must have seen Him. What does He look like? Where does He live?” -</p> - -<p> -“I am God,” replied Numgo. “Now sleep and disturb me no more.” -</p> - -<p> -Tarzan looked at Numgo steadily for several minutes, his shapely head sank just -a trifle between his great shoulders, his square chin shot forward and his -short upper lip drew back, exposing his white teeth. Then, with a low growl he -leaped upon the ape and buried his fangs in the other’s hairy shoulder, -clutching the great neck in his mighty fingers. Twice he shook the old ape, -then he released his tooth-hold. -</p> - -<p> -“Are you God?” he demanded. -</p> - -<p> -“No,” wailed Numgo. “I am only a poor, old ape. Leave me alone. Go ask the -Gomangani where God is. They are hairless like yourself and very wise, too. -They should know.” -</p> - -<p> -Tarzan released Numgo and turned away. The suggestion that he consult the -blacks appealed to him, and though his relations with the people of Mbonga, the -chief, were the antithesis of friendly, he could at least spy upon his hated -enemies and discover if they had intercourse with God. -</p> - -<p> -So it was that Tarzan set forth through the trees toward the village of the -blacks, all excitement at the prospect of discovering the Supreme Being, the -Creator of all things. As he traveled he reviewed, mentally, his armament—the -condition of his hunting knife, the number of his arrows, the newness of the -gut which strung his bow—he hefted the war spear which had once been the pride -of some black warrior of Mbonga’s tribe. -</p> - -<p> -If he met God, Tarzan would be prepared. One could never tell whether a grass -rope, a war spear, or a poisoned arrow would be most efficacious against an -unfamiliar foe. Tarzan of the Apes was quite content—if God wished to fight, -the ape-man had no doubt as to the outcome of the struggle. There were many -questions Tarzan wished to put to the Creator of the Universe and so he hoped -that God would not prove a belligerent God; but his experience of life and the -ways of living things had taught him that any creature with the means for -offense and defense was quite likely to provoke attack if in the proper mood. -</p> - -<p> -It was dark when Tarzan came to the village of Mbonga. As silently as the -silent shadows of the night he sought his accustomed place among the branches -of the great tree which overhung the palisade. Below him, in the village -street, he saw men and women. The men were hideously painted—more hideously -than usual. Among them moved a weird and grotesque figure, a tall figure that -went upon the two legs of a man and yet had the head of a buffalo. A tail -dangled to his ankles behind him, and in one hand he carried a zebra’s tail -while the other clutched a bunch of small arrows. -</p> - -<p> -Tarzan was electrified. Could it be that chance had given him thus early an -opportunity to look upon God? Surely this thing was neither man nor beast, so -what could it be then other than the Creator of the Universe! The ape-man -watched the every move of the strange creature. He saw the black men and women -fall back at its approach as though they stood in terror of its mysterious -powers. -</p> - -<p> -Presently he discovered that the deity was speaking and that all listened in -silence to his words. Tarzan was sure that none other than God could inspire -such awe in the hearts of the Gomangani, or stop their mouths so effectually -without recourse to arrows or spears. Tarzan had come to look with contempt -upon the blacks, principally because of their garrulity. The small apes talked -a great deal and ran away from an enemy. The big, old bulls of Kerchak talked -but little and fought upon the slightest provocation. Numa, the lion, was not -given to loquacity, yet of all the jungle folk there were few who fought more -often than he. -</p> - -<p> -Tarzan witnessed strange things that night, none of which he understood, and, -perhaps because they were strange, he thought that they must have to do with -the God he could not understand. He saw three youths receive their first war -spears in a weird ceremony which the grotesque witch-doctor strove successfully -to render uncanny and awesome. -</p> - -<p> -Hugely interested, he watched the slashing of the three brown arms and the -exchange of blood with Mbonga, the chief, in the rites of the ceremony of blood -brotherhood. He saw the zebra’s tail dipped into a caldron of water above which -the witch-doctor had made magical passes the while he danced and leaped about -it, and he saw the breasts and foreheads of each of the three novitiates -sprinkled with the charmed liquid. Could the ape-man have known the purpose of -this act, that it was intended to render the recipient invulnerable to the -attacks of his enemies and fearless in the face of any danger, he would -doubtless have leaped into the village street and appropriated the zebra’s tail -and a portion of the contents of the caldron. -</p> - -<p> -But he did not know, and so he only wondered, not alone at what he saw but at -the strange sensations which played up and down his naked spine, sensations -induced, doubtless, by the same hypnotic influence which held the black -spectators in tense awe upon the verge of a hysteric upheaval. -</p> - -<p> -The longer Tarzan watched, the more convinced he became that his eyes were upon -God, and with the conviction came determination to have word with the deity. -With Tarzan of the Apes, to think was to act. -</p> - -<p> -The people of Mbonga were keyed to the highest pitch of hysterical excitement. -They needed little to release the accumulated pressure of static nerve force -which the terrorizing mummery of the witch-doctor had induced. -</p> - -<p> -A lion roared, suddenly and loud, close without the palisade. The blacks -started nervously, dropping into utter silence as they listened for a -repetition of that all-too-familiar and always terrorizing voice. Even the -witch-doctor paused in the midst of an intricate step, remaining momentarily -rigid and statuesque as he plumbed his cunning mind for a suggestion as how -best he might take advantage of the condition of his audience and the timely -interruption. -</p> - -<p> -Already the evening had been vastly profitable to him. There would be three -goats for the initiation of the three youths into full-fledged warriorship, and -besides these he had received several gifts of grain and beads, together with a -piece of copper wire from admiring and terrified members of his audience. -</p> - -<p> -Numa’s roar still reverberated along taut nerves when a woman’s laugh, shrill -and piercing, shattered the silence of the village. It was this moment that -Tarzan chose to drop lightly from his tree into the village street. Fearless -among his blood enemies he stood, taller by a full head than many of Mbonga’s -warriors, straight as their straightest arrow, muscled like Numa, the lion. -</p> - -<p> -For a moment Tarzan stood looking straight at the witch-doctor. Every eye was -upon him, yet no one had moved—a paralysis of terror held them, to be broken a -moment later as the ape-man, with a toss of head, stepped straight toward the -hideous figure beneath the buffalo head. -</p> - -<p> -Then the nerves of the blacks could stand no more. For months the terror of the -strange, white, jungle god had been upon them. Their arrows had been stolen -from the very center of the village; their warriors had been silently slain -upon the jungle trails and their dead bodies dropped mysteriously and by night -into the village street as from the heavens above. -</p> - -<p> -One or two there were who had glimpsed the strange figure of the new demon and -it was from their oft-repeated descriptions that the entire village now -recognized Tarzan as the author of many of their ills. Upon another occasion -and by daylight, the warriors would doubtless have leaped to attack him, but at -night, and this night of all others, when they were wrought to such a pitch of -nervous dread by the uncanny artistry of their witch-doctor, they were helpless -with terror. As one man they turned and fled, scattering for their huts, as -Tarzan advanced. For a moment one and one only held his ground. It was the -witch-doctor. More than half self-hypnotized into a belief in his own -charlatanry he faced this new demon who threatened to undermine his ancient and -lucrative profession. -</p> - -<p class="p2"> -“Are you God?” asked Tarzan. -</p> - -<p> -The witch-doctor, having no idea of the meaning of the other’s words, danced a -few strange steps, leaped high in the air, turning completely around and -alighting in a stooping posture with feet far outspread and head thrust out -toward the ape-man. Thus he remained for an instant before he uttered a loud -“Boo!” which was evidently intended to frighten Tarzan away; but in reality had -no such effect. -</p> - -<p> -Tarzan did not pause. He had set out to approach and examine God and nothing -upon earth might now stay his feet. Seeing that his antics had no potency with -the visitor, the witch-doctor tried some new medicine. Spitting upon the -zebra’s tail, which he still clutched in one hand, he made circles above it -with the arrows in the other hand, meanwhile backing cautiously away from -Tarzan and speaking confidentially to the bushy end of the tail. -</p> - -<p> -This medicine must be short medicine, however, for the creature, god or demon, -was steadily closing up the distance which had separated them. The circles -therefore were few and rapid, and when they were completed, the witch-doctor -struck an attitude which was intended to be awe inspiring and waving the -zebra’s tail before him, drew an imaginary line between himself and Tarzan. -</p> - -<p> -“Beyond this line you cannot pass, for my medicine is strong medicine,” he -cried. “Stop, or you will fall dead as your foot touches this spot. My mother -was a voodoo, my father was a snake; I live upon lions’ hearts and the entrails -of the panther; I eat young babies for breakfast and the demons of the jungle -are my slaves. I am the most powerful witch-doctor in the world; I fear -nothing, for I cannot die. I—” But he got no further; instead he turned and -fled as Tarzan of the Apes crossed the magical dead line and still lived. -</p> - -<p> -As the witch-doctor ran, Tarzan almost lost his temper. This was no way for God -to act, at least not in accordance with the conception Tarzan had come to have -of God. -</p> - -<p> -“Come back!” he cried. “Come back, God, I will not harm you.” But the -witch-doctor was in full retreat by this time, stepping high as he leaped over -cooking pots and the smoldering embers of small fires that had burned before -the huts of villagers. Straight for his own hut ran the witch-doctor, -terror-spurred to unwonted speed; but futile was his effort—the ape-man bore -down upon him with the speed of Bara, the deer. -</p> - -<p> -Just at the entrance to his hut the witch-doctor was overhauled. A heavy hand -fell upon his shoulder to drag him back. It seized upon a portion of the -buffalo hide, dragging the disguise from him. It was a naked black man that -Tarzan saw dodge into the darkness of the hut’s interior. -</p> - -<p> -So this was what he had thought was God! Tarzan’s lip curled in an angry snarl -as he leaped into the hut after the terror-stricken witch-doctor. In the -blackness within he found the man huddled at the far side and dragged him forth -into the comparative lightness of the moonlit night. -</p> - -<p> -The witch-doctor bit and scratched in an attempt to escape; but a few cuffs -across the head brought him to a better realization of the futility of -resistance. Beneath the moon Tarzan held the cringing figure upon its shaking -feet. -</p> - -<p> -“So you are God!” he cried. “If you be God, then Tarzan is greater than God,” -and so the ape-man thought. “I am Tarzan,” he shouted into the ear of the -black. “In all the jungle, or above it, or upon the running waters, or the -sleeping waters, or upon the big water, or the little water, there is none so -great as Tarzan. Tarzan is greater than the Mangani; he is greater than the -Gomangani. With his own hands he has slain Numa, the lion, and Sheeta, the -panther; there is none so great as Tarzan. Tarzan is greater than God. See!” -and with a sudden wrench he twisted the black’s neck until the fellow shrieked -in pain and then slumped to the earth in a swoon. -</p> - -<p> -Placing his foot upon the neck of the fallen witch-doctor, the ape-man raised -his face to the moon and uttered the long, shrill scream of the victorious bull -ape. Then he stooped and snatched the zebra’s tail from the nerveless fingers -of the unconscious man and without a backward glance retraced his footsteps -across the village. -</p> - -<p> -From several hut doorways frightened eyes watched him. Mbonga, the chief, was -one of those who had seen what passed before the hut of the witch-doctor. -Mbonga was greatly concerned. Wise old patriarch that he was, he never had more -than half believed in witch-doctors, at least not since greater wisdom had come -with age; but as a chief he was well convinced of the power of the witch-doctor -as an arm of government, and often it was that Mbonga used the superstitious -fears of his people to his own ends through the medium of the medicine-man. -</p> - -<p> -Mbonga and the witch-doctor had worked together and divided the spoils, and now -the “face” of the witch-doctor would be lost forever if any saw what Mbonga had -seen; nor would this generation again have as much faith in any future -witch-doctor. -</p> - -<p> -Mbonga must do something to counteract the evil influence of the forest demon’s -victory over the witch-doctor. He raised his heavy spear and crept silently -from his hut in the wake of the retreating ape-man. Down the village street -walked Tarzan, as unconcerned and as deliberate as though only the friendly -apes of Kerchak surrounded him instead of a village full of armed enemies. -</p> - -<p> -Seeming only was the indifference of Tarzan, for alert and watchful was every -well-trained sense. Mbonga, wily stalker of keen-eared jungle creatures, moved -now in utter silence. Not even Bara, the deer, with his great ears could have -guessed from any sound that Mbonga was near; but the black was not stalking -Bara; he was stalking man, and so he sought only to avoid noise. -</p> - -<p> -Closer and closer to the slowly moving ape-man he came. Now he raised his war -spear, throwing his spear-hand far back above his right shoulder. Once and for -all would Mbonga, the chief, rid himself and his people of the menace of this -terrifying enemy. He would make no poor cast; he would take pains, and he would -hurl his weapon with such great force as would finish the demon forever. -</p> - -<p> -But Mbonga, sure as he thought himself, erred in his calculations. He might -believe that he was stalking a man—he did not know, however, that it was a man -with the delicate sense perception of the lower orders. Tarzan, when he had -turned his back upon his enemies, had noted what Mbonga never would have -thought of considering in the hunting of man—the wind. It was blowing in the -same direction that Tarzan was proceeding, carrying to his delicate nostrils -the odors which arose behind him. Thus it was that Tarzan knew that he was -being followed, for even among the many stenches of an African village, the -ape-man’s uncanny faculty was equal to the task of differentiating one stench -from another and locating with remarkable precision the source from whence it -came. -</p> - -<p> -He knew that a man was following him and coming closer, and his judgment warned -him of the purpose of the stalker. When Mbonga, therefore, came within spear -range of the ape-man, the latter suddenly wheeled upon him, so suddenly that -the poised spear was shot a fraction of a second before Mbonga had intended. It -went a trifle high and Tarzan stooped to let it pass over his head; then he -sprang toward the chief. But Mbonga did not wait to receive him. Instead, he -turned and fled for the dark doorway of the nearest hut, calling as he went for -his warriors to fall upon the stranger and slay him. -</p> - -<p> -Well indeed might Mbonga scream for help, for Tarzan, young and fleet-footed, -covered the distance between them in great leaps, at the speed of a charging -lion. He was growling, too, not at all unlike Numa himself. Mbonga heard and -his blood ran cold. He could feel the wool stiffen upon his pate and a prickly -chill run up his spine, as though Death had come and run his cold finger along -Mbonga’s back. -</p> - -<p> -Others heard, too, and saw, from the darkness of their huts—bold warriors, -hideously painted, grasping heavy war spears in nerveless fingers. Against -Numa, the lion, they would have charged fearlessly. Against many times their -own number of black warriors would they have raced to the protection of their -chief; but this weird jungle demon filled them with terror. There was nothing -human in the bestial growls that rumbled up from his deep chest; there was -nothing human in the bared fangs, or the catlike leaps. -</p> - -<p> -Mbonga’s warriors were terrified—too terrified to leave the seeming security of -their huts while they watched the beast-man spring full upon the back of their -old chieftain. -</p> - -<p> -Mbonga went down with a scream of terror. He was too frightened even to attempt -to defend himself. He just lay beneath his antagonist in a paralysis of fear, -screaming at the top of his lungs. Tarzan half rose and kneeled above the -black. He turned Mbonga over and looked him in the face, exposing the man’s -throat, then he drew his long, keen knife, the knife that John Clayton, Lord -Greystoke, had brought from England many years before. He raised it close above -Mbonga’s neck. The old black whimpered with terror. He pleaded for his life in -a tongue which Tarzan could not understand. -</p> - -<p> -For the first time the ape-man had a close view of the chief. He saw an old -man, a very old man with scrawny neck and wrinkled face—a dried, parchment-like -face which resembled some of the little monkeys Tarzan knew so well. He saw the -terror in the man’s eyes—never before had Tarzan seen such terror in the eyes -of any animal, or such a piteous appeal for mercy upon the face of any -creature. -</p> - -<p> -Something stayed the ape-man’s hand for an instant. He wondered why it was that -he hesitated to make the kill; never before had he thus delayed. The old man -seemed to wither and shrink to a bag of puny bones beneath his eyes. So weak -and helpless and terror-stricken he appeared that the ape-man was filled with a -great contempt; but another sensation also claimed him—something new to Tarzan -of the Apes in relation to an enemy. It was pity—pity for a poor, frightened, -old man. -</p> - -<p> -Tarzan rose and turned away, leaving Mbonga, the chief, unharmed. -</p> - -<p> -With head held high the ape-man walked through the village, swung himself into -the branches of the tree which overhung the palisade and disappeared from the -sight of the villagers. -</p> - -<p> -All the way back to the stamping ground of the apes, Tarzan sought for an -explanation of the strange power which had stayed his hand and prevented him -from slaying Mbonga. It was as though someone greater than he had commanded him -to spare the life of the old man. Tarzan could not understand, for he could -conceive of nothing, or no one, with the authority to dictate to him what he -should do, or what he should refrain from doing. -</p> - -<p> -It was late when Tarzan sought a swaying couch among the trees beneath which -slept the apes of Kerchak, and he was still absorbed in the solution of his -strange problem when he fell asleep. -</p> - -<p> -The sun was well up in the heavens when he awoke. The apes were astir in search -of food. Tarzan watched them lazily from above as they scratched in the rotting -loam for bugs and beetles and grubworms, or sought among the branches of the -trees for eggs and young birds, or luscious caterpillars. -</p> - -<p> -An orchid, dangling close beside his head, opened slowly, unfolding its -delicate petals to the warmth and light of the sun which but recently had -penetrated to its shady retreat. A thousand times had Tarzan of the Apes -witnessed the beauteous miracle; but now it aroused a keener interest, for the -ape-man was just commencing to ask himself questions about all the myriad -wonders which heretofore he had but taken for granted. -</p> - -<p> -What made the flower open? What made it grow from a tiny bud to a full-blown -bloom? Why was it at all? Why was he? Where did Numa, the lion, come from? Who -planted the first tree? How did Goro get way up into the darkness of the night -sky to cast his welcome light upon the fearsome nocturnal jungle? And the sun! -Did the sun merely happen there? -</p> - -<p> -Why were all the peoples of the jungle not trees? Why were the trees not -something else? Why was Tarzan different from Taug, and Taug different from -Bara, the deer, and Bara different from Sheeta, the panther, and why was not -Sheeta like Buto, the rhinoceros? Where and how, anyway, did they all come -from—the trees, the flowers, the insects, the countless creatures of the -jungle? -</p> - -<p> -Quite unexpectedly an idea popped into Tarzan’s head. In following out the many -ramifications of the dictionary definition of GOD he had come upon the word -CREATE—“to cause to come into existence; to form out of nothing.” -</p> - -<p> -Tarzan almost had arrived at something tangible when a distant wail startled -him from his preoccupation into sensibility of the present and the real. The -wail came from the jungle at some little distance from Tarzan’s swaying couch. -It was the wail of a tiny balu. Tarzan recognized it at once as the voice of -Gazan, Teeka’s baby. They had called it Gazan because its soft, baby hair had -been unusually red, and GAZAN in the language of the great apes, means red -skin. -</p> - -<p> -The wail was immediately followed by a real scream of terror from the small -lungs. Tarzan was electrified into instant action. Like an arrow from a bow he -shot through the trees in the direction of the sound. Ahead of him he heard the -savage snarling of an adult she-ape. It was Teeka to the rescue. The danger -must be very real. Tarzan could tell that by the note of rage mingled with fear -in the voice of the she. -</p> - -<p> -Running along bending limbs, swinging from one tree to another, the ape-man -raced through the middle terraces toward the sounds which now had risen in -volume to deafening proportions. From all directions the apes of Kerchak were -hurrying in response to the appeal in the tones of the balu and its mother, and -as they came, their roars reverberated through the forest. -</p> - -<p> -But Tarzan, swifter than his heavy fellows, distanced them all. It was he who -was first upon the scene. What he saw sent a cold chill through his giant -frame, for the enemy was the most hated and loathed of all the jungle -creatures. -</p> - -<p> -Twined in a great tree was Histah, the snake—huge, ponderous, slimy—and in the -folds of its deadly embrace was Teeka’s little balu, Gazan. Nothing in the -jungle inspired within the breast of Tarzan so near a semblance to fear as did -the hideous Histah. The apes, too, loathed the terrifying reptile and feared -him even more than they did Sheeta, the panther, or Numa, the lion. Of all -their enemies there was none they gave a wider berth than they gave Histah, the -snake. -</p> - -<p> -Tarzan knew that Teeka was peculiarly fearful of this silent, repulsive foe, -and as the scene broke upon his vision, it was the action of Teeka which filled -him with the greatest wonder, for at the moment that he saw her, the she-ape -leaped upon the glistening body of the snake, and as the mighty folds encircled -her as well as her offspring, she made no effort to escape, but instead grasped -the writhing body in a futile effort to tear it from her screaming balu. -</p> - -<p> -Tarzan knew all too well how deep-rooted was Teeka’s terror of Histah. He -scarce could believe the testimony of his own eyes then, when they told him -that she had voluntarily rushed into that deadly embrace. Nor was Teeka’s -innate dread of the monster much greater than Tarzan’s own. Never, willingly, -had he touched a snake. Why, he could not say, for he would admit fear of -nothing; nor was it fear, but rather an inherent repulsion bequeathed to him by -many generations of civilized ancestors, and back of them, perhaps, by -countless myriads of such as Teeka, in the breasts of each of which had lurked -the same nameless terror of the slimy reptile. -</p> - -<p> -Yet Tarzan did not hesitate more than had Teeka, but leaped upon Histah with -all the speed and impetuosity that he would have shown had he been springing -upon Bara, the deer, to make a kill for food. Thus beset the snake writhed and -twisted horribly; but not for an instant did it loose its hold upon any of its -intended victims, for it had included the ape-man in its cold embrace the -minute that he had fallen upon it. -</p> - -<p> -Still clinging to the tree, the mighty reptile held the three as though they -had been without weight, the while it sought to crush the life from them. -Tarzan had drawn his knife and this he now plunged rapidly into the body of the -enemy; but the encircling folds promised to sap his life before he had -inflicted a death wound upon the snake. Yet on he fought, nor once did he seek -to escape the horrid death that confronted him—his sole aim was to slay Histah -and thus free Teeka and her balu. -</p> - -<p> -The great, wide-gaping jaws of the snake turned and hovered above him. The -elastic maw, which could accommodate a rabbit or a horned buck with equal -facility, yawned for him; but Histah, in turning his attention upon the -ape-man, brought his head within reach of Tarzan’s blade. Instantly a brown -hand leaped forth and seized the mottled neck, and another drove the heavy -hunting knife to the hilt into the little brain. -</p> - -<p> -Convulsively Histah shuddered and relaxed, tensed and relaxed again, whipping -and striking with his great body; but no longer sentient or sensible. Histah -was dead, but in his death throes he might easily dispatch a dozen apes or men. -</p> - -<p> -Quickly Tarzan seized Teeka and dragged her from the loosened embrace, dropping -her to the ground beneath, then he extricated the balu and tossed it to its -mother. Still Histah whipped about, clinging to the ape-man; but after a dozen -efforts Tarzan succeeded in wriggling free and leaping to the ground out of -range of the mighty battering of the dying snake. -</p> - -<p> -A circle of apes surrounded the scene of the battle; but the moment that Tarzan -broke safely from the enemy they turned silently away to resume their -interrupted feeding, and Teeka turned with them, apparently forgetful of all -but her balu and the fact that when the interruption had occurred she just had -discovered an ingeniously hidden nest containing three perfectly good eggs. -</p> - -<p> -Tarzan, equally indifferent to a battle that was over, merely cast a parting -glance at the still writhing body of Histah and wandered off toward the little -pool which served to water the tribe at this point. Strangely, he did not give -the victory cry over the vanquished Histah. Why, he could not have told you, -other than that to him Histah was not an animal. He differed in some peculiar -way from the other denizens of the jungle. Tarzan only knew that he hated him. -</p> - -<p> -At the pool Tarzan drank his fill and lay stretched upon the soft grass beneath -the shade of a tree. His mind reverted to the battle with Histah, the snake. It -seemed strange to him that Teeka should have placed herself within the folds of -the horrid monster. Why had she done it? Why, indeed, had he? Teeka did not -belong to him, nor did Teeka’s balu. They were both Taug’s. Why then had he -done this thing? Histah was not food for him when he was dead. There seemed to -Tarzan, now that he gave the matter thought, no reason in the world why he -should have done the thing he did, and presently it occurred to him that he had -acted almost involuntarily, just as he had acted when he had released the old -Gomangani the previous evening. -</p> - -<p> -What made him do such things? Somebody more powerful than he must force him to -act at times. “All-powerful,” thought Tarzan. “The little bugs say that God is -all-powerful. It must be that God made me do these things, for I never did them -by myself. It was God who made Teeka rush upon Histah. Teeka would never go -near Histah of her own volition. It was God who held my knife from the throat -of the old Gomangani. God accomplishes strange things for he is ‘all-powerful.’ -I cannot see Him; but I know that it must be God who does these things. No -Mangani, no Gomangani, no Tarmangani could do them.” -</p> - -<p> -And the flowers—who made them grow? Ah, now it was all explained—the flowers, -the trees, the moon, the sun, himself, every living creature in the jungle—they -were all made by God out of nothing. -</p> - -<p> -And what was God? What did God look like? Of that he had no conception; but he -was sure that everything that was good came from God. His good act in -refraining from slaying the poor, defenseless old Gomangani; Teeka’s love that -had hurled her into the embrace of death; his own loyalty to Teeka which had -jeopardized his life that she might live. The flowers and the trees were good -and beautiful. God had made them. He made the other creatures, too, that each -might have food upon which to live. He had made Sheeta, the panther, with his -beautiful coat; and Numa, the lion, with his noble head and his shaggy mane. He -had made Bara, the deer, lovely and graceful. -</p> - -<p> -Yes, Tarzan had found God, and he spent the whole day in attributing to Him all -of the good and beautiful things of nature; but there was one thing which -troubled him. He could not quite reconcile it to his conception of his -new-found God. -</p> - -<p> -Who made Histah, the snake? -</p> - -</div><!--end chapter--> - -<div class="chapter"> - -<h2><a name="chap05"></a>CHAPTER V<br/> -Tarzan and the Black Boy</h2> - -<p> -Tarzan of the Apes sat at the foot of a great tree braiding a new grass rope. -Beside him lay the frayed remnants of the old one, torn and severed by the -fangs and talons of Sheeta, the panther. Only half the original rope was there, -the balance having been carried off by the angry cat as he bounded away through -the jungle with the noose still about his savage neck and the loose end -dragging among the underbrush. -</p> - -<p> -Tarzan smiled as he recalled Sheeta’s great rage, his frantic efforts to free -himself from the entangling strands, his uncanny screams that were part hate, -part anger, part terror. He smiled in retrospection at the discomfiture of his -enemy, and in anticipation of another day as he added an extra strand to his -new rope. -</p> - -<p> -This would be the strongest, the heaviest rope that Tarzan of the Apes ever had -fashioned. Visions of Numa, the lion, straining futilely in its embrace -thrilled the ape-man. He was quite content, for his hands and his brain were -busy. Content, too, were his fellows of the tribe of Kerchak, searching for -food in the clearing and the surrounding trees about him. No perplexing -thoughts of the future burdened their minds, and only occasionally, dimly arose -recollections of the near past. They were stimulated to a species of brutal -content by the delectable business of filling their bellies. Afterward they -would sleep—it was their life, and they enjoyed it as we enjoy ours, you and -I—as Tarzan enjoyed his. Possibly they enjoyed theirs more than we enjoy ours, -for who shall say that the beasts of the jungle do not better fulfill the -purposes for which they are created than does man with his many excursions into -strange fields and his contraventions of the laws of nature? And what gives -greater content and greater happiness than the fulfilling of a destiny? -</p> - -<p> -As Tarzan worked, Gazan, Teeka’s little balu, played about him while Teeka -sought food upon the opposite side of the clearing. No more did Teeka, the -mother, or Taug, the sullen sire, harbor suspicions of Tarzan’s intentions -toward their first-born. Had he not courted death to save their Gazan from the -fangs and talons of Sheeta? Did he not fondle and cuddle the little one with -even as great a show of affection as Teeka herself displayed? Their fears were -allayed and Tarzan now found himself often in the role of nursemaid to a tiny -anthropoid—an avocation which he found by no means irksome, since Gazan was a -never-failing fount of surprises and entertainment. -</p> - -<p> -Just now the apeling was developing those arboreal tendencies which were to -stand him in such good stead during the years of his youth, when rapid flight -into the upper terraces was of far more importance and value than his -undeveloped muscles and untried fighting fangs. Backing off fifteen or twenty -feet from the bole of the tree beneath the branches of which Tarzan worked upon -his rope, Gazan scampered quickly forward, scrambling nimbly upward to the -lower limbs. Here he would squat for a moment or two, quite proud of his -achievement, then clamber to the ground again and repeat. Sometimes, quite -often in fact, for he was an ape, his attention was distracted by other things, -a beetle, a caterpillar, a tiny field mouse, and off he would go in pursuit; -the caterpillars he always caught, and sometimes the beetles; but the field -mice, never. -</p> - -<p> -Now he discovered the tail of the rope upon which Tarzan was working. Grasping -it in one small hand he bounced away, for all the world like an animated rubber -ball, snatching it from the ape-man’s hand and running off across the clearing. -Tarzan leaped to his feet and was in pursuit in an instant, no trace of anger -on his face or in his voice as he called to the roguish little balu to drop his -rope. -</p> - -<p> -Straight toward his mother raced Gazan, and after him came Tarzan. Teeka looked -up from her feeding, and in the first instant that she realized that Gazan was -fleeing and that another was in pursuit, she bared her fangs and bristled; but -when she saw that the pursuer was Tarzan she turned back to the business that -had been occupying her attention. At her very feet the ape-man overhauled the -balu and, though the youngster squealed and fought when Tarzan seized him, -Teeka only glanced casually in their direction. No longer did she fear harm to -her first-born at the hands of the ape-man. Had he not saved Gazan on two -occasions? -</p> - -<p> -Rescuing his rope, Tarzan returned to his tree and resumed his labor; but -thereafter it was necessary to watch carefully the playful balu, who was now -possessed to steal it whenever he thought his great, smooth-skinned cousin was -momentarily off his guard. -</p> - -<p> -But even under this handicap Tarzan finally completed the rope, a long, pliant -weapon, stronger than any he ever had made before. The discarded piece of his -former one he gave to Gazan for a plaything, for Tarzan had it in his mind to -instruct Teeka’s balu after ideas of his own when the youngster should be old -and strong enough to profit by his precepts. At present the little ape’s innate -aptitude for mimicry would be sufficient to familiarize him with Tarzan’s ways -and weapons, and so the ape-man swung off into the jungle, his new rope coiled -over one shoulder, while little Gazan hopped about the clearing dragging the -old one after him in childish glee. -</p> - -<p> -As Tarzan traveled, dividing his quest for food with one for a sufficiently -noble quarry whereupon to test his new weapon, his mind often was upon Gazan. -The ape-man had realized a deep affection for Teeka’s balu almost from the -first, partly because the child belonged to Teeka, his first love, and partly -for the little ape’s own sake, and Tarzan’s human longing for some sentient -creature upon which to expend those natural affections of the soul which are -inherent to all normal members of the GENUS HOMO. Tarzan envied Teeka. It was -true that Gazan evidenced a considerable reciprocation of Tarzan’s fondness for -him, even preferring him to his own surly sire; but to Teeka the little one -turned when in pain or terror, when tired or hungry. Then it was that Tarzan -felt quite alone in the world and longed desperately for one who should turn -first to him for succor and protection. -</p> - -<p> -Taug had Teeka; Teeka had Gazan; and nearly every other bull and cow of the -tribe of Kerchak had one or more to love and by whom to be loved. Of course -Tarzan could scarcely formulate the thought in precisely this way—he only knew -that he craved something which was denied him; something which seemed to be -represented by those relations which existed between Teeka and her balu, and so -he envied Teeka and longed for a balu of his own. -</p> - -<p> -He saw Sheeta and his mate with their little family of three; and deeper inland -toward the rocky hills, where one might lie up during the heat of the day, in -the dense shade of a tangled thicket close under the cool face of an -overhanging rock, Tarzan had found the lair of Numa, the lion, and of Sabor, -the lioness. Here he had watched them with their little balus—playful -creatures, spotted leopard-like. And he had seen the young fawn with Bara, the -deer, and with Buto, the rhinoceros, its ungainly little one. Each of the -creatures of the jungle had its own—except Tarzan. It made the ape-man sad to -think upon this thing, sad and lonely; but presently the scent of game cleared -his young mind of all other considerations, as catlike he crawled far out upon -a bending limb above the game trail which led down to the ancient watering -place of the wild things of this wild world. -</p> - -<p> -How many thousands of times had this great, old limb bent to the savage form of -some blood-thirsty hunter in the long years that it had spread its leafy -branches above the deep-worn jungle path! Tarzan, the ape-man, Sheeta, the -panther, and Histah, the snake, it knew well. They had worn smooth the bark -upon its upper surface. -</p> - -<p> -Today it was Horta, the boar, which came down toward the watcher in the old -tree—Horta, the boar, whose formidable tusks and diabolical temper preserved -him from all but the most ferocious or most famished of the largest carnivora. -</p> - -<p> -But to Tarzan, meat was meat; naught that was edible or tasty might pass a -hungry Tarzan unchallenged and unattacked. In hunger, as in battle, the ape-man -out-savaged the dreariest denizens of the jungle. He knew neither fear nor -mercy, except upon rare occasions when some strange, inexplicable force stayed -his hand—a force inexplicable to him, perhaps, because of his ignorance of his -own origin and of all the forces of humanitarianism and civilization that were -his rightful heritage because of that origin. -</p> - -<p> -So today, instead of staying his hand until a less formidable feast found its -way toward him, Tarzan dropped his new noose about the neck of Horta, the boar. -It was an excellent test for the untried strands. The angered boar bolted this -way and that; but each time the new rope held him where Tarzan had made it fast -about the stem of the tree above the branch from which he had cast it. -</p> - -<p> -As Horta grunted and charged, slashing the sturdy jungle patriarch with his -mighty tusks until the bark flew in every direction, Tarzan dropped to the -ground behind him. In the ape-man’s hand was the long, keen blade that had been -his constant companion since that distant day upon which chance had directed -its point into the body of Bolgani, the gorilla, and saved the torn and -bleeding man-child from what else had been certain death. -</p> - -<p> -Tarzan walked in toward Horta, who swung now to face his enemy. Mighty and -muscled as was the young giant, it yet would have appeared but the maddest -folly for him to face so formidable a creature as Horta, the boar, armed only -with a slender hunting knife. So it would have seemed to one who knew Horta -even slightly and Tarzan not at all. -</p> - -<p> -For a moment Horta stood motionless facing the ape-man. His wicked, deep-set -eyes flashed angrily. He shook his lowered head. -</p> - -<p> -“Mud-eater!” jeered the ape-man. “Wallower in filth. Even your meat stinks, but -it is juicy and makes Tarzan strong. Today I shall eat your heart, O Lord of -the Great Tusks, that it shall keep savage that which pounds against my own -ribs.” -</p> - -<p> -Horta, understanding nothing of what Tarzan said, was none the less enraged -because of that. He saw only a naked man-thing, hairless and futile, pitting -his puny fangs and soft muscles against his own indomitable savagery, and he -charged. -</p> - -<p> -Tarzan of the Apes waited until the upcut of a wicked tusk would have laid open -his thigh, then he moved—just the least bit to one side; but so quickly that -lightning was a sluggard by comparison, and as he moved, he stooped low and -with all the great power of his right arm drove the long blade of his father’s -hunting knife straight into the heart of Horta, the boar. A quick leap carried -him from the zone of the creature’s death throes, and a moment later the hot -and dripping heart of Horta was in his grasp. -</p> - -<p> -His hunger satisfied, Tarzan did not seek a lying-up place for sleep, as was -sometimes his way, but continued on through the jungle more in search of -adventure than of food, for today he was restless. And so it came that he -turned his footsteps toward the village of Mbonga, the black chief, whose -people Tarzan had baited remorselessly since that day upon which Kulonga, the -chief’s son, had slain Kala. -</p> - -<p> -A river winds close beside the village of the black men. Tarzan reached its -side a little below the clearing where squat the thatched huts of the Negroes. -The river life was ever fascinating to the ape-man. He found pleasure in -watching the ungainly antics of Duro, the hippopotamus, and keen sport in -tormenting the sluggish crocodile, Gimla, as he basked in the sun. Then, too, -there were the shes and the balus of the black men of the Gomangani to frighten -as they squatted by the river, the shes with their meager washing, the balus -with their primitive toys. -</p> - -<p> -This day he came upon a woman and her child farther down stream than usual. The -former was searching for a species of shellfish which was to be found in the -mud close to the river bank. She was a young black woman of about thirty. Her -teeth were filed to sharp points, for her people ate the flesh of man. Her -under lip was slit that it might support a rude pendant of copper which she had -worn for so many years that the lip had been dragged downward to prodigious -lengths, exposing the teeth and gums of her lower jaw. Her nose, too, was slit, -and through the slit was a wooden skewer. Metal ornaments dangled from her -ears, and upon her forehead and cheeks; upon her chin and the bridge of her -nose were tattooings in colors that were mellowed now by age. She was naked -except for a girdle of grasses about her waist. Altogether she was very -beautiful in her own estimation and even in the estimation of the men of -Mbonga’s tribe, though she was of another people—a trophy of war seized in her -maidenhood by one of Mbonga’s fighting men. -</p> - -<p> -Her child was a boy of ten, lithe, straight and, for a black, handsome. Tarzan -looked upon the two from the concealing foliage of a near-by bush. He was about -to leap forth before them with a terrifying scream, that he might enjoy the -spectacle of their terror and their incontinent flight; but of a sudden a new -whim seized him. Here was a balu fashioned as he himself was fashioned. Of -course this one’s skin was black; but what of it? Tarzan had never seen a white -man. In so far as he knew, he was the sole representative of that strange form -of life upon the earth. The black boy should make an excellent balu for Tarzan, -since he had none of his own. He would tend him carefully, feed him well, -protect him as only Tarzan of the Apes could protect his own, and teach him out -of his half human, half bestial lore the secrets of the jungle from its rotting -surface vegetation to the high tossed pinnacles of the forest’s upper terraces. -</p> - -<p> -* * * -</p> - -<p> -Tarzan uncoiled his rope, and shook out the noose. The two before him, all -ignorant of the near presence of that terrifying form, continued preoccupied in -the search for shellfish, poking about in the mud with short sticks. -</p> - -<p> -Tarzan stepped from the jungle behind them; his noose lay open upon the ground -beside him. There was a quick movement of the right arm and the noose rose -gracefully into the air, hovered an instant above the head of the unsuspecting -youth, then settled. As it encompassed his body below the shoulders, Tarzan -gave a quick jerk that tightened it about the boy’s arms, pinioning them to his -sides. A scream of terror broke from the lad’s lips, and as his mother turned, -affrighted at his cry, she saw him being dragged quickly toward a great white -giant who stood just beneath the shade of a near-by tree, scarcely a dozen long -paces from her. -</p> - -<p> -With a savage cry of terror and rage, the woman leaped fearlessly toward the -ape-man. In her mien Tarzan saw determination and courage which would shrink -not even from death itself. She was very hideous and frightful even when her -face was in repose; but convulsed by passion, her expression became -terrifyingly fiendish. Even the ape-man drew back, but more in revulsion than -fear—fear he knew not. -</p> - -<p> -Biting and kicking was the black she’s balu as Tarzan tucked him beneath his -arm and vanished into the branches hanging low above him, just as the -infuriated mother dashed forward to seize and do battle with him. And as he -melted away into the depth of the jungle with his still struggling prize, he -meditated upon the possibilities which might lie in the prowess of the -Gomangani were the hes as formidable as the shes. -</p> - -<p> -Once at a safe distance from the despoiled mother and out of earshot of her -screams and menaces, Tarzan paused to inspect his prize, now so thoroughly -terrorized that he had ceased his struggles and his outcries. -</p> - -<p> -The frightened child rolled his eyes fearfully toward his captor, until the -whites showed gleaming all about the irises. -</p> - -<p> -“I am Tarzan,” said the ape-man, in the vernacular of the anthropoids. “I will -not harm you. You are to be Tarzan’s balu. Tarzan will protect you. He will -feed you. The best in the jungle shall be for Tarzan’s balu, for Tarzan is a -mighty hunter. None need you fear, not even Numa, the lion, for Tarzan is a -mighty fighter. None so great as Tarzan, son of Kala. Do not fear.” -</p> - -<p> -But the child only whimpered and trembled, for he did not understand the tongue -of the great apes, and the voice of Tarzan sounded to him like the barking and -growling of a beast. Then, too, he had heard stories of this bad, white forest -god. It was he who had slain Kulonga and others of the warriors of Mbonga, the -chief. It was he who entered the village stealthily, by magic, in the darkness -of the night, to steal arrows and poison, and frighten the women and the -children and even the great warriors. Doubtless this wicked god fed upon little -boys. Had his mother not said as much when he was naughty and she threatened to -give him to the white god of the jungle if he were not good? Little black Tibo -shook as with ague. -</p> - -<p> -“Are you cold, Go-bu-balu?” asked Tarzan, using the simian equivalent of black -he-baby in lieu of a better name. “The sun is hot; why do you shiver?” -</p> - -<p> -Tibo could not understand; but he cried for his mamma and begged the great, -white god to let him go, promising always to be a good boy thereafter if his -plea were granted. Tarzan shook his head. Not a word could he understand. This -would never do! He must teach Go-bu-balu a language which sounded like talk. It -was quite certain to Tarzan that Go-bu-balu’s speech was not talk at all. It -sounded quite as senseless as the chattering of the silly birds. It would be -best, thought the ape-man, quickly to get him among the tribe of Kerchak where -he would hear the Mangani talking among themselves. Thus he would soon learn an -intelligible form of speech. -</p> - -<p> -Tarzan rose to his feet upon the swaying branch where he had halted far above -the ground, and motioned to the child to follow him; but Tibo only clung -tightly to the bole of the tree and wept. Being a boy, and a native African, he -had, of course, climbed into trees many times before this; but the idea of -racing off through the forest, leaping from one branch to another, as his -captor, to his horror, had done when he had carried Tibo away from his mother, -filled his childish heart with terror. -</p> - -<p> -Tarzan sighed. His newly acquired balu had much indeed to learn. It was pitiful -that a balu of his size and strength should be so backward. He tried to coax -Tibo to follow him; but the child dared not, so Tarzan picked him up and -carried him upon his back. Tibo no longer scratched or bit. Escape seemed -impossible. Even now, were he set upon the ground, the chance was remote, he -knew, that he could find his way back to the village of Mbonga, the chief. Even -if he could, there were the lions and the leopards and the hyenas, any one of -which, as Tibo was well aware, was particularly fond of the meat of little -black boys. -</p> - -<p> -So far the terrible white god of the jungle had offered him no harm. He could -not expect even this much consideration from the frightful, green-eyed -man-eaters. It would be the lesser of two evils, then, to let the white god -carry him away without scratching and biting, as he had done at first. -</p> - -<p> -As Tarzan swung rapidly through the trees, little Tibo closed his eyes in -terror rather than look longer down into the frightful abysses beneath. Never -before in all his life had Tibo been so frightened, yet as the white giant sped -on with him through the forest there stole over the child an inexplicable -sensation of security as he saw how true were the leaps of the ape-man, how -unerring his grasp upon the swaying limbs which gave him hand-hold, and then, -too, there was safety in the middle terraces of the forest, far above the reach -of the dreaded lions. -</p> - -<p> -And so Tarzan came to the clearing where the tribe fed, dropping among them -with his new balu clinging tightly to his shoulders. He was fairly in the midst -of them before Tibo spied a single one of the great hairy forms, or before the -apes realized that Tarzan was not alone. When they saw the little Gomangani -perched upon his back some of them came forward in curiosity with upcurled lips -and snarling mien. -</p> - -<p> -An hour before little Tibo would have said that he knew the uttermost depths of -fear; but now, as he saw these fearsome beasts surrounding him, he realized -that all that had gone before was as nothing by comparison. Why did the great -white giant stand there so unconcernedly? Why did he not flee before these -horrid, hairy, tree men fell upon them both and tore them to pieces? And then -there came to Tibo a numbing recollection. It was none other than the story he -had heard passed from mouth to mouth, fearfully, by the people of Mbonga, the -chief, that this great white demon of the jungle was naught other than a -hairless ape, for had not he been seen in company with these? -</p> - -<p> -Tibo could only stare in wide-eyed horror at the approaching apes. He saw their -beetling brows, their great fangs, their wicked eyes. He noted their mighty -muscles rolling beneath their shaggy hides. Their every attitude and expression -was a menace. Tarzan saw this, too. He drew Tibo around in front of him. -</p> - -<p> -“This is Tarzan’s Go-bu-balu,” he said. “Do not harm him, or Tarzan will kill -you,” and he bared his own fangs in the teeth of the nearest ape. -</p> - -<p> -“It is a Gomangani,” replied the ape. “Let me kill it. It is a Gomangani. The -Gomangani are our enemies. Let me kill it.” -</p> - -<p> -“Go away,” snarled Tarzan. “I tell you, Gunto, it is Tarzan’s balu. Go away or -Tarzan will kill you,” and the ape-man took a step toward the advancing ape. -</p> - -<p> -The latter sidled off, quite stiff and haughty, after the manner of a dog which -meets another and is too proud to fight and too fearful to turn his back and -run. -</p> - -<p> -Next came Teeka, prompted by curiosity. At her side skipped little Gazan. They -were filled with wonder like the others; but Teeka did not bare her fangs. -Tarzan saw this and motioned that she approach. -</p> - -<p> -“Tarzan has a balu now,” he said. “He and Teeka’s balu can play together.” -</p> - -<p> -“It is a Gomangani,” replied Teeka. “It will kill my balu. Take it away, -Tarzan.” -</p> - -<p> -Tarzan laughed. “It could not harm Pamba, the rat,” he said. “It is but a -little balu and very frightened. Let Gazan play with it.” -</p> - -<p> -Teeka still was fearful, for with all their mighty ferocity the great -anthropoids are timid; but at last, assured by her great confidence in Tarzan, -she pushed Gazan forward toward the little black boy. The small ape, guided by -instinct, drew back toward its mother, baring its small fangs and screaming in -mingled fear and rage. -</p> - -<p> -Tibo, too, showed no signs of desiring a closer acquaintance with Gazan, so -Tarzan gave up his efforts for the time. -</p> - -<p> -During the week which followed, Tarzan found his time much occupied. His balu -was a greater responsibility than he had counted upon. Not for a moment did he -dare leave it, since of all the tribe, Teeka alone could have been depended -upon to refrain from slaying the hapless black had it not been for Tarzan’s -constant watchfulness. When the ape-man hunted, he must carry Go-bu-balu about -with him. It was irksome, and then the little black seemed so stupid and -fearful to Tarzan. It was quite helpless against even the lesser of the jungle -creatures. Tarzan wondered how it had survived at all. He tried to teach it, -and found a ray of hope in the fact that Go-bu-balu had mastered a few words of -the language of the anthropoids, and that he could now cling to a high-tossed -branch without screaming in fear; but there was something about the child which -worried Tarzan. He often had watched the blacks within their village. He had -seen the children playing, and always there had been much laughter; but little -Go-bu-balu never laughed. It was true that Tarzan himself never laughed. Upon -occasion he smiled, grimly, but to laughter he was a stranger. The black, -however, should have laughed, reasoned the ape-man. It was the way of the -Gomangani. -</p> - -<p> -Also, he saw that the little fellow often refused food and was growing thinner -day by day. At times he surprised the boy sobbing softly to himself. Tarzan -tried to comfort him, even as fierce Kala had comforted Tarzan when the ape-man -was a balu, but all to no avail. Go-bu-balu merely no longer feared Tarzan—that -was all. He feared every other living thing within the jungle. He feared the -jungle days with their long excursions through the dizzy tree tops. He feared -the jungle nights with their swaying, perilous couches far above the ground, -and the grunting and coughing of the great carnivora prowling beneath him. -</p> - -<p> -Tarzan did not know what to do. His heritage of English blood rendered it a -difficult thing even to consider a surrender of his project, though he was -forced to admit to himself that his balu was not all that he had hoped. Though -he was faithful to his self-imposed task, and even found that he had grown to -like Go-bu-balu, he could not deceive himself into believing that he felt for -it that fierce heat of passionate affection which Teeka revealed for Gazan, and -which the black mother had shown for Go-bu-balu. -</p> - -<p> -The little black boy from cringing terror at the sight of Tarzan passed by -degrees into trustfulness and admiration. Only kindness had he ever received at -the hands of the great white devil-god, yet he had seen with what ferocity his -kindly captor could deal with others. He had seen him leap upon a certain -he-ape which persisted in attempting to seize and slay Go-bu-balu. He had seen -the strong, white teeth of the ape-man fastened in the neck of his adversary, -and the mighty muscles tensed in battle. He had heard the savage, bestial -snarls and roars of combat, and he had realized with a shudder that he could -not differentiate between those of his guardian and those of the hairy ape. -</p> - -<p> -He had seen Tarzan bring down a buck, just as Numa, the lion, might have done, -leaping upon its back and fastening his fangs in the creature’s neck. Tibo had -shuddered at the sight, but he had thrilled, too, and for the first time there -entered his dull, Negroid mind a vague desire to emulate his savage foster -parent. But Tibo, the little black boy, lacked the divine spark which had -permitted Tarzan, the white boy, to benefit by his training in the ways of the -fierce jungle. In imagination he was wanting, and imagination is but another -name for super-intelligence. -</p> - -<p> -Imagination it is which builds bridges, and cities, and empires. The beasts -know it not, the blacks only a little, while to one in a hundred thousand of -earth’s dominant race it is given as a gift from heaven that man may not perish -from the earth. -</p> - -<p> -While Tarzan pondered his problem concerning the future of his balu, Fate was -arranging to take the matter out of his hands. Momaya, Tibo’s mother, -grief-stricken at the loss of her boy, had consulted the tribal witch-doctor, -but to no avail. The medicine he made was not good medicine, for though Momaya -paid him two goats for it, it did not bring back Tibo, nor even indicate where -she might search for him with reasonable assurance of finding him. Momaya, -being of a short temper and of another people, had little respect for the -witch-doctor of her husband’s tribe, and so, when he suggested that a further -payment of two more fat goats would doubtless enable him to make stronger -medicine, she promptly loosed her shrewish tongue upon him, and with such good -effect that he was glad to take himself off with his zebra’s tail and his pot -of magic. -</p> - -<p> -When he had gone and Momaya had succeeded in partially subduing her anger, she -gave herself over to thought, as she so often had done since the abduction of -her Tibo, in the hope that she finally might discover some feasible means of -locating him, or at least assuring herself as to whether he were alive or dead. -</p> - -<p> -It was known to the blacks that Tarzan did not eat the flesh of man, for he had -slain more than one of their number, yet never tasted the flesh of any. Too, -the bodies always had been found, sometimes dropping as though from the clouds -to alight in the center of the village. As Tibo’s body had not been found, -Momaya argued that he still lived, but where? -</p> - -<p> -Then it was that there came to her mind a recollection of Bukawai, the unclean, -who dwelt in a cave in the hillside to the north, and who it was well known -entertained devils in his evil lair. Few, if any, had the temerity to visit old -Bukawai, firstly because of fear of his black magic and the two hyenas who -dwelt with him and were commonly known to be devils masquerading, and secondly -because of the loathsome disease which had caused Bukawai to be an outcast—a -disease which was slowly eating away his face. -</p> - -<p> -Now it was that Momaya reasoned shrewdly that if any might know the whereabouts -of her Tibo, it would be Bukawai, who was in friendly intercourse with gods and -demons, since a demon or a god it was who had stolen her baby; but even her -great mother love was sorely taxed to find the courage to send her forth into -the black jungle toward the distant hills and the uncanny abode of Bukawai, the -unclean, and his devils. -</p> - -<p> -Mother love, however, is one of the human passions which closely approximates -to the dignity of an irresistible force. It drives the frail flesh of weak -women to deeds of heroic measure. Momaya was neither frail nor weak, -physically, but she was a woman, an ignorant, superstitious, African savage. -She believed in devils, in black magic, and in witchcraft. To Momaya, the -jungle was inhabited by far more terrifying things than lions and -leopards—horrifying, nameless things which possessed the power of wreaking -frightful harm under various innocent guises. -</p> - -<p> -From one of the warriors of the village, whom she knew to have once stumbled -upon the lair of Bukawai, the mother of Tibo learned how she might find it—near -a spring of water which rose in a small rocky cañon between two hills, the -easternmost of which was easily recognizable because of a huge granite boulder -which rested upon its summit. The westerly hill was lower than its companion, -and was quite bare of vegetation except for a single mimosa tree which grew -just a little below its summit. -</p> - -<p> -These two hills, the man assured her, could be seen for some distance before -she reached them, and together formed an excellent guide to her destination. He -warned her, however, to abandon so foolish and dangerous an adventure, -emphasizing what she already quite well knew, that if she escaped harm at the -hands of Bukawai and his demons, the chances were that she would not be so -fortunate with the great carnivora of the jungle through which she must pass -going and returning. -</p> - -<p> -The warrior even went to Momaya’s husband, who, in turn, having little -authority over the vixenish lady of his choice, went to Mbonga, the chief. The -latter summoned Momaya, threatening her with the direst punishment should she -venture forth upon so unholy an excursion. The old chief’s interest in the -matter was due solely to that age-old alliance which exists between church and -state. The local witch-doctor, knowing his own medicine better than any other -knew it, was jealous of all other pretenders to accomplishments in the black -art. He long had heard of the power of Bukawai, and feared lest, should he -succeed in recovering Momaya’s lost child, much of the tribal patronage and -consequent fees would be diverted to the unclean one. As Mbonga received, as -chief, a certain proportion of the witch-doctor’s fees and could expect nothing -from Bukawai, his heart and soul were, quite naturally, wrapped up in the -orthodox church. -</p> - -<p> -But if Momaya could view with intrepid heart an excursion into the jungle and a -visit to the fear-haunted abode of Bukawai, she was not likely to be deterred -by threats of future punishment at the hands of old Mbonga, whom she secretly -despised. Yet she appeared to accede to his injunctions, returning to her hut -in silence. -</p> - -<p> -She would have preferred starting upon her quest by day-light, but this was now -out of the question, since she must carry food and a weapon of some sort—things -which she never could pass out of the village with by day without being -subjected to curious questioning that surely would come immediately to the ears -of Mbonga. -</p> - -<p> -So Momaya bided her time until night, and just before the gates of the village -were closed, she slipped through into the darkness and the jungle. She was much -frightened, but she set her face resolutely toward the north, and though she -paused often to listen, breathlessly, for the huge cats which, here, were her -greatest terror, she nevertheless continued her way staunchly for several -hours, until a low moan a little to her right and behind her brought her to a -sudden stop. -</p> - -<p> -With palpitating heart the woman stood, scarce daring to breathe, and then, -very faintly but unmistakable to her keen ears, came the stealthy crunching of -twigs and grasses beneath padded feet. -</p> - -<p> -All about Momaya grew the giant trees of the tropical jungle, festooned with -hanging vines and mosses. She seized upon the nearest and started to clamber, -apelike, to the branches above. As she did so, there was a sudden rush of a -great body behind her, a menacing roar that caused the earth to tremble, and -something crashed into the very creepers to which she was clinging—but below -her. -</p> - -<p> -Momaya drew herself to safety among the leafy branches and thanked the -foresight which had prompted her to bring along the dried human ear which hung -from a cord about her neck. She always had known that that ear was good -medicine. It had been given her, when a girl, by the witch-doctor of her town -tribe, and was nothing like the poor, weak medicine of Mbonga’s witch-doctor. -</p> - -<p> -All night Momaya clung to her perch, for although the lion sought other prey -after a short time, she dared not descend into the darkness again, for fear she -might encounter him or another of his kind; but at daylight she clambered down -and resumed her way. -</p> - -<p> -Tarzan of the Apes, finding that his balu never ceased to give evidence of -terror in the presence of the apes of the tribe, and also that most of the -adult apes were a constant menace to Go-bu-balu’s life, so that Tarzan dared -not leave him alone with them, took to hunting with the little black boy -farther and farther from the stamping grounds of the anthropoids. -</p> - -<p class="p2"> -Little by little his absences from the tribe grew in length as he wandered -farther away from them, until finally he found himself a greater distance to -the north than he ever before had hunted, and with water and ample game and -fruit, he felt not at all inclined to return to the tribe. -</p> - -<p> -Little Go-bu-balu gave evidences of a greater interest in life, an interest -which varied in direct proportion to the distance he was from the apes of -Kerchak. He now trotted along behind Tarzan when the ape-man went upon the -ground, and in the trees he even did his best to follow his mighty foster -parent. The boy was still sad and lonely. His thin, little body had grown -steadily thinner since he had come among the apes, for while, as a young -cannibal, he was not overnice in the matter of diet, he found it not always to -his taste to stomach the weird things which tickled the palates of epicures -among the apes. -</p> - -<p> -His large eyes were very large indeed now, his cheeks sunken, and every rib of -his emaciated body plainly discernible to whomsoever should care to count them. -Constant terror, perhaps, had had as much to do with his physical condition as -had improper food. Tarzan noticed the change and was worried. He had hoped to -see his balu wax sturdy and strong. His disappointment was great. In only one -respect did Go-bu-balu seem to progress—he readily was mastering the language -of the apes. Even now he and Tarzan could converse in a fairly satisfactory -manner by supplementing the meager ape speech with signs; but for the most -part, Go-bu-balu was silent other than to answer questions put to him. His -great sorrow was yet too new and too poignant to be laid aside even -momentarily. Always he pined for Momaya—shrewish, hideous, repulsive, perhaps, -she would have been to you or me, but to Tibo she was mamma, the -personification of that one great love which knows no selfishness and which -does not consume itself in its own fires. -</p> - -<p> -As the two hunted, or rather as Tarzan hunted and Go-bu-balu tagged along in -his wake, the ape-man noticed many things and thought much. Once they came upon -Sabor moaning in the tall grasses. About her romped and played two little balls -of fur, but her eyes were for one which lay between her great forepaws and did -not romp, one who never would romp again. -</p> - -<p> -Tarzan read aright the anguish and the suffering of the huge mother cat. He had -been minded to bait her. It was to do this that he had sneaked silently through -the trees until he had come almost above her, but something held the ape-man as -he saw the lioness grieving over her dead cub. With the acquisition of -Go-bu-balu, Tarzan had come to realize the responsibilities and sorrows of -parentage, without its joys. His heart went out to Sabor as it might not have -done a few weeks before. As he watched her, there rose quite unbidden before -him a vision of Momaya, the skewer through the septum of her nose, her -pendulous under lip sagging beneath the weight which dragged it down. Tarzan -saw not her unloveliness; he saw only the same anguish that was Sabor’s, and he -winced. That strange functioning of the mind which sometimes is called -association of ideas snapped Teeka and Gazan before the ape-man’s mental -vision. What if one should come and take Gazan from Teeka. Tarzan uttered a low -and ominous growl as though Gazan were his own. Go-bu-balu glanced here and -there apprehensively, thinking that Tarzan had espied an enemy. Sabor sprang -suddenly to her feet, her yellow-green eyes blazing, her tail lashing as she -cocked her ears, and raising her muzzle, sniffed the air for possible danger. -The two little cubs, which had been playing, scampered quickly to her, and -standing beneath her, peered out from between her forelegs, their big ears -upstanding, their little heads cocked first upon one side and then upon the -other. -</p> - -<p> -With a shake of his black shock, Tarzan turned away and resumed his hunting in -another direction; but all day there rose one after another, above the -threshold of his objective mind, memory portraits of Sabor, of Momaya, and of -Teeka—a lioness, a cannibal, and a she-ape, yet to the ape-man they were -identical through motherhood. -</p> - -<p> -It was noon of the third day when Momaya came within sight of the cave of -Bukawai, the unclean. The old witch-doctor had rigged a framework of interlaced -boughs to close the mouth of the cave from predatory beasts. This was now set -to one side, and the black cavern beyond yawned mysterious and repellent. -Momaya shivered as from a cold wind of the rainy season. No sign of life -appeared about the cave, yet Momaya experienced that uncanny sensation as of -unseen eyes regarding her malevolently. Again she shuddered. She tried to force -her unwilling feet onward toward the cave, when from its depths issued an -uncanny sound that was neither brute nor human, a weird sound that was akin to -mirthless laughter. -</p> - -<p> -With a stifled scream, Momaya turned and fled into the jungle. For a hundred -yards she ran before she could control her terror, and then she paused, -listening. Was all her labor, were all the terrors and dangers through which -she had passed to go for naught? She tried to steel herself to return to the -cave, but again fright overcame her. -</p> - -<p> -Saddened, disheartened, she turned slowly upon the back trail toward the -village of Mbonga. Her young shoulders now were drooped like those of an old -woman who bears a great burden of many years with their accumulated pains and -sorrows, and she walked with tired feet and a halting step. The spring of youth -was gone from Momaya. -</p> - -<p> -For another hundred yards she dragged her weary way, her brain half paralyzed -from dumb terror and suffering, and then there came to her the memory of a -little babe that suckled at her breast, and of a slim boy who romped, laughing, -about her, and they were both Tibo—her Tibo! -</p> - -<p> -Her shoulders straightened. She shook her savage head, and she turned about and -walked boldly back to the mouth of the cave of Bukawai, the unclean—of Bukawai, -the witch-doctor. -</p> - -<p> -Again, from the interior of the cave came the hideous laughter that was not -laughter. This time Momaya recognized it for what it was, the strange cry of a -hyena. No more did she shudder, but she held her spear ready and called aloud -to Bukawai to come out. -</p> - -<p> -Instead of Bukawai came the repulsive head of a hyena. Momaya poked at it with -her spear, and the ugly, sullen brute drew back with an angry growl. Again -Momaya called Bukawai by name, and this time there came an answer in mumbling -tones that were scarce more human than those of the beast. -</p> - -<p> -“Who comes to Bukawai?” queried the voice. -</p> - -<p> -“It is Momaya,” replied the woman; “Momaya from the village of Mbonga, the -chief. -</p> - -<p> -“What do you want?” -</p> - -<p> -“I want good medicine, better medicine than Mbonga’s witch-doctor can make,” -replied Momaya. “The great, white, jungle god has stolen my Tibo, and I want -medicine to bring him back, or to find where he is hidden that I may go and get -him.” -</p> - -<p> -“Who is Tibo?” asked Bukawai. -</p> - -<p> -Momaya told him. -</p> - -<p> -“Bukawai’s medicine is very strong,” said the voice. “Five goats and a new -sleeping mat are scarce enough in exchange for Bukawai’s medicine.” -</p> - -<p> -“Two goats are enough,” said Momaya, for the spirit of barter is strong in the -breasts of the blacks. -</p> - -<p> -The pleasure of haggling over the price was a sufficiently potent lure to draw -Bukawai to the mouth of the cave. Momaya was sorry when she saw him that he had -not remained within. There are some things too horrible, too hideous, too -repulsive for description—Bukawai’s face was of these. When Momaya saw him she -understood why it was that he was almost inarticulate. -</p> - -<p> -Beside him were two hyenas, which rumor had said were his only and constant -companions. They made an excellent trio—the most repulsive of beasts with the -most repulsive of humans. -</p> - -<p> -“Five goats and a new sleeping mat,” mumbled Bukawai. -</p> - -<p> -“Two fat goats and a sleeping mat.” Momaya raised her bid; but Bukawai was -obdurate. He stuck for the five goats and the sleeping mat for a matter of half -an hour, while the hyenas sniffed and growled and laughed hideously. Momaya was -determined to give all that Bukawai asked if she could do no better, but -haggling is second nature to black barterers, and in the end it partly repaid -her, for a compromise finally was reached which included three fat goats, a new -sleeping mat, and a piece of copper wire. -</p> - -<p> -“Come back tonight,” said Bukawai, “when the moon is two hours in the sky. Then -will I make the strong medicine which shall bring Tibo back to you. Bring with -you the three fat goats, the new sleeping mat, and the piece of copper wire the -length of a large man’s forearm.” -</p> - -<p> -“I cannot bring them,” said Momaya. “You will have to come after them. When you -have restored Tibo to me, you shall have them all at the village of Mbonga.” -</p> - -<p> -Bukawai shook his head. -</p> - -<p> -“I will make no medicine,” he said, “until I have the goats and the mat and the -copper wire.” -</p> - -<p> -Momaya pleaded and threatened, but all to no avail. Finally, she turned away -and started off through the jungle toward the village of Mbonga. How she could -get three goats and a sleeping mat out of the village and through the jungle to -the cave of Bukawai, she did not know, but that she would do it somehow she was -quite positive—she would do it or die. Tibo must be restored to her. -</p> - -<p> -Tarzan coming lazily through the jungle with little Go-bu-balu, caught the -scent of Bara, the deer. Tarzan hungered for the flesh of Bara. Naught tickled -his palate so greatly; but to stalk Bara with Go-bu-balu at his heels, was out -of the question, so he hid the child in the crotch of a tree where the thick -foliage screened him from view, and set off swiftly and silently upon the spoor -of Bara. -</p> - -<p> -Tibo alone was more terrified than Tibo even among the apes. Real and apparent -dangers are less disconcerting than those which we imagine, and only the gods -of his people knew how much Tibo imagined. -</p> - -<p> -He had been but a short time in his hiding place when he heard something -approaching through the jungle. He crouched closer to the limb upon which he -lay and prayed that Tarzan would return quickly. His wide eyes searched the -jungle in the direction of the moving creature. -</p> - -<p> -What if it was a leopard that had caught his scent! It would be upon him in a -minute. Hot tears flowed from the large eyes of little Tibo. The curtain of -jungle foliage rustled close at hand. The thing was but a few paces from his -tree! His eyes fairly popped from his black face as he watched for the -appearance of the dread creature which presently would thrust a snarling -countenance from between the vines and creepers. -</p> - -<p> -And then the curtain parted and a woman stepped into full view. With a gasping -cry, Tibo tumbled from his perch and raced toward her. Momaya suddenly started -back and raised her spear, but a second later she cast it aside and caught the -thin body in her strong arms. -</p> - -<p> -Crushing it to her, she cried and laughed all at one and the same time, and hot -tears of joy, mingled with the tears of Tibo, trickled down the crease between -her naked breasts. -</p> - -<p> -Disturbed by the noise so close at hand, there arose from his sleep in a -near-by thicket Numa, the lion. He looked through the tangled underbrush and -saw the black woman and her young. He licked his chops and measured the -distance between them and himself. A short charge and a long leap would carry -him upon them. He flicked the end of his tail and sighed. -</p> - -<p> -A vagrant breeze, swirling suddenly in the wrong direction, carried the scent -of Tarzan to the sensitive nostrils of Bara, the deer. There was a startled -tensing of muscles and cocking of ears, a sudden dash, and Tarzan’s meat was -gone. The ape-man angrily shook his head and turned back toward the spot where -he had left Go-bu-balu. He came softly, as was his way. Before he reached the -spot he heard strange sounds—the sound of a woman laughing and of a woman -weeping, and the two which seemed to come from one throat were mingled with the -convulsive sobbing of a child. Tarzan hastened, and when Tarzan hastened, only -the birds and the wind went faster. -</p> - -<p> -And as Tarzan approached the sounds, he heard another, a deep sigh. Momaya did -not hear it, nor did Tibo; but the ears of Tarzan were as the ears of Bara, the -deer. He heard the sigh, and he knew, so he unloosed the heavy spear which -dangled at his back. Even as he sped through the branches of the trees, with -the same ease that you or I might take out a pocket handkerchief as we strolled -nonchalantly down a lazy country lane, Tarzan of the Apes took the spear from -its thong that it might be ready against any emergency. -</p> - -<p> -Numa, the lion, did not rush madly to attack. He reasoned again, and reason -told him that already the prey was his, so he pushed his great bulk through the -foliage and stood eyeing his meat with baleful, glaring eyes. -</p> - -<p> -Momaya saw him and shrieked, drawing Tibo closer to her breast. To have found -her child and to lose him, all in a moment! She raised her spear, throwing her -hand far back of her shoulder. Numa roared and stepped slowly forward. Momaya -cast her weapon. It grazed the tawny shoulder, inflicting a flesh wound which -aroused all the terrific bestiality of the carnivore, and the lion charged. -</p> - -<p> -Momaya tried to close her eyes, but could not. She saw the flashing swiftness -of the huge, oncoming death, and then she saw something else. She saw a mighty, -naked white man drop as from the heavens into the path of the charging lion. -She saw the muscles of a great arm flash in the light of the equatorial sun as -it filtered, dappling, through the foliage above. She saw a heavy hunting spear -hurtle through the air to meet the lion in midleap. -</p> - -<p> -Numa brought up upon his haunches, roaring terribly and striking at the spear -which protruded from his breast. His great blows bent and twisted the weapon. -Tarzan, crouching and with hunting knife in hand, circled warily about the -frenzied cat. Momaya, wide-eyed, stood rooted to the spot, watching, -fascinated. -</p> - -<p> -In sudden fury Numa hurled himself toward the ape-man, but the wiry creature -eluded the blundering charge, side-stepping quickly only to rush in upon his -foe. Twice the hunting blade flashed in the air. Twice it fell upon the back of -Numa, already weakening from the spear point so near his heart. The second -stroke of the blade pierced far into the beast’s spine, and with a last -convulsive sweep of the fore-paws, in a vain attempt to reach his tormentor, -Numa sprawled upon the ground, paralyzed and dying. -</p> - -<p> -Bukawai, fearful lest he should lose any recompense, followed Momaya with the -intention of persuading her to part with her ornaments of copper and iron -against her return with the price of the medicine—to pay, as it were, for an -option on his services as one pays a retaining fee to an attorney, for, like an -attorney, Bukawai knew the value of his medicine and that it was well to -collect as much as possible in advance. -</p> - -<p> -The witch-doctor came upon the scene as Tarzan leaped to meet the lion’s -charge. He saw it all and marveled, guessing immediately that this must be the -strange white demon concerning whom he had heard vague rumors before Momaya -came to him. -</p> - -<p> -Momaya, now that the lion was past harming her or hers, gazed with new terror -upon Tarzan. It was he who had stolen her Tibo. Doubtless he would attempt to -steal him again. Momaya hugged the boy close to her. She was determined to die -this time rather than suffer Tibo to be taken from her again. -</p> - -<p> -Tarzan eyed them in silence. The sight of the boy clinging, sobbing, to his -mother aroused within his savage breast a melancholy loneliness. There was none -thus to cling to Tarzan, who yearned so for the love of someone, of something. -</p> - -<p> -At last Tibo looked up, because of the quiet that had fallen upon the jungle, -and saw Tarzan. He did not shrink. -</p> - -<p> -“Tarzan,” he said, in the speech of the great apes of the tribe of Kerchak, “do -not take me from Momaya, my mother. Do not take me again to the lair of the -hairy, tree men, for I fear Taug and Gunto and the others. Let me stay with -Momaya, O Tarzan, God of the Jungle! Let me stay with Momaya, my mother, and to -the end of our days we will bless you and put food before the gates of the -village of Mbonga that you may never hunger.” -</p> - -<p> -Tarzan sighed. -</p> - -<p> -“Go,” he said, “back to the village of Mbonga, and Tarzan will follow to see -that no harm befalls you.” -</p> - -<p> -Tibo translated the words to his mother, and the two turned their backs upon -the ape-man and started off toward home. In the heart of Momaya was a great -fear and a great exultation, for never before had she walked with God, and -never had she been so happy. She strained little Tibo to her, stroking his thin -cheek. Tarzan saw and sighed again. -</p> - -<p> -“For Teeka there is Teeka’s balu,” he soliloquized; “for Sabor there are balus, -and for the she-Gomangani, and for Bara, and for Manu, and even for Pamba, the -rat; but for Tarzan there can be none—neither a she nor a balu. Tarzan of the -Apes is a man, and it must be that man walks alone.” -</p> - -<p> -Bukawai saw them go, and he mumbled through his rotting face, swearing a great -oath that he would yet have the three fat goats, the new sleeping mat, and the -bit of copper wire. -</p> - -</div><!--end chapter--> - -<div class="chapter"> - -<h2><a name="chap06"></a>CHAPTER VI<br/> -The Witch-Doctor Seeks Vengeance</h2> - -<p> -Lord Greystoke was hunting, or, to be more accurate, he was shooting pheasants -at Chamston-Hedding. Lord Greystoke was immaculately and appropriately -garbed—to the minutest detail he was vogue. To be sure, he was among the -forward guns, not being considered a sporting shot, but what he lacked in skill -he more than made up in appearance. At the end of the day he would, doubtless, -have many birds to his credit, since he had two guns and a smart loader—many -more birds than he could eat in a year, even had he been hungry, which he was -not, having but just arisen from the breakfast table. -</p> - -<p> -The beaters—there were twenty-three of them, in white smocks—had but just -driven the birds into a patch of gorse, and were now circling to the opposite -side that they might drive down toward the guns. Lord Greystoke was quite as -excited as he ever permitted himself to become. There was an exhilaration in -the sport that would not be denied. He felt his blood tingling through his -veins as the beaters approached closer and closer to the birds. In a vague and -stupid sort of way Lord Greystoke felt, as he always felt upon such occasions, -that he was experiencing a sensation somewhat akin to a reversion to a -prehistoric type—that the blood of an ancient forbear was coursing hot through -him, a hairy, half-naked forbear who had lived by the hunt. -</p> - -<p> -And far away in a matted equatorial jungle another Lord Greystoke, the real -Lord Greystoke, hunted. By the standards which he knew, he, too, was -vogue—utterly vogue, as was the primal ancestor before the first eviction. The -day being sultry, the leopard skin had been left behind. The real Lord -Greystoke had not two guns, to be sure, nor even one, neither did he have a -smart loader; but he possessed something infinitely more efficacious than guns, -or loaders, or even twenty-three beaters in white smocks—he possessed an -appetite, an uncanny woodcraft, and muscles that were as steel springs. -</p> - -<p> -Later that day, in England, a Lord Greystoke ate bountifully of things he had -not killed, and he drank other things which were uncorked to the accompaniment -of much noise. He patted his lips with snowy linen to remove the faint traces -of his repast, quite ignorant of the fact that he was an impostor and that the -rightful owner of his noble title was even then finishing his own dinner in -far-off Africa. He was not using snowy linen, though. Instead he drew the back -of a brown forearm and hand across his mouth and wiped his bloody fingers upon -his thighs. Then he moved slowly through the jungle to the drinking place, -where, upon all fours, he drank as drank his fellows, the other beasts of the -jungle. -</p> - -<p> -As he quenched his thirst, another denizen of the gloomy forest approached the -stream along the path behind him. It was Numa, the lion, tawny of body and -black of mane, scowling and sinister, rumbling out low, coughing roars. Tarzan -of the Apes heard him long before he came within sight, but the ape-man went on -with his drinking until he had had his fill; then he arose, slowly, with the -easy grace of a creature of the wilds and all the quiet dignity that was his -birthright. -</p> - -<p> -Numa halted as he saw the man standing at the very spot where the king would -drink. His jaws were parted, and his cruel eyes gleamed. He growled and -advanced slowly. The man growled, too, backing slowly to one side, and -watching, not the lion’s face, but its tail. Should that commence to move from -side to side in quick, nervous jerks, it would be well to be upon the alert, -and should it rise suddenly erect, straight and stiff, then one might prepare -to fight or flee; but it did neither, so Tarzan merely backed away and the lion -came down and drank scarce fifty feet from where the man stood. -</p> - -<p> -Tomorrow they might be at one another’s throats, but today there existed one of -those strange and inexplicable truces which so often are seen among the savage -ones of the jungle. Before Numa had finished drinking, Tarzan had returned into -the forest, and was swinging away in the direction of the village of Mbonga, -the black chief. -</p> - -<p> -It had been at least a moon since the ape-man had called upon the Gomangani. -Not since he had restored little Tibo to his grief-stricken mother had the whim -seized him to do so. The incident of the adopted balu was a closed one to -Tarzan. He had sought to find something upon which to lavish such an affection -as Teeka lavished upon her balu, but a short experience of the little black boy -had made it quite plain to the ape-man that no such sentiment could exist -between them. -</p> - -<p> -The fact that he had for a time treated the little black as he might have -treated a real balu of his own had in no way altered the vengeful sentiments -with which he considered the murderers of Kala. The Gomangani were his deadly -enemies, nor could they ever be aught else. Today he looked forward to some -slight relief from the monotony of his existence in such excitement as he might -derive from baiting the blacks. -</p> - -<p> -It was not yet dark when he reached the village and took his place in the great -tree overhanging the palisade. From beneath came a great wailing out of the -depths of a near-by hut. The noise fell disagreeably upon Tarzan’s ears—it -jarred and grated. He did not like it, so he decided to go away for a while in -the hopes that it might cease; but though he was gone for a couple of hours the -wailing still continued when he returned. -</p> - -<p> -With the intention of putting a violent termination to the annoying sound, -Tarzan slipped silently from the tree into the shadows beneath. Creeping -stealthily and keeping well in the cover of other huts, he approached that from -which rose the sounds of lamentation. A fire burned brightly before the doorway -as it did before other doorways in the village. A few females squatted about, -occasionally adding their own mournful howlings to those of the master artist -within. -</p> - -<p> -The ape-man smiled a slow smile as he thought of the consternation which would -follow the quick leap that would carry him among the females and into the full -light of the fire. Then he would dart into the hut during the excitement, -throttle the chief screamer, and be gone into the jungle before the blacks -could gather their scattered nerves for an assault. -</p> - -<p> -Many times had Tarzan behaved similarly in the village of Mbonga, the chief. -His mysterious and unexpected appearances always filled the breasts of the -poor, superstitious blacks with the panic of terror; never, it seemed, could -they accustom themselves to the sight of him. It was this terror which lent to -the adventures the spice of interest and amusement which the human mind of the -ape-man craved. Merely to kill was not in itself sufficient. Accustomed to the -sight of death, Tarzan found no great pleasure in it. Long since had he avenged -the death of Kala, but in the accomplishment of it, he had learned the -excitement and the pleasure to be derived from the baiting of the blacks. Of -this he never tired. -</p> - -<p> -It was just as he was about to spring forward with a savage roar that a figure -appeared in the doorway of the hut. It was the figure of the wailer whom he had -come to still, the figure of a young woman with a wooden skewer through the -split septum of her nose, with a heavy metal ornament depending from her lower -lip, which it had dragged down to hideous and repulsive deformity, with strange -tattooing upon forehead, cheeks, and breasts, and a wonderful coiffure built up -with mud and wire. -</p> - -<p> -A sudden flare of the fire threw the grotesque figure into high relief, and -Tarzan recognized her as Momaya, the mother of Tibo. The fire also threw out a -fitful flame which carried to the shadows where Tarzan lurked, picking out his -light brown body from the surrounding darkness. Momaya saw him and knew him. -With a cry, she leaped forward and Tarzan came to meet her. The other women, -turning, saw him, too; but they did not come toward him. Instead they rose as -one, shrieked as one, fled as one. -</p> - -<p> -Momaya threw herself at Tarzan’s feet, raising supplicating hands toward him -and pouring forth from her mutilated lips a perfect cataract of words, not one -of which the ape-man comprehended. For a moment he looked down upon the -upturned, frightful face of the woman. He had come to slay, but that -overwhelming torrent of speech filled him with consternation and with awe. He -glanced about him apprehensively, then back at the woman. A revulsion of -feeling seized him. He could not kill little Tibo’s mother, nor could he stand -and face this verbal geyser. With a quick gesture of impatience at the spoiling -of his evening’s entertainment, he wheeled and leaped away into the darkness. A -moment later he was swinging through the black jungle night, the cries and -lamentations of Momaya growing fainter in the distance. -</p> - -<p> -It was with a sigh of relief that he finally reached a point from which he -could no longer hear them, and finding a comfortable crotch high among the -trees, composed himself for a night of dreamless slumber, while a prowling lion -moaned and coughed beneath him, and in far-off England the other Lord -Greystoke, with the assistance of a valet, disrobed and crawled between -spotless sheets, swearing irritably as a cat meowed beneath his window. -</p> - -<p> -As Tarzan followed the fresh spoor of Horta, the boar, the following morning, -he came upon the tracks of two Gomangani, a large one and a small one. The -ape-man, accustomed as he was to questioning closely all that fell to his -perceptions, paused to read the story written in the soft mud of the game -trail. You or I would have seen little of interest there, even if, by chance, -we could have seen aught. Perhaps had one been there to point them out to us, -we might have noted indentations in the mud, but there were countless -indentations, one overlapping another into a confusion that would have been -entirely meaningless to us. To Tarzan each told its own story. Tantor, the -elephant, had passed that way as recently as three suns since. Numa had hunted -here the night just gone, and Horta, the boar, had walked slowly along the -trail within an hour; but what held Tarzan’s attention was the spoor tale of -the Gomangani. It told him that the day before an old man had gone toward the -north in company with a little boy, and that with them had been two hyenas. -</p> - -<p> -Tarzan scratched his head in puzzled incredulity. He could see by the -overlapping of the footprints that the beasts had not been following the two, -for sometimes one was ahead of them and one behind, and again both were in -advance, or both were in the rear. It was very strange and quite inexplicable, -especially where the spoor showed where the hyenas in the wider portions of the -path had walked one on either side of the human pair, quite close to them. Then -Tarzan read in the spoor of the smaller Gomangani a shrinking terror of the -beast that brushed his side, but in that of the old man was no sign of fear. -</p> - -<p> -At first Tarzan had been solely occupied by the remarkable juxtaposition of the -spoor of Dango and Gomangani, but now his keen eyes caught something in the -spoor of the little Gomangani which brought him to a sudden stop. It was as -though, finding a letter in the road, you suddenly had discovered in it the -familiar handwriting of a friend. -</p> - -<p> -“Go-bu-balu!” exclaimed the ape-man, and at once memory flashed upon the screen -of recollection the supplicating attitude of Momaya as she had hurled herself -before him in the village of Mbonga the night before. Instantly all was -explained—the wailing and lamentation, the pleading of the black mother, the -sympathetic howling of the shes about the fire. Little Go-bu-balu had been -stolen again, and this time by another than Tarzan. Doubtless the mother had -thought that he was again in the power of Tarzan of the Apes, and she had been -beseeching him to return her balu to her. -</p> - -<p> -Yes, it was all quite plain now; but who could have stolen Go-bu-balu this -time? Tarzan wondered, and he wondered, too, about the presence of Dango. He -would investigate. The spoor was a day old and it ran toward the north. Tarzan -set out to follow it. In places it was totally obliterated by the passage of -many beasts, and where the way was rocky, even Tarzan of the Apes was almost -baffled; but there was still the faint effluvium which clung to the human -spoor, appreciable only to such highly trained perceptive powers as were -Tarzan’s. -</p> - -<p class="p2"> -It had all happened to little Tibo very suddenly and unexpectedly within the -brief span of two suns. First had come Bukawai, the witch-doctor—Bukawai, the -unclean—with the ragged bit of flesh which still clung to his rotting face. He -had come alone and by day to the place at the river where Momaya went daily to -wash her body and that of Tibo, her little boy. He had stepped out from behind -a great bush quite close to Momaya, frightening little Tibo so that he ran -screaming to his mother’s protecting arms. -</p> - -<p> -But Momaya, though startled, had wheeled to face the fearsome thing with all -the savage ferocity of a she-tiger at bay. When she saw who it was, she -breathed a sigh of partial relief, though she still clung tightly to Tibo. -</p> - -<p> -“I have come,” said Bukawai without preliminary, “for the three fat goats, the -new sleeping mat, and the bit of copper wire as long as a tall man’s arm.” -</p> - -<p> -“I have no goats for you,” snapped Momaya, “nor a sleeping mat, nor any wire. -Your medicine was never made. The white jungle god gave me back my Tibo. You -had nothing to do with it.” -</p> - -<p> -“But I did,” mumbled Bukawai through his fleshless jaws. “It was I who -commanded the white jungle god to give back your Tibo.” -</p> - -<p> -Momaya laughed in his face. “Speaker of lies,” she cried, “go back to your foul -den and your hyenas. Go back and hide your stinking face in the belly of the -mountain, lest the sun, seeing it, cover his face with a black cloud.” -</p> - -<p> -“I have come,” reiterated Bukawai, “for the three fat goats, the new sleeping -mat, and the bit of copper wire the length of a tall man’s arm, which you were -to pay me for the return of your Tibo.” -</p> - -<p> -“It was to be the length of a man’s forearm,” corrected Momaya, “but you shall -have nothing, old thief. You would not make medicine until I had brought the -payment in advance, and when I was returning to my village the great, white -jungle god gave me back my Tibo—gave him to me out of the jaws of Numa. His -medicine is true medicine—yours is the weak medicine of an old man with a hole -in his face.” -</p> - -<p> -“I have come,” repeated Bukawai patiently, “for the three fat—” But Momaya had -not waited to hear more of what she already knew by heart. Clasping Tibo close -to her side, she was hurrying away toward the palisaded village of Mbonga, the -chief. -</p> - -<p> -And the next day, when Momaya was working in the plantain field with others of -the women of the tribe, and little Tibo had been playing at the edge of the -jungle, casting a small spear in anticipation of the distant day when he should -be a full-fledged warrior, Bukawai had come again. -</p> - -<p> -Tibo had seen a squirrel scampering up the bole of a great tree. His childish -mind had transformed it into the menacing figure of a hostile warrior. Little -Tibo had raised his tiny spear, his heart filled with the savage blood lust of -his race, as he pictured the night’s orgy when he should dance about the corpse -of his human kill as the women of his tribe prepared the meat for the feast to -follow. -</p> - -<p> -But when he cast the spear, he missed both squirrel and tree, losing his -missile far among the tangled undergrowth of the jungle. However, it could be -but a few steps within the forbidden labyrinth. The women were all about in the -field. There were warriors on guard within easy hail, and so little Tibo boldly -ventured into the dark place. -</p> - -<p> -Just behind the screen of creepers and matted foliage lurked three horrid -figures—an old, old man, black as the pit, with a face half eaten away by -leprosy, his sharp-filed teeth, the teeth of a cannibal, showing yellow and -repulsive through the great gaping hole where his mouth and nose had been. And -beside him, equally hideous, stood two powerful hyenas—carrion-eaters -consorting with carrion. -</p> - -<p> -Tibo did not see them until, head down, he had forced his way through the -thickly growing vines in search of his little spear, and then it was too late. -As he looked up into the face of Bukawai, the old witch-doctor seized him, -muffling his screams with a palm across his mouth. Tibo struggled futilely. -</p> - -<p> -A moment later he was being hustled away through the dark and terrible jungle, -the frightful old man still muffling his screams, and the two hideous hyenas -pacing now on either side, now before, now behind, always prowling, always -growling, snapping, snarling, or, worst of all, laughing hideously. -</p> - -<p> -To little Tibo, who within his brief existence had passed through such -experiences as are given to few to pass through in a lifetime, the northward -journey was a nightmare of terror. He thought now of the time that he had been -with the great, white jungle god, and he prayed with all his little soul that -he might be back again with the white-skinned giant who consorted with the -hairy tree men. Terror-stricken he had been then, but his surroundings had been -nothing by comparison with those which he now endured. -</p> - -<p> -The old man seldom addressed Tibo, though he kept up an almost continuous -mumbling throughout the long day. Tibo caught repeated references to fat goats, -sleeping mats, and pieces of copper wire. “Ten fat goats, ten fat goats,” the -old Negro would croon over and over again. By this little Tibo guessed that the -price of his ransom had risen. Ten fat goats? Where would his mother get ten -fat goats, or thin ones, either, for that matter, to buy back just a poor -little boy? Mbonga would never let her have them, and Tibo knew that his father -never had owned more than three goats at the same time in all his life. Ten fat -goats! Tibo sniffled. The putrid old man would kill him and eat him, for the -goats would never be forthcoming. Bukawai would throw his bones to the hyenas. -The little black boy shuddered and became so weak that he almost fell in his -tracks. Bukawai cuffed him on an ear and jerked him along. -</p> - -<p> -After what seemed an eternity to Tibo, they arrived at the mouth of a cave -between two rocky hills. The opening was low and narrow. A few saplings bound -together with strips of rawhide closed it against stray beasts. Bukawai removed -the primitive door and pushed Tibo within. The hyenas, snarling, rushed past -him and were lost to view in the blackness of the interior. Bukawai replaced -the saplings and seizing Tibo roughly by the arm, dragged him along a narrow, -rocky passage. The floor was comparatively smooth, for the dirt which lay thick -upon it had been trodden and tramped by many feet until few inequalities -remained. -</p> - -<p> -The passage was tortuous, and as it was very dark and the walls rough and -rocky, Tibo was scratched and bruised from the many bumps he received. Bukawai -walked as rapidly through the winding gallery as one would traverse a familiar -lane by daylight. He knew every twist and turn as a mother knows the face of -her child, and he seemed to be in a hurry. He jerked poor little Tibo possibly -a trifle more ruthlessly than necessary even at the pace Bukawai set; but the -old witch-doctor, an outcast from the society of man, diseased, shunned, hated, -feared, was far from possessing an angelic temper. Nature had given him few of -the kindlier characteristics of man, and these few Fate had eradicated -entirely. Shrewd, cunning, cruel, vindictive, was Bukawai, the witch-doctor. -</p> - -<p> -Frightful tales were whispered of the cruel tortures he inflicted upon his -victims. Children were frightened into obedience by the threat of his name. -Often had Tibo been thus frightened, and now he was reaping a grisly harvest of -terror from the seeds his mother had innocently sown. The darkness, the -presence of the dreaded witch-doctor, the pain of the contusions, with a -haunting premonition of the future, and the fear of the hyenas combined to -almost paralyze the child. He stumbled and reeled until Bukawai was dragging -rather than leading him. -</p> - -<p> -Presently Tibo saw a faint lightness ahead of them, and a moment later they -emerged into a roughly circular chamber to which a little daylight filtered -through a rift in the rocky ceiling. The hyenas were there ahead of them, -waiting. As Bukawai entered with Tibo, the beasts slunk toward them, baring -yellow fangs. They were hungry. Toward Tibo they came, and one snapped at his -naked legs. Bukawai seized a stick from the floor of the chamber and struck a -vicious blow at the beast, at the same time mumbling forth a volley of -execrations. The hyena dodged and ran to the side of the chamber, where he -stood growling. Bukawai took a step toward the creature, which bristled with -rage at his approach. Fear and hatred shot from its evil eyes, but, fortunately -for Bukawai, fear predominated. -</p> - -<p> -Seeing that he was unnoticed, the second beast made a short, quick rush for -Tibo. The child screamed and darted after the witch-doctor, who now turned his -attention to the second hyena. This one he reached with his heavy stick, -striking it repeatedly and driving it to the wall. There the two carrion-eaters -commenced to circle the chamber while the human carrion, their master, now in a -perfect frenzy of demoniacal rage, ran to and fro in an effort to intercept -them, striking out with his cudgel and lashing them with his tongue, calling -down upon them the curses of whatever gods and demons he could summon to -memory, and describing in lurid figures the ignominy of their ancestors. -</p> - -<p> -Several times one or the other of the beasts would turn to make a stand against -the witch-doctor, and then Tibo would hold his breath in agonized terror, for -never in his brief life had he seen such frightful hatred depicted upon the -countenance of man or beast; but always fear overcame the rage of the savage -creatures, so that they resumed their flight, snarling and bare-fanged, just at -the moment that Tibo was certain they would spring at Bukawai’s throat. -</p> - -<p> -At last the witch-doctor tired of the futile chase. With a snarl quite as -bestial as those of the beast, he turned toward Tibo. “I go to collect the ten -fat goats, the new sleeping mat, and the two pieces of copper wire that your -mother will pay for the medicine I shall make to bring you back to her,” he -said. “You will stay here. There,” and he pointed toward the passage which they -had followed to the chamber, “I will leave the hyenas. If you try to escape, -they will eat you.” -</p> - -<p> -He cast aside the stick and called to the beasts. They came, snarling and -slinking, their tails between their legs. Bukawai led them to the passage and -drove them into it. Then he dragged a rude lattice into place before the -opening after he, himself, had left the chamber. “This will keep them from -you,” he said. “If I do not get the ten fat goats and the other things, they -shall at least have a few bones after I am through.” And he left the boy to -think over the meaning of his all-too-suggestive words. -</p> - -<p> -When he was gone, Tibo threw himself upon the earth floor and broke into -childish sobs of terror and loneliness. He knew that his mother had no ten fat -goats to give and that when Bukawai returned, little Tibo would be killed and -eaten. How long he lay there he did not know, but presently he was aroused by -the growling of the hyenas. They had returned through the passage and were -glaring at him from beyond the lattice. He could see their yellow eyes blazing -through the darkness. They reared up and clawed at the barrier. Tibo shivered -and withdrew to the opposite side of the chamber. He saw the lattice sag and -sway to the attacks of the beasts. Momentarily he expected that it would fall -inward, letting the creatures upon him. -</p> - -<p> -Wearily the horror-ridden hours dragged their slow way. Night came, and for a -time Tibo slept, but it seemed that the hungry beasts never slept. Always they -stood just beyond the lattice growling their hideous growls or laughing their -hideous laughs. Through the narrow rift in the rocky roof above him, Tibo could -see a few stars, and once the moon crossed. At last daylight came again. Tibo -was very hungry and thirsty, for he had not eaten since the morning before, and -only once upon the long march had he been permitted to drink, but even hunger -and thirst were almost forgotten in the terror of his position. -</p> - -<p> -It was after daylight that the child discovered a second opening in the walls -of the subterranean chamber, almost opposite that at which the hyenas still -stood glaring hungrily at him. It was only a narrow slit in the rocky wall. It -might lead in but a few feet, or it might lead to freedom! Tibo approached it -and looked within. He could see nothing. He extended his arm into the -blackness, but he dared not venture farther. Bukawai never would have left open -a way of escape, Tibo reasoned, so this passage must lead either nowhere or to -some still more hideous danger. -</p> - -<p> -To the boy’s fear of the actual dangers which menaced him—Bukawai and the two -hyenas—his superstition added countless others quite too horrible even to name, -for in the lives of the blacks, through the shadows of the jungle day and the -black horrors of the jungle night, flit strange, fantastic shapes peopling the -already hideously peopled forests with menacing figures, as though the lion and -the leopard, the snake and the hyena, and the countless poisonous insects were -not quite sufficient to strike terror to the hearts of the poor, simple -creatures whose lot is cast in earth’s most fearsome spot. -</p> - -<p class="p2"> -And so it was that little Tibo cringed not only from real menaces but from -imaginary ones. He was afraid even to venture upon a road that might lead to -escape, lest Bukawai had set to watch it some frightful demon of the jungle. -</p> - -<p> -But the real menaces suddenly drove the imaginary ones from the boy’s mind, for -with the coming of daylight the half-famished hyenas renewed their efforts to -break down the frail barrier which kept them from their prey. Rearing upon -their hind feet they clawed and struck at the lattice. With wide eyes Tibo saw -it sag and rock. Not for long, he knew, could it withstand the assaults of -these two powerful and determined brutes. Already one corner had been forced -past the rocky protuberance of the entrance way which had held it in place. A -shaggy forearm protruded into the chamber. Tibo trembled as with ague, for he -knew that the end was near. -</p> - -<p> -Backing against the farther wall he stood flattened out as far from the beasts -as he could get. He saw the lattice give still more. He saw a savage, snarling -head forced past it, and grinning jaws snapping and gaping toward him. In -another instant the pitiful fabric would fall inward, and the two would be upon -him, rending his flesh from his bones, gnawing the bones themselves, fighting -for possession of his entrails. -</p> - -<p> -* * * -</p> - -<p> -Bukawai came upon Momaya outside the palisade of Mbonga, the chief. At sight of -him the woman drew back in revulsion, then she flew at him, tooth and nail; but -Bukawai threatening her with a spear held her at a safe distance. -</p> - -<p> -“Where is my baby?” she cried. “Where is my little Tibo?” -</p> - -<p> -Bukawai opened his eyes in well-simulated amazement. “Your baby!” he exclaimed. -“What should I know of him, other than that I rescued him from the white god of -the jungle and have not yet received my pay. I come for the goats and the -sleeping mat and the piece of copper wire the length of a tall man’s arm from -the shoulder to the tips of his fingers.” “Offal of a hyena!” shrieked Momaya. -“My child has been stolen, and you, rotting fragment of a man, have taken him. -Return him to me or I shall tear your eyes from your head and feed your heart -to the wild hogs.” -</p> - -<p> -Bukawai shrugged his shoulders. “What do I know about your child?” he asked. “I -have not taken him. If he is stolen again, what should Bukawai know of the -matter? Did Bukawai steal him before? No, the white jungle god stole him, and -if he stole him once he would steal him again. It is nothing to me. I returned -him to you before and I have come for my pay. If he is gone and you would have -him returned, Bukawai will return him—for ten fat goats, a new sleeping mat and -two pieces of copper wire the length of a tall man’s arm from the shoulder to -the tips of his fingers, and Bukawai will say nothing more about the goats and -the sleeping mat and the copper wire which you were to pay for the first -medicine.” -</p> - -<p> -“Ten fat goats!” screamed Momaya. “I could not pay you ten fat goats in as many -years. Ten fat goats, indeed!” -</p> - -<p> -“Ten fat goats,” repeated Bukawai. “Ten fat goats, the new sleeping mat and two -pieces of copper wire the length of—” -</p> - -<p> -Momaya stopped him with an impatient gesture. “Wait!” she cried. “I have no -goats. You waste your breath. Stay here while I go to my man. He has but three -goats, yet something may be done. Wait!” -</p> - -<p> -Bukawai sat down beneath a tree. He felt quite content, for he knew that he -should have either payment or revenge. He did not fear harm at the hands of -these people of another tribe, although he well knew that they must fear and -hate him. His leprosy alone would prevent their laying hands upon him, while -his reputation as a witch-doctor rendered him doubly immune from attack. He was -planning upon compelling them to drive the ten goats to the mouth of his cave -when Momaya returned. With her were three warriors—Mbonga, the chief, Rabba -Kega, the village witch-doctor, and Ibeto, Tibo’s father. They were not pretty -men even under ordinary circumstances, and now, with their faces marked by -anger, they well might have inspired terror in the heart of anyone; but if -Bukawai felt any fear, he did not betray it. Instead he greeted them with an -insolent stare, intended to awe them, as they came and squatted in a -semi-circle before him. -</p> - -<p> -“Where is Ibeto’s son?” asked Mbonga. -</p> - -<p> -“How should I know?” returned Bukawai. “Doubtless the white devil-god has him. -If I am paid I will make strong medicine and then we shall know where is -Ibeto’s son, and shall get him back again. It was my medicine which got him -back the last time, for which I got no pay.” -</p> - -<p> -“I have my own witch-doctor to make medicine,” replied Mbonga with dignity. -</p> - -<p> -Bukawai sneered and rose to his feet. “Very well,” he said, “let him make his -medicine and see if he can bring Ibeto’s son back.” He took a few steps away -from them, and then he turned angrily back. “His medicine will not bring the -child back—that I know, and I also know that when you find him it will be too -late for any medicine to bring him back, for he will be dead. This have I just -found out, the ghost of my father’s sister but now came to me and told me.” -</p> - -<p> -Now Mbonga and Rabba Kega might not take much stock in their own magic, and -they might even be skeptical as to the magic of another; but there was always a -chance of <i>something</i> being in it, especially if it were not their own. -Was it not well known that old Bukawai had speech with the demons themselves -and that two even lived with him in the forms of hyenas! Still they must not -accede too hastily. There was the price to be considered, and Mbonga had no -intention of parting lightly with ten goats to obtain the return of a single -little boy who might die of smallpox long before he reached a warrior’s estate. -</p> - -<p> -“Wait,” said Mbonga. “Let us see some of your magic, that we may know if it be -good magic. Then we can talk about payment. Rabba Kega will make some magic, -too. We will see who makes the best magic. Sit down, Bukawai.” -</p> - -<p> -“The payment will be ten goats—fat goats—a new sleeping mat and two pieces of -copper wire the length of a tall man’s arm from the shoulder to the ends of his -fingers, and it will be made in advance, the goats being driven to my cave. -Then will I make the medicine, and on the second day the boy will be returned -to his mother. It cannot be done more quickly than that because it takes time -to make such strong medicine.” -</p> - -<p> -“Make us some medicine now,” said Mbonga. “Let us see what sort of medicine you -make.” -</p> - -<p> -“Bring me fire,” replied Bukawai, “and I will make you a little magic.” -</p> - -<p> -Momaya was dispatched for the fire, and while she was away Mbonga dickered with -Bukawai about the price. Ten goats, he said, was a high price for an -able-bodied warrior. He also called Bukawai’s attention to the fact that he, -Mbonga, was very poor, that his people were very poor, and that ten goats were -at least eight too many, to say nothing of a new sleeping mat and the copper -wire; but Bukawai was adamant. His medicine was very expensive and he would -have to give at least five goats to the gods who helped him make it. They were -still arguing when Momaya returned with the fire. -</p> - -<p> -Bukawai placed a little on the ground before him, took a pinch of powder from a -pouch at his side and sprinkled it on the embers. A cloud of smoke rose with a -puff. Bukawai closed his eyes and rocked back and forth. Then he made a few -passes in the air and pretended to swoon. Mbonga and the others were much -impressed. Rabba Kega grew nervous. He saw his reputation waning. There was -some fire left in the vessel which Momaya had brought. He seized the vessel, -dropped a handful of dry leaves into it while no one was watching and then -uttered a frightful scream which drew the attention of Bukawai’s audience to -him. It also brought Bukawai quite miraculously out of his swoon, but when the -old witch-doctor saw the reason for the disturbance he quickly relapsed into -unconsciousness before anyone discovered his <i>faux pas</i>. -</p> - -<p> -Rabba Kega, seeing that he had the attention of Mbonga, Ibeto, and Momaya, blew -suddenly into the vessel, with the result that the leaves commenced to smolder, -and smoke issued from the mouth of the receptacle. Rabba Kega was careful to -hold it so that none might see the dry leaves. Their eyes opened wide at this -remarkable demonstration of the village witch-doctor’s powers. The latter, -greatly elated, let himself out. He shouted, jumped up and down, and made -frightful grimaces; then he put his face close over the mouth of the vessel and -appeared to be communing with the spirits within. -</p> - -<p> -It was while he was thus engaged that Bukawai came out of his trance, his -curiosity finally having gotten the better of him. No one was paying him the -slightest attention. He blinked his one eye angrily, then he, too, let out a -loud roar, and when he was sure that Mbonga had turned toward him, he stiffened -rigidly and made spasmodic movements with his arms and legs. -</p> - -<p> -“I see him!” he cried. “He is far away. The white devil-god did not get him. He -is alone and in great danger; but,” he added, “if the ten fat goats and the -other things are paid to me quickly there is yet time to save him.” -</p> - -<p> -Rabba Kega had paused to listen. Mbonga looked toward him. The chief was in a -quandary. He did not know which medicine was the better. “What does your magic -tell you?” he asked of Rabba Kega. -</p> - -<p> -“I, too, see him,” screamed Rabba Kega; “but he is not where Bukawai says he -is. He is dead at the bottom of the river.” -</p> - -<p> -At this Momaya commenced to howl loudly. -</p> - -<p class="p2"> -Tarzan had followed the spoor of the old man, the two hyenas, and the little -black boy to the mouth of the cave in the rocky cañon between the two hills. -Here he paused a moment before the sapling barrier which Bukawai had set up, -listening to the snarls and growls which came faintly from the far recesses of -the cavern. -</p> - -<p> -Presently, mingled with the beastly cries, there came faintly to the keen ears -of the ape-man, the agonized moan of a child. No longer did Tarzan hesitate. -Hurling the door aside, he sprang into the dark opening. Narrow and black was -the corridor; but long use of his eyes in the Stygian blackness of the jungle -nights had given to the ape-man something of the nocturnal visionary powers of -the wild things with which he had consorted since babyhood. -</p> - -<p> -He moved rapidly and yet with caution, for the place was dark, unfamiliar and -winding. As he advanced, he heard more and more loudly the savage snarls of the -two hyenas, mingled with the scraping and scratching of their paws upon wood. -The moans of a child grew in volume, and Tarzan recognized in them the voice of -the little black boy he once had sought to adopt as his balu. -</p> - -<p> -There was no hysteria in the ape-man’s advance. Too accustomed was he to the -passing of life in the jungle to be greatly wrought even by the death of one -whom he knew; but the lust for battle spurred him on. He was only a wild beast -at heart and his wild beast’s heart beat high in anticipation of conflict. -</p> - -<p> -In the rocky chamber of the hill’s center, little Tibo crouched low against the -wall as far from the hunger-crazed beasts as he could drag himself. He saw the -lattice giving to the frantic clawing of the hyenas. He knew that in a few -minutes his little life would flicker out horribly beneath the rending, yellow -fangs of these loathsome creatures. -</p> - -<p> -Beneath the buffetings of the powerful bodies, the lattice sagged inward, -until, with a crash it gave way, letting the carnivora in upon the boy. Tibo -cast one affrighted glance toward them, then closed his eyes and buried his -face in his arms, sobbing piteously. -</p> - -<p> -For a moment the hyenas paused, caution and cowardice holding them from their -prey. They stood thus glaring at the lad, then slowly, stealthily, crouching, -they crept toward him. It was thus that Tarzan came upon them, bursting into -the chamber swiftly and silently; but not so silently that the keen-eared -beasts did not note his coming. With angry growls they turned from Tibo upon -the ape-man, as, with a smile upon his lips, he ran toward them. For an instant -one of the animals stood its ground; but the ape-man did not deign even to draw -his hunting knife against despised Dango. Rushing in upon the brute he grasped -it by the scruff of the neck, just as it attempted to dodge past him, and -hurled it across the cavern after its fellow which already was slinking into -the corridor, bent upon escape. -</p> - -<p> -Then Tarzan picked Tibo from the floor, and when the child felt human hands -upon him instead of the paws and fangs of the hyenas, he rolled his eyes upward -in surprise and incredulity, and as they fell upon Tarzan, sobs of relief broke -from the childish lips and his hands clutched at his deliverer as though the -white devil-god was not the most feared of jungle creatures. -</p> - -<p> -When Tarzan came to the cave mouth the hyenas were nowhere in sight, and after -permitting Tibo to quench his thirst in the spring which rose near by, he -lifted the boy to his shoulders and set off toward the jungle at a rapid trot, -determined to still the annoying howlings of Momaya as quickly as possible, for -he shrewdly had guessed that the absence of her balu was the cause of her -lamentation. -</p> - -<p class="p2"> -“He is not dead at the bottom of the river,” cried Bukawai. “What does this -fellow know about making magic? Who is he, anyway, that he dare say Bukawai’s -magic is not good magic? Bukawai sees Momaya’s son. He is far away and alone -and in great danger. Hasten then with the ten fat goats, the—” -</p> - -<p> -But he got no further. There was a sudden interruption from above, from the -branches of the very tree beneath which they squatted, and as the five blacks -looked up they almost swooned in fright as they saw the great, white devil-god -looking down upon them; but before they could flee they saw another face, that -of the lost little Tibo, and his face was laughing and very happy. -</p> - -<p> -And then Tarzan dropped fearlessly among them, the boy still upon his back, and -deposited him before his mother. Momaya, Ibeto, Rabba Kega, and Mbonga were all -crowding around the lad trying to question him at the same time. Suddenly -Momaya turned ferociously to fall upon Bukawai, for the boy had told her all -that he had suffered at the hands of the cruel old man; but Bukawai was no -longer there—he had required no recourse to black art to assure him that the -vicinity of Momaya would be no healthful place for him after Tibo had told his -story, and now he was running through the jungle as fast as his old legs would -carry him toward the distant lair where he knew no black would dare pursue him. -</p> - -<p> -Tarzan, too, had vanished, as he had a way of doing, to the mystification of -the blacks. Then Momaya’s eyes lighted upon Rabba Kega. The village -witch-doctor saw something in those eyes of hers which boded no good to him, -and backed away. -</p> - -<p> -“So my Tibo is dead at the bottom of the river, is he?” the woman shrieked. -“And he’s far away and alone and in great danger, is he? Magic!” The scorn -which Momaya crowded into that single word would have done credit to a Thespian -of the first magnitude. “Magic, indeed!” she screamed. “Momaya will show you -some magic of her own,” and with that she seized upon a broken limb and struck -Rabba Kega across the head. With a howl of pain, the man turned and fled, -Momaya pursuing him and beating him across the shoulders, through the gateway -and up the length of the village street, to the intense amusement of the -warriors, the women, and the children who were so fortunate as to witness the -spectacle, for one and all feared Rabba Kega, and to fear is to hate. -</p> - -<p> -Thus it was that to his host of passive enemies, Tarzan of the Apes added that -day two active foes, both of whom remained awake long into the night planning -means of revenge upon the white devil-god who had brought them into ridicule -and disrepute, but with their most malevolent schemings was mingled a vein of -real fear and awe that would not down. -</p> - -<p> -Young Lord Greystoke did not know that they planned against him, nor, knowing, -would have cared. He slept as well that night as he did on any other night, and -though there was no roof above him, and no doors to lock against intruders, he -slept much better than his noble relative in England, who had eaten altogether -too much lobster and drank too much wine at dinner that night. -</p> - -</div><!--end chapter--> - -<div class="chapter"> - -<h2><a name="chap07"></a>CHAPTER VII<br/> -The End of Bukawai</h2> - -<p> -When Tarzan of the Apes was still but a boy he had learned, among other things, -to fashion pliant ropes of fibrous jungle grass. Strong and tough were the -ropes of Tarzan, the little Tarmangani. Tublat, his foster father, would have -told you this much and more. Had you tempted him with a handful of fat -caterpillars he even might have sufficiently unbended to narrate to you a few -stories of the many indignities which Tarzan had heaped upon him by means of -his hated rope; but then Tublat always worked himself into such a frightful -rage when he devoted any considerable thought either to the rope or to Tarzan, -that it might not have proved comfortable for you to have remained close enough -to him to hear what he had to say. -</p> - -<p> -So often had that snakelike noose settled unexpectedly over Tublat’s head, so -often had he been jerked ridiculously and painfully from his feet when he was -least looking for such an occurrence, that there is little wonder he found -scant space in his savage heart for love of his white-skinned foster child, or -the inventions thereof. There had been other times, too, when Tublat had swung -helplessly in midair, the noose tightening about his neck, death staring him in -the face, and little Tarzan dancing upon a near-by limb, taunting him and -making unseemly grimaces. -</p> - -<p> -Then there had been another occasion in which the rope had figured -prominently—an occasion, and the only one connected with the rope, which Tublat -recalled with pleasure. Tarzan, as active in brain as he was in body, was -always inventing new ways in which to play. It was through the medium of play -that he learned much during his childhood. This day he learned something, and -that he did not lose his life in the learning of it, was a matter of great -surprise to Tarzan, and the fly in the ointment, to Tublat. -</p> - -<p> -The man-child had, in throwing his noose at a playmate in a tree above him, -caught a projecting branch instead. When he tried to shake it loose it but drew -the tighter. Then Tarzan started to climb the rope to remove it from the -branch. When he was part way up a frolicsome playmate seized that part of the -rope which lay upon the ground and ran off with it as far as he could go. When -Tarzan screamed at him to desist, the young ape released the rope a little and -then drew it tight again. The result was to impart a swinging motion to -Tarzan’s body which the ape-boy suddenly realized was a new and pleasurable -form of play. He urged the ape to continue until Tarzan was swinging to and fro -as far as the short length of rope would permit, but the distance was not great -enough, and, too, he was not far enough above the ground to give the necessary -thrills which add so greatly to the pastimes of the young. -</p> - -<p> -So he clambered to the branch where the noose was caught and after removing it -carried the rope far aloft and out upon a long and powerful branch. Here he -again made it fast, and taking the loose end in his hand, clambered quickly -down among the branches as far as the rope would permit him to go; then he -swung out upon the end of it, his lithe, young body turning and twisting—a -human bob upon a pendulum of grass—thirty feet above the ground. -</p> - -<p> -Ah, how delectable! This was indeed a new play of the first magnitude. Tarzan -was entranced. Soon he discovered that by wriggling his body in just the right -way at the proper time he could diminish or accelerate his oscillation, and, -being a boy, he chose, naturally, to accelerate. Presently he was swinging far -and wide, while below him, the apes of the tribe of Kerchak looked on in mild -amaze. -</p> - -<p> -Had it been you or I swinging there at the end of that grass rope, the thing -which presently happened would not have happened, for we could not have hung on -so long as to have made it possible; but Tarzan was quite as much at home -swinging by his hands as he was standing upon his feet, or, at least, almost. -At any rate he felt no fatigue long after the time that an ordinary mortal -would have been numb with the strain of the physical exertion. And this was his -undoing. -</p> - -<p> -Tublat was watching him as were others of the tribe. Of all the creatures of -the wild, there was none Tublat so cordially hated as he did this hideous, -hairless, white-skinned, caricature of an ape. But for Tarzan’s nimbleness, and -the zealous watchfulness of savage Kala’s mother love, Tublat would long since -have rid himself of this stain upon his family escutcheon. So long had it been -since Tarzan became a member of the tribe, that Tublat had forgotten the -circumstances surrounding the entrance of the jungle waif into his family, with -the result that he now imagined that Tarzan was his own offspring, adding -greatly to his chagrin. -</p> - -<p class="p2"> -Wide and far swung Tarzan of the Apes, until at last, as he reached the highest -point of the arc the rope, which rapidly had frayed on the rough bark of the -tree limb, parted suddenly. The watching apes saw the smooth, brown body shoot -outward, and down, plummet-like. Tublat leaped high in the air, emitting what -in a human being would have been an exclamation of delight. This would be the -end of Tarzan and most of Tublat’s troubles. From now on he could lead his life -in peace and security. -</p> - -<p> -Tarzan fell quite forty feet, alighting on his back in a thick bush. Kala was -the first to reach his side—ferocious, hideous, loving Kala. She had seen the -life crushed from her own balu in just such a fall years before. Was she to -lose this one too in the same way? Tarzan was lying quite still when she found -him, embedded deeply in the bush. It took Kala several minutes to disentangle -him and drag him forth; but he was not killed. He was not even badly injured. -The bush had broken the force of the fall. A cut upon the back of his head -showed where he had struck the tough stem of the shrub and explained his -unconsciousness. -</p> - -<p> -In a few minutes he was as active as ever. Tublat was furious. In his rage he -snapped at a fellow-ape without first discovering the identity of his victim, -and was badly mauled for his ill temper, having chosen to vent his spite upon a -husky and belligerent young bull in the full prime of his vigor. -</p> - -<p> -But Tarzan had learned something new. He had learned that continued friction -would wear through the strands of his rope, though it was many years before -this knowledge did more for him than merely to keep him from swinging too long -at a time, or too far above the ground at the end of his rope. -</p> - -<p> -The day came, however, when the very thing that had once all but killed him -proved the means of saving his life. -</p> - -<p> -He was no longer a child, but a mighty jungle male. There was none now to watch -over him, solicitously, nor did he need such. Kala was dead. Dead, too, was -Tublat, and though with Kala passed the one creature that ever really had loved -him, there were still many who hated him after Tublat departed unto the arms of -his fathers. It was not that he was more cruel or more savage than they that -they hated him, for though he was both cruel and savage as were the beasts, his -fellows, yet too was he often tender, which they never were. No, the thing -which brought Tarzan most into disrepute with those who did not like him, was -the possession and practice of a characteristic which they had not and could -not understand—the human sense of humor. In Tarzan it was a trifle broad, -perhaps, manifesting itself in rough and painful practical jokes upon his -friends and cruel baiting of his enemies. -</p> - -<p> -But to neither of these did he owe the enmity of Bukawai, the witch-doctor, who -dwelt in the cave between the two hills far to the north of the village of -Mbonga, the chief. Bukawai was jealous of Tarzan, and Bukawai it was who came -near proving the undoing of the ape-man. For months Bukawai had nursed his -hatred while revenge seemed remote indeed, since Tarzan of the Apes frequented -another part of the jungle, miles away from the lair of Bukawai. Only once had -the black witch-doctor seen the devil-god, as he was most often called among -the blacks, and upon that occasion Tarzan had robbed him of a fat fee, at the -same time putting the lie in the mouth of Bukawai, and making his medicine seem -poor medicine. All this Bukawai never could forgive, though it seemed unlikely -that the opportunity would come to be revenged. -</p> - -<p> -Yet it did come, and quite unexpectedly. Tarzan was hunting far to the north. -He had wandered away from the tribe, as he did more and more often as he -approached maturity, to hunt alone for a few days. As a child he had enjoyed -romping and playing with the young apes, his companions; but now these -play-fellows of his had grown to surly, lowering bulls, or to touchy, -suspicious mothers, jealously guarding helpless balus. So Tarzan found in his -own man-mind a greater and a truer companionship than any or all of the apes of -Kerchak could afford him. -</p> - -<p> -This day, as Tarzan hunted, the sky slowly became overcast. Torn clouds, -whipped to ragged streamers, fled low above the tree tops. They reminded Tarzan -of frightened antelope fleeing the charge of a hungry lion. But though the -light clouds raced so swiftly, the jungle was motionless. Not a leaf quivered -and the silence was a great, dead weight—insupportable. Even the insects seemed -stilled by apprehension of some frightful thing impending, and the larger -things were soundless. Such a forest, such a jungle might have stood there in -the beginning of that unthinkably far-gone age before God peopled the world -with life, when there were no sounds because there were no ears to hear. -</p> - -<p> -And over all lay a sickly, pallid ocher light through which the scourged clouds -raced. Tarzan had seen all these conditions many times before, yet he never -could escape a strange feeling at each recurrence of them. He knew no fear, but -in the face of Nature’s manifestations of her cruel, immeasurable powers, he -felt very small—very small and very lonely. -</p> - -<p> -Now he heard a low moaning, far away. “The lions seek their prey,” he murmured -to himself, looking up once again at the swift-flying clouds. The moaning rose -to a great volume of sound. “They come!” said Tarzan of the Apes, and sought -the shelter of a thickly foliaged tree. Quite suddenly the trees bent their -tops simultaneously as though God had stretched a hand from the heavens and -pressed His flat palm down upon the world. “They pass!” whispered Tarzan. “The -lions pass.” Then came a vivid flash of lightning, followed by deafening -thunder. “The lions have sprung,” cried Tarzan, “and now they roar above the -bodies of their kills.” -</p> - -<p> -The trees were waving wildly in all directions now, a perfectly demoniacal wind -threshed the jungle pitilessly. In the midst of it the rain came—not as it -comes upon us of the northlands, but in a sudden, choking, blinding deluge. -“The blood of the kill,” thought Tarzan, huddling himself closer to the bole of -the great tree beneath which he stood. -</p> - -<p> -He was close to the edge of the jungle, and at a little distance he had seen -two hills before the storm broke; but now he could see nothing. It amused him -to look out into the beating rain, searching for the two hills and imagining -that the torrents from above had washed them away, yet he knew that presently -the rain would cease, the sun come out again and all be as it was before, -except where a few branches had fallen and here and there some old and rotted -patriarch had crashed back to enrich the soil upon which he had fatted for, -maybe, centuries. All about him branches and leaves filled the air or fell to -earth, torn away by the strength of the tornado and the weight of the water -upon them. A gaunt corpse toppled and fell a few yards away; but Tarzan was -protected from all these dangers by the wide-spreading branches of the sturdy -young giant beneath which his jungle craft had guided him. Here there was but a -single danger, and that a remote one. Yet it came. Without warning the tree -above him was riven by lightning, and when the rain ceased and the sun came out -Tarzan lay stretched as he had fallen, upon his face amidst the wreckage of the -jungle giant that should have shielded him. -</p> - -<p> -Bukawai came to the entrance of his cave after the rain and the storm had -passed and looked out upon the scene. From his one eye Bukawai could see; but -had he had a dozen eyes he could have found no beauty in the fresh sweetness of -the revivified jungle, for to such things, in the chemistry of temperament, his -brain failed to react; nor, even had he had a nose, which he had not for years, -could he have found enjoyment or sweetness in the clean-washed air. -</p> - -<p> -At either side of the leper stood his sole and constant companions, the two -hyenas, sniffing the air. Presently one of them uttered a low growl and with -flattened head started, sneaking and wary, toward the jungle. The other -followed. Bukawai, his curiosity aroused, trailed after them, in his hand a -heavy knob-stick. -</p> - -<p> -The hyenas halted a few yards from the prostrate Tarzan, sniffing and growling. -Then came Bukawai, and at first he could not believe the witness of his own -eyes; but when he did and saw that it was indeed the devil-god his rage knew no -bounds, for he thought him dead and himself cheated of the revenge he had so -long dreamed upon. -</p> - -<p> -The hyenas approached the ape-man with bared fangs. Bukawai, with an -inarticulate scream, rushed upon them, striking cruel and heavy blows with his -knob-stick, for there might still be life in the apparently lifeless form. The -beasts, snapping and snarling, half turned upon their master and their -tormentor, but long fear still held them from his putrid throat. They slunk -away a few yards and squatted upon their haunches, hatred and baffled hunger -gleaming from their savage eyes. -</p> - -<p> -Bukawai stooped and placed his ear above the ape-man’s heart. It still beat. As -well as his sloughed features could register pleasure they did so; but it was -not a pretty sight. At the ape-man’s side lay his long, grass rope. Quickly -Bukawai bound the limp arms behind his prisoner’s back, then he raised him to -one of his shoulders, for, though Bukawai was old and diseased, he was still a -strong man. The hyenas fell in behind as the witch-doctor set off toward the -cave, and through the long black corridors they followed as Bukawai bore his -victim into the bowels of the hills. Through subterranean chambers, connected -by winding passageways, Bukawai staggered with his load. At a sudden turning of -the corridor, daylight flooded them and Bukawai stepped out into a small, -circular basin in the hill, apparently the crater of an ancient volcano, one of -those which never reached the dignity of a mountain and are little more than -lava-rimmed pits closed to the earth’s surface. -</p> - -<p> -Steep walls rimmed the cavity. The only exit was through the passageway by -which Bukawai had entered. A few stunted trees grew upon the rocky floor. A -hundred feet above could be seen the ragged lips of this cold, dead mouth of -hell. -</p> - -<p> -Bukawai propped Tarzan against a tree and bound him there with his own grass -rope, leaving his hands free but securing the knots in such a way that the -ape-man could not reach them. The hyenas slunk to and fro, growling. Bukawai -hated them and they hated him. He knew that they but waited for the time when -he should be helpless, or when their hatred should rise to such a height as to -submerge their cringing fear of him. -</p> - -<p> -In his own heart was not a little fear of these repulsive creatures, and -because of that fear, Bukawai always kept the beasts well fed, often hunting -for them when their own forages for food failed, but ever was he cruel to them -with the cruelty of a little brain, diseased, bestial, primitive. -</p> - -<p class="p2"> -He had had them since they were puppies. They had known no other life than that -with him, and though they went abroad to hunt, always they returned. Of late -Bukawai had come to believe that they returned not so much from habit as from a -fiendish patience which would submit to every indignity and pain rather than -forego the final vengeance, and Bukawai needed but little imagination to -picture what that vengeance would be. Today he would see for himself what his -end would be; but another should impersonate Bukawai. -</p> - -<p> -When he had trussed Tarzan securely, Bukawai went back into the corridor, -driving the hyenas ahead of him, and pulling across the opening a lattice of -laced branches, which shut the pit from the cave during the night that Bukawai -might sleep in security, for then the hyenas were penned in the crater that -they might not sneak upon a sleeping Bukawai in the darkness. -</p> - -<p> -Bukawai returned to the outer cave mouth, filled a vessel with water at the -spring which rose in the little cañon close at hand and returned toward the -pit. The hyenas stood before the lattice looking hungrily toward Tarzan. They -had been fed in this manner before. -</p> - -<p> -With his water, the witch-doctor approached Tarzan and threw a portion of the -contents of the vessel in the ape-man’s face. There was fluttering of the -eyelids, and at the second application Tarzan opened his eyes and looked about. -</p> - -<p> -“Devil-god,” cried Bukawai, “I am the great witch-doctor. My medicine is -strong. Yours is weak. If it is not, why do you stay tied here like a goat that -is bait for lions?” -</p> - -<p> -Tarzan understood nothing the witch-doctor said, therefore he did not reply, -but only stared straight at Bukawai with cold and level gaze. The hyenas crept -up behind him. He heard them growl; but he did not even turn his head. He was a -beast with a man’s brain. The beast in him refused to show fear in the face of -a death which the man-mind already admitted to be inevitable. -</p> - -<p> -Bukawai, not yet ready to give his victim to the beasts, rushed upon the hyenas -with his knob-stick. There was a short scrimmage in which the brutes came off -second best, as they always did. Tarzan watched it. He saw and realized the -hatred which existed between the two animals and the hideous semblance of a -man. -</p> - -<p> -With the hyenas subdued, Bukawai returned to the baiting of Tarzan; but finding -that the ape-man understood nothing he said, the witch-doctor finally desisted. -Then he withdrew into the corridor and pulled the latticework barrier across -the opening. He went back into the cave and got a sleeping mat, which he -brought to the opening, that he might lie down and watch the spectacle of his -revenge in comfort. -</p> - -<p> -The hyenas were sneaking furtively around the ape-man. Tarzan strained at his -bonds for a moment, but soon realized that the rope he had braided to hold -Numa, the lion, would hold him quite as successfully. He did not wish to die; -but he could look death in the face now as he had many times before without a -quaver. -</p> - -<p> -As he pulled upon the rope he felt it rub against the small tree about which it -was passed. Like a flash of the cinematograph upon the screen, a picture was -flashed before his mind’s eye from the storehouse of his memory. He saw a -lithe, boyish figure swinging high above the ground at the end of a rope. He -saw many apes watching from below, and then he saw the rope part and the boy -hurtle downward toward the ground. Tarzan smiled. Immediately he commenced to -draw the rope rapidly back and forth across the tree trunk. -</p> - -<p> -The hyenas, gaining courage, came closer. They sniffed at his legs; but when he -struck at them with his free arms they slunk off. He knew that with the growth -of hunger they would attack. Coolly, methodically, without haste, Tarzan drew -the rope back and forth against the rough trunk of the small tree. -</p> - -<p> -In the entrance to the cavern Bukawai fell asleep. He thought it would be some -time before the beasts gained sufficient courage or hunger to attack the -captive. Their growls and the cries of the victim would awaken him. In the -meantime he might as well rest, and he did. -</p> - -<p> -Thus the day wore on, for the hyenas were not famished, and the rope with which -Tarzan was bound was a stronger one than that of his boyhood, which had parted -so quickly to the chafing of the rough tree bark. Yet, all the while hunger was -growing upon the beasts and the strands of the grass rope were wearing thinner -and thinner. Bukawai slept. -</p> - -<p> -It was late afternoon before one of the beasts, irritated by the gnawing of -appetite, made a quick, growling dash at the ape-man. The noise awoke Bukawai. -He sat up quickly and watched what went on within the crater. He saw the hungry -hyena charge the man, leaping for the unprotected throat. He saw Tarzan reach -out and seize the growling animal, and then he saw the second beast spring for -the devil-god’s shoulder. There was a mighty heave of the great, smooth-skinned -body. Rounded muscles shot into great, tensed piles beneath the brown hide—the -ape-man surged forward with all his weight and all his great strength—the bonds -parted, and the three were rolling upon the floor of the crater snarling, -snapping, and rending. -</p> - -<p> -Bukawai leaped to his feet. Could it be that the devil-god was to prevail -against his servants? Impossible! The creature was unarmed, and he was down -with two hyenas on top of him; but Bukawai did not know Tarzan. -</p> - -<p> -The ape-man fastened his fingers upon the throat of one of the hyenas and rose -to one knee, though the other beast tore at him frantically in an effort to -pull him down. With a single hand Tarzan held the one, and with the other hand -he reached forth and pulled toward him the second beast. -</p> - -<p> -And then Bukawai, seeing the battle going against his forces, rushed forward -from the cavern brandishing his knob-stick. Tarzan saw him coming, and rising -now to both feet, a hyena in each hand, he hurled one of the foaming beasts -straight at the witch-doctor’s head. Down went the two in a snarling, biting -heap. Tarzan tossed the second hyena across the crater, while the first gnawed -at the rotting face of its master; but this did not suit the ape-man. With a -kick he sent the beast howling after its companion, and springing to the side -of the prostrate witch-doctor, dragged him to his feet. -</p> - -<p> -Bukawai, still conscious, saw death, immediate and terrible, in the cold eyes -of his captor, so he turned upon Tarzan with teeth and nails. The ape-man -shuddered at the proximity of that raw face to his. The hyenas had had enough -and disappeared through the small aperture leading into the cave. Tarzan had -little difficulty in overpowering and binding Bukawai. Then he led him to the -very tree to which he had been bound; but in binding Bukawai, Tarzan saw to it -that escape after the same fashion that he had escaped would be out of the -question; then he left him. -</p> - -<p> -As he passed through the winding corridors and the subterranean apartments, -Tarzan saw nothing of the hyenas. -</p> - -<p> -“They will return,” he said to himself. -</p> - -<p> -In the crater between the towering walls Bukawai, cold with terror, trembled, -trembled as with ague. -</p> - -<p> -“They will return!” he cried, his voice rising to a fright-filled shriek. -</p> - -<p> -And they did. -</p> - -</div><!--end chapter--> - -<div class="chapter"> - -<h2><a name="chap08"></a>CHAPTER VIII<br/> -The Lion</h2> - -<p> -Numa, the lion, crouched behind a thorn bush close beside the drinking pool -where the river eddied just below the bend. There was a ford there and on -either bank a well-worn trail, broadened far out at the river’s brim, where, -for countless centuries, the wild things of the jungle and of the plains beyond -had come down to drink, the carnivora with bold and fearless majesty, the -herbivora timorous, hesitating, fearful. -</p> - -<p> -Numa, the lion, was hungry, he was very hungry, and so he was quite silent now. -On his way to the drinking place he had moaned often and roared not a little; -but as he neared the spot where he would lie in wait for Bara, the deer, or -Horta, the boar, or some other of the many luscious-fleshed creatures who came -hither to drink, he was silent. It was a grim, a terrible silence, shot through -with yellow-green light of ferocious eyes, punctuated with undulating tremors -of sinuous tail. -</p> - -<p> -It was Pacco, the zebra, who came first, and Numa, the lion, could scarce -restrain a roar of anger, for of all the plains people, none are more wary than -Pacco, the zebra. Behind the black-striped stallion came a herd of thirty or -forty of the plump and vicious little horselike beasts. As he neared the river, -the leader paused often, cocking his ears and raising his muzzle to sniff the -gentle breeze for the tell-tale scent spoor of the dread flesh-eaters. -</p> - -<p> -Numa shifted uneasily, drawing his hind quarters far beneath his tawny body, -gathering himself for the sudden charge and the savage assault. His eyes shot -hungry fire. His great muscles quivered to the excitement of the moment. -</p> - -<p> -Pacco came a little nearer, halted, snorted, and wheeled. There was a pattering -of scurrying hoofs and the herd was gone; but Numa, the lion, moved not. He was -familiar with the ways of Pacco, the zebra. He knew that he would return, -though many times he might wheel and fly before he summoned the courage to lead -his harem and his offspring to the water. There was the chance that Pacco might -be frightened off entirely. Numa had seen this happen before, and so he became -almost rigid lest he be the one to send them galloping, waterless, back to the -plain. -</p> - -<p> -Again and again came Pacco and his family, and again and again did they turn -and flee; but each time they came closer to the river, until at last the plump -stallion dipped his velvet muzzle daintily into the water. The others, stepping -warily, approached their leader. Numa selected a sleek, fat filly and his -flaming eyes burned greedily as they feasted upon her, for Numa, the lion, -loves scarce anything better than the meat of Pacco, perhaps because Pacco is, -of all the grass-eaters, the most difficult to catch. -</p> - -<p> -Slowly the lion rose, and as he rose, a twig snapped beneath one of his great, -padded paws. Like a shot from a rifle he charged upon the filly; but the -snapped twig had been enough to startle the timorous quarry, so that they were -in instant flight simultaneously with Numa’s charge. -</p> - -<p> -The stallion was last, and with a prodigious leap, the lion catapulted through -the air to seize him; but the snapping twig had robbed Numa of his dinner, -though his mighty talons raked the zebra’s glossy rump, leaving four crimson -bars across the beautiful coat. -</p> - -<p> -It was an angry Numa that quitted the river and prowled, fierce, dangerous, and -hungry, into the jungle. Far from particular now was his appetite. Even Dango, -the hyena, would have seemed a tidbit to that ravenous maw. And in this temper -it was that the lion came upon the tribe of Kerchak, the great ape. -</p> - -<p> -One does not look for Numa, the lion, this late in the morning. He should be -lying up asleep beside his last night’s kill by now; but Numa had made no kill -last night. He was still hunting, hungrier than ever. -</p> - -<p> -The anthropoids were idling about the clearing, the first keen desire of the -morning’s hunger having been satisfied. Numa scented them long before he saw -them. Ordinarily he would have turned away in search of other game, for even -Numa respected the mighty muscles and the sharp fangs of the great bulls of the -tribe of Kerchak, but today he kept on steadily toward them, his bristled snout -wrinkled into a savage snarl. -</p> - -<p> -Without an instant’s hesitation, Numa charged the moment he reached a point -from where the apes were visible to him. There were a dozen or more of the -hairy, manlike creatures upon the ground in a little glade. In a tree at one -side sat a brown-skinned youth. He saw Numa’s swift charge; he saw the apes -turn and flee, huge bulls trampling upon little balus; only a single she held -her ground to meet the charge, a young she inspired by new motherhood to the -great sacrifice that her balu might escape. -</p> - -<p> -Tarzan leaped from his perch, screaming at the flying bulls beneath and at -those who squatted in the safety of surrounding trees. Had the bulls stood -their ground, Numa would not have carried through that charge unless goaded by -great rage or the gnawing pangs of starvation. Even then he would not have come -off unscathed. -</p> - -<p> -If the bulls heard, they were too slow in responding, for Numa had seized the -mother ape and dragged her into the jungle before the males had sufficiently -collected their wits and their courage to rally in defense of their fellow. -Tarzan’s angry voice aroused similar anger in the breasts of the apes. Snarling -and barking they followed Numa into the dense labyrinth of foliage wherein he -sought to hide himself from them. The ape-man was in the lead, moving rapidly -and yet with caution, depending even more upon his ears and nose than upon his -eyes for information of the lion’s whereabouts. -</p> - -<p> -The spoor was easy to follow, for the dragged body of the victim left a plain -trail, blood-spattered and scentful. Even such dull creatures as you or I might -easily have followed it. To Tarzan and the apes of Kerchak it was as obvious as -a cement sidewalk. -</p> - -<p> -Tarzan knew that they were nearing the great cat even before he heard an angry -growl of warning just ahead. Calling to the apes to follow his example, he -swung into a tree and a moment later Numa was surrounded by a ring of growling -beasts, well out of reach of his fangs and talons but within plain sight of -him. The carnivore crouched with his fore-quarters upon the she-ape. Tarzan -could see that the latter was already dead; but something within him made it -seem quite necessary to rescue the useless body from the clutches of the enemy -and to punish him. -</p> - -<p> -He shrieked taunts and insults at Numa, and tearing dead branches from the tree -in which he danced, hurled them at the lion. The apes followed his example. -Numa roared out in rage and vexation. He was hungry, but under such conditions -he could not feed. -</p> - -<p> -The apes, if they had been left to themselves, would doubtless soon have left -the lion to peaceful enjoyment of his feast, for was not the she dead? They -could not restore her to life by throwing sticks at Numa, and they might even -now be feeding in quiet themselves; but Tarzan was of a different mind. Numa -must be punished and driven away. He must be taught that even though he killed -a Mangani, he would not be permitted to feed upon his kill. The man-mind looked -into the future, while the apes perceived only the immediate present. They -would be content to escape today the menace of Numa, while Tarzan saw the -necessity, and the means as well, of safeguarding the days to come. -</p> - -<p> -So he urged the great anthropoids on until Numa was showered with missiles that -kept his head dodging and his voice pealing forth its savage protest; but still -he clung desperately to his kill. -</p> - -<p> -The twigs and branches hurled at Numa, Tarzan soon realized, did not hurt him -greatly even when they struck him, and did not injure him at all, so the -ape-man looked about for more effective missiles, nor did he have to look long. -An out-cropping of decomposed granite not far from Numa suggested ammunition of -a much more painful nature. Calling to the apes to watch him, Tarzan slipped to -the ground and gathered a handful of small fragments. He knew that when once -they had seen him carry out his idea they would be much quicker to follow his -lead than to obey his instructions, were he to command them to procure pieces -of rock and hurl them at Numa, for Tarzan was not then king of the apes of the -tribe of Kerchak. That came in later years. Now he was but a youth, though one -who already had wrested for himself a place in the councils of the savage -beasts among whom a strange fate had cast him. The sullen bulls of the older -generation still hated him as beasts hate those of whom they are suspicious, -whose scent characteristic is the scent characteristic of an alien order and, -therefore, of an enemy order. The younger bulls, those who had grown up through -childhood as his playmates, were as accustomed to Tarzan’s scent as to that of -any other member of the tribe. They felt no greater suspicion of him than of -any other bull of their acquaintance; yet they did not love him, for they loved -none outside the mating season, and the animosities aroused by other bulls -during that season lasted well over until the next. They were a morose and -peevish band at best, though here and there were those among them in whom -germinated the primal seeds of humanity—reversions to type, these, doubtless; -reversions to the ancient progenitor who took the first step out of ape-hood -toward humanness, when he walked more often upon his hind feet and discovered -other things for idle hands to do. -</p> - -<p> -So now Tarzan led where he could not yet command. He had long since discovered -the apish propensity for mimicry and learned to make use of it. Having filled -his arms with fragments of rotted granite, he clambered again into a tree, and -it pleased him to see that the apes had followed his example. -</p> - -<p> -During the brief respite while they were gathering their ammunition, Numa had -settled himself to feed; but scarce had he arranged himself and his kill when a -sharp piece of rock hurled by the practiced hand of the ape-man struck him upon -the cheek. His sudden roar of pain and rage was smothered by a volley from the -apes, who had seen Tarzan’s act. Numa shook his massive head and glared upward -at his tormentors. For a half hour they pursued him with rocks and broken -branches, and though he dragged his kill into densest thickets, yet they always -found a way to reach him with their missiles, giving him no opportunity to -feed, and driving him on and on. -</p> - -<p> -The hairless ape-thing with the man scent was worst of all, for he had even the -temerity to advance upon the ground to within a few yards of the Lord of the -Jungle, that he might with greater accuracy and force hurl the sharp bits of -granite and the heavy sticks at him. Time and again did Numa charge—sudden, -vicious charges—but the lithe, active tormentor always managed to elude him and -with such insolent ease that the lion forgot even his great hunger in the -consuming passion of his rage, leaving his meat for considerable spaces of time -in vain efforts to catch his enemy. -</p> - -<p> -The apes and Tarzan pursued the great beast to a natural clearing, where Numa -evidently determined to make a last stand, taking up his position in the center -of the open space, which was far enough from any tree to render him practically -immune from the rather erratic throwing of the apes, though Tarzan still found -him with most persistent and aggravating frequency. -</p> - -<p> -This, however, did not suit the ape-man, since Numa now suffered an occasional -missile with no more than a snarl, while he settled himself to partake of his -delayed feast. Tarzan scratched his head, pondering some more effective method -of offense, for he had determined to prevent Numa from profiting in any way -through his attack upon the tribe. The man-mind reasoned against the future, -while the shaggy apes thought only of their present hatred of this ancestral -enemy. Tarzan guessed that should Numa find it an easy thing to snatch a meal -from the tribe of Kerchak, it would be but a short time before their existence -would be one living nightmare of hideous watchfulness and dread. Numa must be -taught that the killing of an ape brought immediate punishment and no rewards. -It would take but a few lessons to insure the former safety of the tribe. This -must be some old lion whose failing strength and agility had forced him to any -prey that he could catch; but even a single lion, undisputed, could exterminate -the tribe, or at least make its existence so precarious and so terrifying that -life would no longer be a pleasant condition. -</p> - -<p> -“Let him hunt among the Gomangani,” thought Tarzan. “He will find them easier -prey. I will teach ferocious Numa that he may not hunt the Mangani.” -</p> - -<p> -But how to wrest the body of his victim from the feeding lion was the first -question to be solved. At last Tarzan hit upon a plan. To anyone but Tarzan of -the Apes it might have seemed rather a risky plan, and perhaps it did even to -him; but Tarzan rather liked things that contained a considerable element of -danger. At any rate, I rather doubt that you or I would have chosen a similar -plan for foiling an angry and a hungry lion. -</p> - -<p> -Tarzan required assistance in the scheme he had hit upon and his assistant must -be equally as brave and almost as active as he. The ape-man’s eyes fell upon -Taug, the playmate of his childhood, the rival in his first love and now, of -all the bulls of the tribe, the only one that might be thought to hold in his -savage brain any such feeling toward Tarzan as we describe among ourselves as -friendship. At least, Tarzan knew, Taug was courageous, and he was young and -agile and wonderfully muscled. -</p> - -<p> -“Taug!” cried the ape-man. The great ape looked up from a dead limb he was -attempting to tear from a lightning-blasted tree. “Go close to Numa and worry -him,” said Tarzan. “Worry him until he charges. Lead him away from the body of -Mamka. Keep him away as long as you can.” -</p> - -<p> -Taug nodded. He was across the clearing from Tarzan. Wresting the limb at last -from the tree he dropped to the ground and advanced toward Numa, growling and -barking out his insults. The worried lion looked up and rose to his feet. His -tail went stiffly erect and Taug turned in flight, for he knew that warming -signal of the charge. -</p> - -<p> -From behind the lion, Tarzan ran quickly toward the center of the clearing and -the body of Mamka. Numa, all his eyes for Taug, did not see the ape-man. -Instead he shot forward after the fleeing bull, who had turned in flight not an -instant too soon, since he reached the nearest tree but a yard or two ahead of -the pursuing demon. Like a cat the heavy anthropoid scampered up the bole of -his sanctuary. Numa’s talons missed him by little more than inches. -</p> - -<p> -For a moment the lion paused beneath the tree, glaring up at the ape and -roaring until the earth trembled, then he turned back again toward his kill, -and as he did so, his tail shot once more to rigid erectness and he charged -back even more ferociously than he had come, for what he saw was the naked -man-thing running toward the farther trees with the bloody carcass of his prey -across a giant shoulder. -</p> - -<p> -The apes, watching the grim race from the safety of the trees, screamed taunts -at Numa and warnings to Tarzan. The high sun, hot and brilliant, fell like a -spotlight upon the actors in the little clearing, portraying them in glaring -relief to the audience in the leafy shadows of the surrounding trees. The -light-brown body of the naked youth, all but hidden by the shaggy carcass of -the killed ape, the red blood streaking his smooth hide, his muscles rolling, -velvety, beneath. Behind him the black-maned lion, head flattened, tail -extended, racing, a jungle thoroughbred, across the sunlit clearing. -</p> - -<p> -Ah, but this was life! With death at his heels, Tarzan thrilled with the joy of -such living as this; but would he reach the trees ahead of the rampant death so -close behind? -</p> - -<p> -Gunto swung from a limb in a tree before him. Gunto was screaming warnings and -advice. -</p> - -<p> -“Catch me!” cried Tarzan, and with his heavy burden leaped straight for the big -bull hanging there by his hind feet and one forepaw. And Gunto caught them—the -big ape-man and the dead weight of the slain she-ape—caught them with one -great, hairy paw and whirled them upward until Tarzan’s fingers closed upon a -near-by branch. -</p> - -<p> -Beneath, Numa leaped; but Gunto, heavy and awkward as he may have appeared, was -as quick as Manu, the monkey, so that the lion’s talons but barely grazed him, -scratching a bloody streak beneath one hairy arm. -</p> - -<p> -Tarzan carried Mamka’s corpse to a high crotch, where even Sheeta, the panther, -could not get it. Numa paced angrily back and forth beneath the tree, roaring -frightfully. He had been robbed of his kill and his revenge also. He was very -savage indeed; but his despoilers were well out of his reach, and after hurling -a few taunts and missiles at him they swung away through the trees, fiercely -reviling him. -</p> - -<p> -Tarzan thought much upon the little adventure of that day. He foresaw what -might happen should the great carnivora of the jungle turn their serious -attention upon the tribe of Kerchak, the great ape, but equally he thought upon -the wild scramble of the apes for safety when Numa first charged among them. -There is little humor in the jungle that is not grim and awful. The beasts have -little or no conception of humor; but the young Englishman saw humor in many -things which presented no humorous angle to his associates. -</p> - -<p> -Since earliest childhood he had been a searcher after fun, much to the sorrow -of his fellow-apes, and now he saw the humor of the frightened panic of the -apes and the baffled rage of Numa even in this grim jungle adventure which had -robbed Mamka of life, and jeopardized that of many members of the tribe. -</p> - -<p> -It was but a few weeks later that Sheeta, the panther, made a sudden rush among -the tribe and snatched a little balu from a tree where it had been hidden while -its mother sought food. Sheeta got away with his small prize unmolested. Tarzan -was very wroth. He spoke to the bulls of the ease with which Numa and Sheeta, -in a single moon, had slain two members of the tribe. -</p> - -<p> -“They will take us all for food,” he cried. “We hunt as we will through the -jungle, paying no heed to approaching enemies. Even Manu, the monkey, does not -so. He keeps two or three always watching for enemies. Pacco, the zebra, and -Wappi, the antelope, have those about the herd who keep watch while the others -feed, while we, the great Mangani, let Numa, and Sabor, and Sheeta come when -they will and carry us off to feed their balus. -</p> - -<p> -“Gr-r-rmph,” said Numgo. -</p> - -<p> -“What are we to do?” asked Taug. -</p> - -<p> -“We, too, should have two or three always watching for the approach of Numa, -and Sabor, and Sheeta,” replied Tarzan. “No others need we fear, except Histah, -the snake, and if we watch for the others we will see Histah if he comes, -though gliding ever so silently.” -</p> - -<p> -And so it was that the great apes of the tribe of Kerchak posted sentries -thereafter, who watched upon three sides while the tribe hunted, scattered less -than had been their wont. -</p> - -<p> -But Tarzan went abroad alone, for Tarzan was a man-thing and sought amusement -and adventure and such humor as the grim and terrible jungle offers to those -who know it and do not fear it—a weird humor shot with blazing eyes and dappled -with the crimson of lifeblood. While others sought only food and love, Tarzan -of the Apes sought food and joy. -</p> - -<p> -One day he hovered above the palisaded village of Mbonga, the chief, the jet -cannibal of the jungle primeval. He saw, as he had seen many times before, the -witch-doctor, Rabba Kega, decked out in the head and hide of Gorgo, the -buffalo. It amused Tarzan to see a Gomangani parading as Gorgo; but it -suggested nothing in particular to him until he chanced to see stretched -against the side of Mbonga’s hut the skin of a lion with the head still on. -Then a broad grin widened the handsome face of the savage beast-youth. -</p> - -<p> -Back into the jungle he went until chance, agility, strength, and cunning -backed by his marvelous powers of perception, gave him an easy meal. If Tarzan -felt that the world owed him a living he also realized that it was for him to -collect it, nor was there ever a better collector than this son of an English -lord, who knew even less of the ways of his forbears than he did of the -forbears themselves, which was nothing. -</p> - -<p> -It was quite dark when Tarzan returned to the village of Mbonga and took his -now polished perch in the tree which overhangs the palisade upon one side of -the walled enclosure. As there was nothing in particular to feast upon in the -village there was little life in the single street, for only an orgy of flesh -and native beer could draw out the people of Mbonga. Tonight they sat gossiping -about their cooking fires, the older members of the tribe; or, if they were -young, paired off in the shadows cast by the palm-thatched huts. -</p> - -<p> -Tarzan dropped lightly into the village, and sneaking stealthily in the -concealment of the denser shadows, approached the hut of the chief, Mbonga. -Here he found that which he sought. There were warriors all about him; but they -did not know that the feared devil-god slunk noiselessly so near them, nor did -they see him possess himself of that which he coveted and depart from their -village as noiselessly as he had come. -</p> - -<p> -Later that night, as Tarzan curled himself for sleep, he lay for a long time -looking up at the burning planets and the twinkling stars and at Goro the moon, -and he smiled. He recalled how ludicrous the great bulls had appeared in their -mad scramble for safety that day when Numa had charged among them and seized -Mamka, and yet he knew them to be fierce and courageous. It was the sudden -shock of surprise that always sent them into a panic; but of this Tarzan was -not as yet fully aware. That was something he was to learn in the near future. -</p> - -<p> -He fell asleep with a broad grin upon his face. -</p> - -<p> -Manu, the monkey, awoke him in the morning by dropping discarded bean pods upon -his upturned face from a branch a short distance above him. Tarzan looked up -and smiled. He had been awakened thus before many times. He and Manu were -fairly good friends, their friendship operating upon a reciprocal basis. -Sometimes Manu would come running early in the morning to awaken Tarzan and -tell him that Bara, the deer, was feeding close at hand, or that Horta, the -boar, was asleep in a mudhole hard by, and in return Tarzan broke open the -shells of the harder nuts and fruits for Manu, or frightened away Histah, the -snake, and Sheeta, the panther. -</p> - -<p> -The sun had been up for some time, and the tribe had already wandered off in -search of food. Manu indicated the direction they had taken with a wave of his -hand and a few piping notes of his squeaky little voice. -</p> - -<p> -“Come, Manu,” said Tarzan, “and you will see that which shall make you dance -for joy and squeal your wrinkled little head off. Come, follow Tarzan of the -Apes.” -</p> - -<p> -With that he set off in the direction Manu had indicated and above him, -chattering, scolding and squealing, skipped Manu, the monkey. Across Tarzan’s -shoulders was the thing he had stolen from the village of Mbonga, the chief, -the evening before. -</p> - -<p> -The tribe was feeding in the forest beside the clearing where Gunto, and Taug, -and Tarzan had so harassed Numa and finally taken away from him the fruit of -his kill. Some of them were in the clearing itself. In peace and content they -fed, for were there not three sentries, each watching upon a different side of -the herd? Tarzan had taught them this, and though he had been away for several -days hunting alone, as he often did, or visiting at the cabin by the sea, they -had not as yet forgotten his admonitions, and if they continued for a short -time longer to post sentries, it would become a habit of their tribal life and -thus be perpetuated indefinitely. -</p> - -<p> -But Tarzan, who knew them better than they knew themselves, was confident that -they had ceased to place the watchers about them the moment that he had left -them, and now he planned not only to have a little fun at their expense but to -teach them a lesson in preparedness, which, by the way, is even a more vital -issue in the jungle than in civilized places. That you and I exist today must -be due to the preparedness of some shaggy anthropoid of the Oligocene. Of -course the apes of Kerchak were always prepared, after their own way—Tarzan had -merely suggested a new and additional safeguard. -</p> - -<p> -Gunto was posted today to the north of the clearing. He squatted in the fork of -a tree from where he might view the jungle for quite a distance about him. It -was he who first discovered the enemy. A rustling in the undergrowth attracted -his attention, and a moment later he had a partial view of a shaggy mane and -tawny yellow back. Just a glimpse it was through the matted foliage beneath -him; but it brought from Gunto’s leathern lungs a shrill “Kreeg-ah!” which is -the ape for beware, or danger. -</p> - -<p> -Instantly the tribe took up the cry until “Kreeg-ahs!” rang through the jungle -about the clearing as apes swung quickly to places of safety among the lower -branches of the trees and the great bulls hastened in the direction of Gunto. -</p> - -<p> -And then into the clearing strode Numa, the lion—majestic and mighty, and from -a deep chest issued the moan and the cough and the rumbling roar that set stiff -hairs to bristling from shaggy craniums down the length of mighty spines. -</p> - -<p> -Inside the clearing, Numa paused and on the instant there fell upon him from -the trees near by a shower of broken rock and dead limbs torn from age-old -trees. A dozen times he was hit, and then the apes ran down and gathered other -rocks, pelting him unmercifully. -</p> - -<p> -Numa turned to flee, but his way was barred by a fusilade of sharp-cornered -missiles, and then, upon the edge of the clearing, great Taug met him with a -huge fragment of rock as large as a man’s head, and down went the Lord of the -Jungle beneath the stunning blow. -</p> - -<p> -With shrieks and roars and loud barkings the great apes of the tribe of Kerchak -rushed upon the fallen lion. Sticks and stones and yellow fangs menaced the -still form. In another moment, before he could regain consciousness, Numa would -be battered and torn until only a bloody mass of broken bones and matted hair -remained of what had once been the most dreaded of jungle creatures. -</p> - -<p> -But even as the sticks and stones were raised above him and the great fangs -bared to tear him, there descended like a plummet from the trees above a -diminutive figure with long, white whiskers and a wrinkled face. Square upon -the body of Numa it alighted and there it danced and screamed and shrieked out -its challenge against the bulls of Kerchak. -</p> - -<p> -For an instant they paused, paralyzed by the wonder of the thing. It was Manu, -the monkey, Manu, the little coward, and here he was daring the ferocity of the -great Mangani, hopping about upon the carcass of Numa, the lion, and crying out -that they must not strike it again. -</p> - -<p> -And when the bulls paused, Manu reached down and seized a tawny ear. With all -his little might he tugged upon the heavy head until slowly it turned back, -revealing the tousled, black head and clean-cut profile of Tarzan of the Apes. -</p> - -<p> -Some of the older apes were for finishing what they had commenced; but Taug, -sullen, mighty Taug, sprang quickly to the ape-man’s side and straddling the -unconscious form warned back those who would have struck his childhood -playmate. And Teeka, his mate, came too, taking her place with bared fangs at -Taug’s side. Others followed their example, until at last Tarzan was surrounded -by a ring of hairy champions who would permit no enemy to approach him. -</p> - -<p> -It was a surprised and chastened Tarzan who opened his eyes to consciousness a -few minutes later. He looked about him at the surrounding apes and slowly there -returned to him a realization of what had occurred. -</p> - -<p> -Gradually a broad grin illuminated his features. His bruises were many and they -hurt; but the good that had come from his adventure was worth all that it had -cost. He had learned, for instance, that the apes of Kerchak had heeded his -teaching, and he had learned that he had good friends among the sullen beasts -whom he had thought without sentiment. He had discovered that Manu, the -monkey—even little, cowardly Manu—had risked his life in his defense. -</p> - -<p> -It made Tarzan very glad to know these things; but at the other lesson he had -been taught he reddened. He had always been a joker, the only joker in the grim -and terrible company; but now as he lay there half dead from his hurts, he -almost swore a solemn oath forever to forego practical joking—almost; but not -quite. -</p> - -</div><!--end chapter--> - -<div class="chapter"> - -<h2><a name="chap09"></a>CHAPTER IX<br/> -The Nightmare</h2> - -<p> -The blacks of the village of Mbonga, the chief, were feasting, while above them -in a large tree sat Tarzan of the Apes—grim, terrible, empty, and envious. -Hunting had proved poor that day, for there are lean days as well as fat ones -for even the greatest of the jungle hunters. Oftentimes Tarzan went empty for -more than a full sun, and he had passed through entire moons during which he -had been but barely able to stave off starvation; but such times were -infrequent. -</p> - -<p> -There once had been a period of sickness among the grass-eaters which had left -the plains almost bare of game for several years, and again the great cats had -increased so rapidly and so overrun the country that their prey, which was also -Tarzan’s, had been frightened off for a considerable time. -</p> - -<p> -But for the most part Tarzan had fed well always. Today, though, he had gone -empty, one misfortune following another as rapidly as he raised new quarry, so -that now, as he sat perched in the tree above the feasting blacks, he -experienced all the pangs of famine and his hatred for his lifelong enemies -waxed strong in his breast. It was tantalizing, indeed, to sit there hungry -while these Gomangani filled themselves so full of food that their stomachs -seemed almost upon the point of bursting, and with elephant steaks at that! -</p> - -<p> -It was true that Tarzan and Tantor were the best of friends, and that Tarzan -never yet had tasted of the flesh of the elephant; but the Gomangani evidently -had slain one, and as they were eating of the flesh of their kill, Tarzan was -assailed by no doubts as to the ethics of his doing likewise, should he have -the opportunity. Had he known that the elephant had died of sickness several -days before the blacks discovered the carcass, he might not have been so keen -to partake of the feast, for Tarzan of the Apes was no carrion-eater. Hunger, -however, may blunt the most epicurean taste, and Tarzan was not exactly an -epicure. -</p> - -<p> -What he was at this moment was a very hungry wild beast whom caution was -holding in leash, for the great cooking pot in the center of the village was -surrounded by black warriors, through whom not even Tarzan of the Apes might -hope to pass unharmed. It would be necessary, therefore, for the watcher to -remain there hungry until the blacks had gorged themselves to stupor, and then, -if they had left any scraps, to make the best meal he could from such; but to -the impatient Tarzan it seemed that the greedy Gomangani would rather burst -than leave the feast before the last morsel had been devoured. For a time they -broke the monotony of eating by executing portions of a hunting dance, a -maneuver which sufficiently stimulated digestion to permit them to fall to once -more with renewed vigor; but with the consumption of appalling quantities of -elephant meat and native beer they presently became too loggy for physical -exertion of any sort, some reaching a stage where they no longer could rise -from the ground, but lay conveniently close to the great cooking pot, stuffing -themselves into unconsciousness. -</p> - -<p> -It was well past midnight before Tarzan even could begin to see the end of the -orgy. The blacks were now falling asleep rapidly; but a few still persisted. -From before their condition Tarzan had no doubt but that he easily could enter -the village and snatch a handful of meat from before their noses; but a handful -was not what he wanted. Nothing less than a stomachful would allay the gnawing -craving of that great emptiness. He must therefore have ample time to forage in -peace. -</p> - -<p> -At last but a single warrior remained true to his ideals—an old fellow whose -once wrinkled belly was now as smooth and as tight as the head of a drum. With -evidences of great discomfort, and even pain, he would crawl toward the pot and -drag himself slowly to his knees, from which position he could reach into the -receptacle and seize a piece of meat. Then he would roll over on his back with -a loud groan and lie there while he slowly forced the food between his teeth -and down into his gorged stomach. -</p> - -<p> -It was evident to Tarzan that the old fellow would eat until he died, or until -there was no more meat. The ape-man shook his head in disgust. What foul -creatures were these Gomangani? Yet of all the jungle folk they alone resembled -Tarzan closely in form. Tarzan was a man, and they, too, must be some manner of -men, just as the little monkeys, and the great apes, and Bolgani, the gorilla, -were quite evidently of one great family, though differing in size and -appearance and customs. Tarzan was ashamed, for of all the beasts of the -jungle, then, man was the most disgusting—man and Dango, the hyena. Only man -and Dango ate until they swelled up like a dead rat. Tarzan had seen Dango eat -his way into the carcass of a dead elephant and then continue to eat so much -that he had been unable to get out of the hole through which he had entered. -Now he could readily believe that man, given the opportunity, would do the -same. Man, too, was the most unlovely of creatures—with his skinny legs and his -big stomach, his filed teeth, and his thick, red lips. Man was disgusting. -Tarzan’s gaze was riveted upon the hideous old warrior wallowing in filth -beneath him. -</p> - -<p> -There! the thing was struggling to its knees to reach for another morsel of -flesh. It groaned aloud in pain and yet it persisted in eating, eating, ever -eating. Tarzan could endure it no longer—neither his hunger nor his disgust. -Silently he slipped to the ground with the bole of the great tree between -himself and the feaster. -</p> - -<p> -The man was still kneeling, bent almost double in agony, before the cooking -pot. His back was toward the ape-man. Swiftly and noiselessly Tarzan approached -him. There was no sound as steel fingers closed about the black throat. The -struggle was short, for the man was old and already half stupefied from the -effects of the gorging and the beer. -</p> - -<p> -Tarzan dropped the inert mass and scooped several large pieces of meat from the -cooking pot—enough to satisfy even his great hunger—then he raised the body of -the feaster and shoved it into the vessel. When the other blacks awoke they -would have something to think about! Tarzan grinned. As he turned toward the -tree with his meat, he picked up a vessel containing beer and raised it to his -lips, but at the first taste he spat the stuff from his mouth and tossed the -primitive tankard aside. He was quite sure that even Dango would draw the line -at such filthy tasting drink as that, and his contempt for man increased with -the conviction. -</p> - -<p> -Tarzan swung off into the jungle some half mile or so before he paused to -partake of his stolen food. He noticed that it gave forth a strange and -unpleasant odor, but assumed that this was due to the fact that it had stood in -a vessel of water above a fire. Tarzan was, of course, unaccustomed to cooked -food. He did not like it; but he was very hungry and had eaten a considerable -portion of his haul before it was really borne in upon him that the stuff was -nauseating. It required far less than he had imagined it would to satisfy his -appetite. -</p> - -<p> -Throwing the balance to the ground he curled up in a convenient crotch and -sought slumber; but slumber seemed difficult to woo. Ordinarily Tarzan of the -Apes was asleep as quickly as a dog after it curls itself upon a hearthrug -before a roaring blaze; but tonight he squirmed and twisted, for at the pit of -his stomach was a peculiar feeling that resembled nothing more closely than an -attempt upon the part of the fragments of elephant meat reposing there to come -out into the night and search for their elephant; but Tarzan was adamant. He -gritted his teeth and held them back. He was not to be robbed of his meal after -waiting so long to obtain it. -</p> - -<p> -He had succeeded in dozing when the roaring of a lion awoke him. He sat up to -discover that it was broad daylight. Tarzan rubbed his eyes. Could it be that -he had really slept? He did not feel particularly refreshed as he should have -after a good sleep. A noise attracted his attention, and he looked down to see -a lion standing at the foot of the tree gazing hungrily at him. Tarzan made a -face at the king of beasts, whereat Numa, greatly to the ape-man’s surprise, -started to climb up into the branches toward him. Now, never before had Tarzan -seen a lion climb a tree, yet, for some unaccountable reason, he was not -greatly surprised that this particular lion should do so. -</p> - -<p> -As the lion climbed slowly toward him, Tarzan sought higher branches; but to -his chagrin, he discovered that it was with the utmost difficulty that he could -climb at all. Again and again he slipped back, losing all that he had gained, -while the lion kept steadily at his climbing, coming ever closer and closer to -the ape-man. Tarzan could see the hungry light in the yellow-green eyes. He -could see the slaver on the drooping jowls, and the great fangs agape to seize -and destroy him. Clawing desperately, the ape-man at last succeeded in gaining -a little upon his pursuer. He reached the more slender branches far aloft where -he well knew no lion could follow; yet on and on came devil-faced Numa. It was -incredible; but it was true. Yet what most amazed Tarzan was that though he -realized the incredibility of it all, he at the same time accepted it as a -matter of course, first that a lion should climb at all and second that he -should enter the upper terraces where even Sheeta, the panther, dared not -venture. -</p> - -<p> -To the very top of a tall tree the ape-man clawed his awkward way and after him -came Numa, the lion, moaning dismally. At last Tarzan stood balanced upon the -very utmost pinnacle of a swaying branch, high above the forest. He could go no -farther. Below him the lion came steadily upward, and Tarzan of the Apes -realized that at last the end had come. He could not do battle upon a tiny -branch with Numa, the lion, especially with such a Numa, to which swaying -branches two hundred feet above the ground provided as substantial footing as -the ground itself. -</p> - -<p> -Nearer and nearer came the lion. Another moment and he could reach up with one -great paw and drag the ape-man downward to those awful jaws. A whirring noise -above his head caused Tarzan to glance apprehensively upward. A great bird was -circling close above him. He never had seen so large a bird in all his life, -yet he recognized it immediately, for had he not seen it hundreds of times in -one of the books in the little cabin by the land-locked bay—the moss-grown -cabin that with its contents was the sole heritage left by his dead and unknown -father to the young Lord Greystoke? -</p> - -<p> -In the picture-book the great bird was shown flying far above the ground with a -small child in its talons while, beneath, a distracted mother stood with -uplifted hands. The lion was already reaching forth a taloned paw to seize him -when the bird swooped and buried no less formidable talons in Tarzan’s back. -The pain was numbing; but it was with a sense of relief that the ape-man felt -himself snatched from the clutches of Numa. -</p> - -<p> -With a great whirring of wings the bird rose rapidly until the forest lay far -below. It made Tarzan sick and dizzy to look down upon it from so great a -height, so he closed his eyes tight and held his breath. Higher and higher -climbed the huge bird. Tarzan opened his eyes. The jungle was so far away that -he could see only a dim, green blur below him, but just above and quite close -was the sun. Tarzan reached out his hands and warmed them, for they were very -cold. Then a sudden madness seized him. Where was the bird taking him? Was he -to submit thus passively to a feathered creature however enormous? Was he, -Tarzan of the Apes, mighty fighter, to die without striking a blow in his own -defense? Never! -</p> - -<p> -He snatched the hunting blade from his gee-string and thrusting upward drove it -once, twice, thrice into the breast above him. The mighty wings fluttered a few -more times, spasmodically, the talons relaxed their hold, and Tarzan of the -Apes fell hurtling downward toward the distant jungle. -</p> - -<p> -It seemed to the ape-man that he fell for many minutes before he crashed -through the leafy verdure of the tree tops. The smaller branches broke his -fall, so that he came to rest for an instant upon the very branch upon which he -had sought slumber the previous night. For an instant he toppled there in a -frantic attempt to regain his equilibrium; but at last he rolled off, yet, -clutching wildly, he succeeded in grasping the branch and hanging on. -</p> - -<p> -Once more he opened his eyes, which he had closed during the fall. Again it was -night. With all his old agility he clambered back to the crotch from which he -had toppled. Below him a lion roared, and, looking downward, Tarzan could see -the yellow-green eyes shining in the moonlight as they bored hungrily upward -through the darkness of the jungle night toward him. -</p> - -<p> -The ape-man gasped for breath. Cold sweat stood out from every pore, there was -a great sickness at the pit of Tarzan’s stomach. Tarzan of the Apes had dreamed -his first dream. -</p> - -<p> -For a long time he sat watching for Numa to climb into the tree after him, and -listening for the sound of the great wings from above, for to Tarzan of the -Apes his dream was a reality. -</p> - -<p> -He could not believe what he had seen and yet, having seen even these -incredible things, he could not disbelieve the evidence of his own perceptions. -Never in all his life had Tarzan’s senses deceived him badly, and so, -naturally, he had great faith in them. Each perception which ever had been -transmitted to Tarzan’s brain had been, with varying accuracy, a true -perception. He could not conceive of the possibility of apparently having -passed through such a weird adventure in which there was no grain of truth. -That a stomach, disordered by decayed elephant flesh, a lion roaring in the -jungle, a picture-book, and sleep could have so truly portrayed all the -clear-cut details of what he had seemingly experienced was quite beyond his -knowledge; yet he knew that Numa could not climb a tree, he knew that there -existed in the jungle no such bird as he had seen, and he knew, too, that he -could not have fallen a tiny fraction of the distance he had hurtled downward, -and lived. -</p> - -<p> -To say the least, he was a very puzzled Tarzan as he tried to compose himself -once more for slumber—a very puzzled and a very nauseated Tarzan. -</p> - -<p> -As he thought deeply upon the strange occurrences of the night, he witnessed -another remarkable happening. It was indeed quite preposterous, yet he saw it -all with his own eyes—it was nothing less than Histah, the snake, wreathing his -sinuous and slimy way up the bole of the tree below him—Histah, with the head -of the old man Tarzan had shoved into the cooking pot—the head and the round, -tight, black, distended stomach. As the old man’s frightful face, with upturned -eyes, set and glassy, came close to Tarzan, the jaws opened to seize him. The -ape-man struck furiously at the hideous face, and as he struck the apparition -disappeared. -</p> - -<p> -Tarzan sat straight up upon his branch trembling in every limb, wide-eyed and -panting. He looked all around him with his keen, jungle-trained eyes, but he -saw naught of the old man with the body of Histah, the snake, but on his naked -thigh the ape-man saw a caterpillar, dropped from a branch above him. With a -grimace he flicked it off into the darkness beneath. -</p> - -<p> -And so the night wore on, dream following dream, nightmare following nightmare, -until the distracted ape-man started like a frightened deer at the rustling of -the wind in the trees about him, or leaped to his feet as the uncanny laugh of -a hyena burst suddenly upon a momentary jungle silence. But at last the tardy -morning broke and a sick and feverish Tarzan wound sluggishly through the dank -and gloomy mazes of the forest in search of water. His whole body seemed on -fire, a great sickness surged upward to his throat. He saw a tangle of almost -impenetrable thicket, and, like the wild beast he was, he crawled into it to -die alone and unseen, safe from the attacks of predatory carnivora. -</p> - -<p> -But he did not die. For a long time he wanted to; but presently nature and an -outraged stomach relieved themselves in their own therapeutic manner, the -ape-man broke into a violent perspiration and then fell into a normal and -untroubled sleep which persisted well into the afternoon. When he awoke he -found himself weak but no longer sick. -</p> - -<p> -Once more he sought water, and after drinking deeply, took his way slowly -toward the cabin by the sea. In times of loneliness and trouble it had long -been his custom to seek there the quiet and restfulness which he could find -nowhere else. -</p> - -<p> -As he approached the cabin and raised the crude latch which his father had -fashioned so many years before, two small, blood-shot eyes watched him from the -concealing foliage of the jungle close by. From beneath shaggy, beetling brows -they glared maliciously upon him, maliciously and with a keen curiosity; then -Tarzan entered the cabin and closed the door after him. Here, with all the -world shut out from him, he could dream without fear of interruption. He could -curl up and look at the pictures in the strange things which were books, he -could puzzle out the printed word he had learned to read without knowledge of -the spoken language it represented, he could live in a wonderful world of which -he had no knowledge beyond the covers of his beloved books. Numa and Sabor -might prowl about close to him, the elements might rage in all their fury; but -here at least, Tarzan might be entirely off his guard in a delightful -relaxation which gave him all his faculties for the uninterrupted pursuit of -this greatest of all his pleasures. -</p> - -<p> -Today he turned to the picture of the huge bird which bore off the little -Tarmangani in its talons. Tarzan puckered his brows as he examined the colored -print. Yes, this was the very bird that had carried him off the day before, for -to Tarzan the dream had been so great a reality that he still thought another -day and a night had passed since he had lain down in the tree to sleep. -</p> - -<p> -But the more he thought upon the matter the less positive he was as to the -verity of the seeming adventure through which he had passed, yet where the real -had ceased and the unreal commenced he was quite unable to determine. Had he -really then been to the village of the blacks at all, had he killed the old -Gomangani, had he eaten of the elephant meat, had he been sick? Tarzan -scratched his tousled black head and wondered. It was all very strange, yet he -knew that he never had seen Numa climb a tree, or Histah with the head and -belly of an old black man whom Tarzan already had slain. -</p> - -<p> -Finally, with a sigh he gave up trying to fathom the unfathomable, yet in his -heart of hearts he knew that something had come into his life that he never -before had experienced, another life which existed when he slept and the -consciousness of which was carried over into his waking hours. -</p> - -<p> -Then he commenced to wonder if some of these strange creatures which he met in -his sleep might not slay him, for at such times Tarzan of the Apes seemed to be -a different Tarzan, sluggish, helpless and timid—wishing to flee his enemies as -fled Bara, the deer, most fearful of creatures. -</p> - -<p> -Thus, with a dream, came the first faint tinge of a knowledge of fear, a -knowledge which Tarzan, awake, had never experienced, and perhaps he was -experiencing what his early forbears passed through and transmitted to -posterity in the form of superstition first and religion later; for they, as -Tarzan, had seen things at night which they could not explain by the daylight -standards of sense perception or of reason, and so had built for themselves a -weird explanation which included grotesque shapes, possessed of strange and -uncanny powers, to whom they finally came to attribute all those inexplicable -phenomena of nature which with each recurrence filled them with awe, with -wonder, or with terror. -</p> - -<p> -And as Tarzan concentrated his mind on the little bugs upon the printed page -before him, the active recollection of the strange adventures presently merged -into the text of that which he was reading—a story of Bolgani, the gorilla, in -captivity. There was a more or less lifelike illustration of Bolgani in colors -and in a cage, with many remarkable looking Tarmangani standing against a rail -and peering curiously at the snarling brute. Tarzan wondered not a little, as -he always did, at the odd and seemingly useless array of colored plumage which -covered the bodies of the Tarmangani. It always caused him to grin a trifle -when he looked at these strange creatures. He wondered if they so covered their -bodies from shame of their hairlessness or because they thought the odd things -they wore added any to the beauty of their appearance. Particularly was Tarzan -amused by the grotesque headdresses of the pictured people. He wondered how -some of the shes succeeded in balancing theirs in an upright position, and he -came as near to laughing aloud as he ever had, as he contemplated the funny -little round things upon the heads of the hes. -</p> - -<p> -Slowly the ape-man picked out the meaning of the various combinations of -letters on the printed page, and as he read, the little bugs, for as such he -always thought of the letters, commenced to run about in a most confusing -manner, blurring his vision and befuddling his thoughts. Twice he brushed the -back of a hand smartly across his eyes; but only for a moment could he bring -the bugs back to coherent and intelligible form. He had slept ill the night -before and now he was exhausted from loss of sleep, from sickness, and from the -slight fever he had had, so that it became more and more difficult to fix his -attention, or to keep his eyes open. -</p> - -<p> -Tarzan realized that he was falling asleep, and just as the realization was -borne in upon him and he had decided to relinquish himself to an inclination -which had assumed almost the proportions of a physical pain, he was aroused by -the opening of the cabin door. Turning quickly toward the interruption Tarzan -was amazed, for a moment, to see bulking large in the doorway the huge and -hairy form of Bolgani, the gorilla. -</p> - -<p> -Now there was scarcely a denizen of the great jungle with whom Tarzan would -rather not have been cooped up inside the small cabin than Bolgani, the -gorilla, yet he felt no fear, even though his quick eye noted that Bolgani was -in the throes of that jungle madness which seizes upon so many of the fiercer -males. Ordinarily the huge gorillas avoid conflict, hide themselves from the -other jungle folk, and are generally the best of neighbors; but when they are -attacked, or the madness seizes them, there is no jungle denizen so bold and -fierce as to deliberately seek a quarrel with them. -</p> - -<p> -But for Tarzan there was no escape. Bolgani was glowering at him from -red-rimmed, wicked eyes. In a moment he would rush in and seize the ape-man. -Tarzan reached for the hunting knife where he had lain it on the table beside -him; but as his fingers did not immediately locate the weapon, he turned a -quick glance in search of it. As he did so his eyes fell upon the book he had -been looking at which still lay open at the picture of Bolgani. Tarzan found -his knife, but he merely fingered it idly and grinned in the direction of the -advancing gorilla. -</p> - -<p> -Not again would he be fooled by empty things which came while he slept! In a -moment, no doubt, Bolgani would turn into Pamba, the rat, with the head of -Tantor, the elephant. Tarzan had seen enough of such strange happenings -recently to have some idea as to what he might expect; but this time Bolgani -did not alter his form as he came slowly toward the young ape-man. -</p> - -<p> -Tarzan was a bit puzzled, too, that he felt no desire to rush frantically to -some place of safety, as had been the sensation most conspicuous in the other -of his new and remarkable adventures. He was just himself now, ready to fight, -if necessary; but still sure that no flesh and blood gorilla stood before him. -</p> - -<p> -The thing should be fading away into thin air by now, thought Tarzan, or -changing into something else; yet it did not. Instead it loomed clear-cut and -real as Bolgani himself, the magnificent dark coat glistening with life and -health in a bar of sunlight which shot across the cabin through the high window -behind the young Lord Greystoke. This was quite the most realistic of his sleep -adventures, thought Tarzan, as he passively awaited the next amusing incident. -</p> - -<p> -And then the gorilla charged. Two mighty, calloused hands seized upon the -ape-man, great fangs were bared close to his face, a hideous growl burst from -the cavernous throat and hot breath fanned Tarzan’s cheek, and still he sat -grinning at the apparition. Tarzan might be fooled once or twice, but not for -so many times in succession! He knew that this Bolgani was no real Bolgani, for -had he been he never could have gained entrance to the cabin, since only Tarzan -knew how to operate the latch. -</p> - -<p> -The gorilla seemed puzzled by the strange passivity of the hairless ape. He -paused an instant with his jaws snarling close to the other’s throat, then he -seemed suddenly to come to some decision. Whirling the ape-man across a hairy -shoulder, as easily as you or I might lift a babe in arms, Bolgani turned and -dashed out into the open, racing toward the great trees. -</p> - -<p> -Now, indeed, was Tarzan sure that this was a sleep adventure, and so grinned -largely as the giant gorilla bore him, unresisting, away. Presently, reasoned -Tarzan, he would awaken and find himself back in the cabin where he had fallen -asleep. He glanced back at the thought and saw the cabin door standing wide -open. This would never do! Always had he been careful to close and latch it -against wild intruders. Manu, the monkey, would make sad havoc there among -Tarzan’s treasures should he have access to the interior for even a few -minutes. The question which arose in Tarzan’s mind was a baffling one. Where -did sleep adventures end and reality commence? How was he to be sure that the -cabin door was not really open? Everything about him appeared quite -normal—there were none of the grotesque exaggerations of his former sleep -adventures. It would be better then to be upon the safe side and make sure that -the cabin door was closed—it would do no harm even if all that seemed to be -happening were not happening at all. -</p> - -<p> -Tarzan essayed to slip from Bolgani’s shoulder; but the great beast only -growled ominously and gripped him tighter. With a mighty effort the ape-man -wrenched himself loose, and as he slid to the ground, the dream gorilla turned -ferociously upon him, seized him once more and buried great fangs in a sleek, -brown shoulder. -</p> - -<p> -The grin of derision faded from Tarzan’s lips as the pain and the hot blood -aroused his fighting instincts. Asleep or awake, this thing was no longer a -joke! Biting, tearing, and snarling, the two rolled over upon the ground. The -gorilla now was frantic with insane rage. Again and again he loosed his hold -upon the ape-man’s shoulder in an attempt to seize the jugular; but Tarzan of -the Apes had fought before with creatures who struck first for the vital vein, -and each time he wriggled out of harm’s way as he strove to get his fingers -upon his adversary’s throat. At last he succeeded—his great muscles tensed and -knotted beneath his smooth hide as he forced with every ounce of his mighty -strength to push the hairy torso from him. And as he choked Bolgani and -strained him away, his other hand crept slowly upward between them until the -point of the hunting knife rested over the savage heart—there was a quick -movement of the steel-thewed wrist and the blade plunged to its goal. -</p> - -<p> -Bolgani, the gorilla, voiced a single frightful shriek, tore himself loose from -the grasp of the ape-man, rose to his feet, staggered a few steps and then -plunged to earth. There were a few spasmodic movements of the limbs and the -brute was still. -</p> - -<p> -Tarzan of the Apes stood looking down upon his kill, and as he stood there he -ran his fingers through his thick, black shock of hair. Presently he stooped -and touched the dead body. Some of the red life-blood of the gorilla crimsoned -his fingers. He raised them to his nose and sniffed. Then he shook his head and -turned toward the cabin. The door was still open. He closed it and fastened the -latch. Returning toward the body of his kill he again paused and scratched his -head. -</p> - -<p> -If this was a sleep adventure, what then was reality? How was he to know the -one from the other? How much of all that had happened in his life had been real -and how much unreal? -</p> - -<p> -He placed a foot upon the prostrate form and raising his face to the heavens -gave voice to the kill cry of the bull ape. Far in the distance a lion -answered. It was very real and, yet, he did not know. Puzzled, he turned away -into the jungle. -</p> - -<p> -No, he did not know what was real and what was not; but there was one thing -that he did know—never again would he eat of the flesh of Tantor, the elephant. -</p> - -</div><!--end chapter--> - -<div class="chapter"> - -<h2><a name="chap10"></a>CHAPTER X<br/> -The Battle for Teeka</h2> - -<p> -The day was perfect. A cool breeze tempered the heat of the equatorial sun. -Peace had reigned within the tribe for weeks and no alien enemy had trespassed -upon its preserves from without. To the ape-mind all this was sufficient -evidence that the future would be identical with the immediate past—that Utopia -would persist. -</p> - -<p> -The sentinels, now from habit become a fixed tribal custom, either relaxed -their vigilance or entirely deserted their posts, as the whim seized them. The -tribe was far scattered in search of food. Thus may peace and prosperity -undermine the safety of the most primitive community even as it does that of -the most cultured. -</p> - -<p> -Even the individuals became less watchful and alert, so that one might have -thought Numa and Sabor and Sheeta entirely deleted from the scheme of things. -The shes and the balus roamed unguarded through the sullen jungle, while the -greedy males foraged far afield, and thus it was that Teeka and Gazan, her -balu, hunted upon the extreme southern edge of the tribe with no great male -near them. -</p> - -<p> -Still farther south there moved through the forest a sinister figure—a huge -bull ape, maddened by solitude and defeat. A week before he had contended for -the kingship of a tribe far distant, and now battered, and still sore, he -roamed the wilderness an outcast. Later he might return to his own tribe and -submit to the will of the hairy brute he had attempted to dethrone; but for the -time being he dared not do so, since he had sought not only the crown but the -wives, as well, of his lord and master. It would require an entire moon at -least to bring forgetfulness to him he had wronged, and so Toog wandered a -strange jungle, grim, terrible, hate-filled. -</p> - -<p> -It was in this mental state that Toog came unexpectedly upon a young she -feeding alone in the jungle—a stranger she, lithe and strong and beautiful -beyond compare. Toog caught his breath and slunk quickly to one side of the -trail where the dense foliage of the tropical underbrush concealed him from -Teeka while permitting him to feast his eyes upon her loveliness. -</p> - -<p> -But not alone were they concerned with Teeka—they roved the surrounding jungle -in search of the bulls and cows and balus of her tribe, though principally for -the bulls. When one covets a she of an alien tribe one must take into -consideration the great, fierce, hairy guardians who seldom wander far from -their wards and who will fight a stranger to the death in protection of the -mate or offspring of a fellow, precisely as they would fight for their own. -</p> - -<p> -Toog could see no sign of any ape other than the strange she and a young balu -playing near by. His wicked, blood-shot eyes half closed as they rested upon -the charms of the former—as for the balu, one snap of those great jaws upon the -back of its little neck would prevent it from raising any unnecessary alarm. -</p> - -<p> -Toog was a fine, big male, resembling in many ways Teeka’s mate, Taug. Each was -in his prime, and each was wonderfully muscled, perfectly fanged and as -horrifyingly ferocious as the most exacting and particular she could wish. Had -Toog been of her own tribe, Teeka might as readily have yielded to him as to -Taug when her mating time arrived; but now she was Taug’s and no other male -could claim her without first defeating Taug in personal combat. And even then -Teeka retained some rights in the matter. If she did not favor a correspondent, -she could enter the lists with her rightful mate and do her part toward -discouraging his advances, a part, too, which would prove no mean assistance to -her lord and master, for Teeka, even though her fangs were smaller than a -male’s, could use them to excellent effect. -</p> - -<p> -Just now Teeka was occupied in a fascinating search for beetles, to the -exclusion of all else. She did not realize how far she and Gazan had become -separated from the balance of the tribe, nor were her defensive senses upon the -alert as they should have been. Months of immunity from danger under the -protecting watchfulness of the sentries, which Tarzan had taught the tribe to -post, had lulled them all into a sense of peaceful security based on that -fallacy which has wrecked many enlightened communities in the past and will -continue to wreck others in the future—that because they have not been attacked -they never will be. -</p> - -<p> -Toog, having satisfied himself that only the she and her balu were in the -immediate vicinity, crept stealthily forward. Teeka’s back was toward him when -he finally rushed upon her; but her senses were at last awakened to the -presence of danger and she wheeled to face the strange bull just before he -reached her. Toog halted a few paces from her. His anger had fled before the -seductive feminine charms of the stranger. He made conciliatory noises—a -species of clucking sound with his broad, flat lips—that were, too, not greatly -dissimilar to that which might be produced in an osculatory solo. -</p> - -<p> -But Teeka only bared her fangs and growled. Little Gazan started to run toward -his mother, but she warned him away with a quick “Kreeg-ah!” telling him to run -high into a tall tree. Evidently Teeka was not favorably impressed by her new -suitor. Toog realized this and altered his methods accordingly. He swelled his -giant chest, beat upon it with his calloused knuckles and swaggered to and fro -before her. -</p> - -<p> -“I am Toog,” he boasted. “Look at my fighting fangs. Look at my great arms and -my mighty legs. With one bite I can slay your biggest bull. Alone have I slain -Sheeta. I am Toog. Toog wants you.” Then he waited for the effect, nor did he -have long to wait. Teeka turned with a swiftness which belied her great weight -and bolted in the opposite direction. Toog, with an angry growl, leaped in -pursuit; but the smaller, lighter female was too fleet for him. He chased her -for a few yards and then, foaming and barking, he halted and beat upon the -ground with his hard fists. -</p> - -<p> -From the tree above him little Gazan looked down and witnessed the stranger -bull’s discomfiture. Being young, and thinking himself safe above the reach of -the heavy male, Gazan screamed an ill-timed insult at their tormentor. Toog -looked up. Teeka had halted at a little distance—she would not go far from her -balu; that Toog quickly realized and as quickly determined to take advantage -of. He saw that the tree in which the young ape squatted was isolated and that -Gazan could not reach another without coming to earth. He would obtain the -mother through her love for her young. -</p> - -<p> -He swung himself into the lower branches of the tree. Little Gazan ceased to -insult him; his expression of deviltry changed to one of apprehension, which -was quickly followed by fear as Toog commenced to ascend toward him. Teeka -screamed to Gazan to climb higher, and the little fellow scampered upward among -the tiny branches which would not support the weight of the great bull; but -nevertheless Toog kept on climbing. Teeka was not fearful. She knew that he -could not ascend far enough to reach Gazan, so she sat at a little distance -from the tree and applied jungle opprobrium to him. Being a female, she was a -past master of the art. -</p> - -<p> -But she did not know the malevolent cunning of Toog’s little brain. She took it -for granted that the bull would climb as high as he could toward Gazan and -then, finding that he could not reach him, resume his pursuit of her, which she -knew would prove equally fruitless. So sure was she of the safety of her balu -and her own ability to take care of herself that she did not voice the cry for -help which would soon have brought the other members of the tribe flocking to -her side. -</p> - -<p> -Toog slowly reached the limit to which he dared risk his great weight to the -slender branches. Gazan was still fifteen feet above him. The bull braced -himself and seized the main branch in his powerful hands, then he commenced -shaking it vigorously. Teeka was appalled. Instantly she realized what the bull -purposed. Gazan clung far out upon a swaying limb. At the first shake he lost -his balance, though he did not quite fall, clinging still with his four hands; -but Toog redoubled his efforts; the shaking produced a violent snapping of the -limb to which the young ape clung. Teeka saw all too plainly what the outcome -must be and forgetting her own danger in the depth of her mother love, rushed -forward to ascend the tree and give battle to the fearsome creature that -menaced the life of her little one. -</p> - -<p> -But before ever she reached the bole, Toog had succeeded, by violent shaking of -the branch, to loosen Gazan’s hold. With a cry the little fellow plunged down -through the foliage, clutching futilely for a new hold, and alighted with a -sickening thud at his mother’s feet, where he lay silent and motionless. -Moaning, Teeka stooped to lift the still form in her arms; but at the same -instant Toog was upon her. -</p> - -<p> -Struggling and biting she fought to free herself; but the giant muscles of the -great bull were too much for her lesser strength. Toog struck and choked her -repeatedly until finally, half unconscious, she lapsed into quasi submission. -Then the bull lifted her to his shoulder and turned back to the trail toward -the south from whence he had come. -</p> - -<p> -Upon the ground lay the quiet form of little Gazan. He did not moan. He did not -move. The sun rose slowly toward meridian. A mangy thing, lifting its nose to -scent the jungle breeze, crept through the underbrush. It was Dango, the hyena. -Presently its ugly muzzle broke through some near-by foliage and its cruel eyes -fastened upon Gazan. -</p> - -<p> -Early that morning, Tarzan of the Apes had gone to the cabin by the sea, where -he passed many an hour at such times as the tribe was ranging in the vicinity. -On the floor lay the skeleton of a man—all that remained of the former Lord -Greystoke—lay as it had fallen some twenty years before when Kerchak, the great -ape, had thrown it, lifeless, there. Long since had the termites and the small -rodents picked clean the sturdy English bones. For years Tarzan had seen it -lying there, giving it no more attention than he gave the countless thousand -bones that strewed his jungle haunts. On the bed another, smaller, skeleton -reposed and the youth ignored it as he ignored the other. How could he know -that the one had been his father, the other his mother? The little pile of -bones in the rude cradle, fashioned with such loving care by the former Lord -Greystoke, meant nothing to him—that one day that little skull was to help -prove his right to a proud title was as far beyond his ken as the satellites of -the suns of Orion. To Tarzan they were bones—just bones. He did not need them, -for there was no meat left upon them, and they were not in his way, for he knew -no necessity for a bed, and the skeleton upon the floor he easily could step -over. -</p> - -<p> -Today he was restless. He turned the pages first of one book and then of -another. He glanced at pictures which he knew by heart, and tossed the books -aside. He rummaged for the thousandth time in the cupboard. He took out a bag -which contained several small, round pieces of metal. He had played with them -many times in the years gone by; but always he replaced them carefully in the -bag, and the bag in the cupboard, upon the very shelf where first he had -discovered it. In strange ways did heredity manifest itself in the ape-man. -Come of an orderly race, he himself was orderly without knowing why. The apes -dropped things wherever their interest in them waned—in the tall grass or from -the high-flung branches of the trees. What they dropped they sometimes found -again, by accident; but not so the ways of Tarzan. For his few belongings he -had a place and scrupulously he returned each thing to its proper place when he -was done with it. The round pieces of metal in the little bag always interested -him. Raised pictures were upon either side, the meaning of which he did not -quite understand. The pieces were bright and shiny. It amused him to arrange -them in various figures upon the table. Hundreds of times had he played thus. -Today, while so engaged, he dropped a lovely yellow piece—an English -sovereign—which rolled beneath the bed where lay all that was mortal of the -once beautiful Lady Alice. -</p> - -<p> -True to form, Tarzan at once dropped to his hands and knees and searched -beneath the bed for the lost gold piece. Strange as it might appear, he had -never before looked beneath the bed. He found the gold piece, and something -else he found, too—a small wooden box with a loose cover. Bringing them both -out he returned the sovereign to its bag and the bag to its shelf within the -cupboard; then he investigated the box. It contained a quantity of cylindrical -bits of metal, cone-shaped at one end and flat at the other, with a projecting -rim. They were all quite green and dull, coated with years of verdigris. -</p> - -<p> -Tarzan removed a handful of them from the box and examined them. He rubbed one -upon another and discovered that the green came off, leaving a shiny surface -for two-thirds of their length and a dull gray over the cone-shaped end. -Finding a bit of wood he rubbed one of the cylinders rapidly and was rewarded -by a lustrous sheen which pleased him. -</p> - -<p> -At his side hung a pocket pouch taken from the body of one of the numerous -black warriors he had slain. Into this pouch he put a handful of the new -playthings, thinking to polish them at his leisure; then he replaced the box -beneath the bed, and finding nothing more to amuse him, left the cabin and -started back in the direction of the tribe. -</p> - -<p> -Shortly before he reached them he heard a great commotion ahead of him—the loud -screams of shes and balus, the savage, angry barking and growling of the great -bulls. Instantly he increased his speed, for the “Kreeg-ahs” that came to his -ears warned him that something was amiss with his fellows. -</p> - -<p> -While Tarzan had been occupied with his own devices in the cabin of his dead -sire, Taug, Teeka’s mighty mate, had been hunting a mile to the north of the -tribe. At last, his belly filled, he had turned lazily back toward the clearing -where he had last seen the tribe and presently commenced passing its members -scattered alone or in twos or threes. Nowhere did he see Teeka or Gazan, and -soon he began inquiring of the other apes where they might be; but none had -seen them recently. -</p> - -<p> -Now the lower orders are not highly imaginative. They do not, as you and I, -paint vivid mental pictures of things which might have occurred, and so Taug -did not now apprehend that any misfortune had overtaken his mate and their -off-spring—he merely knew that he wished to find Teeka that he might lie down -in the shade and have her scratch his back while his breakfast digested; but -though he called to her and searched for her and asked each whom he met, he -could find no trace of Teeka, nor of Gazan either. -</p> - -<p> -He was beginning to become peeved and had about made up his mind to chastise -Teeka for wandering so far afield when he wanted her. He was moving south along -a game trail, his calloused soles and knuckles giving forth no sound, when he -came upon Dango at the opposite side of a small clearing. The eater of carrion -did not see Taug, for all his eyes were for something which lay in the grass -beneath a tree—something upon which he was sneaking with the cautious stealth -of his breed. -</p> - -<p> -Taug, always cautious himself, as it behooves one to be who fares up and down -the jungle and desires to survive, swung noiselessly into a tree, where he -could have a better view of the clearing. He did not fear Dango; but he wanted -to see what it was that Dango stalked. In a way, possibly, he was actuated as -much by curiosity as by caution. -</p> - -<p> -And when Taug reached a place in the branches from which he could have an -unobstructed view of the clearing he saw Dango already sniffing at something -directly beneath him—something which Taug instantly recognized as the lifeless -form of his little Gazan. -</p> - -<p> -With a cry so frightful, so bestial, that it momentarily paralyzed the startled -Dango, the great ape launched his mighty bulk upon the surprised hyena. With a -cry and a snarl, Dango, crushed to earth, turned to tear at his assailant; but -as effectively might a sparrow turn upon a hawk. Taug’s great, gnarled fingers -closed upon the hyena’s throat and back, his jaws snapped once on the mangy -neck, crushing the vertebrae, and then he hurled the dead body contemptuously -aside. -</p> - -<p> -Again he raised his voice in the call of the bull ape to its mate, but there -was no reply; then he leaned down to sniff at the body of Gazan. In the breast -of this savage, hideous beast there beat a heart which was moved, however -slightly, by the same emotions of paternal love which affect us. Even had we no -actual evidence of this, we must know it still, since only thus might be -explained the survival of the human race in which the jealousy and selfishness -of the bulls would, in the earliest stages of the race, have wiped out the -young as rapidly as they were brought into the world had not God implanted in -the savage bosom that paternal love which evidences itself most strongly in the -protective instinct of the male. -</p> - -<p> -In Taug the protective instinct was not alone highly developed; but affection -for his offspring as well, for Taug was an unusually intelligent specimen of -these great, manlike apes which the natives of the Gobi speak of in whispers; -but which no white man ever had seen, or, if seeing, lived to tell of until -Tarzan of the Apes came among them. -</p> - -<p> -And so Taug felt sorrow as any other father might feel sorrow at the loss of a -little child. To you little Gazan might have seemed a hideous and repulsive -creature, but to Taug and Teeka he was as beautiful and as cute as is your -little Mary or Johnnie or Elizabeth Ann to you, and he was their firstborn, -their only balu, and a he—three things which might make a young ape the apple -of any fond father’s eye. -</p> - -<p> -For a moment Taug sniffed at the quiet little form. With his muzzle and his -tongue he smoothed and caressed the rumpled coat. From his savage lips broke a -low moan; but quickly upon the heels of sorrow came the overmastering desire -for revenge. -</p> - -<p> -Leaping to his feet he screamed out a volley of “Kreegahs,” punctuated from -time to time by the blood-freezing cry of an angry, challenging bull—a rage-mad -bull with the blood lust strong upon him. -</p> - -<p> -Answering his cries came the cries of the tribe as they swung through the trees -toward him. It was these that Tarzan heard on his return from his cabin, and in -reply to them he raised his own voice and hurried forward with increased speed -until he fairly flew through the middle terraces of the forest. -</p> - -<p> -When at last he came upon the tribe he saw their members gathered about Taug -and something which lay quietly upon the ground. Dropping among them, Tarzan -approached the center of the group. Taug was still roaring out his challenges; -but when he saw Tarzan he ceased and stooping picked up Gazan in his arms and -held him out for Tarzan to see. Of all the bulls of the tribe, Taug held -affection for Tarzan only. Tarzan he trusted and looked up to as one wiser and -more cunning. To Tarzan he came now—to the playmate of his balu days, the -companion of innumerable battles of his maturity. -</p> - -<p> -When Tarzan saw the still form in Taug’s arms, a low growl broke from his lips, -for he too loved Teeka’s little balu. -</p> - -<p> -“Who did it?” he asked. “Where is Teeka?” -</p> - -<p> -“I do not know,” replied Taug. “I found him lying here with Dango about to feed -upon him; but it was not Dango that did it—there are no fang marks upon him.” -</p> - -<p> -Tarzan came closer and placed an ear against Gazan’s breast. “He is not dead,” -he said. “Maybe he will not die.” He pressed through the crowd of apes and -circled once about them, examining the ground step by step. Suddenly he stopped -and placing his nose close to the earth sniffed. Then he sprang to his feet, -giving a peculiar cry. Taug and the others pressed forward, for the sound told -them that the hunter had found the spoor of his quarry. -</p> - -<p> -“A stranger bull has been here,” said Tarzan. “It was he that hurt Gazan. He -has carried off Teeka.” -</p> - -<p> -Taug and the other bulls commenced to roar and threaten; but they did nothing. -Had the stranger bull been within sight they would have torn him to pieces; but -it did not occur to them to follow him. -</p> - -<p> -“If the three bulls had been watching around the tribe this would not have -happened,” said Tarzan. “Such things will happen as long as you do not keep the -three bulls watching for an enemy. The jungle is full of enemies, and yet you -let your shes and your balus feed where they will, alone and unprotected. -Tarzan goes now—he goes to find Teeka and bring her back to the tribe.” -</p> - -<p> -The idea appealed to the other bulls. “We will all go,” they cried. -</p> - -<p> -“No,” said Tarzan, “you will not all go. We cannot take shes and balus when we -go out to hunt and fight. You must remain to guard them or you will lose them -all.” -</p> - -<p> -They scratched their heads. The wisdom of his advice was dawning upon them, but -at first they had been carried away by the new idea—the idea of following up an -enemy offender to wrest his prize from him and punish him. The community -instinct was ingrained in their characters through ages of custom. They did not -know why they had not thought to pursue and punish the offender—they could not -know that it was because they had as yet not reached a mental plane which would -permit them to work as individuals. In times of stress, the community instinct -sent them huddling into a compact herd where the great bulls, by the weight of -their combined strength and ferocity, could best protect them from an enemy. -The idea of separating to do battle with a foe had not yet occurred to them—it -was too foreign to custom, too inimical to community interests; but to Tarzan -it was the first and most natural thought. His senses told him that there was -but a single bull connected with the attack upon Teeka and Gazan. A single -enemy did not require the entire tribe for his punishment. Two swift bulls -could quickly overhaul him and rescue Teeka. -</p> - -<p> -In the past no one ever had thought to go forth in search of the shes that were -occasionally stolen from the tribe. If Numa, Sabor, Sheeta or a wandering bull -ape from another tribe chanced to carry off a maid or a matron while no one was -looking, that was the end of it—she was gone, that was all. The bereaved -husband, if the victim chanced to have been mated, growled around for a day or -two and then, if he were strong enough, took another mate within the tribe, and -if not, wandered far into the jungle on the chance of stealing one from another -community. -</p> - -<p> -In the past Tarzan of the Apes had condoned this practice for the reason that -he had had no interest in those who had been stolen; but Teeka had been his -first love and Teeka’s balu held a place in his heart such as a balu of his own -would have held. Just once before had Tarzan wished to follow and revenge. That -had been years before when Kulonga, the son of Mbonga, the chief, had slain -Kala. Then, single-handed, Tarzan had pursued and avenged. Now, though to a -lesser degree, he was moved by the same passion. -</p> - -<p> -He turned toward Taug. “Leave Gazan with Mumga,” he said. “She is old and her -fangs are broken and she is no good; but she can take care of Gazan until we -return with Teeka, and if Gazan is dead when we come back,” he turned to -address Mumga, “I will kill you, too.” -</p> - -<p> -“Where are we going?” asked Taug. -</p> - -<p> -“We are going to get Teeka,” replied the ape-man, “and kill the bull who has -stolen her. Come!” -</p> - -<p> -He turned again to the spoor of the stranger bull, which showed plainly to his -trained senses, nor did he glance back to note if Taug followed. The latter -laid Gazan in Mumga’s arms with a parting: “If he dies Tarzan will kill you,” -and he followed after the brown-skinned figure that already was moving at a -slow trot along the jungle trail. -</p> - -<p> -No other bull of the tribe of Kerchak was so good a trailer as Tarzan, for his -trained senses were aided by a high order of intelligence. His judgment told -him the natural trail for a quarry to follow, so that he need but note the most -apparent marks upon the way, and today the trail of Toog was as plain to him as -type upon a printed page to you or me. -</p> - -<p> -Following close behind the lithe figure of the ape-man came the huge and shaggy -bull ape. No words passed between them. They moved as silently as two shadows -among the myriad shadows of the forest. Alert as his eyes and ears, was -Tarzan’s patrician nose. The spoor was fresh, and now that they had passed from -the range of the strong ape odor of the tribe he had little difficulty in -following Toog and Teeka by scent alone. Teeka’s familiar scent spoor told both -Tarzan and Taug that they were upon her trail, and soon the scent of Toog -became as familiar as the other. -</p> - -<p> -They were progressing rapidly when suddenly dense clouds overcast the sun. -Tarzan accelerated his pace. Now he fairly flew along the jungle trail, or, -where Toog had taken to the trees, followed nimbly as a squirrel along the -bending, undulating pathway of the foliage branches, swinging from tree to tree -as Toog had swung before them; but more rapidly because they were not -handicapped by a burden such as Toog’s. -</p> - -<p> -Tarzan felt that they must be almost upon the quarry, for the scent spoor was -becoming stronger and stronger, when the jungle was suddenly shot by livid -lightning, and a deafening roar of thunder reverberated through the heavens and -the forest until the earth trembled and shook. Then came the rain—not as it -comes to us of the temperate zones, but as a mighty avalanche of water—a deluge -which spills tons instead of drops upon the bending forest giants and the -terrified creatures which haunt their shade. -</p> - -<p> -And the rain did what Tarzan knew that it would do—it wiped the spoor of the -quarry from the face of the earth. For a half hour the torrents fell—then the -sun burst forth, jeweling the forest with a million scintillant gems; but today -the ape-man, usually alert to the changing wonders of the jungle, saw them not. -Only the fact that the spoor of Teeka and her abductor was obliterated found -lodgment in his thoughts. -</p> - -<p> -Even among the branches of the trees there are well-worn trails, just as there -are trails upon the surface of the ground; but in the trees they branch and -cross more often, since the way is more open than among the dense undergrowth -at the surface. Along one of these well-marked trails Tarzan and Taug continued -after the rain had ceased, because the ape-man knew that this was the most -logical path for the thief to follow; but when they came to a fork, they were -at a loss. Here they halted, while Tarzan examined every branch and leaf which -might have been touched by the fleeing ape. -</p> - -<p> -He sniffed the bole of the tree, and with his keen eyes he sought to find upon -the bark some sign of the way the quarry had taken. It was slow work and all -the time, Tarzan knew, the bull of the alien tribe was forging steadily away -from them—gaining precious minutes that might carry him to safety before they -could catch up with him. -</p> - -<p> -First along one fork he went, and then another, applying every test that his -wonderful junglecraft was cognizant of; but again and again he was baffled, for -the scent had been washed away by the heavy downpour, in every exposed place. -For a half hour Tarzan and Taug searched, until at last, upon the bottom of a -broad leaf, Tarzan’s keen nose caught the faint trace of the scent spoor of -Toog, where the leaf had brushed a hairy shoulder as the great ape passed -through the foliage. -</p> - -<p> -Once again the two took up the trail, but it was slow work now and there were -many discouraging delays when the spoor seemed lost beyond recovery. To you or -me there would have been no spoor, even before the coming of the rain, except, -possibly, where Toog had come to earth and followed a game trail. In such -places the imprint of a huge handlike foot and the knuckles of one great hand -were sometimes plain enough for an ordinary mortal to read. Tarzan knew from -these and other indications that the ape was yet carrying Teeka. The depth of -the imprint of his feet indicated a much greater weight than that of any of the -larger bulls, for they were made under the combined weight of Toog and Teeka, -while the fact that the knuckles of but one hand touched the ground at any time -showed that the other hand was occupied in some other business—the business of -holding the prisoner to a hairy shoulder. Tarzan could follow, in sheltered -places, the changing of the burden from one shoulder to another, as indicated -by the deepening of the foot imprint upon the side of the load, and the -changing of the knuckle imprints from one side of the trail to the other. -</p> - -<p> -There were stretches along the surface paths where the ape had gone for -considerable distances entirely erect upon his hind feet—walking as a man -walks; but the same might have been true of any of the great anthropoids of the -same species, for, unlike the chimpanzee and the gorilla, they walk without the -aid of their hands quite as readily as with. It was such things, however, which -helped to identify to Tarzan and to Taug the appearance of the abductor, and -with his individual scent characteristic already indelibly impressed upon their -memories, they were in a far better position to know him when they came upon -him, even should he have disposed of Teeka before, than is a modern sleuth with -his photographs and Bertillon measurements, equipped to recognize a fugitive -from civilized justice. -</p> - -<p> -But with all their high-strung and delicately attuned perceptive faculties the -two bulls of the tribe of Kerchak were often sore pressed to follow the trail -at all, and at best were so delayed that in the afternoon of the second day, -they still had not overhauled the fugitive. The scent was now strong, for it -had been made since the rain, and Tarzan knew that it would not be long before -they came upon the thief and his loot. Above them, as they crept stealthily -forward, chattered Manu, the monkey, and his thousand fellows; squawked and -screamed the brazen-throated birds of plumage; buzzed and hummed the countless -insects amid the rustling of the forest leaves, and, as they passed, a little -gray-beard, squeaking and scolding upon a swaying branch, looked down and saw -them. Instantly the scolding and squeaking ceased, and off tore the long-tailed -mite as though Sheeta, the panther, had been endowed with wings and was in -close pursuit of him. To all appearances he was only a very much frightened -little monkey, fleeing for his life—there seemed nothing sinister about him. -</p> - -<p> -And what of Teeka during all this time? Was she at last resigned to her fate -and accompanying her new mate in the proper humility of a loving and tractable -spouse? A single glance at the pair would have answered these questions to the -utter satisfaction of the most captious. She was torn and bleeding from many -wounds, inflicted by the sullen Toog in his vain efforts to subdue her to his -will, and Toog too was disfigured and mutilated; but with stubborn ferocity, he -still clung to his now useless prize. -</p> - -<p> -On through the jungle he forced his way in the direction of the stamping ground -of his tribe. He hoped that his king would have forgotten his treason; but if -not he was still resigned to his fate—any fate would be better than suffering -longer the sole companionship of this frightful she, and then, too, he wished -to exhibit his captive to his fellows. Maybe he could wish her on the king—it -is possible that such a thought urged him on. -</p> - -<p> -At last they came upon two bulls feeding in a parklike grove—a beautiful grove -dotted with huge boulders half embedded in the rich loam—mute monuments, -possibly, to a forgotten age when mighty glaciers rolled their slow course -where now a torrid sun beats down upon a tropic jungle. -</p> - -<p> -The two bulls looked up, baring long fighting fangs, as Toog appeared in the -distance. The latter recognized the two as friends. “It is Toog,” he growled. -“Toog has come back with a new she.” -</p> - -<p> -The apes waited his nearer approach. Teeka turned a snarling, fanged face -toward them. She was not pretty to look upon, yet through the blood and hatred -upon her countenance they realized that she was beautiful, and they envied -Toog—alas! they did not know Teeka. -</p> - -<p> -As they squatted looking at one another there raced through the trees toward -them a long-tailed little monkey with gray whiskers. He was a very excited -little monkey when he came to a halt upon the limb of a tree directly overhead. -“Two strange bulls come,” he cried. “One is a Mangani, the other a hideous ape -without hair upon his body. They follow the spoor of Toog. I saw them.” -</p> - -<p> -The four apes turned their eyes backward along the trail Toog had just come; -then they looked at one another for a minute. “Come,” said the larger of Toog’s -two friends, “we will wait for the strangers in the thick bushes beyond the -clearing.” -</p> - -<p> -He turned and waddled away across the open place, the others following him. The -little monkey danced about, all excitement. His chief diversion in life was to -bring about bloody encounters between the larger denizens of the forest, that -he might sit in the safety of the trees and witness the spectacles. He was a -glutton for gore, was this little, whiskered, gray monkey, so long as it was -the gore of others—a typical fight fan was the graybeard. -</p> - -<p> -The apes hid themselves in the shrubbery beside the trail along which the two -stranger bulls would pass. Teeka trembled with excitement. She had heard the -words of Manu, and she knew that the hairless ape must be Tarzan, while the -other was, doubtless, Taug. Never, in her wildest hopes, had she expected -succor of this sort. Her one thought had been to escape and find her way back -to the tribe of Kerchak; but even this had appeared to her practically -impossible, so closely did Toog watch her. -</p> - -<p> -As Taug and Tarzan reached the grove where Toog had come upon his friends, the -ape scent became so strong that both knew the quarry was but a short distance -ahead. And so they went even more cautiously, for they wished to come upon the -thief from behind if they could and charge him before he was aware of their -presence. That a little gray-whiskered monkey had forestalled them they did not -know, nor that three pairs of savage eyes were already watching their every -move and waiting for them to come within reach of itching paws and slavering -jowls. -</p> - -<p> -On they came across the grove, and as they entered the path leading into the -dense jungle beyond, a sudden “Kreeg-ah!” shrilled out close before them—a -“Kreeg-ah” in the familiar voice of Teeka. The small brains of Toog and his -companions had not been able to foresee that Teeka might betray them, and now -that she had, they went wild with rage. Toog struck the she a mighty blow that -felled her, and then the three rushed forth to do battle with Tarzan and Taug. -The little monkey danced upon his perch and screamed with delight. -</p> - -<p> -And indeed he might well be delighted, for it was a lovely fight. There were no -preliminaries, no formalities, no introductions—the five bulls merely charged -and clinched. They rolled in the narrow trail and into the thick verdure beside -it. They bit and clawed and scratched and struck, and all the while they kept -up the most frightful chorus of growlings and barkings and roarings. In five -minutes they were torn and bleeding, and the little graybeard leaped high, -shrilling his primitive bravos; but always his attitude was “thumbs down.” He -wanted to see something killed. He did not care whether it were friend or foe. -It was blood he wanted—blood and death. -</p> - -<p> -Taug had been set upon by Toog and another of the apes, while Tarzan had the -third—a huge brute with the strength of a buffalo. Never before had Tarzan’s -assailant beheld so strange a creature as this slippery, hairless bull with -which he battled. Sweat and blood covered Tarzan’s sleek, brown hide. Again and -again he slipped from the clutches of the great bull, and all the while he -struggled to free his hunting knife from the scabbard in which it had stuck. -</p> - -<p> -At length he succeeded—a brown hand shot out and clutched a hairy throat, -another flew upward clutching the sharp blade. Three swift, powerful strokes -and the bull relaxed with a groan, falling limp beneath his antagonist. -Instantly Tarzan broke from the clutches of the dying bull and sprang to Taug’s -assistance. Toog saw him coming and wheeled to meet him. In the impact of the -charge, Tarzan’s knife was wrenched from his hand and then Toog closed with -him. Now was the battle even—two against two—while on the verge, Teeka, now -recovered from the blow that had felled her, slunk waiting for an opportunity -to aid. She saw Tarzan’s knife and picked it up. She never had used it, but -knew how Tarzan used it. Always had she been afraid of the thing which dealt -death to the mightiest of the jungle people with the ease that Tantor’s great -tusks deal death to Tantor’s enemies. -</p> - -<p> -She saw Tarzan’s pocket pouch torn from his side, and with the curiosity of an -ape, that even danger and excitement cannot entirely dispel, she picked this -up, too. -</p> - -<p> -Now the bulls were standing—the clinches had been broken. Blood streamed down -their sides—their faces were crimsoned with it. Little graybeard was so -fascinated that at last he had even forgotten to scream and dance; but sat -rigid with delight in the enjoyment of the spectacle. -</p> - -<p> -Back across the grove Tarzan and Taug forced their adversaries. Teeka followed -slowly. She scarce knew what to do. She was lame and sore and exhausted from -the frightful ordeal through which she had passed, and she had the confidence -of her sex in the prowess of her mate and the other bull of her tribe—they -would not need the help of a she in their battle with these two strangers. -</p> - -<p> -The roars and screams of the fighters reverberated through the jungle, -awakening the echoes in the distant hills. From the throat of Tarzan’s -antagonist had come a score of “Kreeg-ahs!” and now from behind came the reply -he had awaited. Into the grove, barking and growling, came a score of huge bull -apes—the fighting men of Toog’s tribe. -</p> - -<p> -Teeka saw them first and screamed a warning to Tarzan and Taug. Then she fled -past the fighters toward the opposite side of the clearing, fear for a moment -claiming her. Nor can one censure her after the frightful ordeal from which she -was still suffering. -</p> - -<p> -Down upon them came the great apes. In a moment Tarzan and Taug would be torn -to shreds that would later form the <i>pièce de résistance</i> of the savage -orgy of a Dum-Dum. Teeka turned to glance back. She saw the impending fate of -her defenders and there sprung to life in her savage bosom the spark of -martyrdom, that some common forbear had transmitted alike to Teeka, the wild -ape, and the glorious women of a higher order who have invited death for their -men. With a shrill scream she ran toward the battlers who were rolling in a -great mass at the foot of one of the huge boulders which dotted the grove; but -what could she do? The knife she held she could not use to advantage because of -her lesser strength. She had seen Tarzan throw missiles, and she had learned -this with many other things from her childhood playmate. She sought for -something to throw and at last her fingers touched upon the hard objects in the -pouch that had been torn from the ape-man. Tearing the receptacle open, she -gathered a handful of shiny cylinders—heavy for their size, they seemed to her, -and good missiles. With all her strength she hurled them at the apes battling -in front of the granite boulder. -</p> - -<p> -The result surprised Teeka quite as much as it did the apes. There was a loud -explosion, which deafened the fighters, and a puff of acrid smoke. Never before -had one there heard such a frightful noise. Screaming with terror, the stranger -bulls leaped to their feet and fled back toward the stamping ground of their -tribe, while Taug and Tarzan slowly gathered themselves together and arose, -lame and bleeding, to their feet. They, too, would have fled had they not seen -Teeka standing there before them, the knife and the pocket pouch in her hands. -</p> - -<p> -“What was it?” asked Tarzan. -</p> - -<p> -Teeka shook her head. “I hurled these at the stranger bulls,” and she held -forth another handful of the shiny metal cylinders with the dull gray, -cone-shaped ends. -</p> - -<p> -Tarzan looked at them and scratched his head. -</p> - -<p> -“What are they?” asked Taug. -</p> - -<p> -“I do not know,” said Tarzan. “I found them.” -</p> - -<p> -The little monkey with the gray beard halted among the trees a mile away and -huddled, terrified, against a branch. He did not know that the dead father of -Tarzan of the Apes, reaching back out of the past across a span of twenty -years, had saved his son’s life. -</p> - -<p> -Nor did Tarzan, Lord Greystoke, know it either. -</p> - -</div><!--end chapter--> - -<div class="chapter"> - -<h2><a name="chap11"></a>CHAPTER XI<br/> -A Jungle Joke</h2> - -<p> -Time seldom hung heavily upon Tarzan’s hands. Even where there is sameness -there cannot be monotony if most of the sameness consists in dodging death -first in one form and then in another; or in inflicting death upon others. -There is a spice to such an existence; but even this Tarzan of the Apes varied -in activities of his own invention. -</p> - -<p> -He was full grown now, with the grace of a Greek god and the thews of a bull, -and, by all the tenets of apedom, should have been sullen, morose, and -brooding; but he was not. His spirits seemed not to age at all—he was still a -playful child, much to the discomfiture of his fellow-apes. They could not -understand him or his ways, for with maturity they quickly forgot their youth -and its pastimes. -</p> - -<p> -Nor could Tarzan quite understand them. It seemed strange to him that a few -moons since, he had roped Taug about an ankle and dragged him screaming through -the tall jungle grasses, and then rolled and tumbled in good-natured mimic -battle when the young ape had freed himself, and that today when he had come up -behind the same Taug and pulled him over backward upon the turf, instead of the -playful young ape, a great, snarling beast had whirled and leaped for his -throat. -</p> - -<p> -Easily Tarzan eluded the charge and quickly Taug’s anger vanished, though it -was not replaced with playfulness; yet the ape-man realized that Taug was not -amused nor was he amusing. The big bull ape seemed to have lost whatever sense -of humor he once may have possessed. With a grunt of disappointment, young Lord -Greystoke turned to other fields of endeavor. A strand of black hair fell -across one eye. He brushed it aside with the palm of a hand and a toss of his -head. It suggested something to do, so he sought his quiver which lay cached in -the hollow bole of a lightning-riven tree. Removing the arrows he turned the -quiver upside down, emptying upon the ground the contents of its bottom—his few -treasures. Among them was a flat bit of stone and a shell which he had picked -up from the beach near his father’s cabin. -</p> - -<p> -With great care he rubbed the edge of the shell back and forth upon the flat -stone until the soft edge was quite fine and sharp. He worked much as a barber -does who hones a razor, and with every evidence of similar practice; but his -proficiency was the result of years of painstaking effort. Unaided he had -worked out a method of his own for putting an edge upon the shell—he even -tested it with the ball of his thumb—and when it met with his approval he -grasped a wisp of hair which fell across his eyes, grasped it between the thumb -and first finger of his left hand and sawed upon it with the sharpened shell -until it was severed. All around his head he went until his black shock was -rudely bobbed with a ragged bang in front. For the appearance of it he cared -nothing; but in the matter of safety and comfort it meant everything. A lock of -hair falling in one’s eyes at the wrong moment might mean all the difference -between life and death, while straggly strands, hanging down one’s back were -most uncomfortable, especially when wet with dew or rain or perspiration. -</p> - -<p> -As Tarzan labored at his tonsorial task, his active mind was busy with many -things. He recalled his recent battle with Bolgani, the gorilla, the wounds of -which were but just healed. He pondered the strange sleep adventures of his -first dreams, and he smiled at the painful outcome of his last practical joke -upon the tribe, when, dressed in the hide of Numa, the lion, he had come -roaring upon them, only to be leaped upon and almost killed by the great bulls -whom he had taught how to defend themselves from an attack of their ancient -enemy. -</p> - -<p> -His hair lopped off to his entire satisfaction, and seeing no possibility of -pleasure in the company of the tribe, Tarzan swung leisurely into the trees and -set off in the direction of his cabin; but when part way there his attention -was attracted by a strong scent spoor coming from the north. It was the scent -of the Gomangani. -</p> - -<p> -Curiosity, that best-developed, common heritage of man and ape, always prompted -Tarzan to investigate where the Gomangani were concerned. There was that about -them which aroused his imagination. Possibly it was because of the diversity of -their activities and interests. The apes lived to eat and sleep and propagate. -The same was true of all the other denizens of the jungle, save the Gomangani. -</p> - -<p> -These black fellows danced and sang, scratched around in the earth from which -they had cleared the trees and underbrush; they watched things grow, and when -they had ripened, they cut them down and put them in straw-thatched huts. They -made bows and spears and arrows, poison, cooking pots, things of metal to wear -around their arms and legs. If it hadn’t been for their black faces, their -hideously disfigured features, and the fact that one of them had slain Kala, -Tarzan might have wished to be one of them. At least he sometimes thought so, -but always at the thought there rose within him a strange revulsion of feeling, -which he could not interpret or understand—he simply knew that he hated the -Gomangani, and that he would rather be Histah, the snake, than one of these. -</p> - -<p> -But their ways were interesting, and Tarzan never tired of spying upon them, -and from them he learned much more than he realized, though always his -principal thought was of some new way in which he could render their lives -miserable. The baiting of the blacks was Tarzan’s chief divertissement. -</p> - -<p> -Tarzan realized now that the blacks were very near and that there were many of -them, so he went silently and with great caution. Noiselessly he moved through -the lush grasses of the open spaces, and where the forest was dense, swung from -one swaying branch to another, or leaped lightly over tangled masses of fallen -trees where there was no way through the lower terraces, and the ground was -choked and impassable. -</p> - -<p> -And so presently he came within sight of the black warriors of Mbonga, the -chief. They were engaged in a pursuit with which Tarzan was more or less -familiar, having watched them at it upon other occasions. They were placing and -baiting a trap for Numa, the lion. In a cage upon wheels they were tying a kid, -so fastening it that when Numa seized the unfortunate creature, the door of the -cage would drop behind him, making him a prisoner. -</p> - -<p> -These things the blacks had learned in their old home, before they escaped -through the untracked jungle to their new village. Formerly they had dwelt in -the Belgian Congo until the cruelties of their heartless oppressors had driven -them to seek the safety of unexplored solitudes beyond the boundaries of -Leopold’s domain. -</p> - -<p> -In their old life they often had trapped animals for the agents of European -dealers, and had learned from them certain tricks, such as this one, which -permitted them to capture even Numa without injuring him, and to transport him -in safety and with comparative ease to their village. -</p> - -<p> -No longer was there a white market for their savage wares; but there was still -a sufficient incentive for the taking of Numa—alive. First was the necessity -for ridding the jungle of man-eaters, and it was only after depredations by -these grim and terrible scourges that a lion hunt was organized. Secondarily -was the excuse for an orgy of celebration was the hunt successful, and the fact -that such fetes were rendered doubly pleasurable by the presence of a live -creature that might be put to death by torture. -</p> - -<p> -Tarzan had witnessed these cruel rites in the past. Being himself more savage -than the savage warriors of the Gomangani, he was not so shocked by the cruelty -of them as he should have been, yet they did shock him. He could not understand -the strange feeling of revulsion which possessed him at such times. He had no -love for Numa, the lion, yet he bristled with rage when the blacks inflicted -upon his enemy such indignities and cruelties as only the mind of the one -creature molded in the image of God can conceive. -</p> - -<p> -Upon two occasions he had freed Numa from the trap before the blacks had -returned to discover the success or failure of their venture. He would do the -same today—that he decided immediately he realized the nature of their -intentions. -</p> - -<p> -Leaving the trap in the center of a broad elephant trail near the drinking -hole, the warriors turned back toward their village. On the morrow they would -come again. Tarzan looked after them, upon his lips an unconscious sneer—the -heritage of unguessed caste. He saw them file along the broad trail, beneath -the overhanging verdure of leafy branch and looped and festooned creepers, -brushing ebon shoulders against gorgeous blooms which inscrutable Nature has -seen fit to lavish most profusely farthest from the eye of man. -</p> - -<p> -As Tarzan watched, through narrowed lids, the last of the warriors disappear -beyond a turn in the trail, his expression altered to the urge of a newborn -thought. A slow, grim smile touched his lips. He looked down upon the -frightened, bleating kid, advertising, in its fear and its innocence, its -presence and its helplessness. -</p> - -<p> -Dropping to the ground, Tarzan approached the trap and entered. Without -disturbing the fiber cord, which was adjusted to drop the door at the proper -time, he loosened the living bait, tucked it under an arm and stepped out of -the cage. -</p> - -<p> -With his hunting knife he quieted the frightened animal, severing its jugular; -then he dragged it, bleeding, along the trail down to the drinking hole, the -half smile persisting upon his ordinarily grave face. At the water’s edge the -ape-man stooped and with hunting knife and quick strong fingers deftly removed -the dead kid’s viscera. Scraping a hole in the mud, he buried these parts which -he did not eat, and swinging the body to his shoulder took to the trees. -</p> - -<p> -For a short distance he pursued his way in the wake of the black warriors, -coming down presently to bury the meat of his kill where it would be safe from -the depredations of Dango, the hyena, or the other meat-eating beasts and birds -of the jungle. He was hungry. Had he been all beast he would have eaten; but -his man-mind could entertain urges even more potent than those of the belly, -and now he was concerned with an idea which kept a smile upon his lips and his -eyes sparkling in anticipation. An idea, it was, which permitted him to forget -that he was hungry. -</p> - -<p> -The meat safely cached, Tarzan trotted along the elephant trail after the -Gomangani. Two or three miles from the cage he overtook them and then he swung -into the trees and followed above and behind them—waiting his chance. -</p> - -<p> -Among the blacks was Rabba Kega, the witch-doctor. Tarzan hated them all; but -Rabba Kega he especially hated. As the blacks filed along the winding path, -Rabba Kega, being lazy, dropped behind. This Tarzan noted, and it filled him -with satisfaction—his being radiated a grim and terrible content. Like an angel -of death he hovered above the unsuspecting black. -</p> - -<p> -Rabba Kega, knowing that the village was but a short distance ahead, sat down -to rest. Rest well, O Rabba Kega! It is thy last opportunity. -</p> - -<p> -Tarzan crept stealthily among the branches of the tree above the well-fed, -self-satisfied witch-doctor. He made no noise that the dull ears of man could -hear above the soughing of the gentle jungle breeze among the undulating -foliage of the upper terraces, and when he came close above the black man he -halted, well concealed by leafy branch and heavy creeper. -</p> - -<p> -Rabba Kega sat with his back against the bole of a tree, facing Tarzan. The -position was not such as the waiting beast of prey desired, and so, with the -infinite patience of the wild hunter, the ape-man crouched motionless and -silent as a graven image until the fruit should be ripe for the plucking. A -poisonous insect buzzed angrily out of space. It loitered, circling, close to -Tarzan’s face. The ape-man saw and recognized it. The virus of its sting -spelled death for lesser things than he—for him it would mean days of anguish. -He did not move. His glittering eyes remained fixed upon Rabba Kega after -acknowledging the presence of the winged torture by a single glance. He heard -and followed the movements of the insect with his keen ears, and then he felt -it alight upon his forehead. No muscle twitched, for the muscles of such as he -are the servants of the brain. Down across his face crept the horrid thing—over -nose and lips and chin. Upon his throat it paused, and turning, retraced its -steps. Tarzan watched Rabba Kega. Now not even his eyes moved. So motionless he -crouched that only death might counterpart his movelessness. The insect crawled -upward over the nut-brown cheek and stopped with its antennae brushing the -lashes of his lower lid. You or I would have started back, closing our eyes and -striking at the thing; but you and I are the slaves, not the masters of our -nerves. Had the thing crawled upon the eyeball of the ape-man, it is believable -that he could yet have remained wide-eyed and rigid; but it did not. For a -moment it loitered there close to the lower lid, then it rose and buzzed away. -</p> - -<p> -Down toward Rabba Kega it buzzed and the black man heard it, saw it, struck at -it, and was stung upon the cheek before he killed it. Then he rose with a howl -of pain and anger, and as he turned up the trail toward the village of Mbonga, -the chief, his broad, black back was exposed to the silent thing waiting above -him. -</p> - -<p> -And as Rabba Kega turned, a lithe figure shot outward and downward from the -tree above upon his broad shoulders. The impact of the springing creature -carried Rabba Kega to the ground. He felt strong jaws close upon his neck, and -when he tried to scream, steel fingers throttled his throat. The powerful black -warrior struggled to free himself; but he was as a child in the grip of his -adversary. -</p> - -<p> -Presently Tarzan released his grip upon the other’s throat; but each time that -Rabba Kega essayed a scream, the cruel fingers choked him painfully. At last -the warrior desisted. Then Tarzan half rose and kneeled upon his victim’s back, -and when Rabba Kega struggled to arise, the ape-man pushed his face down into -the dirt of the trail. With a bit of the rope that had secured the kid, Tarzan -made Rabba Kega’s wrists secure behind his back, then he rose and jerked his -prisoner to his feet, faced him back along the trail and pushed him on ahead. -</p> - -<p> -Not until he came to his feet did Rabba Kega obtain a square look at his -assailant. When he saw that it was the white devil-god his heart sank within -him and his knees trembled; but as he walked along the trail ahead of his -captor and was neither injured nor molested his spirits slowly rose, so that he -took heart again. Possibly the devil-god did not intend to kill him after all. -Had he not had little Tibo in his power for days without harming him, and had -he not spared Momaya, Tibo’s mother, when he easily might have slain her? -</p> - -<p> -And then they came upon the cage which Rabba Kega, with the other black -warriors of the village of Mbonga, the chief, had placed and baited for Numa. -Rabba Kega saw that the bait was gone, though there was no lion within the -cage, nor was the door dropped. He saw and he was filled with wonder not -unmixed with apprehension. It entered his dull brain that in some way this -combination of circumstances had a connection with his presence there as the -prisoner of the white devil-god. -</p> - -<p> -Nor was he wrong. Tarzan pushed him roughly into the cage, and in another -moment Rabba Kega understood. Cold sweat broke from every pore of his body—he -trembled as with ague—for the ape-man was binding him securely in the very spot -the kid had previously occupied. The witch-doctor pleaded, first for his life, -and then for a death less cruel; but he might as well have saved his pleas for -Numa, since already they were directed toward a wild beast who understood no -word of what he said. -</p> - -<p> -But his constant jabbering not only annoyed Tarzan, who worked in silence, but -suggested that later the black might raise his voice in cries for succor, so he -stepped out of the cage, gathered a handful of grass and a small stick and -returning, jammed the grass into Rabba Kega’s mouth, laid the stick crosswise -between his teeth and fastened it there with the thong from Rabba Kega’s loin -cloth. Now could the witch-doctor but roll his eyes and sweat. Thus Tarzan left -him. -</p> - -<p> -The ape-man went first to the spot where he had cached the body of the kid. -Digging it up, he ascended into a tree and proceeded to satisfy his hunger. -What remained he again buried; then he swung away through the trees to the -water hole, and going to the spot where fresh, cold water bubbled from between -two rocks, he drank deeply. The other beasts might wade in and drink stagnant -water; but not Tarzan of the Apes. In such matters he was fastidious. From his -hands he washed every trace of the repugnant scent of the Gomangani, and from -his face the blood of the kid. Rising, he stretched himself not unlike some -huge, lazy cat, climbed into a near-by tree and fell asleep. -</p> - -<p> -When he awoke it was dark, though a faint luminosity still tinged the western -heavens. A lion moaned and coughed as it strode through the jungle toward -water. It was approaching the drinking hole. Tarzan grinned sleepily, changed -his position and fell asleep again. -</p> - -<p> -When the blacks of Mbonga, the chief, reached their village they discovered -that Rabba Kega was not among them. When several hours had elapsed they decided -that something had happened to him, and it was the hope of the majority of the -tribe that whatever had happened to him might prove fatal. They did not love -the witch-doctor. Love and fear seldom are playmates; but a warrior is a -warrior, and so Mbonga organized a searching party. That his own grief was not -unassuagable might have been gathered from the fact that he remained at home -and went to sleep. The young warriors whom he sent out remained steadfast to -their purpose for fully half an hour, when, unfortunately for Rabba Kega—upon -so slight a thing may the fate of a man rest—a honey bird attracted the -attention of the searchers and led them off for the delicious store it -previously had marked down for betrayal, and Rabba Kega’s doom was sealed. -</p> - -<p> -When the searchers returned empty handed, Mbonga was wroth; but when he saw the -great store of honey they brought with them his rage subsided. Already Tubuto, -young, agile and evil-minded, with face hideously painted, was practicing the -black art upon a sick infant in the fond hope of succeeding to the office and -perquisites of Rabba Kega. Tonight the women of the old witch-doctor would moan -and howl. Tomorrow he would be forgotten. Such is life, such is fame, such is -power—in the center of the world’s highest civilization, or in the depths of -the black, primeval jungle. Always, everywhere, man is man, nor has he altered -greatly beneath his veneer since he scurried into a hole between two rocks to -escape the tyrannosaurus six million years ago. -</p> - -<p> -The morning following the disappearance of Rabba Kega, the warriors set out -with Mbonga, the chief, to examine the trap they had set for Numa. Long before -they reached the cage, they heard the roaring of a great lion and guessed that -they had made a successful bag, so it was with shouts of joy that they -approached the spot where they should find their captive. -</p> - -<p> -Yes! There he was, a great, magnificent specimen—a huge, black-maned lion. The -warriors were frantic with delight. They leaped into the air and uttered savage -cries—hoarse victory cries, and then they came closer, and the cries died upon -their lips, and their eyes went wide so that the whites showed all around their -irises, and their pendulous lower lips drooped with their drooping jaws. They -drew back in terror at the sight within the cage—the mauled and mutilated -corpse of what had, yesterday, been Rabba Kega, the witch-doctor. -</p> - -<p> -The captured lion had been too angry and frightened to feed upon the body of -his kill; but he had vented upon it much of his rage, until it was a frightful -thing to behold. -</p> - -<p> -From his perch in a near-by tree Tarzan of the Apes, Lord Greystoke, looked -down upon the black warriors and grinned. Once again his self-pride in his -ability as a practical joker asserted itself. It had lain dormant for some time -following the painful mauling he had received that time he leaped among the -apes of Kerchak clothed in the skin of Numa; but this joke was a decided -success. -</p> - -<p> -After a few moments of terror, the blacks came closer to the cage, rage taking -the place of fear—rage and curiosity. How had Rabba Kega happened to be in the -cage? Where was the kid? There was no sign nor remnant of the original bait. -They looked closely and they saw, to their horror, that the corpse of their -erstwhile fellow was bound with the very cord with which they had secured the -kid. Who could have done this thing? They looked at one another. -</p> - -<p> -Tubuto was the first to speak. He had come hopefully out with the expedition -that morning. Somewhere he might find evidence of the death of Rabba Kega. Now -he had found it, and he was the first to find an explanation. -</p> - -<p> -“The white devil-god,” he whispered. “It is the work of the white devil-god!” -</p> - -<p> -No one contradicted Tubuto, for, indeed, who else could it have been but the -great, hairless ape they all so feared? And so their hatred of Tarzan increased -again with an increased fear of him. And Tarzan sat in his tree and hugged -himself. -</p> - -<p> -No one there felt sorrow because of the death of Rabba Kega; but each of the -blacks experienced a personal fear of the ingenious mind which might discover -for any of them a death equally horrible to that which the witch-doctor had -suffered. It was a subdued and thoughtful company which dragged the captive -lion along the broad elephant path back to the village of Mbonga, the chief. -</p> - -<p> -And it was with a sigh of relief that they finally rolled it into the village -and closed the gates behind them. Each had experienced the sensation of being -spied upon from the moment they left the spot where the trap had been set, -though none had seen or heard aught to give tangible food to his fears. -</p> - -<p> -At the sight of the body within the cage with the lion, the women and children -of the village set up a most frightful lamentation, working themselves into a -joyous hysteria which far transcended the happy misery derived by their more -civilized prototypes who make a business of dividing their time between the -movies and the neighborhood funerals of friends and strangers—especially -strangers. -</p> - -<p> -From a tree overhanging the palisade, Tarzan watched all that passed within the -village. He saw the frenzied women tantalizing the great lion with sticks and -stones. The cruelty of the blacks toward a captive always induced in Tarzan a -feeling of angry contempt for the Gomangani. Had he attempted to analyze this -feeling he would have found it difficult, for during all his life he had been -accustomed to sights of suffering and cruelty. He, himself, was cruel. All the -beasts of the jungle were cruel; but the cruelty of the blacks was of a -different order. It was the cruelty of wanton torture of the helpless, while -the cruelty of Tarzan and the other beasts was the cruelty of necessity or of -passion. -</p> - -<p> -Perhaps, had he known it, he might have credited this feeling of repugnance at -the sight of unnecessary suffering to heredity—to the germ of British love of -fair play which had been bequeathed to him by his father and his mother; but, -of course, he did not know, since he still believed that his mother had been -Kala, the great ape. -</p> - -<p> -And just in proportion as his anger rose against the Gomangani his savage -sympathy went out to Numa, the lion, for, though Numa was his lifetime enemy, -there was neither bitterness nor contempt in Tarzan’s sentiments toward him. In -the ape-man’s mind, therefore, the determination formed to thwart the blacks -and liberate the lion; but he must accomplish this in some way which would -cause the Gomangani the greatest chagrin and discomfiture. -</p> - -<p> -As he squatted there watching the proceeding beneath him, he saw the warriors -seize upon the cage once more and drag it between two huts. Tarzan knew that it -would remain there now until evening, and that the blacks were planning a feast -and orgy in celebration of their capture. When he saw that two warriors were -placed beside the cage, and that these drove off the women and children and -young men who would have eventually tortured Numa to death, he knew that the -lion would be safe until he was needed for the evening’s entertainment, when he -would be more cruelly and scientifically tortured for the edification of the -entire tribe. -</p> - -<p> -Now Tarzan preferred to bait the blacks in as theatric a manner as his fertile -imagination could evolve. He had some half-formed conception of their -superstitious fears and of their especial dread of night, and so he decided to -wait until darkness fell and the blacks partially worked to hysteria by their -dancing and religious rites before he took any steps toward the freeing of -Numa. In the meantime, he hoped, an idea adequate to the possibilities of the -various factors at hand would occur to him. Nor was it long before one did. -</p> - -<p> -He had swung off through the jungle to search for food when the plan came to -him. At first it made him smile a little and then look dubious, for he still -retained a vivid memory of the dire results that had followed the carrying out -of a very wonderful idea along almost identical lines, yet he did not abandon -his intention, and a moment later, food temporarily forgotten, he was swinging -through the middle terraces in rapid flight toward the stamping ground of the -tribe of Kerchak, the great ape. -</p> - -<p> -As was his wont, he alighted in the midst of the little band without announcing -his approach save by a hideous scream just as he sprang from a branch above -them. Fortunate are the apes of Kerchak that their kind is not subject to heart -failure, for the methods of Tarzan subjected them to one severe shock after -another, nor could they ever accustom themselves to the ape-man’s peculiar -style of humor. -</p> - -<p> -Now, when they saw who it was they merely snarled and grumbled angrily for a -moment and then resumed their feeding or their napping which he had -interrupted, and he, having had his little joke, made his way to the hollow -tree where he kept his treasures hid from the inquisitive eyes and fingers of -his fellows and the mischievous little manus. Here he withdrew a closely rolled -hide—the hide of Numa with the head on; a clever bit of primitive curing and -mounting, which had once been the property of the witch-doctor, Rabba Kega, -until Tarzan had stolen it from the village. -</p> - -<p> -With this he made his way back through the jungle toward the village of the -blacks, stopping to hunt and feed upon the way, and, in the afternoon, even -napping for an hour, so that it was already dusk when he entered the great tree -which overhung the palisade and gave him a view of the entire village. He saw -that Numa was still alive and that the guards were even dozing beside the cage. -A lion is no great novelty to a black man in the lion country, and the first -keen edge of their desire to worry the brute having worn off, the villagers -paid little or no attention to the great cat, preferring now to await the grand -event of the night. -</p> - -<p> -Nor was it long after dark before the festivities commenced. To the beating of -tom-toms, a lone warrior, crouched half doubled, leaped into the firelight in -the center of a great circle of other warriors, behind whom stood or squatted -the women and the children. The dancer was painted and armed for the hunt and -his movements and gestures suggested the search for the spoor of game. Bending -low, sometimes resting for a moment on one knee, he searched the ground for -signs of the quarry; again he poised, statuesque, listening. The warrior was -young and lithe and graceful; he was full-muscled and arrow-straight. The -firelight glistened upon his ebon body and brought out into bold relief the -grotesque designs painted upon his face, breasts, and abdomen. -</p> - -<p> -Presently he bent low to the earth, then leaped high in air. Every line of face -and body showed that he had struck the scent. Immediately he leaped toward the -circle of warriors about him, telling them of his find and summoning them to -the hunt. It was all in pantomime; but so truly done that even Tarzan could -follow it all to the least detail. -</p> - -<p> -He saw the other warriors grasp their hunting spears and leap to their feet to -join in the graceful, stealthy “stalking dance.” It was very interesting; but -Tarzan realized that if he was to carry his design to a successful conclusion -he must act quickly. He had seen these dances before and knew that after the -stalk would come the game at bay and then the kill, during which Numa would be -surrounded by warriors, and unapproachable. -</p> - -<p> -With the lion’s skin under one arm the ape-man dropped to the ground in the -dense shadows beneath the tree and then circled behind the huts until he came -out directly in the rear of the cage, in which Numa paced nervously to and fro. -The cage was now unguarded, the two warriors having left it to take their -places among the other dancers. -</p> - -<p> -Behind the cage Tarzan adjusted the lion’s skin about him, just as he had upon -that memorable occasion when the apes of Kerchak, failing to pierce his -disguise, had all but slain him. Then, on hands and knees, he crept forward, -emerged from between the two huts and stood a few paces back of the dusky -audience, whose whole attention was centered upon the dancers before them. -</p> - -<p> -Tarzan saw that the blacks had now worked themselves to a proper pitch of -nervous excitement to be ripe for the lion. In a moment the ring of spectators -would break at a point nearest the caged lion and the victim would be rolled -into the center of the circle. It was for this moment that Tarzan waited. -</p> - -<p> -At last it came. A signal was given by Mbonga, the chief, at which the women -and children immediately in front of Tarzan rose and moved to one side, leaving -a broad path opening toward the caged lion. At the same instant Tarzan gave -voice to the low, coughing roar of an angry lion and slunk slowly forward -through the open lane toward the frenzied dancers. -</p> - -<p> -A woman saw him first and screamed. Instantly there was a panic in the -immediate vicinity of the ape-man. The strong light from the fire fell full -upon the lion head and the blacks leaped to the conclusion, as Tarzan had known -they would, that their captive had escaped his cage. -</p> - -<p> -With another roar, Tarzan moved forward. The dancing warriors paused but an -instant. They had been hunting a lion securely housed within a strong cage, and -now that he was at liberty among them, an entirely different aspect was placed -upon the matter. Their nerves were not attuned to this emergency. The women and -children already had fled to the questionable safety of the nearest huts, and -the warriors were not long in following their example, so that presently Tarzan -was left in sole possession of the village street. -</p> - -<p> -But not for long. Nor did he wish to be left thus long alone. It would not -comport with his scheme. Presently a head peered forth from a near-by hut, and -then another and another until a score or more of warriors were looking out -upon him, waiting for his next move—waiting for the lion to charge or to -attempt to escape from the village. -</p> - -<p> -Their spears were ready in their hands against either a charge or a bolt for -freedom, and then the lion rose erect upon its hind legs, the tawny skin -dropped from it and there stood revealed before them in the firelight the -straight young figure of the white devil-god. -</p> - -<p> -For an instant the blacks were too astonished to act. They feared this -apparition fully as much as they did Numa, yet they would gladly have slain the -thing could they quickly enough have gathered together their wits; but fear and -superstition and a natural mental density held them paralyzed while the ape-man -stooped and gathered up the lion skin. They saw him turn then and walk back -into the shadows at the far end of the village. Not until then did they gain -courage to pursue him, and when they had come in force, with brandished spears -and loud war cries, the quarry was gone. -</p> - -<p> -Not an instant did Tarzan pause in the tree. Throwing the skin over a branch he -leaped again into the village upon the opposite side of the great bole, and -diving into the shadow of a hut, ran quickly to where lay the caged lion. -Springing to the top of the cage he pulled upon the cord which raised the door, -and a moment later a great lion in the prime of his strength and vigor leaped -out into the village. -</p> - -<p> -The warriors, returning from a futile search for Tarzan, saw him step into the -firelight. Ah! there was the devil-god again, up to his old trick. Did he think -he could twice fool the men of Mbonga, the chief, the same way in so short a -time? They would show him! For long they had waited for such an opportunity to -rid themselves forever of this fearsome jungle demon. As one they rushed -forward with raised spears. -</p> - -<p> -The women and the children came from the huts to witness the slaying of the -devil-god. The lion turned blazing eyes upon them and then swung about toward -the advancing warriors. -</p> - -<p> -With shouts of savage joy and triumph they came toward him, menacing him with -their spears. The devil-god was theirs! -</p> - -<p> -And then, with a frightful roar, Numa, the lion, charged. -</p> - -<p> -The men of Mbonga, the chief, met Numa with ready spears and screams of -raillery. In a solid mass of muscled ebony they waited the coming of the -devil-god; yet beneath their brave exteriors lurked a haunting fear that all -might not be quite well with them—that this strange creature could yet prove -invulnerable to their weapons and inflict upon them full punishment for their -effrontery. The charging lion was all too lifelike—they saw that in the brief -instant of the charge; but beneath the tawny hide they knew was hid the soft -flesh of the white man, and how could that withstand the assault of many war -spears? -</p> - -<p> -In their forefront stood a huge young warrior in the full arrogance of his -might and his youth. Afraid? Not he! He laughed as Numa bore down upon him; he -laughed and couched his spear, setting the point for the broad breast. And then -the lion was upon him. A great paw swept away the heavy war spear, splintering -it as the hand of man might splinter a dry twig. -</p> - -<p> -Down went the black, his skull crushed by another blow. And then the lion was -in the midst of the warriors, clawing and tearing to right and left. Not for -long did they stand their ground; but a dozen men were mauled before the others -made good their escape from those frightful talons and gleaming fangs. -</p> - -<p> -In terror the villagers fled hither and thither. No hut seemed a sufficiently -secure asylum with Numa ranging within the palisade. From one to another fled -the frightened blacks, while in the center of the village Numa stood glaring -and growling above his kills. -</p> - -<p> -At last a tribesman flung wide the gates of the village and sought safety amid -the branches of the forest trees beyond. Like sheep his fellows followed him, -until the lion and his dead remained alone in the village. -</p> - -<p> -From the nearer trees the men of Mbonga saw the lion lower his great head and -seize one of his victims by the shoulder and then with slow and stately tread -move down the village street past the open gates and on into the jungle. They -saw and shuddered, and from another tree Tarzan of the Apes saw and smiled. -</p> - -<p> -A full hour elapsed after the lion had disappeared with his feast before the -blacks ventured down from the trees and returned to their village. Wide eyes -rolled from side to side, and naked flesh contracted more to the chill of fear -than to the chill of the jungle night. -</p> - -<p> -“It was he all the time,” murmured one. “It was the devil-god.” -</p> - -<p> -“He changed himself from a lion to a man, and back again into a lion,” -whispered another. -</p> - -<p> -“And he dragged Mweeza into the forest and is eating him,” said a third, -shuddering. -</p> - -<p> -“We are no longer safe here,” wailed a fourth. “Let us take our belongings and -search for another village site far from the haunts of the wicked devil-god.” -</p> - -<p> -But with morning came renewed courage, so that the experiences of the preceding -evening had little other effect than to increase their fear of Tarzan and -strengthen their belief in his supernatural origin. -</p> - -<p> -And thus waxed the fame and the power of the ape-man in the mysterious haunts -of the savage jungle where he ranged, mightiest of beasts because of the -man-mind which directed his giant muscles and his flawless courage. -</p> - -</div><!--end chapter--> - -<div class="chapter"> - -<h2><a name="chap12"></a>CHAPTER XII<br/> -Tarzan Rescues the Moon</h2> - -<p> -The moon shone down out of a cloudless sky—a huge, swollen moon that seemed so -close to earth that one might wonder that she did not brush the crooning tree -tops. It was night, and Tarzan was abroad in the jungle—Tarzan, the ape-man; -mighty fighter, mighty hunter. Why he swung through the dark shadows of the -somber forest he could not have told you. It was not that he was hungry—he had -fed well this day, and in a safe cache were the remains of his kill, ready -against the coming of a new appetite. Perhaps it was the very joy of living -that urged him from his arboreal couch to pit his muscles and his senses -against the jungle night, and then, too, Tarzan always was goaded by an intense -desire to know. -</p> - -<p> -The jungle which is presided over by Kudu, the sun, is a very different jungle -from that of Goro, the moon. The diurnal jungle has its own aspect—its own -lights and shades, its own birds, its own blooms, its own beasts; its noises -are the noises of the day. The lights and shades of the nocturnal jungle are as -different as one might imagine the lights and shades of another world to differ -from those of our world; its beasts, its blooms, and its birds are not those of -the jungle of Kudu, the sun. -</p> - -<p> -Because of these differences Tarzan loved to investigate the jungle by night. -Not only was the life another life; but it was richer in numbers and in -romance; it was richer in dangers, too, and to Tarzan of the Apes danger was -the spice of life. And the noises of the jungle night—the roar of the lion, the -scream of the leopard, the hideous laughter of Dango, the hyena, were music to -the ears of the ape-man. -</p> - -<p> -The soft padding of unseen feet, the rustling of leaves and grasses to the -passage of fierce beasts, the sheen of opalesque eyes flaming through the dark, -the million sounds which proclaimed the teeming life that one might hear and -scent, though seldom see, constituted the appeal of the nocturnal jungle to -Tarzan. -</p> - -<p> -Tonight he had swung a wide circle—toward the east first and then toward the -south, and now he was rounding back again into the north. His eyes, his ears -and his keen nostrils were ever on the alert. Mingled with the sounds he knew, -there were strange sounds—weird sounds which he never heard until after Kudu -had sought his lair below the far edge of the big water—sounds which belonged -to Goro, the moon—and to the mysterious period of Goro’s supremacy. These -sounds often caused Tarzan profound speculation. They baffled him because he -thought that he knew his jungle so well that there could be nothing within it -unfamiliar to him. Sometimes he thought that as colors and forms appeared to -differ by night from their familiar daylight aspects, so sounds altered with -the passage of Kudu and the coming of Goro, and these thoughts roused within -his brain a vague conjecture that perhaps Goro and Kudu influenced these -changes. And what more natural that eventually he came to attribute to the sun -and the moon personalities as real as his own? The sun was a living creature -and ruled the day. The moon, endowed with brains and miraculous powers, ruled -the night. -</p> - -<p> -Thus functioned the untrained man-mind groping through the dark night of -ignorance for an explanation of the things he could not touch or smell or hear -and of the great, unknown powers of nature which he could not see. -</p> - -<p> -As Tarzan swung north again upon his wide circle the scent of the Gomangani -came to his nostrils, mixed with the acrid odor of wood smoke. The ape-man -moved quickly in the direction from which the scent was borne down to him upon -the gentle night wind. Presently the ruddy sheen of a great fire filtered -through the foliage to him ahead, and when Tarzan came to a halt in the trees -near it, he saw a party of half a dozen black warriors huddled close to the -blaze. It was evidently a hunting party from the village of Mbonga, the chief, -caught out in the jungle after dark. In a rude circle about them they had -constructed a thorn boma which, with the aid of the fire, they apparently hoped -would discourage the advances of the larger carnivora. -</p> - -<p> -That hope was not conviction was evidenced by the very palpable terror in which -they crouched, wide-eyed and trembling, for already Numa and Sabor were moaning -through the jungle toward them. There were other creatures, too, in the shadows -beyond the firelight. Tarzan could see their yellow eyes flaming there. The -blacks saw them and shivered. Then one arose and grasping a burning branch from -the fire hurled it at the eyes, which immediately disappeared. The black sat -down again. Tarzan watched and saw that it was several minutes before the eyes -began to reappear in twos and fours. -</p> - -<p> -Then came Numa, the lion, and Sabor, his mate. The other eyes scattered to -right and left before the menacing growls of the great cats, and then the huge -orbs of the man-eaters flamed alone out of the darkness. Some of the blacks -threw themselves upon their faces and moaned; but he who before had hurled the -burning branch now hurled another straight at the faces of the hungry lions, -and they, too, disappeared as had the lesser lights before them. Tarzan was -much interested. He saw a new reason for the nightly fires maintained by the -blacks—a reason in addition to those connected with warmth and light and -cooking. The beasts of the jungle feared fire, and so fire was, in a measure, a -protection from them. Tarzan himself knew a certain awe of fire. Once he had, -in investigating an abandoned fire in the village of the blacks, picked up a -live coal. Since then he had maintained a respectful distance from such fires -as he had seen. One experience had sufficed. -</p> - -<p> -For a few minutes after the black hurled the firebrand no eyes appeared, though -Tarzan could hear the soft padding of feet all about him. Then flashed once -more the twin fire spots that marked the return of the lord of the jungle and a -moment later, upon a slightly lower level, there appeared those of Sabor, his -mate. -</p> - -<p> -For some time they remained fixed and unwavering—a constellation of fierce -stars in the jungle night—then the male lion advanced slowly toward the boma, -where all but a single black still crouched in trembling terror. When this lone -guardian saw that Numa was again approaching, he threw another firebrand, and, -as before, Numa retreated and with him Sabor, the lioness; but not so far, this -time, nor for so long. Almost instantly they turned and began circling the -boma, their eyes turning constantly toward the firelight, while low, throaty -growls evidenced their increasing displeasure. Beyond the lions glowed the -flaming eyes of the lesser satellites, until the black jungle was shot all -around the black men’s camp with little spots of fire. -</p> - -<p> -Again and again the black warrior hurled his puny brands at the two big cats; -but Tarzan noticed that Numa paid little or no attention to them after the -first few retreats. The ape-man knew by Numa’s voice that the lion was hungry -and surmised that he had made up his mind to feed upon a Gomangani; but would -he dare a closer approach to the dreaded flames? -</p> - -<p> -Even as the thought was passing in Tarzan’s mind, Numa stopped his restless -pacing and faced the boma. For a moment he stood motionless, except for the -quick, nervous upcurving of his tail, then he walked deliberately forward, -while Sabor moved restlessly to and fro where he had left her. The black man -called to his comrades that the lion was coming, but they were too far gone in -fear to do more than huddle closer together and moan more loudly than before. -</p> - -<p> -Seizing a blazing branch the man cast it straight into the face of the lion. -There was an angry roar, followed by a swift charge. With a single bound the -savage beast cleared the boma wall as, with almost equal agility, the warrior -cleared it upon the opposite side and, chancing the dangers lurking in the -darkness, bolted for the nearest tree. -</p> - -<p> -Numa was out of the boma almost as soon as he was inside it; but as he went -back over the low thorn wall, he took a screaming negro with him. Dragging his -victim along the ground he walked back toward Sabor, the lioness, who joined -him, and the two continued into the blackness, their savage growls mingling -with the piercing shrieks of the doomed and terrified man. -</p> - -<p> -At a little distance from the blaze the lions halted, there ensued a short -succession of unusually vicious growls and roars, during which the cries and -moans of the black man ceased—forever. -</p> - -<p> -Presently Numa reappeared in the firelight. He made a second trip into the boma -and the former grisly tragedy was reenacted with another howling victim. -</p> - -<p> -Tarzan rose and stretched lazily. The entertainment was beginning to bore him. -He yawned and turned upon his way toward the clearing where the tribe would be -sleeping in the encircling trees. -</p> - -<p> -Yet even when he had found his familiar crotch and curled himself for slumber, -he felt no desire to sleep. For a long time he lay awake thinking and dreaming. -He looked up into the heavens and watched the moon and the stars. He wondered -what they were and what power kept them from falling. His was an inquisitive -mind. Always he had been full of questions concerning all that passed around -him; but there never had been one to answer his questions. In childhood he had -wanted to KNOW, and, denied almost all knowledge, he still, in manhood, was -filled with the great, unsatisfied curiosity of a child. -</p> - -<p> -He was never quite content merely to perceive that things happened—he desired -to know WHY they happened. He wanted to know what made things go. The secret of -life interested him immensely. The miracle of death he could not quite fathom. -Upon innumerable occasions he had investigated the internal mechanism of his -kills, and once or twice he had opened the chest cavity of victims in time to -see the heart still pumping. -</p> - -<p> -He had learned from experience that a knife thrust through this organ brought -immediate death nine times out of ten, while he might stab an antagonist -innumerable times in other places without even disabling him. And so he had -come to think of the heart, or, as he called it, “the red thing that breathes,” -as the seat and origin of life. -</p> - -<p> -The brain and its functionings he did not comprehend at all. That his sense -perceptions were transmitted to his brain and there translated, classified, and -labeled was something quite beyond him. He thought that his fingers knew when -they touched something, that his eyes knew when they saw, his ears when they -heard, his nose when it scented. -</p> - -<p> -He considered his throat, epidermis, and the hairs of his head as the three -principal seats of emotion. When Kala had been slain a peculiar choking -sensation had possessed his throat; contact with Histah, the snake, imparted an -unpleasant sensation to the skin of his whole body; while the approach of an -enemy made the hairs on his scalp stand erect. -</p> - -<p> -Imagine, if you can, a child filled with the wonders of nature, bursting with -queries and surrounded only by beasts of the jungle to whom his questionings -were as strange as Sanskrit would have been. If he asked Gunto what made it -rain, the big old ape would but gaze at him in dumb astonishment for an instant -and then return to his interesting and edifying search for fleas; and when he -questioned Mumga, who was very old and should have been very wise, but wasn’t, -as to the reason for the closing of certain flowers after Kudu had deserted the -sky, and the opening of others during the night, he was surprised to discover -that Mumga had never noticed these interesting facts, though she could tell to -an inch just where the fattest grubworm should be hiding. -</p> - -<p> -To Tarzan these things were wonders. They appealed to his intellect and to his -imagination. He saw the flowers close and open; he saw certain blooms which -turned their faces always toward the sun; he saw leaves which moved when there -was no breeze; he saw vines crawl like living things up the boles and over the -branches of great trees; and to Tarzan of the Apes the flowers and the vines -and the trees were living creatures. He often talked to them, as he talked to -Goro, the moon, and Kudu, the sun, and always was he disappointed that they did -not reply. He asked them questions; but they could not answer, though he knew -that the whispering of the leaves was the language of the leaves—they talked -with one another. -</p> - -<p> -The wind he attributed to the trees and grasses. He thought that they swayed -themselves to and fro, creating the wind. In no other way could he account for -this phenomenon. The rain he finally attributed to the stars, the moon, and the -sun; but his hypothesis was entirely unlovely and unpoetical. -</p> - -<p> -Tonight as Tarzan lay thinking, there sprang to his fertile imagination an -explanation of the stars and the moon. He became quite excited about it. Taug -was sleeping in a nearby crotch. Tarzan swung over beside him. -</p> - -<p> -“Taug!” he cried. Instantly the great bull was awake and bristling, sensing -danger from the nocturnal summons. “Look, Taug!” exclaimed Tarzan, pointing -toward the stars. “See the eyes of Numa and Sabor, of Sheeta and Dango. They -wait around Goro to leap in upon him for their kill. See the eyes and the nose -and the mouth of Goro. And the light that shines upon his face is the light of -the great fire he has built to frighten away Numa and Sabor and Dango and -Sheeta. -</p> - -<p> -“All about him are the eyes, Taug, you can see them! But they do not come very -close to the fire—there are few eyes close to Goro. They fear the fire! It is -the fire that saves Goro from Numa. Do you see them, Taug? Some night Numa will -be very hungry and very angry—then he will leap over the thorn bushes which -encircle Goro and we will have no more light after Kudu seeks his lair—the -night will be black with the blackness that comes when Goro is lazy and sleeps -late into the night, or when he wanders through the skies by day, forgetting -the jungle and its people.” -</p> - -<p> -Taug looked stupidly at the heavens and then at Tarzan. A meteor fell, blazing -a flaming way through the sky. -</p> - -<p> -“Look!” cried Tarzan. “Goro has thrown a burning branch at Numa.” -</p> - -<p> -Taug grumbled. “Numa is down below,” he said. “Numa does not hunt above the -trees.” But he looked curiously and a little fearfully at the bright stars -above him, as though he saw them for the first time, and doubtless it was the -first time that Taug ever had seen the stars, though they had been in the sky -above him every night of his life. To Taug they were as the gorgeous jungle -blooms—he could not eat them and so he ignored them. -</p> - -<p> -Taug fidgeted and was nervous. For a long time he lay sleepless, watching the -stars—the flaming eyes of the beasts of prey surrounding Goro, the moon—Goro, -by whose light the apes danced to the beating of their earthen drums. If Goro -should be eaten by Numa there could be no more Dum-Dums. Taug was overwhelmed -by the thought. He glanced at Tarzan half fearfully. Why was his friend so -different from the others of the tribe? No one else whom Taug ever had known -had had such queer thoughts as Tarzan. The ape scratched his head and wondered, -dimly, if Tarzan was a safe companion, and then he recalled slowly, and by a -laborious mental process, that Tarzan had served him better than any other of -the apes, even the strong and wise bulls of the tribe. -</p> - -<p> -Tarzan it was who had freed him from the blacks at the very time that Taug had -thought Tarzan wanted Teeka. It was Tarzan who had saved Taug’s little balu -from death. It was Tarzan who had conceived and carried out the plan to pursue -Teeka’s abductor and rescue the stolen one. Tarzan had fought and bled in -Taug’s service so many times that Taug, although only a brutal ape, had had -impressed upon his mind a fierce loyalty which nothing now could swerve—his -friendship for Tarzan had become a habit, a tradition almost, which would -endure while Taug endured. He never showed any outward demonstration of -affection—he growled at Tarzan as he growled at the other bulls who came too -close while he was feeding—but he would have died for Tarzan. He knew it and -Tarzan knew it; but of such things apes do not speak—their vocabulary, for the -finer instincts, consisting more of actions than words. But now Taug was -worried, and he fell asleep again still thinking of the strange words of his -fellow. -</p> - -<p> -The following day he thought of them again, and without any intention of -disloyalty he mentioned to Gunto what Tarzan had suggested about the eyes -surrounding Goro, and the possibility that sooner or later Numa would charge -the moon and devour him. To the apes all large things in nature are male, and -so Goro, being the largest creature in the heavens by night, was, to them, a -bull. -</p> - -<p> -Gunto bit a sliver from a horny finger and recalled the fact that Tarzan had -once said that the trees talked to one another, and Gozan recounted having seen -the ape-man dancing alone in the moonlight with Sheeta, the panther. They did -not know that Tarzan had roped the savage beast and tied him to a tree before -he came to earth and leaped about before the rearing cat, to tantalize him. -</p> - -<p> -Others told of seeing Tarzan ride upon the back of Tantor, the elephant; of his -bringing the black boy, Tibo, to the tribe, and of mysterious things with which -he communed in the strange lair by the sea. They had never understood his -books, and after he had shown them to one or two of the tribe and discovered -that even the pictures carried no impression to their brains, he had desisted. -</p> - -<p> -“Tarzan is not an ape,” said Gunto. “He will bring Numa to eat us, as he is -bringing him to eat Goro. We should kill him.” -</p> - -<p> -Immediately Taug bristled. Kill Tarzan! “First you will kill Taug,” he said, -and lumbered away to search for food. -</p> - -<p> -But others joined the plotters. They thought of many things which Tarzan had -done—things which apes did not do and could not understand. Again Gunto voiced -the opinion that the Tarmangani, the white ape, should be slain, and the -others, filled with terror about the stories they had heard, and thinking -Tarzan was planning to slay Goro, greeted the proposal with growls of accord. -</p> - -<p> -Among them was Teeka, listening with all her ears; but her voice was not raised -in furtherance of the plan. Instead she bristled, showing her fangs, and -afterward she went away in search of Tarzan; but she could not find him, as he -was roaming far afield in search of meat. She found Taug, though, and told him -what the others were planning, and the great bull stamped upon the ground and -roared. His bloodshot eyes blazed with wrath, his upper lip curled up to expose -his fighting fangs, and the hair upon his spine stood erect, and then a rodent -scurried across the open and Taug sprang to seize it. In an instant he seemed -to have forgotten his rage against the enemies of his friend; but such is the -mind of an ape. -</p> - -<p> -Several miles away Tarzan of the Apes lolled upon the broad head of Tantor, the -elephant. He scratched beneath the great ears with the point of a sharp stick, -and he talked to the huge pachyderm of everything which filled his -black-thatched head. Little, or nothing, of what he said did Tantor understand; -but Tantor is a good listener. Swaying from side to side he stood there -enjoying the companionship of his friend, the friend he loved, and absorbing -the delicious sensations of the scratching. -</p> - -<p> -Numa, the lion, caught the scent of man, and warily stalked it until he came -within sight of his prey upon the head of the mighty tusker; then he turned, -growling and muttering, away in search of more propitious hunting grounds. -</p> - -<p> -The elephant caught the scent of the lion, borne to him by an eddying breeze, -and lifting his trunk trumpeted loudly. Tarzan stretched back luxuriously, -lying supine at full length along the rough hide. Flies swarmed about his face; -but with a leafy branch torn from a tree he lazily brushed them away. -</p> - -<p> -“Tantor,” he said, “it is good to be alive. It is good to lie in the cool -shadows. It is good to look upon the green trees and the bright colors of the -flowers—upon everything which Bulamutumumo has put here for us. He is very good -to us, Tantor; He has given you tender leaves and bark, and rich grasses to -eat; to me He has given Bara and Horta and Pisah, the fruits and the nuts and -the roots. He provides for each the food that each likes best. All that He asks -is that we be strong enough or cunning enough to go forth and take it. Yes, -Tantor, it is good to live. I should hate to die.” -</p> - -<p> -Tantor made a little sound in his throat and curled his trunk upward that he -might caress the ape-man’s cheek with the finger at its tip. -</p> - -<p> -“Tantor,” said Tarzan presently, “turn and feed in the direction of the tribe -of Kerchak, the great ape, that Tarzan may ride home upon your head without -walking.” -</p> - -<p> -The tusker turned and moved slowly off along a broad, tree-arched trail, -pausing occasionally to pluck a tender branch, or strip the edible bark from an -adjacent tree. Tarzan sprawled face downward upon the beast’s head and back, -his legs hanging on either side, his head supported by his open palms, his -elbows resting on the broad cranium. And thus they made their leisurely way -toward the gathering place of the tribe. -</p> - -<p> -Just before they arrived at the clearing from the north there reached it from -the south another figure—that of a well-knit black warrior, who stepped -cautiously through the jungle, every sense upon the alert against the many -dangers which might lurk anywhere along the way. Yet he passed beneath the -southernmost sentry that was posted in a great tree commanding the trail from -the south. The ape permitted the Gomangani to pass unmolested, for he saw that -he was alone; but the moment that the warrior had entered the clearing a loud -“Kreeg-ah!” rang out from behind him, immediately followed by a chorus of -replies from different directions, as the great bulls crashed through the trees -in answer to the summons of their fellow. -</p> - -<p> -The black man halted at the first cry and looked about him. He could see -nothing, but he knew the voice of the hairy tree men whom he and his kind -feared, not alone because of the strength and ferocity of the savage beings, -but as well through a superstitious terror engendered by the manlike appearance -of the apes. -</p> - -<p> -But Bulabantu was no coward. He heard the apes all about him; he knew that -escape was probably impossible, so he stood his ground, his spear ready in his -hand and a war cry trembling on his lips. He would sell his life dearly, would -Bulabantu, under-chief of the village of Mbonga, the chief. -</p> - -<p> -Tarzan and Tantor were but a short distance away when the first cry of the -sentry rang out through the quiet jungle. Like a flash the ape-man leaped from -the elephant’s back to a near-by tree and was swinging rapidly in the direction -of the clearing before the echoes of the first “Kreeg-ah” had died away. When -he arrived he saw a dozen bulls circling a single Gomangani. With a -blood-curdling scream Tarzan sprang to the attack. He hated the blacks even -more than did the apes, and here was an opportunity for a kill in the open. -What had the Gomangani done? Had he slain one of the tribe? -</p> - -<p> -Tarzan asked the nearest ape. No, the Gomangani had harmed none. Gozan, being -on watch, had seen him coming through the forest and had warned the tribe—that -was all. The ape-man pushed through the circle of bulls, none of which as yet -had worked himself into sufficient frenzy for a charge, and came where he had a -full and close view of the black. He recognized the man instantly. Only the -night before he had seen him facing the eyes in the dark, while his fellows -groveled in the dirt at his feet, too terrified even to defend themselves. Here -was a brave man, and Tarzan had deep admiration for bravery. Even his hatred of -the blacks was not so strong a passion as his love of courage. He would have -joyed in battling with a black warrior at almost any time; but this one he did -not wish to kill—he felt, vaguely, that the man had earned his life by his -brave defense of it on the preceding night, nor did he fancy the odds that were -pitted against the lone warrior. -</p> - -<p> -He turned to the apes. “Go back to your feeding,” he said, “and let this -Gomangani go his way in peace. He has not harmed us, and last night I saw him -fighting Numa and Sabor with fire, alone in the jungle. He is brave. Why should -we kill one who is brave and who has not attacked us? Let him go.” -</p> - -<p> -The apes growled. They were displeased. “Kill the Gomangani!” cried one. -</p> - -<p> -“Yes,” roared another, “kill the Gomangani and the Tarmangani as well.” -</p> - -<p> -“Kill the white ape!” screamed Gozan, “he is no ape at all; but a Gomangani -with his skin off.” -</p> - -<p> -“Kill Tarzan!” bellowed Gunto. “Kill! Kill! Kill!” -</p> - -<p> -The bulls were now indeed working themselves into the frenzy of slaughter; but -against Tarzan rather than the black man. A shaggy form charged through them, -hurling those it came in contact with to one side as a strong man might scatter -children. It was Taug—great, savage Taug. -</p> - -<p> -“Who says ‘kill Tarzan’?” he demanded. “Who kills Tarzan must kill Taug, too. -Who can kill Taug? Taug will tear your insides from you and feed them to -Dango.” -</p> - -<p> -“We can kill you all,” replied Gunto. “There are many of us and few of you,” -and he was right. Tarzan knew that he was right. Taug knew it; but neither -would admit such a possibility. It is not the way of bull apes. -</p> - -<p> -“I am Tarzan,” cried the ape-man. “I am Tarzan. Mighty hunter; mighty fighter. -In all the jungle none so great as Tarzan.” -</p> - -<p> -Then, one by one, the opposing bulls recounted their virtues and their prowess. -And all the time the combatants came closer and closer to one another. Thus do -the bulls work themselves to the proper pitch before engaging in battle. -</p> - -<p> -Gunto came, stiff-legged, close to Tarzan and sniffed at him, with bared fangs. -Tarzan rumbled forth a low, menacing growl. They might repeat these tactics a -dozen times; but sooner or later one bull would close with another and then the -whole hideous pack would be tearing and rending at their prey. -</p> - -<p> -Bulabantu, the black man, had stood wide-eyed in wonder from the moment he had -seen Tarzan approaching through the apes. He had heard much of this devil-god -who ran with the hairy tree people; but never before had he seen him in full -daylight. He knew him well enough from the description of those who had seen -him and from the glimpses he had had of the marauder upon several occasions -when the ape-man had entered the village of Mbonga, the chief, by night, in the -perpetration of one of his numerous ghastly jokes. -</p> - -<p> -Bulabantu could not, of course, understand anything which passed between Tarzan -and the apes; but he saw that the ape-man and one of the larger bulls were in -argument with the others. He saw that these two were standing with their back -toward him and between him and the balance of the tribe, and he guessed, though -it seemed improbable, that they might be defending him. He knew that Tarzan had -once spared the life of Mbonga, the chief, and that he had succored Tibo, and -Tibo’s mother, Momaya. So it was not impossible that he would help Bulabantu; -but how he could accomplish it Bulabantu could not guess; nor as a matter of -fact could Tarzan, for the odds against him were too great. -</p> - -<p> -Gunto and the others were slowly forcing Tarzan and Taug back toward Bulabantu. -The ape-man thought of his words with Tantor just a short time before: “Yes, -Tantor, it is good to live. I should hate to die.” And now he knew that he was -about to die, for the temper of the great bulls was mounting rapidly against -him. Always had many of them hated him, and all were suspicious of him. They -knew he was different. Tarzan knew it too; but he was glad that he was—he was a -MAN; that he had learned from his picture-books, and he was very proud of the -distinction. Presently, though, he would be a dead man. -</p> - -<p> -Gunto was preparing to charge. Tarzan knew the signs. He knew that the balance -of the bulls would charge with Gunto. Then it would soon be over. Something -moved among the verdure at the opposite side of the clearing. Tarzan saw it -just as Gunto, with the terrifying cry of a challenging ape, sprang forward. -Tarzan voiced a peculiar call and then crouched to meet the assault. Taug -crouched, too, and Bulabantu, assured now that these two were fighting upon his -side, couched his spear and sprang between them to receive the first charge of -the enemy. -</p> - -<p> -Simultaneously a huge bulk broke into the clearing from the jungle behind the -charging bulls. The trumpeting of a mad tusker rose shrill above the cries of -the anthropoids, as Tantor, the elephant, dashed swiftly across the clearing to -the aid of his friend. -</p> - -<p> -Gunto never closed upon the ape-man, nor did a fang enter flesh upon either -side. The terrific reverberation of Tantor’s challenge sent the bulls scurrying -to the trees, jabbering and scolding. Taug raced off with them. Only Tarzan and -Bulabantu remained. The latter stood his ground because he saw that the -devil-god did not run, and because the black had the courage to face a certain -and horrible death beside one who had quite evidently dared death for him. -</p> - -<p> -But it was a surprised Gomangani who saw the mighty elephant come to a sudden -halt in front of the ape-man and caress him with his long, sinuous trunk. -</p> - -<p> -Tarzan turned toward the black man. “Go!” he said in the language of the apes, -and pointed in the direction of the village of Mbonga. Bulabantu understood the -gesture, if not the word, nor did he lose time in obeying. Tarzan stood -watching him until he had disappeared. He knew that the apes would not follow. -Then he said to the elephant: “Pick me up!” and the tusker swung him lightly to -his head. -</p> - -<p> -“Tarzan goes to his lair by the big water,” shouted the ape-man to the apes in -the trees. “All of you are more foolish than Manu, except Taug and Teeka. Taug -and Teeka may come to see Tarzan; but the others must keep away. Tarzan is done -with the tribe of Kerchak.” -</p> - -<p> -He prodded Tantor with a calloused toe and the big beast swung off across the -clearing, the apes watching them until they were swallowed up by the jungle. -</p> - -<p> -Before the night fell Taug killed Gunto, picking a quarrel with him over his -attack upon Tarzan. -</p> - -<p> -For a moon the tribe saw nothing of Tarzan of the Apes. Many of them probably -never gave him a thought; but there were those who missed him more than Tarzan -imagined. Taug and Teeka often wished that he was back, and Taug determined a -dozen times to go and visit Tarzan in his seaside lair; but first one thing and -then another interfered. -</p> - -<p> -One night when Taug lay sleepless looking up at the starry heavens he recalled -the strange things that Tarzan once had suggested to him—that the bright spots -were the eyes of the meat-eaters waiting in the dark of the jungle sky to leap -upon Goro, the moon, and devour him. The more he thought about this matter the -more perturbed he became. -</p> - -<p> -And then a strange thing happened. Even as Taug looked at Goro, he saw a -portion of one edge disappear, precisely as though something was gnawing upon -it. Larger and larger became the hole in the side of Goro. With a scream, Taug -leaped to his feet. His frenzied “Kreeg-ahs!” brought the terrified tribe -screaming and chattering toward him. -</p> - -<p> -“Look!” cried Taug, pointing at the moon. “Look! It is as Tarzan said. Numa has -sprung through the fires and is devouring Goro. You called Tarzan names and -drove him from the tribe; now see how wise he was. Let one of you who hated -Tarzan go to Goro’s aid. See the eyes in the dark jungle all about Goro. He is -in danger and none can help him—none except Tarzan. Soon Goro will be devoured -by Numa and we shall have no more light after Kudu seeks his lair. How shall we -dance the Dum-Dum without the light of Goro?” -</p> - -<p> -The apes trembled and whimpered. Any manifestation of the powers of nature -always filled them with terror, for they could not understand. -</p> - -<p> -“Go and bring Tarzan,” cried one, and then they all took up the cry of -“Tarzan!” “Bring Tarzan!” “He will save Goro.” But who was to travel the dark -jungle by night to fetch him? -</p> - -<p> -“I will go,” volunteered Taug, and an instant later he was off through the -Stygian gloom toward the little land-locked harbor by the sea. -</p> - -<p> -And as the tribe waited they watched the slow devouring of the moon. Already -Numa had eaten out a great semicircular piece. At that rate Goro would be -entirely gone before Kudu came again. The apes trembled at the thought of -perpetual darkness by night. They could not sleep. Restlessly they moved here -and there among the branches of trees, watching Numa of the skies at his deadly -feast, and listening for the coming of Taug with Tarzan. -</p> - -<p> -Goro was nearly gone when the apes heard the sounds of the approach through the -trees of the two they awaited, and presently Tarzan, followed by Taug, swung -into a nearby tree. -</p> - -<p> -The ape-man wasted no time in idle words. In his hand was his long bow and at -his back hung a quiver full of arrows, poisoned arrows that he had stolen from -the village of the blacks; just as he had stolen the bow. Up into a great tree -he clambered, higher and higher until he stood swaying upon a small limb which -bent low beneath his weight. Here he had a clear and unobstructed view of the -heavens. He saw Goro and the inroads which the hungry Numa had made into his -shining surface. -</p> - -<p> -Raising his face to the moon, Tarzan shrilled forth his hideous challenge. -Faintly and from afar came the roar of an answering lion. The apes shivered. -Numa of the skies had answered Tarzan. -</p> - -<p> -Then the ape-man fitted an arrow to his bow, and drawing the shaft far back, -aimed its point at the heart of Numa where he lay in the heavens devouring -Goro. There was a loud twang as the released bolt shot into the dark heavens. -Again and again did Tarzan of the Apes launch his arrows at Numa, and all the -while the apes of the tribe of Kerchak huddled together in terror. -</p> - -<p> -At last came a cry from Taug. “Look! Look!” he screamed. “Numa is killed. -Tarzan has killed Numa. See! Goro is emerging from the belly of Numa,” and, -sure enough, the moon was gradually emerging from whatever had devoured her, -whether it was Numa, the lion, or the shadow of the earth; but were you to try -to convince an ape of the tribe of Kerchak that it was aught but Numa who so -nearly devoured Goro that night, or that another than Tarzan preserved the -brilliant god of their savage and mysterious rites from a frightful death, you -would have difficulty—and a fight on your hands. -</p> - -<p> -And so Tarzan of the Apes came back to the tribe of Kerchak, and in his coming -he took a long stride toward the kingship, which he ultimately won, for now the -apes looked up to him as a superior being. -</p> - -<p> -In all the tribe there was but one who was at all skeptical about the -plausibility of Tarzan’s remarkable rescue of Goro, and that one, strange as it -may seem, was Tarzan of the Apes. -</p> - -</div><!--end chapter--> - -<div style='display:block; margin-top:4em'>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK JUNGLE TALES OF TARZAN ***</div> -<div style='text-align:left'> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -Updated editions will replace the previous one—the old editions will -be renamed. -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United -States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. 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Tarzan’s First Love - CHAPTER II. The Capture of Tarzan - CHAPTER III. The Fight for the Balu - CHAPTER IV. The God of Tarzan - CHAPTER V. Tarzan and the Black Boy - CHAPTER VI. The Witch-Doctor Seeks Vengeance - CHAPTER VII. The End of Bukawai - CHAPTER VIII. The Lion - CHAPTER IX. The Nightmare - CHAPTER X. The Battle for Teeka - CHAPTER XI. A Jungle Joke - CHAPTER XII. Tarzan Rescues the Moon - - - - -CHAPTER I -Tarzan’s First Love - - -Teeka, stretched at luxurious ease in the shade of the tropical forest, -presented, unquestionably, a most alluring picture of young, feminine -loveliness. Or at least so thought Tarzan of the Apes, who squatted -upon a low-swinging branch in a near-by tree and looked down upon her. - -Just to have seen him there, lolling upon the swaying bough of the -jungle-forest giant, his brown skin mottled by the brilliant equatorial -sunlight which percolated through the leafy canopy of green above him, -his clean-limbed body relaxed in graceful ease, his shapely head partly -turned in contemplative absorption and his intelligent, gray eyes -dreamily devouring the object of their devotion, you would have thought -him the reincarnation of some demigod of old. - -You would not have guessed that in infancy he had suckled at the breast -of a hideous, hairy she-ape, nor that in all his conscious past since -his parents had passed away in the little cabin by the landlocked -harbor at the jungle’s verge, he had known no other associates than the -sullen bulls and the snarling cows of the tribe of Kerchak, the great -ape. - -Nor, could you have read the thoughts which passed through that active, -healthy brain, the longings and desires and aspirations which the sight -of Teeka inspired, would you have been any more inclined to give -credence to the reality of the origin of the ape-man. For, from his -thoughts alone, you could never have gleaned the truth—that he had been -born to a gentle English lady or that his sire had been an English -nobleman of time-honored lineage. - -Lost to Tarzan of the Apes was the truth of his origin. That he was -John Clayton, Lord Greystoke, with a seat in the House of Lords, he did -not know, nor, knowing, would have understood. - -Yes, Teeka was indeed beautiful! - -Of course Kala had been beautiful—one’s mother is always that—but Teeka -was beautiful in a way all her own, an indescribable sort of way which -Tarzan was just beginning to sense in a rather vague and hazy manner. - -For years had Tarzan and Teeka been play-fellows, and Teeka still -continued to be playful while the young bulls of her own age were -rapidly becoming surly and morose. Tarzan, if he gave the matter much -thought at all, probably reasoned that his growing attachment for the -young female could be easily accounted for by the fact that of the -former playmates she and he alone retained any desire to frolic as of -old. - -But today, as he sat gazing upon her, he found himself noting the -beauties of Teeka’s form and features—something he never had done -before, since none of them had aught to do with Teeka’s ability to race -nimbly through the lower terraces of the forest in the primitive games -of tag and hide-and-go-seek which Tarzan’s fertile brain evolved. -Tarzan scratched his head, running his fingers deep into the shock of -black hair which framed his shapely, boyish face—he scratched his head -and sighed. Teeka’s new-found beauty became as suddenly his despair. He -envied her the handsome coat of hair which covered her body. His own -smooth, brown hide he hated with a hatred born of disgust and contempt. -Years back he had harbored a hope that some day he, too, would be -clothed in hair as were all his brothers and sisters; but of late he -had been forced to abandon the delectable dream. - -Then there were Teeka’s great teeth, not so large as the males, of -course, but still mighty, handsome things by comparison with Tarzan’s -feeble white ones. And her beetling brows, and broad, flat nose, and -her mouth! Tarzan had often practiced making his mouth into a little -round circle and then puffing out his cheeks while he winked his eyes -rapidly; but he felt that he could never do it in the same cute and -irresistible way in which Teeka did it. - -And as he watched her that afternoon, and wondered, a young bull ape -who had been lazily foraging for food beneath the damp, matted carpet -of decaying vegetation at the roots of a near-by tree lumbered -awkwardly in Teeka’s direction. The other apes of the tribe of Kerchak -moved listlessly about or lolled restfully in the midday heat of the -equatorial jungle. From time to time one or another of them had passed -close to Teeka, and Tarzan had been uninterested. Why was it then that -his brows contracted and his muscles tensed as he saw Taug pause beside -the young she and then squat down close to her? - -Tarzan always had liked Taug. Since childhood they had romped together. -Side by side they had squatted near the water, their quick, strong -fingers ready to leap forth and seize Pisah, the fish, should that wary -denizen of the cool depths dart surfaceward to the lure of the insects -Tarzan tossed upon the face of the pool. - -Together they had baited Tublat and teased Numa, the lion. Why, then, -should Tarzan feel the rise of the short hairs at the nape of his neck -merely because Taug sat close to Teeka? - -It is true that Taug was no longer the frolicsome ape of yesterday. -When his snarling-muscles bared his giant fangs no one could longer -imagine that Taug was in as playful a mood as when he and Tarzan had -rolled upon the turf in mimic battle. The Taug of today was a huge, -sullen bull ape, somber and forbidding. Yet he and Tarzan never had -quarreled. - -For a few minutes the young ape-man watched Taug press closer to Teeka. -He saw the rough caress of the huge paw as it stroked the sleek -shoulder of the she, and then Tarzan of the Apes slipped catlike to the -ground and approached the two. - -As he came his upper lip curled into a snarl, exposing his fighting -fangs, and a deep growl rumbled from his cavernous chest. Taug looked -up, batting his blood-shot eyes. Teeka half raised herself and looked -at Tarzan. Did she guess the cause of his perturbation? Who may say? At -any rate, she was feminine, and so she reached up and scratched Taug -behind one of his small, flat ears. - -Tarzan saw, and in the instant that he saw, Teeka was no longer the -little playmate of an hour ago; instead she was a wondrous thing—the -most wondrous in the world—and a possession for which Tarzan would -fight to the death against Taug or any other who dared question his -right of proprietorship. - -Stooped, his muscles rigid and one great shoulder turned toward the -young bull, Tarzan of the Apes sidled nearer and nearer. His face was -partly averted, but his keen gray eyes never left those of Taug, and as -he came, his growls increased in depth and volume. - -Taug rose upon his short legs, bristling. His fighting fangs were -bared. He, too, sidled, stiff-legged, and growled. - -“Teeka is Tarzan’s,” said the ape-man, in the low gutturals of the -great anthropoids. - -“Teeka is Taug’s,” replied the bull ape. - -Thaka and Numgo and Gunto, disturbed by the growlings of the two young -bulls, looked up half apathetic, half interested. They were sleepy, but -they sensed a fight. It would break the monotony of the humdrum jungle -life they led. - -Coiled about his shoulders was Tarzan’s long grass rope, in his hand -was the hunting knife of the long-dead father he had never known. In -Taug’s little brain lay a great respect for the shiny bit of sharp -metal which the ape-boy knew so well how to use. With it had he slain -Tublat, his fierce foster father, and Bolgani, the gorilla. Taug knew -these things, and so he came warily, circling about Tarzan in search of -an opening. The latter, made cautious because of his lesser bulk and -the inferiority of his natural armament, followed similar tactics. - -For a time it seemed that the altercation would follow the way of the -majority of such differences between members of the tribe and that one -of them would finally lose interest and wander off to prosecute some -other line of endeavor. Such might have been the end of it had the -CASUS BELLI been other than it was; but Teeka was flattered at the -attention that was being drawn to her and by the fact that these two -young bulls were contemplating battle on her account. Such a thing -never before had occurred in Teeka’s brief life. She had seen other -bulls battling for other and older shes, and in the depth of her wild -little heart she had longed for the day when the jungle grasses would -be reddened with the blood of mortal combat for her fair sake. - -So now she squatted upon her haunches and insulted both her admirers -impartially. She hurled taunts at them for their cowardice, and called -them vile names, such as Histah, the snake, and Dango, the hyena. She -threatened to call Mumga to chastise them with a stick—Mumga, who was -so old that she could no longer climb and so toothless that she was -forced to confine her diet almost exclusively to bananas and -grub-worms. - -The apes who were watching heard and laughed. Taug was infuriated. He -made a sudden lunge for Tarzan, but the ape-boy leaped nimbly to one -side, eluding him, and with the quickness of a cat wheeled and leaped -back again to close quarters. His hunting knife was raised above his -head as he came in, and he aimed a vicious blow at Taug’s neck. The ape -wheeled to dodge the weapon so that the keen blade struck him but a -glancing blow upon the shoulder. - -The spurt of red blood brought a shrill cry of delight from Teeka. Ah, -but this was something worth while! She glanced about to see if others -had witnessed this evidence of her popularity. Helen of Troy was never -one whit more proud than was Teeka at that moment. - -If Teeka had not been so absorbed in her own vaingloriousness she might -have noted the rustling of leaves in the tree above her—a rustling -which was not caused by any movement of the wind, since there was no -wind. And had she looked up she might have seen a sleek body crouching -almost directly over her and wicked yellow eyes glaring hungrily down -upon her, but Teeka did not look up. - -With his wound Taug had backed off growling horribly. Tarzan had -followed him, screaming insults at him, and menacing him with his -brandishing blade. Teeka moved from beneath the tree in an effort to -keep close to the duelists. - -The branch above Teeka bent and swayed a trifle with the movement of -the body of the watcher stretched along it. Taug had halted now and was -preparing to make a new stand. His lips were flecked with foam, and -saliva drooled from his jowls. He stood with head lowered and arms -outstretched, preparing for a sudden charge to close quarters. Could he -but lay his mighty hands upon that soft, brown skin the battle would be -his. Taug considered Tarzan’s manner of fighting unfair. He would not -close. Instead, he leaped nimbly just beyond the reach of Taug’s -muscular fingers. - -The ape-boy had as yet never come to a real trial of strength with a -bull ape, other than in play, and so he was not at all sure that it -would be safe to put his muscles to the test in a life and death -struggle. Not that he was afraid, for Tarzan knew nothing of fear. The -instinct of self-preservation gave him caution—that was all. He took -risks only when it seemed necessary, and then he would hesitate at -nothing. - -His own method of fighting seemed best fitted to his build and to his -armament. His teeth, while strong and sharp, were, as weapons of -offense, pitifully inadequate by comparison with the mighty fighting -fangs of the anthropoids. By dancing about, just out of reach of an -antagonist, Tarzan could do infinite injury with his long, sharp -hunting knife, and at the same time escape many of the painful and -dangerous wounds which would be sure to follow his falling into the -clutches of a bull ape. - -And so Taug charged and bellowed like a bull, and Tarzan of the Apes -danced lightly to this side and that, hurling jungle billingsgate at -his foe, the while he nicked him now and again with his knife. - -There were lulls in the fighting when the two would stand panting for -breath, facing each other, mustering their wits and their forces for a -new onslaught. It was during a pause such as this that Taug chanced to -let his eyes rove beyond his foeman. Instantly the entire aspect of the -ape altered. Rage left his countenance to be supplanted by an -expression of fear. - -With a cry that every ape there recognized, Taug turned and fled. No -need to question him—his warning proclaimed the near presence of their -ancient enemy. - -Tarzan started to seek safety, as did the other members of the tribe, -and as he did so he heard a panther’s scream mingled with the -frightened cry of a she-ape. Taug heard, too; but he did not pause in -his flight. - -With the ape-boy, however, it was different. He looked back to see if -any member of the tribe was close pressed by the beast of prey, and the -sight that met his eyes filled them with an expression of horror. - -Teeka it was who cried out in terror as she fled across a little -clearing toward the trees upon the opposite side, for after her leaped -Sheeta, the panther, in easy, graceful bounds. Sheeta appeared to be in -no hurry. His meat was assured, since even though the ape reached the -trees ahead of him she could not climb beyond his clutches before he -could be upon her. - -Tarzan saw that Teeka must die. He cried to Taug and the other bulls to -hasten to Teeka’s assistance, and at the same time he ran toward the -pursuing beast, taking down his rope as he came. Tarzan knew that once -the great bulls were aroused none of the jungle, not even Numa, the -lion, was anxious to measure fangs with them, and that if all those of -the tribe who chanced to be present today would charge, Sheeta, the -great cat, would doubtless turn tail and run for his life. - -Taug heard, as did the others, but no one came to Tarzan’s assistance -or Teeka’s rescue, and Sheeta was rapidly closing up the distance -between himself and his prey. - -The ape-boy, leaping after the panther, cried aloud to the beast in an -effort to turn it from Teeka or otherwise distract its attention until -the she-ape could gain the safety of the higher branches where Sheeta -dared not go. He called the panther every opprobrious name that fell to -his tongue. He dared him to stop and do battle with him; but Sheeta -only loped on after the luscious titbit now almost within his reach. - -Tarzan was not far behind and he was gaining, but the distance was so -short that he scarce hoped to overhaul the carnivore before it had -felled Teeka. In his right hand the boy swung his grass rope above his -head as he ran. He hated to chance a miss, for the distance was much -greater than he ever had cast before except in practice. It was the -full length of his grass rope which separated him from Sheeta, and yet -there was no other thing to do. He could not reach the brute’s side -before it overhauled Teeka. He must chance a throw. - -And just as Teeka sprang for the lower limb of a great tree, and Sheeta -rose behind her in a long, sinuous leap, the coils of the ape-boy’s -grass rope shot swiftly through the air, straightening into a long thin -line as the open noose hovered for an instant above the savage head and -the snarling jaws. Then it settled—clean and true about the tawny neck -it settled, and Tarzan, with a quick twist of his rope-hand, drew the -noose taut, bracing himself for the shock when Sheeta should have taken -up the slack. - -Just short of Teeka’s glossy rump the cruel talons raked the air as the -rope tightened and Sheeta was brought to a sudden stop—a stop that -snapped the big beast over upon his back. Instantly Sheeta was up—with -glaring eyes, and lashing tail, and gaping jaws, from which issued -hideous cries of rage and disappointment. - -He saw the ape-boy, the cause of his discomfiture, scarce forty feet -before him, and Sheeta charged. - -Teeka was safe now; Tarzan saw to that by a quick glance into the tree -whose safety she had gained not an instant too soon, and Sheeta was -charging. It was useless to risk his life in idle and unequal combat -from which no good could come; but could he escape a battle with the -enraged cat? And if he was forced to fight, what chance had he to -survive? Tarzan was constrained to admit that his position was aught -but a desirable one. The trees were too far to hope to reach in time to -elude the cat. Tarzan could but stand facing that hideous charge. In -his right hand he grasped his hunting knife—a puny, futile thing indeed -by comparison with the great rows of mighty teeth which lined Sheeta’s -powerful jaws, and the sharp talons encased within his padded paws; yet -the young Lord Greystoke faced it with the same courageous resignation -with which some fearless ancestor went down to defeat and death on -Senlac Hill by Hastings. - -From safety points in the trees the great apes watched, screaming -hatred at Sheeta and advice at Tarzan, for the progenitors of man have, -naturally, many human traits. Teeka was frightened. She screamed at the -bulls to hasten to Tarzan’s assistance; but the bulls were otherwise -engaged—principally in giving advice and making faces. Anyway, Tarzan -was not a real Mangani, so why should they risk their lives in an -effort to protect him? - -And now Sheeta was almost upon the lithe, naked body, and—the body was -not there. Quick as was the great cat, the ape-boy was quicker. He -leaped to one side almost as the panther’s talons were closing upon -him, and as Sheeta went hurtling to the ground beyond, Tarzan was -racing for the safety of the nearest tree. - -The panther recovered himself almost immediately and, wheeling, tore -after his prey, the ape-boy’s rope dragging along the ground behind -him. In doubling back after Tarzan, Sheeta had passed around a low -bush. It was a mere nothing in the path of any jungle creature of the -size and weight of Sheeta—provided it had no trailing rope dangling -behind. But Sheeta was handicapped by such a rope, and as he leaped -once again after Tarzan of the Apes the rope encircled the small bush, -became tangled in it and brought the panther to a sudden stop. An -instant later Tarzan was safe among the higher branches of a small tree -into which Sheeta could not follow him. - -Here he perched, hurling twigs and epithets at the raging feline -beneath him. The other members of the tribe now took up the -bombardment, using such hard-shelled fruits and dead branches as came -within their reach, until Sheeta, goaded to frenzy and snapping at the -grass rope, finally succeeded in severing its strands. For a moment the -panther stood glaring first at one of his tormentors and then at -another, until, with a final scream of rage, he turned and slunk off -into the tangled mazes of the jungle. - -A half hour later the tribe was again upon the ground, feeding as -though naught had occurred to interrupt the somber dullness of their -lives. Tarzan had recovered the greater part of his rope and was busy -fashioning a new noose, while Teeka squatted close behind him, in -evident token that her choice was made. - -Taug eyed them sullenly. Once when he came close, Teeka bared her fangs -and growled at him, and Tarzan showed his canines in an ugly snarl; but -Taug did not provoke a quarrel. He seemed to accept after the manner of -his kind the decision of the she as an indication that he had been -vanquished in his battle for her favors. - -Later in the day, his rope repaired, Tarzan took to the trees in search -of game. More than his fellows he required meat, and so, while they -were satisfied with fruits and herbs and beetles, which could be -discovered without much effort upon their part, Tarzan spent -considerable time hunting the game animals whose flesh alone satisfied -the cravings of his stomach and furnished sustenance and strength to -the mighty thews which, day by day, were building beneath the soft, -smooth texture of his brown hide. - -Taug saw him depart, and then, quite casually, the big beast hunted -closer and closer to Teeka in his search for food. At last he was -within a few feet of her, and when he shot a covert glance at her he -saw that she was appraising him and that there was no evidence of anger -upon her face. - -Taug expanded his great chest and rolled about on his short legs, -making strange growlings in his throat. He raised his lips, baring his -fangs. My, but what great, beautiful fangs he had! Teeka could not but -notice them. She also let her eyes rest in admiration upon Taug’s -beetling brows and his short, powerful neck. What a beautiful creature -he was indeed! - -Taug, flattered by the unconcealed admiration in her eyes, strutted -about, as proud and as vain as a peacock. Presently he began to -inventory his assets, mentally, and shortly he found himself comparing -them with those of his rival. - -Taug grunted, for there was no comparison. How could one compare his -beautiful coat with the smooth and naked hideousness of Tarzan’s bare -hide? Who could see beauty in the stingy nose of the Tarmangani after -looking at Taug’s broad nostrils? And Tarzan’s eyes! Hideous things, -showing white about them, and entirely unrimmed with red. Taug knew -that his own blood-shot eyes were beautiful, for he had seen them -reflected in the glassy surface of many a drinking pool. - -The bull drew nearer to Teeka, finally squatting close against her. -When Tarzan returned from his hunting a short time later it was to see -Teeka contentedly scratching the back of his rival. - -Tarzan was disgusted. Neither Taug nor Teeka saw him as he swung -through the trees into the glade. He paused a moment, looking at them; -then, with a sorrowful grimace, he turned and faded away into the -labyrinth of leafy boughs and festooned moss out of which he had come. - -Tarzan wished to be as far away from the cause of his heartache as he -could. He was suffering the first pangs of blighted love, and he didn’t -quite know what was the matter with him. He thought that he was angry -with Taug, and so he couldn’t understand why it was that he had run -away instead of rushing into mortal combat with the destroyer of his -happiness. - -He also thought that he was angry with Teeka, yet a vision of her many -beauties persisted in haunting him, so that he could only see her in -the light of love as the most desirable thing in the world. - -The ape-boy craved affection. From babyhood until the time of her -death, when the poisoned arrow of Kulonga had pierced her savage heart, -Kala had represented to the English boy the sole object of love which -he had known. - -In her wild, fierce way Kala had loved her adopted son, and Tarzan had -returned that love, though the outward demonstrations of it were no -greater than might have been expected from any other beast of the -jungle. It was not until he was bereft of her that the boy realized how -deep had been his attachment for his mother, for as such he looked upon -her. - -In Teeka he had seen within the past few hours a substitute for -Kala—someone to fight for and to hunt for—someone to caress; but now -his dream was shattered. Something hurt within his breast. He placed -his hand over his heart and wondered what had happened to him. Vaguely -he attributed his pain to Teeka. The more he thought of Teeka as he had -last seen her, caressing Taug, the more the thing within his breast -hurt him. - -Tarzan shook his head and growled; then on and on through the jungle he -swung, and the farther he traveled and the more he thought upon his -wrongs, the nearer he approached becoming an irreclaimable misogynist. - -Two days later he was still hunting alone—very morose and very unhappy; -but he was determined never to return to the tribe. He could not bear -the thought of seeing Taug and Teeka always together. As he swung upon -a great limb Numa, the lion, and Sabor, the lioness, passed beneath -him, side by side, and Sabor leaned against the lion and bit playfully -at his cheek. It was a half-caress. Tarzan sighed and hurled a nut at -them. - -Later he came upon several of Mbonga’s black warriors. He was upon the -point of dropping his noose about the neck of one of them, who was a -little distance from his companions, when he became interested in the -thing which occupied the savages. They were building a cage in the -trail and covering it with leafy branches. When they had completed -their work the structure was scarcely visible. - -Tarzan wondered what the purpose of the thing might be, and why, when -they had built it, they turned away and started back along the trail in -the direction of their village. - -It had been some time since Tarzan had visited the blacks and looked -down from the shelter of the great trees which overhung their palisade -upon the activities of his enemies, from among whom had come the slayer -of Kala. - -Although he hated them, Tarzan derived considerable entertainment in -watching them at their daily life within the village, and especially at -their dances, when the fires glared against their naked bodies as they -leaped and turned and twisted in mimic warfare. It was rather in the -hope of witnessing something of the kind that he now followed the -warriors back toward their village, but in this he was disappointed, -for there was no dance that night. - -Instead, from the safe concealment of his tree, Tarzan saw little -groups seated about tiny fires discussing the events of the day, and in -the darker corners of the village he descried isolated couples talking -and laughing together, and always one of each couple was a young man -and the other a young woman. - -Tarzan cocked his head upon one side and thought, and before he went to -sleep that night, curled in the crotch of the great tree above the -village, Teeka filled his mind, and afterward she filled his dreams—she -and the young black men laughing and talking with the young black -women. - -Taug, hunting alone, had wandered some distance from the balance of the -tribe. He was making his way slowly along an elephant path when he -discovered that it was blocked with undergrowth. Now Taug, come into -maturity, was an evil-natured brute of an exceeding short temper. When -something thwarted him, his sole idea was to overcome it by brute -strength and ferocity, and so now when he found his way blocked, he -tore angrily into the leafy screen and an instant later found himself -within a strange lair, his progress effectually blocked, -notwithstanding his most violent efforts to forge ahead. - -Biting and striking at the barrier, Taug finally worked himself into a -frightful rage, but all to no avail; and at last he became convinced -that he must turn back. But when he would have done so, what was his -chagrin to discover that another barrier had dropped behind him while -he fought to break down the one before him! Taug was trapped. Until -exhaustion overcame him he fought frantically for his freedom; but all -for naught. - -In the morning a party of blacks set out from the village of Mbonga in -the direction of the trap they had constructed the previous day, while -among the branches of the trees above them hovered a naked young giant -filled with the curiosity of the wild things. Manu, the monkey, -chattered and scolded as Tarzan passed, and though he was not afraid of -the familiar figure of the ape-boy, he hugged closer to him the little -brown body of his life’s companion. Tarzan laughed as he saw it; but -the laugh was followed by a sudden clouding of his face and a deep -sigh. - -A little farther on, a gaily feathered bird strutted about before the -admiring eyes of his somber-hued mate. It seemed to Tarzan that -everything in the jungle was combining to remind him that he had lost -Teeka; yet every day of his life he had seen these same things and -thought nothing of them. - -When the blacks reached the trap, Taug set up a great commotion. -Seizing the bars of his prison, he shook them frantically, and all the -while he roared and growled terrifically. The blacks were elated, for -while they had not built their trap for this hairy tree man, they were -delighted with their catch. - -Tarzan pricked up his ears when he heard the voice of a great ape and, -circling quickly until he was down wind from the trap, he sniffed at -the air in search of the scent spoor of the prisoner. Nor was it long -before there came to those delicate nostrils the familiar odor that -told Tarzan the identity of the captive as unerringly as though he had -looked upon Taug with his eyes. Yes, it was Taug, and he was alone. - -Tarzan grinned as he approached to discover what the blacks would do to -their prisoner. Doubtless they would slay him at once. Again Tarzan -grinned. Now he could have Teeka for his own, with none to dispute his -right to her. As he watched, he saw the black warriors strip the screen -from about the cage, fasten ropes to it and drag it away along the -trail in the direction of their village. - -Tarzan watched until his rival passed out of sight, still beating upon -the bars of his prison and growling out his anger and his threats. Then -the ape-boy turned and swung rapidly off in search of the tribe, and -Teeka. - -Once, upon the journey, he surprised Sheeta and his family in a little -overgrown clearing. The great cat lay stretched upon the ground, while -his mate, one paw across her lord’s savage face, licked at the soft -white fur at his throat. - -Tarzan increased his speed then until he fairly flew through the -forest, nor was it long before he came upon the tribe. He saw them -before they saw him, for of all the jungle creatures, none passed more -quietly than Tarzan of the Apes. He saw Kamma and her mate feeding side -by side, their hairy bodies rubbing against each other. And he saw -Teeka feeding by herself. Not for long would she feed thus in -loneliness, thought Tarzan, as with a bound he landed amongst them. - -There was a startled rush and a chorus of angry and frightened snarls, -for Tarzan had surprised them; but there was more, too, than mere -nervous shock to account for the bristling neck hair which remained -standing long after the apes had discovered the identity of the -newcomer. - -Tarzan noticed this as he had noticed it many times in the past—that -always his sudden coming among them left them nervous and unstrung for -a considerable time, and that they one and all found it necessary to -satisfy themselves that he was indeed Tarzan by smelling about him a -half dozen or more times before they calmed down. - -Pushing through them, he made his way toward Teeka; but as he -approached her the ape drew away. - -“Teeka,” he said, “it is Tarzan. You belong to Tarzan. I have come for -you.” - -The ape drew closer, looking him over carefully. Finally she sniffed at -him, as though to make assurance doubly sure. - -“Where is Taug?” she asked. - -“The Gomangani have him,” replied Tarzan. “They will kill him.” - -In the eyes of the she, Tarzan saw a wistful expression and a troubled -look of sorrow as he told her of Taug’s fate; but she came quite close -and snuggled against him, and Tarzan, Lord Greystoke, put his arm about -her. - -As he did so he noticed, with a start, the strange incongruity of that -smooth, brown arm against the black and hairy coat of his lady-love. He -recalled the paw of Sheeta’s mate across Sheeta’s face—no incongruity -there. He thought of little Manu hugging his she, and how the one -seemed to belong to the other. Even the proud male bird, with his gay -plumage, bore a close resemblance to his quieter spouse, while Numa, -but for his shaggy mane, was almost a counterpart of Sabor, the -lioness. The males and the females differed, it was true; but not with -such differences as existed between Tarzan and Teeka. - -Tarzan was puzzled. There was something wrong. His arm dropped from the -shoulder of Teeka. Very slowly he drew away from her. She looked at him -with her head cocked upon one side. Tarzan rose to his full height and -beat upon his breast with his fists. He raised his head toward the -heavens and opened his mouth. From the depths of his lungs rose the -fierce, weird challenge of the victorious bull ape. The tribe turned -curiously to eye him. He had killed nothing, nor was there any -antagonist to be goaded to madness by the savage scream. No, there was -no excuse for it, and they turned back to their feeding, but with an -eye upon the ape-man lest he be preparing to suddenly run amuck. - -As they watched him they saw him swing into a near-by tree and -disappear from sight. Then they forgot him, even Teeka. - -Mbonga’s black warriors, sweating beneath their strenuous task, and -resting often, made slow progress toward their village. Always the -savage beast in the primitive cage growled and roared when they moved -him. He beat upon the bars and slavered at the mouth. His noise was -hideous. - -They had almost completed their journey and were making their final -rest before forging ahead to gain the clearing in which lay their -village. A few more minutes would have taken them out of the forest, -and then, doubtless, the thing would not have happened which did -happen. - -A silent figure moved through the trees above them. Keen eyes inspected -the cage and counted the number of warriors. An alert and daring brain -figured upon the chances of success when a certain plan should be put -to the test. - -Tarzan watched the blacks lolling in the shade. They were exhausted. -Already several of them slept. He crept closer, pausing just above -them. Not a leaf rustled before his stealthy advance. He waited in the -infinite patience of the beast of prey. Presently but two of the -warriors remained awake, and one of these was dozing. - -Tarzan of the Apes gathered himself, and as he did so the black who did -not sleep arose and passed around to the rear of the cage. The ape-boy -followed just above his head. Taug was eyeing the warrior and emitting -low growls. Tarzan feared that the anthropoid would awaken the -sleepers. - -In a whisper which was inaudible to the ears of the Negro, Tarzan -whispered Taug’s name, cautioning the ape to silence, and Taug’s -growling ceased. - -The black approached the rear of the cage and examined the fastenings -of the door, and as he stood there the beast above him launched itself -from the tree full upon his back. Steel fingers circled his throat, -choking the cry which sprang to the lips of the terrified man. Strong -teeth fastened themselves in his shoulder, and powerful legs wound -themselves about his torso. - -The black in a frenzy of terror tried to dislodge the silent thing -which clung to him. He threw himself to the ground and rolled about; -but still those mighty fingers closed more and more tightly their -deadly grip. - -The man’s mouth gaped wide, his swollen tongue protruded, his eyes -started from their sockets; but the relentless fingers only increased -their pressure. - -Taug was a silent witness of the struggle. In his fierce little brain -he doubtless wondered what purpose prompted Tarzan to attack the black. -Taug had not forgotten his recent battle with the ape-boy, nor the -cause of it. Now he saw the form of the Gomangani suddenly go limp. -There was a convulsive shiver and the man lay still. - -Tarzan sprang from his prey and ran to the door of the cage. With -nimble fingers he worked rapidly at the thongs which held the door in -place. Taug could only watch—he could not help. Presently Tarzan pushed -the thing up a couple of feet and Taug crawled out. The ape would have -turned upon the sleeping blacks that he might wreak his pent vengeance; -but Tarzan would not permit it. - -Instead, the ape-boy dragged the body of the black within the cage and -propped it against the side bars. Then he lowered the door and made -fast the thongs as they had been before. - -A happy smile lighted his features as he worked, for one of his -principal diversions was the baiting of the blacks of Mbonga’s village. -He could imagine their terror when they awoke and found the dead body -of their comrade fast in the cage where they had left the great ape -safely secured but a few minutes before. - -Tarzan and Taug took to the trees together, the shaggy coat of the -fierce ape brushing the sleek skin of the English lordling as they -passed through the primeval jungle side by side. - -“Go back to Teeka,” said Tarzan. “She is yours. Tarzan does not want -her.” - -“Tarzan has found another she?” asked Taug. - -The ape-boy shrugged. - -“For the Gomangani there is another Gomangani,” he said; “for Numa, the -lion, there is Sabor, the lioness; for Sheeta there is a she of his own -kind; for Bara, the deer; for Manu, the monkey; for all the beasts and -the birds of the jungle is there a mate. Only for Tarzan of the Apes is -there none. Taug is an ape. Teeka is an ape. Go back to Teeka. Tarzan -is a man. He will go alone.” - - - - -CHAPTER II -The Capture of Tarzan - - -The black warriors labored in the humid heat of the jungle’s stifling -shade. With war spears they loosened the thick, black loam and the deep -layers of rotting vegetation. With heavy-nailed fingers they scooped -away the disintegrated earth from the center of the age-old game trail. -Often they ceased their labors to squat, resting and gossiping, with -much laughter, at the edge of the pit they were digging. - -Against the boles of near-by trees leaned their long, oval shields of -thick buffalo hide, and the spears of those who were doing the -scooping. Sweat glistened upon their smooth, ebon skins, beneath which -rolled rounded muscles, supple in the perfection of nature’s -uncontaminated health. - -A reed buck, stepping warily along the trail toward water, halted as a -burst of laughter broke upon his startled ears. For a moment he stood -statuesque but for his sensitively dilating nostrils; then he wheeled -and fled noiselessly from the terrifying presence of man. - -A hundred yards away, deep in the tangle of impenetrable jungle, Numa, -the lion, raised his massive head. Numa had dined well until almost -daybreak and it had required much noise to awaken him. Now he lifted -his muzzle and sniffed the air, caught the acrid scent spoor of the -reed buck and the heavy scent of man. But Numa was well filled. With a -low, disgusted grunt he rose and slunk away. - -Brilliantly plumaged birds with raucous voices darted from tree to -tree. Little monkeys, chattering and scolding, swung through the -swaying limbs above the black warriors. Yet they were alone, for the -teeming jungle with all its myriad life, like the swarming streets of a -great metropolis, is one of the loneliest spots in God’s great -universe. - -But were they alone? - -Above them, lightly balanced upon a leafy tree limb, a gray-eyed youth -watched with eager intentness their every move. The fire of hate, -restrained, smoldered beneath the lad’s evident desire to know the -purpose of the black men’s labors. Such a one as these it was who had -slain his beloved Kala. For them there could be naught but enmity, yet -he liked well to watch them, avid as he was for greater knowledge of -the ways of man. - -He saw the pit grow in depth until a great hole yawned the width of the -trail—a hole which was amply large enough to hold at one time all of -the six excavators. Tarzan could not guess the purpose of so great a -labor. And when they cut long stakes, sharpened at their upper ends, -and set them at intervals upright in the bottom of the pit, his -wonderment but increased, nor was it satisfied with the placing of the -light cross-poles over the pit, or the careful arrangement of leaves -and earth which completely hid from view the work the black men had -performed. - -When they were done they surveyed their handiwork with evident -satisfaction, and Tarzan surveyed it, too. Even to his practiced eye -there remained scarce a vestige of evidence that the ancient game trail -had been tampered with in any way. - -So absorbed was the ape-man in speculation as to the purpose of the -covered pit that he permitted the blacks to depart in the direction of -their village without the usual baiting which had rendered him the -terror of Mbonga’s people and had afforded Tarzan both a vehicle of -revenge and a source of inexhaustible delight. - -Puzzle as he would, however, he could not solve the mystery of the -concealed pit, for the ways of the blacks were still strange ways to -Tarzan. They had entered his jungle but a short time before—the first -of their kind to encroach upon the age-old supremacy of the beasts -which laired there. To Numa, the lion, to Tantor, the elephant, to the -great apes and the lesser apes, to each and all of the myriad creatures -of this savage wild, the ways of man were new. They had much to learn -of these black, hairless creatures that walked erect upon their hind -paws—and they were learning it slowly, and always to their sorrow. - -Shortly after the blacks had departed, Tarzan swung easily to the -trail. Sniffing suspiciously, he circled the edge of the pit. Squatting -upon his haunches, he scraped away a little earth to expose one of the -cross-bars. He sniffed at this, touched it, cocked his head upon one -side, and contemplated it gravely for several minutes. Then he -carefully re-covered it, arranging the earth as neatly as had the -blacks. This done, he swung himself back among the branches of the -trees and moved off in search of his hairy fellows, the great apes of -the tribe of Kerchak. - -Once he crossed the trail of Numa, the lion, pausing for a moment to -hurl a soft fruit at the snarling face of his enemy, and to taunt and -insult him, calling him eater of carrion and brother of Dango, the -hyena. Numa, his yellow-green eyes round and burning with concentrated -hate, glared up at the dancing figure above him. Low growls vibrated -his heavy jowls and his great rage transmitted to his sinuous tail a -sharp, whiplike motion; but realizing from past experience the futility -of long distance argument with the ape-man, he turned presently and -struck off into the tangled vegetation which hid him from the view of -his tormentor. With a final scream of jungle invective and an apelike -grimace at his departing foe, Tarzan continued along his way. - -Another mile and a shifting wind brought to his keen nostrils a -familiar, pungent odor close at hand, and a moment later there loomed -beneath him a huge, gray-black bulk forging steadily along the jungle -trail. Tarzan seized and broke a small tree limb, and at the sudden -cracking sound the ponderous figure halted. Great ears were thrown -forward, and a long, supple trunk rose quickly to wave to and fro in -search of the scent of an enemy, while two weak, little eyes peered -suspiciously and futilely about in quest of the author of the noise -which had disturbed his peaceful way. - -Tarzan laughed aloud and came closer above the head of the pachyderm. - -“Tantor! Tantor!” he cried. “Bara, the deer, is less fearful than -you—you, Tantor, the elephant, greatest of the jungle folk with the -strength of as many Numas as I have toes upon my feet and fingers upon -my hands. Tantor, who can uproot great trees, trembles with fear at the -sound of a broken twig.” - -A rumbling noise, which might have been either a sign of contempt or a -sigh of relief, was Tantor’s only reply as the uplifted trunk and ears -came down and the beast’s tail dropped to normal; but his eyes still -roved about in search of Tarzan. He was not long kept in suspense, -however, as to the whereabouts of the ape-man, for a second later the -youth dropped lightly to the broad head of his old friend. Then -stretching himself at full length, he drummed with his bare toes upon -the thick hide, and as his fingers scratched the more tender surfaces -beneath the great ears, he talked to Tantor of the gossip of the jungle -as though the great beast understood every word that he said. - -Much there was which Tarzan could make Tantor understand, and though -the small talk of the wild was beyond the great, gray dreadnaught of -the jungle, he stood with blinking eyes and gently swaying trunk as -though drinking in every word of it with keenest appreciation. As a -matter of fact it was the pleasant, friendly voice and caressing hands -behind his ears which he enjoyed, and the close proximity of him whom -he had often borne upon his back since Tarzan, as a little child, had -once fearlessly approached the great bull, assuming upon the part of -the pachyderm the same friendliness which filled his own heart. - -In the years of their association Tarzan had discovered that he -possessed an inexplicable power to govern and direct his mighty friend. -At his bidding, Tantor would come from a great distance—as far as his -keen ears could detect the shrill and piercing summons of the -ape-man—and when Tarzan was squatted upon his head, Tantor would lumber -through the jungle in any direction which his rider bade him go. It was -the power of the man-mind over that of the brute and it was just as -effective as though both fully understood its origin, though neither -did. - -For half an hour Tarzan sprawled there upon Tantor’s back. Time had no -meaning for either of them. Life, as they saw it, consisted principally -in keeping their stomachs filled. To Tarzan this was a less arduous -labor than to Tantor, for Tarzan’s stomach was smaller, and being -omnivorous, food was less difficult to obtain. If one sort did not come -readily to hand, there were always many others to satisfy his hunger. -He was less particular as to his diet than Tantor, who would eat only -the bark of certain trees, and the wood of others, while a third -appealed to him only through its leaves, and these, perhaps, just at -certain seasons of the year. - -Tantor must needs spend the better part of his life in filling his -immense stomach against the needs of his mighty thews. It is thus with -all the lower orders—their lives are so occupied either with searching -for food or with the processes of digestion that they have little time -for other considerations. Doubtless it is this handicap which has kept -them from advancing as rapidly as man, who has more time to give to -thought upon other matters. - -However, these questions troubled Tarzan but little, and Tantor not at -all. What the former knew was that he was happy in the companionship of -the elephant. He did not know why. He did not know that because he was -a human being—a normal, healthy human being—he craved some living thing -upon which to lavish his affection. His childhood playmates among the -apes of Kerchak were now great, sullen brutes. They felt nor inspired -but little affection. The younger apes Tarzan still played with -occasionally. In his savage way he loved them; but they were far from -satisfying or restful companions. Tantor was a great mountain of calm, -of poise, of stability. It was restful and satisfying to sprawl upon -his rough pate and pour one’s vague hopes and aspirations into the -great ears which flapped ponderously to and fro in apparent -understanding. Of all the jungle folk, Tantor commanded Tarzan’s -greatest love since Kala had been taken from him. Sometimes Tarzan -wondered if Tantor reciprocated his affection. It was difficult to -know. - -It was the call of the stomach—the most compelling and insistent call -which the jungle knows—that took Tarzan finally back to the trees and -off in search of food, while Tantor continued his interrupted journey -in the opposite direction. - -For an hour the ape-man foraged. A lofty nest yielded its fresh, warm -harvest. Fruits, berries, and tender plantain found a place upon his -menu in the order that he happened upon them, for he did not seek such -foods. Meat, meat, meat! It was always meat that Tarzan of the Apes -hunted; but sometimes meat eluded him, as today. - -And as he roamed the jungle his active mind busied itself not alone -with his hunting, but with many other subjects. He had a habit of -recalling often the events of the preceding days and hours. He lived -over his visit with Tantor; he cogitated upon the digging blacks and -the strange, covered pit they had left behind them. He wondered again -and again what its purpose might be. He compared perceptions and -arrived at judgments. He compared judgments, reaching conclusions—not -always correct ones, it is true, but at least he used his brain for the -purpose God intended it, which was the less difficult because he was -not handicapped by the second-hand, and usually erroneous, judgment of -others. - -And as he puzzled over the covered pit, there loomed suddenly before -his mental vision a huge, gray-black bulk which lumbered ponderously -along a jungle trail. Instantly Tarzan tensed to the shock of a sudden -fear. Decision and action usually occurred simultaneously in the life -of the ape-man, and now he was away through the leafy branches ere the -realization of the pit’s purpose had scarce formed in his mind. - -Swinging from swaying limb to swaying limb, he raced through the middle -terraces where the trees grew close together. Again he dropped to the -ground and sped, silently and light of foot, over the carpet of -decaying vegetation, only to leap again into the trees where the -tangled undergrowth precluded rapid advance upon the surface. - -In his anxiety he cast discretion to the winds. The caution of the -beast was lost in the loyalty of the man, and so it came that he -entered a large clearing, denuded of trees, without a thought of what -might lie there or upon the farther edge to dispute the way with him. - -He was half way across when directly in his path and but a few yards -away there rose from a clump of tall grasses a half dozen chattering -birds. Instantly Tarzan turned aside, for he knew well enough what -manner of creature the presence of these little sentinels proclaimed. -Simultaneously Buto, the rhinoceros, scrambled to his short legs and -charged furiously. Haphazard charges Buto, the rhinoceros. With his -weak eyes he sees but poorly even at short distances, and whether his -erratic rushes are due to the panic of fear as he attempts to escape, -or to the irascible temper with which he is generally credited, it is -difficult to determine. Nor is the matter of little moment to one whom -Buto charges, for if he be caught and tossed, the chances are that -naught will interest him thereafter. - -And today it chanced that Buto bore down straight upon Tarzan, across -the few yards of knee-deep grass which separated them. Accident started -him in the direction of the ape-man, and then his weak eyes discerned -the enemy, and with a series of snorts he charged straight for him. The -little rhino birds fluttered and circled about their giant ward. Among -the branches of the trees at the edge of the clearing, a score or more -monkeys chattered and scolded as the loud snorts of the angry beast -sent them scurrying affrightedly to the upper terraces. Tarzan alone -appeared indifferent and serene. - -Directly in the path of the charge he stood. There had been no time to -seek safety in the trees beyond the clearing, nor had Tarzan any mind -to delay his journey because of Buto. He had met the stupid beast -before and held him in fine contempt. - -And now Buto was upon him, the massive head lowered and the long, heavy -horn inclined for the frightful work for which nature had designed it; -but as he struck upward, his weapon raked only thin air, for the -ape-man had sprung lightly aloft with a catlike leap that carried him -above the threatening horn to the broad back of the rhinoceros. Another -spring and he was on the ground behind the brute and racing like a deer -for the trees. - -Buto, angered and mystified by the strange disappearance of his prey, -wheeled and charged frantically in another direction, which chanced to -be not the direction of Tarzan’s flight, and so the ape-man came in -safety to the trees and continued on his swift way through the forest. - -Some distance ahead of him Tantor moved steadily along the well-worn -elephant trail, and ahead of Tantor a crouching, black warrior listened -intently in the middle of the path. Presently he heard the sound for -which he had been hoping—the cracking, snapping sound which heralded -the approach of an elephant. - -To his right and left in other parts of the jungle other warriors were -watching. A low signal, passed from one to another, apprised the most -distant that the quarry was afoot. Rapidly they converged toward the -trail, taking positions in trees down wind from the point at which -Tantor must pass them. Silently they waited and presently were rewarded -by the sight of a mighty tusker carrying an amount of ivory in his long -tusks that set their greedy hearts to palpitating. - -No sooner had he passed their positions than the warriors clambered -from their perches. No longer were they silent, but instead clapped -their hands and shouted as they reached the ground. For an instant -Tantor, the elephant, paused with upraised trunk and tail, with great -ears up-pricked, and then he swung on along the trail at a rapid, -shuffling pace—straight toward the covered pit with its sharpened -stakes upstanding in the ground. - -Behind him came the yelling warriors, urging him on in the rapid flight -which would not permit a careful examination of the ground before him. -Tantor, the elephant, who could have turned and scattered his -adversaries with a single charge, fled like a frightened deer—fled -toward a hideous, torturing death. - -And behind them all came Tarzan of the Apes, racing through the jungle -forest with the speed and agility of a squirrel, for he had heard the -shouts of the warriors and had interpreted them correctly. Once he -uttered a piercing call that reverberated through the jungle; but -Tantor, in the panic of terror, either failed to hear, or hearing, -dared not pause to heed. - -Now the giant pachyderm was but a few yards from the hidden death -lurking in his path, and the blacks, certain of success, were screaming -and dancing in his wake, waving their war spears and celebrating in -advance the acquisition of the splendid ivory carried by their prey and -the surfeit of elephant meat which would be theirs this night. - -So intent were they upon their gratulations that they entirely failed -to note the silent passage of the man-beast above their heads, nor did -Tantor, either, see or hear him, even though Tarzan called to him to -stop. - -A few more steps would precipitate Tantor upon the sharpened stakes; -Tarzan fairly flew through the trees until he had come abreast of the -fleeing animal and then had passed him. At the pit’s verge the ape-man -dropped to the ground in the center of the trail. Tantor was almost -upon him before his weak eyes permitted him to recognize his old -friend. - -“Stop!” cried Tarzan, and the great beast halted to the upraised hand. - -Tarzan turned and kicked aside some of the brush which hid the pit. -Instantly Tantor saw and understood. - -“Fight!” growled Tarzan. “They are coming behind you.” But Tantor, the -elephant, is a huge bunch of nerves, and now he was half panic-stricken -by terror. - -Before him yawned the pit, how far he did not know, but to right and -left lay the primeval jungle untouched by man. With a squeal the great -beast turned suddenly at right angles and burst his noisy way through -the solid wall of matted vegetation that would have stopped any but -him. - -Tarzan, standing upon the edge of the pit, smiled as he watched -Tantor’s undignified flight. Soon the blacks would come. It was best -that Tarzan of the Apes faded from the scene. He essayed a step from -the pit’s edge, and as he threw the weight of his body upon his left -foot, the earth crumbled away. Tarzan made a single Herculean effort to -throw himself forward, but it was too late. Backward and downward he -went toward the sharpened stakes in the bottom of the pit. - -When, a moment later, the blacks came they saw even from a distance -that Tantor had eluded them, for the size of the hole in the pit -covering was too small to have accommodated the huge bulk of an -elephant. At first they thought that their prey had put one great foot -through the top and then, warned, drawn back; but when they had come to -the pit’s verge and peered over, their eyes went wide in astonishment, -for, quiet and still, at the bottom lay the naked figure of a white -giant. - -Some of them there had glimpsed this forest god before and they drew -back in terror, awed by the presence which they had for some time -believed to possess the miraculous powers of a demon; but others there -were who pushed forward, thinking only of the capture of an enemy, and -these leaped into the pit and lifted Tarzan out. - -There was no scar upon his body. None of the sharpened stakes had -pierced him—only a swollen spot at the base of the brain indicated the -nature of his injury. In the falling backward his head had struck upon -the side of one of the stakes, rendering him unconscious. The blacks -were quick to discover this, and equally quick to bind their prisoner’s -arms and legs before he should regain consciousness, for they had -learned to harbor a wholesome respect for this strange man-beast that -consorted with the hairy tree folk. - -They had carried him but a short distance toward their village when the -ape-man’s eyelids quivered and raised. He looked about him wonderingly -for a moment, and then full consciousness returned and he realized the -seriousness of his predicament. Accustomed almost from birth to relying -solely upon his own resources, he did not cast about for outside aid -now, but devoted his mind to a consideration of the possibilities for -escape which lay within himself and his own powers. - -He did not dare test the strength of his bonds while the blacks were -carrying him, for fear they would become apprehensive and add to them. -Presently his captors discovered that he was conscious, and as they had -little stomach for carrying a heavy man through the jungle heat, they -set him upon his feet and forced him forward among them, pricking him -now and then with their spears, yet with every manifestation of the -superstitious awe in which they held him. - -When they discovered that their prodding brought no outward evidence of -suffering, their awe increased, so that they soon desisted, half -believing that this strange white giant was a supernatural being and so -was immune from pain. - -As they approached their village, they shouted aloud the victorious -cries of successful warriors, so that by the time they reached the -gate, dancing and waving their spears, a great crowd of men, women, and -children were gathered there to greet them and hear the story of their -adventure. - -As the eyes of the villagers fell upon the prisoner, they went wild, -and heavy jaws fell open in astonishment and incredulity. For months -they had lived in perpetual terror of a weird, white demon whom but few -had ever glimpsed and lived to describe. Warriors had disappeared from -the paths almost within sight of the village and from the midst of -their companions as mysteriously and completely as though they had been -swallowed by the earth, and later, at night, their dead bodies had -fallen, as from the heavens, into the village street. - -This fearsome creature had appeared by night in the huts of the -village, killed, and disappeared, leaving behind him in the huts with -his dead, strange and terrifying evidences of an uncanny sense of -humor. - -But now he was in their power! No longer could he terrorize them. -Slowly the realization of this dawned upon them. A woman, screaming, -ran forward and struck the ape-man across the face. Another and another -followed her example, until Tarzan of the Apes was surrounded by a -fighting, clawing, yelling mob of natives. - -And then Mbonga, the chief, came, and laying his spear heavily across -the shoulders of his people, drove them from their prey. - -“We will save him until night,” he said. - -Far out in the jungle Tantor, the elephant, his first panic of fear -allayed, stood with up-pricked ears and undulating trunk. What was -passing through the convolutions of his savage brain? Could he be -searching for Tarzan? Could he recall and measure the service the -ape-man had performed for him? Of that there can be no doubt. But did -he feel gratitude? Would he have risked his own life to have saved -Tarzan could he have known of the danger which confronted his friend? -You will doubt it. Anyone at all familiar with elephants will doubt it. -Englishmen who have hunted much with elephants in India will tell you -that they never have heard of an instance in which one of these animals -has gone to the aid of a man in danger, even though the man had often -befriended it. And so it is to be doubted that Tantor would have -attempted to overcome his instinctive fear of the black men in an -effort to succor Tarzan. - -The screams of the infuriated villagers came faintly to his sensitive -ears, and he wheeled, as though in terror, contemplating flight; but -something stayed him, and again he turned about, raised his trunk, and -gave voice to a shrill cry. - -Then he stood listening. - -In the distant village where Mbonga had restored quiet and order, the -voice of Tantor was scarcely audible to the blacks, but to the keen -ears of Tarzan of the Apes it bore its message. - -His captors were leading him to a hut where he might be confined and -guarded against the coming of the nocturnal orgy that would mark his -torture-laden death. He halted as he heard the notes of Tantor’s call, -and raising his head, gave vent to a terrifying scream that sent cold -chills through the superstitious blacks and caused the warriors who -guarded him to leap back even though their prisoner’s arms were -securely bound behind him. - -With raised spears they encircled him as for a moment longer he stood -listening. Faintly from the distance came another, an answering cry, -and Tarzan of the Apes, satisfied, turned and quietly pursued his way -toward the hut where he was to be imprisoned. - -The afternoon wore on. From the surrounding village the ape-man heard -the bustle of preparation for the feast. Through the doorway of the hut -he saw the women laying the cooking fires and filling their earthen -caldrons with water; but above it all his ears were bent across the -jungle in eager listening for the coming of Tantor. - -Even Tarzan but half believed that he would come. He knew Tantor even -better than Tantor knew himself. He knew the timid heart which lay in -the giant body. He knew the panic of terror which the scent of the -Gomangani inspired within that savage breast, and as night drew on, -hope died within his heart and in the stoic calm of the wild beast -which he was, he resigned himself to meet the fate which awaited him. - -All afternoon he had been working, working, working with the bonds that -held his wrists. Very slowly they were giving. He might free his hands -before they came to lead him out to be butchered, and if he did—Tarzan -licked his lips in anticipation, and smiled a cold, grim smile. He -could imagine the feel of soft flesh beneath his fingers and the -sinking of his white teeth into the throats of his foemen. He would let -them taste his wrath before they overpowered him! - -At last they came—painted, befeathered warriors—even more hideous than -nature had intended them. They came and pushed him into the open, where -his appearance was greeted by wild shouts from the assembled villagers. - -To the stake they led him, and as they pushed him roughly against it -preparatory to binding him there securely for the dance of death that -would presently encircle him, Tarzan tensed his mighty thews and with a -single, powerful wrench parted the loosened thongs which had secured -his hands. Like thought, for quickness, he leaped forward among the -warriors nearest him. A blow sent one to earth, as, growling and -snarling, the beast-man leaped upon the breast of another. His fangs -were buried instantly in the jugular of his adversary and then a half -hundred black men had leaped upon him and borne him to earth. - -Striking, clawing, and snapping, the ape-man fought—fought as his -foster people had taught him to fight—fought like a wild beast -cornered. His strength, his agility, his courage, and his intelligence -rendered him easily a match for half a dozen black men in a -hand-to-hand struggle, but not even Tarzan of the Apes could hope to -successfully cope with half a hundred. - -Slowly they were overpowering him, though a score of them bled from -ugly wounds, and two lay very still beneath the trampling feet, and the -rolling bodies of the contestants. - -Overpower him they might, but could they keep him overpowered while -they bound him? A half hour of desperate endeavor convinced them that -they could not, and so Mbonga, who, like all good rulers, had circled -in the safety of the background, called to one to work his way in and -spear the victim. Gradually, through the milling, battling men, the -warrior approached the object of his quest. - -He stood with poised spear above his head waiting for the instant that -would expose a vulnerable part of the ape-man’s body and still not -endanger one of the blacks. Closer and closer he edged about, following -the movements of the twisting, scuffling combatants. The growls of the -ape-man sent cold chills up the warrior’s spine, causing him to go -carefully lest he miss at the first cast and lay himself open to an -attack from those merciless teeth and mighty hands. - -At last he found an opening. Higher he raised his spear, tensing his -muscles, rolling beneath his glistening, ebon hide, and then from the -jungle just beyond the palisade came a thunderous crashing. The -spear-hand paused, the black cast a quick glance in the direction of -the disturbance, as did the others of the blacks who were not occupied -with the subjugation of the ape-man. - -In the glare of the fires they saw a huge bulk topping the barrier. -They saw the palisade belly and sway inward. They saw it burst as -though built of straws, and an instant later Tantor, the elephant, -thundered down upon them. - -To right and left the blacks fled, screaming in terror. Some who -hovered upon the verge of the strife with Tarzan heard and made good -their escape, but a half dozen there were so wrapt in the blood-madness -of battle that they failed to note the approach of the giant tusker. - -Upon these Tantor charged, trumpeting furiously. Above them he stopped, -his sensitive trunk weaving among them, and there, at the bottom, he -found Tarzan, bloody, but still battling. - -A warrior turned his eyes upward from the melee. Above him towered the -gigantic bulk of the pachyderm, the little eyes flashing with the -reflected light of the fires—wicked, frightful, terrifying. The warrior -screamed, and as he screamed, the sinuous trunk encircled him, lifted -him high above the ground, and hurled him far after the fleeing crowd. - -Another and another Tantor wrenched from the body of the ape-man, -throwing them to right and to left, where they lay either moaning or -very quiet, as death came slowly or at once. - -At a distance Mbonga rallied his warriors. His greedy eyes had noted -the great ivory tusks of the bull. The first panic of terror relieved, -he urged his men forward to attack with their heavy elephant spears; -but as they came, Tantor swung Tarzan to his broad head, and, wheeling, -lumbered off into the jungle through the great rent he had made in the -palisade. - -Elephant hunters may be right when they aver that this animal would not -have rendered such service to a man, but to Tantor, Tarzan was not a -man—he was but a fellow jungle beast. - -And so it was that Tantor, the elephant, discharged an obligation to -Tarzan of the Apes, cementing even more closely the friendship that had -existed between them since Tarzan as a little, brown boy rode upon -Tantor’s huge back through the moonlit jungle beneath the equatorial -stars. - - - - -CHAPTER III -The Fight for the Balu - - -Teeka had become a mother. Tarzan of the Apes was intensely interested, -much more so, in fact, than Taug, the father. Tarzan was very fond of -Teeka. Even the cares of prospective motherhood had not entirely -quenched the fires of carefree youth, and Teeka had remained a -good-natured playmate even at an age when other shes of the tribe of -Kerchak had assumed the sullen dignity of maturity. She yet retained -her childish delight in the primitive games of tag and hide-and-go-seek -which Tarzan’s fertile man-mind had evolved. - -To play tag through the tree tops is an exciting and inspiring pastime. -Tarzan delighted in it, but the bulls of his childhood had long since -abandoned such childish practices. Teeka, though, had been keen for it -always until shortly before the baby came; but with the advent of her -first-born, even Teeka changed. - -The evidence of the change surprised and hurt Tarzan immeasurably. One -morning he saw Teeka squatted upon a low branch hugging something very -close to her hairy breast—a wee something which squirmed and wriggled. -Tarzan approached filled with the curiosity which is common to all -creatures endowed with brains which have progressed beyond the -microscopic stage. - -Teeka rolled her eyes in his direction and strained the squirming mite -still closer to her. Tarzan came nearer. Teeka drew away and bared her -fangs. Tarzan was nonplussed. In all his experiences with Teeka, never -before had she bared fangs at him other than in play; but today she did -not look playful. Tarzan ran his brown fingers through his thick, black -hair, cocked his head upon one side, and stared. Then he edged a bit -nearer, craning his neck to have a better look at the thing which Teeka -cuddled. - -Again Teeka drew back her upper lip in a warning snarl. Tarzan reached -forth a hand, cautiously, to touch the thing which Teeka held, and -Teeka, with a hideous growl, turned suddenly upon him. Her teeth sank -into the flesh of his forearm before the ape-man could snatch it away, -and she pursued him for a short distance as he retreated incontinently -through the trees; but Teeka, carrying her baby, could not overtake -him. At a safe distance Tarzan stopped and turned to regard his -erstwhile play-fellow in unconcealed astonishment. What had happened to -so alter the gentle Teeka? She had so covered the thing in her arms -that Tarzan had not yet been able to recognize it for what it was; but -now, as she turned from the pursuit of him, he saw it. Through his pain -and chagrin he smiled, for Tarzan had seen young ape mothers before. In -a few days she would be less suspicious. Still Tarzan was hurt; it was -not right that Teeka, of all others, should fear him. Why, not for the -world would he harm her, or her balu, which is the ape word for baby. - -And now, above the pain of his injured arm and the hurt to his pride, -rose a still stronger desire to come close and inspect the new-born son -of Taug. Possibly you will wonder that Tarzan of the Apes, mighty -fighter that he was, should have fled before the irritable attack of a -she, or that he should hesitate to return for the satisfaction of his -curiosity when with ease he might have vanquished the weakened mother -of the new-born cub; but you need not wonder. Were you an ape, you -would know that only a bull in the throes of madness will turn upon a -female other than to gently chastise her, with the occasional exception -of the individual whom we find exemplified among our own kind, and who -delights in beating up his better half because she happens to be -smaller and weaker than he. - -Tarzan again came toward the young mother—warily and with his line of -retreat safely open. Again Teeka growled ferociously. Tarzan -expostulated. - -“Tarzan of the Apes will not harm Teeka’s balu,” he said. “Let me see -it.” - -“Go away!” commanded Teeka. “Go away, or I will kill you.” - -“Let me see it,” urged Tarzan. - -“Go away,” reiterated the she-ape. “Here comes Taug. He will make you -go away. Taug will kill you. This is Taug’s balu.” - -A savage growl close behind him apprised Tarzan of the nearness of -Taug, and the fact that the bull had heard the warnings and threats of -his mate and was coming to her succor. - -Now Taug, as well as Teeka, had been Tarzan’s play-fellow while the -bull was still young enough to wish to play. Once Tarzan had saved -Taug’s life; but the memory of an ape is not overlong, nor would -gratitude rise above the parental instinct. Tarzan and Taug had once -measured strength, and Tarzan had been victorious. That fact Taug could -be depended upon still to remember; but even so, he might readily face -another defeat for his first-born—if he chanced to be in the proper -mood. - -From his hideous growls, which now rose in strength and volume, he -seemed to be in quite the mood. Now Tarzan felt no fear of Taug, nor -did the unwritten law of the jungle demand that he should flee from -battle with any male, unless he cared to from purely personal reasons. -But Tarzan liked Taug. He had no grudge against him, and his man-mind -told him what the mind of an ape would never have deduced—that Taug’s -attitude in no sense indicated hatred. It was but the instinctive urge -of the male to protect its offspring and its mate. - -Tarzan had no desire to battle with Taug, nor did the blood of his -English ancestors relish the thought of flight, yet when the bull -charged, Tarzan leaped nimbly to one side, and thus encouraged, Taug -wheeled and rushed again madly to the attack. Perhaps the memory of a -past defeat at Tarzan’s hands goaded him. Perhaps the fact that Teeka -sat there watching him aroused a desire to vanquish the ape-man before -her eyes, for in the breast of every jungle male lurks a vast egotism -which finds expression in the performance of deeds of derring-do before -an audience of the opposite sex. - -At the ape-man’s side swung his long grass rope—the play-thing of -yesterday, the weapon of today—and as Taug charged the second time, -Tarzan slipped the coils over his head and deftly shook out the sliding -noose as he again nimbly eluded the ungainly beast. Before the ape -could turn again, Tarzan had fled far aloft among the branches of the -upper terrace. - -Taug, now wrought to a frenzy of real rage, followed him. Teeka peered -upward at them. It was difficult to say whether she was interested. -Taug could not climb as rapidly as Tarzan, so the latter reached the -high levels to which the heavy ape dared not follow before the former -overtook him. There he halted and looked down upon his pursuer, making -faces at him and calling him such choice names as occurred to the -fertile man-brain. Then, when he had worked Taug to such a pitch of -foaming rage that the great bull fairly danced upon the bending limb -beneath him, Tarzan’s hand shot suddenly outward, a widening noose -dropped swiftly through the air, there was a quick jerk as it settled -about Taug, falling to his knees, a jerk that tightened it securely -about the hairy legs of the anthropoid. - -Taug, slow of wit, realized too late the intention of his tormentor. He -scrambled to escape, but the ape-man gave the rope a tremendous jerk -that pulled Taug from his perch, and a moment later, growling -hideously, the ape hung head downward thirty feet above the ground. - -Tarzan secured the rope to a stout limb and descended to a point close -to Taug. - -“Taug,” he said, “you are as stupid as Buto, the rhinoceros. Now you -may hang here until you get a little sense in your thick head. You may -hang here and watch while I go and talk with Teeka.” - -Taug blustered and threatened, but Tarzan only grinned at him as he -dropped lightly to the lower levels. Here he again approached Teeka -only to be again greeted with bared fangs and menacing growls. He -sought to placate her; he urged his friendly intentions, and craned his -neck to have a look at Teeka’s balu; but the she-ape was not to be -persuaded that he meant other than harm to her little one. Her -motherhood was still so new that reason was yet subservient to -instinct. - -Realizing the futility of attempting to catch and chastise Tarzan, -Teeka sought to escape him. She dropped to the ground and lumbered -across the little clearing about which the apes of the tribe were -disposed in rest or in the search of food, and presently Tarzan -abandoned his attempts to persuade her to permit a close examination of -the balu. The ape-man would have liked to handle the tiny thing. The -very sight of it awakened in his breast a strange yearning. He wished -to cuddle and fondle the grotesque little ape-thing. It was Teeka’s -balu and Tarzan had once lavished his young affections upon Teeka. - -But now his attention was diverted by the voice of Taug. The threats -that had filled the ape’s mouth had turned to pleas. The tightening -noose was stopping the circulation of the blood in his legs—he was -beginning to suffer. Several apes sat near him highly interested in his -predicament. They made uncomplimentary remarks about him, for each of -them had felt the weight of Taug’s mighty hands and the strength of his -great jaws. They were enjoying revenge. - -Teeka, seeing that Tarzan had turned back toward the trees, had halted -in the center of the clearing, and there she sat hugging her balu and -casting suspicious glances here and there. With the coming of the balu, -Teeka’s care-free world had suddenly become peopled with innumerable -enemies. She saw an implacable foe in Tarzan, always heretofore her -best friend. Even poor old Mumga, half blind and almost entirely -toothless, searching patiently for grubworms beneath a fallen log, -represented to her a malignant spirit thirsting for the blood of little -balus. - -And while Teeka guarded suspiciously against harm, where there was no -harm, she failed to note two baleful, yellow-green eyes staring fixedly -at her from behind a clump of bushes at the opposite side of the -clearing. - -Hollow from hunger, Sheeta, the panther, glared greedily at the -tempting meat so close at hand, but the sight of the great bulls beyond -gave him pause. - -Ah, if the she-ape with her balu would but come just a trifle nearer! A -quick spring and he would be upon them and away again with his meat -before the bulls could prevent. - -The tip of his tawny tail moved in spasmodic little jerks; his lower -jaw hung low, exposing a red tongue and yellow fangs. But all this -Teeka did not see, nor did any other of the apes who were feeding or -resting about her. Nor did Tarzan or the apes in the trees. - -Hearing the abuse which the bulls were pouring upon the helpless Taug, -Tarzan clambered quickly among them. One was edging closer and leaning -far out in an effort to reach the dangling ape. He had worked himself -into quite a fury through recollection of the last occasion upon which -Taug had mauled him, and now he was bent upon revenge. Once he had -grasped the swinging ape, he would quickly have drawn him within reach -of his jaws. Tarzan saw and was wroth. He loved a fair fight, but the -thing which this ape contemplated revolted him. Already a hairy hand -had clutched the helpless Taug when, with an angry growl of protest, -Tarzan leaped to the branch at the attacking ape’s side, and with a -single mighty cuff, swept him from his perch. - -Surprised and enraged, the bull clutched madly for support as he -toppled sidewise, and then with an agile movement succeeded in -projecting himself toward another limb a few feet below. Here he found -a hand-hold, quickly righted himself, and as quickly clambered upward -to be revenged upon Tarzan, but the ape-man was otherwise engaged and -did not wish to be interrupted. He was explaining again to Taug the -depths of the latter’s abysmal ignorance, and pointing out how much -greater and mightier was Tarzan of the Apes than Taug or any other ape. - -In the end he would release Taug, but not until Taug was fully -acquainted with his own inferiority. And then the maddened bull came -from beneath, and instantly Tarzan was transformed from a good-natured, -teasing youth into a snarling, savage beast. Along his scalp the hair -bristled: his upper lip drew back that his fighting fangs might be -uncovered and ready. He did not wait for the bull to reach him, for -something in the appearance or the voice of the attacker aroused within -the ape-man a feeling of belligerent antagonism that would not be -denied. With a scream that carried no human note, Tarzan leaped -straight at the throat of the attacker. - -The impetuosity of this act and the weight and momentum of his body -carried the bull backward, clutching and clawing for support, down -through the leafy branches of the tree. For fifteen feet the two fell, -Tarzan’s teeth buried in the jugular of his opponent, when a stout -branch stopped their descent. The bull struck full upon the small of -his back across the limb, hung there for a moment with the ape-man -still upon his breast, and then toppled over toward the ground. - -Tarzan had felt the instantaneous relaxation of the body beneath him -after the heavy impact with the tree limb, and as the other turned -completely over and started again upon its fall toward the ground, he -reached forth a hand and caught the branch in time to stay his own -descent, while the ape dropped like a plummet to the foot of the tree. - -Tarzan looked downward for a moment upon the still form of his late -antagonist, then he rose to his full height, swelled his deep chest, -smote upon it with his clenched fist and roared out the uncanny -challenge of the victorious bull ape. - -Even Sheeta, the panther, crouched for a spring at the edge of the -little clearing, moved uneasily as the mighty voice sent its weird cry -reverberating through the jungle. To right and left, nervously, glanced -Sheeta, as though assuring himself that the way of escape lay ready at -hand. - -“I am Tarzan of the Apes,” boasted the ape-man; “mighty hunter, mighty -fighter! None in all the jungle so great as Tarzan.” - -Then he made his way back in the direction of Taug. Teeka had watched -the happenings in the tree. She had even placed her precious balu upon -the soft grasses and come a little nearer that she might better witness -all that was passing in the branches above her. In her heart of hearts -did she still esteem the smooth-skinned Tarzan? Did her savage breast -swell with pride as she witnessed his victory over the ape? You will -have to ask Teeka. - -And Sheeta, the panther, saw that the she-ape had left her cub alone -among the grasses. He moved his tail again, as though this closest -approximation of lashing in which he dared indulge might stimulate his -momentarily waned courage. The cry of the victorious ape-man still held -his nerves beneath its spell. It would be several minutes before he -again could bring himself to the point of charging into view of the -giant anthropoids. - -And as he regathered his forces, Tarzan reached Taug’s side, and then -clambering higher up to the point where the end of the grass rope was -made fast, he unloosed it and lowered the ape slowly downward, swinging -him in until the clutching hands fastened upon a limb. - -Quickly Taug drew himself to a position of safety and shook off the -noose. In his rage-maddened heart was no room for gratitude to the -ape-man. He recalled only the fact that Tarzan had laid this painful -indignity upon him. He would be revenged, but just at present his legs -were so numb and his head so dizzy that he must postpone the -gratification of his vengeance. - -Tarzan was coiling his rope the while he lectured Taug on the futility -of pitting his poor powers, physical and intellectual, against those of -his betters. Teeka had come close beneath the tree and was peering -upward. Sheeta was worming his way stealthily forward, his belly close -to the ground. In another moment he would be clear of the underbrush -and ready for the rapid charge and the quick retreat that would end the -brief existence of Teeka’s balu. - -Then Tarzan chanced to look up and across the clearing. Instantly his -attitude of good-natured bantering and pompous boastfulness dropped -from him. Silently and swiftly he shot downward toward the ground. -Teeka, seeing him coming, and thinking that he was after her or her -balu, bristled and prepared to fight. But Tarzan sped by her, and as he -went, her eyes followed him and she saw the cause of his sudden descent -and his rapid charge across the clearing. There in full sight now was -Sheeta, the panther, stalking slowly toward the tiny, wriggling balu -which lay among the grasses many yards away. - -Teeka gave voice to a shrill scream of terror and of warning as she -dashed after the ape-man. Sheeta saw Tarzan coming. He saw the -she-ape’s cub before him, and he thought that this other was bent upon -robbing him of his prey. With an angry growl, he charged. - -Taug, warned by Teeka’s cry, came lumbering down to her assistance. -Several other bulls, growling and barking, closed in toward the -clearing, but they were all much farther from the balu and the panther -than was Tarzan of the Apes, so it was that Sheeta and the ape-man -reached Teeka’s little one almost simultaneously; and there they stood, -one upon either side of it, baring their fangs and snarling at each -other over the little creature. - -Sheeta was afraid to seize the balu, for thus he would give the ape-man -an opening for attack; and for the same reason Tarzan hesitated to -snatch the panther’s prey out of harm’s way, for had he stooped to -accomplish this, the great beast would have been upon him in an -instant. Thus they stood while Teeka came across the clearing, going -more slowly as she neared the panther, for even her mother love could -scarce overcome her instinctive terror of this natural enemy of her -kind. - -Behind her came Taug, warily and with many pauses and much bluster, and -still behind him came other bulls, snarling ferociously and uttering -their uncanny challenges. Sheeta’s yellow-green eyes glared terribly at -Tarzan, and past Tarzan they shot brief glances at the apes of Kerchak -advancing upon him. Discretion prompted him to turn and flee, but -hunger and the close proximity of the tempting morsel in the grass -before him urged him to remain. He reached forth a paw toward Teeka’s -balu, and as he did so, with a savage guttural, Tarzan of the Apes was -upon him. - -The panther reared to meet the ape-man’s attack. He swung a frightful -raking blow for Tarzan that would have wiped his face away had it -landed, but it did not land, for Tarzan ducked beneath it and closed, -his long knife ready in one strong hand—the knife of his dead father, -of the father he never had known. - -Instantly the balu was forgotten by Sheeta, the panther. He now thought -only of tearing to ribbons with his powerful talons the flesh of his -antagonist, of burying his long, yellow fangs in the soft, smooth hide -of the ape-man, but Tarzan had fought before with clawed creatures of -the jungle. Before now he had battled with fanged monsters, nor always -had he come away unscathed. He knew the risk that he ran, but Tarzan of -the Apes, inured to the sight of suffering and death, shrank from -neither, for he feared neither. - -The instant that he dodged beneath Sheeta’s blow, he leaped to the -beast’s rear and then full upon the tawny back, burying his teeth in -Sheeta’s neck and the fingers of one hand in the fur at the throat, and -with the other hand he drove his blade into Sheeta’s side. - -Over and over upon the grass rolled Sheeta, growling and screaming, -clawing and biting, in a mad effort to dislodge his antagonist or get -some portion of his body within range of teeth or talons. - -As Tarzan leaped to close quarters with the panther, Teeka had run -quickly in and snatched up her balu. Now she sat upon a high branch, -safe out of harm’s way, cuddling the little thing close to her hairy -breast, the while her savage little eyes bored down upon the -contestants in the clearing, and her ferocious voice urged Taug and the -other bulls to leap into the melee. - -Thus goaded the bulls came closer, redoubling their hideous clamor; but -Sheeta was already sufficiently engaged—he did not even hear them. Once -he succeeded in partially dislodging the ape-man from his back, so that -Tarzan swung for an instant in front of those awful talons, and in the -brief instant before he could regain his former hold, a raking blow -from a hind paw laid open one leg from hip to knee. - -It was the sight and smell of this blood, possibly, which wrought upon -the encircling apes; but it was Taug who really was responsible for the -thing they did. - -Taug, but a moment before filled with rage toward Tarzan of the Apes, -stood close to the battling pair, his red-rimmed, wicked little eyes -glaring at them. What was passing in his savage brain? Did he gloat -over the unenviable position of his recent tormentor? Did he long to -see Sheeta’s great fangs sink into the soft throat of the ape-man? Or -did he realize the courageous unselfishness that had prompted Tarzan to -rush to the rescue and imperil his life for Teeka’s balu—for Taug’s -little balu? Is gratitude a possession of man only, or do the lower -orders know it also? - -With the spilling of Tarzan’s blood, Taug answered these questions. -With all the weight of his great body he leaped, hideously growling, -upon Sheeta. His long fighting fangs buried themselves in the white -throat. His powerful arms beat and clawed at the soft fur until it flew -upward in the jungle breeze. - -And with Taug’s example before them the other bulls charged, burying -Sheeta beneath rending fangs and filling all the forest with the wild -din of their battle cries. - -Ah! but it was a wondrous and inspiring sight—this battle of the -primordial apes and the great, white ape-man with their ancestral foe, -Sheeta, the panther. - -In frenzied excitement, Teeka fairly danced upon the limb which swayed -beneath her great weight as she urged on the males of her people, and -Thaka, and Mumga, and Kamma, with the other shes of the tribe of -Kerchak, added their shrill cries or fierce barkings to the pandemonium -which now reigned within the jungle. - -Bitten and biting, tearing and torn, Sheeta battled for his life; but -the odds were against him. Even Numa, the lion, would have hesitated to -have attacked an equal number of the great bulls of the tribe of -Kerchak, and now, a half mile away, hearing the sounds of the terrific -battle, the king of beasts rose uneasily from his midday slumber and -slunk off farther into the jungle. - -Presently Sheeta’s torn and bloody body ceased its titanic struggles. -It stiffened spasmodically, twitched and was still, yet the bulls -continued to lacerate it until the beautiful coat was torn to shreds. -At last they desisted from sheer physical weariness, and then from the -tangle of bloody bodies rose a crimson giant, straight as an arrow. - -He placed a foot upon the dead body of the panther, and lifting his -blood-stained face to the blue of the equatorial heavens, gave voice to -the horrid victory cry of the bull ape. - -One by one his hairy fellows of the tribe of Kerchak followed his -example. The shes came down from their perches of safety and struck and -reviled the dead body of Sheeta. The young apes refought the battle in -mimicry of their mighty elders. - -Teeka was quite close to Tarzan. He turned and saw her with the balu -hugged close to her hairy breast, and put out his hands to take the -little one, expecting that Teeka would bare her fangs and spring upon -him; but instead she placed the balu in his arms, and coming nearer, -licked his frightful wounds. - -And presently Taug, who had escaped with only a few scratches, came and -squatted beside Tarzan and watched him as he played with the little -balu, and at last he too leaned over and helped Teeka with the -cleansing and the healing of the ape-man’s hurts. - - - - -CHAPTER IV -The God of Tarzan - - -Among the books of his dead father in the little cabin by the -land-locked harbor, Tarzan of the Apes found many things to puzzle his -young head. By much labor and through the medium of infinite patience -as well, he had, without assistance, discovered the purpose of the -little bugs which ran riot upon the printed pages. He had learned that -in the many combinations in which he found them they spoke in a silent -language, spoke in a strange tongue, spoke of wonderful things which a -little ape-boy could not by any chance fully understand, arousing his -curiosity, stimulating his imagination and filling his soul with a -mighty longing for further knowledge. - -A dictionary had proven itself a wonderful storehouse of information, -when, after several years of tireless endeavor, he had solved the -mystery of its purpose and the manner of its use. He had learned to -make a species of game out of it, following up the spoor of a new -thought through the mazes of the many definitions which each new word -required him to consult. It was like following a quarry through the -jungle—it was hunting, and Tarzan of the Apes was an indefatigable -huntsman. - -There were, of course, certain words which aroused his curiosity to a -greater extent than others, words which, for one reason or another, -excited his imagination. There was one, for example, the meaning of -which was rather difficult to grasp. It was the word GOD. Tarzan first -had been attracted to it by the fact that it was very short and that it -commenced with a larger g-bug than those about it—a male g-bug it was -to Tarzan, the lower-case letters being females. Another fact which -attracted him to this word was the number of he-bugs which figured in -its definition—Supreme Deity, Creator or Upholder of the Universe. This -must be a very important word indeed, he would have to look into it, -and he did, though it still baffled him after many months of thought -and study. - -However, Tarzan counted no time wasted which he devoted to these -strange hunting expeditions into the game preserves of knowledge, for -each word and each definition led on and on into strange places, into -new worlds where, with increasing frequency, he met old, familiar -faces. And always he added to his store of knowledge. - -But of the meaning of GOD he was yet in doubt. Once he thought he had -grasped it—that God was a mighty chieftain, king of all the Mangani. He -was not quite sure, however, since that would mean that God was -mightier than Tarzan—a point which Tarzan of the Apes, who acknowledged -no equal in the jungle, was loath to concede. - -But in all the books he had there was no picture of God, though he -found much to confirm his belief that God was a great, an all-powerful -individual. He saw pictures of places where God was worshiped; but -never any sign of God. Finally he began to wonder if God were not of a -different form than he, and at last he determined to set out in search -of Him. - -He commenced by questioning Mumga, who was very old and had seen many -strange things in her long life; but Mumga, being an ape, had a faculty -for recalling the trivial. That time when Gunto mistook a sting-bug for -an edible beetle had made more impression upon Mumga than all the -innumerable manifestations of the greatness of God which she had -witnessed, and which, of course, she had not understood. - -Numgo, overhearing Tarzan’s questions, managed to wrest his attention -long enough from the diversion of flea hunting to advance the theory -that the power which made the lightning and the rain and the thunder -came from Goro, the moon. He knew this, he said, because the Dum-Dum -always was danced in the light of Goro. This reasoning, though entirely -satisfactory to Numgo and Mumga, failed fully to convince Tarzan. -However, it gave him a basis for further investigation along a new -line. He would investigate the moon. - -That night he clambered to the loftiest pinnacle of the tallest jungle -giant. The moon was full, a great, glorious, equatorial moon. The -ape-man, upright upon a slender, swaying limb, raised his bronzed face -to the silver orb. Now that he had clambered to the highest point -within his reach, he discovered, to his surprise, that Goro was as far -away as when he viewed him from the ground. He thought that Goro was -attempting to elude him. - -“Come, Goro!” he cried, “Tarzan of the Apes will not harm you!” But -still the moon held aloof. - -“Tell me,” he continued, “if you be the great king who sends Ara, the -lightning; who makes the great noise and the mighty winds, and sends -the waters down upon the jungle people when the days are dark and it is -cold. Tell me, Goro, are you God?” - -Of course he did not pronounce God as you or I would pronounce His -name, for Tarzan knew naught of the spoken language of his English -forbears; but he had a name of his own invention for each of the little -bugs which constituted the alphabet. Unlike the apes he was not -satisfied merely to have a mental picture of the things he knew, he -must have a word descriptive of each. In reading he grasped a word in -its entirety; but when he spoke the words he had learned from the books -of his father, he pronounced each according to the names he had given -the various little bugs which occurred in it, usually giving the gender -prefix for each. - -Thus it was an imposing word which Tarzan made of GOD. The masculine -prefix of the apes is BU, the feminine MU; g Tarzan had named LA, o he -pronounced TU, and d was MO. So the word God evolved itself into -BULAMUTUMUMO, or, in English, he-g-she-o-she-d. - -Similarly he had arrived at a strange and wonderful spelling of his own -name. Tarzan is derived from the two ape words TAR and ZAN, meaning -white skin. It was given him by his foster mother, Kala, the great -she-ape. When Tarzan first put it into the written language of his own -people he had not yet chanced upon either WHITE or SKIN in the -dictionary; but in a primer he had seen the picture of a little white -boy and so he wrote his name BUMUDE-MUTOMURO, or he-boy. - -To follow Tarzan’s strange system of spelling would be laborious as -well as futile, and so we shall in the future, as we have in the past, -adhere to the more familiar forms of our grammar school copybooks. It -would tire you to remember that DO meant b, TU o, and RO y, and that to -say he-boy you must prefix the ape masculine gender sound BU before the -entire word and the feminine gender sound MU before each of the -lower-case letters which go to make up boy—it would tire you and it -would bring me to the nineteenth hole several strokes under par. - -And so Tarzan harangued the moon, and when Goro did not reply, Tarzan -of the Apes waxed wroth. He swelled his giant chest and bared his -fighting fangs, and hurled into the teeth of the dead satellite the -challenge of the bull ape. - -“You are not Bulamutumumo,” he cried. “You are not king of the jungle -folk. You are not so great as Tarzan, mighty fighter, mighty hunter. -None there is so great as Tarzan. If there be a Bulamutumumo, Tarzan -can kill him. Come down, Goro, great coward, and fight with Tarzan. -Tarzan will kill you. I am Tarzan, the killer.” - -But the moon made no answer to the boasting of the ape-man, and when a -cloud came and obscured her face, Tarzan thought that Goro was indeed -afraid, and was hiding from him, so he came down out of the trees and -awoke Numgo and told him how great was Tarzan—how he had frightened -Goro out of the sky and made him tremble. Tarzan spoke of the moon as -HE, for all things large or awe inspiring are male to the ape folk. - -Numgo was not much impressed; but he was very sleepy, so he told Tarzan -to go away and leave his betters alone. - -“But where shall I find God?” insisted Tarzan. “You are very old; if -there is a God you must have seen Him. What does He look like? Where -does He live?” - -“I am God,” replied Numgo. “Now sleep and disturb me no more.” - -Tarzan looked at Numgo steadily for several minutes, his shapely head -sank just a trifle between his great shoulders, his square chin shot -forward and his short upper lip drew back, exposing his white teeth. -Then, with a low growl he leaped upon the ape and buried his fangs in -the other’s hairy shoulder, clutching the great neck in his mighty -fingers. Twice he shook the old ape, then he released his tooth-hold. - -“Are you God?” he demanded. - -“No,” wailed Numgo. “I am only a poor, old ape. Leave me alone. Go ask -the Gomangani where God is. They are hairless like yourself and very -wise, too. They should know.” - -Tarzan released Numgo and turned away. The suggestion that he consult -the blacks appealed to him, and though his relations with the people of -Mbonga, the chief, were the antithesis of friendly, he could at least -spy upon his hated enemies and discover if they had intercourse with -God. - -So it was that Tarzan set forth through the trees toward the village of -the blacks, all excitement at the prospect of discovering the Supreme -Being, the Creator of all things. As he traveled he reviewed, mentally, -his armament—the condition of his hunting knife, the number of his -arrows, the newness of the gut which strung his bow—he hefted the war -spear which had once been the pride of some black warrior of Mbonga’s -tribe. - -If he met God, Tarzan would be prepared. One could never tell whether a -grass rope, a war spear, or a poisoned arrow would be most efficacious -against an unfamiliar foe. Tarzan of the Apes was quite content—if God -wished to fight, the ape-man had no doubt as to the outcome of the -struggle. There were many questions Tarzan wished to put to the Creator -of the Universe and so he hoped that God would not prove a belligerent -God; but his experience of life and the ways of living things had -taught him that any creature with the means for offense and defense was -quite likely to provoke attack if in the proper mood. - -It was dark when Tarzan came to the village of Mbonga. As silently as -the silent shadows of the night he sought his accustomed place among -the branches of the great tree which overhung the palisade. Below him, -in the village street, he saw men and women. The men were hideously -painted—more hideously than usual. Among them moved a weird and -grotesque figure, a tall figure that went upon the two legs of a man -and yet had the head of a buffalo. A tail dangled to his ankles behind -him, and in one hand he carried a zebra’s tail while the other clutched -a bunch of small arrows. - -Tarzan was electrified. Could it be that chance had given him thus -early an opportunity to look upon God? Surely this thing was neither -man nor beast, so what could it be then other than the Creator of the -Universe! The ape-man watched the every move of the strange creature. -He saw the black men and women fall back at its approach as though they -stood in terror of its mysterious powers. - -Presently he discovered that the deity was speaking and that all -listened in silence to his words. Tarzan was sure that none other than -God could inspire such awe in the hearts of the Gomangani, or stop -their mouths so effectually without recourse to arrows or spears. -Tarzan had come to look with contempt upon the blacks, principally -because of their garrulity. The small apes talked a great deal and ran -away from an enemy. The big, old bulls of Kerchak talked but little and -fought upon the slightest provocation. Numa, the lion, was not given to -loquacity, yet of all the jungle folk there were few who fought more -often than he. - -Tarzan witnessed strange things that night, none of which he -understood, and, perhaps because they were strange, he thought that -they must have to do with the God he could not understand. He saw three -youths receive their first war spears in a weird ceremony which the -grotesque witch-doctor strove successfully to render uncanny and -awesome. - -Hugely interested, he watched the slashing of the three brown arms and -the exchange of blood with Mbonga, the chief, in the rites of the -ceremony of blood brotherhood. He saw the zebra’s tail dipped into a -caldron of water above which the witch-doctor had made magical passes -the while he danced and leaped about it, and he saw the breasts and -foreheads of each of the three novitiates sprinkled with the charmed -liquid. Could the ape-man have known the purpose of this act, that it -was intended to render the recipient invulnerable to the attacks of his -enemies and fearless in the face of any danger, he would doubtless have -leaped into the village street and appropriated the zebra’s tail and a -portion of the contents of the caldron. - -But he did not know, and so he only wondered, not alone at what he saw -but at the strange sensations which played up and down his naked spine, -sensations induced, doubtless, by the same hypnotic influence which -held the black spectators in tense awe upon the verge of a hysteric -upheaval. - -The longer Tarzan watched, the more convinced he became that his eyes -were upon God, and with the conviction came determination to have word -with the deity. With Tarzan of the Apes, to think was to act. - -The people of Mbonga were keyed to the highest pitch of hysterical -excitement. They needed little to release the accumulated pressure of -static nerve force which the terrorizing mummery of the witch-doctor -had induced. - -A lion roared, suddenly and loud, close without the palisade. The -blacks started nervously, dropping into utter silence as they listened -for a repetition of that all-too-familiar and always terrorizing voice. -Even the witch-doctor paused in the midst of an intricate step, -remaining momentarily rigid and statuesque as he plumbed his cunning -mind for a suggestion as how best he might take advantage of the -condition of his audience and the timely interruption. - -Already the evening had been vastly profitable to him. There would be -three goats for the initiation of the three youths into full-fledged -warriorship, and besides these he had received several gifts of grain -and beads, together with a piece of copper wire from admiring and -terrified members of his audience. - -Numa’s roar still reverberated along taut nerves when a woman’s laugh, -shrill and piercing, shattered the silence of the village. It was this -moment that Tarzan chose to drop lightly from his tree into the village -street. Fearless among his blood enemies he stood, taller by a full -head than many of Mbonga’s warriors, straight as their straightest -arrow, muscled like Numa, the lion. - -For a moment Tarzan stood looking straight at the witch-doctor. Every -eye was upon him, yet no one had moved—a paralysis of terror held them, -to be broken a moment later as the ape-man, with a toss of head, -stepped straight toward the hideous figure beneath the buffalo head. - -Then the nerves of the blacks could stand no more. For months the -terror of the strange, white, jungle god had been upon them. Their -arrows had been stolen from the very center of the village; their -warriors had been silently slain upon the jungle trails and their dead -bodies dropped mysteriously and by night into the village street as -from the heavens above. - -One or two there were who had glimpsed the strange figure of the new -demon and it was from their oft-repeated descriptions that the entire -village now recognized Tarzan as the author of many of their ills. Upon -another occasion and by daylight, the warriors would doubtless have -leaped to attack him, but at night, and this night of all others, when -they were wrought to such a pitch of nervous dread by the uncanny -artistry of their witch-doctor, they were helpless with terror. As one -man they turned and fled, scattering for their huts, as Tarzan -advanced. For a moment one and one only held his ground. It was the -witch-doctor. More than half self-hypnotized into a belief in his own -charlatanry he faced this new demon who threatened to undermine his -ancient and lucrative profession. - -“Are you God?” asked Tarzan. - -The witch-doctor, having no idea of the meaning of the other’s words, -danced a few strange steps, leaped high in the air, turning completely -around and alighting in a stooping posture with feet far outspread and -head thrust out toward the ape-man. Thus he remained for an instant -before he uttered a loud “Boo!” which was evidently intended to -frighten Tarzan away; but in reality had no such effect. - -Tarzan did not pause. He had set out to approach and examine God and -nothing upon earth might now stay his feet. Seeing that his antics had -no potency with the visitor, the witch-doctor tried some new medicine. -Spitting upon the zebra’s tail, which he still clutched in one hand, he -made circles above it with the arrows in the other hand, meanwhile -backing cautiously away from Tarzan and speaking confidentially to the -bushy end of the tail. - -This medicine must be short medicine, however, for the creature, god or -demon, was steadily closing up the distance which had separated them. -The circles therefore were few and rapid, and when they were completed, -the witch-doctor struck an attitude which was intended to be awe -inspiring and waving the zebra’s tail before him, drew an imaginary -line between himself and Tarzan. - -“Beyond this line you cannot pass, for my medicine is strong medicine,” -he cried. “Stop, or you will fall dead as your foot touches this spot. -My mother was a voodoo, my father was a snake; I live upon lions’ -hearts and the entrails of the panther; I eat young babies for -breakfast and the demons of the jungle are my slaves. I am the most -powerful witch-doctor in the world; I fear nothing, for I cannot die. -I—” But he got no further; instead he turned and fled as Tarzan of the -Apes crossed the magical dead line and still lived. - -As the witch-doctor ran, Tarzan almost lost his temper. This was no way -for God to act, at least not in accordance with the conception Tarzan -had come to have of God. - -“Come back!” he cried. “Come back, God, I will not harm you.” But the -witch-doctor was in full retreat by this time, stepping high as he -leaped over cooking pots and the smoldering embers of small fires that -had burned before the huts of villagers. Straight for his own hut ran -the witch-doctor, terror-spurred to unwonted speed; but futile was his -effort—the ape-man bore down upon him with the speed of Bara, the deer. - -Just at the entrance to his hut the witch-doctor was overhauled. A -heavy hand fell upon his shoulder to drag him back. It seized upon a -portion of the buffalo hide, dragging the disguise from him. It was a -naked black man that Tarzan saw dodge into the darkness of the hut’s -interior. - -So this was what he had thought was God! Tarzan’s lip curled in an -angry snarl as he leaped into the hut after the terror-stricken -witch-doctor. In the blackness within he found the man huddled at the -far side and dragged him forth into the comparative lightness of the -moonlit night. - -The witch-doctor bit and scratched in an attempt to escape; but a few -cuffs across the head brought him to a better realization of the -futility of resistance. Beneath the moon Tarzan held the cringing -figure upon its shaking feet. - -“So you are God!” he cried. “If you be God, then Tarzan is greater than -God,” and so the ape-man thought. “I am Tarzan,” he shouted into the -ear of the black. “In all the jungle, or above it, or upon the running -waters, or the sleeping waters, or upon the big water, or the little -water, there is none so great as Tarzan. Tarzan is greater than the -Mangani; he is greater than the Gomangani. With his own hands he has -slain Numa, the lion, and Sheeta, the panther; there is none so great -as Tarzan. Tarzan is greater than God. See!” and with a sudden wrench -he twisted the black’s neck until the fellow shrieked in pain and then -slumped to the earth in a swoon. - -Placing his foot upon the neck of the fallen witch-doctor, the ape-man -raised his face to the moon and uttered the long, shrill scream of the -victorious bull ape. Then he stooped and snatched the zebra’s tail from -the nerveless fingers of the unconscious man and without a backward -glance retraced his footsteps across the village. - -From several hut doorways frightened eyes watched him. Mbonga, the -chief, was one of those who had seen what passed before the hut of the -witch-doctor. Mbonga was greatly concerned. Wise old patriarch that he -was, he never had more than half believed in witch-doctors, at least -not since greater wisdom had come with age; but as a chief he was well -convinced of the power of the witch-doctor as an arm of government, and -often it was that Mbonga used the superstitious fears of his people to -his own ends through the medium of the medicine-man. - -Mbonga and the witch-doctor had worked together and divided the spoils, -and now the “face” of the witch-doctor would be lost forever if any saw -what Mbonga had seen; nor would this generation again have as much -faith in any future witch-doctor. - -Mbonga must do something to counteract the evil influence of the forest -demon’s victory over the witch-doctor. He raised his heavy spear and -crept silently from his hut in the wake of the retreating ape-man. Down -the village street walked Tarzan, as unconcerned and as deliberate as -though only the friendly apes of Kerchak surrounded him instead of a -village full of armed enemies. - -Seeming only was the indifference of Tarzan, for alert and watchful was -every well-trained sense. Mbonga, wily stalker of keen-eared jungle -creatures, moved now in utter silence. Not even Bara, the deer, with -his great ears could have guessed from any sound that Mbonga was near; -but the black was not stalking Bara; he was stalking man, and so he -sought only to avoid noise. - -Closer and closer to the slowly moving ape-man he came. Now he raised -his war spear, throwing his spear-hand far back above his right -shoulder. Once and for all would Mbonga, the chief, rid himself and his -people of the menace of this terrifying enemy. He would make no poor -cast; he would take pains, and he would hurl his weapon with such great -force as would finish the demon forever. - -But Mbonga, sure as he thought himself, erred in his calculations. He -might believe that he was stalking a man—he did not know, however, that -it was a man with the delicate sense perception of the lower orders. -Tarzan, when he had turned his back upon his enemies, had noted what -Mbonga never would have thought of considering in the hunting of -man—the wind. It was blowing in the same direction that Tarzan was -proceeding, carrying to his delicate nostrils the odors which arose -behind him. Thus it was that Tarzan knew that he was being followed, -for even among the many stenches of an African village, the ape-man’s -uncanny faculty was equal to the task of differentiating one stench -from another and locating with remarkable precision the source from -whence it came. - -He knew that a man was following him and coming closer, and his -judgment warned him of the purpose of the stalker. When Mbonga, -therefore, came within spear range of the ape-man, the latter suddenly -wheeled upon him, so suddenly that the poised spear was shot a fraction -of a second before Mbonga had intended. It went a trifle high and -Tarzan stooped to let it pass over his head; then he sprang toward the -chief. But Mbonga did not wait to receive him. Instead, he turned and -fled for the dark doorway of the nearest hut, calling as he went for -his warriors to fall upon the stranger and slay him. - -Well indeed might Mbonga scream for help, for Tarzan, young and -fleet-footed, covered the distance between them in great leaps, at the -speed of a charging lion. He was growling, too, not at all unlike Numa -himself. Mbonga heard and his blood ran cold. He could feel the wool -stiffen upon his pate and a prickly chill run up his spine, as though -Death had come and run his cold finger along Mbonga’s back. - -Others heard, too, and saw, from the darkness of their huts—bold -warriors, hideously painted, grasping heavy war spears in nerveless -fingers. Against Numa, the lion, they would have charged fearlessly. -Against many times their own number of black warriors would they have -raced to the protection of their chief; but this weird jungle demon -filled them with terror. There was nothing human in the bestial growls -that rumbled up from his deep chest; there was nothing human in the -bared fangs, or the catlike leaps. - -Mbonga’s warriors were terrified—too terrified to leave the seeming -security of their huts while they watched the beast-man spring full -upon the back of their old chieftain. - -Mbonga went down with a scream of terror. He was too frightened even to -attempt to defend himself. He just lay beneath his antagonist in a -paralysis of fear, screaming at the top of his lungs. Tarzan half rose -and kneeled above the black. He turned Mbonga over and looked him in -the face, exposing the man’s throat, then he drew his long, keen knife, -the knife that John Clayton, Lord Greystoke, had brought from England -many years before. He raised it close above Mbonga’s neck. The old -black whimpered with terror. He pleaded for his life in a tongue which -Tarzan could not understand. - -For the first time the ape-man had a close view of the chief. He saw an -old man, a very old man with scrawny neck and wrinkled face—a dried, -parchment-like face which resembled some of the little monkeys Tarzan -knew so well. He saw the terror in the man’s eyes—never before had -Tarzan seen such terror in the eyes of any animal, or such a piteous -appeal for mercy upon the face of any creature. - -Something stayed the ape-man’s hand for an instant. He wondered why it -was that he hesitated to make the kill; never before had he thus -delayed. The old man seemed to wither and shrink to a bag of puny bones -beneath his eyes. So weak and helpless and terror-stricken he appeared -that the ape-man was filled with a great contempt; but another -sensation also claimed him—something new to Tarzan of the Apes in -relation to an enemy. It was pity—pity for a poor, frightened, old man. - -Tarzan rose and turned away, leaving Mbonga, the chief, unharmed. - -With head held high the ape-man walked through the village, swung -himself into the branches of the tree which overhung the palisade and -disappeared from the sight of the villagers. - -All the way back to the stamping ground of the apes, Tarzan sought for -an explanation of the strange power which had stayed his hand and -prevented him from slaying Mbonga. It was as though someone greater -than he had commanded him to spare the life of the old man. Tarzan -could not understand, for he could conceive of nothing, or no one, with -the authority to dictate to him what he should do, or what he should -refrain from doing. - -It was late when Tarzan sought a swaying couch among the trees beneath -which slept the apes of Kerchak, and he was still absorbed in the -solution of his strange problem when he fell asleep. - -The sun was well up in the heavens when he awoke. The apes were astir -in search of food. Tarzan watched them lazily from above as they -scratched in the rotting loam for bugs and beetles and grubworms, or -sought among the branches of the trees for eggs and young birds, or -luscious caterpillars. - -An orchid, dangling close beside his head, opened slowly, unfolding its -delicate petals to the warmth and light of the sun which but recently -had penetrated to its shady retreat. A thousand times had Tarzan of the -Apes witnessed the beauteous miracle; but now it aroused a keener -interest, for the ape-man was just commencing to ask himself questions -about all the myriad wonders which heretofore he had but taken for -granted. - -What made the flower open? What made it grow from a tiny bud to a -full-blown bloom? Why was it at all? Why was he? Where did Numa, the -lion, come from? Who planted the first tree? How did Goro get way up -into the darkness of the night sky to cast his welcome light upon the -fearsome nocturnal jungle? And the sun! Did the sun merely happen -there? - -Why were all the peoples of the jungle not trees? Why were the trees -not something else? Why was Tarzan different from Taug, and Taug -different from Bara, the deer, and Bara different from Sheeta, the -panther, and why was not Sheeta like Buto, the rhinoceros? Where and -how, anyway, did they all come from—the trees, the flowers, the -insects, the countless creatures of the jungle? - -Quite unexpectedly an idea popped into Tarzan’s head. In following out -the many ramifications of the dictionary definition of GOD he had come -upon the word CREATE—“to cause to come into existence; to form out of -nothing.” - -Tarzan almost had arrived at something tangible when a distant wail -startled him from his preoccupation into sensibility of the present and -the real. The wail came from the jungle at some little distance from -Tarzan’s swaying couch. It was the wail of a tiny balu. Tarzan -recognized it at once as the voice of Gazan, Teeka’s baby. They had -called it Gazan because its soft, baby hair had been unusually red, and -GAZAN in the language of the great apes, means red skin. - -The wail was immediately followed by a real scream of terror from the -small lungs. Tarzan was electrified into instant action. Like an arrow -from a bow he shot through the trees in the direction of the sound. -Ahead of him he heard the savage snarling of an adult she-ape. It was -Teeka to the rescue. The danger must be very real. Tarzan could tell -that by the note of rage mingled with fear in the voice of the she. - -Running along bending limbs, swinging from one tree to another, the -ape-man raced through the middle terraces toward the sounds which now -had risen in volume to deafening proportions. From all directions the -apes of Kerchak were hurrying in response to the appeal in the tones of -the balu and its mother, and as they came, their roars reverberated -through the forest. - -But Tarzan, swifter than his heavy fellows, distanced them all. It was -he who was first upon the scene. What he saw sent a cold chill through -his giant frame, for the enemy was the most hated and loathed of all -the jungle creatures. - -Twined in a great tree was Histah, the snake—huge, ponderous, slimy—and -in the folds of its deadly embrace was Teeka’s little balu, Gazan. -Nothing in the jungle inspired within the breast of Tarzan so near a -semblance to fear as did the hideous Histah. The apes, too, loathed the -terrifying reptile and feared him even more than they did Sheeta, the -panther, or Numa, the lion. Of all their enemies there was none they -gave a wider berth than they gave Histah, the snake. - -Tarzan knew that Teeka was peculiarly fearful of this silent, repulsive -foe, and as the scene broke upon his vision, it was the action of Teeka -which filled him with the greatest wonder, for at the moment that he -saw her, the she-ape leaped upon the glistening body of the snake, and -as the mighty folds encircled her as well as her offspring, she made no -effort to escape, but instead grasped the writhing body in a futile -effort to tear it from her screaming balu. - -Tarzan knew all too well how deep-rooted was Teeka’s terror of Histah. -He scarce could believe the testimony of his own eyes then, when they -told him that she had voluntarily rushed into that deadly embrace. Nor -was Teeka’s innate dread of the monster much greater than Tarzan’s own. -Never, willingly, had he touched a snake. Why, he could not say, for he -would admit fear of nothing; nor was it fear, but rather an inherent -repulsion bequeathed to him by many generations of civilized ancestors, -and back of them, perhaps, by countless myriads of such as Teeka, in -the breasts of each of which had lurked the same nameless terror of the -slimy reptile. - -Yet Tarzan did not hesitate more than had Teeka, but leaped upon Histah -with all the speed and impetuosity that he would have shown had he been -springing upon Bara, the deer, to make a kill for food. Thus beset the -snake writhed and twisted horribly; but not for an instant did it loose -its hold upon any of its intended victims, for it had included the -ape-man in its cold embrace the minute that he had fallen upon it. - -Still clinging to the tree, the mighty reptile held the three as though -they had been without weight, the while it sought to crush the life -from them. Tarzan had drawn his knife and this he now plunged rapidly -into the body of the enemy; but the encircling folds promised to sap -his life before he had inflicted a death wound upon the snake. Yet on -he fought, nor once did he seek to escape the horrid death that -confronted him—his sole aim was to slay Histah and thus free Teeka and -her balu. - -The great, wide-gaping jaws of the snake turned and hovered above him. -The elastic maw, which could accommodate a rabbit or a horned buck with -equal facility, yawned for him; but Histah, in turning his attention -upon the ape-man, brought his head within reach of Tarzan’s blade. -Instantly a brown hand leaped forth and seized the mottled neck, and -another drove the heavy hunting knife to the hilt into the little -brain. - -Convulsively Histah shuddered and relaxed, tensed and relaxed again, -whipping and striking with his great body; but no longer sentient or -sensible. Histah was dead, but in his death throes he might easily -dispatch a dozen apes or men. - -Quickly Tarzan seized Teeka and dragged her from the loosened embrace, -dropping her to the ground beneath, then he extricated the balu and -tossed it to its mother. Still Histah whipped about, clinging to the -ape-man; but after a dozen efforts Tarzan succeeded in wriggling free -and leaping to the ground out of range of the mighty battering of the -dying snake. - -A circle of apes surrounded the scene of the battle; but the moment -that Tarzan broke safely from the enemy they turned silently away to -resume their interrupted feeding, and Teeka turned with them, -apparently forgetful of all but her balu and the fact that when the -interruption had occurred she just had discovered an ingeniously hidden -nest containing three perfectly good eggs. - -Tarzan, equally indifferent to a battle that was over, merely cast a -parting glance at the still writhing body of Histah and wandered off -toward the little pool which served to water the tribe at this point. -Strangely, he did not give the victory cry over the vanquished Histah. -Why, he could not have told you, other than that to him Histah was not -an animal. He differed in some peculiar way from the other denizens of -the jungle. Tarzan only knew that he hated him. - -At the pool Tarzan drank his fill and lay stretched upon the soft grass -beneath the shade of a tree. His mind reverted to the battle with -Histah, the snake. It seemed strange to him that Teeka should have -placed herself within the folds of the horrid monster. Why had she done -it? Why, indeed, had he? Teeka did not belong to him, nor did Teeka’s -balu. They were both Taug’s. Why then had he done this thing? Histah -was not food for him when he was dead. There seemed to Tarzan, now that -he gave the matter thought, no reason in the world why he should have -done the thing he did, and presently it occurred to him that he had -acted almost involuntarily, just as he had acted when he had released -the old Gomangani the previous evening. - -What made him do such things? Somebody more powerful than he must force -him to act at times. “All-powerful,” thought Tarzan. “The little bugs -say that God is all-powerful. It must be that God made me do these -things, for I never did them by myself. It was God who made Teeka rush -upon Histah. Teeka would never go near Histah of her own volition. It -was God who held my knife from the throat of the old Gomangani. God -accomplishes strange things for he is ‘all-powerful.’ I cannot see Him; -but I know that it must be God who does these things. No Mangani, no -Gomangani, no Tarmangani could do them.” - -And the flowers—who made them grow? Ah, now it was all explained—the -flowers, the trees, the moon, the sun, himself, every living creature -in the jungle—they were all made by God out of nothing. - -And what was God? What did God look like? Of that he had no conception; -but he was sure that everything that was good came from God. His good -act in refraining from slaying the poor, defenseless old Gomangani; -Teeka’s love that had hurled her into the embrace of death; his own -loyalty to Teeka which had jeopardized his life that she might live. -The flowers and the trees were good and beautiful. God had made them. -He made the other creatures, too, that each might have food upon which -to live. He had made Sheeta, the panther, with his beautiful coat; and -Numa, the lion, with his noble head and his shaggy mane. He had made -Bara, the deer, lovely and graceful. - -Yes, Tarzan had found God, and he spent the whole day in attributing to -Him all of the good and beautiful things of nature; but there was one -thing which troubled him. He could not quite reconcile it to his -conception of his new-found God. - -Who made Histah, the snake? - - - - -CHAPTER V -Tarzan and the Black Boy - - -Tarzan of the Apes sat at the foot of a great tree braiding a new grass -rope. Beside him lay the frayed remnants of the old one, torn and -severed by the fangs and talons of Sheeta, the panther. Only half the -original rope was there, the balance having been carried off by the -angry cat as he bounded away through the jungle with the noose still -about his savage neck and the loose end dragging among the underbrush. - -Tarzan smiled as he recalled Sheeta’s great rage, his frantic efforts -to free himself from the entangling strands, his uncanny screams that -were part hate, part anger, part terror. He smiled in retrospection at -the discomfiture of his enemy, and in anticipation of another day as he -added an extra strand to his new rope. - -This would be the strongest, the heaviest rope that Tarzan of the Apes -ever had fashioned. Visions of Numa, the lion, straining futilely in -its embrace thrilled the ape-man. He was quite content, for his hands -and his brain were busy. Content, too, were his fellows of the tribe of -Kerchak, searching for food in the clearing and the surrounding trees -about him. No perplexing thoughts of the future burdened their minds, -and only occasionally, dimly arose recollections of the near past. They -were stimulated to a species of brutal content by the delectable -business of filling their bellies. Afterward they would sleep—it was -their life, and they enjoyed it as we enjoy ours, you and I—as Tarzan -enjoyed his. Possibly they enjoyed theirs more than we enjoy ours, for -who shall say that the beasts of the jungle do not better fulfill the -purposes for which they are created than does man with his many -excursions into strange fields and his contraventions of the laws of -nature? And what gives greater content and greater happiness than the -fulfilling of a destiny? - -As Tarzan worked, Gazan, Teeka’s little balu, played about him while -Teeka sought food upon the opposite side of the clearing. No more did -Teeka, the mother, or Taug, the sullen sire, harbor suspicions of -Tarzan’s intentions toward their first-born. Had he not courted death -to save their Gazan from the fangs and talons of Sheeta? Did he not -fondle and cuddle the little one with even as great a show of affection -as Teeka herself displayed? Their fears were allayed and Tarzan now -found himself often in the role of nursemaid to a tiny anthropoid—an -avocation which he found by no means irksome, since Gazan was a -never-failing fount of surprises and entertainment. - -Just now the apeling was developing those arboreal tendencies which -were to stand him in such good stead during the years of his youth, -when rapid flight into the upper terraces was of far more importance -and value than his undeveloped muscles and untried fighting fangs. -Backing off fifteen or twenty feet from the bole of the tree beneath -the branches of which Tarzan worked upon his rope, Gazan scampered -quickly forward, scrambling nimbly upward to the lower limbs. Here he -would squat for a moment or two, quite proud of his achievement, then -clamber to the ground again and repeat. Sometimes, quite often in fact, -for he was an ape, his attention was distracted by other things, a -beetle, a caterpillar, a tiny field mouse, and off he would go in -pursuit; the caterpillars he always caught, and sometimes the beetles; -but the field mice, never. - -Now he discovered the tail of the rope upon which Tarzan was working. -Grasping it in one small hand he bounced away, for all the world like -an animated rubber ball, snatching it from the ape-man’s hand and -running off across the clearing. Tarzan leaped to his feet and was in -pursuit in an instant, no trace of anger on his face or in his voice as -he called to the roguish little balu to drop his rope. - -Straight toward his mother raced Gazan, and after him came Tarzan. -Teeka looked up from her feeding, and in the first instant that she -realized that Gazan was fleeing and that another was in pursuit, she -bared her fangs and bristled; but when she saw that the pursuer was -Tarzan she turned back to the business that had been occupying her -attention. At her very feet the ape-man overhauled the balu and, though -the youngster squealed and fought when Tarzan seized him, Teeka only -glanced casually in their direction. No longer did she fear harm to her -first-born at the hands of the ape-man. Had he not saved Gazan on two -occasions? - -Rescuing his rope, Tarzan returned to his tree and resumed his labor; -but thereafter it was necessary to watch carefully the playful balu, -who was now possessed to steal it whenever he thought his great, -smooth-skinned cousin was momentarily off his guard. - -But even under this handicap Tarzan finally completed the rope, a long, -pliant weapon, stronger than any he ever had made before. The discarded -piece of his former one he gave to Gazan for a plaything, for Tarzan -had it in his mind to instruct Teeka’s balu after ideas of his own when -the youngster should be old and strong enough to profit by his -precepts. At present the little ape’s innate aptitude for mimicry would -be sufficient to familiarize him with Tarzan’s ways and weapons, and so -the ape-man swung off into the jungle, his new rope coiled over one -shoulder, while little Gazan hopped about the clearing dragging the old -one after him in childish glee. - -As Tarzan traveled, dividing his quest for food with one for a -sufficiently noble quarry whereupon to test his new weapon, his mind -often was upon Gazan. The ape-man had realized a deep affection for -Teeka’s balu almost from the first, partly because the child belonged -to Teeka, his first love, and partly for the little ape’s own sake, and -Tarzan’s human longing for some sentient creature upon which to expend -those natural affections of the soul which are inherent to all normal -members of the GENUS HOMO. Tarzan envied Teeka. It was true that Gazan -evidenced a considerable reciprocation of Tarzan’s fondness for him, -even preferring him to his own surly sire; but to Teeka the little one -turned when in pain or terror, when tired or hungry. Then it was that -Tarzan felt quite alone in the world and longed desperately for one who -should turn first to him for succor and protection. - -Taug had Teeka; Teeka had Gazan; and nearly every other bull and cow of -the tribe of Kerchak had one or more to love and by whom to be loved. -Of course Tarzan could scarcely formulate the thought in precisely this -way—he only knew that he craved something which was denied him; -something which seemed to be represented by those relations which -existed between Teeka and her balu, and so he envied Teeka and longed -for a balu of his own. - -He saw Sheeta and his mate with their little family of three; and -deeper inland toward the rocky hills, where one might lie up during the -heat of the day, in the dense shade of a tangled thicket close under -the cool face of an overhanging rock, Tarzan had found the lair of -Numa, the lion, and of Sabor, the lioness. Here he had watched them -with their little balus—playful creatures, spotted leopard-like. And he -had seen the young fawn with Bara, the deer, and with Buto, the -rhinoceros, its ungainly little one. Each of the creatures of the -jungle had its own—except Tarzan. It made the ape-man sad to think upon -this thing, sad and lonely; but presently the scent of game cleared his -young mind of all other considerations, as catlike he crawled far out -upon a bending limb above the game trail which led down to the ancient -watering place of the wild things of this wild world. - -How many thousands of times had this great, old limb bent to the savage -form of some blood-thirsty hunter in the long years that it had spread -its leafy branches above the deep-worn jungle path! Tarzan, the -ape-man, Sheeta, the panther, and Histah, the snake, it knew well. They -had worn smooth the bark upon its upper surface. - -Today it was Horta, the boar, which came down toward the watcher in the -old tree—Horta, the boar, whose formidable tusks and diabolical temper -preserved him from all but the most ferocious or most famished of the -largest carnivora. - -But to Tarzan, meat was meat; naught that was edible or tasty might -pass a hungry Tarzan unchallenged and unattacked. In hunger, as in -battle, the ape-man out-savaged the dreariest denizens of the jungle. -He knew neither fear nor mercy, except upon rare occasions when some -strange, inexplicable force stayed his hand—a force inexplicable to -him, perhaps, because of his ignorance of his own origin and of all the -forces of humanitarianism and civilization that were his rightful -heritage because of that origin. - -So today, instead of staying his hand until a less formidable feast -found its way toward him, Tarzan dropped his new noose about the neck -of Horta, the boar. It was an excellent test for the untried strands. -The angered boar bolted this way and that; but each time the new rope -held him where Tarzan had made it fast about the stem of the tree above -the branch from which he had cast it. - -As Horta grunted and charged, slashing the sturdy jungle patriarch with -his mighty tusks until the bark flew in every direction, Tarzan dropped -to the ground behind him. In the ape-man’s hand was the long, keen -blade that had been his constant companion since that distant day upon -which chance had directed its point into the body of Bolgani, the -gorilla, and saved the torn and bleeding man-child from what else had -been certain death. - -Tarzan walked in toward Horta, who swung now to face his enemy. Mighty -and muscled as was the young giant, it yet would have appeared but the -maddest folly for him to face so formidable a creature as Horta, the -boar, armed only with a slender hunting knife. So it would have seemed -to one who knew Horta even slightly and Tarzan not at all. - -For a moment Horta stood motionless facing the ape-man. His wicked, -deep-set eyes flashed angrily. He shook his lowered head. - -“Mud-eater!” jeered the ape-man. “Wallower in filth. Even your meat -stinks, but it is juicy and makes Tarzan strong. Today I shall eat your -heart, O Lord of the Great Tusks, that it shall keep savage that which -pounds against my own ribs.” - -Horta, understanding nothing of what Tarzan said, was none the less -enraged because of that. He saw only a naked man-thing, hairless and -futile, pitting his puny fangs and soft muscles against his own -indomitable savagery, and he charged. - -Tarzan of the Apes waited until the upcut of a wicked tusk would have -laid open his thigh, then he moved—just the least bit to one side; but -so quickly that lightning was a sluggard by comparison, and as he -moved, he stooped low and with all the great power of his right arm -drove the long blade of his father’s hunting knife straight into the -heart of Horta, the boar. A quick leap carried him from the zone of the -creature’s death throes, and a moment later the hot and dripping heart -of Horta was in his grasp. - -His hunger satisfied, Tarzan did not seek a lying-up place for sleep, -as was sometimes his way, but continued on through the jungle more in -search of adventure than of food, for today he was restless. And so it -came that he turned his footsteps toward the village of Mbonga, the -black chief, whose people Tarzan had baited remorselessly since that -day upon which Kulonga, the chief’s son, had slain Kala. - -A river winds close beside the village of the black men. Tarzan reached -its side a little below the clearing where squat the thatched huts of -the Negroes. The river life was ever fascinating to the ape-man. He -found pleasure in watching the ungainly antics of Duro, the -hippopotamus, and keen sport in tormenting the sluggish crocodile, -Gimla, as he basked in the sun. Then, too, there were the shes and the -balus of the black men of the Gomangani to frighten as they squatted by -the river, the shes with their meager washing, the balus with their -primitive toys. - -This day he came upon a woman and her child farther down stream than -usual. The former was searching for a species of shellfish which was to -be found in the mud close to the river bank. She was a young black -woman of about thirty. Her teeth were filed to sharp points, for her -people ate the flesh of man. Her under lip was slit that it might -support a rude pendant of copper which she had worn for so many years -that the lip had been dragged downward to prodigious lengths, exposing -the teeth and gums of her lower jaw. Her nose, too, was slit, and -through the slit was a wooden skewer. Metal ornaments dangled from her -ears, and upon her forehead and cheeks; upon her chin and the bridge of -her nose were tattooings in colors that were mellowed now by age. She -was naked except for a girdle of grasses about her waist. Altogether -she was very beautiful in her own estimation and even in the estimation -of the men of Mbonga’s tribe, though she was of another people—a trophy -of war seized in her maidenhood by one of Mbonga’s fighting men. - -Her child was a boy of ten, lithe, straight and, for a black, handsome. -Tarzan looked upon the two from the concealing foliage of a near-by -bush. He was about to leap forth before them with a terrifying scream, -that he might enjoy the spectacle of their terror and their incontinent -flight; but of a sudden a new whim seized him. Here was a balu -fashioned as he himself was fashioned. Of course this one’s skin was -black; but what of it? Tarzan had never seen a white man. In so far as -he knew, he was the sole representative of that strange form of life -upon the earth. The black boy should make an excellent balu for Tarzan, -since he had none of his own. He would tend him carefully, feed him -well, protect him as only Tarzan of the Apes could protect his own, and -teach him out of his half human, half bestial lore the secrets of the -jungle from its rotting surface vegetation to the high tossed pinnacles -of the forest’s upper terraces. - -* * * - -Tarzan uncoiled his rope, and shook out the noose. The two before him, -all ignorant of the near presence of that terrifying form, continued -preoccupied in the search for shellfish, poking about in the mud with -short sticks. - -Tarzan stepped from the jungle behind them; his noose lay open upon the -ground beside him. There was a quick movement of the right arm and the -noose rose gracefully into the air, hovered an instant above the head -of the unsuspecting youth, then settled. As it encompassed his body -below the shoulders, Tarzan gave a quick jerk that tightened it about -the boy’s arms, pinioning them to his sides. A scream of terror broke -from the lad’s lips, and as his mother turned, affrighted at his cry, -she saw him being dragged quickly toward a great white giant who stood -just beneath the shade of a near-by tree, scarcely a dozen long paces -from her. - -With a savage cry of terror and rage, the woman leaped fearlessly -toward the ape-man. In her mien Tarzan saw determination and courage -which would shrink not even from death itself. She was very hideous and -frightful even when her face was in repose; but convulsed by passion, -her expression became terrifyingly fiendish. Even the ape-man drew -back, but more in revulsion than fear—fear he knew not. - -Biting and kicking was the black she’s balu as Tarzan tucked him -beneath his arm and vanished into the branches hanging low above him, -just as the infuriated mother dashed forward to seize and do battle -with him. And as he melted away into the depth of the jungle with his -still struggling prize, he meditated upon the possibilities which might -lie in the prowess of the Gomangani were the hes as formidable as the -shes. - -Once at a safe distance from the despoiled mother and out of earshot of -her screams and menaces, Tarzan paused to inspect his prize, now so -thoroughly terrorized that he had ceased his struggles and his -outcries. - -The frightened child rolled his eyes fearfully toward his captor, until -the whites showed gleaming all about the irises. - -“I am Tarzan,” said the ape-man, in the vernacular of the anthropoids. -“I will not harm you. You are to be Tarzan’s balu. Tarzan will protect -you. He will feed you. The best in the jungle shall be for Tarzan’s -balu, for Tarzan is a mighty hunter. None need you fear, not even Numa, -the lion, for Tarzan is a mighty fighter. None so great as Tarzan, son -of Kala. Do not fear.” - -But the child only whimpered and trembled, for he did not understand -the tongue of the great apes, and the voice of Tarzan sounded to him -like the barking and growling of a beast. Then, too, he had heard -stories of this bad, white forest god. It was he who had slain Kulonga -and others of the warriors of Mbonga, the chief. It was he who entered -the village stealthily, by magic, in the darkness of the night, to -steal arrows and poison, and frighten the women and the children and -even the great warriors. Doubtless this wicked god fed upon little -boys. Had his mother not said as much when he was naughty and she -threatened to give him to the white god of the jungle if he were not -good? Little black Tibo shook as with ague. - -“Are you cold, Go-bu-balu?” asked Tarzan, using the simian equivalent -of black he-baby in lieu of a better name. “The sun is hot; why do you -shiver?” - -Tibo could not understand; but he cried for his mamma and begged the -great, white god to let him go, promising always to be a good boy -thereafter if his plea were granted. Tarzan shook his head. Not a word -could he understand. This would never do! He must teach Go-bu-balu a -language which sounded like talk. It was quite certain to Tarzan that -Go-bu-balu’s speech was not talk at all. It sounded quite as senseless -as the chattering of the silly birds. It would be best, thought the -ape-man, quickly to get him among the tribe of Kerchak where he would -hear the Mangani talking among themselves. Thus he would soon learn an -intelligible form of speech. - -Tarzan rose to his feet upon the swaying branch where he had halted far -above the ground, and motioned to the child to follow him; but Tibo -only clung tightly to the bole of the tree and wept. Being a boy, and a -native African, he had, of course, climbed into trees many times before -this; but the idea of racing off through the forest, leaping from one -branch to another, as his captor, to his horror, had done when he had -carried Tibo away from his mother, filled his childish heart with -terror. - -Tarzan sighed. His newly acquired balu had much indeed to learn. It was -pitiful that a balu of his size and strength should be so backward. He -tried to coax Tibo to follow him; but the child dared not, so Tarzan -picked him up and carried him upon his back. Tibo no longer scratched -or bit. Escape seemed impossible. Even now, were he set upon the -ground, the chance was remote, he knew, that he could find his way back -to the village of Mbonga, the chief. Even if he could, there were the -lions and the leopards and the hyenas, any one of which, as Tibo was -well aware, was particularly fond of the meat of little black boys. - -So far the terrible white god of the jungle had offered him no harm. He -could not expect even this much consideration from the frightful, -green-eyed man-eaters. It would be the lesser of two evils, then, to -let the white god carry him away without scratching and biting, as he -had done at first. - -As Tarzan swung rapidly through the trees, little Tibo closed his eyes -in terror rather than look longer down into the frightful abysses -beneath. Never before in all his life had Tibo been so frightened, yet -as the white giant sped on with him through the forest there stole over -the child an inexplicable sensation of security as he saw how true were -the leaps of the ape-man, how unerring his grasp upon the swaying limbs -which gave him hand-hold, and then, too, there was safety in the middle -terraces of the forest, far above the reach of the dreaded lions. - -And so Tarzan came to the clearing where the tribe fed, dropping among -them with his new balu clinging tightly to his shoulders. He was fairly -in the midst of them before Tibo spied a single one of the great hairy -forms, or before the apes realized that Tarzan was not alone. When they -saw the little Gomangani perched upon his back some of them came -forward in curiosity with upcurled lips and snarling mien. - -An hour before little Tibo would have said that he knew the uttermost -depths of fear; but now, as he saw these fearsome beasts surrounding -him, he realized that all that had gone before was as nothing by -comparison. Why did the great white giant stand there so unconcernedly? -Why did he not flee before these horrid, hairy, tree men fell upon them -both and tore them to pieces? And then there came to Tibo a numbing -recollection. It was none other than the story he had heard passed from -mouth to mouth, fearfully, by the people of Mbonga, the chief, that -this great white demon of the jungle was naught other than a hairless -ape, for had not he been seen in company with these? - -Tibo could only stare in wide-eyed horror at the approaching apes. He -saw their beetling brows, their great fangs, their wicked eyes. He -noted their mighty muscles rolling beneath their shaggy hides. Their -every attitude and expression was a menace. Tarzan saw this, too. He -drew Tibo around in front of him. - -“This is Tarzan’s Go-bu-balu,” he said. “Do not harm him, or Tarzan -will kill you,” and he bared his own fangs in the teeth of the nearest -ape. - -“It is a Gomangani,” replied the ape. “Let me kill it. It is a -Gomangani. The Gomangani are our enemies. Let me kill it.” - -“Go away,” snarled Tarzan. “I tell you, Gunto, it is Tarzan’s balu. Go -away or Tarzan will kill you,” and the ape-man took a step toward the -advancing ape. - -The latter sidled off, quite stiff and haughty, after the manner of a -dog which meets another and is too proud to fight and too fearful to -turn his back and run. - -Next came Teeka, prompted by curiosity. At her side skipped little -Gazan. They were filled with wonder like the others; but Teeka did not -bare her fangs. Tarzan saw this and motioned that she approach. - -“Tarzan has a balu now,” he said. “He and Teeka’s balu can play -together.” - -“It is a Gomangani,” replied Teeka. “It will kill my balu. Take it -away, Tarzan.” - -Tarzan laughed. “It could not harm Pamba, the rat,” he said. “It is but -a little balu and very frightened. Let Gazan play with it.” - -Teeka still was fearful, for with all their mighty ferocity the great -anthropoids are timid; but at last, assured by her great confidence in -Tarzan, she pushed Gazan forward toward the little black boy. The small -ape, guided by instinct, drew back toward its mother, baring its small -fangs and screaming in mingled fear and rage. - -Tibo, too, showed no signs of desiring a closer acquaintance with -Gazan, so Tarzan gave up his efforts for the time. - -During the week which followed, Tarzan found his time much occupied. -His balu was a greater responsibility than he had counted upon. Not for -a moment did he dare leave it, since of all the tribe, Teeka alone -could have been depended upon to refrain from slaying the hapless black -had it not been for Tarzan’s constant watchfulness. When the ape-man -hunted, he must carry Go-bu-balu about with him. It was irksome, and -then the little black seemed so stupid and fearful to Tarzan. It was -quite helpless against even the lesser of the jungle creatures. Tarzan -wondered how it had survived at all. He tried to teach it, and found a -ray of hope in the fact that Go-bu-balu had mastered a few words of the -language of the anthropoids, and that he could now cling to a -high-tossed branch without screaming in fear; but there was something -about the child which worried Tarzan. He often had watched the blacks -within their village. He had seen the children playing, and always -there had been much laughter; but little Go-bu-balu never laughed. It -was true that Tarzan himself never laughed. Upon occasion he smiled, -grimly, but to laughter he was a stranger. The black, however, should -have laughed, reasoned the ape-man. It was the way of the Gomangani. - -Also, he saw that the little fellow often refused food and was growing -thinner day by day. At times he surprised the boy sobbing softly to -himself. Tarzan tried to comfort him, even as fierce Kala had comforted -Tarzan when the ape-man was a balu, but all to no avail. Go-bu-balu -merely no longer feared Tarzan—that was all. He feared every other -living thing within the jungle. He feared the jungle days with their -long excursions through the dizzy tree tops. He feared the jungle -nights with their swaying, perilous couches far above the ground, and -the grunting and coughing of the great carnivora prowling beneath him. - -Tarzan did not know what to do. His heritage of English blood rendered -it a difficult thing even to consider a surrender of his project, -though he was forced to admit to himself that his balu was not all that -he had hoped. Though he was faithful to his self-imposed task, and even -found that he had grown to like Go-bu-balu, he could not deceive -himself into believing that he felt for it that fierce heat of -passionate affection which Teeka revealed for Gazan, and which the -black mother had shown for Go-bu-balu. - -The little black boy from cringing terror at the sight of Tarzan passed -by degrees into trustfulness and admiration. Only kindness had he ever -received at the hands of the great white devil-god, yet he had seen -with what ferocity his kindly captor could deal with others. He had -seen him leap upon a certain he-ape which persisted in attempting to -seize and slay Go-bu-balu. He had seen the strong, white teeth of the -ape-man fastened in the neck of his adversary, and the mighty muscles -tensed in battle. He had heard the savage, bestial snarls and roars of -combat, and he had realized with a shudder that he could not -differentiate between those of his guardian and those of the hairy ape. - -He had seen Tarzan bring down a buck, just as Numa, the lion, might -have done, leaping upon its back and fastening his fangs in the -creature’s neck. Tibo had shuddered at the sight, but he had thrilled, -too, and for the first time there entered his dull, Negroid mind a -vague desire to emulate his savage foster parent. But Tibo, the little -black boy, lacked the divine spark which had permitted Tarzan, the -white boy, to benefit by his training in the ways of the fierce jungle. -In imagination he was wanting, and imagination is but another name for -super-intelligence. - -Imagination it is which builds bridges, and cities, and empires. The -beasts know it not, the blacks only a little, while to one in a hundred -thousand of earth’s dominant race it is given as a gift from heaven -that man may not perish from the earth. - -While Tarzan pondered his problem concerning the future of his balu, -Fate was arranging to take the matter out of his hands. Momaya, Tibo’s -mother, grief-stricken at the loss of her boy, had consulted the tribal -witch-doctor, but to no avail. The medicine he made was not good -medicine, for though Momaya paid him two goats for it, it did not bring -back Tibo, nor even indicate where she might search for him with -reasonable assurance of finding him. Momaya, being of a short temper -and of another people, had little respect for the witch-doctor of her -husband’s tribe, and so, when he suggested that a further payment of -two more fat goats would doubtless enable him to make stronger -medicine, she promptly loosed her shrewish tongue upon him, and with -such good effect that he was glad to take himself off with his zebra’s -tail and his pot of magic. - -When he had gone and Momaya had succeeded in partially subduing her -anger, she gave herself over to thought, as she so often had done since -the abduction of her Tibo, in the hope that she finally might discover -some feasible means of locating him, or at least assuring herself as to -whether he were alive or dead. - -It was known to the blacks that Tarzan did not eat the flesh of man, -for he had slain more than one of their number, yet never tasted the -flesh of any. Too, the bodies always had been found, sometimes dropping -as though from the clouds to alight in the center of the village. As -Tibo’s body had not been found, Momaya argued that he still lived, but -where? - -Then it was that there came to her mind a recollection of Bukawai, the -unclean, who dwelt in a cave in the hillside to the north, and who it -was well known entertained devils in his evil lair. Few, if any, had -the temerity to visit old Bukawai, firstly because of fear of his black -magic and the two hyenas who dwelt with him and were commonly known to -be devils masquerading, and secondly because of the loathsome disease -which had caused Bukawai to be an outcast—a disease which was slowly -eating away his face. - -Now it was that Momaya reasoned shrewdly that if any might know the -whereabouts of her Tibo, it would be Bukawai, who was in friendly -intercourse with gods and demons, since a demon or a god it was who had -stolen her baby; but even her great mother love was sorely taxed to -find the courage to send her forth into the black jungle toward the -distant hills and the uncanny abode of Bukawai, the unclean, and his -devils. - -Mother love, however, is one of the human passions which closely -approximates to the dignity of an irresistible force. It drives the -frail flesh of weak women to deeds of heroic measure. Momaya was -neither frail nor weak, physically, but she was a woman, an ignorant, -superstitious, African savage. She believed in devils, in black magic, -and in witchcraft. To Momaya, the jungle was inhabited by far more -terrifying things than lions and leopards—horrifying, nameless things -which possessed the power of wreaking frightful harm under various -innocent guises. - -From one of the warriors of the village, whom she knew to have once -stumbled upon the lair of Bukawai, the mother of Tibo learned how she -might find it—near a spring of water which rose in a small rocky cañon -between two hills, the easternmost of which was easily recognizable -because of a huge granite boulder which rested upon its summit. The -westerly hill was lower than its companion, and was quite bare of -vegetation except for a single mimosa tree which grew just a little -below its summit. - -These two hills, the man assured her, could be seen for some distance -before she reached them, and together formed an excellent guide to her -destination. He warned her, however, to abandon so foolish and -dangerous an adventure, emphasizing what she already quite well knew, -that if she escaped harm at the hands of Bukawai and his demons, the -chances were that she would not be so fortunate with the great -carnivora of the jungle through which she must pass going and -returning. - -The warrior even went to Momaya’s husband, who, in turn, having little -authority over the vixenish lady of his choice, went to Mbonga, the -chief. The latter summoned Momaya, threatening her with the direst -punishment should she venture forth upon so unholy an excursion. The -old chief’s interest in the matter was due solely to that age-old -alliance which exists between church and state. The local witch-doctor, -knowing his own medicine better than any other knew it, was jealous of -all other pretenders to accomplishments in the black art. He long had -heard of the power of Bukawai, and feared lest, should he succeed in -recovering Momaya’s lost child, much of the tribal patronage and -consequent fees would be diverted to the unclean one. As Mbonga -received, as chief, a certain proportion of the witch-doctor’s fees and -could expect nothing from Bukawai, his heart and soul were, quite -naturally, wrapped up in the orthodox church. - -But if Momaya could view with intrepid heart an excursion into the -jungle and a visit to the fear-haunted abode of Bukawai, she was not -likely to be deterred by threats of future punishment at the hands of -old Mbonga, whom she secretly despised. Yet she appeared to accede to -his injunctions, returning to her hut in silence. - -She would have preferred starting upon her quest by day-light, but this -was now out of the question, since she must carry food and a weapon of -some sort—things which she never could pass out of the village with by -day without being subjected to curious questioning that surely would -come immediately to the ears of Mbonga. - -So Momaya bided her time until night, and just before the gates of the -village were closed, she slipped through into the darkness and the -jungle. She was much frightened, but she set her face resolutely toward -the north, and though she paused often to listen, breathlessly, for the -huge cats which, here, were her greatest terror, she nevertheless -continued her way staunchly for several hours, until a low moan a -little to her right and behind her brought her to a sudden stop. - -With palpitating heart the woman stood, scarce daring to breathe, and -then, very faintly but unmistakable to her keen ears, came the stealthy -crunching of twigs and grasses beneath padded feet. - -All about Momaya grew the giant trees of the tropical jungle, festooned -with hanging vines and mosses. She seized upon the nearest and started -to clamber, apelike, to the branches above. As she did so, there was a -sudden rush of a great body behind her, a menacing roar that caused the -earth to tremble, and something crashed into the very creepers to which -she was clinging—but below her. - -Momaya drew herself to safety among the leafy branches and thanked the -foresight which had prompted her to bring along the dried human ear -which hung from a cord about her neck. She always had known that that -ear was good medicine. It had been given her, when a girl, by the -witch-doctor of her town tribe, and was nothing like the poor, weak -medicine of Mbonga’s witch-doctor. - -All night Momaya clung to her perch, for although the lion sought other -prey after a short time, she dared not descend into the darkness again, -for fear she might encounter him or another of his kind; but at -daylight she clambered down and resumed her way. - -Tarzan of the Apes, finding that his balu never ceased to give evidence -of terror in the presence of the apes of the tribe, and also that most -of the adult apes were a constant menace to Go-bu-balu’s life, so that -Tarzan dared not leave him alone with them, took to hunting with the -little black boy farther and farther from the stamping grounds of the -anthropoids. - -Little by little his absences from the tribe grew in length as he -wandered farther away from them, until finally he found himself a -greater distance to the north than he ever before had hunted, and with -water and ample game and fruit, he felt not at all inclined to return -to the tribe. - -Little Go-bu-balu gave evidences of a greater interest in life, an -interest which varied in direct proportion to the distance he was from -the apes of Kerchak. He now trotted along behind Tarzan when the -ape-man went upon the ground, and in the trees he even did his best to -follow his mighty foster parent. The boy was still sad and lonely. His -thin, little body had grown steadily thinner since he had come among -the apes, for while, as a young cannibal, he was not overnice in the -matter of diet, he found it not always to his taste to stomach the -weird things which tickled the palates of epicures among the apes. - -His large eyes were very large indeed now, his cheeks sunken, and every -rib of his emaciated body plainly discernible to whomsoever should care -to count them. Constant terror, perhaps, had had as much to do with his -physical condition as had improper food. Tarzan noticed the change and -was worried. He had hoped to see his balu wax sturdy and strong. His -disappointment was great. In only one respect did Go-bu-balu seem to -progress—he readily was mastering the language of the apes. Even now he -and Tarzan could converse in a fairly satisfactory manner by -supplementing the meager ape speech with signs; but for the most part, -Go-bu-balu was silent other than to answer questions put to him. His -great sorrow was yet too new and too poignant to be laid aside even -momentarily. Always he pined for Momaya—shrewish, hideous, repulsive, -perhaps, she would have been to you or me, but to Tibo she was mamma, -the personification of that one great love which knows no selfishness -and which does not consume itself in its own fires. - -As the two hunted, or rather as Tarzan hunted and Go-bu-balu tagged -along in his wake, the ape-man noticed many things and thought much. -Once they came upon Sabor moaning in the tall grasses. About her romped -and played two little balls of fur, but her eyes were for one which lay -between her great forepaws and did not romp, one who never would romp -again. - -Tarzan read aright the anguish and the suffering of the huge mother -cat. He had been minded to bait her. It was to do this that he had -sneaked silently through the trees until he had come almost above her, -but something held the ape-man as he saw the lioness grieving over her -dead cub. With the acquisition of Go-bu-balu, Tarzan had come to -realize the responsibilities and sorrows of parentage, without its -joys. His heart went out to Sabor as it might not have done a few weeks -before. As he watched her, there rose quite unbidden before him a -vision of Momaya, the skewer through the septum of her nose, her -pendulous under lip sagging beneath the weight which dragged it down. -Tarzan saw not her unloveliness; he saw only the same anguish that was -Sabor’s, and he winced. That strange functioning of the mind which -sometimes is called association of ideas snapped Teeka and Gazan before -the ape-man’s mental vision. What if one should come and take Gazan -from Teeka. Tarzan uttered a low and ominous growl as though Gazan were -his own. Go-bu-balu glanced here and there apprehensively, thinking -that Tarzan had espied an enemy. Sabor sprang suddenly to her feet, her -yellow-green eyes blazing, her tail lashing as she cocked her ears, and -raising her muzzle, sniffed the air for possible danger. The two little -cubs, which had been playing, scampered quickly to her, and standing -beneath her, peered out from between her forelegs, their big ears -upstanding, their little heads cocked first upon one side and then upon -the other. - -With a shake of his black shock, Tarzan turned away and resumed his -hunting in another direction; but all day there rose one after another, -above the threshold of his objective mind, memory portraits of Sabor, -of Momaya, and of Teeka—a lioness, a cannibal, and a she-ape, yet to -the ape-man they were identical through motherhood. - -It was noon of the third day when Momaya came within sight of the cave -of Bukawai, the unclean. The old witch-doctor had rigged a framework of -interlaced boughs to close the mouth of the cave from predatory beasts. -This was now set to one side, and the black cavern beyond yawned -mysterious and repellent. Momaya shivered as from a cold wind of the -rainy season. No sign of life appeared about the cave, yet Momaya -experienced that uncanny sensation as of unseen eyes regarding her -malevolently. Again she shuddered. She tried to force her unwilling -feet onward toward the cave, when from its depths issued an uncanny -sound that was neither brute nor human, a weird sound that was akin to -mirthless laughter. - -With a stifled scream, Momaya turned and fled into the jungle. For a -hundred yards she ran before she could control her terror, and then she -paused, listening. Was all her labor, were all the terrors and dangers -through which she had passed to go for naught? She tried to steel -herself to return to the cave, but again fright overcame her. - -Saddened, disheartened, she turned slowly upon the back trail toward -the village of Mbonga. Her young shoulders now were drooped like those -of an old woman who bears a great burden of many years with their -accumulated pains and sorrows, and she walked with tired feet and a -halting step. The spring of youth was gone from Momaya. - -For another hundred yards she dragged her weary way, her brain half -paralyzed from dumb terror and suffering, and then there came to her -the memory of a little babe that suckled at her breast, and of a slim -boy who romped, laughing, about her, and they were both Tibo—her Tibo! - -Her shoulders straightened. She shook her savage head, and she turned -about and walked boldly back to the mouth of the cave of Bukawai, the -unclean—of Bukawai, the witch-doctor. - -Again, from the interior of the cave came the hideous laughter that was -not laughter. This time Momaya recognized it for what it was, the -strange cry of a hyena. No more did she shudder, but she held her spear -ready and called aloud to Bukawai to come out. - -Instead of Bukawai came the repulsive head of a hyena. Momaya poked at -it with her spear, and the ugly, sullen brute drew back with an angry -growl. Again Momaya called Bukawai by name, and this time there came an -answer in mumbling tones that were scarce more human than those of the -beast. - -“Who comes to Bukawai?” queried the voice. - -“It is Momaya,” replied the woman; “Momaya from the village of Mbonga, -the chief. - -“What do you want?” - -“I want good medicine, better medicine than Mbonga’s witch-doctor can -make,” replied Momaya. “The great, white, jungle god has stolen my -Tibo, and I want medicine to bring him back, or to find where he is -hidden that I may go and get him.” - -“Who is Tibo?” asked Bukawai. - -Momaya told him. - -“Bukawai’s medicine is very strong,” said the voice. “Five goats and a -new sleeping mat are scarce enough in exchange for Bukawai’s medicine.” - -“Two goats are enough,” said Momaya, for the spirit of barter is strong -in the breasts of the blacks. - -The pleasure of haggling over the price was a sufficiently potent lure -to draw Bukawai to the mouth of the cave. Momaya was sorry when she saw -him that he had not remained within. There are some things too -horrible, too hideous, too repulsive for description—Bukawai’s face was -of these. When Momaya saw him she understood why it was that he was -almost inarticulate. - -Beside him were two hyenas, which rumor had said were his only and -constant companions. They made an excellent trio—the most repulsive of -beasts with the most repulsive of humans. - -“Five goats and a new sleeping mat,” mumbled Bukawai. - -“Two fat goats and a sleeping mat.” Momaya raised her bid; but Bukawai -was obdurate. He stuck for the five goats and the sleeping mat for a -matter of half an hour, while the hyenas sniffed and growled and -laughed hideously. Momaya was determined to give all that Bukawai asked -if she could do no better, but haggling is second nature to black -barterers, and in the end it partly repaid her, for a compromise -finally was reached which included three fat goats, a new sleeping mat, -and a piece of copper wire. - -“Come back tonight,” said Bukawai, “when the moon is two hours in the -sky. Then will I make the strong medicine which shall bring Tibo back -to you. Bring with you the three fat goats, the new sleeping mat, and -the piece of copper wire the length of a large man’s forearm.” - -“I cannot bring them,” said Momaya. “You will have to come after them. -When you have restored Tibo to me, you shall have them all at the -village of Mbonga.” - -Bukawai shook his head. - -“I will make no medicine,” he said, “until I have the goats and the mat -and the copper wire.” - -Momaya pleaded and threatened, but all to no avail. Finally, she turned -away and started off through the jungle toward the village of Mbonga. -How she could get three goats and a sleeping mat out of the village and -through the jungle to the cave of Bukawai, she did not know, but that -she would do it somehow she was quite positive—she would do it or die. -Tibo must be restored to her. - -Tarzan coming lazily through the jungle with little Go-bu-balu, caught -the scent of Bara, the deer. Tarzan hungered for the flesh of Bara. -Naught tickled his palate so greatly; but to stalk Bara with Go-bu-balu -at his heels, was out of the question, so he hid the child in the -crotch of a tree where the thick foliage screened him from view, and -set off swiftly and silently upon the spoor of Bara. - -Tibo alone was more terrified than Tibo even among the apes. Real and -apparent dangers are less disconcerting than those which we imagine, -and only the gods of his people knew how much Tibo imagined. - -He had been but a short time in his hiding place when he heard -something approaching through the jungle. He crouched closer to the -limb upon which he lay and prayed that Tarzan would return quickly. His -wide eyes searched the jungle in the direction of the moving creature. - -What if it was a leopard that had caught his scent! It would be upon -him in a minute. Hot tears flowed from the large eyes of little Tibo. -The curtain of jungle foliage rustled close at hand. The thing was but -a few paces from his tree! His eyes fairly popped from his black face -as he watched for the appearance of the dread creature which presently -would thrust a snarling countenance from between the vines and -creepers. - -And then the curtain parted and a woman stepped into full view. With a -gasping cry, Tibo tumbled from his perch and raced toward her. Momaya -suddenly started back and raised her spear, but a second later she cast -it aside and caught the thin body in her strong arms. - -Crushing it to her, she cried and laughed all at one and the same time, -and hot tears of joy, mingled with the tears of Tibo, trickled down the -crease between her naked breasts. - -Disturbed by the noise so close at hand, there arose from his sleep in -a near-by thicket Numa, the lion. He looked through the tangled -underbrush and saw the black woman and her young. He licked his chops -and measured the distance between them and himself. A short charge and -a long leap would carry him upon them. He flicked the end of his tail -and sighed. - -A vagrant breeze, swirling suddenly in the wrong direction, carried the -scent of Tarzan to the sensitive nostrils of Bara, the deer. There was -a startled tensing of muscles and cocking of ears, a sudden dash, and -Tarzan’s meat was gone. The ape-man angrily shook his head and turned -back toward the spot where he had left Go-bu-balu. He came softly, as -was his way. Before he reached the spot he heard strange sounds—the -sound of a woman laughing and of a woman weeping, and the two which -seemed to come from one throat were mingled with the convulsive sobbing -of a child. Tarzan hastened, and when Tarzan hastened, only the birds -and the wind went faster. - -And as Tarzan approached the sounds, he heard another, a deep sigh. -Momaya did not hear it, nor did Tibo; but the ears of Tarzan were as -the ears of Bara, the deer. He heard the sigh, and he knew, so he -unloosed the heavy spear which dangled at his back. Even as he sped -through the branches of the trees, with the same ease that you or I -might take out a pocket handkerchief as we strolled nonchalantly down a -lazy country lane, Tarzan of the Apes took the spear from its thong -that it might be ready against any emergency. - -Numa, the lion, did not rush madly to attack. He reasoned again, and -reason told him that already the prey was his, so he pushed his great -bulk through the foliage and stood eyeing his meat with baleful, -glaring eyes. - -Momaya saw him and shrieked, drawing Tibo closer to her breast. To have -found her child and to lose him, all in a moment! She raised her spear, -throwing her hand far back of her shoulder. Numa roared and stepped -slowly forward. Momaya cast her weapon. It grazed the tawny shoulder, -inflicting a flesh wound which aroused all the terrific bestiality of -the carnivore, and the lion charged. - -Momaya tried to close her eyes, but could not. She saw the flashing -swiftness of the huge, oncoming death, and then she saw something else. -She saw a mighty, naked white man drop as from the heavens into the -path of the charging lion. She saw the muscles of a great arm flash in -the light of the equatorial sun as it filtered, dappling, through the -foliage above. She saw a heavy hunting spear hurtle through the air to -meet the lion in midleap. - -Numa brought up upon his haunches, roaring terribly and striking at the -spear which protruded from his breast. His great blows bent and twisted -the weapon. Tarzan, crouching and with hunting knife in hand, circled -warily about the frenzied cat. Momaya, wide-eyed, stood rooted to the -spot, watching, fascinated. - -In sudden fury Numa hurled himself toward the ape-man, but the wiry -creature eluded the blundering charge, side-stepping quickly only to -rush in upon his foe. Twice the hunting blade flashed in the air. Twice -it fell upon the back of Numa, already weakening from the spear point -so near his heart. The second stroke of the blade pierced far into the -beast’s spine, and with a last convulsive sweep of the fore-paws, in a -vain attempt to reach his tormentor, Numa sprawled upon the ground, -paralyzed and dying. - -Bukawai, fearful lest he should lose any recompense, followed Momaya -with the intention of persuading her to part with her ornaments of -copper and iron against her return with the price of the medicine—to -pay, as it were, for an option on his services as one pays a retaining -fee to an attorney, for, like an attorney, Bukawai knew the value of -his medicine and that it was well to collect as much as possible in -advance. - -The witch-doctor came upon the scene as Tarzan leaped to meet the -lion’s charge. He saw it all and marveled, guessing immediately that -this must be the strange white demon concerning whom he had heard vague -rumors before Momaya came to him. - -Momaya, now that the lion was past harming her or hers, gazed with new -terror upon Tarzan. It was he who had stolen her Tibo. Doubtless he -would attempt to steal him again. Momaya hugged the boy close to her. -She was determined to die this time rather than suffer Tibo to be taken -from her again. - -Tarzan eyed them in silence. The sight of the boy clinging, sobbing, to -his mother aroused within his savage breast a melancholy loneliness. -There was none thus to cling to Tarzan, who yearned so for the love of -someone, of something. - -At last Tibo looked up, because of the quiet that had fallen upon the -jungle, and saw Tarzan. He did not shrink. - -“Tarzan,” he said, in the speech of the great apes of the tribe of -Kerchak, “do not take me from Momaya, my mother. Do not take me again -to the lair of the hairy, tree men, for I fear Taug and Gunto and the -others. Let me stay with Momaya, O Tarzan, God of the Jungle! Let me -stay with Momaya, my mother, and to the end of our days we will bless -you and put food before the gates of the village of Mbonga that you may -never hunger.” - -Tarzan sighed. - -“Go,” he said, “back to the village of Mbonga, and Tarzan will follow -to see that no harm befalls you.” - -Tibo translated the words to his mother, and the two turned their backs -upon the ape-man and started off toward home. In the heart of Momaya -was a great fear and a great exultation, for never before had she -walked with God, and never had she been so happy. She strained little -Tibo to her, stroking his thin cheek. Tarzan saw and sighed again. - -“For Teeka there is Teeka’s balu,” he soliloquized; “for Sabor there -are balus, and for the she-Gomangani, and for Bara, and for Manu, and -even for Pamba, the rat; but for Tarzan there can be none—neither a she -nor a balu. Tarzan of the Apes is a man, and it must be that man walks -alone.” - -Bukawai saw them go, and he mumbled through his rotting face, swearing -a great oath that he would yet have the three fat goats, the new -sleeping mat, and the bit of copper wire. - - - - -CHAPTER VI -The Witch-Doctor Seeks Vengeance - - -Lord Greystoke was hunting, or, to be more accurate, he was shooting -pheasants at Chamston-Hedding. Lord Greystoke was immaculately and -appropriately garbed—to the minutest detail he was vogue. To be sure, -he was among the forward guns, not being considered a sporting shot, -but what he lacked in skill he more than made up in appearance. At the -end of the day he would, doubtless, have many birds to his credit, -since he had two guns and a smart loader—many more birds than he could -eat in a year, even had he been hungry, which he was not, having but -just arisen from the breakfast table. - -The beaters—there were twenty-three of them, in white smocks—had but -just driven the birds into a patch of gorse, and were now circling to -the opposite side that they might drive down toward the guns. Lord -Greystoke was quite as excited as he ever permitted himself to become. -There was an exhilaration in the sport that would not be denied. He -felt his blood tingling through his veins as the beaters approached -closer and closer to the birds. In a vague and stupid sort of way Lord -Greystoke felt, as he always felt upon such occasions, that he was -experiencing a sensation somewhat akin to a reversion to a prehistoric -type—that the blood of an ancient forbear was coursing hot through him, -a hairy, half-naked forbear who had lived by the hunt. - -And far away in a matted equatorial jungle another Lord Greystoke, the -real Lord Greystoke, hunted. By the standards which he knew, he, too, -was vogue—utterly vogue, as was the primal ancestor before the first -eviction. The day being sultry, the leopard skin had been left behind. -The real Lord Greystoke had not two guns, to be sure, nor even one, -neither did he have a smart loader; but he possessed something -infinitely more efficacious than guns, or loaders, or even twenty-three -beaters in white smocks—he possessed an appetite, an uncanny woodcraft, -and muscles that were as steel springs. - -Later that day, in England, a Lord Greystoke ate bountifully of things -he had not killed, and he drank other things which were uncorked to the -accompaniment of much noise. He patted his lips with snowy linen to -remove the faint traces of his repast, quite ignorant of the fact that -he was an impostor and that the rightful owner of his noble title was -even then finishing his own dinner in far-off Africa. He was not using -snowy linen, though. Instead he drew the back of a brown forearm and -hand across his mouth and wiped his bloody fingers upon his thighs. -Then he moved slowly through the jungle to the drinking place, where, -upon all fours, he drank as drank his fellows, the other beasts of the -jungle. - -As he quenched his thirst, another denizen of the gloomy forest -approached the stream along the path behind him. It was Numa, the lion, -tawny of body and black of mane, scowling and sinister, rumbling out -low, coughing roars. Tarzan of the Apes heard him long before he came -within sight, but the ape-man went on with his drinking until he had -had his fill; then he arose, slowly, with the easy grace of a creature -of the wilds and all the quiet dignity that was his birthright. - -Numa halted as he saw the man standing at the very spot where the king -would drink. His jaws were parted, and his cruel eyes gleamed. He -growled and advanced slowly. The man growled, too, backing slowly to -one side, and watching, not the lion’s face, but its tail. Should that -commence to move from side to side in quick, nervous jerks, it would be -well to be upon the alert, and should it rise suddenly erect, straight -and stiff, then one might prepare to fight or flee; but it did neither, -so Tarzan merely backed away and the lion came down and drank scarce -fifty feet from where the man stood. - -Tomorrow they might be at one another’s throats, but today there -existed one of those strange and inexplicable truces which so often are -seen among the savage ones of the jungle. Before Numa had finished -drinking, Tarzan had returned into the forest, and was swinging away in -the direction of the village of Mbonga, the black chief. - -It had been at least a moon since the ape-man had called upon the -Gomangani. Not since he had restored little Tibo to his grief-stricken -mother had the whim seized him to do so. The incident of the adopted -balu was a closed one to Tarzan. He had sought to find something upon -which to lavish such an affection as Teeka lavished upon her balu, but -a short experience of the little black boy had made it quite plain to -the ape-man that no such sentiment could exist between them. - -The fact that he had for a time treated the little black as he might -have treated a real balu of his own had in no way altered the vengeful -sentiments with which he considered the murderers of Kala. The -Gomangani were his deadly enemies, nor could they ever be aught else. -Today he looked forward to some slight relief from the monotony of his -existence in such excitement as he might derive from baiting the -blacks. - -It was not yet dark when he reached the village and took his place in -the great tree overhanging the palisade. From beneath came a great -wailing out of the depths of a near-by hut. The noise fell disagreeably -upon Tarzan’s ears—it jarred and grated. He did not like it, so he -decided to go away for a while in the hopes that it might cease; but -though he was gone for a couple of hours the wailing still continued -when he returned. - -With the intention of putting a violent termination to the annoying -sound, Tarzan slipped silently from the tree into the shadows beneath. -Creeping stealthily and keeping well in the cover of other huts, he -approached that from which rose the sounds of lamentation. A fire -burned brightly before the doorway as it did before other doorways in -the village. A few females squatted about, occasionally adding their -own mournful howlings to those of the master artist within. - -The ape-man smiled a slow smile as he thought of the consternation -which would follow the quick leap that would carry him among the -females and into the full light of the fire. Then he would dart into -the hut during the excitement, throttle the chief screamer, and be gone -into the jungle before the blacks could gather their scattered nerves -for an assault. - -Many times had Tarzan behaved similarly in the village of Mbonga, the -chief. His mysterious and unexpected appearances always filled the -breasts of the poor, superstitious blacks with the panic of terror; -never, it seemed, could they accustom themselves to the sight of him. -It was this terror which lent to the adventures the spice of interest -and amusement which the human mind of the ape-man craved. Merely to -kill was not in itself sufficient. Accustomed to the sight of death, -Tarzan found no great pleasure in it. Long since had he avenged the -death of Kala, but in the accomplishment of it, he had learned the -excitement and the pleasure to be derived from the baiting of the -blacks. Of this he never tired. - -It was just as he was about to spring forward with a savage roar that a -figure appeared in the doorway of the hut. It was the figure of the -wailer whom he had come to still, the figure of a young woman with a -wooden skewer through the split septum of her nose, with a heavy metal -ornament depending from her lower lip, which it had dragged down to -hideous and repulsive deformity, with strange tattooing upon forehead, -cheeks, and breasts, and a wonderful coiffure built up with mud and -wire. - -A sudden flare of the fire threw the grotesque figure into high relief, -and Tarzan recognized her as Momaya, the mother of Tibo. The fire also -threw out a fitful flame which carried to the shadows where Tarzan -lurked, picking out his light brown body from the surrounding darkness. -Momaya saw him and knew him. With a cry, she leaped forward and Tarzan -came to meet her. The other women, turning, saw him, too; but they did -not come toward him. Instead they rose as one, shrieked as one, fled as -one. - -Momaya threw herself at Tarzan’s feet, raising supplicating hands -toward him and pouring forth from her mutilated lips a perfect cataract -of words, not one of which the ape-man comprehended. For a moment he -looked down upon the upturned, frightful face of the woman. He had come -to slay, but that overwhelming torrent of speech filled him with -consternation and with awe. He glanced about him apprehensively, then -back at the woman. A revulsion of feeling seized him. He could not kill -little Tibo’s mother, nor could he stand and face this verbal geyser. -With a quick gesture of impatience at the spoiling of his evening’s -entertainment, he wheeled and leaped away into the darkness. A moment -later he was swinging through the black jungle night, the cries and -lamentations of Momaya growing fainter in the distance. - -It was with a sigh of relief that he finally reached a point from which -he could no longer hear them, and finding a comfortable crotch high -among the trees, composed himself for a night of dreamless slumber, -while a prowling lion moaned and coughed beneath him, and in far-off -England the other Lord Greystoke, with the assistance of a valet, -disrobed and crawled between spotless sheets, swearing irritably as a -cat meowed beneath his window. - -As Tarzan followed the fresh spoor of Horta, the boar, the following -morning, he came upon the tracks of two Gomangani, a large one and a -small one. The ape-man, accustomed as he was to questioning closely all -that fell to his perceptions, paused to read the story written in the -soft mud of the game trail. You or I would have seen little of interest -there, even if, by chance, we could have seen aught. Perhaps had one -been there to point them out to us, we might have noted indentations in -the mud, but there were countless indentations, one overlapping another -into a confusion that would have been entirely meaningless to us. To -Tarzan each told its own story. Tantor, the elephant, had passed that -way as recently as three suns since. Numa had hunted here the night -just gone, and Horta, the boar, had walked slowly along the trail -within an hour; but what held Tarzan’s attention was the spoor tale of -the Gomangani. It told him that the day before an old man had gone -toward the north in company with a little boy, and that with them had -been two hyenas. - -Tarzan scratched his head in puzzled incredulity. He could see by the -overlapping of the footprints that the beasts had not been following -the two, for sometimes one was ahead of them and one behind, and again -both were in advance, or both were in the rear. It was very strange and -quite inexplicable, especially where the spoor showed where the hyenas -in the wider portions of the path had walked one on either side of the -human pair, quite close to them. Then Tarzan read in the spoor of the -smaller Gomangani a shrinking terror of the beast that brushed his -side, but in that of the old man was no sign of fear. - -At first Tarzan had been solely occupied by the remarkable -juxtaposition of the spoor of Dango and Gomangani, but now his keen -eyes caught something in the spoor of the little Gomangani which -brought him to a sudden stop. It was as though, finding a letter in the -road, you suddenly had discovered in it the familiar handwriting of a -friend. - -“Go-bu-balu!” exclaimed the ape-man, and at once memory flashed upon -the screen of recollection the supplicating attitude of Momaya as she -had hurled herself before him in the village of Mbonga the night -before. Instantly all was explained—the wailing and lamentation, the -pleading of the black mother, the sympathetic howling of the shes about -the fire. Little Go-bu-balu had been stolen again, and this time by -another than Tarzan. Doubtless the mother had thought that he was again -in the power of Tarzan of the Apes, and she had been beseeching him to -return her balu to her. - -Yes, it was all quite plain now; but who could have stolen Go-bu-balu -this time? Tarzan wondered, and he wondered, too, about the presence of -Dango. He would investigate. The spoor was a day old and it ran toward -the north. Tarzan set out to follow it. In places it was totally -obliterated by the passage of many beasts, and where the way was rocky, -even Tarzan of the Apes was almost baffled; but there was still the -faint effluvium which clung to the human spoor, appreciable only to -such highly trained perceptive powers as were Tarzan’s. - -It had all happened to little Tibo very suddenly and unexpectedly -within the brief span of two suns. First had come Bukawai, the -witch-doctor—Bukawai, the unclean—with the ragged bit of flesh which -still clung to his rotting face. He had come alone and by day to the -place at the river where Momaya went daily to wash her body and that of -Tibo, her little boy. He had stepped out from behind a great bush quite -close to Momaya, frightening little Tibo so that he ran screaming to -his mother’s protecting arms. - -But Momaya, though startled, had wheeled to face the fearsome thing -with all the savage ferocity of a she-tiger at bay. When she saw who it -was, she breathed a sigh of partial relief, though she still clung -tightly to Tibo. - -“I have come,” said Bukawai without preliminary, “for the three fat -goats, the new sleeping mat, and the bit of copper wire as long as a -tall man’s arm.” - -“I have no goats for you,” snapped Momaya, “nor a sleeping mat, nor any -wire. Your medicine was never made. The white jungle god gave me back -my Tibo. You had nothing to do with it.” - -“But I did,” mumbled Bukawai through his fleshless jaws. “It was I who -commanded the white jungle god to give back your Tibo.” - -Momaya laughed in his face. “Speaker of lies,” she cried, “go back to -your foul den and your hyenas. Go back and hide your stinking face in -the belly of the mountain, lest the sun, seeing it, cover his face with -a black cloud.” - -“I have come,” reiterated Bukawai, “for the three fat goats, the new -sleeping mat, and the bit of copper wire the length of a tall man’s -arm, which you were to pay me for the return of your Tibo.” - -“It was to be the length of a man’s forearm,” corrected Momaya, “but -you shall have nothing, old thief. You would not make medicine until I -had brought the payment in advance, and when I was returning to my -village the great, white jungle god gave me back my Tibo—gave him to me -out of the jaws of Numa. His medicine is true medicine—yours is the -weak medicine of an old man with a hole in his face.” - -“I have come,” repeated Bukawai patiently, “for the three fat—” But -Momaya had not waited to hear more of what she already knew by heart. -Clasping Tibo close to her side, she was hurrying away toward the -palisaded village of Mbonga, the chief. - -And the next day, when Momaya was working in the plantain field with -others of the women of the tribe, and little Tibo had been playing at -the edge of the jungle, casting a small spear in anticipation of the -distant day when he should be a full-fledged warrior, Bukawai had come -again. - -Tibo had seen a squirrel scampering up the bole of a great tree. His -childish mind had transformed it into the menacing figure of a hostile -warrior. Little Tibo had raised his tiny spear, his heart filled with -the savage blood lust of his race, as he pictured the night’s orgy when -he should dance about the corpse of his human kill as the women of his -tribe prepared the meat for the feast to follow. - -But when he cast the spear, he missed both squirrel and tree, losing -his missile far among the tangled undergrowth of the jungle. However, -it could be but a few steps within the forbidden labyrinth. The women -were all about in the field. There were warriors on guard within easy -hail, and so little Tibo boldly ventured into the dark place. - -Just behind the screen of creepers and matted foliage lurked three -horrid figures—an old, old man, black as the pit, with a face half -eaten away by leprosy, his sharp-filed teeth, the teeth of a cannibal, -showing yellow and repulsive through the great gaping hole where his -mouth and nose had been. And beside him, equally hideous, stood two -powerful hyenas—carrion-eaters consorting with carrion. - -Tibo did not see them until, head down, he had forced his way through -the thickly growing vines in search of his little spear, and then it -was too late. As he looked up into the face of Bukawai, the old -witch-doctor seized him, muffling his screams with a palm across his -mouth. Tibo struggled futilely. - -A moment later he was being hustled away through the dark and terrible -jungle, the frightful old man still muffling his screams, and the two -hideous hyenas pacing now on either side, now before, now behind, -always prowling, always growling, snapping, snarling, or, worst of all, -laughing hideously. - -To little Tibo, who within his brief existence had passed through such -experiences as are given to few to pass through in a lifetime, the -northward journey was a nightmare of terror. He thought now of the time -that he had been with the great, white jungle god, and he prayed with -all his little soul that he might be back again with the white-skinned -giant who consorted with the hairy tree men. Terror-stricken he had -been then, but his surroundings had been nothing by comparison with -those which he now endured. - -The old man seldom addressed Tibo, though he kept up an almost -continuous mumbling throughout the long day. Tibo caught repeated -references to fat goats, sleeping mats, and pieces of copper wire. “Ten -fat goats, ten fat goats,” the old Negro would croon over and over -again. By this little Tibo guessed that the price of his ransom had -risen. Ten fat goats? Where would his mother get ten fat goats, or thin -ones, either, for that matter, to buy back just a poor little boy? -Mbonga would never let her have them, and Tibo knew that his father -never had owned more than three goats at the same time in all his life. -Ten fat goats! Tibo sniffled. The putrid old man would kill him and eat -him, for the goats would never be forthcoming. Bukawai would throw his -bones to the hyenas. The little black boy shuddered and became so weak -that he almost fell in his tracks. Bukawai cuffed him on an ear and -jerked him along. - -After what seemed an eternity to Tibo, they arrived at the mouth of a -cave between two rocky hills. The opening was low and narrow. A few -saplings bound together with strips of rawhide closed it against stray -beasts. Bukawai removed the primitive door and pushed Tibo within. The -hyenas, snarling, rushed past him and were lost to view in the -blackness of the interior. Bukawai replaced the saplings and seizing -Tibo roughly by the arm, dragged him along a narrow, rocky passage. The -floor was comparatively smooth, for the dirt which lay thick upon it -had been trodden and tramped by many feet until few inequalities -remained. - -The passage was tortuous, and as it was very dark and the walls rough -and rocky, Tibo was scratched and bruised from the many bumps he -received. Bukawai walked as rapidly through the winding gallery as one -would traverse a familiar lane by daylight. He knew every twist and -turn as a mother knows the face of her child, and he seemed to be in a -hurry. He jerked poor little Tibo possibly a trifle more ruthlessly -than necessary even at the pace Bukawai set; but the old witch-doctor, -an outcast from the society of man, diseased, shunned, hated, feared, -was far from possessing an angelic temper. Nature had given him few of -the kindlier characteristics of man, and these few Fate had eradicated -entirely. Shrewd, cunning, cruel, vindictive, was Bukawai, the -witch-doctor. - -Frightful tales were whispered of the cruel tortures he inflicted upon -his victims. Children were frightened into obedience by the threat of -his name. Often had Tibo been thus frightened, and now he was reaping a -grisly harvest of terror from the seeds his mother had innocently sown. -The darkness, the presence of the dreaded witch-doctor, the pain of the -contusions, with a haunting premonition of the future, and the fear of -the hyenas combined to almost paralyze the child. He stumbled and -reeled until Bukawai was dragging rather than leading him. - -Presently Tibo saw a faint lightness ahead of them, and a moment later -they emerged into a roughly circular chamber to which a little daylight -filtered through a rift in the rocky ceiling. The hyenas were there -ahead of them, waiting. As Bukawai entered with Tibo, the beasts slunk -toward them, baring yellow fangs. They were hungry. Toward Tibo they -came, and one snapped at his naked legs. Bukawai seized a stick from -the floor of the chamber and struck a vicious blow at the beast, at the -same time mumbling forth a volley of execrations. The hyena dodged and -ran to the side of the chamber, where he stood growling. Bukawai took a -step toward the creature, which bristled with rage at his approach. -Fear and hatred shot from its evil eyes, but, fortunately for Bukawai, -fear predominated. - -Seeing that he was unnoticed, the second beast made a short, quick rush -for Tibo. The child screamed and darted after the witch-doctor, who now -turned his attention to the second hyena. This one he reached with his -heavy stick, striking it repeatedly and driving it to the wall. There -the two carrion-eaters commenced to circle the chamber while the human -carrion, their master, now in a perfect frenzy of demoniacal rage, ran -to and fro in an effort to intercept them, striking out with his cudgel -and lashing them with his tongue, calling down upon them the curses of -whatever gods and demons he could summon to memory, and describing in -lurid figures the ignominy of their ancestors. - -Several times one or the other of the beasts would turn to make a stand -against the witch-doctor, and then Tibo would hold his breath in -agonized terror, for never in his brief life had he seen such frightful -hatred depicted upon the countenance of man or beast; but always fear -overcame the rage of the savage creatures, so that they resumed their -flight, snarling and bare-fanged, just at the moment that Tibo was -certain they would spring at Bukawai’s throat. - -At last the witch-doctor tired of the futile chase. With a snarl quite -as bestial as those of the beast, he turned toward Tibo. “I go to -collect the ten fat goats, the new sleeping mat, and the two pieces of -copper wire that your mother will pay for the medicine I shall make to -bring you back to her,” he said. “You will stay here. There,” and he -pointed toward the passage which they had followed to the chamber, “I -will leave the hyenas. If you try to escape, they will eat you.” - -He cast aside the stick and called to the beasts. They came, snarling -and slinking, their tails between their legs. Bukawai led them to the -passage and drove them into it. Then he dragged a rude lattice into -place before the opening after he, himself, had left the chamber. “This -will keep them from you,” he said. “If I do not get the ten fat goats -and the other things, they shall at least have a few bones after I am -through.” And he left the boy to think over the meaning of his -all-too-suggestive words. - -When he was gone, Tibo threw himself upon the earth floor and broke -into childish sobs of terror and loneliness. He knew that his mother -had no ten fat goats to give and that when Bukawai returned, little -Tibo would be killed and eaten. How long he lay there he did not know, -but presently he was aroused by the growling of the hyenas. They had -returned through the passage and were glaring at him from beyond the -lattice. He could see their yellow eyes blazing through the darkness. -They reared up and clawed at the barrier. Tibo shivered and withdrew to -the opposite side of the chamber. He saw the lattice sag and sway to -the attacks of the beasts. Momentarily he expected that it would fall -inward, letting the creatures upon him. - -Wearily the horror-ridden hours dragged their slow way. Night came, and -for a time Tibo slept, but it seemed that the hungry beasts never -slept. Always they stood just beyond the lattice growling their hideous -growls or laughing their hideous laughs. Through the narrow rift in the -rocky roof above him, Tibo could see a few stars, and once the moon -crossed. At last daylight came again. Tibo was very hungry and thirsty, -for he had not eaten since the morning before, and only once upon the -long march had he been permitted to drink, but even hunger and thirst -were almost forgotten in the terror of his position. - -It was after daylight that the child discovered a second opening in the -walls of the subterranean chamber, almost opposite that at which the -hyenas still stood glaring hungrily at him. It was only a narrow slit -in the rocky wall. It might lead in but a few feet, or it might lead to -freedom! Tibo approached it and looked within. He could see nothing. He -extended his arm into the blackness, but he dared not venture farther. -Bukawai never would have left open a way of escape, Tibo reasoned, so -this passage must lead either nowhere or to some still more hideous -danger. - -To the boy’s fear of the actual dangers which menaced him—Bukawai and -the two hyenas—his superstition added countless others quite too -horrible even to name, for in the lives of the blacks, through the -shadows of the jungle day and the black horrors of the jungle night, -flit strange, fantastic shapes peopling the already hideously peopled -forests with menacing figures, as though the lion and the leopard, the -snake and the hyena, and the countless poisonous insects were not quite -sufficient to strike terror to the hearts of the poor, simple creatures -whose lot is cast in earth’s most fearsome spot. - -And so it was that little Tibo cringed not only from real menaces but -from imaginary ones. He was afraid even to venture upon a road that -might lead to escape, lest Bukawai had set to watch it some frightful -demon of the jungle. - -But the real menaces suddenly drove the imaginary ones from the boy’s -mind, for with the coming of daylight the half-famished hyenas renewed -their efforts to break down the frail barrier which kept them from -their prey. Rearing upon their hind feet they clawed and struck at the -lattice. With wide eyes Tibo saw it sag and rock. Not for long, he -knew, could it withstand the assaults of these two powerful and -determined brutes. Already one corner had been forced past the rocky -protuberance of the entrance way which had held it in place. A shaggy -forearm protruded into the chamber. Tibo trembled as with ague, for he -knew that the end was near. - -Backing against the farther wall he stood flattened out as far from the -beasts as he could get. He saw the lattice give still more. He saw a -savage, snarling head forced past it, and grinning jaws snapping and -gaping toward him. In another instant the pitiful fabric would fall -inward, and the two would be upon him, rending his flesh from his -bones, gnawing the bones themselves, fighting for possession of his -entrails. - -* * * - -Bukawai came upon Momaya outside the palisade of Mbonga, the chief. At -sight of him the woman drew back in revulsion, then she flew at him, -tooth and nail; but Bukawai threatening her with a spear held her at a -safe distance. - -“Where is my baby?” she cried. “Where is my little Tibo?” - -Bukawai opened his eyes in well-simulated amazement. “Your baby!” he -exclaimed. “What should I know of him, other than that I rescued him -from the white god of the jungle and have not yet received my pay. I -come for the goats and the sleeping mat and the piece of copper wire -the length of a tall man’s arm from the shoulder to the tips of his -fingers.” “Offal of a hyena!” shrieked Momaya. “My child has been -stolen, and you, rotting fragment of a man, have taken him. Return him -to me or I shall tear your eyes from your head and feed your heart to -the wild hogs.” - -Bukawai shrugged his shoulders. “What do I know about your child?” he -asked. “I have not taken him. If he is stolen again, what should -Bukawai know of the matter? Did Bukawai steal him before? No, the white -jungle god stole him, and if he stole him once he would steal him -again. It is nothing to me. I returned him to you before and I have -come for my pay. If he is gone and you would have him returned, Bukawai -will return him—for ten fat goats, a new sleeping mat and two pieces of -copper wire the length of a tall man’s arm from the shoulder to the -tips of his fingers, and Bukawai will say nothing more about the goats -and the sleeping mat and the copper wire which you were to pay for the -first medicine.” - -“Ten fat goats!” screamed Momaya. “I could not pay you ten fat goats in -as many years. Ten fat goats, indeed!” - -“Ten fat goats,” repeated Bukawai. “Ten fat goats, the new sleeping mat -and two pieces of copper wire the length of—” - -Momaya stopped him with an impatient gesture. “Wait!” she cried. “I -have no goats. You waste your breath. Stay here while I go to my man. -He has but three goats, yet something may be done. Wait!” - -Bukawai sat down beneath a tree. He felt quite content, for he knew -that he should have either payment or revenge. He did not fear harm at -the hands of these people of another tribe, although he well knew that -they must fear and hate him. His leprosy alone would prevent their -laying hands upon him, while his reputation as a witch-doctor rendered -him doubly immune from attack. He was planning upon compelling them to -drive the ten goats to the mouth of his cave when Momaya returned. With -her were three warriors—Mbonga, the chief, Rabba Kega, the village -witch-doctor, and Ibeto, Tibo’s father. They were not pretty men even -under ordinary circumstances, and now, with their faces marked by -anger, they well might have inspired terror in the heart of anyone; but -if Bukawai felt any fear, he did not betray it. Instead he greeted them -with an insolent stare, intended to awe them, as they came and squatted -in a semi-circle before him. - -“Where is Ibeto’s son?” asked Mbonga. - -“How should I know?” returned Bukawai. “Doubtless the white devil-god -has him. If I am paid I will make strong medicine and then we shall -know where is Ibeto’s son, and shall get him back again. It was my -medicine which got him back the last time, for which I got no pay.” - -“I have my own witch-doctor to make medicine,” replied Mbonga with -dignity. - -Bukawai sneered and rose to his feet. “Very well,” he said, “let him -make his medicine and see if he can bring Ibeto’s son back.” He took a -few steps away from them, and then he turned angrily back. “His -medicine will not bring the child back—that I know, and I also know -that when you find him it will be too late for any medicine to bring -him back, for he will be dead. This have I just found out, the ghost of -my father’s sister but now came to me and told me.” - -Now Mbonga and Rabba Kega might not take much stock in their own magic, -and they might even be skeptical as to the magic of another; but there -was always a chance of _something_ being in it, especially if it were -not their own. Was it not well known that old Bukawai had speech with -the demons themselves and that two even lived with him in the forms of -hyenas! Still they must not accede too hastily. There was the price to -be considered, and Mbonga had no intention of parting lightly with ten -goats to obtain the return of a single little boy who might die of -smallpox long before he reached a warrior’s estate. - -“Wait,” said Mbonga. “Let us see some of your magic, that we may know -if it be good magic. Then we can talk about payment. Rabba Kega will -make some magic, too. We will see who makes the best magic. Sit down, -Bukawai.” - -“The payment will be ten goats—fat goats—a new sleeping mat and two -pieces of copper wire the length of a tall man’s arm from the shoulder -to the ends of his fingers, and it will be made in advance, the goats -being driven to my cave. Then will I make the medicine, and on the -second day the boy will be returned to his mother. It cannot be done -more quickly than that because it takes time to make such strong -medicine.” - -“Make us some medicine now,” said Mbonga. “Let us see what sort of -medicine you make.” - -“Bring me fire,” replied Bukawai, “and I will make you a little magic.” - -Momaya was dispatched for the fire, and while she was away Mbonga -dickered with Bukawai about the price. Ten goats, he said, was a high -price for an able-bodied warrior. He also called Bukawai’s attention to -the fact that he, Mbonga, was very poor, that his people were very -poor, and that ten goats were at least eight too many, to say nothing -of a new sleeping mat and the copper wire; but Bukawai was adamant. His -medicine was very expensive and he would have to give at least five -goats to the gods who helped him make it. They were still arguing when -Momaya returned with the fire. - -Bukawai placed a little on the ground before him, took a pinch of -powder from a pouch at his side and sprinkled it on the embers. A cloud -of smoke rose with a puff. Bukawai closed his eyes and rocked back and -forth. Then he made a few passes in the air and pretended to swoon. -Mbonga and the others were much impressed. Rabba Kega grew nervous. He -saw his reputation waning. There was some fire left in the vessel which -Momaya had brought. He seized the vessel, dropped a handful of dry -leaves into it while no one was watching and then uttered a frightful -scream which drew the attention of Bukawai’s audience to him. It also -brought Bukawai quite miraculously out of his swoon, but when the old -witch-doctor saw the reason for the disturbance he quickly relapsed -into unconsciousness before anyone discovered his _faux pas_. - -Rabba Kega, seeing that he had the attention of Mbonga, Ibeto, and -Momaya, blew suddenly into the vessel, with the result that the leaves -commenced to smolder, and smoke issued from the mouth of the -receptacle. Rabba Kega was careful to hold it so that none might see -the dry leaves. Their eyes opened wide at this remarkable demonstration -of the village witch-doctor’s powers. The latter, greatly elated, let -himself out. He shouted, jumped up and down, and made frightful -grimaces; then he put his face close over the mouth of the vessel and -appeared to be communing with the spirits within. - -It was while he was thus engaged that Bukawai came out of his trance, -his curiosity finally having gotten the better of him. No one was -paying him the slightest attention. He blinked his one eye angrily, -then he, too, let out a loud roar, and when he was sure that Mbonga had -turned toward him, he stiffened rigidly and made spasmodic movements -with his arms and legs. - -“I see him!” he cried. “He is far away. The white devil-god did not get -him. He is alone and in great danger; but,” he added, “if the ten fat -goats and the other things are paid to me quickly there is yet time to -save him.” - -Rabba Kega had paused to listen. Mbonga looked toward him. The chief -was in a quandary. He did not know which medicine was the better. “What -does your magic tell you?” he asked of Rabba Kega. - -“I, too, see him,” screamed Rabba Kega; “but he is not where Bukawai -says he is. He is dead at the bottom of the river.” - -At this Momaya commenced to howl loudly. - -Tarzan had followed the spoor of the old man, the two hyenas, and the -little black boy to the mouth of the cave in the rocky cañon between -the two hills. Here he paused a moment before the sapling barrier which -Bukawai had set up, listening to the snarls and growls which came -faintly from the far recesses of the cavern. - -Presently, mingled with the beastly cries, there came faintly to the -keen ears of the ape-man, the agonized moan of a child. No longer did -Tarzan hesitate. Hurling the door aside, he sprang into the dark -opening. Narrow and black was the corridor; but long use of his eyes in -the Stygian blackness of the jungle nights had given to the ape-man -something of the nocturnal visionary powers of the wild things with -which he had consorted since babyhood. - -He moved rapidly and yet with caution, for the place was dark, -unfamiliar and winding. As he advanced, he heard more and more loudly -the savage snarls of the two hyenas, mingled with the scraping and -scratching of their paws upon wood. The moans of a child grew in -volume, and Tarzan recognized in them the voice of the little black boy -he once had sought to adopt as his balu. - -There was no hysteria in the ape-man’s advance. Too accustomed was he -to the passing of life in the jungle to be greatly wrought even by the -death of one whom he knew; but the lust for battle spurred him on. He -was only a wild beast at heart and his wild beast’s heart beat high in -anticipation of conflict. - -In the rocky chamber of the hill’s center, little Tibo crouched low -against the wall as far from the hunger-crazed beasts as he could drag -himself. He saw the lattice giving to the frantic clawing of the -hyenas. He knew that in a few minutes his little life would flicker out -horribly beneath the rending, yellow fangs of these loathsome -creatures. - -Beneath the buffetings of the powerful bodies, the lattice sagged -inward, until, with a crash it gave way, letting the carnivora in upon -the boy. Tibo cast one affrighted glance toward them, then closed his -eyes and buried his face in his arms, sobbing piteously. - -For a moment the hyenas paused, caution and cowardice holding them from -their prey. They stood thus glaring at the lad, then slowly, -stealthily, crouching, they crept toward him. It was thus that Tarzan -came upon them, bursting into the chamber swiftly and silently; but not -so silently that the keen-eared beasts did not note his coming. With -angry growls they turned from Tibo upon the ape-man, as, with a smile -upon his lips, he ran toward them. For an instant one of the animals -stood its ground; but the ape-man did not deign even to draw his -hunting knife against despised Dango. Rushing in upon the brute he -grasped it by the scruff of the neck, just as it attempted to dodge -past him, and hurled it across the cavern after its fellow which -already was slinking into the corridor, bent upon escape. - -Then Tarzan picked Tibo from the floor, and when the child felt human -hands upon him instead of the paws and fangs of the hyenas, he rolled -his eyes upward in surprise and incredulity, and as they fell upon -Tarzan, sobs of relief broke from the childish lips and his hands -clutched at his deliverer as though the white devil-god was not the -most feared of jungle creatures. - -When Tarzan came to the cave mouth the hyenas were nowhere in sight, -and after permitting Tibo to quench his thirst in the spring which rose -near by, he lifted the boy to his shoulders and set off toward the -jungle at a rapid trot, determined to still the annoying howlings of -Momaya as quickly as possible, for he shrewdly had guessed that the -absence of her balu was the cause of her lamentation. - -“He is not dead at the bottom of the river,” cried Bukawai. “What does -this fellow know about making magic? Who is he, anyway, that he dare -say Bukawai’s magic is not good magic? Bukawai sees Momaya’s son. He is -far away and alone and in great danger. Hasten then with the ten fat -goats, the—” - -But he got no further. There was a sudden interruption from above, from -the branches of the very tree beneath which they squatted, and as the -five blacks looked up they almost swooned in fright as they saw the -great, white devil-god looking down upon them; but before they could -flee they saw another face, that of the lost little Tibo, and his face -was laughing and very happy. - -And then Tarzan dropped fearlessly among them, the boy still upon his -back, and deposited him before his mother. Momaya, Ibeto, Rabba Kega, -and Mbonga were all crowding around the lad trying to question him at -the same time. Suddenly Momaya turned ferociously to fall upon Bukawai, -for the boy had told her all that he had suffered at the hands of the -cruel old man; but Bukawai was no longer there—he had required no -recourse to black art to assure him that the vicinity of Momaya would -be no healthful place for him after Tibo had told his story, and now he -was running through the jungle as fast as his old legs would carry him -toward the distant lair where he knew no black would dare pursue him. - -Tarzan, too, had vanished, as he had a way of doing, to the -mystification of the blacks. Then Momaya’s eyes lighted upon Rabba -Kega. The village witch-doctor saw something in those eyes of hers -which boded no good to him, and backed away. - -“So my Tibo is dead at the bottom of the river, is he?” the woman -shrieked. “And he’s far away and alone and in great danger, is he? -Magic!” The scorn which Momaya crowded into that single word would have -done credit to a Thespian of the first magnitude. “Magic, indeed!” she -screamed. “Momaya will show you some magic of her own,” and with that -she seized upon a broken limb and struck Rabba Kega across the head. -With a howl of pain, the man turned and fled, Momaya pursuing him and -beating him across the shoulders, through the gateway and up the length -of the village street, to the intense amusement of the warriors, the -women, and the children who were so fortunate as to witness the -spectacle, for one and all feared Rabba Kega, and to fear is to hate. - -Thus it was that to his host of passive enemies, Tarzan of the Apes -added that day two active foes, both of whom remained awake long into -the night planning means of revenge upon the white devil-god who had -brought them into ridicule and disrepute, but with their most -malevolent schemings was mingled a vein of real fear and awe that would -not down. - -Young Lord Greystoke did not know that they planned against him, nor, -knowing, would have cared. He slept as well that night as he did on any -other night, and though there was no roof above him, and no doors to -lock against intruders, he slept much better than his noble relative in -England, who had eaten altogether too much lobster and drank too much -wine at dinner that night. - - - - -CHAPTER VII -The End of Bukawai - - -When Tarzan of the Apes was still but a boy he had learned, among other -things, to fashion pliant ropes of fibrous jungle grass. Strong and -tough were the ropes of Tarzan, the little Tarmangani. Tublat, his -foster father, would have told you this much and more. Had you tempted -him with a handful of fat caterpillars he even might have sufficiently -unbended to narrate to you a few stories of the many indignities which -Tarzan had heaped upon him by means of his hated rope; but then Tublat -always worked himself into such a frightful rage when he devoted any -considerable thought either to the rope or to Tarzan, that it might not -have proved comfortable for you to have remained close enough to him to -hear what he had to say. - -So often had that snakelike noose settled unexpectedly over Tublat’s -head, so often had he been jerked ridiculously and painfully from his -feet when he was least looking for such an occurrence, that there is -little wonder he found scant space in his savage heart for love of his -white-skinned foster child, or the inventions thereof. There had been -other times, too, when Tublat had swung helplessly in midair, the noose -tightening about his neck, death staring him in the face, and little -Tarzan dancing upon a near-by limb, taunting him and making unseemly -grimaces. - -Then there had been another occasion in which the rope had figured -prominently—an occasion, and the only one connected with the rope, -which Tublat recalled with pleasure. Tarzan, as active in brain as he -was in body, was always inventing new ways in which to play. It was -through the medium of play that he learned much during his childhood. -This day he learned something, and that he did not lose his life in the -learning of it, was a matter of great surprise to Tarzan, and the fly -in the ointment, to Tublat. - -The man-child had, in throwing his noose at a playmate in a tree above -him, caught a projecting branch instead. When he tried to shake it -loose it but drew the tighter. Then Tarzan started to climb the rope to -remove it from the branch. When he was part way up a frolicsome -playmate seized that part of the rope which lay upon the ground and ran -off with it as far as he could go. When Tarzan screamed at him to -desist, the young ape released the rope a little and then drew it tight -again. The result was to impart a swinging motion to Tarzan’s body -which the ape-boy suddenly realized was a new and pleasurable form of -play. He urged the ape to continue until Tarzan was swinging to and fro -as far as the short length of rope would permit, but the distance was -not great enough, and, too, he was not far enough above the ground to -give the necessary thrills which add so greatly to the pastimes of the -young. - -So he clambered to the branch where the noose was caught and after -removing it carried the rope far aloft and out upon a long and powerful -branch. Here he again made it fast, and taking the loose end in his -hand, clambered quickly down among the branches as far as the rope -would permit him to go; then he swung out upon the end of it, his -lithe, young body turning and twisting—a human bob upon a pendulum of -grass—thirty feet above the ground. - -Ah, how delectable! This was indeed a new play of the first magnitude. -Tarzan was entranced. Soon he discovered that by wriggling his body in -just the right way at the proper time he could diminish or accelerate -his oscillation, and, being a boy, he chose, naturally, to accelerate. -Presently he was swinging far and wide, while below him, the apes of -the tribe of Kerchak looked on in mild amaze. - -Had it been you or I swinging there at the end of that grass rope, the -thing which presently happened would not have happened, for we could -not have hung on so long as to have made it possible; but Tarzan was -quite as much at home swinging by his hands as he was standing upon his -feet, or, at least, almost. At any rate he felt no fatigue long after -the time that an ordinary mortal would have been numb with the strain -of the physical exertion. And this was his undoing. - -Tublat was watching him as were others of the tribe. Of all the -creatures of the wild, there was none Tublat so cordially hated as he -did this hideous, hairless, white-skinned, caricature of an ape. But -for Tarzan’s nimbleness, and the zealous watchfulness of savage Kala’s -mother love, Tublat would long since have rid himself of this stain -upon his family escutcheon. So long had it been since Tarzan became a -member of the tribe, that Tublat had forgotten the circumstances -surrounding the entrance of the jungle waif into his family, with the -result that he now imagined that Tarzan was his own offspring, adding -greatly to his chagrin. - -Wide and far swung Tarzan of the Apes, until at last, as he reached the -highest point of the arc the rope, which rapidly had frayed on the -rough bark of the tree limb, parted suddenly. The watching apes saw the -smooth, brown body shoot outward, and down, plummet-like. Tublat leaped -high in the air, emitting what in a human being would have been an -exclamation of delight. This would be the end of Tarzan and most of -Tublat’s troubles. From now on he could lead his life in peace and -security. - -Tarzan fell quite forty feet, alighting on his back in a thick bush. -Kala was the first to reach his side—ferocious, hideous, loving Kala. -She had seen the life crushed from her own balu in just such a fall -years before. Was she to lose this one too in the same way? Tarzan was -lying quite still when she found him, embedded deeply in the bush. It -took Kala several minutes to disentangle him and drag him forth; but he -was not killed. He was not even badly injured. The bush had broken the -force of the fall. A cut upon the back of his head showed where he had -struck the tough stem of the shrub and explained his unconsciousness. - -In a few minutes he was as active as ever. Tublat was furious. In his -rage he snapped at a fellow-ape without first discovering the identity -of his victim, and was badly mauled for his ill temper, having chosen -to vent his spite upon a husky and belligerent young bull in the full -prime of his vigor. - -But Tarzan had learned something new. He had learned that continued -friction would wear through the strands of his rope, though it was many -years before this knowledge did more for him than merely to keep him -from swinging too long at a time, or too far above the ground at the -end of his rope. - -The day came, however, when the very thing that had once all but killed -him proved the means of saving his life. - -He was no longer a child, but a mighty jungle male. There was none now -to watch over him, solicitously, nor did he need such. Kala was dead. -Dead, too, was Tublat, and though with Kala passed the one creature -that ever really had loved him, there were still many who hated him -after Tublat departed unto the arms of his fathers. It was not that he -was more cruel or more savage than they that they hated him, for though -he was both cruel and savage as were the beasts, his fellows, yet too -was he often tender, which they never were. No, the thing which brought -Tarzan most into disrepute with those who did not like him, was the -possession and practice of a characteristic which they had not and -could not understand—the human sense of humor. In Tarzan it was a -trifle broad, perhaps, manifesting itself in rough and painful -practical jokes upon his friends and cruel baiting of his enemies. - -But to neither of these did he owe the enmity of Bukawai, the -witch-doctor, who dwelt in the cave between the two hills far to the -north of the village of Mbonga, the chief. Bukawai was jealous of -Tarzan, and Bukawai it was who came near proving the undoing of the -ape-man. For months Bukawai had nursed his hatred while revenge seemed -remote indeed, since Tarzan of the Apes frequented another part of the -jungle, miles away from the lair of Bukawai. Only once had the black -witch-doctor seen the devil-god, as he was most often called among the -blacks, and upon that occasion Tarzan had robbed him of a fat fee, at -the same time putting the lie in the mouth of Bukawai, and making his -medicine seem poor medicine. All this Bukawai never could forgive, -though it seemed unlikely that the opportunity would come to be -revenged. - -Yet it did come, and quite unexpectedly. Tarzan was hunting far to the -north. He had wandered away from the tribe, as he did more and more -often as he approached maturity, to hunt alone for a few days. As a -child he had enjoyed romping and playing with the young apes, his -companions; but now these play-fellows of his had grown to surly, -lowering bulls, or to touchy, suspicious mothers, jealously guarding -helpless balus. So Tarzan found in his own man-mind a greater and a -truer companionship than any or all of the apes of Kerchak could afford -him. - -This day, as Tarzan hunted, the sky slowly became overcast. Torn -clouds, whipped to ragged streamers, fled low above the tree tops. They -reminded Tarzan of frightened antelope fleeing the charge of a hungry -lion. But though the light clouds raced so swiftly, the jungle was -motionless. Not a leaf quivered and the silence was a great, dead -weight—insupportable. Even the insects seemed stilled by apprehension -of some frightful thing impending, and the larger things were -soundless. Such a forest, such a jungle might have stood there in the -beginning of that unthinkably far-gone age before God peopled the world -with life, when there were no sounds because there were no ears to -hear. - -And over all lay a sickly, pallid ocher light through which the -scourged clouds raced. Tarzan had seen all these conditions many times -before, yet he never could escape a strange feeling at each recurrence -of them. He knew no fear, but in the face of Nature’s manifestations of -her cruel, immeasurable powers, he felt very small—very small and very -lonely. - -Now he heard a low moaning, far away. “The lions seek their prey,” he -murmured to himself, looking up once again at the swift-flying clouds. -The moaning rose to a great volume of sound. “They come!” said Tarzan -of the Apes, and sought the shelter of a thickly foliaged tree. Quite -suddenly the trees bent their tops simultaneously as though God had -stretched a hand from the heavens and pressed His flat palm down upon -the world. “They pass!” whispered Tarzan. “The lions pass.” Then came a -vivid flash of lightning, followed by deafening thunder. “The lions -have sprung,” cried Tarzan, “and now they roar above the bodies of -their kills.” - -The trees were waving wildly in all directions now, a perfectly -demoniacal wind threshed the jungle pitilessly. In the midst of it the -rain came—not as it comes upon us of the northlands, but in a sudden, -choking, blinding deluge. “The blood of the kill,” thought Tarzan, -huddling himself closer to the bole of the great tree beneath which he -stood. - -He was close to the edge of the jungle, and at a little distance he had -seen two hills before the storm broke; but now he could see nothing. It -amused him to look out into the beating rain, searching for the two -hills and imagining that the torrents from above had washed them away, -yet he knew that presently the rain would cease, the sun come out again -and all be as it was before, except where a few branches had fallen and -here and there some old and rotted patriarch had crashed back to enrich -the soil upon which he had fatted for, maybe, centuries. All about him -branches and leaves filled the air or fell to earth, torn away by the -strength of the tornado and the weight of the water upon them. A gaunt -corpse toppled and fell a few yards away; but Tarzan was protected from -all these dangers by the wide-spreading branches of the sturdy young -giant beneath which his jungle craft had guided him. Here there was but -a single danger, and that a remote one. Yet it came. Without warning -the tree above him was riven by lightning, and when the rain ceased and -the sun came out Tarzan lay stretched as he had fallen, upon his face -amidst the wreckage of the jungle giant that should have shielded him. - -Bukawai came to the entrance of his cave after the rain and the storm -had passed and looked out upon the scene. From his one eye Bukawai -could see; but had he had a dozen eyes he could have found no beauty in -the fresh sweetness of the revivified jungle, for to such things, in -the chemistry of temperament, his brain failed to react; nor, even had -he had a nose, which he had not for years, could he have found -enjoyment or sweetness in the clean-washed air. - -At either side of the leper stood his sole and constant companions, the -two hyenas, sniffing the air. Presently one of them uttered a low growl -and with flattened head started, sneaking and wary, toward the jungle. -The other followed. Bukawai, his curiosity aroused, trailed after them, -in his hand a heavy knob-stick. - -The hyenas halted a few yards from the prostrate Tarzan, sniffing and -growling. Then came Bukawai, and at first he could not believe the -witness of his own eyes; but when he did and saw that it was indeed the -devil-god his rage knew no bounds, for he thought him dead and himself -cheated of the revenge he had so long dreamed upon. - -The hyenas approached the ape-man with bared fangs. Bukawai, with an -inarticulate scream, rushed upon them, striking cruel and heavy blows -with his knob-stick, for there might still be life in the apparently -lifeless form. The beasts, snapping and snarling, half turned upon -their master and their tormentor, but long fear still held them from -his putrid throat. They slunk away a few yards and squatted upon their -haunches, hatred and baffled hunger gleaming from their savage eyes. - -Bukawai stooped and placed his ear above the ape-man’s heart. It still -beat. As well as his sloughed features could register pleasure they did -so; but it was not a pretty sight. At the ape-man’s side lay his long, -grass rope. Quickly Bukawai bound the limp arms behind his prisoner’s -back, then he raised him to one of his shoulders, for, though Bukawai -was old and diseased, he was still a strong man. The hyenas fell in -behind as the witch-doctor set off toward the cave, and through the -long black corridors they followed as Bukawai bore his victim into the -bowels of the hills. Through subterranean chambers, connected by -winding passageways, Bukawai staggered with his load. At a sudden -turning of the corridor, daylight flooded them and Bukawai stepped out -into a small, circular basin in the hill, apparently the crater of an -ancient volcano, one of those which never reached the dignity of a -mountain and are little more than lava-rimmed pits closed to the -earth’s surface. - -Steep walls rimmed the cavity. The only exit was through the passageway -by which Bukawai had entered. A few stunted trees grew upon the rocky -floor. A hundred feet above could be seen the ragged lips of this cold, -dead mouth of hell. - -Bukawai propped Tarzan against a tree and bound him there with his own -grass rope, leaving his hands free but securing the knots in such a way -that the ape-man could not reach them. The hyenas slunk to and fro, -growling. Bukawai hated them and they hated him. He knew that they but -waited for the time when he should be helpless, or when their hatred -should rise to such a height as to submerge their cringing fear of him. - -In his own heart was not a little fear of these repulsive creatures, -and because of that fear, Bukawai always kept the beasts well fed, -often hunting for them when their own forages for food failed, but ever -was he cruel to them with the cruelty of a little brain, diseased, -bestial, primitive. - -He had had them since they were puppies. They had known no other life -than that with him, and though they went abroad to hunt, always they -returned. Of late Bukawai had come to believe that they returned not so -much from habit as from a fiendish patience which would submit to every -indignity and pain rather than forego the final vengeance, and Bukawai -needed but little imagination to picture what that vengeance would be. -Today he would see for himself what his end would be; but another -should impersonate Bukawai. - -When he had trussed Tarzan securely, Bukawai went back into the -corridor, driving the hyenas ahead of him, and pulling across the -opening a lattice of laced branches, which shut the pit from the cave -during the night that Bukawai might sleep in security, for then the -hyenas were penned in the crater that they might not sneak upon a -sleeping Bukawai in the darkness. - -Bukawai returned to the outer cave mouth, filled a vessel with water at -the spring which rose in the little cañon close at hand and returned -toward the pit. The hyenas stood before the lattice looking hungrily -toward Tarzan. They had been fed in this manner before. - -With his water, the witch-doctor approached Tarzan and threw a portion -of the contents of the vessel in the ape-man’s face. There was -fluttering of the eyelids, and at the second application Tarzan opened -his eyes and looked about. - -“Devil-god,” cried Bukawai, “I am the great witch-doctor. My medicine -is strong. Yours is weak. If it is not, why do you stay tied here like -a goat that is bait for lions?” - -Tarzan understood nothing the witch-doctor said, therefore he did not -reply, but only stared straight at Bukawai with cold and level gaze. -The hyenas crept up behind him. He heard them growl; but he did not -even turn his head. He was a beast with a man’s brain. The beast in him -refused to show fear in the face of a death which the man-mind already -admitted to be inevitable. - -Bukawai, not yet ready to give his victim to the beasts, rushed upon -the hyenas with his knob-stick. There was a short scrimmage in which -the brutes came off second best, as they always did. Tarzan watched it. -He saw and realized the hatred which existed between the two animals -and the hideous semblance of a man. - -With the hyenas subdued, Bukawai returned to the baiting of Tarzan; but -finding that the ape-man understood nothing he said, the witch-doctor -finally desisted. Then he withdrew into the corridor and pulled the -latticework barrier across the opening. He went back into the cave and -got a sleeping mat, which he brought to the opening, that he might lie -down and watch the spectacle of his revenge in comfort. - -The hyenas were sneaking furtively around the ape-man. Tarzan strained -at his bonds for a moment, but soon realized that the rope he had -braided to hold Numa, the lion, would hold him quite as successfully. -He did not wish to die; but he could look death in the face now as he -had many times before without a quaver. - -As he pulled upon the rope he felt it rub against the small tree about -which it was passed. Like a flash of the cinematograph upon the screen, -a picture was flashed before his mind’s eye from the storehouse of his -memory. He saw a lithe, boyish figure swinging high above the ground at -the end of a rope. He saw many apes watching from below, and then he -saw the rope part and the boy hurtle downward toward the ground. Tarzan -smiled. Immediately he commenced to draw the rope rapidly back and -forth across the tree trunk. - -The hyenas, gaining courage, came closer. They sniffed at his legs; but -when he struck at them with his free arms they slunk off. He knew that -with the growth of hunger they would attack. Coolly, methodically, -without haste, Tarzan drew the rope back and forth against the rough -trunk of the small tree. - -In the entrance to the cavern Bukawai fell asleep. He thought it would -be some time before the beasts gained sufficient courage or hunger to -attack the captive. Their growls and the cries of the victim would -awaken him. In the meantime he might as well rest, and he did. - -Thus the day wore on, for the hyenas were not famished, and the rope -with which Tarzan was bound was a stronger one than that of his -boyhood, which had parted so quickly to the chafing of the rough tree -bark. Yet, all the while hunger was growing upon the beasts and the -strands of the grass rope were wearing thinner and thinner. Bukawai -slept. - -It was late afternoon before one of the beasts, irritated by the -gnawing of appetite, made a quick, growling dash at the ape-man. The -noise awoke Bukawai. He sat up quickly and watched what went on within -the crater. He saw the hungry hyena charge the man, leaping for the -unprotected throat. He saw Tarzan reach out and seize the growling -animal, and then he saw the second beast spring for the devil-god’s -shoulder. There was a mighty heave of the great, smooth-skinned body. -Rounded muscles shot into great, tensed piles beneath the brown -hide—the ape-man surged forward with all his weight and all his great -strength—the bonds parted, and the three were rolling upon the floor of -the crater snarling, snapping, and rending. - -Bukawai leaped to his feet. Could it be that the devil-god was to -prevail against his servants? Impossible! The creature was unarmed, and -he was down with two hyenas on top of him; but Bukawai did not know -Tarzan. - -The ape-man fastened his fingers upon the throat of one of the hyenas -and rose to one knee, though the other beast tore at him frantically in -an effort to pull him down. With a single hand Tarzan held the one, and -with the other hand he reached forth and pulled toward him the second -beast. - -And then Bukawai, seeing the battle going against his forces, rushed -forward from the cavern brandishing his knob-stick. Tarzan saw him -coming, and rising now to both feet, a hyena in each hand, he hurled -one of the foaming beasts straight at the witch-doctor’s head. Down -went the two in a snarling, biting heap. Tarzan tossed the second hyena -across the crater, while the first gnawed at the rotting face of its -master; but this did not suit the ape-man. With a kick he sent the -beast howling after its companion, and springing to the side of the -prostrate witch-doctor, dragged him to his feet. - -Bukawai, still conscious, saw death, immediate and terrible, in the -cold eyes of his captor, so he turned upon Tarzan with teeth and nails. -The ape-man shuddered at the proximity of that raw face to his. The -hyenas had had enough and disappeared through the small aperture -leading into the cave. Tarzan had little difficulty in overpowering and -binding Bukawai. Then he led him to the very tree to which he had been -bound; but in binding Bukawai, Tarzan saw to it that escape after the -same fashion that he had escaped would be out of the question; then he -left him. - -As he passed through the winding corridors and the subterranean -apartments, Tarzan saw nothing of the hyenas. - -“They will return,” he said to himself. - -In the crater between the towering walls Bukawai, cold with terror, -trembled, trembled as with ague. - -“They will return!” he cried, his voice rising to a fright-filled -shriek. - -And they did. - - - - -CHAPTER VIII -The Lion - - -Numa, the lion, crouched behind a thorn bush close beside the drinking -pool where the river eddied just below the bend. There was a ford there -and on either bank a well-worn trail, broadened far out at the river’s -brim, where, for countless centuries, the wild things of the jungle and -of the plains beyond had come down to drink, the carnivora with bold -and fearless majesty, the herbivora timorous, hesitating, fearful. - -Numa, the lion, was hungry, he was very hungry, and so he was quite -silent now. On his way to the drinking place he had moaned often and -roared not a little; but as he neared the spot where he would lie in -wait for Bara, the deer, or Horta, the boar, or some other of the many -luscious-fleshed creatures who came hither to drink, he was silent. It -was a grim, a terrible silence, shot through with yellow-green light of -ferocious eyes, punctuated with undulating tremors of sinuous tail. - -It was Pacco, the zebra, who came first, and Numa, the lion, could -scarce restrain a roar of anger, for of all the plains people, none are -more wary than Pacco, the zebra. Behind the black-striped stallion came -a herd of thirty or forty of the plump and vicious little horselike -beasts. As he neared the river, the leader paused often, cocking his -ears and raising his muzzle to sniff the gentle breeze for the -tell-tale scent spoor of the dread flesh-eaters. - -Numa shifted uneasily, drawing his hind quarters far beneath his tawny -body, gathering himself for the sudden charge and the savage assault. -His eyes shot hungry fire. His great muscles quivered to the excitement -of the moment. - -Pacco came a little nearer, halted, snorted, and wheeled. There was a -pattering of scurrying hoofs and the herd was gone; but Numa, the lion, -moved not. He was familiar with the ways of Pacco, the zebra. He knew -that he would return, though many times he might wheel and fly before -he summoned the courage to lead his harem and his offspring to the -water. There was the chance that Pacco might be frightened off -entirely. Numa had seen this happen before, and so he became almost -rigid lest he be the one to send them galloping, waterless, back to the -plain. - -Again and again came Pacco and his family, and again and again did they -turn and flee; but each time they came closer to the river, until at -last the plump stallion dipped his velvet muzzle daintily into the -water. The others, stepping warily, approached their leader. Numa -selected a sleek, fat filly and his flaming eyes burned greedily as -they feasted upon her, for Numa, the lion, loves scarce anything better -than the meat of Pacco, perhaps because Pacco is, of all the -grass-eaters, the most difficult to catch. - -Slowly the lion rose, and as he rose, a twig snapped beneath one of his -great, padded paws. Like a shot from a rifle he charged upon the filly; -but the snapped twig had been enough to startle the timorous quarry, so -that they were in instant flight simultaneously with Numa’s charge. - -The stallion was last, and with a prodigious leap, the lion catapulted -through the air to seize him; but the snapping twig had robbed Numa of -his dinner, though his mighty talons raked the zebra’s glossy rump, -leaving four crimson bars across the beautiful coat. - -It was an angry Numa that quitted the river and prowled, fierce, -dangerous, and hungry, into the jungle. Far from particular now was his -appetite. Even Dango, the hyena, would have seemed a tidbit to that -ravenous maw. And in this temper it was that the lion came upon the -tribe of Kerchak, the great ape. - -One does not look for Numa, the lion, this late in the morning. He -should be lying up asleep beside his last night’s kill by now; but Numa -had made no kill last night. He was still hunting, hungrier than ever. - -The anthropoids were idling about the clearing, the first keen desire -of the morning’s hunger having been satisfied. Numa scented them long -before he saw them. Ordinarily he would have turned away in search of -other game, for even Numa respected the mighty muscles and the sharp -fangs of the great bulls of the tribe of Kerchak, but today he kept on -steadily toward them, his bristled snout wrinkled into a savage snarl. - -Without an instant’s hesitation, Numa charged the moment he reached a -point from where the apes were visible to him. There were a dozen or -more of the hairy, manlike creatures upon the ground in a little glade. -In a tree at one side sat a brown-skinned youth. He saw Numa’s swift -charge; he saw the apes turn and flee, huge bulls trampling upon little -balus; only a single she held her ground to meet the charge, a young -she inspired by new motherhood to the great sacrifice that her balu -might escape. - -Tarzan leaped from his perch, screaming at the flying bulls beneath and -at those who squatted in the safety of surrounding trees. Had the bulls -stood their ground, Numa would not have carried through that charge -unless goaded by great rage or the gnawing pangs of starvation. Even -then he would not have come off unscathed. - -If the bulls heard, they were too slow in responding, for Numa had -seized the mother ape and dragged her into the jungle before the males -had sufficiently collected their wits and their courage to rally in -defense of their fellow. Tarzan’s angry voice aroused similar anger in -the breasts of the apes. Snarling and barking they followed Numa into -the dense labyrinth of foliage wherein he sought to hide himself from -them. The ape-man was in the lead, moving rapidly and yet with caution, -depending even more upon his ears and nose than upon his eyes for -information of the lion’s whereabouts. - -The spoor was easy to follow, for the dragged body of the victim left a -plain trail, blood-spattered and scentful. Even such dull creatures as -you or I might easily have followed it. To Tarzan and the apes of -Kerchak it was as obvious as a cement sidewalk. - -Tarzan knew that they were nearing the great cat even before he heard -an angry growl of warning just ahead. Calling to the apes to follow his -example, he swung into a tree and a moment later Numa was surrounded by -a ring of growling beasts, well out of reach of his fangs and talons -but within plain sight of him. The carnivore crouched with his -fore-quarters upon the she-ape. Tarzan could see that the latter was -already dead; but something within him made it seem quite necessary to -rescue the useless body from the clutches of the enemy and to punish -him. - -He shrieked taunts and insults at Numa, and tearing dead branches from -the tree in which he danced, hurled them at the lion. The apes followed -his example. Numa roared out in rage and vexation. He was hungry, but -under such conditions he could not feed. - -The apes, if they had been left to themselves, would doubtless soon -have left the lion to peaceful enjoyment of his feast, for was not the -she dead? They could not restore her to life by throwing sticks at -Numa, and they might even now be feeding in quiet themselves; but -Tarzan was of a different mind. Numa must be punished and driven away. -He must be taught that even though he killed a Mangani, he would not be -permitted to feed upon his kill. The man-mind looked into the future, -while the apes perceived only the immediate present. They would be -content to escape today the menace of Numa, while Tarzan saw the -necessity, and the means as well, of safeguarding the days to come. - -So he urged the great anthropoids on until Numa was showered with -missiles that kept his head dodging and his voice pealing forth its -savage protest; but still he clung desperately to his kill. - -The twigs and branches hurled at Numa, Tarzan soon realized, did not -hurt him greatly even when they struck him, and did not injure him at -all, so the ape-man looked about for more effective missiles, nor did -he have to look long. An out-cropping of decomposed granite not far -from Numa suggested ammunition of a much more painful nature. Calling -to the apes to watch him, Tarzan slipped to the ground and gathered a -handful of small fragments. He knew that when once they had seen him -carry out his idea they would be much quicker to follow his lead than -to obey his instructions, were he to command them to procure pieces of -rock and hurl them at Numa, for Tarzan was not then king of the apes of -the tribe of Kerchak. That came in later years. Now he was but a youth, -though one who already had wrested for himself a place in the councils -of the savage beasts among whom a strange fate had cast him. The sullen -bulls of the older generation still hated him as beasts hate those of -whom they are suspicious, whose scent characteristic is the scent -characteristic of an alien order and, therefore, of an enemy order. The -younger bulls, those who had grown up through childhood as his -playmates, were as accustomed to Tarzan’s scent as to that of any other -member of the tribe. They felt no greater suspicion of him than of any -other bull of their acquaintance; yet they did not love him, for they -loved none outside the mating season, and the animosities aroused by -other bulls during that season lasted well over until the next. They -were a morose and peevish band at best, though here and there were -those among them in whom germinated the primal seeds of -humanity—reversions to type, these, doubtless; reversions to the -ancient progenitor who took the first step out of ape-hood toward -humanness, when he walked more often upon his hind feet and discovered -other things for idle hands to do. - -So now Tarzan led where he could not yet command. He had long since -discovered the apish propensity for mimicry and learned to make use of -it. Having filled his arms with fragments of rotted granite, he -clambered again into a tree, and it pleased him to see that the apes -had followed his example. - -During the brief respite while they were gathering their ammunition, -Numa had settled himself to feed; but scarce had he arranged himself -and his kill when a sharp piece of rock hurled by the practiced hand of -the ape-man struck him upon the cheek. His sudden roar of pain and rage -was smothered by a volley from the apes, who had seen Tarzan’s act. -Numa shook his massive head and glared upward at his tormentors. For a -half hour they pursued him with rocks and broken branches, and though -he dragged his kill into densest thickets, yet they always found a way -to reach him with their missiles, giving him no opportunity to feed, -and driving him on and on. - -The hairless ape-thing with the man scent was worst of all, for he had -even the temerity to advance upon the ground to within a few yards of -the Lord of the Jungle, that he might with greater accuracy and force -hurl the sharp bits of granite and the heavy sticks at him. Time and -again did Numa charge—sudden, vicious charges—but the lithe, active -tormentor always managed to elude him and with such insolent ease that -the lion forgot even his great hunger in the consuming passion of his -rage, leaving his meat for considerable spaces of time in vain efforts -to catch his enemy. - -The apes and Tarzan pursued the great beast to a natural clearing, -where Numa evidently determined to make a last stand, taking up his -position in the center of the open space, which was far enough from any -tree to render him practically immune from the rather erratic throwing -of the apes, though Tarzan still found him with most persistent and -aggravating frequency. - -This, however, did not suit the ape-man, since Numa now suffered an -occasional missile with no more than a snarl, while he settled himself -to partake of his delayed feast. Tarzan scratched his head, pondering -some more effective method of offense, for he had determined to prevent -Numa from profiting in any way through his attack upon the tribe. The -man-mind reasoned against the future, while the shaggy apes thought -only of their present hatred of this ancestral enemy. Tarzan guessed -that should Numa find it an easy thing to snatch a meal from the tribe -of Kerchak, it would be but a short time before their existence would -be one living nightmare of hideous watchfulness and dread. Numa must be -taught that the killing of an ape brought immediate punishment and no -rewards. It would take but a few lessons to insure the former safety of -the tribe. This must be some old lion whose failing strength and -agility had forced him to any prey that he could catch; but even a -single lion, undisputed, could exterminate the tribe, or at least make -its existence so precarious and so terrifying that life would no longer -be a pleasant condition. - -“Let him hunt among the Gomangani,” thought Tarzan. “He will find them -easier prey. I will teach ferocious Numa that he may not hunt the -Mangani.” - -But how to wrest the body of his victim from the feeding lion was the -first question to be solved. At last Tarzan hit upon a plan. To anyone -but Tarzan of the Apes it might have seemed rather a risky plan, and -perhaps it did even to him; but Tarzan rather liked things that -contained a considerable element of danger. At any rate, I rather doubt -that you or I would have chosen a similar plan for foiling an angry and -a hungry lion. - -Tarzan required assistance in the scheme he had hit upon and his -assistant must be equally as brave and almost as active as he. The -ape-man’s eyes fell upon Taug, the playmate of his childhood, the rival -in his first love and now, of all the bulls of the tribe, the only one -that might be thought to hold in his savage brain any such feeling -toward Tarzan as we describe among ourselves as friendship. At least, -Tarzan knew, Taug was courageous, and he was young and agile and -wonderfully muscled. - -“Taug!” cried the ape-man. The great ape looked up from a dead limb he -was attempting to tear from a lightning-blasted tree. “Go close to Numa -and worry him,” said Tarzan. “Worry him until he charges. Lead him away -from the body of Mamka. Keep him away as long as you can.” - -Taug nodded. He was across the clearing from Tarzan. Wresting the limb -at last from the tree he dropped to the ground and advanced toward -Numa, growling and barking out his insults. The worried lion looked up -and rose to his feet. His tail went stiffly erect and Taug turned in -flight, for he knew that warming signal of the charge. - -From behind the lion, Tarzan ran quickly toward the center of the -clearing and the body of Mamka. Numa, all his eyes for Taug, did not -see the ape-man. Instead he shot forward after the fleeing bull, who -had turned in flight not an instant too soon, since he reached the -nearest tree but a yard or two ahead of the pursuing demon. Like a cat -the heavy anthropoid scampered up the bole of his sanctuary. Numa’s -talons missed him by little more than inches. - -For a moment the lion paused beneath the tree, glaring up at the ape -and roaring until the earth trembled, then he turned back again toward -his kill, and as he did so, his tail shot once more to rigid erectness -and he charged back even more ferociously than he had come, for what he -saw was the naked man-thing running toward the farther trees with the -bloody carcass of his prey across a giant shoulder. - -The apes, watching the grim race from the safety of the trees, screamed -taunts at Numa and warnings to Tarzan. The high sun, hot and brilliant, -fell like a spotlight upon the actors in the little clearing, -portraying them in glaring relief to the audience in the leafy shadows -of the surrounding trees. The light-brown body of the naked youth, all -but hidden by the shaggy carcass of the killed ape, the red blood -streaking his smooth hide, his muscles rolling, velvety, beneath. -Behind him the black-maned lion, head flattened, tail extended, racing, -a jungle thoroughbred, across the sunlit clearing. - -Ah, but this was life! With death at his heels, Tarzan thrilled with -the joy of such living as this; but would he reach the trees ahead of -the rampant death so close behind? - -Gunto swung from a limb in a tree before him. Gunto was screaming -warnings and advice. - -“Catch me!” cried Tarzan, and with his heavy burden leaped straight for -the big bull hanging there by his hind feet and one forepaw. And Gunto -caught them—the big ape-man and the dead weight of the slain -she-ape—caught them with one great, hairy paw and whirled them upward -until Tarzan’s fingers closed upon a near-by branch. - -Beneath, Numa leaped; but Gunto, heavy and awkward as he may have -appeared, was as quick as Manu, the monkey, so that the lion’s talons -but barely grazed him, scratching a bloody streak beneath one hairy -arm. - -Tarzan carried Mamka’s corpse to a high crotch, where even Sheeta, the -panther, could not get it. Numa paced angrily back and forth beneath -the tree, roaring frightfully. He had been robbed of his kill and his -revenge also. He was very savage indeed; but his despoilers were well -out of his reach, and after hurling a few taunts and missiles at him -they swung away through the trees, fiercely reviling him. - -Tarzan thought much upon the little adventure of that day. He foresaw -what might happen should the great carnivora of the jungle turn their -serious attention upon the tribe of Kerchak, the great ape, but equally -he thought upon the wild scramble of the apes for safety when Numa -first charged among them. There is little humor in the jungle that is -not grim and awful. The beasts have little or no conception of humor; -but the young Englishman saw humor in many things which presented no -humorous angle to his associates. - -Since earliest childhood he had been a searcher after fun, much to the -sorrow of his fellow-apes, and now he saw the humor of the frightened -panic of the apes and the baffled rage of Numa even in this grim jungle -adventure which had robbed Mamka of life, and jeopardized that of many -members of the tribe. - -It was but a few weeks later that Sheeta, the panther, made a sudden -rush among the tribe and snatched a little balu from a tree where it -had been hidden while its mother sought food. Sheeta got away with his -small prize unmolested. Tarzan was very wroth. He spoke to the bulls of -the ease with which Numa and Sheeta, in a single moon, had slain two -members of the tribe. - -“They will take us all for food,” he cried. “We hunt as we will through -the jungle, paying no heed to approaching enemies. Even Manu, the -monkey, does not so. He keeps two or three always watching for enemies. -Pacco, the zebra, and Wappi, the antelope, have those about the herd -who keep watch while the others feed, while we, the great Mangani, let -Numa, and Sabor, and Sheeta come when they will and carry us off to -feed their balus. - -“Gr-r-rmph,” said Numgo. - -“What are we to do?” asked Taug. - -“We, too, should have two or three always watching for the approach of -Numa, and Sabor, and Sheeta,” replied Tarzan. “No others need we fear, -except Histah, the snake, and if we watch for the others we will see -Histah if he comes, though gliding ever so silently.” - -And so it was that the great apes of the tribe of Kerchak posted -sentries thereafter, who watched upon three sides while the tribe -hunted, scattered less than had been their wont. - -But Tarzan went abroad alone, for Tarzan was a man-thing and sought -amusement and adventure and such humor as the grim and terrible jungle -offers to those who know it and do not fear it—a weird humor shot with -blazing eyes and dappled with the crimson of lifeblood. While others -sought only food and love, Tarzan of the Apes sought food and joy. - -One day he hovered above the palisaded village of Mbonga, the chief, -the jet cannibal of the jungle primeval. He saw, as he had seen many -times before, the witch-doctor, Rabba Kega, decked out in the head and -hide of Gorgo, the buffalo. It amused Tarzan to see a Gomangani -parading as Gorgo; but it suggested nothing in particular to him until -he chanced to see stretched against the side of Mbonga’s hut the skin -of a lion with the head still on. Then a broad grin widened the -handsome face of the savage beast-youth. - -Back into the jungle he went until chance, agility, strength, and -cunning backed by his marvelous powers of perception, gave him an easy -meal. If Tarzan felt that the world owed him a living he also realized -that it was for him to collect it, nor was there ever a better -collector than this son of an English lord, who knew even less of the -ways of his forbears than he did of the forbears themselves, which was -nothing. - -It was quite dark when Tarzan returned to the village of Mbonga and -took his now polished perch in the tree which overhangs the palisade -upon one side of the walled enclosure. As there was nothing in -particular to feast upon in the village there was little life in the -single street, for only an orgy of flesh and native beer could draw out -the people of Mbonga. Tonight they sat gossiping about their cooking -fires, the older members of the tribe; or, if they were young, paired -off in the shadows cast by the palm-thatched huts. - -Tarzan dropped lightly into the village, and sneaking stealthily in the -concealment of the denser shadows, approached the hut of the chief, -Mbonga. Here he found that which he sought. There were warriors all -about him; but they did not know that the feared devil-god slunk -noiselessly so near them, nor did they see him possess himself of that -which he coveted and depart from their village as noiselessly as he had -come. - -Later that night, as Tarzan curled himself for sleep, he lay for a long -time looking up at the burning planets and the twinkling stars and at -Goro the moon, and he smiled. He recalled how ludicrous the great bulls -had appeared in their mad scramble for safety that day when Numa had -charged among them and seized Mamka, and yet he knew them to be fierce -and courageous. It was the sudden shock of surprise that always sent -them into a panic; but of this Tarzan was not as yet fully aware. That -was something he was to learn in the near future. - -He fell asleep with a broad grin upon his face. - -Manu, the monkey, awoke him in the morning by dropping discarded bean -pods upon his upturned face from a branch a short distance above him. -Tarzan looked up and smiled. He had been awakened thus before many -times. He and Manu were fairly good friends, their friendship operating -upon a reciprocal basis. Sometimes Manu would come running early in the -morning to awaken Tarzan and tell him that Bara, the deer, was feeding -close at hand, or that Horta, the boar, was asleep in a mudhole hard -by, and in return Tarzan broke open the shells of the harder nuts and -fruits for Manu, or frightened away Histah, the snake, and Sheeta, the -panther. - -The sun had been up for some time, and the tribe had already wandered -off in search of food. Manu indicated the direction they had taken with -a wave of his hand and a few piping notes of his squeaky little voice. - -“Come, Manu,” said Tarzan, “and you will see that which shall make you -dance for joy and squeal your wrinkled little head off. Come, follow -Tarzan of the Apes.” - -With that he set off in the direction Manu had indicated and above him, -chattering, scolding and squealing, skipped Manu, the monkey. Across -Tarzan’s shoulders was the thing he had stolen from the village of -Mbonga, the chief, the evening before. - -The tribe was feeding in the forest beside the clearing where Gunto, -and Taug, and Tarzan had so harassed Numa and finally taken away from -him the fruit of his kill. Some of them were in the clearing itself. In -peace and content they fed, for were there not three sentries, each -watching upon a different side of the herd? Tarzan had taught them -this, and though he had been away for several days hunting alone, as he -often did, or visiting at the cabin by the sea, they had not as yet -forgotten his admonitions, and if they continued for a short time -longer to post sentries, it would become a habit of their tribal life -and thus be perpetuated indefinitely. - -But Tarzan, who knew them better than they knew themselves, was -confident that they had ceased to place the watchers about them the -moment that he had left them, and now he planned not only to have a -little fun at their expense but to teach them a lesson in preparedness, -which, by the way, is even a more vital issue in the jungle than in -civilized places. That you and I exist today must be due to the -preparedness of some shaggy anthropoid of the Oligocene. Of course the -apes of Kerchak were always prepared, after their own way—Tarzan had -merely suggested a new and additional safeguard. - -Gunto was posted today to the north of the clearing. He squatted in the -fork of a tree from where he might view the jungle for quite a distance -about him. It was he who first discovered the enemy. A rustling in the -undergrowth attracted his attention, and a moment later he had a -partial view of a shaggy mane and tawny yellow back. Just a glimpse it -was through the matted foliage beneath him; but it brought from Gunto’s -leathern lungs a shrill “Kreeg-ah!” which is the ape for beware, or -danger. - -Instantly the tribe took up the cry until “Kreeg-ahs!” rang through the -jungle about the clearing as apes swung quickly to places of safety -among the lower branches of the trees and the great bulls hastened in -the direction of Gunto. - -And then into the clearing strode Numa, the lion—majestic and mighty, -and from a deep chest issued the moan and the cough and the rumbling -roar that set stiff hairs to bristling from shaggy craniums down the -length of mighty spines. - -Inside the clearing, Numa paused and on the instant there fell upon him -from the trees near by a shower of broken rock and dead limbs torn from -age-old trees. A dozen times he was hit, and then the apes ran down and -gathered other rocks, pelting him unmercifully. - -Numa turned to flee, but his way was barred by a fusilade of -sharp-cornered missiles, and then, upon the edge of the clearing, great -Taug met him with a huge fragment of rock as large as a man’s head, and -down went the Lord of the Jungle beneath the stunning blow. - -With shrieks and roars and loud barkings the great apes of the tribe of -Kerchak rushed upon the fallen lion. Sticks and stones and yellow fangs -menaced the still form. In another moment, before he could regain -consciousness, Numa would be battered and torn until only a bloody mass -of broken bones and matted hair remained of what had once been the most -dreaded of jungle creatures. - -But even as the sticks and stones were raised above him and the great -fangs bared to tear him, there descended like a plummet from the trees -above a diminutive figure with long, white whiskers and a wrinkled -face. Square upon the body of Numa it alighted and there it danced and -screamed and shrieked out its challenge against the bulls of Kerchak. - -For an instant they paused, paralyzed by the wonder of the thing. It -was Manu, the monkey, Manu, the little coward, and here he was daring -the ferocity of the great Mangani, hopping about upon the carcass of -Numa, the lion, and crying out that they must not strike it again. - -And when the bulls paused, Manu reached down and seized a tawny ear. -With all his little might he tugged upon the heavy head until slowly it -turned back, revealing the tousled, black head and clean-cut profile of -Tarzan of the Apes. - -Some of the older apes were for finishing what they had commenced; but -Taug, sullen, mighty Taug, sprang quickly to the ape-man’s side and -straddling the unconscious form warned back those who would have struck -his childhood playmate. And Teeka, his mate, came too, taking her place -with bared fangs at Taug’s side. Others followed their example, until -at last Tarzan was surrounded by a ring of hairy champions who would -permit no enemy to approach him. - -It was a surprised and chastened Tarzan who opened his eyes to -consciousness a few minutes later. He looked about him at the -surrounding apes and slowly there returned to him a realization of what -had occurred. - -Gradually a broad grin illuminated his features. His bruises were many -and they hurt; but the good that had come from his adventure was worth -all that it had cost. He had learned, for instance, that the apes of -Kerchak had heeded his teaching, and he had learned that he had good -friends among the sullen beasts whom he had thought without sentiment. -He had discovered that Manu, the monkey—even little, cowardly Manu—had -risked his life in his defense. - -It made Tarzan very glad to know these things; but at the other lesson -he had been taught he reddened. He had always been a joker, the only -joker in the grim and terrible company; but now as he lay there half -dead from his hurts, he almost swore a solemn oath forever to forego -practical joking—almost; but not quite. - - - - -CHAPTER IX -The Nightmare - - -The blacks of the village of Mbonga, the chief, were feasting, while -above them in a large tree sat Tarzan of the Apes—grim, terrible, -empty, and envious. Hunting had proved poor that day, for there are -lean days as well as fat ones for even the greatest of the jungle -hunters. Oftentimes Tarzan went empty for more than a full sun, and he -had passed through entire moons during which he had been but barely -able to stave off starvation; but such times were infrequent. - -There once had been a period of sickness among the grass-eaters which -had left the plains almost bare of game for several years, and again -the great cats had increased so rapidly and so overrun the country that -their prey, which was also Tarzan’s, had been frightened off for a -considerable time. - -But for the most part Tarzan had fed well always. Today, though, he had -gone empty, one misfortune following another as rapidly as he raised -new quarry, so that now, as he sat perched in the tree above the -feasting blacks, he experienced all the pangs of famine and his hatred -for his lifelong enemies waxed strong in his breast. It was -tantalizing, indeed, to sit there hungry while these Gomangani filled -themselves so full of food that their stomachs seemed almost upon the -point of bursting, and with elephant steaks at that! - -It was true that Tarzan and Tantor were the best of friends, and that -Tarzan never yet had tasted of the flesh of the elephant; but the -Gomangani evidently had slain one, and as they were eating of the flesh -of their kill, Tarzan was assailed by no doubts as to the ethics of his -doing likewise, should he have the opportunity. Had he known that the -elephant had died of sickness several days before the blacks discovered -the carcass, he might not have been so keen to partake of the feast, -for Tarzan of the Apes was no carrion-eater. Hunger, however, may blunt -the most epicurean taste, and Tarzan was not exactly an epicure. - -What he was at this moment was a very hungry wild beast whom caution -was holding in leash, for the great cooking pot in the center of the -village was surrounded by black warriors, through whom not even Tarzan -of the Apes might hope to pass unharmed. It would be necessary, -therefore, for the watcher to remain there hungry until the blacks had -gorged themselves to stupor, and then, if they had left any scraps, to -make the best meal he could from such; but to the impatient Tarzan it -seemed that the greedy Gomangani would rather burst than leave the -feast before the last morsel had been devoured. For a time they broke -the monotony of eating by executing portions of a hunting dance, a -maneuver which sufficiently stimulated digestion to permit them to fall -to once more with renewed vigor; but with the consumption of appalling -quantities of elephant meat and native beer they presently became too -loggy for physical exertion of any sort, some reaching a stage where -they no longer could rise from the ground, but lay conveniently close -to the great cooking pot, stuffing themselves into unconsciousness. - -It was well past midnight before Tarzan even could begin to see the end -of the orgy. The blacks were now falling asleep rapidly; but a few -still persisted. From before their condition Tarzan had no doubt but -that he easily could enter the village and snatch a handful of meat -from before their noses; but a handful was not what he wanted. Nothing -less than a stomachful would allay the gnawing craving of that great -emptiness. He must therefore have ample time to forage in peace. - -At last but a single warrior remained true to his ideals—an old fellow -whose once wrinkled belly was now as smooth and as tight as the head of -a drum. With evidences of great discomfort, and even pain, he would -crawl toward the pot and drag himself slowly to his knees, from which -position he could reach into the receptacle and seize a piece of meat. -Then he would roll over on his back with a loud groan and lie there -while he slowly forced the food between his teeth and down into his -gorged stomach. - -It was evident to Tarzan that the old fellow would eat until he died, -or until there was no more meat. The ape-man shook his head in disgust. -What foul creatures were these Gomangani? Yet of all the jungle folk -they alone resembled Tarzan closely in form. Tarzan was a man, and -they, too, must be some manner of men, just as the little monkeys, and -the great apes, and Bolgani, the gorilla, were quite evidently of one -great family, though differing in size and appearance and customs. -Tarzan was ashamed, for of all the beasts of the jungle, then, man was -the most disgusting—man and Dango, the hyena. Only man and Dango ate -until they swelled up like a dead rat. Tarzan had seen Dango eat his -way into the carcass of a dead elephant and then continue to eat so -much that he had been unable to get out of the hole through which he -had entered. Now he could readily believe that man, given the -opportunity, would do the same. Man, too, was the most unlovely of -creatures—with his skinny legs and his big stomach, his filed teeth, -and his thick, red lips. Man was disgusting. Tarzan’s gaze was riveted -upon the hideous old warrior wallowing in filth beneath him. - -There! the thing was struggling to its knees to reach for another -morsel of flesh. It groaned aloud in pain and yet it persisted in -eating, eating, ever eating. Tarzan could endure it no longer—neither -his hunger nor his disgust. Silently he slipped to the ground with the -bole of the great tree between himself and the feaster. - -The man was still kneeling, bent almost double in agony, before the -cooking pot. His back was toward the ape-man. Swiftly and noiselessly -Tarzan approached him. There was no sound as steel fingers closed about -the black throat. The struggle was short, for the man was old and -already half stupefied from the effects of the gorging and the beer. - -Tarzan dropped the inert mass and scooped several large pieces of meat -from the cooking pot—enough to satisfy even his great hunger—then he -raised the body of the feaster and shoved it into the vessel. When the -other blacks awoke they would have something to think about! Tarzan -grinned. As he turned toward the tree with his meat, he picked up a -vessel containing beer and raised it to his lips, but at the first -taste he spat the stuff from his mouth and tossed the primitive tankard -aside. He was quite sure that even Dango would draw the line at such -filthy tasting drink as that, and his contempt for man increased with -the conviction. - -Tarzan swung off into the jungle some half mile or so before he paused -to partake of his stolen food. He noticed that it gave forth a strange -and unpleasant odor, but assumed that this was due to the fact that it -had stood in a vessel of water above a fire. Tarzan was, of course, -unaccustomed to cooked food. He did not like it; but he was very hungry -and had eaten a considerable portion of his haul before it was really -borne in upon him that the stuff was nauseating. It required far less -than he had imagined it would to satisfy his appetite. - -Throwing the balance to the ground he curled up in a convenient crotch -and sought slumber; but slumber seemed difficult to woo. Ordinarily -Tarzan of the Apes was asleep as quickly as a dog after it curls itself -upon a hearthrug before a roaring blaze; but tonight he squirmed and -twisted, for at the pit of his stomach was a peculiar feeling that -resembled nothing more closely than an attempt upon the part of the -fragments of elephant meat reposing there to come out into the night -and search for their elephant; but Tarzan was adamant. He gritted his -teeth and held them back. He was not to be robbed of his meal after -waiting so long to obtain it. - -He had succeeded in dozing when the roaring of a lion awoke him. He sat -up to discover that it was broad daylight. Tarzan rubbed his eyes. -Could it be that he had really slept? He did not feel particularly -refreshed as he should have after a good sleep. A noise attracted his -attention, and he looked down to see a lion standing at the foot of the -tree gazing hungrily at him. Tarzan made a face at the king of beasts, -whereat Numa, greatly to the ape-man’s surprise, started to climb up -into the branches toward him. Now, never before had Tarzan seen a lion -climb a tree, yet, for some unaccountable reason, he was not greatly -surprised that this particular lion should do so. - -As the lion climbed slowly toward him, Tarzan sought higher branches; -but to his chagrin, he discovered that it was with the utmost -difficulty that he could climb at all. Again and again he slipped back, -losing all that he had gained, while the lion kept steadily at his -climbing, coming ever closer and closer to the ape-man. Tarzan could -see the hungry light in the yellow-green eyes. He could see the slaver -on the drooping jowls, and the great fangs agape to seize and destroy -him. Clawing desperately, the ape-man at last succeeded in gaining a -little upon his pursuer. He reached the more slender branches far aloft -where he well knew no lion could follow; yet on and on came devil-faced -Numa. It was incredible; but it was true. Yet what most amazed Tarzan -was that though he realized the incredibility of it all, he at the same -time accepted it as a matter of course, first that a lion should climb -at all and second that he should enter the upper terraces where even -Sheeta, the panther, dared not venture. - -To the very top of a tall tree the ape-man clawed his awkward way and -after him came Numa, the lion, moaning dismally. At last Tarzan stood -balanced upon the very utmost pinnacle of a swaying branch, high above -the forest. He could go no farther. Below him the lion came steadily -upward, and Tarzan of the Apes realized that at last the end had come. -He could not do battle upon a tiny branch with Numa, the lion, -especially with such a Numa, to which swaying branches two hundred feet -above the ground provided as substantial footing as the ground itself. - -Nearer and nearer came the lion. Another moment and he could reach up -with one great paw and drag the ape-man downward to those awful jaws. A -whirring noise above his head caused Tarzan to glance apprehensively -upward. A great bird was circling close above him. He never had seen so -large a bird in all his life, yet he recognized it immediately, for had -he not seen it hundreds of times in one of the books in the little -cabin by the land-locked bay—the moss-grown cabin that with its -contents was the sole heritage left by his dead and unknown father to -the young Lord Greystoke? - -In the picture-book the great bird was shown flying far above the -ground with a small child in its talons while, beneath, a distracted -mother stood with uplifted hands. The lion was already reaching forth a -taloned paw to seize him when the bird swooped and buried no less -formidable talons in Tarzan’s back. The pain was numbing; but it was -with a sense of relief that the ape-man felt himself snatched from the -clutches of Numa. - -With a great whirring of wings the bird rose rapidly until the forest -lay far below. It made Tarzan sick and dizzy to look down upon it from -so great a height, so he closed his eyes tight and held his breath. -Higher and higher climbed the huge bird. Tarzan opened his eyes. The -jungle was so far away that he could see only a dim, green blur below -him, but just above and quite close was the sun. Tarzan reached out his -hands and warmed them, for they were very cold. Then a sudden madness -seized him. Where was the bird taking him? Was he to submit thus -passively to a feathered creature however enormous? Was he, Tarzan of -the Apes, mighty fighter, to die without striking a blow in his own -defense? Never! - -He snatched the hunting blade from his gee-string and thrusting upward -drove it once, twice, thrice into the breast above him. The mighty -wings fluttered a few more times, spasmodically, the talons relaxed -their hold, and Tarzan of the Apes fell hurtling downward toward the -distant jungle. - -It seemed to the ape-man that he fell for many minutes before he -crashed through the leafy verdure of the tree tops. The smaller -branches broke his fall, so that he came to rest for an instant upon -the very branch upon which he had sought slumber the previous night. -For an instant he toppled there in a frantic attempt to regain his -equilibrium; but at last he rolled off, yet, clutching wildly, he -succeeded in grasping the branch and hanging on. - -Once more he opened his eyes, which he had closed during the fall. -Again it was night. With all his old agility he clambered back to the -crotch from which he had toppled. Below him a lion roared, and, looking -downward, Tarzan could see the yellow-green eyes shining in the -moonlight as they bored hungrily upward through the darkness of the -jungle night toward him. - -The ape-man gasped for breath. Cold sweat stood out from every pore, -there was a great sickness at the pit of Tarzan’s stomach. Tarzan of -the Apes had dreamed his first dream. - -For a long time he sat watching for Numa to climb into the tree after -him, and listening for the sound of the great wings from above, for to -Tarzan of the Apes his dream was a reality. - -He could not believe what he had seen and yet, having seen even these -incredible things, he could not disbelieve the evidence of his own -perceptions. Never in all his life had Tarzan’s senses deceived him -badly, and so, naturally, he had great faith in them. Each perception -which ever had been transmitted to Tarzan’s brain had been, with -varying accuracy, a true perception. He could not conceive of the -possibility of apparently having passed through such a weird adventure -in which there was no grain of truth. That a stomach, disordered by -decayed elephant flesh, a lion roaring in the jungle, a picture-book, -and sleep could have so truly portrayed all the clear-cut details of -what he had seemingly experienced was quite beyond his knowledge; yet -he knew that Numa could not climb a tree, he knew that there existed in -the jungle no such bird as he had seen, and he knew, too, that he could -not have fallen a tiny fraction of the distance he had hurtled -downward, and lived. - -To say the least, he was a very puzzled Tarzan as he tried to compose -himself once more for slumber—a very puzzled and a very nauseated -Tarzan. - -As he thought deeply upon the strange occurrences of the night, he -witnessed another remarkable happening. It was indeed quite -preposterous, yet he saw it all with his own eyes—it was nothing less -than Histah, the snake, wreathing his sinuous and slimy way up the bole -of the tree below him—Histah, with the head of the old man Tarzan had -shoved into the cooking pot—the head and the round, tight, black, -distended stomach. As the old man’s frightful face, with upturned eyes, -set and glassy, came close to Tarzan, the jaws opened to seize him. The -ape-man struck furiously at the hideous face, and as he struck the -apparition disappeared. - -Tarzan sat straight up upon his branch trembling in every limb, -wide-eyed and panting. He looked all around him with his keen, -jungle-trained eyes, but he saw naught of the old man with the body of -Histah, the snake, but on his naked thigh the ape-man saw a -caterpillar, dropped from a branch above him. With a grimace he flicked -it off into the darkness beneath. - -And so the night wore on, dream following dream, nightmare following -nightmare, until the distracted ape-man started like a frightened deer -at the rustling of the wind in the trees about him, or leaped to his -feet as the uncanny laugh of a hyena burst suddenly upon a momentary -jungle silence. But at last the tardy morning broke and a sick and -feverish Tarzan wound sluggishly through the dank and gloomy mazes of -the forest in search of water. His whole body seemed on fire, a great -sickness surged upward to his throat. He saw a tangle of almost -impenetrable thicket, and, like the wild beast he was, he crawled into -it to die alone and unseen, safe from the attacks of predatory -carnivora. - -But he did not die. For a long time he wanted to; but presently nature -and an outraged stomach relieved themselves in their own therapeutic -manner, the ape-man broke into a violent perspiration and then fell -into a normal and untroubled sleep which persisted well into the -afternoon. When he awoke he found himself weak but no longer sick. - -Once more he sought water, and after drinking deeply, took his way -slowly toward the cabin by the sea. In times of loneliness and trouble -it had long been his custom to seek there the quiet and restfulness -which he could find nowhere else. - -As he approached the cabin and raised the crude latch which his father -had fashioned so many years before, two small, blood-shot eyes watched -him from the concealing foliage of the jungle close by. From beneath -shaggy, beetling brows they glared maliciously upon him, maliciously -and with a keen curiosity; then Tarzan entered the cabin and closed the -door after him. Here, with all the world shut out from him, he could -dream without fear of interruption. He could curl up and look at the -pictures in the strange things which were books, he could puzzle out -the printed word he had learned to read without knowledge of the spoken -language it represented, he could live in a wonderful world of which he -had no knowledge beyond the covers of his beloved books. Numa and Sabor -might prowl about close to him, the elements might rage in all their -fury; but here at least, Tarzan might be entirely off his guard in a -delightful relaxation which gave him all his faculties for the -uninterrupted pursuit of this greatest of all his pleasures. - -Today he turned to the picture of the huge bird which bore off the -little Tarmangani in its talons. Tarzan puckered his brows as he -examined the colored print. Yes, this was the very bird that had -carried him off the day before, for to Tarzan the dream had been so -great a reality that he still thought another day and a night had -passed since he had lain down in the tree to sleep. - -But the more he thought upon the matter the less positive he was as to -the verity of the seeming adventure through which he had passed, yet -where the real had ceased and the unreal commenced he was quite unable -to determine. Had he really then been to the village of the blacks at -all, had he killed the old Gomangani, had he eaten of the elephant -meat, had he been sick? Tarzan scratched his tousled black head and -wondered. It was all very strange, yet he knew that he never had seen -Numa climb a tree, or Histah with the head and belly of an old black -man whom Tarzan already had slain. - -Finally, with a sigh he gave up trying to fathom the unfathomable, yet -in his heart of hearts he knew that something had come into his life -that he never before had experienced, another life which existed when -he slept and the consciousness of which was carried over into his -waking hours. - -Then he commenced to wonder if some of these strange creatures which he -met in his sleep might not slay him, for at such times Tarzan of the -Apes seemed to be a different Tarzan, sluggish, helpless and -timid—wishing to flee his enemies as fled Bara, the deer, most fearful -of creatures. - -Thus, with a dream, came the first faint tinge of a knowledge of fear, -a knowledge which Tarzan, awake, had never experienced, and perhaps he -was experiencing what his early forbears passed through and transmitted -to posterity in the form of superstition first and religion later; for -they, as Tarzan, had seen things at night which they could not explain -by the daylight standards of sense perception or of reason, and so had -built for themselves a weird explanation which included grotesque -shapes, possessed of strange and uncanny powers, to whom they finally -came to attribute all those inexplicable phenomena of nature which with -each recurrence filled them with awe, with wonder, or with terror. - -And as Tarzan concentrated his mind on the little bugs upon the printed -page before him, the active recollection of the strange adventures -presently merged into the text of that which he was reading—a story of -Bolgani, the gorilla, in captivity. There was a more or less lifelike -illustration of Bolgani in colors and in a cage, with many remarkable -looking Tarmangani standing against a rail and peering curiously at the -snarling brute. Tarzan wondered not a little, as he always did, at the -odd and seemingly useless array of colored plumage which covered the -bodies of the Tarmangani. It always caused him to grin a trifle when he -looked at these strange creatures. He wondered if they so covered their -bodies from shame of their hairlessness or because they thought the odd -things they wore added any to the beauty of their appearance. -Particularly was Tarzan amused by the grotesque headdresses of the -pictured people. He wondered how some of the shes succeeded in -balancing theirs in an upright position, and he came as near to -laughing aloud as he ever had, as he contemplated the funny little -round things upon the heads of the hes. - -Slowly the ape-man picked out the meaning of the various combinations -of letters on the printed page, and as he read, the little bugs, for as -such he always thought of the letters, commenced to run about in a most -confusing manner, blurring his vision and befuddling his thoughts. -Twice he brushed the back of a hand smartly across his eyes; but only -for a moment could he bring the bugs back to coherent and intelligible -form. He had slept ill the night before and now he was exhausted from -loss of sleep, from sickness, and from the slight fever he had had, so -that it became more and more difficult to fix his attention, or to keep -his eyes open. - -Tarzan realized that he was falling asleep, and just as the realization -was borne in upon him and he had decided to relinquish himself to an -inclination which had assumed almost the proportions of a physical -pain, he was aroused by the opening of the cabin door. Turning quickly -toward the interruption Tarzan was amazed, for a moment, to see bulking -large in the doorway the huge and hairy form of Bolgani, the gorilla. - -Now there was scarcely a denizen of the great jungle with whom Tarzan -would rather not have been cooped up inside the small cabin than -Bolgani, the gorilla, yet he felt no fear, even though his quick eye -noted that Bolgani was in the throes of that jungle madness which -seizes upon so many of the fiercer males. Ordinarily the huge gorillas -avoid conflict, hide themselves from the other jungle folk, and are -generally the best of neighbors; but when they are attacked, or the -madness seizes them, there is no jungle denizen so bold and fierce as -to deliberately seek a quarrel with them. - -But for Tarzan there was no escape. Bolgani was glowering at him from -red-rimmed, wicked eyes. In a moment he would rush in and seize the -ape-man. Tarzan reached for the hunting knife where he had lain it on -the table beside him; but as his fingers did not immediately locate the -weapon, he turned a quick glance in search of it. As he did so his eyes -fell upon the book he had been looking at which still lay open at the -picture of Bolgani. Tarzan found his knife, but he merely fingered it -idly and grinned in the direction of the advancing gorilla. - -Not again would he be fooled by empty things which came while he slept! -In a moment, no doubt, Bolgani would turn into Pamba, the rat, with the -head of Tantor, the elephant. Tarzan had seen enough of such strange -happenings recently to have some idea as to what he might expect; but -this time Bolgani did not alter his form as he came slowly toward the -young ape-man. - -Tarzan was a bit puzzled, too, that he felt no desire to rush -frantically to some place of safety, as had been the sensation most -conspicuous in the other of his new and remarkable adventures. He was -just himself now, ready to fight, if necessary; but still sure that no -flesh and blood gorilla stood before him. - -The thing should be fading away into thin air by now, thought Tarzan, -or changing into something else; yet it did not. Instead it loomed -clear-cut and real as Bolgani himself, the magnificent dark coat -glistening with life and health in a bar of sunlight which shot across -the cabin through the high window behind the young Lord Greystoke. This -was quite the most realistic of his sleep adventures, thought Tarzan, -as he passively awaited the next amusing incident. - -And then the gorilla charged. Two mighty, calloused hands seized upon -the ape-man, great fangs were bared close to his face, a hideous growl -burst from the cavernous throat and hot breath fanned Tarzan’s cheek, -and still he sat grinning at the apparition. Tarzan might be fooled -once or twice, but not for so many times in succession! He knew that -this Bolgani was no real Bolgani, for had he been he never could have -gained entrance to the cabin, since only Tarzan knew how to operate the -latch. - -The gorilla seemed puzzled by the strange passivity of the hairless -ape. He paused an instant with his jaws snarling close to the other’s -throat, then he seemed suddenly to come to some decision. Whirling the -ape-man across a hairy shoulder, as easily as you or I might lift a -babe in arms, Bolgani turned and dashed out into the open, racing -toward the great trees. - -Now, indeed, was Tarzan sure that this was a sleep adventure, and so -grinned largely as the giant gorilla bore him, unresisting, away. -Presently, reasoned Tarzan, he would awaken and find himself back in -the cabin where he had fallen asleep. He glanced back at the thought -and saw the cabin door standing wide open. This would never do! Always -had he been careful to close and latch it against wild intruders. Manu, -the monkey, would make sad havoc there among Tarzan’s treasures should -he have access to the interior for even a few minutes. The question -which arose in Tarzan’s mind was a baffling one. Where did sleep -adventures end and reality commence? How was he to be sure that the -cabin door was not really open? Everything about him appeared quite -normal—there were none of the grotesque exaggerations of his former -sleep adventures. It would be better then to be upon the safe side and -make sure that the cabin door was closed—it would do no harm even if -all that seemed to be happening were not happening at all. - -Tarzan essayed to slip from Bolgani’s shoulder; but the great beast -only growled ominously and gripped him tighter. With a mighty effort -the ape-man wrenched himself loose, and as he slid to the ground, the -dream gorilla turned ferociously upon him, seized him once more and -buried great fangs in a sleek, brown shoulder. - -The grin of derision faded from Tarzan’s lips as the pain and the hot -blood aroused his fighting instincts. Asleep or awake, this thing was -no longer a joke! Biting, tearing, and snarling, the two rolled over -upon the ground. The gorilla now was frantic with insane rage. Again -and again he loosed his hold upon the ape-man’s shoulder in an attempt -to seize the jugular; but Tarzan of the Apes had fought before with -creatures who struck first for the vital vein, and each time he -wriggled out of harm’s way as he strove to get his fingers upon his -adversary’s throat. At last he succeeded—his great muscles tensed and -knotted beneath his smooth hide as he forced with every ounce of his -mighty strength to push the hairy torso from him. And as he choked -Bolgani and strained him away, his other hand crept slowly upward -between them until the point of the hunting knife rested over the -savage heart—there was a quick movement of the steel-thewed wrist and -the blade plunged to its goal. - -Bolgani, the gorilla, voiced a single frightful shriek, tore himself -loose from the grasp of the ape-man, rose to his feet, staggered a few -steps and then plunged to earth. There were a few spasmodic movements -of the limbs and the brute was still. - -Tarzan of the Apes stood looking down upon his kill, and as he stood -there he ran his fingers through his thick, black shock of hair. -Presently he stooped and touched the dead body. Some of the red -life-blood of the gorilla crimsoned his fingers. He raised them to his -nose and sniffed. Then he shook his head and turned toward the cabin. -The door was still open. He closed it and fastened the latch. Returning -toward the body of his kill he again paused and scratched his head. - -If this was a sleep adventure, what then was reality? How was he to -know the one from the other? How much of all that had happened in his -life had been real and how much unreal? - -He placed a foot upon the prostrate form and raising his face to the -heavens gave voice to the kill cry of the bull ape. Far in the distance -a lion answered. It was very real and, yet, he did not know. Puzzled, -he turned away into the jungle. - -No, he did not know what was real and what was not; but there was one -thing that he did know—never again would he eat of the flesh of Tantor, -the elephant. - - - - -CHAPTER X -The Battle for Teeka - - -The day was perfect. A cool breeze tempered the heat of the equatorial -sun. Peace had reigned within the tribe for weeks and no alien enemy -had trespassed upon its preserves from without. To the ape-mind all -this was sufficient evidence that the future would be identical with -the immediate past—that Utopia would persist. - -The sentinels, now from habit become a fixed tribal custom, either -relaxed their vigilance or entirely deserted their posts, as the whim -seized them. The tribe was far scattered in search of food. Thus may -peace and prosperity undermine the safety of the most primitive -community even as it does that of the most cultured. - -Even the individuals became less watchful and alert, so that one might -have thought Numa and Sabor and Sheeta entirely deleted from the scheme -of things. The shes and the balus roamed unguarded through the sullen -jungle, while the greedy males foraged far afield, and thus it was that -Teeka and Gazan, her balu, hunted upon the extreme southern edge of the -tribe with no great male near them. - -Still farther south there moved through the forest a sinister figure—a -huge bull ape, maddened by solitude and defeat. A week before he had -contended for the kingship of a tribe far distant, and now battered, -and still sore, he roamed the wilderness an outcast. Later he might -return to his own tribe and submit to the will of the hairy brute he -had attempted to dethrone; but for the time being he dared not do so, -since he had sought not only the crown but the wives, as well, of his -lord and master. It would require an entire moon at least to bring -forgetfulness to him he had wronged, and so Toog wandered a strange -jungle, grim, terrible, hate-filled. - -It was in this mental state that Toog came unexpectedly upon a young -she feeding alone in the jungle—a stranger she, lithe and strong and -beautiful beyond compare. Toog caught his breath and slunk quickly to -one side of the trail where the dense foliage of the tropical -underbrush concealed him from Teeka while permitting him to feast his -eyes upon her loveliness. - -But not alone were they concerned with Teeka—they roved the surrounding -jungle in search of the bulls and cows and balus of her tribe, though -principally for the bulls. When one covets a she of an alien tribe one -must take into consideration the great, fierce, hairy guardians who -seldom wander far from their wards and who will fight a stranger to the -death in protection of the mate or offspring of a fellow, precisely as -they would fight for their own. - -Toog could see no sign of any ape other than the strange she and a -young balu playing near by. His wicked, blood-shot eyes half closed as -they rested upon the charms of the former—as for the balu, one snap of -those great jaws upon the back of its little neck would prevent it from -raising any unnecessary alarm. - -Toog was a fine, big male, resembling in many ways Teeka’s mate, Taug. -Each was in his prime, and each was wonderfully muscled, perfectly -fanged and as horrifyingly ferocious as the most exacting and -particular she could wish. Had Toog been of her own tribe, Teeka might -as readily have yielded to him as to Taug when her mating time arrived; -but now she was Taug’s and no other male could claim her without first -defeating Taug in personal combat. And even then Teeka retained some -rights in the matter. If she did not favor a correspondent, she could -enter the lists with her rightful mate and do her part toward -discouraging his advances, a part, too, which would prove no mean -assistance to her lord and master, for Teeka, even though her fangs -were smaller than a male’s, could use them to excellent effect. - -Just now Teeka was occupied in a fascinating search for beetles, to the -exclusion of all else. She did not realize how far she and Gazan had -become separated from the balance of the tribe, nor were her defensive -senses upon the alert as they should have been. Months of immunity from -danger under the protecting watchfulness of the sentries, which Tarzan -had taught the tribe to post, had lulled them all into a sense of -peaceful security based on that fallacy which has wrecked many -enlightened communities in the past and will continue to wreck others -in the future—that because they have not been attacked they never will -be. - -Toog, having satisfied himself that only the she and her balu were in -the immediate vicinity, crept stealthily forward. Teeka’s back was -toward him when he finally rushed upon her; but her senses were at last -awakened to the presence of danger and she wheeled to face the strange -bull just before he reached her. Toog halted a few paces from her. His -anger had fled before the seductive feminine charms of the stranger. He -made conciliatory noises—a species of clucking sound with his broad, -flat lips—that were, too, not greatly dissimilar to that which might be -produced in an osculatory solo. - -But Teeka only bared her fangs and growled. Little Gazan started to run -toward his mother, but she warned him away with a quick “Kreeg-ah!” -telling him to run high into a tall tree. Evidently Teeka was not -favorably impressed by her new suitor. Toog realized this and altered -his methods accordingly. He swelled his giant chest, beat upon it with -his calloused knuckles and swaggered to and fro before her. - -“I am Toog,” he boasted. “Look at my fighting fangs. Look at my great -arms and my mighty legs. With one bite I can slay your biggest bull. -Alone have I slain Sheeta. I am Toog. Toog wants you.” Then he waited -for the effect, nor did he have long to wait. Teeka turned with a -swiftness which belied her great weight and bolted in the opposite -direction. Toog, with an angry growl, leaped in pursuit; but the -smaller, lighter female was too fleet for him. He chased her for a few -yards and then, foaming and barking, he halted and beat upon the ground -with his hard fists. - -From the tree above him little Gazan looked down and witnessed the -stranger bull’s discomfiture. Being young, and thinking himself safe -above the reach of the heavy male, Gazan screamed an ill-timed insult -at their tormentor. Toog looked up. Teeka had halted at a little -distance—she would not go far from her balu; that Toog quickly realized -and as quickly determined to take advantage of. He saw that the tree in -which the young ape squatted was isolated and that Gazan could not -reach another without coming to earth. He would obtain the mother -through her love for her young. - -He swung himself into the lower branches of the tree. Little Gazan -ceased to insult him; his expression of deviltry changed to one of -apprehension, which was quickly followed by fear as Toog commenced to -ascend toward him. Teeka screamed to Gazan to climb higher, and the -little fellow scampered upward among the tiny branches which would not -support the weight of the great bull; but nevertheless Toog kept on -climbing. Teeka was not fearful. She knew that he could not ascend far -enough to reach Gazan, so she sat at a little distance from the tree -and applied jungle opprobrium to him. Being a female, she was a past -master of the art. - -But she did not know the malevolent cunning of Toog’s little brain. She -took it for granted that the bull would climb as high as he could -toward Gazan and then, finding that he could not reach him, resume his -pursuit of her, which she knew would prove equally fruitless. So sure -was she of the safety of her balu and her own ability to take care of -herself that she did not voice the cry for help which would soon have -brought the other members of the tribe flocking to her side. - -Toog slowly reached the limit to which he dared risk his great weight -to the slender branches. Gazan was still fifteen feet above him. The -bull braced himself and seized the main branch in his powerful hands, -then he commenced shaking it vigorously. Teeka was appalled. Instantly -she realized what the bull purposed. Gazan clung far out upon a swaying -limb. At the first shake he lost his balance, though he did not quite -fall, clinging still with his four hands; but Toog redoubled his -efforts; the shaking produced a violent snapping of the limb to which -the young ape clung. Teeka saw all too plainly what the outcome must be -and forgetting her own danger in the depth of her mother love, rushed -forward to ascend the tree and give battle to the fearsome creature -that menaced the life of her little one. - -But before ever she reached the bole, Toog had succeeded, by violent -shaking of the branch, to loosen Gazan’s hold. With a cry the little -fellow plunged down through the foliage, clutching futilely for a new -hold, and alighted with a sickening thud at his mother’s feet, where he -lay silent and motionless. Moaning, Teeka stooped to lift the still -form in her arms; but at the same instant Toog was upon her. - -Struggling and biting she fought to free herself; but the giant muscles -of the great bull were too much for her lesser strength. Toog struck -and choked her repeatedly until finally, half unconscious, she lapsed -into quasi submission. Then the bull lifted her to his shoulder and -turned back to the trail toward the south from whence he had come. - -Upon the ground lay the quiet form of little Gazan. He did not moan. He -did not move. The sun rose slowly toward meridian. A mangy thing, -lifting its nose to scent the jungle breeze, crept through the -underbrush. It was Dango, the hyena. Presently its ugly muzzle broke -through some near-by foliage and its cruel eyes fastened upon Gazan. - -Early that morning, Tarzan of the Apes had gone to the cabin by the -sea, where he passed many an hour at such times as the tribe was -ranging in the vicinity. On the floor lay the skeleton of a man—all -that remained of the former Lord Greystoke—lay as it had fallen some -twenty years before when Kerchak, the great ape, had thrown it, -lifeless, there. Long since had the termites and the small rodents -picked clean the sturdy English bones. For years Tarzan had seen it -lying there, giving it no more attention than he gave the countless -thousand bones that strewed his jungle haunts. On the bed another, -smaller, skeleton reposed and the youth ignored it as he ignored the -other. How could he know that the one had been his father, the other -his mother? The little pile of bones in the rude cradle, fashioned with -such loving care by the former Lord Greystoke, meant nothing to -him—that one day that little skull was to help prove his right to a -proud title was as far beyond his ken as the satellites of the suns of -Orion. To Tarzan they were bones—just bones. He did not need them, for -there was no meat left upon them, and they were not in his way, for he -knew no necessity for a bed, and the skeleton upon the floor he easily -could step over. - -Today he was restless. He turned the pages first of one book and then -of another. He glanced at pictures which he knew by heart, and tossed -the books aside. He rummaged for the thousandth time in the cupboard. -He took out a bag which contained several small, round pieces of metal. -He had played with them many times in the years gone by; but always he -replaced them carefully in the bag, and the bag in the cupboard, upon -the very shelf where first he had discovered it. In strange ways did -heredity manifest itself in the ape-man. Come of an orderly race, he -himself was orderly without knowing why. The apes dropped things -wherever their interest in them waned—in the tall grass or from the -high-flung branches of the trees. What they dropped they sometimes -found again, by accident; but not so the ways of Tarzan. For his few -belongings he had a place and scrupulously he returned each thing to -its proper place when he was done with it. The round pieces of metal in -the little bag always interested him. Raised pictures were upon either -side, the meaning of which he did not quite understand. The pieces were -bright and shiny. It amused him to arrange them in various figures upon -the table. Hundreds of times had he played thus. Today, while so -engaged, he dropped a lovely yellow piece—an English sovereign—which -rolled beneath the bed where lay all that was mortal of the once -beautiful Lady Alice. - -True to form, Tarzan at once dropped to his hands and knees and -searched beneath the bed for the lost gold piece. Strange as it might -appear, he had never before looked beneath the bed. He found the gold -piece, and something else he found, too—a small wooden box with a loose -cover. Bringing them both out he returned the sovereign to its bag and -the bag to its shelf within the cupboard; then he investigated the box. -It contained a quantity of cylindrical bits of metal, cone-shaped at -one end and flat at the other, with a projecting rim. They were all -quite green and dull, coated with years of verdigris. - -Tarzan removed a handful of them from the box and examined them. He -rubbed one upon another and discovered that the green came off, leaving -a shiny surface for two-thirds of their length and a dull gray over the -cone-shaped end. Finding a bit of wood he rubbed one of the cylinders -rapidly and was rewarded by a lustrous sheen which pleased him. - -At his side hung a pocket pouch taken from the body of one of the -numerous black warriors he had slain. Into this pouch he put a handful -of the new playthings, thinking to polish them at his leisure; then he -replaced the box beneath the bed, and finding nothing more to amuse -him, left the cabin and started back in the direction of the tribe. - -Shortly before he reached them he heard a great commotion ahead of -him—the loud screams of shes and balus, the savage, angry barking and -growling of the great bulls. Instantly he increased his speed, for the -“Kreeg-ahs” that came to his ears warned him that something was amiss -with his fellows. - -While Tarzan had been occupied with his own devices in the cabin of his -dead sire, Taug, Teeka’s mighty mate, had been hunting a mile to the -north of the tribe. At last, his belly filled, he had turned lazily -back toward the clearing where he had last seen the tribe and presently -commenced passing its members scattered alone or in twos or threes. -Nowhere did he see Teeka or Gazan, and soon he began inquiring of the -other apes where they might be; but none had seen them recently. - -Now the lower orders are not highly imaginative. They do not, as you -and I, paint vivid mental pictures of things which might have occurred, -and so Taug did not now apprehend that any misfortune had overtaken his -mate and their off-spring—he merely knew that he wished to find Teeka -that he might lie down in the shade and have her scratch his back while -his breakfast digested; but though he called to her and searched for -her and asked each whom he met, he could find no trace of Teeka, nor of -Gazan either. - -He was beginning to become peeved and had about made up his mind to -chastise Teeka for wandering so far afield when he wanted her. He was -moving south along a game trail, his calloused soles and knuckles -giving forth no sound, when he came upon Dango at the opposite side of -a small clearing. The eater of carrion did not see Taug, for all his -eyes were for something which lay in the grass beneath a tree—something -upon which he was sneaking with the cautious stealth of his breed. - -Taug, always cautious himself, as it behooves one to be who fares up -and down the jungle and desires to survive, swung noiselessly into a -tree, where he could have a better view of the clearing. He did not -fear Dango; but he wanted to see what it was that Dango stalked. In a -way, possibly, he was actuated as much by curiosity as by caution. - -And when Taug reached a place in the branches from which he could have -an unobstructed view of the clearing he saw Dango already sniffing at -something directly beneath him—something which Taug instantly -recognized as the lifeless form of his little Gazan. - -With a cry so frightful, so bestial, that it momentarily paralyzed the -startled Dango, the great ape launched his mighty bulk upon the -surprised hyena. With a cry and a snarl, Dango, crushed to earth, -turned to tear at his assailant; but as effectively might a sparrow -turn upon a hawk. Taug’s great, gnarled fingers closed upon the hyena’s -throat and back, his jaws snapped once on the mangy neck, crushing the -vertebrae, and then he hurled the dead body contemptuously aside. - -Again he raised his voice in the call of the bull ape to its mate, but -there was no reply; then he leaned down to sniff at the body of Gazan. -In the breast of this savage, hideous beast there beat a heart which -was moved, however slightly, by the same emotions of paternal love -which affect us. Even had we no actual evidence of this, we must know -it still, since only thus might be explained the survival of the human -race in which the jealousy and selfishness of the bulls would, in the -earliest stages of the race, have wiped out the young as rapidly as -they were brought into the world had not God implanted in the savage -bosom that paternal love which evidences itself most strongly in the -protective instinct of the male. - -In Taug the protective instinct was not alone highly developed; but -affection for his offspring as well, for Taug was an unusually -intelligent specimen of these great, manlike apes which the natives of -the Gobi speak of in whispers; but which no white man ever had seen, -or, if seeing, lived to tell of until Tarzan of the Apes came among -them. - -And so Taug felt sorrow as any other father might feel sorrow at the -loss of a little child. To you little Gazan might have seemed a hideous -and repulsive creature, but to Taug and Teeka he was as beautiful and -as cute as is your little Mary or Johnnie or Elizabeth Ann to you, and -he was their firstborn, their only balu, and a he—three things which -might make a young ape the apple of any fond father’s eye. - -For a moment Taug sniffed at the quiet little form. With his muzzle and -his tongue he smoothed and caressed the rumpled coat. From his savage -lips broke a low moan; but quickly upon the heels of sorrow came the -overmastering desire for revenge. - -Leaping to his feet he screamed out a volley of “Kreegahs,” punctuated -from time to time by the blood-freezing cry of an angry, challenging -bull—a rage-mad bull with the blood lust strong upon him. - -Answering his cries came the cries of the tribe as they swung through -the trees toward him. It was these that Tarzan heard on his return from -his cabin, and in reply to them he raised his own voice and hurried -forward with increased speed until he fairly flew through the middle -terraces of the forest. - -When at last he came upon the tribe he saw their members gathered about -Taug and something which lay quietly upon the ground. Dropping among -them, Tarzan approached the center of the group. Taug was still roaring -out his challenges; but when he saw Tarzan he ceased and stooping -picked up Gazan in his arms and held him out for Tarzan to see. Of all -the bulls of the tribe, Taug held affection for Tarzan only. Tarzan he -trusted and looked up to as one wiser and more cunning. To Tarzan he -came now—to the playmate of his balu days, the companion of innumerable -battles of his maturity. - -When Tarzan saw the still form in Taug’s arms, a low growl broke from -his lips, for he too loved Teeka’s little balu. - -“Who did it?” he asked. “Where is Teeka?” - -“I do not know,” replied Taug. “I found him lying here with Dango about -to feed upon him; but it was not Dango that did it—there are no fang -marks upon him.” - -Tarzan came closer and placed an ear against Gazan’s breast. “He is not -dead,” he said. “Maybe he will not die.” He pressed through the crowd -of apes and circled once about them, examining the ground step by step. -Suddenly he stopped and placing his nose close to the earth sniffed. -Then he sprang to his feet, giving a peculiar cry. Taug and the others -pressed forward, for the sound told them that the hunter had found the -spoor of his quarry. - -“A stranger bull has been here,” said Tarzan. “It was he that hurt -Gazan. He has carried off Teeka.” - -Taug and the other bulls commenced to roar and threaten; but they did -nothing. Had the stranger bull been within sight they would have torn -him to pieces; but it did not occur to them to follow him. - -“If the three bulls had been watching around the tribe this would not -have happened,” said Tarzan. “Such things will happen as long as you do -not keep the three bulls watching for an enemy. The jungle is full of -enemies, and yet you let your shes and your balus feed where they will, -alone and unprotected. Tarzan goes now—he goes to find Teeka and bring -her back to the tribe.” - -The idea appealed to the other bulls. “We will all go,” they cried. - -“No,” said Tarzan, “you will not all go. We cannot take shes and balus -when we go out to hunt and fight. You must remain to guard them or you -will lose them all.” - -They scratched their heads. The wisdom of his advice was dawning upon -them, but at first they had been carried away by the new idea—the idea -of following up an enemy offender to wrest his prize from him and -punish him. The community instinct was ingrained in their characters -through ages of custom. They did not know why they had not thought to -pursue and punish the offender—they could not know that it was because -they had as yet not reached a mental plane which would permit them to -work as individuals. In times of stress, the community instinct sent -them huddling into a compact herd where the great bulls, by the weight -of their combined strength and ferocity, could best protect them from -an enemy. The idea of separating to do battle with a foe had not yet -occurred to them—it was too foreign to custom, too inimical to -community interests; but to Tarzan it was the first and most natural -thought. His senses told him that there was but a single bull connected -with the attack upon Teeka and Gazan. A single enemy did not require -the entire tribe for his punishment. Two swift bulls could quickly -overhaul him and rescue Teeka. - -In the past no one ever had thought to go forth in search of the shes -that were occasionally stolen from the tribe. If Numa, Sabor, Sheeta or -a wandering bull ape from another tribe chanced to carry off a maid or -a matron while no one was looking, that was the end of it—she was gone, -that was all. The bereaved husband, if the victim chanced to have been -mated, growled around for a day or two and then, if he were strong -enough, took another mate within the tribe, and if not, wandered far -into the jungle on the chance of stealing one from another community. - -In the past Tarzan of the Apes had condoned this practice for the -reason that he had had no interest in those who had been stolen; but -Teeka had been his first love and Teeka’s balu held a place in his -heart such as a balu of his own would have held. Just once before had -Tarzan wished to follow and revenge. That had been years before when -Kulonga, the son of Mbonga, the chief, had slain Kala. Then, -single-handed, Tarzan had pursued and avenged. Now, though to a lesser -degree, he was moved by the same passion. - -He turned toward Taug. “Leave Gazan with Mumga,” he said. “She is old -and her fangs are broken and she is no good; but she can take care of -Gazan until we return with Teeka, and if Gazan is dead when we come -back,” he turned to address Mumga, “I will kill you, too.” - -“Where are we going?” asked Taug. - -“We are going to get Teeka,” replied the ape-man, “and kill the bull -who has stolen her. Come!” - -He turned again to the spoor of the stranger bull, which showed plainly -to his trained senses, nor did he glance back to note if Taug followed. -The latter laid Gazan in Mumga’s arms with a parting: “If he dies -Tarzan will kill you,” and he followed after the brown-skinned figure -that already was moving at a slow trot along the jungle trail. - -No other bull of the tribe of Kerchak was so good a trailer as Tarzan, -for his trained senses were aided by a high order of intelligence. His -judgment told him the natural trail for a quarry to follow, so that he -need but note the most apparent marks upon the way, and today the trail -of Toog was as plain to him as type upon a printed page to you or me. - -Following close behind the lithe figure of the ape-man came the huge -and shaggy bull ape. No words passed between them. They moved as -silently as two shadows among the myriad shadows of the forest. Alert -as his eyes and ears, was Tarzan’s patrician nose. The spoor was fresh, -and now that they had passed from the range of the strong ape odor of -the tribe he had little difficulty in following Toog and Teeka by scent -alone. Teeka’s familiar scent spoor told both Tarzan and Taug that they -were upon her trail, and soon the scent of Toog became as familiar as -the other. - -They were progressing rapidly when suddenly dense clouds overcast the -sun. Tarzan accelerated his pace. Now he fairly flew along the jungle -trail, or, where Toog had taken to the trees, followed nimbly as a -squirrel along the bending, undulating pathway of the foliage branches, -swinging from tree to tree as Toog had swung before them; but more -rapidly because they were not handicapped by a burden such as Toog’s. - -Tarzan felt that they must be almost upon the quarry, for the scent -spoor was becoming stronger and stronger, when the jungle was suddenly -shot by livid lightning, and a deafening roar of thunder reverberated -through the heavens and the forest until the earth trembled and shook. -Then came the rain—not as it comes to us of the temperate zones, but as -a mighty avalanche of water—a deluge which spills tons instead of drops -upon the bending forest giants and the terrified creatures which haunt -their shade. - -And the rain did what Tarzan knew that it would do—it wiped the spoor -of the quarry from the face of the earth. For a half hour the torrents -fell—then the sun burst forth, jeweling the forest with a million -scintillant gems; but today the ape-man, usually alert to the changing -wonders of the jungle, saw them not. Only the fact that the spoor of -Teeka and her abductor was obliterated found lodgment in his thoughts. - -Even among the branches of the trees there are well-worn trails, just -as there are trails upon the surface of the ground; but in the trees -they branch and cross more often, since the way is more open than among -the dense undergrowth at the surface. Along one of these well-marked -trails Tarzan and Taug continued after the rain had ceased, because the -ape-man knew that this was the most logical path for the thief to -follow; but when they came to a fork, they were at a loss. Here they -halted, while Tarzan examined every branch and leaf which might have -been touched by the fleeing ape. - -He sniffed the bole of the tree, and with his keen eyes he sought to -find upon the bark some sign of the way the quarry had taken. It was -slow work and all the time, Tarzan knew, the bull of the alien tribe -was forging steadily away from them—gaining precious minutes that might -carry him to safety before they could catch up with him. - -First along one fork he went, and then another, applying every test -that his wonderful junglecraft was cognizant of; but again and again he -was baffled, for the scent had been washed away by the heavy downpour, -in every exposed place. For a half hour Tarzan and Taug searched, until -at last, upon the bottom of a broad leaf, Tarzan’s keen nose caught the -faint trace of the scent spoor of Toog, where the leaf had brushed a -hairy shoulder as the great ape passed through the foliage. - -Once again the two took up the trail, but it was slow work now and -there were many discouraging delays when the spoor seemed lost beyond -recovery. To you or me there would have been no spoor, even before the -coming of the rain, except, possibly, where Toog had come to earth and -followed a game trail. In such places the imprint of a huge handlike -foot and the knuckles of one great hand were sometimes plain enough for -an ordinary mortal to read. Tarzan knew from these and other -indications that the ape was yet carrying Teeka. The depth of the -imprint of his feet indicated a much greater weight than that of any of -the larger bulls, for they were made under the combined weight of Toog -and Teeka, while the fact that the knuckles of but one hand touched the -ground at any time showed that the other hand was occupied in some -other business—the business of holding the prisoner to a hairy -shoulder. Tarzan could follow, in sheltered places, the changing of the -burden from one shoulder to another, as indicated by the deepening of -the foot imprint upon the side of the load, and the changing of the -knuckle imprints from one side of the trail to the other. - -There were stretches along the surface paths where the ape had gone for -considerable distances entirely erect upon his hind feet—walking as a -man walks; but the same might have been true of any of the great -anthropoids of the same species, for, unlike the chimpanzee and the -gorilla, they walk without the aid of their hands quite as readily as -with. It was such things, however, which helped to identify to Tarzan -and to Taug the appearance of the abductor, and with his individual -scent characteristic already indelibly impressed upon their memories, -they were in a far better position to know him when they came upon him, -even should he have disposed of Teeka before, than is a modern sleuth -with his photographs and Bertillon measurements, equipped to recognize -a fugitive from civilized justice. - -But with all their high-strung and delicately attuned perceptive -faculties the two bulls of the tribe of Kerchak were often sore pressed -to follow the trail at all, and at best were so delayed that in the -afternoon of the second day, they still had not overhauled the -fugitive. The scent was now strong, for it had been made since the -rain, and Tarzan knew that it would not be long before they came upon -the thief and his loot. Above them, as they crept stealthily forward, -chattered Manu, the monkey, and his thousand fellows; squawked and -screamed the brazen-throated birds of plumage; buzzed and hummed the -countless insects amid the rustling of the forest leaves, and, as they -passed, a little gray-beard, squeaking and scolding upon a swaying -branch, looked down and saw them. Instantly the scolding and squeaking -ceased, and off tore the long-tailed mite as though Sheeta, the -panther, had been endowed with wings and was in close pursuit of him. -To all appearances he was only a very much frightened little monkey, -fleeing for his life—there seemed nothing sinister about him. - -And what of Teeka during all this time? Was she at last resigned to her -fate and accompanying her new mate in the proper humility of a loving -and tractable spouse? A single glance at the pair would have answered -these questions to the utter satisfaction of the most captious. She was -torn and bleeding from many wounds, inflicted by the sullen Toog in his -vain efforts to subdue her to his will, and Toog too was disfigured and -mutilated; but with stubborn ferocity, he still clung to his now -useless prize. - -On through the jungle he forced his way in the direction of the -stamping ground of his tribe. He hoped that his king would have -forgotten his treason; but if not he was still resigned to his fate—any -fate would be better than suffering longer the sole companionship of -this frightful she, and then, too, he wished to exhibit his captive to -his fellows. Maybe he could wish her on the king—it is possible that -such a thought urged him on. - -At last they came upon two bulls feeding in a parklike grove—a -beautiful grove dotted with huge boulders half embedded in the rich -loam—mute monuments, possibly, to a forgotten age when mighty glaciers -rolled their slow course where now a torrid sun beats down upon a -tropic jungle. - -The two bulls looked up, baring long fighting fangs, as Toog appeared -in the distance. The latter recognized the two as friends. “It is -Toog,” he growled. “Toog has come back with a new she.” - -The apes waited his nearer approach. Teeka turned a snarling, fanged -face toward them. She was not pretty to look upon, yet through the -blood and hatred upon her countenance they realized that she was -beautiful, and they envied Toog—alas! they did not know Teeka. - -As they squatted looking at one another there raced through the trees -toward them a long-tailed little monkey with gray whiskers. He was a -very excited little monkey when he came to a halt upon the limb of a -tree directly overhead. “Two strange bulls come,” he cried. “One is a -Mangani, the other a hideous ape without hair upon his body. They -follow the spoor of Toog. I saw them.” - -The four apes turned their eyes backward along the trail Toog had just -come; then they looked at one another for a minute. “Come,” said the -larger of Toog’s two friends, “we will wait for the strangers in the -thick bushes beyond the clearing.” - -He turned and waddled away across the open place, the others following -him. The little monkey danced about, all excitement. His chief -diversion in life was to bring about bloody encounters between the -larger denizens of the forest, that he might sit in the safety of the -trees and witness the spectacles. He was a glutton for gore, was this -little, whiskered, gray monkey, so long as it was the gore of others—a -typical fight fan was the graybeard. - -The apes hid themselves in the shrubbery beside the trail along which -the two stranger bulls would pass. Teeka trembled with excitement. She -had heard the words of Manu, and she knew that the hairless ape must be -Tarzan, while the other was, doubtless, Taug. Never, in her wildest -hopes, had she expected succor of this sort. Her one thought had been -to escape and find her way back to the tribe of Kerchak; but even this -had appeared to her practically impossible, so closely did Toog watch -her. - -As Taug and Tarzan reached the grove where Toog had come upon his -friends, the ape scent became so strong that both knew the quarry was -but a short distance ahead. And so they went even more cautiously, for -they wished to come upon the thief from behind if they could and charge -him before he was aware of their presence. That a little gray-whiskered -monkey had forestalled them they did not know, nor that three pairs of -savage eyes were already watching their every move and waiting for them -to come within reach of itching paws and slavering jowls. - -On they came across the grove, and as they entered the path leading -into the dense jungle beyond, a sudden “Kreeg-ah!” shrilled out close -before them—a “Kreeg-ah” in the familiar voice of Teeka. The small -brains of Toog and his companions had not been able to foresee that -Teeka might betray them, and now that she had, they went wild with -rage. Toog struck the she a mighty blow that felled her, and then the -three rushed forth to do battle with Tarzan and Taug. The little monkey -danced upon his perch and screamed with delight. - -And indeed he might well be delighted, for it was a lovely fight. There -were no preliminaries, no formalities, no introductions—the five bulls -merely charged and clinched. They rolled in the narrow trail and into -the thick verdure beside it. They bit and clawed and scratched and -struck, and all the while they kept up the most frightful chorus of -growlings and barkings and roarings. In five minutes they were torn and -bleeding, and the little graybeard leaped high, shrilling his primitive -bravos; but always his attitude was “thumbs down.” He wanted to see -something killed. He did not care whether it were friend or foe. It was -blood he wanted—blood and death. - -Taug had been set upon by Toog and another of the apes, while Tarzan -had the third—a huge brute with the strength of a buffalo. Never before -had Tarzan’s assailant beheld so strange a creature as this slippery, -hairless bull with which he battled. Sweat and blood covered Tarzan’s -sleek, brown hide. Again and again he slipped from the clutches of the -great bull, and all the while he struggled to free his hunting knife -from the scabbard in which it had stuck. - -At length he succeeded—a brown hand shot out and clutched a hairy -throat, another flew upward clutching the sharp blade. Three swift, -powerful strokes and the bull relaxed with a groan, falling limp -beneath his antagonist. Instantly Tarzan broke from the clutches of the -dying bull and sprang to Taug’s assistance. Toog saw him coming and -wheeled to meet him. In the impact of the charge, Tarzan’s knife was -wrenched from his hand and then Toog closed with him. Now was the -battle even—two against two—while on the verge, Teeka, now recovered -from the blow that had felled her, slunk waiting for an opportunity to -aid. She saw Tarzan’s knife and picked it up. She never had used it, -but knew how Tarzan used it. Always had she been afraid of the thing -which dealt death to the mightiest of the jungle people with the ease -that Tantor’s great tusks deal death to Tantor’s enemies. - -She saw Tarzan’s pocket pouch torn from his side, and with the -curiosity of an ape, that even danger and excitement cannot entirely -dispel, she picked this up, too. - -Now the bulls were standing—the clinches had been broken. Blood -streamed down their sides—their faces were crimsoned with it. Little -graybeard was so fascinated that at last he had even forgotten to -scream and dance; but sat rigid with delight in the enjoyment of the -spectacle. - -Back across the grove Tarzan and Taug forced their adversaries. Teeka -followed slowly. She scarce knew what to do. She was lame and sore and -exhausted from the frightful ordeal through which she had passed, and -she had the confidence of her sex in the prowess of her mate and the -other bull of her tribe—they would not need the help of a she in their -battle with these two strangers. - -The roars and screams of the fighters reverberated through the jungle, -awakening the echoes in the distant hills. From the throat of Tarzan’s -antagonist had come a score of “Kreeg-ahs!” and now from behind came -the reply he had awaited. Into the grove, barking and growling, came a -score of huge bull apes—the fighting men of Toog’s tribe. - -Teeka saw them first and screamed a warning to Tarzan and Taug. Then -she fled past the fighters toward the opposite side of the clearing, -fear for a moment claiming her. Nor can one censure her after the -frightful ordeal from which she was still suffering. - -Down upon them came the great apes. In a moment Tarzan and Taug would -be torn to shreds that would later form the _pièce de résistance_ of -the savage orgy of a Dum-Dum. Teeka turned to glance back. She saw the -impending fate of her defenders and there sprung to life in her savage -bosom the spark of martyrdom, that some common forbear had transmitted -alike to Teeka, the wild ape, and the glorious women of a higher order -who have invited death for their men. With a shrill scream she ran -toward the battlers who were rolling in a great mass at the foot of one -of the huge boulders which dotted the grove; but what could she do? The -knife she held she could not use to advantage because of her lesser -strength. She had seen Tarzan throw missiles, and she had learned this -with many other things from her childhood playmate. She sought for -something to throw and at last her fingers touched upon the hard -objects in the pouch that had been torn from the ape-man. Tearing the -receptacle open, she gathered a handful of shiny cylinders—heavy for -their size, they seemed to her, and good missiles. With all her -strength she hurled them at the apes battling in front of the granite -boulder. - -The result surprised Teeka quite as much as it did the apes. There was -a loud explosion, which deafened the fighters, and a puff of acrid -smoke. Never before had one there heard such a frightful noise. -Screaming with terror, the stranger bulls leaped to their feet and fled -back toward the stamping ground of their tribe, while Taug and Tarzan -slowly gathered themselves together and arose, lame and bleeding, to -their feet. They, too, would have fled had they not seen Teeka standing -there before them, the knife and the pocket pouch in her hands. - -“What was it?” asked Tarzan. - -Teeka shook her head. “I hurled these at the stranger bulls,” and she -held forth another handful of the shiny metal cylinders with the dull -gray, cone-shaped ends. - -Tarzan looked at them and scratched his head. - -“What are they?” asked Taug. - -“I do not know,” said Tarzan. “I found them.” - -The little monkey with the gray beard halted among the trees a mile -away and huddled, terrified, against a branch. He did not know that the -dead father of Tarzan of the Apes, reaching back out of the past across -a span of twenty years, had saved his son’s life. - -Nor did Tarzan, Lord Greystoke, know it either. - - - - -CHAPTER XI -A Jungle Joke - - -Time seldom hung heavily upon Tarzan’s hands. Even where there is -sameness there cannot be monotony if most of the sameness consists in -dodging death first in one form and then in another; or in inflicting -death upon others. There is a spice to such an existence; but even this -Tarzan of the Apes varied in activities of his own invention. - -He was full grown now, with the grace of a Greek god and the thews of a -bull, and, by all the tenets of apedom, should have been sullen, -morose, and brooding; but he was not. His spirits seemed not to age at -all—he was still a playful child, much to the discomfiture of his -fellow-apes. They could not understand him or his ways, for with -maturity they quickly forgot their youth and its pastimes. - -Nor could Tarzan quite understand them. It seemed strange to him that a -few moons since, he had roped Taug about an ankle and dragged him -screaming through the tall jungle grasses, and then rolled and tumbled -in good-natured mimic battle when the young ape had freed himself, and -that today when he had come up behind the same Taug and pulled him over -backward upon the turf, instead of the playful young ape, a great, -snarling beast had whirled and leaped for his throat. - -Easily Tarzan eluded the charge and quickly Taug’s anger vanished, -though it was not replaced with playfulness; yet the ape-man realized -that Taug was not amused nor was he amusing. The big bull ape seemed to -have lost whatever sense of humor he once may have possessed. With a -grunt of disappointment, young Lord Greystoke turned to other fields of -endeavor. A strand of black hair fell across one eye. He brushed it -aside with the palm of a hand and a toss of his head. It suggested -something to do, so he sought his quiver which lay cached in the hollow -bole of a lightning-riven tree. Removing the arrows he turned the -quiver upside down, emptying upon the ground the contents of its -bottom—his few treasures. Among them was a flat bit of stone and a -shell which he had picked up from the beach near his father’s cabin. - -With great care he rubbed the edge of the shell back and forth upon the -flat stone until the soft edge was quite fine and sharp. He worked much -as a barber does who hones a razor, and with every evidence of similar -practice; but his proficiency was the result of years of painstaking -effort. Unaided he had worked out a method of his own for putting an -edge upon the shell—he even tested it with the ball of his thumb—and -when it met with his approval he grasped a wisp of hair which fell -across his eyes, grasped it between the thumb and first finger of his -left hand and sawed upon it with the sharpened shell until it was -severed. All around his head he went until his black shock was rudely -bobbed with a ragged bang in front. For the appearance of it he cared -nothing; but in the matter of safety and comfort it meant everything. A -lock of hair falling in one’s eyes at the wrong moment might mean all -the difference between life and death, while straggly strands, hanging -down one’s back were most uncomfortable, especially when wet with dew -or rain or perspiration. - -As Tarzan labored at his tonsorial task, his active mind was busy with -many things. He recalled his recent battle with Bolgani, the gorilla, -the wounds of which were but just healed. He pondered the strange sleep -adventures of his first dreams, and he smiled at the painful outcome of -his last practical joke upon the tribe, when, dressed in the hide of -Numa, the lion, he had come roaring upon them, only to be leaped upon -and almost killed by the great bulls whom he had taught how to defend -themselves from an attack of their ancient enemy. - -His hair lopped off to his entire satisfaction, and seeing no -possibility of pleasure in the company of the tribe, Tarzan swung -leisurely into the trees and set off in the direction of his cabin; but -when part way there his attention was attracted by a strong scent spoor -coming from the north. It was the scent of the Gomangani. - -Curiosity, that best-developed, common heritage of man and ape, always -prompted Tarzan to investigate where the Gomangani were concerned. -There was that about them which aroused his imagination. Possibly it -was because of the diversity of their activities and interests. The -apes lived to eat and sleep and propagate. The same was true of all the -other denizens of the jungle, save the Gomangani. - -These black fellows danced and sang, scratched around in the earth from -which they had cleared the trees and underbrush; they watched things -grow, and when they had ripened, they cut them down and put them in -straw-thatched huts. They made bows and spears and arrows, poison, -cooking pots, things of metal to wear around their arms and legs. If it -hadn’t been for their black faces, their hideously disfigured features, -and the fact that one of them had slain Kala, Tarzan might have wished -to be one of them. At least he sometimes thought so, but always at the -thought there rose within him a strange revulsion of feeling, which he -could not interpret or understand—he simply knew that he hated the -Gomangani, and that he would rather be Histah, the snake, than one of -these. - -But their ways were interesting, and Tarzan never tired of spying upon -them, and from them he learned much more than he realized, though -always his principal thought was of some new way in which he could -render their lives miserable. The baiting of the blacks was Tarzan’s -chief divertissement. - -Tarzan realized now that the blacks were very near and that there were -many of them, so he went silently and with great caution. Noiselessly -he moved through the lush grasses of the open spaces, and where the -forest was dense, swung from one swaying branch to another, or leaped -lightly over tangled masses of fallen trees where there was no way -through the lower terraces, and the ground was choked and impassable. - -And so presently he came within sight of the black warriors of Mbonga, -the chief. They were engaged in a pursuit with which Tarzan was more or -less familiar, having watched them at it upon other occasions. They -were placing and baiting a trap for Numa, the lion. In a cage upon -wheels they were tying a kid, so fastening it that when Numa seized the -unfortunate creature, the door of the cage would drop behind him, -making him a prisoner. - -These things the blacks had learned in their old home, before they -escaped through the untracked jungle to their new village. Formerly -they had dwelt in the Belgian Congo until the cruelties of their -heartless oppressors had driven them to seek the safety of unexplored -solitudes beyond the boundaries of Leopold’s domain. - -In their old life they often had trapped animals for the agents of -European dealers, and had learned from them certain tricks, such as -this one, which permitted them to capture even Numa without injuring -him, and to transport him in safety and with comparative ease to their -village. - -No longer was there a white market for their savage wares; but there -was still a sufficient incentive for the taking of Numa—alive. First -was the necessity for ridding the jungle of man-eaters, and it was only -after depredations by these grim and terrible scourges that a lion hunt -was organized. Secondarily was the excuse for an orgy of celebration -was the hunt successful, and the fact that such fetes were rendered -doubly pleasurable by the presence of a live creature that might be put -to death by torture. - -Tarzan had witnessed these cruel rites in the past. Being himself more -savage than the savage warriors of the Gomangani, he was not so shocked -by the cruelty of them as he should have been, yet they did shock him. -He could not understand the strange feeling of revulsion which -possessed him at such times. He had no love for Numa, the lion, yet he -bristled with rage when the blacks inflicted upon his enemy such -indignities and cruelties as only the mind of the one creature molded -in the image of God can conceive. - -Upon two occasions he had freed Numa from the trap before the blacks -had returned to discover the success or failure of their venture. He -would do the same today—that he decided immediately he realized the -nature of their intentions. - -Leaving the trap in the center of a broad elephant trail near the -drinking hole, the warriors turned back toward their village. On the -morrow they would come again. Tarzan looked after them, upon his lips -an unconscious sneer—the heritage of unguessed caste. He saw them file -along the broad trail, beneath the overhanging verdure of leafy branch -and looped and festooned creepers, brushing ebon shoulders against -gorgeous blooms which inscrutable Nature has seen fit to lavish most -profusely farthest from the eye of man. - -As Tarzan watched, through narrowed lids, the last of the warriors -disappear beyond a turn in the trail, his expression altered to the -urge of a newborn thought. A slow, grim smile touched his lips. He -looked down upon the frightened, bleating kid, advertising, in its fear -and its innocence, its presence and its helplessness. - -Dropping to the ground, Tarzan approached the trap and entered. Without -disturbing the fiber cord, which was adjusted to drop the door at the -proper time, he loosened the living bait, tucked it under an arm and -stepped out of the cage. - -With his hunting knife he quieted the frightened animal, severing its -jugular; then he dragged it, bleeding, along the trail down to the -drinking hole, the half smile persisting upon his ordinarily grave -face. At the water’s edge the ape-man stooped and with hunting knife -and quick strong fingers deftly removed the dead kid’s viscera. -Scraping a hole in the mud, he buried these parts which he did not eat, -and swinging the body to his shoulder took to the trees. - -For a short distance he pursued his way in the wake of the black -warriors, coming down presently to bury the meat of his kill where it -would be safe from the depredations of Dango, the hyena, or the other -meat-eating beasts and birds of the jungle. He was hungry. Had he been -all beast he would have eaten; but his man-mind could entertain urges -even more potent than those of the belly, and now he was concerned with -an idea which kept a smile upon his lips and his eyes sparkling in -anticipation. An idea, it was, which permitted him to forget that he -was hungry. - -The meat safely cached, Tarzan trotted along the elephant trail after -the Gomangani. Two or three miles from the cage he overtook them and -then he swung into the trees and followed above and behind them—waiting -his chance. - -Among the blacks was Rabba Kega, the witch-doctor. Tarzan hated them -all; but Rabba Kega he especially hated. As the blacks filed along the -winding path, Rabba Kega, being lazy, dropped behind. This Tarzan -noted, and it filled him with satisfaction—his being radiated a grim -and terrible content. Like an angel of death he hovered above the -unsuspecting black. - -Rabba Kega, knowing that the village was but a short distance ahead, -sat down to rest. Rest well, O Rabba Kega! It is thy last opportunity. - -Tarzan crept stealthily among the branches of the tree above the -well-fed, self-satisfied witch-doctor. He made no noise that the dull -ears of man could hear above the soughing of the gentle jungle breeze -among the undulating foliage of the upper terraces, and when he came -close above the black man he halted, well concealed by leafy branch and -heavy creeper. - -Rabba Kega sat with his back against the bole of a tree, facing Tarzan. -The position was not such as the waiting beast of prey desired, and so, -with the infinite patience of the wild hunter, the ape-man crouched -motionless and silent as a graven image until the fruit should be ripe -for the plucking. A poisonous insect buzzed angrily out of space. It -loitered, circling, close to Tarzan’s face. The ape-man saw and -recognized it. The virus of its sting spelled death for lesser things -than he—for him it would mean days of anguish. He did not move. His -glittering eyes remained fixed upon Rabba Kega after acknowledging the -presence of the winged torture by a single glance. He heard and -followed the movements of the insect with his keen ears, and then he -felt it alight upon his forehead. No muscle twitched, for the muscles -of such as he are the servants of the brain. Down across his face crept -the horrid thing—over nose and lips and chin. Upon his throat it -paused, and turning, retraced its steps. Tarzan watched Rabba Kega. Now -not even his eyes moved. So motionless he crouched that only death -might counterpart his movelessness. The insect crawled upward over the -nut-brown cheek and stopped with its antennae brushing the lashes of -his lower lid. You or I would have started back, closing our eyes and -striking at the thing; but you and I are the slaves, not the masters of -our nerves. Had the thing crawled upon the eyeball of the ape-man, it -is believable that he could yet have remained wide-eyed and rigid; but -it did not. For a moment it loitered there close to the lower lid, then -it rose and buzzed away. - -Down toward Rabba Kega it buzzed and the black man heard it, saw it, -struck at it, and was stung upon the cheek before he killed it. Then he -rose with a howl of pain and anger, and as he turned up the trail -toward the village of Mbonga, the chief, his broad, black back was -exposed to the silent thing waiting above him. - -And as Rabba Kega turned, a lithe figure shot outward and downward from -the tree above upon his broad shoulders. The impact of the springing -creature carried Rabba Kega to the ground. He felt strong jaws close -upon his neck, and when he tried to scream, steel fingers throttled his -throat. The powerful black warrior struggled to free himself; but he -was as a child in the grip of his adversary. - -Presently Tarzan released his grip upon the other’s throat; but each -time that Rabba Kega essayed a scream, the cruel fingers choked him -painfully. At last the warrior desisted. Then Tarzan half rose and -kneeled upon his victim’s back, and when Rabba Kega struggled to arise, -the ape-man pushed his face down into the dirt of the trail. With a bit -of the rope that had secured the kid, Tarzan made Rabba Kega’s wrists -secure behind his back, then he rose and jerked his prisoner to his -feet, faced him back along the trail and pushed him on ahead. - -Not until he came to his feet did Rabba Kega obtain a square look at -his assailant. When he saw that it was the white devil-god his heart -sank within him and his knees trembled; but as he walked along the -trail ahead of his captor and was neither injured nor molested his -spirits slowly rose, so that he took heart again. Possibly the -devil-god did not intend to kill him after all. Had he not had little -Tibo in his power for days without harming him, and had he not spared -Momaya, Tibo’s mother, when he easily might have slain her? - -And then they came upon the cage which Rabba Kega, with the other black -warriors of the village of Mbonga, the chief, had placed and baited for -Numa. Rabba Kega saw that the bait was gone, though there was no lion -within the cage, nor was the door dropped. He saw and he was filled -with wonder not unmixed with apprehension. It entered his dull brain -that in some way this combination of circumstances had a connection -with his presence there as the prisoner of the white devil-god. - -Nor was he wrong. Tarzan pushed him roughly into the cage, and in -another moment Rabba Kega understood. Cold sweat broke from every pore -of his body—he trembled as with ague—for the ape-man was binding him -securely in the very spot the kid had previously occupied. The -witch-doctor pleaded, first for his life, and then for a death less -cruel; but he might as well have saved his pleas for Numa, since -already they were directed toward a wild beast who understood no word -of what he said. - -But his constant jabbering not only annoyed Tarzan, who worked in -silence, but suggested that later the black might raise his voice in -cries for succor, so he stepped out of the cage, gathered a handful of -grass and a small stick and returning, jammed the grass into Rabba -Kega’s mouth, laid the stick crosswise between his teeth and fastened -it there with the thong from Rabba Kega’s loin cloth. Now could the -witch-doctor but roll his eyes and sweat. Thus Tarzan left him. - -The ape-man went first to the spot where he had cached the body of the -kid. Digging it up, he ascended into a tree and proceeded to satisfy -his hunger. What remained he again buried; then he swung away through -the trees to the water hole, and going to the spot where fresh, cold -water bubbled from between two rocks, he drank deeply. The other beasts -might wade in and drink stagnant water; but not Tarzan of the Apes. In -such matters he was fastidious. From his hands he washed every trace of -the repugnant scent of the Gomangani, and from his face the blood of -the kid. Rising, he stretched himself not unlike some huge, lazy cat, -climbed into a near-by tree and fell asleep. - -When he awoke it was dark, though a faint luminosity still tinged the -western heavens. A lion moaned and coughed as it strode through the -jungle toward water. It was approaching the drinking hole. Tarzan -grinned sleepily, changed his position and fell asleep again. - -When the blacks of Mbonga, the chief, reached their village they -discovered that Rabba Kega was not among them. When several hours had -elapsed they decided that something had happened to him, and it was the -hope of the majority of the tribe that whatever had happened to him -might prove fatal. They did not love the witch-doctor. Love and fear -seldom are playmates; but a warrior is a warrior, and so Mbonga -organized a searching party. That his own grief was not unassuagable -might have been gathered from the fact that he remained at home and -went to sleep. The young warriors whom he sent out remained steadfast -to their purpose for fully half an hour, when, unfortunately for Rabba -Kega—upon so slight a thing may the fate of a man rest—a honey bird -attracted the attention of the searchers and led them off for the -delicious store it previously had marked down for betrayal, and Rabba -Kega’s doom was sealed. - -When the searchers returned empty handed, Mbonga was wroth; but when he -saw the great store of honey they brought with them his rage subsided. -Already Tubuto, young, agile and evil-minded, with face hideously -painted, was practicing the black art upon a sick infant in the fond -hope of succeeding to the office and perquisites of Rabba Kega. Tonight -the women of the old witch-doctor would moan and howl. Tomorrow he -would be forgotten. Such is life, such is fame, such is power—in the -center of the world’s highest civilization, or in the depths of the -black, primeval jungle. Always, everywhere, man is man, nor has he -altered greatly beneath his veneer since he scurried into a hole -between two rocks to escape the tyrannosaurus six million years ago. - -The morning following the disappearance of Rabba Kega, the warriors set -out with Mbonga, the chief, to examine the trap they had set for Numa. -Long before they reached the cage, they heard the roaring of a great -lion and guessed that they had made a successful bag, so it was with -shouts of joy that they approached the spot where they should find -their captive. - -Yes! There he was, a great, magnificent specimen—a huge, black-maned -lion. The warriors were frantic with delight. They leaped into the air -and uttered savage cries—hoarse victory cries, and then they came -closer, and the cries died upon their lips, and their eyes went wide so -that the whites showed all around their irises, and their pendulous -lower lips drooped with their drooping jaws. They drew back in terror -at the sight within the cage—the mauled and mutilated corpse of what -had, yesterday, been Rabba Kega, the witch-doctor. - -The captured lion had been too angry and frightened to feed upon the -body of his kill; but he had vented upon it much of his rage, until it -was a frightful thing to behold. - -From his perch in a near-by tree Tarzan of the Apes, Lord Greystoke, -looked down upon the black warriors and grinned. Once again his -self-pride in his ability as a practical joker asserted itself. It had -lain dormant for some time following the painful mauling he had -received that time he leaped among the apes of Kerchak clothed in the -skin of Numa; but this joke was a decided success. - -After a few moments of terror, the blacks came closer to the cage, rage -taking the place of fear—rage and curiosity. How had Rabba Kega -happened to be in the cage? Where was the kid? There was no sign nor -remnant of the original bait. They looked closely and they saw, to -their horror, that the corpse of their erstwhile fellow was bound with -the very cord with which they had secured the kid. Who could have done -this thing? They looked at one another. - -Tubuto was the first to speak. He had come hopefully out with the -expedition that morning. Somewhere he might find evidence of the death -of Rabba Kega. Now he had found it, and he was the first to find an -explanation. - -“The white devil-god,” he whispered. “It is the work of the white -devil-god!” - -No one contradicted Tubuto, for, indeed, who else could it have been -but the great, hairless ape they all so feared? And so their hatred of -Tarzan increased again with an increased fear of him. And Tarzan sat in -his tree and hugged himself. - -No one there felt sorrow because of the death of Rabba Kega; but each -of the blacks experienced a personal fear of the ingenious mind which -might discover for any of them a death equally horrible to that which -the witch-doctor had suffered. It was a subdued and thoughtful company -which dragged the captive lion along the broad elephant path back to -the village of Mbonga, the chief. - -And it was with a sigh of relief that they finally rolled it into the -village and closed the gates behind them. Each had experienced the -sensation of being spied upon from the moment they left the spot where -the trap had been set, though none had seen or heard aught to give -tangible food to his fears. - -At the sight of the body within the cage with the lion, the women and -children of the village set up a most frightful lamentation, working -themselves into a joyous hysteria which far transcended the happy -misery derived by their more civilized prototypes who make a business -of dividing their time between the movies and the neighborhood funerals -of friends and strangers—especially strangers. - -From a tree overhanging the palisade, Tarzan watched all that passed -within the village. He saw the frenzied women tantalizing the great -lion with sticks and stones. The cruelty of the blacks toward a captive -always induced in Tarzan a feeling of angry contempt for the Gomangani. -Had he attempted to analyze this feeling he would have found it -difficult, for during all his life he had been accustomed to sights of -suffering and cruelty. He, himself, was cruel. All the beasts of the -jungle were cruel; but the cruelty of the blacks was of a different -order. It was the cruelty of wanton torture of the helpless, while the -cruelty of Tarzan and the other beasts was the cruelty of necessity or -of passion. - -Perhaps, had he known it, he might have credited this feeling of -repugnance at the sight of unnecessary suffering to heredity—to the -germ of British love of fair play which had been bequeathed to him by -his father and his mother; but, of course, he did not know, since he -still believed that his mother had been Kala, the great ape. - -And just in proportion as his anger rose against the Gomangani his -savage sympathy went out to Numa, the lion, for, though Numa was his -lifetime enemy, there was neither bitterness nor contempt in Tarzan’s -sentiments toward him. In the ape-man’s mind, therefore, the -determination formed to thwart the blacks and liberate the lion; but he -must accomplish this in some way which would cause the Gomangani the -greatest chagrin and discomfiture. - -As he squatted there watching the proceeding beneath him, he saw the -warriors seize upon the cage once more and drag it between two huts. -Tarzan knew that it would remain there now until evening, and that the -blacks were planning a feast and orgy in celebration of their capture. -When he saw that two warriors were placed beside the cage, and that -these drove off the women and children and young men who would have -eventually tortured Numa to death, he knew that the lion would be safe -until he was needed for the evening’s entertainment, when he would be -more cruelly and scientifically tortured for the edification of the -entire tribe. - -Now Tarzan preferred to bait the blacks in as theatric a manner as his -fertile imagination could evolve. He had some half-formed conception of -their superstitious fears and of their especial dread of night, and so -he decided to wait until darkness fell and the blacks partially worked -to hysteria by their dancing and religious rites before he took any -steps toward the freeing of Numa. In the meantime, he hoped, an idea -adequate to the possibilities of the various factors at hand would -occur to him. Nor was it long before one did. - -He had swung off through the jungle to search for food when the plan -came to him. At first it made him smile a little and then look dubious, -for he still retained a vivid memory of the dire results that had -followed the carrying out of a very wonderful idea along almost -identical lines, yet he did not abandon his intention, and a moment -later, food temporarily forgotten, he was swinging through the middle -terraces in rapid flight toward the stamping ground of the tribe of -Kerchak, the great ape. - -As was his wont, he alighted in the midst of the little band without -announcing his approach save by a hideous scream just as he sprang from -a branch above them. Fortunate are the apes of Kerchak that their kind -is not subject to heart failure, for the methods of Tarzan subjected -them to one severe shock after another, nor could they ever accustom -themselves to the ape-man’s peculiar style of humor. - -Now, when they saw who it was they merely snarled and grumbled angrily -for a moment and then resumed their feeding or their napping which he -had interrupted, and he, having had his little joke, made his way to -the hollow tree where he kept his treasures hid from the inquisitive -eyes and fingers of his fellows and the mischievous little manus. Here -he withdrew a closely rolled hide—the hide of Numa with the head on; a -clever bit of primitive curing and mounting, which had once been the -property of the witch-doctor, Rabba Kega, until Tarzan had stolen it -from the village. - -With this he made his way back through the jungle toward the village of -the blacks, stopping to hunt and feed upon the way, and, in the -afternoon, even napping for an hour, so that it was already dusk when -he entered the great tree which overhung the palisade and gave him a -view of the entire village. He saw that Numa was still alive and that -the guards were even dozing beside the cage. A lion is no great novelty -to a black man in the lion country, and the first keen edge of their -desire to worry the brute having worn off, the villagers paid little or -no attention to the great cat, preferring now to await the grand event -of the night. - -Nor was it long after dark before the festivities commenced. To the -beating of tom-toms, a lone warrior, crouched half doubled, leaped into -the firelight in the center of a great circle of other warriors, behind -whom stood or squatted the women and the children. The dancer was -painted and armed for the hunt and his movements and gestures suggested -the search for the spoor of game. Bending low, sometimes resting for a -moment on one knee, he searched the ground for signs of the quarry; -again he poised, statuesque, listening. The warrior was young and lithe -and graceful; he was full-muscled and arrow-straight. The firelight -glistened upon his ebon body and brought out into bold relief the -grotesque designs painted upon his face, breasts, and abdomen. - -Presently he bent low to the earth, then leaped high in air. Every line -of face and body showed that he had struck the scent. Immediately he -leaped toward the circle of warriors about him, telling them of his -find and summoning them to the hunt. It was all in pantomime; but so -truly done that even Tarzan could follow it all to the least detail. - -He saw the other warriors grasp their hunting spears and leap to their -feet to join in the graceful, stealthy “stalking dance.” It was very -interesting; but Tarzan realized that if he was to carry his design to -a successful conclusion he must act quickly. He had seen these dances -before and knew that after the stalk would come the game at bay and -then the kill, during which Numa would be surrounded by warriors, and -unapproachable. - -With the lion’s skin under one arm the ape-man dropped to the ground in -the dense shadows beneath the tree and then circled behind the huts -until he came out directly in the rear of the cage, in which Numa paced -nervously to and fro. The cage was now unguarded, the two warriors -having left it to take their places among the other dancers. - -Behind the cage Tarzan adjusted the lion’s skin about him, just as he -had upon that memorable occasion when the apes of Kerchak, failing to -pierce his disguise, had all but slain him. Then, on hands and knees, -he crept forward, emerged from between the two huts and stood a few -paces back of the dusky audience, whose whole attention was centered -upon the dancers before them. - -Tarzan saw that the blacks had now worked themselves to a proper pitch -of nervous excitement to be ripe for the lion. In a moment the ring of -spectators would break at a point nearest the caged lion and the victim -would be rolled into the center of the circle. It was for this moment -that Tarzan waited. - -At last it came. A signal was given by Mbonga, the chief, at which the -women and children immediately in front of Tarzan rose and moved to one -side, leaving a broad path opening toward the caged lion. At the same -instant Tarzan gave voice to the low, coughing roar of an angry lion -and slunk slowly forward through the open lane toward the frenzied -dancers. - -A woman saw him first and screamed. Instantly there was a panic in the -immediate vicinity of the ape-man. The strong light from the fire fell -full upon the lion head and the blacks leaped to the conclusion, as -Tarzan had known they would, that their captive had escaped his cage. - -With another roar, Tarzan moved forward. The dancing warriors paused -but an instant. They had been hunting a lion securely housed within a -strong cage, and now that he was at liberty among them, an entirely -different aspect was placed upon the matter. Their nerves were not -attuned to this emergency. The women and children already had fled to -the questionable safety of the nearest huts, and the warriors were not -long in following their example, so that presently Tarzan was left in -sole possession of the village street. - -But not for long. Nor did he wish to be left thus long alone. It would -not comport with his scheme. Presently a head peered forth from a -near-by hut, and then another and another until a score or more of -warriors were looking out upon him, waiting for his next move—waiting -for the lion to charge or to attempt to escape from the village. - -Their spears were ready in their hands against either a charge or a -bolt for freedom, and then the lion rose erect upon its hind legs, the -tawny skin dropped from it and there stood revealed before them in the -firelight the straight young figure of the white devil-god. - -For an instant the blacks were too astonished to act. They feared this -apparition fully as much as they did Numa, yet they would gladly have -slain the thing could they quickly enough have gathered together their -wits; but fear and superstition and a natural mental density held them -paralyzed while the ape-man stooped and gathered up the lion skin. They -saw him turn then and walk back into the shadows at the far end of the -village. Not until then did they gain courage to pursue him, and when -they had come in force, with brandished spears and loud war cries, the -quarry was gone. - -Not an instant did Tarzan pause in the tree. Throwing the skin over a -branch he leaped again into the village upon the opposite side of the -great bole, and diving into the shadow of a hut, ran quickly to where -lay the caged lion. Springing to the top of the cage he pulled upon the -cord which raised the door, and a moment later a great lion in the -prime of his strength and vigor leaped out into the village. - -The warriors, returning from a futile search for Tarzan, saw him step -into the firelight. Ah! there was the devil-god again, up to his old -trick. Did he think he could twice fool the men of Mbonga, the chief, -the same way in so short a time? They would show him! For long they had -waited for such an opportunity to rid themselves forever of this -fearsome jungle demon. As one they rushed forward with raised spears. - -The women and the children came from the huts to witness the slaying of -the devil-god. The lion turned blazing eyes upon them and then swung -about toward the advancing warriors. - -With shouts of savage joy and triumph they came toward him, menacing -him with their spears. The devil-god was theirs! - -And then, with a frightful roar, Numa, the lion, charged. - -The men of Mbonga, the chief, met Numa with ready spears and screams of -raillery. In a solid mass of muscled ebony they waited the coming of -the devil-god; yet beneath their brave exteriors lurked a haunting fear -that all might not be quite well with them—that this strange creature -could yet prove invulnerable to their weapons and inflict upon them -full punishment for their effrontery. The charging lion was all too -lifelike—they saw that in the brief instant of the charge; but beneath -the tawny hide they knew was hid the soft flesh of the white man, and -how could that withstand the assault of many war spears? - -In their forefront stood a huge young warrior in the full arrogance of -his might and his youth. Afraid? Not he! He laughed as Numa bore down -upon him; he laughed and couched his spear, setting the point for the -broad breast. And then the lion was upon him. A great paw swept away -the heavy war spear, splintering it as the hand of man might splinter a -dry twig. - -Down went the black, his skull crushed by another blow. And then the -lion was in the midst of the warriors, clawing and tearing to right and -left. Not for long did they stand their ground; but a dozen men were -mauled before the others made good their escape from those frightful -talons and gleaming fangs. - -In terror the villagers fled hither and thither. No hut seemed a -sufficiently secure asylum with Numa ranging within the palisade. From -one to another fled the frightened blacks, while in the center of the -village Numa stood glaring and growling above his kills. - -At last a tribesman flung wide the gates of the village and sought -safety amid the branches of the forest trees beyond. Like sheep his -fellows followed him, until the lion and his dead remained alone in the -village. - -From the nearer trees the men of Mbonga saw the lion lower his great -head and seize one of his victims by the shoulder and then with slow -and stately tread move down the village street past the open gates and -on into the jungle. They saw and shuddered, and from another tree -Tarzan of the Apes saw and smiled. - -A full hour elapsed after the lion had disappeared with his feast -before the blacks ventured down from the trees and returned to their -village. Wide eyes rolled from side to side, and naked flesh contracted -more to the chill of fear than to the chill of the jungle night. - -“It was he all the time,” murmured one. “It was the devil-god.” - -“He changed himself from a lion to a man, and back again into a lion,” -whispered another. - -“And he dragged Mweeza into the forest and is eating him,” said a -third, shuddering. - -“We are no longer safe here,” wailed a fourth. “Let us take our -belongings and search for another village site far from the haunts of -the wicked devil-god.” - -But with morning came renewed courage, so that the experiences of the -preceding evening had little other effect than to increase their fear -of Tarzan and strengthen their belief in his supernatural origin. - -And thus waxed the fame and the power of the ape-man in the mysterious -haunts of the savage jungle where he ranged, mightiest of beasts -because of the man-mind which directed his giant muscles and his -flawless courage. - - - - -CHAPTER XII -Tarzan Rescues the Moon - - -The moon shone down out of a cloudless sky—a huge, swollen moon that -seemed so close to earth that one might wonder that she did not brush -the crooning tree tops. It was night, and Tarzan was abroad in the -jungle—Tarzan, the ape-man; mighty fighter, mighty hunter. Why he swung -through the dark shadows of the somber forest he could not have told -you. It was not that he was hungry—he had fed well this day, and in a -safe cache were the remains of his kill, ready against the coming of a -new appetite. Perhaps it was the very joy of living that urged him from -his arboreal couch to pit his muscles and his senses against the jungle -night, and then, too, Tarzan always was goaded by an intense desire to -know. - -The jungle which is presided over by Kudu, the sun, is a very different -jungle from that of Goro, the moon. The diurnal jungle has its own -aspect—its own lights and shades, its own birds, its own blooms, its -own beasts; its noises are the noises of the day. The lights and shades -of the nocturnal jungle are as different as one might imagine the -lights and shades of another world to differ from those of our world; -its beasts, its blooms, and its birds are not those of the jungle of -Kudu, the sun. - -Because of these differences Tarzan loved to investigate the jungle by -night. Not only was the life another life; but it was richer in numbers -and in romance; it was richer in dangers, too, and to Tarzan of the -Apes danger was the spice of life. And the noises of the jungle -night—the roar of the lion, the scream of the leopard, the hideous -laughter of Dango, the hyena, were music to the ears of the ape-man. - -The soft padding of unseen feet, the rustling of leaves and grasses to -the passage of fierce beasts, the sheen of opalesque eyes flaming -through the dark, the million sounds which proclaimed the teeming life -that one might hear and scent, though seldom see, constituted the -appeal of the nocturnal jungle to Tarzan. - -Tonight he had swung a wide circle—toward the east first and then -toward the south, and now he was rounding back again into the north. -His eyes, his ears and his keen nostrils were ever on the alert. -Mingled with the sounds he knew, there were strange sounds—weird sounds -which he never heard until after Kudu had sought his lair below the far -edge of the big water—sounds which belonged to Goro, the moon—and to -the mysterious period of Goro’s supremacy. These sounds often caused -Tarzan profound speculation. They baffled him because he thought that -he knew his jungle so well that there could be nothing within it -unfamiliar to him. Sometimes he thought that as colors and forms -appeared to differ by night from their familiar daylight aspects, so -sounds altered with the passage of Kudu and the coming of Goro, and -these thoughts roused within his brain a vague conjecture that perhaps -Goro and Kudu influenced these changes. And what more natural that -eventually he came to attribute to the sun and the moon personalities -as real as his own? The sun was a living creature and ruled the day. -The moon, endowed with brains and miraculous powers, ruled the night. - -Thus functioned the untrained man-mind groping through the dark night -of ignorance for an explanation of the things he could not touch or -smell or hear and of the great, unknown powers of nature which he could -not see. - -As Tarzan swung north again upon his wide circle the scent of the -Gomangani came to his nostrils, mixed with the acrid odor of wood -smoke. The ape-man moved quickly in the direction from which the scent -was borne down to him upon the gentle night wind. Presently the ruddy -sheen of a great fire filtered through the foliage to him ahead, and -when Tarzan came to a halt in the trees near it, he saw a party of half -a dozen black warriors huddled close to the blaze. It was evidently a -hunting party from the village of Mbonga, the chief, caught out in the -jungle after dark. In a rude circle about them they had constructed a -thorn boma which, with the aid of the fire, they apparently hoped would -discourage the advances of the larger carnivora. - -That hope was not conviction was evidenced by the very palpable terror -in which they crouched, wide-eyed and trembling, for already Numa and -Sabor were moaning through the jungle toward them. There were other -creatures, too, in the shadows beyond the firelight. Tarzan could see -their yellow eyes flaming there. The blacks saw them and shivered. Then -one arose and grasping a burning branch from the fire hurled it at the -eyes, which immediately disappeared. The black sat down again. Tarzan -watched and saw that it was several minutes before the eyes began to -reappear in twos and fours. - -Then came Numa, the lion, and Sabor, his mate. The other eyes scattered -to right and left before the menacing growls of the great cats, and -then the huge orbs of the man-eaters flamed alone out of the darkness. -Some of the blacks threw themselves upon their faces and moaned; but he -who before had hurled the burning branch now hurled another straight at -the faces of the hungry lions, and they, too, disappeared as had the -lesser lights before them. Tarzan was much interested. He saw a new -reason for the nightly fires maintained by the blacks—a reason in -addition to those connected with warmth and light and cooking. The -beasts of the jungle feared fire, and so fire was, in a measure, a -protection from them. Tarzan himself knew a certain awe of fire. Once -he had, in investigating an abandoned fire in the village of the -blacks, picked up a live coal. Since then he had maintained a -respectful distance from such fires as he had seen. One experience had -sufficed. - -For a few minutes after the black hurled the firebrand no eyes -appeared, though Tarzan could hear the soft padding of feet all about -him. Then flashed once more the twin fire spots that marked the return -of the lord of the jungle and a moment later, upon a slightly lower -level, there appeared those of Sabor, his mate. - -For some time they remained fixed and unwavering—a constellation of -fierce stars in the jungle night—then the male lion advanced slowly -toward the boma, where all but a single black still crouched in -trembling terror. When this lone guardian saw that Numa was again -approaching, he threw another firebrand, and, as before, Numa retreated -and with him Sabor, the lioness; but not so far, this time, nor for so -long. Almost instantly they turned and began circling the boma, their -eyes turning constantly toward the firelight, while low, throaty growls -evidenced their increasing displeasure. Beyond the lions glowed the -flaming eyes of the lesser satellites, until the black jungle was shot -all around the black men’s camp with little spots of fire. - -Again and again the black warrior hurled his puny brands at the two big -cats; but Tarzan noticed that Numa paid little or no attention to them -after the first few retreats. The ape-man knew by Numa’s voice that the -lion was hungry and surmised that he had made up his mind to feed upon -a Gomangani; but would he dare a closer approach to the dreaded flames? - -Even as the thought was passing in Tarzan’s mind, Numa stopped his -restless pacing and faced the boma. For a moment he stood motionless, -except for the quick, nervous upcurving of his tail, then he walked -deliberately forward, while Sabor moved restlessly to and fro where he -had left her. The black man called to his comrades that the lion was -coming, but they were too far gone in fear to do more than huddle -closer together and moan more loudly than before. - -Seizing a blazing branch the man cast it straight into the face of the -lion. There was an angry roar, followed by a swift charge. With a -single bound the savage beast cleared the boma wall as, with almost -equal agility, the warrior cleared it upon the opposite side and, -chancing the dangers lurking in the darkness, bolted for the nearest -tree. - -Numa was out of the boma almost as soon as he was inside it; but as he -went back over the low thorn wall, he took a screaming negro with him. -Dragging his victim along the ground he walked back toward Sabor, the -lioness, who joined him, and the two continued into the blackness, -their savage growls mingling with the piercing shrieks of the doomed -and terrified man. - -At a little distance from the blaze the lions halted, there ensued a -short succession of unusually vicious growls and roars, during which -the cries and moans of the black man ceased—forever. - -Presently Numa reappeared in the firelight. He made a second trip into -the boma and the former grisly tragedy was reenacted with another -howling victim. - -Tarzan rose and stretched lazily. The entertainment was beginning to -bore him. He yawned and turned upon his way toward the clearing where -the tribe would be sleeping in the encircling trees. - -Yet even when he had found his familiar crotch and curled himself for -slumber, he felt no desire to sleep. For a long time he lay awake -thinking and dreaming. He looked up into the heavens and watched the -moon and the stars. He wondered what they were and what power kept them -from falling. His was an inquisitive mind. Always he had been full of -questions concerning all that passed around him; but there never had -been one to answer his questions. In childhood he had wanted to KNOW, -and, denied almost all knowledge, he still, in manhood, was filled with -the great, unsatisfied curiosity of a child. - -He was never quite content merely to perceive that things happened—he -desired to know WHY they happened. He wanted to know what made things -go. The secret of life interested him immensely. The miracle of death -he could not quite fathom. Upon innumerable occasions he had -investigated the internal mechanism of his kills, and once or twice he -had opened the chest cavity of victims in time to see the heart still -pumping. - -He had learned from experience that a knife thrust through this organ -brought immediate death nine times out of ten, while he might stab an -antagonist innumerable times in other places without even disabling -him. And so he had come to think of the heart, or, as he called it, -“the red thing that breathes,” as the seat and origin of life. - -The brain and its functionings he did not comprehend at all. That his -sense perceptions were transmitted to his brain and there translated, -classified, and labeled was something quite beyond him. He thought that -his fingers knew when they touched something, that his eyes knew when -they saw, his ears when they heard, his nose when it scented. - -He considered his throat, epidermis, and the hairs of his head as the -three principal seats of emotion. When Kala had been slain a peculiar -choking sensation had possessed his throat; contact with Histah, the -snake, imparted an unpleasant sensation to the skin of his whole body; -while the approach of an enemy made the hairs on his scalp stand erect. - -Imagine, if you can, a child filled with the wonders of nature, -bursting with queries and surrounded only by beasts of the jungle to -whom his questionings were as strange as Sanskrit would have been. If -he asked Gunto what made it rain, the big old ape would but gaze at him -in dumb astonishment for an instant and then return to his interesting -and edifying search for fleas; and when he questioned Mumga, who was -very old and should have been very wise, but wasn’t, as to the reason -for the closing of certain flowers after Kudu had deserted the sky, and -the opening of others during the night, he was surprised to discover -that Mumga had never noticed these interesting facts, though she could -tell to an inch just where the fattest grubworm should be hiding. - -To Tarzan these things were wonders. They appealed to his intellect and -to his imagination. He saw the flowers close and open; he saw certain -blooms which turned their faces always toward the sun; he saw leaves -which moved when there was no breeze; he saw vines crawl like living -things up the boles and over the branches of great trees; and to Tarzan -of the Apes the flowers and the vines and the trees were living -creatures. He often talked to them, as he talked to Goro, the moon, and -Kudu, the sun, and always was he disappointed that they did not reply. -He asked them questions; but they could not answer, though he knew that -the whispering of the leaves was the language of the leaves—they talked -with one another. - -The wind he attributed to the trees and grasses. He thought that they -swayed themselves to and fro, creating the wind. In no other way could -he account for this phenomenon. The rain he finally attributed to the -stars, the moon, and the sun; but his hypothesis was entirely unlovely -and unpoetical. - -Tonight as Tarzan lay thinking, there sprang to his fertile imagination -an explanation of the stars and the moon. He became quite excited about -it. Taug was sleeping in a nearby crotch. Tarzan swung over beside him. - -“Taug!” he cried. Instantly the great bull was awake and bristling, -sensing danger from the nocturnal summons. “Look, Taug!” exclaimed -Tarzan, pointing toward the stars. “See the eyes of Numa and Sabor, of -Sheeta and Dango. They wait around Goro to leap in upon him for their -kill. See the eyes and the nose and the mouth of Goro. And the light -that shines upon his face is the light of the great fire he has built -to frighten away Numa and Sabor and Dango and Sheeta. - -“All about him are the eyes, Taug, you can see them! But they do not -come very close to the fire—there are few eyes close to Goro. They fear -the fire! It is the fire that saves Goro from Numa. Do you see them, -Taug? Some night Numa will be very hungry and very angry—then he will -leap over the thorn bushes which encircle Goro and we will have no more -light after Kudu seeks his lair—the night will be black with the -blackness that comes when Goro is lazy and sleeps late into the night, -or when he wanders through the skies by day, forgetting the jungle and -its people.” - -Taug looked stupidly at the heavens and then at Tarzan. A meteor fell, -blazing a flaming way through the sky. - -“Look!” cried Tarzan. “Goro has thrown a burning branch at Numa.” - -Taug grumbled. “Numa is down below,” he said. “Numa does not hunt above -the trees.” But he looked curiously and a little fearfully at the -bright stars above him, as though he saw them for the first time, and -doubtless it was the first time that Taug ever had seen the stars, -though they had been in the sky above him every night of his life. To -Taug they were as the gorgeous jungle blooms—he could not eat them and -so he ignored them. - -Taug fidgeted and was nervous. For a long time he lay sleepless, -watching the stars—the flaming eyes of the beasts of prey surrounding -Goro, the moon—Goro, by whose light the apes danced to the beating of -their earthen drums. If Goro should be eaten by Numa there could be no -more Dum-Dums. Taug was overwhelmed by the thought. He glanced at -Tarzan half fearfully. Why was his friend so different from the others -of the tribe? No one else whom Taug ever had known had had such queer -thoughts as Tarzan. The ape scratched his head and wondered, dimly, if -Tarzan was a safe companion, and then he recalled slowly, and by a -laborious mental process, that Tarzan had served him better than any -other of the apes, even the strong and wise bulls of the tribe. - -Tarzan it was who had freed him from the blacks at the very time that -Taug had thought Tarzan wanted Teeka. It was Tarzan who had saved -Taug’s little balu from death. It was Tarzan who had conceived and -carried out the plan to pursue Teeka’s abductor and rescue the stolen -one. Tarzan had fought and bled in Taug’s service so many times that -Taug, although only a brutal ape, had had impressed upon his mind a -fierce loyalty which nothing now could swerve—his friendship for Tarzan -had become a habit, a tradition almost, which would endure while Taug -endured. He never showed any outward demonstration of affection—he -growled at Tarzan as he growled at the other bulls who came too close -while he was feeding—but he would have died for Tarzan. He knew it and -Tarzan knew it; but of such things apes do not speak—their vocabulary, -for the finer instincts, consisting more of actions than words. But now -Taug was worried, and he fell asleep again still thinking of the -strange words of his fellow. - -The following day he thought of them again, and without any intention -of disloyalty he mentioned to Gunto what Tarzan had suggested about the -eyes surrounding Goro, and the possibility that sooner or later Numa -would charge the moon and devour him. To the apes all large things in -nature are male, and so Goro, being the largest creature in the heavens -by night, was, to them, a bull. - -Gunto bit a sliver from a horny finger and recalled the fact that -Tarzan had once said that the trees talked to one another, and Gozan -recounted having seen the ape-man dancing alone in the moonlight with -Sheeta, the panther. They did not know that Tarzan had roped the savage -beast and tied him to a tree before he came to earth and leaped about -before the rearing cat, to tantalize him. - -Others told of seeing Tarzan ride upon the back of Tantor, the -elephant; of his bringing the black boy, Tibo, to the tribe, and of -mysterious things with which he communed in the strange lair by the -sea. They had never understood his books, and after he had shown them -to one or two of the tribe and discovered that even the pictures -carried no impression to their brains, he had desisted. - -“Tarzan is not an ape,” said Gunto. “He will bring Numa to eat us, as -he is bringing him to eat Goro. We should kill him.” - -Immediately Taug bristled. Kill Tarzan! “First you will kill Taug,” he -said, and lumbered away to search for food. - -But others joined the plotters. They thought of many things which -Tarzan had done—things which apes did not do and could not understand. -Again Gunto voiced the opinion that the Tarmangani, the white ape, -should be slain, and the others, filled with terror about the stories -they had heard, and thinking Tarzan was planning to slay Goro, greeted -the proposal with growls of accord. - -Among them was Teeka, listening with all her ears; but her voice was -not raised in furtherance of the plan. Instead she bristled, showing -her fangs, and afterward she went away in search of Tarzan; but she -could not find him, as he was roaming far afield in search of meat. She -found Taug, though, and told him what the others were planning, and the -great bull stamped upon the ground and roared. His bloodshot eyes -blazed with wrath, his upper lip curled up to expose his fighting -fangs, and the hair upon his spine stood erect, and then a rodent -scurried across the open and Taug sprang to seize it. In an instant he -seemed to have forgotten his rage against the enemies of his friend; -but such is the mind of an ape. - -Several miles away Tarzan of the Apes lolled upon the broad head of -Tantor, the elephant. He scratched beneath the great ears with the -point of a sharp stick, and he talked to the huge pachyderm of -everything which filled his black-thatched head. Little, or nothing, of -what he said did Tantor understand; but Tantor is a good listener. -Swaying from side to side he stood there enjoying the companionship of -his friend, the friend he loved, and absorbing the delicious sensations -of the scratching. - -Numa, the lion, caught the scent of man, and warily stalked it until he -came within sight of his prey upon the head of the mighty tusker; then -he turned, growling and muttering, away in search of more propitious -hunting grounds. - -The elephant caught the scent of the lion, borne to him by an eddying -breeze, and lifting his trunk trumpeted loudly. Tarzan stretched back -luxuriously, lying supine at full length along the rough hide. Flies -swarmed about his face; but with a leafy branch torn from a tree he -lazily brushed them away. - -“Tantor,” he said, “it is good to be alive. It is good to lie in the -cool shadows. It is good to look upon the green trees and the bright -colors of the flowers—upon everything which Bulamutumumo has put here -for us. He is very good to us, Tantor; He has given you tender leaves -and bark, and rich grasses to eat; to me He has given Bara and Horta -and Pisah, the fruits and the nuts and the roots. He provides for each -the food that each likes best. All that He asks is that we be strong -enough or cunning enough to go forth and take it. Yes, Tantor, it is -good to live. I should hate to die.” - -Tantor made a little sound in his throat and curled his trunk upward -that he might caress the ape-man’s cheek with the finger at its tip. - -“Tantor,” said Tarzan presently, “turn and feed in the direction of the -tribe of Kerchak, the great ape, that Tarzan may ride home upon your -head without walking.” - -The tusker turned and moved slowly off along a broad, tree-arched -trail, pausing occasionally to pluck a tender branch, or strip the -edible bark from an adjacent tree. Tarzan sprawled face downward upon -the beast’s head and back, his legs hanging on either side, his head -supported by his open palms, his elbows resting on the broad cranium. -And thus they made their leisurely way toward the gathering place of -the tribe. - -Just before they arrived at the clearing from the north there reached -it from the south another figure—that of a well-knit black warrior, who -stepped cautiously through the jungle, every sense upon the alert -against the many dangers which might lurk anywhere along the way. Yet -he passed beneath the southernmost sentry that was posted in a great -tree commanding the trail from the south. The ape permitted the -Gomangani to pass unmolested, for he saw that he was alone; but the -moment that the warrior had entered the clearing a loud “Kreeg-ah!” -rang out from behind him, immediately followed by a chorus of replies -from different directions, as the great bulls crashed through the trees -in answer to the summons of their fellow. - -The black man halted at the first cry and looked about him. He could -see nothing, but he knew the voice of the hairy tree men whom he and -his kind feared, not alone because of the strength and ferocity of the -savage beings, but as well through a superstitious terror engendered by -the manlike appearance of the apes. - -But Bulabantu was no coward. He heard the apes all about him; he knew -that escape was probably impossible, so he stood his ground, his spear -ready in his hand and a war cry trembling on his lips. He would sell -his life dearly, would Bulabantu, under-chief of the village of Mbonga, -the chief. - -Tarzan and Tantor were but a short distance away when the first cry of -the sentry rang out through the quiet jungle. Like a flash the ape-man -leaped from the elephant’s back to a near-by tree and was swinging -rapidly in the direction of the clearing before the echoes of the first -“Kreeg-ah” had died away. When he arrived he saw a dozen bulls circling -a single Gomangani. With a blood-curdling scream Tarzan sprang to the -attack. He hated the blacks even more than did the apes, and here was -an opportunity for a kill in the open. What had the Gomangani done? Had -he slain one of the tribe? - -Tarzan asked the nearest ape. No, the Gomangani had harmed none. Gozan, -being on watch, had seen him coming through the forest and had warned -the tribe—that was all. The ape-man pushed through the circle of bulls, -none of which as yet had worked himself into sufficient frenzy for a -charge, and came where he had a full and close view of the black. He -recognized the man instantly. Only the night before he had seen him -facing the eyes in the dark, while his fellows groveled in the dirt at -his feet, too terrified even to defend themselves. Here was a brave -man, and Tarzan had deep admiration for bravery. Even his hatred of the -blacks was not so strong a passion as his love of courage. He would -have joyed in battling with a black warrior at almost any time; but -this one he did not wish to kill—he felt, vaguely, that the man had -earned his life by his brave defense of it on the preceding night, nor -did he fancy the odds that were pitted against the lone warrior. - -He turned to the apes. “Go back to your feeding,” he said, “and let -this Gomangani go his way in peace. He has not harmed us, and last -night I saw him fighting Numa and Sabor with fire, alone in the jungle. -He is brave. Why should we kill one who is brave and who has not -attacked us? Let him go.” - -The apes growled. They were displeased. “Kill the Gomangani!” cried -one. - -“Yes,” roared another, “kill the Gomangani and the Tarmangani as well.” - -“Kill the white ape!” screamed Gozan, “he is no ape at all; but a -Gomangani with his skin off.” - -“Kill Tarzan!” bellowed Gunto. “Kill! Kill! Kill!” - -The bulls were now indeed working themselves into the frenzy of -slaughter; but against Tarzan rather than the black man. A shaggy form -charged through them, hurling those it came in contact with to one side -as a strong man might scatter children. It was Taug—great, savage Taug. - -“Who says ‘kill Tarzan’?” he demanded. “Who kills Tarzan must kill -Taug, too. Who can kill Taug? Taug will tear your insides from you and -feed them to Dango.” - -“We can kill you all,” replied Gunto. “There are many of us and few of -you,” and he was right. Tarzan knew that he was right. Taug knew it; -but neither would admit such a possibility. It is not the way of bull -apes. - -“I am Tarzan,” cried the ape-man. “I am Tarzan. Mighty hunter; mighty -fighter. In all the jungle none so great as Tarzan.” - -Then, one by one, the opposing bulls recounted their virtues and their -prowess. And all the time the combatants came closer and closer to one -another. Thus do the bulls work themselves to the proper pitch before -engaging in battle. - -Gunto came, stiff-legged, close to Tarzan and sniffed at him, with -bared fangs. Tarzan rumbled forth a low, menacing growl. They might -repeat these tactics a dozen times; but sooner or later one bull would -close with another and then the whole hideous pack would be tearing and -rending at their prey. - -Bulabantu, the black man, had stood wide-eyed in wonder from the moment -he had seen Tarzan approaching through the apes. He had heard much of -this devil-god who ran with the hairy tree people; but never before had -he seen him in full daylight. He knew him well enough from the -description of those who had seen him and from the glimpses he had had -of the marauder upon several occasions when the ape-man had entered the -village of Mbonga, the chief, by night, in the perpetration of one of -his numerous ghastly jokes. - -Bulabantu could not, of course, understand anything which passed -between Tarzan and the apes; but he saw that the ape-man and one of the -larger bulls were in argument with the others. He saw that these two -were standing with their back toward him and between him and the -balance of the tribe, and he guessed, though it seemed improbable, that -they might be defending him. He knew that Tarzan had once spared the -life of Mbonga, the chief, and that he had succored Tibo, and Tibo’s -mother, Momaya. So it was not impossible that he would help Bulabantu; -but how he could accomplish it Bulabantu could not guess; nor as a -matter of fact could Tarzan, for the odds against him were too great. - -Gunto and the others were slowly forcing Tarzan and Taug back toward -Bulabantu. The ape-man thought of his words with Tantor just a short -time before: “Yes, Tantor, it is good to live. I should hate to die.” -And now he knew that he was about to die, for the temper of the great -bulls was mounting rapidly against him. Always had many of them hated -him, and all were suspicious of him. They knew he was different. Tarzan -knew it too; but he was glad that he was—he was a MAN; that he had -learned from his picture-books, and he was very proud of the -distinction. Presently, though, he would be a dead man. - -Gunto was preparing to charge. Tarzan knew the signs. He knew that the -balance of the bulls would charge with Gunto. Then it would soon be -over. Something moved among the verdure at the opposite side of the -clearing. Tarzan saw it just as Gunto, with the terrifying cry of a -challenging ape, sprang forward. Tarzan voiced a peculiar call and then -crouched to meet the assault. Taug crouched, too, and Bulabantu, -assured now that these two were fighting upon his side, couched his -spear and sprang between them to receive the first charge of the enemy. - -Simultaneously a huge bulk broke into the clearing from the jungle -behind the charging bulls. The trumpeting of a mad tusker rose shrill -above the cries of the anthropoids, as Tantor, the elephant, dashed -swiftly across the clearing to the aid of his friend. - -Gunto never closed upon the ape-man, nor did a fang enter flesh upon -either side. The terrific reverberation of Tantor’s challenge sent the -bulls scurrying to the trees, jabbering and scolding. Taug raced off -with them. Only Tarzan and Bulabantu remained. The latter stood his -ground because he saw that the devil-god did not run, and because the -black had the courage to face a certain and horrible death beside one -who had quite evidently dared death for him. - -But it was a surprised Gomangani who saw the mighty elephant come to a -sudden halt in front of the ape-man and caress him with his long, -sinuous trunk. - -Tarzan turned toward the black man. “Go!” he said in the language of -the apes, and pointed in the direction of the village of Mbonga. -Bulabantu understood the gesture, if not the word, nor did he lose time -in obeying. Tarzan stood watching him until he had disappeared. He knew -that the apes would not follow. Then he said to the elephant: “Pick me -up!” and the tusker swung him lightly to his head. - -“Tarzan goes to his lair by the big water,” shouted the ape-man to the -apes in the trees. “All of you are more foolish than Manu, except Taug -and Teeka. Taug and Teeka may come to see Tarzan; but the others must -keep away. Tarzan is done with the tribe of Kerchak.” - -He prodded Tantor with a calloused toe and the big beast swung off -across the clearing, the apes watching them until they were swallowed -up by the jungle. - -Before the night fell Taug killed Gunto, picking a quarrel with him -over his attack upon Tarzan. - -For a moon the tribe saw nothing of Tarzan of the Apes. Many of them -probably never gave him a thought; but there were those who missed him -more than Tarzan imagined. Taug and Teeka often wished that he was -back, and Taug determined a dozen times to go and visit Tarzan in his -seaside lair; but first one thing and then another interfered. - -One night when Taug lay sleepless looking up at the starry heavens he -recalled the strange things that Tarzan once had suggested to him—that -the bright spots were the eyes of the meat-eaters waiting in the dark -of the jungle sky to leap upon Goro, the moon, and devour him. The more -he thought about this matter the more perturbed he became. - -And then a strange thing happened. Even as Taug looked at Goro, he saw -a portion of one edge disappear, precisely as though something was -gnawing upon it. Larger and larger became the hole in the side of Goro. -With a scream, Taug leaped to his feet. His frenzied “Kreeg-ahs!” -brought the terrified tribe screaming and chattering toward him. - -“Look!” cried Taug, pointing at the moon. “Look! It is as Tarzan said. -Numa has sprung through the fires and is devouring Goro. You called -Tarzan names and drove him from the tribe; now see how wise he was. Let -one of you who hated Tarzan go to Goro’s aid. See the eyes in the dark -jungle all about Goro. He is in danger and none can help him—none -except Tarzan. Soon Goro will be devoured by Numa and we shall have no -more light after Kudu seeks his lair. How shall we dance the Dum-Dum -without the light of Goro?” - -The apes trembled and whimpered. Any manifestation of the powers of -nature always filled them with terror, for they could not understand. - -“Go and bring Tarzan,” cried one, and then they all took up the cry of -“Tarzan!” “Bring Tarzan!” “He will save Goro.” But who was to travel -the dark jungle by night to fetch him? - -“I will go,” volunteered Taug, and an instant later he was off through -the Stygian gloom toward the little land-locked harbor by the sea. - -And as the tribe waited they watched the slow devouring of the moon. -Already Numa had eaten out a great semicircular piece. At that rate -Goro would be entirely gone before Kudu came again. The apes trembled -at the thought of perpetual darkness by night. They could not sleep. -Restlessly they moved here and there among the branches of trees, -watching Numa of the skies at his deadly feast, and listening for the -coming of Taug with Tarzan. - -Goro was nearly gone when the apes heard the sounds of the approach -through the trees of the two they awaited, and presently Tarzan, -followed by Taug, swung into a nearby tree. - -The ape-man wasted no time in idle words. In his hand was his long bow -and at his back hung a quiver full of arrows, poisoned arrows that he -had stolen from the village of the blacks; just as he had stolen the -bow. Up into a great tree he clambered, higher and higher until he -stood swaying upon a small limb which bent low beneath his weight. Here -he had a clear and unobstructed view of the heavens. He saw Goro and -the inroads which the hungry Numa had made into his shining surface. - -Raising his face to the moon, Tarzan shrilled forth his hideous -challenge. Faintly and from afar came the roar of an answering lion. -The apes shivered. Numa of the skies had answered Tarzan. - -Then the ape-man fitted an arrow to his bow, and drawing the shaft far -back, aimed its point at the heart of Numa where he lay in the heavens -devouring Goro. There was a loud twang as the released bolt shot into -the dark heavens. Again and again did Tarzan of the Apes launch his -arrows at Numa, and all the while the apes of the tribe of Kerchak -huddled together in terror. - -At last came a cry from Taug. “Look! Look!” he screamed. “Numa is -killed. Tarzan has killed Numa. See! Goro is emerging from the belly of -Numa,” and, sure enough, the moon was gradually emerging from whatever -had devoured her, whether it was Numa, the lion, or the shadow of the -earth; but were you to try to convince an ape of the tribe of Kerchak -that it was aught but Numa who so nearly devoured Goro that night, or -that another than Tarzan preserved the brilliant god of their savage -and mysterious rites from a frightful death, you would have -difficulty—and a fight on your hands. - -And so Tarzan of the Apes came back to the tribe of Kerchak, and in his -coming he took a long stride toward the kingship, which he ultimately -won, for now the apes looked up to him as a superior being. - -In all the tribe there was but one who was at all skeptical about the -plausibility of Tarzan’s remarkable rescue of Goro, and that one, -strange as it may seem, was Tarzan of the Apes. - -*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 106 *** diff --git a/old/old-2024-12-22/106-h/106-h.htm b/old/old-2024-12-22/106-h/106-h.htm deleted file mode 100644 index 52cba4d..0000000 --- a/old/old-2024-12-22/106-h/106-h.htm +++ /dev/null @@ -1,9106 +0,0 @@ -<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" -"http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd"> -<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en"> -<head> -<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;charset=UTF-8" /> -<meta http-equiv="Content-Style-Type" content="text/css" /> -<title>The Project Gutenberg eBook of Jungle Tales of Tarzan, by Edgar Rice Burroughs</title> -<link rel="coverpage" href="images/cover.jpg" /> -<style type="text/css"> - -body { margin-left: 20%; - margin-right: 20%; - text-align: justify; } - -h1, h2, h3, h4, h5 {text-align: center; font-style: normal; font-weight: -normal; line-height: 1.5; margin-top: .5em; margin-bottom: .5em;} - -h1 {font-size: 300%; - margin-top: 0.6em; - margin-bottom: 0.6em; - letter-spacing: 0.12em; - word-spacing: 0.2em; - text-indent: 0em;} -h2 {font-size: 150%; margin-top: 2em; margin-bottom: 1em;} -h3 {font-size: 130%; margin-top: 1em;} -h4 {font-size: 120%;} -h5 {font-size: 110%;} - -.no-break {page-break-before: avoid;} /* for epubs */ - -div.chapter {page-break-before: always; margin-top: 4em;} - -hr {width: 80%; margin-top: 2em; margin-bottom: 2em;} - -p {text-indent: 1em; - margin-top: 0.25em; - margin-bottom: 0.25em; } - -.p2 {margin-top: 2em;} - -div.fig { display:block; - margin:0 auto; - text-align:center; - margin-top: 1em; - margin-bottom: 1em;} - -a:link {color:blue; text-decoration:none} -a:visited {color:blue; text-decoration:none} -a:hover {color:red} - -</style> - -</head> - -<body> -<div>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 106 ***</div> - -<div class="fig" style="width:55%;"> -<img src="images/cover.jpg" style="width:100%;" alt="[Illustration]" /> -</div> - -<h1>Jungle Tales of Tarzan</h1> - -<h2 class="no-break">by Edgar Rice Burroughs</h2> - -<div class="chapter"> - -<h2>Contents</h2> - -<table summary="" style=""> - -<tr> -<td> <a href="#chap01">CHAPTER I. Tarzan’s First Love</a></td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td> <a href="#chap02">CHAPTER II. The Capture of Tarzan</a></td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td> <a href="#chap03">CHAPTER III. The Fight for the Balu</a></td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td> <a href="#chap04">CHAPTER IV. The God of Tarzan</a></td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td> <a href="#chap05">CHAPTER V. Tarzan and the Black Boy</a></td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td> <a href="#chap06">CHAPTER VI. The Witch-Doctor Seeks Vengeance</a></td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td> <a href="#chap07">CHAPTER VII. The End of Bukawai</a></td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td> <a href="#chap08">CHAPTER VIII. The Lion</a></td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td> <a href="#chap09">CHAPTER IX. The Nightmare</a></td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td> <a href="#chap10">CHAPTER X. The Battle for Teeka</a></td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td> <a href="#chap11">CHAPTER XI. A Jungle Joke</a></td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td> <a href="#chap12">CHAPTER XII. Tarzan Rescues the Moon</a></td> -</tr> - -</table> - -</div><!--end chapter--> - -<div class="chapter"> - -<h2><a name="chap01"></a>CHAPTER I<br/> -Tarzan’s First Love</h2> - -<p> -Teeka, stretched at luxurious ease in the shade of the tropical forest, -presented, unquestionably, a most alluring picture of young, feminine -loveliness. Or at least so thought Tarzan of the Apes, who squatted upon a -low-swinging branch in a near-by tree and looked down upon her. -</p> - -<p> -Just to have seen him there, lolling upon the swaying bough of the -jungle-forest giant, his brown skin mottled by the brilliant equatorial -sunlight which percolated through the leafy canopy of green above him, his -clean-limbed body relaxed in graceful ease, his shapely head partly turned in -contemplative absorption and his intelligent, gray eyes dreamily devouring the -object of their devotion, you would have thought him the reincarnation of some -demigod of old. -</p> - -<p> -You would not have guessed that in infancy he had suckled at the breast of a -hideous, hairy she-ape, nor that in all his conscious past since his parents -had passed away in the little cabin by the landlocked harbor at the jungle’s -verge, he had known no other associates than the sullen bulls and the snarling -cows of the tribe of Kerchak, the great ape. -</p> - -<p> -Nor, could you have read the thoughts which passed through that active, healthy -brain, the longings and desires and aspirations which the sight of Teeka -inspired, would you have been any more inclined to give credence to the reality -of the origin of the ape-man. For, from his thoughts alone, you could never -have gleaned the truth—that he had been born to a gentle English lady or that -his sire had been an English nobleman of time-honored lineage. -</p> - -<p> -Lost to Tarzan of the Apes was the truth of his origin. That he was John -Clayton, Lord Greystoke, with a seat in the House of Lords, he did not know, -nor, knowing, would have understood. -</p> - -<p> -Yes, Teeka was indeed beautiful! -</p> - -<p> -Of course Kala had been beautiful—one’s mother is always that—but Teeka was -beautiful in a way all her own, an indescribable sort of way which Tarzan was -just beginning to sense in a rather vague and hazy manner. -</p> - -<p> -For years had Tarzan and Teeka been play-fellows, and Teeka still continued to -be playful while the young bulls of her own age were rapidly becoming surly and -morose. Tarzan, if he gave the matter much thought at all, probably reasoned -that his growing attachment for the young female could be easily accounted for -by the fact that of the former playmates she and he alone retained any desire -to frolic as of old. -</p> - -<p> -But today, as he sat gazing upon her, he found himself noting the beauties of -Teeka’s form and features—something he never had done before, since none of -them had aught to do with Teeka’s ability to race nimbly through the lower -terraces of the forest in the primitive games of tag and hide-and-go-seek which -Tarzan’s fertile brain evolved. Tarzan scratched his head, running his fingers -deep into the shock of black hair which framed his shapely, boyish face—he -scratched his head and sighed. Teeka’s new-found beauty became as suddenly his -despair. He envied her the handsome coat of hair which covered her body. His -own smooth, brown hide he hated with a hatred born of disgust and contempt. -Years back he had harbored a hope that some day he, too, would be clothed in -hair as were all his brothers and sisters; but of late he had been forced to -abandon the delectable dream. -</p> - -<p> -Then there were Teeka’s great teeth, not so large as the males, of course, but -still mighty, handsome things by comparison with Tarzan’s feeble white ones. -And her beetling brows, and broad, flat nose, and her mouth! Tarzan had often -practiced making his mouth into a little round circle and then puffing out his -cheeks while he winked his eyes rapidly; but he felt that he could never do it -in the same cute and irresistible way in which Teeka did it. -</p> - -<p> -And as he watched her that afternoon, and wondered, a young bull ape who had -been lazily foraging for food beneath the damp, matted carpet of decaying -vegetation at the roots of a near-by tree lumbered awkwardly in Teeka’s -direction. The other apes of the tribe of Kerchak moved listlessly about or -lolled restfully in the midday heat of the equatorial jungle. From time to time -one or another of them had passed close to Teeka, and Tarzan had been -uninterested. Why was it then that his brows contracted and his muscles tensed -as he saw Taug pause beside the young she and then squat down close to her? -</p> - -<p> -Tarzan always had liked Taug. Since childhood they had romped together. Side by -side they had squatted near the water, their quick, strong fingers ready to -leap forth and seize Pisah, the fish, should that wary denizen of the cool -depths dart surfaceward to the lure of the insects Tarzan tossed upon the face -of the pool. -</p> - -<p> -Together they had baited Tublat and teased Numa, the lion. Why, then, should -Tarzan feel the rise of the short hairs at the nape of his neck merely because -Taug sat close to Teeka? -</p> - -<p> -It is true that Taug was no longer the frolicsome ape of yesterday. When his -snarling-muscles bared his giant fangs no one could longer imagine that Taug -was in as playful a mood as when he and Tarzan had rolled upon the turf in -mimic battle. The Taug of today was a huge, sullen bull ape, somber and -forbidding. Yet he and Tarzan never had quarreled. -</p> - -<p> -For a few minutes the young ape-man watched Taug press closer to Teeka. He saw -the rough caress of the huge paw as it stroked the sleek shoulder of the she, -and then Tarzan of the Apes slipped catlike to the ground and approached the -two. -</p> - -<p> -As he came his upper lip curled into a snarl, exposing his fighting fangs, and -a deep growl rumbled from his cavernous chest. Taug looked up, batting his -blood-shot eyes. Teeka half raised herself and looked at Tarzan. Did she guess -the cause of his perturbation? Who may say? At any rate, she was feminine, and -so she reached up and scratched Taug behind one of his small, flat ears. -</p> - -<p> -Tarzan saw, and in the instant that he saw, Teeka was no longer the little -playmate of an hour ago; instead she was a wondrous thing—the most wondrous in -the world—and a possession for which Tarzan would fight to the death against -Taug or any other who dared question his right of proprietorship. -</p> - -<p> -Stooped, his muscles rigid and one great shoulder turned toward the young bull, -Tarzan of the Apes sidled nearer and nearer. His face was partly averted, but -his keen gray eyes never left those of Taug, and as he came, his growls -increased in depth and volume. -</p> - -<p> -Taug rose upon his short legs, bristling. His fighting fangs were bared. He, -too, sidled, stiff-legged, and growled. -</p> - -<p> -“Teeka is Tarzan’s,” said the ape-man, in the low gutturals of the great -anthropoids. -</p> - -<p> -“Teeka is Taug’s,” replied the bull ape. -</p> - -<p> -Thaka and Numgo and Gunto, disturbed by the growlings of the two young bulls, -looked up half apathetic, half interested. They were sleepy, but they sensed a -fight. It would break the monotony of the humdrum jungle life they led. -</p> - -<p> -Coiled about his shoulders was Tarzan’s long grass rope, in his hand was the -hunting knife of the long-dead father he had never known. In Taug’s little -brain lay a great respect for the shiny bit of sharp metal which the ape-boy -knew so well how to use. With it had he slain Tublat, his fierce foster father, -and Bolgani, the gorilla. Taug knew these things, and so he came warily, -circling about Tarzan in search of an opening. The latter, made cautious -because of his lesser bulk and the inferiority of his natural armament, -followed similar tactics. -</p> - -<p> -For a time it seemed that the altercation would follow the way of the majority -of such differences between members of the tribe and that one of them would -finally lose interest and wander off to prosecute some other line of endeavor. -Such might have been the end of it had the CASUS BELLI been other than it was; -but Teeka was flattered at the attention that was being drawn to her and by the -fact that these two young bulls were contemplating battle on her account. Such -a thing never before had occurred in Teeka’s brief life. She had seen other -bulls battling for other and older shes, and in the depth of her wild little -heart she had longed for the day when the jungle grasses would be reddened with -the blood of mortal combat for her fair sake. -</p> - -<p> -So now she squatted upon her haunches and insulted both her admirers -impartially. She hurled taunts at them for their cowardice, and called them -vile names, such as Histah, the snake, and Dango, the hyena. She threatened to -call Mumga to chastise them with a stick—Mumga, who was so old that she could -no longer climb and so toothless that she was forced to confine her diet almost -exclusively to bananas and grub-worms. -</p> - -<p> -The apes who were watching heard and laughed. Taug was infuriated. He made a -sudden lunge for Tarzan, but the ape-boy leaped nimbly to one side, eluding -him, and with the quickness of a cat wheeled and leaped back again to close -quarters. His hunting knife was raised above his head as he came in, and he -aimed a vicious blow at Taug’s neck. The ape wheeled to dodge the weapon so -that the keen blade struck him but a glancing blow upon the shoulder. -</p> - -<p> -The spurt of red blood brought a shrill cry of delight from Teeka. Ah, but this -was something worth while! She glanced about to see if others had witnessed -this evidence of her popularity. Helen of Troy was never one whit more proud -than was Teeka at that moment. -</p> - -<p> -If Teeka had not been so absorbed in her own vaingloriousness she might have -noted the rustling of leaves in the tree above her—a rustling which was not -caused by any movement of the wind, since there was no wind. And had she looked -up she might have seen a sleek body crouching almost directly over her and -wicked yellow eyes glaring hungrily down upon her, but Teeka did not look up. -</p> - -<p> -With his wound Taug had backed off growling horribly. Tarzan had followed him, -screaming insults at him, and menacing him with his brandishing blade. Teeka -moved from beneath the tree in an effort to keep close to the duelists. -</p> - -<p> -The branch above Teeka bent and swayed a trifle with the movement of the body -of the watcher stretched along it. Taug had halted now and was preparing to -make a new stand. His lips were flecked with foam, and saliva drooled from his -jowls. He stood with head lowered and arms outstretched, preparing for a sudden -charge to close quarters. Could he but lay his mighty hands upon that soft, -brown skin the battle would be his. Taug considered Tarzan’s manner of fighting -unfair. He would not close. Instead, he leaped nimbly just beyond the reach of -Taug’s muscular fingers. -</p> - -<p> -The ape-boy had as yet never come to a real trial of strength with a bull ape, -other than in play, and so he was not at all sure that it would be safe to put -his muscles to the test in a life and death struggle. Not that he was afraid, -for Tarzan knew nothing of fear. The instinct of self-preservation gave him -caution—that was all. He took risks only when it seemed necessary, and then he -would hesitate at nothing. -</p> - -<p> -His own method of fighting seemed best fitted to his build and to his armament. -His teeth, while strong and sharp, were, as weapons of offense, pitifully -inadequate by comparison with the mighty fighting fangs of the anthropoids. By -dancing about, just out of reach of an antagonist, Tarzan could do infinite -injury with his long, sharp hunting knife, and at the same time escape many of -the painful and dangerous wounds which would be sure to follow his falling into -the clutches of a bull ape. -</p> - -<p> -And so Taug charged and bellowed like a bull, and Tarzan of the Apes danced -lightly to this side and that, hurling jungle billingsgate at his foe, the -while he nicked him now and again with his knife. -</p> - -<p> -There were lulls in the fighting when the two would stand panting for breath, -facing each other, mustering their wits and their forces for a new onslaught. -It was during a pause such as this that Taug chanced to let his eyes rove -beyond his foeman. Instantly the entire aspect of the ape altered. Rage left -his countenance to be supplanted by an expression of fear. -</p> - -<p> -With a cry that every ape there recognized, Taug turned and fled. No need to -question him—his warning proclaimed the near presence of their ancient enemy. -</p> - -<p> -Tarzan started to seek safety, as did the other members of the tribe, and as he -did so he heard a panther’s scream mingled with the frightened cry of a -she-ape. Taug heard, too; but he did not pause in his flight. -</p> - -<p> -With the ape-boy, however, it was different. He looked back to see if any -member of the tribe was close pressed by the beast of prey, and the sight that -met his eyes filled them with an expression of horror. -</p> - -<p> -Teeka it was who cried out in terror as she fled across a little clearing -toward the trees upon the opposite side, for after her leaped Sheeta, the -panther, in easy, graceful bounds. Sheeta appeared to be in no hurry. His meat -was assured, since even though the ape reached the trees ahead of him she could -not climb beyond his clutches before he could be upon her. -</p> - -<p> -Tarzan saw that Teeka must die. He cried to Taug and the other bulls to hasten -to Teeka’s assistance, and at the same time he ran toward the pursuing beast, -taking down his rope as he came. Tarzan knew that once the great bulls were -aroused none of the jungle, not even Numa, the lion, was anxious to measure -fangs with them, and that if all those of the tribe who chanced to be present -today would charge, Sheeta, the great cat, would doubtless turn tail and run -for his life. -</p> - -<p> -Taug heard, as did the others, but no one came to Tarzan’s assistance or -Teeka’s rescue, and Sheeta was rapidly closing up the distance between himself -and his prey. -</p> - -<p> -The ape-boy, leaping after the panther, cried aloud to the beast in an effort -to turn it from Teeka or otherwise distract its attention until the she-ape -could gain the safety of the higher branches where Sheeta dared not go. He -called the panther every opprobrious name that fell to his tongue. He dared him -to stop and do battle with him; but Sheeta only loped on after the luscious -titbit now almost within his reach. -</p> - -<p> -Tarzan was not far behind and he was gaining, but the distance was so short -that he scarce hoped to overhaul the carnivore before it had felled Teeka. In -his right hand the boy swung his grass rope above his head as he ran. He hated -to chance a miss, for the distance was much greater than he ever had cast -before except in practice. It was the full length of his grass rope which -separated him from Sheeta, and yet there was no other thing to do. He could not -reach the brute’s side before it overhauled Teeka. He must chance a throw. -</p> - -<p> -And just as Teeka sprang for the lower limb of a great tree, and Sheeta rose -behind her in a long, sinuous leap, the coils of the ape-boy’s grass rope shot -swiftly through the air, straightening into a long thin line as the open noose -hovered for an instant above the savage head and the snarling jaws. Then it -settled—clean and true about the tawny neck it settled, and Tarzan, with a -quick twist of his rope-hand, drew the noose taut, bracing himself for the -shock when Sheeta should have taken up the slack. -</p> - -<p> -Just short of Teeka’s glossy rump the cruel talons raked the air as the rope -tightened and Sheeta was brought to a sudden stop—a stop that snapped the big -beast over upon his back. Instantly Sheeta was up—with glaring eyes, and -lashing tail, and gaping jaws, from which issued hideous cries of rage and -disappointment. -</p> - -<p> -He saw the ape-boy, the cause of his discomfiture, scarce forty feet before -him, and Sheeta charged. -</p> - -<p> -Teeka was safe now; Tarzan saw to that by a quick glance into the tree whose -safety she had gained not an instant too soon, and Sheeta was charging. It was -useless to risk his life in idle and unequal combat from which no good could -come; but could he escape a battle with the enraged cat? And if he was forced -to fight, what chance had he to survive? Tarzan was constrained to admit that -his position was aught but a desirable one. The trees were too far to hope to -reach in time to elude the cat. Tarzan could but stand facing that hideous -charge. In his right hand he grasped his hunting knife—a puny, futile thing -indeed by comparison with the great rows of mighty teeth which lined Sheeta’s -powerful jaws, and the sharp talons encased within his padded paws; yet the -young Lord Greystoke faced it with the same courageous resignation with which -some fearless ancestor went down to defeat and death on Senlac Hill by -Hastings. -</p> - -<p> -From safety points in the trees the great apes watched, screaming hatred at -Sheeta and advice at Tarzan, for the progenitors of man have, naturally, many -human traits. Teeka was frightened. She screamed at the bulls to hasten to -Tarzan’s assistance; but the bulls were otherwise engaged—principally in giving -advice and making faces. Anyway, Tarzan was not a real Mangani, so why should -they risk their lives in an effort to protect him? -</p> - -<p> -And now Sheeta was almost upon the lithe, naked body, and—the body was not -there. Quick as was the great cat, the ape-boy was quicker. He leaped to one -side almost as the panther’s talons were closing upon him, and as Sheeta went -hurtling to the ground beyond, Tarzan was racing for the safety of the nearest -tree. -</p> - -<p> -The panther recovered himself almost immediately and, wheeling, tore after his -prey, the ape-boy’s rope dragging along the ground behind him. In doubling back -after Tarzan, Sheeta had passed around a low bush. It was a mere nothing in the -path of any jungle creature of the size and weight of Sheeta—provided it had no -trailing rope dangling behind. But Sheeta was handicapped by such a rope, and -as he leaped once again after Tarzan of the Apes the rope encircled the small -bush, became tangled in it and brought the panther to a sudden stop. An instant -later Tarzan was safe among the higher branches of a small tree into which -Sheeta could not follow him. -</p> - -<p> -Here he perched, hurling twigs and epithets at the raging feline beneath him. -The other members of the tribe now took up the bombardment, using such -hard-shelled fruits and dead branches as came within their reach, until Sheeta, -goaded to frenzy and snapping at the grass rope, finally succeeded in severing -its strands. For a moment the panther stood glaring first at one of his -tormentors and then at another, until, with a final scream of rage, he turned -and slunk off into the tangled mazes of the jungle. -</p> - -<p> -A half hour later the tribe was again upon the ground, feeding as though naught -had occurred to interrupt the somber dullness of their lives. Tarzan had -recovered the greater part of his rope and was busy fashioning a new noose, -while Teeka squatted close behind him, in evident token that her choice was -made. -</p> - -<p> -Taug eyed them sullenly. Once when he came close, Teeka bared her fangs and -growled at him, and Tarzan showed his canines in an ugly snarl; but Taug did -not provoke a quarrel. He seemed to accept after the manner of his kind the -decision of the she as an indication that he had been vanquished in his battle -for her favors. -</p> - -<p> -Later in the day, his rope repaired, Tarzan took to the trees in search of -game. More than his fellows he required meat, and so, while they were satisfied -with fruits and herbs and beetles, which could be discovered without much -effort upon their part, Tarzan spent considerable time hunting the game animals -whose flesh alone satisfied the cravings of his stomach and furnished -sustenance and strength to the mighty thews which, day by day, were building -beneath the soft, smooth texture of his brown hide. -</p> - -<p> -Taug saw him depart, and then, quite casually, the big beast hunted closer and -closer to Teeka in his search for food. At last he was within a few feet of -her, and when he shot a covert glance at her he saw that she was appraising him -and that there was no evidence of anger upon her face. -</p> - -<p> -Taug expanded his great chest and rolled about on his short legs, making -strange growlings in his throat. He raised his lips, baring his fangs. My, but -what great, beautiful fangs he had! Teeka could not but notice them. She also -let her eyes rest in admiration upon Taug’s beetling brows and his short, -powerful neck. What a beautiful creature he was indeed! -</p> - -<p> -Taug, flattered by the unconcealed admiration in her eyes, strutted about, as -proud and as vain as a peacock. Presently he began to inventory his assets, -mentally, and shortly he found himself comparing them with those of his rival. -</p> - -<p> -Taug grunted, for there was no comparison. How could one compare his beautiful -coat with the smooth and naked hideousness of Tarzan’s bare hide? Who could see -beauty in the stingy nose of the Tarmangani after looking at Taug’s broad -nostrils? And Tarzan’s eyes! Hideous things, showing white about them, and -entirely unrimmed with red. Taug knew that his own blood-shot eyes were -beautiful, for he had seen them reflected in the glassy surface of many a -drinking pool. -</p> - -<p> -The bull drew nearer to Teeka, finally squatting close against her. When Tarzan -returned from his hunting a short time later it was to see Teeka contentedly -scratching the back of his rival. -</p> - -<p> -Tarzan was disgusted. Neither Taug nor Teeka saw him as he swung through the -trees into the glade. He paused a moment, looking at them; then, with a -sorrowful grimace, he turned and faded away into the labyrinth of leafy boughs -and festooned moss out of which he had come. -</p> - -<p> -Tarzan wished to be as far away from the cause of his heartache as he could. He -was suffering the first pangs of blighted love, and he didn’t quite know what -was the matter with him. He thought that he was angry with Taug, and so he -couldn’t understand why it was that he had run away instead of rushing into -mortal combat with the destroyer of his happiness. -</p> - -<p> -He also thought that he was angry with Teeka, yet a vision of her many beauties -persisted in haunting him, so that he could only see her in the light of love -as the most desirable thing in the world. -</p> - -<p> -The ape-boy craved affection. From babyhood until the time of her death, when -the poisoned arrow of Kulonga had pierced her savage heart, Kala had -represented to the English boy the sole object of love which he had known. -</p> - -<p> -In her wild, fierce way Kala had loved her adopted son, and Tarzan had returned -that love, though the outward demonstrations of it were no greater than might -have been expected from any other beast of the jungle. It was not until he was -bereft of her that the boy realized how deep had been his attachment for his -mother, for as such he looked upon her. -</p> - -<p> -In Teeka he had seen within the past few hours a substitute for Kala—someone to -fight for and to hunt for—someone to caress; but now his dream was shattered. -Something hurt within his breast. He placed his hand over his heart and -wondered what had happened to him. Vaguely he attributed his pain to Teeka. The -more he thought of Teeka as he had last seen her, caressing Taug, the more the -thing within his breast hurt him. -</p> - -<p> -Tarzan shook his head and growled; then on and on through the jungle he swung, -and the farther he traveled and the more he thought upon his wrongs, the nearer -he approached becoming an irreclaimable misogynist. -</p> - -<p> -Two days later he was still hunting alone—very morose and very unhappy; but he -was determined never to return to the tribe. He could not bear the thought of -seeing Taug and Teeka always together. As he swung upon a great limb Numa, the -lion, and Sabor, the lioness, passed beneath him, side by side, and Sabor -leaned against the lion and bit playfully at his cheek. It was a half-caress. -Tarzan sighed and hurled a nut at them. -</p> - -<p> -Later he came upon several of Mbonga’s black warriors. He was upon the point of -dropping his noose about the neck of one of them, who was a little distance -from his companions, when he became interested in the thing which occupied the -savages. They were building a cage in the trail and covering it with leafy -branches. When they had completed their work the structure was scarcely -visible. -</p> - -<p> -Tarzan wondered what the purpose of the thing might be, and why, when they had -built it, they turned away and started back along the trail in the direction of -their village. -</p> - -<p> -It had been some time since Tarzan had visited the blacks and looked down from -the shelter of the great trees which overhung their palisade upon the -activities of his enemies, from among whom had come the slayer of Kala. -</p> - -<p> -Although he hated them, Tarzan derived considerable entertainment in watching -them at their daily life within the village, and especially at their dances, -when the fires glared against their naked bodies as they leaped and turned and -twisted in mimic warfare. It was rather in the hope of witnessing something of -the kind that he now followed the warriors back toward their village, but in -this he was disappointed, for there was no dance that night. -</p> - -<p> -Instead, from the safe concealment of his tree, Tarzan saw little groups seated -about tiny fires discussing the events of the day, and in the darker corners of -the village he descried isolated couples talking and laughing together, and -always one of each couple was a young man and the other a young woman. -</p> - -<p> -Tarzan cocked his head upon one side and thought, and before he went to sleep -that night, curled in the crotch of the great tree above the village, Teeka -filled his mind, and afterward she filled his dreams—she and the young black -men laughing and talking with the young black women. -</p> - -<p> -Taug, hunting alone, had wandered some distance from the balance of the tribe. -He was making his way slowly along an elephant path when he discovered that it -was blocked with undergrowth. Now Taug, come into maturity, was an evil-natured -brute of an exceeding short temper. When something thwarted him, his sole idea -was to overcome it by brute strength and ferocity, and so now when he found his -way blocked, he tore angrily into the leafy screen and an instant later found -himself within a strange lair, his progress effectually blocked, -notwithstanding his most violent efforts to forge ahead. -</p> - -<p> -Biting and striking at the barrier, Taug finally worked himself into a -frightful rage, but all to no avail; and at last he became convinced that he -must turn back. But when he would have done so, what was his chagrin to -discover that another barrier had dropped behind him while he fought to break -down the one before him! Taug was trapped. Until exhaustion overcame him he -fought frantically for his freedom; but all for naught. -</p> - -<p> -In the morning a party of blacks set out from the village of Mbonga in the -direction of the trap they had constructed the previous day, while among the -branches of the trees above them hovered a naked young giant filled with the -curiosity of the wild things. Manu, the monkey, chattered and scolded as Tarzan -passed, and though he was not afraid of the familiar figure of the ape-boy, he -hugged closer to him the little brown body of his life’s companion. Tarzan -laughed as he saw it; but the laugh was followed by a sudden clouding of his -face and a deep sigh. -</p> - -<p> -A little farther on, a gaily feathered bird strutted about before the admiring -eyes of his somber-hued mate. It seemed to Tarzan that everything in the jungle -was combining to remind him that he had lost Teeka; yet every day of his life -he had seen these same things and thought nothing of them. -</p> - -<p> -When the blacks reached the trap, Taug set up a great commotion. Seizing the -bars of his prison, he shook them frantically, and all the while he roared and -growled terrifically. The blacks were elated, for while they had not built -their trap for this hairy tree man, they were delighted with their catch. -</p> - -<p> -Tarzan pricked up his ears when he heard the voice of a great ape and, circling -quickly until he was down wind from the trap, he sniffed at the air in search -of the scent spoor of the prisoner. Nor was it long before there came to those -delicate nostrils the familiar odor that told Tarzan the identity of the -captive as unerringly as though he had looked upon Taug with his eyes. Yes, it -was Taug, and he was alone. -</p> - -<p> -Tarzan grinned as he approached to discover what the blacks would do to their -prisoner. Doubtless they would slay him at once. Again Tarzan grinned. Now he -could have Teeka for his own, with none to dispute his right to her. As he -watched, he saw the black warriors strip the screen from about the cage, fasten -ropes to it and drag it away along the trail in the direction of their village. -</p> - -<p> -Tarzan watched until his rival passed out of sight, still beating upon the bars -of his prison and growling out his anger and his threats. Then the ape-boy -turned and swung rapidly off in search of the tribe, and Teeka. -</p> - -<p> -Once, upon the journey, he surprised Sheeta and his family in a little -overgrown clearing. The great cat lay stretched upon the ground, while his -mate, one paw across her lord’s savage face, licked at the soft white fur at -his throat. -</p> - -<p> -Tarzan increased his speed then until he fairly flew through the forest, nor -was it long before he came upon the tribe. He saw them before they saw him, for -of all the jungle creatures, none passed more quietly than Tarzan of the Apes. -He saw Kamma and her mate feeding side by side, their hairy bodies rubbing -against each other. And he saw Teeka feeding by herself. Not for long would she -feed thus in loneliness, thought Tarzan, as with a bound he landed amongst -them. -</p> - -<p> -There was a startled rush and a chorus of angry and frightened snarls, for -Tarzan had surprised them; but there was more, too, than mere nervous shock to -account for the bristling neck hair which remained standing long after the apes -had discovered the identity of the newcomer. -</p> - -<p> -Tarzan noticed this as he had noticed it many times in the past—that always his -sudden coming among them left them nervous and unstrung for a considerable -time, and that they one and all found it necessary to satisfy themselves that -he was indeed Tarzan by smelling about him a half dozen or more times before -they calmed down. -</p> - -<p> -Pushing through them, he made his way toward Teeka; but as he approached her -the ape drew away. -</p> - -<p> -“Teeka,” he said, “it is Tarzan. You belong to Tarzan. I have come for you.” -</p> - -<p> -The ape drew closer, looking him over carefully. Finally she sniffed at him, as -though to make assurance doubly sure. -</p> - -<p> -“Where is Taug?” she asked. -</p> - -<p> -“The Gomangani have him,” replied Tarzan. “They will kill him.” -</p> - -<p> -In the eyes of the she, Tarzan saw a wistful expression and a troubled look of -sorrow as he told her of Taug’s fate; but she came quite close and snuggled -against him, and Tarzan, Lord Greystoke, put his arm about her. -</p> - -<p> -As he did so he noticed, with a start, the strange incongruity of that smooth, -brown arm against the black and hairy coat of his lady-love. He recalled the -paw of Sheeta’s mate across Sheeta’s face—no incongruity there. He thought of -little Manu hugging his she, and how the one seemed to belong to the other. -Even the proud male bird, with his gay plumage, bore a close resemblance to his -quieter spouse, while Numa, but for his shaggy mane, was almost a counterpart -of Sabor, the lioness. The males and the females differed, it was true; but not -with such differences as existed between Tarzan and Teeka. -</p> - -<p> -Tarzan was puzzled. There was something wrong. His arm dropped from the -shoulder of Teeka. Very slowly he drew away from her. She looked at him with -her head cocked upon one side. Tarzan rose to his full height and beat upon his -breast with his fists. He raised his head toward the heavens and opened his -mouth. From the depths of his lungs rose the fierce, weird challenge of the -victorious bull ape. The tribe turned curiously to eye him. He had killed -nothing, nor was there any antagonist to be goaded to madness by the savage -scream. No, there was no excuse for it, and they turned back to their feeding, -but with an eye upon the ape-man lest he be preparing to suddenly run amuck. -</p> - -<p> -As they watched him they saw him swing into a near-by tree and disappear from -sight. Then they forgot him, even Teeka. -</p> - -<p> -Mbonga’s black warriors, sweating beneath their strenuous task, and resting -often, made slow progress toward their village. Always the savage beast in the -primitive cage growled and roared when they moved him. He beat upon the bars -and slavered at the mouth. His noise was hideous. -</p> - -<p> -They had almost completed their journey and were making their final rest before -forging ahead to gain the clearing in which lay their village. A few more -minutes would have taken them out of the forest, and then, doubtless, the thing -would not have happened which did happen. -</p> - -<p> -A silent figure moved through the trees above them. Keen eyes inspected the -cage and counted the number of warriors. An alert and daring brain figured upon -the chances of success when a certain plan should be put to the test. -</p> - -<p> -Tarzan watched the blacks lolling in the shade. They were exhausted. Already -several of them slept. He crept closer, pausing just above them. Not a leaf -rustled before his stealthy advance. He waited in the infinite patience of the -beast of prey. Presently but two of the warriors remained awake, and one of -these was dozing. -</p> - -<p> -Tarzan of the Apes gathered himself, and as he did so the black who did not -sleep arose and passed around to the rear of the cage. The ape-boy followed -just above his head. Taug was eyeing the warrior and emitting low growls. -Tarzan feared that the anthropoid would awaken the sleepers. -</p> - -<p> -In a whisper which was inaudible to the ears of the Negro, Tarzan whispered -Taug’s name, cautioning the ape to silence, and Taug’s growling ceased. -</p> - -<p> -The black approached the rear of the cage and examined the fastenings of the -door, and as he stood there the beast above him launched itself from the tree -full upon his back. Steel fingers circled his throat, choking the cry which -sprang to the lips of the terrified man. Strong teeth fastened themselves in -his shoulder, and powerful legs wound themselves about his torso. -</p> - -<p> -The black in a frenzy of terror tried to dislodge the silent thing which clung -to him. He threw himself to the ground and rolled about; but still those mighty -fingers closed more and more tightly their deadly grip. -</p> - -<p> -The man’s mouth gaped wide, his swollen tongue protruded, his eyes started from -their sockets; but the relentless fingers only increased their pressure. -</p> - -<p> -Taug was a silent witness of the struggle. In his fierce little brain he -doubtless wondered what purpose prompted Tarzan to attack the black. Taug had -not forgotten his recent battle with the ape-boy, nor the cause of it. Now he -saw the form of the Gomangani suddenly go limp. There was a convulsive shiver -and the man lay still. -</p> - -<p> -Tarzan sprang from his prey and ran to the door of the cage. With nimble -fingers he worked rapidly at the thongs which held the door in place. Taug -could only watch—he could not help. Presently Tarzan pushed the thing up a -couple of feet and Taug crawled out. The ape would have turned upon the -sleeping blacks that he might wreak his pent vengeance; but Tarzan would not -permit it. -</p> - -<p> -Instead, the ape-boy dragged the body of the black within the cage and propped -it against the side bars. Then he lowered the door and made fast the thongs as -they had been before. -</p> - -<p> -A happy smile lighted his features as he worked, for one of his principal -diversions was the baiting of the blacks of Mbonga’s village. He could imagine -their terror when they awoke and found the dead body of their comrade fast in -the cage where they had left the great ape safely secured but a few minutes -before. -</p> - -<p> -Tarzan and Taug took to the trees together, the shaggy coat of the fierce ape -brushing the sleek skin of the English lordling as they passed through the -primeval jungle side by side. -</p> - -<p> -“Go back to Teeka,” said Tarzan. “She is yours. Tarzan does not want her.” -</p> - -<p> -“Tarzan has found another she?” asked Taug. -</p> - -<p> -The ape-boy shrugged. -</p> - -<p> -“For the Gomangani there is another Gomangani,” he said; “for Numa, the lion, -there is Sabor, the lioness; for Sheeta there is a she of his own kind; for -Bara, the deer; for Manu, the monkey; for all the beasts and the birds of the -jungle is there a mate. Only for Tarzan of the Apes is there none. Taug is an -ape. Teeka is an ape. Go back to Teeka. Tarzan is a man. He will go alone.” -</p> - -</div><!--end chapter--> - -<div class="chapter"> - -<h2><a name="chap02"></a>CHAPTER II<br/> -The Capture of Tarzan</h2> - -<p> -The black warriors labored in the humid heat of the jungle’s stifling shade. -With war spears they loosened the thick, black loam and the deep layers of -rotting vegetation. With heavy-nailed fingers they scooped away the -disintegrated earth from the center of the age-old game trail. Often they -ceased their labors to squat, resting and gossiping, with much laughter, at the -edge of the pit they were digging. -</p> - -<p> -Against the boles of near-by trees leaned their long, oval shields of thick -buffalo hide, and the spears of those who were doing the scooping. Sweat -glistened upon their smooth, ebon skins, beneath which rolled rounded muscles, -supple in the perfection of nature’s uncontaminated health. -</p> - -<p> -A reed buck, stepping warily along the trail toward water, halted as a burst of -laughter broke upon his startled ears. For a moment he stood statuesque but for -his sensitively dilating nostrils; then he wheeled and fled noiselessly from -the terrifying presence of man. -</p> - -<p> -A hundred yards away, deep in the tangle of impenetrable jungle, Numa, the -lion, raised his massive head. Numa had dined well until almost daybreak and it -had required much noise to awaken him. Now he lifted his muzzle and sniffed the -air, caught the acrid scent spoor of the reed buck and the heavy scent of man. -But Numa was well filled. With a low, disgusted grunt he rose and slunk away. -</p> - -<p> -Brilliantly plumaged birds with raucous voices darted from tree to tree. Little -monkeys, chattering and scolding, swung through the swaying limbs above the -black warriors. Yet they were alone, for the teeming jungle with all its myriad -life, like the swarming streets of a great metropolis, is one of the loneliest -spots in God’s great universe. -</p> - -<p> -But were they alone? -</p> - -<p> -Above them, lightly balanced upon a leafy tree limb, a gray-eyed youth watched -with eager intentness their every move. The fire of hate, restrained, smoldered -beneath the lad’s evident desire to know the purpose of the black men’s labors. -Such a one as these it was who had slain his beloved Kala. For them there could -be naught but enmity, yet he liked well to watch them, avid as he was for -greater knowledge of the ways of man. -</p> - -<p> -He saw the pit grow in depth until a great hole yawned the width of the trail—a -hole which was amply large enough to hold at one time all of the six -excavators. Tarzan could not guess the purpose of so great a labor. And when -they cut long stakes, sharpened at their upper ends, and set them at intervals -upright in the bottom of the pit, his wonderment but increased, nor was it -satisfied with the placing of the light cross-poles over the pit, or the -careful arrangement of leaves and earth which completely hid from view the work -the black men had performed. -</p> - -<p> -When they were done they surveyed their handiwork with evident satisfaction, -and Tarzan surveyed it, too. Even to his practiced eye there remained scarce a -vestige of evidence that the ancient game trail had been tampered with in any -way. -</p> - -<p> -So absorbed was the ape-man in speculation as to the purpose of the covered pit -that he permitted the blacks to depart in the direction of their village -without the usual baiting which had rendered him the terror of Mbonga’s people -and had afforded Tarzan both a vehicle of revenge and a source of inexhaustible -delight. -</p> - -<p> -Puzzle as he would, however, he could not solve the mystery of the concealed -pit, for the ways of the blacks were still strange ways to Tarzan. They had -entered his jungle but a short time before—the first of their kind to encroach -upon the age-old supremacy of the beasts which laired there. To Numa, the lion, -to Tantor, the elephant, to the great apes and the lesser apes, to each and all -of the myriad creatures of this savage wild, the ways of man were new. They had -much to learn of these black, hairless creatures that walked erect upon their -hind paws—and they were learning it slowly, and always to their sorrow. -</p> - -<p> -Shortly after the blacks had departed, Tarzan swung easily to the trail. -Sniffing suspiciously, he circled the edge of the pit. Squatting upon his -haunches, he scraped away a little earth to expose one of the cross-bars. He -sniffed at this, touched it, cocked his head upon one side, and contemplated it -gravely for several minutes. Then he carefully re-covered it, arranging the -earth as neatly as had the blacks. This done, he swung himself back among the -branches of the trees and moved off in search of his hairy fellows, the great -apes of the tribe of Kerchak. -</p> - -<p> -Once he crossed the trail of Numa, the lion, pausing for a moment to hurl a -soft fruit at the snarling face of his enemy, and to taunt and insult him, -calling him eater of carrion and brother of Dango, the hyena. Numa, his -yellow-green eyes round and burning with concentrated hate, glared up at the -dancing figure above him. Low growls vibrated his heavy jowls and his great -rage transmitted to his sinuous tail a sharp, whiplike motion; but realizing -from past experience the futility of long distance argument with the ape-man, -he turned presently and struck off into the tangled vegetation which hid him -from the view of his tormentor. With a final scream of jungle invective and an -apelike grimace at his departing foe, Tarzan continued along his way. -</p> - -<p> -Another mile and a shifting wind brought to his keen nostrils a familiar, -pungent odor close at hand, and a moment later there loomed beneath him a huge, -gray-black bulk forging steadily along the jungle trail. Tarzan seized and -broke a small tree limb, and at the sudden cracking sound the ponderous figure -halted. Great ears were thrown forward, and a long, supple trunk rose quickly -to wave to and fro in search of the scent of an enemy, while two weak, little -eyes peered suspiciously and futilely about in quest of the author of the noise -which had disturbed his peaceful way. -</p> - -<p> -Tarzan laughed aloud and came closer above the head of the pachyderm. -</p> - -<p> -“Tantor! Tantor!” he cried. “Bara, the deer, is less fearful than you—you, -Tantor, the elephant, greatest of the jungle folk with the strength of as many -Numas as I have toes upon my feet and fingers upon my hands. Tantor, who can -uproot great trees, trembles with fear at the sound of a broken twig.” -</p> - -<p> -A rumbling noise, which might have been either a sign of contempt or a sigh of -relief, was Tantor’s only reply as the uplifted trunk and ears came down and -the beast’s tail dropped to normal; but his eyes still roved about in search of -Tarzan. He was not long kept in suspense, however, as to the whereabouts of the -ape-man, for a second later the youth dropped lightly to the broad head of his -old friend. Then stretching himself at full length, he drummed with his bare -toes upon the thick hide, and as his fingers scratched the more tender surfaces -beneath the great ears, he talked to Tantor of the gossip of the jungle as -though the great beast understood every word that he said. -</p> - -<p> -Much there was which Tarzan could make Tantor understand, and though the small -talk of the wild was beyond the great, gray dreadnaught of the jungle, he stood -with blinking eyes and gently swaying trunk as though drinking in every word of -it with keenest appreciation. As a matter of fact it was the pleasant, friendly -voice and caressing hands behind his ears which he enjoyed, and the close -proximity of him whom he had often borne upon his back since Tarzan, as a -little child, had once fearlessly approached the great bull, assuming upon the -part of the pachyderm the same friendliness which filled his own heart. -</p> - -<p> -In the years of their association Tarzan had discovered that he possessed an -inexplicable power to govern and direct his mighty friend. At his bidding, -Tantor would come from a great distance—as far as his keen ears could detect -the shrill and piercing summons of the ape-man—and when Tarzan was squatted -upon his head, Tantor would lumber through the jungle in any direction which -his rider bade him go. It was the power of the man-mind over that of the brute -and it was just as effective as though both fully understood its origin, though -neither did. -</p> - -<p> -For half an hour Tarzan sprawled there upon Tantor’s back. Time had no meaning -for either of them. Life, as they saw it, consisted principally in keeping -their stomachs filled. To Tarzan this was a less arduous labor than to Tantor, -for Tarzan’s stomach was smaller, and being omnivorous, food was less difficult -to obtain. If one sort did not come readily to hand, there were always many -others to satisfy his hunger. He was less particular as to his diet than -Tantor, who would eat only the bark of certain trees, and the wood of others, -while a third appealed to him only through its leaves, and these, perhaps, just -at certain seasons of the year. -</p> - -<p> -Tantor must needs spend the better part of his life in filling his immense -stomach against the needs of his mighty thews. It is thus with all the lower -orders—their lives are so occupied either with searching for food or with the -processes of digestion that they have little time for other considerations. -Doubtless it is this handicap which has kept them from advancing as rapidly as -man, who has more time to give to thought upon other matters. -</p> - -<p> -However, these questions troubled Tarzan but little, and Tantor not at all. -What the former knew was that he was happy in the companionship of the -elephant. He did not know why. He did not know that because he was a human -being—a normal, healthy human being—he craved some living thing upon which to -lavish his affection. His childhood playmates among the apes of Kerchak were -now great, sullen brutes. They felt nor inspired but little affection. The -younger apes Tarzan still played with occasionally. In his savage way he loved -them; but they were far from satisfying or restful companions. Tantor was a -great mountain of calm, of poise, of stability. It was restful and satisfying -to sprawl upon his rough pate and pour one’s vague hopes and aspirations into -the great ears which flapped ponderously to and fro in apparent understanding. -Of all the jungle folk, Tantor commanded Tarzan’s greatest love since Kala had -been taken from him. Sometimes Tarzan wondered if Tantor reciprocated his -affection. It was difficult to know. -</p> - -<p> -It was the call of the stomach—the most compelling and insistent call which the -jungle knows—that took Tarzan finally back to the trees and off in search of -food, while Tantor continued his interrupted journey in the opposite direction. -</p> - -<p> -For an hour the ape-man foraged. A lofty nest yielded its fresh, warm harvest. -Fruits, berries, and tender plantain found a place upon his menu in the order -that he happened upon them, for he did not seek such foods. Meat, meat, meat! -It was always meat that Tarzan of the Apes hunted; but sometimes meat eluded -him, as today. -</p> - -<p> -And as he roamed the jungle his active mind busied itself not alone with his -hunting, but with many other subjects. He had a habit of recalling often the -events of the preceding days and hours. He lived over his visit with Tantor; he -cogitated upon the digging blacks and the strange, covered pit they had left -behind them. He wondered again and again what its purpose might be. He compared -perceptions and arrived at judgments. He compared judgments, reaching -conclusions—not always correct ones, it is true, but at least he used his brain -for the purpose God intended it, which was the less difficult because he was -not handicapped by the second-hand, and usually erroneous, judgment of others. -</p> - -<p> -And as he puzzled over the covered pit, there loomed suddenly before his mental -vision a huge, gray-black bulk which lumbered ponderously along a jungle trail. -Instantly Tarzan tensed to the shock of a sudden fear. Decision and action -usually occurred simultaneously in the life of the ape-man, and now he was away -through the leafy branches ere the realization of the pit’s purpose had scarce -formed in his mind. -</p> - -<p> -Swinging from swaying limb to swaying limb, he raced through the middle -terraces where the trees grew close together. Again he dropped to the ground -and sped, silently and light of foot, over the carpet of decaying vegetation, -only to leap again into the trees where the tangled undergrowth precluded rapid -advance upon the surface. -</p> - -<p> -In his anxiety he cast discretion to the winds. The caution of the beast was -lost in the loyalty of the man, and so it came that he entered a large -clearing, denuded of trees, without a thought of what might lie there or upon -the farther edge to dispute the way with him. -</p> - -<p> -He was half way across when directly in his path and but a few yards away there -rose from a clump of tall grasses a half dozen chattering birds. Instantly -Tarzan turned aside, for he knew well enough what manner of creature the -presence of these little sentinels proclaimed. Simultaneously Buto, the -rhinoceros, scrambled to his short legs and charged furiously. Haphazard -charges Buto, the rhinoceros. With his weak eyes he sees but poorly even at -short distances, and whether his erratic rushes are due to the panic of fear as -he attempts to escape, or to the irascible temper with which he is generally -credited, it is difficult to determine. Nor is the matter of little moment to -one whom Buto charges, for if he be caught and tossed, the chances are that -naught will interest him thereafter. -</p> - -<p> -And today it chanced that Buto bore down straight upon Tarzan, across the few -yards of knee-deep grass which separated them. Accident started him in the -direction of the ape-man, and then his weak eyes discerned the enemy, and with -a series of snorts he charged straight for him. The little rhino birds -fluttered and circled about their giant ward. Among the branches of the trees -at the edge of the clearing, a score or more monkeys chattered and scolded as -the loud snorts of the angry beast sent them scurrying affrightedly to the -upper terraces. Tarzan alone appeared indifferent and serene. -</p> - -<p> -Directly in the path of the charge he stood. There had been no time to seek -safety in the trees beyond the clearing, nor had Tarzan any mind to delay his -journey because of Buto. He had met the stupid beast before and held him in -fine contempt. -</p> - -<p> -And now Buto was upon him, the massive head lowered and the long, heavy horn -inclined for the frightful work for which nature had designed it; but as he -struck upward, his weapon raked only thin air, for the ape-man had sprung -lightly aloft with a catlike leap that carried him above the threatening horn -to the broad back of the rhinoceros. Another spring and he was on the ground -behind the brute and racing like a deer for the trees. -</p> - -<p> -Buto, angered and mystified by the strange disappearance of his prey, wheeled -and charged frantically in another direction, which chanced to be not the -direction of Tarzan’s flight, and so the ape-man came in safety to the trees -and continued on his swift way through the forest. -</p> - -<p> -Some distance ahead of him Tantor moved steadily along the well-worn elephant -trail, and ahead of Tantor a crouching, black warrior listened intently in the -middle of the path. Presently he heard the sound for which he had been -hoping—the cracking, snapping sound which heralded the approach of an elephant. -</p> - -<p> -To his right and left in other parts of the jungle other warriors were -watching. A low signal, passed from one to another, apprised the most distant -that the quarry was afoot. Rapidly they converged toward the trail, taking -positions in trees down wind from the point at which Tantor must pass them. -Silently they waited and presently were rewarded by the sight of a mighty -tusker carrying an amount of ivory in his long tusks that set their greedy -hearts to palpitating. -</p> - -<p> -No sooner had he passed their positions than the warriors clambered from their -perches. No longer were they silent, but instead clapped their hands and -shouted as they reached the ground. For an instant Tantor, the elephant, paused -with upraised trunk and tail, with great ears up-pricked, and then he swung on -along the trail at a rapid, shuffling pace—straight toward the covered pit with -its sharpened stakes upstanding in the ground. -</p> - -<p> -Behind him came the yelling warriors, urging him on in the rapid flight which -would not permit a careful examination of the ground before him. Tantor, the -elephant, who could have turned and scattered his adversaries with a single -charge, fled like a frightened deer—fled toward a hideous, torturing death. -</p> - -<p> -And behind them all came Tarzan of the Apes, racing through the jungle forest -with the speed and agility of a squirrel, for he had heard the shouts of the -warriors and had interpreted them correctly. Once he uttered a piercing call -that reverberated through the jungle; but Tantor, in the panic of terror, -either failed to hear, or hearing, dared not pause to heed. -</p> - -<p> -Now the giant pachyderm was but a few yards from the hidden death lurking in -his path, and the blacks, certain of success, were screaming and dancing in his -wake, waving their war spears and celebrating in advance the acquisition of the -splendid ivory carried by their prey and the surfeit of elephant meat which -would be theirs this night. -</p> - -<p> -So intent were they upon their gratulations that they entirely failed to note -the silent passage of the man-beast above their heads, nor did Tantor, either, -see or hear him, even though Tarzan called to him to stop. -</p> - -<p> -A few more steps would precipitate Tantor upon the sharpened stakes; Tarzan -fairly flew through the trees until he had come abreast of the fleeing animal -and then had passed him. At the pit’s verge the ape-man dropped to the ground -in the center of the trail. Tantor was almost upon him before his weak eyes -permitted him to recognize his old friend. -</p> - -<p> -“Stop!” cried Tarzan, and the great beast halted to the upraised hand. -</p> - -<p> -Tarzan turned and kicked aside some of the brush which hid the pit. Instantly -Tantor saw and understood. -</p> - -<p> -“Fight!” growled Tarzan. “They are coming behind you.” But Tantor, the -elephant, is a huge bunch of nerves, and now he was half panic-stricken by -terror. -</p> - -<p> -Before him yawned the pit, how far he did not know, but to right and left lay -the primeval jungle untouched by man. With a squeal the great beast turned -suddenly at right angles and burst his noisy way through the solid wall of -matted vegetation that would have stopped any but him. -</p> - -<p> -Tarzan, standing upon the edge of the pit, smiled as he watched Tantor’s -undignified flight. Soon the blacks would come. It was best that Tarzan of the -Apes faded from the scene. He essayed a step from the pit’s edge, and as he -threw the weight of his body upon his left foot, the earth crumbled away. -Tarzan made a single Herculean effort to throw himself forward, but it was too -late. Backward and downward he went toward the sharpened stakes in the bottom -of the pit. -</p> - -<p> -When, a moment later, the blacks came they saw even from a distance that Tantor -had eluded them, for the size of the hole in the pit covering was too small to -have accommodated the huge bulk of an elephant. At first they thought that -their prey had put one great foot through the top and then, warned, drawn back; -but when they had come to the pit’s verge and peered over, their eyes went wide -in astonishment, for, quiet and still, at the bottom lay the naked figure of a -white giant. -</p> - -<p> -Some of them there had glimpsed this forest god before and they drew back in -terror, awed by the presence which they had for some time believed to possess -the miraculous powers of a demon; but others there were who pushed forward, -thinking only of the capture of an enemy, and these leaped into the pit and -lifted Tarzan out. -</p> - -<p> -There was no scar upon his body. None of the sharpened stakes had pierced -him—only a swollen spot at the base of the brain indicated the nature of his -injury. In the falling backward his head had struck upon the side of one of the -stakes, rendering him unconscious. The blacks were quick to discover this, and -equally quick to bind their prisoner’s arms and legs before he should regain -consciousness, for they had learned to harbor a wholesome respect for this -strange man-beast that consorted with the hairy tree folk. -</p> - -<p> -They had carried him but a short distance toward their village when the -ape-man’s eyelids quivered and raised. He looked about him wonderingly for a -moment, and then full consciousness returned and he realized the seriousness of -his predicament. Accustomed almost from birth to relying solely upon his own -resources, he did not cast about for outside aid now, but devoted his mind to a -consideration of the possibilities for escape which lay within himself and his -own powers. -</p> - -<p> -He did not dare test the strength of his bonds while the blacks were carrying -him, for fear they would become apprehensive and add to them. Presently his -captors discovered that he was conscious, and as they had little stomach for -carrying a heavy man through the jungle heat, they set him upon his feet and -forced him forward among them, pricking him now and then with their spears, yet -with every manifestation of the superstitious awe in which they held him. -</p> - -<p> -When they discovered that their prodding brought no outward evidence of -suffering, their awe increased, so that they soon desisted, half believing that -this strange white giant was a supernatural being and so was immune from pain. -</p> - -<p> -As they approached their village, they shouted aloud the victorious cries of -successful warriors, so that by the time they reached the gate, dancing and -waving their spears, a great crowd of men, women, and children were gathered -there to greet them and hear the story of their adventure. -</p> - -<p> -As the eyes of the villagers fell upon the prisoner, they went wild, and heavy -jaws fell open in astonishment and incredulity. For months they had lived in -perpetual terror of a weird, white demon whom but few had ever glimpsed and -lived to describe. Warriors had disappeared from the paths almost within sight -of the village and from the midst of their companions as mysteriously and -completely as though they had been swallowed by the earth, and later, at night, -their dead bodies had fallen, as from the heavens, into the village street. -</p> - -<p> -This fearsome creature had appeared by night in the huts of the village, -killed, and disappeared, leaving behind him in the huts with his dead, strange -and terrifying evidences of an uncanny sense of humor. -</p> - -<p> -But now he was in their power! No longer could he terrorize them. Slowly the -realization of this dawned upon them. A woman, screaming, ran forward and -struck the ape-man across the face. Another and another followed her example, -until Tarzan of the Apes was surrounded by a fighting, clawing, yelling mob of -natives. -</p> - -<p> -And then Mbonga, the chief, came, and laying his spear heavily across the -shoulders of his people, drove them from their prey. -</p> - -<p> -“We will save him until night,” he said. -</p> - -<p> -Far out in the jungle Tantor, the elephant, his first panic of fear allayed, -stood with up-pricked ears and undulating trunk. What was passing through the -convolutions of his savage brain? Could he be searching for Tarzan? Could he -recall and measure the service the ape-man had performed for him? Of that there -can be no doubt. But did he feel gratitude? Would he have risked his own life -to have saved Tarzan could he have known of the danger which confronted his -friend? You will doubt it. Anyone at all familiar with elephants will doubt it. -Englishmen who have hunted much with elephants in India will tell you that they -never have heard of an instance in which one of these animals has gone to the -aid of a man in danger, even though the man had often befriended it. And so it -is to be doubted that Tantor would have attempted to overcome his instinctive -fear of the black men in an effort to succor Tarzan. -</p> - -<p> -The screams of the infuriated villagers came faintly to his sensitive ears, and -he wheeled, as though in terror, contemplating flight; but something stayed -him, and again he turned about, raised his trunk, and gave voice to a shrill -cry. -</p> - -<p> -Then he stood listening. -</p> - -<p> -In the distant village where Mbonga had restored quiet and order, the voice of -Tantor was scarcely audible to the blacks, but to the keen ears of Tarzan of -the Apes it bore its message. -</p> - -<p> -His captors were leading him to a hut where he might be confined and guarded -against the coming of the nocturnal orgy that would mark his torture-laden -death. He halted as he heard the notes of Tantor’s call, and raising his head, -gave vent to a terrifying scream that sent cold chills through the -superstitious blacks and caused the warriors who guarded him to leap back even -though their prisoner’s arms were securely bound behind him. -</p> - -<p> -With raised spears they encircled him as for a moment longer he stood -listening. Faintly from the distance came another, an answering cry, and Tarzan -of the Apes, satisfied, turned and quietly pursued his way toward the hut where -he was to be imprisoned. -</p> - -<p> -The afternoon wore on. From the surrounding village the ape-man heard the -bustle of preparation for the feast. Through the doorway of the hut he saw the -women laying the cooking fires and filling their earthen caldrons with water; -but above it all his ears were bent across the jungle in eager listening for -the coming of Tantor. -</p> - -<p> -Even Tarzan but half believed that he would come. He knew Tantor even better -than Tantor knew himself. He knew the timid heart which lay in the giant body. -He knew the panic of terror which the scent of the Gomangani inspired within -that savage breast, and as night drew on, hope died within his heart and in the -stoic calm of the wild beast which he was, he resigned himself to meet the fate -which awaited him. -</p> - -<p> -All afternoon he had been working, working, working with the bonds that held -his wrists. Very slowly they were giving. He might free his hands before they -came to lead him out to be butchered, and if he did—Tarzan licked his lips in -anticipation, and smiled a cold, grim smile. He could imagine the feel of soft -flesh beneath his fingers and the sinking of his white teeth into the throats -of his foemen. He would let them taste his wrath before they overpowered him! -</p> - -<p> -At last they came—painted, befeathered warriors—even more hideous than nature -had intended them. They came and pushed him into the open, where his appearance -was greeted by wild shouts from the assembled villagers. -</p> - -<p> -To the stake they led him, and as they pushed him roughly against it -preparatory to binding him there securely for the dance of death that would -presently encircle him, Tarzan tensed his mighty thews and with a single, -powerful wrench parted the loosened thongs which had secured his hands. Like -thought, for quickness, he leaped forward among the warriors nearest him. A -blow sent one to earth, as, growling and snarling, the beast-man leaped upon -the breast of another. His fangs were buried instantly in the jugular of his -adversary and then a half hundred black men had leaped upon him and borne him -to earth. -</p> - -<p> -Striking, clawing, and snapping, the ape-man fought—fought as his foster people -had taught him to fight—fought like a wild beast cornered. His strength, his -agility, his courage, and his intelligence rendered him easily a match for half -a dozen black men in a hand-to-hand struggle, but not even Tarzan of the Apes -could hope to successfully cope with half a hundred. -</p> - -<p> -Slowly they were overpowering him, though a score of them bled from ugly -wounds, and two lay very still beneath the trampling feet, and the rolling -bodies of the contestants. -</p> - -<p> -Overpower him they might, but could they keep him overpowered while they bound -him? A half hour of desperate endeavor convinced them that they could not, and -so Mbonga, who, like all good rulers, had circled in the safety of the -background, called to one to work his way in and spear the victim. Gradually, -through the milling, battling men, the warrior approached the object of his -quest. -</p> - -<p> -He stood with poised spear above his head waiting for the instant that would -expose a vulnerable part of the ape-man’s body and still not endanger one of -the blacks. Closer and closer he edged about, following the movements of the -twisting, scuffling combatants. The growls of the ape-man sent cold chills up -the warrior’s spine, causing him to go carefully lest he miss at the first cast -and lay himself open to an attack from those merciless teeth and mighty hands. -</p> - -<p> -At last he found an opening. Higher he raised his spear, tensing his muscles, -rolling beneath his glistening, ebon hide, and then from the jungle just beyond -the palisade came a thunderous crashing. The spear-hand paused, the black cast -a quick glance in the direction of the disturbance, as did the others of the -blacks who were not occupied with the subjugation of the ape-man. -</p> - -<p> -In the glare of the fires they saw a huge bulk topping the barrier. They saw -the palisade belly and sway inward. They saw it burst as though built of -straws, and an instant later Tantor, the elephant, thundered down upon them. -</p> - -<p> -To right and left the blacks fled, screaming in terror. Some who hovered upon -the verge of the strife with Tarzan heard and made good their escape, but a -half dozen there were so wrapt in the blood-madness of battle that they failed -to note the approach of the giant tusker. -</p> - -<p> -Upon these Tantor charged, trumpeting furiously. Above them he stopped, his -sensitive trunk weaving among them, and there, at the bottom, he found Tarzan, -bloody, but still battling. -</p> - -<p> -A warrior turned his eyes upward from the melee. Above him towered the gigantic -bulk of the pachyderm, the little eyes flashing with the reflected light of the -fires—wicked, frightful, terrifying. The warrior screamed, and as he screamed, -the sinuous trunk encircled him, lifted him high above the ground, and hurled -him far after the fleeing crowd. -</p> - -<p> -Another and another Tantor wrenched from the body of the ape-man, throwing them -to right and to left, where they lay either moaning or very quiet, as death -came slowly or at once. -</p> - -<p> -At a distance Mbonga rallied his warriors. His greedy eyes had noted the great -ivory tusks of the bull. The first panic of terror relieved, he urged his men -forward to attack with their heavy elephant spears; but as they came, Tantor -swung Tarzan to his broad head, and, wheeling, lumbered off into the jungle -through the great rent he had made in the palisade. -</p> - -<p> -Elephant hunters may be right when they aver that this animal would not have -rendered such service to a man, but to Tantor, Tarzan was not a man—he was but -a fellow jungle beast. -</p> - -<p> -And so it was that Tantor, the elephant, discharged an obligation to Tarzan of -the Apes, cementing even more closely the friendship that had existed between -them since Tarzan as a little, brown boy rode upon Tantor’s huge back through -the moonlit jungle beneath the equatorial stars. -</p> - -</div><!--end chapter--> - -<div class="chapter"> - -<h2><a name="chap03"></a>CHAPTER III<br/> -The Fight for the Balu</h2> - -<p> -Teeka had become a mother. Tarzan of the Apes was intensely interested, much -more so, in fact, than Taug, the father. Tarzan was very fond of Teeka. Even -the cares of prospective motherhood had not entirely quenched the fires of -carefree youth, and Teeka had remained a good-natured playmate even at an age -when other shes of the tribe of Kerchak had assumed the sullen dignity of -maturity. She yet retained her childish delight in the primitive games of tag -and hide-and-go-seek which Tarzan’s fertile man-mind had evolved. -</p> - -<p> -To play tag through the tree tops is an exciting and inspiring pastime. Tarzan -delighted in it, but the bulls of his childhood had long since abandoned such -childish practices. Teeka, though, had been keen for it always until shortly -before the baby came; but with the advent of her first-born, even Teeka -changed. -</p> - -<p> -The evidence of the change surprised and hurt Tarzan immeasurably. One morning -he saw Teeka squatted upon a low branch hugging something very close to her -hairy breast—a wee something which squirmed and wriggled. Tarzan approached -filled with the curiosity which is common to all creatures endowed with brains -which have progressed beyond the microscopic stage. -</p> - -<p> -Teeka rolled her eyes in his direction and strained the squirming mite still -closer to her. Tarzan came nearer. Teeka drew away and bared her fangs. Tarzan -was nonplussed. In all his experiences with Teeka, never before had she bared -fangs at him other than in play; but today she did not look playful. Tarzan ran -his brown fingers through his thick, black hair, cocked his head upon one side, -and stared. Then he edged a bit nearer, craning his neck to have a better look -at the thing which Teeka cuddled. -</p> - -<p> -Again Teeka drew back her upper lip in a warning snarl. Tarzan reached forth a -hand, cautiously, to touch the thing which Teeka held, and Teeka, with a -hideous growl, turned suddenly upon him. Her teeth sank into the flesh of his -forearm before the ape-man could snatch it away, and she pursued him for a -short distance as he retreated incontinently through the trees; but Teeka, -carrying her baby, could not overtake him. At a safe distance Tarzan stopped -and turned to regard his erstwhile play-fellow in unconcealed astonishment. -What had happened to so alter the gentle Teeka? She had so covered the thing in -her arms that Tarzan had not yet been able to recognize it for what it was; but -now, as she turned from the pursuit of him, he saw it. Through his pain and -chagrin he smiled, for Tarzan had seen young ape mothers before. In a few days -she would be less suspicious. Still Tarzan was hurt; it was not right that -Teeka, of all others, should fear him. Why, not for the world would he harm -her, or her balu, which is the ape word for baby. -</p> - -<p> -And now, above the pain of his injured arm and the hurt to his pride, rose a -still stronger desire to come close and inspect the new-born son of Taug. -Possibly you will wonder that Tarzan of the Apes, mighty fighter that he was, -should have fled before the irritable attack of a she, or that he should -hesitate to return for the satisfaction of his curiosity when with ease he -might have vanquished the weakened mother of the new-born cub; but you need not -wonder. Were you an ape, you would know that only a bull in the throes of -madness will turn upon a female other than to gently chastise her, with the -occasional exception of the individual whom we find exemplified among our own -kind, and who delights in beating up his better half because she happens to be -smaller and weaker than he. -</p> - -<p> -Tarzan again came toward the young mother—warily and with his line of retreat -safely open. Again Teeka growled ferociously. Tarzan expostulated. -</p> - -<p> -“Tarzan of the Apes will not harm Teeka’s balu,” he said. “Let me see it.” -</p> - -<p> -“Go away!” commanded Teeka. “Go away, or I will kill you.” -</p> - -<p> -“Let me see it,” urged Tarzan. -</p> - -<p> -“Go away,” reiterated the she-ape. “Here comes Taug. He will make you go away. -Taug will kill you. This is Taug’s balu.” -</p> - -<p> -A savage growl close behind him apprised Tarzan of the nearness of Taug, and -the fact that the bull had heard the warnings and threats of his mate and was -coming to her succor. -</p> - -<p> -Now Taug, as well as Teeka, had been Tarzan’s play-fellow while the bull was -still young enough to wish to play. Once Tarzan had saved Taug’s life; but the -memory of an ape is not overlong, nor would gratitude rise above the parental -instinct. Tarzan and Taug had once measured strength, and Tarzan had been -victorious. That fact Taug could be depended upon still to remember; but even -so, he might readily face another defeat for his first-born—if he chanced to be -in the proper mood. -</p> - -<p> -From his hideous growls, which now rose in strength and volume, he seemed to be -in quite the mood. Now Tarzan felt no fear of Taug, nor did the unwritten law -of the jungle demand that he should flee from battle with any male, unless he -cared to from purely personal reasons. But Tarzan liked Taug. He had no grudge -against him, and his man-mind told him what the mind of an ape would never have -deduced—that Taug’s attitude in no sense indicated hatred. It was but the -instinctive urge of the male to protect its offspring and its mate. -</p> - -<p> -Tarzan had no desire to battle with Taug, nor did the blood of his English -ancestors relish the thought of flight, yet when the bull charged, Tarzan -leaped nimbly to one side, and thus encouraged, Taug wheeled and rushed again -madly to the attack. Perhaps the memory of a past defeat at Tarzan’s hands -goaded him. Perhaps the fact that Teeka sat there watching him aroused a desire -to vanquish the ape-man before her eyes, for in the breast of every jungle male -lurks a vast egotism which finds expression in the performance of deeds of -derring-do before an audience of the opposite sex. -</p> - -<p> -At the ape-man’s side swung his long grass rope—the play-thing of yesterday, -the weapon of today—and as Taug charged the second time, Tarzan slipped the -coils over his head and deftly shook out the sliding noose as he again nimbly -eluded the ungainly beast. Before the ape could turn again, Tarzan had fled far -aloft among the branches of the upper terrace. -</p> - -<p> -Taug, now wrought to a frenzy of real rage, followed him. Teeka peered upward -at them. It was difficult to say whether she was interested. Taug could not -climb as rapidly as Tarzan, so the latter reached the high levels to which the -heavy ape dared not follow before the former overtook him. There he halted and -looked down upon his pursuer, making faces at him and calling him such choice -names as occurred to the fertile man-brain. Then, when he had worked Taug to -such a pitch of foaming rage that the great bull fairly danced upon the bending -limb beneath him, Tarzan’s hand shot suddenly outward, a widening noose dropped -swiftly through the air, there was a quick jerk as it settled about Taug, -falling to his knees, a jerk that tightened it securely about the hairy legs of -the anthropoid. -</p> - -<p> -Taug, slow of wit, realized too late the intention of his tormentor. He -scrambled to escape, but the ape-man gave the rope a tremendous jerk that -pulled Taug from his perch, and a moment later, growling hideously, the ape -hung head downward thirty feet above the ground. -</p> - -<p> -Tarzan secured the rope to a stout limb and descended to a point close to Taug. -</p> - -<p> -“Taug,” he said, “you are as stupid as Buto, the rhinoceros. Now you may hang -here until you get a little sense in your thick head. You may hang here and -watch while I go and talk with Teeka.” -</p> - -<p> -Taug blustered and threatened, but Tarzan only grinned at him as he dropped -lightly to the lower levels. Here he again approached Teeka only to be again -greeted with bared fangs and menacing growls. He sought to placate her; he -urged his friendly intentions, and craned his neck to have a look at Teeka’s -balu; but the she-ape was not to be persuaded that he meant other than harm to -her little one. Her motherhood was still so new that reason was yet subservient -to instinct. -</p> - -<p> -Realizing the futility of attempting to catch and chastise Tarzan, Teeka sought -to escape him. She dropped to the ground and lumbered across the little -clearing about which the apes of the tribe were disposed in rest or in the -search of food, and presently Tarzan abandoned his attempts to persuade her to -permit a close examination of the balu. The ape-man would have liked to handle -the tiny thing. The very sight of it awakened in his breast a strange yearning. -He wished to cuddle and fondle the grotesque little ape-thing. It was Teeka’s -balu and Tarzan had once lavished his young affections upon Teeka. -</p> - -<p> -But now his attention was diverted by the voice of Taug. The threats that had -filled the ape’s mouth had turned to pleas. The tightening noose was stopping -the circulation of the blood in his legs—he was beginning to suffer. Several -apes sat near him highly interested in his predicament. They made -uncomplimentary remarks about him, for each of them had felt the weight of -Taug’s mighty hands and the strength of his great jaws. They were enjoying -revenge. -</p> - -<p> -Teeka, seeing that Tarzan had turned back toward the trees, had halted in the -center of the clearing, and there she sat hugging her balu and casting -suspicious glances here and there. With the coming of the balu, Teeka’s -care-free world had suddenly become peopled with innumerable enemies. She saw -an implacable foe in Tarzan, always heretofore her best friend. Even poor old -Mumga, half blind and almost entirely toothless, searching patiently for -grubworms beneath a fallen log, represented to her a malignant spirit thirsting -for the blood of little balus. -</p> - -<p> -And while Teeka guarded suspiciously against harm, where there was no harm, she -failed to note two baleful, yellow-green eyes staring fixedly at her from -behind a clump of bushes at the opposite side of the clearing. -</p> - -<p> -Hollow from hunger, Sheeta, the panther, glared greedily at the tempting meat -so close at hand, but the sight of the great bulls beyond gave him pause. -</p> - -<p> -Ah, if the she-ape with her balu would but come just a trifle nearer! A quick -spring and he would be upon them and away again with his meat before the bulls -could prevent. -</p> - -<p> -The tip of his tawny tail moved in spasmodic little jerks; his lower jaw hung -low, exposing a red tongue and yellow fangs. But all this Teeka did not see, -nor did any other of the apes who were feeding or resting about her. Nor did -Tarzan or the apes in the trees. -</p> - -<p> -Hearing the abuse which the bulls were pouring upon the helpless Taug, Tarzan -clambered quickly among them. One was edging closer and leaning far out in an -effort to reach the dangling ape. He had worked himself into quite a fury -through recollection of the last occasion upon which Taug had mauled him, and -now he was bent upon revenge. Once he had grasped the swinging ape, he would -quickly have drawn him within reach of his jaws. Tarzan saw and was wroth. He -loved a fair fight, but the thing which this ape contemplated revolted him. -Already a hairy hand had clutched the helpless Taug when, with an angry growl -of protest, Tarzan leaped to the branch at the attacking ape’s side, and with a -single mighty cuff, swept him from his perch. -</p> - -<p> -Surprised and enraged, the bull clutched madly for support as he toppled -sidewise, and then with an agile movement succeeded in projecting himself -toward another limb a few feet below. Here he found a hand-hold, quickly -righted himself, and as quickly clambered upward to be revenged upon Tarzan, -but the ape-man was otherwise engaged and did not wish to be interrupted. He -was explaining again to Taug the depths of the latter’s abysmal ignorance, and -pointing out how much greater and mightier was Tarzan of the Apes than Taug or -any other ape. -</p> - -<p> -In the end he would release Taug, but not until Taug was fully acquainted with -his own inferiority. And then the maddened bull came from beneath, and -instantly Tarzan was transformed from a good-natured, teasing youth into a -snarling, savage beast. Along his scalp the hair bristled: his upper lip drew -back that his fighting fangs might be uncovered and ready. He did not wait for -the bull to reach him, for something in the appearance or the voice of the -attacker aroused within the ape-man a feeling of belligerent antagonism that -would not be denied. With a scream that carried no human note, Tarzan leaped -straight at the throat of the attacker. -</p> - -<p> -The impetuosity of this act and the weight and momentum of his body carried the -bull backward, clutching and clawing for support, down through the leafy -branches of the tree. For fifteen feet the two fell, Tarzan’s teeth buried in -the jugular of his opponent, when a stout branch stopped their descent. The -bull struck full upon the small of his back across the limb, hung there for a -moment with the ape-man still upon his breast, and then toppled over toward the -ground. -</p> - -<p> -Tarzan had felt the instantaneous relaxation of the body beneath him after the -heavy impact with the tree limb, and as the other turned completely over and -started again upon its fall toward the ground, he reached forth a hand and -caught the branch in time to stay his own descent, while the ape dropped like a -plummet to the foot of the tree. -</p> - -<p> -Tarzan looked downward for a moment upon the still form of his late antagonist, -then he rose to his full height, swelled his deep chest, smote upon it with his -clenched fist and roared out the uncanny challenge of the victorious bull ape. -</p> - -<p> -Even Sheeta, the panther, crouched for a spring at the edge of the little -clearing, moved uneasily as the mighty voice sent its weird cry reverberating -through the jungle. To right and left, nervously, glanced Sheeta, as though -assuring himself that the way of escape lay ready at hand. -</p> - -<p> -“I am Tarzan of the Apes,” boasted the ape-man; “mighty hunter, mighty fighter! -None in all the jungle so great as Tarzan.” -</p> - -<p> -Then he made his way back in the direction of Taug. Teeka had watched the -happenings in the tree. She had even placed her precious balu upon the soft -grasses and come a little nearer that she might better witness all that was -passing in the branches above her. In her heart of hearts did she still esteem -the smooth-skinned Tarzan? Did her savage breast swell with pride as she -witnessed his victory over the ape? You will have to ask Teeka. -</p> - -<p> -And Sheeta, the panther, saw that the she-ape had left her cub alone among the -grasses. He moved his tail again, as though this closest approximation of -lashing in which he dared indulge might stimulate his momentarily waned -courage. The cry of the victorious ape-man still held his nerves beneath its -spell. It would be several minutes before he again could bring himself to the -point of charging into view of the giant anthropoids. -</p> - -<p> -And as he regathered his forces, Tarzan reached Taug’s side, and then -clambering higher up to the point where the end of the grass rope was made -fast, he unloosed it and lowered the ape slowly downward, swinging him in until -the clutching hands fastened upon a limb. -</p> - -<p> -Quickly Taug drew himself to a position of safety and shook off the noose. In -his rage-maddened heart was no room for gratitude to the ape-man. He recalled -only the fact that Tarzan had laid this painful indignity upon him. He would be -revenged, but just at present his legs were so numb and his head so dizzy that -he must postpone the gratification of his vengeance. -</p> - -<p> -Tarzan was coiling his rope the while he lectured Taug on the futility of -pitting his poor powers, physical and intellectual, against those of his -betters. Teeka had come close beneath the tree and was peering upward. Sheeta -was worming his way stealthily forward, his belly close to the ground. In -another moment he would be clear of the underbrush and ready for the rapid -charge and the quick retreat that would end the brief existence of Teeka’s -balu. -</p> - -<p> -Then Tarzan chanced to look up and across the clearing. Instantly his attitude -of good-natured bantering and pompous boastfulness dropped from him. Silently -and swiftly he shot downward toward the ground. Teeka, seeing him coming, and -thinking that he was after her or her balu, bristled and prepared to fight. But -Tarzan sped by her, and as he went, her eyes followed him and she saw the cause -of his sudden descent and his rapid charge across the clearing. There in full -sight now was Sheeta, the panther, stalking slowly toward the tiny, wriggling -balu which lay among the grasses many yards away. -</p> - -<p> -Teeka gave voice to a shrill scream of terror and of warning as she dashed -after the ape-man. Sheeta saw Tarzan coming. He saw the she-ape’s cub before -him, and he thought that this other was bent upon robbing him of his prey. With -an angry growl, he charged. -</p> - -<p> -Taug, warned by Teeka’s cry, came lumbering down to her assistance. Several -other bulls, growling and barking, closed in toward the clearing, but they were -all much farther from the balu and the panther than was Tarzan of the Apes, so -it was that Sheeta and the ape-man reached Teeka’s little one almost -simultaneously; and there they stood, one upon either side of it, baring their -fangs and snarling at each other over the little creature. -</p> - -<p> -Sheeta was afraid to seize the balu, for thus he would give the ape-man an -opening for attack; and for the same reason Tarzan hesitated to snatch the -panther’s prey out of harm’s way, for had he stooped to accomplish this, the -great beast would have been upon him in an instant. Thus they stood while Teeka -came across the clearing, going more slowly as she neared the panther, for even -her mother love could scarce overcome her instinctive terror of this natural -enemy of her kind. -</p> - -<p> -Behind her came Taug, warily and with many pauses and much bluster, and still -behind him came other bulls, snarling ferociously and uttering their uncanny -challenges. Sheeta’s yellow-green eyes glared terribly at Tarzan, and past -Tarzan they shot brief glances at the apes of Kerchak advancing upon him. -Discretion prompted him to turn and flee, but hunger and the close proximity of -the tempting morsel in the grass before him urged him to remain. He reached -forth a paw toward Teeka’s balu, and as he did so, with a savage guttural, -Tarzan of the Apes was upon him. -</p> - -<p> -The panther reared to meet the ape-man’s attack. He swung a frightful raking -blow for Tarzan that would have wiped his face away had it landed, but it did -not land, for Tarzan ducked beneath it and closed, his long knife ready in one -strong hand—the knife of his dead father, of the father he never had known. -</p> - -<p> -Instantly the balu was forgotten by Sheeta, the panther. He now thought only of -tearing to ribbons with his powerful talons the flesh of his antagonist, of -burying his long, yellow fangs in the soft, smooth hide of the ape-man, but -Tarzan had fought before with clawed creatures of the jungle. Before now he had -battled with fanged monsters, nor always had he come away unscathed. He knew -the risk that he ran, but Tarzan of the Apes, inured to the sight of suffering -and death, shrank from neither, for he feared neither. -</p> - -<p> -The instant that he dodged beneath Sheeta’s blow, he leaped to the beast’s rear -and then full upon the tawny back, burying his teeth in Sheeta’s neck and the -fingers of one hand in the fur at the throat, and with the other hand he drove -his blade into Sheeta’s side. -</p> - -<p> -Over and over upon the grass rolled Sheeta, growling and screaming, clawing and -biting, in a mad effort to dislodge his antagonist or get some portion of his -body within range of teeth or talons. -</p> - -<p> -As Tarzan leaped to close quarters with the panther, Teeka had run quickly in -and snatched up her balu. Now she sat upon a high branch, safe out of harm’s -way, cuddling the little thing close to her hairy breast, the while her savage -little eyes bored down upon the contestants in the clearing, and her ferocious -voice urged Taug and the other bulls to leap into the melee. -</p> - -<p> -Thus goaded the bulls came closer, redoubling their hideous clamor; but Sheeta -was already sufficiently engaged—he did not even hear them. Once he succeeded -in partially dislodging the ape-man from his back, so that Tarzan swung for an -instant in front of those awful talons, and in the brief instant before he -could regain his former hold, a raking blow from a hind paw laid open one leg -from hip to knee. -</p> - -<p class="p2"> -It was the sight and smell of this blood, possibly, which wrought upon the -encircling apes; but it was Taug who really was responsible for the thing they -did. -</p> - -<p> -Taug, but a moment before filled with rage toward Tarzan of the Apes, stood -close to the battling pair, his red-rimmed, wicked little eyes glaring at them. -What was passing in his savage brain? Did he gloat over the unenviable position -of his recent tormentor? Did he long to see Sheeta’s great fangs sink into the -soft throat of the ape-man? Or did he realize the courageous unselfishness that -had prompted Tarzan to rush to the rescue and imperil his life for Teeka’s -balu—for Taug’s little balu? Is gratitude a possession of man only, or do the -lower orders know it also? -</p> - -<p> -With the spilling of Tarzan’s blood, Taug answered these questions. With all -the weight of his great body he leaped, hideously growling, upon Sheeta. His -long fighting fangs buried themselves in the white throat. His powerful arms -beat and clawed at the soft fur until it flew upward in the jungle breeze. -</p> - -<p> -And with Taug’s example before them the other bulls charged, burying Sheeta -beneath rending fangs and filling all the forest with the wild din of their -battle cries. -</p> - -<p> -Ah! but it was a wondrous and inspiring sight—this battle of the primordial -apes and the great, white ape-man with their ancestral foe, Sheeta, the -panther. -</p> - -<p> -In frenzied excitement, Teeka fairly danced upon the limb which swayed beneath -her great weight as she urged on the males of her people, and Thaka, and Mumga, -and Kamma, with the other shes of the tribe of Kerchak, added their shrill -cries or fierce barkings to the pandemonium which now reigned within the -jungle. -</p> - -<p> -Bitten and biting, tearing and torn, Sheeta battled for his life; but the odds -were against him. Even Numa, the lion, would have hesitated to have attacked an -equal number of the great bulls of the tribe of Kerchak, and now, a half mile -away, hearing the sounds of the terrific battle, the king of beasts rose -uneasily from his midday slumber and slunk off farther into the jungle. -</p> - -<p> -Presently Sheeta’s torn and bloody body ceased its titanic struggles. It -stiffened spasmodically, twitched and was still, yet the bulls continued to -lacerate it until the beautiful coat was torn to shreds. At last they desisted -from sheer physical weariness, and then from the tangle of bloody bodies rose a -crimson giant, straight as an arrow. -</p> - -<p> -He placed a foot upon the dead body of the panther, and lifting his -blood-stained face to the blue of the equatorial heavens, gave voice to the -horrid victory cry of the bull ape. -</p> - -<p> -One by one his hairy fellows of the tribe of Kerchak followed his example. The -shes came down from their perches of safety and struck and reviled the dead -body of Sheeta. The young apes refought the battle in mimicry of their mighty -elders. -</p> - -<p> -Teeka was quite close to Tarzan. He turned and saw her with the balu hugged -close to her hairy breast, and put out his hands to take the little one, -expecting that Teeka would bare her fangs and spring upon him; but instead she -placed the balu in his arms, and coming nearer, licked his frightful wounds. -</p> - -<p> -And presently Taug, who had escaped with only a few scratches, came and -squatted beside Tarzan and watched him as he played with the little balu, and -at last he too leaned over and helped Teeka with the cleansing and the healing -of the ape-man’s hurts. -</p> - -</div><!--end chapter--> - -<div class="chapter"> - -<h2><a name="chap04"></a>CHAPTER IV<br/> -The God of Tarzan</h2> - -<p> -Among the books of his dead father in the little cabin by the land-locked -harbor, Tarzan of the Apes found many things to puzzle his young head. By much -labor and through the medium of infinite patience as well, he had, without -assistance, discovered the purpose of the little bugs which ran riot upon the -printed pages. He had learned that in the many combinations in which he found -them they spoke in a silent language, spoke in a strange tongue, spoke of -wonderful things which a little ape-boy could not by any chance fully -understand, arousing his curiosity, stimulating his imagination and filling his -soul with a mighty longing for further knowledge. -</p> - -<p> -A dictionary had proven itself a wonderful storehouse of information, when, -after several years of tireless endeavor, he had solved the mystery of its -purpose and the manner of its use. He had learned to make a species of game out -of it, following up the spoor of a new thought through the mazes of the many -definitions which each new word required him to consult. It was like following -a quarry through the jungle—it was hunting, and Tarzan of the Apes was an -indefatigable huntsman. -</p> - -<p> -There were, of course, certain words which aroused his curiosity to a greater -extent than others, words which, for one reason or another, excited his -imagination. There was one, for example, the meaning of which was rather -difficult to grasp. It was the word GOD. Tarzan first had been attracted to it -by the fact that it was very short and that it commenced with a larger g-bug -than those about it—a male g-bug it was to Tarzan, the lower-case letters being -females. Another fact which attracted him to this word was the number of -he-bugs which figured in its definition—Supreme Deity, Creator or Upholder of -the Universe. This must be a very important word indeed, he would have to look -into it, and he did, though it still baffled him after many months of thought -and study. -</p> - -<p> -However, Tarzan counted no time wasted which he devoted to these strange -hunting expeditions into the game preserves of knowledge, for each word and -each definition led on and on into strange places, into new worlds where, with -increasing frequency, he met old, familiar faces. And always he added to his -store of knowledge. -</p> - -<p> -But of the meaning of GOD he was yet in doubt. Once he thought he had grasped -it—that God was a mighty chieftain, king of all the Mangani. He was not quite -sure, however, since that would mean that God was mightier than Tarzan—a point -which Tarzan of the Apes, who acknowledged no equal in the jungle, was loath to -concede. -</p> - -<p> -But in all the books he had there was no picture of God, though he found much -to confirm his belief that God was a great, an all-powerful individual. He saw -pictures of places where God was worshiped; but never any sign of God. Finally -he began to wonder if God were not of a different form than he, and at last he -determined to set out in search of Him. -</p> - -<p> -He commenced by questioning Mumga, who was very old and had seen many strange -things in her long life; but Mumga, being an ape, had a faculty for recalling -the trivial. That time when Gunto mistook a sting-bug for an edible beetle had -made more impression upon Mumga than all the innumerable manifestations of the -greatness of God which she had witnessed, and which, of course, she had not -understood. -</p> - -<p> -Numgo, overhearing Tarzan’s questions, managed to wrest his attention long -enough from the diversion of flea hunting to advance the theory that the power -which made the lightning and the rain and the thunder came from Goro, the moon. -He knew this, he said, because the Dum-Dum always was danced in the light of -Goro. This reasoning, though entirely satisfactory to Numgo and Mumga, failed -fully to convince Tarzan. However, it gave him a basis for further -investigation along a new line. He would investigate the moon. -</p> - -<p> -That night he clambered to the loftiest pinnacle of the tallest jungle giant. -The moon was full, a great, glorious, equatorial moon. The ape-man, upright -upon a slender, swaying limb, raised his bronzed face to the silver orb. Now -that he had clambered to the highest point within his reach, he discovered, to -his surprise, that Goro was as far away as when he viewed him from the ground. -He thought that Goro was attempting to elude him. -</p> - -<p> -“Come, Goro!” he cried, “Tarzan of the Apes will not harm you!” But still the -moon held aloof. -</p> - -<p> -“Tell me,” he continued, “if you be the great king who sends Ara, the -lightning; who makes the great noise and the mighty winds, and sends the waters -down upon the jungle people when the days are dark and it is cold. Tell me, -Goro, are you God?” -</p> - -<p> -Of course he did not pronounce God as you or I would pronounce His name, for -Tarzan knew naught of the spoken language of his English forbears; but he had a -name of his own invention for each of the little bugs which constituted the -alphabet. Unlike the apes he was not satisfied merely to have a mental picture -of the things he knew, he must have a word descriptive of each. In reading he -grasped a word in its entirety; but when he spoke the words he had learned from -the books of his father, he pronounced each according to the names he had given -the various little bugs which occurred in it, usually giving the gender prefix -for each. -</p> - -<p> -Thus it was an imposing word which Tarzan made of GOD. The masculine prefix of -the apes is BU, the feminine MU; g Tarzan had named LA, o he pronounced TU, and -d was MO. So the word God evolved itself into BULAMUTUMUMO, or, in English, -he-g-she-o-she-d. -</p> - -<p> -Similarly he had arrived at a strange and wonderful spelling of his own name. -Tarzan is derived from the two ape words TAR and ZAN, meaning white skin. It -was given him by his foster mother, Kala, the great she-ape. When Tarzan first -put it into the written language of his own people he had not yet chanced upon -either WHITE or SKIN in the dictionary; but in a primer he had seen the picture -of a little white boy and so he wrote his name BUMUDE-MUTOMURO, or he-boy. -</p> - -<p> -To follow Tarzan’s strange system of spelling would be laborious as well as -futile, and so we shall in the future, as we have in the past, adhere to the -more familiar forms of our grammar school copybooks. It would tire you to -remember that DO meant b, TU o, and RO y, and that to say he-boy you must -prefix the ape masculine gender sound BU before the entire word and the -feminine gender sound MU before each of the lower-case letters which go to make -up boy—it would tire you and it would bring me to the nineteenth hole several -strokes under par. -</p> - -<p> -And so Tarzan harangued the moon, and when Goro did not reply, Tarzan of the -Apes waxed wroth. He swelled his giant chest and bared his fighting fangs, and -hurled into the teeth of the dead satellite the challenge of the bull ape. -</p> - -<p> -“You are not Bulamutumumo,” he cried. “You are not king of the jungle folk. You -are not so great as Tarzan, mighty fighter, mighty hunter. None there is so -great as Tarzan. If there be a Bulamutumumo, Tarzan can kill him. Come down, -Goro, great coward, and fight with Tarzan. Tarzan will kill you. I am Tarzan, -the killer.” -</p> - -<p> -But the moon made no answer to the boasting of the ape-man, and when a cloud -came and obscured her face, Tarzan thought that Goro was indeed afraid, and was -hiding from him, so he came down out of the trees and awoke Numgo and told him -how great was Tarzan—how he had frightened Goro out of the sky and made him -tremble. Tarzan spoke of the moon as HE, for all things large or awe inspiring -are male to the ape folk. -</p> - -<p> -Numgo was not much impressed; but he was very sleepy, so he told Tarzan to go -away and leave his betters alone. -</p> - -<p> -“But where shall I find God?” insisted Tarzan. “You are very old; if there is a -God you must have seen Him. What does He look like? Where does He live?” -</p> - -<p> -“I am God,” replied Numgo. “Now sleep and disturb me no more.” -</p> - -<p> -Tarzan looked at Numgo steadily for several minutes, his shapely head sank just -a trifle between his great shoulders, his square chin shot forward and his -short upper lip drew back, exposing his white teeth. Then, with a low growl he -leaped upon the ape and buried his fangs in the other’s hairy shoulder, -clutching the great neck in his mighty fingers. Twice he shook the old ape, -then he released his tooth-hold. -</p> - -<p> -“Are you God?” he demanded. -</p> - -<p> -“No,” wailed Numgo. “I am only a poor, old ape. Leave me alone. Go ask the -Gomangani where God is. They are hairless like yourself and very wise, too. -They should know.” -</p> - -<p> -Tarzan released Numgo and turned away. The suggestion that he consult the -blacks appealed to him, and though his relations with the people of Mbonga, the -chief, were the antithesis of friendly, he could at least spy upon his hated -enemies and discover if they had intercourse with God. -</p> - -<p> -So it was that Tarzan set forth through the trees toward the village of the -blacks, all excitement at the prospect of discovering the Supreme Being, the -Creator of all things. As he traveled he reviewed, mentally, his armament—the -condition of his hunting knife, the number of his arrows, the newness of the -gut which strung his bow—he hefted the war spear which had once been the pride -of some black warrior of Mbonga’s tribe. -</p> - -<p> -If he met God, Tarzan would be prepared. One could never tell whether a grass -rope, a war spear, or a poisoned arrow would be most efficacious against an -unfamiliar foe. Tarzan of the Apes was quite content—if God wished to fight, -the ape-man had no doubt as to the outcome of the struggle. There were many -questions Tarzan wished to put to the Creator of the Universe and so he hoped -that God would not prove a belligerent God; but his experience of life and the -ways of living things had taught him that any creature with the means for -offense and defense was quite likely to provoke attack if in the proper mood. -</p> - -<p> -It was dark when Tarzan came to the village of Mbonga. As silently as the -silent shadows of the night he sought his accustomed place among the branches -of the great tree which overhung the palisade. Below him, in the village -street, he saw men and women. The men were hideously painted—more hideously -than usual. Among them moved a weird and grotesque figure, a tall figure that -went upon the two legs of a man and yet had the head of a buffalo. A tail -dangled to his ankles behind him, and in one hand he carried a zebra’s tail -while the other clutched a bunch of small arrows. -</p> - -<p> -Tarzan was electrified. Could it be that chance had given him thus early an -opportunity to look upon God? Surely this thing was neither man nor beast, so -what could it be then other than the Creator of the Universe! The ape-man -watched the every move of the strange creature. He saw the black men and women -fall back at its approach as though they stood in terror of its mysterious -powers. -</p> - -<p> -Presently he discovered that the deity was speaking and that all listened in -silence to his words. Tarzan was sure that none other than God could inspire -such awe in the hearts of the Gomangani, or stop their mouths so effectually -without recourse to arrows or spears. Tarzan had come to look with contempt -upon the blacks, principally because of their garrulity. The small apes talked -a great deal and ran away from an enemy. The big, old bulls of Kerchak talked -but little and fought upon the slightest provocation. Numa, the lion, was not -given to loquacity, yet of all the jungle folk there were few who fought more -often than he. -</p> - -<p> -Tarzan witnessed strange things that night, none of which he understood, and, -perhaps because they were strange, he thought that they must have to do with -the God he could not understand. He saw three youths receive their first war -spears in a weird ceremony which the grotesque witch-doctor strove successfully -to render uncanny and awesome. -</p> - -<p> -Hugely interested, he watched the slashing of the three brown arms and the -exchange of blood with Mbonga, the chief, in the rites of the ceremony of blood -brotherhood. He saw the zebra’s tail dipped into a caldron of water above which -the witch-doctor had made magical passes the while he danced and leaped about -it, and he saw the breasts and foreheads of each of the three novitiates -sprinkled with the charmed liquid. Could the ape-man have known the purpose of -this act, that it was intended to render the recipient invulnerable to the -attacks of his enemies and fearless in the face of any danger, he would -doubtless have leaped into the village street and appropriated the zebra’s tail -and a portion of the contents of the caldron. -</p> - -<p> -But he did not know, and so he only wondered, not alone at what he saw but at -the strange sensations which played up and down his naked spine, sensations -induced, doubtless, by the same hypnotic influence which held the black -spectators in tense awe upon the verge of a hysteric upheaval. -</p> - -<p> -The longer Tarzan watched, the more convinced he became that his eyes were upon -God, and with the conviction came determination to have word with the deity. -With Tarzan of the Apes, to think was to act. -</p> - -<p> -The people of Mbonga were keyed to the highest pitch of hysterical excitement. -They needed little to release the accumulated pressure of static nerve force -which the terrorizing mummery of the witch-doctor had induced. -</p> - -<p> -A lion roared, suddenly and loud, close without the palisade. The blacks -started nervously, dropping into utter silence as they listened for a -repetition of that all-too-familiar and always terrorizing voice. Even the -witch-doctor paused in the midst of an intricate step, remaining momentarily -rigid and statuesque as he plumbed his cunning mind for a suggestion as how -best he might take advantage of the condition of his audience and the timely -interruption. -</p> - -<p> -Already the evening had been vastly profitable to him. There would be three -goats for the initiation of the three youths into full-fledged warriorship, and -besides these he had received several gifts of grain and beads, together with a -piece of copper wire from admiring and terrified members of his audience. -</p> - -<p> -Numa’s roar still reverberated along taut nerves when a woman’s laugh, shrill -and piercing, shattered the silence of the village. It was this moment that -Tarzan chose to drop lightly from his tree into the village street. Fearless -among his blood enemies he stood, taller by a full head than many of Mbonga’s -warriors, straight as their straightest arrow, muscled like Numa, the lion. -</p> - -<p> -For a moment Tarzan stood looking straight at the witch-doctor. Every eye was -upon him, yet no one had moved—a paralysis of terror held them, to be broken a -moment later as the ape-man, with a toss of head, stepped straight toward the -hideous figure beneath the buffalo head. -</p> - -<p> -Then the nerves of the blacks could stand no more. For months the terror of the -strange, white, jungle god had been upon them. Their arrows had been stolen -from the very center of the village; their warriors had been silently slain -upon the jungle trails and their dead bodies dropped mysteriously and by night -into the village street as from the heavens above. -</p> - -<p> -One or two there were who had glimpsed the strange figure of the new demon and -it was from their oft-repeated descriptions that the entire village now -recognized Tarzan as the author of many of their ills. Upon another occasion -and by daylight, the warriors would doubtless have leaped to attack him, but at -night, and this night of all others, when they were wrought to such a pitch of -nervous dread by the uncanny artistry of their witch-doctor, they were helpless -with terror. As one man they turned and fled, scattering for their huts, as -Tarzan advanced. For a moment one and one only held his ground. It was the -witch-doctor. More than half self-hypnotized into a belief in his own -charlatanry he faced this new demon who threatened to undermine his ancient and -lucrative profession. -</p> - -<p class="p2"> -“Are you God?” asked Tarzan. -</p> - -<p> -The witch-doctor, having no idea of the meaning of the other’s words, danced a -few strange steps, leaped high in the air, turning completely around and -alighting in a stooping posture with feet far outspread and head thrust out -toward the ape-man. Thus he remained for an instant before he uttered a loud -“Boo!” which was evidently intended to frighten Tarzan away; but in reality had -no such effect. -</p> - -<p> -Tarzan did not pause. He had set out to approach and examine God and nothing -upon earth might now stay his feet. Seeing that his antics had no potency with -the visitor, the witch-doctor tried some new medicine. Spitting upon the -zebra’s tail, which he still clutched in one hand, he made circles above it -with the arrows in the other hand, meanwhile backing cautiously away from -Tarzan and speaking confidentially to the bushy end of the tail. -</p> - -<p> -This medicine must be short medicine, however, for the creature, god or demon, -was steadily closing up the distance which had separated them. The circles -therefore were few and rapid, and when they were completed, the witch-doctor -struck an attitude which was intended to be awe inspiring and waving the -zebra’s tail before him, drew an imaginary line between himself and Tarzan. -</p> - -<p> -“Beyond this line you cannot pass, for my medicine is strong medicine,” he -cried. “Stop, or you will fall dead as your foot touches this spot. My mother -was a voodoo, my father was a snake; I live upon lions’ hearts and the entrails -of the panther; I eat young babies for breakfast and the demons of the jungle -are my slaves. I am the most powerful witch-doctor in the world; I fear -nothing, for I cannot die. I—” But he got no further; instead he turned and -fled as Tarzan of the Apes crossed the magical dead line and still lived. -</p> - -<p> -As the witch-doctor ran, Tarzan almost lost his temper. This was no way for God -to act, at least not in accordance with the conception Tarzan had come to have -of God. -</p> - -<p> -“Come back!” he cried. “Come back, God, I will not harm you.” But the -witch-doctor was in full retreat by this time, stepping high as he leaped over -cooking pots and the smoldering embers of small fires that had burned before -the huts of villagers. Straight for his own hut ran the witch-doctor, -terror-spurred to unwonted speed; but futile was his effort—the ape-man bore -down upon him with the speed of Bara, the deer. -</p> - -<p> -Just at the entrance to his hut the witch-doctor was overhauled. A heavy hand -fell upon his shoulder to drag him back. It seized upon a portion of the -buffalo hide, dragging the disguise from him. It was a naked black man that -Tarzan saw dodge into the darkness of the hut’s interior. -</p> - -<p> -So this was what he had thought was God! Tarzan’s lip curled in an angry snarl -as he leaped into the hut after the terror-stricken witch-doctor. In the -blackness within he found the man huddled at the far side and dragged him forth -into the comparative lightness of the moonlit night. -</p> - -<p> -The witch-doctor bit and scratched in an attempt to escape; but a few cuffs -across the head brought him to a better realization of the futility of -resistance. Beneath the moon Tarzan held the cringing figure upon its shaking -feet. -</p> - -<p> -“So you are God!” he cried. “If you be God, then Tarzan is greater than God,” -and so the ape-man thought. “I am Tarzan,” he shouted into the ear of the -black. “In all the jungle, or above it, or upon the running waters, or the -sleeping waters, or upon the big water, or the little water, there is none so -great as Tarzan. Tarzan is greater than the Mangani; he is greater than the -Gomangani. With his own hands he has slain Numa, the lion, and Sheeta, the -panther; there is none so great as Tarzan. Tarzan is greater than God. See!” -and with a sudden wrench he twisted the black’s neck until the fellow shrieked -in pain and then slumped to the earth in a swoon. -</p> - -<p> -Placing his foot upon the neck of the fallen witch-doctor, the ape-man raised -his face to the moon and uttered the long, shrill scream of the victorious bull -ape. Then he stooped and snatched the zebra’s tail from the nerveless fingers -of the unconscious man and without a backward glance retraced his footsteps -across the village. -</p> - -<p> -From several hut doorways frightened eyes watched him. Mbonga, the chief, was -one of those who had seen what passed before the hut of the witch-doctor. -Mbonga was greatly concerned. Wise old patriarch that he was, he never had more -than half believed in witch-doctors, at least not since greater wisdom had come -with age; but as a chief he was well convinced of the power of the witch-doctor -as an arm of government, and often it was that Mbonga used the superstitious -fears of his people to his own ends through the medium of the medicine-man. -</p> - -<p> -Mbonga and the witch-doctor had worked together and divided the spoils, and now -the “face” of the witch-doctor would be lost forever if any saw what Mbonga had -seen; nor would this generation again have as much faith in any future -witch-doctor. -</p> - -<p> -Mbonga must do something to counteract the evil influence of the forest demon’s -victory over the witch-doctor. He raised his heavy spear and crept silently -from his hut in the wake of the retreating ape-man. Down the village street -walked Tarzan, as unconcerned and as deliberate as though only the friendly -apes of Kerchak surrounded him instead of a village full of armed enemies. -</p> - -<p> -Seeming only was the indifference of Tarzan, for alert and watchful was every -well-trained sense. Mbonga, wily stalker of keen-eared jungle creatures, moved -now in utter silence. Not even Bara, the deer, with his great ears could have -guessed from any sound that Mbonga was near; but the black was not stalking -Bara; he was stalking man, and so he sought only to avoid noise. -</p> - -<p> -Closer and closer to the slowly moving ape-man he came. Now he raised his war -spear, throwing his spear-hand far back above his right shoulder. Once and for -all would Mbonga, the chief, rid himself and his people of the menace of this -terrifying enemy. He would make no poor cast; he would take pains, and he would -hurl his weapon with such great force as would finish the demon forever. -</p> - -<p> -But Mbonga, sure as he thought himself, erred in his calculations. He might -believe that he was stalking a man—he did not know, however, that it was a man -with the delicate sense perception of the lower orders. Tarzan, when he had -turned his back upon his enemies, had noted what Mbonga never would have -thought of considering in the hunting of man—the wind. It was blowing in the -same direction that Tarzan was proceeding, carrying to his delicate nostrils -the odors which arose behind him. Thus it was that Tarzan knew that he was -being followed, for even among the many stenches of an African village, the -ape-man’s uncanny faculty was equal to the task of differentiating one stench -from another and locating with remarkable precision the source from whence it -came. -</p> - -<p> -He knew that a man was following him and coming closer, and his judgment warned -him of the purpose of the stalker. When Mbonga, therefore, came within spear -range of the ape-man, the latter suddenly wheeled upon him, so suddenly that -the poised spear was shot a fraction of a second before Mbonga had intended. It -went a trifle high and Tarzan stooped to let it pass over his head; then he -sprang toward the chief. But Mbonga did not wait to receive him. Instead, he -turned and fled for the dark doorway of the nearest hut, calling as he went for -his warriors to fall upon the stranger and slay him. -</p> - -<p> -Well indeed might Mbonga scream for help, for Tarzan, young and fleet-footed, -covered the distance between them in great leaps, at the speed of a charging -lion. He was growling, too, not at all unlike Numa himself. Mbonga heard and -his blood ran cold. He could feel the wool stiffen upon his pate and a prickly -chill run up his spine, as though Death had come and run his cold finger along -Mbonga’s back. -</p> - -<p> -Others heard, too, and saw, from the darkness of their huts—bold warriors, -hideously painted, grasping heavy war spears in nerveless fingers. Against -Numa, the lion, they would have charged fearlessly. Against many times their -own number of black warriors would they have raced to the protection of their -chief; but this weird jungle demon filled them with terror. There was nothing -human in the bestial growls that rumbled up from his deep chest; there was -nothing human in the bared fangs, or the catlike leaps. -</p> - -<p> -Mbonga’s warriors were terrified—too terrified to leave the seeming security of -their huts while they watched the beast-man spring full upon the back of their -old chieftain. -</p> - -<p> -Mbonga went down with a scream of terror. He was too frightened even to attempt -to defend himself. He just lay beneath his antagonist in a paralysis of fear, -screaming at the top of his lungs. Tarzan half rose and kneeled above the -black. He turned Mbonga over and looked him in the face, exposing the man’s -throat, then he drew his long, keen knife, the knife that John Clayton, Lord -Greystoke, had brought from England many years before. He raised it close above -Mbonga’s neck. The old black whimpered with terror. He pleaded for his life in -a tongue which Tarzan could not understand. -</p> - -<p> -For the first time the ape-man had a close view of the chief. He saw an old -man, a very old man with scrawny neck and wrinkled face—a dried, parchment-like -face which resembled some of the little monkeys Tarzan knew so well. He saw the -terror in the man’s eyes—never before had Tarzan seen such terror in the eyes -of any animal, or such a piteous appeal for mercy upon the face of any -creature. -</p> - -<p> -Something stayed the ape-man’s hand for an instant. He wondered why it was that -he hesitated to make the kill; never before had he thus delayed. The old man -seemed to wither and shrink to a bag of puny bones beneath his eyes. So weak -and helpless and terror-stricken he appeared that the ape-man was filled with a -great contempt; but another sensation also claimed him—something new to Tarzan -of the Apes in relation to an enemy. It was pity—pity for a poor, frightened, -old man. -</p> - -<p> -Tarzan rose and turned away, leaving Mbonga, the chief, unharmed. -</p> - -<p> -With head held high the ape-man walked through the village, swung himself into -the branches of the tree which overhung the palisade and disappeared from the -sight of the villagers. -</p> - -<p> -All the way back to the stamping ground of the apes, Tarzan sought for an -explanation of the strange power which had stayed his hand and prevented him -from slaying Mbonga. It was as though someone greater than he had commanded him -to spare the life of the old man. Tarzan could not understand, for he could -conceive of nothing, or no one, with the authority to dictate to him what he -should do, or what he should refrain from doing. -</p> - -<p> -It was late when Tarzan sought a swaying couch among the trees beneath which -slept the apes of Kerchak, and he was still absorbed in the solution of his -strange problem when he fell asleep. -</p> - -<p> -The sun was well up in the heavens when he awoke. The apes were astir in search -of food. Tarzan watched them lazily from above as they scratched in the rotting -loam for bugs and beetles and grubworms, or sought among the branches of the -trees for eggs and young birds, or luscious caterpillars. -</p> - -<p> -An orchid, dangling close beside his head, opened slowly, unfolding its -delicate petals to the warmth and light of the sun which but recently had -penetrated to its shady retreat. A thousand times had Tarzan of the Apes -witnessed the beauteous miracle; but now it aroused a keener interest, for the -ape-man was just commencing to ask himself questions about all the myriad -wonders which heretofore he had but taken for granted. -</p> - -<p> -What made the flower open? What made it grow from a tiny bud to a full-blown -bloom? Why was it at all? Why was he? Where did Numa, the lion, come from? Who -planted the first tree? How did Goro get way up into the darkness of the night -sky to cast his welcome light upon the fearsome nocturnal jungle? And the sun! -Did the sun merely happen there? -</p> - -<p> -Why were all the peoples of the jungle not trees? Why were the trees not -something else? Why was Tarzan different from Taug, and Taug different from -Bara, the deer, and Bara different from Sheeta, the panther, and why was not -Sheeta like Buto, the rhinoceros? Where and how, anyway, did they all come -from—the trees, the flowers, the insects, the countless creatures of the -jungle? -</p> - -<p> -Quite unexpectedly an idea popped into Tarzan’s head. In following out the many -ramifications of the dictionary definition of GOD he had come upon the word -CREATE—“to cause to come into existence; to form out of nothing.” -</p> - -<p> -Tarzan almost had arrived at something tangible when a distant wail startled -him from his preoccupation into sensibility of the present and the real. The -wail came from the jungle at some little distance from Tarzan’s swaying couch. -It was the wail of a tiny balu. Tarzan recognized it at once as the voice of -Gazan, Teeka’s baby. They had called it Gazan because its soft, baby hair had -been unusually red, and GAZAN in the language of the great apes, means red -skin. -</p> - -<p> -The wail was immediately followed by a real scream of terror from the small -lungs. Tarzan was electrified into instant action. Like an arrow from a bow he -shot through the trees in the direction of the sound. Ahead of him he heard the -savage snarling of an adult she-ape. It was Teeka to the rescue. The danger -must be very real. Tarzan could tell that by the note of rage mingled with fear -in the voice of the she. -</p> - -<p> -Running along bending limbs, swinging from one tree to another, the ape-man -raced through the middle terraces toward the sounds which now had risen in -volume to deafening proportions. From all directions the apes of Kerchak were -hurrying in response to the appeal in the tones of the balu and its mother, and -as they came, their roars reverberated through the forest. -</p> - -<p> -But Tarzan, swifter than his heavy fellows, distanced them all. It was he who -was first upon the scene. What he saw sent a cold chill through his giant -frame, for the enemy was the most hated and loathed of all the jungle -creatures. -</p> - -<p> -Twined in a great tree was Histah, the snake—huge, ponderous, slimy—and in the -folds of its deadly embrace was Teeka’s little balu, Gazan. Nothing in the -jungle inspired within the breast of Tarzan so near a semblance to fear as did -the hideous Histah. The apes, too, loathed the terrifying reptile and feared -him even more than they did Sheeta, the panther, or Numa, the lion. Of all -their enemies there was none they gave a wider berth than they gave Histah, the -snake. -</p> - -<p> -Tarzan knew that Teeka was peculiarly fearful of this silent, repulsive foe, -and as the scene broke upon his vision, it was the action of Teeka which filled -him with the greatest wonder, for at the moment that he saw her, the she-ape -leaped upon the glistening body of the snake, and as the mighty folds encircled -her as well as her offspring, she made no effort to escape, but instead grasped -the writhing body in a futile effort to tear it from her screaming balu. -</p> - -<p> -Tarzan knew all too well how deep-rooted was Teeka’s terror of Histah. He -scarce could believe the testimony of his own eyes then, when they told him -that she had voluntarily rushed into that deadly embrace. Nor was Teeka’s -innate dread of the monster much greater than Tarzan’s own. Never, willingly, -had he touched a snake. Why, he could not say, for he would admit fear of -nothing; nor was it fear, but rather an inherent repulsion bequeathed to him by -many generations of civilized ancestors, and back of them, perhaps, by -countless myriads of such as Teeka, in the breasts of each of which had lurked -the same nameless terror of the slimy reptile. -</p> - -<p> -Yet Tarzan did not hesitate more than had Teeka, but leaped upon Histah with -all the speed and impetuosity that he would have shown had he been springing -upon Bara, the deer, to make a kill for food. Thus beset the snake writhed and -twisted horribly; but not for an instant did it loose its hold upon any of its -intended victims, for it had included the ape-man in its cold embrace the -minute that he had fallen upon it. -</p> - -<p> -Still clinging to the tree, the mighty reptile held the three as though they -had been without weight, the while it sought to crush the life from them. -Tarzan had drawn his knife and this he now plunged rapidly into the body of the -enemy; but the encircling folds promised to sap his life before he had -inflicted a death wound upon the snake. Yet on he fought, nor once did he seek -to escape the horrid death that confronted him—his sole aim was to slay Histah -and thus free Teeka and her balu. -</p> - -<p> -The great, wide-gaping jaws of the snake turned and hovered above him. The -elastic maw, which could accommodate a rabbit or a horned buck with equal -facility, yawned for him; but Histah, in turning his attention upon the -ape-man, brought his head within reach of Tarzan’s blade. Instantly a brown -hand leaped forth and seized the mottled neck, and another drove the heavy -hunting knife to the hilt into the little brain. -</p> - -<p> -Convulsively Histah shuddered and relaxed, tensed and relaxed again, whipping -and striking with his great body; but no longer sentient or sensible. Histah -was dead, but in his death throes he might easily dispatch a dozen apes or men. -</p> - -<p> -Quickly Tarzan seized Teeka and dragged her from the loosened embrace, dropping -her to the ground beneath, then he extricated the balu and tossed it to its -mother. Still Histah whipped about, clinging to the ape-man; but after a dozen -efforts Tarzan succeeded in wriggling free and leaping to the ground out of -range of the mighty battering of the dying snake. -</p> - -<p> -A circle of apes surrounded the scene of the battle; but the moment that Tarzan -broke safely from the enemy they turned silently away to resume their -interrupted feeding, and Teeka turned with them, apparently forgetful of all -but her balu and the fact that when the interruption had occurred she just had -discovered an ingeniously hidden nest containing three perfectly good eggs. -</p> - -<p> -Tarzan, equally indifferent to a battle that was over, merely cast a parting -glance at the still writhing body of Histah and wandered off toward the little -pool which served to water the tribe at this point. Strangely, he did not give -the victory cry over the vanquished Histah. Why, he could not have told you, -other than that to him Histah was not an animal. He differed in some peculiar -way from the other denizens of the jungle. Tarzan only knew that he hated him. -</p> - -<p> -At the pool Tarzan drank his fill and lay stretched upon the soft grass beneath -the shade of a tree. His mind reverted to the battle with Histah, the snake. It -seemed strange to him that Teeka should have placed herself within the folds of -the horrid monster. Why had she done it? Why, indeed, had he? Teeka did not -belong to him, nor did Teeka’s balu. They were both Taug’s. Why then had he -done this thing? Histah was not food for him when he was dead. There seemed to -Tarzan, now that he gave the matter thought, no reason in the world why he -should have done the thing he did, and presently it occurred to him that he had -acted almost involuntarily, just as he had acted when he had released the old -Gomangani the previous evening. -</p> - -<p> -What made him do such things? Somebody more powerful than he must force him to -act at times. “All-powerful,” thought Tarzan. “The little bugs say that God is -all-powerful. It must be that God made me do these things, for I never did them -by myself. It was God who made Teeka rush upon Histah. Teeka would never go -near Histah of her own volition. It was God who held my knife from the throat -of the old Gomangani. God accomplishes strange things for he is ‘all-powerful.’ -I cannot see Him; but I know that it must be God who does these things. No -Mangani, no Gomangani, no Tarmangani could do them.” -</p> - -<p> -And the flowers—who made them grow? Ah, now it was all explained—the flowers, -the trees, the moon, the sun, himself, every living creature in the jungle—they -were all made by God out of nothing. -</p> - -<p> -And what was God? What did God look like? Of that he had no conception; but he -was sure that everything that was good came from God. His good act in -refraining from slaying the poor, defenseless old Gomangani; Teeka’s love that -had hurled her into the embrace of death; his own loyalty to Teeka which had -jeopardized his life that she might live. The flowers and the trees were good -and beautiful. God had made them. He made the other creatures, too, that each -might have food upon which to live. He had made Sheeta, the panther, with his -beautiful coat; and Numa, the lion, with his noble head and his shaggy mane. He -had made Bara, the deer, lovely and graceful. -</p> - -<p> -Yes, Tarzan had found God, and he spent the whole day in attributing to Him all -of the good and beautiful things of nature; but there was one thing which -troubled him. He could not quite reconcile it to his conception of his -new-found God. -</p> - -<p> -Who made Histah, the snake? -</p> - -</div><!--end chapter--> - -<div class="chapter"> - -<h2><a name="chap05"></a>CHAPTER V<br/> -Tarzan and the Black Boy</h2> - -<p> -Tarzan of the Apes sat at the foot of a great tree braiding a new grass rope. -Beside him lay the frayed remnants of the old one, torn and severed by the -fangs and talons of Sheeta, the panther. Only half the original rope was there, -the balance having been carried off by the angry cat as he bounded away through -the jungle with the noose still about his savage neck and the loose end -dragging among the underbrush. -</p> - -<p> -Tarzan smiled as he recalled Sheeta’s great rage, his frantic efforts to free -himself from the entangling strands, his uncanny screams that were part hate, -part anger, part terror. He smiled in retrospection at the discomfiture of his -enemy, and in anticipation of another day as he added an extra strand to his -new rope. -</p> - -<p> -This would be the strongest, the heaviest rope that Tarzan of the Apes ever had -fashioned. Visions of Numa, the lion, straining futilely in its embrace -thrilled the ape-man. He was quite content, for his hands and his brain were -busy. Content, too, were his fellows of the tribe of Kerchak, searching for -food in the clearing and the surrounding trees about him. No perplexing -thoughts of the future burdened their minds, and only occasionally, dimly arose -recollections of the near past. They were stimulated to a species of brutal -content by the delectable business of filling their bellies. Afterward they -would sleep—it was their life, and they enjoyed it as we enjoy ours, you and -I—as Tarzan enjoyed his. Possibly they enjoyed theirs more than we enjoy ours, -for who shall say that the beasts of the jungle do not better fulfill the -purposes for which they are created than does man with his many excursions into -strange fields and his contraventions of the laws of nature? And what gives -greater content and greater happiness than the fulfilling of a destiny? -</p> - -<p> -As Tarzan worked, Gazan, Teeka’s little balu, played about him while Teeka -sought food upon the opposite side of the clearing. No more did Teeka, the -mother, or Taug, the sullen sire, harbor suspicions of Tarzan’s intentions -toward their first-born. Had he not courted death to save their Gazan from the -fangs and talons of Sheeta? Did he not fondle and cuddle the little one with -even as great a show of affection as Teeka herself displayed? Their fears were -allayed and Tarzan now found himself often in the role of nursemaid to a tiny -anthropoid—an avocation which he found by no means irksome, since Gazan was a -never-failing fount of surprises and entertainment. -</p> - -<p> -Just now the apeling was developing those arboreal tendencies which were to -stand him in such good stead during the years of his youth, when rapid flight -into the upper terraces was of far more importance and value than his -undeveloped muscles and untried fighting fangs. Backing off fifteen or twenty -feet from the bole of the tree beneath the branches of which Tarzan worked upon -his rope, Gazan scampered quickly forward, scrambling nimbly upward to the -lower limbs. Here he would squat for a moment or two, quite proud of his -achievement, then clamber to the ground again and repeat. Sometimes, quite -often in fact, for he was an ape, his attention was distracted by other things, -a beetle, a caterpillar, a tiny field mouse, and off he would go in pursuit; -the caterpillars he always caught, and sometimes the beetles; but the field -mice, never. -</p> - -<p> -Now he discovered the tail of the rope upon which Tarzan was working. Grasping -it in one small hand he bounced away, for all the world like an animated rubber -ball, snatching it from the ape-man’s hand and running off across the clearing. -Tarzan leaped to his feet and was in pursuit in an instant, no trace of anger -on his face or in his voice as he called to the roguish little balu to drop his -rope. -</p> - -<p> -Straight toward his mother raced Gazan, and after him came Tarzan. Teeka looked -up from her feeding, and in the first instant that she realized that Gazan was -fleeing and that another was in pursuit, she bared her fangs and bristled; but -when she saw that the pursuer was Tarzan she turned back to the business that -had been occupying her attention. At her very feet the ape-man overhauled the -balu and, though the youngster squealed and fought when Tarzan seized him, -Teeka only glanced casually in their direction. No longer did she fear harm to -her first-born at the hands of the ape-man. Had he not saved Gazan on two -occasions? -</p> - -<p> -Rescuing his rope, Tarzan returned to his tree and resumed his labor; but -thereafter it was necessary to watch carefully the playful balu, who was now -possessed to steal it whenever he thought his great, smooth-skinned cousin was -momentarily off his guard. -</p> - -<p> -But even under this handicap Tarzan finally completed the rope, a long, pliant -weapon, stronger than any he ever had made before. The discarded piece of his -former one he gave to Gazan for a plaything, for Tarzan had it in his mind to -instruct Teeka’s balu after ideas of his own when the youngster should be old -and strong enough to profit by his precepts. At present the little ape’s innate -aptitude for mimicry would be sufficient to familiarize him with Tarzan’s ways -and weapons, and so the ape-man swung off into the jungle, his new rope coiled -over one shoulder, while little Gazan hopped about the clearing dragging the -old one after him in childish glee. -</p> - -<p> -As Tarzan traveled, dividing his quest for food with one for a sufficiently -noble quarry whereupon to test his new weapon, his mind often was upon Gazan. -The ape-man had realized a deep affection for Teeka’s balu almost from the -first, partly because the child belonged to Teeka, his first love, and partly -for the little ape’s own sake, and Tarzan’s human longing for some sentient -creature upon which to expend those natural affections of the soul which are -inherent to all normal members of the GENUS HOMO. Tarzan envied Teeka. It was -true that Gazan evidenced a considerable reciprocation of Tarzan’s fondness for -him, even preferring him to his own surly sire; but to Teeka the little one -turned when in pain or terror, when tired or hungry. Then it was that Tarzan -felt quite alone in the world and longed desperately for one who should turn -first to him for succor and protection. -</p> - -<p> -Taug had Teeka; Teeka had Gazan; and nearly every other bull and cow of the -tribe of Kerchak had one or more to love and by whom to be loved. Of course -Tarzan could scarcely formulate the thought in precisely this way—he only knew -that he craved something which was denied him; something which seemed to be -represented by those relations which existed between Teeka and her balu, and so -he envied Teeka and longed for a balu of his own. -</p> - -<p> -He saw Sheeta and his mate with their little family of three; and deeper inland -toward the rocky hills, where one might lie up during the heat of the day, in -the dense shade of a tangled thicket close under the cool face of an -overhanging rock, Tarzan had found the lair of Numa, the lion, and of Sabor, -the lioness. Here he had watched them with their little balus—playful -creatures, spotted leopard-like. And he had seen the young fawn with Bara, the -deer, and with Buto, the rhinoceros, its ungainly little one. Each of the -creatures of the jungle had its own—except Tarzan. It made the ape-man sad to -think upon this thing, sad and lonely; but presently the scent of game cleared -his young mind of all other considerations, as catlike he crawled far out upon -a bending limb above the game trail which led down to the ancient watering -place of the wild things of this wild world. -</p> - -<p> -How many thousands of times had this great, old limb bent to the savage form of -some blood-thirsty hunter in the long years that it had spread its leafy -branches above the deep-worn jungle path! Tarzan, the ape-man, Sheeta, the -panther, and Histah, the snake, it knew well. They had worn smooth the bark -upon its upper surface. -</p> - -<p> -Today it was Horta, the boar, which came down toward the watcher in the old -tree—Horta, the boar, whose formidable tusks and diabolical temper preserved -him from all but the most ferocious or most famished of the largest carnivora. -</p> - -<p> -But to Tarzan, meat was meat; naught that was edible or tasty might pass a -hungry Tarzan unchallenged and unattacked. In hunger, as in battle, the ape-man -out-savaged the dreariest denizens of the jungle. He knew neither fear nor -mercy, except upon rare occasions when some strange, inexplicable force stayed -his hand—a force inexplicable to him, perhaps, because of his ignorance of his -own origin and of all the forces of humanitarianism and civilization that were -his rightful heritage because of that origin. -</p> - -<p> -So today, instead of staying his hand until a less formidable feast found its -way toward him, Tarzan dropped his new noose about the neck of Horta, the boar. -It was an excellent test for the untried strands. The angered boar bolted this -way and that; but each time the new rope held him where Tarzan had made it fast -about the stem of the tree above the branch from which he had cast it. -</p> - -<p> -As Horta grunted and charged, slashing the sturdy jungle patriarch with his -mighty tusks until the bark flew in every direction, Tarzan dropped to the -ground behind him. In the ape-man’s hand was the long, keen blade that had been -his constant companion since that distant day upon which chance had directed -its point into the body of Bolgani, the gorilla, and saved the torn and -bleeding man-child from what else had been certain death. -</p> - -<p> -Tarzan walked in toward Horta, who swung now to face his enemy. Mighty and -muscled as was the young giant, it yet would have appeared but the maddest -folly for him to face so formidable a creature as Horta, the boar, armed only -with a slender hunting knife. So it would have seemed to one who knew Horta -even slightly and Tarzan not at all. -</p> - -<p> -For a moment Horta stood motionless facing the ape-man. His wicked, deep-set -eyes flashed angrily. He shook his lowered head. -</p> - -<p> -“Mud-eater!” jeered the ape-man. “Wallower in filth. Even your meat stinks, but -it is juicy and makes Tarzan strong. Today I shall eat your heart, O Lord of -the Great Tusks, that it shall keep savage that which pounds against my own -ribs.” -</p> - -<p> -Horta, understanding nothing of what Tarzan said, was none the less enraged -because of that. He saw only a naked man-thing, hairless and futile, pitting -his puny fangs and soft muscles against his own indomitable savagery, and he -charged. -</p> - -<p> -Tarzan of the Apes waited until the upcut of a wicked tusk would have laid open -his thigh, then he moved—just the least bit to one side; but so quickly that -lightning was a sluggard by comparison, and as he moved, he stooped low and -with all the great power of his right arm drove the long blade of his father’s -hunting knife straight into the heart of Horta, the boar. A quick leap carried -him from the zone of the creature’s death throes, and a moment later the hot -and dripping heart of Horta was in his grasp. -</p> - -<p> -His hunger satisfied, Tarzan did not seek a lying-up place for sleep, as was -sometimes his way, but continued on through the jungle more in search of -adventure than of food, for today he was restless. And so it came that he -turned his footsteps toward the village of Mbonga, the black chief, whose -people Tarzan had baited remorselessly since that day upon which Kulonga, the -chief’s son, had slain Kala. -</p> - -<p> -A river winds close beside the village of the black men. Tarzan reached its -side a little below the clearing where squat the thatched huts of the Negroes. -The river life was ever fascinating to the ape-man. He found pleasure in -watching the ungainly antics of Duro, the hippopotamus, and keen sport in -tormenting the sluggish crocodile, Gimla, as he basked in the sun. Then, too, -there were the shes and the balus of the black men of the Gomangani to frighten -as they squatted by the river, the shes with their meager washing, the balus -with their primitive toys. -</p> - -<p> -This day he came upon a woman and her child farther down stream than usual. The -former was searching for a species of shellfish which was to be found in the -mud close to the river bank. She was a young black woman of about thirty. Her -teeth were filed to sharp points, for her people ate the flesh of man. Her -under lip was slit that it might support a rude pendant of copper which she had -worn for so many years that the lip had been dragged downward to prodigious -lengths, exposing the teeth and gums of her lower jaw. Her nose, too, was slit, -and through the slit was a wooden skewer. Metal ornaments dangled from her -ears, and upon her forehead and cheeks; upon her chin and the bridge of her -nose were tattooings in colors that were mellowed now by age. She was naked -except for a girdle of grasses about her waist. Altogether she was very -beautiful in her own estimation and even in the estimation of the men of -Mbonga’s tribe, though she was of another people—a trophy of war seized in her -maidenhood by one of Mbonga’s fighting men. -</p> - -<p> -Her child was a boy of ten, lithe, straight and, for a black, handsome. Tarzan -looked upon the two from the concealing foliage of a near-by bush. He was about -to leap forth before them with a terrifying scream, that he might enjoy the -spectacle of their terror and their incontinent flight; but of a sudden a new -whim seized him. Here was a balu fashioned as he himself was fashioned. Of -course this one’s skin was black; but what of it? Tarzan had never seen a white -man. In so far as he knew, he was the sole representative of that strange form -of life upon the earth. The black boy should make an excellent balu for Tarzan, -since he had none of his own. He would tend him carefully, feed him well, -protect him as only Tarzan of the Apes could protect his own, and teach him out -of his half human, half bestial lore the secrets of the jungle from its rotting -surface vegetation to the high tossed pinnacles of the forest’s upper terraces. -</p> - -<p> -* * * -</p> - -<p> -Tarzan uncoiled his rope, and shook out the noose. The two before him, all -ignorant of the near presence of that terrifying form, continued preoccupied in -the search for shellfish, poking about in the mud with short sticks. -</p> - -<p> -Tarzan stepped from the jungle behind them; his noose lay open upon the ground -beside him. There was a quick movement of the right arm and the noose rose -gracefully into the air, hovered an instant above the head of the unsuspecting -youth, then settled. As it encompassed his body below the shoulders, Tarzan -gave a quick jerk that tightened it about the boy’s arms, pinioning them to his -sides. A scream of terror broke from the lad’s lips, and as his mother turned, -affrighted at his cry, she saw him being dragged quickly toward a great white -giant who stood just beneath the shade of a near-by tree, scarcely a dozen long -paces from her. -</p> - -<p> -With a savage cry of terror and rage, the woman leaped fearlessly toward the -ape-man. In her mien Tarzan saw determination and courage which would shrink -not even from death itself. She was very hideous and frightful even when her -face was in repose; but convulsed by passion, her expression became -terrifyingly fiendish. Even the ape-man drew back, but more in revulsion than -fear—fear he knew not. -</p> - -<p> -Biting and kicking was the black she’s balu as Tarzan tucked him beneath his -arm and vanished into the branches hanging low above him, just as the -infuriated mother dashed forward to seize and do battle with him. And as he -melted away into the depth of the jungle with his still struggling prize, he -meditated upon the possibilities which might lie in the prowess of the -Gomangani were the hes as formidable as the shes. -</p> - -<p> -Once at a safe distance from the despoiled mother and out of earshot of her -screams and menaces, Tarzan paused to inspect his prize, now so thoroughly -terrorized that he had ceased his struggles and his outcries. -</p> - -<p> -The frightened child rolled his eyes fearfully toward his captor, until the -whites showed gleaming all about the irises. -</p> - -<p> -“I am Tarzan,” said the ape-man, in the vernacular of the anthropoids. “I will -not harm you. You are to be Tarzan’s balu. Tarzan will protect you. He will -feed you. The best in the jungle shall be for Tarzan’s balu, for Tarzan is a -mighty hunter. None need you fear, not even Numa, the lion, for Tarzan is a -mighty fighter. None so great as Tarzan, son of Kala. Do not fear.” -</p> - -<p> -But the child only whimpered and trembled, for he did not understand the tongue -of the great apes, and the voice of Tarzan sounded to him like the barking and -growling of a beast. Then, too, he had heard stories of this bad, white forest -god. It was he who had slain Kulonga and others of the warriors of Mbonga, the -chief. It was he who entered the village stealthily, by magic, in the darkness -of the night, to steal arrows and poison, and frighten the women and the -children and even the great warriors. Doubtless this wicked god fed upon little -boys. Had his mother not said as much when he was naughty and she threatened to -give him to the white god of the jungle if he were not good? Little black Tibo -shook as with ague. -</p> - -<p> -“Are you cold, Go-bu-balu?” asked Tarzan, using the simian equivalent of black -he-baby in lieu of a better name. “The sun is hot; why do you shiver?” -</p> - -<p> -Tibo could not understand; but he cried for his mamma and begged the great, -white god to let him go, promising always to be a good boy thereafter if his -plea were granted. Tarzan shook his head. Not a word could he understand. This -would never do! He must teach Go-bu-balu a language which sounded like talk. It -was quite certain to Tarzan that Go-bu-balu’s speech was not talk at all. It -sounded quite as senseless as the chattering of the silly birds. It would be -best, thought the ape-man, quickly to get him among the tribe of Kerchak where -he would hear the Mangani talking among themselves. Thus he would soon learn an -intelligible form of speech. -</p> - -<p> -Tarzan rose to his feet upon the swaying branch where he had halted far above -the ground, and motioned to the child to follow him; but Tibo only clung -tightly to the bole of the tree and wept. Being a boy, and a native African, he -had, of course, climbed into trees many times before this; but the idea of -racing off through the forest, leaping from one branch to another, as his -captor, to his horror, had done when he had carried Tibo away from his mother, -filled his childish heart with terror. -</p> - -<p> -Tarzan sighed. His newly acquired balu had much indeed to learn. It was pitiful -that a balu of his size and strength should be so backward. He tried to coax -Tibo to follow him; but the child dared not, so Tarzan picked him up and -carried him upon his back. Tibo no longer scratched or bit. Escape seemed -impossible. Even now, were he set upon the ground, the chance was remote, he -knew, that he could find his way back to the village of Mbonga, the chief. Even -if he could, there were the lions and the leopards and the hyenas, any one of -which, as Tibo was well aware, was particularly fond of the meat of little -black boys. -</p> - -<p> -So far the terrible white god of the jungle had offered him no harm. He could -not expect even this much consideration from the frightful, green-eyed -man-eaters. It would be the lesser of two evils, then, to let the white god -carry him away without scratching and biting, as he had done at first. -</p> - -<p> -As Tarzan swung rapidly through the trees, little Tibo closed his eyes in -terror rather than look longer down into the frightful abysses beneath. Never -before in all his life had Tibo been so frightened, yet as the white giant sped -on with him through the forest there stole over the child an inexplicable -sensation of security as he saw how true were the leaps of the ape-man, how -unerring his grasp upon the swaying limbs which gave him hand-hold, and then, -too, there was safety in the middle terraces of the forest, far above the reach -of the dreaded lions. -</p> - -<p> -And so Tarzan came to the clearing where the tribe fed, dropping among them -with his new balu clinging tightly to his shoulders. He was fairly in the midst -of them before Tibo spied a single one of the great hairy forms, or before the -apes realized that Tarzan was not alone. When they saw the little Gomangani -perched upon his back some of them came forward in curiosity with upcurled lips -and snarling mien. -</p> - -<p> -An hour before little Tibo would have said that he knew the uttermost depths of -fear; but now, as he saw these fearsome beasts surrounding him, he realized -that all that had gone before was as nothing by comparison. Why did the great -white giant stand there so unconcernedly? Why did he not flee before these -horrid, hairy, tree men fell upon them both and tore them to pieces? And then -there came to Tibo a numbing recollection. It was none other than the story he -had heard passed from mouth to mouth, fearfully, by the people of Mbonga, the -chief, that this great white demon of the jungle was naught other than a -hairless ape, for had not he been seen in company with these? -</p> - -<p> -Tibo could only stare in wide-eyed horror at the approaching apes. He saw their -beetling brows, their great fangs, their wicked eyes. He noted their mighty -muscles rolling beneath their shaggy hides. Their every attitude and expression -was a menace. Tarzan saw this, too. He drew Tibo around in front of him. -</p> - -<p> -“This is Tarzan’s Go-bu-balu,” he said. “Do not harm him, or Tarzan will kill -you,” and he bared his own fangs in the teeth of the nearest ape. -</p> - -<p> -“It is a Gomangani,” replied the ape. “Let me kill it. It is a Gomangani. The -Gomangani are our enemies. Let me kill it.” -</p> - -<p> -“Go away,” snarled Tarzan. “I tell you, Gunto, it is Tarzan’s balu. Go away or -Tarzan will kill you,” and the ape-man took a step toward the advancing ape. -</p> - -<p> -The latter sidled off, quite stiff and haughty, after the manner of a dog which -meets another and is too proud to fight and too fearful to turn his back and -run. -</p> - -<p> -Next came Teeka, prompted by curiosity. At her side skipped little Gazan. They -were filled with wonder like the others; but Teeka did not bare her fangs. -Tarzan saw this and motioned that she approach. -</p> - -<p> -“Tarzan has a balu now,” he said. “He and Teeka’s balu can play together.” -</p> - -<p> -“It is a Gomangani,” replied Teeka. “It will kill my balu. Take it away, -Tarzan.” -</p> - -<p> -Tarzan laughed. “It could not harm Pamba, the rat,” he said. “It is but a -little balu and very frightened. Let Gazan play with it.” -</p> - -<p> -Teeka still was fearful, for with all their mighty ferocity the great -anthropoids are timid; but at last, assured by her great confidence in Tarzan, -she pushed Gazan forward toward the little black boy. The small ape, guided by -instinct, drew back toward its mother, baring its small fangs and screaming in -mingled fear and rage. -</p> - -<p> -Tibo, too, showed no signs of desiring a closer acquaintance with Gazan, so -Tarzan gave up his efforts for the time. -</p> - -<p> -During the week which followed, Tarzan found his time much occupied. His balu -was a greater responsibility than he had counted upon. Not for a moment did he -dare leave it, since of all the tribe, Teeka alone could have been depended -upon to refrain from slaying the hapless black had it not been for Tarzan’s -constant watchfulness. When the ape-man hunted, he must carry Go-bu-balu about -with him. It was irksome, and then the little black seemed so stupid and -fearful to Tarzan. It was quite helpless against even the lesser of the jungle -creatures. Tarzan wondered how it had survived at all. He tried to teach it, -and found a ray of hope in the fact that Go-bu-balu had mastered a few words of -the language of the anthropoids, and that he could now cling to a high-tossed -branch without screaming in fear; but there was something about the child which -worried Tarzan. He often had watched the blacks within their village. He had -seen the children playing, and always there had been much laughter; but little -Go-bu-balu never laughed. It was true that Tarzan himself never laughed. Upon -occasion he smiled, grimly, but to laughter he was a stranger. The black, -however, should have laughed, reasoned the ape-man. It was the way of the -Gomangani. -</p> - -<p> -Also, he saw that the little fellow often refused food and was growing thinner -day by day. At times he surprised the boy sobbing softly to himself. Tarzan -tried to comfort him, even as fierce Kala had comforted Tarzan when the ape-man -was a balu, but all to no avail. Go-bu-balu merely no longer feared Tarzan—that -was all. He feared every other living thing within the jungle. He feared the -jungle days with their long excursions through the dizzy tree tops. He feared -the jungle nights with their swaying, perilous couches far above the ground, -and the grunting and coughing of the great carnivora prowling beneath him. -</p> - -<p> -Tarzan did not know what to do. His heritage of English blood rendered it a -difficult thing even to consider a surrender of his project, though he was -forced to admit to himself that his balu was not all that he had hoped. Though -he was faithful to his self-imposed task, and even found that he had grown to -like Go-bu-balu, he could not deceive himself into believing that he felt for -it that fierce heat of passionate affection which Teeka revealed for Gazan, and -which the black mother had shown for Go-bu-balu. -</p> - -<p> -The little black boy from cringing terror at the sight of Tarzan passed by -degrees into trustfulness and admiration. Only kindness had he ever received at -the hands of the great white devil-god, yet he had seen with what ferocity his -kindly captor could deal with others. He had seen him leap upon a certain -he-ape which persisted in attempting to seize and slay Go-bu-balu. He had seen -the strong, white teeth of the ape-man fastened in the neck of his adversary, -and the mighty muscles tensed in battle. He had heard the savage, bestial -snarls and roars of combat, and he had realized with a shudder that he could -not differentiate between those of his guardian and those of the hairy ape. -</p> - -<p> -He had seen Tarzan bring down a buck, just as Numa, the lion, might have done, -leaping upon its back and fastening his fangs in the creature’s neck. Tibo had -shuddered at the sight, but he had thrilled, too, and for the first time there -entered his dull, Negroid mind a vague desire to emulate his savage foster -parent. But Tibo, the little black boy, lacked the divine spark which had -permitted Tarzan, the white boy, to benefit by his training in the ways of the -fierce jungle. In imagination he was wanting, and imagination is but another -name for super-intelligence. -</p> - -<p> -Imagination it is which builds bridges, and cities, and empires. The beasts -know it not, the blacks only a little, while to one in a hundred thousand of -earth’s dominant race it is given as a gift from heaven that man may not perish -from the earth. -</p> - -<p> -While Tarzan pondered his problem concerning the future of his balu, Fate was -arranging to take the matter out of his hands. Momaya, Tibo’s mother, -grief-stricken at the loss of her boy, had consulted the tribal witch-doctor, -but to no avail. The medicine he made was not good medicine, for though Momaya -paid him two goats for it, it did not bring back Tibo, nor even indicate where -she might search for him with reasonable assurance of finding him. Momaya, -being of a short temper and of another people, had little respect for the -witch-doctor of her husband’s tribe, and so, when he suggested that a further -payment of two more fat goats would doubtless enable him to make stronger -medicine, she promptly loosed her shrewish tongue upon him, and with such good -effect that he was glad to take himself off with his zebra’s tail and his pot -of magic. -</p> - -<p> -When he had gone and Momaya had succeeded in partially subduing her anger, she -gave herself over to thought, as she so often had done since the abduction of -her Tibo, in the hope that she finally might discover some feasible means of -locating him, or at least assuring herself as to whether he were alive or dead. -</p> - -<p> -It was known to the blacks that Tarzan did not eat the flesh of man, for he had -slain more than one of their number, yet never tasted the flesh of any. Too, -the bodies always had been found, sometimes dropping as though from the clouds -to alight in the center of the village. As Tibo’s body had not been found, -Momaya argued that he still lived, but where? -</p> - -<p> -Then it was that there came to her mind a recollection of Bukawai, the unclean, -who dwelt in a cave in the hillside to the north, and who it was well known -entertained devils in his evil lair. Few, if any, had the temerity to visit old -Bukawai, firstly because of fear of his black magic and the two hyenas who -dwelt with him and were commonly known to be devils masquerading, and secondly -because of the loathsome disease which had caused Bukawai to be an outcast—a -disease which was slowly eating away his face. -</p> - -<p> -Now it was that Momaya reasoned shrewdly that if any might know the whereabouts -of her Tibo, it would be Bukawai, who was in friendly intercourse with gods and -demons, since a demon or a god it was who had stolen her baby; but even her -great mother love was sorely taxed to find the courage to send her forth into -the black jungle toward the distant hills and the uncanny abode of Bukawai, the -unclean, and his devils. -</p> - -<p> -Mother love, however, is one of the human passions which closely approximates -to the dignity of an irresistible force. It drives the frail flesh of weak -women to deeds of heroic measure. Momaya was neither frail nor weak, -physically, but she was a woman, an ignorant, superstitious, African savage. -She believed in devils, in black magic, and in witchcraft. To Momaya, the -jungle was inhabited by far more terrifying things than lions and -leopards—horrifying, nameless things which possessed the power of wreaking -frightful harm under various innocent guises. -</p> - -<p> -From one of the warriors of the village, whom she knew to have once stumbled -upon the lair of Bukawai, the mother of Tibo learned how she might find it—near -a spring of water which rose in a small rocky cañon between two hills, the -easternmost of which was easily recognizable because of a huge granite boulder -which rested upon its summit. The westerly hill was lower than its companion, -and was quite bare of vegetation except for a single mimosa tree which grew -just a little below its summit. -</p> - -<p> -These two hills, the man assured her, could be seen for some distance before -she reached them, and together formed an excellent guide to her destination. He -warned her, however, to abandon so foolish and dangerous an adventure, -emphasizing what she already quite well knew, that if she escaped harm at the -hands of Bukawai and his demons, the chances were that she would not be so -fortunate with the great carnivora of the jungle through which she must pass -going and returning. -</p> - -<p> -The warrior even went to Momaya’s husband, who, in turn, having little -authority over the vixenish lady of his choice, went to Mbonga, the chief. The -latter summoned Momaya, threatening her with the direst punishment should she -venture forth upon so unholy an excursion. The old chief’s interest in the -matter was due solely to that age-old alliance which exists between church and -state. The local witch-doctor, knowing his own medicine better than any other -knew it, was jealous of all other pretenders to accomplishments in the black -art. He long had heard of the power of Bukawai, and feared lest, should he -succeed in recovering Momaya’s lost child, much of the tribal patronage and -consequent fees would be diverted to the unclean one. As Mbonga received, as -chief, a certain proportion of the witch-doctor’s fees and could expect nothing -from Bukawai, his heart and soul were, quite naturally, wrapped up in the -orthodox church. -</p> - -<p> -But if Momaya could view with intrepid heart an excursion into the jungle and a -visit to the fear-haunted abode of Bukawai, she was not likely to be deterred -by threats of future punishment at the hands of old Mbonga, whom she secretly -despised. Yet she appeared to accede to his injunctions, returning to her hut -in silence. -</p> - -<p> -She would have preferred starting upon her quest by day-light, but this was now -out of the question, since she must carry food and a weapon of some sort—things -which she never could pass out of the village with by day without being -subjected to curious questioning that surely would come immediately to the ears -of Mbonga. -</p> - -<p> -So Momaya bided her time until night, and just before the gates of the village -were closed, she slipped through into the darkness and the jungle. She was much -frightened, but she set her face resolutely toward the north, and though she -paused often to listen, breathlessly, for the huge cats which, here, were her -greatest terror, she nevertheless continued her way staunchly for several -hours, until a low moan a little to her right and behind her brought her to a -sudden stop. -</p> - -<p> -With palpitating heart the woman stood, scarce daring to breathe, and then, -very faintly but unmistakable to her keen ears, came the stealthy crunching of -twigs and grasses beneath padded feet. -</p> - -<p> -All about Momaya grew the giant trees of the tropical jungle, festooned with -hanging vines and mosses. She seized upon the nearest and started to clamber, -apelike, to the branches above. As she did so, there was a sudden rush of a -great body behind her, a menacing roar that caused the earth to tremble, and -something crashed into the very creepers to which she was clinging—but below -her. -</p> - -<p> -Momaya drew herself to safety among the leafy branches and thanked the -foresight which had prompted her to bring along the dried human ear which hung -from a cord about her neck. She always had known that that ear was good -medicine. It had been given her, when a girl, by the witch-doctor of her town -tribe, and was nothing like the poor, weak medicine of Mbonga’s witch-doctor. -</p> - -<p> -All night Momaya clung to her perch, for although the lion sought other prey -after a short time, she dared not descend into the darkness again, for fear she -might encounter him or another of his kind; but at daylight she clambered down -and resumed her way. -</p> - -<p> -Tarzan of the Apes, finding that his balu never ceased to give evidence of -terror in the presence of the apes of the tribe, and also that most of the -adult apes were a constant menace to Go-bu-balu’s life, so that Tarzan dared -not leave him alone with them, took to hunting with the little black boy -farther and farther from the stamping grounds of the anthropoids. -</p> - -<p class="p2"> -Little by little his absences from the tribe grew in length as he wandered -farther away from them, until finally he found himself a greater distance to -the north than he ever before had hunted, and with water and ample game and -fruit, he felt not at all inclined to return to the tribe. -</p> - -<p> -Little Go-bu-balu gave evidences of a greater interest in life, an interest -which varied in direct proportion to the distance he was from the apes of -Kerchak. He now trotted along behind Tarzan when the ape-man went upon the -ground, and in the trees he even did his best to follow his mighty foster -parent. The boy was still sad and lonely. His thin, little body had grown -steadily thinner since he had come among the apes, for while, as a young -cannibal, he was not overnice in the matter of diet, he found it not always to -his taste to stomach the weird things which tickled the palates of epicures -among the apes. -</p> - -<p> -His large eyes were very large indeed now, his cheeks sunken, and every rib of -his emaciated body plainly discernible to whomsoever should care to count them. -Constant terror, perhaps, had had as much to do with his physical condition as -had improper food. Tarzan noticed the change and was worried. He had hoped to -see his balu wax sturdy and strong. His disappointment was great. In only one -respect did Go-bu-balu seem to progress—he readily was mastering the language -of the apes. Even now he and Tarzan could converse in a fairly satisfactory -manner by supplementing the meager ape speech with signs; but for the most -part, Go-bu-balu was silent other than to answer questions put to him. His -great sorrow was yet too new and too poignant to be laid aside even -momentarily. Always he pined for Momaya—shrewish, hideous, repulsive, perhaps, -she would have been to you or me, but to Tibo she was mamma, the -personification of that one great love which knows no selfishness and which -does not consume itself in its own fires. -</p> - -<p> -As the two hunted, or rather as Tarzan hunted and Go-bu-balu tagged along in -his wake, the ape-man noticed many things and thought much. Once they came upon -Sabor moaning in the tall grasses. About her romped and played two little balls -of fur, but her eyes were for one which lay between her great forepaws and did -not romp, one who never would romp again. -</p> - -<p> -Tarzan read aright the anguish and the suffering of the huge mother cat. He had -been minded to bait her. It was to do this that he had sneaked silently through -the trees until he had come almost above her, but something held the ape-man as -he saw the lioness grieving over her dead cub. With the acquisition of -Go-bu-balu, Tarzan had come to realize the responsibilities and sorrows of -parentage, without its joys. His heart went out to Sabor as it might not have -done a few weeks before. As he watched her, there rose quite unbidden before -him a vision of Momaya, the skewer through the septum of her nose, her -pendulous under lip sagging beneath the weight which dragged it down. Tarzan -saw not her unloveliness; he saw only the same anguish that was Sabor’s, and he -winced. That strange functioning of the mind which sometimes is called -association of ideas snapped Teeka and Gazan before the ape-man’s mental -vision. What if one should come and take Gazan from Teeka. Tarzan uttered a low -and ominous growl as though Gazan were his own. Go-bu-balu glanced here and -there apprehensively, thinking that Tarzan had espied an enemy. Sabor sprang -suddenly to her feet, her yellow-green eyes blazing, her tail lashing as she -cocked her ears, and raising her muzzle, sniffed the air for possible danger. -The two little cubs, which had been playing, scampered quickly to her, and -standing beneath her, peered out from between her forelegs, their big ears -upstanding, their little heads cocked first upon one side and then upon the -other. -</p> - -<p> -With a shake of his black shock, Tarzan turned away and resumed his hunting in -another direction; but all day there rose one after another, above the -threshold of his objective mind, memory portraits of Sabor, of Momaya, and of -Teeka—a lioness, a cannibal, and a she-ape, yet to the ape-man they were -identical through motherhood. -</p> - -<p> -It was noon of the third day when Momaya came within sight of the cave of -Bukawai, the unclean. The old witch-doctor had rigged a framework of interlaced -boughs to close the mouth of the cave from predatory beasts. This was now set -to one side, and the black cavern beyond yawned mysterious and repellent. -Momaya shivered as from a cold wind of the rainy season. No sign of life -appeared about the cave, yet Momaya experienced that uncanny sensation as of -unseen eyes regarding her malevolently. Again she shuddered. She tried to force -her unwilling feet onward toward the cave, when from its depths issued an -uncanny sound that was neither brute nor human, a weird sound that was akin to -mirthless laughter. -</p> - -<p> -With a stifled scream, Momaya turned and fled into the jungle. For a hundred -yards she ran before she could control her terror, and then she paused, -listening. Was all her labor, were all the terrors and dangers through which -she had passed to go for naught? She tried to steel herself to return to the -cave, but again fright overcame her. -</p> - -<p> -Saddened, disheartened, she turned slowly upon the back trail toward the -village of Mbonga. Her young shoulders now were drooped like those of an old -woman who bears a great burden of many years with their accumulated pains and -sorrows, and she walked with tired feet and a halting step. The spring of youth -was gone from Momaya. -</p> - -<p> -For another hundred yards she dragged her weary way, her brain half paralyzed -from dumb terror and suffering, and then there came to her the memory of a -little babe that suckled at her breast, and of a slim boy who romped, laughing, -about her, and they were both Tibo—her Tibo! -</p> - -<p> -Her shoulders straightened. She shook her savage head, and she turned about and -walked boldly back to the mouth of the cave of Bukawai, the unclean—of Bukawai, -the witch-doctor. -</p> - -<p> -Again, from the interior of the cave came the hideous laughter that was not -laughter. This time Momaya recognized it for what it was, the strange cry of a -hyena. No more did she shudder, but she held her spear ready and called aloud -to Bukawai to come out. -</p> - -<p> -Instead of Bukawai came the repulsive head of a hyena. Momaya poked at it with -her spear, and the ugly, sullen brute drew back with an angry growl. Again -Momaya called Bukawai by name, and this time there came an answer in mumbling -tones that were scarce more human than those of the beast. -</p> - -<p> -“Who comes to Bukawai?” queried the voice. -</p> - -<p> -“It is Momaya,” replied the woman; “Momaya from the village of Mbonga, the -chief. -</p> - -<p> -“What do you want?” -</p> - -<p> -“I want good medicine, better medicine than Mbonga’s witch-doctor can make,” -replied Momaya. “The great, white, jungle god has stolen my Tibo, and I want -medicine to bring him back, or to find where he is hidden that I may go and get -him.” -</p> - -<p> -“Who is Tibo?” asked Bukawai. -</p> - -<p> -Momaya told him. -</p> - -<p> -“Bukawai’s medicine is very strong,” said the voice. “Five goats and a new -sleeping mat are scarce enough in exchange for Bukawai’s medicine.” -</p> - -<p> -“Two goats are enough,” said Momaya, for the spirit of barter is strong in the -breasts of the blacks. -</p> - -<p> -The pleasure of haggling over the price was a sufficiently potent lure to draw -Bukawai to the mouth of the cave. Momaya was sorry when she saw him that he had -not remained within. There are some things too horrible, too hideous, too -repulsive for description—Bukawai’s face was of these. When Momaya saw him she -understood why it was that he was almost inarticulate. -</p> - -<p> -Beside him were two hyenas, which rumor had said were his only and constant -companions. They made an excellent trio—the most repulsive of beasts with the -most repulsive of humans. -</p> - -<p> -“Five goats and a new sleeping mat,” mumbled Bukawai. -</p> - -<p> -“Two fat goats and a sleeping mat.” Momaya raised her bid; but Bukawai was -obdurate. He stuck for the five goats and the sleeping mat for a matter of half -an hour, while the hyenas sniffed and growled and laughed hideously. Momaya was -determined to give all that Bukawai asked if she could do no better, but -haggling is second nature to black barterers, and in the end it partly repaid -her, for a compromise finally was reached which included three fat goats, a new -sleeping mat, and a piece of copper wire. -</p> - -<p> -“Come back tonight,” said Bukawai, “when the moon is two hours in the sky. Then -will I make the strong medicine which shall bring Tibo back to you. Bring with -you the three fat goats, the new sleeping mat, and the piece of copper wire the -length of a large man’s forearm.” -</p> - -<p> -“I cannot bring them,” said Momaya. “You will have to come after them. When you -have restored Tibo to me, you shall have them all at the village of Mbonga.” -</p> - -<p> -Bukawai shook his head. -</p> - -<p> -“I will make no medicine,” he said, “until I have the goats and the mat and the -copper wire.” -</p> - -<p> -Momaya pleaded and threatened, but all to no avail. Finally, she turned away -and started off through the jungle toward the village of Mbonga. How she could -get three goats and a sleeping mat out of the village and through the jungle to -the cave of Bukawai, she did not know, but that she would do it somehow she was -quite positive—she would do it or die. Tibo must be restored to her. -</p> - -<p> -Tarzan coming lazily through the jungle with little Go-bu-balu, caught the -scent of Bara, the deer. Tarzan hungered for the flesh of Bara. Naught tickled -his palate so greatly; but to stalk Bara with Go-bu-balu at his heels, was out -of the question, so he hid the child in the crotch of a tree where the thick -foliage screened him from view, and set off swiftly and silently upon the spoor -of Bara. -</p> - -<p> -Tibo alone was more terrified than Tibo even among the apes. Real and apparent -dangers are less disconcerting than those which we imagine, and only the gods -of his people knew how much Tibo imagined. -</p> - -<p> -He had been but a short time in his hiding place when he heard something -approaching through the jungle. He crouched closer to the limb upon which he -lay and prayed that Tarzan would return quickly. His wide eyes searched the -jungle in the direction of the moving creature. -</p> - -<p> -What if it was a leopard that had caught his scent! It would be upon him in a -minute. Hot tears flowed from the large eyes of little Tibo. The curtain of -jungle foliage rustled close at hand. The thing was but a few paces from his -tree! His eyes fairly popped from his black face as he watched for the -appearance of the dread creature which presently would thrust a snarling -countenance from between the vines and creepers. -</p> - -<p> -And then the curtain parted and a woman stepped into full view. With a gasping -cry, Tibo tumbled from his perch and raced toward her. Momaya suddenly started -back and raised her spear, but a second later she cast it aside and caught the -thin body in her strong arms. -</p> - -<p> -Crushing it to her, she cried and laughed all at one and the same time, and hot -tears of joy, mingled with the tears of Tibo, trickled down the crease between -her naked breasts. -</p> - -<p> -Disturbed by the noise so close at hand, there arose from his sleep in a -near-by thicket Numa, the lion. He looked through the tangled underbrush and -saw the black woman and her young. He licked his chops and measured the -distance between them and himself. A short charge and a long leap would carry -him upon them. He flicked the end of his tail and sighed. -</p> - -<p> -A vagrant breeze, swirling suddenly in the wrong direction, carried the scent -of Tarzan to the sensitive nostrils of Bara, the deer. There was a startled -tensing of muscles and cocking of ears, a sudden dash, and Tarzan’s meat was -gone. The ape-man angrily shook his head and turned back toward the spot where -he had left Go-bu-balu. He came softly, as was his way. Before he reached the -spot he heard strange sounds—the sound of a woman laughing and of a woman -weeping, and the two which seemed to come from one throat were mingled with the -convulsive sobbing of a child. Tarzan hastened, and when Tarzan hastened, only -the birds and the wind went faster. -</p> - -<p> -And as Tarzan approached the sounds, he heard another, a deep sigh. Momaya did -not hear it, nor did Tibo; but the ears of Tarzan were as the ears of Bara, the -deer. He heard the sigh, and he knew, so he unloosed the heavy spear which -dangled at his back. Even as he sped through the branches of the trees, with -the same ease that you or I might take out a pocket handkerchief as we strolled -nonchalantly down a lazy country lane, Tarzan of the Apes took the spear from -its thong that it might be ready against any emergency. -</p> - -<p> -Numa, the lion, did not rush madly to attack. He reasoned again, and reason -told him that already the prey was his, so he pushed his great bulk through the -foliage and stood eyeing his meat with baleful, glaring eyes. -</p> - -<p> -Momaya saw him and shrieked, drawing Tibo closer to her breast. To have found -her child and to lose him, all in a moment! She raised her spear, throwing her -hand far back of her shoulder. Numa roared and stepped slowly forward. Momaya -cast her weapon. It grazed the tawny shoulder, inflicting a flesh wound which -aroused all the terrific bestiality of the carnivore, and the lion charged. -</p> - -<p> -Momaya tried to close her eyes, but could not. She saw the flashing swiftness -of the huge, oncoming death, and then she saw something else. She saw a mighty, -naked white man drop as from the heavens into the path of the charging lion. -She saw the muscles of a great arm flash in the light of the equatorial sun as -it filtered, dappling, through the foliage above. She saw a heavy hunting spear -hurtle through the air to meet the lion in midleap. -</p> - -<p> -Numa brought up upon his haunches, roaring terribly and striking at the spear -which protruded from his breast. His great blows bent and twisted the weapon. -Tarzan, crouching and with hunting knife in hand, circled warily about the -frenzied cat. Momaya, wide-eyed, stood rooted to the spot, watching, -fascinated. -</p> - -<p> -In sudden fury Numa hurled himself toward the ape-man, but the wiry creature -eluded the blundering charge, side-stepping quickly only to rush in upon his -foe. Twice the hunting blade flashed in the air. Twice it fell upon the back of -Numa, already weakening from the spear point so near his heart. The second -stroke of the blade pierced far into the beast’s spine, and with a last -convulsive sweep of the fore-paws, in a vain attempt to reach his tormentor, -Numa sprawled upon the ground, paralyzed and dying. -</p> - -<p> -Bukawai, fearful lest he should lose any recompense, followed Momaya with the -intention of persuading her to part with her ornaments of copper and iron -against her return with the price of the medicine—to pay, as it were, for an -option on his services as one pays a retaining fee to an attorney, for, like an -attorney, Bukawai knew the value of his medicine and that it was well to -collect as much as possible in advance. -</p> - -<p> -The witch-doctor came upon the scene as Tarzan leaped to meet the lion’s -charge. He saw it all and marveled, guessing immediately that this must be the -strange white demon concerning whom he had heard vague rumors before Momaya -came to him. -</p> - -<p> -Momaya, now that the lion was past harming her or hers, gazed with new terror -upon Tarzan. It was he who had stolen her Tibo. Doubtless he would attempt to -steal him again. Momaya hugged the boy close to her. She was determined to die -this time rather than suffer Tibo to be taken from her again. -</p> - -<p> -Tarzan eyed them in silence. The sight of the boy clinging, sobbing, to his -mother aroused within his savage breast a melancholy loneliness. There was none -thus to cling to Tarzan, who yearned so for the love of someone, of something. -</p> - -<p> -At last Tibo looked up, because of the quiet that had fallen upon the jungle, -and saw Tarzan. He did not shrink. -</p> - -<p> -“Tarzan,” he said, in the speech of the great apes of the tribe of Kerchak, “do -not take me from Momaya, my mother. Do not take me again to the lair of the -hairy, tree men, for I fear Taug and Gunto and the others. Let me stay with -Momaya, O Tarzan, God of the Jungle! Let me stay with Momaya, my mother, and to -the end of our days we will bless you and put food before the gates of the -village of Mbonga that you may never hunger.” -</p> - -<p> -Tarzan sighed. -</p> - -<p> -“Go,” he said, “back to the village of Mbonga, and Tarzan will follow to see -that no harm befalls you.” -</p> - -<p> -Tibo translated the words to his mother, and the two turned their backs upon -the ape-man and started off toward home. In the heart of Momaya was a great -fear and a great exultation, for never before had she walked with God, and -never had she been so happy. She strained little Tibo to her, stroking his thin -cheek. Tarzan saw and sighed again. -</p> - -<p> -“For Teeka there is Teeka’s balu,” he soliloquized; “for Sabor there are balus, -and for the she-Gomangani, and for Bara, and for Manu, and even for Pamba, the -rat; but for Tarzan there can be none—neither a she nor a balu. Tarzan of the -Apes is a man, and it must be that man walks alone.” -</p> - -<p> -Bukawai saw them go, and he mumbled through his rotting face, swearing a great -oath that he would yet have the three fat goats, the new sleeping mat, and the -bit of copper wire. -</p> - -</div><!--end chapter--> - -<div class="chapter"> - -<h2><a name="chap06"></a>CHAPTER VI<br/> -The Witch-Doctor Seeks Vengeance</h2> - -<p> -Lord Greystoke was hunting, or, to be more accurate, he was shooting pheasants -at Chamston-Hedding. Lord Greystoke was immaculately and appropriately -garbed—to the minutest detail he was vogue. To be sure, he was among the -forward guns, not being considered a sporting shot, but what he lacked in skill -he more than made up in appearance. At the end of the day he would, doubtless, -have many birds to his credit, since he had two guns and a smart loader—many -more birds than he could eat in a year, even had he been hungry, which he was -not, having but just arisen from the breakfast table. -</p> - -<p> -The beaters—there were twenty-three of them, in white smocks—had but just -driven the birds into a patch of gorse, and were now circling to the opposite -side that they might drive down toward the guns. Lord Greystoke was quite as -excited as he ever permitted himself to become. There was an exhilaration in -the sport that would not be denied. He felt his blood tingling through his -veins as the beaters approached closer and closer to the birds. In a vague and -stupid sort of way Lord Greystoke felt, as he always felt upon such occasions, -that he was experiencing a sensation somewhat akin to a reversion to a -prehistoric type—that the blood of an ancient forbear was coursing hot through -him, a hairy, half-naked forbear who had lived by the hunt. -</p> - -<p> -And far away in a matted equatorial jungle another Lord Greystoke, the real -Lord Greystoke, hunted. By the standards which he knew, he, too, was -vogue—utterly vogue, as was the primal ancestor before the first eviction. The -day being sultry, the leopard skin had been left behind. The real Lord -Greystoke had not two guns, to be sure, nor even one, neither did he have a -smart loader; but he possessed something infinitely more efficacious than guns, -or loaders, or even twenty-three beaters in white smocks—he possessed an -appetite, an uncanny woodcraft, and muscles that were as steel springs. -</p> - -<p> -Later that day, in England, a Lord Greystoke ate bountifully of things he had -not killed, and he drank other things which were uncorked to the accompaniment -of much noise. He patted his lips with snowy linen to remove the faint traces -of his repast, quite ignorant of the fact that he was an impostor and that the -rightful owner of his noble title was even then finishing his own dinner in -far-off Africa. He was not using snowy linen, though. Instead he drew the back -of a brown forearm and hand across his mouth and wiped his bloody fingers upon -his thighs. Then he moved slowly through the jungle to the drinking place, -where, upon all fours, he drank as drank his fellows, the other beasts of the -jungle. -</p> - -<p> -As he quenched his thirst, another denizen of the gloomy forest approached the -stream along the path behind him. It was Numa, the lion, tawny of body and -black of mane, scowling and sinister, rumbling out low, coughing roars. Tarzan -of the Apes heard him long before he came within sight, but the ape-man went on -with his drinking until he had had his fill; then he arose, slowly, with the -easy grace of a creature of the wilds and all the quiet dignity that was his -birthright. -</p> - -<p> -Numa halted as he saw the man standing at the very spot where the king would -drink. His jaws were parted, and his cruel eyes gleamed. He growled and -advanced slowly. The man growled, too, backing slowly to one side, and -watching, not the lion’s face, but its tail. Should that commence to move from -side to side in quick, nervous jerks, it would be well to be upon the alert, -and should it rise suddenly erect, straight and stiff, then one might prepare -to fight or flee; but it did neither, so Tarzan merely backed away and the lion -came down and drank scarce fifty feet from where the man stood. -</p> - -<p> -Tomorrow they might be at one another’s throats, but today there existed one of -those strange and inexplicable truces which so often are seen among the savage -ones of the jungle. Before Numa had finished drinking, Tarzan had returned into -the forest, and was swinging away in the direction of the village of Mbonga, -the black chief. -</p> - -<p> -It had been at least a moon since the ape-man had called upon the Gomangani. -Not since he had restored little Tibo to his grief-stricken mother had the whim -seized him to do so. The incident of the adopted balu was a closed one to -Tarzan. He had sought to find something upon which to lavish such an affection -as Teeka lavished upon her balu, but a short experience of the little black boy -had made it quite plain to the ape-man that no such sentiment could exist -between them. -</p> - -<p> -The fact that he had for a time treated the little black as he might have -treated a real balu of his own had in no way altered the vengeful sentiments -with which he considered the murderers of Kala. The Gomangani were his deadly -enemies, nor could they ever be aught else. Today he looked forward to some -slight relief from the monotony of his existence in such excitement as he might -derive from baiting the blacks. -</p> - -<p> -It was not yet dark when he reached the village and took his place in the great -tree overhanging the palisade. From beneath came a great wailing out of the -depths of a near-by hut. The noise fell disagreeably upon Tarzan’s ears—it -jarred and grated. He did not like it, so he decided to go away for a while in -the hopes that it might cease; but though he was gone for a couple of hours the -wailing still continued when he returned. -</p> - -<p> -With the intention of putting a violent termination to the annoying sound, -Tarzan slipped silently from the tree into the shadows beneath. Creeping -stealthily and keeping well in the cover of other huts, he approached that from -which rose the sounds of lamentation. A fire burned brightly before the doorway -as it did before other doorways in the village. A few females squatted about, -occasionally adding their own mournful howlings to those of the master artist -within. -</p> - -<p> -The ape-man smiled a slow smile as he thought of the consternation which would -follow the quick leap that would carry him among the females and into the full -light of the fire. Then he would dart into the hut during the excitement, -throttle the chief screamer, and be gone into the jungle before the blacks -could gather their scattered nerves for an assault. -</p> - -<p> -Many times had Tarzan behaved similarly in the village of Mbonga, the chief. -His mysterious and unexpected appearances always filled the breasts of the -poor, superstitious blacks with the panic of terror; never, it seemed, could -they accustom themselves to the sight of him. It was this terror which lent to -the adventures the spice of interest and amusement which the human mind of the -ape-man craved. Merely to kill was not in itself sufficient. Accustomed to the -sight of death, Tarzan found no great pleasure in it. Long since had he avenged -the death of Kala, but in the accomplishment of it, he had learned the -excitement and the pleasure to be derived from the baiting of the blacks. Of -this he never tired. -</p> - -<p> -It was just as he was about to spring forward with a savage roar that a figure -appeared in the doorway of the hut. It was the figure of the wailer whom he had -come to still, the figure of a young woman with a wooden skewer through the -split septum of her nose, with a heavy metal ornament depending from her lower -lip, which it had dragged down to hideous and repulsive deformity, with strange -tattooing upon forehead, cheeks, and breasts, and a wonderful coiffure built up -with mud and wire. -</p> - -<p> -A sudden flare of the fire threw the grotesque figure into high relief, and -Tarzan recognized her as Momaya, the mother of Tibo. The fire also threw out a -fitful flame which carried to the shadows where Tarzan lurked, picking out his -light brown body from the surrounding darkness. Momaya saw him and knew him. -With a cry, she leaped forward and Tarzan came to meet her. The other women, -turning, saw him, too; but they did not come toward him. Instead they rose as -one, shrieked as one, fled as one. -</p> - -<p> -Momaya threw herself at Tarzan’s feet, raising supplicating hands toward him -and pouring forth from her mutilated lips a perfect cataract of words, not one -of which the ape-man comprehended. For a moment he looked down upon the -upturned, frightful face of the woman. He had come to slay, but that -overwhelming torrent of speech filled him with consternation and with awe. He -glanced about him apprehensively, then back at the woman. A revulsion of -feeling seized him. He could not kill little Tibo’s mother, nor could he stand -and face this verbal geyser. With a quick gesture of impatience at the spoiling -of his evening’s entertainment, he wheeled and leaped away into the darkness. A -moment later he was swinging through the black jungle night, the cries and -lamentations of Momaya growing fainter in the distance. -</p> - -<p> -It was with a sigh of relief that he finally reached a point from which he -could no longer hear them, and finding a comfortable crotch high among the -trees, composed himself for a night of dreamless slumber, while a prowling lion -moaned and coughed beneath him, and in far-off England the other Lord -Greystoke, with the assistance of a valet, disrobed and crawled between -spotless sheets, swearing irritably as a cat meowed beneath his window. -</p> - -<p> -As Tarzan followed the fresh spoor of Horta, the boar, the following morning, -he came upon the tracks of two Gomangani, a large one and a small one. The -ape-man, accustomed as he was to questioning closely all that fell to his -perceptions, paused to read the story written in the soft mud of the game -trail. You or I would have seen little of interest there, even if, by chance, -we could have seen aught. Perhaps had one been there to point them out to us, -we might have noted indentations in the mud, but there were countless -indentations, one overlapping another into a confusion that would have been -entirely meaningless to us. To Tarzan each told its own story. Tantor, the -elephant, had passed that way as recently as three suns since. Numa had hunted -here the night just gone, and Horta, the boar, had walked slowly along the -trail within an hour; but what held Tarzan’s attention was the spoor tale of -the Gomangani. It told him that the day before an old man had gone toward the -north in company with a little boy, and that with them had been two hyenas. -</p> - -<p> -Tarzan scratched his head in puzzled incredulity. He could see by the -overlapping of the footprints that the beasts had not been following the two, -for sometimes one was ahead of them and one behind, and again both were in -advance, or both were in the rear. It was very strange and quite inexplicable, -especially where the spoor showed where the hyenas in the wider portions of the -path had walked one on either side of the human pair, quite close to them. Then -Tarzan read in the spoor of the smaller Gomangani a shrinking terror of the -beast that brushed his side, but in that of the old man was no sign of fear. -</p> - -<p> -At first Tarzan had been solely occupied by the remarkable juxtaposition of the -spoor of Dango and Gomangani, but now his keen eyes caught something in the -spoor of the little Gomangani which brought him to a sudden stop. It was as -though, finding a letter in the road, you suddenly had discovered in it the -familiar handwriting of a friend. -</p> - -<p> -“Go-bu-balu!” exclaimed the ape-man, and at once memory flashed upon the screen -of recollection the supplicating attitude of Momaya as she had hurled herself -before him in the village of Mbonga the night before. Instantly all was -explained—the wailing and lamentation, the pleading of the black mother, the -sympathetic howling of the shes about the fire. Little Go-bu-balu had been -stolen again, and this time by another than Tarzan. Doubtless the mother had -thought that he was again in the power of Tarzan of the Apes, and she had been -beseeching him to return her balu to her. -</p> - -<p> -Yes, it was all quite plain now; but who could have stolen Go-bu-balu this -time? Tarzan wondered, and he wondered, too, about the presence of Dango. He -would investigate. The spoor was a day old and it ran toward the north. Tarzan -set out to follow it. In places it was totally obliterated by the passage of -many beasts, and where the way was rocky, even Tarzan of the Apes was almost -baffled; but there was still the faint effluvium which clung to the human -spoor, appreciable only to such highly trained perceptive powers as were -Tarzan’s. -</p> - -<p class="p2"> -It had all happened to little Tibo very suddenly and unexpectedly within the -brief span of two suns. First had come Bukawai, the witch-doctor—Bukawai, the -unclean—with the ragged bit of flesh which still clung to his rotting face. He -had come alone and by day to the place at the river where Momaya went daily to -wash her body and that of Tibo, her little boy. He had stepped out from behind -a great bush quite close to Momaya, frightening little Tibo so that he ran -screaming to his mother’s protecting arms. -</p> - -<p> -But Momaya, though startled, had wheeled to face the fearsome thing with all -the savage ferocity of a she-tiger at bay. When she saw who it was, she -breathed a sigh of partial relief, though she still clung tightly to Tibo. -</p> - -<p> -“I have come,” said Bukawai without preliminary, “for the three fat goats, the -new sleeping mat, and the bit of copper wire as long as a tall man’s arm.” -</p> - -<p> -“I have no goats for you,” snapped Momaya, “nor a sleeping mat, nor any wire. -Your medicine was never made. The white jungle god gave me back my Tibo. You -had nothing to do with it.” -</p> - -<p> -“But I did,” mumbled Bukawai through his fleshless jaws. “It was I who -commanded the white jungle god to give back your Tibo.” -</p> - -<p> -Momaya laughed in his face. “Speaker of lies,” she cried, “go back to your foul -den and your hyenas. Go back and hide your stinking face in the belly of the -mountain, lest the sun, seeing it, cover his face with a black cloud.” -</p> - -<p> -“I have come,” reiterated Bukawai, “for the three fat goats, the new sleeping -mat, and the bit of copper wire the length of a tall man’s arm, which you were -to pay me for the return of your Tibo.” -</p> - -<p> -“It was to be the length of a man’s forearm,” corrected Momaya, “but you shall -have nothing, old thief. You would not make medicine until I had brought the -payment in advance, and when I was returning to my village the great, white -jungle god gave me back my Tibo—gave him to me out of the jaws of Numa. His -medicine is true medicine—yours is the weak medicine of an old man with a hole -in his face.” -</p> - -<p> -“I have come,” repeated Bukawai patiently, “for the three fat—” But Momaya had -not waited to hear more of what she already knew by heart. Clasping Tibo close -to her side, she was hurrying away toward the palisaded village of Mbonga, the -chief. -</p> - -<p> -And the next day, when Momaya was working in the plantain field with others of -the women of the tribe, and little Tibo had been playing at the edge of the -jungle, casting a small spear in anticipation of the distant day when he should -be a full-fledged warrior, Bukawai had come again. -</p> - -<p> -Tibo had seen a squirrel scampering up the bole of a great tree. His childish -mind had transformed it into the menacing figure of a hostile warrior. Little -Tibo had raised his tiny spear, his heart filled with the savage blood lust of -his race, as he pictured the night’s orgy when he should dance about the corpse -of his human kill as the women of his tribe prepared the meat for the feast to -follow. -</p> - -<p> -But when he cast the spear, he missed both squirrel and tree, losing his -missile far among the tangled undergrowth of the jungle. However, it could be -but a few steps within the forbidden labyrinth. The women were all about in the -field. There were warriors on guard within easy hail, and so little Tibo boldly -ventured into the dark place. -</p> - -<p> -Just behind the screen of creepers and matted foliage lurked three horrid -figures—an old, old man, black as the pit, with a face half eaten away by -leprosy, his sharp-filed teeth, the teeth of a cannibal, showing yellow and -repulsive through the great gaping hole where his mouth and nose had been. And -beside him, equally hideous, stood two powerful hyenas—carrion-eaters -consorting with carrion. -</p> - -<p> -Tibo did not see them until, head down, he had forced his way through the -thickly growing vines in search of his little spear, and then it was too late. -As he looked up into the face of Bukawai, the old witch-doctor seized him, -muffling his screams with a palm across his mouth. Tibo struggled futilely. -</p> - -<p> -A moment later he was being hustled away through the dark and terrible jungle, -the frightful old man still muffling his screams, and the two hideous hyenas -pacing now on either side, now before, now behind, always prowling, always -growling, snapping, snarling, or, worst of all, laughing hideously. -</p> - -<p> -To little Tibo, who within his brief existence had passed through such -experiences as are given to few to pass through in a lifetime, the northward -journey was a nightmare of terror. He thought now of the time that he had been -with the great, white jungle god, and he prayed with all his little soul that -he might be back again with the white-skinned giant who consorted with the -hairy tree men. Terror-stricken he had been then, but his surroundings had been -nothing by comparison with those which he now endured. -</p> - -<p> -The old man seldom addressed Tibo, though he kept up an almost continuous -mumbling throughout the long day. Tibo caught repeated references to fat goats, -sleeping mats, and pieces of copper wire. “Ten fat goats, ten fat goats,” the -old Negro would croon over and over again. By this little Tibo guessed that the -price of his ransom had risen. Ten fat goats? Where would his mother get ten -fat goats, or thin ones, either, for that matter, to buy back just a poor -little boy? Mbonga would never let her have them, and Tibo knew that his father -never had owned more than three goats at the same time in all his life. Ten fat -goats! Tibo sniffled. The putrid old man would kill him and eat him, for the -goats would never be forthcoming. Bukawai would throw his bones to the hyenas. -The little black boy shuddered and became so weak that he almost fell in his -tracks. Bukawai cuffed him on an ear and jerked him along. -</p> - -<p> -After what seemed an eternity to Tibo, they arrived at the mouth of a cave -between two rocky hills. The opening was low and narrow. A few saplings bound -together with strips of rawhide closed it against stray beasts. Bukawai removed -the primitive door and pushed Tibo within. The hyenas, snarling, rushed past -him and were lost to view in the blackness of the interior. Bukawai replaced -the saplings and seizing Tibo roughly by the arm, dragged him along a narrow, -rocky passage. The floor was comparatively smooth, for the dirt which lay thick -upon it had been trodden and tramped by many feet until few inequalities -remained. -</p> - -<p> -The passage was tortuous, and as it was very dark and the walls rough and -rocky, Tibo was scratched and bruised from the many bumps he received. Bukawai -walked as rapidly through the winding gallery as one would traverse a familiar -lane by daylight. He knew every twist and turn as a mother knows the face of -her child, and he seemed to be in a hurry. He jerked poor little Tibo possibly -a trifle more ruthlessly than necessary even at the pace Bukawai set; but the -old witch-doctor, an outcast from the society of man, diseased, shunned, hated, -feared, was far from possessing an angelic temper. Nature had given him few of -the kindlier characteristics of man, and these few Fate had eradicated -entirely. Shrewd, cunning, cruel, vindictive, was Bukawai, the witch-doctor. -</p> - -<p> -Frightful tales were whispered of the cruel tortures he inflicted upon his -victims. Children were frightened into obedience by the threat of his name. -Often had Tibo been thus frightened, and now he was reaping a grisly harvest of -terror from the seeds his mother had innocently sown. The darkness, the -presence of the dreaded witch-doctor, the pain of the contusions, with a -haunting premonition of the future, and the fear of the hyenas combined to -almost paralyze the child. He stumbled and reeled until Bukawai was dragging -rather than leading him. -</p> - -<p> -Presently Tibo saw a faint lightness ahead of them, and a moment later they -emerged into a roughly circular chamber to which a little daylight filtered -through a rift in the rocky ceiling. The hyenas were there ahead of them, -waiting. As Bukawai entered with Tibo, the beasts slunk toward them, baring -yellow fangs. They were hungry. Toward Tibo they came, and one snapped at his -naked legs. Bukawai seized a stick from the floor of the chamber and struck a -vicious blow at the beast, at the same time mumbling forth a volley of -execrations. The hyena dodged and ran to the side of the chamber, where he -stood growling. Bukawai took a step toward the creature, which bristled with -rage at his approach. Fear and hatred shot from its evil eyes, but, fortunately -for Bukawai, fear predominated. -</p> - -<p> -Seeing that he was unnoticed, the second beast made a short, quick rush for -Tibo. The child screamed and darted after the witch-doctor, who now turned his -attention to the second hyena. This one he reached with his heavy stick, -striking it repeatedly and driving it to the wall. There the two carrion-eaters -commenced to circle the chamber while the human carrion, their master, now in a -perfect frenzy of demoniacal rage, ran to and fro in an effort to intercept -them, striking out with his cudgel and lashing them with his tongue, calling -down upon them the curses of whatever gods and demons he could summon to -memory, and describing in lurid figures the ignominy of their ancestors. -</p> - -<p> -Several times one or the other of the beasts would turn to make a stand against -the witch-doctor, and then Tibo would hold his breath in agonized terror, for -never in his brief life had he seen such frightful hatred depicted upon the -countenance of man or beast; but always fear overcame the rage of the savage -creatures, so that they resumed their flight, snarling and bare-fanged, just at -the moment that Tibo was certain they would spring at Bukawai’s throat. -</p> - -<p> -At last the witch-doctor tired of the futile chase. With a snarl quite as -bestial as those of the beast, he turned toward Tibo. “I go to collect the ten -fat goats, the new sleeping mat, and the two pieces of copper wire that your -mother will pay for the medicine I shall make to bring you back to her,” he -said. “You will stay here. There,” and he pointed toward the passage which they -had followed to the chamber, “I will leave the hyenas. If you try to escape, -they will eat you.” -</p> - -<p> -He cast aside the stick and called to the beasts. They came, snarling and -slinking, their tails between their legs. Bukawai led them to the passage and -drove them into it. Then he dragged a rude lattice into place before the -opening after he, himself, had left the chamber. “This will keep them from -you,” he said. “If I do not get the ten fat goats and the other things, they -shall at least have a few bones after I am through.” And he left the boy to -think over the meaning of his all-too-suggestive words. -</p> - -<p> -When he was gone, Tibo threw himself upon the earth floor and broke into -childish sobs of terror and loneliness. He knew that his mother had no ten fat -goats to give and that when Bukawai returned, little Tibo would be killed and -eaten. How long he lay there he did not know, but presently he was aroused by -the growling of the hyenas. They had returned through the passage and were -glaring at him from beyond the lattice. He could see their yellow eyes blazing -through the darkness. They reared up and clawed at the barrier. Tibo shivered -and withdrew to the opposite side of the chamber. He saw the lattice sag and -sway to the attacks of the beasts. Momentarily he expected that it would fall -inward, letting the creatures upon him. -</p> - -<p> -Wearily the horror-ridden hours dragged their slow way. Night came, and for a -time Tibo slept, but it seemed that the hungry beasts never slept. Always they -stood just beyond the lattice growling their hideous growls or laughing their -hideous laughs. Through the narrow rift in the rocky roof above him, Tibo could -see a few stars, and once the moon crossed. At last daylight came again. Tibo -was very hungry and thirsty, for he had not eaten since the morning before, and -only once upon the long march had he been permitted to drink, but even hunger -and thirst were almost forgotten in the terror of his position. -</p> - -<p> -It was after daylight that the child discovered a second opening in the walls -of the subterranean chamber, almost opposite that at which the hyenas still -stood glaring hungrily at him. It was only a narrow slit in the rocky wall. It -might lead in but a few feet, or it might lead to freedom! Tibo approached it -and looked within. He could see nothing. He extended his arm into the -blackness, but he dared not venture farther. Bukawai never would have left open -a way of escape, Tibo reasoned, so this passage must lead either nowhere or to -some still more hideous danger. -</p> - -<p> -To the boy’s fear of the actual dangers which menaced him—Bukawai and the two -hyenas—his superstition added countless others quite too horrible even to name, -for in the lives of the blacks, through the shadows of the jungle day and the -black horrors of the jungle night, flit strange, fantastic shapes peopling the -already hideously peopled forests with menacing figures, as though the lion and -the leopard, the snake and the hyena, and the countless poisonous insects were -not quite sufficient to strike terror to the hearts of the poor, simple -creatures whose lot is cast in earth’s most fearsome spot. -</p> - -<p class="p2"> -And so it was that little Tibo cringed not only from real menaces but from -imaginary ones. He was afraid even to venture upon a road that might lead to -escape, lest Bukawai had set to watch it some frightful demon of the jungle. -</p> - -<p> -But the real menaces suddenly drove the imaginary ones from the boy’s mind, for -with the coming of daylight the half-famished hyenas renewed their efforts to -break down the frail barrier which kept them from their prey. Rearing upon -their hind feet they clawed and struck at the lattice. With wide eyes Tibo saw -it sag and rock. Not for long, he knew, could it withstand the assaults of -these two powerful and determined brutes. Already one corner had been forced -past the rocky protuberance of the entrance way which had held it in place. A -shaggy forearm protruded into the chamber. Tibo trembled as with ague, for he -knew that the end was near. -</p> - -<p> -Backing against the farther wall he stood flattened out as far from the beasts -as he could get. He saw the lattice give still more. He saw a savage, snarling -head forced past it, and grinning jaws snapping and gaping toward him. In -another instant the pitiful fabric would fall inward, and the two would be upon -him, rending his flesh from his bones, gnawing the bones themselves, fighting -for possession of his entrails. -</p> - -<p> -* * * -</p> - -<p> -Bukawai came upon Momaya outside the palisade of Mbonga, the chief. At sight of -him the woman drew back in revulsion, then she flew at him, tooth and nail; but -Bukawai threatening her with a spear held her at a safe distance. -</p> - -<p> -“Where is my baby?” she cried. “Where is my little Tibo?” -</p> - -<p> -Bukawai opened his eyes in well-simulated amazement. “Your baby!” he exclaimed. -“What should I know of him, other than that I rescued him from the white god of -the jungle and have not yet received my pay. I come for the goats and the -sleeping mat and the piece of copper wire the length of a tall man’s arm from -the shoulder to the tips of his fingers.” “Offal of a hyena!” shrieked Momaya. -“My child has been stolen, and you, rotting fragment of a man, have taken him. -Return him to me or I shall tear your eyes from your head and feed your heart -to the wild hogs.” -</p> - -<p> -Bukawai shrugged his shoulders. “What do I know about your child?” he asked. “I -have not taken him. If he is stolen again, what should Bukawai know of the -matter? Did Bukawai steal him before? No, the white jungle god stole him, and -if he stole him once he would steal him again. It is nothing to me. I returned -him to you before and I have come for my pay. If he is gone and you would have -him returned, Bukawai will return him—for ten fat goats, a new sleeping mat and -two pieces of copper wire the length of a tall man’s arm from the shoulder to -the tips of his fingers, and Bukawai will say nothing more about the goats and -the sleeping mat and the copper wire which you were to pay for the first -medicine.” -</p> - -<p> -“Ten fat goats!” screamed Momaya. “I could not pay you ten fat goats in as many -years. Ten fat goats, indeed!” -</p> - -<p> -“Ten fat goats,” repeated Bukawai. “Ten fat goats, the new sleeping mat and two -pieces of copper wire the length of—” -</p> - -<p> -Momaya stopped him with an impatient gesture. “Wait!” she cried. “I have no -goats. You waste your breath. Stay here while I go to my man. He has but three -goats, yet something may be done. Wait!” -</p> - -<p> -Bukawai sat down beneath a tree. He felt quite content, for he knew that he -should have either payment or revenge. He did not fear harm at the hands of -these people of another tribe, although he well knew that they must fear and -hate him. His leprosy alone would prevent their laying hands upon him, while -his reputation as a witch-doctor rendered him doubly immune from attack. He was -planning upon compelling them to drive the ten goats to the mouth of his cave -when Momaya returned. With her were three warriors—Mbonga, the chief, Rabba -Kega, the village witch-doctor, and Ibeto, Tibo’s father. They were not pretty -men even under ordinary circumstances, and now, with their faces marked by -anger, they well might have inspired terror in the heart of anyone; but if -Bukawai felt any fear, he did not betray it. Instead he greeted them with an -insolent stare, intended to awe them, as they came and squatted in a -semi-circle before him. -</p> - -<p> -“Where is Ibeto’s son?” asked Mbonga. -</p> - -<p> -“How should I know?” returned Bukawai. “Doubtless the white devil-god has him. -If I am paid I will make strong medicine and then we shall know where is -Ibeto’s son, and shall get him back again. It was my medicine which got him -back the last time, for which I got no pay.” -</p> - -<p> -“I have my own witch-doctor to make medicine,” replied Mbonga with dignity. -</p> - -<p> -Bukawai sneered and rose to his feet. “Very well,” he said, “let him make his -medicine and see if he can bring Ibeto’s son back.” He took a few steps away -from them, and then he turned angrily back. “His medicine will not bring the -child back—that I know, and I also know that when you find him it will be too -late for any medicine to bring him back, for he will be dead. This have I just -found out, the ghost of my father’s sister but now came to me and told me.” -</p> - -<p> -Now Mbonga and Rabba Kega might not take much stock in their own magic, and -they might even be skeptical as to the magic of another; but there was always a -chance of <i>something</i> being in it, especially if it were not their own. -Was it not well known that old Bukawai had speech with the demons themselves -and that two even lived with him in the forms of hyenas! Still they must not -accede too hastily. There was the price to be considered, and Mbonga had no -intention of parting lightly with ten goats to obtain the return of a single -little boy who might die of smallpox long before he reached a warrior’s estate. -</p> - -<p> -“Wait,” said Mbonga. “Let us see some of your magic, that we may know if it be -good magic. Then we can talk about payment. Rabba Kega will make some magic, -too. We will see who makes the best magic. Sit down, Bukawai.” -</p> - -<p> -“The payment will be ten goats—fat goats—a new sleeping mat and two pieces of -copper wire the length of a tall man’s arm from the shoulder to the ends of his -fingers, and it will be made in advance, the goats being driven to my cave. -Then will I make the medicine, and on the second day the boy will be returned -to his mother. It cannot be done more quickly than that because it takes time -to make such strong medicine.” -</p> - -<p> -“Make us some medicine now,” said Mbonga. “Let us see what sort of medicine you -make.” -</p> - -<p> -“Bring me fire,” replied Bukawai, “and I will make you a little magic.” -</p> - -<p> -Momaya was dispatched for the fire, and while she was away Mbonga dickered with -Bukawai about the price. Ten goats, he said, was a high price for an -able-bodied warrior. He also called Bukawai’s attention to the fact that he, -Mbonga, was very poor, that his people were very poor, and that ten goats were -at least eight too many, to say nothing of a new sleeping mat and the copper -wire; but Bukawai was adamant. His medicine was very expensive and he would -have to give at least five goats to the gods who helped him make it. They were -still arguing when Momaya returned with the fire. -</p> - -<p> -Bukawai placed a little on the ground before him, took a pinch of powder from a -pouch at his side and sprinkled it on the embers. A cloud of smoke rose with a -puff. Bukawai closed his eyes and rocked back and forth. Then he made a few -passes in the air and pretended to swoon. Mbonga and the others were much -impressed. Rabba Kega grew nervous. He saw his reputation waning. There was -some fire left in the vessel which Momaya had brought. He seized the vessel, -dropped a handful of dry leaves into it while no one was watching and then -uttered a frightful scream which drew the attention of Bukawai’s audience to -him. It also brought Bukawai quite miraculously out of his swoon, but when the -old witch-doctor saw the reason for the disturbance he quickly relapsed into -unconsciousness before anyone discovered his <i>faux pas</i>. -</p> - -<p> -Rabba Kega, seeing that he had the attention of Mbonga, Ibeto, and Momaya, blew -suddenly into the vessel, with the result that the leaves commenced to smolder, -and smoke issued from the mouth of the receptacle. Rabba Kega was careful to -hold it so that none might see the dry leaves. Their eyes opened wide at this -remarkable demonstration of the village witch-doctor’s powers. The latter, -greatly elated, let himself out. He shouted, jumped up and down, and made -frightful grimaces; then he put his face close over the mouth of the vessel and -appeared to be communing with the spirits within. -</p> - -<p> -It was while he was thus engaged that Bukawai came out of his trance, his -curiosity finally having gotten the better of him. No one was paying him the -slightest attention. He blinked his one eye angrily, then he, too, let out a -loud roar, and when he was sure that Mbonga had turned toward him, he stiffened -rigidly and made spasmodic movements with his arms and legs. -</p> - -<p> -“I see him!” he cried. “He is far away. The white devil-god did not get him. He -is alone and in great danger; but,” he added, “if the ten fat goats and the -other things are paid to me quickly there is yet time to save him.” -</p> - -<p> -Rabba Kega had paused to listen. Mbonga looked toward him. The chief was in a -quandary. He did not know which medicine was the better. “What does your magic -tell you?” he asked of Rabba Kega. -</p> - -<p> -“I, too, see him,” screamed Rabba Kega; “but he is not where Bukawai says he -is. He is dead at the bottom of the river.” -</p> - -<p> -At this Momaya commenced to howl loudly. -</p> - -<p class="p2"> -Tarzan had followed the spoor of the old man, the two hyenas, and the little -black boy to the mouth of the cave in the rocky cañon between the two hills. -Here he paused a moment before the sapling barrier which Bukawai had set up, -listening to the snarls and growls which came faintly from the far recesses of -the cavern. -</p> - -<p> -Presently, mingled with the beastly cries, there came faintly to the keen ears -of the ape-man, the agonized moan of a child. No longer did Tarzan hesitate. -Hurling the door aside, he sprang into the dark opening. Narrow and black was -the corridor; but long use of his eyes in the Stygian blackness of the jungle -nights had given to the ape-man something of the nocturnal visionary powers of -the wild things with which he had consorted since babyhood. -</p> - -<p> -He moved rapidly and yet with caution, for the place was dark, unfamiliar and -winding. As he advanced, he heard more and more loudly the savage snarls of the -two hyenas, mingled with the scraping and scratching of their paws upon wood. -The moans of a child grew in volume, and Tarzan recognized in them the voice of -the little black boy he once had sought to adopt as his balu. -</p> - -<p> -There was no hysteria in the ape-man’s advance. Too accustomed was he to the -passing of life in the jungle to be greatly wrought even by the death of one -whom he knew; but the lust for battle spurred him on. He was only a wild beast -at heart and his wild beast’s heart beat high in anticipation of conflict. -</p> - -<p> -In the rocky chamber of the hill’s center, little Tibo crouched low against the -wall as far from the hunger-crazed beasts as he could drag himself. He saw the -lattice giving to the frantic clawing of the hyenas. He knew that in a few -minutes his little life would flicker out horribly beneath the rending, yellow -fangs of these loathsome creatures. -</p> - -<p> -Beneath the buffetings of the powerful bodies, the lattice sagged inward, -until, with a crash it gave way, letting the carnivora in upon the boy. Tibo -cast one affrighted glance toward them, then closed his eyes and buried his -face in his arms, sobbing piteously. -</p> - -<p> -For a moment the hyenas paused, caution and cowardice holding them from their -prey. They stood thus glaring at the lad, then slowly, stealthily, crouching, -they crept toward him. It was thus that Tarzan came upon them, bursting into -the chamber swiftly and silently; but not so silently that the keen-eared -beasts did not note his coming. With angry growls they turned from Tibo upon -the ape-man, as, with a smile upon his lips, he ran toward them. For an instant -one of the animals stood its ground; but the ape-man did not deign even to draw -his hunting knife against despised Dango. Rushing in upon the brute he grasped -it by the scruff of the neck, just as it attempted to dodge past him, and -hurled it across the cavern after its fellow which already was slinking into -the corridor, bent upon escape. -</p> - -<p> -Then Tarzan picked Tibo from the floor, and when the child felt human hands -upon him instead of the paws and fangs of the hyenas, he rolled his eyes upward -in surprise and incredulity, and as they fell upon Tarzan, sobs of relief broke -from the childish lips and his hands clutched at his deliverer as though the -white devil-god was not the most feared of jungle creatures. -</p> - -<p> -When Tarzan came to the cave mouth the hyenas were nowhere in sight, and after -permitting Tibo to quench his thirst in the spring which rose near by, he -lifted the boy to his shoulders and set off toward the jungle at a rapid trot, -determined to still the annoying howlings of Momaya as quickly as possible, for -he shrewdly had guessed that the absence of her balu was the cause of her -lamentation. -</p> - -<p class="p2"> -“He is not dead at the bottom of the river,” cried Bukawai. “What does this -fellow know about making magic? Who is he, anyway, that he dare say Bukawai’s -magic is not good magic? Bukawai sees Momaya’s son. He is far away and alone -and in great danger. Hasten then with the ten fat goats, the—” -</p> - -<p> -But he got no further. There was a sudden interruption from above, from the -branches of the very tree beneath which they squatted, and as the five blacks -looked up they almost swooned in fright as they saw the great, white devil-god -looking down upon them; but before they could flee they saw another face, that -of the lost little Tibo, and his face was laughing and very happy. -</p> - -<p> -And then Tarzan dropped fearlessly among them, the boy still upon his back, and -deposited him before his mother. Momaya, Ibeto, Rabba Kega, and Mbonga were all -crowding around the lad trying to question him at the same time. Suddenly -Momaya turned ferociously to fall upon Bukawai, for the boy had told her all -that he had suffered at the hands of the cruel old man; but Bukawai was no -longer there—he had required no recourse to black art to assure him that the -vicinity of Momaya would be no healthful place for him after Tibo had told his -story, and now he was running through the jungle as fast as his old legs would -carry him toward the distant lair where he knew no black would dare pursue him. -</p> - -<p> -Tarzan, too, had vanished, as he had a way of doing, to the mystification of -the blacks. Then Momaya’s eyes lighted upon Rabba Kega. The village -witch-doctor saw something in those eyes of hers which boded no good to him, -and backed away. -</p> - -<p> -“So my Tibo is dead at the bottom of the river, is he?” the woman shrieked. -“And he’s far away and alone and in great danger, is he? Magic!” The scorn -which Momaya crowded into that single word would have done credit to a Thespian -of the first magnitude. “Magic, indeed!” she screamed. “Momaya will show you -some magic of her own,” and with that she seized upon a broken limb and struck -Rabba Kega across the head. With a howl of pain, the man turned and fled, -Momaya pursuing him and beating him across the shoulders, through the gateway -and up the length of the village street, to the intense amusement of the -warriors, the women, and the children who were so fortunate as to witness the -spectacle, for one and all feared Rabba Kega, and to fear is to hate. -</p> - -<p> -Thus it was that to his host of passive enemies, Tarzan of the Apes added that -day two active foes, both of whom remained awake long into the night planning -means of revenge upon the white devil-god who had brought them into ridicule -and disrepute, but with their most malevolent schemings was mingled a vein of -real fear and awe that would not down. -</p> - -<p> -Young Lord Greystoke did not know that they planned against him, nor, knowing, -would have cared. He slept as well that night as he did on any other night, and -though there was no roof above him, and no doors to lock against intruders, he -slept much better than his noble relative in England, who had eaten altogether -too much lobster and drank too much wine at dinner that night. -</p> - -</div><!--end chapter--> - -<div class="chapter"> - -<h2><a name="chap07"></a>CHAPTER VII<br/> -The End of Bukawai</h2> - -<p> -When Tarzan of the Apes was still but a boy he had learned, among other things, -to fashion pliant ropes of fibrous jungle grass. Strong and tough were the -ropes of Tarzan, the little Tarmangani. Tublat, his foster father, would have -told you this much and more. Had you tempted him with a handful of fat -caterpillars he even might have sufficiently unbended to narrate to you a few -stories of the many indignities which Tarzan had heaped upon him by means of -his hated rope; but then Tublat always worked himself into such a frightful -rage when he devoted any considerable thought either to the rope or to Tarzan, -that it might not have proved comfortable for you to have remained close enough -to him to hear what he had to say. -</p> - -<p> -So often had that snakelike noose settled unexpectedly over Tublat’s head, so -often had he been jerked ridiculously and painfully from his feet when he was -least looking for such an occurrence, that there is little wonder he found -scant space in his savage heart for love of his white-skinned foster child, or -the inventions thereof. There had been other times, too, when Tublat had swung -helplessly in midair, the noose tightening about his neck, death staring him in -the face, and little Tarzan dancing upon a near-by limb, taunting him and -making unseemly grimaces. -</p> - -<p> -Then there had been another occasion in which the rope had figured -prominently—an occasion, and the only one connected with the rope, which Tublat -recalled with pleasure. Tarzan, as active in brain as he was in body, was -always inventing new ways in which to play. It was through the medium of play -that he learned much during his childhood. This day he learned something, and -that he did not lose his life in the learning of it, was a matter of great -surprise to Tarzan, and the fly in the ointment, to Tublat. -</p> - -<p> -The man-child had, in throwing his noose at a playmate in a tree above him, -caught a projecting branch instead. When he tried to shake it loose it but drew -the tighter. Then Tarzan started to climb the rope to remove it from the -branch. When he was part way up a frolicsome playmate seized that part of the -rope which lay upon the ground and ran off with it as far as he could go. When -Tarzan screamed at him to desist, the young ape released the rope a little and -then drew it tight again. The result was to impart a swinging motion to -Tarzan’s body which the ape-boy suddenly realized was a new and pleasurable -form of play. He urged the ape to continue until Tarzan was swinging to and fro -as far as the short length of rope would permit, but the distance was not great -enough, and, too, he was not far enough above the ground to give the necessary -thrills which add so greatly to the pastimes of the young. -</p> - -<p> -So he clambered to the branch where the noose was caught and after removing it -carried the rope far aloft and out upon a long and powerful branch. Here he -again made it fast, and taking the loose end in his hand, clambered quickly -down among the branches as far as the rope would permit him to go; then he -swung out upon the end of it, his lithe, young body turning and twisting—a -human bob upon a pendulum of grass—thirty feet above the ground. -</p> - -<p> -Ah, how delectable! This was indeed a new play of the first magnitude. Tarzan -was entranced. Soon he discovered that by wriggling his body in just the right -way at the proper time he could diminish or accelerate his oscillation, and, -being a boy, he chose, naturally, to accelerate. Presently he was swinging far -and wide, while below him, the apes of the tribe of Kerchak looked on in mild -amaze. -</p> - -<p> -Had it been you or I swinging there at the end of that grass rope, the thing -which presently happened would not have happened, for we could not have hung on -so long as to have made it possible; but Tarzan was quite as much at home -swinging by his hands as he was standing upon his feet, or, at least, almost. -At any rate he felt no fatigue long after the time that an ordinary mortal -would have been numb with the strain of the physical exertion. And this was his -undoing. -</p> - -<p> -Tublat was watching him as were others of the tribe. Of all the creatures of -the wild, there was none Tublat so cordially hated as he did this hideous, -hairless, white-skinned, caricature of an ape. But for Tarzan’s nimbleness, and -the zealous watchfulness of savage Kala’s mother love, Tublat would long since -have rid himself of this stain upon his family escutcheon. So long had it been -since Tarzan became a member of the tribe, that Tublat had forgotten the -circumstances surrounding the entrance of the jungle waif into his family, with -the result that he now imagined that Tarzan was his own offspring, adding -greatly to his chagrin. -</p> - -<p class="p2"> -Wide and far swung Tarzan of the Apes, until at last, as he reached the highest -point of the arc the rope, which rapidly had frayed on the rough bark of the -tree limb, parted suddenly. The watching apes saw the smooth, brown body shoot -outward, and down, plummet-like. Tublat leaped high in the air, emitting what -in a human being would have been an exclamation of delight. This would be the -end of Tarzan and most of Tublat’s troubles. From now on he could lead his life -in peace and security. -</p> - -<p> -Tarzan fell quite forty feet, alighting on his back in a thick bush. Kala was -the first to reach his side—ferocious, hideous, loving Kala. She had seen the -life crushed from her own balu in just such a fall years before. Was she to -lose this one too in the same way? Tarzan was lying quite still when she found -him, embedded deeply in the bush. It took Kala several minutes to disentangle -him and drag him forth; but he was not killed. He was not even badly injured. -The bush had broken the force of the fall. A cut upon the back of his head -showed where he had struck the tough stem of the shrub and explained his -unconsciousness. -</p> - -<p> -In a few minutes he was as active as ever. Tublat was furious. In his rage he -snapped at a fellow-ape without first discovering the identity of his victim, -and was badly mauled for his ill temper, having chosen to vent his spite upon a -husky and belligerent young bull in the full prime of his vigor. -</p> - -<p> -But Tarzan had learned something new. He had learned that continued friction -would wear through the strands of his rope, though it was many years before -this knowledge did more for him than merely to keep him from swinging too long -at a time, or too far above the ground at the end of his rope. -</p> - -<p> -The day came, however, when the very thing that had once all but killed him -proved the means of saving his life. -</p> - -<p> -He was no longer a child, but a mighty jungle male. There was none now to watch -over him, solicitously, nor did he need such. Kala was dead. Dead, too, was -Tublat, and though with Kala passed the one creature that ever really had loved -him, there were still many who hated him after Tublat departed unto the arms of -his fathers. It was not that he was more cruel or more savage than they that -they hated him, for though he was both cruel and savage as were the beasts, his -fellows, yet too was he often tender, which they never were. No, the thing -which brought Tarzan most into disrepute with those who did not like him, was -the possession and practice of a characteristic which they had not and could -not understand—the human sense of humor. In Tarzan it was a trifle broad, -perhaps, manifesting itself in rough and painful practical jokes upon his -friends and cruel baiting of his enemies. -</p> - -<p> -But to neither of these did he owe the enmity of Bukawai, the witch-doctor, who -dwelt in the cave between the two hills far to the north of the village of -Mbonga, the chief. Bukawai was jealous of Tarzan, and Bukawai it was who came -near proving the undoing of the ape-man. For months Bukawai had nursed his -hatred while revenge seemed remote indeed, since Tarzan of the Apes frequented -another part of the jungle, miles away from the lair of Bukawai. Only once had -the black witch-doctor seen the devil-god, as he was most often called among -the blacks, and upon that occasion Tarzan had robbed him of a fat fee, at the -same time putting the lie in the mouth of Bukawai, and making his medicine seem -poor medicine. All this Bukawai never could forgive, though it seemed unlikely -that the opportunity would come to be revenged. -</p> - -<p> -Yet it did come, and quite unexpectedly. Tarzan was hunting far to the north. -He had wandered away from the tribe, as he did more and more often as he -approached maturity, to hunt alone for a few days. As a child he had enjoyed -romping and playing with the young apes, his companions; but now these -play-fellows of his had grown to surly, lowering bulls, or to touchy, -suspicious mothers, jealously guarding helpless balus. So Tarzan found in his -own man-mind a greater and a truer companionship than any or all of the apes of -Kerchak could afford him. -</p> - -<p> -This day, as Tarzan hunted, the sky slowly became overcast. Torn clouds, -whipped to ragged streamers, fled low above the tree tops. They reminded Tarzan -of frightened antelope fleeing the charge of a hungry lion. But though the -light clouds raced so swiftly, the jungle was motionless. Not a leaf quivered -and the silence was a great, dead weight—insupportable. Even the insects seemed -stilled by apprehension of some frightful thing impending, and the larger -things were soundless. Such a forest, such a jungle might have stood there in -the beginning of that unthinkably far-gone age before God peopled the world -with life, when there were no sounds because there were no ears to hear. -</p> - -<p> -And over all lay a sickly, pallid ocher light through which the scourged clouds -raced. Tarzan had seen all these conditions many times before, yet he never -could escape a strange feeling at each recurrence of them. He knew no fear, but -in the face of Nature’s manifestations of her cruel, immeasurable powers, he -felt very small—very small and very lonely. -</p> - -<p> -Now he heard a low moaning, far away. “The lions seek their prey,” he murmured -to himself, looking up once again at the swift-flying clouds. The moaning rose -to a great volume of sound. “They come!” said Tarzan of the Apes, and sought -the shelter of a thickly foliaged tree. Quite suddenly the trees bent their -tops simultaneously as though God had stretched a hand from the heavens and -pressed His flat palm down upon the world. “They pass!” whispered Tarzan. “The -lions pass.” Then came a vivid flash of lightning, followed by deafening -thunder. “The lions have sprung,” cried Tarzan, “and now they roar above the -bodies of their kills.” -</p> - -<p> -The trees were waving wildly in all directions now, a perfectly demoniacal wind -threshed the jungle pitilessly. In the midst of it the rain came—not as it -comes upon us of the northlands, but in a sudden, choking, blinding deluge. -“The blood of the kill,” thought Tarzan, huddling himself closer to the bole of -the great tree beneath which he stood. -</p> - -<p> -He was close to the edge of the jungle, and at a little distance he had seen -two hills before the storm broke; but now he could see nothing. It amused him -to look out into the beating rain, searching for the two hills and imagining -that the torrents from above had washed them away, yet he knew that presently -the rain would cease, the sun come out again and all be as it was before, -except where a few branches had fallen and here and there some old and rotted -patriarch had crashed back to enrich the soil upon which he had fatted for, -maybe, centuries. All about him branches and leaves filled the air or fell to -earth, torn away by the strength of the tornado and the weight of the water -upon them. A gaunt corpse toppled and fell a few yards away; but Tarzan was -protected from all these dangers by the wide-spreading branches of the sturdy -young giant beneath which his jungle craft had guided him. Here there was but a -single danger, and that a remote one. Yet it came. Without warning the tree -above him was riven by lightning, and when the rain ceased and the sun came out -Tarzan lay stretched as he had fallen, upon his face amidst the wreckage of the -jungle giant that should have shielded him. -</p> - -<p> -Bukawai came to the entrance of his cave after the rain and the storm had -passed and looked out upon the scene. From his one eye Bukawai could see; but -had he had a dozen eyes he could have found no beauty in the fresh sweetness of -the revivified jungle, for to such things, in the chemistry of temperament, his -brain failed to react; nor, even had he had a nose, which he had not for years, -could he have found enjoyment or sweetness in the clean-washed air. -</p> - -<p> -At either side of the leper stood his sole and constant companions, the two -hyenas, sniffing the air. Presently one of them uttered a low growl and with -flattened head started, sneaking and wary, toward the jungle. The other -followed. Bukawai, his curiosity aroused, trailed after them, in his hand a -heavy knob-stick. -</p> - -<p> -The hyenas halted a few yards from the prostrate Tarzan, sniffing and growling. -Then came Bukawai, and at first he could not believe the witness of his own -eyes; but when he did and saw that it was indeed the devil-god his rage knew no -bounds, for he thought him dead and himself cheated of the revenge he had so -long dreamed upon. -</p> - -<p> -The hyenas approached the ape-man with bared fangs. Bukawai, with an -inarticulate scream, rushed upon them, striking cruel and heavy blows with his -knob-stick, for there might still be life in the apparently lifeless form. The -beasts, snapping and snarling, half turned upon their master and their -tormentor, but long fear still held them from his putrid throat. They slunk -away a few yards and squatted upon their haunches, hatred and baffled hunger -gleaming from their savage eyes. -</p> - -<p> -Bukawai stooped and placed his ear above the ape-man’s heart. It still beat. As -well as his sloughed features could register pleasure they did so; but it was -not a pretty sight. At the ape-man’s side lay his long, grass rope. Quickly -Bukawai bound the limp arms behind his prisoner’s back, then he raised him to -one of his shoulders, for, though Bukawai was old and diseased, he was still a -strong man. The hyenas fell in behind as the witch-doctor set off toward the -cave, and through the long black corridors they followed as Bukawai bore his -victim into the bowels of the hills. Through subterranean chambers, connected -by winding passageways, Bukawai staggered with his load. At a sudden turning of -the corridor, daylight flooded them and Bukawai stepped out into a small, -circular basin in the hill, apparently the crater of an ancient volcano, one of -those which never reached the dignity of a mountain and are little more than -lava-rimmed pits closed to the earth’s surface. -</p> - -<p> -Steep walls rimmed the cavity. The only exit was through the passageway by -which Bukawai had entered. A few stunted trees grew upon the rocky floor. A -hundred feet above could be seen the ragged lips of this cold, dead mouth of -hell. -</p> - -<p> -Bukawai propped Tarzan against a tree and bound him there with his own grass -rope, leaving his hands free but securing the knots in such a way that the -ape-man could not reach them. The hyenas slunk to and fro, growling. Bukawai -hated them and they hated him. He knew that they but waited for the time when -he should be helpless, or when their hatred should rise to such a height as to -submerge their cringing fear of him. -</p> - -<p> -In his own heart was not a little fear of these repulsive creatures, and -because of that fear, Bukawai always kept the beasts well fed, often hunting -for them when their own forages for food failed, but ever was he cruel to them -with the cruelty of a little brain, diseased, bestial, primitive. -</p> - -<p class="p2"> -He had had them since they were puppies. They had known no other life than that -with him, and though they went abroad to hunt, always they returned. Of late -Bukawai had come to believe that they returned not so much from habit as from a -fiendish patience which would submit to every indignity and pain rather than -forego the final vengeance, and Bukawai needed but little imagination to -picture what that vengeance would be. Today he would see for himself what his -end would be; but another should impersonate Bukawai. -</p> - -<p> -When he had trussed Tarzan securely, Bukawai went back into the corridor, -driving the hyenas ahead of him, and pulling across the opening a lattice of -laced branches, which shut the pit from the cave during the night that Bukawai -might sleep in security, for then the hyenas were penned in the crater that -they might not sneak upon a sleeping Bukawai in the darkness. -</p> - -<p> -Bukawai returned to the outer cave mouth, filled a vessel with water at the -spring which rose in the little cañon close at hand and returned toward the -pit. The hyenas stood before the lattice looking hungrily toward Tarzan. They -had been fed in this manner before. -</p> - -<p> -With his water, the witch-doctor approached Tarzan and threw a portion of the -contents of the vessel in the ape-man’s face. There was fluttering of the -eyelids, and at the second application Tarzan opened his eyes and looked about. -</p> - -<p> -“Devil-god,” cried Bukawai, “I am the great witch-doctor. My medicine is -strong. Yours is weak. If it is not, why do you stay tied here like a goat that -is bait for lions?” -</p> - -<p> -Tarzan understood nothing the witch-doctor said, therefore he did not reply, -but only stared straight at Bukawai with cold and level gaze. The hyenas crept -up behind him. He heard them growl; but he did not even turn his head. He was a -beast with a man’s brain. The beast in him refused to show fear in the face of -a death which the man-mind already admitted to be inevitable. -</p> - -<p> -Bukawai, not yet ready to give his victim to the beasts, rushed upon the hyenas -with his knob-stick. There was a short scrimmage in which the brutes came off -second best, as they always did. Tarzan watched it. He saw and realized the -hatred which existed between the two animals and the hideous semblance of a -man. -</p> - -<p> -With the hyenas subdued, Bukawai returned to the baiting of Tarzan; but finding -that the ape-man understood nothing he said, the witch-doctor finally desisted. -Then he withdrew into the corridor and pulled the latticework barrier across -the opening. He went back into the cave and got a sleeping mat, which he -brought to the opening, that he might lie down and watch the spectacle of his -revenge in comfort. -</p> - -<p> -The hyenas were sneaking furtively around the ape-man. Tarzan strained at his -bonds for a moment, but soon realized that the rope he had braided to hold -Numa, the lion, would hold him quite as successfully. He did not wish to die; -but he could look death in the face now as he had many times before without a -quaver. -</p> - -<p> -As he pulled upon the rope he felt it rub against the small tree about which it -was passed. Like a flash of the cinematograph upon the screen, a picture was -flashed before his mind’s eye from the storehouse of his memory. He saw a -lithe, boyish figure swinging high above the ground at the end of a rope. He -saw many apes watching from below, and then he saw the rope part and the boy -hurtle downward toward the ground. Tarzan smiled. Immediately he commenced to -draw the rope rapidly back and forth across the tree trunk. -</p> - -<p> -The hyenas, gaining courage, came closer. They sniffed at his legs; but when he -struck at them with his free arms they slunk off. He knew that with the growth -of hunger they would attack. Coolly, methodically, without haste, Tarzan drew -the rope back and forth against the rough trunk of the small tree. -</p> - -<p> -In the entrance to the cavern Bukawai fell asleep. He thought it would be some -time before the beasts gained sufficient courage or hunger to attack the -captive. Their growls and the cries of the victim would awaken him. In the -meantime he might as well rest, and he did. -</p> - -<p> -Thus the day wore on, for the hyenas were not famished, and the rope with which -Tarzan was bound was a stronger one than that of his boyhood, which had parted -so quickly to the chafing of the rough tree bark. Yet, all the while hunger was -growing upon the beasts and the strands of the grass rope were wearing thinner -and thinner. Bukawai slept. -</p> - -<p> -It was late afternoon before one of the beasts, irritated by the gnawing of -appetite, made a quick, growling dash at the ape-man. The noise awoke Bukawai. -He sat up quickly and watched what went on within the crater. He saw the hungry -hyena charge the man, leaping for the unprotected throat. He saw Tarzan reach -out and seize the growling animal, and then he saw the second beast spring for -the devil-god’s shoulder. There was a mighty heave of the great, smooth-skinned -body. Rounded muscles shot into great, tensed piles beneath the brown hide—the -ape-man surged forward with all his weight and all his great strength—the bonds -parted, and the three were rolling upon the floor of the crater snarling, -snapping, and rending. -</p> - -<p> -Bukawai leaped to his feet. Could it be that the devil-god was to prevail -against his servants? Impossible! The creature was unarmed, and he was down -with two hyenas on top of him; but Bukawai did not know Tarzan. -</p> - -<p> -The ape-man fastened his fingers upon the throat of one of the hyenas and rose -to one knee, though the other beast tore at him frantically in an effort to -pull him down. With a single hand Tarzan held the one, and with the other hand -he reached forth and pulled toward him the second beast. -</p> - -<p> -And then Bukawai, seeing the battle going against his forces, rushed forward -from the cavern brandishing his knob-stick. Tarzan saw him coming, and rising -now to both feet, a hyena in each hand, he hurled one of the foaming beasts -straight at the witch-doctor’s head. Down went the two in a snarling, biting -heap. Tarzan tossed the second hyena across the crater, while the first gnawed -at the rotting face of its master; but this did not suit the ape-man. With a -kick he sent the beast howling after its companion, and springing to the side -of the prostrate witch-doctor, dragged him to his feet. -</p> - -<p> -Bukawai, still conscious, saw death, immediate and terrible, in the cold eyes -of his captor, so he turned upon Tarzan with teeth and nails. The ape-man -shuddered at the proximity of that raw face to his. The hyenas had had enough -and disappeared through the small aperture leading into the cave. Tarzan had -little difficulty in overpowering and binding Bukawai. Then he led him to the -very tree to which he had been bound; but in binding Bukawai, Tarzan saw to it -that escape after the same fashion that he had escaped would be out of the -question; then he left him. -</p> - -<p> -As he passed through the winding corridors and the subterranean apartments, -Tarzan saw nothing of the hyenas. -</p> - -<p> -“They will return,” he said to himself. -</p> - -<p> -In the crater between the towering walls Bukawai, cold with terror, trembled, -trembled as with ague. -</p> - -<p> -“They will return!” he cried, his voice rising to a fright-filled shriek. -</p> - -<p> -And they did. -</p> - -</div><!--end chapter--> - -<div class="chapter"> - -<h2><a name="chap08"></a>CHAPTER VIII<br/> -The Lion</h2> - -<p> -Numa, the lion, crouched behind a thorn bush close beside the drinking pool -where the river eddied just below the bend. There was a ford there and on -either bank a well-worn trail, broadened far out at the river’s brim, where, -for countless centuries, the wild things of the jungle and of the plains beyond -had come down to drink, the carnivora with bold and fearless majesty, the -herbivora timorous, hesitating, fearful. -</p> - -<p> -Numa, the lion, was hungry, he was very hungry, and so he was quite silent now. -On his way to the drinking place he had moaned often and roared not a little; -but as he neared the spot where he would lie in wait for Bara, the deer, or -Horta, the boar, or some other of the many luscious-fleshed creatures who came -hither to drink, he was silent. It was a grim, a terrible silence, shot through -with yellow-green light of ferocious eyes, punctuated with undulating tremors -of sinuous tail. -</p> - -<p> -It was Pacco, the zebra, who came first, and Numa, the lion, could scarce -restrain a roar of anger, for of all the plains people, none are more wary than -Pacco, the zebra. Behind the black-striped stallion came a herd of thirty or -forty of the plump and vicious little horselike beasts. As he neared the river, -the leader paused often, cocking his ears and raising his muzzle to sniff the -gentle breeze for the tell-tale scent spoor of the dread flesh-eaters. -</p> - -<p> -Numa shifted uneasily, drawing his hind quarters far beneath his tawny body, -gathering himself for the sudden charge and the savage assault. His eyes shot -hungry fire. His great muscles quivered to the excitement of the moment. -</p> - -<p> -Pacco came a little nearer, halted, snorted, and wheeled. There was a pattering -of scurrying hoofs and the herd was gone; but Numa, the lion, moved not. He was -familiar with the ways of Pacco, the zebra. He knew that he would return, -though many times he might wheel and fly before he summoned the courage to lead -his harem and his offspring to the water. There was the chance that Pacco might -be frightened off entirely. Numa had seen this happen before, and so he became -almost rigid lest he be the one to send them galloping, waterless, back to the -plain. -</p> - -<p> -Again and again came Pacco and his family, and again and again did they turn -and flee; but each time they came closer to the river, until at last the plump -stallion dipped his velvet muzzle daintily into the water. The others, stepping -warily, approached their leader. Numa selected a sleek, fat filly and his -flaming eyes burned greedily as they feasted upon her, for Numa, the lion, -loves scarce anything better than the meat of Pacco, perhaps because Pacco is, -of all the grass-eaters, the most difficult to catch. -</p> - -<p> -Slowly the lion rose, and as he rose, a twig snapped beneath one of his great, -padded paws. Like a shot from a rifle he charged upon the filly; but the -snapped twig had been enough to startle the timorous quarry, so that they were -in instant flight simultaneously with Numa’s charge. -</p> - -<p> -The stallion was last, and with a prodigious leap, the lion catapulted through -the air to seize him; but the snapping twig had robbed Numa of his dinner, -though his mighty talons raked the zebra’s glossy rump, leaving four crimson -bars across the beautiful coat. -</p> - -<p> -It was an angry Numa that quitted the river and prowled, fierce, dangerous, and -hungry, into the jungle. Far from particular now was his appetite. Even Dango, -the hyena, would have seemed a tidbit to that ravenous maw. And in this temper -it was that the lion came upon the tribe of Kerchak, the great ape. -</p> - -<p> -One does not look for Numa, the lion, this late in the morning. He should be -lying up asleep beside his last night’s kill by now; but Numa had made no kill -last night. He was still hunting, hungrier than ever. -</p> - -<p> -The anthropoids were idling about the clearing, the first keen desire of the -morning’s hunger having been satisfied. Numa scented them long before he saw -them. Ordinarily he would have turned away in search of other game, for even -Numa respected the mighty muscles and the sharp fangs of the great bulls of the -tribe of Kerchak, but today he kept on steadily toward them, his bristled snout -wrinkled into a savage snarl. -</p> - -<p> -Without an instant’s hesitation, Numa charged the moment he reached a point -from where the apes were visible to him. There were a dozen or more of the -hairy, manlike creatures upon the ground in a little glade. In a tree at one -side sat a brown-skinned youth. He saw Numa’s swift charge; he saw the apes -turn and flee, huge bulls trampling upon little balus; only a single she held -her ground to meet the charge, a young she inspired by new motherhood to the -great sacrifice that her balu might escape. -</p> - -<p> -Tarzan leaped from his perch, screaming at the flying bulls beneath and at -those who squatted in the safety of surrounding trees. Had the bulls stood -their ground, Numa would not have carried through that charge unless goaded by -great rage or the gnawing pangs of starvation. Even then he would not have come -off unscathed. -</p> - -<p> -If the bulls heard, they were too slow in responding, for Numa had seized the -mother ape and dragged her into the jungle before the males had sufficiently -collected their wits and their courage to rally in defense of their fellow. -Tarzan’s angry voice aroused similar anger in the breasts of the apes. Snarling -and barking they followed Numa into the dense labyrinth of foliage wherein he -sought to hide himself from them. The ape-man was in the lead, moving rapidly -and yet with caution, depending even more upon his ears and nose than upon his -eyes for information of the lion’s whereabouts. -</p> - -<p> -The spoor was easy to follow, for the dragged body of the victim left a plain -trail, blood-spattered and scentful. Even such dull creatures as you or I might -easily have followed it. To Tarzan and the apes of Kerchak it was as obvious as -a cement sidewalk. -</p> - -<p> -Tarzan knew that they were nearing the great cat even before he heard an angry -growl of warning just ahead. Calling to the apes to follow his example, he -swung into a tree and a moment later Numa was surrounded by a ring of growling -beasts, well out of reach of his fangs and talons but within plain sight of -him. The carnivore crouched with his fore-quarters upon the she-ape. Tarzan -could see that the latter was already dead; but something within him made it -seem quite necessary to rescue the useless body from the clutches of the enemy -and to punish him. -</p> - -<p> -He shrieked taunts and insults at Numa, and tearing dead branches from the tree -in which he danced, hurled them at the lion. The apes followed his example. -Numa roared out in rage and vexation. He was hungry, but under such conditions -he could not feed. -</p> - -<p> -The apes, if they had been left to themselves, would doubtless soon have left -the lion to peaceful enjoyment of his feast, for was not the she dead? They -could not restore her to life by throwing sticks at Numa, and they might even -now be feeding in quiet themselves; but Tarzan was of a different mind. Numa -must be punished and driven away. He must be taught that even though he killed -a Mangani, he would not be permitted to feed upon his kill. The man-mind looked -into the future, while the apes perceived only the immediate present. They -would be content to escape today the menace of Numa, while Tarzan saw the -necessity, and the means as well, of safeguarding the days to come. -</p> - -<p> -So he urged the great anthropoids on until Numa was showered with missiles that -kept his head dodging and his voice pealing forth its savage protest; but still -he clung desperately to his kill. -</p> - -<p> -The twigs and branches hurled at Numa, Tarzan soon realized, did not hurt him -greatly even when they struck him, and did not injure him at all, so the -ape-man looked about for more effective missiles, nor did he have to look long. -An out-cropping of decomposed granite not far from Numa suggested ammunition of -a much more painful nature. Calling to the apes to watch him, Tarzan slipped to -the ground and gathered a handful of small fragments. He knew that when once -they had seen him carry out his idea they would be much quicker to follow his -lead than to obey his instructions, were he to command them to procure pieces -of rock and hurl them at Numa, for Tarzan was not then king of the apes of the -tribe of Kerchak. That came in later years. Now he was but a youth, though one -who already had wrested for himself a place in the councils of the savage -beasts among whom a strange fate had cast him. The sullen bulls of the older -generation still hated him as beasts hate those of whom they are suspicious, -whose scent characteristic is the scent characteristic of an alien order and, -therefore, of an enemy order. The younger bulls, those who had grown up through -childhood as his playmates, were as accustomed to Tarzan’s scent as to that of -any other member of the tribe. They felt no greater suspicion of him than of -any other bull of their acquaintance; yet they did not love him, for they loved -none outside the mating season, and the animosities aroused by other bulls -during that season lasted well over until the next. They were a morose and -peevish band at best, though here and there were those among them in whom -germinated the primal seeds of humanity—reversions to type, these, doubtless; -reversions to the ancient progenitor who took the first step out of ape-hood -toward humanness, when he walked more often upon his hind feet and discovered -other things for idle hands to do. -</p> - -<p> -So now Tarzan led where he could not yet command. He had long since discovered -the apish propensity for mimicry and learned to make use of it. Having filled -his arms with fragments of rotted granite, he clambered again into a tree, and -it pleased him to see that the apes had followed his example. -</p> - -<p> -During the brief respite while they were gathering their ammunition, Numa had -settled himself to feed; but scarce had he arranged himself and his kill when a -sharp piece of rock hurled by the practiced hand of the ape-man struck him upon -the cheek. His sudden roar of pain and rage was smothered by a volley from the -apes, who had seen Tarzan’s act. Numa shook his massive head and glared upward -at his tormentors. For a half hour they pursued him with rocks and broken -branches, and though he dragged his kill into densest thickets, yet they always -found a way to reach him with their missiles, giving him no opportunity to -feed, and driving him on and on. -</p> - -<p> -The hairless ape-thing with the man scent was worst of all, for he had even the -temerity to advance upon the ground to within a few yards of the Lord of the -Jungle, that he might with greater accuracy and force hurl the sharp bits of -granite and the heavy sticks at him. Time and again did Numa charge—sudden, -vicious charges—but the lithe, active tormentor always managed to elude him and -with such insolent ease that the lion forgot even his great hunger in the -consuming passion of his rage, leaving his meat for considerable spaces of time -in vain efforts to catch his enemy. -</p> - -<p> -The apes and Tarzan pursued the great beast to a natural clearing, where Numa -evidently determined to make a last stand, taking up his position in the center -of the open space, which was far enough from any tree to render him practically -immune from the rather erratic throwing of the apes, though Tarzan still found -him with most persistent and aggravating frequency. -</p> - -<p> -This, however, did not suit the ape-man, since Numa now suffered an occasional -missile with no more than a snarl, while he settled himself to partake of his -delayed feast. Tarzan scratched his head, pondering some more effective method -of offense, for he had determined to prevent Numa from profiting in any way -through his attack upon the tribe. The man-mind reasoned against the future, -while the shaggy apes thought only of their present hatred of this ancestral -enemy. Tarzan guessed that should Numa find it an easy thing to snatch a meal -from the tribe of Kerchak, it would be but a short time before their existence -would be one living nightmare of hideous watchfulness and dread. Numa must be -taught that the killing of an ape brought immediate punishment and no rewards. -It would take but a few lessons to insure the former safety of the tribe. This -must be some old lion whose failing strength and agility had forced him to any -prey that he could catch; but even a single lion, undisputed, could exterminate -the tribe, or at least make its existence so precarious and so terrifying that -life would no longer be a pleasant condition. -</p> - -<p> -“Let him hunt among the Gomangani,” thought Tarzan. “He will find them easier -prey. I will teach ferocious Numa that he may not hunt the Mangani.” -</p> - -<p> -But how to wrest the body of his victim from the feeding lion was the first -question to be solved. At last Tarzan hit upon a plan. To anyone but Tarzan of -the Apes it might have seemed rather a risky plan, and perhaps it did even to -him; but Tarzan rather liked things that contained a considerable element of -danger. At any rate, I rather doubt that you or I would have chosen a similar -plan for foiling an angry and a hungry lion. -</p> - -<p> -Tarzan required assistance in the scheme he had hit upon and his assistant must -be equally as brave and almost as active as he. The ape-man’s eyes fell upon -Taug, the playmate of his childhood, the rival in his first love and now, of -all the bulls of the tribe, the only one that might be thought to hold in his -savage brain any such feeling toward Tarzan as we describe among ourselves as -friendship. At least, Tarzan knew, Taug was courageous, and he was young and -agile and wonderfully muscled. -</p> - -<p> -“Taug!” cried the ape-man. The great ape looked up from a dead limb he was -attempting to tear from a lightning-blasted tree. “Go close to Numa and worry -him,” said Tarzan. “Worry him until he charges. Lead him away from the body of -Mamka. Keep him away as long as you can.” -</p> - -<p> -Taug nodded. He was across the clearing from Tarzan. Wresting the limb at last -from the tree he dropped to the ground and advanced toward Numa, growling and -barking out his insults. The worried lion looked up and rose to his feet. His -tail went stiffly erect and Taug turned in flight, for he knew that warming -signal of the charge. -</p> - -<p> -From behind the lion, Tarzan ran quickly toward the center of the clearing and -the body of Mamka. Numa, all his eyes for Taug, did not see the ape-man. -Instead he shot forward after the fleeing bull, who had turned in flight not an -instant too soon, since he reached the nearest tree but a yard or two ahead of -the pursuing demon. Like a cat the heavy anthropoid scampered up the bole of -his sanctuary. Numa’s talons missed him by little more than inches. -</p> - -<p> -For a moment the lion paused beneath the tree, glaring up at the ape and -roaring until the earth trembled, then he turned back again toward his kill, -and as he did so, his tail shot once more to rigid erectness and he charged -back even more ferociously than he had come, for what he saw was the naked -man-thing running toward the farther trees with the bloody carcass of his prey -across a giant shoulder. -</p> - -<p> -The apes, watching the grim race from the safety of the trees, screamed taunts -at Numa and warnings to Tarzan. The high sun, hot and brilliant, fell like a -spotlight upon the actors in the little clearing, portraying them in glaring -relief to the audience in the leafy shadows of the surrounding trees. The -light-brown body of the naked youth, all but hidden by the shaggy carcass of -the killed ape, the red blood streaking his smooth hide, his muscles rolling, -velvety, beneath. Behind him the black-maned lion, head flattened, tail -extended, racing, a jungle thoroughbred, across the sunlit clearing. -</p> - -<p> -Ah, but this was life! With death at his heels, Tarzan thrilled with the joy of -such living as this; but would he reach the trees ahead of the rampant death so -close behind? -</p> - -<p> -Gunto swung from a limb in a tree before him. Gunto was screaming warnings and -advice. -</p> - -<p> -“Catch me!” cried Tarzan, and with his heavy burden leaped straight for the big -bull hanging there by his hind feet and one forepaw. And Gunto caught them—the -big ape-man and the dead weight of the slain she-ape—caught them with one -great, hairy paw and whirled them upward until Tarzan’s fingers closed upon a -near-by branch. -</p> - -<p> -Beneath, Numa leaped; but Gunto, heavy and awkward as he may have appeared, was -as quick as Manu, the monkey, so that the lion’s talons but barely grazed him, -scratching a bloody streak beneath one hairy arm. -</p> - -<p> -Tarzan carried Mamka’s corpse to a high crotch, where even Sheeta, the panther, -could not get it. Numa paced angrily back and forth beneath the tree, roaring -frightfully. He had been robbed of his kill and his revenge also. He was very -savage indeed; but his despoilers were well out of his reach, and after hurling -a few taunts and missiles at him they swung away through the trees, fiercely -reviling him. -</p> - -<p> -Tarzan thought much upon the little adventure of that day. He foresaw what -might happen should the great carnivora of the jungle turn their serious -attention upon the tribe of Kerchak, the great ape, but equally he thought upon -the wild scramble of the apes for safety when Numa first charged among them. -There is little humor in the jungle that is not grim and awful. The beasts have -little or no conception of humor; but the young Englishman saw humor in many -things which presented no humorous angle to his associates. -</p> - -<p> -Since earliest childhood he had been a searcher after fun, much to the sorrow -of his fellow-apes, and now he saw the humor of the frightened panic of the -apes and the baffled rage of Numa even in this grim jungle adventure which had -robbed Mamka of life, and jeopardized that of many members of the tribe. -</p> - -<p> -It was but a few weeks later that Sheeta, the panther, made a sudden rush among -the tribe and snatched a little balu from a tree where it had been hidden while -its mother sought food. Sheeta got away with his small prize unmolested. Tarzan -was very wroth. He spoke to the bulls of the ease with which Numa and Sheeta, -in a single moon, had slain two members of the tribe. -</p> - -<p> -“They will take us all for food,” he cried. “We hunt as we will through the -jungle, paying no heed to approaching enemies. Even Manu, the monkey, does not -so. He keeps two or three always watching for enemies. Pacco, the zebra, and -Wappi, the antelope, have those about the herd who keep watch while the others -feed, while we, the great Mangani, let Numa, and Sabor, and Sheeta come when -they will and carry us off to feed their balus. -</p> - -<p> -“Gr-r-rmph,” said Numgo. -</p> - -<p> -“What are we to do?” asked Taug. -</p> - -<p> -“We, too, should have two or three always watching for the approach of Numa, -and Sabor, and Sheeta,” replied Tarzan. “No others need we fear, except Histah, -the snake, and if we watch for the others we will see Histah if he comes, -though gliding ever so silently.” -</p> - -<p> -And so it was that the great apes of the tribe of Kerchak posted sentries -thereafter, who watched upon three sides while the tribe hunted, scattered less -than had been their wont. -</p> - -<p> -But Tarzan went abroad alone, for Tarzan was a man-thing and sought amusement -and adventure and such humor as the grim and terrible jungle offers to those -who know it and do not fear it—a weird humor shot with blazing eyes and dappled -with the crimson of lifeblood. While others sought only food and love, Tarzan -of the Apes sought food and joy. -</p> - -<p> -One day he hovered above the palisaded village of Mbonga, the chief, the jet -cannibal of the jungle primeval. He saw, as he had seen many times before, the -witch-doctor, Rabba Kega, decked out in the head and hide of Gorgo, the -buffalo. It amused Tarzan to see a Gomangani parading as Gorgo; but it -suggested nothing in particular to him until he chanced to see stretched -against the side of Mbonga’s hut the skin of a lion with the head still on. -Then a broad grin widened the handsome face of the savage beast-youth. -</p> - -<p> -Back into the jungle he went until chance, agility, strength, and cunning -backed by his marvelous powers of perception, gave him an easy meal. If Tarzan -felt that the world owed him a living he also realized that it was for him to -collect it, nor was there ever a better collector than this son of an English -lord, who knew even less of the ways of his forbears than he did of the -forbears themselves, which was nothing. -</p> - -<p> -It was quite dark when Tarzan returned to the village of Mbonga and took his -now polished perch in the tree which overhangs the palisade upon one side of -the walled enclosure. As there was nothing in particular to feast upon in the -village there was little life in the single street, for only an orgy of flesh -and native beer could draw out the people of Mbonga. Tonight they sat gossiping -about their cooking fires, the older members of the tribe; or, if they were -young, paired off in the shadows cast by the palm-thatched huts. -</p> - -<p> -Tarzan dropped lightly into the village, and sneaking stealthily in the -concealment of the denser shadows, approached the hut of the chief, Mbonga. -Here he found that which he sought. There were warriors all about him; but they -did not know that the feared devil-god slunk noiselessly so near them, nor did -they see him possess himself of that which he coveted and depart from their -village as noiselessly as he had come. -</p> - -<p> -Later that night, as Tarzan curled himself for sleep, he lay for a long time -looking up at the burning planets and the twinkling stars and at Goro the moon, -and he smiled. He recalled how ludicrous the great bulls had appeared in their -mad scramble for safety that day when Numa had charged among them and seized -Mamka, and yet he knew them to be fierce and courageous. It was the sudden -shock of surprise that always sent them into a panic; but of this Tarzan was -not as yet fully aware. That was something he was to learn in the near future. -</p> - -<p> -He fell asleep with a broad grin upon his face. -</p> - -<p> -Manu, the monkey, awoke him in the morning by dropping discarded bean pods upon -his upturned face from a branch a short distance above him. Tarzan looked up -and smiled. He had been awakened thus before many times. He and Manu were -fairly good friends, their friendship operating upon a reciprocal basis. -Sometimes Manu would come running early in the morning to awaken Tarzan and -tell him that Bara, the deer, was feeding close at hand, or that Horta, the -boar, was asleep in a mudhole hard by, and in return Tarzan broke open the -shells of the harder nuts and fruits for Manu, or frightened away Histah, the -snake, and Sheeta, the panther. -</p> - -<p> -The sun had been up for some time, and the tribe had already wandered off in -search of food. Manu indicated the direction they had taken with a wave of his -hand and a few piping notes of his squeaky little voice. -</p> - -<p> -“Come, Manu,” said Tarzan, “and you will see that which shall make you dance -for joy and squeal your wrinkled little head off. Come, follow Tarzan of the -Apes.” -</p> - -<p> -With that he set off in the direction Manu had indicated and above him, -chattering, scolding and squealing, skipped Manu, the monkey. Across Tarzan’s -shoulders was the thing he had stolen from the village of Mbonga, the chief, -the evening before. -</p> - -<p> -The tribe was feeding in the forest beside the clearing where Gunto, and Taug, -and Tarzan had so harassed Numa and finally taken away from him the fruit of -his kill. Some of them were in the clearing itself. In peace and content they -fed, for were there not three sentries, each watching upon a different side of -the herd? Tarzan had taught them this, and though he had been away for several -days hunting alone, as he often did, or visiting at the cabin by the sea, they -had not as yet forgotten his admonitions, and if they continued for a short -time longer to post sentries, it would become a habit of their tribal life and -thus be perpetuated indefinitely. -</p> - -<p> -But Tarzan, who knew them better than they knew themselves, was confident that -they had ceased to place the watchers about them the moment that he had left -them, and now he planned not only to have a little fun at their expense but to -teach them a lesson in preparedness, which, by the way, is even a more vital -issue in the jungle than in civilized places. That you and I exist today must -be due to the preparedness of some shaggy anthropoid of the Oligocene. Of -course the apes of Kerchak were always prepared, after their own way—Tarzan had -merely suggested a new and additional safeguard. -</p> - -<p> -Gunto was posted today to the north of the clearing. He squatted in the fork of -a tree from where he might view the jungle for quite a distance about him. It -was he who first discovered the enemy. A rustling in the undergrowth attracted -his attention, and a moment later he had a partial view of a shaggy mane and -tawny yellow back. Just a glimpse it was through the matted foliage beneath -him; but it brought from Gunto’s leathern lungs a shrill “Kreeg-ah!” which is -the ape for beware, or danger. -</p> - -<p> -Instantly the tribe took up the cry until “Kreeg-ahs!” rang through the jungle -about the clearing as apes swung quickly to places of safety among the lower -branches of the trees and the great bulls hastened in the direction of Gunto. -</p> - -<p> -And then into the clearing strode Numa, the lion—majestic and mighty, and from -a deep chest issued the moan and the cough and the rumbling roar that set stiff -hairs to bristling from shaggy craniums down the length of mighty spines. -</p> - -<p> -Inside the clearing, Numa paused and on the instant there fell upon him from -the trees near by a shower of broken rock and dead limbs torn from age-old -trees. A dozen times he was hit, and then the apes ran down and gathered other -rocks, pelting him unmercifully. -</p> - -<p> -Numa turned to flee, but his way was barred by a fusilade of sharp-cornered -missiles, and then, upon the edge of the clearing, great Taug met him with a -huge fragment of rock as large as a man’s head, and down went the Lord of the -Jungle beneath the stunning blow. -</p> - -<p> -With shrieks and roars and loud barkings the great apes of the tribe of Kerchak -rushed upon the fallen lion. Sticks and stones and yellow fangs menaced the -still form. In another moment, before he could regain consciousness, Numa would -be battered and torn until only a bloody mass of broken bones and matted hair -remained of what had once been the most dreaded of jungle creatures. -</p> - -<p> -But even as the sticks and stones were raised above him and the great fangs -bared to tear him, there descended like a plummet from the trees above a -diminutive figure with long, white whiskers and a wrinkled face. Square upon -the body of Numa it alighted and there it danced and screamed and shrieked out -its challenge against the bulls of Kerchak. -</p> - -<p> -For an instant they paused, paralyzed by the wonder of the thing. It was Manu, -the monkey, Manu, the little coward, and here he was daring the ferocity of the -great Mangani, hopping about upon the carcass of Numa, the lion, and crying out -that they must not strike it again. -</p> - -<p> -And when the bulls paused, Manu reached down and seized a tawny ear. With all -his little might he tugged upon the heavy head until slowly it turned back, -revealing the tousled, black head and clean-cut profile of Tarzan of the Apes. -</p> - -<p> -Some of the older apes were for finishing what they had commenced; but Taug, -sullen, mighty Taug, sprang quickly to the ape-man’s side and straddling the -unconscious form warned back those who would have struck his childhood -playmate. And Teeka, his mate, came too, taking her place with bared fangs at -Taug’s side. Others followed their example, until at last Tarzan was surrounded -by a ring of hairy champions who would permit no enemy to approach him. -</p> - -<p> -It was a surprised and chastened Tarzan who opened his eyes to consciousness a -few minutes later. He looked about him at the surrounding apes and slowly there -returned to him a realization of what had occurred. -</p> - -<p> -Gradually a broad grin illuminated his features. His bruises were many and they -hurt; but the good that had come from his adventure was worth all that it had -cost. He had learned, for instance, that the apes of Kerchak had heeded his -teaching, and he had learned that he had good friends among the sullen beasts -whom he had thought without sentiment. He had discovered that Manu, the -monkey—even little, cowardly Manu—had risked his life in his defense. -</p> - -<p> -It made Tarzan very glad to know these things; but at the other lesson he had -been taught he reddened. He had always been a joker, the only joker in the grim -and terrible company; but now as he lay there half dead from his hurts, he -almost swore a solemn oath forever to forego practical joking—almost; but not -quite. -</p> - -</div><!--end chapter--> - -<div class="chapter"> - -<h2><a name="chap09"></a>CHAPTER IX<br/> -The Nightmare</h2> - -<p> -The blacks of the village of Mbonga, the chief, were feasting, while above them -in a large tree sat Tarzan of the Apes—grim, terrible, empty, and envious. -Hunting had proved poor that day, for there are lean days as well as fat ones -for even the greatest of the jungle hunters. Oftentimes Tarzan went empty for -more than a full sun, and he had passed through entire moons during which he -had been but barely able to stave off starvation; but such times were -infrequent. -</p> - -<p> -There once had been a period of sickness among the grass-eaters which had left -the plains almost bare of game for several years, and again the great cats had -increased so rapidly and so overrun the country that their prey, which was also -Tarzan’s, had been frightened off for a considerable time. -</p> - -<p> -But for the most part Tarzan had fed well always. Today, though, he had gone -empty, one misfortune following another as rapidly as he raised new quarry, so -that now, as he sat perched in the tree above the feasting blacks, he -experienced all the pangs of famine and his hatred for his lifelong enemies -waxed strong in his breast. It was tantalizing, indeed, to sit there hungry -while these Gomangani filled themselves so full of food that their stomachs -seemed almost upon the point of bursting, and with elephant steaks at that! -</p> - -<p> -It was true that Tarzan and Tantor were the best of friends, and that Tarzan -never yet had tasted of the flesh of the elephant; but the Gomangani evidently -had slain one, and as they were eating of the flesh of their kill, Tarzan was -assailed by no doubts as to the ethics of his doing likewise, should he have -the opportunity. Had he known that the elephant had died of sickness several -days before the blacks discovered the carcass, he might not have been so keen -to partake of the feast, for Tarzan of the Apes was no carrion-eater. Hunger, -however, may blunt the most epicurean taste, and Tarzan was not exactly an -epicure. -</p> - -<p> -What he was at this moment was a very hungry wild beast whom caution was -holding in leash, for the great cooking pot in the center of the village was -surrounded by black warriors, through whom not even Tarzan of the Apes might -hope to pass unharmed. It would be necessary, therefore, for the watcher to -remain there hungry until the blacks had gorged themselves to stupor, and then, -if they had left any scraps, to make the best meal he could from such; but to -the impatient Tarzan it seemed that the greedy Gomangani would rather burst -than leave the feast before the last morsel had been devoured. For a time they -broke the monotony of eating by executing portions of a hunting dance, a -maneuver which sufficiently stimulated digestion to permit them to fall to once -more with renewed vigor; but with the consumption of appalling quantities of -elephant meat and native beer they presently became too loggy for physical -exertion of any sort, some reaching a stage where they no longer could rise -from the ground, but lay conveniently close to the great cooking pot, stuffing -themselves into unconsciousness. -</p> - -<p> -It was well past midnight before Tarzan even could begin to see the end of the -orgy. The blacks were now falling asleep rapidly; but a few still persisted. -From before their condition Tarzan had no doubt but that he easily could enter -the village and snatch a handful of meat from before their noses; but a handful -was not what he wanted. Nothing less than a stomachful would allay the gnawing -craving of that great emptiness. He must therefore have ample time to forage in -peace. -</p> - -<p> -At last but a single warrior remained true to his ideals—an old fellow whose -once wrinkled belly was now as smooth and as tight as the head of a drum. With -evidences of great discomfort, and even pain, he would crawl toward the pot and -drag himself slowly to his knees, from which position he could reach into the -receptacle and seize a piece of meat. Then he would roll over on his back with -a loud groan and lie there while he slowly forced the food between his teeth -and down into his gorged stomach. -</p> - -<p> -It was evident to Tarzan that the old fellow would eat until he died, or until -there was no more meat. The ape-man shook his head in disgust. What foul -creatures were these Gomangani? Yet of all the jungle folk they alone resembled -Tarzan closely in form. Tarzan was a man, and they, too, must be some manner of -men, just as the little monkeys, and the great apes, and Bolgani, the gorilla, -were quite evidently of one great family, though differing in size and -appearance and customs. Tarzan was ashamed, for of all the beasts of the -jungle, then, man was the most disgusting—man and Dango, the hyena. Only man -and Dango ate until they swelled up like a dead rat. Tarzan had seen Dango eat -his way into the carcass of a dead elephant and then continue to eat so much -that he had been unable to get out of the hole through which he had entered. -Now he could readily believe that man, given the opportunity, would do the -same. Man, too, was the most unlovely of creatures—with his skinny legs and his -big stomach, his filed teeth, and his thick, red lips. Man was disgusting. -Tarzan’s gaze was riveted upon the hideous old warrior wallowing in filth -beneath him. -</p> - -<p> -There! the thing was struggling to its knees to reach for another morsel of -flesh. It groaned aloud in pain and yet it persisted in eating, eating, ever -eating. Tarzan could endure it no longer—neither his hunger nor his disgust. -Silently he slipped to the ground with the bole of the great tree between -himself and the feaster. -</p> - -<p> -The man was still kneeling, bent almost double in agony, before the cooking -pot. His back was toward the ape-man. Swiftly and noiselessly Tarzan approached -him. There was no sound as steel fingers closed about the black throat. The -struggle was short, for the man was old and already half stupefied from the -effects of the gorging and the beer. -</p> - -<p> -Tarzan dropped the inert mass and scooped several large pieces of meat from the -cooking pot—enough to satisfy even his great hunger—then he raised the body of -the feaster and shoved it into the vessel. When the other blacks awoke they -would have something to think about! Tarzan grinned. As he turned toward the -tree with his meat, he picked up a vessel containing beer and raised it to his -lips, but at the first taste he spat the stuff from his mouth and tossed the -primitive tankard aside. He was quite sure that even Dango would draw the line -at such filthy tasting drink as that, and his contempt for man increased with -the conviction. -</p> - -<p> -Tarzan swung off into the jungle some half mile or so before he paused to -partake of his stolen food. He noticed that it gave forth a strange and -unpleasant odor, but assumed that this was due to the fact that it had stood in -a vessel of water above a fire. Tarzan was, of course, unaccustomed to cooked -food. He did not like it; but he was very hungry and had eaten a considerable -portion of his haul before it was really borne in upon him that the stuff was -nauseating. It required far less than he had imagined it would to satisfy his -appetite. -</p> - -<p> -Throwing the balance to the ground he curled up in a convenient crotch and -sought slumber; but slumber seemed difficult to woo. Ordinarily Tarzan of the -Apes was asleep as quickly as a dog after it curls itself upon a hearthrug -before a roaring blaze; but tonight he squirmed and twisted, for at the pit of -his stomach was a peculiar feeling that resembled nothing more closely than an -attempt upon the part of the fragments of elephant meat reposing there to come -out into the night and search for their elephant; but Tarzan was adamant. He -gritted his teeth and held them back. He was not to be robbed of his meal after -waiting so long to obtain it. -</p> - -<p> -He had succeeded in dozing when the roaring of a lion awoke him. He sat up to -discover that it was broad daylight. Tarzan rubbed his eyes. Could it be that -he had really slept? He did not feel particularly refreshed as he should have -after a good sleep. A noise attracted his attention, and he looked down to see -a lion standing at the foot of the tree gazing hungrily at him. Tarzan made a -face at the king of beasts, whereat Numa, greatly to the ape-man’s surprise, -started to climb up into the branches toward him. Now, never before had Tarzan -seen a lion climb a tree, yet, for some unaccountable reason, he was not -greatly surprised that this particular lion should do so. -</p> - -<p> -As the lion climbed slowly toward him, Tarzan sought higher branches; but to -his chagrin, he discovered that it was with the utmost difficulty that he could -climb at all. Again and again he slipped back, losing all that he had gained, -while the lion kept steadily at his climbing, coming ever closer and closer to -the ape-man. Tarzan could see the hungry light in the yellow-green eyes. He -could see the slaver on the drooping jowls, and the great fangs agape to seize -and destroy him. Clawing desperately, the ape-man at last succeeded in gaining -a little upon his pursuer. He reached the more slender branches far aloft where -he well knew no lion could follow; yet on and on came devil-faced Numa. It was -incredible; but it was true. Yet what most amazed Tarzan was that though he -realized the incredibility of it all, he at the same time accepted it as a -matter of course, first that a lion should climb at all and second that he -should enter the upper terraces where even Sheeta, the panther, dared not -venture. -</p> - -<p> -To the very top of a tall tree the ape-man clawed his awkward way and after him -came Numa, the lion, moaning dismally. At last Tarzan stood balanced upon the -very utmost pinnacle of a swaying branch, high above the forest. He could go no -farther. Below him the lion came steadily upward, and Tarzan of the Apes -realized that at last the end had come. He could not do battle upon a tiny -branch with Numa, the lion, especially with such a Numa, to which swaying -branches two hundred feet above the ground provided as substantial footing as -the ground itself. -</p> - -<p> -Nearer and nearer came the lion. Another moment and he could reach up with one -great paw and drag the ape-man downward to those awful jaws. A whirring noise -above his head caused Tarzan to glance apprehensively upward. A great bird was -circling close above him. He never had seen so large a bird in all his life, -yet he recognized it immediately, for had he not seen it hundreds of times in -one of the books in the little cabin by the land-locked bay—the moss-grown -cabin that with its contents was the sole heritage left by his dead and unknown -father to the young Lord Greystoke? -</p> - -<p> -In the picture-book the great bird was shown flying far above the ground with a -small child in its talons while, beneath, a distracted mother stood with -uplifted hands. The lion was already reaching forth a taloned paw to seize him -when the bird swooped and buried no less formidable talons in Tarzan’s back. -The pain was numbing; but it was with a sense of relief that the ape-man felt -himself snatched from the clutches of Numa. -</p> - -<p> -With a great whirring of wings the bird rose rapidly until the forest lay far -below. It made Tarzan sick and dizzy to look down upon it from so great a -height, so he closed his eyes tight and held his breath. Higher and higher -climbed the huge bird. Tarzan opened his eyes. The jungle was so far away that -he could see only a dim, green blur below him, but just above and quite close -was the sun. Tarzan reached out his hands and warmed them, for they were very -cold. Then a sudden madness seized him. Where was the bird taking him? Was he -to submit thus passively to a feathered creature however enormous? Was he, -Tarzan of the Apes, mighty fighter, to die without striking a blow in his own -defense? Never! -</p> - -<p> -He snatched the hunting blade from his gee-string and thrusting upward drove it -once, twice, thrice into the breast above him. The mighty wings fluttered a few -more times, spasmodically, the talons relaxed their hold, and Tarzan of the -Apes fell hurtling downward toward the distant jungle. -</p> - -<p> -It seemed to the ape-man that he fell for many minutes before he crashed -through the leafy verdure of the tree tops. The smaller branches broke his -fall, so that he came to rest for an instant upon the very branch upon which he -had sought slumber the previous night. For an instant he toppled there in a -frantic attempt to regain his equilibrium; but at last he rolled off, yet, -clutching wildly, he succeeded in grasping the branch and hanging on. -</p> - -<p> -Once more he opened his eyes, which he had closed during the fall. Again it was -night. With all his old agility he clambered back to the crotch from which he -had toppled. Below him a lion roared, and, looking downward, Tarzan could see -the yellow-green eyes shining in the moonlight as they bored hungrily upward -through the darkness of the jungle night toward him. -</p> - -<p> -The ape-man gasped for breath. Cold sweat stood out from every pore, there was -a great sickness at the pit of Tarzan’s stomach. Tarzan of the Apes had dreamed -his first dream. -</p> - -<p> -For a long time he sat watching for Numa to climb into the tree after him, and -listening for the sound of the great wings from above, for to Tarzan of the -Apes his dream was a reality. -</p> - -<p> -He could not believe what he had seen and yet, having seen even these -incredible things, he could not disbelieve the evidence of his own perceptions. -Never in all his life had Tarzan’s senses deceived him badly, and so, -naturally, he had great faith in them. Each perception which ever had been -transmitted to Tarzan’s brain had been, with varying accuracy, a true -perception. He could not conceive of the possibility of apparently having -passed through such a weird adventure in which there was no grain of truth. -That a stomach, disordered by decayed elephant flesh, a lion roaring in the -jungle, a picture-book, and sleep could have so truly portrayed all the -clear-cut details of what he had seemingly experienced was quite beyond his -knowledge; yet he knew that Numa could not climb a tree, he knew that there -existed in the jungle no such bird as he had seen, and he knew, too, that he -could not have fallen a tiny fraction of the distance he had hurtled downward, -and lived. -</p> - -<p> -To say the least, he was a very puzzled Tarzan as he tried to compose himself -once more for slumber—a very puzzled and a very nauseated Tarzan. -</p> - -<p> -As he thought deeply upon the strange occurrences of the night, he witnessed -another remarkable happening. It was indeed quite preposterous, yet he saw it -all with his own eyes—it was nothing less than Histah, the snake, wreathing his -sinuous and slimy way up the bole of the tree below him—Histah, with the head -of the old man Tarzan had shoved into the cooking pot—the head and the round, -tight, black, distended stomach. As the old man’s frightful face, with upturned -eyes, set and glassy, came close to Tarzan, the jaws opened to seize him. The -ape-man struck furiously at the hideous face, and as he struck the apparition -disappeared. -</p> - -<p> -Tarzan sat straight up upon his branch trembling in every limb, wide-eyed and -panting. He looked all around him with his keen, jungle-trained eyes, but he -saw naught of the old man with the body of Histah, the snake, but on his naked -thigh the ape-man saw a caterpillar, dropped from a branch above him. With a -grimace he flicked it off into the darkness beneath. -</p> - -<p> -And so the night wore on, dream following dream, nightmare following nightmare, -until the distracted ape-man started like a frightened deer at the rustling of -the wind in the trees about him, or leaped to his feet as the uncanny laugh of -a hyena burst suddenly upon a momentary jungle silence. But at last the tardy -morning broke and a sick and feverish Tarzan wound sluggishly through the dank -and gloomy mazes of the forest in search of water. His whole body seemed on -fire, a great sickness surged upward to his throat. He saw a tangle of almost -impenetrable thicket, and, like the wild beast he was, he crawled into it to -die alone and unseen, safe from the attacks of predatory carnivora. -</p> - -<p> -But he did not die. For a long time he wanted to; but presently nature and an -outraged stomach relieved themselves in their own therapeutic manner, the -ape-man broke into a violent perspiration and then fell into a normal and -untroubled sleep which persisted well into the afternoon. When he awoke he -found himself weak but no longer sick. -</p> - -<p> -Once more he sought water, and after drinking deeply, took his way slowly -toward the cabin by the sea. In times of loneliness and trouble it had long -been his custom to seek there the quiet and restfulness which he could find -nowhere else. -</p> - -<p> -As he approached the cabin and raised the crude latch which his father had -fashioned so many years before, two small, blood-shot eyes watched him from the -concealing foliage of the jungle close by. From beneath shaggy, beetling brows -they glared maliciously upon him, maliciously and with a keen curiosity; then -Tarzan entered the cabin and closed the door after him. Here, with all the -world shut out from him, he could dream without fear of interruption. He could -curl up and look at the pictures in the strange things which were books, he -could puzzle out the printed word he had learned to read without knowledge of -the spoken language it represented, he could live in a wonderful world of which -he had no knowledge beyond the covers of his beloved books. Numa and Sabor -might prowl about close to him, the elements might rage in all their fury; but -here at least, Tarzan might be entirely off his guard in a delightful -relaxation which gave him all his faculties for the uninterrupted pursuit of -this greatest of all his pleasures. -</p> - -<p> -Today he turned to the picture of the huge bird which bore off the little -Tarmangani in its talons. Tarzan puckered his brows as he examined the colored -print. Yes, this was the very bird that had carried him off the day before, for -to Tarzan the dream had been so great a reality that he still thought another -day and a night had passed since he had lain down in the tree to sleep. -</p> - -<p> -But the more he thought upon the matter the less positive he was as to the -verity of the seeming adventure through which he had passed, yet where the real -had ceased and the unreal commenced he was quite unable to determine. Had he -really then been to the village of the blacks at all, had he killed the old -Gomangani, had he eaten of the elephant meat, had he been sick? Tarzan -scratched his tousled black head and wondered. It was all very strange, yet he -knew that he never had seen Numa climb a tree, or Histah with the head and -belly of an old black man whom Tarzan already had slain. -</p> - -<p> -Finally, with a sigh he gave up trying to fathom the unfathomable, yet in his -heart of hearts he knew that something had come into his life that he never -before had experienced, another life which existed when he slept and the -consciousness of which was carried over into his waking hours. -</p> - -<p> -Then he commenced to wonder if some of these strange creatures which he met in -his sleep might not slay him, for at such times Tarzan of the Apes seemed to be -a different Tarzan, sluggish, helpless and timid—wishing to flee his enemies as -fled Bara, the deer, most fearful of creatures. -</p> - -<p> -Thus, with a dream, came the first faint tinge of a knowledge of fear, a -knowledge which Tarzan, awake, had never experienced, and perhaps he was -experiencing what his early forbears passed through and transmitted to -posterity in the form of superstition first and religion later; for they, as -Tarzan, had seen things at night which they could not explain by the daylight -standards of sense perception or of reason, and so had built for themselves a -weird explanation which included grotesque shapes, possessed of strange and -uncanny powers, to whom they finally came to attribute all those inexplicable -phenomena of nature which with each recurrence filled them with awe, with -wonder, or with terror. -</p> - -<p> -And as Tarzan concentrated his mind on the little bugs upon the printed page -before him, the active recollection of the strange adventures presently merged -into the text of that which he was reading—a story of Bolgani, the gorilla, in -captivity. There was a more or less lifelike illustration of Bolgani in colors -and in a cage, with many remarkable looking Tarmangani standing against a rail -and peering curiously at the snarling brute. Tarzan wondered not a little, as -he always did, at the odd and seemingly useless array of colored plumage which -covered the bodies of the Tarmangani. It always caused him to grin a trifle -when he looked at these strange creatures. He wondered if they so covered their -bodies from shame of their hairlessness or because they thought the odd things -they wore added any to the beauty of their appearance. Particularly was Tarzan -amused by the grotesque headdresses of the pictured people. He wondered how -some of the shes succeeded in balancing theirs in an upright position, and he -came as near to laughing aloud as he ever had, as he contemplated the funny -little round things upon the heads of the hes. -</p> - -<p> -Slowly the ape-man picked out the meaning of the various combinations of -letters on the printed page, and as he read, the little bugs, for as such he -always thought of the letters, commenced to run about in a most confusing -manner, blurring his vision and befuddling his thoughts. Twice he brushed the -back of a hand smartly across his eyes; but only for a moment could he bring -the bugs back to coherent and intelligible form. He had slept ill the night -before and now he was exhausted from loss of sleep, from sickness, and from the -slight fever he had had, so that it became more and more difficult to fix his -attention, or to keep his eyes open. -</p> - -<p> -Tarzan realized that he was falling asleep, and just as the realization was -borne in upon him and he had decided to relinquish himself to an inclination -which had assumed almost the proportions of a physical pain, he was aroused by -the opening of the cabin door. Turning quickly toward the interruption Tarzan -was amazed, for a moment, to see bulking large in the doorway the huge and -hairy form of Bolgani, the gorilla. -</p> - -<p> -Now there was scarcely a denizen of the great jungle with whom Tarzan would -rather not have been cooped up inside the small cabin than Bolgani, the -gorilla, yet he felt no fear, even though his quick eye noted that Bolgani was -in the throes of that jungle madness which seizes upon so many of the fiercer -males. Ordinarily the huge gorillas avoid conflict, hide themselves from the -other jungle folk, and are generally the best of neighbors; but when they are -attacked, or the madness seizes them, there is no jungle denizen so bold and -fierce as to deliberately seek a quarrel with them. -</p> - -<p> -But for Tarzan there was no escape. Bolgani was glowering at him from -red-rimmed, wicked eyes. In a moment he would rush in and seize the ape-man. -Tarzan reached for the hunting knife where he had lain it on the table beside -him; but as his fingers did not immediately locate the weapon, he turned a -quick glance in search of it. As he did so his eyes fell upon the book he had -been looking at which still lay open at the picture of Bolgani. Tarzan found -his knife, but he merely fingered it idly and grinned in the direction of the -advancing gorilla. -</p> - -<p> -Not again would he be fooled by empty things which came while he slept! In a -moment, no doubt, Bolgani would turn into Pamba, the rat, with the head of -Tantor, the elephant. Tarzan had seen enough of such strange happenings -recently to have some idea as to what he might expect; but this time Bolgani -did not alter his form as he came slowly toward the young ape-man. -</p> - -<p> -Tarzan was a bit puzzled, too, that he felt no desire to rush frantically to -some place of safety, as had been the sensation most conspicuous in the other -of his new and remarkable adventures. He was just himself now, ready to fight, -if necessary; but still sure that no flesh and blood gorilla stood before him. -</p> - -<p> -The thing should be fading away into thin air by now, thought Tarzan, or -changing into something else; yet it did not. Instead it loomed clear-cut and -real as Bolgani himself, the magnificent dark coat glistening with life and -health in a bar of sunlight which shot across the cabin through the high window -behind the young Lord Greystoke. This was quite the most realistic of his sleep -adventures, thought Tarzan, as he passively awaited the next amusing incident. -</p> - -<p> -And then the gorilla charged. Two mighty, calloused hands seized upon the -ape-man, great fangs were bared close to his face, a hideous growl burst from -the cavernous throat and hot breath fanned Tarzan’s cheek, and still he sat -grinning at the apparition. Tarzan might be fooled once or twice, but not for -so many times in succession! He knew that this Bolgani was no real Bolgani, for -had he been he never could have gained entrance to the cabin, since only Tarzan -knew how to operate the latch. -</p> - -<p> -The gorilla seemed puzzled by the strange passivity of the hairless ape. He -paused an instant with his jaws snarling close to the other’s throat, then he -seemed suddenly to come to some decision. Whirling the ape-man across a hairy -shoulder, as easily as you or I might lift a babe in arms, Bolgani turned and -dashed out into the open, racing toward the great trees. -</p> - -<p> -Now, indeed, was Tarzan sure that this was a sleep adventure, and so grinned -largely as the giant gorilla bore him, unresisting, away. Presently, reasoned -Tarzan, he would awaken and find himself back in the cabin where he had fallen -asleep. He glanced back at the thought and saw the cabin door standing wide -open. This would never do! Always had he been careful to close and latch it -against wild intruders. Manu, the monkey, would make sad havoc there among -Tarzan’s treasures should he have access to the interior for even a few -minutes. The question which arose in Tarzan’s mind was a baffling one. Where -did sleep adventures end and reality commence? How was he to be sure that the -cabin door was not really open? Everything about him appeared quite -normal—there were none of the grotesque exaggerations of his former sleep -adventures. It would be better then to be upon the safe side and make sure that -the cabin door was closed—it would do no harm even if all that seemed to be -happening were not happening at all. -</p> - -<p> -Tarzan essayed to slip from Bolgani’s shoulder; but the great beast only -growled ominously and gripped him tighter. With a mighty effort the ape-man -wrenched himself loose, and as he slid to the ground, the dream gorilla turned -ferociously upon him, seized him once more and buried great fangs in a sleek, -brown shoulder. -</p> - -<p> -The grin of derision faded from Tarzan’s lips as the pain and the hot blood -aroused his fighting instincts. Asleep or awake, this thing was no longer a -joke! Biting, tearing, and snarling, the two rolled over upon the ground. The -gorilla now was frantic with insane rage. Again and again he loosed his hold -upon the ape-man’s shoulder in an attempt to seize the jugular; but Tarzan of -the Apes had fought before with creatures who struck first for the vital vein, -and each time he wriggled out of harm’s way as he strove to get his fingers -upon his adversary’s throat. At last he succeeded—his great muscles tensed and -knotted beneath his smooth hide as he forced with every ounce of his mighty -strength to push the hairy torso from him. And as he choked Bolgani and -strained him away, his other hand crept slowly upward between them until the -point of the hunting knife rested over the savage heart—there was a quick -movement of the steel-thewed wrist and the blade plunged to its goal. -</p> - -<p> -Bolgani, the gorilla, voiced a single frightful shriek, tore himself loose from -the grasp of the ape-man, rose to his feet, staggered a few steps and then -plunged to earth. There were a few spasmodic movements of the limbs and the -brute was still. -</p> - -<p> -Tarzan of the Apes stood looking down upon his kill, and as he stood there he -ran his fingers through his thick, black shock of hair. Presently he stooped -and touched the dead body. Some of the red life-blood of the gorilla crimsoned -his fingers. He raised them to his nose and sniffed. Then he shook his head and -turned toward the cabin. The door was still open. He closed it and fastened the -latch. Returning toward the body of his kill he again paused and scratched his -head. -</p> - -<p> -If this was a sleep adventure, what then was reality? How was he to know the -one from the other? How much of all that had happened in his life had been real -and how much unreal? -</p> - -<p> -He placed a foot upon the prostrate form and raising his face to the heavens -gave voice to the kill cry of the bull ape. Far in the distance a lion -answered. It was very real and, yet, he did not know. Puzzled, he turned away -into the jungle. -</p> - -<p> -No, he did not know what was real and what was not; but there was one thing -that he did know—never again would he eat of the flesh of Tantor, the elephant. -</p> - -</div><!--end chapter--> - -<div class="chapter"> - -<h2><a name="chap10"></a>CHAPTER X<br/> -The Battle for Teeka</h2> - -<p> -The day was perfect. A cool breeze tempered the heat of the equatorial sun. -Peace had reigned within the tribe for weeks and no alien enemy had trespassed -upon its preserves from without. To the ape-mind all this was sufficient -evidence that the future would be identical with the immediate past—that Utopia -would persist. -</p> - -<p> -The sentinels, now from habit become a fixed tribal custom, either relaxed -their vigilance or entirely deserted their posts, as the whim seized them. The -tribe was far scattered in search of food. Thus may peace and prosperity -undermine the safety of the most primitive community even as it does that of -the most cultured. -</p> - -<p> -Even the individuals became less watchful and alert, so that one might have -thought Numa and Sabor and Sheeta entirely deleted from the scheme of things. -The shes and the balus roamed unguarded through the sullen jungle, while the -greedy males foraged far afield, and thus it was that Teeka and Gazan, her -balu, hunted upon the extreme southern edge of the tribe with no great male -near them. -</p> - -<p> -Still farther south there moved through the forest a sinister figure—a huge -bull ape, maddened by solitude and defeat. A week before he had contended for -the kingship of a tribe far distant, and now battered, and still sore, he -roamed the wilderness an outcast. Later he might return to his own tribe and -submit to the will of the hairy brute he had attempted to dethrone; but for the -time being he dared not do so, since he had sought not only the crown but the -wives, as well, of his lord and master. It would require an entire moon at -least to bring forgetfulness to him he had wronged, and so Toog wandered a -strange jungle, grim, terrible, hate-filled. -</p> - -<p> -It was in this mental state that Toog came unexpectedly upon a young she -feeding alone in the jungle—a stranger she, lithe and strong and beautiful -beyond compare. Toog caught his breath and slunk quickly to one side of the -trail where the dense foliage of the tropical underbrush concealed him from -Teeka while permitting him to feast his eyes upon her loveliness. -</p> - -<p> -But not alone were they concerned with Teeka—they roved the surrounding jungle -in search of the bulls and cows and balus of her tribe, though principally for -the bulls. When one covets a she of an alien tribe one must take into -consideration the great, fierce, hairy guardians who seldom wander far from -their wards and who will fight a stranger to the death in protection of the -mate or offspring of a fellow, precisely as they would fight for their own. -</p> - -<p> -Toog could see no sign of any ape other than the strange she and a young balu -playing near by. His wicked, blood-shot eyes half closed as they rested upon -the charms of the former—as for the balu, one snap of those great jaws upon the -back of its little neck would prevent it from raising any unnecessary alarm. -</p> - -<p> -Toog was a fine, big male, resembling in many ways Teeka’s mate, Taug. Each was -in his prime, and each was wonderfully muscled, perfectly fanged and as -horrifyingly ferocious as the most exacting and particular she could wish. Had -Toog been of her own tribe, Teeka might as readily have yielded to him as to -Taug when her mating time arrived; but now she was Taug’s and no other male -could claim her without first defeating Taug in personal combat. And even then -Teeka retained some rights in the matter. If she did not favor a correspondent, -she could enter the lists with her rightful mate and do her part toward -discouraging his advances, a part, too, which would prove no mean assistance to -her lord and master, for Teeka, even though her fangs were smaller than a -male’s, could use them to excellent effect. -</p> - -<p> -Just now Teeka was occupied in a fascinating search for beetles, to the -exclusion of all else. She did not realize how far she and Gazan had become -separated from the balance of the tribe, nor were her defensive senses upon the -alert as they should have been. Months of immunity from danger under the -protecting watchfulness of the sentries, which Tarzan had taught the tribe to -post, had lulled them all into a sense of peaceful security based on that -fallacy which has wrecked many enlightened communities in the past and will -continue to wreck others in the future—that because they have not been attacked -they never will be. -</p> - -<p> -Toog, having satisfied himself that only the she and her balu were in the -immediate vicinity, crept stealthily forward. Teeka’s back was toward him when -he finally rushed upon her; but her senses were at last awakened to the -presence of danger and she wheeled to face the strange bull just before he -reached her. Toog halted a few paces from her. His anger had fled before the -seductive feminine charms of the stranger. He made conciliatory noises—a -species of clucking sound with his broad, flat lips—that were, too, not greatly -dissimilar to that which might be produced in an osculatory solo. -</p> - -<p> -But Teeka only bared her fangs and growled. Little Gazan started to run toward -his mother, but she warned him away with a quick “Kreeg-ah!” telling him to run -high into a tall tree. Evidently Teeka was not favorably impressed by her new -suitor. Toog realized this and altered his methods accordingly. He swelled his -giant chest, beat upon it with his calloused knuckles and swaggered to and fro -before her. -</p> - -<p> -“I am Toog,” he boasted. “Look at my fighting fangs. Look at my great arms and -my mighty legs. With one bite I can slay your biggest bull. Alone have I slain -Sheeta. I am Toog. Toog wants you.” Then he waited for the effect, nor did he -have long to wait. Teeka turned with a swiftness which belied her great weight -and bolted in the opposite direction. Toog, with an angry growl, leaped in -pursuit; but the smaller, lighter female was too fleet for him. He chased her -for a few yards and then, foaming and barking, he halted and beat upon the -ground with his hard fists. -</p> - -<p> -From the tree above him little Gazan looked down and witnessed the stranger -bull’s discomfiture. Being young, and thinking himself safe above the reach of -the heavy male, Gazan screamed an ill-timed insult at their tormentor. Toog -looked up. Teeka had halted at a little distance—she would not go far from her -balu; that Toog quickly realized and as quickly determined to take advantage -of. He saw that the tree in which the young ape squatted was isolated and that -Gazan could not reach another without coming to earth. He would obtain the -mother through her love for her young. -</p> - -<p> -He swung himself into the lower branches of the tree. Little Gazan ceased to -insult him; his expression of deviltry changed to one of apprehension, which -was quickly followed by fear as Toog commenced to ascend toward him. Teeka -screamed to Gazan to climb higher, and the little fellow scampered upward among -the tiny branches which would not support the weight of the great bull; but -nevertheless Toog kept on climbing. Teeka was not fearful. She knew that he -could not ascend far enough to reach Gazan, so she sat at a little distance -from the tree and applied jungle opprobrium to him. Being a female, she was a -past master of the art. -</p> - -<p> -But she did not know the malevolent cunning of Toog’s little brain. She took it -for granted that the bull would climb as high as he could toward Gazan and -then, finding that he could not reach him, resume his pursuit of her, which she -knew would prove equally fruitless. So sure was she of the safety of her balu -and her own ability to take care of herself that she did not voice the cry for -help which would soon have brought the other members of the tribe flocking to -her side. -</p> - -<p> -Toog slowly reached the limit to which he dared risk his great weight to the -slender branches. Gazan was still fifteen feet above him. The bull braced -himself and seized the main branch in his powerful hands, then he commenced -shaking it vigorously. Teeka was appalled. Instantly she realized what the bull -purposed. Gazan clung far out upon a swaying limb. At the first shake he lost -his balance, though he did not quite fall, clinging still with his four hands; -but Toog redoubled his efforts; the shaking produced a violent snapping of the -limb to which the young ape clung. Teeka saw all too plainly what the outcome -must be and forgetting her own danger in the depth of her mother love, rushed -forward to ascend the tree and give battle to the fearsome creature that -menaced the life of her little one. -</p> - -<p> -But before ever she reached the bole, Toog had succeeded, by violent shaking of -the branch, to loosen Gazan’s hold. With a cry the little fellow plunged down -through the foliage, clutching futilely for a new hold, and alighted with a -sickening thud at his mother’s feet, where he lay silent and motionless. -Moaning, Teeka stooped to lift the still form in her arms; but at the same -instant Toog was upon her. -</p> - -<p> -Struggling and biting she fought to free herself; but the giant muscles of the -great bull were too much for her lesser strength. Toog struck and choked her -repeatedly until finally, half unconscious, she lapsed into quasi submission. -Then the bull lifted her to his shoulder and turned back to the trail toward -the south from whence he had come. -</p> - -<p> -Upon the ground lay the quiet form of little Gazan. He did not moan. He did not -move. The sun rose slowly toward meridian. A mangy thing, lifting its nose to -scent the jungle breeze, crept through the underbrush. It was Dango, the hyena. -Presently its ugly muzzle broke through some near-by foliage and its cruel eyes -fastened upon Gazan. -</p> - -<p> -Early that morning, Tarzan of the Apes had gone to the cabin by the sea, where -he passed many an hour at such times as the tribe was ranging in the vicinity. -On the floor lay the skeleton of a man—all that remained of the former Lord -Greystoke—lay as it had fallen some twenty years before when Kerchak, the great -ape, had thrown it, lifeless, there. Long since had the termites and the small -rodents picked clean the sturdy English bones. For years Tarzan had seen it -lying there, giving it no more attention than he gave the countless thousand -bones that strewed his jungle haunts. On the bed another, smaller, skeleton -reposed and the youth ignored it as he ignored the other. How could he know -that the one had been his father, the other his mother? The little pile of -bones in the rude cradle, fashioned with such loving care by the former Lord -Greystoke, meant nothing to him—that one day that little skull was to help -prove his right to a proud title was as far beyond his ken as the satellites of -the suns of Orion. To Tarzan they were bones—just bones. He did not need them, -for there was no meat left upon them, and they were not in his way, for he knew -no necessity for a bed, and the skeleton upon the floor he easily could step -over. -</p> - -<p> -Today he was restless. He turned the pages first of one book and then of -another. He glanced at pictures which he knew by heart, and tossed the books -aside. He rummaged for the thousandth time in the cupboard. He took out a bag -which contained several small, round pieces of metal. He had played with them -many times in the years gone by; but always he replaced them carefully in the -bag, and the bag in the cupboard, upon the very shelf where first he had -discovered it. In strange ways did heredity manifest itself in the ape-man. -Come of an orderly race, he himself was orderly without knowing why. The apes -dropped things wherever their interest in them waned—in the tall grass or from -the high-flung branches of the trees. What they dropped they sometimes found -again, by accident; but not so the ways of Tarzan. For his few belongings he -had a place and scrupulously he returned each thing to its proper place when he -was done with it. The round pieces of metal in the little bag always interested -him. Raised pictures were upon either side, the meaning of which he did not -quite understand. The pieces were bright and shiny. It amused him to arrange -them in various figures upon the table. Hundreds of times had he played thus. -Today, while so engaged, he dropped a lovely yellow piece—an English -sovereign—which rolled beneath the bed where lay all that was mortal of the -once beautiful Lady Alice. -</p> - -<p> -True to form, Tarzan at once dropped to his hands and knees and searched -beneath the bed for the lost gold piece. Strange as it might appear, he had -never before looked beneath the bed. He found the gold piece, and something -else he found, too—a small wooden box with a loose cover. Bringing them both -out he returned the sovereign to its bag and the bag to its shelf within the -cupboard; then he investigated the box. It contained a quantity of cylindrical -bits of metal, cone-shaped at one end and flat at the other, with a projecting -rim. They were all quite green and dull, coated with years of verdigris. -</p> - -<p> -Tarzan removed a handful of them from the box and examined them. He rubbed one -upon another and discovered that the green came off, leaving a shiny surface -for two-thirds of their length and a dull gray over the cone-shaped end. -Finding a bit of wood he rubbed one of the cylinders rapidly and was rewarded -by a lustrous sheen which pleased him. -</p> - -<p> -At his side hung a pocket pouch taken from the body of one of the numerous -black warriors he had slain. Into this pouch he put a handful of the new -playthings, thinking to polish them at his leisure; then he replaced the box -beneath the bed, and finding nothing more to amuse him, left the cabin and -started back in the direction of the tribe. -</p> - -<p> -Shortly before he reached them he heard a great commotion ahead of him—the loud -screams of shes and balus, the savage, angry barking and growling of the great -bulls. Instantly he increased his speed, for the “Kreeg-ahs” that came to his -ears warned him that something was amiss with his fellows. -</p> - -<p> -While Tarzan had been occupied with his own devices in the cabin of his dead -sire, Taug, Teeka’s mighty mate, had been hunting a mile to the north of the -tribe. At last, his belly filled, he had turned lazily back toward the clearing -where he had last seen the tribe and presently commenced passing its members -scattered alone or in twos or threes. Nowhere did he see Teeka or Gazan, and -soon he began inquiring of the other apes where they might be; but none had -seen them recently. -</p> - -<p> -Now the lower orders are not highly imaginative. They do not, as you and I, -paint vivid mental pictures of things which might have occurred, and so Taug -did not now apprehend that any misfortune had overtaken his mate and their -off-spring—he merely knew that he wished to find Teeka that he might lie down -in the shade and have her scratch his back while his breakfast digested; but -though he called to her and searched for her and asked each whom he met, he -could find no trace of Teeka, nor of Gazan either. -</p> - -<p> -He was beginning to become peeved and had about made up his mind to chastise -Teeka for wandering so far afield when he wanted her. He was moving south along -a game trail, his calloused soles and knuckles giving forth no sound, when he -came upon Dango at the opposite side of a small clearing. The eater of carrion -did not see Taug, for all his eyes were for something which lay in the grass -beneath a tree—something upon which he was sneaking with the cautious stealth -of his breed. -</p> - -<p> -Taug, always cautious himself, as it behooves one to be who fares up and down -the jungle and desires to survive, swung noiselessly into a tree, where he -could have a better view of the clearing. He did not fear Dango; but he wanted -to see what it was that Dango stalked. In a way, possibly, he was actuated as -much by curiosity as by caution. -</p> - -<p> -And when Taug reached a place in the branches from which he could have an -unobstructed view of the clearing he saw Dango already sniffing at something -directly beneath him—something which Taug instantly recognized as the lifeless -form of his little Gazan. -</p> - -<p> -With a cry so frightful, so bestial, that it momentarily paralyzed the startled -Dango, the great ape launched his mighty bulk upon the surprised hyena. With a -cry and a snarl, Dango, crushed to earth, turned to tear at his assailant; but -as effectively might a sparrow turn upon a hawk. Taug’s great, gnarled fingers -closed upon the hyena’s throat and back, his jaws snapped once on the mangy -neck, crushing the vertebrae, and then he hurled the dead body contemptuously -aside. -</p> - -<p> -Again he raised his voice in the call of the bull ape to its mate, but there -was no reply; then he leaned down to sniff at the body of Gazan. In the breast -of this savage, hideous beast there beat a heart which was moved, however -slightly, by the same emotions of paternal love which affect us. Even had we no -actual evidence of this, we must know it still, since only thus might be -explained the survival of the human race in which the jealousy and selfishness -of the bulls would, in the earliest stages of the race, have wiped out the -young as rapidly as they were brought into the world had not God implanted in -the savage bosom that paternal love which evidences itself most strongly in the -protective instinct of the male. -</p> - -<p> -In Taug the protective instinct was not alone highly developed; but affection -for his offspring as well, for Taug was an unusually intelligent specimen of -these great, manlike apes which the natives of the Gobi speak of in whispers; -but which no white man ever had seen, or, if seeing, lived to tell of until -Tarzan of the Apes came among them. -</p> - -<p> -And so Taug felt sorrow as any other father might feel sorrow at the loss of a -little child. To you little Gazan might have seemed a hideous and repulsive -creature, but to Taug and Teeka he was as beautiful and as cute as is your -little Mary or Johnnie or Elizabeth Ann to you, and he was their firstborn, -their only balu, and a he—three things which might make a young ape the apple -of any fond father’s eye. -</p> - -<p> -For a moment Taug sniffed at the quiet little form. With his muzzle and his -tongue he smoothed and caressed the rumpled coat. From his savage lips broke a -low moan; but quickly upon the heels of sorrow came the overmastering desire -for revenge. -</p> - -<p> -Leaping to his feet he screamed out a volley of “Kreegahs,” punctuated from -time to time by the blood-freezing cry of an angry, challenging bull—a rage-mad -bull with the blood lust strong upon him. -</p> - -<p> -Answering his cries came the cries of the tribe as they swung through the trees -toward him. It was these that Tarzan heard on his return from his cabin, and in -reply to them he raised his own voice and hurried forward with increased speed -until he fairly flew through the middle terraces of the forest. -</p> - -<p> -When at last he came upon the tribe he saw their members gathered about Taug -and something which lay quietly upon the ground. Dropping among them, Tarzan -approached the center of the group. Taug was still roaring out his challenges; -but when he saw Tarzan he ceased and stooping picked up Gazan in his arms and -held him out for Tarzan to see. Of all the bulls of the tribe, Taug held -affection for Tarzan only. Tarzan he trusted and looked up to as one wiser and -more cunning. To Tarzan he came now—to the playmate of his balu days, the -companion of innumerable battles of his maturity. -</p> - -<p> -When Tarzan saw the still form in Taug’s arms, a low growl broke from his lips, -for he too loved Teeka’s little balu. -</p> - -<p> -“Who did it?” he asked. “Where is Teeka?” -</p> - -<p> -“I do not know,” replied Taug. “I found him lying here with Dango about to feed -upon him; but it was not Dango that did it—there are no fang marks upon him.” -</p> - -<p> -Tarzan came closer and placed an ear against Gazan’s breast. “He is not dead,” -he said. “Maybe he will not die.” He pressed through the crowd of apes and -circled once about them, examining the ground step by step. Suddenly he stopped -and placing his nose close to the earth sniffed. Then he sprang to his feet, -giving a peculiar cry. Taug and the others pressed forward, for the sound told -them that the hunter had found the spoor of his quarry. -</p> - -<p> -“A stranger bull has been here,” said Tarzan. “It was he that hurt Gazan. He -has carried off Teeka.” -</p> - -<p> -Taug and the other bulls commenced to roar and threaten; but they did nothing. -Had the stranger bull been within sight they would have torn him to pieces; but -it did not occur to them to follow him. -</p> - -<p> -“If the three bulls had been watching around the tribe this would not have -happened,” said Tarzan. “Such things will happen as long as you do not keep the -three bulls watching for an enemy. The jungle is full of enemies, and yet you -let your shes and your balus feed where they will, alone and unprotected. -Tarzan goes now—he goes to find Teeka and bring her back to the tribe.” -</p> - -<p> -The idea appealed to the other bulls. “We will all go,” they cried. -</p> - -<p> -“No,” said Tarzan, “you will not all go. We cannot take shes and balus when we -go out to hunt and fight. You must remain to guard them or you will lose them -all.” -</p> - -<p> -They scratched their heads. The wisdom of his advice was dawning upon them, but -at first they had been carried away by the new idea—the idea of following up an -enemy offender to wrest his prize from him and punish him. The community -instinct was ingrained in their characters through ages of custom. They did not -know why they had not thought to pursue and punish the offender—they could not -know that it was because they had as yet not reached a mental plane which would -permit them to work as individuals. In times of stress, the community instinct -sent them huddling into a compact herd where the great bulls, by the weight of -their combined strength and ferocity, could best protect them from an enemy. -The idea of separating to do battle with a foe had not yet occurred to them—it -was too foreign to custom, too inimical to community interests; but to Tarzan -it was the first and most natural thought. His senses told him that there was -but a single bull connected with the attack upon Teeka and Gazan. A single -enemy did not require the entire tribe for his punishment. Two swift bulls -could quickly overhaul him and rescue Teeka. -</p> - -<p> -In the past no one ever had thought to go forth in search of the shes that were -occasionally stolen from the tribe. If Numa, Sabor, Sheeta or a wandering bull -ape from another tribe chanced to carry off a maid or a matron while no one was -looking, that was the end of it—she was gone, that was all. The bereaved -husband, if the victim chanced to have been mated, growled around for a day or -two and then, if he were strong enough, took another mate within the tribe, and -if not, wandered far into the jungle on the chance of stealing one from another -community. -</p> - -<p> -In the past Tarzan of the Apes had condoned this practice for the reason that -he had had no interest in those who had been stolen; but Teeka had been his -first love and Teeka’s balu held a place in his heart such as a balu of his own -would have held. Just once before had Tarzan wished to follow and revenge. That -had been years before when Kulonga, the son of Mbonga, the chief, had slain -Kala. Then, single-handed, Tarzan had pursued and avenged. Now, though to a -lesser degree, he was moved by the same passion. -</p> - -<p> -He turned toward Taug. “Leave Gazan with Mumga,” he said. “She is old and her -fangs are broken and she is no good; but she can take care of Gazan until we -return with Teeka, and if Gazan is dead when we come back,” he turned to -address Mumga, “I will kill you, too.” -</p> - -<p> -“Where are we going?” asked Taug. -</p> - -<p> -“We are going to get Teeka,” replied the ape-man, “and kill the bull who has -stolen her. Come!” -</p> - -<p> -He turned again to the spoor of the stranger bull, which showed plainly to his -trained senses, nor did he glance back to note if Taug followed. The latter -laid Gazan in Mumga’s arms with a parting: “If he dies Tarzan will kill you,” -and he followed after the brown-skinned figure that already was moving at a -slow trot along the jungle trail. -</p> - -<p> -No other bull of the tribe of Kerchak was so good a trailer as Tarzan, for his -trained senses were aided by a high order of intelligence. His judgment told -him the natural trail for a quarry to follow, so that he need but note the most -apparent marks upon the way, and today the trail of Toog was as plain to him as -type upon a printed page to you or me. -</p> - -<p> -Following close behind the lithe figure of the ape-man came the huge and shaggy -bull ape. No words passed between them. They moved as silently as two shadows -among the myriad shadows of the forest. Alert as his eyes and ears, was -Tarzan’s patrician nose. The spoor was fresh, and now that they had passed from -the range of the strong ape odor of the tribe he had little difficulty in -following Toog and Teeka by scent alone. Teeka’s familiar scent spoor told both -Tarzan and Taug that they were upon her trail, and soon the scent of Toog -became as familiar as the other. -</p> - -<p> -They were progressing rapidly when suddenly dense clouds overcast the sun. -Tarzan accelerated his pace. Now he fairly flew along the jungle trail, or, -where Toog had taken to the trees, followed nimbly as a squirrel along the -bending, undulating pathway of the foliage branches, swinging from tree to tree -as Toog had swung before them; but more rapidly because they were not -handicapped by a burden such as Toog’s. -</p> - -<p> -Tarzan felt that they must be almost upon the quarry, for the scent spoor was -becoming stronger and stronger, when the jungle was suddenly shot by livid -lightning, and a deafening roar of thunder reverberated through the heavens and -the forest until the earth trembled and shook. Then came the rain—not as it -comes to us of the temperate zones, but as a mighty avalanche of water—a deluge -which spills tons instead of drops upon the bending forest giants and the -terrified creatures which haunt their shade. -</p> - -<p> -And the rain did what Tarzan knew that it would do—it wiped the spoor of the -quarry from the face of the earth. For a half hour the torrents fell—then the -sun burst forth, jeweling the forest with a million scintillant gems; but today -the ape-man, usually alert to the changing wonders of the jungle, saw them not. -Only the fact that the spoor of Teeka and her abductor was obliterated found -lodgment in his thoughts. -</p> - -<p> -Even among the branches of the trees there are well-worn trails, just as there -are trails upon the surface of the ground; but in the trees they branch and -cross more often, since the way is more open than among the dense undergrowth -at the surface. Along one of these well-marked trails Tarzan and Taug continued -after the rain had ceased, because the ape-man knew that this was the most -logical path for the thief to follow; but when they came to a fork, they were -at a loss. Here they halted, while Tarzan examined every branch and leaf which -might have been touched by the fleeing ape. -</p> - -<p> -He sniffed the bole of the tree, and with his keen eyes he sought to find upon -the bark some sign of the way the quarry had taken. It was slow work and all -the time, Tarzan knew, the bull of the alien tribe was forging steadily away -from them—gaining precious minutes that might carry him to safety before they -could catch up with him. -</p> - -<p> -First along one fork he went, and then another, applying every test that his -wonderful junglecraft was cognizant of; but again and again he was baffled, for -the scent had been washed away by the heavy downpour, in every exposed place. -For a half hour Tarzan and Taug searched, until at last, upon the bottom of a -broad leaf, Tarzan’s keen nose caught the faint trace of the scent spoor of -Toog, where the leaf had brushed a hairy shoulder as the great ape passed -through the foliage. -</p> - -<p> -Once again the two took up the trail, but it was slow work now and there were -many discouraging delays when the spoor seemed lost beyond recovery. To you or -me there would have been no spoor, even before the coming of the rain, except, -possibly, where Toog had come to earth and followed a game trail. In such -places the imprint of a huge handlike foot and the knuckles of one great hand -were sometimes plain enough for an ordinary mortal to read. Tarzan knew from -these and other indications that the ape was yet carrying Teeka. The depth of -the imprint of his feet indicated a much greater weight than that of any of the -larger bulls, for they were made under the combined weight of Toog and Teeka, -while the fact that the knuckles of but one hand touched the ground at any time -showed that the other hand was occupied in some other business—the business of -holding the prisoner to a hairy shoulder. Tarzan could follow, in sheltered -places, the changing of the burden from one shoulder to another, as indicated -by the deepening of the foot imprint upon the side of the load, and the -changing of the knuckle imprints from one side of the trail to the other. -</p> - -<p> -There were stretches along the surface paths where the ape had gone for -considerable distances entirely erect upon his hind feet—walking as a man -walks; but the same might have been true of any of the great anthropoids of the -same species, for, unlike the chimpanzee and the gorilla, they walk without the -aid of their hands quite as readily as with. It was such things, however, which -helped to identify to Tarzan and to Taug the appearance of the abductor, and -with his individual scent characteristic already indelibly impressed upon their -memories, they were in a far better position to know him when they came upon -him, even should he have disposed of Teeka before, than is a modern sleuth with -his photographs and Bertillon measurements, equipped to recognize a fugitive -from civilized justice. -</p> - -<p> -But with all their high-strung and delicately attuned perceptive faculties the -two bulls of the tribe of Kerchak were often sore pressed to follow the trail -at all, and at best were so delayed that in the afternoon of the second day, -they still had not overhauled the fugitive. The scent was now strong, for it -had been made since the rain, and Tarzan knew that it would not be long before -they came upon the thief and his loot. Above them, as they crept stealthily -forward, chattered Manu, the monkey, and his thousand fellows; squawked and -screamed the brazen-throated birds of plumage; buzzed and hummed the countless -insects amid the rustling of the forest leaves, and, as they passed, a little -gray-beard, squeaking and scolding upon a swaying branch, looked down and saw -them. Instantly the scolding and squeaking ceased, and off tore the long-tailed -mite as though Sheeta, the panther, had been endowed with wings and was in -close pursuit of him. To all appearances he was only a very much frightened -little monkey, fleeing for his life—there seemed nothing sinister about him. -</p> - -<p> -And what of Teeka during all this time? Was she at last resigned to her fate -and accompanying her new mate in the proper humility of a loving and tractable -spouse? A single glance at the pair would have answered these questions to the -utter satisfaction of the most captious. She was torn and bleeding from many -wounds, inflicted by the sullen Toog in his vain efforts to subdue her to his -will, and Toog too was disfigured and mutilated; but with stubborn ferocity, he -still clung to his now useless prize. -</p> - -<p> -On through the jungle he forced his way in the direction of the stamping ground -of his tribe. He hoped that his king would have forgotten his treason; but if -not he was still resigned to his fate—any fate would be better than suffering -longer the sole companionship of this frightful she, and then, too, he wished -to exhibit his captive to his fellows. Maybe he could wish her on the king—it -is possible that such a thought urged him on. -</p> - -<p> -At last they came upon two bulls feeding in a parklike grove—a beautiful grove -dotted with huge boulders half embedded in the rich loam—mute monuments, -possibly, to a forgotten age when mighty glaciers rolled their slow course -where now a torrid sun beats down upon a tropic jungle. -</p> - -<p> -The two bulls looked up, baring long fighting fangs, as Toog appeared in the -distance. The latter recognized the two as friends. “It is Toog,” he growled. -“Toog has come back with a new she.” -</p> - -<p> -The apes waited his nearer approach. Teeka turned a snarling, fanged face -toward them. She was not pretty to look upon, yet through the blood and hatred -upon her countenance they realized that she was beautiful, and they envied -Toog—alas! they did not know Teeka. -</p> - -<p> -As they squatted looking at one another there raced through the trees toward -them a long-tailed little monkey with gray whiskers. He was a very excited -little monkey when he came to a halt upon the limb of a tree directly overhead. -“Two strange bulls come,” he cried. “One is a Mangani, the other a hideous ape -without hair upon his body. They follow the spoor of Toog. I saw them.” -</p> - -<p> -The four apes turned their eyes backward along the trail Toog had just come; -then they looked at one another for a minute. “Come,” said the larger of Toog’s -two friends, “we will wait for the strangers in the thick bushes beyond the -clearing.” -</p> - -<p> -He turned and waddled away across the open place, the others following him. The -little monkey danced about, all excitement. His chief diversion in life was to -bring about bloody encounters between the larger denizens of the forest, that -he might sit in the safety of the trees and witness the spectacles. He was a -glutton for gore, was this little, whiskered, gray monkey, so long as it was -the gore of others—a typical fight fan was the graybeard. -</p> - -<p> -The apes hid themselves in the shrubbery beside the trail along which the two -stranger bulls would pass. Teeka trembled with excitement. She had heard the -words of Manu, and she knew that the hairless ape must be Tarzan, while the -other was, doubtless, Taug. Never, in her wildest hopes, had she expected -succor of this sort. Her one thought had been to escape and find her way back -to the tribe of Kerchak; but even this had appeared to her practically -impossible, so closely did Toog watch her. -</p> - -<p> -As Taug and Tarzan reached the grove where Toog had come upon his friends, the -ape scent became so strong that both knew the quarry was but a short distance -ahead. And so they went even more cautiously, for they wished to come upon the -thief from behind if they could and charge him before he was aware of their -presence. That a little gray-whiskered monkey had forestalled them they did not -know, nor that three pairs of savage eyes were already watching their every -move and waiting for them to come within reach of itching paws and slavering -jowls. -</p> - -<p> -On they came across the grove, and as they entered the path leading into the -dense jungle beyond, a sudden “Kreeg-ah!” shrilled out close before them—a -“Kreeg-ah” in the familiar voice of Teeka. The small brains of Toog and his -companions had not been able to foresee that Teeka might betray them, and now -that she had, they went wild with rage. Toog struck the she a mighty blow that -felled her, and then the three rushed forth to do battle with Tarzan and Taug. -The little monkey danced upon his perch and screamed with delight. -</p> - -<p> -And indeed he might well be delighted, for it was a lovely fight. There were no -preliminaries, no formalities, no introductions—the five bulls merely charged -and clinched. They rolled in the narrow trail and into the thick verdure beside -it. They bit and clawed and scratched and struck, and all the while they kept -up the most frightful chorus of growlings and barkings and roarings. In five -minutes they were torn and bleeding, and the little graybeard leaped high, -shrilling his primitive bravos; but always his attitude was “thumbs down.” He -wanted to see something killed. He did not care whether it were friend or foe. -It was blood he wanted—blood and death. -</p> - -<p> -Taug had been set upon by Toog and another of the apes, while Tarzan had the -third—a huge brute with the strength of a buffalo. Never before had Tarzan’s -assailant beheld so strange a creature as this slippery, hairless bull with -which he battled. Sweat and blood covered Tarzan’s sleek, brown hide. Again and -again he slipped from the clutches of the great bull, and all the while he -struggled to free his hunting knife from the scabbard in which it had stuck. -</p> - -<p> -At length he succeeded—a brown hand shot out and clutched a hairy throat, -another flew upward clutching the sharp blade. Three swift, powerful strokes -and the bull relaxed with a groan, falling limp beneath his antagonist. -Instantly Tarzan broke from the clutches of the dying bull and sprang to Taug’s -assistance. Toog saw him coming and wheeled to meet him. In the impact of the -charge, Tarzan’s knife was wrenched from his hand and then Toog closed with -him. Now was the battle even—two against two—while on the verge, Teeka, now -recovered from the blow that had felled her, slunk waiting for an opportunity -to aid. She saw Tarzan’s knife and picked it up. She never had used it, but -knew how Tarzan used it. Always had she been afraid of the thing which dealt -death to the mightiest of the jungle people with the ease that Tantor’s great -tusks deal death to Tantor’s enemies. -</p> - -<p> -She saw Tarzan’s pocket pouch torn from his side, and with the curiosity of an -ape, that even danger and excitement cannot entirely dispel, she picked this -up, too. -</p> - -<p> -Now the bulls were standing—the clinches had been broken. Blood streamed down -their sides—their faces were crimsoned with it. Little graybeard was so -fascinated that at last he had even forgotten to scream and dance; but sat -rigid with delight in the enjoyment of the spectacle. -</p> - -<p> -Back across the grove Tarzan and Taug forced their adversaries. Teeka followed -slowly. She scarce knew what to do. She was lame and sore and exhausted from -the frightful ordeal through which she had passed, and she had the confidence -of her sex in the prowess of her mate and the other bull of her tribe—they -would not need the help of a she in their battle with these two strangers. -</p> - -<p> -The roars and screams of the fighters reverberated through the jungle, -awakening the echoes in the distant hills. From the throat of Tarzan’s -antagonist had come a score of “Kreeg-ahs!” and now from behind came the reply -he had awaited. Into the grove, barking and growling, came a score of huge bull -apes—the fighting men of Toog’s tribe. -</p> - -<p> -Teeka saw them first and screamed a warning to Tarzan and Taug. Then she fled -past the fighters toward the opposite side of the clearing, fear for a moment -claiming her. Nor can one censure her after the frightful ordeal from which she -was still suffering. -</p> - -<p> -Down upon them came the great apes. In a moment Tarzan and Taug would be torn -to shreds that would later form the <i>pièce de résistance</i> of the savage -orgy of a Dum-Dum. Teeka turned to glance back. She saw the impending fate of -her defenders and there sprung to life in her savage bosom the spark of -martyrdom, that some common forbear had transmitted alike to Teeka, the wild -ape, and the glorious women of a higher order who have invited death for their -men. With a shrill scream she ran toward the battlers who were rolling in a -great mass at the foot of one of the huge boulders which dotted the grove; but -what could she do? The knife she held she could not use to advantage because of -her lesser strength. She had seen Tarzan throw missiles, and she had learned -this with many other things from her childhood playmate. She sought for -something to throw and at last her fingers touched upon the hard objects in the -pouch that had been torn from the ape-man. Tearing the receptacle open, she -gathered a handful of shiny cylinders—heavy for their size, they seemed to her, -and good missiles. With all her strength she hurled them at the apes battling -in front of the granite boulder. -</p> - -<p> -The result surprised Teeka quite as much as it did the apes. There was a loud -explosion, which deafened the fighters, and a puff of acrid smoke. Never before -had one there heard such a frightful noise. Screaming with terror, the stranger -bulls leaped to their feet and fled back toward the stamping ground of their -tribe, while Taug and Tarzan slowly gathered themselves together and arose, -lame and bleeding, to their feet. They, too, would have fled had they not seen -Teeka standing there before them, the knife and the pocket pouch in her hands. -</p> - -<p> -“What was it?” asked Tarzan. -</p> - -<p> -Teeka shook her head. “I hurled these at the stranger bulls,” and she held -forth another handful of the shiny metal cylinders with the dull gray, -cone-shaped ends. -</p> - -<p> -Tarzan looked at them and scratched his head. -</p> - -<p> -“What are they?” asked Taug. -</p> - -<p> -“I do not know,” said Tarzan. “I found them.” -</p> - -<p> -The little monkey with the gray beard halted among the trees a mile away and -huddled, terrified, against a branch. He did not know that the dead father of -Tarzan of the Apes, reaching back out of the past across a span of twenty -years, had saved his son’s life. -</p> - -<p> -Nor did Tarzan, Lord Greystoke, know it either. -</p> - -</div><!--end chapter--> - -<div class="chapter"> - -<h2><a name="chap11"></a>CHAPTER XI<br/> -A Jungle Joke</h2> - -<p> -Time seldom hung heavily upon Tarzan’s hands. Even where there is sameness -there cannot be monotony if most of the sameness consists in dodging death -first in one form and then in another; or in inflicting death upon others. -There is a spice to such an existence; but even this Tarzan of the Apes varied -in activities of his own invention. -</p> - -<p> -He was full grown now, with the grace of a Greek god and the thews of a bull, -and, by all the tenets of apedom, should have been sullen, morose, and -brooding; but he was not. His spirits seemed not to age at all—he was still a -playful child, much to the discomfiture of his fellow-apes. They could not -understand him or his ways, for with maturity they quickly forgot their youth -and its pastimes. -</p> - -<p> -Nor could Tarzan quite understand them. It seemed strange to him that a few -moons since, he had roped Taug about an ankle and dragged him screaming through -the tall jungle grasses, and then rolled and tumbled in good-natured mimic -battle when the young ape had freed himself, and that today when he had come up -behind the same Taug and pulled him over backward upon the turf, instead of the -playful young ape, a great, snarling beast had whirled and leaped for his -throat. -</p> - -<p> -Easily Tarzan eluded the charge and quickly Taug’s anger vanished, though it -was not replaced with playfulness; yet the ape-man realized that Taug was not -amused nor was he amusing. The big bull ape seemed to have lost whatever sense -of humor he once may have possessed. With a grunt of disappointment, young Lord -Greystoke turned to other fields of endeavor. A strand of black hair fell -across one eye. He brushed it aside with the palm of a hand and a toss of his -head. It suggested something to do, so he sought his quiver which lay cached in -the hollow bole of a lightning-riven tree. Removing the arrows he turned the -quiver upside down, emptying upon the ground the contents of its bottom—his few -treasures. Among them was a flat bit of stone and a shell which he had picked -up from the beach near his father’s cabin. -</p> - -<p> -With great care he rubbed the edge of the shell back and forth upon the flat -stone until the soft edge was quite fine and sharp. He worked much as a barber -does who hones a razor, and with every evidence of similar practice; but his -proficiency was the result of years of painstaking effort. Unaided he had -worked out a method of his own for putting an edge upon the shell—he even -tested it with the ball of his thumb—and when it met with his approval he -grasped a wisp of hair which fell across his eyes, grasped it between the thumb -and first finger of his left hand and sawed upon it with the sharpened shell -until it was severed. All around his head he went until his black shock was -rudely bobbed with a ragged bang in front. For the appearance of it he cared -nothing; but in the matter of safety and comfort it meant everything. A lock of -hair falling in one’s eyes at the wrong moment might mean all the difference -between life and death, while straggly strands, hanging down one’s back were -most uncomfortable, especially when wet with dew or rain or perspiration. -</p> - -<p> -As Tarzan labored at his tonsorial task, his active mind was busy with many -things. He recalled his recent battle with Bolgani, the gorilla, the wounds of -which were but just healed. He pondered the strange sleep adventures of his -first dreams, and he smiled at the painful outcome of his last practical joke -upon the tribe, when, dressed in the hide of Numa, the lion, he had come -roaring upon them, only to be leaped upon and almost killed by the great bulls -whom he had taught how to defend themselves from an attack of their ancient -enemy. -</p> - -<p> -His hair lopped off to his entire satisfaction, and seeing no possibility of -pleasure in the company of the tribe, Tarzan swung leisurely into the trees and -set off in the direction of his cabin; but when part way there his attention -was attracted by a strong scent spoor coming from the north. It was the scent -of the Gomangani. -</p> - -<p> -Curiosity, that best-developed, common heritage of man and ape, always prompted -Tarzan to investigate where the Gomangani were concerned. There was that about -them which aroused his imagination. Possibly it was because of the diversity of -their activities and interests. The apes lived to eat and sleep and propagate. -The same was true of all the other denizens of the jungle, save the Gomangani. -</p> - -<p> -These black fellows danced and sang, scratched around in the earth from which -they had cleared the trees and underbrush; they watched things grow, and when -they had ripened, they cut them down and put them in straw-thatched huts. They -made bows and spears and arrows, poison, cooking pots, things of metal to wear -around their arms and legs. If it hadn’t been for their black faces, their -hideously disfigured features, and the fact that one of them had slain Kala, -Tarzan might have wished to be one of them. At least he sometimes thought so, -but always at the thought there rose within him a strange revulsion of feeling, -which he could not interpret or understand—he simply knew that he hated the -Gomangani, and that he would rather be Histah, the snake, than one of these. -</p> - -<p> -But their ways were interesting, and Tarzan never tired of spying upon them, -and from them he learned much more than he realized, though always his -principal thought was of some new way in which he could render their lives -miserable. The baiting of the blacks was Tarzan’s chief divertissement. -</p> - -<p> -Tarzan realized now that the blacks were very near and that there were many of -them, so he went silently and with great caution. Noiselessly he moved through -the lush grasses of the open spaces, and where the forest was dense, swung from -one swaying branch to another, or leaped lightly over tangled masses of fallen -trees where there was no way through the lower terraces, and the ground was -choked and impassable. -</p> - -<p> -And so presently he came within sight of the black warriors of Mbonga, the -chief. They were engaged in a pursuit with which Tarzan was more or less -familiar, having watched them at it upon other occasions. They were placing and -baiting a trap for Numa, the lion. In a cage upon wheels they were tying a kid, -so fastening it that when Numa seized the unfortunate creature, the door of the -cage would drop behind him, making him a prisoner. -</p> - -<p> -These things the blacks had learned in their old home, before they escaped -through the untracked jungle to their new village. Formerly they had dwelt in -the Belgian Congo until the cruelties of their heartless oppressors had driven -them to seek the safety of unexplored solitudes beyond the boundaries of -Leopold’s domain. -</p> - -<p> -In their old life they often had trapped animals for the agents of European -dealers, and had learned from them certain tricks, such as this one, which -permitted them to capture even Numa without injuring him, and to transport him -in safety and with comparative ease to their village. -</p> - -<p> -No longer was there a white market for their savage wares; but there was still -a sufficient incentive for the taking of Numa—alive. First was the necessity -for ridding the jungle of man-eaters, and it was only after depredations by -these grim and terrible scourges that a lion hunt was organized. Secondarily -was the excuse for an orgy of celebration was the hunt successful, and the fact -that such fetes were rendered doubly pleasurable by the presence of a live -creature that might be put to death by torture. -</p> - -<p> -Tarzan had witnessed these cruel rites in the past. Being himself more savage -than the savage warriors of the Gomangani, he was not so shocked by the cruelty -of them as he should have been, yet they did shock him. He could not understand -the strange feeling of revulsion which possessed him at such times. He had no -love for Numa, the lion, yet he bristled with rage when the blacks inflicted -upon his enemy such indignities and cruelties as only the mind of the one -creature molded in the image of God can conceive. -</p> - -<p> -Upon two occasions he had freed Numa from the trap before the blacks had -returned to discover the success or failure of their venture. He would do the -same today—that he decided immediately he realized the nature of their -intentions. -</p> - -<p> -Leaving the trap in the center of a broad elephant trail near the drinking -hole, the warriors turned back toward their village. On the morrow they would -come again. Tarzan looked after them, upon his lips an unconscious sneer—the -heritage of unguessed caste. He saw them file along the broad trail, beneath -the overhanging verdure of leafy branch and looped and festooned creepers, -brushing ebon shoulders against gorgeous blooms which inscrutable Nature has -seen fit to lavish most profusely farthest from the eye of man. -</p> - -<p> -As Tarzan watched, through narrowed lids, the last of the warriors disappear -beyond a turn in the trail, his expression altered to the urge of a newborn -thought. A slow, grim smile touched his lips. He looked down upon the -frightened, bleating kid, advertising, in its fear and its innocence, its -presence and its helplessness. -</p> - -<p> -Dropping to the ground, Tarzan approached the trap and entered. Without -disturbing the fiber cord, which was adjusted to drop the door at the proper -time, he loosened the living bait, tucked it under an arm and stepped out of -the cage. -</p> - -<p> -With his hunting knife he quieted the frightened animal, severing its jugular; -then he dragged it, bleeding, along the trail down to the drinking hole, the -half smile persisting upon his ordinarily grave face. At the water’s edge the -ape-man stooped and with hunting knife and quick strong fingers deftly removed -the dead kid’s viscera. Scraping a hole in the mud, he buried these parts which -he did not eat, and swinging the body to his shoulder took to the trees. -</p> - -<p> -For a short distance he pursued his way in the wake of the black warriors, -coming down presently to bury the meat of his kill where it would be safe from -the depredations of Dango, the hyena, or the other meat-eating beasts and birds -of the jungle. He was hungry. Had he been all beast he would have eaten; but -his man-mind could entertain urges even more potent than those of the belly, -and now he was concerned with an idea which kept a smile upon his lips and his -eyes sparkling in anticipation. An idea, it was, which permitted him to forget -that he was hungry. -</p> - -<p> -The meat safely cached, Tarzan trotted along the elephant trail after the -Gomangani. Two or three miles from the cage he overtook them and then he swung -into the trees and followed above and behind them—waiting his chance. -</p> - -<p> -Among the blacks was Rabba Kega, the witch-doctor. Tarzan hated them all; but -Rabba Kega he especially hated. As the blacks filed along the winding path, -Rabba Kega, being lazy, dropped behind. This Tarzan noted, and it filled him -with satisfaction—his being radiated a grim and terrible content. Like an angel -of death he hovered above the unsuspecting black. -</p> - -<p> -Rabba Kega, knowing that the village was but a short distance ahead, sat down -to rest. Rest well, O Rabba Kega! It is thy last opportunity. -</p> - -<p> -Tarzan crept stealthily among the branches of the tree above the well-fed, -self-satisfied witch-doctor. He made no noise that the dull ears of man could -hear above the soughing of the gentle jungle breeze among the undulating -foliage of the upper terraces, and when he came close above the black man he -halted, well concealed by leafy branch and heavy creeper. -</p> - -<p> -Rabba Kega sat with his back against the bole of a tree, facing Tarzan. The -position was not such as the waiting beast of prey desired, and so, with the -infinite patience of the wild hunter, the ape-man crouched motionless and -silent as a graven image until the fruit should be ripe for the plucking. A -poisonous insect buzzed angrily out of space. It loitered, circling, close to -Tarzan’s face. The ape-man saw and recognized it. The virus of its sting -spelled death for lesser things than he—for him it would mean days of anguish. -He did not move. His glittering eyes remained fixed upon Rabba Kega after -acknowledging the presence of the winged torture by a single glance. He heard -and followed the movements of the insect with his keen ears, and then he felt -it alight upon his forehead. No muscle twitched, for the muscles of such as he -are the servants of the brain. Down across his face crept the horrid thing—over -nose and lips and chin. Upon his throat it paused, and turning, retraced its -steps. Tarzan watched Rabba Kega. Now not even his eyes moved. So motionless he -crouched that only death might counterpart his movelessness. The insect crawled -upward over the nut-brown cheek and stopped with its antennae brushing the -lashes of his lower lid. You or I would have started back, closing our eyes and -striking at the thing; but you and I are the slaves, not the masters of our -nerves. Had the thing crawled upon the eyeball of the ape-man, it is believable -that he could yet have remained wide-eyed and rigid; but it did not. For a -moment it loitered there close to the lower lid, then it rose and buzzed away. -</p> - -<p> -Down toward Rabba Kega it buzzed and the black man heard it, saw it, struck at -it, and was stung upon the cheek before he killed it. Then he rose with a howl -of pain and anger, and as he turned up the trail toward the village of Mbonga, -the chief, his broad, black back was exposed to the silent thing waiting above -him. -</p> - -<p> -And as Rabba Kega turned, a lithe figure shot outward and downward from the -tree above upon his broad shoulders. The impact of the springing creature -carried Rabba Kega to the ground. He felt strong jaws close upon his neck, and -when he tried to scream, steel fingers throttled his throat. The powerful black -warrior struggled to free himself; but he was as a child in the grip of his -adversary. -</p> - -<p> -Presently Tarzan released his grip upon the other’s throat; but each time that -Rabba Kega essayed a scream, the cruel fingers choked him painfully. At last -the warrior desisted. Then Tarzan half rose and kneeled upon his victim’s back, -and when Rabba Kega struggled to arise, the ape-man pushed his face down into -the dirt of the trail. With a bit of the rope that had secured the kid, Tarzan -made Rabba Kega’s wrists secure behind his back, then he rose and jerked his -prisoner to his feet, faced him back along the trail and pushed him on ahead. -</p> - -<p> -Not until he came to his feet did Rabba Kega obtain a square look at his -assailant. When he saw that it was the white devil-god his heart sank within -him and his knees trembled; but as he walked along the trail ahead of his -captor and was neither injured nor molested his spirits slowly rose, so that he -took heart again. Possibly the devil-god did not intend to kill him after all. -Had he not had little Tibo in his power for days without harming him, and had -he not spared Momaya, Tibo’s mother, when he easily might have slain her? -</p> - -<p> -And then they came upon the cage which Rabba Kega, with the other black -warriors of the village of Mbonga, the chief, had placed and baited for Numa. -Rabba Kega saw that the bait was gone, though there was no lion within the -cage, nor was the door dropped. He saw and he was filled with wonder not -unmixed with apprehension. It entered his dull brain that in some way this -combination of circumstances had a connection with his presence there as the -prisoner of the white devil-god. -</p> - -<p> -Nor was he wrong. Tarzan pushed him roughly into the cage, and in another -moment Rabba Kega understood. Cold sweat broke from every pore of his body—he -trembled as with ague—for the ape-man was binding him securely in the very spot -the kid had previously occupied. The witch-doctor pleaded, first for his life, -and then for a death less cruel; but he might as well have saved his pleas for -Numa, since already they were directed toward a wild beast who understood no -word of what he said. -</p> - -<p> -But his constant jabbering not only annoyed Tarzan, who worked in silence, but -suggested that later the black might raise his voice in cries for succor, so he -stepped out of the cage, gathered a handful of grass and a small stick and -returning, jammed the grass into Rabba Kega’s mouth, laid the stick crosswise -between his teeth and fastened it there with the thong from Rabba Kega’s loin -cloth. Now could the witch-doctor but roll his eyes and sweat. Thus Tarzan left -him. -</p> - -<p> -The ape-man went first to the spot where he had cached the body of the kid. -Digging it up, he ascended into a tree and proceeded to satisfy his hunger. -What remained he again buried; then he swung away through the trees to the -water hole, and going to the spot where fresh, cold water bubbled from between -two rocks, he drank deeply. The other beasts might wade in and drink stagnant -water; but not Tarzan of the Apes. In such matters he was fastidious. From his -hands he washed every trace of the repugnant scent of the Gomangani, and from -his face the blood of the kid. Rising, he stretched himself not unlike some -huge, lazy cat, climbed into a near-by tree and fell asleep. -</p> - -<p> -When he awoke it was dark, though a faint luminosity still tinged the western -heavens. A lion moaned and coughed as it strode through the jungle toward -water. It was approaching the drinking hole. Tarzan grinned sleepily, changed -his position and fell asleep again. -</p> - -<p> -When the blacks of Mbonga, the chief, reached their village they discovered -that Rabba Kega was not among them. When several hours had elapsed they decided -that something had happened to him, and it was the hope of the majority of the -tribe that whatever had happened to him might prove fatal. They did not love -the witch-doctor. Love and fear seldom are playmates; but a warrior is a -warrior, and so Mbonga organized a searching party. That his own grief was not -unassuagable might have been gathered from the fact that he remained at home -and went to sleep. The young warriors whom he sent out remained steadfast to -their purpose for fully half an hour, when, unfortunately for Rabba Kega—upon -so slight a thing may the fate of a man rest—a honey bird attracted the -attention of the searchers and led them off for the delicious store it -previously had marked down for betrayal, and Rabba Kega’s doom was sealed. -</p> - -<p> -When the searchers returned empty handed, Mbonga was wroth; but when he saw the -great store of honey they brought with them his rage subsided. Already Tubuto, -young, agile and evil-minded, with face hideously painted, was practicing the -black art upon a sick infant in the fond hope of succeeding to the office and -perquisites of Rabba Kega. Tonight the women of the old witch-doctor would moan -and howl. Tomorrow he would be forgotten. Such is life, such is fame, such is -power—in the center of the world’s highest civilization, or in the depths of -the black, primeval jungle. Always, everywhere, man is man, nor has he altered -greatly beneath his veneer since he scurried into a hole between two rocks to -escape the tyrannosaurus six million years ago. -</p> - -<p> -The morning following the disappearance of Rabba Kega, the warriors set out -with Mbonga, the chief, to examine the trap they had set for Numa. Long before -they reached the cage, they heard the roaring of a great lion and guessed that -they had made a successful bag, so it was with shouts of joy that they -approached the spot where they should find their captive. -</p> - -<p> -Yes! There he was, a great, magnificent specimen—a huge, black-maned lion. The -warriors were frantic with delight. They leaped into the air and uttered savage -cries—hoarse victory cries, and then they came closer, and the cries died upon -their lips, and their eyes went wide so that the whites showed all around their -irises, and their pendulous lower lips drooped with their drooping jaws. They -drew back in terror at the sight within the cage—the mauled and mutilated -corpse of what had, yesterday, been Rabba Kega, the witch-doctor. -</p> - -<p> -The captured lion had been too angry and frightened to feed upon the body of -his kill; but he had vented upon it much of his rage, until it was a frightful -thing to behold. -</p> - -<p> -From his perch in a near-by tree Tarzan of the Apes, Lord Greystoke, looked -down upon the black warriors and grinned. Once again his self-pride in his -ability as a practical joker asserted itself. It had lain dormant for some time -following the painful mauling he had received that time he leaped among the -apes of Kerchak clothed in the skin of Numa; but this joke was a decided -success. -</p> - -<p> -After a few moments of terror, the blacks came closer to the cage, rage taking -the place of fear—rage and curiosity. How had Rabba Kega happened to be in the -cage? Where was the kid? There was no sign nor remnant of the original bait. -They looked closely and they saw, to their horror, that the corpse of their -erstwhile fellow was bound with the very cord with which they had secured the -kid. Who could have done this thing? They looked at one another. -</p> - -<p> -Tubuto was the first to speak. He had come hopefully out with the expedition -that morning. Somewhere he might find evidence of the death of Rabba Kega. Now -he had found it, and he was the first to find an explanation. -</p> - -<p> -“The white devil-god,” he whispered. “It is the work of the white devil-god!” -</p> - -<p> -No one contradicted Tubuto, for, indeed, who else could it have been but the -great, hairless ape they all so feared? And so their hatred of Tarzan increased -again with an increased fear of him. And Tarzan sat in his tree and hugged -himself. -</p> - -<p> -No one there felt sorrow because of the death of Rabba Kega; but each of the -blacks experienced a personal fear of the ingenious mind which might discover -for any of them a death equally horrible to that which the witch-doctor had -suffered. It was a subdued and thoughtful company which dragged the captive -lion along the broad elephant path back to the village of Mbonga, the chief. -</p> - -<p> -And it was with a sigh of relief that they finally rolled it into the village -and closed the gates behind them. Each had experienced the sensation of being -spied upon from the moment they left the spot where the trap had been set, -though none had seen or heard aught to give tangible food to his fears. -</p> - -<p> -At the sight of the body within the cage with the lion, the women and children -of the village set up a most frightful lamentation, working themselves into a -joyous hysteria which far transcended the happy misery derived by their more -civilized prototypes who make a business of dividing their time between the -movies and the neighborhood funerals of friends and strangers—especially -strangers. -</p> - -<p> -From a tree overhanging the palisade, Tarzan watched all that passed within the -village. He saw the frenzied women tantalizing the great lion with sticks and -stones. The cruelty of the blacks toward a captive always induced in Tarzan a -feeling of angry contempt for the Gomangani. Had he attempted to analyze this -feeling he would have found it difficult, for during all his life he had been -accustomed to sights of suffering and cruelty. He, himself, was cruel. All the -beasts of the jungle were cruel; but the cruelty of the blacks was of a -different order. It was the cruelty of wanton torture of the helpless, while -the cruelty of Tarzan and the other beasts was the cruelty of necessity or of -passion. -</p> - -<p> -Perhaps, had he known it, he might have credited this feeling of repugnance at -the sight of unnecessary suffering to heredity—to the germ of British love of -fair play which had been bequeathed to him by his father and his mother; but, -of course, he did not know, since he still believed that his mother had been -Kala, the great ape. -</p> - -<p> -And just in proportion as his anger rose against the Gomangani his savage -sympathy went out to Numa, the lion, for, though Numa was his lifetime enemy, -there was neither bitterness nor contempt in Tarzan’s sentiments toward him. In -the ape-man’s mind, therefore, the determination formed to thwart the blacks -and liberate the lion; but he must accomplish this in some way which would -cause the Gomangani the greatest chagrin and discomfiture. -</p> - -<p> -As he squatted there watching the proceeding beneath him, he saw the warriors -seize upon the cage once more and drag it between two huts. Tarzan knew that it -would remain there now until evening, and that the blacks were planning a feast -and orgy in celebration of their capture. When he saw that two warriors were -placed beside the cage, and that these drove off the women and children and -young men who would have eventually tortured Numa to death, he knew that the -lion would be safe until he was needed for the evening’s entertainment, when he -would be more cruelly and scientifically tortured for the edification of the -entire tribe. -</p> - -<p> -Now Tarzan preferred to bait the blacks in as theatric a manner as his fertile -imagination could evolve. He had some half-formed conception of their -superstitious fears and of their especial dread of night, and so he decided to -wait until darkness fell and the blacks partially worked to hysteria by their -dancing and religious rites before he took any steps toward the freeing of -Numa. In the meantime, he hoped, an idea adequate to the possibilities of the -various factors at hand would occur to him. Nor was it long before one did. -</p> - -<p> -He had swung off through the jungle to search for food when the plan came to -him. At first it made him smile a little and then look dubious, for he still -retained a vivid memory of the dire results that had followed the carrying out -of a very wonderful idea along almost identical lines, yet he did not abandon -his intention, and a moment later, food temporarily forgotten, he was swinging -through the middle terraces in rapid flight toward the stamping ground of the -tribe of Kerchak, the great ape. -</p> - -<p> -As was his wont, he alighted in the midst of the little band without announcing -his approach save by a hideous scream just as he sprang from a branch above -them. Fortunate are the apes of Kerchak that their kind is not subject to heart -failure, for the methods of Tarzan subjected them to one severe shock after -another, nor could they ever accustom themselves to the ape-man’s peculiar -style of humor. -</p> - -<p> -Now, when they saw who it was they merely snarled and grumbled angrily for a -moment and then resumed their feeding or their napping which he had -interrupted, and he, having had his little joke, made his way to the hollow -tree where he kept his treasures hid from the inquisitive eyes and fingers of -his fellows and the mischievous little manus. Here he withdrew a closely rolled -hide—the hide of Numa with the head on; a clever bit of primitive curing and -mounting, which had once been the property of the witch-doctor, Rabba Kega, -until Tarzan had stolen it from the village. -</p> - -<p> -With this he made his way back through the jungle toward the village of the -blacks, stopping to hunt and feed upon the way, and, in the afternoon, even -napping for an hour, so that it was already dusk when he entered the great tree -which overhung the palisade and gave him a view of the entire village. He saw -that Numa was still alive and that the guards were even dozing beside the cage. -A lion is no great novelty to a black man in the lion country, and the first -keen edge of their desire to worry the brute having worn off, the villagers -paid little or no attention to the great cat, preferring now to await the grand -event of the night. -</p> - -<p> -Nor was it long after dark before the festivities commenced. To the beating of -tom-toms, a lone warrior, crouched half doubled, leaped into the firelight in -the center of a great circle of other warriors, behind whom stood or squatted -the women and the children. The dancer was painted and armed for the hunt and -his movements and gestures suggested the search for the spoor of game. Bending -low, sometimes resting for a moment on one knee, he searched the ground for -signs of the quarry; again he poised, statuesque, listening. The warrior was -young and lithe and graceful; he was full-muscled and arrow-straight. The -firelight glistened upon his ebon body and brought out into bold relief the -grotesque designs painted upon his face, breasts, and abdomen. -</p> - -<p> -Presently he bent low to the earth, then leaped high in air. Every line of face -and body showed that he had struck the scent. Immediately he leaped toward the -circle of warriors about him, telling them of his find and summoning them to -the hunt. It was all in pantomime; but so truly done that even Tarzan could -follow it all to the least detail. -</p> - -<p> -He saw the other warriors grasp their hunting spears and leap to their feet to -join in the graceful, stealthy “stalking dance.” It was very interesting; but -Tarzan realized that if he was to carry his design to a successful conclusion -he must act quickly. He had seen these dances before and knew that after the -stalk would come the game at bay and then the kill, during which Numa would be -surrounded by warriors, and unapproachable. -</p> - -<p> -With the lion’s skin under one arm the ape-man dropped to the ground in the -dense shadows beneath the tree and then circled behind the huts until he came -out directly in the rear of the cage, in which Numa paced nervously to and fro. -The cage was now unguarded, the two warriors having left it to take their -places among the other dancers. -</p> - -<p> -Behind the cage Tarzan adjusted the lion’s skin about him, just as he had upon -that memorable occasion when the apes of Kerchak, failing to pierce his -disguise, had all but slain him. Then, on hands and knees, he crept forward, -emerged from between the two huts and stood a few paces back of the dusky -audience, whose whole attention was centered upon the dancers before them. -</p> - -<p> -Tarzan saw that the blacks had now worked themselves to a proper pitch of -nervous excitement to be ripe for the lion. In a moment the ring of spectators -would break at a point nearest the caged lion and the victim would be rolled -into the center of the circle. It was for this moment that Tarzan waited. -</p> - -<p> -At last it came. A signal was given by Mbonga, the chief, at which the women -and children immediately in front of Tarzan rose and moved to one side, leaving -a broad path opening toward the caged lion. At the same instant Tarzan gave -voice to the low, coughing roar of an angry lion and slunk slowly forward -through the open lane toward the frenzied dancers. -</p> - -<p> -A woman saw him first and screamed. Instantly there was a panic in the -immediate vicinity of the ape-man. The strong light from the fire fell full -upon the lion head and the blacks leaped to the conclusion, as Tarzan had known -they would, that their captive had escaped his cage. -</p> - -<p> -With another roar, Tarzan moved forward. The dancing warriors paused but an -instant. They had been hunting a lion securely housed within a strong cage, and -now that he was at liberty among them, an entirely different aspect was placed -upon the matter. Their nerves were not attuned to this emergency. The women and -children already had fled to the questionable safety of the nearest huts, and -the warriors were not long in following their example, so that presently Tarzan -was left in sole possession of the village street. -</p> - -<p> -But not for long. Nor did he wish to be left thus long alone. It would not -comport with his scheme. Presently a head peered forth from a near-by hut, and -then another and another until a score or more of warriors were looking out -upon him, waiting for his next move—waiting for the lion to charge or to -attempt to escape from the village. -</p> - -<p> -Their spears were ready in their hands against either a charge or a bolt for -freedom, and then the lion rose erect upon its hind legs, the tawny skin -dropped from it and there stood revealed before them in the firelight the -straight young figure of the white devil-god. -</p> - -<p> -For an instant the blacks were too astonished to act. They feared this -apparition fully as much as they did Numa, yet they would gladly have slain the -thing could they quickly enough have gathered together their wits; but fear and -superstition and a natural mental density held them paralyzed while the ape-man -stooped and gathered up the lion skin. They saw him turn then and walk back -into the shadows at the far end of the village. Not until then did they gain -courage to pursue him, and when they had come in force, with brandished spears -and loud war cries, the quarry was gone. -</p> - -<p> -Not an instant did Tarzan pause in the tree. Throwing the skin over a branch he -leaped again into the village upon the opposite side of the great bole, and -diving into the shadow of a hut, ran quickly to where lay the caged lion. -Springing to the top of the cage he pulled upon the cord which raised the door, -and a moment later a great lion in the prime of his strength and vigor leaped -out into the village. -</p> - -<p> -The warriors, returning from a futile search for Tarzan, saw him step into the -firelight. Ah! there was the devil-god again, up to his old trick. Did he think -he could twice fool the men of Mbonga, the chief, the same way in so short a -time? They would show him! For long they had waited for such an opportunity to -rid themselves forever of this fearsome jungle demon. As one they rushed -forward with raised spears. -</p> - -<p> -The women and the children came from the huts to witness the slaying of the -devil-god. The lion turned blazing eyes upon them and then swung about toward -the advancing warriors. -</p> - -<p> -With shouts of savage joy and triumph they came toward him, menacing him with -their spears. The devil-god was theirs! -</p> - -<p> -And then, with a frightful roar, Numa, the lion, charged. -</p> - -<p> -The men of Mbonga, the chief, met Numa with ready spears and screams of -raillery. In a solid mass of muscled ebony they waited the coming of the -devil-god; yet beneath their brave exteriors lurked a haunting fear that all -might not be quite well with them—that this strange creature could yet prove -invulnerable to their weapons and inflict upon them full punishment for their -effrontery. The charging lion was all too lifelike—they saw that in the brief -instant of the charge; but beneath the tawny hide they knew was hid the soft -flesh of the white man, and how could that withstand the assault of many war -spears? -</p> - -<p> -In their forefront stood a huge young warrior in the full arrogance of his -might and his youth. Afraid? Not he! He laughed as Numa bore down upon him; he -laughed and couched his spear, setting the point for the broad breast. And then -the lion was upon him. A great paw swept away the heavy war spear, splintering -it as the hand of man might splinter a dry twig. -</p> - -<p> -Down went the black, his skull crushed by another blow. And then the lion was -in the midst of the warriors, clawing and tearing to right and left. Not for -long did they stand their ground; but a dozen men were mauled before the others -made good their escape from those frightful talons and gleaming fangs. -</p> - -<p> -In terror the villagers fled hither and thither. No hut seemed a sufficiently -secure asylum with Numa ranging within the palisade. From one to another fled -the frightened blacks, while in the center of the village Numa stood glaring -and growling above his kills. -</p> - -<p> -At last a tribesman flung wide the gates of the village and sought safety amid -the branches of the forest trees beyond. Like sheep his fellows followed him, -until the lion and his dead remained alone in the village. -</p> - -<p> -From the nearer trees the men of Mbonga saw the lion lower his great head and -seize one of his victims by the shoulder and then with slow and stately tread -move down the village street past the open gates and on into the jungle. They -saw and shuddered, and from another tree Tarzan of the Apes saw and smiled. -</p> - -<p> -A full hour elapsed after the lion had disappeared with his feast before the -blacks ventured down from the trees and returned to their village. Wide eyes -rolled from side to side, and naked flesh contracted more to the chill of fear -than to the chill of the jungle night. -</p> - -<p> -“It was he all the time,” murmured one. “It was the devil-god.” -</p> - -<p> -“He changed himself from a lion to a man, and back again into a lion,” -whispered another. -</p> - -<p> -“And he dragged Mweeza into the forest and is eating him,” said a third, -shuddering. -</p> - -<p> -“We are no longer safe here,” wailed a fourth. “Let us take our belongings and -search for another village site far from the haunts of the wicked devil-god.” -</p> - -<p> -But with morning came renewed courage, so that the experiences of the preceding -evening had little other effect than to increase their fear of Tarzan and -strengthen their belief in his supernatural origin. -</p> - -<p> -And thus waxed the fame and the power of the ape-man in the mysterious haunts -of the savage jungle where he ranged, mightiest of beasts because of the -man-mind which directed his giant muscles and his flawless courage. -</p> - -</div><!--end chapter--> - -<div class="chapter"> - -<h2><a name="chap12"></a>CHAPTER XII<br/> -Tarzan Rescues the Moon</h2> - -<p> -The moon shone down out of a cloudless sky—a huge, swollen moon that seemed so -close to earth that one might wonder that she did not brush the crooning tree -tops. It was night, and Tarzan was abroad in the jungle—Tarzan, the ape-man; -mighty fighter, mighty hunter. Why he swung through the dark shadows of the -somber forest he could not have told you. It was not that he was hungry—he had -fed well this day, and in a safe cache were the remains of his kill, ready -against the coming of a new appetite. Perhaps it was the very joy of living -that urged him from his arboreal couch to pit his muscles and his senses -against the jungle night, and then, too, Tarzan always was goaded by an intense -desire to know. -</p> - -<p> -The jungle which is presided over by Kudu, the sun, is a very different jungle -from that of Goro, the moon. The diurnal jungle has its own aspect—its own -lights and shades, its own birds, its own blooms, its own beasts; its noises -are the noises of the day. The lights and shades of the nocturnal jungle are as -different as one might imagine the lights and shades of another world to differ -from those of our world; its beasts, its blooms, and its birds are not those of -the jungle of Kudu, the sun. -</p> - -<p> -Because of these differences Tarzan loved to investigate the jungle by night. -Not only was the life another life; but it was richer in numbers and in -romance; it was richer in dangers, too, and to Tarzan of the Apes danger was -the spice of life. And the noises of the jungle night—the roar of the lion, the -scream of the leopard, the hideous laughter of Dango, the hyena, were music to -the ears of the ape-man. -</p> - -<p> -The soft padding of unseen feet, the rustling of leaves and grasses to the -passage of fierce beasts, the sheen of opalesque eyes flaming through the dark, -the million sounds which proclaimed the teeming life that one might hear and -scent, though seldom see, constituted the appeal of the nocturnal jungle to -Tarzan. -</p> - -<p> -Tonight he had swung a wide circle—toward the east first and then toward the -south, and now he was rounding back again into the north. His eyes, his ears -and his keen nostrils were ever on the alert. Mingled with the sounds he knew, -there were strange sounds—weird sounds which he never heard until after Kudu -had sought his lair below the far edge of the big water—sounds which belonged -to Goro, the moon—and to the mysterious period of Goro’s supremacy. These -sounds often caused Tarzan profound speculation. They baffled him because he -thought that he knew his jungle so well that there could be nothing within it -unfamiliar to him. Sometimes he thought that as colors and forms appeared to -differ by night from their familiar daylight aspects, so sounds altered with -the passage of Kudu and the coming of Goro, and these thoughts roused within -his brain a vague conjecture that perhaps Goro and Kudu influenced these -changes. And what more natural that eventually he came to attribute to the sun -and the moon personalities as real as his own? The sun was a living creature -and ruled the day. The moon, endowed with brains and miraculous powers, ruled -the night. -</p> - -<p> -Thus functioned the untrained man-mind groping through the dark night of -ignorance for an explanation of the things he could not touch or smell or hear -and of the great, unknown powers of nature which he could not see. -</p> - -<p> -As Tarzan swung north again upon his wide circle the scent of the Gomangani -came to his nostrils, mixed with the acrid odor of wood smoke. The ape-man -moved quickly in the direction from which the scent was borne down to him upon -the gentle night wind. Presently the ruddy sheen of a great fire filtered -through the foliage to him ahead, and when Tarzan came to a halt in the trees -near it, he saw a party of half a dozen black warriors huddled close to the -blaze. It was evidently a hunting party from the village of Mbonga, the chief, -caught out in the jungle after dark. In a rude circle about them they had -constructed a thorn boma which, with the aid of the fire, they apparently hoped -would discourage the advances of the larger carnivora. -</p> - -<p> -That hope was not conviction was evidenced by the very palpable terror in which -they crouched, wide-eyed and trembling, for already Numa and Sabor were moaning -through the jungle toward them. There were other creatures, too, in the shadows -beyond the firelight. Tarzan could see their yellow eyes flaming there. The -blacks saw them and shivered. Then one arose and grasping a burning branch from -the fire hurled it at the eyes, which immediately disappeared. The black sat -down again. Tarzan watched and saw that it was several minutes before the eyes -began to reappear in twos and fours. -</p> - -<p> -Then came Numa, the lion, and Sabor, his mate. The other eyes scattered to -right and left before the menacing growls of the great cats, and then the huge -orbs of the man-eaters flamed alone out of the darkness. Some of the blacks -threw themselves upon their faces and moaned; but he who before had hurled the -burning branch now hurled another straight at the faces of the hungry lions, -and they, too, disappeared as had the lesser lights before them. Tarzan was -much interested. He saw a new reason for the nightly fires maintained by the -blacks—a reason in addition to those connected with warmth and light and -cooking. The beasts of the jungle feared fire, and so fire was, in a measure, a -protection from them. Tarzan himself knew a certain awe of fire. Once he had, -in investigating an abandoned fire in the village of the blacks, picked up a -live coal. Since then he had maintained a respectful distance from such fires -as he had seen. One experience had sufficed. -</p> - -<p> -For a few minutes after the black hurled the firebrand no eyes appeared, though -Tarzan could hear the soft padding of feet all about him. Then flashed once -more the twin fire spots that marked the return of the lord of the jungle and a -moment later, upon a slightly lower level, there appeared those of Sabor, his -mate. -</p> - -<p> -For some time they remained fixed and unwavering—a constellation of fierce -stars in the jungle night—then the male lion advanced slowly toward the boma, -where all but a single black still crouched in trembling terror. When this lone -guardian saw that Numa was again approaching, he threw another firebrand, and, -as before, Numa retreated and with him Sabor, the lioness; but not so far, this -time, nor for so long. Almost instantly they turned and began circling the -boma, their eyes turning constantly toward the firelight, while low, throaty -growls evidenced their increasing displeasure. Beyond the lions glowed the -flaming eyes of the lesser satellites, until the black jungle was shot all -around the black men’s camp with little spots of fire. -</p> - -<p> -Again and again the black warrior hurled his puny brands at the two big cats; -but Tarzan noticed that Numa paid little or no attention to them after the -first few retreats. The ape-man knew by Numa’s voice that the lion was hungry -and surmised that he had made up his mind to feed upon a Gomangani; but would -he dare a closer approach to the dreaded flames? -</p> - -<p> -Even as the thought was passing in Tarzan’s mind, Numa stopped his restless -pacing and faced the boma. For a moment he stood motionless, except for the -quick, nervous upcurving of his tail, then he walked deliberately forward, -while Sabor moved restlessly to and fro where he had left her. The black man -called to his comrades that the lion was coming, but they were too far gone in -fear to do more than huddle closer together and moan more loudly than before. -</p> - -<p> -Seizing a blazing branch the man cast it straight into the face of the lion. -There was an angry roar, followed by a swift charge. With a single bound the -savage beast cleared the boma wall as, with almost equal agility, the warrior -cleared it upon the opposite side and, chancing the dangers lurking in the -darkness, bolted for the nearest tree. -</p> - -<p> -Numa was out of the boma almost as soon as he was inside it; but as he went -back over the low thorn wall, he took a screaming negro with him. Dragging his -victim along the ground he walked back toward Sabor, the lioness, who joined -him, and the two continued into the blackness, their savage growls mingling -with the piercing shrieks of the doomed and terrified man. -</p> - -<p> -At a little distance from the blaze the lions halted, there ensued a short -succession of unusually vicious growls and roars, during which the cries and -moans of the black man ceased—forever. -</p> - -<p> -Presently Numa reappeared in the firelight. He made a second trip into the boma -and the former grisly tragedy was reenacted with another howling victim. -</p> - -<p> -Tarzan rose and stretched lazily. The entertainment was beginning to bore him. -He yawned and turned upon his way toward the clearing where the tribe would be -sleeping in the encircling trees. -</p> - -<p> -Yet even when he had found his familiar crotch and curled himself for slumber, -he felt no desire to sleep. For a long time he lay awake thinking and dreaming. -He looked up into the heavens and watched the moon and the stars. He wondered -what they were and what power kept them from falling. His was an inquisitive -mind. Always he had been full of questions concerning all that passed around -him; but there never had been one to answer his questions. In childhood he had -wanted to KNOW, and, denied almost all knowledge, he still, in manhood, was -filled with the great, unsatisfied curiosity of a child. -</p> - -<p> -He was never quite content merely to perceive that things happened—he desired -to know WHY they happened. He wanted to know what made things go. The secret of -life interested him immensely. The miracle of death he could not quite fathom. -Upon innumerable occasions he had investigated the internal mechanism of his -kills, and once or twice he had opened the chest cavity of victims in time to -see the heart still pumping. -</p> - -<p> -He had learned from experience that a knife thrust through this organ brought -immediate death nine times out of ten, while he might stab an antagonist -innumerable times in other places without even disabling him. And so he had -come to think of the heart, or, as he called it, “the red thing that breathes,” -as the seat and origin of life. -</p> - -<p> -The brain and its functionings he did not comprehend at all. That his sense -perceptions were transmitted to his brain and there translated, classified, and -labeled was something quite beyond him. He thought that his fingers knew when -they touched something, that his eyes knew when they saw, his ears when they -heard, his nose when it scented. -</p> - -<p> -He considered his throat, epidermis, and the hairs of his head as the three -principal seats of emotion. When Kala had been slain a peculiar choking -sensation had possessed his throat; contact with Histah, the snake, imparted an -unpleasant sensation to the skin of his whole body; while the approach of an -enemy made the hairs on his scalp stand erect. -</p> - -<p> -Imagine, if you can, a child filled with the wonders of nature, bursting with -queries and surrounded only by beasts of the jungle to whom his questionings -were as strange as Sanskrit would have been. If he asked Gunto what made it -rain, the big old ape would but gaze at him in dumb astonishment for an instant -and then return to his interesting and edifying search for fleas; and when he -questioned Mumga, who was very old and should have been very wise, but wasn’t, -as to the reason for the closing of certain flowers after Kudu had deserted the -sky, and the opening of others during the night, he was surprised to discover -that Mumga had never noticed these interesting facts, though she could tell to -an inch just where the fattest grubworm should be hiding. -</p> - -<p> -To Tarzan these things were wonders. They appealed to his intellect and to his -imagination. He saw the flowers close and open; he saw certain blooms which -turned their faces always toward the sun; he saw leaves which moved when there -was no breeze; he saw vines crawl like living things up the boles and over the -branches of great trees; and to Tarzan of the Apes the flowers and the vines -and the trees were living creatures. He often talked to them, as he talked to -Goro, the moon, and Kudu, the sun, and always was he disappointed that they did -not reply. He asked them questions; but they could not answer, though he knew -that the whispering of the leaves was the language of the leaves—they talked -with one another. -</p> - -<p> -The wind he attributed to the trees and grasses. He thought that they swayed -themselves to and fro, creating the wind. In no other way could he account for -this phenomenon. The rain he finally attributed to the stars, the moon, and the -sun; but his hypothesis was entirely unlovely and unpoetical. -</p> - -<p> -Tonight as Tarzan lay thinking, there sprang to his fertile imagination an -explanation of the stars and the moon. He became quite excited about it. Taug -was sleeping in a nearby crotch. Tarzan swung over beside him. -</p> - -<p> -“Taug!” he cried. Instantly the great bull was awake and bristling, sensing -danger from the nocturnal summons. “Look, Taug!” exclaimed Tarzan, pointing -toward the stars. “See the eyes of Numa and Sabor, of Sheeta and Dango. They -wait around Goro to leap in upon him for their kill. See the eyes and the nose -and the mouth of Goro. And the light that shines upon his face is the light of -the great fire he has built to frighten away Numa and Sabor and Dango and -Sheeta. -</p> - -<p> -“All about him are the eyes, Taug, you can see them! But they do not come very -close to the fire—there are few eyes close to Goro. They fear the fire! It is -the fire that saves Goro from Numa. Do you see them, Taug? Some night Numa will -be very hungry and very angry—then he will leap over the thorn bushes which -encircle Goro and we will have no more light after Kudu seeks his lair—the -night will be black with the blackness that comes when Goro is lazy and sleeps -late into the night, or when he wanders through the skies by day, forgetting -the jungle and its people.” -</p> - -<p> -Taug looked stupidly at the heavens and then at Tarzan. A meteor fell, blazing -a flaming way through the sky. -</p> - -<p> -“Look!” cried Tarzan. “Goro has thrown a burning branch at Numa.” -</p> - -<p> -Taug grumbled. “Numa is down below,” he said. “Numa does not hunt above the -trees.” But he looked curiously and a little fearfully at the bright stars -above him, as though he saw them for the first time, and doubtless it was the -first time that Taug ever had seen the stars, though they had been in the sky -above him every night of his life. To Taug they were as the gorgeous jungle -blooms—he could not eat them and so he ignored them. -</p> - -<p> -Taug fidgeted and was nervous. For a long time he lay sleepless, watching the -stars—the flaming eyes of the beasts of prey surrounding Goro, the moon—Goro, -by whose light the apes danced to the beating of their earthen drums. If Goro -should be eaten by Numa there could be no more Dum-Dums. Taug was overwhelmed -by the thought. He glanced at Tarzan half fearfully. Why was his friend so -different from the others of the tribe? No one else whom Taug ever had known -had had such queer thoughts as Tarzan. The ape scratched his head and wondered, -dimly, if Tarzan was a safe companion, and then he recalled slowly, and by a -laborious mental process, that Tarzan had served him better than any other of -the apes, even the strong and wise bulls of the tribe. -</p> - -<p> -Tarzan it was who had freed him from the blacks at the very time that Taug had -thought Tarzan wanted Teeka. It was Tarzan who had saved Taug’s little balu -from death. It was Tarzan who had conceived and carried out the plan to pursue -Teeka’s abductor and rescue the stolen one. Tarzan had fought and bled in -Taug’s service so many times that Taug, although only a brutal ape, had had -impressed upon his mind a fierce loyalty which nothing now could swerve—his -friendship for Tarzan had become a habit, a tradition almost, which would -endure while Taug endured. He never showed any outward demonstration of -affection—he growled at Tarzan as he growled at the other bulls who came too -close while he was feeding—but he would have died for Tarzan. He knew it and -Tarzan knew it; but of such things apes do not speak—their vocabulary, for the -finer instincts, consisting more of actions than words. But now Taug was -worried, and he fell asleep again still thinking of the strange words of his -fellow. -</p> - -<p> -The following day he thought of them again, and without any intention of -disloyalty he mentioned to Gunto what Tarzan had suggested about the eyes -surrounding Goro, and the possibility that sooner or later Numa would charge -the moon and devour him. To the apes all large things in nature are male, and -so Goro, being the largest creature in the heavens by night, was, to them, a -bull. -</p> - -<p> -Gunto bit a sliver from a horny finger and recalled the fact that Tarzan had -once said that the trees talked to one another, and Gozan recounted having seen -the ape-man dancing alone in the moonlight with Sheeta, the panther. They did -not know that Tarzan had roped the savage beast and tied him to a tree before -he came to earth and leaped about before the rearing cat, to tantalize him. -</p> - -<p> -Others told of seeing Tarzan ride upon the back of Tantor, the elephant; of his -bringing the black boy, Tibo, to the tribe, and of mysterious things with which -he communed in the strange lair by the sea. They had never understood his -books, and after he had shown them to one or two of the tribe and discovered -that even the pictures carried no impression to their brains, he had desisted. -</p> - -<p> -“Tarzan is not an ape,” said Gunto. “He will bring Numa to eat us, as he is -bringing him to eat Goro. We should kill him.” -</p> - -<p> -Immediately Taug bristled. Kill Tarzan! “First you will kill Taug,” he said, -and lumbered away to search for food. -</p> - -<p> -But others joined the plotters. They thought of many things which Tarzan had -done—things which apes did not do and could not understand. Again Gunto voiced -the opinion that the Tarmangani, the white ape, should be slain, and the -others, filled with terror about the stories they had heard, and thinking -Tarzan was planning to slay Goro, greeted the proposal with growls of accord. -</p> - -<p> -Among them was Teeka, listening with all her ears; but her voice was not raised -in furtherance of the plan. Instead she bristled, showing her fangs, and -afterward she went away in search of Tarzan; but she could not find him, as he -was roaming far afield in search of meat. She found Taug, though, and told him -what the others were planning, and the great bull stamped upon the ground and -roared. His bloodshot eyes blazed with wrath, his upper lip curled up to expose -his fighting fangs, and the hair upon his spine stood erect, and then a rodent -scurried across the open and Taug sprang to seize it. In an instant he seemed -to have forgotten his rage against the enemies of his friend; but such is the -mind of an ape. -</p> - -<p> -Several miles away Tarzan of the Apes lolled upon the broad head of Tantor, the -elephant. He scratched beneath the great ears with the point of a sharp stick, -and he talked to the huge pachyderm of everything which filled his -black-thatched head. Little, or nothing, of what he said did Tantor understand; -but Tantor is a good listener. Swaying from side to side he stood there -enjoying the companionship of his friend, the friend he loved, and absorbing -the delicious sensations of the scratching. -</p> - -<p> -Numa, the lion, caught the scent of man, and warily stalked it until he came -within sight of his prey upon the head of the mighty tusker; then he turned, -growling and muttering, away in search of more propitious hunting grounds. -</p> - -<p> -The elephant caught the scent of the lion, borne to him by an eddying breeze, -and lifting his trunk trumpeted loudly. Tarzan stretched back luxuriously, -lying supine at full length along the rough hide. Flies swarmed about his face; -but with a leafy branch torn from a tree he lazily brushed them away. -</p> - -<p> -“Tantor,” he said, “it is good to be alive. It is good to lie in the cool -shadows. It is good to look upon the green trees and the bright colors of the -flowers—upon everything which Bulamutumumo has put here for us. He is very good -to us, Tantor; He has given you tender leaves and bark, and rich grasses to -eat; to me He has given Bara and Horta and Pisah, the fruits and the nuts and -the roots. He provides for each the food that each likes best. All that He asks -is that we be strong enough or cunning enough to go forth and take it. Yes, -Tantor, it is good to live. I should hate to die.” -</p> - -<p> -Tantor made a little sound in his throat and curled his trunk upward that he -might caress the ape-man’s cheek with the finger at its tip. -</p> - -<p> -“Tantor,” said Tarzan presently, “turn and feed in the direction of the tribe -of Kerchak, the great ape, that Tarzan may ride home upon your head without -walking.” -</p> - -<p> -The tusker turned and moved slowly off along a broad, tree-arched trail, -pausing occasionally to pluck a tender branch, or strip the edible bark from an -adjacent tree. Tarzan sprawled face downward upon the beast’s head and back, -his legs hanging on either side, his head supported by his open palms, his -elbows resting on the broad cranium. And thus they made their leisurely way -toward the gathering place of the tribe. -</p> - -<p> -Just before they arrived at the clearing from the north there reached it from -the south another figure—that of a well-knit black warrior, who stepped -cautiously through the jungle, every sense upon the alert against the many -dangers which might lurk anywhere along the way. Yet he passed beneath the -southernmost sentry that was posted in a great tree commanding the trail from -the south. The ape permitted the Gomangani to pass unmolested, for he saw that -he was alone; but the moment that the warrior had entered the clearing a loud -“Kreeg-ah!” rang out from behind him, immediately followed by a chorus of -replies from different directions, as the great bulls crashed through the trees -in answer to the summons of their fellow. -</p> - -<p> -The black man halted at the first cry and looked about him. He could see -nothing, but he knew the voice of the hairy tree men whom he and his kind -feared, not alone because of the strength and ferocity of the savage beings, -but as well through a superstitious terror engendered by the manlike appearance -of the apes. -</p> - -<p> -But Bulabantu was no coward. He heard the apes all about him; he knew that -escape was probably impossible, so he stood his ground, his spear ready in his -hand and a war cry trembling on his lips. He would sell his life dearly, would -Bulabantu, under-chief of the village of Mbonga, the chief. -</p> - -<p> -Tarzan and Tantor were but a short distance away when the first cry of the -sentry rang out through the quiet jungle. Like a flash the ape-man leaped from -the elephant’s back to a near-by tree and was swinging rapidly in the direction -of the clearing before the echoes of the first “Kreeg-ah” had died away. When -he arrived he saw a dozen bulls circling a single Gomangani. With a -blood-curdling scream Tarzan sprang to the attack. He hated the blacks even -more than did the apes, and here was an opportunity for a kill in the open. -What had the Gomangani done? Had he slain one of the tribe? -</p> - -<p> -Tarzan asked the nearest ape. No, the Gomangani had harmed none. Gozan, being -on watch, had seen him coming through the forest and had warned the tribe—that -was all. The ape-man pushed through the circle of bulls, none of which as yet -had worked himself into sufficient frenzy for a charge, and came where he had a -full and close view of the black. He recognized the man instantly. Only the -night before he had seen him facing the eyes in the dark, while his fellows -groveled in the dirt at his feet, too terrified even to defend themselves. Here -was a brave man, and Tarzan had deep admiration for bravery. Even his hatred of -the blacks was not so strong a passion as his love of courage. He would have -joyed in battling with a black warrior at almost any time; but this one he did -not wish to kill—he felt, vaguely, that the man had earned his life by his -brave defense of it on the preceding night, nor did he fancy the odds that were -pitted against the lone warrior. -</p> - -<p> -He turned to the apes. “Go back to your feeding,” he said, “and let this -Gomangani go his way in peace. He has not harmed us, and last night I saw him -fighting Numa and Sabor with fire, alone in the jungle. He is brave. Why should -we kill one who is brave and who has not attacked us? Let him go.” -</p> - -<p> -The apes growled. They were displeased. “Kill the Gomangani!” cried one. -</p> - -<p> -“Yes,” roared another, “kill the Gomangani and the Tarmangani as well.” -</p> - -<p> -“Kill the white ape!” screamed Gozan, “he is no ape at all; but a Gomangani -with his skin off.” -</p> - -<p> -“Kill Tarzan!” bellowed Gunto. “Kill! Kill! Kill!” -</p> - -<p> -The bulls were now indeed working themselves into the frenzy of slaughter; but -against Tarzan rather than the black man. A shaggy form charged through them, -hurling those it came in contact with to one side as a strong man might scatter -children. It was Taug—great, savage Taug. -</p> - -<p> -“Who says ‘kill Tarzan’?” he demanded. “Who kills Tarzan must kill Taug, too. -Who can kill Taug? Taug will tear your insides from you and feed them to -Dango.” -</p> - -<p> -“We can kill you all,” replied Gunto. “There are many of us and few of you,” -and he was right. Tarzan knew that he was right. Taug knew it; but neither -would admit such a possibility. It is not the way of bull apes. -</p> - -<p> -“I am Tarzan,” cried the ape-man. “I am Tarzan. Mighty hunter; mighty fighter. -In all the jungle none so great as Tarzan.” -</p> - -<p> -Then, one by one, the opposing bulls recounted their virtues and their prowess. -And all the time the combatants came closer and closer to one another. Thus do -the bulls work themselves to the proper pitch before engaging in battle. -</p> - -<p> -Gunto came, stiff-legged, close to Tarzan and sniffed at him, with bared fangs. -Tarzan rumbled forth a low, menacing growl. They might repeat these tactics a -dozen times; but sooner or later one bull would close with another and then the -whole hideous pack would be tearing and rending at their prey. -</p> - -<p> -Bulabantu, the black man, had stood wide-eyed in wonder from the moment he had -seen Tarzan approaching through the apes. He had heard much of this devil-god -who ran with the hairy tree people; but never before had he seen him in full -daylight. He knew him well enough from the description of those who had seen -him and from the glimpses he had had of the marauder upon several occasions -when the ape-man had entered the village of Mbonga, the chief, by night, in the -perpetration of one of his numerous ghastly jokes. -</p> - -<p> -Bulabantu could not, of course, understand anything which passed between Tarzan -and the apes; but he saw that the ape-man and one of the larger bulls were in -argument with the others. He saw that these two were standing with their back -toward him and between him and the balance of the tribe, and he guessed, though -it seemed improbable, that they might be defending him. He knew that Tarzan had -once spared the life of Mbonga, the chief, and that he had succored Tibo, and -Tibo’s mother, Momaya. So it was not impossible that he would help Bulabantu; -but how he could accomplish it Bulabantu could not guess; nor as a matter of -fact could Tarzan, for the odds against him were too great. -</p> - -<p> -Gunto and the others were slowly forcing Tarzan and Taug back toward Bulabantu. -The ape-man thought of his words with Tantor just a short time before: “Yes, -Tantor, it is good to live. I should hate to die.” And now he knew that he was -about to die, for the temper of the great bulls was mounting rapidly against -him. Always had many of them hated him, and all were suspicious of him. They -knew he was different. Tarzan knew it too; but he was glad that he was—he was a -MAN; that he had learned from his picture-books, and he was very proud of the -distinction. Presently, though, he would be a dead man. -</p> - -<p> -Gunto was preparing to charge. Tarzan knew the signs. He knew that the balance -of the bulls would charge with Gunto. Then it would soon be over. Something -moved among the verdure at the opposite side of the clearing. Tarzan saw it -just as Gunto, with the terrifying cry of a challenging ape, sprang forward. -Tarzan voiced a peculiar call and then crouched to meet the assault. Taug -crouched, too, and Bulabantu, assured now that these two were fighting upon his -side, couched his spear and sprang between them to receive the first charge of -the enemy. -</p> - -<p> -Simultaneously a huge bulk broke into the clearing from the jungle behind the -charging bulls. The trumpeting of a mad tusker rose shrill above the cries of -the anthropoids, as Tantor, the elephant, dashed swiftly across the clearing to -the aid of his friend. -</p> - -<p> -Gunto never closed upon the ape-man, nor did a fang enter flesh upon either -side. The terrific reverberation of Tantor’s challenge sent the bulls scurrying -to the trees, jabbering and scolding. Taug raced off with them. Only Tarzan and -Bulabantu remained. The latter stood his ground because he saw that the -devil-god did not run, and because the black had the courage to face a certain -and horrible death beside one who had quite evidently dared death for him. -</p> - -<p> -But it was a surprised Gomangani who saw the mighty elephant come to a sudden -halt in front of the ape-man and caress him with his long, sinuous trunk. -</p> - -<p> -Tarzan turned toward the black man. “Go!” he said in the language of the apes, -and pointed in the direction of the village of Mbonga. Bulabantu understood the -gesture, if not the word, nor did he lose time in obeying. Tarzan stood -watching him until he had disappeared. He knew that the apes would not follow. -Then he said to the elephant: “Pick me up!” and the tusker swung him lightly to -his head. -</p> - -<p> -“Tarzan goes to his lair by the big water,” shouted the ape-man to the apes in -the trees. “All of you are more foolish than Manu, except Taug and Teeka. Taug -and Teeka may come to see Tarzan; but the others must keep away. Tarzan is done -with the tribe of Kerchak.” -</p> - -<p> -He prodded Tantor with a calloused toe and the big beast swung off across the -clearing, the apes watching them until they were swallowed up by the jungle. -</p> - -<p> -Before the night fell Taug killed Gunto, picking a quarrel with him over his -attack upon Tarzan. -</p> - -<p> -For a moon the tribe saw nothing of Tarzan of the Apes. Many of them probably -never gave him a thought; but there were those who missed him more than Tarzan -imagined. Taug and Teeka often wished that he was back, and Taug determined a -dozen times to go and visit Tarzan in his seaside lair; but first one thing and -then another interfered. -</p> - -<p> -One night when Taug lay sleepless looking up at the starry heavens he recalled -the strange things that Tarzan once had suggested to him—that the bright spots -were the eyes of the meat-eaters waiting in the dark of the jungle sky to leap -upon Goro, the moon, and devour him. The more he thought about this matter the -more perturbed he became. -</p> - -<p> -And then a strange thing happened. Even as Taug looked at Goro, he saw a -portion of one edge disappear, precisely as though something was gnawing upon -it. Larger and larger became the hole in the side of Goro. With a scream, Taug -leaped to his feet. His frenzied “Kreeg-ahs!” brought the terrified tribe -screaming and chattering toward him. -</p> - -<p> -“Look!” cried Taug, pointing at the moon. “Look! It is as Tarzan said. Numa has -sprung through the fires and is devouring Goro. You called Tarzan names and -drove him from the tribe; now see how wise he was. Let one of you who hated -Tarzan go to Goro’s aid. See the eyes in the dark jungle all about Goro. He is -in danger and none can help him—none except Tarzan. Soon Goro will be devoured -by Numa and we shall have no more light after Kudu seeks his lair. How shall we -dance the Dum-Dum without the light of Goro?” -</p> - -<p> -The apes trembled and whimpered. Any manifestation of the powers of nature -always filled them with terror, for they could not understand. -</p> - -<p> -“Go and bring Tarzan,” cried one, and then they all took up the cry of -“Tarzan!” “Bring Tarzan!” “He will save Goro.” But who was to travel the dark -jungle by night to fetch him? -</p> - -<p> -“I will go,” volunteered Taug, and an instant later he was off through the -Stygian gloom toward the little land-locked harbor by the sea. -</p> - -<p> -And as the tribe waited they watched the slow devouring of the moon. Already -Numa had eaten out a great semicircular piece. At that rate Goro would be -entirely gone before Kudu came again. The apes trembled at the thought of -perpetual darkness by night. They could not sleep. Restlessly they moved here -and there among the branches of trees, watching Numa of the skies at his deadly -feast, and listening for the coming of Taug with Tarzan. -</p> - -<p> -Goro was nearly gone when the apes heard the sounds of the approach through the -trees of the two they awaited, and presently Tarzan, followed by Taug, swung -into a nearby tree. -</p> - -<p> -The ape-man wasted no time in idle words. In his hand was his long bow and at -his back hung a quiver full of arrows, poisoned arrows that he had stolen from -the village of the blacks; just as he had stolen the bow. Up into a great tree -he clambered, higher and higher until he stood swaying upon a small limb which -bent low beneath his weight. Here he had a clear and unobstructed view of the -heavens. He saw Goro and the inroads which the hungry Numa had made into his -shining surface. -</p> - -<p> -Raising his face to the moon, Tarzan shrilled forth his hideous challenge. -Faintly and from afar came the roar of an answering lion. The apes shivered. -Numa of the skies had answered Tarzan. -</p> - -<p> -Then the ape-man fitted an arrow to his bow, and drawing the shaft far back, -aimed its point at the heart of Numa where he lay in the heavens devouring -Goro. There was a loud twang as the released bolt shot into the dark heavens. -Again and again did Tarzan of the Apes launch his arrows at Numa, and all the -while the apes of the tribe of Kerchak huddled together in terror. -</p> - -<p> -At last came a cry from Taug. “Look! Look!” he screamed. “Numa is killed. -Tarzan has killed Numa. See! Goro is emerging from the belly of Numa,” and, -sure enough, the moon was gradually emerging from whatever had devoured her, -whether it was Numa, the lion, or the shadow of the earth; but were you to try -to convince an ape of the tribe of Kerchak that it was aught but Numa who so -nearly devoured Goro that night, or that another than Tarzan preserved the -brilliant god of their savage and mysterious rites from a frightful death, you -would have difficulty—and a fight on your hands. -</p> - -<p> -And so Tarzan of the Apes came back to the tribe of Kerchak, and in his coming -he took a long stride toward the kingship, which he ultimately won, for now the -apes looked up to him as a superior being. -</p> - -<p> -In all the tribe there was but one who was at all skeptical about the -plausibility of Tarzan’s remarkable rescue of Goro, and that one, strange as it -may seem, was Tarzan of the Apes. -</p> - -</div><!--end chapter--> - -<div>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 106 ***</div> -</body> - -</html> - diff --git a/old/old-2024-12-22/106-h/images/cover.jpg b/old/old-2024-12-22/106-h/images/cover.jpg Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index 7529a09..0000000 --- a/old/old-2024-12-22/106-h/images/cover.jpg +++ /dev/null diff --git a/old/old/106.txt b/old/old/106.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 10d1e98..0000000 --- a/old/old/106.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,7985 +0,0 @@ -Project Gutenberg's Jungle Tales of Tarzan, by Edgar Rice Burroughs - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with -almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or -re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included -with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org - - -Title: Jungle Tales of Tarzan - -Author: Edgar Rice Burroughs - -Release Date: June 5, 2008 [EBook #106] -[Last updated: July 4, 2012] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: ASCII - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK JUNGLE TALES OF TARZAN *** - - - - -Produced by Judith Boss. HTML version by Al Haines. - - - - - - - - -Jungle Tales of Tarzan - - -by - -Edgar Rice Burroughs - - - -Contents - -CHAPTER - - 1 Tarzan's First Love - 2 The Capture of Tarzan - 3 The Fight for the Balu - 4 The God of Tarzan - 5 Tarzan and the Black Boy - 6 The Witch-Doctor Seeks Vengeance - 7 The End of Bukawai - 8 The Lion - 9 The Nightmare - 10 The Battle for Teeka - 11 A Jungle Joke - 12 Tarzan Rescues the Moon - - - - - 1 - - Tarzan's First Love - -TEEKA, STRETCHED AT luxurious ease in the shade of the tropical forest, -presented, unquestionably, a most alluring picture of young, feminine -loveliness. Or at least so thought Tarzan of the Apes, who squatted -upon a low-swinging branch in a near-by tree and looked down upon her. - -Just to have seen him there, lolling upon the swaying bough of the -jungle-forest giant, his brown skin mottled by the brilliant equatorial -sunlight which percolated through the leafy canopy of green above him, -his clean-limbed body relaxed in graceful ease, his shapely head partly -turned in contemplative absorption and his intelligent, gray eyes -dreamily devouring the object of their devotion, you would have thought -him the reincarnation of some demigod of old. - -You would not have guessed that in infancy he had suckled at the breast -of a hideous, hairy she-ape, nor that in all his conscious past since -his parents had passed away in the little cabin by the landlocked -harbor at the jungle's verge, he had known no other associates than the -sullen bulls and the snarling cows of the tribe of Kerchak, the great -ape. - -Nor, could you have read the thoughts which passed through that active, -healthy brain, the longings and desires and aspirations which the sight -of Teeka inspired, would you have been any more inclined to give -credence to the reality of the origin of the ape-man. For, from his -thoughts alone, you could never have gleaned the truth--that he had -been born to a gentle English lady or that his sire had been an English -nobleman of time-honored lineage. - -Lost to Tarzan of the Apes was the truth of his origin. That he was -John Clayton, Lord Greystoke, with a seat in the House of Lords, he did -not know, nor, knowing, would have understood. - -Yes, Teeka was indeed beautiful! - -Of course Kala had been beautiful--one's mother is always that--but -Teeka was beautiful in a way all her own, an indescribable sort of way -which Tarzan was just beginning to sense in a rather vague and hazy -manner. - -For years had Tarzan and Teeka been play-fellows, and Teeka still -continued to be playful while the young bulls of her own age were -rapidly becoming surly and morose. Tarzan, if he gave the matter much -thought at all, probably reasoned that his growing attachment for the -young female could be easily accounted for by the fact that of the -former playmates she and he alone retained any desire to frolic as of -old. - -But today, as he sat gazing upon her, he found himself noting the -beauties of Teeka's form and features--something he never had done -before, since none of them had aught to do with Teeka's ability to race -nimbly through the lower terraces of the forest in the primitive games -of tag and hide-and-go-seek which Tarzan's fertile brain evolved. -Tarzan scratched his head, running his fingers deep into the shock of -black hair which framed his shapely, boyish face--he scratched his head -and sighed. Teeka's new-found beauty became as suddenly his despair. -He envied her the handsome coat of hair which covered her body. His -own smooth, brown hide he hated with a hatred born of disgust and -contempt. Years back he had harbored a hope that some day he, too, -would be clothed in hair as were all his brothers and sisters; but of -late he had been forced to abandon the delectable dream. - -Then there were Teeka's great teeth, not so large as the males, of -course, but still mighty, handsome things by comparison with Tarzan's -feeble white ones. And her beetling brows, and broad, flat nose, and -her mouth! Tarzan had often practiced making his mouth into a little -round circle and then puffing out his cheeks while he winked his eyes -rapidly; but he felt that he could never do it in the same cute and -irresistible way in which Teeka did it. - -And as he watched her that afternoon, and wondered, a young bull ape -who had been lazily foraging for food beneath the damp, matted carpet -of decaying vegetation at the roots of a near-by tree lumbered -awkwardly in Teeka's direction. The other apes of the tribe of Kerchak -moved listlessly about or lolled restfully in the midday heat of the -equatorial jungle. From time to time one or another of them had passed -close to Teeka, and Tarzan had been uninterested. Why was it then that -his brows contracted and his muscles tensed as he saw Taug pause beside -the young she and then squat down close to her? - -Tarzan always had liked Taug. Since childhood they had romped -together. Side by side they had squatted near the water, their quick, -strong fingers ready to leap forth and seize Pisah, the fish, should -that wary denizen of the cool depths dart surfaceward to the lure of -the insects Tarzan tossed upon the face of the pool. - -Together they had baited Tublat and teased Numa, the lion. Why, then, -should Tarzan feel the rise of the short hairs at the nape of his neck -merely because Taug sat close to Teeka? - -It is true that Taug was no longer the frolicsome ape of yesterday. -When his snarling-muscles bared his giant fangs no one could longer -imagine that Taug was in as playful a mood as when he and Tarzan had -rolled upon the turf in mimic battle. The Taug of today was a huge, -sullen bull ape, somber and forbidding. Yet he and Tarzan never had -quarreled. - -For a few minutes the young ape-man watched Taug press closer to Teeka. -He saw the rough caress of the huge paw as it stroked the sleek -shoulder of the she, and then Tarzan of the Apes slipped catlike to the -ground and approached the two. - -As he came his upper lip curled into a snarl, exposing his fighting -fangs, and a deep growl rumbled from his cavernous chest. Taug looked -up, batting his blood-shot eyes. Teeka half raised herself and looked -at Tarzan. Did she guess the cause of his perturbation? Who may say? -At any rate, she was feminine, and so she reached up and scratched Taug -behind one of his small, flat ears. - -Tarzan saw, and in the instant that he saw, Teeka was no longer the -little playmate of an hour ago; instead she was a wondrous thing--the -most wondrous in the world--and a possession for which Tarzan would -fight to the death against Taug or any other who dared question his -right of proprietorship. - -Stooped, his muscles rigid and one great shoulder turned toward the -young bull, Tarzan of the Apes sidled nearer and nearer. His face was -partly averted, but his keen gray eyes never left those of Taug, and as -he came, his growls increased in depth and volume. - -Taug rose upon his short legs, bristling. His fighting fangs were -bared. He, too, sidled, stiff-legged, and growled. - -"Teeka is Tarzan's," said the ape-man, in the low gutturals of the -great anthropoids. - -"Teeka is Taug's," replied the bull ape. - -Thaka and Numgo and Gunto, disturbed by the growlings of the two young -bulls, looked up half apathetic, half interested. They were sleepy, -but they sensed a fight. It would break the monotony of the humdrum -jungle life they led. - -Coiled about his shoulders was Tarzan's long grass rope, in his hand -was the hunting knife of the long-dead father he had never known. In -Taug's little brain lay a great respect for the shiny bit of sharp -metal which the ape-boy knew so well how to use. With it had he slain -Tublat, his fierce foster father, and Bolgani, the gorilla. Taug knew -these things, and so he came warily, circling about Tarzan in search of -an opening. The latter, made cautious because of his lesser bulk and -the inferiority of his natural armament, followed similar tactics. - -For a time it seemed that the altercation would follow the way of the -majority of such differences between members of the tribe and that one -of them would finally lose interest and wander off to prosecute some -other line of endeavor. Such might have been the end of it had the -CASUS BELLI been other than it was; but Teeka was flattered at the -attention that was being drawn to her and by the fact that these two -young bulls were contemplating battle on her account. Such a thing -never before had occurred in Teeka's brief life. She had seen other -bulls battling for other and older shes, and in the depth of her wild -little heart she had longed for the day when the jungle grasses would -be reddened with the blood of mortal combat for her fair sake. - -So now she squatted upon her haunches and insulted both her admirers -impartially. She hurled taunts at them for their cowardice, and called -them vile names, such as Histah, the snake, and Dango, the hyena. She -threatened to call Mumga to chastise them with a stick--Mumga, who was -so old that she could no longer climb and so toothless that she was -forced to confine her diet almost exclusively to bananas and grub-worms. - -The apes who were watching heard and laughed. Taug was infuriated. He -made a sudden lunge for Tarzan, but the ape-boy leaped nimbly to one -side, eluding him, and with the quickness of a cat wheeled and leaped -back again to close quarters. His hunting knife was raised above his -head as he came in, and he aimed a vicious blow at Taug's neck. The -ape wheeled to dodge the weapon so that the keen blade struck him but a -glancing blow upon the shoulder. - -The spurt of red blood brought a shrill cry of delight from Teeka. Ah, -but this was something worth while! She glanced about to see if others -had witnessed this evidence of her popularity. Helen of Troy was never -one whit more proud than was Teeka at that moment. - -If Teeka had not been so absorbed in her own vaingloriousness she might -have noted the rustling of leaves in the tree above her--a rustling -which was not caused by any movement of the wind, since there was no -wind. And had she looked up she might have seen a sleek body crouching -almost directly over her and wicked yellow eyes glaring hungrily down -upon her, but Teeka did not look up. - -With his wound Taug had backed off growling horribly. Tarzan had -followed him, screaming insults at him, and menacing him with his -brandishing blade. Teeka moved from beneath the tree in an effort to -keep close to the duelists. - -The branch above Teeka bent and swayed a trifle with the movement of -the body of the watcher stretched along it. Taug had halted now and -was preparing to make a new stand. His lips were flecked with foam, -and saliva drooled from his jowls. He stood with head lowered and arms -outstretched, preparing for a sudden charge to close quarters. Could -he but lay his mighty hands upon that soft, brown skin the battle would -be his. Taug considered Tarzan's manner of fighting unfair. He would -not close. Instead, he leaped nimbly just beyond the reach of Taug's -muscular fingers. - -The ape-boy had as yet never come to a real trial of strength with a -bull ape, other than in play, and so he was not at all sure that it -would be safe to put his muscles to the test in a life and death -struggle. Not that he was afraid, for Tarzan knew nothing of fear. -The instinct of self-preservation gave him caution--that was all. He -took risks only when it seemed necessary, and then he would hesitate at -nothing. - -His own method of fighting seemed best fitted to his build and to his -armament. His teeth, while strong and sharp, were, as weapons of -offense, pitifully inadequate by comparison with the mighty fighting -fangs of the anthropoids. By dancing about, just out of reach of an -antagonist, Tarzan could do infinite injury with his long, sharp -hunting knife, and at the same time escape many of the painful and -dangerous wounds which would be sure to follow his falling into the -clutches of a bull ape. - -And so Taug charged and bellowed like a bull, and Tarzan of the Apes -danced lightly to this side and that, hurling jungle billingsgate at -his foe, the while he nicked him now and again with his knife. - -There were lulls in the fighting when the two would stand panting for -breath, facing each other, mustering their wits and their forces for a -new onslaught. It was during a pause such as this that Taug chanced to -let his eyes rove beyond his foeman. Instantly the entire aspect of -the ape altered. Rage left his countenance to be supplanted by an -expression of fear. - -With a cry that every ape there recognized, Taug turned and fled. No -need to question him--his warning proclaimed the near presence of their -ancient enemy. - -Tarzan started to seek safety, as did the other members of the tribe, -and as he did so he heard a panther's scream mingled with the -frightened cry of a she-ape. Taug heard, too; but he did not pause in -his flight. - -With the ape-boy, however, it was different. He looked back to see if -any member of the tribe was close pressed by the beast of prey, and the -sight that met his eyes filled them with an expression of horror. - -Teeka it was who cried out in terror as she fled across a little -clearing toward the trees upon the opposite side, for after her leaped -Sheeta, the panther, in easy, graceful bounds. Sheeta appeared to be -in no hurry. His meat was assured, since even though the ape reached -the trees ahead of him she could not climb beyond his clutches before -he could be upon her. - -Tarzan saw that Teeka must die. He cried to Taug and the other bulls -to hasten to Teeka's assistance, and at the same time he ran toward the -pursuing beast, taking down his rope as he came. Tarzan knew that once -the great bulls were aroused none of the jungle, not even Numa, the -lion, was anxious to measure fangs with them, and that if all those of -the tribe who chanced to be present today would charge, Sheeta, the -great cat, would doubtless turn tail and run for his life. - -Taug heard, as did the others, but no one came to Tarzan's assistance -or Teeka's rescue, and Sheeta was rapidly closing up the distance -between himself and his prey. - -The ape-boy, leaping after the panther, cried aloud to the beast in an -effort to turn it from Teeka or otherwise distract its attention until -the she-ape could gain the safety of the higher branches where Sheeta -dared not go. He called the panther every opprobrious name that fell -to his tongue. He dared him to stop and do battle with him; but Sheeta -only loped on after the luscious titbit now almost within his reach. - -Tarzan was not far behind and he was gaining, but the distance was so -short that he scarce hoped to overhaul the carnivore before it had -felled Teeka. In his right hand the boy swung his grass rope above his -head as he ran. He hated to chance a miss, for the distance was much -greater than he ever had cast before except in practice. It was the -full length of his grass rope which separated him from Sheeta, and yet -there was no other thing to do. He could not reach the brute's side -before it overhauled Teeka. He must chance a throw. - -And just as Teeka sprang for the lower limb of a great tree, and Sheeta -rose behind her in a long, sinuous leap, the coils of the ape-boy's -grass rope shot swiftly through the air, straightening into a long thin -line as the open noose hovered for an instant above the savage head and -the snarling jaws. Then it settled--clean and true about the tawny -neck it settled, and Tarzan, with a quick twist of his rope-hand, drew -the noose taut, bracing himself for the shock when Sheeta should have -taken up the slack. - -Just short of Teeka's glossy rump the cruel talons raked the air as the -rope tightened and Sheeta was brought to a sudden stop--a stop that -snapped the big beast over upon his back. Instantly Sheeta was -up--with glaring eyes, and lashing tail, and gaping jaws, from which -issued hideous cries of rage and disappointment. - -He saw the ape-boy, the cause of his discomfiture, scarce forty feet -before him, and Sheeta charged. - -Teeka was safe now; Tarzan saw to that by a quick glance into the tree -whose safety she had gained not an instant too soon, and Sheeta was -charging. It was useless to risk his life in idle and unequal combat -from which no good could come; but could he escape a battle with the -enraged cat? And if he was forced to fight, what chance had he to -survive? Tarzan was constrained to admit that his position was aught -but a desirable one. The trees were too far to hope to reach in time -to elude the cat. Tarzan could but stand facing that hideous charge. -In his right hand he grasped his hunting knife--a puny, futile thing -indeed by comparison with the great rows of mighty teeth which lined -Sheeta's powerful jaws, and the sharp talons encased within his padded -paws; yet the young Lord Greystoke faced it with the same courageous -resignation with which some fearless ancestor went down to defeat and -death on Senlac Hill by Hastings. - -From safety points in the trees the great apes watched, screaming -hatred at Sheeta and advice at Tarzan, for the progenitors of man have, -naturally, many human traits. Teeka was frightened. She screamed at -the bulls to hasten to Tarzan's assistance; but the bulls were -otherwise engaged--principally in giving advice and making faces. -Anyway, Tarzan was not a real Mangani, so why should they risk their -lives in an effort to protect him? - -And now Sheeta was almost upon the lithe, naked body, and--the body was -not there. Quick as was the great cat, the ape-boy was quicker. He -leaped to one side almost as the panther's talons were closing upon -him, and as Sheeta went hurtling to the ground beyond, Tarzan was -racing for the safety of the nearest tree. - -The panther recovered himself almost immediately and, wheeling, tore -after his prey, the ape-boy's rope dragging along the ground behind -him. In doubling back after Tarzan, Sheeta had passed around a low -bush. It was a mere nothing in the path of any jungle creature of the -size and weight of Sheeta--provided it had no trailing rope dangling -behind. But Sheeta was handicapped by such a rope, and as he leaped -once again after Tarzan of the Apes the rope encircled the small bush, -became tangled in it and brought the panther to a sudden stop. An -instant later Tarzan was safe among the higher branches of a small tree -into which Sheeta could not follow him. - -Here he perched, hurling twigs and epithets at the raging feline -beneath him. The other members of the tribe now took up the -bombardment, using such hard-shelled fruits and dead branches as came -within their reach, until Sheeta, goaded to frenzy and snapping at the -grass rope, finally succeeded in severing its strands. For a moment -the panther stood glaring first at one of his tormentors and then at -another, until, with a final scream of rage, he turned and slunk off -into the tangled mazes of the jungle. - -A half hour later the tribe was again upon the ground, feeding as -though naught had occurred to interrupt the somber dullness of their -lives. Tarzan had recovered the greater part of his rope and was busy -fashioning a new noose, while Teeka squatted close behind him, in -evident token that her choice was made. - -Taug eyed them sullenly. Once when he came close, Teeka bared her -fangs and growled at him, and Tarzan showed his canines in an ugly -snarl; but Taug did not provoke a quarrel. He seemed to accept after -the manner of his kind the decision of the she as an indication that he -had been vanquished in his battle for her favors. - -Later in the day, his rope repaired, Tarzan took to the trees in search -of game. More than his fellows he required meat, and so, while they -were satisfied with fruits and herbs and beetles, which could be -discovered without much effort upon their part, Tarzan spent -considerable time hunting the game animals whose flesh alone satisfied -the cravings of his stomach and furnished sustenance and strength to -the mighty thews which, day by day, were building beneath the soft, -smooth texture of his brown hide. - -Taug saw him depart, and then, quite casually, the big beast hunted -closer and closer to Teeka in his search for food. At last he was -within a few feet of her, and when he shot a covert glance at her he -saw that she was appraising him and that there was no evidence of anger -upon her face. - -Taug expanded his great chest and rolled about on his short legs, -making strange growlings in his throat. He raised his lips, baring his -fangs. My, but what great, beautiful fangs he had! Teeka could not but -notice them. She also let her eyes rest in admiration upon Taug's -beetling brows and his short, powerful neck. What a beautiful creature -he was indeed! - -Taug, flattered by the unconcealed admiration in her eyes, strutted -about, as proud and as vain as a peacock. Presently he began to -inventory his assets, mentally, and shortly he found himself comparing -them with those of his rival. - -Taug grunted, for there was no comparison. How could one compare his -beautiful coat with the smooth and naked hideousness of Tarzan's bare -hide? Who could see beauty in the stingy nose of the Tarmangani after -looking at Taug's broad nostrils? And Tarzan's eyes! Hideous things, -showing white about them, and entirely unrimmed with red. Taug knew -that his own blood-shot eyes were beautiful, for he had seen them -reflected in the glassy surface of many a drinking pool. - -The bull drew nearer to Teeka, finally squatting close against her. -When Tarzan returned from his hunting a short time later it was to see -Teeka contentedly scratching the back of his rival. - -Tarzan was disgusted. Neither Taug nor Teeka saw him as he swung -through the trees into the glade. He paused a moment, looking at them; -then, with a sorrowful grimace, he turned and faded away into the -labyrinth of leafy boughs and festooned moss out of which he had come. - -Tarzan wished to be as far away from the cause of his heartache as he -could. He was suffering the first pangs of blighted love, and he -didn't quite know what was the matter with him. He thought that he was -angry with Taug, and so he couldn't understand why it was that he had -run away instead of rushing into mortal combat with the destroyer of -his happiness. - -He also thought that he was angry with Teeka, yet a vision of her many -beauties persisted in haunting him, so that he could only see her in -the light of love as the most desirable thing in the world. - -The ape-boy craved affection. From babyhood until the time of her -death, when the poisoned arrow of Kulonga had pierced her savage heart, -Kala had represented to the English boy the sole object of love which -he had known. - -In her wild, fierce way Kala had loved her adopted son, and Tarzan had -returned that love, though the outward demonstrations of it were no -greater than might have been expected from any other beast of the -jungle. It was not until he was bereft of her that the boy realized -how deep had been his attachment for his mother, for as such he looked -upon her. - -In Teeka he had seen within the past few hours a substitute for -Kala--someone to fight for and to hunt for--someone to caress; but now -his dream was shattered. Something hurt within his breast. He placed -his hand over his heart and wondered what had happened to him. Vaguely -he attributed his pain to Teeka. The more he thought of Teeka as he -had last seen her, caressing Taug, the more the thing within his breast -hurt him. - -Tarzan shook his head and growled; then on and on through the jungle he -swung, and the farther he traveled and the more he thought upon his -wrongs, the nearer he approached becoming an irreclaimable misogynist. - -Two days later he was still hunting alone--very morose and very -unhappy; but he was determined never to return to the tribe. He could -not bear the thought of seeing Taug and Teeka always together. As he -swung upon a great limb Numa, the lion, and Sabor, the lioness, passed -beneath him, side by side, and Sabor leaned against the lion and bit -playfully at his cheek. It was a half-caress. Tarzan sighed and hurled -a nut at them. - -Later he came upon several of Mbonga's black warriors. He was upon the -point of dropping his noose about the neck of one of them, who was a -little distance from his companions, when he became interested in the -thing which occupied the savages. They were building a cage in the -trail and covering it with leafy branches. When they had completed -their work the structure was scarcely visible. - -Tarzan wondered what the purpose of the thing might be, and why, when -they had built it, they turned away and started back along the trail in -the direction of their village. - -It had been some time since Tarzan had visited the blacks and looked -down from the shelter of the great trees which overhung their palisade -upon the activities of his enemies, from among whom had come the slayer -of Kala. - -Although he hated them, Tarzan derived considerable entertainment in -watching them at their daily life within the village, and especially at -their dances, when the fires glared against their naked bodies as they -leaped and turned and twisted in mimic warfare. It was rather in the -hope of witnessing something of the kind that he now followed the -warriors back toward their village, but in this he was disappointed, -for there was no dance that night. - -Instead, from the safe concealment of his tree, Tarzan saw little -groups seated about tiny fires discussing the events of the day, and in -the darker corners of the village he descried isolated couples talking -and laughing together, and always one of each couple was a young man -and the other a young woman. - -Tarzan cocked his head upon one side and thought, and before he went to -sleep that night, curled in the crotch of the great tree above the -village, Teeka filled his mind, and afterward she filled his -dreams--she and the young black men laughing and talking with the young -black women. - -Taug, hunting alone, had wandered some distance from the balance of the -tribe. He was making his way slowly along an elephant path when he -discovered that it was blocked with undergrowth. Now Taug, come into -maturity, was an evil-natured brute of an exceeding short temper. When -something thwarted him, his sole idea was to overcome it by brute -strength and ferocity, and so now when he found his way blocked, he -tore angrily into the leafy screen and an instant later found himself -within a strange lair, his progress effectually blocked, -notwithstanding his most violent efforts to forge ahead. - -Biting and striking at the barrier, Taug finally worked himself into a -frightful rage, but all to no avail; and at last he became convinced -that he must turn back. But when he would have done so, what was his -chagrin to discover that another barrier had dropped behind him while -he fought to break down the one before him! Taug was trapped. Until -exhaustion overcame him he fought frantically for his freedom; but all -for naught. - -In the morning a party of blacks set out from the village of Mbonga in -the direction of the trap they had constructed the previous day, while -among the branches of the trees above them hovered a naked young giant -filled with the curiosity of the wild things. Manu, the monkey, -chattered and scolded as Tarzan passed, and though he was not afraid of -the familiar figure of the ape-boy, he hugged closer to him the little -brown body of his life's companion. Tarzan laughed as he saw it; but -the laugh was followed by a sudden clouding of his face and a deep sigh. - -A little farther on, a gaily feathered bird strutted about before the -admiring eyes of his somber-hued mate. It seemed to Tarzan that -everything in the jungle was combining to remind him that he had lost -Teeka; yet every day of his life he had seen these same things and -thought nothing of them. - -When the blacks reached the trap, Taug set up a great commotion. -Seizing the bars of his prison, he shook them frantically, and all the -while he roared and growled terrifically. The blacks were elated, for -while they had not built their trap for this hairy tree man, they were -delighted with their catch. - -Tarzan pricked up his ears when he heard the voice of a great ape and, -circling quickly until he was down wind from the trap, he sniffed at -the air in search of the scent spoor of the prisoner. Nor was it long -before there came to those delicate nostrils the familiar odor that -told Tarzan the identity of the captive as unerringly as though he had -looked upon Taug with his eyes. Yes, it was Taug, and he was alone. - -Tarzan grinned as he approached to discover what the blacks would do to -their prisoner. Doubtless they would slay him at once. Again Tarzan -grinned. Now he could have Teeka for his own, with none to dispute his -right to her. As he watched, he saw the black warriors strip the -screen from about the cage, fasten ropes to it and drag it away along -the trail in the direction of their village. - -Tarzan watched until his rival passed out of sight, still beating upon -the bars of his prison and growling out his anger and his threats. -Then the ape-boy turned and swung rapidly off in search of the tribe, -and Teeka. - -Once, upon the journey, he surprised Sheeta and his family in a little -overgrown clearing. The great cat lay stretched upon the ground, while -his mate, one paw across her lord's savage face, licked at the soft -white fur at his throat. - -Tarzan increased his speed then until he fairly flew through the -forest, nor was it long before he came upon the tribe. He saw them -before they saw him, for of all the jungle creatures, none passed more -quietly than Tarzan of the Apes. He saw Kamma and her mate feeding -side by side, their hairy bodies rubbing against each other. And he -saw Teeka feeding by herself. Not for long would she feed thus in -loneliness, thought Tarzan, as with a bound he landed amongst them. - -There was a startled rush and a chorus of angry and frightened snarls, -for Tarzan had surprised them; but there was more, too, than mere -nervous shock to account for the bristling neck hair which remained -standing long after the apes had discovered the identity of the -newcomer. - -Tarzan noticed this as he had noticed it many times in the past--that -always his sudden coming among them left them nervous and unstrung for -a considerable time, and that they one and all found it necessary to -satisfy themselves that he was indeed Tarzan by smelling about him a -half dozen or more times before they calmed down. - -Pushing through them, he made his way toward Teeka; but as he -approached her the ape drew away. - -"Teeka," he said, "it is Tarzan. You belong to Tarzan. I have come -for you." - -The ape drew closer, looking him over carefully. Finally she sniffed -at him, as though to make assurance doubly sure. - -"Where is Taug?" she asked. - -"The Gomangani have him," replied Tarzan. "They will kill him." - -In the eyes of the she, Tarzan saw a wistful expression and a troubled -look of sorrow as he told her of Taug's fate; but she came quite close -and snuggled against him, and Tarzan, Lord Greystoke, put his arm about -her. - -As he did so he noticed, with a start, the strange incongruity of that -smooth, brown arm against the black and hairy coat of his lady-love. He -recalled the paw of Sheeta's mate across Sheeta's face--no incongruity -there. He thought of little Manu hugging his she, and how the one -seemed to belong to the other. Even the proud male bird, with his gay -plumage, bore a close resemblance to his quieter spouse, while Numa, -but for his shaggy mane, was almost a counterpart of Sabor, the -lioness. The males and the females differed, it was true; but not with -such differences as existed between Tarzan and Teeka. - -Tarzan was puzzled. There was something wrong. His arm dropped from -the shoulder of Teeka. Very slowly he drew away from her. She looked -at him with her head cocked upon one side. Tarzan rose to his full -height and beat upon his breast with his fists. He raised his head -toward the heavens and opened his mouth. From the depths of his lungs -rose the fierce, weird challenge of the victorious bull ape. The tribe -turned curiously to eye him. He had killed nothing, nor was there any -antagonist to be goaded to madness by the savage scream. No, there was -no excuse for it, and they turned back to their feeding, but with an -eye upon the ape-man lest he be preparing to suddenly run amuck. - -As they watched him they saw him swing into a near-by tree and -disappear from sight. Then they forgot him, even Teeka. - -Mbonga's black warriors, sweating beneath their strenuous task, and -resting often, made slow progress toward their village. Always the -savage beast in the primitive cage growled and roared when they moved -him. He beat upon the bars and slavered at the mouth. His noise was -hideous. - -They had almost completed their journey and were making their final -rest before forging ahead to gain the clearing in which lay their -village. A few more minutes would have taken them out of the forest, -and then, doubtless, the thing would not have happened which did happen. - -A silent figure moved through the trees above them. Keen eyes -inspected the cage and counted the number of warriors. An alert and -daring brain figured upon the chances of success when a certain plan -should be put to the test. - -Tarzan watched the blacks lolling in the shade. They were exhausted. -Already several of them slept. He crept closer, pausing just above -them. Not a leaf rustled before his stealthy advance. He waited in -the infinite patience of the beast of prey. Presently but two of the -warriors remained awake, and one of these was dozing. - -Tarzan of the Apes gathered himself, and as he did so the black who did -not sleep arose and passed around to the rear of the cage. The ape-boy -followed just above his head. Taug was eyeing the warrior and emitting -low growls. Tarzan feared that the anthropoid would awaken the -sleepers. - -In a whisper which was inaudible to the ears of the Negro, Tarzan -whispered Taug's name, cautioning the ape to silence, and Taug's -growling ceased. - -The black approached the rear of the cage and examined the fastenings -of the door, and as he stood there the beast above him launched itself -from the tree full upon his back. Steel fingers circled his throat, -choking the cry which sprang to the lips of the terrified man. Strong -teeth fastened themselves in his shoulder, and powerful legs wound -themselves about his torso. - -The black in a frenzy of terror tried to dislodge the silent thing -which clung to him. He threw himself to the ground and rolled about; -but still those mighty fingers closed more and more tightly their -deadly grip. - -The man's mouth gaped wide, his swollen tongue protruded, his eyes -started from their sockets; but the relentless fingers only increased -their pressure. - -Taug was a silent witness of the struggle. In his fierce little brain -he doubtless wondered what purpose prompted Tarzan to attack the black. -Taug had not forgotten his recent battle with the ape-boy, nor the -cause of it. Now he saw the form of the Gomangani suddenly go limp. -There was a convulsive shiver and the man lay still. - -Tarzan sprang from his prey and ran to the door of the cage. With -nimble fingers he worked rapidly at the thongs which held the door in -place. Taug could only watch--he could not help. Presently Tarzan -pushed the thing up a couple of feet and Taug crawled out. The ape -would have turned upon the sleeping blacks that he might wreak his pent -vengeance; but Tarzan would not permit it. - -Instead, the ape-boy dragged the body of the black within the cage and -propped it against the side bars. Then he lowered the door and made -fast the thongs as they had been before. - -A happy smile lighted his features as he worked, for one of his -principal diversions was the baiting of the blacks of Mbonga's village. -He could imagine their terror when they awoke and found the dead body -of their comrade fast in the cage where they had left the great ape -safely secured but a few minutes before. - -Tarzan and Taug took to the trees together, the shaggy coat of the -fierce ape brushing the sleek skin of the English lordling as they -passed through the primeval jungle side by side. - -"Go back to Teeka," said Tarzan. "She is yours. Tarzan does not want -her." - -"Tarzan has found another she?" asked Taug. - -The ape-boy shrugged. - -"For the Gomangani there is another Gomangani," he said; "for Numa, the -lion, there is Sabor, the lioness; for Sheeta there is a she of his own -kind; for Bara, the deer; for Manu, the monkey; for all the beasts and -the birds of the jungle is there a mate. Only for Tarzan of the Apes -is there none. Taug is an ape. Teeka is an ape. Go back to Teeka. -Tarzan is a man. He will go alone." - - - - - - 2 - - The Capture of Tarzan - -THE BLACK WARRIORS labored in the humid heat of the jungle's stifling -shade. With war spears they loosened the thick, black loam and the -deep layers of rotting vegetation. With heavy-nailed fingers they -scooped away the disintegrated earth from the center of the age-old -game trail. Often they ceased their labors to squat, resting and -gossiping, with much laughter, at the edge of the pit they were digging. - -Against the boles of near-by trees leaned their long, oval shields of -thick buffalo hide, and the spears of those who were doing the -scooping. Sweat glistened upon their smooth, ebon skins, beneath which -rolled rounded muscles, supple in the perfection of nature's -uncontaminated health. - -A reed buck, stepping warily along the trail toward water, halted as a -burst of laughter broke upon his startled ears. For a moment he stood -statuesque but for his sensitively dilating nostrils; then he wheeled -and fled noiselessly from the terrifying presence of man. - -A hundred yards away, deep in the tangle of impenetrable jungle, Numa, -the lion, raised his massive head. Numa had dined well until almost -daybreak and it had required much noise to awaken him. Now he lifted -his muzzle and sniffed the air, caught the acrid scent spoor of the -reed buck and the heavy scent of man. But Numa was well filled. With -a low, disgusted grunt he rose and slunk away. - -Brilliantly plumaged birds with raucous voices darted from tree to -tree. Little monkeys, chattering and scolding, swung through the -swaying limbs above the black warriors. Yet they were alone, for the -teeming jungle with all its myriad life, like the swarming streets of a -great metropolis, is one of the loneliest spots in God's great universe. - -But were they alone? - -Above them, lightly balanced upon a leafy tree limb, a gray-eyed youth -watched with eager intentness their every move. The fire of hate, -restrained, smoldered beneath the lad's evident desire to know the -purpose of the black men's labors. Such a one as these it was who had -slain his beloved Kala. For them there could be naught but enmity, yet -he liked well to watch them, avid as he was for greater knowledge of -the ways of man. - -He saw the pit grow in depth until a great hole yawned the width of the -trail--a hole which was amply large enough to hold at one time all of -the six excavators. Tarzan could not guess the purpose of so great a -labor. And when they cut long stakes, sharpened at their upper ends, -and set them at intervals upright in the bottom of the pit, his -wonderment but increased, nor was it satisfied with the placing of the -light cross-poles over the pit, or the careful arrangement of leaves -and earth which completely hid from view the work the black men had -performed. - -When they were done they surveyed their handiwork with evident -satisfaction, and Tarzan surveyed it, too. Even to his practiced eye -there remained scarce a vestige of evidence that the ancient game trail -had been tampered with in any way. - -So absorbed was the ape-man in speculation as to the purpose of the -covered pit that he permitted the blacks to depart in the direction of -their village without the usual baiting which had rendered him the -terror of Mbonga's people and had afforded Tarzan both a vehicle of -revenge and a source of inexhaustible delight. - -Puzzle as he would, however, he could not solve the mystery of the -concealed pit, for the ways of the blacks were still strange ways to -Tarzan. They had entered his jungle but a short time before--the first -of their kind to encroach upon the age-old supremacy of the beasts -which laired there. To Numa, the lion, to Tantor, the elephant, to the -great apes and the lesser apes, to each and all of the myriad creatures -of this savage wild, the ways of man were new. They had much to learn -of these black, hairless creatures that walked erect upon their hind -paws--and they were learning it slowly, and always to their sorrow. - -Shortly after the blacks had departed, Tarzan swung easily to the -trail. Sniffing suspiciously, he circled the edge of the pit. -Squatting upon his haunches, he scraped away a little earth to expose -one of the cross-bars. He sniffed at this, touched it, cocked his head -upon one side, and contemplated it gravely for several minutes. Then -he carefully re-covered it, arranging the earth as neatly as had the -blacks. This done, he swung himself back among the branches of the -trees and moved off in search of his hairy fellows, the great apes of -the tribe of Kerchak. - -Once he crossed the trail of Numa, the lion, pausing for a moment to -hurl a soft fruit at the snarling face of his enemy, and to taunt and -insult him, calling him eater of carrion and brother of Dango, the -hyena. Numa, his yellow-green eyes round and burning with concentrated -hate, glared up at the dancing figure above him. Low growls vibrated -his heavy jowls and his great rage transmitted to his sinuous tail a -sharp, whiplike motion; but realizing from past experience the futility -of long distance argument with the ape-man, he turned presently and -struck off into the tangled vegetation which hid him from the view of -his tormentor. With a final scream of jungle invective and an apelike -grimace at his departing foe, Tarzan continued along his way. - -Another mile and a shifting wind brought to his keen nostrils a -familiar, pungent odor close at hand, and a moment later there loomed -beneath him a huge, gray-black bulk forging steadily along the jungle -trail. Tarzan seized and broke a small tree limb, and at the sudden -cracking sound the ponderous figure halted. Great ears were thrown -forward, and a long, supple trunk rose quickly to wave to and fro in -search of the scent of an enemy, while two weak, little eyes peered -suspiciously and futilely about in quest of the author of the noise -which had disturbed his peaceful way. - -Tarzan laughed aloud and came closer above the head of the pachyderm. - -"Tantor! Tantor!" he cried. "Bara, the deer, is less fearful than -you--you, Tantor, the elephant, greatest of the jungle folk with the -strength of as many Numas as I have toes upon my feet and fingers upon -my hands. Tantor, who can uproot great trees, trembles with fear at -the sound of a broken twig." - -A rumbling noise, which might have been either a sign of contempt or a -sigh of relief, was Tantor's only reply as the uplifted trunk and ears -came down and the beast's tail dropped to normal; but his eyes still -roved about in search of Tarzan. He was not long kept in suspense, -however, as to the whereabouts of the ape-man, for a second later the -youth dropped lightly to the broad head of his old friend. Then -stretching himself at full length, he drummed with his bare toes upon -the thick hide, and as his fingers scratched the more tender surfaces -beneath the great ears, he talked to Tantor of the gossip of the jungle -as though the great beast understood every word that he said. - -Much there was which Tarzan could make Tantor understand, and though -the small talk of the wild was beyond the great, gray dreadnaught of -the jungle, he stood with blinking eyes and gently swaying trunk as -though drinking in every word of it with keenest appreciation. As a -matter of fact it was the pleasant, friendly voice and caressing hands -behind his ears which he enjoyed, and the close proximity of him whom -he had often borne upon his back since Tarzan, as a little child, had -once fearlessly approached the great bull, assuming upon the part of -the pachyderm the same friendliness which filled his own heart. - -In the years of their association Tarzan had discovered that he -possessed an inexplicable power to govern and direct his mighty friend. -At his bidding, Tantor would come from a great distance--as far as his -keen ears could detect the shrill and piercing summons of the -ape-man--and when Tarzan was squatted upon his head, Tantor would -lumber through the jungle in any direction which his rider bade him go. -It was the power of the man-mind over that of the brute and it was just -as effective as though both fully understood its origin, though neither -did. - -For half an hour Tarzan sprawled there upon Tantor's back. Time had no -meaning for either of them. Life, as they saw it, consisted -principally in keeping their stomachs filled. To Tarzan this was a -less arduous labor than to Tantor, for Tarzan's stomach was smaller, -and being omnivorous, food was less difficult to obtain. If one sort -did not come readily to hand, there were always many others to satisfy -his hunger. He was less particular as to his diet than Tantor, who -would eat only the bark of certain trees, and the wood of others, while -a third appealed to him only through its leaves, and these, perhaps, -just at certain seasons of the year. - -Tantor must needs spend the better part of his life in filling his -immense stomach against the needs of his mighty thews. It is thus with -all the lower orders--their lives are so occupied either with searching -for food or with the processes of digestion that they have little time -for other considerations. Doubtless it is this handicap which has kept -them from advancing as rapidly as man, who has more time to give to -thought upon other matters. - -However, these questions troubled Tarzan but little, and Tantor not at -all. What the former knew was that he was happy in the companionship -of the elephant. He did not know why. He did not know that because he -was a human being--a normal, healthy human being--he craved some living -thing upon which to lavish his affection. His childhood playmates -among the apes of Kerchak were now great, sullen brutes. They felt nor -inspired but little affection. The younger apes Tarzan still played -with occasionally. In his savage way he loved them; but they were far -from satisfying or restful companions. Tantor was a great mountain of -calm, of poise, of stability. It was restful and satisfying to sprawl -upon his rough pate and pour one's vague hopes and aspirations into the -great ears which flapped ponderously to and fro in apparent -understanding. Of all the jungle folk, Tantor commanded Tarzan's -greatest love since Kala had been taken from him. Sometimes Tarzan -wondered if Tantor reciprocated his affection. It was difficult to -know. - -It was the call of the stomach--the most compelling and insistent call -which the jungle knows--that took Tarzan finally back to the trees and -off in search of food, while Tantor continued his interrupted journey -in the opposite direction. - -For an hour the ape-man foraged. A lofty nest yielded its fresh, warm -harvest. Fruits, berries, and tender plantain found a place upon his -menu in the order that he happened upon them, for he did not seek such -foods. Meat, meat, meat! It was always meat that Tarzan of the Apes -hunted; but sometimes meat eluded him, as today. - -And as he roamed the jungle his active mind busied itself not alone -with his hunting, but with many other subjects. He had a habit of -recalling often the events of the preceding days and hours. He lived -over his visit with Tantor; he cogitated upon the digging blacks and -the strange, covered pit they had left behind them. He wondered again -and again what its purpose might be. He compared perceptions and -arrived at judgments. He compared judgments, reaching conclusions--not -always correct ones, it is true, but at least he used his brain for the -purpose God intended it, which was the less difficult because he was -not handicapped by the second-hand, and usually erroneous, judgment of -others. - -And as he puzzled over the covered pit, there loomed suddenly before -his mental vision a huge, gray-black bulk which lumbered ponderously -along a jungle trail. Instantly Tarzan tensed to the shock of a sudden -fear. Decision and action usually occurred simultaneously in the life -of the ape-man, and now he was away through the leafy branches ere the -realization of the pit's purpose had scarce formed in his mind. - -Swinging from swaying limb to swaying limb, he raced through the middle -terraces where the trees grew close together. Again he dropped to the -ground and sped, silently and light of foot, over the carpet of -decaying vegetation, only to leap again into the trees where the -tangled undergrowth precluded rapid advance upon the surface. - -In his anxiety he cast discretion to the winds. The caution of the -beast was lost in the loyalty of the man, and so it came that he -entered a large clearing, denuded of trees, without a thought of what -might lie there or upon the farther edge to dispute the way with him. - -He was half way across when directly in his path and but a few yards -away there rose from a clump of tall grasses a half dozen chattering -birds. Instantly Tarzan turned aside, for he knew well enough what -manner of creature the presence of these little sentinels proclaimed. -Simultaneously Buto, the rhinoceros, scrambled to his short legs and -charged furiously. Haphazard charges Buto, the rhinoceros. With his -weak eyes he sees but poorly even at short distances, and whether his -erratic rushes are due to the panic of fear as he attempts to escape, -or to the irascible temper with which he is generally credited, it is -difficult to determine. Nor is the matter of little moment to one whom -Buto charges, for if he be caught and tossed, the chances are that -naught will interest him thereafter. - -And today it chanced that Buto bore down straight upon Tarzan, across -the few yards of knee-deep grass which separated them. Accident -started him in the direction of the ape-man, and then his weak eyes -discerned the enemy, and with a series of snorts he charged straight -for him. The little rhino birds fluttered and circled about their -giant ward. Among the branches of the trees at the edge of the -clearing, a score or more monkeys chattered and scolded as the loud -snorts of the angry beast sent them scurrying affrightedly to the upper -terraces. Tarzan alone appeared indifferent and serene. - -Directly in the path of the charge he stood. There had been no time to -seek safety in the trees beyond the clearing, nor had Tarzan any mind -to delay his journey because of Buto. He had met the stupid beast -before and held him in fine contempt. - -And now Buto was upon him, the massive head lowered and the long, heavy -horn inclined for the frightful work for which nature had designed it; -but as he struck upward, his weapon raked only thin air, for the -ape-man had sprung lightly aloft with a catlike leap that carried him -above the threatening horn to the broad back of the rhinoceros. -Another spring and he was on the ground behind the brute and racing -like a deer for the trees. - -Buto, angered and mystified by the strange disappearance of his prey, -wheeled and charged frantically in another direction, which chanced to -be not the direction of Tarzan's flight, and so the ape-man came in -safety to the trees and continued on his swift way through the forest. - -Some distance ahead of him Tantor moved steadily along the well-worn -elephant trail, and ahead of Tantor a crouching, black warrior listened -intently in the middle of the path. Presently he heard the sound for -which he had been hoping--the cracking, snapping sound which heralded -the approach of an elephant. - -To his right and left in other parts of the jungle other warriors were -watching. A low signal, passed from one to another, apprised the most -distant that the quarry was afoot. Rapidly they converged toward the -trail, taking positions in trees down wind from the point at which -Tantor must pass them. Silently they waited and presently were -rewarded by the sight of a mighty tusker carrying an amount of ivory in -his long tusks that set their greedy hearts to palpitating. - -No sooner had he passed their positions than the warriors clambered -from their perches. No longer were they silent, but instead clapped -their hands and shouted as they reached the ground. For an instant -Tantor, the elephant, paused with upraised trunk and tail, with great -ears up-pricked, and then he swung on along the trail at a rapid, -shuffling pace--straight toward the covered pit with its sharpened -stakes upstanding in the ground. - -Behind him came the yelling warriors, urging him on in the rapid flight -which would not permit a careful examination of the ground before him. -Tantor, the elephant, who could have turned and scattered his -adversaries with a single charge, fled like a frightened deer--fled -toward a hideous, torturing death. - -And behind them all came Tarzan of the Apes, racing through the jungle -forest with the speed and agility of a squirrel, for he had heard the -shouts of the warriors and had interpreted them correctly. Once he -uttered a piercing call that reverberated through the jungle; but -Tantor, in the panic of terror, either failed to hear, or hearing, -dared not pause to heed. - -Now the giant pachyderm was but a few yards from the hidden death -lurking in his path, and the blacks, certain of success, were screaming -and dancing in his wake, waving their war spears and celebrating in -advance the acquisition of the splendid ivory carried by their prey and -the surfeit of elephant meat which would be theirs this night. - -So intent were they upon their gratulations that they entirely failed -to note the silent passage of the man-beast above their heads, nor did -Tantor, either, see or hear him, even though Tarzan called to him to -stop. - -A few more steps would precipitate Tantor upon the sharpened stakes; -Tarzan fairly flew through the trees until he had come abreast of the -fleeing animal and then had passed him. At the pit's verge the ape-man -dropped to the ground in the center of the trail. Tantor was almost -upon him before his weak eyes permitted him to recognize his old friend. - -"Stop!" cried Tarzan, and the great beast halted to the upraised hand. - -Tarzan turned and kicked aside some of the brush which hid the pit. -Instantly Tantor saw and understood. - -"Fight!" growled Tarzan. "They are coming behind you." But Tantor, the -elephant, is a huge bunch of nerves, and now he was half panic-stricken -by terror. - -Before him yawned the pit, how far he did not know, but to right and -left lay the primeval jungle untouched by man. With a squeal the great -beast turned suddenly at right angles and burst his noisy way through -the solid wall of matted vegetation that would have stopped any but him. - -Tarzan, standing upon the edge of the pit, smiled as he watched -Tantor's undignified flight. Soon the blacks would come. It was best -that Tarzan of the Apes faded from the scene. He essayed a step from -the pit's edge, and as he threw the weight of his body upon his left -foot, the earth crumbled away. Tarzan made a single Herculean effort -to throw himself forward, but it was too late. Backward and downward -he went toward the sharpened stakes in the bottom of the pit. - -When, a moment later, the blacks came they saw even from a distance -that Tantor had eluded them, for the size of the hole in the pit -covering was too small to have accommodated the huge bulk of an -elephant. At first they thought that their prey had put one great foot -through the top and then, warned, drawn back; but when they had come to -the pit's verge and peered over, their eyes went wide in astonishment, -for, quiet and still, at the bottom lay the naked figure of a white -giant. - -Some of them there had glimpsed this forest god before and they drew -back in terror, awed by the presence which they had for some time -believed to possess the miraculous powers of a demon; but others there -were who pushed forward, thinking only of the capture of an enemy, and -these leaped into the pit and lifted Tarzan out. - -There was no scar upon his body. None of the sharpened stakes had -pierced him--only a swollen spot at the base of the brain indicated the -nature of his injury. In the falling backward his head had struck upon -the side of one of the stakes, rendering him unconscious. The blacks -were quick to discover this, and equally quick to bind their prisoner's -arms and legs before he should regain consciousness, for they had -learned to harbor a wholesome respect for this strange man-beast that -consorted with the hairy tree folk. - -They had carried him but a short distance toward their village when the -ape-man's eyelids quivered and raised. He looked about him wonderingly -for a moment, and then full consciousness returned and he realized the -seriousness of his predicament. Accustomed almost from birth to -relying solely upon his own resources, he did not cast about for -outside aid now, but devoted his mind to a consideration of the -possibilities for escape which lay within himself and his own powers. - -He did not dare test the strength of his bonds while the blacks were -carrying him, for fear they would become apprehensive and add to them. -Presently his captors discovered that he was conscious, and as they had -little stomach for carrying a heavy man through the jungle heat, they -set him upon his feet and forced him forward among them, pricking him -now and then with their spears, yet with every manifestation of the -superstitious awe in which they held him. - -When they discovered that their prodding brought no outward evidence of -suffering, their awe increased, so that they soon desisted, half -believing that this strange white giant was a supernatural being and so -was immune from pain. - -As they approached their village, they shouted aloud the victorious -cries of successful warriors, so that by the time they reached the -gate, dancing and waving their spears, a great crowd of men, women, and -children were gathered there to greet them and hear the story of their -adventure. - -As the eyes of the villagers fell upon the prisoner, they went wild, -and heavy jaws fell open in astonishment and incredulity. For months -they had lived in perpetual terror of a weird, white demon whom but few -had ever glimpsed and lived to describe. Warriors had disappeared from -the paths almost within sight of the village and from the midst of -their companions as mysteriously and completely as though they had been -swallowed by the earth, and later, at night, their dead bodies had -fallen, as from the heavens, into the village street. - -This fearsome creature had appeared by night in the huts of the -village, killed, and disappeared, leaving behind him in the huts with -his dead, strange and terrifying evidences of an uncanny sense of humor. - -But now he was in their power! No longer could he terrorize them. -Slowly the realization of this dawned upon them. A woman, screaming, -ran forward and struck the ape-man across the face. Another and -another followed her example, until Tarzan of the Apes was surrounded -by a fighting, clawing, yelling mob of natives. - -And then Mbonga, the chief, came, and laying his spear heavily across -the shoulders of his people, drove them from their prey. - -"We will save him until night," he said. - -Far out in the jungle Tantor, the elephant, his first panic of fear -allayed, stood with up-pricked ears and undulating trunk. What was -passing through the convolutions of his savage brain? Could he be -searching for Tarzan? Could he recall and measure the service the -ape-man had performed for him? Of that there can be no doubt. But did -he feel gratitude? Would he have risked his own life to have saved -Tarzan could he have known of the danger which confronted his friend? -You will doubt it. Anyone at all familiar with elephants will doubt -it. Englishmen who have hunted much with elephants in India will tell -you that they never have heard of an instance in which one of these -animals has gone to the aid of a man in danger, even though the man had -often befriended it. And so it is to be doubted that Tantor would have -attempted to overcome his instinctive fear of the black men in an -effort to succor Tarzan. - -The screams of the infuriated villagers came faintly to his sensitive -ears, and he wheeled, as though in terror, contemplating flight; but -something stayed him, and again he turned about, raised his trunk, and -gave voice to a shrill cry. - -Then he stood listening. - -In the distant village where Mbonga had restored quiet and order, the -voice of Tantor was scarcely audible to the blacks, but to the keen -ears of Tarzan of the Apes it bore its message. - -His captors were leading him to a hut where he might be confined and -guarded against the coming of the nocturnal orgy that would mark his -torture-laden death. He halted as he heard the notes of Tantor's call, -and raising his head, gave vent to a terrifying scream that sent cold -chills through the superstitious blacks and caused the warriors who -guarded him to leap back even though their prisoner's arms were -securely bound behind him. - -With raised spears they encircled him as for a moment longer he stood -listening. Faintly from the distance came another, an answering cry, -and Tarzan of the Apes, satisfied, turned and quietly pursued his way -toward the hut where he was to be imprisoned. - -The afternoon wore on. From the surrounding village the ape-man heard -the bustle of preparation for the feast. Through the doorway of the -hut he saw the women laying the cooking fires and filling their earthen -caldrons with water; but above it all his ears were bent across the -jungle in eager listening for the coming of Tantor. - -Even Tarzan but half believed that he would come. He knew Tantor even -better than Tantor knew himself. He knew the timid heart which lay in -the giant body. He knew the panic of terror which the scent of the -Gomangani inspired within that savage breast, and as night drew on, -hope died within his heart and in the stoic calm of the wild beast -which he was, he resigned himself to meet the fate which awaited him. - -All afternoon he had been working, working, working with the bonds that -held his wrists. Very slowly they were giving. He might free his -hands before they came to lead him out to be butchered, and if he -did--Tarzan licked his lips in anticipation, and smiled a cold, grim -smile. He could imagine the feel of soft flesh beneath his fingers and -the sinking of his white teeth into the throats of his foemen. He -would let them taste his wrath before they overpowered him! - -At last they came--painted, befeathered warriors--even more hideous -than nature had intended them. They came and pushed him into the open, -where his appearance was greeted by wild shouts from the assembled -villagers. - -To the stake they led him, and as they pushed him roughly against it -preparatory to binding him there securely for the dance of death that -would presently encircle him, Tarzan tensed his mighty thews and with a -single, powerful wrench parted the loosened thongs which had secured -his hands. Like thought, for quickness, he leaped forward among the -warriors nearest him. A blow sent one to earth, as, growling and -snarling, the beast-man leaped upon the breast of another. His fangs -were buried instantly in the jugular of his adversary and then a half -hundred black men had leaped upon him and borne him to earth. - -Striking, clawing, and snapping, the ape-man fought--fought as his -foster people had taught him to fight--fought like a wild beast -cornered. His strength, his agility, his courage, and his intelligence -rendered him easily a match for half a dozen black men in a -hand-to-hand struggle, but not even Tarzan of the Apes could hope to -successfully cope with half a hundred. - -Slowly they were overpowering him, though a score of them bled from -ugly wounds, and two lay very still beneath the trampling feet, and the -rolling bodies of the contestants. - -Overpower him they might, but could they keep him overpowered while -they bound him? A half hour of desperate endeavor convinced them that -they could not, and so Mbonga, who, like all good rulers, had circled -in the safety of the background, called to one to work his way in and -spear the victim. Gradually, through the milling, battling men, the -warrior approached the object of his quest. - -He stood with poised spear above his head waiting for the instant that -would expose a vulnerable part of the ape-man's body and still not -endanger one of the blacks. Closer and closer he edged about, -following the movements of the twisting, scuffling combatants. The -growls of the ape-man sent cold chills up the warrior's spine, causing -him to go carefully lest he miss at the first cast and lay himself open -to an attack from those merciless teeth and mighty hands. - -At last he found an opening. Higher he raised his spear, tensing his -muscles, rolling beneath his glistening, ebon hide, and then from the -jungle just beyond the palisade came a thunderous crashing. The -spear-hand paused, the black cast a quick glance in the direction of -the disturbance, as did the others of the blacks who were not occupied -with the subjugation of the ape-man. - -In the glare of the fires they saw a huge bulk topping the barrier. -They saw the palisade belly and sway inward. They saw it burst as -though built of straws, and an instant later Tantor, the elephant, -thundered down upon them. - -To right and left the blacks fled, screaming in terror. Some who -hovered upon the verge of the strife with Tarzan heard and made good -their escape, but a half dozen there were so wrapt in the blood-madness -of battle that they failed to note the approach of the giant tusker. - -Upon these Tantor charged, trumpeting furiously. Above them he -stopped, his sensitive trunk weaving among them, and there, at the -bottom, he found Tarzan, bloody, but still battling. - -A warrior turned his eyes upward from the melee. Above him towered the -gigantic bulk of the pachyderm, the little eyes flashing with the -reflected light of the fires--wicked, frightful, terrifying. The -warrior screamed, and as he screamed, the sinuous trunk encircled him, -lifted him high above the ground, and hurled him far after the fleeing -crowd. - -Another and another Tantor wrenched from the body of the ape-man, -throwing them to right and to left, where they lay either moaning or -very quiet, as death came slowly or at once. - -At a distance Mbonga rallied his warriors. His greedy eyes had noted -the great ivory tusks of the bull. The first panic of terror relieved, -he urged his men forward to attack with their heavy elephant spears; -but as they came, Tantor swung Tarzan to his broad head, and, wheeling, -lumbered off into the jungle through the great rent he had made in the -palisade. - -Elephant hunters may be right when they aver that this animal would not -have rendered such service to a man, but to Tantor, Tarzan was not a -man--he was but a fellow jungle beast. - -And so it was that Tantor, the elephant, discharged an obligation to -Tarzan of the Apes, cementing even more closely the friendship that had -existed between them since Tarzan as a little, brown boy rode upon -Tantor's huge back through the moonlit jungle beneath the equatorial -stars. - - - - - 3 - - The Fight for the Balu - -TEEKA HAD BECOME a mother. Tarzan of the Apes was intensely -interested, much more so, in fact, than Taug, the father. Tarzan was -very fond of Teeka. Even the cares of prospective motherhood had not -entirely quenched the fires of carefree youth, and Teeka had remained a -good-natured playmate even at an age when other shes of the tribe of -Kerchak had assumed the sullen dignity of maturity. She yet retained -her childish delight in the primitive games of tag and hide-and-go-seek -which Tarzan's fertile man-mind had evolved. - -To play tag through the tree tops is an exciting and inspiring pastime. -Tarzan delighted in it, but the bulls of his childhood had long since -abandoned such childish practices. Teeka, though, had been keen for it -always until shortly before the baby came; but with the advent of her -first-born, even Teeka changed. - -The evidence of the change surprised and hurt Tarzan immeasurably. One -morning he saw Teeka squatted upon a low branch hugging something very -close to her hairy breast--a wee something which squirmed and wriggled. -Tarzan approached filled with the curiosity which is common to all -creatures endowed with brains which have progressed beyond the -microscopic stage. - -Teeka rolled her eyes in his direction and strained the squirming mite -still closer to her. Tarzan came nearer. Teeka drew away and bared -her fangs. Tarzan was nonplussed. In all his experiences with Teeka, -never before had she bared fangs at him other than in play; but today -she did not look playful. Tarzan ran his brown fingers through his -thick, black hair, cocked his head upon one side, and stared. Then he -edged a bit nearer, craning his neck to have a better look at the thing -which Teeka cuddled. - -Again Teeka drew back her upper lip in a warning snarl. Tarzan reached -forth a hand, cautiously, to touch the thing which Teeka held, and -Teeka, with a hideous growl, turned suddenly upon him. Her teeth sank -into the flesh of his forearm before the ape-man could snatch it away, -and she pursued him for a short distance as he retreated incontinently -through the trees; but Teeka, carrying her baby, could not overtake -him. At a safe distance Tarzan stopped and turned to regard his -erstwhile play-fellow in unconcealed astonishment. What had happened -to so alter the gentle Teeka? She had so covered the thing in her arms -that Tarzan had not yet been able to recognize it for what it was; but -now, as she turned from the pursuit of him, he saw it. Through his -pain and chagrin he smiled, for Tarzan had seen young ape mothers -before. In a few days she would be less suspicious. Still Tarzan was -hurt; it was not right that Teeka, of all others, should fear him. -Why, not for the world would he harm her, or her balu, which is the ape -word for baby. - -And now, above the pain of his injured arm and the hurt to his pride, -rose a still stronger desire to come close and inspect the new-born son -of Taug. Possibly you will wonder that Tarzan of the Apes, mighty -fighter that he was, should have fled before the irritable attack of a -she, or that he should hesitate to return for the satisfaction of his -curiosity when with ease he might have vanquished the weakened mother -of the new-born cub; but you need not wonder. Were you an ape, you -would know that only a bull in the throes of madness will turn upon a -female other than to gently chastise her, with the occasional exception -of the individual whom we find exemplified among our own kind, and who -delights in beating up his better half because she happens to be -smaller and weaker than he. - -Tarzan again came toward the young mother--warily and with his line of -retreat safely open. Again Teeka growled ferociously. Tarzan -expostulated. - -"Tarzan of the Apes will not harm Teeka's balu," he said. "Let me see -it." - -"Go away!" commanded Teeka. "Go away, or I will kill you." - -"Let me see it," urged Tarzan. - -"Go away," reiterated the she-ape. "Here comes Taug. He will make you -go away. Taug will kill you. This is Taug's balu." - -A savage growl close behind him apprised Tarzan of the nearness of -Taug, and the fact that the bull had heard the warnings and threats of -his mate and was coming to her succor. - -Now Taug, as well as Teeka, had been Tarzan's play-fellow while the -bull was still young enough to wish to play. Once Tarzan had saved -Taug's life; but the memory of an ape is not overlong, nor would -gratitude rise above the parental instinct. Tarzan and Taug had once -measured strength, and Tarzan had been victorious. That fact Taug -could be depended upon still to remember; but even so, he might readily -face another defeat for his first-born--if he chanced to be in the -proper mood. - -From his hideous growls, which now rose in strength and volume, he -seemed to be in quite the mood. Now Tarzan felt no fear of Taug, nor -did the unwritten law of the jungle demand that he should flee from -battle with any male, unless he cared to from purely personal reasons. -But Tarzan liked Taug. He had no grudge against him, and his man-mind -told him what the mind of an ape would never have deduced--that Taug's -attitude in no sense indicated hatred. It was but the instinctive urge -of the male to protect its offspring and its mate. - -Tarzan had no desire to battle with Taug, nor did the blood of his -English ancestors relish the thought of flight, yet when the bull -charged, Tarzan leaped nimbly to one side, and thus encouraged, Taug -wheeled and rushed again madly to the attack. Perhaps the memory of a -past defeat at Tarzan's hands goaded him. Perhaps the fact that Teeka -sat there watching him aroused a desire to vanquish the ape-man before -her eyes, for in the breast of every jungle male lurks a vast egotism -which finds expression in the performance of deeds of derring-do before -an audience of the opposite sex. - -At the ape-man's side swung his long grass rope--the play-thing of -yesterday, the weapon of today--and as Taug charged the second time, -Tarzan slipped the coils over his head and deftly shook out the sliding -noose as he again nimbly eluded the ungainly beast. Before the ape -could turn again, Tarzan had fled far aloft among the branches of the -upper terrace. - -Taug, now wrought to a frenzy of real rage, followed him. Teeka peered -upward at them. It was difficult to say whether she was interested. -Taug could not climb as rapidly as Tarzan, so the latter reached the -high levels to which the heavy ape dared not follow before the former -overtook him. There he halted and looked down upon his pursuer, making -faces at him and calling him such choice names as occurred to the -fertile man-brain. Then, when he had worked Taug to such a pitch of -foaming rage that the great bull fairly danced upon the bending limb -beneath him, Tarzan's hand shot suddenly outward, a widening noose -dropped swiftly through the air, there was a quick jerk as it settled -about Taug, falling to his knees, a jerk that tightened it securely -about the hairy legs of the anthropoid. - -Taug, slow of wit, realized too late the intention of his tormentor. -He scrambled to escape, but the ape-man gave the rope a tremendous jerk -that pulled Taug from his perch, and a moment later, growling -hideously, the ape hung head downward thirty feet above the ground. - -Tarzan secured the rope to a stout limb and descended to a point close -to Taug. - -"Taug," he said, "you are as stupid as Buto, the rhinoceros. Now you -may hang here until you get a little sense in your thick head. You may -hang here and watch while I go and talk with Teeka." - -Taug blustered and threatened, but Tarzan only grinned at him as he -dropped lightly to the lower levels. Here he again approached Teeka -only to be again greeted with bared fangs and menacing growls. He -sought to placate her; he urged his friendly intentions, and craned his -neck to have a look at Teeka's balu; but the she-ape was not to be -persuaded that he meant other than harm to her little one. Her -motherhood was still so new that reason was yet subservient to instinct. - -Realizing the futility of attempting to catch and chastise Tarzan, -Teeka sought to escape him. She dropped to the ground and lumbered -across the little clearing about which the apes of the tribe were -disposed in rest or in the search of food, and presently Tarzan -abandoned his attempts to persuade her to permit a close examination of -the balu. The ape-man would have liked to handle the tiny thing. The -very sight of it awakened in his breast a strange yearning. He wished -to cuddle and fondle the grotesque little ape-thing. It was Teeka's -balu and Tarzan had once lavished his young affections upon Teeka. - -But now his attention was diverted by the voice of Taug. The threats -that had filled the ape's mouth had turned to pleas. The tightening -noose was stopping the circulation of the blood in his legs--he was -beginning to suffer. Several apes sat near him highly interested in -his predicament. They made uncomplimentary remarks about him, for each -of them had felt the weight of Taug's mighty hands and the strength of -his great jaws. They were enjoying revenge. - -Teeka, seeing that Tarzan had turned back toward the trees, had halted -in the center of the clearing, and there she sat hugging her balu and -casting suspicious glances here and there. With the coming of the -balu, Teeka's care-free world had suddenly become peopled with -innumerable enemies. She saw an implacable foe in Tarzan, always -heretofore her best friend. Even poor old Mumga, half blind and almost -entirely toothless, searching patiently for grubworms beneath a fallen -log, represented to her a malignant spirit thirsting for the blood of -little balus. - -And while Teeka guarded suspiciously against harm, where there was no -harm, she failed to note two baleful, yellow-green eyes staring fixedly -at her from behind a clump of bushes at the opposite side of the -clearing. - -Hollow from hunger, Sheeta, the panther, glared greedily at the -tempting meat so close at hand, but the sight of the great bulls beyond -gave him pause. - -Ah, if the she-ape with her balu would but come just a trifle nearer! A -quick spring and he would be upon them and away again with his meat -before the bulls could prevent. - -The tip of his tawny tail moved in spasmodic little jerks; his lower -jaw hung low, exposing a red tongue and yellow fangs. But all this -Teeka did not see, nor did any other of the apes who were feeding or -resting about her. Nor did Tarzan or the apes in the trees. - -Hearing the abuse which the bulls were pouring upon the helpless Taug, -Tarzan clambered quickly among them. One was edging closer and leaning -far out in an effort to reach the dangling ape. He had worked himself -into quite a fury through recollection of the last occasion upon which -Taug had mauled him, and now he was bent upon revenge. Once he had -grasped the swinging ape, he would quickly have drawn him within reach -of his jaws. Tarzan saw and was wroth. He loved a fair fight, but the -thing which this ape contemplated revolted him. Already a hairy hand -had clutched the helpless Taug when, with an angry growl of protest, -Tarzan leaped to the branch at the attacking ape's side, and with a -single mighty cuff, swept him from his perch. - -Surprised and enraged, the bull clutched madly for support as he -toppled sidewise, and then with an agile movement succeeded in -projecting himself toward another limb a few feet below. Here he found -a hand-hold, quickly righted himself, and as quickly clambered upward -to be revenged upon Tarzan, but the ape-man was otherwise engaged and -did not wish to be interrupted. He was explaining again to Taug the -depths of the latter's abysmal ignorance, and pointing out how much -greater and mightier was Tarzan of the Apes than Taug or any other ape. - -In the end he would release Taug, but not until Taug was fully -acquainted with his own inferiority. And then the maddened bull came -from beneath, and instantly Tarzan was transformed from a good-natured, -teasing youth into a snarling, savage beast. Along his scalp the hair -bristled: his upper lip drew back that his fighting fangs might be -uncovered and ready. He did not wait for the bull to reach him, for -something in the appearance or the voice of the attacker aroused within -the ape-man a feeling of belligerent antagonism that would not be -denied. With a scream that carried no human note, Tarzan leaped -straight at the throat of the attacker. - -The impetuosity of this act and the weight and momentum of his body -carried the bull backward, clutching and clawing for support, down -through the leafy branches of the tree. For fifteen feet the two fell, -Tarzan's teeth buried in the jugular of his opponent, when a stout -branch stopped their descent. The bull struck full upon the small of -his back across the limb, hung there for a moment with the ape-man -still upon his breast, and then toppled over toward the ground. - -Tarzan had felt the instantaneous relaxation of the body beneath him -after the heavy impact with the tree limb, and as the other turned -completely over and started again upon its fall toward the ground, he -reached forth a hand and caught the branch in time to stay his own -descent, while the ape dropped like a plummet to the foot of the tree. - -Tarzan looked downward for a moment upon the still form of his late -antagonist, then he rose to his full height, swelled his deep chest, -smote upon it with his clenched fist and roared out the uncanny -challenge of the victorious bull ape. - -Even Sheeta, the panther, crouched for a spring at the edge of the -little clearing, moved uneasily as the mighty voice sent its weird cry -reverberating through the jungle. To right and left, nervously, -glanced Sheeta, as though assuring himself that the way of escape lay -ready at hand. - -"I am Tarzan of the Apes," boasted the ape-man; "mighty hunter, mighty -fighter! None in all the jungle so great as Tarzan." - -Then he made his way back in the direction of Taug. Teeka had watched -the happenings in the tree. She had even placed her precious balu upon -the soft grasses and come a little nearer that she might better witness -all that was passing in the branches above her. In her heart of hearts -did she still esteem the smooth-skinned Tarzan? Did her savage breast -swell with pride as she witnessed his victory over the ape? You will -have to ask Teeka. - -And Sheeta, the panther, saw that the she-ape had left her cub alone -among the grasses. He moved his tail again, as though this closest -approximation of lashing in which he dared indulge might stimulate his -momentarily waned courage. The cry of the victorious ape-man still -held his nerves beneath its spell. It would be several minutes before -he again could bring himself to the point of charging into view of the -giant anthropoids. - -And as he regathered his forces, Tarzan reached Taug's side, and then -clambering higher up to the point where the end of the grass rope was -made fast, he unloosed it and lowered the ape slowly downward, swinging -him in until the clutching hands fastened upon a limb. - -Quickly Taug drew himself to a position of safety and shook off the -noose. In his rage-maddened heart was no room for gratitude to the -ape-man. He recalled only the fact that Tarzan had laid this painful -indignity upon him. He would be revenged, but just at present his legs -were so numb and his head so dizzy that he must postpone the -gratification of his vengeance. - -Tarzan was coiling his rope the while he lectured Taug on the futility -of pitting his poor powers, physical and intellectual, against those of -his betters. Teeka had come close beneath the tree and was peering -upward. Sheeta was worming his way stealthily forward, his belly close -to the ground. In another moment he would be clear of the underbrush -and ready for the rapid charge and the quick retreat that would end the -brief existence of Teeka's balu. - -Then Tarzan chanced to look up and across the clearing. Instantly his -attitude of good-natured bantering and pompous boastfulness dropped -from him. Silently and swiftly he shot downward toward the ground. -Teeka, seeing him coming, and thinking that he was after her or her -balu, bristled and prepared to fight. But Tarzan sped by her, and as -he went, her eyes followed him and she saw the cause of his sudden -descent and his rapid charge across the clearing. There in full sight -now was Sheeta, the panther, stalking slowly toward the tiny, wriggling -balu which lay among the grasses many yards away. - -Teeka gave voice to a shrill scream of terror and of warning as she -dashed after the ape-man. Sheeta saw Tarzan coming. He saw the -she-ape's cub before him, and he thought that this other was bent upon -robbing him of his prey. With an angry growl, he charged. - -Taug, warned by Teeka's cry, came lumbering down to her assistance. -Several other bulls, growling and barking, closed in toward the -clearing, but they were all much farther from the balu and the panther -than was Tarzan of the Apes, so it was that Sheeta and the ape-man -reached Teeka's little one almost simultaneously; and there they stood, -one upon either side of it, baring their fangs and snarling at each -other over the little creature. - -Sheeta was afraid to seize the balu, for thus he would give the ape-man -an opening for attack; and for the same reason Tarzan hesitated to -snatch the panther's prey out of harm's way, for had he stooped to -accomplish this, the great beast would have been upon him in an -instant. Thus they stood while Teeka came across the clearing, going -more slowly as she neared the panther, for even her mother love could -scarce overcome her instinctive terror of this natural enemy of her -kind. - -Behind her came Taug, warily and with many pauses and much bluster, and -still behind him came other bulls, snarling ferociously and uttering -their uncanny challenges. Sheeta's yellow-green eyes glared terribly -at Tarzan, and past Tarzan they shot brief glances at the apes of -Kerchak advancing upon him. Discretion prompted him to turn and flee, -but hunger and the close proximity of the tempting morsel in the grass -before him urged him to remain. He reached forth a paw toward Teeka's -balu, and as he did so, with a savage guttural, Tarzan of the Apes was -upon him. - -The panther reared to meet the ape-man's attack. He swung a frightful -raking blow for Tarzan that would have wiped his face away had it -landed, but it did not land, for Tarzan ducked beneath it and closed, -his long knife ready in one strong hand--the knife of his dead father, -of the father he never had known. - -Instantly the balu was forgotten by Sheeta, the panther. He now -thought only of tearing to ribbons with his powerful talons the flesh -of his antagonist, of burying his long, yellow fangs in the soft, -smooth hide of the ape-man, but Tarzan had fought before with clawed -creatures of the jungle. Before now he had battled with fanged -monsters, nor always had he come away unscathed. He knew the risk that -he ran, but Tarzan of the Apes, inured to the sight of suffering and -death, shrank from neither, for he feared neither. - -The instant that he dodged beneath Sheeta's blow, he leaped to the -beast's rear and then full upon the tawny back, burying his teeth in -Sheeta's neck and the fingers of one hand in the fur at the throat, and -with the other hand he drove his blade into Sheeta's side. - -Over and over upon the grass rolled Sheeta, growling and screaming, -clawing and biting, in a mad effort to dislodge his antagonist or get -some portion of his body within range of teeth or talons. - -As Tarzan leaped to close quarters with the panther, Teeka had run -quickly in and snatched up her balu. Now she sat upon a high branch, -safe out of harm's way, cuddling the little thing close to her hairy -breast, the while her savage little eyes bored down upon the -contestants in the clearing, and her ferocious voice urged Taug and the -other bulls to leap into the melee. - -Thus goaded the bulls came closer, redoubling their hideous clamor; but -Sheeta was already sufficiently engaged--he did not even hear them. -Once he succeeded in partially dislodging the ape-man from his back, so -that Tarzan swung for an instant in front of those awful talons, and in -the brief instant before he could regain his former hold, a raking blow -from a hind paw laid open one leg from hip to knee. - - -It was the sight and smell of this blood, possibly, which wrought upon -the encircling apes; but it was Taug who really was responsible for the -thing they did. - -Taug, but a moment before filled with rage toward Tarzan of the Apes, -stood close to the battling pair, his red-rimmed, wicked little eyes -glaring at them. What was passing in his savage brain? Did he gloat -over the unenviable position of his recent tormentor? Did he long to -see Sheeta's great fangs sink into the soft throat of the ape-man? Or -did he realize the courageous unselfishness that had prompted Tarzan to -rush to the rescue and imperil his life for Teeka's balu--for Taug's -little balu? Is gratitude a possession of man only, or do the lower -orders know it also? - -With the spilling of Tarzan's blood, Taug answered these questions. -With all the weight of his great body he leaped, hideously growling, -upon Sheeta. His long fighting fangs buried themselves in the white -throat. His powerful arms beat and clawed at the soft fur until it -flew upward in the jungle breeze. - -And with Taug's example before them the other bulls charged, burying -Sheeta beneath rending fangs and filling all the forest with the wild -din of their battle cries. - -Ah! but it was a wondrous and inspiring sight--this battle of the -primordial apes and the great, white ape-man with their ancestral foe, -Sheeta, the panther. - -In frenzied excitement, Teeka fairly danced upon the limb which swayed -beneath her great weight as she urged on the males of her people, and -Thaka, and Mumga, and Kamma, with the other shes of the tribe of -Kerchak, added their shrill cries or fierce barkings to the pandemonium -which now reigned within the jungle. - -Bitten and biting, tearing and torn, Sheeta battled for his life; but -the odds were against him. Even Numa, the lion, would have hesitated -to have attacked an equal number of the great bulls of the tribe of -Kerchak, and now, a half mile away, hearing the sounds of the terrific -battle, the king of beasts rose uneasily from his midday slumber and -slunk off farther into the jungle. - -Presently Sheeta's torn and bloody body ceased its titanic struggles. -It stiffened spasmodically, twitched and was still, yet the bulls -continued to lacerate it until the beautiful coat was torn to shreds. -At last they desisted from sheer physical weariness, and then from the -tangle of bloody bodies rose a crimson giant, straight as an arrow. - -He placed a foot upon the dead body of the panther, and lifting his -blood-stained face to the blue of the equatorial heavens, gave voice to -the horrid victory cry of the bull ape. - -One by one his hairy fellows of the tribe of Kerchak followed his -example. The shes came down from their perches of safety and struck -and reviled the dead body of Sheeta. The young apes refought the -battle in mimicry of their mighty elders. - -Teeka was quite close to Tarzan. He turned and saw her with the balu -hugged close to her hairy breast, and put out his hands to take the -little one, expecting that Teeka would bare her fangs and spring upon -him; but instead she placed the balu in his arms, and coming nearer, -licked his frightful wounds. - -And presently Taug, who had escaped with only a few scratches, came and -squatted beside Tarzan and watched him as he played with the little -balu, and at last he too leaned over and helped Teeka with the -cleansing and the healing of the ape-man's hurts. - - - - - 4 - - The God of Tarzan - -AMONG THE BOOKS of his dead father in the little cabin by the -land-locked harbor, Tarzan of the Apes found many things to puzzle his -young head. By much labor and through the medium of infinite patience -as well, he had, without assistance, discovered the purpose of the -little bugs which ran riot upon the printed pages. He had learned that -in the many combinations in which he found them they spoke in a silent -language, spoke in a strange tongue, spoke of wonderful things which a -little ape-boy could not by any chance fully understand, arousing his -curiosity, stimulating his imagination and filling his soul with a -mighty longing for further knowledge. - -A dictionary had proven itself a wonderful storehouse of information, -when, after several years of tireless endeavor, he had solved the -mystery of its purpose and the manner of its use. He had learned to -make a species of game out of it, following up the spoor of a new -thought through the mazes of the many definitions which each new word -required him to consult. It was like following a quarry through the -jungle--it was hunting, and Tarzan of the Apes was an indefatigable -huntsman. - -There were, of course, certain words which aroused his curiosity to a -greater extent than others, words which, for one reason or another, -excited his imagination. There was one, for example, the meaning of -which was rather difficult to grasp. It was the word GOD. Tarzan -first had been attracted to it by the fact that it was very short and -that it commenced with a larger g-bug than those about it--a male g-bug -it was to Tarzan, the lower-case letters being females. Another fact -which attracted him to this word was the number of he-bugs which -figured in its definition--Supreme Deity, Creator or Upholder of the -Universe. This must be a very important word indeed, he would have to -look into it, and he did, though it still baffled him after many months -of thought and study. - -However, Tarzan counted no time wasted which he devoted to these -strange hunting expeditions into the game preserves of knowledge, for -each word and each definition led on and on into strange places, into -new worlds where, with increasing frequency, he met old, familiar -faces. And always he added to his store of knowledge. - -But of the meaning of GOD he was yet in doubt. Once he thought he had -grasped it--that God was a mighty chieftain, king of all the Mangani. -He was not quite sure, however, since that would mean that God was -mightier than Tarzan--a point which Tarzan of the Apes, who -acknowledged no equal in the jungle, was loath to concede. - -But in all the books he had there was no picture of God, though he -found much to confirm his belief that God was a great, an all-powerful -individual. He saw pictures of places where God was worshiped; but -never any sign of God. Finally he began to wonder if God were not of a -different form than he, and at last he determined to set out in search -of Him. - -He commenced by questioning Mumga, who was very old and had seen many -strange things in her long life; but Mumga, being an ape, had a faculty -for recalling the trivial. That time when Gunto mistook a sting-bug -for an edible beetle had made more impression upon Mumga than all the -innumerable manifestations of the greatness of God which she had -witnessed, and which, of course, she had not understood. - -Numgo, overhearing Tarzan's questions, managed to wrest his attention -long enough from the diversion of flea hunting to advance the theory -that the power which made the lightning and the rain and the thunder -came from Goro, the moon. He knew this, he said, because the Dum-Dum -always was danced in the light of Goro. This reasoning, though -entirely satisfactory to Numgo and Mumga, failed fully to convince -Tarzan. However, it gave him a basis for further investigation along a -new line. He would investigate the moon. - -That night he clambered to the loftiest pinnacle of the tallest jungle -giant. The moon was full, a great, glorious, equatorial moon. The -ape-man, upright upon a slender, swaying limb, raised his bronzed face -to the silver orb. Now that he had clambered to the highest point -within his reach, he discovered, to his surprise, that Goro was as far -away as when he viewed him from the ground. He thought that Goro was -attempting to elude him. - -"Come, Goro!" he cried, "Tarzan of the Apes will not harm you!" But -still the moon held aloof. - -"Tell me," he continued, "if you be the great king who sends Ara, the -lightning; who makes the great noise and the mighty winds, and sends -the waters down upon the jungle people when the days are dark and it is -cold. Tell me, Goro, are you God?" - -Of course he did not pronounce God as you or I would pronounce His -name, for Tarzan knew naught of the spoken language of his English -forbears; but he had a name of his own invention for each of the little -bugs which constituted the alphabet. Unlike the apes he was not -satisfied merely to have a mental picture of the things he knew, he -must have a word descriptive of each. In reading he grasped a word in -its entirety; but when he spoke the words he had learned from the books -of his father, he pronounced each according to the names he had given -the various little bugs which occurred in it, usually giving the gender -prefix for each. - -Thus it was an imposing word which Tarzan made of GOD. The masculine -prefix of the apes is BU, the feminine MU; g Tarzan had named LA, o he -pronounced TU, and d was MO. So the word God evolved itself into -BULAMUTUMUMO, or, in English, he-g-she-o-she-d. - -Similarly he had arrived at a strange and wonderful spelling of his own -name. Tarzan is derived from the two ape words TAR and ZAN, meaning -white skin. It was given him by his foster mother, Kala, the great -she-ape. When Tarzan first put it into the written language of his own -people he had not yet chanced upon either WHITE or SKIN in the -dictionary; but in a primer he had seen the picture of a little white -boy and so he wrote his name BUMUDE-MUTOMURO, or he-boy. - -To follow Tarzan's strange system of spelling would be laborious as -well as futile, and so we shall in the future, as we have in the past, -adhere to the more familiar forms of our grammar school copybooks. It -would tire you to remember that DO meant b, TU o, and RO y, and that to -say he-boy you must prefix the ape masculine gender sound BU before the -entire word and the feminine gender sound MU before each of the -lower-case letters which go to make up boy--it would tire you and it -would bring me to the nineteenth hole several strokes under par. - -And so Tarzan harangued the moon, and when Goro did not reply, Tarzan -of the Apes waxed wroth. He swelled his giant chest and bared his -fighting fangs, and hurled into the teeth of the dead satellite the -challenge of the bull ape. - -"You are not Bulamutumumo," he cried. "You are not king of the jungle -folk. You are not so great as Tarzan, mighty fighter, mighty hunter. -None there is so great as Tarzan. If there be a Bulamutumumo, Tarzan -can kill him. Come down, Goro, great coward, and fight with Tarzan. -Tarzan will kill you. I am Tarzan, the killer." - -But the moon made no answer to the boasting of the ape-man, and when a -cloud came and obscured her face, Tarzan thought that Goro was indeed -afraid, and was hiding from him, so he came down out of the trees and -awoke Numgo and told him how great was Tarzan--how he had frightened -Goro out of the sky and made him tremble. Tarzan spoke of the moon as -HE, for all things large or awe inspiring are male to the ape folk. - -Numgo was not much impressed; but he was very sleepy, so he told Tarzan -to go away and leave his betters alone. - -"But where shall I find God?" insisted Tarzan. "You are very old; if -there is a God you must have seen Him. What does He look like? Where -does He live?" - -"I am God," replied Numgo. "Now sleep and disturb me no more." - -Tarzan looked at Numgo steadily for several minutes, his shapely head -sank just a trifle between his great shoulders, his square chin shot -forward and his short upper lip drew back, exposing his white teeth. -Then, with a low growl he leaped upon the ape and buried his fangs in -the other's hairy shoulder, clutching the great neck in his mighty -fingers. Twice he shook the old ape, then he released his tooth-hold. - -"Are you God?" he demanded. - -"No," wailed Numgo. "I am only a poor, old ape. Leave me alone. Go -ask the Gomangani where God is. They are hairless like yourself and -very wise, too. They should know." - -Tarzan released Numgo and turned away. The suggestion that he consult -the blacks appealed to him, and though his relations with the people of -Mbonga, the chief, were the antithesis of friendly, he could at least -spy upon his hated enemies and discover if they had intercourse with -God. - -So it was that Tarzan set forth through the trees toward the village of -the blacks, all excitement at the prospect of discovering the Supreme -Being, the Creator of all things. As he traveled he reviewed, -mentally, his armament--the condition of his hunting knife, the number -of his arrows, the newness of the gut which strung his bow--he hefted -the war spear which had once been the pride of some black warrior of -Mbonga's tribe. - -If he met God, Tarzan would be prepared. One could never tell whether -a grass rope, a war spear, or a poisoned arrow would be most -efficacious against an unfamiliar foe. Tarzan of the Apes was quite -content--if God wished to fight, the ape-man had no doubt as to the -outcome of the struggle. There were many questions Tarzan wished to -put to the Creator of the Universe and so he hoped that God would not -prove a belligerent God; but his experience of life and the ways of -living things had taught him that any creature with the means for -offense and defense was quite likely to provoke attack if in the proper -mood. - -It was dark when Tarzan came to the village of Mbonga. As silently as -the silent shadows of the night he sought his accustomed place among -the branches of the great tree which overhung the palisade. Below him, -in the village street, he saw men and women. The men were hideously -painted--more hideously than usual. Among them moved a weird and -grotesque figure, a tall figure that went upon the two legs of a man -and yet had the head of a buffalo. A tail dangled to his ankles behind -him, and in one hand he carried a zebra's tail while the other clutched -a bunch of small arrows. - -Tarzan was electrified. Could it be that chance had given him thus -early an opportunity to look upon God? Surely this thing was neither -man nor beast, so what could it be then other than the Creator of the -Universe! The ape-man watched the every move of the strange creature. -He saw the black men and women fall back at its approach as though they -stood in terror of its mysterious powers. - -Presently he discovered that the deity was speaking and that all -listened in silence to his words. Tarzan was sure that none other than -God could inspire such awe in the hearts of the Gomangani, or stop -their mouths so effectually without recourse to arrows or spears. -Tarzan had come to look with contempt upon the blacks, principally -because of their garrulity. The small apes talked a great deal and ran -away from an enemy. The big, old bulls of Kerchak talked but little -and fought upon the slightest provocation. Numa, the lion, was not -given to loquacity, yet of all the jungle folk there were few who -fought more often than he. - -Tarzan witnessed strange things that night, none of which he -understood, and, perhaps because they were strange, he thought that -they must have to do with the God he could not understand. He saw -three youths receive their first war spears in a weird ceremony which -the grotesque witch-doctor strove successfully to render uncanny and -awesome. - -Hugely interested, he watched the slashing of the three brown arms and -the exchange of blood with Mbonga, the chief, in the rites of the -ceremony of blood brotherhood. He saw the zebra's tail dipped into a -caldron of water above which the witch-doctor had made magical passes -the while he danced and leaped about it, and he saw the breasts and -foreheads of each of the three novitiates sprinkled with the charmed -liquid. Could the ape-man have known the purpose of this act, that it -was intended to render the recipient invulnerable to the attacks of his -enemies and fearless in the face of any danger, he would doubtless have -leaped into the village street and appropriated the zebra's tail and a -portion of the contents of the caldron. - -But he did not know, and so he only wondered, not alone at what he saw -but at the strange sensations which played up and down his naked spine, -sensations induced, doubtless, by the same hypnotic influence which -held the black spectators in tense awe upon the verge of a hysteric -upheaval. - -The longer Tarzan watched, the more convinced he became that his eyes -were upon God, and with the conviction came determination to have word -with the deity. With Tarzan of the Apes, to think was to act. - -The people of Mbonga were keyed to the highest pitch of hysterical -excitement. They needed little to release the accumulated pressure of -static nerve force which the terrorizing mummery of the witch-doctor -had induced. - -A lion roared, suddenly and loud, close without the palisade. The -blacks started nervously, dropping into utter silence as they listened -for a repetition of that all-too-familiar and always terrorizing voice. -Even the witch-doctor paused in the midst of an intricate step, -remaining momentarily rigid and statuesque as he plumbed his cunning -mind for a suggestion as how best he might take advantage of the -condition of his audience and the timely interruption. - -Already the evening had been vastly profitable to him. There would be -three goats for the initiation of the three youths into full-fledged -warriorship, and besides these he had received several gifts of grain -and beads, together with a piece of copper wire from admiring and -terrified members of his audience. - -Numa's roar still reverberated along taut nerves when a woman's laugh, -shrill and piercing, shattered the silence of the village. It was this -moment that Tarzan chose to drop lightly from his tree into the village -street. Fearless among his blood enemies he stood, taller by a full -head than many of Mbonga's warriors, straight as their straightest -arrow, muscled like Numa, the lion. - -For a moment Tarzan stood looking straight at the witch-doctor. Every -eye was upon him, yet no one had moved--a paralysis of terror held -them, to be broken a moment later as the ape-man, with a toss of head, -stepped straight toward the hideous figure beneath the buffalo head. - -Then the nerves of the blacks could stand no more. For months the -terror of the strange, white, jungle god had been upon them. Their -arrows had been stolen from the very center of the village; their -warriors had been silently slain upon the jungle trails and their dead -bodies dropped mysteriously and by night into the village street as -from the heavens above. - -One or two there were who had glimpsed the strange figure of the new -demon and it was from their oft-repeated descriptions that the entire -village now recognized Tarzan as the author of many of their ills. -Upon another occasion and by daylight, the warriors would doubtless -have leaped to attack him, but at night, and this night of all others, -when they were wrought to such a pitch of nervous dread by the uncanny -artistry of their witch-doctor, they were helpless with terror. As one -man they turned and fled, scattering for their huts, as Tarzan -advanced. For a moment one and one only held his ground. It was the -witch-doctor. More than half self-hypnotized into a belief in his own -charlatanry he faced this new demon who threatened to undermine his -ancient and lucrative profession. - - -"Are you God?" asked Tarzan. - -The witch-doctor, having no idea of the meaning of the other's words, -danced a few strange steps, leaped high in the air, turning completely -around and alighting in a stooping posture with feet far outspread and -head thrust out toward the ape-man. Thus he remained for an instant -before he uttered a loud "Boo!" which was evidently intended to -frighten Tarzan away; but in reality had no such effect. - -Tarzan did not pause. He had set out to approach and examine God and -nothing upon earth might now stay his feet. Seeing that his antics had -no potency with the visitor, the witch-doctor tried some new medicine. -Spitting upon the zebra's tail, which he still clutched in one hand, he -made circles above it with the arrows in the other hand, meanwhile -backing cautiously away from Tarzan and speaking confidentially to the -bushy end of the tail. - -This medicine must be short medicine, however, for the creature, god or -demon, was steadily closing up the distance which had separated them. -The circles therefore were few and rapid, and when they were completed, -the witch-doctor struck an attitude which was intended to be awe -inspiring and waving the zebra's tail before him, drew an imaginary -line between himself and Tarzan. - -"Beyond this line you cannot pass, for my medicine is strong medicine," -he cried. "Stop, or you will fall dead as your foot touches this spot. -My mother was a voodoo, my father was a snake; I live upon lions' -hearts and the entrails of the panther; I eat young babies for -breakfast and the demons of the jungle are my slaves. I am the most -powerful witch-doctor in the world; I fear nothing, for I cannot die. -I--" But he got no further; instead he turned and fled as Tarzan of the -Apes crossed the magical dead line and still lived. - -As the witch-doctor ran, Tarzan almost lost his temper. This was no -way for God to act, at least not in accordance with the conception -Tarzan had come to have of God. - -"Come back!" he cried. "Come back, God, I will not harm you." But the -witch-doctor was in full retreat by this time, stepping high as he -leaped over cooking pots and the smoldering embers of small fires that -had burned before the huts of villagers. Straight for his own hut ran -the witch-doctor, terror-spurred to unwonted speed; but futile was his -effort--the ape-man bore down upon him with the speed of Bara, the deer. - -Just at the entrance to his hut the witch-doctor was overhauled. A -heavy hand fell upon his shoulder to drag him back. It seized upon a -portion of the buffalo hide, dragging the disguise from him. It was a -naked black man that Tarzan saw dodge into the darkness of the hut's -interior. - -So this was what he had thought was God! Tarzan's lip curled in an -angry snarl as he leaped into the hut after the terror-stricken -witch-doctor. In the blackness within he found the man huddled at the -far side and dragged him forth into the comparative lightness of the -moonlit night. - -The witch-doctor bit and scratched in an attempt to escape; but a few -cuffs across the head brought him to a better realization of the -futility of resistance. Beneath the moon Tarzan held the cringing -figure upon its shaking feet. - -"So you are God!" he cried. "If you be God, then Tarzan is greater -than God," and so the ape-man thought. "I am Tarzan," he shouted into -the ear of the black. "In all the jungle, or above it, or upon the -running waters, or the sleeping waters, or upon the big water, or the -little water, there is none so great as Tarzan. Tarzan is greater than -the Mangani; he is greater than the Gomangani. With his own hands he -has slain Numa, the lion, and Sheeta, the panther; there is none so -great as Tarzan. Tarzan is greater than God. See!" and with a sudden -wrench he twisted the black's neck until the fellow shrieked in pain -and then slumped to the earth in a swoon. - -Placing his foot upon the neck of the fallen witch-doctor, the ape-man -raised his face to the moon and uttered the long, shrill scream of the -victorious bull ape. Then he stooped and snatched the zebra's tail -from the nerveless fingers of the unconscious man and without a -backward glance retraced his footsteps across the village. - -From several hut doorways frightened eyes watched him. Mbonga, the -chief, was one of those who had seen what passed before the hut of the -witch-doctor. Mbonga was greatly concerned. Wise old patriarch that he -was, he never had more than half believed in witch-doctors, at least -not since greater wisdom had come with age; but as a chief he was well -convinced of the power of the witch-doctor as an arm of government, and -often it was that Mbonga used the superstitious fears of his people to -his own ends through the medium of the medicine-man. - -Mbonga and the witch-doctor had worked together and divided the spoils, -and now the "face" of the witch-doctor would be lost forever if any saw -what Mbonga had seen; nor would this generation again have as much -faith in any future witch-doctor. - -Mbonga must do something to counteract the evil influence of the forest -demon's victory over the witch-doctor. He raised his heavy spear and -crept silently from his hut in the wake of the retreating ape-man. Down -the village street walked Tarzan, as unconcerned and as deliberate as -though only the friendly apes of Kerchak surrounded him instead of a -village full of armed enemies. - -Seeming only was the indifference of Tarzan, for alert and watchful was -every well-trained sense. Mbonga, wily stalker of keen-eared jungle -creatures, moved now in utter silence. Not even Bara, the deer, with -his great ears could have guessed from any sound that Mbonga was near; -but the black was not stalking Bara; he was stalking man, and so he -sought only to avoid noise. - -Closer and closer to the slowly moving ape-man he came. Now he raised -his war spear, throwing his spear-hand far back above his right -shoulder. Once and for all would Mbonga, the chief, rid himself and -his people of the menace of this terrifying enemy. He would make no -poor cast; he would take pains, and he would hurl his weapon with such -great force as would finish the demon forever. - -But Mbonga, sure as he thought himself, erred in his calculations. He -might believe that he was stalking a man--he did not know, however, -that it was a man with the delicate sense perception of the lower -orders. Tarzan, when he had turned his back upon his enemies, had -noted what Mbonga never would have thought of considering in the -hunting of man--the wind. It was blowing in the same direction that -Tarzan was proceeding, carrying to his delicate nostrils the odors -which arose behind him. Thus it was that Tarzan knew that he was being -followed, for even among the many stenches of an African village, the -ape-man's uncanny faculty was equal to the task of differentiating one -stench from another and locating with remarkable precision the source -from whence it came. - -He knew that a man was following him and coming closer, and his -judgment warned him of the purpose of the stalker. When Mbonga, -therefore, came within spear range of the ape-man, the latter suddenly -wheeled upon him, so suddenly that the poised spear was shot a fraction -of a second before Mbonga had intended. It went a trifle high and -Tarzan stooped to let it pass over his head; then he sprang toward the -chief. But Mbonga did not wait to receive him. Instead, he turned and -fled for the dark doorway of the nearest hut, calling as he went for -his warriors to fall upon the stranger and slay him. - -Well indeed might Mbonga scream for help, for Tarzan, young and -fleet-footed, covered the distance between them in great leaps, at the -speed of a charging lion. He was growling, too, not at all unlike Numa -himself. Mbonga heard and his blood ran cold. He could feel the wool -stiffen upon his pate and a prickly chill run up his spine, as though -Death had come and run his cold finger along Mbonga's back. - -Others heard, too, and saw, from the darkness of their huts--bold -warriors, hideously painted, grasping heavy war spears in nerveless -fingers. Against Numa, the lion, they would have charged fearlessly. -Against many times their own number of black warriors would they have -raced to the protection of their chief; but this weird jungle demon -filled them with terror. There was nothing human in the bestial growls -that rumbled up from his deep chest; there was nothing human in the -bared fangs, or the catlike leaps. - -Mbonga's warriors were terrified--too terrified to leave the seeming -security of their huts while they watched the beast-man spring full -upon the back of their old chieftain. - -Mbonga went down with a scream of terror. He was too frightened even -to attempt to defend himself. He just lay beneath his antagonist in a -paralysis of fear, screaming at the top of his lungs. Tarzan half rose -and kneeled above the black. He turned Mbonga over and looked him in -the face, exposing the man's throat, then he drew his long, keen knife, -the knife that John Clayton, Lord Greystoke, had brought from England -many years before. He raised it close above Mbonga's neck. The old -black whimpered with terror. He pleaded for his life in a tongue which -Tarzan could not understand. - -For the first time the ape-man had a close view of the chief. He saw -an old man, a very old man with scrawny neck and wrinkled face--a -dried, parchment-like face which resembled some of the little monkeys -Tarzan knew so well. He saw the terror in the man's eyes--never before -had Tarzan seen such terror in the eyes of any animal, or such a -piteous appeal for mercy upon the face of any creature. - -Something stayed the ape-man's hand for an instant. He wondered why it -was that he hesitated to make the kill; never before had he thus -delayed. The old man seemed to wither and shrink to a bag of puny -bones beneath his eyes. So weak and helpless and terror-stricken he -appeared that the ape-man was filled with a great contempt; but another -sensation also claimed him--something new to Tarzan of the Apes in -relation to an enemy. It was pity--pity for a poor, frightened, old -man. - -Tarzan rose and turned away, leaving Mbonga, the chief, unharmed. - -With head held high the ape-man walked through the village, swung -himself into the branches of the tree which overhung the palisade and -disappeared from the sight of the villagers. - -All the way back to the stamping ground of the apes, Tarzan sought for -an explanation of the strange power which had stayed his hand and -prevented him from slaying Mbonga. It was as though someone greater -than he had commanded him to spare the life of the old man. Tarzan -could not understand, for he could conceive of nothing, or no one, with -the authority to dictate to him what he should do, or what he should -refrain from doing. - -It was late when Tarzan sought a swaying couch among the trees beneath -which slept the apes of Kerchak, and he was still absorbed in the -solution of his strange problem when he fell asleep. - -The sun was well up in the heavens when he awoke. The apes were astir -in search of food. Tarzan watched them lazily from above as they -scratched in the rotting loam for bugs and beetles and grubworms, or -sought among the branches of the trees for eggs and young birds, or -luscious caterpillars. - -An orchid, dangling close beside his head, opened slowly, unfolding its -delicate petals to the warmth and light of the sun which but recently -had penetrated to its shady retreat. A thousand times had Tarzan of -the Apes witnessed the beauteous miracle; but now it aroused a keener -interest, for the ape-man was just commencing to ask himself questions -about all the myriad wonders which heretofore he had but taken for -granted. - -What made the flower open? What made it grow from a tiny bud to a -full-blown bloom? Why was it at all? Why was he? Where did Numa, the -lion, come from? Who planted the first tree? How did Goro get way up -into the darkness of the night sky to cast his welcome light upon the -fearsome nocturnal jungle? And the sun! Did the sun merely happen there? - -Why were all the peoples of the jungle not trees? Why were the trees -not something else? Why was Tarzan different from Taug, and Taug -different from Bara, the deer, and Bara different from Sheeta, the -panther, and why was not Sheeta like Buto, the rhinoceros? Where and -how, anyway, did they all come from--the trees, the flowers, the -insects, the countless creatures of the jungle? - -Quite unexpectedly an idea popped into Tarzan's head. In following out -the many ramifications of the dictionary definition of GOD he had come -upon the word CREATE--"to cause to come into existence; to form out of -nothing." - -Tarzan almost had arrived at something tangible when a distant wail -startled him from his preoccupation into sensibility of the present and -the real. The wail came from the jungle at some little distance from -Tarzan's swaying couch. It was the wail of a tiny balu. Tarzan -recognized it at once as the voice of Gazan, Teeka's baby. They had -called it Gazan because its soft, baby hair had been unusually red, and -GAZAN in the language of the great apes, means red skin. - -The wail was immediately followed by a real scream of terror from the -small lungs. Tarzan was electrified into instant action. Like an -arrow from a bow he shot through the trees in the direction of the -sound. Ahead of him he heard the savage snarling of an adult she-ape. -It was Teeka to the rescue. The danger must be very real. Tarzan -could tell that by the note of rage mingled with fear in the voice of -the she. - -Running along bending limbs, swinging from one tree to another, the -ape-man raced through the middle terraces toward the sounds which now -had risen in volume to deafening proportions. From all directions the -apes of Kerchak were hurrying in response to the appeal in the tones of -the balu and its mother, and as they came, their roars reverberated -through the forest. - -But Tarzan, swifter than his heavy fellows, distanced them all. It was -he who was first upon the scene. What he saw sent a cold chill through -his giant frame, for the enemy was the most hated and loathed of all -the jungle creatures. - -Twined in a great tree was Histah, the snake--huge, ponderous, -slimy--and in the folds of its deadly embrace was Teeka's little balu, -Gazan. Nothing in the jungle inspired within the breast of Tarzan so -near a semblance to fear as did the hideous Histah. The apes, too, -loathed the terrifying reptile and feared him even more than they did -Sheeta, the panther, or Numa, the lion. Of all their enemies there was -none they gave a wider berth than they gave Histah, the snake. - -Tarzan knew that Teeka was peculiarly fearful of this silent, repulsive -foe, and as the scene broke upon his vision, it was the action of Teeka -which filled him with the greatest wonder, for at the moment that he -saw her, the she-ape leaped upon the glistening body of the snake, and -as the mighty folds encircled her as well as her offspring, she made no -effort to escape, but instead grasped the writhing body in a futile -effort to tear it from her screaming balu. - -Tarzan knew all too well how deep-rooted was Teeka's terror of Histah. -He scarce could believe the testimony of his own eyes then, when they -told him that she had voluntarily rushed into that deadly embrace. Nor -was Teeka's innate dread of the monster much greater than Tarzan's own. -Never, willingly, had he touched a snake. Why, he could not say, for -he would admit fear of nothing; nor was it fear, but rather an inherent -repulsion bequeathed to him by many generations of civilized ancestors, -and back of them, perhaps, by countless myriads of such as Teeka, in -the breasts of each of which had lurked the same nameless terror of the -slimy reptile. - -Yet Tarzan did not hesitate more than had Teeka, but leaped upon Histah -with all the speed and impetuosity that he would have shown had he been -springing upon Bara, the deer, to make a kill for food. Thus beset the -snake writhed and twisted horribly; but not for an instant did it loose -its hold upon any of its intended victims, for it had included the -ape-man in its cold embrace the minute that he had fallen upon it. - -Still clinging to the tree, the mighty reptile held the three as though -they had been without weight, the while it sought to crush the life -from them. Tarzan had drawn his knife and this he now plunged rapidly -into the body of the enemy; but the encircling folds promised to sap -his life before he had inflicted a death wound upon the snake. Yet on -he fought, nor once did he seek to escape the horrid death that -confronted him--his sole aim was to slay Histah and thus free Teeka and -her balu. - -The great, wide-gaping jaws of the snake turned and hovered above him. -The elastic maw, which could accommodate a rabbit or a horned buck with -equal facility, yawned for him; but Histah, in turning his attention -upon the ape-man, brought his head within reach of Tarzan's blade. -Instantly a brown hand leaped forth and seized the mottled neck, and -another drove the heavy hunting knife to the hilt into the little brain. - -Convulsively Histah shuddered and relaxed, tensed and relaxed again, -whipping and striking with his great body; but no longer sentient or -sensible. Histah was dead, but in his death throes he might easily -dispatch a dozen apes or men. - -Quickly Tarzan seized Teeka and dragged her from the loosened embrace, -dropping her to the ground beneath, then he extricated the balu and -tossed it to its mother. Still Histah whipped about, clinging to the -ape-man; but after a dozen efforts Tarzan succeeded in wriggling free -and leaping to the ground out of range of the mighty battering of the -dying snake. - -A circle of apes surrounded the scene of the battle; but the moment -that Tarzan broke safely from the enemy they turned silently away to -resume their interrupted feeding, and Teeka turned with them, -apparently forgetful of all but her balu and the fact that when the -interruption had occurred she just had discovered an ingeniously hidden -nest containing three perfectly good eggs. - -Tarzan, equally indifferent to a battle that was over, merely cast a -parting glance at the still writhing body of Histah and wandered off -toward the little pool which served to water the tribe at this point. -Strangely, he did not give the victory cry over the vanquished Histah. -Why, he could not have told you, other than that to him Histah was not -an animal. He differed in some peculiar way from the other denizens of -the jungle. Tarzan only knew that he hated him. - -At the pool Tarzan drank his fill and lay stretched upon the soft grass -beneath the shade of a tree. His mind reverted to the battle with -Histah, the snake. It seemed strange to him that Teeka should have -placed herself within the folds of the horrid monster. Why had she -done it? Why, indeed, had he? Teeka did not belong to him, nor did -Teeka's balu. They were both Taug's. Why then had he done this thing? -Histah was not food for him when he was dead. There seemed to Tarzan, -now that he gave the matter thought, no reason in the world why he -should have done the thing he did, and presently it occurred to him -that he had acted almost involuntarily, just as he had acted when he -had released the old Gomangani the previous evening. - -What made him do such things? Somebody more powerful than he must force -him to act at times. "All-powerful," thought Tarzan. "The little bugs -say that God is all-powerful. It must be that God made me do these -things, for I never did them by myself. It was God who made Teeka rush -upon Histah. Teeka would never go near Histah of her own volition. It -was God who held my knife from the throat of the old Gomangani. God -accomplishes strange things for he is 'all-powerful.' I cannot see Him; -but I know that it must be God who does these things. No Mangani, no -Gomangani, no Tarmangani could do them." - -And the flowers--who made them grow? Ah, now it was all explained--the -flowers, the trees, the moon, the sun, himself, every living creature -in the jungle--they were all made by God out of nothing. - -And what was God? What did God look like? Of that he had no conception; -but he was sure that everything that was good came from God. His good -act in refraining from slaying the poor, defenseless old Gomangani; -Teeka's love that had hurled her into the embrace of death; his own -loyalty to Teeka which had jeopardized his life that she might live. -The flowers and the trees were good and beautiful. God had made them. -He made the other creatures, too, that each might have food upon which -to live. He had made Sheeta, the panther, with his beautiful coat; and -Numa, the lion, with his noble head and his shaggy mane. He had made -Bara, the deer, lovely and graceful. - -Yes, Tarzan had found God, and he spent the whole day in attributing to -Him all of the good and beautiful things of nature; but there was one -thing which troubled him. He could not quite reconcile it to his -conception of his new-found God. - -Who made Histah, the snake? - - - - - 5 - - Tarzan and the Black Boy - -TARZAN OF THE Apes sat at the foot of a great tree braiding a new grass -rope. Beside him lay the frayed remnants of the old one, torn and -severed by the fangs and talons of Sheeta, the panther. Only half the -original rope was there, the balance having been carried off by the -angry cat as he bounded away through the jungle with the noose still -about his savage neck and the loose end dragging among the underbrush. - -Tarzan smiled as he recalled Sheeta's great rage, his frantic efforts -to free himself from the entangling strands, his uncanny screams that -were part hate, part anger, part terror. He smiled in retrospection at -the discomfiture of his enemy, and in anticipation of another day as he -added an extra strand to his new rope. - -This would be the strongest, the heaviest rope that Tarzan of the Apes -ever had fashioned. Visions of Numa, the lion, straining futilely in -its embrace thrilled the ape-man. He was quite content, for his hands -and his brain were busy. Content, too, were his fellows of the tribe -of Kerchak, searching for food in the clearing and the surrounding -trees about him. No perplexing thoughts of the future burdened their -minds, and only occasionally, dimly arose recollections of the near -past. They were stimulated to a species of brutal content by the -delectable business of filling their bellies. Afterward they would -sleep--it was their life, and they enjoyed it as we enjoy ours, you and -I--as Tarzan enjoyed his. Possibly they enjoyed theirs more than we -enjoy ours, for who shall say that the beasts of the jungle do not -better fulfill the purposes for which they are created than does man -with his many excursions into strange fields and his contraventions of -the laws of nature? And what gives greater content and greater -happiness than the fulfilling of a destiny? - -As Tarzan worked, Gazan, Teeka's little balu, played about him while -Teeka sought food upon the opposite side of the clearing. No more did -Teeka, the mother, or Taug, the sullen sire, harbor suspicions of -Tarzan's intentions toward their first-born. Had he not courted death -to save their Gazan from the fangs and talons of Sheeta? Did he not -fondle and cuddle the little one with even as great a show of affection -as Teeka herself displayed? Their fears were allayed and Tarzan now -found himself often in the role of nursemaid to a tiny anthropoid--an -avocation which he found by no means irksome, since Gazan was a -never-failing fount of surprises and entertainment. - -Just now the apeling was developing those arboreal tendencies which -were to stand him in such good stead during the years of his youth, -when rapid flight into the upper terraces was of far more importance -and value than his undeveloped muscles and untried fighting fangs. -Backing off fifteen or twenty feet from the bole of the tree beneath -the branches of which Tarzan worked upon his rope, Gazan scampered -quickly forward, scrambling nimbly upward to the lower limbs. Here he -would squat for a moment or two, quite proud of his achievement, then -clamber to the ground again and repeat. Sometimes, quite often in -fact, for he was an ape, his attention was distracted by other things, -a beetle, a caterpillar, a tiny field mouse, and off he would go in -pursuit; the caterpillars he always caught, and sometimes the beetles; -but the field mice, never. - -Now he discovered the tail of the rope upon which Tarzan was working. -Grasping it in one small hand he bounced away, for all the world like -an animated rubber ball, snatching it from the ape-man's hand and -running off across the clearing. Tarzan leaped to his feet and was in -pursuit in an instant, no trace of anger on his face or in his voice as -he called to the roguish little balu to drop his rope. - -Straight toward his mother raced Gazan, and after him came Tarzan. -Teeka looked up from her feeding, and in the first instant that she -realized that Gazan was fleeing and that another was in pursuit, she -bared her fangs and bristled; but when she saw that the pursuer was -Tarzan she turned back to the business that had been occupying her -attention. At her very feet the ape-man overhauled the balu and, -though the youngster squealed and fought when Tarzan seized him, Teeka -only glanced casually in their direction. No longer did she fear harm -to her first-born at the hands of the ape-man. Had he not saved Gazan -on two occasions? - -Rescuing his rope, Tarzan returned to his tree and resumed his labor; -but thereafter it was necessary to watch carefully the playful balu, -who was now possessed to steal it whenever he thought his great, -smooth-skinned cousin was momentarily off his guard. - -But even under this handicap Tarzan finally completed the rope, a long, -pliant weapon, stronger than any he ever had made before. The -discarded piece of his former one he gave to Gazan for a plaything, for -Tarzan had it in his mind to instruct Teeka's balu after ideas of his -own when the youngster should be old and strong enough to profit by his -precepts. At present the little ape's innate aptitude for mimicry -would be sufficient to familiarize him with Tarzan's ways and weapons, -and so the ape-man swung off into the jungle, his new rope coiled over -one shoulder, while little Gazan hopped about the clearing dragging the -old one after him in childish glee. - -As Tarzan traveled, dividing his quest for food with one for a -sufficiently noble quarry whereupon to test his new weapon, his mind -often was upon Gazan. The ape-man had realized a deep affection for -Teeka's balu almost from the first, partly because the child belonged -to Teeka, his first love, and partly for the little ape's own sake, and -Tarzan's human longing for some sentient creature upon which to expend -those natural affections of the soul which are inherent to all normal -members of the GENUS HOMO. Tarzan envied Teeka. It was true that Gazan -evidenced a considerable reciprocation of Tarzan's fondness for him, -even preferring him to his own surly sire; but to Teeka the little one -turned when in pain or terror, when tired or hungry. Then it was that -Tarzan felt quite alone in the world and longed desperately for one who -should turn first to him for succor and protection. - -Taug had Teeka; Teeka had Gazan; and nearly every other bull and cow of -the tribe of Kerchak had one or more to love and by whom to be loved. -Of course Tarzan could scarcely formulate the thought in precisely this -way--he only knew that he craved something which was denied him; -something which seemed to be represented by those relations which -existed between Teeka and her balu, and so he envied Teeka and longed -for a balu of his own. - -He saw Sheeta and his mate with their little family of three; and -deeper inland toward the rocky hills, where one might lie up during the -heat of the day, in the dense shade of a tangled thicket close under -the cool face of an overhanging rock, Tarzan had found the lair of -Numa, the lion, and of Sabor, the lioness. Here he had watched them -with their little balus--playful creatures, spotted leopard-like. And -he had seen the young fawn with Bara, the deer, and with Buto, the -rhinoceros, its ungainly little one. Each of the creatures of the -jungle had its own--except Tarzan. It made the ape-man sad to think -upon this thing, sad and lonely; but presently the scent of game -cleared his young mind of all other considerations, as catlike he -crawled far out upon a bending limb above the game trail which led down -to the ancient watering place of the wild things of this wild world. - -How many thousands of times had this great, old limb bent to the savage -form of some blood-thirsty hunter in the long years that it had spread -its leafy branches above the deep-worn jungle path! Tarzan, the -ape-man, Sheeta, the panther, and Histah, the snake, it knew well. -They had worn smooth the bark upon its upper surface. - -Today it was Horta, the boar, which came down toward the watcher in the -old tree--Horta, the boar, whose formidable tusks and diabolical temper -preserved him from all but the most ferocious or most famished of the -largest carnivora. - -But to Tarzan, meat was meat; naught that was edible or tasty might -pass a hungry Tarzan unchallenged and unattacked. In hunger, as in -battle, the ape-man out-savaged the dreariest denizens of the jungle. -He knew neither fear nor mercy, except upon rare occasions when some -strange, inexplicable force stayed his hand--a force inexplicable to -him, perhaps, because of his ignorance of his own origin and of all the -forces of humanitarianism and civilization that were his rightful -heritage because of that origin. - -So today, instead of staying his hand until a less formidable feast -found its way toward him, Tarzan dropped his new noose about the neck -of Horta, the boar. It was an excellent test for the untried strands. -The angered boar bolted this way and that; but each time the new rope -held him where Tarzan had made it fast about the stem of the tree above -the branch from which he had cast it. - -As Horta grunted and charged, slashing the sturdy jungle patriarch with -his mighty tusks until the bark flew in every direction, Tarzan dropped -to the ground behind him. In the ape-man's hand was the long, keen -blade that had been his constant companion since that distant day upon -which chance had directed its point into the body of Bolgani, the -gorilla, and saved the torn and bleeding man-child from what else had -been certain death. - -Tarzan walked in toward Horta, who swung now to face his enemy. Mighty -and muscled as was the young giant, it yet would have appeared but the -maddest folly for him to face so formidable a creature as Horta, the -boar, armed only with a slender hunting knife. So it would have seemed -to one who knew Horta even slightly and Tarzan not at all. - -For a moment Horta stood motionless facing the ape-man. His wicked, -deep-set eyes flashed angrily. He shook his lowered head. - -"Mud-eater!" jeered the ape-man. "Wallower in filth. Even your meat -stinks, but it is juicy and makes Tarzan strong. Today I shall eat -your heart, O Lord of the Great Tusks, that it shall keep savage that -which pounds against my own ribs." - -Horta, understanding nothing of what Tarzan said, was none the less -enraged because of that. He saw only a naked man-thing, hairless and -futile, pitting his puny fangs and soft muscles against his own -indomitable savagery, and he charged. - -Tarzan of the Apes waited until the upcut of a wicked tusk would have -laid open his thigh, then he moved--just the least bit to one side; but -so quickly that lightning was a sluggard by comparison, and as he -moved, he stooped low and with all the great power of his right arm -drove the long blade of his father's hunting knife straight into the -heart of Horta, the boar. A quick leap carried him from the zone of -the creature's death throes, and a moment later the hot and dripping -heart of Horta was in his grasp. - -His hunger satisfied, Tarzan did not seek a lying-up place for sleep, -as was sometimes his way, but continued on through the jungle more in -search of adventure than of food, for today he was restless. And so it -came that he turned his footsteps toward the village of Mbonga, the -black chief, whose people Tarzan had baited remorselessly since that -day upon which Kulonga, the chief's son, had slain Kala. - -A river winds close beside the village of the black men. Tarzan -reached its side a little below the clearing where squat the thatched -huts of the Negroes. The river life was ever fascinating to the -ape-man. He found pleasure in watching the ungainly antics of Duro, the -hippopotamus, and keen sport in tormenting the sluggish crocodile, -Gimla, as he basked in the sun. Then, too, there were the shes and the -balus of the black men of the Gomangani to frighten as they squatted by -the river, the shes with their meager washing, the balus with their -primitive toys. - -This day he came upon a woman and her child farther down stream than -usual. The former was searching for a species of shellfish which was -to be found in the mud close to the river bank. She was a young black -woman of about thirty. Her teeth were filed to sharp points, for her -people ate the flesh of man. Her under lip was slit that it might -support a rude pendant of copper which she had worn for so many years -that the lip had been dragged downward to prodigious lengths, exposing -the teeth and gums of her lower jaw. Her nose, too, was slit, and -through the slit was a wooden skewer. Metal ornaments dangled from her -ears, and upon her forehead and cheeks; upon her chin and the bridge of -her nose were tattooings in colors that were mellowed now by age. She -was naked except for a girdle of grasses about her waist. Altogether -she was very beautiful in her own estimation and even in the estimation -of the men of Mbonga's tribe, though she was of another people--a -trophy of war seized in her maidenhood by one of Mbonga's fighting men. - -Her child was a boy of ten, lithe, straight and, for a black, handsome. -Tarzan looked upon the two from the concealing foliage of a near-by -bush. He was about to leap forth before them with a terrifying scream, -that he might enjoy the spectacle of their terror and their incontinent -flight; but of a sudden a new whim seized him. Here was a balu -fashioned as he himself was fashioned. Of course this one's skin was -black; but what of it? Tarzan had never seen a white man. In so far -as he knew, he was the sole representative of that strange form of life -upon the earth. The black boy should make an excellent balu for -Tarzan, since he had none of his own. He would tend him carefully, -feed him well, protect him as only Tarzan of the Apes could protect his -own, and teach him out of his half human, half bestial lore the secrets -of the jungle from its rotting surface vegetation to the high tossed -pinnacles of the forest's upper terraces. - -* * * - -Tarzan uncoiled his rope, and shook out the noose. The two before him, -all ignorant of the near presence of that terrifying form, continued -preoccupied in the search for shellfish, poking about in the mud with -short sticks. - -Tarzan stepped from the jungle behind them; his noose lay open upon the -ground beside him. There was a quick movement of the right arm and the -noose rose gracefully into the air, hovered an instant above the head -of the unsuspecting youth, then settled. As it encompassed his body -below the shoulders, Tarzan gave a quick jerk that tightened it about -the boy's arms, pinioning them to his sides. A scream of terror broke -from the lad's lips, and as his mother turned, affrighted at his cry, -she saw him being dragged quickly toward a great white giant who stood -just beneath the shade of a near-by tree, scarcely a dozen long paces -from her. - -With a savage cry of terror and rage, the woman leaped fearlessly -toward the ape-man. In her mien Tarzan saw determination and courage -which would shrink not even from death itself. She was very hideous -and frightful even when her face was in repose; but convulsed by -passion, her expression became terrifyingly fiendish. Even the ape-man -drew back, but more in revulsion than fear--fear he knew not. - -Biting and kicking was the black she's balu as Tarzan tucked him -beneath his arm and vanished into the branches hanging low above him, -just as the infuriated mother dashed forward to seize and do battle -with him. And as he melted away into the depth of the jungle with his -still struggling prize, he meditated upon the possibilities which might -lie in the prowess of the Gomangani were the hes as formidable as the -shes. - -Once at a safe distance from the despoiled mother and out of earshot of -her screams and menaces, Tarzan paused to inspect his prize, now so -thoroughly terrorized that he had ceased his struggles and his outcries. - -The frightened child rolled his eyes fearfully toward his captor, until -the whites showed gleaming all about the irises. - -"I am Tarzan," said the ape-man, in the vernacular of the anthropoids. -"I will not harm you. You are to be Tarzan's balu. Tarzan will -protect you. He will feed you. The best in the jungle shall be for -Tarzan's balu, for Tarzan is a mighty hunter. None need you fear, not -even Numa, the lion, for Tarzan is a mighty fighter. None so great as -Tarzan, son of Kala. Do not fear." - -But the child only whimpered and trembled, for he did not understand -the tongue of the great apes, and the voice of Tarzan sounded to him -like the barking and growling of a beast. Then, too, he had heard -stories of this bad, white forest god. It was he who had slain Kulonga -and others of the warriors of Mbonga, the chief. It was he who entered -the village stealthily, by magic, in the darkness of the night, to -steal arrows and poison, and frighten the women and the children and -even the great warriors. Doubtless this wicked god fed upon little -boys. Had his mother not said as much when he was naughty and she -threatened to give him to the white god of the jungle if he were not -good? Little black Tibo shook as with ague. - -"Are you cold, Go-bu-balu?" asked Tarzan, using the simian equivalent -of black he-baby in lieu of a better name. "The sun is hot; why do you -shiver?" - -Tibo could not understand; but he cried for his mamma and begged the -great, white god to let him go, promising always to be a good boy -thereafter if his plea were granted. Tarzan shook his head. Not a -word could he understand. This would never do! He must teach -Go-bu-balu a language which sounded like talk. It was quite certain to -Tarzan that Go-bu-balu's speech was not talk at all. It sounded quite -as senseless as the chattering of the silly birds. It would be best, -thought the ape-man, quickly to get him among the tribe of Kerchak -where he would hear the Mangani talking among themselves. Thus he -would soon learn an intelligible form of speech. - -Tarzan rose to his feet upon the swaying branch where he had halted far -above the ground, and motioned to the child to follow him; but Tibo -only clung tightly to the bole of the tree and wept. Being a boy, and -a native African, he had, of course, climbed into trees many times -before this; but the idea of racing off through the forest, leaping -from one branch to another, as his captor, to his horror, had done when -he had carried Tibo away from his mother, filled his childish heart -with terror. - -Tarzan sighed. His newly acquired balu had much indeed to learn. It -was pitiful that a balu of his size and strength should be so backward. -He tried to coax Tibo to follow him; but the child dared not, so Tarzan -picked him up and carried him upon his back. Tibo no longer scratched -or bit. Escape seemed impossible. Even now, were he set upon the -ground, the chance was remote, he knew, that he could find his way back -to the village of Mbonga, the chief. Even if he could, there were the -lions and the leopards and the hyenas, any one of which, as Tibo was -well aware, was particularly fond of the meat of little black boys. - -So far the terrible white god of the jungle had offered him no harm. -He could not expect even this much consideration from the frightful, -green-eyed man-eaters. It would be the lesser of two evils, then, to -let the white god carry him away without scratching and biting, as he -had done at first. - -As Tarzan swung rapidly through the trees, little Tibo closed his eyes -in terror rather than look longer down into the frightful abysses -beneath. Never before in all his life had Tibo been so frightened, yet -as the white giant sped on with him through the forest there stole over -the child an inexplicable sensation of security as he saw how true were -the leaps of the ape-man, how unerring his grasp upon the swaying limbs -which gave him hand-hold, and then, too, there was safety in the middle -terraces of the forest, far above the reach of the dreaded lions. - -And so Tarzan came to the clearing where the tribe fed, dropping among -them with his new balu clinging tightly to his shoulders. He was -fairly in the midst of them before Tibo spied a single one of the great -hairy forms, or before the apes realized that Tarzan was not alone. -When they saw the little Gomangani perched upon his back some of them -came forward in curiosity with upcurled lips and snarling mien. - -An hour before little Tibo would have said that he knew the uttermost -depths of fear; but now, as he saw these fearsome beasts surrounding -him, he realized that all that had gone before was as nothing by -comparison. Why did the great white giant stand there so -unconcernedly? Why did he not flee before these horrid, hairy, tree -men fell upon them both and tore them to pieces? And then there came to -Tibo a numbing recollection. It was none other than the story he had -heard passed from mouth to mouth, fearfully, by the people of Mbonga, -the chief, that this great white demon of the jungle was naught other -than a hairless ape, for had not he been seen in company with these? - -Tibo could only stare in wide-eyed horror at the approaching apes. He -saw their beetling brows, their great fangs, their wicked eyes. He -noted their mighty muscles rolling beneath their shaggy hides. Their -every attitude and expression was a menace. Tarzan saw this, too. He -drew Tibo around in front of him. - -"This is Tarzan's Go-bu-balu," he said. "Do not harm him, or Tarzan -will kill you," and he bared his own fangs in the teeth of the nearest -ape. - -"It is a Gomangani," replied the ape. "Let me kill it. It is a -Gomangani. The Gomangani are our enemies. Let me kill it." - -"Go away," snarled Tarzan. "I tell you, Gunto, it is Tarzan's balu. -Go away or Tarzan will kill you," and the ape-man took a step toward -the advancing ape. - -The latter sidled off, quite stiff and haughty, after the manner of a -dog which meets another and is too proud to fight and too fearful to -turn his back and run. - -Next came Teeka, prompted by curiosity. At her side skipped little -Gazan. They were filled with wonder like the others; but Teeka did not -bare her fangs. Tarzan saw this and motioned that she approach. - -"Tarzan has a balu now," he said. "He and Teeka's balu can play -together." - -"It is a Gomangani," replied Teeka. "It will kill my balu. Take it -away, Tarzan." - -Tarzan laughed. "It could not harm Pamba, the rat," he said. "It is -but a little balu and very frightened. Let Gazan play with it." - -Teeka still was fearful, for with all their mighty ferocity the great -anthropoids are timid; but at last, assured by her great confidence in -Tarzan, she pushed Gazan forward toward the little black boy. The -small ape, guided by instinct, drew back toward its mother, baring its -small fangs and screaming in mingled fear and rage. - -Tibo, too, showed no signs of desiring a closer acquaintance with -Gazan, so Tarzan gave up his efforts for the time. - -During the week which followed, Tarzan found his time much occupied. -His balu was a greater responsibility than he had counted upon. Not -for a moment did he dare leave it, since of all the tribe, Teeka alone -could have been depended upon to refrain from slaying the hapless black -had it not been for Tarzan's constant watchfulness. When the ape-man -hunted, he must carry Go-bu-balu about with him. It was irksome, and -then the little black seemed so stupid and fearful to Tarzan. It was -quite helpless against even the lesser of the jungle creatures. Tarzan -wondered how it had survived at all. He tried to teach it, and found a -ray of hope in the fact that Go-bu-balu had mastered a few words of the -language of the anthropoids, and that he could now cling to a -high-tossed branch without screaming in fear; but there was something -about the child which worried Tarzan. He often had watched the blacks -within their village. He had seen the children playing, and always -there had been much laughter; but little Go-bu-balu never laughed. It -was true that Tarzan himself never laughed. Upon occasion he smiled, -grimly, but to laughter he was a stranger. The black, however, should -have laughed, reasoned the ape-man. It was the way of the Gomangani. - -Also, he saw that the little fellow often refused food and was growing -thinner day by day. At times he surprised the boy sobbing softly to -himself. Tarzan tried to comfort him, even as fierce Kala had -comforted Tarzan when the ape-man was a balu, but all to no avail. -Go-bu-balu merely no longer feared Tarzan--that was all. He feared -every other living thing within the jungle. He feared the jungle days -with their long excursions through the dizzy tree tops. He feared the -jungle nights with their swaying, perilous couches far above the -ground, and the grunting and coughing of the great carnivora prowling -beneath him. - -Tarzan did not know what to do. His heritage of English blood rendered -it a difficult thing even to consider a surrender of his project, -though he was forced to admit to himself that his balu was not all that -he had hoped. Though he was faithful to his self-imposed task, and -even found that he had grown to like Go-bu-balu, he could not deceive -himself into believing that he felt for it that fierce heat of -passionate affection which Teeka revealed for Gazan, and which the -black mother had shown for Go-bu-balu. - -The little black boy from cringing terror at the sight of Tarzan passed -by degrees into trustfulness and admiration. Only kindness had he ever -received at the hands of the great white devil-god, yet he had seen -with what ferocity his kindly captor could deal with others. He had -seen him leap upon a certain he-ape which persisted in attempting to -seize and slay Go-bu-balu. He had seen the strong, white teeth of the -ape-man fastened in the neck of his adversary, and the mighty muscles -tensed in battle. He had heard the savage, bestial snarls and roars of -combat, and he had realized with a shudder that he could not -differentiate between those of his guardian and those of the hairy ape. - -He had seen Tarzan bring down a buck, just as Numa, the lion, might -have done, leaping upon its back and fastening his fangs in the -creature's neck. Tibo had shuddered at the sight, but he had thrilled, -too, and for the first time there entered his dull, Negroid mind a -vague desire to emulate his savage foster parent. But Tibo, the little -black boy, lacked the divine spark which had permitted Tarzan, the -white boy, to benefit by his training in the ways of the fierce jungle. -In imagination he was wanting, and imagination is but another name for -super-intelligence. - -Imagination it is which builds bridges, and cities, and empires. The -beasts know it not, the blacks only a little, while to one in a hundred -thousand of earth's dominant race it is given as a gift from heaven -that man may not perish from the earth. - -While Tarzan pondered his problem concerning the future of his balu, -Fate was arranging to take the matter out of his hands. Momaya, Tibo's -mother, grief-stricken at the loss of her boy, had consulted the tribal -witch-doctor, but to no avail. The medicine he made was not good -medicine, for though Momaya paid him two goats for it, it did not bring -back Tibo, nor even indicate where she might search for him with -reasonable assurance of finding him. Momaya, being of a short temper -and of another people, had little respect for the witch-doctor of her -husband's tribe, and so, when he suggested that a further payment of -two more fat goats would doubtless enable him to make stronger -medicine, she promptly loosed her shrewish tongue upon him, and with -such good effect that he was glad to take himself off with his zebra's -tail and his pot of magic. - -When he had gone and Momaya had succeeded in partially subduing her -anger, she gave herself over to thought, as she so often had done since -the abduction of her Tibo, in the hope that she finally might discover -some feasible means of locating him, or at least assuring herself as to -whether he were alive or dead. - -It was known to the blacks that Tarzan did not eat the flesh of man, -for he had slain more than one of their number, yet never tasted the -flesh of any. Too, the bodies always had been found, sometimes -dropping as though from the clouds to alight in the center of the -village. As Tibo's body had not been found, Momaya argued that he -still lived, but where? - -Then it was that there came to her mind a recollection of Bukawai, the -unclean, who dwelt in a cave in the hillside to the north, and who it -was well known entertained devils in his evil lair. Few, if any, had -the temerity to visit old Bukawai, firstly because of fear of his black -magic and the two hyenas who dwelt with him and were commonly known to -be devils masquerading, and secondly because of the loathsome disease -which had caused Bukawai to be an outcast--a disease which was slowly -eating away his face. - -Now it was that Momaya reasoned shrewdly that if any might know the -whereabouts of her Tibo, it would be Bukawai, who was in friendly -intercourse with gods and demons, since a demon or a god it was who had -stolen her baby; but even her great mother love was sorely taxed to -find the courage to send her forth into the black jungle toward the -distant hills and the uncanny abode of Bukawai, the unclean, and his -devils. - -Mother love, however, is one of the human passions which closely -approximates to the dignity of an irresistible force. It drives the -frail flesh of weak women to deeds of heroic measure. Momaya was -neither frail nor weak, physically, but she was a woman, an ignorant, -superstitious, African savage. She believed in devils, in black magic, -and in witchcraft. To Momaya, the jungle was inhabited by far more -terrifying things than lions and leopards--horrifying, nameless things -which possessed the power of wreaking frightful harm under various -innocent guises. - -From one of the warriors of the village, whom she knew to have once -stumbled upon the lair of Bukawai, the mother of Tibo learned how she -might find it--near a spring of water which rose in a small rocky canyon -between two hills, the easternmost of which was easily recognizable -because of a huge granite boulder which rested upon its summit. The -westerly hill was lower than its companion, and was quite bare of -vegetation except for a single mimosa tree which grew just a little -below its summit. - -These two hills, the man assured her, could be seen for some distance -before she reached them, and together formed an excellent guide to her -destination. He warned her, however, to abandon so foolish and -dangerous an adventure, emphasizing what she already quite well knew, -that if she escaped harm at the hands of Bukawai and his demons, the -chances were that she would not be so fortunate with the great -carnivora of the jungle through which she must pass going and returning. - -The warrior even went to Momaya's husband, who, in turn, having little -authority over the vixenish lady of his choice, went to Mbonga, the -chief. The latter summoned Momaya, threatening her with the direst -punishment should she venture forth upon so unholy an excursion. The -old chief's interest in the matter was due solely to that age-old -alliance which exists between church and state. The local -witch-doctor, knowing his own medicine better than any other knew it, -was jealous of all other pretenders to accomplishments in the black -art. He long had heard of the power of Bukawai, and feared lest, -should he succeed in recovering Momaya's lost child, much of the tribal -patronage and consequent fees would be diverted to the unclean one. As -Mbonga received, as chief, a certain proportion of the witch-doctor's -fees and could expect nothing from Bukawai, his heart and soul were, -quite naturally, wrapped up in the orthodox church. - -But if Momaya could view with intrepid heart an excursion into the -jungle and a visit to the fear-haunted abode of Bukawai, she was not -likely to be deterred by threats of future punishment at the hands of -old Mbonga, whom she secretly despised. Yet she appeared to accede to -his injunctions, returning to her hut in silence. - -She would have preferred starting upon her quest by day-light, but this -was now out of the question, since she must carry food and a weapon of -some sort--things which she never could pass out of the village with by -day without being subjected to curious questioning that surely would -come immediately to the ears of Mbonga. - -So Momaya bided her time until night, and just before the gates of the -village were closed, she slipped through into the darkness and the -jungle. She was much frightened, but she set her face resolutely -toward the north, and though she paused often to listen, breathlessly, -for the huge cats which, here, were her greatest terror, she -nevertheless continued her way staunchly for several hours, until a low -moan a little to her right and behind her brought her to a sudden stop. - -With palpitating heart the woman stood, scarce daring to breathe, and -then, very faintly but unmistakable to her keen ears, came the stealthy -crunching of twigs and grasses beneath padded feet. - -All about Momaya grew the giant trees of the tropical jungle, festooned -with hanging vines and mosses. She seized upon the nearest and started -to clamber, apelike, to the branches above. As she did so, there was a -sudden rush of a great body behind her, a menacing roar that caused the -earth to tremble, and something crashed into the very creepers to which -she was clinging--but below her. - -Momaya drew herself to safety among the leafy branches and thanked the -foresight which had prompted her to bring along the dried human ear -which hung from a cord about her neck. She always had known that that -ear was good medicine. It had been given her, when a girl, by the -witch-doctor of her town tribe, and was nothing like the poor, weak -medicine of Mbonga's witch-doctor. - -All night Momaya clung to her perch, for although the lion sought other -prey after a short time, she dared not descend into the darkness again, -for fear she might encounter him or another of his kind; but at -daylight she clambered down and resumed her way. - -Tarzan of the Apes, finding that his balu never ceased to give evidence -of terror in the presence of the apes of the tribe, and also that most -of the adult apes were a constant menace to Go-bu-balu's life, so that -Tarzan dared not leave him alone with them, took to hunting with the -little black boy farther and farther from the stamping grounds of the -anthropoids. - - -Little by little his absences from the tribe grew in length as he -wandered farther away from them, until finally he found himself a -greater distance to the north than he ever before had hunted, and with -water and ample game and fruit, he felt not at all inclined to return -to the tribe. - -Little Go-bu-balu gave evidences of a greater interest in life, an -interest which varied in direct proportion to the distance he was from -the apes of Kerchak. He now trotted along behind Tarzan when the -ape-man went upon the ground, and in the trees he even did his best to -follow his mighty foster parent. The boy was still sad and lonely. -His thin, little body had grown steadily thinner since he had come -among the apes, for while, as a young cannibal, he was not overnice in -the matter of diet, he found it not always to his taste to stomach the -weird things which tickled the palates of epicures among the apes. - -His large eyes were very large indeed now, his cheeks sunken, and every -rib of his emaciated body plainly discernible to whomsoever should care -to count them. Constant terror, perhaps, had had as much to do with -his physical condition as had improper food. Tarzan noticed the change -and was worried. He had hoped to see his balu wax sturdy and strong. -His disappointment was great. In only one respect did Go-bu-balu seem -to progress--he readily was mastering the language of the apes. Even -now he and Tarzan could converse in a fairly satisfactory manner by -supplementing the meager ape speech with signs; but for the most part, -Go-bu-balu was silent other than to answer questions put to him. His -great sorrow was yet too new and too poignant to be laid aside even -momentarily. Always he pined for Momaya--shrewish, hideous, repulsive, -perhaps, she would have been to you or me, but to Tibo she was mamma, -the personification of that one great love which knows no selfishness -and which does not consume itself in its own fires. - -As the two hunted, or rather as Tarzan hunted and Go-bu-balu tagged -along in his wake, the ape-man noticed many things and thought much. -Once they came upon Sabor moaning in the tall grasses. About her -romped and played two little balls of fur, but her eyes were for one -which lay between her great forepaws and did not romp, one who never -would romp again. - -Tarzan read aright the anguish and the suffering of the huge mother -cat. He had been minded to bait her. It was to do this that he had -sneaked silently through the trees until he had come almost above her, -but something held the ape-man as he saw the lioness grieving over her -dead cub. With the acquisition of Go-bu-balu, Tarzan had come to -realize the responsibilities and sorrows of parentage, without its -joys. His heart went out to Sabor as it might not have done a few -weeks before. As he watched her, there rose quite unbidden before him -a vision of Momaya, the skewer through the septum of her nose, her -pendulous under lip sagging beneath the weight which dragged it down. -Tarzan saw not her unloveliness; he saw only the same anguish that was -Sabor's, and he winced. That strange functioning of the mind which -sometimes is called association of ideas snapped Teeka and Gazan before -the ape-man's mental vision. What if one should come and take Gazan -from Teeka. Tarzan uttered a low and ominous growl as though Gazan -were his own. Go-bu-balu glanced here and there apprehensively, -thinking that Tarzan had espied an enemy. Sabor sprang suddenly to her -feet, her yellow-green eyes blazing, her tail lashing as she cocked her -ears, and raising her muzzle, sniffed the air for possible danger. The -two little cubs, which had been playing, scampered quickly to her, and -standing beneath her, peered out from between her forelegs, their big -ears upstanding, their little heads cocked first upon one side and then -upon the other. - -With a shake of his black shock, Tarzan turned away and resumed his -hunting in another direction; but all day there rose one after another, -above the threshold of his objective mind, memory portraits of Sabor, -of Momaya, and of Teeka--a lioness, a cannibal, and a she-ape, yet to -the ape-man they were identical through motherhood. - -It was noon of the third day when Momaya came within sight of the cave -of Bukawai, the unclean. The old witch-doctor had rigged a framework -of interlaced boughs to close the mouth of the cave from predatory -beasts. This was now set to one side, and the black cavern beyond -yawned mysterious and repellent. Momaya shivered as from a cold wind -of the rainy season. No sign of life appeared about the cave, yet -Momaya experienced that uncanny sensation as of unseen eyes regarding -her malevolently. Again she shuddered. She tried to force her -unwilling feet onward toward the cave, when from its depths issued an -uncanny sound that was neither brute nor human, a weird sound that was -akin to mirthless laughter. - -With a stifled scream, Momaya turned and fled into the jungle. For a -hundred yards she ran before she could control her terror, and then she -paused, listening. Was all her labor, were all the terrors and dangers -through which she had passed to go for naught? She tried to steel -herself to return to the cave, but again fright overcame her. - -Saddened, disheartened, she turned slowly upon the back trail toward -the village of Mbonga. Her young shoulders now were drooped like those -of an old woman who bears a great burden of many years with their -accumulated pains and sorrows, and she walked with tired feet and a -halting step. The spring of youth was gone from Momaya. - -For another hundred yards she dragged her weary way, her brain half -paralyzed from dumb terror and suffering, and then there came to her -the memory of a little babe that suckled at her breast, and of a slim -boy who romped, laughing, about her, and they were both Tibo--her Tibo! - -Her shoulders straightened. She shook her savage head, and she turned -about and walked boldly back to the mouth of the cave of Bukawai, the -unclean--of Bukawai, the witch-doctor. - -Again, from the interior of the cave came the hideous laughter that was -not laughter. This time Momaya recognized it for what it was, the -strange cry of a hyena. No more did she shudder, but she held her -spear ready and called aloud to Bukawai to come out. - -Instead of Bukawai came the repulsive head of a hyena. Momaya poked at -it with her spear, and the ugly, sullen brute drew back with an angry -growl. Again Momaya called Bukawai by name, and this time there came -an answer in mumbling tones that were scarce more human than those of -the beast. - -"Who comes to Bukawai?" queried the voice. - -"It is Momaya," replied the woman; "Momaya from the village of Mbonga, -the chief. - -"What do you want?" - -"I want good medicine, better medicine than Mbonga's witch-doctor can -make," replied Momaya. "The great, white, jungle god has stolen my -Tibo, and I want medicine to bring him back, or to find where he is -hidden that I may go and get him." - -"Who is Tibo?" asked Bukawai. - -Momaya told him. - -"Bukawai's medicine is very strong," said the voice. "Five goats and a -new sleeping mat are scarce enough in exchange for Bukawai's medicine." - -"Two goats are enough," said Momaya, for the spirit of barter is strong -in the breasts of the blacks. - -The pleasure of haggling over the price was a sufficiently potent lure -to draw Bukawai to the mouth of the cave. Momaya was sorry when she -saw him that he had not remained within. There are some things too -horrible, too hideous, too repulsive for description--Bukawai's face -was of these. When Momaya saw him she understood why it was that he -was almost inarticulate. - -Beside him were two hyenas, which rumor had said were his only and -constant companions. They made an excellent trio--the most repulsive -of beasts with the most repulsive of humans. - -"Five goats and a new sleeping mat," mumbled Bukawai. - -"Two fat goats and a sleeping mat." Momaya raised her bid; but Bukawai -was obdurate. He stuck for the five goats and the sleeping mat for a -matter of half an hour, while the hyenas sniffed and growled and -laughed hideously. Momaya was determined to give all that Bukawai -asked if she could do no better, but haggling is second nature to black -barterers, and in the end it partly repaid her, for a compromise -finally was reached which included three fat goats, a new sleeping mat, -and a piece of copper wire. - -"Come back tonight," said Bukawai, "when the moon is two hours in the -sky. Then will I make the strong medicine which shall bring Tibo back -to you. Bring with you the three fat goats, the new sleeping mat, and -the piece of copper wire the length of a large man's forearm." - -"I cannot bring them," said Momaya. "You will have to come after them. -When you have restored Tibo to me, you shall have them all at the -village of Mbonga." - -Bukawai shook his head. - -"I will make no medicine," he said, "until I have the goats and the mat -and the copper wire." - -Momaya pleaded and threatened, but all to no avail. Finally, she -turned away and started off through the jungle toward the village of -Mbonga. How she could get three goats and a sleeping mat out of the -village and through the jungle to the cave of Bukawai, she did not -know, but that she would do it somehow she was quite positive--she -would do it or die. Tibo must be restored to her. - -Tarzan coming lazily through the jungle with little Go-bu-balu, caught -the scent of Bara, the deer. Tarzan hungered for the flesh of Bara. -Naught tickled his palate so greatly; but to stalk Bara with Go-bu-balu -at his heels, was out of the question, so he hid the child in the -crotch of a tree where the thick foliage screened him from view, and -set off swiftly and silently upon the spoor of Bara. - -Tibo alone was more terrified than Tibo even among the apes. Real and -apparent dangers are less disconcerting than those which we imagine, -and only the gods of his people knew how much Tibo imagined. - -He had been but a short time in his hiding place when he heard -something approaching through the jungle. He crouched closer to the -limb upon which he lay and prayed that Tarzan would return quickly. -His wide eyes searched the jungle in the direction of the moving -creature. - -What if it was a leopard that had caught his scent! It would be upon -him in a minute. Hot tears flowed from the large eyes of little Tibo. -The curtain of jungle foliage rustled close at hand. The thing was but -a few paces from his tree! His eyes fairly popped from his black face -as he watched for the appearance of the dread creature which presently -would thrust a snarling countenance from between the vines and creepers. - -And then the curtain parted and a woman stepped into full view. With a -gasping cry, Tibo tumbled from his perch and raced toward her. Momaya -suddenly started back and raised her spear, but a second later she cast -it aside and caught the thin body in her strong arms. - -Crushing it to her, she cried and laughed all at one and the same time, -and hot tears of joy, mingled with the tears of Tibo, trickled down the -crease between her naked breasts. - -Disturbed by the noise so close at hand, there arose from his sleep in -a near-by thicket Numa, the lion. He looked through the tangled -underbrush and saw the black woman and her young. He licked his chops -and measured the distance between them and himself. A short charge and -a long leap would carry him upon them. He flicked the end of his tail -and sighed. - -A vagrant breeze, swirling suddenly in the wrong direction, carried the -scent of Tarzan to the sensitive nostrils of Bara, the deer. There was -a startled tensing of muscles and cocking of ears, a sudden dash, and -Tarzan's meat was gone. The ape-man angrily shook his head and turned -back toward the spot where he had left Go-bu-balu. He came softly, as -was his way. Before he reached the spot he heard strange sounds--the -sound of a woman laughing and of a woman weeping, and the two which -seemed to come from one throat were mingled with the convulsive sobbing -of a child. Tarzan hastened, and when Tarzan hastened, only the birds -and the wind went faster. - -And as Tarzan approached the sounds, he heard another, a deep sigh. -Momaya did not hear it, nor did Tibo; but the ears of Tarzan were as -the ears of Bara, the deer. He heard the sigh, and he knew, so he -unloosed the heavy spear which dangled at his back. Even as he sped -through the branches of the trees, with the same ease that you or I -might take out a pocket handkerchief as we strolled nonchalantly down a -lazy country lane, Tarzan of the Apes took the spear from its thong -that it might be ready against any emergency. - -Numa, the lion, did not rush madly to attack. He reasoned again, and -reason told him that already the prey was his, so he pushed his great -bulk through the foliage and stood eyeing his meat with baleful, -glaring eyes. - -Momaya saw him and shrieked, drawing Tibo closer to her breast. To -have found her child and to lose him, all in a moment! She raised her -spear, throwing her hand far back of her shoulder. Numa roared and -stepped slowly forward. Momaya cast her weapon. It grazed the tawny -shoulder, inflicting a flesh wound which aroused all the terrific -bestiality of the carnivore, and the lion charged. - -Momaya tried to close her eyes, but could not. She saw the flashing -swiftness of the huge, oncoming death, and then she saw something else. -She saw a mighty, naked white man drop as from the heavens into the -path of the charging lion. She saw the muscles of a great arm flash in -the light of the equatorial sun as it filtered, dappling, through the -foliage above. She saw a heavy hunting spear hurtle through the air to -meet the lion in midleap. - -Numa brought up upon his haunches, roaring terribly and striking at the -spear which protruded from his breast. His great blows bent and -twisted the weapon. Tarzan, crouching and with hunting knife in hand, -circled warily about the frenzied cat. Momaya, wide-eyed, stood rooted -to the spot, watching, fascinated. - -In sudden fury Numa hurled himself toward the ape-man, but the wiry -creature eluded the blundering charge, side-stepping quickly only to -rush in upon his foe. Twice the hunting blade flashed in the air. -Twice it fell upon the back of Numa, already weakening from the spear -point so near his heart. The second stroke of the blade pierced far -into the beast's spine, and with a last convulsive sweep of the -fore-paws, in a vain attempt to reach his tormentor, Numa sprawled upon -the ground, paralyzed and dying. - -Bukawai, fearful lest he should lose any recompense, followed Momaya -with the intention of persuading her to part with her ornaments of -copper and iron against her return with the price of the medicine--to -pay, as it were, for an option on his services as one pays a retaining -fee to an attorney, for, like an attorney, Bukawai knew the value of -his medicine and that it was well to collect as much as possible in -advance. - -The witch-doctor came upon the scene as Tarzan leaped to meet the -lion's charge. He saw it all and marveled, guessing immediately that -this must be the strange white demon concerning whom he had heard vague -rumors before Momaya came to him. - -Momaya, now that the lion was past harming her or hers, gazed with new -terror upon Tarzan. It was he who had stolen her Tibo. Doubtless he -would attempt to steal him again. Momaya hugged the boy close to her. -She was determined to die this time rather than suffer Tibo to be taken -from her again. - -Tarzan eyed them in silence. The sight of the boy clinging, sobbing, -to his mother aroused within his savage breast a melancholy loneliness. -There was none thus to cling to Tarzan, who yearned so for the love of -someone, of something. - -At last Tibo looked up, because of the quiet that had fallen upon the -jungle, and saw Tarzan. He did not shrink. - -"Tarzan," he said, in the speech of the great apes of the tribe of -Kerchak, "do not take me from Momaya, my mother. Do not take me again -to the lair of the hairy, tree men, for I fear Taug and Gunto and the -others. Let me stay with Momaya, O Tarzan, God of the Jungle! Let me -stay with Momaya, my mother, and to the end of our days we will bless -you and put food before the gates of the village of Mbonga that you may -never hunger." - -Tarzan sighed. - -"Go," he said, "back to the village of Mbonga, and Tarzan will follow -to see that no harm befalls you." - -Tibo translated the words to his mother, and the two turned their backs -upon the ape-man and started off toward home. In the heart of Momaya -was a great fear and a great exultation, for never before had she -walked with God, and never had she been so happy. She strained little -Tibo to her, stroking his thin cheek. Tarzan saw and sighed again. - -"For Teeka there is Teeka's balu," he soliloquized; "for Sabor there -are balus, and for the she-Gomangani, and for Bara, and for Manu, and -even for Pamba, the rat; but for Tarzan there can be none--neither a -she nor a balu. Tarzan of the Apes is a man, and it must be that man -walks alone." - -Bukawai saw them go, and he mumbled through his rotting face, swearing -a great oath that he would yet have the three fat goats, the new -sleeping mat, and the bit of copper wire. - - - - - 6 - - The Witch-Doctor Seeks Vengeance - -LORD GREYSTOKE was hunting, or, to be more accurate, he was shooting -pheasants at Chamston-Hedding. Lord Greystoke was immaculately and -appropriately garbed--to the minutest detail he was vogue. To be sure, -he was among the forward guns, not being considered a sporting shot, -but what he lacked in skill he more than made up in appearance. At the -end of the day he would, doubtless, have many birds to his credit, -since he had two guns and a smart loader--many more birds than he could -eat in a year, even had he been hungry, which he was not, having but -just arisen from the breakfast table. - -The beaters--there were twenty-three of them, in white smocks--had but -just driven the birds into a patch of gorse, and were now circling to -the opposite side that they might drive down toward the guns. Lord -Greystoke was quite as excited as he ever permitted himself to become. -There was an exhilaration in the sport that would not be denied. He -felt his blood tingling through his veins as the beaters approached -closer and closer to the birds. In a vague and stupid sort of way Lord -Greystoke felt, as he always felt upon such occasions, that he was -experiencing a sensation somewhat akin to a reversion to a prehistoric -type--that the blood of an ancient forbear was coursing hot through -him, a hairy, half-naked forbear who had lived by the hunt. - -And far away in a matted equatorial jungle another Lord Greystoke, the -real Lord Greystoke, hunted. By the standards which he knew, he, too, -was vogue--utterly vogue, as was the primal ancestor before the first -eviction. The day being sultry, the leopard skin had been left behind. -The real Lord Greystoke had not two guns, to be sure, nor even one, -neither did he have a smart loader; but he possessed something -infinitely more efficacious than guns, or loaders, or even twenty-three -beaters in white smocks--he possessed an appetite, an uncanny -woodcraft, and muscles that were as steel springs. - -Later that day, in England, a Lord Greystoke ate bountifully of things -he had not killed, and he drank other things which were uncorked to the -accompaniment of much noise. He patted his lips with snowy linen to -remove the faint traces of his repast, quite ignorant of the fact that -he was an impostor and that the rightful owner of his noble title was -even then finishing his own dinner in far-off Africa. He was not using -snowy linen, though. Instead he drew the back of a brown forearm and -hand across his mouth and wiped his bloody fingers upon his thighs. -Then he moved slowly through the jungle to the drinking place, where, -upon all fours, he drank as drank his fellows, the other beasts of the -jungle. - -As he quenched his thirst, another denizen of the gloomy forest -approached the stream along the path behind him. It was Numa, the -lion, tawny of body and black of mane, scowling and sinister, rumbling -out low, coughing roars. Tarzan of the Apes heard him long before he -came within sight, but the ape-man went on with his drinking until he -had had his fill; then he arose, slowly, with the easy grace of a -creature of the wilds and all the quiet dignity that was his birthright. - -Numa halted as he saw the man standing at the very spot where the king -would drink. His jaws were parted, and his cruel eyes gleamed. He -growled and advanced slowly. The man growled, too, backing slowly to -one side, and watching, not the lion's face, but its tail. Should that -commence to move from side to side in quick, nervous jerks, it would be -well to be upon the alert, and should it rise suddenly erect, straight -and stiff, then one might prepare to fight or flee; but it did neither, -so Tarzan merely backed away and the lion came down and drank scarce -fifty feet from where the man stood. - -Tomorrow they might be at one another's throats, but today there -existed one of those strange and inexplicable truces which so often are -seen among the savage ones of the jungle. Before Numa had finished -drinking, Tarzan had returned into the forest, and was swinging away in -the direction of the village of Mbonga, the black chief. - -It had been at least a moon since the ape-man had called upon the -Gomangani. Not since he had restored little Tibo to his grief-stricken -mother had the whim seized him to do so. The incident of the adopted -balu was a closed one to Tarzan. He had sought to find something upon -which to lavish such an affection as Teeka lavished upon her balu, but -a short experience of the little black boy had made it quite plain to -the ape-man that no such sentiment could exist between them. - -The fact that he had for a time treated the little black as he might -have treated a real balu of his own had in no way altered the vengeful -sentiments with which he considered the murderers of Kala. The -Gomangani were his deadly enemies, nor could they ever be aught else. -Today he looked forward to some slight relief from the monotony of his -existence in such excitement as he might derive from baiting the blacks. - -It was not yet dark when he reached the village and took his place in -the great tree overhanging the palisade. From beneath came a great -wailing out of the depths of a near-by hut. The noise fell -disagreeably upon Tarzan's ears--it jarred and grated. He did not like -it, so he decided to go away for a while in the hopes that it might -cease; but though he was gone for a couple of hours the wailing still -continued when he returned. - -With the intention of putting a violent termination to the annoying -sound, Tarzan slipped silently from the tree into the shadows beneath. -Creeping stealthily and keeping well in the cover of other huts, he -approached that from which rose the sounds of lamentation. A fire -burned brightly before the doorway as it did before other doorways in -the village. A few females squatted about, occasionally adding their -own mournful howlings to those of the master artist within. - -The ape-man smiled a slow smile as he thought of the consternation -which would follow the quick leap that would carry him among the -females and into the full light of the fire. Then he would dart into -the hut during the excitement, throttle the chief screamer, and be gone -into the jungle before the blacks could gather their scattered nerves -for an assault. - -Many times had Tarzan behaved similarly in the village of Mbonga, the -chief. His mysterious and unexpected appearances always filled the -breasts of the poor, superstitious blacks with the panic of terror; -never, it seemed, could they accustom themselves to the sight of him. -It was this terror which lent to the adventures the spice of interest -and amusement which the human mind of the ape-man craved. Merely to -kill was not in itself sufficient. Accustomed to the sight of death, -Tarzan found no great pleasure in it. Long since had he avenged the -death of Kala, but in the accomplishment of it, he had learned the -excitement and the pleasure to be derived from the baiting of the -blacks. Of this he never tired. - -It was just as he was about to spring forward with a savage roar that a -figure appeared in the doorway of the hut. It was the figure of the -wailer whom he had come to still, the figure of a young woman with a -wooden skewer through the split septum of her nose, with a heavy metal -ornament depending from her lower lip, which it had dragged down to -hideous and repulsive deformity, with strange tattooing upon forehead, -cheeks, and breasts, and a wonderful coiffure built up with mud and -wire. - -A sudden flare of the fire threw the grotesque figure into high relief, -and Tarzan recognized her as Momaya, the mother of Tibo. The fire also -threw out a fitful flame which carried to the shadows where Tarzan -lurked, picking out his light brown body from the surrounding darkness. -Momaya saw him and knew him. With a cry, she leaped forward and Tarzan -came to meet her. The other women, turning, saw him, too; but they did -not come toward him. Instead they rose as one, shrieked as one, fled -as one. - -Momaya threw herself at Tarzan's feet, raising supplicating hands -toward him and pouring forth from her mutilated lips a perfect cataract -of words, not one of which the ape-man comprehended. For a moment he -looked down upon the upturned, frightful face of the woman. He had -come to slay, but that overwhelming torrent of speech filled him with -consternation and with awe. He glanced about him apprehensively, then -back at the woman. A revulsion of feeling seized him. He could not -kill little Tibo's mother, nor could he stand and face this verbal -geyser. With a quick gesture of impatience at the spoiling of his -evening's entertainment, he wheeled and leaped away into the darkness. -A moment later he was swinging through the black jungle night, the -cries and lamentations of Momaya growing fainter in the distance. - -It was with a sigh of relief that he finally reached a point from which -he could no longer hear them, and finding a comfortable crotch high -among the trees, composed himself for a night of dreamless slumber, -while a prowling lion moaned and coughed beneath him, and in far-off -England the other Lord Greystoke, with the assistance of a valet, -disrobed and crawled between spotless sheets, swearing irritably as a -cat meowed beneath his window. - -As Tarzan followed the fresh spoor of Horta, the boar, the following -morning, he came upon the tracks of two Gomangani, a large one and a -small one. The ape-man, accustomed as he was to questioning closely -all that fell to his perceptions, paused to read the story written in -the soft mud of the game trail. You or I would have seen little of -interest there, even if, by chance, we could have seen aught. Perhaps -had one been there to point them out to us, we might have noted -indentations in the mud, but there were countless indentations, one -overlapping another into a confusion that would have been entirely -meaningless to us. To Tarzan each told its own story. Tantor, the -elephant, had passed that way as recently as three suns since. Numa -had hunted here the night just gone, and Horta, the boar, had walked -slowly along the trail within an hour; but what held Tarzan's attention -was the spoor tale of the Gomangani. It told him that the day before -an old man had gone toward the north in company with a little boy, and -that with them had been two hyenas. - -Tarzan scratched his head in puzzled incredulity. He could see by the -overlapping of the footprints that the beasts had not been following -the two, for sometimes one was ahead of them and one behind, and again -both were in advance, or both were in the rear. It was very strange -and quite inexplicable, especially where the spoor showed where the -hyenas in the wider portions of the path had walked one on either side -of the human pair, quite close to them. Then Tarzan read in the spoor -of the smaller Gomangani a shrinking terror of the beast that brushed -his side, but in that of the old man was no sign of fear. - -At first Tarzan had been solely occupied by the remarkable -juxtaposition of the spoor of Dango and Gomangani, but now his keen -eyes caught something in the spoor of the little Gomangani which -brought him to a sudden stop. It was as though, finding a letter in -the road, you suddenly had discovered in it the familiar handwriting of -a friend. - -"Go-bu-balu!" exclaimed the ape-man, and at once memory flashed upon -the screen of recollection the supplicating attitude of Momaya as she -had hurled herself before him in the village of Mbonga the night -before. Instantly all was explained--the wailing and lamentation, the -pleading of the black mother, the sympathetic howling of the shes about -the fire. Little Go-bu-balu had been stolen again, and this time by -another than Tarzan. Doubtless the mother had thought that he was -again in the power of Tarzan of the Apes, and she had been beseeching -him to return her balu to her. - -Yes, it was all quite plain now; but who could have stolen Go-bu-balu -this time? Tarzan wondered, and he wondered, too, about the presence of -Dango. He would investigate. The spoor was a day old and it ran -toward the north. Tarzan set out to follow it. In places it was -totally obliterated by the passage of many beasts, and where the way -was rocky, even Tarzan of the Apes was almost baffled; but there was -still the faint effluvium which clung to the human spoor, appreciable -only to such highly trained perceptive powers as were Tarzan's. - - -It had all happened to little Tibo very suddenly and unexpectedly -within the brief span of two suns. First had come Bukawai, the -witch-doctor--Bukawai, the unclean--with the ragged bit of flesh which -still clung to his rotting face. He had come alone and by day to the -place at the river where Momaya went daily to wash her body and that of -Tibo, her little boy. He had stepped out from behind a great bush -quite close to Momaya, frightening little Tibo so that he ran screaming -to his mother's protecting arms. - -But Momaya, though startled, had wheeled to face the fearsome thing -with all the savage ferocity of a she-tiger at bay. When she saw who -it was, she breathed a sigh of partial relief, though she still clung -tightly to Tibo. - -"I have come," said Bukawai without preliminary, "for the three fat -goats, the new sleeping mat, and the bit of copper wire as long as a -tall man's arm." - -"I have no goats for you," snapped Momaya, "nor a sleeping mat, nor any -wire. Your medicine was never made. The white jungle god gave me back -my Tibo. You had nothing to do with it." - -"But I did," mumbled Bukawai through his fleshless jaws. "It was I who -commanded the white jungle god to give back your Tibo." - -Momaya laughed in his face. "Speaker of lies," she cried, "go back to -your foul den and your hyenas. Go back and hide your stinking face in -the belly of the mountain, lest the sun, seeing it, cover his face with -a black cloud." - -"I have come," reiterated Bukawai, "for the three fat goats, the new -sleeping mat, and the bit of copper wire the length of a tall man's -arm, which you were to pay me for the return of your Tibo." - -"It was to be the length of a man's forearm," corrected Momaya, "but -you shall have nothing, old thief. You would not make medicine until I -had brought the payment in advance, and when I was returning to my -village the great, white jungle god gave me back my Tibo--gave him to -me out of the jaws of Numa. His medicine is true medicine--yours is -the weak medicine of an old man with a hole in his face." - -"I have come," repeated Bukawai patiently, "for the three fat--" But -Momaya had not waited to hear more of what she already knew by heart. -Clasping Tibo close to her side, she was hurrying away toward the -palisaded village of Mbonga, the chief. - -And the next day, when Momaya was working in the plantain field with -others of the women of the tribe, and little Tibo had been playing at -the edge of the jungle, casting a small spear in anticipation of the -distant day when he should be a full-fledged warrior, Bukawai had come -again. - -Tibo had seen a squirrel scampering up the bole of a great tree. His -childish mind had transformed it into the menacing figure of a hostile -warrior. Little Tibo had raised his tiny spear, his heart filled with -the savage blood lust of his race, as he pictured the night's orgy when -he should dance about the corpse of his human kill as the women of his -tribe prepared the meat for the feast to follow. - -But when he cast the spear, he missed both squirrel and tree, losing -his missile far among the tangled undergrowth of the jungle. However, -it could be but a few steps within the forbidden labyrinth. The women -were all about in the field. There were warriors on guard within easy -hail, and so little Tibo boldly ventured into the dark place. - -Just behind the screen of creepers and matted foliage lurked three -horrid figures--an old, old man, black as the pit, with a face half -eaten away by leprosy, his sharp-filed teeth, the teeth of a cannibal, -showing yellow and repulsive through the great gaping hole where his -mouth and nose had been. And beside him, equally hideous, stood two -powerful hyenas--carrion-eaters consorting with carrion. - -Tibo did not see them until, head down, he had forced his way through -the thickly growing vines in search of his little spear, and then it -was too late. As he looked up into the face of Bukawai, the old -witch-doctor seized him, muffling his screams with a palm across his -mouth. Tibo struggled futilely. - -A moment later he was being hustled away through the dark and terrible -jungle, the frightful old man still muffling his screams, and the two -hideous hyenas pacing now on either side, now before, now behind, -always prowling, always growling, snapping, snarling, or, worst of all, -laughing hideously. - -To little Tibo, who within his brief existence had passed through such -experiences as are given to few to pass through in a lifetime, the -northward journey was a nightmare of terror. He thought now of the -time that he had been with the great, white jungle god, and he prayed -with all his little soul that he might be back again with the -white-skinned giant who consorted with the hairy tree men. -Terror-stricken he had been then, but his surroundings had been nothing -by comparison with those which he now endured. - -The old man seldom addressed Tibo, though he kept up an almost -continuous mumbling throughout the long day. Tibo caught repeated -references to fat goats, sleeping mats, and pieces of copper wire. -"Ten fat goats, ten fat goats," the old Negro would croon over and over -again. By this little Tibo guessed that the price of his ransom had -risen. Ten fat goats? Where would his mother get ten fat goats, or -thin ones, either, for that matter, to buy back just a poor little boy? -Mbonga would never let her have them, and Tibo knew that his father -never had owned more than three goats at the same time in all his life. -Ten fat goats! Tibo sniffled. The putrid old man would kill him and -eat him, for the goats would never be forthcoming. Bukawai would throw -his bones to the hyenas. The little black boy shuddered and became so -weak that he almost fell in his tracks. Bukawai cuffed him on an ear -and jerked him along. - -After what seemed an eternity to Tibo, they arrived at the mouth of a -cave between two rocky hills. The opening was low and narrow. A few -saplings bound together with strips of rawhide closed it against stray -beasts. Bukawai removed the primitive door and pushed Tibo within. -The hyenas, snarling, rushed past him and were lost to view in the -blackness of the interior. Bukawai replaced the saplings and seizing -Tibo roughly by the arm, dragged him along a narrow, rocky passage. -The floor was comparatively smooth, for the dirt which lay thick upon -it had been trodden and tramped by many feet until few inequalities -remained. - -The passage was tortuous, and as it was very dark and the walls rough -and rocky, Tibo was scratched and bruised from the many bumps he -received. Bukawai walked as rapidly through the winding gallery as one -would traverse a familiar lane by daylight. He knew every twist and -turn as a mother knows the face of her child, and he seemed to be in a -hurry. He jerked poor little Tibo possibly a trifle more ruthlessly -than necessary even at the pace Bukawai set; but the old witch-doctor, -an outcast from the society of man, diseased, shunned, hated, feared, -was far from possessing an angelic temper. Nature had given him few of -the kindlier characteristics of man, and these few Fate had eradicated -entirely. Shrewd, cunning, cruel, vindictive, was Bukawai, the -witch-doctor. - -Frightful tales were whispered of the cruel tortures he inflicted upon -his victims. Children were frightened into obedience by the threat of -his name. Often had Tibo been thus frightened, and now he was reaping -a grisly harvest of terror from the seeds his mother had innocently -sown. The darkness, the presence of the dreaded witch-doctor, the pain -of the contusions, with a haunting premonition of the future, and the -fear of the hyenas combined to almost paralyze the child. He stumbled -and reeled until Bukawai was dragging rather than leading him. - -Presently Tibo saw a faint lightness ahead of them, and a moment later -they emerged into a roughly circular chamber to which a little daylight -filtered through a rift in the rocky ceiling. The hyenas were there -ahead of them, waiting. As Bukawai entered with Tibo, the beasts slunk -toward them, baring yellow fangs. They were hungry. Toward Tibo they -came, and one snapped at his naked legs. Bukawai seized a stick from -the floor of the chamber and struck a vicious blow at the beast, at the -same time mumbling forth a volley of execrations. The hyena dodged and -ran to the side of the chamber, where he stood growling. Bukawai took -a step toward the creature, which bristled with rage at his approach. -Fear and hatred shot from its evil eyes, but, fortunately for Bukawai, -fear predominated. - -Seeing that he was unnoticed, the second beast made a short, quick rush -for Tibo. The child screamed and darted after the witch-doctor, who -now turned his attention to the second hyena. This one he reached with -his heavy stick, striking it repeatedly and driving it to the wall. -There the two carrion-eaters commenced to circle the chamber while the -human carrion, their master, now in a perfect frenzy of demoniacal -rage, ran to and fro in an effort to intercept them, striking out with -his cudgel and lashing them with his tongue, calling down upon them the -curses of whatever gods and demons he could summon to memory, and -describing in lurid figures the ignominy of their ancestors. - -Several times one or the other of the beasts would turn to make a stand -against the witch-doctor, and then Tibo would hold his breath in -agonized terror, for never in his brief life had he seen such frightful -hatred depicted upon the countenance of man or beast; but always fear -overcame the rage of the savage creatures, so that they resumed their -flight, snarling and bare-fanged, just at the moment that Tibo was -certain they would spring at Bukawai's throat. - -At last the witch-doctor tired of the futile chase. With a snarl quite -as bestial as those of the beast, he turned toward Tibo. "I go to -collect the ten fat goats, the new sleeping mat, and the two pieces of -copper wire that your mother will pay for the medicine I shall make to -bring you back to her," he said. "You will stay here. There," and he -pointed toward the passage which they had followed to the chamber, "I -will leave the hyenas. If you try to escape, they will eat you." - -He cast aside the stick and called to the beasts. They came, snarling -and slinking, their tails between their legs. Bukawai led them to the -passage and drove them into it. Then he dragged a rude lattice into -place before the opening after he, himself, had left the chamber. -"This will keep them from you," he said. "If I do not get the ten fat -goats and the other things, they shall at least have a few bones after -I am through." And he left the boy to think over the meaning of his -all-too-suggestive words. - -When he was gone, Tibo threw himself upon the earth floor and broke -into childish sobs of terror and loneliness. He knew that his mother -had no ten fat goats to give and that when Bukawai returned, little -Tibo would be killed and eaten. How long he lay there he did not know, -but presently he was aroused by the growling of the hyenas. They had -returned through the passage and were glaring at him from beyond the -lattice. He could see their yellow eyes blazing through the darkness. -They reared up and clawed at the barrier. Tibo shivered and withdrew -to the opposite side of the chamber. He saw the lattice sag and sway -to the attacks of the beasts. Momentarily he expected that it would -fall inward, letting the creatures upon him. - -Wearily the horror-ridden hours dragged their slow way. Night came, -and for a time Tibo slept, but it seemed that the hungry beasts never -slept. Always they stood just beyond the lattice growling their -hideous growls or laughing their hideous laughs. Through the narrow -rift in the rocky roof above him, Tibo could see a few stars, and once -the moon crossed. At last daylight came again. Tibo was very hungry -and thirsty, for he had not eaten since the morning before, and only -once upon the long march had he been permitted to drink, but even -hunger and thirst were almost forgotten in the terror of his position. - -It was after daylight that the child discovered a second opening in the -walls of the subterranean chamber, almost opposite that at which the -hyenas still stood glaring hungrily at him. It was only a narrow slit -in the rocky wall. It might lead in but a few feet, or it might lead -to freedom! Tibo approached it and looked within. He could see -nothing. He extended his arm into the blackness, but he dared not -venture farther. Bukawai never would have left open a way of escape, -Tibo reasoned, so this passage must lead either nowhere or to some -still more hideous danger. - -To the boy's fear of the actual dangers which menaced him--Bukawai and -the two hyenas--his superstition added countless others quite too -horrible even to name, for in the lives of the blacks, through the -shadows of the jungle day and the black horrors of the jungle night, -flit strange, fantastic shapes peopling the already hideously peopled -forests with menacing figures, as though the lion and the leopard, the -snake and the hyena, and the countless poisonous insects were not quite -sufficient to strike terror to the hearts of the poor, simple creatures -whose lot is cast in earth's most fearsome spot. - - -And so it was that little Tibo cringed not only from real menaces but -from imaginary ones. He was afraid even to venture upon a road that -might lead to escape, lest Bukawai had set to watch it some frightful -demon of the jungle. - -But the real menaces suddenly drove the imaginary ones from the boy's -mind, for with the coming of daylight the half-famished hyenas renewed -their efforts to break down the frail barrier which kept them from -their prey. Rearing upon their hind feet they clawed and struck at the -lattice. With wide eyes Tibo saw it sag and rock. Not for long, he -knew, could it withstand the assaults of these two powerful and -determined brutes. Already one corner had been forced past the rocky -protuberance of the entrance way which had held it in place. A shaggy -forearm protruded into the chamber. Tibo trembled as with ague, for he -knew that the end was near. - -Backing against the farther wall he stood flattened out as far from the -beasts as he could get. He saw the lattice give still more. He saw a -savage, snarling head forced past it, and grinning jaws snapping and -gaping toward him. In another instant the pitiful fabric would fall -inward, and the two would be upon him, rending his flesh from his -bones, gnawing the bones themselves, fighting for possession of his -entrails. - -* * * - -Bukawai came upon Momaya outside the palisade of Mbonga, the chief. At -sight of him the woman drew back in revulsion, then she flew at him, -tooth and nail; but Bukawai threatening her with a spear held her at a -safe distance. - -"Where is my baby?" she cried. "Where is my little Tibo?" - -Bukawai opened his eyes in well-simulated amazement. "Your baby!" he -exclaimed. "What should I know of him, other than that I rescued him -from the white god of the jungle and have not yet received my pay. I -come for the goats and the sleeping mat and the piece of copper wire -the length of a tall man's arm from the shoulder to the tips of his -fingers." "Offal of a hyena!" shrieked Momaya. "My child has been -stolen, and you, rotting fragment of a man, have taken him. Return him -to me or I shall tear your eyes from your head and feed your heart to -the wild hogs." - -Bukawai shrugged his shoulders. "What do I know about your child?" he -asked. "I have not taken him. If he is stolen again, what should -Bukawai know of the matter? Did Bukawai steal him before? No, the white -jungle god stole him, and if he stole him once he would steal him -again. It is nothing to me. I returned him to you before and I have -come for my pay. If he is gone and you would have him returned, -Bukawai will return him--for ten fat goats, a new sleeping mat and two -pieces of copper wire the length of a tall man's arm from the shoulder -to the tips of his fingers, and Bukawai will say nothing more about the -goats and the sleeping mat and the copper wire which you were to pay -for the first medicine." - -"Ten fat goats!" screamed Momaya. "I could not pay you ten fat goats -in as many years. Ten fat goats, indeed!" - -"Ten fat goats," repeated Bukawai. "Ten fat goats, the new sleeping -mat and two pieces of copper wire the length of--" - -Momaya stopped him with an impatient gesture. "Wait!" she cried. "I -have no goats. You waste your breath. Stay here while I go to my man. -He has but three goats, yet something may be done. Wait!" - -Bukawai sat down beneath a tree. He felt quite content, for he knew -that he should have either payment or revenge. He did not fear harm at -the hands of these people of another tribe, although he well knew that -they must fear and hate him. His leprosy alone would prevent their -laying hands upon him, while his reputation as a witch-doctor rendered -him doubly immune from attack. He was planning upon compelling them to -drive the ten goats to the mouth of his cave when Momaya returned. -With her were three warriors--Mbonga, the chief, Rabba Kega, the -village witch-doctor, and Ibeto, Tibo's father. They were not pretty -men even under ordinary circumstances, and now, with their faces marked -by anger, they well might have inspired terror in the heart of anyone; -but if Bukawai felt any fear, he did not betray it. Instead he greeted -them with an insolent stare, intended to awe them, as they came and -squatted in a semi-circle before him. - -"Where is Ibeto's son?" asked Mbonga. - -"How should I know?" returned Bukawai. "Doubtless the white devil-god -has him. If I am paid I will make strong medicine and then we shall -know where is Ibeto's son, and shall get him back again. It was my -medicine which got him back the last time, for which I got no pay." - -"I have my own witch-doctor to make medicine," replied Mbonga with -dignity. - -Bukawai sneered and rose to his feet. "Very well," he said, "let him -make his medicine and see if he can bring Ibeto's son back." He took a -few steps away from them, and then he turned angrily back. "His -medicine will not bring the child back--that I know, and I also know -that when you find him it will be too late for any medicine to bring -him back, for he will be dead. This have I just found out, the ghost -of my father's sister but now came to me and told me." - -Now Mbonga and Rabba Kega might not take much stock in their own magic, -and they might even be skeptical as to the magic of another; but there -was always a chance of _something_ being in it, especially if it were not -their own. Was it not well known that old Bukawai had speech with the -demons themselves and that two even lived with him in the forms of -hyenas! Still they must not accede too hastily. There was the price to -be considered, and Mbonga had no intention of parting lightly with ten -goats to obtain the return of a single little boy who might die of -smallpox long before he reached a warrior's estate. - -"Wait," said Mbonga. "Let us see some of your magic, that we may know -if it be good magic. Then we can talk about payment. Rabba Kega will -make some magic, too. We will see who makes the best magic. Sit down, -Bukawai." - -"The payment will be ten goats--fat goats--a new sleeping mat and two -pieces of copper wire the length of a tall man's arm from the shoulder -to the ends of his fingers, and it will be made in advance, the goats -being driven to my cave. Then will I make the medicine, and on the -second day the boy will be returned to his mother. It cannot be done -more quickly than that because it takes time to make such strong -medicine." - -"Make us some medicine now," said Mbonga. "Let us see what sort of -medicine you make." - -"Bring me fire," replied Bukawai, "and I will make you a little magic." - -Momaya was dispatched for the fire, and while she was away Mbonga -dickered with Bukawai about the price. Ten goats, he said, was a high -price for an able-bodied warrior. He also called Bukawai's attention -to the fact that he, Mbonga, was very poor, that his people were very -poor, and that ten goats were at least eight too many, to say nothing -of a new sleeping mat and the copper wire; but Bukawai was adamant. -His medicine was very expensive and he would have to give at least five -goats to the gods who helped him make it. They were still arguing when -Momaya returned with the fire. - -Bukawai placed a little on the ground before him, took a pinch of -powder from a pouch at his side and sprinkled it on the embers. A -cloud of smoke rose with a puff. Bukawai closed his eyes and rocked -back and forth. Then he made a few passes in the air and pretended to -swoon. Mbonga and the others were much impressed. Rabba Kega grew -nervous. He saw his reputation waning. There was some fire left in -the vessel which Momaya had brought. He seized the vessel, dropped a -handful of dry leaves into it while no one was watching and then -uttered a frightful scream which drew the attention of Bukawai's -audience to him. It also brought Bukawai quite miraculously out of his -swoon, but when the old witch-doctor saw the reason for the disturbance -he quickly relapsed into unconsciousness before anyone discovered his -_faux pas_. - -Rabba Kega, seeing that he had the attention of Mbonga, Ibeto, and -Momaya, blew suddenly into the vessel, with the result that the leaves -commenced to smolder, and smoke issued from the mouth of the -receptacle. Rabba Kega was careful to hold it so that none might see -the dry leaves. Their eyes opened wide at this remarkable -demonstration of the village witch-doctor's powers. The latter, -greatly elated, let himself out. He shouted, jumped up and down, and -made frightful grimaces; then he put his face close over the mouth of -the vessel and appeared to be communing with the spirits within. - -It was while he was thus engaged that Bukawai came out of his trance, -his curiosity finally having gotten the better of him. No one was -paying him the slightest attention. He blinked his one eye angrily, -then he, too, let out a loud roar, and when he was sure that Mbonga had -turned toward him, he stiffened rigidly and made spasmodic movements -with his arms and legs. - -"I see him!" he cried. "He is far away. The white devil-god did not -get him. He is alone and in great danger; but," he added, "if the ten -fat goats and the other things are paid to me quickly there is yet time -to save him." - -Rabba Kega had paused to listen. Mbonga looked toward him. The chief -was in a quandary. He did not know which medicine was the better. -"What does your magic tell you?" he asked of Rabba Kega. - -"I, too, see him," screamed Rabba Kega; "but he is not where Bukawai -says he is. He is dead at the bottom of the river." - -At this Momaya commenced to howl loudly. - - -Tarzan had followed the spoor of the old man, the two hyenas, and the -little black boy to the mouth of the cave in the rocky canyon between -the two hills. Here he paused a moment before the sapling barrier -which Bukawai had set up, listening to the snarls and growls which came -faintly from the far recesses of the cavern. - -Presently, mingled with the beastly cries, there came faintly to the -keen ears of the ape-man, the agonized moan of a child. No longer did -Tarzan hesitate. Hurling the door aside, he sprang into the dark -opening. Narrow and black was the corridor; but long use of his eyes -in the Stygian blackness of the jungle nights had given to the ape-man -something of the nocturnal visionary powers of the wild things with -which he had consorted since babyhood. - -He moved rapidly and yet with caution, for the place was dark, -unfamiliar and winding. As he advanced, he heard more and more loudly -the savage snarls of the two hyenas, mingled with the scraping and -scratching of their paws upon wood. The moans of a child grew in -volume, and Tarzan recognized in them the voice of the little black boy -he once had sought to adopt as his balu. - -There was no hysteria in the ape-man's advance. Too accustomed was he -to the passing of life in the jungle to be greatly wrought even by the -death of one whom he knew; but the lust for battle spurred him on. He -was only a wild beast at heart and his wild beast's heart beat high in -anticipation of conflict. - -In the rocky chamber of the hill's center, little Tibo crouched low -against the wall as far from the hunger-crazed beasts as he could drag -himself. He saw the lattice giving to the frantic clawing of the -hyenas. He knew that in a few minutes his little life would flicker -out horribly beneath the rending, yellow fangs of these loathsome -creatures. - -Beneath the buffetings of the powerful bodies, the lattice sagged -inward, until, with a crash it gave way, letting the carnivora in upon -the boy. Tibo cast one affrighted glance toward them, then closed his -eyes and buried his face in his arms, sobbing piteously. - -For a moment the hyenas paused, caution and cowardice holding them from -their prey. They stood thus glaring at the lad, then slowly, -stealthily, crouching, they crept toward him. It was thus that Tarzan -came upon them, bursting into the chamber swiftly and silently; but not -so silently that the keen-eared beasts did not note his coming. With -angry growls they turned from Tibo upon the ape-man, as, with a smile -upon his lips, he ran toward them. For an instant one of the animals -stood its ground; but the ape-man did not deign even to draw his -hunting knife against despised Dango. Rushing in upon the brute he -grasped it by the scruff of the neck, just as it attempted to dodge -past him, and hurled it across the cavern after its fellow which -already was slinking into the corridor, bent upon escape. - -Then Tarzan picked Tibo from the floor, and when the child felt human -hands upon him instead of the paws and fangs of the hyenas, he rolled -his eyes upward in surprise and incredulity, and as they fell upon -Tarzan, sobs of relief broke from the childish lips and his hands -clutched at his deliverer as though the white devil-god was not the -most feared of jungle creatures. - -When Tarzan came to the cave mouth the hyenas were nowhere in sight, -and after permitting Tibo to quench his thirst in the spring which rose -near by, he lifted the boy to his shoulders and set off toward the -jungle at a rapid trot, determined to still the annoying howlings of -Momaya as quickly as possible, for he shrewdly had guessed that the -absence of her balu was the cause of her lamentation. - - -"He is not dead at the bottom of the river," cried Bukawai. "What does -this fellow know about making magic? Who is he, anyway, that he dare -say Bukawai's magic is not good magic? Bukawai sees Momaya's son. He -is far away and alone and in great danger. Hasten then with the ten -fat goats, the--" - -But he got no further. There was a sudden interruption from above, -from the branches of the very tree beneath which they squatted, and as -the five blacks looked up they almost swooned in fright as they saw the -great, white devil-god looking down upon them; but before they could -flee they saw another face, that of the lost little Tibo, and his face -was laughing and very happy. - -And then Tarzan dropped fearlessly among them, the boy still upon his -back, and deposited him before his mother. Momaya, Ibeto, Rabba Kega, -and Mbonga were all crowding around the lad trying to question him at -the same time. Suddenly Momaya turned ferociously to fall upon -Bukawai, for the boy had told her all that he had suffered at the hands -of the cruel old man; but Bukawai was no longer there--he had required -no recourse to black art to assure him that the vicinity of Momaya -would be no healthful place for him after Tibo had told his story, and -now he was running through the jungle as fast as his old legs would -carry him toward the distant lair where he knew no black would dare -pursue him. - -Tarzan, too, had vanished, as he had a way of doing, to the -mystification of the blacks. Then Momaya's eyes lighted upon Rabba -Kega. The village witch-doctor saw something in those eyes of hers -which boded no good to him, and backed away. - -"So my Tibo is dead at the bottom of the river, is he?" the woman -shrieked. "And he's far away and alone and in great danger, is he? -Magic!" The scorn which Momaya crowded into that single word would have -done credit to a Thespian of the first magnitude. "Magic, indeed!" she -screamed. "Momaya will show you some magic of her own," and with that -she seized upon a broken limb and struck Rabba Kega across the head. -With a howl of pain, the man turned and fled, Momaya pursuing him and -beating him across the shoulders, through the gateway and up the length -of the village street, to the intense amusement of the warriors, the -women, and the children who were so fortunate as to witness the -spectacle, for one and all feared Rabba Kega, and to fear is to hate. - -Thus it was that to his host of passive enemies, Tarzan of the Apes -added that day two active foes, both of whom remained awake long into -the night planning means of revenge upon the white devil-god who had -brought them into ridicule and disrepute, but with their most -malevolent schemings was mingled a vein of real fear and awe that would -not down. - -Young Lord Greystoke did not know that they planned against him, nor, -knowing, would have cared. He slept as well that night as he did on -any other night, and though there was no roof above him, and no doors -to lock against intruders, he slept much better than his noble relative -in England, who had eaten altogether too much lobster and drank too -much wine at dinner that night. - - - - - 7 - - The End of Bukawai - -WHEN TARZAN OF the Apes was still but a boy he had learned, among other -things, to fashion pliant ropes of fibrous jungle grass. Strong and -tough were the ropes of Tarzan, the little Tarmangani. Tublat, his -foster father, would have told you this much and more. Had you tempted -him with a handful of fat caterpillars he even might have sufficiently -unbended to narrate to you a few stories of the many indignities which -Tarzan had heaped upon him by means of his hated rope; but then Tublat -always worked himself into such a frightful rage when he devoted any -considerable thought either to the rope or to Tarzan, that it might not -have proved comfortable for you to have remained close enough to him to -hear what he had to say. - -So often had that snakelike noose settled unexpectedly over Tublat's -head, so often had he been jerked ridiculously and painfully from his -feet when he was least looking for such an occurrence, that there is -little wonder he found scant space in his savage heart for love of his -white-skinned foster child, or the inventions thereof. There had been -other times, too, when Tublat had swung helplessly in midair, the noose -tightening about his neck, death staring him in the face, and little -Tarzan dancing upon a near-by limb, taunting him and making unseemly -grimaces. - -Then there had been another occasion in which the rope had figured -prominently--an occasion, and the only one connected with the rope, -which Tublat recalled with pleasure. Tarzan, as active in brain as he -was in body, was always inventing new ways in which to play. It was -through the medium of play that he learned much during his childhood. -This day he learned something, and that he did not lose his life in the -learning of it, was a matter of great surprise to Tarzan, and the fly -in the ointment, to Tublat. - -The man-child had, in throwing his noose at a playmate in a tree above -him, caught a projecting branch instead. When he tried to shake it -loose it but drew the tighter. Then Tarzan started to climb the rope -to remove it from the branch. When he was part way up a frolicsome -playmate seized that part of the rope which lay upon the ground and ran -off with it as far as he could go. When Tarzan screamed at him to -desist, the young ape released the rope a little and then drew it tight -again. The result was to impart a swinging motion to Tarzan's body -which the ape-boy suddenly realized was a new and pleasurable form of -play. He urged the ape to continue until Tarzan was swinging to and -fro as far as the short length of rope would permit, but the distance -was not great enough, and, too, he was not far enough above the ground -to give the necessary thrills which add so greatly to the pastimes of -the young. - -So he clambered to the branch where the noose was caught and after -removing it carried the rope far aloft and out upon a long and powerful -branch. Here he again made it fast, and taking the loose end in his -hand, clambered quickly down among the branches as far as the rope -would permit him to go; then he swung out upon the end of it, his -lithe, young body turning and twisting--a human bob upon a pendulum of -grass--thirty feet above the ground. - -Ah, how delectable! This was indeed a new play of the first magnitude. -Tarzan was entranced. Soon he discovered that by wriggling his body in -just the right way at the proper time he could diminish or accelerate -his oscillation, and, being a boy, he chose, naturally, to accelerate. -Presently he was swinging far and wide, while below him, the apes of -the tribe of Kerchak looked on in mild amaze. - -Had it been you or I swinging there at the end of that grass rope, the -thing which presently happened would not have happened, for we could -not have hung on so long as to have made it possible; but Tarzan was -quite as much at home swinging by his hands as he was standing upon his -feet, or, at least, almost. At any rate he felt no fatigue long after -the time that an ordinary mortal would have been numb with the strain -of the physical exertion. And this was his undoing. - -Tublat was watching him as were others of the tribe. Of all the -creatures of the wild, there was none Tublat so cordially hated as he -did this hideous, hairless, white-skinned, caricature of an ape. But -for Tarzan's nimbleness, and the zealous watchfulness of savage Kala's -mother love, Tublat would long since have rid himself of this stain -upon his family escutcheon. So long had it been since Tarzan became a -member of the tribe, that Tublat had forgotten the circumstances -surrounding the entrance of the jungle waif into his family, with the -result that he now imagined that Tarzan was his own offspring, adding -greatly to his chagrin. - - -Wide and far swung Tarzan of the Apes, until at last, as he reached the -highest point of the arc the rope, which rapidly had frayed on the -rough bark of the tree limb, parted suddenly. The watching apes saw -the smooth, brown body shoot outward, and down, plummet-like. Tublat -leaped high in the air, emitting what in a human being would have been -an exclamation of delight. This would be the end of Tarzan and most of -Tublat's troubles. From now on he could lead his life in peace and -security. - -Tarzan fell quite forty feet, alighting on his back in a thick bush. -Kala was the first to reach his side--ferocious, hideous, loving Kala. -She had seen the life crushed from her own balu in just such a fall -years before. Was she to lose this one too in the same way? Tarzan was -lying quite still when she found him, embedded deeply in the bush. It -took Kala several minutes to disentangle him and drag him forth; but he -was not killed. He was not even badly injured. The bush had broken -the force of the fall. A cut upon the back of his head showed where he -had struck the tough stem of the shrub and explained his -unconsciousness. - -In a few minutes he was as active as ever. Tublat was furious. In his -rage he snapped at a fellow-ape without first discovering the identity -of his victim, and was badly mauled for his ill temper, having chosen -to vent his spite upon a husky and belligerent young bull in the full -prime of his vigor. - -But Tarzan had learned something new. He had learned that continued -friction would wear through the strands of his rope, though it was many -years before this knowledge did more for him than merely to keep him -from swinging too long at a time, or too far above the ground at the -end of his rope. - -The day came, however, when the very thing that had once all but killed -him proved the means of saving his life. - -He was no longer a child, but a mighty jungle male. There was none now -to watch over him, solicitously, nor did he need such. Kala was dead. -Dead, too, was Tublat, and though with Kala passed the one creature -that ever really had loved him, there were still many who hated him -after Tublat departed unto the arms of his fathers. It was not that he -was more cruel or more savage than they that they hated him, for though -he was both cruel and savage as were the beasts, his fellows, yet too -was he often tender, which they never were. No, the thing which -brought Tarzan most into disrepute with those who did not like him, was -the possession and practice of a characteristic which they had not and -could not understand--the human sense of humor. In Tarzan it was a -trifle broad, perhaps, manifesting itself in rough and painful -practical jokes upon his friends and cruel baiting of his enemies. - -But to neither of these did he owe the enmity of Bukawai, the -witch-doctor, who dwelt in the cave between the two hills far to the -north of the village of Mbonga, the chief. Bukawai was jealous of -Tarzan, and Bukawai it was who came near proving the undoing of the -ape-man. For months Bukawai had nursed his hatred while revenge seemed -remote indeed, since Tarzan of the Apes frequented another part of the -jungle, miles away from the lair of Bukawai. Only once had the black -witch-doctor seen the devil-god, as he was most often called among the -blacks, and upon that occasion Tarzan had robbed him of a fat fee, at -the same time putting the lie in the mouth of Bukawai, and making his -medicine seem poor medicine. All this Bukawai never could forgive, -though it seemed unlikely that the opportunity would come to be -revenged. - -Yet it did come, and quite unexpectedly. Tarzan was hunting far to the -north. He had wandered away from the tribe, as he did more and more -often as he approached maturity, to hunt alone for a few days. As a -child he had enjoyed romping and playing with the young apes, his -companions; but now these play-fellows of his had grown to surly, -lowering bulls, or to touchy, suspicious mothers, jealously guarding -helpless balus. So Tarzan found in his own man-mind a greater and a -truer companionship than any or all of the apes of Kerchak could afford -him. - -This day, as Tarzan hunted, the sky slowly became overcast. Torn -clouds, whipped to ragged streamers, fled low above the tree tops. -They reminded Tarzan of frightened antelope fleeing the charge of a -hungry lion. But though the light clouds raced so swiftly, the jungle -was motionless. Not a leaf quivered and the silence was a great, dead -weight--insupportable. Even the insects seemed stilled by apprehension -of some frightful thing impending, and the larger things were -soundless. Such a forest, such a jungle might have stood there in the -beginning of that unthinkably far-gone age before God peopled the world -with life, when there were no sounds because there were no ears to hear. - -And over all lay a sickly, pallid ocher light through which the -scourged clouds raced. Tarzan had seen all these conditions many times -before, yet he never could escape a strange feeling at each recurrence -of them. He knew no fear, but in the face of Nature's manifestations -of her cruel, immeasurable powers, he felt very small--very small and -very lonely. - -Now he heard a low moaning, far away. "The lions seek their prey," he -murmured to himself, looking up once again at the swift-flying clouds. -The moaning rose to a great volume of sound. "They come!" said Tarzan -of the Apes, and sought the shelter of a thickly foliaged tree. Quite -suddenly the trees bent their tops simultaneously as though God had -stretched a hand from the heavens and pressed His flat palm down upon -the world. "They pass!" whispered Tarzan. "The lions pass." Then came -a vivid flash of lightning, followed by deafening thunder. "The lions -have sprung," cried Tarzan, "and now they roar above the bodies of -their kills." - -The trees were waving wildly in all directions now, a perfectly -demoniacal wind threshed the jungle pitilessly. In the midst of it the -rain came--not as it comes upon us of the northlands, but in a sudden, -choking, blinding deluge. "The blood of the kill," thought Tarzan, -huddling himself closer to the bole of the great tree beneath which he -stood. - -He was close to the edge of the jungle, and at a little distance he had -seen two hills before the storm broke; but now he could see nothing. -It amused him to look out into the beating rain, searching for the two -hills and imagining that the torrents from above had washed them away, -yet he knew that presently the rain would cease, the sun come out again -and all be as it was before, except where a few branches had fallen and -here and there some old and rotted patriarch had crashed back to enrich -the soil upon which he had fatted for, maybe, centuries. All about him -branches and leaves filled the air or fell to earth, torn away by the -strength of the tornado and the weight of the water upon them. A gaunt -corpse toppled and fell a few yards away; but Tarzan was protected from -all these dangers by the wide-spreading branches of the sturdy young -giant beneath which his jungle craft had guided him. Here there was -but a single danger, and that a remote one. Yet it came. Without -warning the tree above him was riven by lightning, and when the rain -ceased and the sun came out Tarzan lay stretched as he had fallen, upon -his face amidst the wreckage of the jungle giant that should have -shielded him. - -Bukawai came to the entrance of his cave after the rain and the storm -had passed and looked out upon the scene. From his one eye Bukawai -could see; but had he had a dozen eyes he could have found no beauty in -the fresh sweetness of the revivified jungle, for to such things, in -the chemistry of temperament, his brain failed to react; nor, even had -he had a nose, which he had not for years, could he have found -enjoyment or sweetness in the clean-washed air. - -At either side of the leper stood his sole and constant companions, the -two hyenas, sniffing the air. Presently one of them uttered a low -growl and with flattened head started, sneaking and wary, toward the -jungle. The other followed. Bukawai, his curiosity aroused, trailed -after them, in his hand a heavy knob-stick. - -The hyenas halted a few yards from the prostrate Tarzan, sniffing and -growling. Then came Bukawai, and at first he could not believe the -witness of his own eyes; but when he did and saw that it was indeed the -devil-god his rage knew no bounds, for he thought him dead and himself -cheated of the revenge he had so long dreamed upon. - -The hyenas approached the ape-man with bared fangs. Bukawai, with an -inarticulate scream, rushed upon them, striking cruel and heavy blows -with his knob-stick, for there might still be life in the apparently -lifeless form. The beasts, snapping and snarling, half turned upon -their master and their tormentor, but long fear still held them from -his putrid throat. They slunk away a few yards and squatted upon their -haunches, hatred and baffled hunger gleaming from their savage eyes. - -Bukawai stooped and placed his ear above the ape-man's heart. It still -beat. As well as his sloughed features could register pleasure they -did so; but it was not a pretty sight. At the ape-man's side lay his -long, grass rope. Quickly Bukawai bound the limp arms behind his -prisoner's back, then he raised him to one of his shoulders, for, -though Bukawai was old and diseased, he was still a strong man. The -hyenas fell in behind as the witch-doctor set off toward the cave, and -through the long black corridors they followed as Bukawai bore his -victim into the bowels of the hills. Through subterranean chambers, -connected by winding passageways, Bukawai staggered with his load. At -a sudden turning of the corridor, daylight flooded them and Bukawai -stepped out into a small, circular basin in the hill, apparently the -crater of an ancient volcano, one of those which never reached the -dignity of a mountain and are little more than lava-rimmed pits closed -to the earth's surface. - -Steep walls rimmed the cavity. The only exit was through the -passageway by which Bukawai had entered. A few stunted trees grew upon -the rocky floor. A hundred feet above could be seen the ragged lips of -this cold, dead mouth of hell. - -Bukawai propped Tarzan against a tree and bound him there with his own -grass rope, leaving his hands free but securing the knots in such a way -that the ape-man could not reach them. The hyenas slunk to and fro, -growling. Bukawai hated them and they hated him. He knew that they -but waited for the time when he should be helpless, or when their -hatred should rise to such a height as to submerge their cringing fear -of him. - -In his own heart was not a little fear of these repulsive creatures, -and because of that fear, Bukawai always kept the beasts well fed, -often hunting for them when their own forages for food failed, but ever -was he cruel to them with the cruelty of a little brain, diseased, -bestial, primitive. - - -He had had them since they were puppies. They had known no other life -than that with him, and though they went abroad to hunt, always they -returned. Of late Bukawai had come to believe that they returned not -so much from habit as from a fiendish patience which would submit to -every indignity and pain rather than forego the final vengeance, and -Bukawai needed but little imagination to picture what that vengeance -would be. Today he would see for himself what his end would be; but -another should impersonate Bukawai. - -When he had trussed Tarzan securely, Bukawai went back into the -corridor, driving the hyenas ahead of him, and pulling across the -opening a lattice of laced branches, which shut the pit from the cave -during the night that Bukawai might sleep in security, for then the -hyenas were penned in the crater that they might not sneak upon a -sleeping Bukawai in the darkness. - -Bukawai returned to the outer cave mouth, filled a vessel with water at -the spring which rose in the little canyon close at hand and returned -toward the pit. The hyenas stood before the lattice looking hungrily -toward Tarzan. They had been fed in this manner before. - -With his water, the witch-doctor approached Tarzan and threw a portion -of the contents of the vessel in the ape-man's face. There was -fluttering of the eyelids, and at the second application Tarzan opened -his eyes and looked about. - -"Devil-god," cried Bukawai, "I am the great witch-doctor. My medicine -is strong. Yours is weak. If it is not, why do you stay tied here -like a goat that is bait for lions?" - -Tarzan understood nothing the witch-doctor said, therefore he did not -reply, but only stared straight at Bukawai with cold and level gaze. -The hyenas crept up behind him. He heard them growl; but he did not -even turn his head. He was a beast with a man's brain. The beast in -him refused to show fear in the face of a death which the man-mind -already admitted to be inevitable. - -Bukawai, not yet ready to give his victim to the beasts, rushed upon -the hyenas with his knob-stick. There was a short scrimmage in which -the brutes came off second best, as they always did. Tarzan watched -it. He saw and realized the hatred which existed between the two -animals and the hideous semblance of a man. - -With the hyenas subdued, Bukawai returned to the baiting of Tarzan; but -finding that the ape-man understood nothing he said, the witch-doctor -finally desisted. Then he withdrew into the corridor and pulled the -latticework barrier across the opening. He went back into the cave and -got a sleeping mat, which he brought to the opening, that he might lie -down and watch the spectacle of his revenge in comfort. - -The hyenas were sneaking furtively around the ape-man. Tarzan strained -at his bonds for a moment, but soon realized that the rope he had -braided to hold Numa, the lion, would hold him quite as successfully. -He did not wish to die; but he could look death in the face now as he -had many times before without a quaver. - -As he pulled upon the rope he felt it rub against the small tree about -which it was passed. Like a flash of the cinematograph upon the -screen, a picture was flashed before his mind's eye from the storehouse -of his memory. He saw a lithe, boyish figure swinging high above the -ground at the end of a rope. He saw many apes watching from below, and -then he saw the rope part and the boy hurtle downward toward the -ground. Tarzan smiled. Immediately he commenced to draw the rope -rapidly back and forth across the tree trunk. - -The hyenas, gaining courage, came closer. They sniffed at his legs; -but when he struck at them with his free arms they slunk off. He knew -that with the growth of hunger they would attack. Coolly, -methodically, without haste, Tarzan drew the rope back and forth -against the rough trunk of the small tree. - -In the entrance to the cavern Bukawai fell asleep. He thought it would -be some time before the beasts gained sufficient courage or hunger to -attack the captive. Their growls and the cries of the victim would -awaken him. In the meantime he might as well rest, and he did. - -Thus the day wore on, for the hyenas were not famished, and the rope -with which Tarzan was bound was a stronger one than that of his -boyhood, which had parted so quickly to the chafing of the rough tree -bark. Yet, all the while hunger was growing upon the beasts and the -strands of the grass rope were wearing thinner and thinner. Bukawai -slept. - -It was late afternoon before one of the beasts, irritated by the -gnawing of appetite, made a quick, growling dash at the ape-man. The -noise awoke Bukawai. He sat up quickly and watched what went on within -the crater. He saw the hungry hyena charge the man, leaping for the -unprotected throat. He saw Tarzan reach out and seize the growling -animal, and then he saw the second beast spring for the devil-god's -shoulder. There was a mighty heave of the great, smooth-skinned body. -Rounded muscles shot into great, tensed piles beneath the brown -hide--the ape-man surged forward with all his weight and all his great -strength--the bonds parted, and the three were rolling upon the floor -of the crater snarling, snapping, and rending. - -Bukawai leaped to his feet. Could it be that the devil-god was to -prevail against his servants? Impossible! The creature was unarmed, and -he was down with two hyenas on top of him; but Bukawai did not know -Tarzan. - -The ape-man fastened his fingers upon the throat of one of the hyenas -and rose to one knee, though the other beast tore at him frantically in -an effort to pull him down. With a single hand Tarzan held the one, -and with the other hand he reached forth and pulled toward him the -second beast. - -And then Bukawai, seeing the battle going against his forces, rushed -forward from the cavern brandishing his knob-stick. Tarzan saw him -coming, and rising now to both feet, a hyena in each hand, he hurled -one of the foaming beasts straight at the witch-doctor's head. Down -went the two in a snarling, biting heap. Tarzan tossed the second -hyena across the crater, while the first gnawed at the rotting face of -its master; but this did not suit the ape-man. With a kick he sent the -beast howling after its companion, and springing to the side of the -prostrate witch-doctor, dragged him to his feet. - -Bukawai, still conscious, saw death, immediate and terrible, in the -cold eyes of his captor, so he turned upon Tarzan with teeth and nails. -The ape-man shuddered at the proximity of that raw face to his. The -hyenas had had enough and disappeared through the small aperture -leading into the cave. Tarzan had little difficulty in overpowering -and binding Bukawai. Then he led him to the very tree to which he had -been bound; but in binding Bukawai, Tarzan saw to it that escape after -the same fashion that he had escaped would be out of the question; then -he left him. - -As he passed through the winding corridors and the subterranean -apartments, Tarzan saw nothing of the hyenas. - -"They will return," he said to himself. - -In the crater between the towering walls Bukawai, cold with terror, -trembled, trembled as with ague. - -"They will return!" he cried, his voice rising to a fright-filled -shriek. - -And they did. - - - - - 8 - - The Lion - -NUMA, THE LION, crouched behind a thorn bush close beside the drinking -pool where the river eddied just below the bend. There was a ford -there and on either bank a well-worn trail, broadened far out at the -river's brim, where, for countless centuries, the wild things of the -jungle and of the plains beyond had come down to drink, the carnivora -with bold and fearless majesty, the herbivora timorous, hesitating, -fearful. - -Numa, the lion, was hungry, he was very hungry, and so he was quite -silent now. On his way to the drinking place he had moaned often and -roared not a little; but as he neared the spot where he would lie in -wait for Bara, the deer, or Horta, the boar, or some other of the many -luscious-fleshed creatures who came hither to drink, he was silent. It -was a grim, a terrible silence, shot through with yellow-green light of -ferocious eyes, punctuated with undulating tremors of sinuous tail. - -It was Pacco, the zebra, who came first, and Numa, the lion, could -scarce restrain a roar of anger, for of all the plains people, none are -more wary than Pacco, the zebra. Behind the black-striped stallion -came a herd of thirty or forty of the plump and vicious little -horselike beasts. As he neared the river, the leader paused often, -cocking his ears and raising his muzzle to sniff the gentle breeze for -the tell-tale scent spoor of the dread flesh-eaters. - -Numa shifted uneasily, drawing his hind quarters far beneath his tawny -body, gathering himself for the sudden charge and the savage assault. -His eyes shot hungry fire. His great muscles quivered to the -excitement of the moment. - -Pacco came a little nearer, halted, snorted, and wheeled. There was a -pattering of scurrying hoofs and the herd was gone; but Numa, the lion, -moved not. He was familiar with the ways of Pacco, the zebra. He knew -that he would return, though many times he might wheel and fly before -he summoned the courage to lead his harem and his offspring to the -water. There was the chance that Pacco might be frightened off -entirely. Numa had seen this happen before, and so he became almost -rigid lest he be the one to send them galloping, waterless, back to the -plain. - -Again and again came Pacco and his family, and again and again did they -turn and flee; but each time they came closer to the river, until at -last the plump stallion dipped his velvet muzzle daintily into the -water. The others, stepping warily, approached their leader. Numa -selected a sleek, fat filly and his flaming eyes burned greedily as -they feasted upon her, for Numa, the lion, loves scarce anything better -than the meat of Pacco, perhaps because Pacco is, of all the -grass-eaters, the most difficult to catch. - -Slowly the lion rose, and as he rose, a twig snapped beneath one of his -great, padded paws. Like a shot from a rifle he charged upon the -filly; but the snapped twig had been enough to startle the timorous -quarry, so that they were in instant flight simultaneously with Numa's -charge. - -The stallion was last, and with a prodigious leap, the lion catapulted -through the air to seize him; but the snapping twig had robbed Numa of -his dinner, though his mighty talons raked the zebra's glossy rump, -leaving four crimson bars across the beautiful coat. - -It was an angry Numa that quitted the river and prowled, fierce, -dangerous, and hungry, into the jungle. Far from particular now was -his appetite. Even Dango, the hyena, would have seemed a tidbit to -that ravenous maw. And in this temper it was that the lion came upon -the tribe of Kerchak, the great ape. - -One does not look for Numa, the lion, this late in the morning. He -should be lying up asleep beside his last night's kill by now; but Numa -had made no kill last night. He was still hunting, hungrier than ever. - -The anthropoids were idling about the clearing, the first keen desire -of the morning's hunger having been satisfied. Numa scented them long -before he saw them. Ordinarily he would have turned away in search of -other game, for even Numa respected the mighty muscles and the sharp -fangs of the great bulls of the tribe of Kerchak, but today he kept on -steadily toward them, his bristled snout wrinkled into a savage snarl. - -Without an instant's hesitation, Numa charged the moment he reached a -point from where the apes were visible to him. There were a dozen or -more of the hairy, manlike creatures upon the ground in a little glade. -In a tree at one side sat a brown-skinned youth. He saw Numa's swift -charge; he saw the apes turn and flee, huge bulls trampling upon little -balus; only a single she held her ground to meet the charge, a young -she inspired by new motherhood to the great sacrifice that her balu -might escape. - -Tarzan leaped from his perch, screaming at the flying bulls beneath and -at those who squatted in the safety of surrounding trees. Had the -bulls stood their ground, Numa would not have carried through that -charge unless goaded by great rage or the gnawing pangs of starvation. -Even then he would not have come off unscathed. - -If the bulls heard, they were too slow in responding, for Numa had -seized the mother ape and dragged her into the jungle before the males -had sufficiently collected their wits and their courage to rally in -defense of their fellow. Tarzan's angry voice aroused similar anger in -the breasts of the apes. Snarling and barking they followed Numa into -the dense labyrinth of foliage wherein he sought to hide himself from -them. The ape-man was in the lead, moving rapidly and yet with -caution, depending even more upon his ears and nose than upon his eyes -for information of the lion's whereabouts. - -The spoor was easy to follow, for the dragged body of the victim left a -plain trail, blood-spattered and scentful. Even such dull creatures as -you or I might easily have followed it. To Tarzan and the apes of -Kerchak it was as obvious as a cement sidewalk. - -Tarzan knew that they were nearing the great cat even before he heard -an angry growl of warning just ahead. Calling to the apes to follow -his example, he swung into a tree and a moment later Numa was -surrounded by a ring of growling beasts, well out of reach of his fangs -and talons but within plain sight of him. The carnivore crouched with -his fore-quarters upon the she-ape. Tarzan could see that the latter -was already dead; but something within him made it seem quite necessary -to rescue the useless body from the clutches of the enemy and to punish -him. - -He shrieked taunts and insults at Numa, and tearing dead branches from -the tree in which he danced, hurled them at the lion. The apes -followed his example. Numa roared out in rage and vexation. He was -hungry, but under such conditions he could not feed. - -The apes, if they had been left to themselves, would doubtless soon -have left the lion to peaceful enjoyment of his feast, for was not the -she dead? They could not restore her to life by throwing sticks at -Numa, and they might even now be feeding in quiet themselves; but -Tarzan was of a different mind. Numa must be punished and driven away. -He must be taught that even though he killed a Mangani, he would not be -permitted to feed upon his kill. The man-mind looked into the future, -while the apes perceived only the immediate present. They would be -content to escape today the menace of Numa, while Tarzan saw the -necessity, and the means as well, of safeguarding the days to come. - -So he urged the great anthropoids on until Numa was showered with -missiles that kept his head dodging and his voice pealing forth its -savage protest; but still he clung desperately to his kill. - -The twigs and branches hurled at Numa, Tarzan soon realized, did not -hurt him greatly even when they struck him, and did not injure him at -all, so the ape-man looked about for more effective missiles, nor did -he have to look long. An out-cropping of decomposed granite not far -from Numa suggested ammunition of a much more painful nature. Calling -to the apes to watch him, Tarzan slipped to the ground and gathered a -handful of small fragments. He knew that when once they had seen him -carry out his idea they would be much quicker to follow his lead than -to obey his instructions, were he to command them to procure pieces of -rock and hurl them at Numa, for Tarzan was not then king of the apes of -the tribe of Kerchak. That came in later years. Now he was but a -youth, though one who already had wrested for himself a place in the -councils of the savage beasts among whom a strange fate had cast him. -The sullen bulls of the older generation still hated him as beasts hate -those of whom they are suspicious, whose scent characteristic is the -scent characteristic of an alien order and, therefore, of an enemy -order. The younger bulls, those who had grown up through childhood as -his playmates, were as accustomed to Tarzan's scent as to that of any -other member of the tribe. They felt no greater suspicion of him than -of any other bull of their acquaintance; yet they did not love him, for -they loved none outside the mating season, and the animosities aroused -by other bulls during that season lasted well over until the next. -They were a morose and peevish band at best, though here and there were -those among them in whom germinated the primal seeds of -humanity--reversions to type, these, doubtless; reversions to the -ancient progenitor who took the first step out of ape-hood toward -humanness, when he walked more often upon his hind feet and discovered -other things for idle hands to do. - -So now Tarzan led where he could not yet command. He had long since -discovered the apish propensity for mimicry and learned to make use of -it. Having filled his arms with fragments of rotted granite, he -clambered again into a tree, and it pleased him to see that the apes -had followed his example. - -During the brief respite while they were gathering their ammunition, -Numa had settled himself to feed; but scarce had he arranged himself -and his kill when a sharp piece of rock hurled by the practiced hand of -the ape-man struck him upon the cheek. His sudden roar of pain and -rage was smothered by a volley from the apes, who had seen Tarzan's -act. Numa shook his massive head and glared upward at his tormentors. -For a half hour they pursued him with rocks and broken branches, and -though he dragged his kill into densest thickets, yet they always found -a way to reach him with their missiles, giving him no opportunity to -feed, and driving him on and on. - -The hairless ape-thing with the man scent was worst of all, for he had -even the temerity to advance upon the ground to within a few yards of -the Lord of the Jungle, that he might with greater accuracy and force -hurl the sharp bits of granite and the heavy sticks at him. Time and -again did Numa charge--sudden, vicious charges--but the lithe, active -tormentor always managed to elude him and with such insolent ease that -the lion forgot even his great hunger in the consuming passion of his -rage, leaving his meat for considerable spaces of time in vain efforts -to catch his enemy. - -The apes and Tarzan pursued the great beast to a natural clearing, -where Numa evidently determined to make a last stand, taking up his -position in the center of the open space, which was far enough from any -tree to render him practically immune from the rather erratic throwing -of the apes, though Tarzan still found him with most persistent and -aggravating frequency. - -This, however, did not suit the ape-man, since Numa now suffered an -occasional missile with no more than a snarl, while he settled himself -to partake of his delayed feast. Tarzan scratched his head, pondering -some more effective method of offense, for he had determined to prevent -Numa from profiting in any way through his attack upon the tribe. The -man-mind reasoned against the future, while the shaggy apes thought -only of their present hatred of this ancestral enemy. Tarzan guessed -that should Numa find it an easy thing to snatch a meal from the tribe -of Kerchak, it would be but a short time before their existence would -be one living nightmare of hideous watchfulness and dread. Numa must -be taught that the killing of an ape brought immediate punishment and -no rewards. It would take but a few lessons to insure the former -safety of the tribe. This must be some old lion whose failing strength -and agility had forced him to any prey that he could catch; but even a -single lion, undisputed, could exterminate the tribe, or at least make -its existence so precarious and so terrifying that life would no longer -be a pleasant condition. - -"Let him hunt among the Gomangani," thought Tarzan. "He will find them -easier prey. I will teach ferocious Numa that he may not hunt the -Mangani." - -But how to wrest the body of his victim from the feeding lion was the -first question to be solved. At last Tarzan hit upon a plan. To -anyone but Tarzan of the Apes it might have seemed rather a risky plan, -and perhaps it did even to him; but Tarzan rather liked things that -contained a considerable element of danger. At any rate, I rather -doubt that you or I would have chosen a similar plan for foiling an -angry and a hungry lion. - -Tarzan required assistance in the scheme he had hit upon and his -assistant must be equally as brave and almost as active as he. The -ape-man's eyes fell upon Taug, the playmate of his childhood, the rival -in his first love and now, of all the bulls of the tribe, the only one -that might be thought to hold in his savage brain any such feeling -toward Tarzan as we describe among ourselves as friendship. At least, -Tarzan knew, Taug was courageous, and he was young and agile and -wonderfully muscled. - -"Taug!" cried the ape-man. The great ape looked up from a dead limb he -was attempting to tear from a lightning-blasted tree. "Go close to -Numa and worry him," said Tarzan. "Worry him until he charges. Lead -him away from the body of Mamka. Keep him away as long as you can." - -Taug nodded. He was across the clearing from Tarzan. Wresting the -limb at last from the tree he dropped to the ground and advanced toward -Numa, growling and barking out his insults. The worried lion looked up -and rose to his feet. His tail went stiffly erect and Taug turned in -flight, for he knew that warming signal of the charge. - -From behind the lion, Tarzan ran quickly toward the center of the -clearing and the body of Mamka. Numa, all his eyes for Taug, did not -see the ape-man. Instead he shot forward after the fleeing bull, who -had turned in flight not an instant too soon, since he reached the -nearest tree but a yard or two ahead of the pursuing demon. Like a cat -the heavy anthropoid scampered up the bole of his sanctuary. Numa's -talons missed him by little more than inches. - -For a moment the lion paused beneath the tree, glaring up at the ape -and roaring until the earth trembled, then he turned back again toward -his kill, and as he did so, his tail shot once more to rigid erectness -and he charged back even more ferociously than he had come, for what he -saw was the naked man-thing running toward the farther trees with the -bloody carcass of his prey across a giant shoulder. - -The apes, watching the grim race from the safety of the trees, screamed -taunts at Numa and warnings to Tarzan. The high sun, hot and -brilliant, fell like a spotlight upon the actors in the little -clearing, portraying them in glaring relief to the audience in the -leafy shadows of the surrounding trees. The light-brown body of the -naked youth, all but hidden by the shaggy carcass of the killed ape, -the red blood streaking his smooth hide, his muscles rolling, velvety, -beneath. Behind him the black-maned lion, head flattened, tail -extended, racing, a jungle thoroughbred, across the sunlit clearing. - -Ah, but this was life! With death at his heels, Tarzan thrilled with -the joy of such living as this; but would he reach the trees ahead of -the rampant death so close behind? - -Gunto swung from a limb in a tree before him. Gunto was screaming -warnings and advice. - -"Catch me!" cried Tarzan, and with his heavy burden leaped straight for -the big bull hanging there by his hind feet and one forepaw. And Gunto -caught them--the big ape-man and the dead weight of the slain -she-ape--caught them with one great, hairy paw and whirled them upward -until Tarzan's fingers closed upon a near-by branch. - -Beneath, Numa leaped; but Gunto, heavy and awkward as he may have -appeared, was as quick as Manu, the monkey, so that the lion's talons -but barely grazed him, scratching a bloody streak beneath one hairy arm. - -Tarzan carried Mamka's corpse to a high crotch, where even Sheeta, the -panther, could not get it. Numa paced angrily back and forth beneath -the tree, roaring frightfully. He had been robbed of his kill and his -revenge also. He was very savage indeed; but his despoilers were well -out of his reach, and after hurling a few taunts and missiles at him -they swung away through the trees, fiercely reviling him. - -Tarzan thought much upon the little adventure of that day. He foresaw -what might happen should the great carnivora of the jungle turn their -serious attention upon the tribe of Kerchak, the great ape, but equally -he thought upon the wild scramble of the apes for safety when Numa -first charged among them. There is little humor in the jungle that is -not grim and awful. The beasts have little or no conception of humor; -but the young Englishman saw humor in many things which presented no -humorous angle to his associates. - -Since earliest childhood he had been a searcher after fun, much to the -sorrow of his fellow-apes, and now he saw the humor of the frightened -panic of the apes and the baffled rage of Numa even in this grim jungle -adventure which had robbed Mamka of life, and jeopardized that of many -members of the tribe. - -It was but a few weeks later that Sheeta, the panther, made a sudden -rush among the tribe and snatched a little balu from a tree where it -had been hidden while its mother sought food. Sheeta got away with his -small prize unmolested. Tarzan was very wroth. He spoke to the bulls -of the ease with which Numa and Sheeta, in a single moon, had slain two -members of the tribe. - -"They will take us all for food," he cried. "We hunt as we will -through the jungle, paying no heed to approaching enemies. Even Manu, -the monkey, does not so. He keeps two or three always watching for -enemies. Pacco, the zebra, and Wappi, the antelope, have those about -the herd who keep watch while the others feed, while we, the great -Mangani, let Numa, and Sabor, and Sheeta come when they will and carry -us off to feed their balus. - -"Gr-r-rmph," said Numgo. - -"What are we to do?" asked Taug. - -"We, too, should have two or three always watching for the approach of -Numa, and Sabor, and Sheeta," replied Tarzan. "No others need we fear, -except Histah, the snake, and if we watch for the others we will see -Histah if he comes, though gliding ever so silently." - -And so it was that the great apes of the tribe of Kerchak posted -sentries thereafter, who watched upon three sides while the tribe -hunted, scattered less than had been their wont. - -But Tarzan went abroad alone, for Tarzan was a man-thing and sought -amusement and adventure and such humor as the grim and terrible jungle -offers to those who know it and do not fear it--a weird humor shot with -blazing eyes and dappled with the crimson of lifeblood. While others -sought only food and love, Tarzan of the Apes sought food and joy. - -One day he hovered above the palisaded village of Mbonga, the chief, -the jet cannibal of the jungle primeval. He saw, as he had seen many -times before, the witch-doctor, Rabba Kega, decked out in the head and -hide of Gorgo, the buffalo. It amused Tarzan to see a Gomangani -parading as Gorgo; but it suggested nothing in particular to him until -he chanced to see stretched against the side of Mbonga's hut the skin -of a lion with the head still on. Then a broad grin widened the -handsome face of the savage beast-youth. - -Back into the jungle he went until chance, agility, strength, and -cunning backed by his marvelous powers of perception, gave him an easy -meal. If Tarzan felt that the world owed him a living he also realized -that it was for him to collect it, nor was there ever a better -collector than this son of an English lord, who knew even less of the -ways of his forbears than he did of the forbears themselves, which was -nothing. - -It was quite dark when Tarzan returned to the village of Mbonga and -took his now polished perch in the tree which overhangs the palisade -upon one side of the walled enclosure. As there was nothing in -particular to feast upon in the village there was little life in the -single street, for only an orgy of flesh and native beer could draw out -the people of Mbonga. Tonight they sat gossiping about their cooking -fires, the older members of the tribe; or, if they were young, paired -off in the shadows cast by the palm-thatched huts. - -Tarzan dropped lightly into the village, and sneaking stealthily in the -concealment of the denser shadows, approached the hut of the chief, -Mbonga. Here he found that which he sought. There were warriors all -about him; but they did not know that the feared devil-god slunk -noiselessly so near them, nor did they see him possess himself of that -which he coveted and depart from their village as noiselessly as he had -come. - -Later that night, as Tarzan curled himself for sleep, he lay for a long -time looking up at the burning planets and the twinkling stars and at -Goro the moon, and he smiled. He recalled how ludicrous the great -bulls had appeared in their mad scramble for safety that day when Numa -had charged among them and seized Mamka, and yet he knew them to be -fierce and courageous. It was the sudden shock of surprise that always -sent them into a panic; but of this Tarzan was not as yet fully aware. -That was something he was to learn in the near future. - -He fell asleep with a broad grin upon his face. - -Manu, the monkey, awoke him in the morning by dropping discarded bean -pods upon his upturned face from a branch a short distance above him. -Tarzan looked up and smiled. He had been awakened thus before many -times. He and Manu were fairly good friends, their friendship -operating upon a reciprocal basis. Sometimes Manu would come running -early in the morning to awaken Tarzan and tell him that Bara, the deer, -was feeding close at hand, or that Horta, the boar, was asleep in a -mudhole hard by, and in return Tarzan broke open the shells of the -harder nuts and fruits for Manu, or frightened away Histah, the snake, -and Sheeta, the panther. - -The sun had been up for some time, and the tribe had already wandered -off in search of food. Manu indicated the direction they had taken -with a wave of his hand and a few piping notes of his squeaky little -voice. - -"Come, Manu," said Tarzan, "and you will see that which shall make you -dance for joy and squeal your wrinkled little head off. Come, follow -Tarzan of the Apes." - -With that he set off in the direction Manu had indicated and above him, -chattering, scolding and squealing, skipped Manu, the monkey. Across -Tarzan's shoulders was the thing he had stolen from the village of -Mbonga, the chief, the evening before. - -The tribe was feeding in the forest beside the clearing where Gunto, -and Taug, and Tarzan had so harassed Numa and finally taken away from -him the fruit of his kill. Some of them were in the clearing itself. -In peace and content they fed, for were there not three sentries, each -watching upon a different side of the herd? Tarzan had taught them -this, and though he had been away for several days hunting alone, as he -often did, or visiting at the cabin by the sea, they had not as yet -forgotten his admonitions, and if they continued for a short time -longer to post sentries, it would become a habit of their tribal life -and thus be perpetuated indefinitely. - -But Tarzan, who knew them better than they knew themselves, was -confident that they had ceased to place the watchers about them the -moment that he had left them, and now he planned not only to have a -little fun at their expense but to teach them a lesson in preparedness, -which, by the way, is even a more vital issue in the jungle than in -civilized places. That you and I exist today must be due to the -preparedness of some shaggy anthropoid of the Oligocene. Of course the -apes of Kerchak were always prepared, after their own way--Tarzan had -merely suggested a new and additional safeguard. - -Gunto was posted today to the north of the clearing. He squatted in -the fork of a tree from where he might view the jungle for quite a -distance about him. It was he who first discovered the enemy. A -rustling in the undergrowth attracted his attention, and a moment later -he had a partial view of a shaggy mane and tawny yellow back. Just a -glimpse it was through the matted foliage beneath him; but it brought -from Gunto's leathern lungs a shrill "Kreeg-ah!" which is the ape for -beware, or danger. - -Instantly the tribe took up the cry until "Kreeg-ahs!" rang through the -jungle about the clearing as apes swung quickly to places of safety -among the lower branches of the trees and the great bulls hastened in -the direction of Gunto. - -And then into the clearing strode Numa, the lion--majestic and mighty, -and from a deep chest issued the moan and the cough and the rumbling -roar that set stiff hairs to bristling from shaggy craniums down the -length of mighty spines. - -Inside the clearing, Numa paused and on the instant there fell upon him -from the trees near by a shower of broken rock and dead limbs torn from -age-old trees. A dozen times he was hit, and then the apes ran down -and gathered other rocks, pelting him unmercifully. - -Numa turned to flee, but his way was barred by a fusilade of -sharp-cornered missiles, and then, upon the edge of the clearing, great -Taug met him with a huge fragment of rock as large as a man's head, and -down went the Lord of the Jungle beneath the stunning blow. - -With shrieks and roars and loud barkings the great apes of the tribe of -Kerchak rushed upon the fallen lion. Sticks and stones and yellow -fangs menaced the still form. In another moment, before he could -regain consciousness, Numa would be battered and torn until only a -bloody mass of broken bones and matted hair remained of what had once -been the most dreaded of jungle creatures. - -But even as the sticks and stones were raised above him and the great -fangs bared to tear him, there descended like a plummet from the trees -above a diminutive figure with long, white whiskers and a wrinkled -face. Square upon the body of Numa it alighted and there it danced and -screamed and shrieked out its challenge against the bulls of Kerchak. - -For an instant they paused, paralyzed by the wonder of the thing. It -was Manu, the monkey, Manu, the little coward, and here he was daring -the ferocity of the great Mangani, hopping about upon the carcass of -Numa, the lion, and crying out that they must not strike it again. - -And when the bulls paused, Manu reached down and seized a tawny ear. -With all his little might he tugged upon the heavy head until slowly it -turned back, revealing the tousled, black head and clean-cut profile of -Tarzan of the Apes. - -Some of the older apes were for finishing what they had commenced; but -Taug, sullen, mighty Taug, sprang quickly to the ape-man's side and -straddling the unconscious form warned back those who would have struck -his childhood playmate. And Teeka, his mate, came too, taking her -place with bared fangs at Taug's side. Others followed their example, -until at last Tarzan was surrounded by a ring of hairy champions who -would permit no enemy to approach him. - -It was a surprised and chastened Tarzan who opened his eyes to -consciousness a few minutes later. He looked about him at the -surrounding apes and slowly there returned to him a realization of what -had occurred. - -Gradually a broad grin illuminated his features. His bruises were many -and they hurt; but the good that had come from his adventure was worth -all that it had cost. He had learned, for instance, that the apes of -Kerchak had heeded his teaching, and he had learned that he had good -friends among the sullen beasts whom he had thought without sentiment. -He had discovered that Manu, the monkey--even little, cowardly -Manu--had risked his life in his defense. - -It made Tarzan very glad to know these things; but at the other lesson -he had been taught he reddened. He had always been a joker, the only -joker in the grim and terrible company; but now as he lay there half -dead from his hurts, he almost swore a solemn oath forever to forego -practical joking--almost; but not quite. - - - - - 9 - - The Nightmare - -THE BLACKS OF the village of Mbonga, the chief, were feasting, while -above them in a large tree sat Tarzan of the Apes--grim, terrible, -empty, and envious. Hunting had proved poor that day, for there are -lean days as well as fat ones for even the greatest of the jungle -hunters. Oftentimes Tarzan went empty for more than a full sun, and he -had passed through entire moons during which he had been but barely -able to stave off starvation; but such times were infrequent. - -There once had been a period of sickness among the grass-eaters which -had left the plains almost bare of game for several years, and again -the great cats had increased so rapidly and so overrun the country that -their prey, which was also Tarzan's, had been frightened off for a -considerable time. - -But for the most part Tarzan had fed well always. Today, though, he -had gone empty, one misfortune following another as rapidly as he -raised new quarry, so that now, as he sat perched in the tree above the -feasting blacks, he experienced all the pangs of famine and his hatred -for his lifelong enemies waxed strong in his breast. It was -tantalizing, indeed, to sit there hungry while these Gomangani filled -themselves so full of food that their stomachs seemed almost upon the -point of bursting, and with elephant steaks at that! - -It was true that Tarzan and Tantor were the best of friends, and that -Tarzan never yet had tasted of the flesh of the elephant; but the -Gomangani evidently had slain one, and as they were eating of the flesh -of their kill, Tarzan was assailed by no doubts as to the ethics of his -doing likewise, should he have the opportunity. Had he known that the -elephant had died of sickness several days before the blacks discovered -the carcass, he might not have been so keen to partake of the feast, -for Tarzan of the Apes was no carrion-eater. Hunger, however, may blunt -the most epicurean taste, and Tarzan was not exactly an epicure. - -What he was at this moment was a very hungry wild beast whom caution -was holding in leash, for the great cooking pot in the center of the -village was surrounded by black warriors, through whom not even Tarzan -of the Apes might hope to pass unharmed. It would be necessary, -therefore, for the watcher to remain there hungry until the blacks had -gorged themselves to stupor, and then, if they had left any scraps, to -make the best meal he could from such; but to the impatient Tarzan it -seemed that the greedy Gomangani would rather burst than leave the -feast before the last morsel had been devoured. For a time they broke -the monotony of eating by executing portions of a hunting dance, a -maneuver which sufficiently stimulated digestion to permit them to fall -to once more with renewed vigor; but with the consumption of appalling -quantities of elephant meat and native beer they presently became too -loggy for physical exertion of any sort, some reaching a stage where -they no longer could rise from the ground, but lay conveniently close -to the great cooking pot, stuffing themselves into unconsciousness. - -It was well past midnight before Tarzan even could begin to see the end -of the orgy. The blacks were now falling asleep rapidly; but a few -still persisted. From before their condition Tarzan had no doubt but -that he easily could enter the village and snatch a handful of meat -from before their noses; but a handful was not what he wanted. Nothing -less than a stomachful would allay the gnawing craving of that great -emptiness. He must therefore have ample time to forage in peace. - -At last but a single warrior remained true to his ideals--an old -fellow whose once wrinkled belly was now as smooth and as tight as the -head of a drum. With evidences of great discomfort, and even pain, he -would crawl toward the pot and drag himself slowly to his knees, from -which position he could reach into the receptacle and seize a piece of -meat. Then he would roll over on his back with a loud groan and lie -there while he slowly forced the food between his teeth and down into -his gorged stomach. - -It was evident to Tarzan that the old fellow would eat until he died, -or until there was no more meat. The ape-man shook his head in -disgust. What foul creatures were these Gomangani? Yet of all the -jungle folk they alone resembled Tarzan closely in form. Tarzan was a -man, and they, too, must be some manner of men, just as the little -monkeys, and the great apes, and Bolgani, the gorilla, were quite -evidently of one great family, though differing in size and appearance -and customs. Tarzan was ashamed, for of all the beasts of the jungle, -then, man was the most disgusting--man and Dango, the hyena. Only man -and Dango ate until they swelled up like a dead rat. Tarzan had seen -Dango eat his way into the carcass of a dead elephant and then continue -to eat so much that he had been unable to get out of the hole through -which he had entered. Now he could readily believe that man, given the -opportunity, would do the same. Man, too, was the most unlovely of -creatures--with his skinny legs and his big stomach, his filed teeth, -and his thick, red lips. Man was disgusting. Tarzan's gaze was -riveted upon the hideous old warrior wallowing in filth beneath him. - -There! the thing was struggling to its knees to reach for another -morsel of flesh. It groaned aloud in pain and yet it persisted in -eating, eating, ever eating. Tarzan could endure it no longer--neither -his hunger nor his disgust. Silently he slipped to the ground with the -bole of the great tree between himself and the feaster. - -The man was still kneeling, bent almost double in agony, before the -cooking pot. His back was toward the ape-man. Swiftly and noiselessly -Tarzan approached him. There was no sound as steel fingers closed -about the black throat. The struggle was short, for the man was old -and already half stupefied from the effects of the gorging and the beer. - -Tarzan dropped the inert mass and scooped several large pieces of meat -from the cooking pot--enough to satisfy even his great hunger--then he -raised the body of the feaster and shoved it into the vessel. When the -other blacks awoke they would have something to think about! Tarzan -grinned. As he turned toward the tree with his meat, he picked up a -vessel containing beer and raised it to his lips, but at the first -taste he spat the stuff from his mouth and tossed the primitive tankard -aside. He was quite sure that even Dango would draw the line at such -filthy tasting drink as that, and his contempt for man increased with -the conviction. - -Tarzan swung off into the jungle some half mile or so before he paused -to partake of his stolen food. He noticed that it gave forth a strange -and unpleasant odor, but assumed that this was due to the fact that it -had stood in a vessel of water above a fire. Tarzan was, of course, -unaccustomed to cooked food. He did not like it; but he was very -hungry and had eaten a considerable portion of his haul before it was -really borne in upon him that the stuff was nauseating. It required -far less than he had imagined it would to satisfy his appetite. - -Throwing the balance to the ground he curled up in a convenient crotch -and sought slumber; but slumber seemed difficult to woo. Ordinarily -Tarzan of the Apes was asleep as quickly as a dog after it curls itself -upon a hearthrug before a roaring blaze; but tonight he squirmed and -twisted, for at the pit of his stomach was a peculiar feeling that -resembled nothing more closely than an attempt upon the part of the -fragments of elephant meat reposing there to come out into the night -and search for their elephant; but Tarzan was adamant. He gritted his -teeth and held them back. He was not to be robbed of his meal after -waiting so long to obtain it. - -He had succeeded in dozing when the roaring of a lion awoke him. He -sat up to discover that it was broad daylight. Tarzan rubbed his eyes. -Could it be that he had really slept? He did not feel particularly -refreshed as he should have after a good sleep. A noise attracted his -attention, and he looked down to see a lion standing at the foot of the -tree gazing hungrily at him. Tarzan made a face at the king of beasts, -whereat Numa, greatly to the ape-man's surprise, started to climb up -into the branches toward him. Now, never before had Tarzan seen a lion -climb a tree, yet, for some unaccountable reason, he was not greatly -surprised that this particular lion should do so. - -As the lion climbed slowly toward him, Tarzan sought higher branches; -but to his chagrin, he discovered that it was with the utmost -difficulty that he could climb at all. Again and again he slipped -back, losing all that he had gained, while the lion kept steadily at -his climbing, coming ever closer and closer to the ape-man. Tarzan -could see the hungry light in the yellow-green eyes. He could see the -slaver on the drooping jowls, and the great fangs agape to seize and -destroy him. Clawing desperately, the ape-man at last succeeded in -gaining a little upon his pursuer. He reached the more slender -branches far aloft where he well knew no lion could follow; yet on and -on came devil-faced Numa. It was incredible; but it was true. Yet -what most amazed Tarzan was that though he realized the incredibility -of it all, he at the same time accepted it as a matter of course, first -that a lion should climb at all and second that he should enter the -upper terraces where even Sheeta, the panther, dared not venture. - -To the very top of a tall tree the ape-man clawed his awkward way and -after him came Numa, the lion, moaning dismally. At last Tarzan stood -balanced upon the very utmost pinnacle of a swaying branch, high above -the forest. He could go no farther. Below him the lion came steadily -upward, and Tarzan of the Apes realized that at last the end had come. -He could not do battle upon a tiny branch with Numa, the lion, -especially with such a Numa, to which swaying branches two hundred feet -above the ground provided as substantial footing as the ground itself. - -Nearer and nearer came the lion. Another moment and he could reach up -with one great paw and drag the ape-man downward to those awful jaws. -A whirring noise above his head caused Tarzan to glance apprehensively -upward. A great bird was circling close above him. He never had seen -so large a bird in all his life, yet he recognized it immediately, for -had he not seen it hundreds of times in one of the books in the little -cabin by the land-locked bay--the moss-grown cabin that with its -contents was the sole heritage left by his dead and unknown father to -the young Lord Greystoke? - -In the picture-book the great bird was shown flying far above the -ground with a small child in its talons while, beneath, a distracted -mother stood with uplifted hands. The lion was already reaching forth -a taloned paw to seize him when the bird swooped and buried no less -formidable talons in Tarzan's back. The pain was numbing; but it was -with a sense of relief that the ape-man felt himself snatched from the -clutches of Numa. - -With a great whirring of wings the bird rose rapidly until the forest -lay far below. It made Tarzan sick and dizzy to look down upon it from -so great a height, so he closed his eyes tight and held his breath. -Higher and higher climbed the huge bird. Tarzan opened his eyes. The -jungle was so far away that he could see only a dim, green blur below -him, but just above and quite close was the sun. Tarzan reached out -his hands and warmed them, for they were very cold. Then a sudden -madness seized him. Where was the bird taking him? Was he to submit -thus passively to a feathered creature however enormous? Was he, Tarzan -of the Apes, mighty fighter, to die without striking a blow in his own -defense? Never! - -He snatched the hunting blade from his gee-string and thrusting upward -drove it once, twice, thrice into the breast above him. The mighty -wings fluttered a few more times, spasmodically, the talons relaxed -their hold, and Tarzan of the Apes fell hurtling downward toward the -distant jungle. - -It seemed to the ape-man that he fell for many minutes before he -crashed through the leafy verdure of the tree tops. The smaller -branches broke his fall, so that he came to rest for an instant upon -the very branch upon which he had sought slumber the previous night. -For an instant he toppled there in a frantic attempt to regain his -equilibrium; but at last he rolled off, yet, clutching wildly, he -succeeded in grasping the branch and hanging on. - -Once more he opened his eyes, which he had closed during the fall. -Again it was night. With all his old agility he clambered back to the -crotch from which he had toppled. Below him a lion roared, and, -looking downward, Tarzan could see the yellow-green eyes shining in the -moonlight as they bored hungrily upward through the darkness of the -jungle night toward him. - -The ape-man gasped for breath. Cold sweat stood out from every pore, -there was a great sickness at the pit of Tarzan's stomach. Tarzan of -the Apes had dreamed his first dream. - -For a long time he sat watching for Numa to climb into the tree after -him, and listening for the sound of the great wings from above, for to -Tarzan of the Apes his dream was a reality. - -He could not believe what he had seen and yet, having seen even these -incredible things, he could not disbelieve the evidence of his own -perceptions. Never in all his life had Tarzan's senses deceived him -badly, and so, naturally, he had great faith in them. Each perception -which ever had been transmitted to Tarzan's brain had been, with -varying accuracy, a true perception. He could not conceive of the -possibility of apparently having passed through such a weird adventure -in which there was no grain of truth. That a stomach, disordered by -decayed elephant flesh, a lion roaring in the jungle, a picture-book, -and sleep could have so truly portrayed all the clear-cut details of -what he had seemingly experienced was quite beyond his knowledge; yet -he knew that Numa could not climb a tree, he knew that there existed in -the jungle no such bird as he had seen, and he knew, too, that he could -not have fallen a tiny fraction of the distance he had hurtled -downward, and lived. - -To say the least, he was a very puzzled Tarzan as he tried to compose -himself once more for slumber--a very puzzled and a very nauseated -Tarzan. - -As he thought deeply upon the strange occurrences of the night, he -witnessed another remarkable happening. It was indeed quite -preposterous, yet he saw it all with his own eyes--it was nothing less -than Histah, the snake, wreathing his sinuous and slimy way up the bole -of the tree below him--Histah, with the head of the old man Tarzan had -shoved into the cooking pot--the head and the round, tight, black, -distended stomach. As the old man's frightful face, with upturned -eyes, set and glassy, came close to Tarzan, the jaws opened to seize -him. The ape-man struck furiously at the hideous face, and as he -struck the apparition disappeared. - -Tarzan sat straight up upon his branch trembling in every limb, -wide-eyed and panting. He looked all around him with his keen, -jungle-trained eyes, but he saw naught of the old man with the body of -Histah, the snake, but on his naked thigh the ape-man saw a -caterpillar, dropped from a branch above him. With a grimace he -flicked it off into the darkness beneath. - -And so the night wore on, dream following dream, nightmare following -nightmare, until the distracted ape-man started like a frightened deer -at the rustling of the wind in the trees about him, or leaped to his -feet as the uncanny laugh of a hyena burst suddenly upon a momentary -jungle silence. But at last the tardy morning broke and a sick and -feverish Tarzan wound sluggishly through the dank and gloomy mazes of -the forest in search of water. His whole body seemed on fire, a great -sickness surged upward to his throat. He saw a tangle of almost -impenetrable thicket, and, like the wild beast he was, he crawled into -it to die alone and unseen, safe from the attacks of predatory -carnivora. - -But he did not die. For a long time he wanted to; but presently nature -and an outraged stomach relieved themselves in their own therapeutic -manner, the ape-man broke into a violent perspiration and then fell -into a normal and untroubled sleep which persisted well into the -afternoon. When he awoke he found himself weak but no longer sick. - -Once more he sought water, and after drinking deeply, took his way -slowly toward the cabin by the sea. In times of loneliness and trouble -it had long been his custom to seek there the quiet and restfulness -which he could find nowhere else. - -As he approached the cabin and raised the crude latch which his father -had fashioned so many years before, two small, blood-shot eyes watched -him from the concealing foliage of the jungle close by. From beneath -shaggy, beetling brows they glared maliciously upon him, maliciously -and with a keen curiosity; then Tarzan entered the cabin and closed the -door after him. Here, with all the world shut out from him, he could -dream without fear of interruption. He could curl up and look at the -pictures in the strange things which were books, he could puzzle out -the printed word he had learned to read without knowledge of the spoken -language it represented, he could live in a wonderful world of which he -had no knowledge beyond the covers of his beloved books. Numa and -Sabor might prowl about close to him, the elements might rage in all -their fury; but here at least, Tarzan might be entirely off his guard -in a delightful relaxation which gave him all his faculties for the -uninterrupted pursuit of this greatest of all his pleasures. - -Today he turned to the picture of the huge bird which bore off the -little Tarmangani in its talons. Tarzan puckered his brows as he -examined the colored print. Yes, this was the very bird that had -carried him off the day before, for to Tarzan the dream had been so -great a reality that he still thought another day and a night had -passed since he had lain down in the tree to sleep. - -But the more he thought upon the matter the less positive he was as to -the verity of the seeming adventure through which he had passed, yet -where the real had ceased and the unreal commenced he was quite unable -to determine. Had he really then been to the village of the blacks at -all, had he killed the old Gomangani, had he eaten of the elephant -meat, had he been sick? Tarzan scratched his tousled black head and -wondered. It was all very strange, yet he knew that he never had seen -Numa climb a tree, or Histah with the head and belly of an old black -man whom Tarzan already had slain. - -Finally, with a sigh he gave up trying to fathom the unfathomable, yet -in his heart of hearts he knew that something had come into his life -that he never before had experienced, another life which existed when -he slept and the consciousness of which was carried over into his -waking hours. - -Then he commenced to wonder if some of these strange creatures which he -met in his sleep might not slay him, for at such times Tarzan of the -Apes seemed to be a different Tarzan, sluggish, helpless and -timid--wishing to flee his enemies as fled Bara, the deer, most fearful -of creatures. - -Thus, with a dream, came the first faint tinge of a knowledge of fear, -a knowledge which Tarzan, awake, had never experienced, and perhaps he -was experiencing what his early forbears passed through and transmitted -to posterity in the form of superstition first and religion later; for -they, as Tarzan, had seen things at night which they could not explain -by the daylight standards of sense perception or of reason, and so had -built for themselves a weird explanation which included grotesque -shapes, possessed of strange and uncanny powers, to whom they finally -came to attribute all those inexplicable phenomena of nature which with -each recurrence filled them with awe, with wonder, or with terror. - -And as Tarzan concentrated his mind on the little bugs upon the printed -page before him, the active recollection of the strange adventures -presently merged into the text of that which he was reading--a story of -Bolgani, the gorilla, in captivity. There was a more or less lifelike -illustration of Bolgani in colors and in a cage, with many remarkable -looking Tarmangani standing against a rail and peering curiously at the -snarling brute. Tarzan wondered not a little, as he always did, at the -odd and seemingly useless array of colored plumage which covered the -bodies of the Tarmangani. It always caused him to grin a trifle when -he looked at these strange creatures. He wondered if they so covered -their bodies from shame of their hairlessness or because they thought -the odd things they wore added any to the beauty of their appearance. -Particularly was Tarzan amused by the grotesque headdresses of the -pictured people. He wondered how some of the shes succeeded in -balancing theirs in an upright position, and he came as near to -laughing aloud as he ever had, as he contemplated the funny little -round things upon the heads of the hes. - -Slowly the ape-man picked out the meaning of the various combinations -of letters on the printed page, and as he read, the little bugs, for as -such he always thought of the letters, commenced to run about in a most -confusing manner, blurring his vision and befuddling his thoughts. -Twice he brushed the back of a hand smartly across his eyes; but only -for a moment could he bring the bugs back to coherent and intelligible -form. He had slept ill the night before and now he was exhausted from -loss of sleep, from sickness, and from the slight fever he had had, so -that it became more and more difficult to fix his attention, or to keep -his eyes open. - -Tarzan realized that he was falling asleep, and just as the realization -was borne in upon him and he had decided to relinquish himself to an -inclination which had assumed almost the proportions of a physical -pain, he was aroused by the opening of the cabin door. Turning quickly -toward the interruption Tarzan was amazed, for a moment, to see bulking -large in the doorway the huge and hairy form of Bolgani, the gorilla. - -Now there was scarcely a denizen of the great jungle with whom Tarzan -would rather not have been cooped up inside the small cabin than -Bolgani, the gorilla, yet he felt no fear, even though his quick eye -noted that Bolgani was in the throes of that jungle madness which -seizes upon so many of the fiercer males. Ordinarily the huge gorillas -avoid conflict, hide themselves from the other jungle folk, and are -generally the best of neighbors; but when they are attacked, or the -madness seizes them, there is no jungle denizen so bold and fierce as -to deliberately seek a quarrel with them. - -But for Tarzan there was no escape. Bolgani was glowering at him from -red-rimmed, wicked eyes. In a moment he would rush in and seize the -ape-man. Tarzan reached for the hunting knife where he had lain it on -the table beside him; but as his fingers did not immediately locate the -weapon, he turned a quick glance in search of it. As he did so his -eyes fell upon the book he had been looking at which still lay open at -the picture of Bolgani. Tarzan found his knife, but he merely fingered -it idly and grinned in the direction of the advancing gorilla. - -Not again would he be fooled by empty things which came while he slept! -In a moment, no doubt, Bolgani would turn into Pamba, the rat, with the -head of Tantor, the elephant. Tarzan had seen enough of such strange -happenings recently to have some idea as to what he might expect; but -this time Bolgani did not alter his form as he came slowly toward the -young ape-man. - -Tarzan was a bit puzzled, too, that he felt no desire to rush -frantically to some place of safety, as had been the sensation most -conspicuous in the other of his new and remarkable adventures. He was -just himself now, ready to fight, if necessary; but still sure that no -flesh and blood gorilla stood before him. - -The thing should be fading away into thin air by now, thought Tarzan, -or changing into something else; yet it did not. Instead it loomed -clear-cut and real as Bolgani himself, the magnificent dark coat -glistening with life and health in a bar of sunlight which shot across -the cabin through the high window behind the young Lord Greystoke. -This was quite the most realistic of his sleep adventures, thought -Tarzan, as he passively awaited the next amusing incident. - -And then the gorilla charged. Two mighty, calloused hands seized upon -the ape-man, great fangs were bared close to his face, a hideous growl -burst from the cavernous throat and hot breath fanned Tarzan's cheek, -and still he sat grinning at the apparition. Tarzan might be fooled -once or twice, but not for so many times in succession! He knew that -this Bolgani was no real Bolgani, for had he been he never could have -gained entrance to the cabin, since only Tarzan knew how to operate the -latch. - -The gorilla seemed puzzled by the strange passivity of the hairless -ape. He paused an instant with his jaws snarling close to the other's -throat, then he seemed suddenly to come to some decision. Whirling the -ape-man across a hairy shoulder, as easily as you or I might lift a -babe in arms, Bolgani turned and dashed out into the open, racing -toward the great trees. - -Now, indeed, was Tarzan sure that this was a sleep adventure, and so -grinned largely as the giant gorilla bore him, unresisting, away. -Presently, reasoned Tarzan, he would awaken and find himself back in -the cabin where he had fallen asleep. He glanced back at the thought -and saw the cabin door standing wide open. This would never do! Always -had he been careful to close and latch it against wild intruders. -Manu, the monkey, would make sad havoc there among Tarzan's treasures -should he have access to the interior for even a few minutes. The -question which arose in Tarzan's mind was a baffling one. Where did -sleep adventures end and reality commence? How was he to be sure that -the cabin door was not really open? Everything about him appeared -quite normal--there were none of the grotesque exaggerations of his -former sleep adventures. It would be better then to be upon the safe -side and make sure that the cabin door was closed--it would do no harm -even if all that seemed to be happening were not happening at all. - -Tarzan essayed to slip from Bolgani's shoulder; but the great beast -only growled ominously and gripped him tighter. With a mighty effort -the ape-man wrenched himself loose, and as he slid to the ground, the -dream gorilla turned ferociously upon him, seized him once more and -buried great fangs in a sleek, brown shoulder. - -The grin of derision faded from Tarzan's lips as the pain and the hot -blood aroused his fighting instincts. Asleep or awake, this thing was -no longer a joke! Biting, tearing, and snarling, the two rolled over -upon the ground. The gorilla now was frantic with insane rage. Again -and again he loosed his hold upon the ape-man's shoulder in an attempt -to seize the jugular; but Tarzan of the Apes had fought before with -creatures who struck first for the vital vein, and each time he -wriggled out of harm's way as he strove to get his fingers upon his -adversary's throat. At last he succeeded--his great muscles tensed and -knotted beneath his smooth hide as he forced with every ounce of his -mighty strength to push the hairy torso from him. And as he choked -Bolgani and strained him away, his other hand crept slowly upward -between them until the point of the hunting knife rested over the -savage heart--there was a quick movement of the steel-thewed wrist and -the blade plunged to its goal. - -Bolgani, the gorilla, voiced a single frightful shriek, tore himself -loose from the grasp of the ape-man, rose to his feet, staggered a few -steps and then plunged to earth. There were a few spasmodic movements -of the limbs and the brute was still. - -Tarzan of the Apes stood looking down upon his kill, and as he stood -there he ran his fingers through his thick, black shock of hair. -Presently he stooped and touched the dead body. Some of the red -life-blood of the gorilla crimsoned his fingers. He raised them to his -nose and sniffed. Then he shook his head and turned toward the cabin. -The door was still open. He closed it and fastened the latch. -Returning toward the body of his kill he again paused and scratched his -head. - -If this was a sleep adventure, what then was reality? How was he to -know the one from the other? How much of all that had happened in his -life had been real and how much unreal? - -He placed a foot upon the prostrate form and raising his face to the -heavens gave voice to the kill cry of the bull ape. Far in the -distance a lion answered. It was very real and, yet, he did not know. -Puzzled, he turned away into the jungle. - -No, he did not know what was real and what was not; but there was one -thing that he did know--never again would he eat of the flesh of -Tantor, the elephant. - - - - - 10 - - The Battle for Teeka - -THE DAY WAS perfect. A cool breeze tempered the heat of the equatorial -sun. Peace had reigned within the tribe for weeks and no alien enemy -had trespassed upon its preserves from without. To the ape-mind all -this was sufficient evidence that the future would be identical with -the immediate past--that Utopia would persist. - -The sentinels, now from habit become a fixed tribal custom, either -relaxed their vigilance or entirely deserted their posts, as the whim -seized them. The tribe was far scattered in search of food. Thus may -peace and prosperity undermine the safety of the most primitive -community even as it does that of the most cultured. - -Even the individuals became less watchful and alert, so that one might -have thought Numa and Sabor and Sheeta entirely deleted from the scheme -of things. The shes and the balus roamed unguarded through the sullen -jungle, while the greedy males foraged far afield, and thus it was that -Teeka and Gazan, her balu, hunted upon the extreme southern edge of the -tribe with no great male near them. - -Still farther south there moved through the forest a sinister figure--a -huge bull ape, maddened by solitude and defeat. A week before he had -contended for the kingship of a tribe far distant, and now battered, -and still sore, he roamed the wilderness an outcast. Later he might -return to his own tribe and submit to the will of the hairy brute he -had attempted to dethrone; but for the time being he dared not do so, -since he had sought not only the crown but the wives, as well, of his -lord and master. It would require an entire moon at least to bring -forgetfulness to him he had wronged, and so Toog wandered a strange -jungle, grim, terrible, hate-filled. - -It was in this mental state that Toog came unexpectedly upon a young -she feeding alone in the jungle--a stranger she, lithe and strong and -beautiful beyond compare. Toog caught his breath and slunk quickly to -one side of the trail where the dense foliage of the tropical -underbrush concealed him from Teeka while permitting him to feast his -eyes upon her loveliness. - -But not alone were they concerned with Teeka--they roved the -surrounding jungle in search of the bulls and cows and balus of her -tribe, though principally for the bulls. When one covets a she of an -alien tribe one must take into consideration the great, fierce, hairy -guardians who seldom wander far from their wards and who will fight a -stranger to the death in protection of the mate or offspring of a -fellow, precisely as they would fight for their own. - -Toog could see no sign of any ape other than the strange she and a -young balu playing near by. His wicked, blood-shot eyes half closed as -they rested upon the charms of the former--as for the balu, one snap of -those great jaws upon the back of its little neck would prevent it from -raising any unnecessary alarm. - -Toog was a fine, big male, resembling in many ways Teeka's mate, Taug. -Each was in his prime, and each was wonderfully muscled, perfectly -fanged and as horrifyingly ferocious as the most exacting and -particular she could wish. Had Toog been of her own tribe, Teeka might -as readily have yielded to him as to Taug when her mating time arrived; -but now she was Taug's and no other male could claim her without first -defeating Taug in personal combat. And even then Teeka retained some -rights in the matter. If she did not favor a correspondent, she could -enter the lists with her rightful mate and do her part toward -discouraging his advances, a part, too, which would prove no mean -assistance to her lord and master, for Teeka, even though her fangs -were smaller than a male's, could use them to excellent effect. - -Just now Teeka was occupied in a fascinating search for beetles, to the -exclusion of all else. She did not realize how far she and Gazan had -become separated from the balance of the tribe, nor were her defensive -senses upon the alert as they should have been. Months of immunity -from danger under the protecting watchfulness of the sentries, which -Tarzan had taught the tribe to post, had lulled them all into a sense -of peaceful security based on that fallacy which has wrecked many -enlightened communities in the past and will continue to wreck others -in the future--that because they have not been attacked they never will -be. - -Toog, having satisfied himself that only the she and her balu were in -the immediate vicinity, crept stealthily forward. Teeka's back was -toward him when he finally rushed upon her; but her senses were at last -awakened to the presence of danger and she wheeled to face the strange -bull just before he reached her. Toog halted a few paces from her. -His anger had fled before the seductive feminine charms of the -stranger. He made conciliatory noises--a species of clucking sound -with his broad, flat lips--that were, too, not greatly dissimilar to -that which might be produced in an osculatory solo. - -But Teeka only bared her fangs and growled. Little Gazan started to -run toward his mother, but she warned him away with a quick "Kreeg-ah!" -telling him to run high into a tall tree. Evidently Teeka was not -favorably impressed by her new suitor. Toog realized this and altered -his methods accordingly. He swelled his giant chest, beat upon it with -his calloused knuckles and swaggered to and fro before her. - -"I am Toog," he boasted. "Look at my fighting fangs. Look at my great -arms and my mighty legs. With one bite I can slay your biggest bull. -Alone have I slain Sheeta. I am Toog. Toog wants you." Then he waited -for the effect, nor did he have long to wait. Teeka turned with a -swiftness which belied her great weight and bolted in the opposite -direction. Toog, with an angry growl, leaped in pursuit; but the -smaller, lighter female was too fleet for him. He chased her for a few -yards and then, foaming and barking, he halted and beat upon the ground -with his hard fists. - -From the tree above him little Gazan looked down and witnessed the -stranger bull's discomfiture. Being young, and thinking himself safe -above the reach of the heavy male, Gazan screamed an ill-timed insult -at their tormentor. Toog looked up. Teeka had halted at a little -distance--she would not go far from her balu; that Toog quickly -realized and as quickly determined to take advantage of. He saw that -the tree in which the young ape squatted was isolated and that Gazan -could not reach another without coming to earth. He would obtain the -mother through her love for her young. - -He swung himself into the lower branches of the tree. Little Gazan -ceased to insult him; his expression of deviltry changed to one of -apprehension, which was quickly followed by fear as Toog commenced to -ascend toward him. Teeka screamed to Gazan to climb higher, and the -little fellow scampered upward among the tiny branches which would not -support the weight of the great bull; but nevertheless Toog kept on -climbing. Teeka was not fearful. She knew that he could not ascend -far enough to reach Gazan, so she sat at a little distance from the -tree and applied jungle opprobrium to him. Being a female, she was a -past master of the art. - -But she did not know the malevolent cunning of Toog's little brain. -She took it for granted that the bull would climb as high as he could -toward Gazan and then, finding that he could not reach him, resume his -pursuit of her, which she knew would prove equally fruitless. So sure -was she of the safety of her balu and her own ability to take care of -herself that she did not voice the cry for help which would soon have -brought the other members of the tribe flocking to her side. - -Toog slowly reached the limit to which he dared risk his great weight -to the slender branches. Gazan was still fifteen feet above him. The -bull braced himself and seized the main branch in his powerful hands, -then he commenced shaking it vigorously. Teeka was appalled. -Instantly she realized what the bull purposed. Gazan clung far out -upon a swaying limb. At the first shake he lost his balance, though he -did not quite fall, clinging still with his four hands; but Toog -redoubled his efforts; the shaking produced a violent snapping of the -limb to which the young ape clung. Teeka saw all too plainly what the -outcome must be and forgetting her own danger in the depth of her -mother love, rushed forward to ascend the tree and give battle to the -fearsome creature that menaced the life of her little one. - -But before ever she reached the bole, Toog had succeeded, by violent -shaking of the branch, to loosen Gazan's hold. With a cry the little -fellow plunged down through the foliage, clutching futilely for a new -hold, and alighted with a sickening thud at his mother's feet, where he -lay silent and motionless. Moaning, Teeka stooped to lift the still -form in her arms; but at the same instant Toog was upon her. - -Struggling and biting she fought to free herself; but the giant muscles -of the great bull were too much for her lesser strength. Toog struck -and choked her repeatedly until finally, half unconscious, she lapsed -into quasi submission. Then the bull lifted her to his shoulder and -turned back to the trail toward the south from whence he had come. - -Upon the ground lay the quiet form of little Gazan. He did not moan. -He did not move. The sun rose slowly toward meridian. A mangy thing, -lifting its nose to scent the jungle breeze, crept through the -underbrush. It was Dango, the hyena. Presently its ugly muzzle broke -through some near-by foliage and its cruel eyes fastened upon Gazan. - -Early that morning, Tarzan of the Apes had gone to the cabin by the -sea, where he passed many an hour at such times as the tribe was -ranging in the vicinity. On the floor lay the skeleton of a man--all -that remained of the former Lord Greystoke--lay as it had fallen some -twenty years before when Kerchak, the great ape, had thrown it, -lifeless, there. Long since had the termites and the small rodents -picked clean the sturdy English bones. For years Tarzan had seen it -lying there, giving it no more attention than he gave the countless -thousand bones that strewed his jungle haunts. On the bed another, -smaller, skeleton reposed and the youth ignored it as he ignored the -other. How could he know that the one had been his father, the other -his mother? The little pile of bones in the rude cradle, fashioned with -such loving care by the former Lord Greystoke, meant nothing to -him--that one day that little skull was to help prove his right to a -proud title was as far beyond his ken as the satellites of the suns of -Orion. To Tarzan they were bones--just bones. He did not need them, -for there was no meat left upon them, and they were not in his way, for -he knew no necessity for a bed, and the skeleton upon the floor he -easily could step over. - -Today he was restless. He turned the pages first of one book and then -of another. He glanced at pictures which he knew by heart, and tossed -the books aside. He rummaged for the thousandth time in the cupboard. -He took out a bag which contained several small, round pieces of metal. -He had played with them many times in the years gone by; but always he -replaced them carefully in the bag, and the bag in the cupboard, upon -the very shelf where first he had discovered it. In strange ways did -heredity manifest itself in the ape-man. Come of an orderly race, he -himself was orderly without knowing why. The apes dropped things -wherever their interest in them waned--in the tall grass or from the -high-flung branches of the trees. What they dropped they sometimes -found again, by accident; but not so the ways of Tarzan. For his few -belongings he had a place and scrupulously he returned each thing to -its proper place when he was done with it. The round pieces of metal -in the little bag always interested him. Raised pictures were upon -either side, the meaning of which he did not quite understand. The -pieces were bright and shiny. It amused him to arrange them in various -figures upon the table. Hundreds of times had he played thus. Today, -while so engaged, he dropped a lovely yellow piece--an English -sovereign--which rolled beneath the bed where lay all that was mortal -of the once beautiful Lady Alice. - -True to form, Tarzan at once dropped to his hands and knees and -searched beneath the bed for the lost gold piece. Strange as it might -appear, he had never before looked beneath the bed. He found the gold -piece, and something else he found, too--a small wooden box with a -loose cover. Bringing them both out he returned the sovereign to its -bag and the bag to its shelf within the cupboard; then he investigated -the box. It contained a quantity of cylindrical bits of metal, -cone-shaped at one end and flat at the other, with a projecting rim. -They were all quite green and dull, coated with years of verdigris. - -Tarzan removed a handful of them from the box and examined them. He -rubbed one upon another and discovered that the green came off, leaving -a shiny surface for two-thirds of their length and a dull gray over the -cone-shaped end. Finding a bit of wood he rubbed one of the cylinders -rapidly and was rewarded by a lustrous sheen which pleased him. - -At his side hung a pocket pouch taken from the body of one of the -numerous black warriors he had slain. Into this pouch he put a handful -of the new playthings, thinking to polish them at his leisure; then he -replaced the box beneath the bed, and finding nothing more to amuse -him, left the cabin and started back in the direction of the tribe. - -Shortly before he reached them he heard a great commotion ahead of -him--the loud screams of shes and balus, the savage, angry barking and -growling of the great bulls. Instantly he increased his speed, for the -"Kreeg-ahs" that came to his ears warned him that something was amiss -with his fellows. - -While Tarzan had been occupied with his own devices in the cabin of his -dead sire, Taug, Teeka's mighty mate, had been hunting a mile to the -north of the tribe. At last, his belly filled, he had turned lazily -back toward the clearing where he had last seen the tribe and presently -commenced passing its members scattered alone or in twos or threes. -Nowhere did he see Teeka or Gazan, and soon he began inquiring of the -other apes where they might be; but none had seen them recently. - -Now the lower orders are not highly imaginative. They do not, as you -and I, paint vivid mental pictures of things which might have occurred, -and so Taug did not now apprehend that any misfortune had overtaken his -mate and their off-spring--he merely knew that he wished to find Teeka -that he might lie down in the shade and have her scratch his back while -his breakfast digested; but though he called to her and searched for -her and asked each whom he met, he could find no trace of Teeka, nor of -Gazan either. - -He was beginning to become peeved and had about made up his mind to -chastise Teeka for wandering so far afield when he wanted her. He was -moving south along a game trail, his calloused soles and knuckles -giving forth no sound, when he came upon Dango at the opposite side of -a small clearing. The eater of carrion did not see Taug, for all his -eyes were for something which lay in the grass beneath a -tree--something upon which he was sneaking with the cautious stealth of -his breed. - -Taug, always cautious himself, as it behooves one to be who fares up -and down the jungle and desires to survive, swung noiselessly into a -tree, where he could have a better view of the clearing. He did not -fear Dango; but he wanted to see what it was that Dango stalked. In a -way, possibly, he was actuated as much by curiosity as by caution. - -And when Taug reached a place in the branches from which he could have -an unobstructed view of the clearing he saw Dango already sniffing at -something directly beneath him--something which Taug instantly -recognized as the lifeless form of his little Gazan. - -With a cry so frightful, so bestial, that it momentarily paralyzed the -startled Dango, the great ape launched his mighty bulk upon the -surprised hyena. With a cry and a snarl, Dango, crushed to earth, -turned to tear at his assailant; but as effectively might a sparrow -turn upon a hawk. Taug's great, gnarled fingers closed upon the -hyena's throat and back, his jaws snapped once on the mangy neck, -crushing the vertebrae, and then he hurled the dead body contemptuously -aside. - -Again he raised his voice in the call of the bull ape to its mate, but -there was no reply; then he leaned down to sniff at the body of Gazan. -In the breast of this savage, hideous beast there beat a heart which -was moved, however slightly, by the same emotions of paternal love -which affect us. Even had we no actual evidence of this, we must know -it still, since only thus might be explained the survival of the human -race in which the jealousy and selfishness of the bulls would, in the -earliest stages of the race, have wiped out the young as rapidly as -they were brought into the world had not God implanted in the savage -bosom that paternal love which evidences itself most strongly in the -protective instinct of the male. - -In Taug the protective instinct was not alone highly developed; but -affection for his offspring as well, for Taug was an unusually -intelligent specimen of these great, manlike apes which the natives of -the Gobi speak of in whispers; but which no white man ever had seen, -or, if seeing, lived to tell of until Tarzan of the Apes came among -them. - -And so Taug felt sorrow as any other father might feel sorrow at the -loss of a little child. To you little Gazan might have seemed a -hideous and repulsive creature, but to Taug and Teeka he was as -beautiful and as cute as is your little Mary or Johnnie or Elizabeth -Ann to you, and he was their firstborn, their only balu, and a -he--three things which might make a young ape the apple of any fond -father's eye. - -For a moment Taug sniffed at the quiet little form. With his muzzle -and his tongue he smoothed and caressed the rumpled coat. From his -savage lips broke a low moan; but quickly upon the heels of sorrow came -the overmastering desire for revenge. - -Leaping to his feet he screamed out a volley of "Kreegahs," punctuated -from time to time by the blood-freezing cry of an angry, challenging -bull--a rage-mad bull with the blood lust strong upon him. - -Answering his cries came the cries of the tribe as they swung through -the trees toward him. It was these that Tarzan heard on his return -from his cabin, and in reply to them he raised his own voice and -hurried forward with increased speed until he fairly flew through the -middle terraces of the forest. - -When at last he came upon the tribe he saw their members gathered about -Taug and something which lay quietly upon the ground. Dropping among -them, Tarzan approached the center of the group. Taug was still -roaring out his challenges; but when he saw Tarzan he ceased and -stooping picked up Gazan in his arms and held him out for Tarzan to -see. Of all the bulls of the tribe, Taug held affection for Tarzan -only. Tarzan he trusted and looked up to as one wiser and more -cunning. To Tarzan he came now--to the playmate of his balu days, the -companion of innumerable battles of his maturity. - -When Tarzan saw the still form in Taug's arms, a low growl broke from -his lips, for he too loved Teeka's little balu. - -"Who did it?" he asked. "Where is Teeka?" - -"I do not know," replied Taug. "I found him lying here with Dango -about to feed upon him; but it was not Dango that did it--there are no -fang marks upon him." - -Tarzan came closer and placed an ear against Gazan's breast. "He is -not dead," he said. "Maybe he will not die." He pressed through the -crowd of apes and circled once about them, examining the ground step by -step. Suddenly he stopped and placing his nose close to the earth -sniffed. Then he sprang to his feet, giving a peculiar cry. Taug and -the others pressed forward, for the sound told them that the hunter had -found the spoor of his quarry. - -"A stranger bull has been here," said Tarzan. "It was he that hurt -Gazan. He has carried off Teeka." - -Taug and the other bulls commenced to roar and threaten; but they did -nothing. Had the stranger bull been within sight they would have torn -him to pieces; but it did not occur to them to follow him. - -"If the three bulls had been watching around the tribe this would not -have happened," said Tarzan. "Such things will happen as long as you -do not keep the three bulls watching for an enemy. The jungle is full -of enemies, and yet you let your shes and your balus feed where they -will, alone and unprotected. Tarzan goes now--he goes to find Teeka -and bring her back to the tribe." - -The idea appealed to the other bulls. "We will all go," they cried. - -"No," said Tarzan, "you will not all go. We cannot take shes and balus -when we go out to hunt and fight. You must remain to guard them or you -will lose them all." - -They scratched their heads. The wisdom of his advice was dawning upon -them, but at first they had been carried away by the new idea--the idea -of following up an enemy offender to wrest his prize from him and -punish him. The community instinct was ingrained in their characters -through ages of custom. They did not know why they had not thought to -pursue and punish the offender--they could not know that it was because -they had as yet not reached a mental plane which would permit them to -work as individuals. In times of stress, the community instinct sent -them huddling into a compact herd where the great bulls, by the weight -of their combined strength and ferocity, could best protect them from -an enemy. The idea of separating to do battle with a foe had not yet -occurred to them--it was too foreign to custom, too inimical to -community interests; but to Tarzan it was the first and most natural -thought. His senses told him that there was but a single bull -connected with the attack upon Teeka and Gazan. A single enemy did not -require the entire tribe for his punishment. Two swift bulls could -quickly overhaul him and rescue Teeka. - -In the past no one ever had thought to go forth in search of the shes -that were occasionally stolen from the tribe. If Numa, Sabor, Sheeta -or a wandering bull ape from another tribe chanced to carry off a maid -or a matron while no one was looking, that was the end of it--she was -gone, that was all. The bereaved husband, if the victim chanced to -have been mated, growled around for a day or two and then, if he were -strong enough, took another mate within the tribe, and if not, wandered -far into the jungle on the chance of stealing one from another -community. - -In the past Tarzan of the Apes had condoned this practice for the -reason that he had had no interest in those who had been stolen; but -Teeka had been his first love and Teeka's balu held a place in his -heart such as a balu of his own would have held. Just once before had -Tarzan wished to follow and revenge. That had been years before when -Kulonga, the son of Mbonga, the chief, had slain Kala. Then, -single-handed, Tarzan had pursued and avenged. Now, though to a lesser -degree, he was moved by the same passion. - -He turned toward Taug. "Leave Gazan with Mumga," he said. "She is old -and her fangs are broken and she is no good; but she can take care of -Gazan until we return with Teeka, and if Gazan is dead when we come -back," he turned to address Mumga, "I will kill you, too." - -"Where are we going?" asked Taug. - -"We are going to get Teeka," replied the ape-man, "and kill the bull -who has stolen her. Come!" - -He turned again to the spoor of the stranger bull, which showed plainly -to his trained senses, nor did he glance back to note if Taug followed. -The latter laid Gazan in Mumga's arms with a parting: "If he dies -Tarzan will kill you," and he followed after the brown-skinned figure -that already was moving at a slow trot along the jungle trail. - -No other bull of the tribe of Kerchak was so good a trailer as Tarzan, -for his trained senses were aided by a high order of intelligence. His -judgment told him the natural trail for a quarry to follow, so that he -need but note the most apparent marks upon the way, and today the trail -of Toog was as plain to him as type upon a printed page to you or me. - -Following close behind the lithe figure of the ape-man came the huge -and shaggy bull ape. No words passed between them. They moved as -silently as two shadows among the myriad shadows of the forest. Alert -as his eyes and ears, was Tarzan's patrician nose. The spoor was -fresh, and now that they had passed from the range of the strong ape -odor of the tribe he had little difficulty in following Toog and Teeka -by scent alone. Teeka's familiar scent spoor told both Tarzan and Taug -that they were upon her trail, and soon the scent of Toog became as -familiar as the other. - -They were progressing rapidly when suddenly dense clouds overcast the -sun. Tarzan accelerated his pace. Now he fairly flew along the jungle -trail, or, where Toog had taken to the trees, followed nimbly as a -squirrel along the bending, undulating pathway of the foliage branches, -swinging from tree to tree as Toog had swung before them; but more -rapidly because they were not handicapped by a burden such as Toog's. - -Tarzan felt that they must be almost upon the quarry, for the scent -spoor was becoming stronger and stronger, when the jungle was suddenly -shot by livid lightning, and a deafening roar of thunder reverberated -through the heavens and the forest until the earth trembled and shook. -Then came the rain--not as it comes to us of the temperate zones, but -as a mighty avalanche of water--a deluge which spills tons instead of -drops upon the bending forest giants and the terrified creatures which -haunt their shade. - -And the rain did what Tarzan knew that it would do--it wiped the spoor -of the quarry from the face of the earth. For a half hour the torrents -fell--then the sun burst forth, jeweling the forest with a million -scintillant gems; but today the ape-man, usually alert to the changing -wonders of the jungle, saw them not. Only the fact that the spoor of -Teeka and her abductor was obliterated found lodgment in his thoughts. - -Even among the branches of the trees there are well-worn trails, just -as there are trails upon the surface of the ground; but in the trees -they branch and cross more often, since the way is more open than among -the dense undergrowth at the surface. Along one of these well-marked -trails Tarzan and Taug continued after the rain had ceased, because the -ape-man knew that this was the most logical path for the thief to -follow; but when they came to a fork, they were at a loss. Here they -halted, while Tarzan examined every branch and leaf which might have -been touched by the fleeing ape. - -He sniffed the bole of the tree, and with his keen eyes he sought to -find upon the bark some sign of the way the quarry had taken. It was -slow work and all the time, Tarzan knew, the bull of the alien tribe -was forging steadily away from them--gaining precious minutes that -might carry him to safety before they could catch up with him. - -First along one fork he went, and then another, applying every test -that his wonderful junglecraft was cognizant of; but again and again he -was baffled, for the scent had been washed away by the heavy downpour, -in every exposed place. For a half hour Tarzan and Taug searched, -until at last, upon the bottom of a broad leaf, Tarzan's keen nose -caught the faint trace of the scent spoor of Toog, where the leaf had -brushed a hairy shoulder as the great ape passed through the foliage. - -Once again the two took up the trail, but it was slow work now and -there were many discouraging delays when the spoor seemed lost beyond -recovery. To you or me there would have been no spoor, even before the -coming of the rain, except, possibly, where Toog had come to earth and -followed a game trail. In such places the imprint of a huge handlike -foot and the knuckles of one great hand were sometimes plain enough for -an ordinary mortal to read. Tarzan knew from these and other -indications that the ape was yet carrying Teeka. The depth of the -imprint of his feet indicated a much greater weight than that of any of -the larger bulls, for they were made under the combined weight of Toog -and Teeka, while the fact that the knuckles of but one hand touched the -ground at any time showed that the other hand was occupied in some -other business--the business of holding the prisoner to a hairy -shoulder. Tarzan could follow, in sheltered places, the changing of -the burden from one shoulder to another, as indicated by the deepening -of the foot imprint upon the side of the load, and the changing of the -knuckle imprints from one side of the trail to the other. - -There were stretches along the surface paths where the ape had gone for -considerable distances entirely erect upon his hind feet--walking as a -man walks; but the same might have been true of any of the great -anthropoids of the same species, for, unlike the chimpanzee and the -gorilla, they walk without the aid of their hands quite as readily as -with. It was such things, however, which helped to identify to Tarzan -and to Taug the appearance of the abductor, and with his individual -scent characteristic already indelibly impressed upon their memories, -they were in a far better position to know him when they came upon him, -even should he have disposed of Teeka before, than is a modern sleuth -with his photographs and Bertillon measurements, equipped to recognize -a fugitive from civilized justice. - -But with all their high-strung and delicately attuned perceptive -faculties the two bulls of the tribe of Kerchak were often sore pressed -to follow the trail at all, and at best were so delayed that in the -afternoon of the second day, they still had not overhauled the -fugitive. The scent was now strong, for it had been made since the -rain, and Tarzan knew that it would not be long before they came upon -the thief and his loot. Above them, as they crept stealthily forward, -chattered Manu, the monkey, and his thousand fellows; squawked and -screamed the brazen-throated birds of plumage; buzzed and hummed the -countless insects amid the rustling of the forest leaves, and, as they -passed, a little gray-beard, squeaking and scolding upon a swaying -branch, looked down and saw them. Instantly the scolding and squeaking -ceased, and off tore the long-tailed mite as though Sheeta, the -panther, had been endowed with wings and was in close pursuit of him. -To all appearances he was only a very much frightened little monkey, -fleeing for his life--there seemed nothing sinister about him. - -And what of Teeka during all this time? Was she at last resigned to her -fate and accompanying her new mate in the proper humility of a loving -and tractable spouse? A single glance at the pair would have answered -these questions to the utter satisfaction of the most captious. She -was torn and bleeding from many wounds, inflicted by the sullen Toog in -his vain efforts to subdue her to his will, and Toog too was disfigured -and mutilated; but with stubborn ferocity, he still clung to his now -useless prize. - -On through the jungle he forced his way in the direction of the -stamping ground of his tribe. He hoped that his king would have -forgotten his treason; but if not he was still resigned to his -fate--any fate would be better than suffering longer the sole -companionship of this frightful she, and then, too, he wished to -exhibit his captive to his fellows. Maybe he could wish her on the -king--it is possible that such a thought urged him on. - -At last they came upon two bulls feeding in a parklike grove--a -beautiful grove dotted with huge boulders half embedded in the rich -loam--mute monuments, possibly, to a forgotten age when mighty glaciers -rolled their slow course where now a torrid sun beats down upon a -tropic jungle. - -The two bulls looked up, baring long fighting fangs, as Toog appeared -in the distance. The latter recognized the two as friends. "It is -Toog," he growled. "Toog has come back with a new she." - -The apes waited his nearer approach. Teeka turned a snarling, fanged -face toward them. She was not pretty to look upon, yet through the -blood and hatred upon her countenance they realized that she was -beautiful, and they envied Toog--alas! they did not know Teeka. - -As they squatted looking at one another there raced through the trees -toward them a long-tailed little monkey with gray whiskers. He was a -very excited little monkey when he came to a halt upon the limb of a -tree directly overhead. "Two strange bulls come," he cried. "One is a -Mangani, the other a hideous ape without hair upon his body. They -follow the spoor of Toog. I saw them." - -The four apes turned their eyes backward along the trail Toog had just -come; then they looked at one another for a minute. "Come," said the -larger of Toog's two friends, "we will wait for the strangers in the -thick bushes beyond the clearing." - -He turned and waddled away across the open place, the others following -him. The little monkey danced about, all excitement. His chief -diversion in life was to bring about bloody encounters between the -larger denizens of the forest, that he might sit in the safety of the -trees and witness the spectacles. He was a glutton for gore, was this -little, whiskered, gray monkey, so long as it was the gore of others--a -typical fight fan was the graybeard. - -The apes hid themselves in the shrubbery beside the trail along which -the two stranger bulls would pass. Teeka trembled with excitement. -She had heard the words of Manu, and she knew that the hairless ape -must be Tarzan, while the other was, doubtless, Taug. Never, in her -wildest hopes, had she expected succor of this sort. Her one thought -had been to escape and find her way back to the tribe of Kerchak; but -even this had appeared to her practically impossible, so closely did -Toog watch her. - -As Taug and Tarzan reached the grove where Toog had come upon his -friends, the ape scent became so strong that both knew the quarry was -but a short distance ahead. And so they went even more cautiously, for -they wished to come upon the thief from behind if they could and charge -him before he was aware of their presence. That a little -gray-whiskered monkey had forestalled them they did not know, nor that -three pairs of savage eyes were already watching their every move and -waiting for them to come within reach of itching paws and slavering -jowls. - -On they came across the grove, and as they entered the path leading -into the dense jungle beyond, a sudden "Kreeg-ah!" shrilled out close -before them--a "Kreeg-ah" in the familiar voice of Teeka. The small -brains of Toog and his companions had not been able to foresee that -Teeka might betray them, and now that she had, they went wild with -rage. Toog struck the she a mighty blow that felled her, and then the -three rushed forth to do battle with Tarzan and Taug. The little -monkey danced upon his perch and screamed with delight. - -And indeed he might well be delighted, for it was a lovely fight. -There were no preliminaries, no formalities, no introductions--the five -bulls merely charged and clinched. They rolled in the narrow trail and -into the thick verdure beside it. They bit and clawed and scratched -and struck, and all the while they kept up the most frightful chorus of -growlings and barkings and roarings. In five minutes they were torn -and bleeding, and the little graybeard leaped high, shrilling his -primitive bravos; but always his attitude was "thumbs down." He wanted -to see something killed. He did not care whether it were friend or -foe. It was blood he wanted--blood and death. - -Taug had been set upon by Toog and another of the apes, while Tarzan -had the third--a huge brute with the strength of a buffalo. Never -before had Tarzan's assailant beheld so strange a creature as this -slippery, hairless bull with which he battled. Sweat and blood covered -Tarzan's sleek, brown hide. Again and again he slipped from the -clutches of the great bull, and all the while he struggled to free his -hunting knife from the scabbard in which it had stuck. - -At length he succeeded--a brown hand shot out and clutched a hairy -throat, another flew upward clutching the sharp blade. Three swift, -powerful strokes and the bull relaxed with a groan, falling limp -beneath his antagonist. Instantly Tarzan broke from the clutches of -the dying bull and sprang to Taug's assistance. Toog saw him coming -and wheeled to meet him. In the impact of the charge, Tarzan's knife -was wrenched from his hand and then Toog closed with him. Now was the -battle even--two against two--while on the verge, Teeka, now recovered -from the blow that had felled her, slunk waiting for an opportunity to -aid. She saw Tarzan's knife and picked it up. She never had used it, -but knew how Tarzan used it. Always had she been afraid of the thing -which dealt death to the mightiest of the jungle people with the ease -that Tantor's great tusks deal death to Tantor's enemies. - -She saw Tarzan's pocket pouch torn from his side, and with the -curiosity of an ape, that even danger and excitement cannot entirely -dispel, she picked this up, too. - -Now the bulls were standing--the clinches had been broken. Blood -streamed down their sides--their faces were crimsoned with it. Little -graybeard was so fascinated that at last he had even forgotten to -scream and dance; but sat rigid with delight in the enjoyment of the -spectacle. - -Back across the grove Tarzan and Taug forced their adversaries. Teeka -followed slowly. She scarce knew what to do. She was lame and sore -and exhausted from the frightful ordeal through which she had passed, -and she had the confidence of her sex in the prowess of her mate and -the other bull of her tribe--they would not need the help of a she in -their battle with these two strangers. - -The roars and screams of the fighters reverberated through the jungle, -awakening the echoes in the distant hills. From the throat of Tarzan's -antagonist had come a score of "Kreeg-ahs!" and now from behind came -the reply he had awaited. Into the grove, barking and growling, came a -score of huge bull apes--the fighting men of Toog's tribe. - -Teeka saw them first and screamed a warning to Tarzan and Taug. Then -she fled past the fighters toward the opposite side of the clearing, -fear for a moment claiming her. Nor can one censure her after the -frightful ordeal from which she was still suffering. - -Down upon them came the great apes. In a moment Tarzan and Taug would -be torn to shreds that would later form the PIECE DE RESISTANCE of the -savage orgy of a Dum-Dum. Teeka turned to glance back. She saw the -impending fate of her defenders and there sprung to life in her savage -bosom the spark of martyrdom, that some common forbear had transmitted -alike to Teeka, the wild ape, and the glorious women of a higher order -who have invited death for their men. With a shrill scream she ran -toward the battlers who were rolling in a great mass at the foot of one -of the huge boulders which dotted the grove; but what could she do? The -knife she held she could not use to advantage because of her lesser -strength. She had seen Tarzan throw missiles, and she had learned this -with many other things from her childhood playmate. She sought for -something to throw and at last her fingers touched upon the hard -objects in the pouch that had been torn from the ape-man. Tearing the -receptacle open, she gathered a handful of shiny cylinders--heavy for -their size, they seemed to her, and good missiles. With all her -strength she hurled them at the apes battling in front of the granite -boulder. - -The result surprised Teeka quite as much as it did the apes. There was -a loud explosion, which deafened the fighters, and a puff of acrid -smoke. Never before had one there heard such a frightful noise. -Screaming with terror, the stranger bulls leaped to their feet and fled -back toward the stamping ground of their tribe, while Taug and Tarzan -slowly gathered themselves together and arose, lame and bleeding, to -their feet. They, too, would have fled had they not seen Teeka -standing there before them, the knife and the pocket pouch in her hands. - -"What was it?" asked Tarzan. - -Teeka shook her head. "I hurled these at the stranger bulls," and she -held forth another handful of the shiny metal cylinders with the dull -gray, cone-shaped ends. - -Tarzan looked at them and scratched his head. - -"What are they?" asked Taug. - -"I do not know," said Tarzan. "I found them." - -The little monkey with the gray beard halted among the trees a mile -away and huddled, terrified, against a branch. He did not know that -the dead father of Tarzan of the Apes, reaching back out of the past -across a span of twenty years, had saved his son's life. - -Nor did Tarzan, Lord Greystoke, know it either. - - - - - 11 - - A Jungle Joke - -TIME SELDOM HUNG heavily upon Tarzan's hands. Even where there is -sameness there cannot be monotony if most of the sameness consists in -dodging death first in one form and then in another; or in inflicting -death upon others. There is a spice to such an existence; but even -this Tarzan of the Apes varied in activities of his own invention. - -He was full grown now, with the grace of a Greek god and the thews of a -bull, and, by all the tenets of apedom, should have been sullen, -morose, and brooding; but he was not. His spirits seemed not to age at -all--he was still a playful child, much to the discomfiture of his -fellow-apes. They could not understand him or his ways, for with -maturity they quickly forgot their youth and its pastimes. - -Nor could Tarzan quite understand them. It seemed strange to him that -a few moons since, he had roped Taug about an ankle and dragged him -screaming through the tall jungle grasses, and then rolled and tumbled -in good-natured mimic battle when the young ape had freed himself, and -that today when he had come up behind the same Taug and pulled him over -backward upon the turf, instead of the playful young ape, a great, -snarling beast had whirled and leaped for his throat. - -Easily Tarzan eluded the charge and quickly Taug's anger vanished, -though it was not replaced with playfulness; yet the ape-man realized -that Taug was not amused nor was he amusing. The big bull ape seemed -to have lost whatever sense of humor he once may have possessed. With -a grunt of disappointment, young Lord Greystoke turned to other fields -of endeavor. A strand of black hair fell across one eye. He brushed -it aside with the palm of a hand and a toss of his head. It suggested -something to do, so he sought his quiver which lay cached in the hollow -bole of a lightning-riven tree. Removing the arrows he turned the -quiver upside down, emptying upon the ground the contents of its -bottom--his few treasures. Among them was a flat bit of stone and a -shell which he had picked up from the beach near his father's cabin. - -With great care he rubbed the edge of the shell back and forth upon the -flat stone until the soft edge was quite fine and sharp. He worked -much as a barber does who hones a razor, and with every evidence of -similar practice; but his proficiency was the result of years of -painstaking effort. Unaided he had worked out a method of his own for -putting an edge upon the shell--he even tested it with the ball of his -thumb--and when it met with his approval he grasped a wisp of hair -which fell across his eyes, grasped it between the thumb and first -finger of his left hand and sawed upon it with the sharpened shell -until it was severed. All around his head he went until his black -shock was rudely bobbed with a ragged bang in front. For the -appearance of it he cared nothing; but in the matter of safety and -comfort it meant everything. A lock of hair falling in one's eyes at -the wrong moment might mean all the difference between life and death, -while straggly strands, hanging down one's back were most -uncomfortable, especially when wet with dew or rain or perspiration. - -As Tarzan labored at his tonsorial task, his active mind was busy with -many things. He recalled his recent battle with Bolgani, the gorilla, -the wounds of which were but just healed. He pondered the strange -sleep adventures of his first dreams, and he smiled at the painful -outcome of his last practical joke upon the tribe, when, dressed in the -hide of Numa, the lion, he had come roaring upon them, only to be -leaped upon and almost killed by the great bulls whom he had taught how -to defend themselves from an attack of their ancient enemy. - -His hair lopped off to his entire satisfaction, and seeing no -possibility of pleasure in the company of the tribe, Tarzan swung -leisurely into the trees and set off in the direction of his cabin; but -when part way there his attention was attracted by a strong scent spoor -coming from the north. It was the scent of the Gomangani. - -Curiosity, that best-developed, common heritage of man and ape, always -prompted Tarzan to investigate where the Gomangani were concerned. -There was that about them which aroused his imagination. Possibly it -was because of the diversity of their activities and interests. The -apes lived to eat and sleep and propagate. The same was true of all -the other denizens of the jungle, save the Gomangani. - -These black fellows danced and sang, scratched around in the earth from -which they had cleared the trees and underbrush; they watched things -grow, and when they had ripened, they cut them down and put them in -straw-thatched huts. They made bows and spears and arrows, poison, -cooking pots, things of metal to wear around their arms and legs. If -it hadn't been for their black faces, their hideously disfigured -features, and the fact that one of them had slain Kala, Tarzan might -have wished to be one of them. At least he sometimes thought so, but -always at the thought there rose within him a strange revulsion of -feeling, which he could not interpret or understand--he simply knew -that he hated the Gomangani, and that he would rather be Histah, the -snake, than one of these. - -But their ways were interesting, and Tarzan never tired of spying upon -them, and from them he learned much more than he realized, though -always his principal thought was of some new way in which he could -render their lives miserable. The baiting of the blacks was Tarzan's -chief divertissement. - -Tarzan realized now that the blacks were very near and that there were -many of them, so he went silently and with great caution. Noiselessly -he moved through the lush grasses of the open spaces, and where the -forest was dense, swung from one swaying branch to another, or leaped -lightly over tangled masses of fallen trees where there was no way -through the lower terraces, and the ground was choked and impassable. - -And so presently he came within sight of the black warriors of Mbonga, -the chief. They were engaged in a pursuit with which Tarzan was more -or less familiar, having watched them at it upon other occasions. They -were placing and baiting a trap for Numa, the lion. In a cage upon -wheels they were tying a kid, so fastening it that when Numa seized the -unfortunate creature, the door of the cage would drop behind him, -making him a prisoner. - -These things the blacks had learned in their old home, before they -escaped through the untracked jungle to their new village. Formerly -they had dwelt in the Belgian Congo until the cruelties of their -heartless oppressors had driven them to seek the safety of unexplored -solitudes beyond the boundaries of Leopold's domain. - -In their old life they often had trapped animals for the agents of -European dealers, and had learned from them certain tricks, such as -this one, which permitted them to capture even Numa without injuring -him, and to transport him in safety and with comparative ease to their -village. - -No longer was there a white market for their savage wares; but there -was still a sufficient incentive for the taking of Numa--alive. First -was the necessity for ridding the jungle of man-eaters, and it was only -after depredations by these grim and terrible scourges that a lion hunt -was organized. Secondarily was the excuse for an orgy of celebration -was the hunt successful, and the fact that such fetes were rendered -doubly pleasurable by the presence of a live creature that might be put -to death by torture. - -Tarzan had witnessed these cruel rites in the past. Being himself more -savage than the savage warriors of the Gomangani, he was not so shocked -by the cruelty of them as he should have been, yet they did shock him. -He could not understand the strange feeling of revulsion which -possessed him at such times. He had no love for Numa, the lion, yet he -bristled with rage when the blacks inflicted upon his enemy such -indignities and cruelties as only the mind of the one creature molded -in the image of God can conceive. - -Upon two occasions he had freed Numa from the trap before the blacks -had returned to discover the success or failure of their venture. He -would do the same today--that he decided immediately he realized the -nature of their intentions. - -Leaving the trap in the center of a broad elephant trail near the -drinking hole, the warriors turned back toward their village. On the -morrow they would come again. Tarzan looked after them, upon his lips -an unconscious sneer--the heritage of unguessed caste. He saw them -file along the broad trail, beneath the overhanging verdure of leafy -branch and looped and festooned creepers, brushing ebon shoulders -against gorgeous blooms which inscrutable Nature has seen fit to lavish -most profusely farthest from the eye of man. - -As Tarzan watched, through narrowed lids, the last of the warriors -disappear beyond a turn in the trail, his expression altered to the -urge of a newborn thought. A slow, grim smile touched his lips. He -looked down upon the frightened, bleating kid, advertising, in its fear -and its innocence, its presence and its helplessness. - -Dropping to the ground, Tarzan approached the trap and entered. -Without disturbing the fiber cord, which was adjusted to drop the door -at the proper time, he loosened the living bait, tucked it under an arm -and stepped out of the cage. - -With his hunting knife he quieted the frightened animal, severing its -jugular; then he dragged it, bleeding, along the trail down to the -drinking hole, the half smile persisting upon his ordinarily grave -face. At the water's edge the ape-man stooped and with hunting knife -and quick strong fingers deftly removed the dead kid's viscera. -Scraping a hole in the mud, he buried these parts which he did not eat, -and swinging the body to his shoulder took to the trees. - -For a short distance he pursued his way in the wake of the black -warriors, coming down presently to bury the meat of his kill where it -would be safe from the depredations of Dango, the hyena, or the other -meat-eating beasts and birds of the jungle. He was hungry. Had he -been all beast he would have eaten; but his man-mind could entertain -urges even more potent than those of the belly, and now he was -concerned with an idea which kept a smile upon his lips and his eyes -sparkling in anticipation. An idea, it was, which permitted him to -forget that he was hungry. - -The meat safely cached, Tarzan trotted along the elephant trail after -the Gomangani. Two or three miles from the cage he overtook them and -then he swung into the trees and followed above and behind -them--waiting his chance. - -Among the blacks was Rabba Kega, the witch-doctor. Tarzan hated them -all; but Rabba Kega he especially hated. As the blacks filed along the -winding path, Rabba Kega, being lazy, dropped behind. This Tarzan -noted, and it filled him with satisfaction--his being radiated a grim -and terrible content. Like an angel of death he hovered above the -unsuspecting black. - -Rabba Kega, knowing that the village was but a short distance ahead, -sat down to rest. Rest well, O Rabba Kega! It is thy last opportunity. - -Tarzan crept stealthily among the branches of the tree above the -well-fed, self-satisfied witch-doctor. He made no noise that the dull -ears of man could hear above the soughing of the gentle jungle breeze -among the undulating foliage of the upper terraces, and when he came -close above the black man he halted, well concealed by leafy branch and -heavy creeper. - -Rabba Kega sat with his back against the bole of a tree, facing Tarzan. -The position was not such as the waiting beast of prey desired, and so, -with the infinite patience of the wild hunter, the ape-man crouched -motionless and silent as a graven image until the fruit should be ripe -for the plucking. A poisonous insect buzzed angrily out of space. It -loitered, circling, close to Tarzan's face. The ape-man saw and -recognized it. The virus of its sting spelled death for lesser things -than he--for him it would mean days of anguish. He did not move. His -glittering eyes remained fixed upon Rabba Kega after acknowledging the -presence of the winged torture by a single glance. He heard and -followed the movements of the insect with his keen ears, and then he -felt it alight upon his forehead. No muscle twitched, for the muscles -of such as he are the servants of the brain. Down across his face -crept the horrid thing--over nose and lips and chin. Upon his throat -it paused, and turning, retraced its steps. Tarzan watched Rabba Kega. -Now not even his eyes moved. So motionless he crouched that only death -might counterpart his movelessness. The insect crawled upward over the -nut-brown cheek and stopped with its antennae brushing the lashes of -his lower lid. You or I would have started back, closing our eyes and -striking at the thing; but you and I are the slaves, not the masters of -our nerves. Had the thing crawled upon the eyeball of the ape-man, it -is believable that he could yet have remained wide-eyed and rigid; but -it did not. For a moment it loitered there close to the lower lid, -then it rose and buzzed away. - -Down toward Rabba Kega it buzzed and the black man heard it, saw it, -struck at it, and was stung upon the cheek before he killed it. Then -he rose with a howl of pain and anger, and as he turned up the trail -toward the village of Mbonga, the chief, his broad, black back was -exposed to the silent thing waiting above him. - -And as Rabba Kega turned, a lithe figure shot outward and downward from -the tree above upon his broad shoulders. The impact of the springing -creature carried Rabba Kega to the ground. He felt strong jaws close -upon his neck, and when he tried to scream, steel fingers throttled his -throat. The powerful black warrior struggled to free himself; but he -was as a child in the grip of his adversary. - -Presently Tarzan released his grip upon the other's throat; but each -time that Rabba Kega essayed a scream, the cruel fingers choked him -painfully. At last the warrior desisted. Then Tarzan half rose and -kneeled upon his victim's back, and when Rabba Kega struggled to arise, -the ape-man pushed his face down into the dirt of the trail. With a -bit of the rope that had secured the kid, Tarzan made Rabba Kega's -wrists secure behind his back, then he rose and jerked his prisoner to -his feet, faced him back along the trail and pushed him on ahead. - -Not until he came to his feet did Rabba Kega obtain a square look at -his assailant. When he saw that it was the white devil-god his heart -sank within him and his knees trembled; but as he walked along the -trail ahead of his captor and was neither injured nor molested his -spirits slowly rose, so that he took heart again. Possibly the -devil-god did not intend to kill him after all. Had he not had little -Tibo in his power for days without harming him, and had he not spared -Momaya, Tibo's mother, when he easily might have slain her? - -And then they came upon the cage which Rabba Kega, with the other black -warriors of the village of Mbonga, the chief, had placed and baited for -Numa. Rabba Kega saw that the bait was gone, though there was no lion -within the cage, nor was the door dropped. He saw and he was filled -with wonder not unmixed with apprehension. It entered his dull brain -that in some way this combination of circumstances had a connection -with his presence there as the prisoner of the white devil-god. - -Nor was he wrong. Tarzan pushed him roughly into the cage, and in -another moment Rabba Kega understood. Cold sweat broke from every pore -of his body--he trembled as with ague--for the ape-man was binding him -securely in the very spot the kid had previously occupied. The -witch-doctor pleaded, first for his life, and then for a death less -cruel; but he might as well have saved his pleas for Numa, since -already they were directed toward a wild beast who understood no word -of what he said. - -But his constant jabbering not only annoyed Tarzan, who worked in -silence, but suggested that later the black might raise his voice in -cries for succor, so he stepped out of the cage, gathered a handful of -grass and a small stick and returning, jammed the grass into Rabba -Kega's mouth, laid the stick crosswise between his teeth and fastened -it there with the thong from Rabba Kega's loin cloth. Now could the -witch-doctor but roll his eyes and sweat. Thus Tarzan left him. - -The ape-man went first to the spot where he had cached the body of the -kid. Digging it up, he ascended into a tree and proceeded to satisfy -his hunger. What remained he again buried; then he swung away through -the trees to the water hole, and going to the spot where fresh, cold -water bubbled from between two rocks, he drank deeply. The other -beasts might wade in and drink stagnant water; but not Tarzan of the -Apes. In such matters he was fastidious. From his hands he washed -every trace of the repugnant scent of the Gomangani, and from his face -the blood of the kid. Rising, he stretched himself not unlike some -huge, lazy cat, climbed into a near-by tree and fell asleep. - -When he awoke it was dark, though a faint luminosity still tinged the -western heavens. A lion moaned and coughed as it strode through the -jungle toward water. It was approaching the drinking hole. Tarzan -grinned sleepily, changed his position and fell asleep again. - -When the blacks of Mbonga, the chief, reached their village they -discovered that Rabba Kega was not among them. When several hours had -elapsed they decided that something had happened to him, and it was the -hope of the majority of the tribe that whatever had happened to him -might prove fatal. They did not love the witch-doctor. Love and fear -seldom are playmates; but a warrior is a warrior, and so Mbonga -organized a searching party. That his own grief was not unassuagable -might have been gathered from the fact that he remained at home and -went to sleep. The young warriors whom he sent out remained steadfast -to their purpose for fully half an hour, when, unfortunately for Rabba -Kega--upon so slight a thing may the fate of a man rest--a honey bird -attracted the attention of the searchers and led them off for the -delicious store it previously had marked down for betrayal, and Rabba -Kega's doom was sealed. - -When the searchers returned empty handed, Mbonga was wroth; but when he -saw the great store of honey they brought with them his rage subsided. -Already Tubuto, young, agile and evil-minded, with face hideously -painted, was practicing the black art upon a sick infant in the fond -hope of succeeding to the office and perquisites of Rabba Kega. -Tonight the women of the old witch-doctor would moan and howl. -Tomorrow he would be forgotten. Such is life, such is fame, such is -power--in the center of the world's highest civilization, or in the -depths of the black, primeval jungle. Always, everywhere, man is man, -nor has he altered greatly beneath his veneer since he scurried into a -hole between two rocks to escape the tyrannosaurus six million years -ago. - -The morning following the disappearance of Rabba Kega, the warriors set -out with Mbonga, the chief, to examine the trap they had set for Numa. -Long before they reached the cage, they heard the roaring of a great -lion and guessed that they had made a successful bag, so it was with -shouts of joy that they approached the spot where they should find -their captive. - -Yes! There he was, a great, magnificent specimen--a huge, black-maned -lion. The warriors were frantic with delight. They leaped into the -air and uttered savage cries--hoarse victory cries, and then they came -closer, and the cries died upon their lips, and their eyes went wide so -that the whites showed all around their irises, and their pendulous -lower lips drooped with their drooping jaws. They drew back in terror -at the sight within the cage--the mauled and mutilated corpse of what -had, yesterday, been Rabba Kega, the witch-doctor. - -The captured lion had been too angry and frightened to feed upon the -body of his kill; but he had vented upon it much of his rage, until it -was a frightful thing to behold. - -From his perch in a near-by tree Tarzan of the Apes, Lord Greystoke, -looked down upon the black warriors and grinned. Once again his -self-pride in his ability as a practical joker asserted itself. It had -lain dormant for some time following the painful mauling he had -received that time he leaped among the apes of Kerchak clothed in the -skin of Numa; but this joke was a decided success. - -After a few moments of terror, the blacks came closer to the cage, rage -taking the place of fear--rage and curiosity. How had Rabba Kega -happened to be in the cage? Where was the kid? There was no sign nor -remnant of the original bait. They looked closely and they saw, to -their horror, that the corpse of their erstwhile fellow was bound with -the very cord with which they had secured the kid. Who could have done -this thing? They looked at one another. - -Tubuto was the first to speak. He had come hopefully out with the -expedition that morning. Somewhere he might find evidence of the death -of Rabba Kega. Now he had found it, and he was the first to find an -explanation. - -"The white devil-god," he whispered. "It is the work of the white -devil-god!" - -No one contradicted Tubuto, for, indeed, who else could it have been -but the great, hairless ape they all so feared? And so their hatred of -Tarzan increased again with an increased fear of him. And Tarzan sat -in his tree and hugged himself. - -No one there felt sorrow because of the death of Rabba Kega; but each -of the blacks experienced a personal fear of the ingenious mind which -might discover for any of them a death equally horrible to that which -the witch-doctor had suffered. It was a subdued and thoughtful company -which dragged the captive lion along the broad elephant path back to -the village of Mbonga, the chief. - -And it was with a sigh of relief that they finally rolled it into the -village and closed the gates behind them. Each had experienced the -sensation of being spied upon from the moment they left the spot where -the trap had been set, though none had seen or heard aught to give -tangible food to his fears. - -At the sight of the body within the cage with the lion, the women and -children of the village set up a most frightful lamentation, working -themselves into a joyous hysteria which far transcended the happy -misery derived by their more civilized prototypes who make a business -of dividing their time between the movies and the neighborhood funerals -of friends and strangers--especially strangers. - -From a tree overhanging the palisade, Tarzan watched all that passed -within the village. He saw the frenzied women tantalizing the great -lion with sticks and stones. The cruelty of the blacks toward a -captive always induced in Tarzan a feeling of angry contempt for the -Gomangani. Had he attempted to analyze this feeling he would have -found it difficult, for during all his life he had been accustomed to -sights of suffering and cruelty. He, himself, was cruel. All the -beasts of the jungle were cruel; but the cruelty of the blacks was of a -different order. It was the cruelty of wanton torture of the helpless, -while the cruelty of Tarzan and the other beasts was the cruelty of -necessity or of passion. - -Perhaps, had he known it, he might have credited this feeling of -repugnance at the sight of unnecessary suffering to heredity--to the -germ of British love of fair play which had been bequeathed to him by -his father and his mother; but, of course, he did not know, since he -still believed that his mother had been Kala, the great ape. - -And just in proportion as his anger rose against the Gomangani his -savage sympathy went out to Numa, the lion, for, though Numa was his -lifetime enemy, there was neither bitterness nor contempt in Tarzan's -sentiments toward him. In the ape-man's mind, therefore, the -determination formed to thwart the blacks and liberate the lion; but he -must accomplish this in some way which would cause the Gomangani the -greatest chagrin and discomfiture. - -As he squatted there watching the proceeding beneath him, he saw the -warriors seize upon the cage once more and drag it between two huts. -Tarzan knew that it would remain there now until evening, and that the -blacks were planning a feast and orgy in celebration of their capture. -When he saw that two warriors were placed beside the cage, and that -these drove off the women and children and young men who would have -eventually tortured Numa to death, he knew that the lion would be safe -until he was needed for the evening's entertainment, when he would be -more cruelly and scientifically tortured for the edification of the -entire tribe. - -Now Tarzan preferred to bait the blacks in as theatric a manner as his -fertile imagination could evolve. He had some half-formed conception -of their superstitious fears and of their especial dread of night, and -so he decided to wait until darkness fell and the blacks partially -worked to hysteria by their dancing and religious rites before he took -any steps toward the freeing of Numa. In the meantime, he hoped, an -idea adequate to the possibilities of the various factors at hand would -occur to him. Nor was it long before one did. - -He had swung off through the jungle to search for food when the plan -came to him. At first it made him smile a little and then look -dubious, for he still retained a vivid memory of the dire results that -had followed the carrying out of a very wonderful idea along almost -identical lines, yet he did not abandon his intention, and a moment -later, food temporarily forgotten, he was swinging through the middle -terraces in rapid flight toward the stamping ground of the tribe of -Kerchak, the great ape. - -As was his wont, he alighted in the midst of the little band without -announcing his approach save by a hideous scream just as he sprang from -a branch above them. Fortunate are the apes of Kerchak that their kind -is not subject to heart failure, for the methods of Tarzan subjected -them to one severe shock after another, nor could they ever accustom -themselves to the ape-man's peculiar style of humor. - -Now, when they saw who it was they merely snarled and grumbled angrily -for a moment and then resumed their feeding or their napping which he -had interrupted, and he, having had his little joke, made his way to -the hollow tree where he kept his treasures hid from the inquisitive -eyes and fingers of his fellows and the mischievous little manus. Here -he withdrew a closely rolled hide--the hide of Numa with the head on; a -clever bit of primitive curing and mounting, which had once been the -property of the witch-doctor, Rabba Kega, until Tarzan had stolen it -from the village. - -With this he made his way back through the jungle toward the village of -the blacks, stopping to hunt and feed upon the way, and, in the -afternoon, even napping for an hour, so that it was already dusk when -he entered the great tree which overhung the palisade and gave him a -view of the entire village. He saw that Numa was still alive and that -the guards were even dozing beside the cage. A lion is no great -novelty to a black man in the lion country, and the first keen edge of -their desire to worry the brute having worn off, the villagers paid -little or no attention to the great cat, preferring now to await the -grand event of the night. - -Nor was it long after dark before the festivities commenced. To the -beating of tom-toms, a lone warrior, crouched half doubled, leaped into -the firelight in the center of a great circle of other warriors, behind -whom stood or squatted the women and the children. The dancer was -painted and armed for the hunt and his movements and gestures suggested -the search for the spoor of game. Bending low, sometimes resting for a -moment on one knee, he searched the ground for signs of the quarry; -again he poised, statuesque, listening. The warrior was young and -lithe and graceful; he was full-muscled and arrow-straight. The -firelight glistened upon his ebon body and brought out into bold relief -the grotesque designs painted upon his face, breasts, and abdomen. - -Presently he bent low to the earth, then leaped high in air. Every -line of face and body showed that he had struck the scent. Immediately -he leaped toward the circle of warriors about him, telling them of his -find and summoning them to the hunt. It was all in pantomime; but so -truly done that even Tarzan could follow it all to the least detail. - -He saw the other warriors grasp their hunting spears and leap to their -feet to join in the graceful, stealthy "stalking dance." It was very -interesting; but Tarzan realized that if he was to carry his design to -a successful conclusion he must act quickly. He had seen these dances -before and knew that after the stalk would come the game at bay and -then the kill, during which Numa would be surrounded by warriors, and -unapproachable. - -With the lion's skin under one arm the ape-man dropped to the ground in -the dense shadows beneath the tree and then circled behind the huts -until he came out directly in the rear of the cage, in which Numa paced -nervously to and fro. The cage was now unguarded, the two warriors -having left it to take their places among the other dancers. - -Behind the cage Tarzan adjusted the lion's skin about him, just as he -had upon that memorable occasion when the apes of Kerchak, failing to -pierce his disguise, had all but slain him. Then, on hands and knees, -he crept forward, emerged from between the two huts and stood a few -paces back of the dusky audience, whose whole attention was centered -upon the dancers before them. - -Tarzan saw that the blacks had now worked themselves to a proper pitch -of nervous excitement to be ripe for the lion. In a moment the ring of -spectators would break at a point nearest the caged lion and the victim -would be rolled into the center of the circle. It was for this moment -that Tarzan waited. - -At last it came. A signal was given by Mbonga, the chief, at which the -women and children immediately in front of Tarzan rose and moved to one -side, leaving a broad path opening toward the caged lion. At the same -instant Tarzan gave voice to the low, coughing roar of an angry lion -and slunk slowly forward through the open lane toward the frenzied -dancers. - -A woman saw him first and screamed. Instantly there was a panic in the -immediate vicinity of the ape-man. The strong light from the fire fell -full upon the lion head and the blacks leaped to the conclusion, as -Tarzan had known they would, that their captive had escaped his cage. - -With another roar, Tarzan moved forward. The dancing warriors paused -but an instant. They had been hunting a lion securely housed within a -strong cage, and now that he was at liberty among them, an entirely -different aspect was placed upon the matter. Their nerves were not -attuned to this emergency. The women and children already had fled to -the questionable safety of the nearest huts, and the warriors were not -long in following their example, so that presently Tarzan was left in -sole possession of the village street. - -But not for long. Nor did he wish to be left thus long alone. It -would not comport with his scheme. Presently a head peered forth from -a near-by hut, and then another and another until a score or more of -warriors were looking out upon him, waiting for his next move--waiting -for the lion to charge or to attempt to escape from the village. - -Their spears were ready in their hands against either a charge or a -bolt for freedom, and then the lion rose erect upon its hind legs, the -tawny skin dropped from it and there stood revealed before them in the -firelight the straight young figure of the white devil-god. - -For an instant the blacks were too astonished to act. They feared this -apparition fully as much as they did Numa, yet they would gladly have -slain the thing could they quickly enough have gathered together their -wits; but fear and superstition and a natural mental density held them -paralyzed while the ape-man stooped and gathered up the lion skin. -They saw him turn then and walk back into the shadows at the far end of -the village. Not until then did they gain courage to pursue him, and -when they had come in force, with brandished spears and loud war cries, -the quarry was gone. - -Not an instant did Tarzan pause in the tree. Throwing the skin over a -branch he leaped again into the village upon the opposite side of the -great bole, and diving into the shadow of a hut, ran quickly to where -lay the caged lion. Springing to the top of the cage he pulled upon -the cord which raised the door, and a moment later a great lion in the -prime of his strength and vigor leaped out into the village. - -The warriors, returning from a futile search for Tarzan, saw him step -into the firelight. Ah! there was the devil-god again, up to his old -trick. Did he think he could twice fool the men of Mbonga, the chief, -the same way in so short a time? They would show him! For long they -had waited for such an opportunity to rid themselves forever of this -fearsome jungle demon. As one they rushed forward with raised spears. - -The women and the children came from the huts to witness the slaying of -the devil-god. The lion turned blazing eyes upon them and then swung -about toward the advancing warriors. - -With shouts of savage joy and triumph they came toward him, menacing -him with their spears. The devil-god was theirs! - -And then, with a frightful roar, Numa, the lion, charged. - -The men of Mbonga, the chief, met Numa with ready spears and screams of -raillery. In a solid mass of muscled ebony they waited the coming of -the devil-god; yet beneath their brave exteriors lurked a haunting fear -that all might not be quite well with them--that this strange creature -could yet prove invulnerable to their weapons and inflict upon them -full punishment for their effrontery. The charging lion was all too -lifelike--they saw that in the brief instant of the charge; but beneath -the tawny hide they knew was hid the soft flesh of the white man, and -how could that withstand the assault of many war spears? - -In their forefront stood a huge young warrior in the full arrogance of -his might and his youth. Afraid? Not he! He laughed as Numa bore down -upon him; he laughed and couched his spear, setting the point for the -broad breast. And then the lion was upon him. A great paw swept away -the heavy war spear, splintering it as the hand of man might splinter a -dry twig. - -Down went the black, his skull crushed by another blow. And then the -lion was in the midst of the warriors, clawing and tearing to right and -left. Not for long did they stand their ground; but a dozen men were -mauled before the others made good their escape from those frightful -talons and gleaming fangs. - -In terror the villagers fled hither and thither. No hut seemed a -sufficiently secure asylum with Numa ranging within the palisade. From -one to another fled the frightened blacks, while in the center of the -village Numa stood glaring and growling above his kills. - -At last a tribesman flung wide the gates of the village and sought -safety amid the branches of the forest trees beyond. Like sheep his -fellows followed him, until the lion and his dead remained alone in the -village. - -From the nearer trees the men of Mbonga saw the lion lower his great -head and seize one of his victims by the shoulder and then with slow -and stately tread move down the village street past the open gates and -on into the jungle. They saw and shuddered, and from another tree -Tarzan of the Apes saw and smiled. - -A full hour elapsed after the lion had disappeared with his feast -before the blacks ventured down from the trees and returned to their -village. Wide eyes rolled from side to side, and naked flesh -contracted more to the chill of fear than to the chill of the jungle -night. - -"It was he all the time," murmured one. "It was the devil-god." - -"He changed himself from a lion to a man, and back again into a lion," -whispered another. - -"And he dragged Mweeza into the forest and is eating him," said a -third, shuddering. - -"We are no longer safe here," wailed a fourth. "Let us take our -belongings and search for another village site far from the haunts of -the wicked devil-god." - -But with morning came renewed courage, so that the experiences of the -preceding evening had little other effect than to increase their fear -of Tarzan and strengthen their belief in his supernatural origin. - -And thus waxed the fame and the power of the ape-man in the mysterious -haunts of the savage jungle where he ranged, mightiest of beasts -because of the man-mind which directed his giant muscles and his -flawless courage. - - - - - 12 - - Tarzan Rescues the Moon - -THE MOON SHONE down out of a cloudless sky--a huge, swollen moon that -seemed so close to earth that one might wonder that she did not brush -the crooning tree tops. It was night, and Tarzan was abroad in the -jungle--Tarzan, the ape-man; mighty fighter, mighty hunter. Why he -swung through the dark shadows of the somber forest he could not have -told you. It was not that he was hungry--he had fed well this day, and -in a safe cache were the remains of his kill, ready against the coming -of a new appetite. Perhaps it was the very joy of living that urged -him from his arboreal couch to pit his muscles and his senses against -the jungle night, and then, too, Tarzan always was goaded by an intense -desire to know. - -The jungle which is presided over by Kudu, the sun, is a very different -jungle from that of Goro, the moon. The diurnal jungle has its own -aspect--its own lights and shades, its own birds, its own blooms, its -own beasts; its noises are the noises of the day. The lights and -shades of the nocturnal jungle are as different as one might imagine -the lights and shades of another world to differ from those of our -world; its beasts, its blooms, and its birds are not those of the -jungle of Kudu, the sun. - -Because of these differences Tarzan loved to investigate the jungle by -night. Not only was the life another life; but it was richer in -numbers and in romance; it was richer in dangers, too, and to Tarzan of -the Apes danger was the spice of life. And the noises of the jungle -night--the roar of the lion, the scream of the leopard, the hideous -laughter of Dango, the hyena, were music to the ears of the ape-man. - -The soft padding of unseen feet, the rustling of leaves and grasses to -the passage of fierce beasts, the sheen of opalesque eyes flaming -through the dark, the million sounds which proclaimed the teeming life -that one might hear and scent, though seldom see, constituted the -appeal of the nocturnal jungle to Tarzan. - -Tonight he had swung a wide circle--toward the east first and then -toward the south, and now he was rounding back again into the north. -His eyes, his ears and his keen nostrils were ever on the alert. -Mingled with the sounds he knew, there were strange sounds--weird -sounds which he never heard until after Kudu had sought his lair below -the far edge of the big water--sounds which belonged to Goro, the -moon--and to the mysterious period of Goro's supremacy. These sounds -often caused Tarzan profound speculation. They baffled him because he -thought that he knew his jungle so well that there could be nothing -within it unfamiliar to him. Sometimes he thought that as colors and -forms appeared to differ by night from their familiar daylight aspects, -so sounds altered with the passage of Kudu and the coming of Goro, and -these thoughts roused within his brain a vague conjecture that perhaps -Goro and Kudu influenced these changes. And what more natural that -eventually he came to attribute to the sun and the moon personalities -as real as his own? The sun was a living creature and ruled the day. -The moon, endowed with brains and miraculous powers, ruled the night. - -Thus functioned the untrained man-mind groping through the dark night -of ignorance for an explanation of the things he could not touch or -smell or hear and of the great, unknown powers of nature which he could -not see. - -As Tarzan swung north again upon his wide circle the scent of the -Gomangani came to his nostrils, mixed with the acrid odor of wood -smoke. The ape-man moved quickly in the direction from which the scent -was borne down to him upon the gentle night wind. Presently the ruddy -sheen of a great fire filtered through the foliage to him ahead, and -when Tarzan came to a halt in the trees near it, he saw a party of half -a dozen black warriors huddled close to the blaze. It was evidently a -hunting party from the village of Mbonga, the chief, caught out in the -jungle after dark. In a rude circle about them they had constructed a -thorn boma which, with the aid of the fire, they apparently hoped would -discourage the advances of the larger carnivora. - -That hope was not conviction was evidenced by the very palpable terror -in which they crouched, wide-eyed and trembling, for already Numa and -Sabor were moaning through the jungle toward them. There were other -creatures, too, in the shadows beyond the firelight. Tarzan could see -their yellow eyes flaming there. The blacks saw them and shivered. -Then one arose and grasping a burning branch from the fire hurled it at -the eyes, which immediately disappeared. The black sat down again. -Tarzan watched and saw that it was several minutes before the eyes -began to reappear in twos and fours. - -Then came Numa, the lion, and Sabor, his mate. The other eyes -scattered to right and left before the menacing growls of the great -cats, and then the huge orbs of the man-eaters flamed alone out of the -darkness. Some of the blacks threw themselves upon their faces and -moaned; but he who before had hurled the burning branch now hurled -another straight at the faces of the hungry lions, and they, too, -disappeared as had the lesser lights before them. Tarzan was much -interested. He saw a new reason for the nightly fires maintained by -the blacks--a reason in addition to those connected with warmth and -light and cooking. The beasts of the jungle feared fire, and so fire -was, in a measure, a protection from them. Tarzan himself knew a -certain awe of fire. Once he had, in investigating an abandoned fire -in the village of the blacks, picked up a live coal. Since then he had -maintained a respectful distance from such fires as he had seen. One -experience had sufficed. - -For a few minutes after the black hurled the firebrand no eyes -appeared, though Tarzan could hear the soft padding of feet all about -him. Then flashed once more the twin fire spots that marked the return -of the lord of the jungle and a moment later, upon a slightly lower -level, there appeared those of Sabor, his mate. - -For some time they remained fixed and unwavering--a constellation of -fierce stars in the jungle night--then the male lion advanced slowly -toward the boma, where all but a single black still crouched in -trembling terror. When this lone guardian saw that Numa was again -approaching, he threw another firebrand, and, as before, Numa retreated -and with him Sabor, the lioness; but not so far, this time, nor for so -long. Almost instantly they turned and began circling the boma, their -eyes turning constantly toward the firelight, while low, throaty growls -evidenced their increasing displeasure. Beyond the lions glowed the -flaming eyes of the lesser satellites, until the black jungle was shot -all around the black men's camp with little spots of fire. - -Again and again the black warrior hurled his puny brands at the two big -cats; but Tarzan noticed that Numa paid little or no attention to them -after the first few retreats. The ape-man knew by Numa's voice that -the lion was hungry and surmised that he had made up his mind to feed -upon a Gomangani; but would he dare a closer approach to the dreaded -flames? - -Even as the thought was passing in Tarzan's mind, Numa stopped his -restless pacing and faced the boma. For a moment he stood motionless, -except for the quick, nervous upcurving of his tail, then he walked -deliberately forward, while Sabor moved restlessly to and fro where he -had left her. The black man called to his comrades that the lion was -coming, but they were too far gone in fear to do more than huddle -closer together and moan more loudly than before. - -Seizing a blazing branch the man cast it straight into the face of the -lion. There was an angry roar, followed by a swift charge. With a -single bound the savage beast cleared the boma wall as, with almost -equal agility, the warrior cleared it upon the opposite side and, -chancing the dangers lurking in the darkness, bolted for the nearest -tree. - -Numa was out of the boma almost as soon as he was inside it; but as he -went back over the low thorn wall, he took a screaming negro with him. -Dragging his victim along the ground he walked back toward Sabor, the -lioness, who joined him, and the two continued into the blackness, -their savage growls mingling with the piercing shrieks of the doomed -and terrified man. - -At a little distance from the blaze the lions halted, there ensued a -short succession of unusually vicious growls and roars, during which -the cries and moans of the black man ceased--forever. - -Presently Numa reappeared in the firelight. He made a second trip into -the boma and the former grisly tragedy was reenacted with another -howling victim. - -Tarzan rose and stretched lazily. The entertainment was beginning to -bore him. He yawned and turned upon his way toward the clearing where -the tribe would be sleeping in the encircling trees. - -Yet even when he had found his familiar crotch and curled himself for -slumber, he felt no desire to sleep. For a long time he lay awake -thinking and dreaming. He looked up into the heavens and watched the -moon and the stars. He wondered what they were and what power kept -them from falling. His was an inquisitive mind. Always he had been -full of questions concerning all that passed around him; but there -never had been one to answer his questions. In childhood he had wanted -to KNOW, and, denied almost all knowledge, he still, in manhood, was -filled with the great, unsatisfied curiosity of a child. - -He was never quite content merely to perceive that things happened--he -desired to know WHY they happened. He wanted to know what made things -go. The secret of life interested him immensely. The miracle of death -he could not quite fathom. Upon innumerable occasions he had -investigated the internal mechanism of his kills, and once or twice he -had opened the chest cavity of victims in time to see the heart still -pumping. - -He had learned from experience that a knife thrust through this organ -brought immediate death nine times out of ten, while he might stab an -antagonist innumerable times in other places without even disabling -him. And so he had come to think of the heart, or, as he called it, -"the red thing that breathes," as the seat and origin of life. - -The brain and its functionings he did not comprehend at all. That his -sense perceptions were transmitted to his brain and there translated, -classified, and labeled was something quite beyond him. He thought -that his fingers knew when they touched something, that his eyes knew -when they saw, his ears when they heard, his nose when it scented. - -He considered his throat, epidermis, and the hairs of his head as the -three principal seats of emotion. When Kala had been slain a peculiar -choking sensation had possessed his throat; contact with Histah, the -snake, imparted an unpleasant sensation to the skin of his whole body; -while the approach of an enemy made the hairs on his scalp stand erect. - -Imagine, if you can, a child filled with the wonders of nature, -bursting with queries and surrounded only by beasts of the jungle to -whom his questionings were as strange as Sanskrit would have been. If -he asked Gunto what made it rain, the big old ape would but gaze at him -in dumb astonishment for an instant and then return to his interesting -and edifying search for fleas; and when he questioned Mumga, who was -very old and should have been very wise, but wasn't, as to the reason -for the closing of certain flowers after Kudu had deserted the sky, and -the opening of others during the night, he was surprised to discover -that Mumga had never noticed these interesting facts, though she could -tell to an inch just where the fattest grubworm should be hiding. - -To Tarzan these things were wonders. They appealed to his intellect -and to his imagination. He saw the flowers close and open; he saw -certain blooms which turned their faces always toward the sun; he saw -leaves which moved when there was no breeze; he saw vines crawl like -living things up the boles and over the branches of great trees; and to -Tarzan of the Apes the flowers and the vines and the trees were living -creatures. He often talked to them, as he talked to Goro, the moon, -and Kudu, the sun, and always was he disappointed that they did not -reply. He asked them questions; but they could not answer, though he -knew that the whispering of the leaves was the language of the -leaves--they talked with one another. - -The wind he attributed to the trees and grasses. He thought that they -swayed themselves to and fro, creating the wind. In no other way could -he account for this phenomenon. The rain he finally attributed to the -stars, the moon, and the sun; but his hypothesis was entirely unlovely -and unpoetical. - -Tonight as Tarzan lay thinking, there sprang to his fertile imagination -an explanation of the stars and the moon. He became quite excited -about it. Taug was sleeping in a nearby crotch. Tarzan swung over -beside him. - -"Taug!" he cried. Instantly the great bull was awake and bristling, -sensing danger from the nocturnal summons. "Look, Taug!" exclaimed -Tarzan, pointing toward the stars. "See the eyes of Numa and Sabor, of -Sheeta and Dango. They wait around Goro to leap in upon him for their -kill. See the eyes and the nose and the mouth of Goro. And the light -that shines upon his face is the light of the great fire he has built -to frighten away Numa and Sabor and Dango and Sheeta. - -"All about him are the eyes, Taug, you can see them! But they do not -come very close to the fire--there are few eyes close to Goro. They -fear the fire! It is the fire that saves Goro from Numa. Do you see -them, Taug? Some night Numa will be very hungry and very angry--then he -will leap over the thorn bushes which encircle Goro and we will have no -more light after Kudu seeks his lair--the night will be black with the -blackness that comes when Goro is lazy and sleeps late into the night, -or when he wanders through the skies by day, forgetting the jungle and -its people." - -Taug looked stupidly at the heavens and then at Tarzan. A meteor fell, -blazing a flaming way through the sky. - -"Look!" cried Tarzan. "Goro has thrown a burning branch at Numa." - -Taug grumbled. "Numa is down below," he said. "Numa does not hunt -above the trees." But he looked curiously and a little fearfully at the -bright stars above him, as though he saw them for the first time, and -doubtless it was the first time that Taug ever had seen the stars, -though they had been in the sky above him every night of his life. To -Taug they were as the gorgeous jungle blooms--he could not eat them and -so he ignored them. - -Taug fidgeted and was nervous. For a long time he lay sleepless, -watching the stars--the flaming eyes of the beasts of prey surrounding -Goro, the moon--Goro, by whose light the apes danced to the beating of -their earthen drums. If Goro should be eaten by Numa there could be no -more Dum-Dums. Taug was overwhelmed by the thought. He glanced at -Tarzan half fearfully. Why was his friend so different from the others -of the tribe? No one else whom Taug ever had known had had such queer -thoughts as Tarzan. The ape scratched his head and wondered, dimly, if -Tarzan was a safe companion, and then he recalled slowly, and by a -laborious mental process, that Tarzan had served him better than any -other of the apes, even the strong and wise bulls of the tribe. - -Tarzan it was who had freed him from the blacks at the very time that -Taug had thought Tarzan wanted Teeka. It was Tarzan who had saved -Taug's little balu from death. It was Tarzan who had conceived and -carried out the plan to pursue Teeka's abductor and rescue the stolen -one. Tarzan had fought and bled in Taug's service so many times that -Taug, although only a brutal ape, had had impressed upon his mind a -fierce loyalty which nothing now could swerve--his friendship for -Tarzan had become a habit, a tradition almost, which would endure while -Taug endured. He never showed any outward demonstration of -affection--he growled at Tarzan as he growled at the other bulls who -came too close while he was feeding--but he would have died for Tarzan. -He knew it and Tarzan knew it; but of such things apes do not -speak--their vocabulary, for the finer instincts, consisting more of -actions than words. But now Taug was worried, and he fell asleep again -still thinking of the strange words of his fellow. - -The following day he thought of them again, and without any intention -of disloyalty he mentioned to Gunto what Tarzan had suggested about the -eyes surrounding Goro, and the possibility that sooner or later Numa -would charge the moon and devour him. To the apes all large things in -nature are male, and so Goro, being the largest creature in the heavens -by night, was, to them, a bull. - -Gunto bit a sliver from a horny finger and recalled the fact that -Tarzan had once said that the trees talked to one another, and Gozan -recounted having seen the ape-man dancing alone in the moonlight with -Sheeta, the panther. They did not know that Tarzan had roped the -savage beast and tied him to a tree before he came to earth and leaped -about before the rearing cat, to tantalize him. - -Others told of seeing Tarzan ride upon the back of Tantor, the -elephant; of his bringing the black boy, Tibo, to the tribe, and of -mysterious things with which he communed in the strange lair by the -sea. They had never understood his books, and after he had shown them -to one or two of the tribe and discovered that even the pictures -carried no impression to their brains, he had desisted. - -"Tarzan is not an ape," said Gunto. "He will bring Numa to eat us, as -he is bringing him to eat Goro. We should kill him." - -Immediately Taug bristled. Kill Tarzan! "First you will kill Taug," he -said, and lumbered away to search for food. - -But others joined the plotters. They thought of many things which -Tarzan had done--things which apes did not do and could not understand. -Again Gunto voiced the opinion that the Tarmangani, the white ape, -should be slain, and the others, filled with terror about the stories -they had heard, and thinking Tarzan was planning to slay Goro, greeted -the proposal with growls of accord. - -Among them was Teeka, listening with all her ears; but her voice was -not raised in furtherance of the plan. Instead she bristled, showing -her fangs, and afterward she went away in search of Tarzan; but she -could not find him, as he was roaming far afield in search of meat. -She found Taug, though, and told him what the others were planning, and -the great bull stamped upon the ground and roared. His bloodshot eyes -blazed with wrath, his upper lip curled up to expose his fighting -fangs, and the hair upon his spine stood erect, and then a rodent -scurried across the open and Taug sprang to seize it. In an instant he -seemed to have forgotten his rage against the enemies of his friend; -but such is the mind of an ape. - -Several miles away Tarzan of the Apes lolled upon the broad head of -Tantor, the elephant. He scratched beneath the great ears with the -point of a sharp stick, and he talked to the huge pachyderm of -everything which filled his black-thatched head. Little, or nothing, -of what he said did Tantor understand; but Tantor is a good listener. -Swaying from side to side he stood there enjoying the companionship of -his friend, the friend he loved, and absorbing the delicious sensations -of the scratching. - -Numa, the lion, caught the scent of man, and warily stalked it until he -came within sight of his prey upon the head of the mighty tusker; then -he turned, growling and muttering, away in search of more propitious -hunting grounds. - -The elephant caught the scent of the lion, borne to him by an eddying -breeze, and lifting his trunk trumpeted loudly. Tarzan stretched back -luxuriously, lying supine at full length along the rough hide. Flies -swarmed about his face; but with a leafy branch torn from a tree he -lazily brushed them away. - -"Tantor," he said, "it is good to be alive. It is good to lie in the -cool shadows. It is good to look upon the green trees and the bright -colors of the flowers--upon everything which Bulamutumumo has put here -for us. He is very good to us, Tantor; He has given you tender leaves -and bark, and rich grasses to eat; to me He has given Bara and Horta -and Pisah, the fruits and the nuts and the roots. He provides for each -the food that each likes best. All that He asks is that we be strong -enough or cunning enough to go forth and take it. Yes, Tantor, it is -good to live. I should hate to die." - -Tantor made a little sound in his throat and curled his trunk upward -that he might caress the ape-man's cheek with the finger at its tip. - -"Tantor," said Tarzan presently, "turn and feed in the direction of the -tribe of Kerchak, the great ape, that Tarzan may ride home upon your -head without walking." - -The tusker turned and moved slowly off along a broad, tree-arched -trail, pausing occasionally to pluck a tender branch, or strip the -edible bark from an adjacent tree. Tarzan sprawled face downward upon -the beast's head and back, his legs hanging on either side, his head -supported by his open palms, his elbows resting on the broad cranium. -And thus they made their leisurely way toward the gathering place of -the tribe. - -Just before they arrived at the clearing from the north there reached -it from the south another figure--that of a well-knit black warrior, -who stepped cautiously through the jungle, every sense upon the alert -against the many dangers which might lurk anywhere along the way. Yet -he passed beneath the southernmost sentry that was posted in a great -tree commanding the trail from the south. The ape permitted the -Gomangani to pass unmolested, for he saw that he was alone; but the -moment that the warrior had entered the clearing a loud "Kreeg-ah!" -rang out from behind him, immediately followed by a chorus of replies -from different directions, as the great bulls crashed through the trees -in answer to the summons of their fellow. - -The black man halted at the first cry and looked about him. He could -see nothing, but he knew the voice of the hairy tree men whom he and -his kind feared, not alone because of the strength and ferocity of the -savage beings, but as well through a superstitious terror engendered by -the manlike appearance of the apes. - -But Bulabantu was no coward. He heard the apes all about him; he knew -that escape was probably impossible, so he stood his ground, his spear -ready in his hand and a war cry trembling on his lips. He would sell -his life dearly, would Bulabantu, under-chief of the village of Mbonga, -the chief. - -Tarzan and Tantor were but a short distance away when the first cry of -the sentry rang out through the quiet jungle. Like a flash the ape-man -leaped from the elephant's back to a near-by tree and was swinging -rapidly in the direction of the clearing before the echoes of the first -"Kreeg-ah" had died away. When he arrived he saw a dozen bulls -circling a single Gomangani. With a blood-curdling scream Tarzan -sprang to the attack. He hated the blacks even more than did the apes, -and here was an opportunity for a kill in the open. What had the -Gomangani done? Had he slain one of the tribe? - -Tarzan asked the nearest ape. No, the Gomangani had harmed none. -Gozan, being on watch, had seen him coming through the forest and had -warned the tribe--that was all. The ape-man pushed through the circle -of bulls, none of which as yet had worked himself into sufficient -frenzy for a charge, and came where he had a full and close view of the -black. He recognized the man instantly. Only the night before he had -seen him facing the eyes in the dark, while his fellows groveled in the -dirt at his feet, too terrified even to defend themselves. Here was a -brave man, and Tarzan had deep admiration for bravery. Even his hatred -of the blacks was not so strong a passion as his love of courage. He -would have joyed in battling with a black warrior at almost any time; -but this one he did not wish to kill--he felt, vaguely, that the man -had earned his life by his brave defense of it on the preceding night, -nor did he fancy the odds that were pitted against the lone warrior. - -He turned to the apes. "Go back to your feeding," he said, "and let -this Gomangani go his way in peace. He has not harmed us, and last -night I saw him fighting Numa and Sabor with fire, alone in the jungle. -He is brave. Why should we kill one who is brave and who has not -attacked us? Let him go." - -The apes growled. They were displeased. "Kill the Gomangani!" cried -one. - -"Yes," roared another, "kill the Gomangani and the Tarmangani as well." - -"Kill the white ape!" screamed Gozan, "he is no ape at all; but a -Gomangani with his skin off." - -"Kill Tarzan!" bellowed Gunto. "Kill! Kill! Kill!" - -The bulls were now indeed working themselves into the frenzy of -slaughter; but against Tarzan rather than the black man. A shaggy form -charged through them, hurling those it came in contact with to one side -as a strong man might scatter children. It was Taug--great, savage -Taug. - -"Who says 'kill Tarzan'?" he demanded. "Who kills Tarzan must kill -Taug, too. Who can kill Taug? Taug will tear your insides from you and -feed them to Dango." - -"We can kill you all," replied Gunto. "There are many of us and few of -you," and he was right. Tarzan knew that he was right. Taug knew it; -but neither would admit such a possibility. It is not the way of bull -apes. - -"I am Tarzan," cried the ape-man. "I am Tarzan. Mighty hunter; mighty -fighter. In all the jungle none so great as Tarzan." - -Then, one by one, the opposing bulls recounted their virtues and their -prowess. And all the time the combatants came closer and closer to one -another. Thus do the bulls work themselves to the proper pitch before -engaging in battle. - -Gunto came, stiff-legged, close to Tarzan and sniffed at him, with -bared fangs. Tarzan rumbled forth a low, menacing growl. They might -repeat these tactics a dozen times; but sooner or later one bull would -close with another and then the whole hideous pack would be tearing and -rending at their prey. - -Bulabantu, the black man, had stood wide-eyed in wonder from the moment -he had seen Tarzan approaching through the apes. He had heard much of -this devil-god who ran with the hairy tree people; but never before had -he seen him in full daylight. He knew him well enough from the -description of those who had seen him and from the glimpses he had had -of the marauder upon several occasions when the ape-man had entered the -village of Mbonga, the chief, by night, in the perpetration of one of -his numerous ghastly jokes. - -Bulabantu could not, of course, understand anything which passed -between Tarzan and the apes; but he saw that the ape-man and one of the -larger bulls were in argument with the others. He saw that these two -were standing with their back toward him and between him and the -balance of the tribe, and he guessed, though it seemed improbable, that -they might be defending him. He knew that Tarzan had once spared the -life of Mbonga, the chief, and that he had succored Tibo, and Tibo's -mother, Momaya. So it was not impossible that he would help Bulabantu; -but how he could accomplish it Bulabantu could not guess; nor as a -matter of fact could Tarzan, for the odds against him were too great. - -Gunto and the others were slowly forcing Tarzan and Taug back toward -Bulabantu. The ape-man thought of his words with Tantor just a short -time before: "Yes, Tantor, it is good to live. I should hate to die." -And now he knew that he was about to die, for the temper of the great -bulls was mounting rapidly against him. Always had many of them hated -him, and all were suspicious of him. They knew he was different. -Tarzan knew it too; but he was glad that he was--he was a MAN; that he -had learned from his picture-books, and he was very proud of the -distinction. Presently, though, he would be a dead man. - -Gunto was preparing to charge. Tarzan knew the signs. He knew that -the balance of the bulls would charge with Gunto. Then it would soon -be over. Something moved among the verdure at the opposite side of the -clearing. Tarzan saw it just as Gunto, with the terrifying cry of a -challenging ape, sprang forward. Tarzan voiced a peculiar call and -then crouched to meet the assault. Taug crouched, too, and Bulabantu, -assured now that these two were fighting upon his side, couched his -spear and sprang between them to receive the first charge of the enemy. - -Simultaneously a huge bulk broke into the clearing from the jungle -behind the charging bulls. The trumpeting of a mad tusker rose shrill -above the cries of the anthropoids, as Tantor, the elephant, dashed -swiftly across the clearing to the aid of his friend. - -Gunto never closed upon the ape-man, nor did a fang enter flesh upon -either side. The terrific reverberation of Tantor's challenge sent the -bulls scurrying to the trees, jabbering and scolding. Taug raced off -with them. Only Tarzan and Bulabantu remained. The latter stood his -ground because he saw that the devil-god did not run, and because the -black had the courage to face a certain and horrible death beside one -who had quite evidently dared death for him. - -But it was a surprised Gomangani who saw the mighty elephant come to a -sudden halt in front of the ape-man and caress him with his long, -sinuous trunk. - -Tarzan turned toward the black man. "Go!" he said in the language of -the apes, and pointed in the direction of the village of Mbonga. -Bulabantu understood the gesture, if not the word, nor did he lose time -in obeying. Tarzan stood watching him until he had disappeared. He -knew that the apes would not follow. Then he said to the elephant: -"Pick me up!" and the tusker swung him lightly to his head. - -"Tarzan goes to his lair by the big water," shouted the ape-man to the -apes in the trees. "All of you are more foolish than Manu, except Taug -and Teeka. Taug and Teeka may come to see Tarzan; but the others must -keep away. Tarzan is done with the tribe of Kerchak." - -He prodded Tantor with a calloused toe and the big beast swung off -across the clearing, the apes watching them until they were swallowed -up by the jungle. - -Before the night fell Taug killed Gunto, picking a quarrel with him -over his attack upon Tarzan. - -For a moon the tribe saw nothing of Tarzan of the Apes. Many of them -probably never gave him a thought; but there were those who missed him -more than Tarzan imagined. Taug and Teeka often wished that he was -back, and Taug determined a dozen times to go and visit Tarzan in his -seaside lair; but first one thing and then another interfered. - -One night when Taug lay sleepless looking up at the starry heavens he -recalled the strange things that Tarzan once had suggested to him--that -the bright spots were the eyes of the meat-eaters waiting in the dark -of the jungle sky to leap upon Goro, the moon, and devour him. The -more he thought about this matter the more perturbed he became. - -And then a strange thing happened. Even as Taug looked at Goro, he saw -a portion of one edge disappear, precisely as though something was -gnawing upon it. Larger and larger became the hole in the side of -Goro. With a scream, Taug leaped to his feet. His frenzied -"Kreeg-ahs!" brought the terrified tribe screaming and chattering -toward him. - -"Look!" cried Taug, pointing at the moon. "Look! It is as Tarzan said. -Numa has sprung through the fires and is devouring Goro. You called -Tarzan names and drove him from the tribe; now see how wise he was. -Let one of you who hated Tarzan go to Goro's aid. See the eyes in the -dark jungle all about Goro. He is in danger and none can help -him--none except Tarzan. Soon Goro will be devoured by Numa and we -shall have no more light after Kudu seeks his lair. How shall we dance -the Dum-Dum without the light of Goro?" - -The apes trembled and whimpered. Any manifestation of the powers of -nature always filled them with terror, for they could not understand. - -"Go and bring Tarzan," cried one, and then they all took up the cry of -"Tarzan!" "Bring Tarzan!" "He will save Goro." But who was to travel -the dark jungle by night to fetch him? - -"I will go," volunteered Taug, and an instant later he was off through -the Stygian gloom toward the little land-locked harbor by the sea. - -And as the tribe waited they watched the slow devouring of the moon. -Already Numa had eaten out a great semicircular piece. At that rate -Goro would be entirely gone before Kudu came again. The apes trembled -at the thought of perpetual darkness by night. They could not sleep. -Restlessly they moved here and there among the branches of trees, -watching Numa of the skies at his deadly feast, and listening for the -coming of Taug with Tarzan. - -Goro was nearly gone when the apes heard the sounds of the approach -through the trees of the two they awaited, and presently Tarzan, -followed by Taug, swung into a nearby tree. - -The ape-man wasted no time in idle words. In his hand was his long bow -and at his back hung a quiver full of arrows, poisoned arrows that he -had stolen from the village of the blacks; just as he had stolen the -bow. Up into a great tree he clambered, higher and higher until he -stood swaying upon a small limb which bent low beneath his weight. -Here he had a clear and unobstructed view of the heavens. He saw Goro -and the inroads which the hungry Numa had made into his shining surface. - -Raising his face to the moon, Tarzan shrilled forth his hideous -challenge. Faintly and from afar came the roar of an answering lion. -The apes shivered. Numa of the skies had answered Tarzan. - -Then the ape-man fitted an arrow to his bow, and drawing the shaft far -back, aimed its point at the heart of Numa where he lay in the heavens -devouring Goro. There was a loud twang as the released bolt shot into -the dark heavens. Again and again did Tarzan of the Apes launch his -arrows at Numa, and all the while the apes of the tribe of Kerchak -huddled together in terror. - -At last came a cry from Taug. "Look! Look!" he screamed. "Numa is -killed. Tarzan has killed Numa. See! Goro is emerging from the belly -of Numa," and, sure enough, the moon was gradually emerging from -whatever had devoured her, whether it was Numa, the lion, or the shadow -of the earth; but were you to try to convince an ape of the tribe of -Kerchak that it was aught but Numa who so nearly devoured Goro that -night, or that another than Tarzan preserved the brilliant god of their -savage and mysterious rites from a frightful death, you would have -difficulty--and a fight on your hands. - -And so Tarzan of the Apes came back to the tribe of Kerchak, and in his -coming he took a long stride toward the kingship, which he ultimately -won, for now the apes looked up to him as a superior being. - -In all the tribe there was but one who was at all skeptical about the -plausibility of Tarzan's remarkable rescue of Goro, and that one, -strange as it may seem, was Tarzan of the Apes. - - - - - - - - - -End of Project Gutenberg's Jungle Tales of Tarzan, by Edgar Rice Burroughs - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK JUNGLE TALES OF TARZAN *** - -***** This file should be named 106.txt or 106.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - https://www.gutenberg.org/1/0/106/ - -Produced by Judith Boss. 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FOR PUBLIC DOMAIN ETEXTS*Ver.04.29.93*END* - - - - -The Project Gutenberg Etext of Jungle Tales of Tarzan - -by Edgar Rice Burroughs - - -Contents - -CHAPTER - - 1 Tarzan's First Love - 2 The Capture of Tarzan - 3 The Fight for the Balu - 4 The God of Tarzan - 5 Tarzan and the Black Boy - 6 The Witch-Doctor Seeks Vengeance - 7 The End of Bukawai - 8 The Lion - 9 The Nightmare -10 The Battle for Teeka -11 A Jungle Joke -12 Tarzan Rescues the Moon - - - - 1 - - Tarzan's First Love - -TEEKA, STRETCHED AT luxurious ease in the shade of the -tropical forest, presented, unquestionably, a most alluring -picture of young, feminine loveliness. Or at least so -thought Tarzan of the Apes, who squatted upon a low-swinging -branch in a near-by tree and looked down upon her. - -Just to have seen him there, lolling upon the swaying -bough of the jungle-forest giant, his brown skin mottled -by the brilliant equatorial sunlight which percolated -through the leafy canopy of green above him, his clean-limbed -body relaxed in graceful ease, his shapely head partly -turned in contemplative absorption and his intelligent, -gray eyes dreamily devouring the object of their devotion, -you would have thought him the reincarnation of some -demigod of old. - -You would not have guessed that in infancy he had suckled -at the breast of a hideous, hairy she-ape, nor that in all -his conscious past since his parents had passed away in the -little cabin by the landlocked harbor at the jungle's verge, -he had known no other associates than the sullen bulls -and the snarling cows of the tribe of Kerchak, the great ape. - -Nor, could you have read the thoughts which passed through -that active, healthy brain, the longings and desires -and aspirations which the sight of Teeka inspired, -would you have been any more inclined to give credence -to the reality of the origin of the ape-man. For, -from his thoughts alone, you could never have gleaned -the truth--that he had been born to a gentle English lady -or that his sire had been an English nobleman of time-honored -lineage. - -Lost to Tarzan of the Apes was the truth of his origin. -That he was John Clayton, Lord Greystoke, with a seat -in the House of Lords, he did not know, nor, knowing, -would have understood. - -Yes, Teeka was indeed beautiful! - -Of course Kala had been beautiful--one's mother is always -that--but Teeka was beautiful in a way all her own, -an indescribable sort of way which Tarzan was just -beginning to sense in a rather vague and hazy manner. - -For years had Tarzan and Teeka been play-fellows, and Teeka -still continued to be playful while the young bulls of her own -age were rapidly becoming surly and morose. Tarzan, if he -gave the matter much thought at all, probably reasoned -that his growing attachment for the young female could -be easily accounted for by the fact that of the former -playmates she and he alone retained any desire to frolic as of -old. - -But today, as he sat gazing upon her, he found himself -noting the beauties of Teeka's form and features--something -he never had done before, since none of them had aught -to do with Teeka's ability to race nimbly through the lower -terraces of the forest in the primitive games of tag and -hide-and-go-seek which Tarzan's fertile brain evolved. -Tarzan scratched his head, running his fingers deep -into the shock of black hair which framed his shapely, -boyish face--he scratched his head and sighed. -Teeka's new-found beauty became as suddenly his despair. -He envied her the handsome coat of hair which covered -her body. His own smooth, brown hide he hated with a -hatred born of disgust and contempt. Years back he had -harbored a hope that some day he, too, would be clothed -in hair as were all his brothers and sisters; but of late -he had been forced to abandon the delectable dream. - -Then there were Teeka's great teeth, not so large as the males, -of course, but still mighty, handsome things by comparison -with Tarzan's feeble white ones. And her beetling brows, -and broad, flat nose, and her mouth! Tarzan had often -practiced making his mouth into a little round circle and then -puffing out his cheeks while he winked his eyes rapidly; -but he felt that he could never do it in the same cute -and irresistible way in which Teeka did it. - -And as he watched her that afternoon, and wondered, -a young bull ape who had been lazily foraging for food -beneath the damp, matted carpet of decaying vegetation -at the roots of a near-by tree lumbered awkwardly -in Teeka's direction. The other apes of the tribe -of Kerchak moved listlessly about or lolled restfully -in the midday heat of the equatorial jungle. From time -to time one or another of them had passed close to Teeka, -and Tarzan had been uninterested. Why was it then that his -brows contracted and his muscles tensed as he saw Taug -pause beside the young she and then squat down close to her? - -Tarzan always had liked Taug. Since childhood they -had romped together. Side by side they had squatted -near the water, their quick, strong fingers ready to -leap forth and seize Pisah, the fish, should that wary -denizen of the cool depths dart surfaceward to the lure -of the insects Tarzan tossed upon the face of the pool. - -Together they had baited Tublat and teased Numa, the lion. -Why, then, should Tarzan feel the rise of the short hairs -at the nape of his neck merely because Taug sat close to Teeka? - -It is true that Taug was no longer the frolicsome ape -of yesterday. When his snarling-muscles bared his giant -fangs no one could longer imagine that Taug was in as -playful a mood as when he and Tarzan had rolled upon -the turf in mimic battle. The Taug of today was a huge, -sullen bull ape, somber and forbidding. Yet he and Tarzan -never had quarreled. - -For a few minutes the young ape-man watched Taug press -closer to Teeka. He saw the rough caress of the huge -paw as it stroked the sleek shoulder of the she, -and then Tarzan of the Apes slipped catlike to the ground -and approached the two. - -As he came his upper lip curled into a snarl, exposing his -fighting fangs, and a deep growl rumbled from his -cavernous chest. Taug looked up, batting his blood-shot eyes. -Teeka half raised herself and looked at Tarzan. -Did she guess the cause of his perturbation? Who may -say? At any rate, she was feminine, and so she reached -up and scratched Taug behind one of his small, flat ears. - -Tarzan saw, and in the instant that he saw, Teeka was no -longer the little playmate of an hour ago; instead she -was a wondrous thing--the most wondrous in the world--and -a possession for which Tarzan would fight to the death -against Taug or any other who dared question his right -of proprietorship. - -Stooped, his muscles rigid and one great shoulder turned -toward the young bull, Tarzan of the Apes sidled nearer -and nearer. His face was partly averted, but his keen -gray eyes never left those of Taug, and as he came, -his growls increased in depth and volume. - -Taug rose upon his short legs, bristling. His fighting -fangs were bared. He, too, sidled, stiff-legged, and growled. - -"Teeka is Tarzan's," said the ape-man, in the low gutturals -of the great anthropoids. - -"Teeka is Taug's," replied the bull ape. - -Thaka and Numgo and Gunto, disturbed by the growlings -of the two young bulls, looked up half apathetic, -half interested. They were sleepy, but they sensed a fight. -It would break the monotony of the humdrum jungle life -they led. - -Coiled about his shoulders was Tarzan's long grass rope, -in his hand was the hunting knife of the long-dead father -he had never known. In Taug's little brain lay a great -respect for the shiny bit of sharp metal which the ape-boy -knew so well how to use. With it had he slain Tublat, -his fierce foster father, and Bolgani, the gorilla. -Taug knew these things, and so he came warily, circling about -Tarzan in search of an opening. The latter, made cautious -because of his lesser bulk and the inferiority of his -natural armament, followed similar tactics. - -For a time it seemed that the altercation would -follow the way of the majority of such differences -between members of the tribe and that one of them would -finally lose interest and wander off to prosecute some -other line of endeavor. Such might have been the end -of it had the CASUS BELLI been other than it was; -but Teeka was flattered at the attention that was being -drawn to her and by the fact that these two young bulls -were contemplating battle on her account. Such a thing -never before had occurred in Teeka's brief life. -She had seen other bulls battling for other and older shes, -and in the depth of her wild little heart she had longed -for the day when the jungle grasses would be reddened -with the blood of mortal combat for her fair sake. - -So now she squatted upon her haunches and insulted -both her admirers impartially. She hurled taunts at -them for their cowardice, and called them vile names, -such as Histah, the snake, and Dango, the hyena. -She threatened to call Mumga to chastise them with a -stick--Mumga, who was so old that she could no longer -climb and so toothless that she was forced to confine -her diet almost exclusively to bananas and grub-worms. - -The apes who were watching heard and laughed. -Taug was infuriated. He made a sudden lunge for Tarzan, -but the ape-boy leaped nimbly to one side, eluding him, -and with the quickness of a cat wheeled and leaped back -again to close quarters. His hunting knife was raised -above his head as he came in, and he aimed a vicious blow -at Taug's neck. The ape wheeled to dodge the weapon -so that the keen blade struck him but a glancing blow upon -the shoulder. - -The spurt of red blood brought a shrill cry of delight -from Teeka. Ah, but this was something worth while! -She glanced about to see if others had witnessed this -evidence of her popularity. Helen of Troy was never -one whit more proud than was Teeka at that moment. - -If Teeka had not been so absorbed in her own vaingloriousness -she might have noted the rustling of leaves in the -tree above her--a rustling which was not caused by -any movement of the wind, since there was no wind. -And had she looked up she might have seen a sleek body -crouching almost directly over her and wicked yellow -eyes glaring hungrily down upon her, but Teeka did not look up. - -With his wound Taug had backed off growling horribly. -Tarzan had followed him, screaming insults at him, -and menacing him with his brandishing blade. Teeka moved -from beneath the tree in an effort to keep close to -the duelists. - -The branch above Teeka bent and swayed a trifle with the -movement of the body of the watcher stretched along it. -Taug had halted now and was preparing to make a new stand. -His lips were flecked with foam, and saliva drooled from -his jowls. He stood with head lowered and arms outstretched, -preparing for a sudden charge to close quarters. -Could he but lay his mighty hands upon that soft, -brown skin the battle would be his. Taug considered -Tarzan's manner of fighting unfair. He would not close. -Instead, he leaped nimbly just beyond the reach of Taug's -muscular fingers. - -The ape-boy had as yet never come to a real trial -of strength with a bull ape, other than in play, -and so he was not at all sure that it would be safe to put -his muscles to the test in a life and death struggle. -Not that he was afraid, for Tarzan knew nothing of fear. -The instinct of self-preservation gave him caution--that -was all. He took risks only when it seemed necessary, -and then he would hesitate at nothing. - -His own method of fighting seemed best fitted to his build -and to his armament. His teeth, while strong and sharp, were, -as weapons of offense, pitifully inadequate by comparison -with the mighty fighting fangs of the anthropoids. -By dancing about, just out of reach of an antagonist, -Tarzan could do infinite injury with his long, -sharp hunting knife, and at the same time escape -many of the painful and dangerous wounds which would -be sure to follow his falling into the clutches of a bull ape. - -And so Taug charged and bellowed like a bull, and Tarzan -of the Apes danced lightly to this side and that, -hurling jungle billingsgate at his foe, the while he -nicked him now and again with his knife. - -There were lulls in the fighting when the two would stand -panting for breath, facing each other, mustering their -wits and their forces for a new onslaught. It was -during a pause such as this that Taug chanced to let -his eyes rove beyond his foeman. Instantly the entire -aspect of the ape altered. Rage left his countenance -to be supplanted by an expression of fear. - -With a cry that every ape there recognized, Taug turned -and fled. No need to question him--his warning proclaimed -the near presence of their ancient enemy. - -Tarzan started to seek safety, as did the other members -of the tribe, and as he did so he heard a panther's -scream mingled with the frightened cry of a she-ape. -Taug heard, too; but he did not pause in his flight. - -With the ape-boy, however, it was different. He looked -back to see if any member of the tribe was close pressed -by the beast of prey, and the sight that met his eyes -filled them with an expression of horror. - -Teeka it was who cried out in terror as she fled across -a little clearing toward the trees upon the opposite side, -for after her leaped Sheeta, the panther, in easy, -graceful bounds. Sheeta appeared to be in no hurry. -His meat was assured, since even though the ape reached -the trees ahead of him she could not climb beyond his -clutches before he could be upon her. - -Tarzan saw that Teeka must die. He cried to Taug -and the other bulls to hasten to Teeka's assistance, -and at the same time he ran toward the pursuing beast, -taking down his rope as he came. Tarzan knew that once -the great bulls were aroused none of the jungle, -not even Numa, the lion, was anxious to measure fangs -with them, and that if all those of the tribe who chanced -to be present today would charge, Sheeta, the great cat, -would doubtless turn tail and run for his life. - -Taug heard, as did the others, but no one came to Tarzan's -assistance or Teeka's rescue, and Sheeta was rapidly -closing up the distance between himself and his prey. - -The ape-boy, leaping after the panther, cried aloud to -the beast in an effort to turn it from Teeka or otherwise -distract its attention until the she-ape could gain the -safety of the higher branches where Sheeta dared not go. -He called the panther every opprobrious name that fell -to his tongue. He dared him to stop and do battle with him; -but Sheeta only loped on after the luscious titbit now -almost within his reach. - -Tarzan was not far behind and he was gaining, but the -distance was so short that he scarce hoped to overhaul -the carnivore before it had felled Teeka. In his right hand -the boy swung his grass rope above his head as he ran. -He hated to chance a miss, for the distance was much -greater than he ever had cast before except in practice. -It was the full length of his grass rope which separated -him from Sheeta, and yet there was no other thing to do. -He could not reach the brute's side before it overhauled Teeka. -He must chance a throw. - -And just as Teeka sprang for the lower limb of a great tree, -and Sheeta rose behind her in a long, sinuous leap, -the coils of the ape-boy's grass rope shot swiftly -through the air, straightening into a long thin line -as the open noose hovered for an instant above the savage -head and the snarling jaws. Then it settled--clean -and true about the tawny neck it settled, and Tarzan, -with a quick twist of his rope-hand, drew the noose taut, -bracing himself for the shock when Sheeta should have -taken up the slack. - -Just short of Teeka's glossy rump the cruel talons raked -the air as the rope tightened and Sheeta was brought to a -sudden stop--a stop that snapped the big beast over upon -his back. Instantly Sheeta was up--with glaring eyes, -and lashing tail, and gaping jaws, from which issued -hideous cries of rage and disappointment. - -He saw the ape-boy, the cause of his discomfiture, -scarce forty feet before him, and Sheeta charged. - -Teeka was safe now; Tarzan saw to that by a quick glance -into the tree whose safety she had gained not an instant -too soon, and Sheeta was charging. It was useless to risk -his life in idle and unequal combat from which no good -could come; but could he escape a battle with the enraged -cat? And if he was forced to fight, what chance had he -to survive? Tarzan was constrained to admit that his -position was aught but a desirable one. The trees were -too far to hope to reach in time to elude the cat. -Tarzan could but stand facing that hideous charge. -In his right hand he grasped his hunting knife--a puny, -futile thing indeed by comparison with the great rows -of mighty teeth which lined Sheeta's powerful jaws, -and the sharp talons encased within his padded paws; -yet the young Lord Greystoke faced it with the same courageous -resignation with which some fearless ancestor went down -to defeat and death on Senlac Hill by Hastings. - -From safety points in the trees the great apes watched, -screaming hatred at Sheeta and advice at Tarzan, for the -progenitors of man have, naturally, many human traits. -Teeka was frightened. She screamed at the bulls to hasten -to Tarzan's assistance; but the bulls were otherwise -engaged--principally in giving advice and making faces. -Anyway, Tarzan was not a real Mangani, so why should they -risk their lives in an effort to protect him? - -And now Sheeta was almost upon the lithe, naked body, -and--the body was not there. Quick as was the great cat, -the ape-boy was quicker. He leaped to one side almost -as the panther's talons were closing upon him, and as Sheeta -went hurtling to the ground beyond, Tarzan was racing -for the safety of the nearest tree. - -The panther recovered himself almost immediately and, -wheeling, tore after his prey, the ape-boy's rope -dragging along the ground behind him. In doubling back -after Tarzan, Sheeta had passed around a low bush. -It was a mere nothing in the path of any jungle creature -of the size and weight of Sheeta--provided it had no -trailing rope dangling behind. But Sheeta was handicapped -by such a rope, and as he leaped once again after Tarzan -of the Apes the rope encircled the small bush, became -tangled in it and brought the panther to a sudden stop. -An instant later Tarzan was safe among the higher branches -of a small tree into which Sheeta could not follow him. - -Here he perched, hurling twigs and epithets at the raging -feline beneath him. The other members of the tribe now -took up the bombardment, using such hard-shelled fruits -and dead branches as came within their reach, until Sheeta, -goaded to frenzy and snapping at the grass rope, -finally succeeded in severing its strands. For a moment -the panther stood glaring first at one of his tormentors -and then at another, until, with a final scream of rage, -he turned and slunk off into the tangled mazes of the jungle. - -A half hour later the tribe was again upon the ground, -feeding as though naught had occurred to interrupt the somber -dullness of their lives. Tarzan had recovered the greater -part of his rope and was busy fashioning a new noose, -while Teeka squatted close behind him, in evident token -that her choice was made. - -Taug eyed them sullenly. Once when he came close, -Teeka bared her fangs and growled at him, and Tarzan -showed his canines in an ugly snarl; but Taug did not -provoke a quarrel. He seemed to accept after the manner -of his kind the decision of the she as an indication -that he had been vanquished in his battle for her favors. - -Later in the day, his rope repaired, Tarzan took to the trees -in search of game. More than his fellows he required meat, -and so, while they were satisfied with fruits and herbs -and beetles, which could be discovered without much effort -upon their part, Tarzan spent considerable time hunting -the game animals whose flesh alone satisfied the cravings -of his stomach and furnished sustenance and strength -to the mighty thews which, day by day, were building -beneath the soft, smooth texture of his brown hide. - -Taug saw him depart, and then, quite casually, the big beast -hunted closer and closer to Teeka in his search for food. -At last he was within a few feet of her, and when he shot -a covert glance at her he saw that she was appraising him -and that there was no evidence of anger upon her face. - -Taug expanded his great chest and rolled about on his -short legs, making strange growlings in his throat. -He raised his lips, baring his fangs. My, but what great, -beautiful fangs he had! Teeka could not but notice them. -She also let her eyes rest in admiration upon Taug's beetling -brows and his short, powerful neck. What a beautiful -creature he was indeed! - -Taug, flattered by the unconcealed admiration in her eyes, -strutted about, as proud and as vain as a peacock. -Presently he began to inventory his assets, mentally, -and shortly he found himself comparing them with those -of his rival. - -Taug grunted, for there was no comparison. How could -one compare his beautiful coat with the smooth and naked -hideousness of Tarzan's bare hide? Who could see beauty -in the stingy nose of the Tarmangani after looking at -Taug's broad nostrils? And Tarzan's eyes! Hideous things, -showing white about them, and entirely unrimmed with red. -Taug knew that his own blood-shot eyes were beautiful, -for he had seen them reflected in the glassy surface of many -a drinking pool. - -The bull drew nearer to Teeka, finally squatting close -against her. When Tarzan returned from his hunting a short -time later it was to see Teeka contentedly scratching -the back of his rival. - -Tarzan was disgusted. Neither Taug nor Teeka saw him -as he swung through the trees into the glade. He paused -a moment, looking at them; then, with a sorrowful grimace, -he turned and faded away into the labyrinth of leafy -boughs and festooned moss out of which he had come. - -Tarzan wished to be as far away from the cause of his heartache -as he could. He was suffering the first pangs of blighted love, -and he didn't quite know what was the matter with him. -He thought that he was angry with Taug, and so he couldn't -understand why it was that he had run away instead -of rushing into mortal combat with the destroyer of his -happiness. - -He also thought that he was angry with Teeka, yet a -vision of her many beauties persisted in haunting him, -so that he could only see her in the light of love -as the most desirable thing in the world. - -The ape-boy craved affection. From babyhood until the -time of her death, when the poisoned arrow of Kulonga -had pierced her savage heart, Kala had represented -to the English boy the sole object of love which he had known. - -In her wild, fierce way Kala had loved her adopted son, -and Tarzan had returned that love, though the outward -demonstrations of it were no greater than might have -been expected from any other beast of the jungle. -It was not until he was bereft of her that the boy -realized how deep had been his attachment for his mother, -for as such he looked upon her. - -In Teeka he had seen within the past few hours a -substitute for Kala--someone to fight for and to hunt -for--someone to caress; but now his dream was shattered. -Something hurt within his breast. He placed his hand -over his heart and wondered what had happened to him. -Vaguely he attributed his pain to Teeka. The more he -thought of Teeka as he had last seen her, caressing Taug, -the more the thing within his breast hurt him. - -Tarzan shook his head and growled; then on and on -through the jungle he swung, and the farther he traveled -and the more he thought upon his wrongs, the nearer -he approached becoming an irreclaimable misogynist. - -Two days later he was still hunting alone--very morose -and very unhappy; but he was determined never to return -to the tribe. He could not bear the thought of seeing -Taug and Teeka always together. As he swung upon -a great limb Numa, the lion, and Sabor, the lioness, -passed beneath him, side by side, and Sabor leaned -against the lion and bit playfully at his cheek. -It was a half-caress. Tarzan sighed and hurled a nut at them. - -Later he came upon several of Mbonga's black warriors. -He was upon the point of dropping his noose about the -neck of one of them, who was a little distance from -his companions, when he became interested in the thing -which occupied the savages. They were building a cage -in the trail and covering it with leafy branches. -When they had completed their work the structure was -scarcely visible. - -Tarzan wondered what the purpose of the thing might be, -and why, when they had built it, they turned away and started -back along the trail in the direction of their village. - -It had been some time since Tarzan had visited the blacks -and looked down from the shelter of the great trees which -overhung their palisade upon the activities of his enemies, -from among whom had come the slayer of Kala. - -Although he hated them, Tarzan derived considerable -entertainment in watching them at their daily life within -the village, and especially at their dances, when the -fires glared against their naked bodies as they leaped -and turned and twisted in mimic warfare. It was rather -in the hope of witnessing something of the kind that he -now followed the warriors back toward their village, -but in this he was disappointed, for there was no dance -that night. - -Instead, from the safe concealment of his tree, Tarzan saw -little groups seated about tiny fires discussing the events -of the day, and in the darker corners of the village he -descried isolated couples talking and laughing together, -and always one of each couple was a young man and the -other a young woman. - -Tarzan cocked his head upon one side and thought, -and before he went to sleep that night, curled in the crotch -of the great tree above the village, Teeka filled his mind, -and afterward she filled his dreams--she and the young -black men laughing and talking with the young black women. - -Taug, hunting alone, had wandered some distance from -the balance of the tribe. He was making his way slowly -along an elephant path when he discovered that it was -blocked with undergrowth. Now Taug, come into maturity, -was an evil-natured brute of an exceeding short temper. -When something thwarted him, his sole idea was to overcome -it by brute strength and ferocity, and so now when he found -his way blocked, he tore angrily into the leafy screen -and an instant later found himself within a strange lair, -his progress effectually blocked, notwithstanding his most -violent efforts to forge ahead. - -Biting and striking at the barrier, Taug finally worked -himself into a frightful rage, but all to no avail; -and at last he became convinced that he must turn back. -But when he would have done so, what was his chagrin to -discover that another barrier had dropped behind him while he -fought to break down the one before him! Taug was trapped. -Until exhaustion overcame him he fought frantically for -his freedom; but all for naught. - -In the morning a party of blacks set out from the village -of Mbonga in the direction of the trap they had constructed -the previous day, while among the branches of the trees above -them hovered a naked young giant filled with the curiosity -of the wild things. Manu, the monkey, chattered and -scolded as Tarzan passed, and though he was not afraid -of the familiar figure of the ape-boy, he hugged closer -to him the little brown body of his life's companion. -Tarzan laughed as he saw it; but the laugh was followed -by a sudden clouding of his face and a deep sigh. - -A little farther on, a gaily feathered bird strutted -about before the admiring eyes of his somber-hued mate. -It seemed to Tarzan that everything in the jungle was -combining to remind him that he had lost Teeka; yet every -day of his life he had seen these same things and thought -nothing of them. - -When the blacks reached the trap, Taug set up a great commotion. -Seizing the bars of his prison, he shook them frantically, -and all the while he roared and growled terrifically. -The blacks were elated, for while they had not built -their trap for this hairy tree man, they were delighted -with their catch. - -Tarzan pricked up his ears when he heard the voice of a -great ape and, circling quickly until he was down wind -from the trap, he sniffed at the air in search of the scent -spoor of the prisoner. Nor was it long before there came -to those delicate nostrils the familiar odor that told -Tarzan the identity of the captive as unerringly as though -he had looked upon Taug with his eyes. Yes, it was Taug, -and he was alone. - -Tarzan grinned as he approached to discover what the blacks -would do to their prisoner. Doubtless they would slay him -at once. Again Tarzan grinned. Now he could have Teeka -for his own, with none to dispute his right to her. -As he watched, he saw the black warriors strip the screen -from about the cage, fasten ropes to it and drag it away -along the trail in the direction of their village. - -Tarzan watched until his rival passed out of sight, -still beating upon the bars of his prison and growling -out his anger and his threats. Then the ape-boy turned -and swung rapidly off in search of the tribe, and Teeka. - -Once, upon the journey, he surprised Sheeta and his family -in a little overgrown clearing. The great cat lay stretched -upon the ground, while his mate, one paw across her lord's -savage face, licked at the soft white fur at his throat. - -Tarzan increased his speed then until he fairly flew -through the forest, nor was it long before he came upon -the tribe. He saw them before they saw him, for of all -the jungle creatures, none passed more quietly than Tarzan -of the Apes. He saw Kamma and her mate feeding side -by side, their hairy bodies rubbing against each other. -And he saw Teeka feeding by herself. Not for long -would she feed thus in loneliness, thought Tarzan, -as with a bound he landed amongst them. - -There was a startled rush and a chorus of angry -and frightened snarls, for Tarzan had surprised them; -but there was more, too, than mere nervous shock to account -for the bristling neck hair which remained standing long -after the apes had discovered the identity of the newcomer. - -Tarzan noticed this as he had noticed it many times -in the past--that always his sudden coming among them -left them nervous and unstrung for a considerable time, -and that they one and all found it necessary to satisfy -themselves that he was indeed Tarzan by smelling about him -a half dozen or more times before they calmed down. - -Pushing through them, he made his way toward Teeka; -but as he approached her the ape drew away. - -"Teeka," he said, "it is Tarzan. You belong to Tarzan. -I have come for you." - -The ape drew closer, looking him over carefully. -Finally she sniffed at him, as though to make assurance -doubly sure. - -"Where is Taug?" she asked. - -"The Gomangani have him," replied Tarzan. "They will -kill him." - -In the eyes of the she, Tarzan saw a wistful expression -and a troubled look of sorrow as he told her of Taug's fate; -but she came quite close and snuggled against him, -and Tarzan, Lord Greystoke, put his arm about her. - -As he did so he noticed, with a start, the strange -incongruity of that smooth, brown arm against the black -and hairy coat of his lady-love. He recalled the paw of -Sheeta's mate across Sheeta's face--no incongruity there. -He thought of little Manu hugging his she, and how the one -seemed to belong to the other. Even the proud male bird, -with his gay plumage, bore a close resemblance to his -quieter spouse, while Numa, but for his shaggy mane, -was almost a counterpart of Sabor, the lioness. -The males and the females differed, it was true; -but not with such differences as existed between Tarzan -and Teeka. - -Tarzan was puzzled. There was something wrong. His arm -dropped from the shoulder of Teeka. Very slowly he drew -away from her. She looked at him with her head cocked -upon one side. Tarzan rose to his full height and beat -upon his breast with his fists. He raised his head toward -the heavens and opened his mouth. From the depths of his -lungs rose the fierce, weird challenge of the victorious -bull ape. The tribe turned curiously to eye him. -He had killed nothing, nor was there any antagonist to be -goaded to madness by the savage scream. No, there was -no excuse for it, and they turned back to their feeding, -but with an eye upon the ape-man lest he be preparing -to suddenly run amuck. - -As they watched him they saw him swing into a near-by -tree and disappear from sight. Then they forgot him, -even Teeka. - -Mbonga's black warriors, sweating beneath their strenuous task, -and resting often, made slow progress toward their village. -Always the savage beast in the primitive cage growled -and roared when they moved him. He beat upon the bars -and slavered at the mouth. His noise was hideous. - -They had almost completed their journey and were making -their final rest before forging ahead to gain the clearing -in which lay their village. A few more minutes would -have taken them out of the forest, and then, doubtless, -the thing would not have happened which did happen. - -A silent figure moved through the trees above them. -Keen eyes inspected the cage and counted the number -of warriors. An alert and daring brain figured upon -the chances of success when a certain plan should be put -to the test. - -Tarzan watched the blacks lolling in the shade. -They were exhausted. Already several of them slept. -He crept closer, pausing just above them. Not a leaf rustled -before his stealthy advance. He waited in the infinite -patience of the beast of prey. Presently but two of the -warriors remained awake, and one of these was dozing. - -Tarzan of the Apes gathered himself, and as he did so the -black who did not sleep arose and passed around to the rear -of the cage. The ape-boy followed just above his head. -Taug was eyeing the warrior and emitting low growls. -Tarzan feared that the anthropoid would awaken the sleepers. - -In a whisper which was inaudible to the ears of the Negro, -Tarzan whispered Taug's name, cautioning the ape to silence, -and Taug's growling ceased. - -The black approached the rear of the cage and examined -the fastenings of the door, and as he stood there the -beast above him launched itself from the tree full upon -his back. Steel fingers circled his throat, choking the -cry which sprang to the lips of the terrified man. -Strong teeth fastened themselves in his shoulder, -and powerful legs wound themselves about his torso. - -The black in a frenzy of terror tried to dislodge -the silent thing which clung to him. He threw himself -to the ground and rolled about; but still those mighty -fingers closed more and more tightly their deadly grip. - -The man's mouth gaped wide, his swollen tongue protruded, -his eyes started from their sockets; but the relentless -fingers only increased their pressure. - -Taug was a silent witness of the struggle. In his fierce -little brain he doubtless wondered what purpose prompted -Tarzan to attack the black. Taug had not forgotten his -recent battle with the ape-boy, nor the cause of it. -Now he saw the form of the Gomangani suddenly go limp. -There was a convulsive shiver and the man lay still. - -Tarzan sprang from his prey and ran to the door of the cage. -With nimble fingers he worked rapidly at the thongs -which held the door in place. Taug could only watch--he -could not help. Presently Tarzan pushed the thing up -a couple of feet and Taug crawled out. The ape would -have turned upon the sleeping blacks that he might wreak -his pent vengeance; but Tarzan would not permit it. - -Instead, the ape-boy dragged the body of the black -within the cage and propped it against the side bars. -Then he lowered the door and made fast the thongs as they -had been before. - -A happy smile lighted his features as he worked, -for one of his principal diversions was the baiting -of the blacks of Mbonga's village. He could imagine -their terror when they awoke and found the dead body -of their comrade fast in the cage where they had left -the great ape safely secured but a few minutes before. - -Tarzan and Taug took to the trees together, the shaggy -coat of the fierce ape brushing the sleek skin of the -English lordling as they passed through the primeval -jungle side by side. - -"Go back to Teeka," said Tarzan. "She is yours. -Tarzan does not want her." - -"Tarzan has found another she?" asked Taug. - -The ape-boy shrugged. - -"For the Gomangani there is another Gomangani," he said; -"for Numa, the lion, there is Sabor, the lioness; -for Sheeta there is a she of his own kind; for Bara, -the deer; for Manu, the monkey; for all the beasts -and the birds of the jungle is there a mate. Only for -Tarzan of the Apes is there none. Taug is an ape. -Teeka is an ape. Go back to Teeka. Tarzan is a man. -He will go alone." - - - - - - - 2 - - The Capture of Tarzan - -THE BLACK WARRIORS labored in the humid heat of the jungle's -stifling shade. With war spears they loosened the thick, -black loam and the deep layers of rotting vegetation. -With heavy-nailed fingers they scooped away the disintegrated -earth from the center of the age-old game trail. Often they -ceased their labors to squat, resting and gossiping, -with much laughter, at the edge of the pit they were digging. - -Against the boles of near-by trees leaned their long, -oval shields of thick buffalo hide, and the spears -of those who were doing the scooping. Sweat glistened -upon their smooth, ebon skins, beneath which rolled -rounded muscles, supple in the perfection of nature's -uncontaminated health. - -A reed buck, stepping warily along the trail toward water, -halted as a burst of laughter broke upon his startled ears. -For a moment he stood statuesque but for his sensitively -dilating nostrils; then he wheeled and fled noiselessly -from the terrifying presence of man. - -A hundred yards away, deep in the tangle of impenetrable -jungle, Numa, the lion, raised his massive head. Numa had -dined well until almost daybreak and it had required much -noise to awaken him. Now he lifted his muzzle and sniffed -the air, caught the acrid scent spoor of the reed buck -and the heavy scent of man. But Numa was well filled. -With a low, disgusted grunt he rose and slunk away. - -Brilliantly plumaged birds with raucous voices darted from -tree to tree. Little monkeys, chattering and scolding, -swung through the swaying limbs above the black warriors. -Yet they were alone, for the teeming jungle with all its -myriad life, like the swarming streets of a great metropolis, -is one of the loneliest spots in God's great universe. - -But were they alone? - -Above them, lightly balanced upon a leafy tree limb, a gray-eyed -youth watched with eager intentness their every move. -The fire of hate, restrained, smoldered beneath the lad's -evident desire to know the purpose of the black men's labors. -Such a one as these it was who had slain his beloved Kala. -For them there could be naught but enmity, yet he liked -well to watch them, avid as he was for greater knowledge -of the ways of man. - -He saw the pit grow in depth until a great hole yawned -the width of the trail--a hole which was amply large -enough to hold at one time all of the six excavators. -Tarzan could not guess the purpose of so great a labor. -And when they cut long stakes, sharpened at their upper ends, -and set them at intervals upright in the bottom of the pit, -his wonderment but increased, nor was it satisfied with -the placing of the light cross-poles over the pit, or the -careful arrangement of leaves and earth which completely -hid from view the work the black men had performed. - -When they were done they surveyed their handiwork with -evident satisfaction, and Tarzan surveyed it, too. Even to -his practiced eye there remained scarce a vestige of evidence -that the ancient game trail had been tampered with in any way. - -So absorbed was the ape-man in speculation as to -the purpose of the covered pit that he permitted -the blacks to depart in the direction of their village -without the usual baiting which had rendered him -the terror of Mbonga's people and had afforded Tarzan -both a vehicle of revenge and a source of inexhaustible delight. - -Puzzle as he would, however, he could not solve the mystery -of the concealed pit, for the ways of the blacks were still -strange ways to Tarzan. They had entered his jungle but a -short time before--the first of their kind to encroach upon -the age-old supremacy of the beasts which laired there. -To Numa, the lion, to Tantor, the elephant, to the great -apes and the lesser apes, to each and all of the myriad -creatures of this savage wild, the ways of man were new. -They had much to learn of these black, hairless creatures -that walked erect upon their hind paws--and they were -learning it slowly, and always to their sorrow. - -Shortly after the blacks had departed, Tarzan swung easily -to the trail. Sniffing suspiciously, he circled the edge -of the pit. Squatting upon his haunches, he scraped -away a little earth to expose one of the cross-bars. He -sniffed at this, touched it, cocked his head upon one side, -and contemplated it gravely for several minutes. Then he -carefully re-covered it, arranging the earth as neatly -as had the blacks. This done, he swung himself back among -the branches of the trees and moved off in search of his -hairy fellows, the great apes of the tribe of Kerchak. - -Once he crossed the trail of Numa, the lion, pausing for a -moment to hurl a soft fruit at the snarling face of his enemy, -and to taunt and insult him, calling him eater of carrion -and brother of Dango, the hyena. Numa, his yellow-green -eyes round and burning with concentrated hate, glared up -at the dancing figure above him. Low growls vibrated his -heavy jowls and his great rage transmitted to his sinuous -tail a sharp, whiplike motion; but realizing from past -experience the futility of long distance argument with the -ape-man, he turned presently and struck off into the tangled -vegetation which hid him from the view of his tormentor. -With a final scream of jungle invective and an apelike -grimace at his departing foe, Tarzan continued along his way. - -Another mile and a shifting wind brought to his keen -nostrils a familiar, pungent odor close at hand, -and a moment later there loomed beneath him a huge, -gray-black bulk forging steadily along the jungle trail. -Tarzan seized and broke a small tree limb, and at the -sudden cracking sound the ponderous figure halted. -Great ears were thrown forward, and a long, supple trunk -rose quickly to wave to and fro in search of the scent -of an enemy, while two weak, little eyes peered suspiciously -and futilely about in quest of the author of the noise -which had disturbed his peaceful way. - -Tarzan laughed aloud and came closer above the head -of the pachyderm. - -"Tantor! Tantor!" he cried. "Bara, the deer, is less fearful -than you--you, Tantor, the elephant, greatest of the jungle -folk with the strength of as many Numas as I have toes upon -my feet and fingers upon my hands. Tantor, who can uproot -great trees, trembles with fear at the sound of a broken twig." - -A rumbling noise, which might have been either a sign -of contempt or a sigh of relief, was Tantor's only reply -as the uplifted trunk and ears came down and the beast's -tail dropped to normal; but his eyes still roved about -in search of Tarzan. He was not long kept in suspense, -however, as to the whereabouts of the ape-man, for a second -later the youth dropped lightly to the broad head of his -old friend. Then stretching himself at full length, -he drummed with his bare toes upon the thick hide, and as -his fingers scratched the more tender surfaces beneath the -great ears, he talked to Tantor of the gossip of the jungle -as though the great beast understood every word that he said. - -Much there was which Tarzan could make Tantor understand, -and though the small talk of the wild was beyond -the great, gray dreadnaught of the jungle, he stood -with blinking eyes and gently swaying trunk as though -drinking in every word of it with keenest appreciation. -As a matter of fact it was the pleasant, friendly voice -and caressing hands behind his ears which he enjoyed, -and the close proximity of him whom he had often borne -upon his back since Tarzan, as a little child, had once -fearlessly approached the great bull, assuming upon the -part of the pachyderm the same friendliness which filled -his own heart. - -In the years of their association Tarzan had discovered -that he possessed an inexplicable power to govern and -direct his mighty friend. At his bidding, Tantor would -come from a great distance--as far as his keen ears could -detect the shrill and piercing summons of the ape-man--and -when Tarzan was squatted upon his head, Tantor would -lumber through the jungle in any direction which his -rider bade him go. It was the power of the man-mind -over that of the brute and it was just as effective -as though both fully understood its origin, though neither did. - -For half an hour Tarzan sprawled there upon Tantor's back. -Time had no meaning for either of them. Life, as they saw it, -consisted principally in keeping their stomachs filled. -To Tarzan this was a less arduous labor than to Tantor, -for Tarzan's stomach was smaller, and being omnivorous, -food was less difficult to obtain. If one sort did not -come readily to hand, there were always many others to -satisfy his hunger. He was less particular as to his diet -than Tantor, who would eat only the bark of certain trees, -and the wood of others, while a third appealed to him only -through its leaves, and these, perhaps, just at certain -seasons of the year. - -Tantor must needs spend the better part of his life -in filling his immense stomach against the needs of his -mighty thews. It is thus with all the lower orders--their -lives are so occupied either with searching for food or -with the processes of digestion that they have little time -for other considerations. Doubtless it is this handicap -which has kept them from advancing as rapidly as man, -who has more time to give to thought upon other matters. - -However, these questions troubled Tarzan but little, -and Tantor not at all. What the former knew was that -he was happy in the companionship of the elephant. -He did not know why. He did not know that because he was -a human being-- a normal, healthy human being--he craved -some living thing upon which to lavish his affection. -His childhood playmates among the apes of Kerchak were -now great, sullen brutes. They felt nor inspired but -little affection. The younger apes Tarzan still played -with occasionally. In his savage way he loved them; -but they were far from satisfying or restful companions. -Tantor was a great mountain of calm, of poise, of stability. -It was restful and satisfying to sprawl upon his rough -pate and pour one's vague hopes and aspirations into -the great ears which flapped ponderously to and fro -in apparent understanding. Of all the jungle folk, -Tantor commanded Tarzan's greatest love since Kala -had been taken from him. Sometimes Tarzan wondered -if Tantor reciprocated his affection. It was difficult -to know. - -It was the call of the stomach--the most compelling and -insistent call which the jungle knows--that took Tarzan -finally back to the trees and off in search of food, -while Tantor continued his interrupted journey in the -opposite direction. - -For an hour the ape-man foraged. A lofty nest yielded -its fresh, warm harvest. Fruits, berries, and tender -plantain found a place upon his menu in the order that he -happened upon them, for he did not seek such foods. -Meat, meat, meat! It was always meat that Tarzan -of the Apes hunted; but sometimes meat eluded him, as today. - -And as he roamed the jungle his active mind busied itself -not alone with his hunting, but with many other subjects. -He had a habit of recalling often the events of the preceding -days and hours. He lived over his visit with Tantor; -he cogitated upon the digging blacks and the strange, -covered pit they had left behind them. He wondered -again and again what its purpose might be. He compared -perceptions and arrived at judgments. He compared judgments, -reaching conclusions--not always correct ones, it is true, -but at least he used his brain for the purpose God -intended it, which was the less difficult because he was -not handicapped by the second-hand, and usually erroneous, -judgment of others. - -And as he puzzled over the covered pit, there loomed -suddenly before his mental vision a huge, gray-black bulk -which lumbered ponderously along a jungle trail. -Instantly Tarzan tensed to the shock of a sudden fear. -Decision and action usually occurred simultaneously in -the life of the ape-man, and now he was away through the -leafy branches ere the realization of the pit's purpose -had scarce formed in his mind. - -Swinging from swaying limb to swaying limb, he raced through -the middle terraces where the trees grew close together. -Again he dropped to the ground and sped, silently and -light of foot, over the carpet of decaying vegetation, -only to leap again into the trees where the tangled -undergrowth precluded rapid advance upon the surface. - -In his anxiety he cast discretion to the winds. -The caution of the beast was lost in the loyalty of -the man, and so it came that he entered a large clearing, -denuded of trees, without a thought of what might lie -there or upon the farther edge to dispute the way with him. - -He was half way across when directly in his path and -but a few yards away there rose from a clump of tall -grasses a half dozen chattering birds. Instantly Tarzan -turned aside, for he knew well enough what manner of creature -the presence of these little sentinels proclaimed. -Simultaneously Buto, the rhinoceros, scrambled to his -short legs and charged furiously. Haphazard charges Buto, -the rhinoceros. With his weak eyes he sees but poorly -even at short distances, and whether his erratic rushes -are due to the panic of fear as he attempts to escape, -or to the irascible temper with which he is generally credited, -it is difficult to determine. Nor is the matter of little -moment to one whom Buto charges, for if he be caught and tossed, -the chances are that naught will interest him thereafter. - -And today it chanced that Buto bore down straight -upon Tarzan, across the few yards of knee-deep grass which -separated them. Accident started him in the direction -of the ape-man, and then his weak eyes discerned the enemy, -and with a series of snorts he charged straight for him. -The little rhino birds fluttered and circled about their -giant ward. Among the branches of the trees at the edge -of the clearing, a score or more monkeys chattered -and scolded as the loud snorts of the angry beast sent -them scurrying affrightedly to the upper terraces. -Tarzan alone appeared indifferent and serene. - -Directly in the path of the charge he stood. There had been -no time to seek safety in the trees beyond the clearing, -nor had Tarzan any mind to delay his journey because -of Buto. He had met the stupid beast before and held -him in fine contempt. - -And now Buto was upon him, the massive head lowered -and the long, heavy horn inclined for the frightful work -for which nature had designed it; but as he struck upward, -his weapon raked only thin air, for the ape-man had sprung -lightly aloft with a catlike leap that carried him above -the threatening horn to the broad back of the rhinoceros. -Another spring and he was on the ground behind the brute -and racing like a deer for the trees. - -Buto, angered and mystified by the strange disappearance -of his prey, wheeled and charged frantically in -another direction, which chanced to be not the direction -of Tarzan's flight, and so the ape-man came in safety -to the trees and continued on his swift way through the forest. - -Some distance ahead of him Tantor moved steadily along the -well-worn elephant trail, and ahead of Tantor a crouching, -black warrior listened intently in the middle of the path. -Presently he heard the sound for which he had been hoping-- -the cracking, snapping sound which heralded the approach -of an elephant. - -To his right and left in other parts of the jungle other -warriors were watching. A low signal, passed from one -to another, apprised the most distant that the quarry -was afoot. Rapidly they converged toward the trail, -taking positions in trees down wind from the point -at which Tantor must pass them. Silently they waited -and presently were rewarded by the sight of a mighty -tusker carrying an amount of ivory in his long tusks -that set their greedy hearts to palpitating. - -No sooner had he passed their positions than the warriors -clambered from their perches. No longer were they silent, -but instead clapped their hands and shouted as they -reached the ground. For an instant Tantor, the elephant, -paused with upraised trunk and tail, with great ears -up-pricked, and then he swung on along the trail at a rapid, -shuffling pace--straight toward the covered pit with its -sharpened stakes upstanding in the ground. - -Behind him came the yelling warriors, urging him on -in the rapid flight which would not permit a careful -examination of the ground before him. Tantor, the elephant, -who could have turned and scattered his adversaries -with a single charge, fled like a frightened deer--fled -toward a hideous, torturing death. - -And behind them all came Tarzan of the Apes, racing through -the jungle forest with the speed and agility of a squirrel, -for he had heard the shouts of the warriors and had -interpreted them correctly. Once he uttered a piercing -call that reverberated through the jungle; but Tantor, -in the panic of terror, either failed to hear, or hearing, -dared not pause to heed. - -Now the giant pachyderm was but a few yards from -the hidden death lurking in his path, and the blacks, -certain of success, were screaming and dancing in his wake, -waving their war spears and celebrating in advance the -acquisition of the splendid ivory carried by their prey -and the surfeit of elephant meat which would be theirs this -night. - -So intent were they upon their gratulations that they -entirely failed to note the silent passage of the man-beast -above their heads, nor did Tantor, either, see or hear him, -even though Tarzan called to him to stop. - -A few more steps would precipitate Tantor upon the sharpened -stakes; -Tarzan fairly flew through the trees until he had come -abreast of the fleeing animal and then had passed him. -At the pit's verge the ape-man dropped to the ground -in the center of the trail. Tantor was almost upon him -before his weak eyes permitted him to recognize his old friend. - -"Stop!" cried Tarzan, and the great beast halted -to the upraised hand. - -Tarzan turned and kicked aside some of the brush which hid -the pit. Instantly Tantor saw and understood. - -"Fight!" growled Tarzan. "They are coming behind you." -But Tantor, the elephant, is a huge bunch of nerves, -and now he was half panic-stricken by terror. - -Before him yawned the pit, how far he did not know, but to -right and left lay the primeval jungle untouched by man. -With a squeal the great beast turned suddenly at right -angles and burst his noisy way through the solid wall -of matted vegetation that would have stopped any but him. - -Tarzan, standing upon the edge of the pit, smiled as he -watched Tantor's undignified flight. Soon the blacks -would come. It was best that Tarzan of the Apes faded -from the scene. He essayed a step from the pit's edge, -and as he threw the weight of his body upon his left foot, -the earth crumbled away. Tarzan made a single Herculean -effort to throw himself forward, but it was too late. -Backward and downward he went toward the sharpened stakes in -the bottom of the pit. - -When, a moment later, the blacks came they saw even -from a distance that Tantor had eluded them, for the -size of the hole in the pit covering was too small -to have accommodated the huge bulk of an elephant. -At first they thought that their prey had put one great -foot through the top and then, warned, drawn back; -but when they had come to the pit's verge and peered over, -their eyes went wide in astonishment, for, quiet and still, -at the bottom lay the naked figure of a white giant. - -Some of them there had glimpsed this forest god before -and they drew back in terror, awed by the presence -which they had for some time believed to possess the -miraculous powers of a demon; but others there were who -pushed forward, thinking only of the capture of an enemy, -and these leaped into the pit and lifted Tarzan out. - -There was no scar upon his body. None of the sharpened -stakes had pierced him--only a swollen spot at the base -of the brain indicated the nature of his injury. -In the falling backward his head had struck upon the -side of one of the stakes, rendering him unconscious. -The blacks were quick to discover this, and equally -quick to bind their prisoner's arms and legs before he -should regain consciousness, for they had learned to -harbor a wholesome respect for this strange man-beast -that consorted with the hairy tree folk. - -They had carried him but a short distance toward their -village when the ape-man's eyelids quivered and raised. -He looked about him wonderingly for a moment, -and then full consciousness returned and he realized -the seriousness of his predicament. Accustomed almost -from birth to relying solely upon his own resources, -he did not cast about for outside aid now, but devoted -his mind to a consideration of the possibilities -for escape which lay within himself and his own powers. - -He did not dare test the strength of his bonds while the -blacks were carrying him, for fear they would become -apprehensive and add to them. Presently his captors -discovered that he was conscious, and as they had little -stomach for carrying a heavy man through the jungle heat, -they set him upon his feet and forced him forward -among them, pricking him now and then with their spears, -yet with every manifestation of the superstitious awe -in which they held him. - -When they discovered that their prodding brought no outward -evidence of suffering, their awe increased, so that they -soon desisted, half believing that this strange white -giant was a supernatural being and so was immune from pain. - -As they approached their village, they shouted aloud the -victorious cries of successful warriors, so that by the time -they reached the gate, dancing and waving their spears, -a great crowd of men, women, and children were gathered -there to greet them and hear the story of their adventure. - -As the eyes of the villagers fell upon the prisoner, -they went wild, and heavy jaws fell open in astonishment -and incredulity. For months they had lived in perpetual -terror of a weird, white demon whom but few had ever -glimpsed and lived to describe. Warriors had disappeared -from the paths almost within sight of the village and -from the midst of their companions as mysteriously and -completely as though they had been swallowed by the earth, -and later, at night, their dead bodies had fallen, -as from the heavens, into the village street. - -This fearsome creature had appeared by night in the huts -of the village, killed, and disappeared, leaving behind -him in the huts with his dead, strange and terrifying -evidences of an uncanny sense of humor. - -But now he was in their power! No longer could he -terrorize them. Slowly the realization of this dawned -upon them. A woman, screaming, ran forward and struck -the ape-man across the face. Another and another followed -her example, until Tarzan of the Apes was surrounded -by a fighting, clawing, yelling mob of natives. - -And then Mbonga, the chief, came, and laying his spear -heavily across the shoulders of his people, drove them -from their prey. - -"We will save him until night," he said. - -Far out in the jungle Tantor, the elephant, his first -panic of fear allayed, stood with up-pricked ears and -undulating trunk. What was passing through the convolutions -of his savage brain? Could he be searching for Tarzan? -Could he recall and measure the service the ape-man -had performed for him? Of that there can be no doubt. -But did he feel gratitude? Would he have risked his own -life to have saved Tarzan could he have known of the -danger which confronted his friend? You will doubt it. -Anyone at all familiar with elephants will doubt it. -Englishmen who have hunted much with elephants in India -will tell you that they never have heard of an instance -in which one of these animals has gone to the aid of a man -in danger, even though the man had often befriended it. -And so it is to be doubted that Tantor would have attempted -to overcome his instinctive fear of the black men in an -effort to succor Tarzan. - -The screams of the infuriated villagers came faintly to -his sensitive ears, and he wheeled, as though in terror, -contemplating flight; but something stayed him, -and again he turned about, raised his trunk, and gave -voice to a shrill cry. - -Then he stood listening. - -In the distant village where Mbonga had restored quiet -and order, the voice of Tantor was scarcely audible -to the blacks, but to the keen ears of Tarzan of the Apes -it bore its message. - -His captors were leading him to a hut where he might be -confined and guarded against the coming of the nocturnal -orgy that would mark his torture-laden death. He halted -as he heard the notes of Tantor's call, and raising -his head, gave vent to a terrifying scream that sent -cold chills through the superstitious blacks and caused -the warriors who guarded him to leap back even though -their prisoner's arms were securely bound behind him. - -With raised spears they encircled him as for a moment -longer he stood listening. Faintly from the distance -came another, an answering cry, and Tarzan of the Apes, -satisfied, turned and quietly pursued his way toward -the hut where he was to be imprisoned. - -The afternoon wore on. From the surrounding village the -ape-man heard the bustle of preparation for the feast. -Through the doorway of the hut he saw the women laying the -cooking fires and filling their earthen caldrons with water; -but above it all his ears were bent across the jungle -in eager listening for the coming of Tantor. - -Even Tarzan but half believed that he would come. -He knew Tantor even better than Tantor knew himself. -He knew the timid heart which lay in the giant body. -He knew the panic of terror which the scent of the Gomangani -inspired within that savage breast, and as night drew on, -hope died within his heart and in the stoic calm of the wild -beast which he was, he resigned himself to meet the fate -which awaited him. - -All afternoon he had been working, working, working with the -bonds that held his wrists. Very slowly they were giving. -He might free his hands before they came to lead him out -to be butchered, and if he did--Tarzan licked his lips -in anticipation, and smiled a cold, grim smile. He could -imagine the feel of soft flesh beneath his fingers and the -sinking of his white teeth into the throats of his foemen. -He would let them taste his wrath before they overpowered him! - -At last they came--painted, befeathered warriors--even -more hideous than nature had intended them. They came -and pushed him into the open, where his appearance was -greeted by wild shouts from the assembled villagers. - -To the stake they led him, and as they pushed him roughly -against it preparatory to binding him there securely -for the dance of death that would presently encircle him, -Tarzan tensed his mighty thews and with a single, -powerful wrench parted the loosened thongs which had -secured his hands. Like thought, for quickness, -he leaped forward among the warriors nearest him. -A blow sent one to earth, as, growling and snarling, -the beast-man leaped upon the breast of another. -His fangs were buried instantly in the jugular of his -adversary and then a half hundred black men had leaped -upon him and borne him to earth. - -Striking, clawing, and snapping, the ape-man fought-- -fought as his foster people had taught him to fight--fought -like a wild beast cornered. His strength, his agility, -his courage, and his intelligence rendered him easily a match -for half a dozen black men in a hand-to-hand struggle, -but not even Tarzan of the Apes could hope to successfully -cope with half a hundred. - -Slowly they were overpowering him, though a score of them -bled from ugly wounds, and two lay very still beneath the -trampling feet, and the rolling bodies of the contestants. - -Overpower him they might, but could they keep him -overpowered while they bound him? A half hour of -desperate endeavor convinced them that they could not, -and so Mbonga, who, like all good rulers, had circled in -the safety of the background, called to one to work his way -in and spear the victim. Gradually, through the milling, -battling men, the warrior approached the object of his quest. - -He stood with poised spear above his head waiting for -the instant that would expose a vulnerable part of the -ape-man's body and still not endanger one of the blacks. -Closer and closer he edged about, following the movements -of the twisting, scuffling combatants. The growls -of the ape-man sent cold chills up the warrior's spine, -causing him to go carefully lest he miss at the first cast -and lay himself open to an attack from those merciless -teeth and mighty hands. - -At last he found an opening. Higher he raised his spear, -tensing his muscles, rolling beneath his glistening, ebon hide, -and then from the jungle just beyond the palisade came -a thunderous crashing. The spear-hand paused, the black -cast a quick glance in the direction of the disturbance, -as did the others of the blacks who were not occupied -with the subjugation of the ape-man. - -In the glare of the fires they saw a huge bulk topping -the barrier. They saw the palisade belly and sway inward. -They saw it burst as though built of straws, and an instant -later Tantor, the elephant, thundered down upon them. - -To right and left the blacks fled, screaming in terror. -Some who hovered upon the verge of the strife with Tarzan -heard and made good their escape, but a half dozen there -were so wrapt in the blood-madness of battle that they -failed to note the approach of the giant tusker. - -Upon these Tantor charged, trumpeting furiously. Above them -he stopped, his sensitive trunk weaving among them, and there, -at the bottom, he found Tarzan, bloody, but still battling. - -A warrior turned his eyes upward from the melee. -Above him towered the gigantic bulk of the pachyderm, -the little eyes flashing with the reflected light of the -fires--wicked, frightful, terrifying. The warrior screamed, -and as he screamed, the sinuous trunk encircled him, -lifted him high above the ground, and hurled him far after -the fleeing crowd. - -Another and another Tantor wrenched from the body -of the ape-man, throwing them to right and to left, -where they lay either moaning or very quiet, as death -came slowly or at once. - -At a distance Mbonga rallied his warriors. His greedy -eyes had noted the great ivory tusks of the bull. -The first panic of terror relieved, he urged his men -forward to attack with their heavy elephant spears; -but as they came, Tantor swung Tarzan to his broad head, -and, wheeling, lumbered off into the jungle through -the great rent he had made in the palisade. - -Elephant hunters may be right when they aver that this -animal would not have rendered such service to a man, -but to Tantor, Tarzan was not a man--he was but a fellow -jungle beast. - -And so it was that Tantor, the elephant, discharged an -obligation to Tarzan of the Apes, cementing even more -closely the friendship that had existed between them -since Tarzan as a little, brown boy rode upon Tantor's huge -back through the moonlit jungle beneath the equatorial stars. - - - - - - - 3 - - - The Fight for the Balu - -TEEKA HAD BECOME a mother. Tarzan of the Apes was -intensely interested, much more so, in fact, than Taug, -the father. Tarzan was very fond of Teeka. Even the cares -of prospective motherhood had not entirely quenched the fires -of carefree youth, and Teeka had remained a good-natured -playmate even at an age when other shes of the tribe -of Kerchak had assumed the sullen dignity of maturity. -She yet retained her childish delight in the primitive -games of tag and hide-and-go-seek which Tarzan's fertile -man-mind had evolved. - -To play tag through the tree tops is an exciting -and inspiring pastime. Tarzan delighted in it, -but the bulls of his childhood had long since abandoned -such childish practices. Teeka, though, had been keen -for it always until shortly before the baby came; -but with the advent of her first-born, even Teeka changed. - -The evidence of the change surprised and hurt Tarzan -immeasurably. -One morning he saw Teeka squatted upon a low branch hugging -something very close to her hairy breast-- a wee something -which squirmed and wriggled. Tarzan approached filled -with the curiosity which is common to all creatures endowed -with brains which have progressed beyond the microscopic stage. - -Teeka rolled her eyes in his direction and strained the -squirming mite still closer to her. Tarzan came nearer. -Teeka drew away and bared her fangs. Tarzan was nonplussed. -In all his experiences with Teeka, never before had she -bared fangs at him other than in play; but today she did -not look playful. Tarzan ran his brown fingers through -his thick, black hair, cocked his head upon one side, -and stared. Then he edged a bit nearer, craning his neck -to have a better look at the thing which Teeka cuddled. - -Again Teeka drew back her upper lip in a warning snarl. -Tarzan reached forth a hand, cautiously, to touch the -thing which Teeka held, and Teeka, with a hideous growl, -turned suddenly upon him. Her teeth sank into the -flesh of his forearm before the ape-man could snatch -it away, and she pursued him for a short distance -as he retreated incontinently through the trees; -but Teeka, carrying her baby, could not overtake him. -At a safe distance Tarzan stopped and turned to regard -his erstwhile play-fellow in unconcealed astonishment. -What had happened to so alter the gentle Teeka? She had -so covered the thing in her arms that Tarzan had not yet -been able to recognize it for what it was; but now, as she -turned from the pursuit of him, he saw it. Through his -pain and chagrin he smiled, for Tarzan had seen young ape -mothers before. In a few days she would be less suspicious. -Still Tarzan was hurt; it was not right that Teeka, -of all others, should fear him. Why, not for the world -would he harm her, or her balu, which is the ape word -for baby. - -And now, above the pain of his injured arm and the hurt -to his pride, rose a still stronger desire to come close -and inspect the new-born son of Taug. Possibly you will -wonder that Tarzan of the Apes, mighty fighter that he was, -should have fled before the irritable attack of a she, -or that he should hesitate to return for the satisfaction -of his curiosity when with ease he might have vanquished -the weakened mother of the new-born cub; but you need -not wonder. Were you an ape, you would know that only -a bull in the throes of madness will turn upon a female -other than to gently chastise her, with the occasional -exception of the individual whom we find exemplified among -our own kind, and who delights in beating up his better -half because she happens to be smaller and weaker than he. - -Tarzan again came toward the young mother--warily -and with his line of retreat safely open. Again Teeka -growled ferociously. Tarzan expostulated. - -"Tarzan of the Apes will not harm Teeka's balu," he said. -"Let me see it." - -"Go away!" commanded Teeka. "Go away, or I will kill you." - -"Let me see it," urged Tarzan. - -"Go away," reiterated the she-ape. "Here comes Taug. -He will make you go away. Taug will kill you. This is -Taug's balu." - -A savage growl close behind him apprised Tarzan of the -nearness of Taug, and the fact that the bull had heard the -warnings and threats of his mate and was coming to her succor. - -Now Taug, as well as Teeka, had been Tarzan's play-fellow -while the bull was still young enough to wish to play. -Once Tarzan had saved Taug's life; but the memory -of an ape is not overlong, nor would gratitude rise -above the parental instinct. Tarzan and Taug had once -measured strength, and Tarzan had been victorious. -That fact Taug could be depended upon still to remember; -but even so, he might readily face another defeat for his -first-born--if he chanced to be in the proper mood. - -From his hideous growls, which now rose in strength -and volume, he seemed to be in quite the mood. Now Tarzan -felt no fear of Taug, nor did the unwritten law of the jungle -demand that he should flee from battle with any male, -unless he cared to from purely personal reasons. -But Tarzan liked Taug. He had no grudge against him, -and his man-mind told him what the mind of an ape would -never have deduced-- that Taug's attitude in no sense -indicated hatred. It was but the instinctive urge -of the male to protect its offspring and its mate. - -Tarzan had no desire to battle with Taug, nor did the blood -of his English ancestors relish the thought of flight, -yet when the bull charged, Tarzan leaped nimbly to one side, -and thus encouraged, Taug wheeled and rushed again madly -to the attack. Perhaps the memory of a past defeat at -Tarzan's hands goaded him. Perhaps the fact that Teeka sat -there watching him aroused a desire to vanquish the ape-man -before her eyes, for in the breast of every jungle male lurks -a vast egotism which finds expression in the performance -of deeds of derring-do before an audience of the opposite sex. - -At the ape-man's side swung his long grass rope--the -play-thing of yesterday, the weapon of today--and -as Taug charged the second time, Tarzan slipped the -coils over his head and deftly shook out the sliding -noose as he again nimbly eluded the ungainly beast. -Before the ape could turn again, Tarzan had fled -far aloft among the branches of the upper terrace. - -Taug, now wrought to a frenzy of real rage, followed him. -Teeka peered upward at them. It was difficult to say -whether she was interested. Taug could not climb as -rapidly as Tarzan, so the latter reached the high levels -to which the heavy ape dared not follow before the former -overtook him. There he halted and looked down upon -his pursuer, making faces at him and calling him such -choice names as occurred to the fertile man-brain. Then, -when he had worked Taug to such a pitch of foaming rage -that the great bull fairly danced upon the bending limb -beneath him, Tarzan's hand shot suddenly outward, a widening -noose dropped swiftly through the air, there was a quick -jerk as it settled about Taug, falling to his knees, -a jerk that tightened it securely about the hairy legs -of the anthropoid. - -Taug, slow of wit, realized too late the intention of -his tormentor. He scrambled to escape, but the ape-man -gave the rope a tremendous jerk that pulled Taug from -his perch, and a moment later, growling hideously, -the ape hung head downward thirty feet above the ground. - -Tarzan secured the rope to a stout limb and descended -to a point close to Taug. - -"Taug," he said, "you are as stupid as Buto, the rhinoceros. -Now you may hang here until you get a little sense -in your thick head. You may hang here and watch while I -go and talk with Teeka." - -Taug blustered and threatened, but Tarzan only grinned -at him as he dropped lightly to the lower levels. Here he -again approached Teeka only to be again greeted with bared -fangs and menacing growls. He sought to placate her; -he urged his friendly intentions, and craned his neck to -have a look at Teeka's balu; but the she-ape was not to be -persuaded that he meant other than harm to her little one. -Her motherhood was still so new that reason was yet -subservient to instinct. - -Realizing the futility of attempting to catch -and chastise Tarzan, Teeka sought to escape him. -She dropped to the ground and lumbered across the little -clearing about which the apes of the tribe were disposed -in rest or in the search of food, and presently Tarzan -abandoned his attempts to persuade her to permit a close -examination of the balu. The ape-man would have liked -to handle the tiny thing. The very sight of it awakened -in his breast a strange yearning. He wished to cuddle -and fondle the grotesque little ape-thing. It was Teeka's -balu and Tarzan had once lavished his young affections upon -Teeka. - -But now his attention was diverted by the voice of Taug. -The threats that had filled the ape's mouth had turned -to pleas. The tightening noose was stopping the circulation -of the blood in his legs--he was beginning to suffer. -Several apes sat near him highly interested in his predicament. -They made uncomplimentary remarks about him, for each of -them had felt the weight of Taug's mighty hands and the -strength of his great jaws. They were enjoying revenge. - -Teeka, seeing that Tarzan had turned back toward -the trees, had halted in the center of the clearing, -and there she sat hugging her balu and casting suspicious -glances here and there. With the coming of the balu, -Teeka's care-free world had suddenly become peopled -with innumerable enemies. She saw an implacable foe -in Tarzan, always heretofore her best friend. Even poor -old Mumga, half blind and almost entirely toothless, -searching patiently for grubworms beneath a fallen log, -represented to her a malignant spirit thirsting for the -blood of little balus. - -And while Teeka guarded suspiciously against harm, -where there was no harm, she failed to note two baleful, -yellow-green eyes staring fixedly at her from behind -a clump of bushes at the opposite side of the clearing. - -Hollow from hunger, Sheeta, the panther, glared greedily -at the tempting meat so close at hand, but the sight -of the great bulls beyond gave him pause. - -Ah, if the she-ape with her balu would but come just a -trifle nearer! A quick spring and he would be upon them -and away again with his meat before the bulls could prevent. - -The tip of his tawny tail moved in spasmodic little jerks; -his lower jaw hung low, exposing a red tongue and -yellow fangs. But all this Teeka did not see, nor did any -other of the apes who were feeding or resting about her. -Nor did Tarzan or the apes in the trees. - -Hearing the abuse which the bulls were pouring upon -the helpless Taug, Tarzan clambered quickly among them. -One was edging closer and leaning far out in an effort -to reach the dangling ape. He had worked himself into -quite a fury through recollection of the last occasion -upon which Taug had mauled him, and now he was bent -upon revenge. Once he had grasped the swinging ape, -he would quickly have drawn him within reach of his jaws. -Tarzan saw and was wroth. He loved a fair fight, -but the thing which this ape contemplated revolted him. -Already a hairy hand had clutched the helpless Taug when, -with an angry growl of protest, Tarzan leaped to the branch -at the attacking ape's side, and with a single mighty cuff, -swept him from his perch. - -Surprised and enraged, the bull clutched madly for -support as he toppled sidewise, and then with an agile -movement succeeded in projecting himself toward another -limb a few feet below. Here he found a hand-hold, -quickly righted himself, and as quickly clambered -upward to be revenged upon Tarzan, but the ape-man was -otherwise engaged and did not wish to be interrupted. -He was explaining again to Taug the depths of the latter's -abysmal ignorance, and pointing out how much greater -and mightier was Tarzan of the Apes than Taug or any other ape. - -In the end he would release Taug, but not until Taug -was fully acquainted with his own inferiority. And then -the maddened bull came from beneath, and instantly Tarzan -was transformed from a good-natured, teasing youth into -a snarling, savage beast. Along his scalp the hair -bristled: his upper lip drew back that his fighting fangs -might be uncovered and ready. He did not wait for the bull -to reach him, for something in the appearance or the voice -of the attacker aroused within the ape-man a feeling -of belligerent antagonism that would not be denied. -With a scream that carried no human note, Tarzan leaped -straight at the throat of the attacker. - -The impetuosity of this act and the weight and momentum -of his body carried the bull backward, clutching and clawing -for support, down through the leafy branches of the tree. -For fifteen feet the two fell, Tarzan's teeth buried in -the jugular of his opponent, when a stout branch stopped -their descent. The bull struck full upon the small of his back -across the limb, hung there for a moment with the ape-man -still upon his breast, and then toppled over toward the ground. - -Tarzan had felt the instantaneous relaxation of the body -beneath him after the heavy impact with the tree limb, -and as the other turned completely over and started again -upon its fall toward the ground, he reached forth a hand -and caught the branch in time to stay his own descent, -while the ape dropped like a plummet to the foot of -the tree. - -Tarzan looked downward for a moment upon the still form -of his late antagonist, then he rose to his full height, -swelled his deep chest, smote upon it with his clenched -fist and roared out the uncanny challenge of the victorious -bull ape. - -Even Sheeta, the panther, crouched for a spring at the edge -of the little clearing, moved uneasily as the mighty voice -sent its weird cry reverberating through the jungle. -To right and left, nervously, glanced Sheeta, as though -assuring himself that the way of escape lay ready at hand. - -"I am Tarzan of the Apes," boasted the ape-man; -"mighty hunter, mighty fighter! None in all the jungle -so great as Tarzan." - -Then he made his way back in the direction of Taug. -Teeka had watched the happenings in the tree. She had -even placed her precious balu upon the soft grasses and -come a little nearer that she might better witness all -that was passing in the branches above her. In her heart -of hearts did she still esteem the smooth-skinned Tarzan? -Did her savage breast swell with pride as she witnessed -his victory over the ape? You will have to ask Teeka. - -And Sheeta, the panther, saw that the she-ape had left -her cub alone among the grasses. He moved his tail again, -as though this closest approximation of lashing in which he -dared indulge might stimulate his momentarily waned courage. -The cry of the victorious ape-man still held his nerves -beneath its spell. It would be several minutes before he -again could bring himself to the point of charging into -view of the giant anthropoids. - -And as he regathered his forces, Tarzan reached Taug's side, -and then clambering higher up to the point where the end -of the grass rope was made fast, he unloosed it and -lowered the ape slowly downward, swinging him in until -the clutching hands fastened upon a limb. - -Quickly Taug drew himself to a position of safety and shook -off the noose. In his rage-maddened heart was no room -for gratitude to the ape-man. He recalled only the fact -that Tarzan had laid this painful indignity upon him. -He would be revenged, but just at present his legs were -so numb and his head so dizzy that he must postpone -the gratification of his vengeance. - -Tarzan was coiling his rope the while he lectured -Taug on the futility of pitting his poor powers, -physical and intellectual, against those of his betters. -Teeka had come close beneath the tree and was peering upward. -Sheeta was worming his way stealthily forward, his belly -close to the ground. In another moment he would be clear -of the underbrush and ready for the rapid charge and the quick -retreat that would end the brief existence of Teeka's balu. - -Then Tarzan chanced to look up and across the clearing. -Instantly his attitude of good-natured bantering and pompous -boastfulness dropped from him. Silently and swiftly he -shot downward toward the ground. Teeka, seeing him coming, -and thinking that he was after her or her balu, bristled and -prepared to fight. But Tarzan sped by her, and as he went, -her eyes followed him and she saw the cause of his sudden -descent and his rapid charge across the clearing. -There in full sight now was Sheeta, the panther, -stalking slowly toward the tiny, wriggling balu which lay -among the grasses many yards away. - -Teeka gave voice to a shrill scream of terror and of warning -as she dashed after the ape-man. Sheeta saw Tarzan coming. -He saw the she-ape's cub before him, and he thought -that this other was bent upon robbing him of his prey. -With an angry growl, he charged. - -Taug, warned by Teeka's cry, came lumbering down to -her assistance. Several other bulls, growling and barking, -closed in toward the clearing, but they were all much farther -from the balu and the panther than was Tarzan of the Apes, -so it was that Sheeta and the ape-man reached Teeka's -little one almost simultaneously; and there they stood, -one upon either side of it, baring their fangs and snarling -at each other over the little creature. - -Sheeta was afraid to seize the balu, for thus he would -give the ape-man an opening for attack; and for the same -reason Tarzan hesitated to snatch the panther's prey -out of harm's way, for had he stooped to accomplish this, -the great beast would have been upon him in an instant. -Thus they stood while Teeka came across the clearing, -going more slowly as she neared the panther, for even her -mother love could scarce overcome her instinctive terror -of this natural enemy of her kind. - -Behind her came Taug, warily and with many pauses and -much bluster, and still behind him came other bulls, -snarling ferociously and uttering their uncanny challenges. -Sheeta's yellow-green eyes glared terribly at Tarzan, -and past Tarzan they shot brief glances at the apes -of Kerchak advancing upon him. Discretion prompted him -to turn and flee, but hunger and the close proximity -of the tempting morsel in the grass before him urged him -to remain. He reached forth a paw toward Teeka's balu, -and as he did so, with a savage guttural, Tarzan of the Apes -was upon him. - -The panther reared to meet the ape-man's attack. -He swung a frightful raking blow for Tarzan that would have -wiped his face away had it landed, but it did not land, -for Tarzan ducked beneath it and closed, his long knife -ready in one strong hand--the knife of his dead father, -of the father he never had known. - -Instantly the balu was forgotten by Sheeta, the panther. -He now thought only of tearing to ribbons with his powerful -talons the flesh of his antagonist, of burying his long, -yellow fangs in the soft, smooth hide of the ape-man, but -Tarzan had fought before with clawed creatures of the jungle. -Before now he had battled with fanged monsters, nor always -had he come away unscathed. He knew the risk that he ran, -but Tarzan of the Apes, inured to the sight of suffering -and death, shrank from neither, for he feared neither. - -The instant that he dodged beneath Sheeta's blow, he leaped -to the beast's rear and then full upon the tawny back, -burying his teeth in Sheeta's neck and the fingers of one -hand in the fur at the throat, and with the other hand -he drove his blade into Sheeta's side. - -Over and over upon the grass rolled Sheeta, growling and -screaming, -clawing and biting, in a mad effort to dislodge his antagonist -or get some portion of his body within range of teeth or talons. - -As Tarzan leaped to close quarters with the panther, -Teeka had run quickly in and snatched up her balu. -Now she sat upon a high branch, safe out of harm's way, -cuddling the little thing close to her hairy breast, -the while her savage little eyes bored down upon the -contestants in the clearing, and her ferocious voice urged -Taug and the other bulls to leap into the melee. - -Thus goaded the bulls came closer, redoubling their -hideous clamor; but Sheeta was already sufficiently engaged-- -he did not even hear them. Once he succeeded in partially -dislodging the ape-man from his back, so that Tarzan swung -for an instant in front of those awful talons, and in the -brief instant before he could regain his former hold, -a raking blow from a hind paw laid open one leg from hip to knee. - - -It was the sight and smell of this blood, possibly, -which wrought upon the encircling apes; but it -was Taug who really was responsible for the thing they did. - -Taug, but a moment before filled with rage toward -Tarzan of the Apes, stood close to the battling pair, -his red-rimmed, wicked little eyes glaring at them. -What was passing in his savage brain? Did he gloat over -the unenviable position of his recent tormentor? Did -he long to see Sheeta's great fangs sink into the soft -throat of the ape-man? Or did he realize the courageous -unselfishness that had prompted Tarzan to rush to the -rescue and imperil his life for Teeka's balu--for Taug's -little balu? Is gratitude a possession of man only, -or do the lower orders know it also? - -With the spilling of Tarzan's blood, Taug answered -these questions. With all the weight of his great body -he leaped, hideously growling, upon Sheeta. His long -fighting fangs buried themselves in the white throat. -His powerful arms beat and clawed at the soft fur until it -flew upward in the jungle breeze. - -And with Taug's example before them the other bulls charged, -burying Sheeta beneath rending fangs and filling all -the forest with the wild din of their battle cries. - -Ah! but it was a wondrous and inspiring sight--this battle -of the primordial apes and the great, white ape-man -with their ancestral foe, Sheeta, the panther. - -In frenzied excitement, Teeka fairly danced upon -the limb which swayed beneath her great weight as she -urged on the males of her people, and Thaka, and Mumga, -and Kamma, with the other shes of the tribe of Kerchak, -added their shrill cries or fierce barkings to the -pandemonium which now reigned within the jungle. - -Bitten and biting, tearing and torn, Sheeta battled -for his life; but the odds were against him. Even Numa, -the lion, would have hesitated to have attacked an equal -number of the great bulls of the tribe of Kerchak, and now, -a half mile away, hearing the sounds of the terrific battle, -the king of beasts rose uneasily from his midday slumber -and slunk off farther into the jungle. - -Presently Sheeta's torn and bloody body ceased its -titanic struggles. It stiffened spasmodically, twitched and -was still, yet the bulls continued to lacerate it until -the beautiful coat was torn to shreds. At last they desisted -from sheer physical weariness, and then from the tangle -of bloody bodies rose a crimson giant, straight as an arrow. - -He placed a foot upon the dead body of the panther, -and lifting his blood-stained face to the blue of the -equatorial heavens, gave voice to the horrid victory -cry of the bull ape. - -One by one his hairy fellows of the tribe of Kerchak -followed his example. The shes came down from their perches -of safety and struck and reviled the dead body of Sheeta. -The young apes refought the battle in mimicry of their -mighty elders. - -Teeka was quite close to Tarzan. He turned and saw her -with the balu hugged close to her hairy breast, and put -out his hands to take the little one, expecting that Teeka -would bare her fangs and spring upon him; but instead -she placed the balu in his arms, and coming nearer, -licked his frightful wounds. - -And presently Taug, who had escaped with only a few scratches, -came and squatted beside Tarzan and watched him as he -played with the little balu, and at last he too leaned -over and helped Teeka with the cleansing and the healing -of the ape-man's hurts. - - - - - - - 4 - - - The God of Tarzan - - -AMONG THE BOOKS of his dead father in the little cabin -by the land-locked harbor, Tarzan of the Apes found -many things to puzzle his young head. By much labor and -through the medium of infinite patience as well, he had, -without assistance, discovered the purpose of the little -bugs which ran riot upon the printed pages. He had learned -that in the many combinations in which he found them they -spoke in a silent language, spoke in a strange tongue, -spoke of wonderful things which a little ape-boy could -not by any chance fully understand, arousing his curiosity, -stimulating his imagination and filling his soul with -a mighty longing for further knowledge. - -A dictionary had proven itself a wonderful storehouse -of information, when, after several years of tireless -endeavor, he had solved the mystery of its purpose -and the manner of its use. He had learned to make -a species of game out of it, following up the spoor of -a new thought through the mazes of the many definitions -which each new word required him to consult. It was like -following a quarry through the jungle-- it was hunting, -and Tarzan of the Apes was an indefatigable huntsman. - -There were, of course, certain words which aroused his -curiosity to a greater extent than others, words which, -for one reason or another, excited his imagination. -There was one, for example, the meaning of which was -rather difficult to grasp. It was the word GOD. -Tarzan first had been attracted to it by the fact that it -was very short and that it commenced with a larger g-bug -than those about it--a male g-bug it was to Tarzan, -the lower-case letters being females. Another fact -which attracted him to this word was the number of he-bugs -which figured in its definition--Supreme Deity, Creator or -Upholder of the Universe. This must be a very important -word indeed, he would have to look into it, and he did, -though it still baffled him after many months of thought -and study. - -However, Tarzan counted no time wasted which he devoted -to these strange hunting expeditions into the game -preserves of knowledge, for each word and each definition -led on and on into strange places, into new worlds where, -with increasing frequency, he met old, familiar faces. -And always he added to his store of knowledge. - -But of the meaning of GOD he was yet in doubt. -Once he thought he had grasped it--that God was a -mighty chieftain, king of all the Mangani. He was not -quite sure, however, since that would mean that God was -mightier than Tarzan-- a point which Tarzan of the Apes, -who acknowledged no equal in the jungle, was loath to concede. - -But in all the books he had there was no picture of God, -though he found much to confirm his belief that God was -a great, an all-powerful individual. He saw pictures of -places where God was worshiped; but never any sign of God. -Finally he began to wonder if God were not of a different -form than he, and at last he determined to set out in search -of Him. - -He commenced by questioning Mumga, who was very old and -had seen many strange things in her long life; but Mumga, -being an ape, had a faculty for recalling the trivial. -That time when Gunto mistook a sting-bug for an edible -beetle had made more impression upon Mumga than all -the innumerable manifestations of the greatness of God -which she had witnessed, and which, of course, she had -not understood. - -Numgo, overhearing Tarzan's questions, managed to wrest -his attention long enough from the diversion of flea -hunting to advance the theory that the power which made -the lightning and the rain and the thunder came from Goro, -the moon. He knew this, he said, because the Dum-Dum -always was danced in the light of Goro. This reasoning, -though entirely satisfactory to Numgo and Mumga, -failed fully to convince Tarzan. However, it gave him -a basis for further investigation along a new line. -He would investigate the moon. - -That night he clambered to the loftiest pinnacle of the -tallest jungle giant. The moon was full, a great, glorious, -equatorial moon. The ape-man, upright upon a slender, -swaying limb, raised his bronzed face to the silver orb. -Now that he had clambered to the highest point within -his reach, he discovered, to his surprise, that Goro -was as far away as when he viewed him from the ground. -He thought that Goro was attempting to elude him. - -"Come, Goro!" he cried, "Tarzan of the Apes will not -harm you!" But still the moon held aloof. - -"Tell me," he continued, "if you be the great king -who sends Ara, the lightning; who makes the great noise -and the mighty winds, and sends the waters down upon -the jungle people when the days are dark and it is cold. -Tell me, Goro, are you God?" - -Of course he did not pronounce God as you or I would -pronounce His name, for Tarzan knew naught of the spoken -language of his English forbears; but he had a name of his -own invention for each of the little bugs which constituted -the alphabet. Unlike the apes he was not satisfied merely -to have a mental picture of the things he knew, he must -have a word descriptive of each. In reading he grasped -a word in its entirety; but when he spoke the words he -had learned from the books of his father, he pronounced -each according to the names he had given the various little -bugs which occurred in it, usually giving the gender prefix for -each. - -Thus it was an imposing word which Tarzan made of GOD. -The masculine prefix of the apes is BU, the feminine -MU; g Tarzan had named LA, o he pronounced TU, -and d was MO. So the word God evolved itself -into BULAMUTUMUMO, or, in English, he-g-she-o-she-d. - -Similarly he had arrived at a strange and wonderful -spelling of his own name. Tarzan is derived from the -two ape words TAR and ZAN, meaning white skin. -It was given him by his foster mother, Kala, the great -she-ape. When Tarzan first put it into the written language -of his own people he had not yet chanced upon either WHITE -or SKIN in the dictionary; but in a primer -he had seen the picture of a little white boy and so he -wrote his name BUMUDE-MUTOMURO, or he-boy. - -To follow Tarzan's strange system of spelling would be -laborious as well as futile, and so we shall in the future, -as we have in the past, adhere to the more familiar forms -of our grammar school copybooks. It would tire you -to remember that DO meant b, TU o, and RO y, -and that to say he-boy you must prefix the ape masculine -gender sound BU before the entire word and the feminine -gender sound MU before each of the lower-case letters -which go to make up boy--it would tire you and it would -bring me to the nineteenth hole several strokes under par. - -And so Tarzan harangued the moon, and when Goro did not reply, -Tarzan of the Apes waxed wroth. He swelled his giant -chest and bared his fighting fangs, and hurled into the -teeth of the dead satellite the challenge of the bull ape. - -"You are not Bulamutumumo," he cried. "You are not king -of the jungle folk. You are not so great as Tarzan, -mighty fighter, mighty hunter. None there is so great -as Tarzan. If there be a Bulamutumumo, Tarzan can kill him. -Come down, Goro, great coward, and fight with Tarzan. -Tarzan will kill you. I am Tarzan, the killer." - -But the moon made no answer to the boasting of the -ape-man, and when a cloud came and obscured her face, -Tarzan thought that Goro was indeed afraid, and was hiding -from him, so he came down out of the trees and awoke -Numgo and told him how great was Tarzan--how he had -frightened Goro out of the sky and made him tremble. -Tarzan spoke of the moon as HE, for all things large -or awe inspiring are male to the ape folk. - -Numgo was not much impressed; but he was very sleepy, -so he told Tarzan to go away and leave his betters alone. - -"But where shall I find God?" insisted Tarzan. "You are -very old; if there is a God you must have seen Him. -What does He look like? Where does He live?" - -"I am God," replied Numgo. "Now sleep and disturb me -no more." - -Tarzan looked at Numgo steadily for several minutes, -his shapely head sank just a trifle between his great shoulders, -his square chin shot forward and his short upper lip -drew back, exposing his white teeth. Then, with a low -growl he leaped upon the ape and buried his fangs -in the other's hairy shoulder, clutching the great neck -in his mighty fingers. Twice he shook the old ape, -then he released his tooth-hold. - -"Are you God?" he demanded. - -"No," wailed Numgo. "I am only a poor, old ape. -Leave me alone. Go ask the Gomangani where God is. -They are hairless like yourself and very wise, too. -They should know." - -Tarzan released Numgo and turned away. The suggestion -that he consult the blacks appealed to him, and though -his relations with the people of Mbonga, the chief, -were the antithesis of friendly, he could at least spy upon -his hated enemies and discover if they had intercourse -with God. - -So it was that Tarzan set forth through the trees toward -the village of the blacks, all excitement at the prospect -of discovering the Supreme Being, the Creator of all things. -As he traveled he reviewed, mentally, his armament--the -condition of his hunting knife, the number of his arrows, -the newness of the gut which strung his bow--he hefted -the war spear which had once been the pride of some black -warrior of Mbonga's tribe. - -If he met God, Tarzan would be prepared. One could never -tell whether a grass rope, a war spear, or a poisoned arrow -would be most efficacious against an unfamiliar foe. -Tarzan of the Apes was quite content--if God wished to fight, -the ape-man had no doubt as to the outcome of the struggle. -There were many questions Tarzan wished to put to the -Creator of the Universe and so he hoped that God would -not prove a belligerent God; but his experience of life -and the ways of living things had taught him that any -creature with the means for offense and defense was quite -likely to provoke attack if in the proper mood. - -It was dark when Tarzan came to the village of Mbonga. -As silently as the silent shadows of the night he -sought his accustomed place among the branches of the -great tree which overhung the palisade. Below him, -in the village street, he saw men and women. The men -were hideously painted--more hideously than usual. -Among them moved a weird and grotesque figure, a tall figure -that went upon the two legs of a man and yet had the head -of a buffalo. A tail dangled to his ankles behind him, -and in one hand he carried a zebra's tail while the other -clutched a bunch of small arrows. - -Tarzan was electrified. Could it be that chance had given -him thus early an opportunity to look upon God? Surely -this thing was neither man nor beast, so what could it -be then other than the Creator of the Universe! The -ape-man watched the every move of the strange creature. -He saw the black men and women fall back at its approach -as though they stood in terror of its mysterious powers. - -Presently he discovered that the deity was speaking and -that all listened in silence to his words. Tarzan was -sure that none other than God could inspire such awe -in the hearts of the Gomangani, or stop their mouths -so effectually without recourse to arrows or spears. -Tarzan had come to look with contempt upon the blacks, -principally because of their garrulity. The small apes -talked a great deal and ran away from an enemy. The big, -old bulls of Kerchak talked but little and fought upon -the slightest provocation. Numa, the lion, was not given -to loquacity, yet of all the jungle folk there were few -who fought more often than he. - -Tarzan witnessed strange things that night, none of which -he understood, and, perhaps because they were strange, -he thought that they must have to do with the God he could -not understand. He saw three youths receive their first war -spears in a weird ceremony which the grotesque witch-doctor -strove successfully to render uncanny and awesome. - -Hugely interested, he watched the slashing of the three brown -arms and the exchange of blood with Mbonga, the chief, -in the rites of the ceremony of blood brotherhood. -He saw the zebra's tail dipped into a caldron of water -above which the witch-doctor had made magical passes -the while he danced and leaped about it, and he saw -the breasts and foreheads of each of the three novitiates -sprinkled with the charmed liquid. Could the ape-man -have known the purpose of this act, that it was intended -to render the recipient invulnerable to the attacks -of his enemies and fearless in the face of any danger, -he would doubtless have leaped into the village street -and appropriated the zebra's tail and a portion of the -contents of the caldron. - -But he did not know, and so he only wondered, not alone -at what he saw but at the strange sensations which played -up and down his naked spine, sensations induced, doubtless, -by the same hypnotic influence which held the black -spectators in tense awe upon the verge of a hysteric upheaval. - -The longer Tarzan watched, the more convinced he became -that his eyes were upon God, and with the conviction came -determination to have word with the deity. With Tarzan -of the Apes, to think was to act. - -The people of Mbonga were keyed to the highest pitch -of hysterical excitement. They needed little to release -the accumulated pressure of static nerve force which -the terrorizing mummery of the witch-doctor had induced. - -A lion roared, suddenly and loud, close without the palisade. -The blacks started nervously, dropping into utter silence -as they listened for a repetition of that all-too-familiar -and always terrorizing voice. Even the witch-doctor paused -in the midst of an intricate step, remaining momentarily -rigid and statuesque as he plumbed his cunning mind -for a suggestion as how best he might take advantage -of the condition of his audience and the timely interruption. - -Already the evening had been vastly profitable to him. -There would be three goats for the initiation of the -three youths into full-fledged warriorship, and besides -these he had received several gifts of grain and beads, -together with a piece of copper wire from admiring and -terrified members of his audience. - -Numa's roar still reverberated along taut nerves when a -woman's laugh, shrill and piercing, shattered the silence -of the village. It was this moment that Tarzan chose -to drop lightly from his tree into the village street. -Fearless among his blood enemies he stood, taller by a full -head than many of Mbonga's warriors, straight as their -straightest arrow, muscled like Numa, the lion. - -For a moment Tarzan stood looking straight at the -witch-doctor. Every eye was upon him, yet no one had -moved-- a paralysis of terror held them, to be broken -a moment later as the ape-man, with a toss of head, -stepped straight toward the hideous figure beneath the buffalo -head. - -Then the nerves of the blacks could stand no more. -For months the terror of the strange, white, jungle god -had been upon them. Their arrows had been stolen from -the very center of the village; their warriors had been -silently slain upon the jungle trails and their dead -bodies dropped mysteriously and by night into the village -street as from the heavens above. - -One or two there were who had glimpsed the strange figure -of the new demon and it was from their oft-repeated -descriptions that the entire village now recognized Tarzan -as the author of many of their ills. Upon another occasion -and by daylight, the warriors would doubtless have leaped -to attack him, but at night, and this night of all others, -when they were wrought to such a pitch of nervous dread -by the uncanny artistry of their witch-doctor, they were -helpless with terror. As one man they turned and fled, -scattering for their huts, as Tarzan advanced. -For a moment one and one only held his ground. It was -the witch-doctor. More than half self-hypnotized into -a belief in his own charlatanry he faced this new demon -who threatened to undermine his ancient and lucrative profession. - - -"Are you God?" asked Tarzan. - -The witch-doctor, having no idea of the meaning of the -other's words, danced a few strange steps, leaped high -in the air, turning completely around and alighting in a -stooping posture with feet far outspread and head thrust -out toward the ape-man. Thus he remained for an instant -before he uttered a loud "Boo!" which was evidently intended -to frighten Tarzan away; but in reality had no such effect. - -Tarzan did not pause. He had set out to approach and examine -God and nothing upon earth might now stay his feet. -Seeing that his antics had no potency with the visitor, -the witch-doctor tried some new medicine. Spitting upon -the zebra's tail, which he still clutched in one hand, -he made circles above it with the arrows in the other hand, -meanwhile backing cautiously away from Tarzan and speaking -confidentially to the bushy end of the tail. - -This medicine must be short medicine, however, for the creature, -god or demon, was steadily closing up the distance which had -separated them. The circles therefore were few and rapid, -and when they were completed, the witch-doctor struck an attitude -which was intended to be awe inspiring and waving the zebra's -tail before him, drew an imaginary line between himself and -Tarzan. - -"Beyond this line you cannot pass, for my medicine is -strong medicine," he cried. "Stop, or you will fall -dead as your foot touches this spot. My mother was -a voodoo, my father was a snake; I live upon lions' -hearts and the entrails of the panther; I eat young babies -for breakfast and the demons of the jungle are my slaves. -I am the most powerful witch-doctor in the world; -I fear nothing, for I cannot die. I--" But he got no further; -instead he turned and fled as Tarzan of the Apes crossed -the magical dead line and still lived. - -As the witch-doctor ran, Tarzan almost lost his temper. -This was no way for God to act, at least not in accordance -with the conception Tarzan had come to have of God. - -"Come back!" he cried. "Come back, God, I will not harm you." -But the witch-doctor was in full retreat by this time, -stepping high as he leaped over cooking pots and the -smoldering embers of small fires that had burned before -the huts of villagers. Straight for his own hut ran -the witch-doctor, terror-spurred to unwonted speed; -but futile was his effort--the ape-man bore down upon -him with the speed of Bara, the deer. - -Just at the entrance to his hut the witch-doctor was overhauled. -A heavy hand fell upon his shoulder to drag him back. -It seized upon a portion of the buffalo hide, dragging the -disguise from him. It was a naked black man that Tarzan -saw dodge into the darkness of the hut's interior. - -So this was what he had thought was God! Tarzan's lip -curled in an angry snarl as he leaped into the hut after -the terror-stricken witch-doctor. In the blackness within -he found the man huddled at the far side and dragged him -forth into the comparative lightness of the moonlit night. - -The witch-doctor bit and scratched in an attempt to escape; -but a few cuffs across the head brought him to a better -realization of the futility of resistance. Beneath the moon -Tarzan held the cringing figure upon its shaking feet. - -"So you are God!" he cried. "If you be God, then Tarzan -is greater than God," and so the ape-man thought. -"I am Tarzan," he shouted into the ear of the black. -"In all the jungle, or above it, or upon the running -waters, or the sleeping waters, or upon the big water, -or the little water, there is none so great as Tarzan. -Tarzan is greater than the Mangani; he is greater than -the Gomangani. With his own hands he has slain Numa, -the lion, and Sheeta, the panther; there is none so great -as Tarzan. Tarzan is greater than God. See!" and with -a sudden wrench he twisted the black's neck until the -fellow shrieked in pain and then slumped to the earth -in a swoon. - -Placing his foot upon the neck of the fallen witch-doctor, -the ape-man raised his face to the moon and uttered -the long, shrill scream of the victorious bull ape. -Then he stooped and snatched the zebra's tail from the -nerveless fingers of the unconscious man and without -a backward glance retraced his footsteps across the village. - -From several hut doorways frightened eyes watched him. -Mbonga, the chief, was one of those who had seen -what passed before the hut of the witch-doctor. Mbonga -was greatly concerned. Wise old patriarch that he was, -he never had more than half believed in witch-doctors, -at least not since greater wisdom had come with age; -but as a chief he was well convinced of the power of the -witch-doctor as an arm of government, and often it was -that Mbonga used the superstitious fears of his people -to his own ends through the medium of the medicine-man. - -Mbonga and the witch-doctor had worked together and divided -the spoils, and now the "face" of the witch-doctor -would be lost forever if any saw what Mbonga had seen; -nor would this generation again have as much faith -in any future witch-doctor. - -Mbonga must do something to counteract the evil influence -of the forest demon's victory over the witch-doctor. He -raised his heavy spear and crept silently from his hut -in the wake of the retreating ape-man. Down the village -street walked Tarzan, as unconcerned and as deliberate -as though only the friendly apes of Kerchak surrounded -him instead of a village full of armed enemies. - -Seeming only was the indifference of Tarzan, -for alert and watchful was every well-trained sense. -Mbonga, wily stalker of keen-eared jungle creatures, -moved now in utter silence. Not even Bara, the deer, -with his great ears could have guessed from any sound -that Mbonga was near; but the black was not stalking Bara; -he was stalking man, and so he sought only to avoid noise. - -Closer and closer to the slowly moving ape-man he came. -Now he raised his war spear, throwing his spear-hand far back -above his right shoulder. Once and for all would Mbonga, -the chief, rid himself and his people of the menace -of this terrifying enemy. He would make no poor cast; -he would take pains, and he would hurl his weapon with such -great force as would finish the demon forever. - -But Mbonga, sure as he thought himself, erred in -his calculations. He might believe that he was stalking -a man-- he did not know, however, that it was a man -with the delicate sense perception of the lower orders. -Tarzan, when he had turned his back upon his enemies, -had noted what Mbonga never would have thought of considering -in the hunting of man--the wind. It was blowing in the -same direction that Tarzan was proceeding, carrying to -his delicate nostrils the odors which arose behind him. -Thus it was that Tarzan knew that he was being followed, -for even among the many stenches of an African village, -the ape-man's uncanny faculty was equal to the task -of differentiating one stench from another and locating -with remarkable precision the source from whence it came. - -He knew that a man was following him and coming closer, -and his judgment warned him of the purpose of the stalker. -When Mbonga, therefore, came within spear range -of the ape-man, the latter suddenly wheeled upon him, -so suddenly that the poised spear was shot a fraction -of a second before Mbonga had intended. It went a trifle -high and Tarzan stooped to let it pass over his head; -then he sprang toward the chief. But Mbonga did not wait -to receive him. Instead, he turned and fled for the dark -doorway of the nearest hut, calling as he went for his -warriors to fall upon the stranger and slay him. - -Well indeed might Mbonga scream for help, for Tarzan, -young and fleet-footed, covered the distance between -them in great leaps, at the speed of a charging lion. -He was growling, too, not at all unlike Numa himself. -Mbonga heard and his blood ran cold. He could feel the wool -stiffen upon his pate and a prickly chill run up his spine, -as though Death had come and run his cold finger along -Mbonga's back. - -Others heard, too, and saw, from the darkness of their -huts--bold warriors, hideously painted, grasping heavy -war spears in nerveless fingers. Against Numa, the lion, -they would have charged fearlessly. Against many times -their own number of black warriors would they have raced -to the protection of their chief; but this weird jungle -demon filled them with terror. There was nothing human -in the bestial growls that rumbled up from his deep chest; -there was nothing human in the bared fangs, or the catlike leaps. - -Mbonga's warriors were terrified--too terrified to leave -the seeming security of their huts while they watched -the beast-man spring full upon the back of their old chieftain. - -Mbonga went down with a scream of terror. He was -too frightened even to attempt to defend himself. -He just lay beneath his antagonist in a paralysis of fear, -screaming at the top of his lungs. Tarzan half rose -and kneeled above the black. He turned Mbonga over and -looked him in the face, exposing the man's throat, then he -drew his long, keen knife, the knife that John Clayton, -Lord Greystoke, had brought from England many years before. -He raised it close above Mbonga's neck. The old black -whimpered with terror. He pleaded for his life in a tongue -which Tarzan could not understand. - -For the first time the ape-man had a close view of the chief. -He saw an old man, a very old man with scrawny neck -and wrinkled face--a dried, parchment-like face which -resembled some of the little monkeys Tarzan knew so well. -He saw the terror in the man's eyes--never before had -Tarzan seen such terror in the eyes of any animal, or such -a piteous appeal for mercy upon the face of any creature. - -Something stayed the ape-man's hand for an instant. -He wondered why it was that he hesitated to make the kill; -never before had he thus delayed. The old man seemed to -wither and shrink to a bag of puny bones beneath his eyes. -So weak and helpless and terror-stricken he appeared -that the ape-man was filled with a great contempt; -but another sensation also claimed him--something new -to Tarzan of the Apes in relation to an enemy. It was -pity--pity for a poor, frightened, old man. - -Tarzan rose and turned away, leaving Mbonga, the chief, unharmed. - -With head held high the ape-man walked through the village, -swung himself into the branches of the tree which overhung -the palisade and disappeared from the sight of the villagers. - -All the way back to the stamping ground of the apes, -Tarzan sought for an explanation of the strange power which -had stayed his hand and prevented him from slaying Mbonga. -It was as though someone greater than he had commanded -him to spare the life of the old man. Tarzan could -not understand, for he could conceive of nothing, or no one, -with the authority to dictate to him what he should do, -or what he should refrain from doing. - -It was late when Tarzan sought a swaying couch among -the trees beneath which slept the apes of Kerchak, -and he was still absorbed in the solution of his strange -problem when he fell asleep. - -The sun was well up in the heavens when he awoke. -The apes were astir in search of food. Tarzan watched -them lazily from above as they scratched in the rotting -loam for bugs and beetles and grubworms, or sought among -the branches of the trees for eggs and young birds, -or luscious caterpillars. - -An orchid, dangling close beside his head, opened slowly, -unfolding its delicate petals to the warmth and light -of the sun which but recently had penetrated to its -shady retreat. A thousand times had Tarzan of the Apes -witnessed the beauteous miracle; but now it aroused -a keener interest, for the ape-man was just commencing -to ask himself questions about all the myriad wonders -which heretofore he had but taken for granted. - -What made the flower open? What made it grow from a tiny -bud to a full-blown bloom? Why was it at all? Why was he? -Where did Numa, the lion, come from? Who planted the first -tree? How did Goro get way up into the darkness of the night -sky to cast his welcome light upon the fearsome nocturnal -jungle? And the sun! Did the sun merely happen there? - -Why were all the peoples of the jungle not trees? Why were -the trees not something else? Why was Tarzan different -from Taug, and Taug different from Bara, the deer, -and Bara different from Sheeta, the panther, and why -was not Sheeta like Buto, the rhinoceros? Where and how, -anyway, did they all come from--the trees, the flowers, -the insects, the countless creatures of the jungle? - -Quite unexpectedly an idea popped into Tarzan's head. -In following out the many ramifications of the dictionary -definition of GOD he had come upon the word CREATE-- -"to cause to come into existence; to form out of nothing." - -Tarzan almost had arrived at something tangible when a -distant wail startled him from his preoccupation into -sensibility of the present and the real. The wail came -from the jungle at some little distance from Tarzan's -swaying couch. It was the wail of a tiny balu. -Tarzan recognized it at once as the voice of Gazan, -Teeka's baby. They had called it Gazan because its soft, -baby hair had been unusually red, and GAZAN in the -language of the great apes, means red skin. - -The wail was immediately followed by a real scream -of terror from the small lungs. Tarzan was electrified -into instant action. Like an arrow from a bow he shot -through the trees in the direction of the sound. -Ahead of him he heard the savage snarling of an adult -she-ape. It was Teeka to the rescue. The danger must -be very real. Tarzan could tell that by the note of rage -mingled with fear in the voice of the she. - -Running along bending limbs, swinging from one tree -to another, the ape-man raced through the middle -terraces toward the sounds which now had risen in volume -to deafening proportions. From all directions the apes -of Kerchak were hurrying in response to the appeal in -the tones of the balu and its mother, and as they came, -their roars reverberated through the forest. - -But Tarzan, swifter than his heavy fellows, distanced them all. -It was he who was first upon the scene. What he saw -sent a cold chill through his giant frame, for the enemy -was the most hated and loathed of all the jungle creatures. - -Twined in a great tree was Histah, the snake--huge, ponderous, -slimy--and in the folds of its deadly embrace was Teeka's -little balu, Gazan. Nothing in the jungle inspired within -the breast of Tarzan so near a semblance to fear as did -the hideous Histah. The apes, too, loathed the terrifying -reptile and feared him even more than they did Sheeta, -the panther, or Numa, the lion. Of all their enemies there -was none they gave a wider berth than they gave Histah, -the snake. - -Tarzan knew that Teeka was peculiarly fearful of this silent, -repulsive foe, and as the scene broke upon his vision, -it was the action of Teeka which filled him with the -greatest wonder, for at the moment that he saw her, -the she-ape leaped upon the glistening body of the snake, -and as the mighty folds encircled her as well as her offspring, -she made no effort to escape, but instead grasped the writhing -body in a futile effort to tear it from her screaming balu. - -Tarzan knew all too well how deep-rooted was Teeka's terror -of Histah. He scarce could believe the testimony of his -own eyes then, when they told him that she had voluntarily -rushed into that deadly embrace. Nor was Teeka's innate -dread of the monster much greater than Tarzan's own. -Never, willingly, had he touched a snake. Why, he could -not say, for he would admit fear of nothing; nor was it fear, -but rather an inherent repulsion bequeathed to him by many -generations of civilized ancestors, and back of them, perhaps, -by countless myriads of such as Teeka, in the breasts -of each of which had lurked the same nameless terror of the slimy -reptile. - -Yet Tarzan did not hesitate more than had Teeka, -but leaped upon Histah with all the speed and impetuosity -that he would have shown had he been springing upon Bara, -the deer, to make a kill for food. Thus beset the snake -writhed and twisted horribly; but not for an instant -did it loose its hold upon any of its intended victims, -for it had included the ape-man in its cold embrace -the minute that he had fallen upon it. - -Still clinging to the tree, the mighty reptile held -the three as though they had been without weight, -the while it sought to crush the life from them. -Tarzan had drawn his knife and this he now plunged rapidly -into the body of the enemy; but the encircling folds -promised to sap his life before he had inflicted a death -wound upon the snake. Yet on he fought, nor once did he -seek to escape the horrid death that confronted him--his -sole aim was to slay Histah and thus free Teeka and her balu. - -The great, wide-gaping jaws of the snake turned and hovered -above him. The elastic maw, which could accommodate a rabbit -or a horned buck with equal facility, yawned for him; -but Histah, in turning his attention upon the ape-man, brought -his head within reach of Tarzan's blade. Instantly a brown -hand leaped forth and seized the mottled neck, and another -drove the heavy hunting knife to the hilt into the little brain. - -Convulsively Histah shuddered and relaxed, tensed and -relaxed again, whipping and striking with his great body; -but no longer sentient or sensible. Histah was dead, -but in his death throes he might easily dispatch a dozen -apes or men. - -Quickly Tarzan seized Teeka and dragged her from the -loosened embrace, dropping her to the ground beneath, -then he extricated the balu and tossed it to its mother. -Still Histah whipped about, clinging to the ape-man; -but after a dozen efforts Tarzan succeeded in wriggling -free and leaping to the ground out of range of the mighty -battering of the dying snake. - -A circle of apes surrounded the scene of the battle; -but the moment that Tarzan broke safely from the enemy they -turned silently away to resume their interrupted feeding, -and Teeka turned with them, apparently forgetful of all -but her balu and the fact that when the interruption had -occurred she just had discovered an ingeniously hidden -nest containing three perfectly good eggs. - -Tarzan, equally indifferent to a battle that was over, -merely cast a parting glance at the still writhing -body of Histah and wandered off toward the little -pool which served to water the tribe at this point. -Strangely, he did not give the victory cry over the -vanquished Histah. Why, he could not have told you, -other than that to him Histah was not an animal. -He differed in some peculiar way from the other denizens -of the jungle. Tarzan only knew that he hated him. - -At the pool Tarzan drank his fill and lay stretched -upon the soft grass beneath the shade of a tree. -His mind reverted to the battle with Histah, the snake. -It seemed strange to him that Teeka should have placed -herself within the folds of the horrid monster. -Why had she done it? Why, indeed, had he? Teeka did -not belong to him, nor did Teeka's balu. They were both -Taug's. Why then had he done this thing? Histah was not -food for him when he was dead. There seemed to Tarzan, -now that he gave the matter thought, no reason in the world -why he should have done the thing he did, and presently it -occurred to him that he had acted almost involuntarily, -just as he had acted when he had released the old Gomangani -the previous evening. - -What made him do such things? Somebody more powerful than he must -force him to act at times. "All-powerful," thought Tarzan. -"The little bugs say that God is all-powerful. It must -be that God made me do these things, for I never did them -by myself. It was God who made Teeka rush upon Histah. -Teeka would never go near Histah of her own volition. -It was God who held my knife from the throat of the -old Gomangani. God accomplishes strange things for he is -'all-powerful.' I cannot see Him; but I know that it must -be God who does these things. No Mangani, no Gomangani, -no Tarmangani could do them." - -And the flowers--who made them grow? Ah, now it -was all explained--the flowers, the trees, the moon, -the sun, himself, every living creature in the jungle--they -were all made by God out of nothing. - -And what was God? What did God look like? Of that he had -no conception; but he was sure that everything that was good -came from God. His good act in refraining from slaying -the poor, defenseless old Gomangani; Teeka's love that had -hurled her into the embrace of death; his own loyalty to -Teeka which had jeopardized his life that she might live. -The flowers and the trees were good and beautiful. -God had made them. He made the other creatures, -too, that each might have food upon which to live. -He had made Sheeta, the panther, with his beautiful coat; -and Numa, the lion, with his noble head and his shaggy mane. -He had made Bara, the deer, lovely and graceful. - -Yes, Tarzan had found God, and he spent the whole day -in attributing to Him all of the good and beautiful things -of nature; but there was one thing which troubled him. -He could not quite reconcile it to his conception of his -new-found God. - -Who made Histah, the snake? - - - - - - - 5 - - - Tarzan and the Black Boy - - -TARZAN OF THE Apes sat at the foot of a great tree braiding -a new grass rope. Beside him lay the frayed remnants of the -old one, torn and severed by the fangs and talons of Sheeta, -the panther. Only half the original rope was there, -the balance having been carried off by the angry cat as he -bounded away through the jungle with the noose still about -his savage neck and the loose end dragging among the underbrush. - -Tarzan smiled as he recalled Sheeta's great rage, his frantic -efforts to free himself from the entangling strands, -his uncanny screams that were part hate, part anger, -part terror. He smiled in retrospection at the discomfiture -of his enemy, and in anticipation of another day as he -added an extra strand to his new rope. - -This would be the strongest, the heaviest rope that Tarzan -of the Apes ever had fashioned. Visions of Numa, the lion, -straining futilely in its embrace thrilled the ape-man. He -was quite content, for his hands and his brain were busy. -Content, too, were his fellows of the tribe of Kerchak, -searching for food in the clearing and the surrounding -trees about him. No perplexing thoughts of the future -burdened their minds, and only occasionally, dimly arose -recollections of the near past. They were stimulated -to a species of brutal content by the delectable business -of filling their bellies. Afterward they would sleep--it -was their life, and they enjoyed it as we enjoy ours, -you and I--as Tarzan enjoyed his. Possibly they enjoyed -theirs more than we enjoy ours, for who shall say that the -beasts of the jungle do not better fulfill the purposes -for which they are created than does man with his many -excursions into strange fields and his contraventions -of the laws of nature? And what gives greater content -and greater happiness than the fulfilling of a destiny? - -As Tarzan worked, Gazan, Teeka's little balu, played about -him while Teeka sought food upon the opposite side of -the clearing. No more did Teeka, the mother, or Taug, -the sullen sire, harbor suspicions of Tarzan's intentions -toward their first-born. Had he not courted death to save -their Gazan from the fangs and talons of Sheeta? Did he -not fondle and cuddle the little one with even as great -a show of affection as Teeka herself displayed? Their -fears were allayed and Tarzan now found himself often -in the role of nursemaid to a tiny anthropoid-- an -avocation which he found by no means irksome, since Gazan -was a never-failing fount of surprises and entertainment. - -Just now the apeling was developing those arboreal -tendencies which were to stand him in such good stead -during the years of his youth, when rapid flight into -the upper terraces was of far more importance and value -than his undeveloped muscles and untried fighting fangs. -Backing off fifteen or twenty feet from the bole of the tree -beneath the branches of which Tarzan worked upon his rope, -Gazan scampered quickly forward, scrambling nimbly upward -to the lower limbs. Here he would squat for a moment or two, -quite proud of his achievement, then clamber to the ground -again and repeat. Sometimes, quite often in fact, for he -was an ape, his attention was distracted by other things, -a beetle, a caterpillar, a tiny field mouse, and off he -would go in pursuit; the caterpillars he always caught, -and sometimes the beetles; but the field mice, never. - -Now he discovered the tail of the rope upon which Tarzan -was working. Grasping it in one small hand he bounced away, -for all the world like an animated rubber ball, snatching it -from the ape-man's hand and running off across the clearing. -Tarzan leaped to his feet and was in pursuit in an instant, -no trace of anger on his face or in his voice as he called -to the roguish little balu to drop his rope. - -Straight toward his mother raced Gazan, and after him -came Tarzan. Teeka looked up from her feeding, and in the -first instant that she realized that Gazan was fleeing and -that another was in pursuit, she bared her fangs and bristled; -but when she saw that the pursuer was Tarzan she turned back -to the business that had been occupying her attention. -At her very feet the ape-man overhauled the balu and, -though the youngster squealed and fought when Tarzan -seized him, Teeka only glanced casually in their direction. -No longer did she fear harm to her first-born at the hands -of the ape-man. Had he not saved Gazan on two occasions? - -Rescuing his rope, Tarzan returned to his tree and resumed -his labor; but thereafter it was necessary to watch -carefully the playful balu, who was now possessed to steal -it whenever he thought his great, smooth-skinned cousin -was momentarily off his guard. - -But even under this handicap Tarzan finally completed -the rope, a long, pliant weapon, stronger than any he -ever had made before. The discarded piece of his former -one he gave to Gazan for a plaything, for Tarzan had -it in his mind to instruct Teeka's balu after ideas -of his own when the youngster should be old and strong -enough to profit by his precepts. At present the little -ape's innate aptitude for mimicry would be sufficient -to familiarize him with Tarzan's ways and weapons, -and so the ape-man swung off into the jungle, his new rope -coiled over one shoulder, while little Gazan hopped about -the clearing dragging the old one after him in childish glee. - -As Tarzan traveled, dividing his quest for food with one -for a sufficiently noble quarry whereupon to test his -new weapon, his mind often was upon Gazan. The ape-man -had realized a deep affection for Teeka's balu almost from -the first, partly because the child belonged to Teeka, -his first love, and partly for the little ape's own sake, -and Tarzan's human longing for some sentient creature -upon which to expend those natural affections of the soul -which are inherent to all normal members of the GENUS -HOMO. Tarzan envied Teeka. It was true that Gazan -evidenced a considerable reciprocation of Tarzan's fondness -for him, even preferring him to his own surly sire; -but to Teeka the little one turned when in pain or terror, -when tired or hungry. Then it was that Tarzan felt -quite alone in the world and longed desperately for one -who should turn first to him for succor and protection. - -Taug had Teeka; Teeka had Gazan; and nearly every other -bull and cow of the tribe of Kerchak had one or more -to love and by whom to be loved. Of course Tarzan could -scarcely formulate the thought in precisely this way--he -only knew that he craved something which was denied him; -something which seemed to be represented by those -relations which existed between Teeka and her balu, -and so he envied Teeka and longed for a balu of his own. - -He saw Sheeta and his mate with their little family of three; -and deeper inland toward the rocky hills, where one might lie -up during the heat of the day, in the dense shade of a tangled -thicket close under the cool face of an overhanging rock, -Tarzan had found the lair of Numa, the lion, and of Sabor, -the lioness. Here he had watched them with their little -balus--playful creatures, spotted leopard-like. And he -had seen the young fawn with Bara, the deer, and with Buto, -the rhinoceros, its ungainly little one. Each of the -creatures of the jungle had its own--except Tarzan. -It made the ape-man sad to think upon this thing, -sad and lonely; but presently the scent of game cleared -his young mind of all other considerations, as catlike he -crawled far out upon a bending limb above the game trail -which led down to the ancient watering place of the wild -things of this wild world. - -How many thousands of times had this great, old limb bent -to the savage form of some blood-thirsty hunter in the -long years that it had spread its leafy branches above -the deep-worn jungle path! Tarzan, the ape-man, Sheeta, -the panther, and Histah, the snake, it knew well. -They had worn smooth the bark upon its upper surface. - -Today it was Horta, the boar, which came down toward the -watcher in the old tree--Horta, the boar, whose formidable -tusks and diabolical temper preserved him from all but -the most ferocious or most famished of the largest carnivora. - -But to Tarzan, meat was meat; naught that was edible or tasty -might pass a hungry Tarzan unchallenged and unattacked. -In hunger, as in battle, the ape-man out-savaged the -dreariest denizens of the jungle. He knew neither fear -nor mercy, except upon rare occasions when some strange, -inexplicable force stayed his hand--a force inexplicable -to him, perhaps, because of his ignorance of his own origin -and of all the forces of humanitarianism and civilization -that were his rightful heritage because of that origin. - -So today, instead of staying his hand until a less -formidable feast found its way toward him, Tarzan dropped -his new noose about the neck of Horta, the boar. -It was an excellent test for the untried strands. -The angered boar bolted this way and that; but each time -the new rope held him where Tarzan had made it fast -about the stem of the tree above the branch from which he -had cast it. - -As Horta grunted and charged, slashing the sturdy jungle -patriarch with his mighty tusks until the bark flew in -every direction, Tarzan dropped to the ground behind him. -In the ape-man's hand was the long, keen blade that had been -his constant companion since that distant day upon which -chance had directed its point into the body of Bolgani, -the gorilla, and saved the torn and bleeding man-child -from what else had been certain death. - -Tarzan walked in toward Horta, who swung now to face -his enemy. Mighty and muscled as was the young giant, -it yet would have appeared but the maddest folly for him -to face so formidable a creature as Horta, the boar, -armed only with a slender hunting knife. So it would -have seemed to one who knew Horta even slightly and Tarzan -not at all. - -For a moment Horta stood motionless facing the ape-man. -His wicked, deep-set eyes flashed angrily. He shook -his lowered head. - -"Mud-eater!" jeered the ape-man. "Wallower in filth. -Even your meat stinks, but it is juicy and makes Tarzan strong. -Today I shall eat your heart, O Lord of the Great Tusks, -that it shall keep savage that which pounds against my -own ribs." - -Horta, understanding nothing of what Tarzan said, was none -the less enraged because of that. He saw only a naked -man-thing, hairless and futile, pitting his puny fangs -and soft muscles against his own indomitable savagery, -and he charged. - -Tarzan of the Apes waited until the upcut of a wicked -tusk would have laid open his thigh, then he moved--just -the least bit to one side; but so quickly that lightning -was a sluggard by comparison, and as he moved, he stooped -low and with all the great power of his right arm drove -the long blade of his father's hunting knife straight -into the heart of Horta, the boar. A quick leap carried -him from the zone of the creature's death throes, -and a moment later the hot and dripping heart of Horta -was in his grasp. - -His hunger satisfied, Tarzan did not seek a lying-up place -for sleep, as was sometimes his way, but continued on -through the jungle more in search of adventure than of food, -for today he was restless. And so it came that he turned -his footsteps toward the village of Mbonga, the black chief, -whose people Tarzan had baited remorselessly since that -day upon which Kulonga, the chief's son, had slain Kala. - -A river winds close beside the village of the black men. -Tarzan reached its side a little below the clearing where -squat the thatched huts of the Negroes. The river life -was ever fascinating to the ape-man. He found pleasure -in watching the ungainly antics of Duro, the hippopotamus, -and keen sport in tormenting the sluggish crocodile, -Gimla, as he basked in the sun. Then, too, there were -the shes and the balus of the black men of the Gomangani -to frighten as they squatted by the river, the shes with -their meager washing, the balus with their primitive toys. - -This day he came upon a woman and her child farther -down stream than usual. The former was searching for a -species of shellfish which was to be found in the mud -close to the river bank. She was a young black woman -of about thirty. Her teeth were filed to sharp points, -for her people ate the flesh of man. Her under lip -was slit that it might support a rude pendant of copper -which she had worn for so many years that the lip had been -dragged downward to prodigious lengths, exposing the teeth -and gums of her lower jaw. Her nose, too, was slit, -and through the slit was a wooden skewer. Metal ornaments -dangled from her ears, and upon her forehead and cheeks; -upon her chin and the bridge of her nose were tattooings -in colors that were mellowed now by age. She was -naked except for a girdle of grasses about her waist. -Altogether she was very beautiful in her own estimation -and even in the estimation of the men of Mbonga's tribe, -though she was of another people--a trophy of war seized -in her maidenhood by one of Mbonga's fighting men. - -Her child was a boy of ten, lithe, straight and, -for a black, handsome. Tarzan looked upon the two from -the concealing foliage of a near-by bush. He was about -to leap forth before them with a terrifying scream, -that he might enjoy the spectacle of their terror and their -incontinent flight; but of a sudden a new whim seized him. -Here was a balu fashioned as he himself was fashioned. -Of course this one's skin was black; but what of it? -Tarzan had never seen a white man. In so far as he knew, -he was the sole representative of that strange form -of life upon the earth. The black boy should make an -excellent balu for Tarzan, since he had none of his own. -He would tend him carefully, feed him well, protect him -as only Tarzan of the Apes could protect his own, -and teach him out of his half human, half bestial lore -the secrets of the jungle from its rotting surface -vegetation to the high tossed pinnacles of the forest's -upper terraces. - -* * * - -Tarzan uncoiled his rope, and shook out the noose. -The two before him, all ignorant of the near presence of -that terrifying form, continued preoccupied in the search -for shellfish, poking about in the mud with short sticks. - -Tarzan stepped from the jungle behind them; his noose -lay open upon the ground beside him. There was a quick -movement of the right arm and the noose rose gracefully -into the air, hovered an instant above the head of the -unsuspecting youth, then settled. As it encompassed -his body below the shoulders, Tarzan gave a quick jerk -that tightened it about the boy's arms, pinioning them -to his sides. A scream of terror broke from the lad's lips, -and as his mother turned, affrighted at his cry, -she saw him being dragged quickly toward a great white -giant who stood just beneath the shade of a near-by tree, -scarcely a dozen long paces from her. - -With a savage cry of terror and rage, the woman leaped fearlessly -toward the ape-man. In her mien Tarzan saw determination -and courage which would shrink not even from death itself. -She was very hideous and frightful even when her face -was in repose; but convulsed by passion, her expression -became terrifyingly fiendish. Even the ape-man drew back, -but more in revulsion than fear--fear he knew not. - -Biting and kicking was the black she's balu as Tarzan tucked -him beneath his arm and vanished into the branches hanging -low above him, just as the infuriated mother dashed forward -to seize and do battle with him. And as he melted away into -the depth of the jungle with his still struggling prize, -he meditated upon the possibilities which might lie in the -prowess of the Gomangani were the hes as formidable as the shes. - -Once at a safe distance from the despoiled mother and out -of earshot of her screams and menaces, Tarzan paused -to inspect his prize, now so thoroughly terrorized -that he had ceased his struggles and his outcries. - -The frightened child rolled his eyes fearfully toward -his captor, until the whites showed gleaming all about -the irises. - -"I am Tarzan," said the ape-man, in the vernacular of -the anthropoids. "I will not harm you. You are to be -Tarzan's balu. Tarzan will protect you. He will feed you. -The best in the jungle shall be for Tarzan's balu, -for Tarzan is a mighty hunter. None need you fear, -not even Numa, the lion, for Tarzan is a mighty fighter. -None so great as Tarzan, son of Kala. Do not fear." - -But the child only whimpered and trembled, for he did -not understand the tongue of the great apes, and the voice -of Tarzan sounded to him like the barking and growling -of a beast. Then, too, he had heard stories of this bad, -white forest god. It was he who had slain Kulonga -and others of the warriors of Mbonga, the chief. -It was he who entered the village stealthily, by magic, -in the darkness of the night, to steal arrows and poison, -and frighten the women and the children and even the -great warriors. Doubtless this wicked god fed upon -little boys. Had his mother not said as much when he -was naughty and she threatened to give him to the white -god of the jungle if he were not good? Little black Tibo -shook as with ague. - -"Are you cold, Go-bu-balu?" asked Tarzan, using the simian -equivalent of black he-baby in lieu of a better name. -"The sun is hot; why do you shiver?" - -Tibo could not understand; but he cried for his mamma and -begged the great, white god to let him go, promising always -to be a good boy thereafter if his plea were granted. -Tarzan shook his head. Not a word could he understand. -This would never do! He must teach Go-bu-balu a language -which sounded like talk. It was quite certain to Tarzan -that Go-bu-balu's speech was not talk at all. It sounded -quite as senseless as the chattering of the silly birds. -It would be best, thought the ape-man, quickly to get him -among the tribe of Kerchak where he would hear the Mangani -talking among themselves. Thus he would soon learn an -intelligible form of speech. - -Tarzan rose to his feet upon the swaying branch where he -had halted far above the ground, and motioned to the child -to follow him; but Tibo only clung tightly to the bole -of the tree and wept. Being a boy, and a native African, -he had, of course, climbed into trees many times before this; -but the idea of racing off through the forest, leaping from -one branch to another, as his captor, to his horror, -had done when he had carried Tibo away from his mother, -filled his childish heart with terror. - -Tarzan sighed. His newly acquired balu had much indeed -to learn. It was pitiful that a balu of his size and strength -should be so backward. He tried to coax Tibo to follow him; -but the child dared not, so Tarzan picked him up and carried -him upon his back. Tibo no longer scratched or bit. -Escape seemed impossible. Even now, were he set upon -the ground, the chance was remote, he knew, that he could -find his way back to the village of Mbonga, the chief. -Even if he could, there were the lions and the leopards -and the hyenas, any one of which, as Tibo was well aware, -was particularly fond of the meat of little black boys. - -So far the terrible white god of the jungle had offered -him no harm. He could not expect even this much -consideration from the frightful, green-eyed man-eaters. -It would be the lesser of two evils, then, to let the -white god carry him away without scratching and biting, -as he had done at first. - -As Tarzan swung rapidly through the trees, little Tibo -closed his eyes in terror rather than look longer down -into the frightful abysses beneath. Never before in all -his life had Tibo been so frightened, yet as the white -giant sped on with him through the forest there stole -over the child an inexplicable sensation of security as he -saw how true were the leaps of the ape-man, how unerring -his grasp upon the swaying limbs which gave him hand-hold, -and then, too, there was safety in the middle terraces -of the forest, far above the reach of the dreaded lions. - -And so Tarzan came to the clearing where the tribe fed, -dropping among them with his new balu clinging tightly -to his shoulders. He was fairly in the midst of them -before Tibo spied a single one of the great hairy forms, -or before the apes realized that Tarzan was not alone. -When they saw the little Gomangani perched upon his back -some of them came forward in curiosity with upcurled lips -and snarling mien. - -An hour before little Tibo would have said that he -knew the uttermost depths of fear; but now, as he saw -these fearsome beasts surrounding him, he realized that -all that had gone before was as nothing by comparison. -Why did the great white giant stand there so unconcernedly? -Why did he not flee before these horrid, hairy, tree men -fell upon them both and tore them to pieces? And then -there came to Tibo a numbing recollection. It was none -other than the story he had heard passed from mouth -to mouth, fearfully, by the people of Mbonga, the chief, -that this great white demon of the jungle was naught other -than a hairless ape, for had not he been seen in company with -these? - -Tibo could only stare in wide-eyed horror at the -approaching apes. He saw their beetling brows, -their great fangs, their wicked eyes. He noted their -mighty muscles rolling beneath their shaggy hides. -Their every attitude and expression was a menace. -Tarzan saw this, too. He drew Tibo around in front of him. - -"This is Tarzan's Go-bu-balu," he said. "Do not harm him, -or Tarzan will kill you," and he bared his own fangs -in the teeth of the nearest ape. - -"It is a Gomangani," replied the ape. "Let me kill it. -It is a Gomangani. The Gomangani are our enemies. -Let me kill it." - -"Go away," snarled Tarzan. "I tell you, Gunto, it is -Tarzan's balu. Go away or Tarzan will kill you," -and the ape-man took a step toward the advancing ape. - -The latter sidled off, quite stiff and haughty, -after the manner of a dog which meets another and is -too proud to fight and too fearful to turn his back and run. - -Next came Teeka, prompted by curiosity. At her side -skipped little Gazan. They were filled with wonder -like the others; but Teeka did not bare her fangs. -Tarzan saw this and motioned that she approach. - -"Tarzan has a balu now," he said. "He and Teeka's balu -can play together." - -"It is a Gomangani, " replied Teeka. "It will kill my balu. -Take it away, Tarzan." - -Tarzan laughed. "It could not harm Pamba, the rat," -he said. "It is but a little balu and very frightened. -Let Gazan play with it." - -Teeka still was fearful, for with all their mighty -ferocity the great anthropoids are timid; but at last, -assured by her great confidence in Tarzan, she pushed -Gazan forward toward the little black boy. The small ape, -guided by instinct, drew back toward its mother, baring its -small fangs and screaming in mingled fear and rage. - -Tibo, too, showed no signs of desiring a closer acquaintance -with Gazan, so Tarzan gave up his efforts for the time. - -During the week which followed, Tarzan found his time -much occupied. His balu was a greater responsibility -than he had counted upon. Not for a moment did he dare -leave it, since of all the tribe, Teeka alone could have -been depended upon to refrain from slaying the hapless -black had it not been for Tarzan's constant watchfulness. -When the ape-man hunted, he must carry Go-bu-balu about -with him. It was irksome, and then the little black -seemed so stupid and fearful to Tarzan. It was quite -helpless against even the lesser of the jungle creatures. -Tarzan wondered how it had survived at all. He tried -to teach it, and found a ray of hope in the fact that -Go-bu-balu had mastered a few words of the language -of the anthropoids, and that he could now cling to a -high-tossed branch without screaming in fear; but there -was something about the child which worried Tarzan. -He often had watched the blacks within their village. -He had seen the children playing, and always there had -been much laughter; but little Go-bu-balu never laughed. -It was true that Tarzan himself never laughed. Upon occasion -he smiled, grimly, but to laughter he was a stranger. -The black, however, should have laughed, reasoned the ape-man. -It was the way of the Gomangani. - -Also, he saw that the little fellow often refused food -and was growing thinner day by day. At times he surprised -the boy sobbing softly to himself. Tarzan tried to -comfort him, even as fierce Kala had comforted Tarzan -when the ape-man was a balu, but all to no avail. -Go-bu-balu merely no longer feared Tarzan--that was all. -He feared every other living thing within the jungle. -He feared the jungle days with their long excursions -through the dizzy tree tops. He feared the jungle nights -with their swaying, perilous couches far above the ground, -and the grunting and coughing of the great carnivora prowling -beneath him. - -Tarzan did not know what to do. His heritage of English -blood rendered it a difficult thing even to consider -a surrender of his project, though he was forced to admit -to himself that his balu was not all that he had hoped. -Though he was faithful to his self-imposed task, and even -found that he had grown to like Go-bu-balu, he could -not deceive himself into believing that he felt for it -that fierce heat of passionate affection which Teeka -revealed for Gazan, and which the black mother had shown -for Go-bu-balu. - -The little black boy from cringing terror at the sight of -Tarzan passed by degrees into trustfulness and admiration. -Only kindness had he ever received at the hands of the -great white devil-god, yet he had seen with what ferocity -his kindly captor could deal with others. He had seen him -leap upon a certain he-ape which persisted in attempting -to seize and slay Go-bu-balu. He had seen the strong, -white teeth of the ape-man fastened in the neck of -his adversary, and the mighty muscles tensed in battle. -He had heard the savage, bestial snarls and roars -of combat, and he had realized with a shudder that he -could not differentiate between those of his guardian -and those of the hairy ape. - -He had seen Tarzan bring down a buck, just as Numa, the lion, -might have done, leaping upon its back and fastening his fangs -in the creature's neck. Tibo had shuddered at the sight, -but he had thrilled, too, and for the first time there -entered his dull, Negroid mind a vague desire to emulate -his savage foster parent. But Tibo, the little black boy, -lacked the divine spark which had permitted Tarzan, -the white boy, to benefit by his training in the ways -of the fierce jungle. In imagination he was wanting, -and imagination is but another name for super-intelligence. - -Imagination it is which builds bridges, and cities, -and empires. The beasts know it not, the blacks only -a little, while to one in a hundred thousand of earth's -dominant race it is given as a gift from heaven that man -may not perish from the earth. - -While Tarzan pondered his problem concerning the future -of his balu, Fate was arranging to take the matter out -of his hands. Momaya, Tibo's mother, grief-stricken at -the loss of her boy, had consulted the tribal witch-doctor, -but to no avail. The medicine he made was not good medicine, -for though Momaya paid him two goats for it, it did -not bring back Tibo, nor even indicate where she might -search for him with reasonable assurance of finding him. -Momaya, being of a short temper and of another people, -had little respect for the witch-doctor of her -husband's tribe, and so, when he suggested that a further -payment of two more fat goats would doubtless enable -him to make stronger medicine, she promptly loosed her -shrewish tongue upon him, and with such good effect that -he was glad to take himself off with his zebra's tail and his pot -of magic. - -When he had gone and Momaya had succeeded in partially -subduing her anger, she gave herself over to thought, -as she so often had done since the abduction of her Tibo, -in the hope that she finally might discover some feasible -means of locating him, or at least assuring herself as to -whether he were alive or dead. - -It was known to the blacks that Tarzan did not eat the flesh -of man, for he had slain more than one of their number, -yet never tasted the flesh of any. Too, the bodies -always had been found, sometimes dropping as though -from the clouds to alight in the center of the village. -As Tibo's body had not been found, Momaya argued that he -still lived, but where? - -Then it was that there came to her mind a recollection -of Bukawai, the unclean, who dwelt in a cave in the hillside -to the north, and who it was well known entertained -devils in his evil lair. Few, if any, had the temerity -to visit old Bukawai, firstly because of fear of his black -magic and the two hyenas who dwelt with him and were -commonly known to be devils masquerading, and secondly -because of the loathsome disease which had caused Bukawai -to be an outcast--a disease which was slowly eating away his -face. - -Now it was that Momaya reasoned shrewdly that if any might -know the whereabouts of her Tibo, it would be Bukawai, -who was in friendly intercourse with gods and demons, -since a demon or a god it was who had stolen her baby; -but even her great mother love was sorely taxed to find -the courage to send her forth into the black jungle toward -the distant hills and the uncanny abode of Bukawai, -the unclean, and his devils. - -Mother love, however, is one of the human passions -which closely approximates to the dignity of an -irresistible force. It drives the frail flesh of weak -women to deeds of heroic measure. Momaya was neither frail -nor weak, physically, but she was a woman, an ignorant, -superstitious, African savage. She believed in devils, -in black magic, and in witchcraft. To Momaya, the jungle -was inhabited by far more terrifying things than lions -and leopards--horrifying, nameless things which possessed -the power of wreaking frightful harm under various innocent -guises. - -From one of the warriors of the village, whom she knew -to have once stumbled upon the lair of Bukawai, the mother -of Tibo learned how she might find it--near a spring of -water which rose in a small rocky canon between two hills, -the easternmost of which was easily recognizable because -of a huge granite boulder which rested upon its summit. -The westerly hill was lower than its companion, and was -quite bare of vegetation except for a single mimosa tree -which grew just a little below its summit. - -These two hills, the man assured her, could be seen -for some distance before she reached them, and together -formed an excellent guide to her destination. -He warned her, however, to abandon so foolish and -dangerous an adventure, emphasizing what she already -quite well knew, that if she escaped harm at the hands -of Bukawai and his demons, the chances were that she -would not be so fortunate with the great carnivora -of the jungle through which she must pass going and returning. - -The warrior even went to Momaya's husband, who, in turn, -having little authority over the vixenish lady of his choice, -went to Mbonga, the chief. The latter summoned Momaya, -threatening her with the direst punishment should she -venture forth upon so unholy an excursion. The old -chief's interest in the matter was due solely to that -age-old alliance which exists between church and state. -The local witch-doctor, knowing his own medicine -better than any other knew it, was jealous of all -other pretenders to accomplishments in the black art. -He long had heard of the power of Bukawai, and feared lest, -should he succeed in recovering Momaya's lost child, -much of the tribal patronage and consequent fees would be -diverted to the unclean one. As Mbonga received, as chief, -a certain proportion of the witch-doctor's fees and could -expect nothing from Bukawai, his heart and soul were, -quite naturally, wrapped up in the orthodox church. - -But if Momaya could view with intrepid heart an excursion -into the jungle and a visit to the fear-haunted abode -of Bukawai, she was not likely to be deterred by threats -of future punishment at the hands of old Mbonga, -whom she secretly despised. Yet she appeared to accede -to his injunctions, returning to her hut in silence. - -She would have preferred starting upon her quest -by day-light, but this was now out of the question, -since she must carry food and a weapon of some sort--things -which she never could pass out of the village with by -day without being subjected to curious questioning -that surely would come immediately to the ears of Mbonga. - -So Momaya bided her time until night, and just before the -gates of the village were closed, she slipped through into -the darkness and the jungle. She was much frightened, -but she set her face resolutely toward the north, and though -she paused often to listen, breathlessly, for the huge -cats which, here, were her greatest terror, she nevertheless -continued her way staunchly for several hours, until a low -moan a little to her right and behind her brought her to a sudden -stop. - -With palpitating heart the woman stood, scarce daring -to breathe, and then, very faintly but unmistakable -to her keen ears, came the stealthy crunching of twigs -and grasses beneath padded feet. - -All about Momaya grew the giant trees of the tropical jungle, -festooned with hanging vines and mosses. She seized -upon the nearest and started to clamber, apelike, to the -branches above. As she did so, there was a sudden -rush of a great body behind her, a menacing roar that -caused the earth to tremble, and something crashed -into the very creepers to which she was clinging--but below her. - -Momaya drew herself to safety among the leafy branches and -thanked the foresight which had prompted her to bring along -the dried human ear which hung from a cord about her neck. -She always had known that that ear was good medicine. -It had been given her, when a girl, by the witch-doctor -of her town tribe, and was nothing like the poor, -weak medicine of Mbonga's witch-doctor. - -All night Momaya clung to her perch, for although the -lion sought other prey after a short time, she dared -not descend into the darkness again, for fear she might -encounter him or another of his kind; but at daylight -she clambered down and resumed her way. - -Tarzan of the Apes, finding that his balu never ceased to give -evidence of terror in the presence of the apes of the tribe, -and also that most of the adult apes were a constant menace -to Go-bu-balu's life, so that Tarzan dared not leave him -alone with them, took to hunting with the little black boy -farther and farther from the stamping grounds of the anthropoids. - - -Little by little his absences from the tribe grew in length -as he wandered farther away from them, until finally he -found himself a greater distance to the north than he ever -before had hunted, and with water and ample game and fruit, -he felt not at all inclined to return to the tribe. - -Little Go-bu-balu gave evidences of a greater interest -in life, an interest which varied in direct proportion -to the distance he was from the apes of Kerchak. -He now trotted along behind Tarzan when the ape-man went -upon the ground, and in the trees he even did his best -to follow his mighty foster parent. The boy was still -sad and lonely. His thin, little body had grown steadily -thinner since he had come among the apes, for while, -as a young cannibal, he was not overnice in the matter -of diet, he found it not always to his taste to stomach -the weird things which tickled the palates of epicures -among the apes. - -His large eyes were very large indeed now, his cheeks sunken, -and every rib of his emaciated body plainly discernible -to whomsoever should care to count them. Constant terror, -perhaps, had had as much to do with his physical condition as -had improper food. Tarzan noticed the change and was worried. -He had hoped to see his balu wax sturdy and strong. -His disappointment was great. In only one respect did -Go-bu-balu seem to progress--he readily was mastering -the language of the apes. Even now he and Tarzan could -converse in a fairly satisfactory manner by supplementing -the meager ape speech with signs; but for the most part, -Go-bu-balu was silent other than to answer questions put -to him. His great sorrow was yet too new and too poignant -to be laid aside even momentarily. Always he pined for -Momaya--shrewish, hideous, repulsive, perhaps, she would -have been to you or me, but to Tibo she was mamma, -the personification of that one great love which knows -no selfishness and which does not consume itself in its own -fires. - -As the two hunted, or rather as Tarzan hunted and Go-bu-balu -tagged along in his wake, the ape-man noticed many things -and thought much. Once they came upon Sabor moaning in -the tall grasses. About her romped and played two little -balls of fur, but her eyes were for one which lay between -her great forepaws and did not romp, one who never would romp -again. - -Tarzan read aright the anguish and the suffering of the -huge mother cat. He had been minded to bait her. It was -to do this that he had sneaked silently through the trees -until he had come almost above her, but something held the -ape-man as he saw the lioness grieving over her dead cub. -With the acquisition of Go-bu-balu, Tarzan had come -to realize the responsibilities and sorrows of parentage, -without its joys. His heart went out to Sabor as it might -not have done a few weeks before. As he watched her, -there rose quite unbidden before him a vision of Momaya, -the skewer through the septum of her nose, her pendulous -under lip sagging beneath the weight which dragged it down. -Tarzan saw not her unloveliness; he saw only the same anguish -that was Sabor's, and he winced. That strange functioning -of the mind which sometimes is called association of ideas -snapped Teeka and Gazan before the ape-man's mental vision. -What if one should come and take Gazan from Teeka. -Tarzan uttered a low and ominous growl as though Gazan were -his own. Go-bu-balu glanced here and there apprehensively, -thinking that Tarzan had espied an enemy. Sabor sprang -suddenly to her feet, her yellow-green eyes blazing, -her tail lashing as she cocked her ears, and raising -her muzzle, sniffed the air for possible danger. -The two little cubs, which had been playing, scampered -quickly to her, and standing beneath her, peered out -from between her forelegs, their big ears upstanding, -their little heads cocked first upon one side and then -upon the other. - -With a shake of his black shock, Tarzan turned away -and resumed his hunting in another direction; but all day -there rose one after another, above the threshold of his -objective mind, memory portraits of Sabor, of Momaya, -and of Teeka--a lioness, a cannibal, and a she-ape, yet -to the ape-man they were identical through motherhood. - -It was noon of the third day when Momaya came within -sight of the cave of Bukawai, the unclean. The old -witch-doctor had rigged a framework of interlaced boughs -to close the mouth of the cave from predatory beasts. -This was now set to one side, and the black cavern beyond -yawned mysterious and repellent. Momaya shivered as from -a cold wind of the rainy season. No sign of life appeared -about the cave, yet Momaya experienced that uncanny -sensation as of unseen eyes regarding her malevolently. -Again she shuddered. She tried to force her unwilling -feet onward toward the cave, when from its depths issued -an uncanny sound that was neither brute nor human, a weird -sound that was akin to mirthless laughter. - -With a stifled scream, Momaya turned and fled into the jungle. -For a hundred yards she ran before she could control -her terror, and then she paused, listening. Was all -her labor, were all the terrors and dangers through -which she had passed to go for naught? She tried to steel -herself to return to the cave, but again fright overcame her. - -Saddened, disheartened, she turned slowly upon the back trail -toward the village of Mbonga. Her young shoulders now were -drooped like those of an old woman who bears a great burden -of many years with their accumulated pains and sorrows, -and she walked with tired feet and a halting step. -The spring of youth was gone from Momaya. - -For another hundred yards she dragged her weary way, -her brain half paralyzed from dumb terror and suffering, -and then there came to her the memory of a little babe -that suckled at her breast, and of a slim boy who romped, -laughing, about her, and they were both Tibo--her Tibo! - -Her shoulders straightened. She shook her savage head, -and she turned about and walked boldly back to the -mouth of the cave of Bukawai, the unclean--of Bukawai, -the witch-doctor. - -Again, from the interior of the cave came the hideous -laughter that was not laughter. This time Momaya -recognized it for what it was, the strange cry of a hyena. -No more did she shudder, but she held her spear ready -and called aloud to Bukawai to come out. - -Instead of Bukawai came the repulsive head of a hyena. -Momaya poked at it with her spear, and the ugly, -sullen brute drew back with an angry growl. Again Momaya -called Bukawai by name, and this time there came an answer -in mumbling tones that were scarce more human than those -of the beast. - -"Who comes to Bukawai?" queried the voice. - -"It is Momaya," replied the woman; "Momaya from the village -of Mbonga, the chief. - -"What do you want?" - -"I want good medicine, better medicine than Mbonga's witch-doctor -can make," replied Momaya. "The great, white, jungle god -has stolen my Tibo, and I want medicine to bring him back, -or to find where he is hidden that I may go and get him." - -"Who is Tibo?" asked Bukawai. - -Momaya told him. - -"Bukawai's medicine is very strong," said the voice. -"Five goats and a new sleeping mat are scarce enough in -exchange for Bukawai's medicine." - -"Two goats are enough," said Momaya, for the spirit -of barter is strong in the breasts of the blacks. - -The pleasure of haggling over the price was a sufficiently -potent lure to draw Bukawai to the mouth of the cave. -Momaya was sorry when she saw him that he had not -remained within. There are some things too horrible, -too hideous, too repulsive for description--Bukawai's face -was of these. When Momaya saw him she understood why it -was that he was almost inarticulate. - -Beside him were two hyenas, which rumor had said were his -only and constant companions. They made an excellent -trio--the most repulsive of beasts with the most repulsive -of humans. - -"Five goats and a new sleeping mat," mumbled Bukawai. - -"Two fat goats and a sleeping mat." Momaya raised her bid; -but Bukawai was obdurate. He stuck for the five goats -and the sleeping mat for a matter of half an hour, -while the hyenas sniffed and growled and laughed hideously. -Momaya was determined to give all that Bukawai asked -if she could do no better, but haggling is second nature -to black barterers, and in the end it partly repaid her, -for a compromise finally was reached which included -three fat goats, a new sleeping mat, and a piece of -copper wire. - -"Come back tonight," said Bukawai, "when the moon is two -hours in the sky. Then will I make the strong medicine -which shall bring Tibo back to you. Bring with you -the three fat goats, the new sleeping mat, and the piece -of copper wire the length of a large man's forearm." - -"I cannot bring them," said Momaya. "You will have -to come after them. When you have restored Tibo to me, -you shall have them all at the village of Mbonga. - -Bukawai shook his head. - -"I will make no medicine," he said, "until I have -the goats and the mat and the copper wire." - -Momaya pleaded and threatened, but all to no avail. -Finally, she turned away and started off through the jungle -toward the village of Mbonga. How she could get three -goats and a sleeping mat out of the village and through -the jungle to the cave of Bukawai, she did not know, -but that she would do it somehow she was quite positive--she -would do it or die. Tibo must be restored to her. - -Tarzan coming lazily through the jungle with little Go-bu-balu, -caught the scent of Bara, the deer. Tarzan hungered for -the flesh of Bara. Naught tickled his palate so greatly; -but to stalk Bara with Go-bu-balu at his heels, was out -of the question, so he hid the child in the crotch of -a tree where the thick foliage screened him from view, -and set off swiftly and silently upon the spoor of Bara. - -Tibo alone was more terrified than Tibo even among the apes. -Real and apparent dangers are less disconcerting than -those which we imagine, and only the gods of his people -knew how much Tibo imagined. - -He had been but a short time in his hiding place when -he heard something approaching through the jungle. -He crouched closer to the limb upon which he lay and prayed -that Tarzan would return quickly. His wide eyes searched -the jungle in the direction of the moving creature. - -What if it was a leopard that had caught his scent! It would -be upon him in a minute. Hot tears flowed from the large -eyes of little Tibo. The curtain of jungle foliage rustled -close at hand. The thing was but a few paces from his tree! -His eyes fairly popped from his black face as he watched -for the appearance of the dread creature which presently would -thrust a snarling countenance from between the vines and -creepers. - -And then the curtain parted and a woman stepped into -full view. With a gasping cry, Tibo tumbled from his -perch and raced toward her. Momaya suddenly started -back and raised her spear, but a second later she cast -it aside and caught the thin body in her strong arms. - -Crushing it to her, she cried and laughed all at one and -the same time, and hot tears of joy, mingled with the tears -of Tibo, trickled down the crease between her naked breasts. - -Disturbed by the noise so close at hand, there arose -from his sleep in a near-by thicket Numa, the lion. -He looked through the tangled underbrush and saw -the black woman and her young. He licked his chops -and measured the distance between them and himself. -A short charge and a long leap would carry him upon them. -He flicked the end of his tail and sighed. - -A vagrant breeze, swirling suddenly in the wrong direction, -carried the scent of Tarzan to the sensitive nostrils -of Bara, the deer. There was a startled tensing of muscles -and cocking of ears, a sudden dash, and Tarzan's meat -was gone. The ape-man angrily shook his head and turned -back toward the spot where he had left Go-bu-balu. He -came softly, as was his way. Before he reached the spot -he heard strange sounds--the sound of a woman laughing -and of a woman weeping, and the two which seemed to come -from one throat were mingled with the convulsive sobbing -of a child. Tarzan hastened, and when Tarzan hastened, -only the birds and the wind went faster. - -And as Tarzan approached the sounds, he heard another, -a deep sigh. Momaya did not hear it, nor did Tibo; -but the ears of Tarzan were as the ears of Bara, the deer. -He heard the sigh, and he knew, so he unloosed the heavy -spear which dangled at his back. Even as he sped through -the branches of the trees, with the same ease that you -or I might take out a pocket handkerchief as we strolled -nonchalantly down a lazy country lane, Tarzan of the Apes -took the spear from its thong that it might be ready against -any emergency. - -Numa, the lion, did not rush madly to attack. -He reasoned again, and reason told him that already the prey -was his, so he pushed his great bulk through the foliage -and stood eyeing his meat with baleful, glaring eyes. - -Momaya saw him and shrieked, drawing Tibo closer to her breast. -To have found her child and to lose him, all in a moment! -She raised her spear, throwing her hand far back of -her shoulder. Numa roared and stepped slowly forward. -Momaya cast her weapon. It grazed the tawny shoulder, -inflicting a flesh wound which aroused all the terrific -bestiality of the carnivore, and the lion charged. - -Momaya tried to close her eyes, but could not. She saw -the flashing swiftness of the huge, oncoming death, -and then she saw something else. She saw a mighty, -naked white man drop as from the heavens into the path -of the charging lion. She saw the muscles of a great arm -flash in the light of the equatorial sun as it filtered, -dappling, through the foliage above. She saw a heavy -hunting spear hurtle through the air to meet the lion -in midleap. - -Numa brought up upon his haunches, roaring terribly and striking -at the spear which protruded from his breast. His great blows -bent and twisted the weapon. Tarzan, crouching and with -hunting knife in hand, circled warily about the frenzied cat. -Momaya, wide-eyed, stood rooted to the spot, watching, -fascinated. - -In sudden fury Numa hurled himself toward the ape-man, -but the wiry creature eluded the blundering charge, -side-stepping quickly only to rush in upon his foe. -Twice the hunting blade flashed in the air. Twice it fell -upon the back of Numa, already weakening from the spear -point so near his heart. The second stroke of the blade -pierced far into the beast's spine, and with a last -convulsive sweep of the fore-paws, in a vain attempt -to reach his tormentor, Numa sprawled upon the ground, -paralyzed and dying. - -Bukawai, fearful lest he should lose any recompense, -followed Momaya with the intention of persuading her -to part with her ornaments of copper and iron against -her return with the price of the medicine--to pay, -as it were, for an option on his services as one pays -a retaining fee to an attorney, for, like an attorney, -Bukawai knew the value of his medicine and that it was -well to collect as much as possible in advance. - -The witch-doctor came upon the scene as Tarzan leaped -to meet the lion's charge. He saw it all and marveled, -guessing immediately that this must be the strange white -demon concerning whom he had heard vague rumors before -Momaya came to him. - -Momaya, now that the lion was past harming her or hers, -gazed with new terror upon Tarzan. It was he who had stolen -her Tibo. Doubtless he would attempt to steal him again. -Momaya hugged the boy close to her. She was determined -to die this time rather than suffer Tibo to be taken from -her again. - -Tarzan eyed them in silence. The sight of the boy clinging, -sobbing, to his mother aroused within his savage breast -a melancholy loneliness. There was none thus to cling -to Tarzan, who yearned so for the love of someone, -of something. - -At last Tibo looked up, because of the quiet that had -fallen upon the jungle, and saw Tarzan. He did not shrink. - -"Tarzan," he said, in the speech of the great apes of the -tribe of Kerchak, "do not take me from Momaya, my mother. -Do not take me again to the lair of the hairy, tree men, -for I fear Taug and Gunto and the others. Let me stay -with Momaya, O Tarzan, God of the Jungle! Let me stay -with Momaya, my mother, and to the end of our days we will -bless you and put food before the gates of the village -of Mbonga that you may never hunger." - -Tarzan sighed. - -"Go," he said, "back to the village of Mbonga, and Tarzan -will follow to see that no harm befalls you." - -Tibo translated the words to his mother, and the two turned -their backs upon the ape-man and started off toward home. -In the heart of Momaya was a great fear and a great exultation, -for never before had she walked with God, and never had -she been so happy. She strained little Tibo to her, -stroking his thin cheek. Tarzan saw and sighed again. - -"For Teeka there is Teeka's balu," he soliloquized; -"for Sabor there are balus, and for the she-Gomangani, -and for Bara, and for Manu, and even for Pamba, the rat; -but for Tarzan there can be none--neither a she nor a balu. -Tarzan of the Apes is a man, and it must be that man -walks alone." - -Bukawai saw them go, and he mumbled through his rotting face, -swearing a great oath that he would yet have the three -fat goats, the new sleeping mat, and the bit of copper wire. - - - - - - - 6 - - - The Witch-Doctor Seeks Vengeance - - -LORD GREYSTOKE was hunting, or, to be more accurate, -he was shooting pheasants at Chamston-Hedding. Lord -Greystoke was immaculately and appropriately garbed--to -the minutest detail he was vogue. To be sure, he was among -the forward guns, not being considered a sporting shot, -but what he lacked in skill he more than made up -in appearance. At the end of the day he would, doubtless, -have many birds to his credit, since he had two guns -and a smart loader-- many more birds than he could eat -in a year, even had he been hungry, which he was not, -having but just arisen from the breakfast table. - -The beaters--there were twenty-three of them, in white -smocks--had but just driven the birds into a patch of gorse, -and were now circling to the opposite side that they -might drive down toward the guns. Lord Greystoke was -quite as excited as he ever permitted himself to become. -There was an exhilaration in the sport that would not -be denied. He felt his blood tingling through his veins -as the beaters approached closer and closer to the birds. -In a vague and stupid sort of way Lord Greystoke felt, -as he always felt upon such occasions, that he was -experiencing a sensation somewhat akin to a reversion -to a prehistoric type--that the blood of an ancient forbear -was coursing hot through him, a hairy, half-naked forbear -who had lived by the hunt. - -And far away in a matted equatorial jungle another -Lord Greystoke, the real Lord Greystoke, hunted. By the -standards which he knew, he, too, was vogue--utterly vogue, -as was the primal ancestor before the first eviction. -The day being sultry, the leopard skin had been left behind. -The real Lord Greystoke had not two guns, to be sure, -nor even one, neither did he have a smart loader; but he -possessed something infinitely more efficacious than guns, -or loaders, or even twenty-three beaters in white smocks--he -possessed an appetite, an uncanny woodcraft, and muscles -that were as steel springs. - -Later that day, in England, a Lord Greystoke ate bountifully -of things he had not killed, and he drank other things -which were uncorked to the accompaniment of much noise. -He patted his lips with snowy linen to remove the faint -traces of his repast, quite ignorant of the fact that he was -an impostor and that the rightful owner of his noble title -was even then finishing his own dinner in far-off Africa. -He was not using snowy linen, though. Instead he drew -the back of a brown forearm and hand across his mouth -and wiped his bloody fingers upon his thighs. Then he -moved slowly through the jungle to the drinking place, -where, upon all fours, he drank as drank his fellows, -the other beasts of the jungle. - -As he quenched his thirst, another denizen of the gloomy -forest approached the stream along the path behind him. -It was Numa, the lion, tawny of body and black of mane, -scowling and sinister, rumbling out low, coughing roars. -Tarzan of the Apes heard him long before he came within sight, -but the ape-man went on with his drinking until he had had -his fill; then he arose, slowly, with the easy grace of a -creature of the wilds and all the quiet dignity that was -his birthright. - -Numa halted as he saw the man standing at the very spot -where the king would drink. His jaws were parted, and his -cruel eyes gleamed. He growled and advanced slowly. -The man growled, too, backing slowly to one side, -and watching, not the lion's face, but its tail. -Should that commence to move from side to side in quick, -nervous jerks, it would be well to be upon the alert, -and should it rise suddenly erect, straight and stiff, -then one might prepare to fight or flee; but it did neither, -so Tarzan merely backed away and the lion came down and drank -scarce fifty feet from where the man stood. - -Tomorrow they might be at one another's throats, but today -there existed one of those strange and inexplicable truces -which so often are seen among the savage ones of the jungle. -Before Numa had finished drinking, Tarzan had returned -into the forest, and was swinging away in the direction -of the village of Mbonga, the black chief. - -It had been at least a moon since the ape-man had called upon -the Gomangani. Not since he had restored little Tibo to his -grief-stricken mother had the whim seized him to do so. -The incident of the adopted balu was a closed one to Tarzan. -He had sought to find something upon which to lavish such -an affection as Teeka lavished upon her balu, but a short -experience of the little black boy had made it quite plain -to the ape-man that no such sentiment could exist between them. - -The fact that he had for a time treated the little black -as he might have treated a real balu of his own had -in no way altered the vengeful sentiments with which he -considered the murderers of Kala. The Gomangani were -his deadly enemies, nor could they ever be aught else. -Today he looked forward to some slight relief from -the monotony of his existence in such excitement as he -might derive from baiting the blacks. - -It was not yet dark when he reached the village and took -his place in the great tree overhanging the palisade. -From beneath came a great wailing out of the depths -of a near-by hut. The noise fell disagreeably upon -Tarzan's ears--it jarred and grated. He did not like it, -so he decided to go away for a while in the hopes that it -might cease; but though he was gone for a couple of hours -the wailing still continued when he returned. - -With the intention of putting a violent termination to the -annoying sound, Tarzan slipped silently from the tree into -the shadows beneath. Creeping stealthily and keeping well -in the cover of other huts, he approached that from which rose -the sounds of lamentation. A fire burned brightly before -the doorway as it did before other doorways in the village. -A few females squatted about, occasionally adding their -own mournful howlings to those of the master artist within. - -The ape-man smiled a slow smile as he thought of the -consternation -which would follow the quick leap that would carry him -among the females and into the full light of the fire. -Then he would dart into the hut during the excitement, -throttle the chief screamer, and be gone into the jungle -before the blacks could gather their scattered nerves for an -assault. - -Many times had Tarzan behaved similarly in the village -of Mbonga, the chief. His mysterious and unexpected -appearances always filled the breasts of the poor, -superstitious blacks with the panic of terror; never, -it seemed, could they accustom themselves to the sight -of him. It was this terror which lent to the adventures -the spice of interest and amusement which the human -mind of the ape-man craved. Merely to kill was not in -itself sufficient. Accustomed to the sight of death, -Tarzan found no great pleasure in it. Long since had he -avenged the death of Kala, but in the accomplishment of it, -he had learned the excitement and the pleasure to be derived -from the baiting of the blacks. Of this he never tired. - -It was just as he was about to spring forward with a savage -roar that a figure appeared in the doorway of the hut. -It was the figure of the wailer whom he had come to still, -the figure of a young woman with a wooden skewer -through the split septum of her nose, with a heavy -metal ornament depending from her lower lip, which it -had dragged down to hideous and repulsive deformity, -with strange tattooing upon forehead, cheeks, and breasts, -and a wonderful coiffure built up with mud and wire. - -A sudden flare of the fire threw the grotesque figure -into high relief, and Tarzan recognized her as Momaya, -the mother of Tibo. The fire also threw out a fitful -flame which carried to the shadows where Tarzan lurked, -picking out his light brown body from the surrounding darkness. -Momaya saw him and knew him. With a cry, she leaped -forward and Tarzan came to meet her. The other women, -turning, saw him, too; but they did not come toward him. -Instead they rose as one, shrieked as one, fled as one. - -Momaya threw herself at Tarzan's feet, raising supplicating -hands toward him and pouring forth from her mutilated -lips a perfect cataract of words, not one of which -the ape-man comprehended. For a moment he looked -down upon the upturned, frightful face of the woman. -He had come to slay, but that overwhelming torrent -of speech filled him with consternation and with awe. -He glanced about him apprehensively, then back at the woman. -A revulsion of feeling seized him. He could not kill -little Tibo's mother, nor could he stand and face this -verbal geyser. With a quick gesture of impatience at -the spoiling of his evening's entertainment, he wheeled -and leaped away into the darkness. A moment later he -was swinging through the black jungle night, the cries -and lamentations of Momaya growing fainter in the distance. - -It was with a sigh of relief that he finally reached -a point from which he could no longer hear them, -and finding a comfortable crotch high among the trees, -composed himself for a night of dreamless slumber, -while a prowling lion moaned and coughed beneath him, -and in far-off England the other Lord Greystoke, -with the assistance of a valet, disrobed and crawled -between spotless sheets, swearing irritably as a cat -meowed beneath his window. - -As Tarzan followed the fresh spoor of Horta, the boar, -the following morning, he came upon the tracks of two Gomangani, -a large one and a small one. The ape-man, accustomed as he -was to questioning closely all that fell to his perceptions, -paused to read the story written in the soft mud of the -game trail. You or I would have seen little of interest -there, even if, by chance, we could have seen aught. -Perhaps had one been there to point them out to us, -we might have noted indentations in the mud, but there -were countless indentations, one overlapping another into -a confusion that would have been entirely meaningless to us. -To Tarzan each told its own story. Tantor, the elephant, -had passed that way as recently as three suns since. -Numa had hunted here the night just gone, and Horta, -the boar, had walked slowly along the trail within an hour; -but what held Tarzan's attention was the spoor tale of -the Gomangani. It told him that the day before an old man -had gone toward the north in company with a little boy, -and that with them had been two hyenas. - -Tarzan scratched his head in puzzled incredulity. -He could see by the overlapping of the footprints that -the beasts had not been following the two, for sometimes -one was ahead of them and one behind, and again both were -in advance, or both were in the rear. It was very strange -and quite inexplicable, especially where the spoor showed -where the hyenas in the wider portions of the path had walked -one on either side of the human pair, quite close to them. -Then Tarzan read in the spoor of the smaller Gomangani -a shrinking terror of the beast that brushed his side, -but in that of the old man was no sign of fear. - -At first Tarzan had been solely occupied by the remarkable -juxtaposition of the spoor of Dango and Gomangani, -but now his keen eyes caught something in the spoor of -the little Gomangani which brought him to a sudden stop. -It was as though, finding a letter in the road, you suddenly -had discovered in it the familiar handwriting of a friend. - -"Go-bu-balu!" exclaimed the ape-man, and at once memory -flashed upon the screen of recollection the supplicating -attitude of Momaya as she had hurled herself before -him in the village of Mbonga the night before. -Instantly all was explained--the wailing and lamentation, -the pleading of the black mother, the sympathetic howling -of the shes about the fire. Little Go-bu-balu had been -stolen again, and this time by another than Tarzan. -Doubtless the mother had thought that he was again in the -power of Tarzan of the Apes, and she had been beseeching -him to return her balu to her. - -Yes, it was all quite plain now; but who could have stolen -Go-bu-balu this time? Tarzan wondered, and he wondered, -too, about the presence of Dango. He would investigate. -The spoor was a day old and it ran toward the north. -Tarzan set out to follow it. In places it was totally -obliterated by the passage of many beasts, and where the way -was rocky, even Tarzan of the Apes was almost baffled; -but there was still the faint effluvium which clung to -the human spoor, appreciable only to such highly trained -perceptive powers as were Tarzan's. - - -It had all happened to little Tibo very suddenly and unexpectedly -within the brief span of two suns. First had come Bukawai, -the witch-doctor--Bukawai, the unclean--with the ragged -bit of flesh which still clung to his rotting face. -He had come alone and by day to the place at the river -where Momaya went daily to wash her body and that of Tibo, -her little boy. He had stepped out from behind a great -bush quite close to Momaya, frightening little Tibo -so that he ran screaming to his mother's protecting arms. - -But Momaya, though startled, had wheeled to face the -fearsome thing with all the savage ferocity of a she-tiger -at bay. When she saw who it was, she breathed a sigh -of partial relief, though she still clung tightly to Tibo. - -"I have come," said Bukawai without preliminary, -"for the three fat goats, the new sleeping mat, -and the bit of copper wire as long as a tall man's arm." - -"I have no goats for you," snapped Momaya, "nor a sleeping mat, -nor any wire. Your medicine was never made. The white -jungle god gave me back my Tibo. You had nothing to do with it." - -"But I did," mumbled Bukawai through his fleshless jaws. -"It was I who commanded the white jungle god to give back -your Tibo." - -Momaya laughed in his face. "Speaker of lies," she cried, -"go back to your foul den and your hyenas. Go back -and hide your stinking face in the belly of the mountain, -lest the sun, seeing it, cover his face with a black cloud." - -"I have come," reiterated Bukawai, "for the three fat goats, -the new sleeping mat, and the bit of copper wire the length -of a tall man's arm, which you were to pay me for the return of -your Tibo." - -"It was to be the length of a man's forearm," corrected Momaya, -"but you shall have nothing, old thief. You would not -make medicine until I had brought the payment in advance, -and when I was returning to my village the great, -white jungle god gave me back my Tibo--gave him to me out -of the jaws of Numa. His medicine is true medicine-- yours -is the weak medicine of an old man with a hole in his face." - -"I have come," repeated Bukawai patiently, "for the -three fat--" But Momaya had not waited to hear more -of what she already knew by heart. Clasping Tibo close -to her side, she was hurrying away toward the palisaded -village of Mbonga, the chief. - -And the next day, when Momaya was working in the plantain -field with others of the women of the tribe, and little -Tibo had been playing at the edge of the jungle, casting a -small spear in anticipation of the distant day when he -should be a full-fledged warrior, Bukawai had come again. - -Tibo had seen a squirrel scampering up the bole of a -great tree. His childish mind had transformed it into -the menacing figure of a hostile warrior. Little Tibo -had raised his tiny spear, his heart filled with the savage -blood lust of his race, as he pictured the night's orgy -when he should dance about the corpse of his human kill -as the women of his tribe prepared the meat for the feast to -follow. - -But when he cast the spear, he missed both squirrel and tree, -losing his missile far among the tangled undergrowth of -the jungle. However, it could be but a few steps within -the forbidden labyrinth. The women were all about in -the field. There were warriors on guard within easy hail, -and so little Tibo boldly ventured into the dark place. - -Just behind the screen of creepers and matted foliage lurked -three horrid figures--an old, old man, black as the pit, -with a face half eaten away by leprosy, his sharp-filed teeth, -the teeth of a cannibal, showing yellow and repulsive -through the great gaping hole where his mouth and nose -had been. And beside him, equally hideous, stood two -powerful hyenas--carrion-eaters consorting with carrion. - -Tibo did not see them until, head down, he had forced -his way through the thickly growing vines in search of his -little spear, and then it was too late. As he looked up -into the face of Bukawai, the old witch-doctor seized him, -muffling his screams with a palm across his mouth. -Tibo struggled futilely. - -A moment later he was being hustled away through the dark -and terrible jungle, the frightful old man still muffling -his screams, and the two hideous hyenas pacing now on -either side, now before, now behind, always prowling, -always growling, snapping, snarling, or, worst of all, -laughing hideously. - -To little Tibo, who within his brief existence had passed -through such experiences as are given to few to pass -through in a lifetime, the northward journey was a nightmare -of terror. He thought now of the time that he had been -with the great, white jungle god, and he prayed with all -his little soul that he might be back again with the -white-skinned giant who consorted with the hairy tree men. -Terror-stricken he had been then, but his surroundings -had been nothing by comparison with those which he now endured. - -The old man seldom addressed Tibo, though he kept up -an almost continuous mumbling throughout the long day. -Tibo caught repeated references to fat goats, sleeping mats, -and pieces of copper wire. "Ten fat goats, ten fat goats," -the old Negro would croon over and over again. By this -little Tibo guessed that the price of his ransom had risen. -Ten fat goats? Where would his mother get ten fat goats, -or thin ones, either, for that matter, to buy back just -a poor little boy? Mbonga would never let her have them, -and Tibo knew that his father never had owned more than -three goats at the same time in all his life. Ten fat -goats! Tibo sniffled. The putrid old man would kill him -and eat him, for the goats would never be forthcoming. -Bukawai would throw his bones to the hyenas. The little -black boy shuddered and became so weak that he almost fell -in his tracks. Bukawai cuffed him on an ear and jerked -him along. - -After what seemed an eternity to Tibo, they arrived at -the mouth of a cave between two rocky hills. The opening -was low and narrow. A few saplings bound together -with strips of rawhide closed it against stray beasts. -Bukawai removed the primitive door and pushed Tibo within. -The hyenas, snarling, rushed past him and were lost to -view in the blackness of the interior. Bukawai replaced -the saplings and seizing Tibo roughly by the arm, -dragged him along a narrow, rocky passage. The floor -was comparatively smooth, for the dirt which lay thick -upon it had been trodden and tramped by many feet until -few inequalities remained. - -The passage was tortuous, and as it was very dark -and the walls rough and rocky, Tibo was scratched and -bruised from the many bumps he received. Bukawai walked -as rapidly through the winding gallery as one would -traverse a familiar lane by daylight. He knew every -twist and turn as a mother knows the face of her child, -and he seemed to be in a hurry. He jerked poor little -Tibo possibly a trifle more ruthlessly than necessary -even at the pace Bukawai set; but the old witch-doctor, -an outcast from the society of man, diseased, shunned, -hated, feared, was far from possessing an angelic temper. -Nature had given him few of the kindlier characteristics -of man, and these few Fate had eradicated entirely. -Shrewd, cunning, cruel, vindictive, was Bukawai, the -witch-doctor. - -Frightful tales were whispered of the cruel tortures he -inflicted upon his victims. Children were frightened into -obedience by the threat of his name. Often had Tibo been -thus frightened, and now he was reaping a grisly harvest -of terror from the seeds his mother had innocently sown. -The darkness, the presence of the dreaded witch-doctor, -the pain of the contusions, with a haunting premonition -of the future, and the fear of the hyenas combined to -almost paralyze the child. He stumbled and reeled until -Bukawai was dragging rather than leading him. - -Presently Tibo saw a faint lightness ahead of them, -and a moment later they emerged into a roughly circular -chamber to which a little daylight filtered through -a rift in the rocky ceiling. The hyenas were there -ahead of them, waiting. As Bukawai entered with Tibo, -the beasts slunk toward them, baring yellow fangs. -They were hungry. Toward Tibo they came, and one snapped -at his naked legs. Bukawai seized a stick from the floor -of the chamber and struck a vicious blow at the beast, -at the same time mumbling forth a volley of execrations. -The hyena dodged and ran to the side of the chamber, where he -stood growling. Bukawai took a step toward the creature, -which bristled with rage at his approach. Fear and hatred -shot from its evil eyes, but, fortunately for Bukawai, -fear predominated. - -Seeing that he was unnoticed, the second beast made a short, -quick rush for Tibo. The child screamed and darted after -the witch-doctor, who now turned his attention to the -second hyena. This one he reached with his heavy stick, -striking it repeatedly and driving it to the wall. -There the two carrion-eaters commenced to circle the chamber -while the human carrion, their master, now in a perfect -frenzy of demoniacal rage, ran to and fro in an effort -to intercept them, striking out with his cudgel and lashing -them with his tongue, calling down upon them the curses -of whatever gods and demons he could summon to memory, -and describing in lurid figures the ignominy of their ancestors. - -Several times one or the other of the beasts would turn -to make a stand against the witch-doctor, and then Tibo -would hold his breath in agonized terror, for never in his -brief life had he seen such frightful hatred depicted upon -the countenance of man or beast; but always fear overcame -the rage of the savage creatures, so that they resumed -their flight, snarling and bare-fanged, just at the moment -that Tibo was certain they would spring at Bukawai's throat. - -At last the witch-doctor tired of the futile chase. -With a snarl quite as bestial as those of the beast, -he turned toward Tibo. "I go to collect the ten fat goats, -the new sleeping mat, and the two pieces of copper wire -that your mother will pay for the medicine I shall make -to bring you back to her," he said. "You will stay here. -There," and he pointed toward the passage which they -had followed to the chamber, "I will leave the hyenas. -If you try to escape, they will eat you." - -He cast aside the stick and called to the beasts. -They came, snarling and slinking, their tails between -their legs. Bukawai led them to the passage and drove -them into it. Then he dragged a rude lattice into -place before the opening after he, himself, had left -the chamber. "This will keep them from you," he said. -"If I do not get the ten fat goats and the other things, -they shall at least have a few bones after I am through." -And he left the boy to think over the meaning of his -all-too-suggestive words. - -When he was gone, Tibo threw himself upon the earth floor -and broke into childish sobs of terror and loneliness. -He knew that his mother had no ten fat goats to give -and that when Bukawai returned, little Tibo would -be killed and eaten. How long he lay there he did -not know, but presently he was aroused by the growling -of the hyenas. They had returned through the passage -and were glaring at him from beyond the lattice. He could -see their yellow eyes blazing through the darkness. -They reared up and clawed at the barrier. Tibo shivered -and withdrew to the opposite side of the chamber. He saw -the lattice sag and sway to the attacks of the beasts. -Momentarily he expected that it would fall inward, -letting the creatures upon him. - -Wearily the horror-ridden hours dragged their slow way. -Night came, and for a time Tibo slept, but it seemed -that the hungry beasts never slept. Always they stood -just beyond the lattice growling their hideous growls -or laughing their hideous laughs. Through the narrow rift -in the rocky roof above him, Tibo could see a few stars, -and once the moon crossed. At last daylight came again. -Tibo was very hungry and thirsty, for he had not eaten -since the morning before, and only once upon the long march -had he been permitted to drink, but even hunger and thirst -were almost forgotten in the terror of his position. - -It was after daylight that the child discovered a second -opening in the walls of the subterranean chamber, -almost opposite that at which the hyenas still stood -glaring hungrily at him. It was only a narrow slit -in the rocky wall. It might lead in but a few feet, -or it might lead to freedom! Tibo approached it and -looked within. He could see nothing. He extended his arm -into the blackness, but he dared not venture farther. -Bukawai never would have left open a way of escape, -Tibo reasoned, so this passage must lead either nowhere -or to some still more hideous danger. - -To the boy's fear of the actual dangers which menaced -him--Bukawai and the two hyenas--his superstition added -countless others quite too horrible even to name, -for in the lives of the blacks, through the shadows of -the jungle day and the black horrors of the jungle night, -flit strange, fantastic shapes peopling the already -hideously peopled forests with menacing figures, as though -the lion and the leopard, the snake and the hyena, -and the countless poisonous insects were not quite -sufficient to strike terror to the hearts of the poor, -simple creatures whose lot is cast in earth's most fearsome spot. - - -And so it was that little Tibo cringed not only from -real menaces but from imaginary ones. He was afraid -even to venture upon a road that might lead to escape, -lest Bukawai had set to watch it some frightful demon -of the jungle. - -But the real menaces suddenly drove the imaginary ones -from the boy's mind, for with the coming of daylight -the half-famished hyenas renewed their efforts to break -down the frail barrier which kept them from their prey. -Rearing upon their hind feet they clawed and struck at -the lattice. With wide eyes Tibo saw it sag and rock. -Not for long, he knew, could it withstand the assaults -of these two powerful and determined brutes. Already one -corner had been forced past the rocky protuberance of the -entrance way which had held it in place. A shaggy forearm -protruded into the chamber. Tibo trembled as with ague, -for he knew that the end was near. - -Backing against the farther wall he stood flattened out -as far from the beasts as he could get. He saw the lattice -give still more. He saw a savage, snarling head forced -past it, and grinning jaws snapping and gaping toward him. -In another instant the pitiful fabric would fall inward, -and the two would be upon him, rending his flesh from -his bones, gnawing the bones themselves, fighting for -possession of his entrails. - -* * * - -Bukawai came upon Momaya outside the palisade of Mbonga, -the chief. At sight of him the woman drew back in revulsion, -then she flew at him, tooth and nail; but Bukawai -threatening her with a spear held her at a safe distance. - -"Where is my baby?" she cried. "Where is my little Tibo?" - -Bukawai opened his eyes in well-simulated amazement. -"Your baby!" he exclaimed. "What should I know of him, -other than that I rescued him from the white god -of the jungle and have not yet received my pay. -I come for the goats and the sleeping mat and the piece -of copper wire the length of a tall man's arm from the -shoulder to the tips of his fingers." "Offal of a hyena!" -shrieked Momaya. "My child has been stolen, and you, -rotting fragment of a man, have taken him. Return him -to me or I shall tear your eyes from your head and feed -your heart to the wild hogs." - -Bukawai shrugged his shoulders. "What do I know about -your child?" he asked. "I have not taken him. If he is -stolen again, what should Bukawai know of the matter? Did -Bukawai steal him before? No, the white jungle god stole him, -and if he stole him once he would steal him again. -It is nothing to me. I returned him to you before and I -have come for my pay. If he is gone and you would -have him returned, Bukawai will return him--for ten -fat goats, a new sleeping mat and two pieces of copper -wire the length of a tall man's arm from the shoulder -to the tips of his fingers, and Bukawai will say nothing -more about the goats and the sleeping mat and the copper -wire which you were to pay for the first medicine." - -"Ten fat goats!" screamed Momaya. "I could not pay you -ten fat goats in as many years. Ten fat goats, indeed!" - -"Ten fat goats," repeated Bukawai. "Ten fat goats, -the new sleeping mat and two pieces of copper wire -the length of--" - -Momaya stopped him with an impatient gesture. -"Wait! she cried. "I have no goats. You waste your breath. -Stay here while I go to my man. He has but three goats, -yet something may be done. Wait!" - -Bukawai sat down beneath a tree. He felt quite content, -for he knew that he should have either payment or revenge. -He did not fear harm at the hands of these people -of another tribe, although he well knew that they must -fear and hate him. His leprosy alone would prevent -their laying hands upon him, while his reputation as a -witch-doctor rendered him doubly immune from attack. -He was planning upon compelling them to drive the ten -goats to the mouth of his cave when Momaya returned. -With her were three warriors-- Mbonga, the chief, Rabba Kega, -the village witch-doctor, and Ibeto, Tibo's father. -They were not pretty men even under ordinary circumstances, -and now, with their faces marked by anger, they well -might have inspired terror in the heart of anyone; -but if Bukawai felt any fear, he did not betray it. -Instead he greeted them with an insolent stare, intended to -awe them, as they came and squatted in a semi-circle -before him. - -"Where is Ibeto's son?" asked Mbonga. - -"How should I know?" returned Bukawai. "Doubtless the -white devil-god has him. If I am paid I will make strong -medicine and then we shall know where is Ibeto's son, -and shall get him back again. It was my medicine which -got him back the last time, for which I got no pay." - -"I have my own witch-doctor to make medicine," -replied Mbonga with dignity. - -Bukawai sneered and rose to his feet. "Very well," -he said, "let him make his medicine and see if he -can bring Ibeto's son back." He took a few steps -away from them, and then he turned angrily back. -"His medicine will not bring the child back--that I know, -and I also know that when you find him it will be too late -for any medicine to bring him back, for he will be dead. -This have I just found out, the ghost of my father's -sister but now came to me and told me." - -Now Mbonga and Rabba Kega might not take much stock -in their own magic, and they might even be skeptical -as to the magic of another; but there was always a chance -of SOMETHING being in it, especially if it were not -their own. Was it not well known that old Bukawai had -speech with the demons themselves and that two even lived -with him in the forms of hyenas! Still they must not -accede too hastily. There was the price to be considered, -and Mbonga had no intention of parting lightly with ten -goats to obtain the return of a single little boy who might -die of smallpox long before he reached a warrior's estate. - -"Wait," said Mbonga. "Let us see some of your magic, -that we may know if it be good magic. Then we can talk -about payment. Rabba Kega will make some magic, too. -We will see who makes the best magic. Sit down, Bukawai." - -"The payment will be ten goats--fat goats--a new sleeping -mat and two pieces of copper wire the length of a tall -man's arm from the shoulder to the ends of his fingers, -and it will be made in advance, the goats being driven -to my cave. Then will I make the medicine, and on -the second day the boy will be returned to his mother. -It cannot be done more quickly than that because it takes -time to make such strong medicine." - -"Make us some medicine now," said Mbonga. "Let us see -what sort of medicine you make." - -"Bring me fire," replied Bukawai, "and I will make you -a little magic." - -Momaya was dispatched for the fire, and while she was away -Mbonga dickered with Bukawai about the price. Ten goats, -he said, was a high price for an able-bodied warrior. -He also called Bukawai's attention to the fact that he, -Mbonga, was very poor, that his people were very poor, -and that ten goats were at least eight too many, -to say nothing of a new sleeping mat and the copper wire; -but Bukawai was adamant. His medicine was very expensive -and he would have to give at least five goats to the gods -who helped him make it. They were still arguing when Momaya -returned with the fire. - -Bukawai placed a little on the ground before him, took a -pinch of powder from a pouch at his side and sprinkled -it on the embers. A cloud of smoke rose with a puff. -Bukawai closed his eyes and rocked back and forth. -Then he made a few passes in the air and pretended -to swoon. Mbonga and the others were much impressed. -Rabba Kega grew nervous. He saw his reputation waning. -There was some fire left in the vessel which Momaya -had brought. He seized the vessel, dropped a handful -of dry leaves into it while no one was watching and then -uttered a frightful scream which drew the attention of -Bukawai's audience to him. It also brought Bukawai quite -miraculously out of his swoon, but when the old witch-doctor -saw the reason for the disturbance he quickly relapsed -into unconsciousness before anyone discovered his FAUX -PAS. - -Rabba Kega, seeing that he had the attention of Mbonga, -Ibeto, and Momaya, blew suddenly into the vessel, -with the result that the leaves commenced to smolder, -and smoke issued from the mouth of the receptacle. -Rabba Kega was careful to hold it so that none might see -the dry leaves. Their eyes opened wide at this remarkable -demonstration of the village witch-doctor's powers. -The latter, greatly elated, let himself out. He shouted, -jumped up and down, and made frightful grimaces; then he put -his face close over the mouth of the vessel and appeared -to be communing with the spirits within. - -It was while he was thus engaged that Bukawai came out of -his trance, his curiosity finally having gotten the better -of him. No one was paying him the slightest attention. -He blinked his one eye angrily, then he, too, let out -a loud roar, and when he was sure that Mbonga had turned -toward him, he stiffened rigidly and made spasmodic -movements with his arms and legs. - -"I see him!" he cried. "He is far away. The white -devil-god did not get him. He is alone and in great danger; -but," he added, "if the ten fat goats and the other -things are paid to me quickly there is yet time to save him." - -Rabba Kega had paused to listen. Mbonga looked toward him. -The chief was in a quandary. He did not know which -medicine was the better. "What does your magic tell you?" -he asked of Rabba Kega. - -"I, too, see him," screamed Rabba Kega; "but he is not -where Bukawai says he is. He is dead at the bottom -of the river." - -At this Momaya commenced to howl loudly. - - -Tarzan had followed the spoor of the old man, -the two hyenas, and the little black boy to the mouth -of the cave in the rocky canon between the two hills. -Here he paused a moment before the sapling barrier which -Bukawai had set up, listening to the snarls and growls -which came faintly from the far recesses of the cavern. - -Presently, mingled with the beastly cries, there came -faintly to the keen ears of the ape-man, the agonized -moan of a child. No longer did Tarzan hesitate. -Hurling the door aside, he sprang into the dark opening. -Narrow and black was the corridor; but long use of his -eyes in the Stygian blackness of the jungle nights had -given to the ape-man something of the nocturnal visionary -powers of the wild things with which he had consorted -since babyhood. - -He moved rapidly and yet with caution, for the place -was dark, unfamiliar and winding. As he advanced, he heard -more and more loudly the savage snarls of the two hyenas, -mingled with the scraping and scratching of their paws -upon wood. The moans of a child grew in volume, -and Tarzan recognized in them the voice of the little -black boy he once had sought to adopt as his balu. - -There was no hysteria in the ape-man's advance. -Too accustomed was he to the passing of life in the -jungle to be greatly wrought even by the death of one -whom he knew; but the lust for battle spurred him on. -He was only a wild beast at heart and his wild beast's -heart beat high in anticipation of conflict. - -In the rocky chamber of the hill's center, little Tibo -crouched low against the wall as far from the hunger-crazed -beasts as he could drag himself. He saw the lattice giving -to the frantic clawing of the hyenas. He knew that in a few -minutes his little life would flicker out horribly beneath -the rending, yellow fangs of these loathsome creatures. - -Beneath the buffetings of the powerful bodies, -the lattice sagged inward, until, with a crash it -gave way, letting the carnivora in upon the boy. -Tibo cast one affrighted glance toward them, then closed -his eyes and buried his face in his arms, sobbing piteously. - -For a moment the hyenas paused, caution and cowardice holding -them from their prey. They stood thus glaring at the lad, -then slowly, stealthily, crouching, they crept toward him. -It was thus that Tarzan came upon them, bursting into -the chamber swiftly and silently; but not so silently -that the keen-eared beasts did not note his coming. -With angry growls they turned from Tibo upon the ape-man, as, -with a smile upon his lips, he ran toward them. -For an instant one of the animals stood its ground; -but the ape-man did not deign even to draw his hunting -knife against despised Dango. Rushing in upon the brute he -grasped it by the scruff of the neck, just as it attempted -to dodge past him, and hurled it across the cavern after -its fellow which already was slinking into the corridor, -bent upon escape. - -Then Tarzan picked Tibo from the floor, and when the -child felt human hands upon him instead of the paws -and fangs of the hyenas, he rolled his eyes upward in -surprise and incredulity, and as they fell upon Tarzan, -sobs of relief broke from the childish lips and his -hands clutched at his deliverer as though the white -devil-god was not the most feared of jungle creatures. - -When Tarzan came to the cave mouth the hyenas were nowhere -in sight, and after permitting Tibo to quench his thirst -in the spring which rose near by, he lifted the boy to his -shoulders and set off toward the jungle at a rapid trot, -determined to still the annoying howlings of Momaya -as quickly as possible, for he shrewdly had guessed that -the absence of her balu was the cause of her lamentation. - - -"He is not dead at the bottom of the river," cried Bukawai. -"What does this fellow know about making magic? Who -is he, anyway, that he dare say Bukawai's magic is not -good magic? Bukawai sees Momaya's son. He is far away -and alone and in great danger. Hasten then with the ten -fat goats, the--" - -But he got no further. There was a sudden interruption -from above, from the branches of the very tree beneath -which they squatted, and as the five blacks looked up -they almost swooned in fright as they saw the great, -white devil-god looking down upon them; but before they could -flee they saw another face, that of the lost little Tibo, -and his face was laughing and very happy. - -And then Tarzan dropped fearlessly among them, the boy -still upon his back, and deposited him before his mother. -Momaya, Ibeto, Rabba Kega, and Mbonga were all crowding -around the lad trying to question him at the same time. -Suddenly Momaya turned ferociously to fall upon Bukawai, -for the boy had told her all that he had suffered at -the hands of the cruel old man; but Bukawai was no longer -there--he had required no recourse to black art to assure -him that the vicinity of Momaya would be no healthful -place for him after Tibo had told his story, and now he -was running through the jungle as fast as his old legs -would carry him toward the distant lair where he knew no -black would dare pursue him. - -Tarzan, too, had vanished, as he had a way of doing, -to the mystification of the blacks. Then Momaya's eyes -lighted upon Rabba Kega. The village witch-doctor saw -something in those eyes of hers which boded no good to him, -and backed away. - -"So my Tibo is dead at the bottom of the river, is he?" -the woman shrieked. "And he's far away and alone and in -great danger, is he? Magic!" The scorn which Momaya crowded -into that single word would have done credit to a Thespian -of the first magnitude. "Magic, indeed!" she screamed. -"Momaya will show you some magic of her own," and with that -she seized upon a broken limb and struck Rabba Kega across -the head. With a howl of pain, the man turned and fled, -Momaya pursuing him and beating him across the shoulders, -through the gateway and up the length of the village street, -to the intense amusement of the warriors, the women, -and the children who were so fortunate as to witness -the spectacle, for one and all feared Rabba Kega, and to fear -is to hate. - -Thus it was that to his host of passive enemies, Tarzan of -the Apes added that day two active foes, both of whom -remained awake long into the night planning means of revenge -upon the white devil-god who had brought them into ridicule -and disrepute, but with their most malevolent schemings -was mingled a vein of real fear and awe that would not down. - -Young Lord Greystoke did not know that they planned -against him, nor, knowing, would have cared. He slept -as well that night as he did on any other night, -and though there was no roof above him, and no doors -to lock against intruders, he slept much better than -his noble relative in England, who had eaten altogether -too much lobster and drank too much wine at dinner that night. - - - - - - - 7 - - - The End of Bukawai - - -WHEN TARZAN OF the Apes was still but a boy he had learned, -among other things, to fashion pliant ropes of fibrous -jungle grass. Strong and tough were the ropes of Tarzan, -the little Tarmangani. Tublat, his foster father, -would have told you this much and more. Had you tempted -him with a handful of fat caterpillars he even might have -sufficiently unbended to narrate to you a few stories -of the many indignities which Tarzan had heaped upon -him by means of his hated rope; but then Tublat always -worked himself into such a frightful rage when he devoted -any considerable thought either to the rope or to Tarzan, -that it might not have proved comfortable for you to have -remained close enough to him to hear what he had to say. - -So often had that snakelike noose settled unexpectedly over -Tublat's head, so often had he been jerked ridiculously -and painfully from his feet when he was least looking -for such an occurrence, that there is little wonder he -found scant space in his savage heart for love of his -white-skinned foster child, or the inventions thereof. -There had been other times, too, when Tublat had swung -helplessly in midair, the noose tightening about his neck, -death staring him in the face, and little Tarzan dancing upon -a near-by limb, taunting him and making unseemly grimaces. - -Then there had been another occasion in which the rope -had figured prominently--an occasion, and the only -one connected with the rope, which Tublat recalled -with pleasure. Tarzan, as active in brain as he was -in body, was always inventing new ways in which to play. -It was through the medium of play that he learned much -during his childhood. This day he learned something, -and that he did not lose his life in the learning of it, -was a matter of great surprise to Tarzan, and the fly -in the ointment, to Tublat. - -The man-child had, in throwing his noose at a playmate -in a tree above him, caught a projecting branch instead. -When he tried to shake it loose it but drew the tighter. -Then Tarzan started to climb the rope to remove it -from the branch. When he was part way up a frolicsome -playmate seized that part of the rope which lay upon -the ground and ran off with it as far as he could go. -When Tarzan screamed at him to desist, the young ape -released the rope a little and then drew it tight again. -The result was to impart a swinging motion to Tarzan's -body which the ape-boy suddenly realized was a new and -pleasurable form of play. He urged the ape to continue -until Tarzan was swinging to and fro as far as the short -length of rope would permit, but the distance was not -great enough, and, too, he was not far enough above the -ground to give the necessary thrills which add so greatly -to the pastimes of the young. - -So he clambered to the branch where the noose was caught -and after removing it carried the rope far aloft and out upon -a long and powerful branch. Here he again made it fast, -and taking the loose end in his hand, clambered quickly -down among the branches as far as the rope would permit -him to go; then he swung out upon the end of it, -his lithe, young body turning and twisting--a human bob -upon a pendulum of grass--thirty feet above the ground. - -Ah, how delectable! This was indeed a new play of the -first magnitude. Tarzan was entranced. Soon he discovered -that by wriggling his body in just the right way at the -proper time he could diminish or accelerate his oscillation, -and, being a boy, he chose, naturally, to accelerate. -Presently he was swinging far and wide, while below him, -the apes of the tribe of Kerchak looked on in mild amaze. - -Had it been you or I swinging there at the end of that -grass rope, the thing which presently happened would -not have happened, for we could not have hung on so long -as to have made it possible; but Tarzan was quite as much -at home swinging by his hands as he was standing upon -his feet, or, at least, almost. At any rate he felt no -fatigue long after the time that an ordinary mortal would -have been numb with the strain of the physical exertion. -And this was his undoing. - -Tublat was watching him as were others of the tribe. -Of all the creatures of the wild, there was none Tublat -so cordially hated as he did this hideous, hairless, -white-skinned, caricature of an ape. But for Tarzan's -nimbleness, -and the zealous watchfulness of savage Kala's mother love, -Tublat would long since have rid himself of this stain upon -his family escutcheon. So long had it been since Tarzan -became a member of the tribe, that Tublat had forgotten -the circumstances surrounding the entrance of the jungle -waif into his family, with the result that he now imagined -that Tarzan was his own offspring, adding greatly to his chagrin. - - -Wide and far swung Tarzan of the Apes, until at last, -as he reached the highest point of the arc the rope, -which rapidly had frayed on the rough bark of the tree limb, -parted suddenly. The watching apes saw the smooth, -brown body shoot outward, and down, plummet-like. Tublat -leaped high in the air, emitting what in a human being -would have been an exclamation of delight. This would -be the end of Tarzan and most of Tublat's troubles. -From now on he could lead his life in peace and security. - -Tarzan fell quite forty feet, alighting on his back in a thick -bush. -Kala was the first to reach his side--ferocious, hideous, -loving Kala. She had seen the life crushed from her own -balu in just such a fall years before. Was she to lose -this one too in the same way? Tarzan was lying quite -still when she found him, embedded deeply in the bush. -It took Kala several minutes to disentangle him and drag -him forth; but he was not killed. He was not even -badly injured. The bush had broken the force of the fall. -A cut upon the back of his head showed where he had struck -the tough stem of the shrub and explained his unconsciousness. - -In a few minutes he was as active as ever. Tublat was furious. -In his rage he snapped at a fellow-ape without first -discovering the identity of his victim, and was badly mauled -for his ill temper, having chosen to vent his spite upon -a husky and belligerent young bull in the full prime of his -vigor. - -But Tarzan had learned something new. He had learned that -continued friction would wear through the strands of his rope, -though it was many years before this knowledge did more -for him than merely to keep him from swinging too long -at a time, or too far above the ground at the end of his rope. - -The day came, however, when the very thing that had once -all but killed him proved the means of saving his life. - -He was no longer a child, but a mighty jungle male. -There was none now to watch over him, solicitously, nor did -he need such. Kala was dead. Dead, too, was Tublat, -and though with Kala passed the one creature that ever -really had loved him, there were still many who hated -him after Tublat departed unto the arms of his fathers. -It was not that he was more cruel or more savage than they -that they hated him, for though he was both cruel and savage -as were the beasts, his fellows, yet too was he often tender, -which they never were. No, the thing which brought Tarzan -most into disrepute with those who did not like him, -was the possession and practice of a characteristic -which they had not and could not understand-- the human -sense of humor. In Tarzan it was a trifle broad, perhaps, -manifesting itself in rough and painful practical jokes -upon his friends and cruel baiting of his enemies. - -But to neither of these did he owe the enmity of Bukawai, -the witch-doctor, who dwelt in the cave between the two -hills far to the north of the village of Mbonga, the chief. -Bukawai was jealous of Tarzan, and Bukawai it was who came -near proving the undoing of the ape-man. For months Bukawai -had nursed his hatred while revenge seemed remote indeed, -since Tarzan of the Apes frequented another part -of the jungle, miles away from the lair of Bukawai. -Only once had the black witch-doctor seen the devil-god, -as he was most often called among the blacks, and upon -that occasion Tarzan had robbed him of a fat fee, -at the same time putting the lie in the mouth of Bukawai, -and making his medicine seem poor medicine. All this -Bukawai never could forgive, though it seemed unlikely -that the opportunity would come to be revenged. - -Yet it did come, and quite unexpectedly. Tarzan was hunting -far to the north. He had wandered away from the tribe, -as he did more and more often as he approached maturity, -to hunt alone for a few days. As a child he had enjoyed -romping and playing with the young apes, his companions; -but now these play-fellows of his had grown to surly, -lowering bulls, or to touchy, suspicious mothers, -jealously guarding helpless balus. So Tarzan found in his -own man-mind a greater and a truer companionship than any -or all of the apes of Kerchak could afford him. - -This day, as Tarzan hunted, the sky slowly became overcast. -Torn clouds, whipped to ragged streamers, fled low above -the tree tops. They reminded Tarzan of frightened antelope -fleeing the charge of a hungry lion. But though the light -clouds raced so swiftly, the jungle was motionless. -Not a leaf quivered and the silence was a great, -dead weight-- insupportable. Even the insects seemed -stilled by apprehension of some frightful thing impending, -and the larger things were soundless. Such a forest, -such a jungle might have stood there in the beginning -of that unthinkably far-gone age before God peopled the -world with life, when there were no sounds because there -were no ears to hear. - -And over all lay a sickly, pallid ocher light through -which the scourged clouds raced. Tarzan had seen all -these conditions many times before, yet he never could -escape a strange feeling at each recurrence of them. -He knew no fear, but in the face of Nature's manifestations -of her cruel, immeasurable powers, he felt very small--very -small and very lonely. - -Now he heard a low moaning, far away. "The lions seek -their prey," he murmured to himself, looking up once again -at the swift-flying clouds. The moaning rose to a great -volume of sound. "They come!" said Tarzan of the Apes, -and sought the shelter of a thickly foliaged tree. -Quite suddenly the trees bent their tops simultaneously -as though God had stretched a hand from the heavens and -pressed His flat palm down upon the world. "They pass!" -whispered Tarzan. "The lions pass." Then came a vivid -flash of lightning, followed by deafening thunder. -"The lions have sprung," cried Tarzan, "and now they roar -above the bodies of their kills." - -The trees were waving wildly in all directions now, -a perfectly demoniacal wind threshed the jungle pitilessly. -In the midst of it the rain came--not as it comes upon us -of the northlands, but in a sudden, choking, blinding deluge. -"The blood of the kill," thought Tarzan, huddling himself -closer to the bole of the great tree beneath which he stood. - -He was close to the edge of the jungle, and at a little -distance he had seen two hills before the storm broke; -but now he could see nothing. It amused him to look out -into the beating rain, searching for the two hills and -imagining that the torrents from above had washed them away, -yet he knew that presently the rain would cease, the sun -come out again and all be as it was before, except where -a few branches had fallen and here and there some old -and rotted patriarch had crashed back to enrich the soil -upon which he had fatted for, maybe, centuries. All about -him branches and leaves filled the air or fell to earth, -torn away by the strength of the tornado and the weight -of the water upon them. A gaunt corpse toppled and fell -a few yards away; but Tarzan was protected from all these -dangers by the wide-spreading branches of the sturdy young -giant beneath which his jungle craft had guided him. -Here there was but a single danger, and that a remote one. -Yet it came. Without warning the tree above him was riven -by lightning, and when the rain ceased and the sun came -out Tarzan lay stretched as he had fallen, upon his face -amidst the wreckage of the jungle giant that should have -shielded him. - -Bukawai came to the entrance of his cave after the rain -and the storm had passed and looked out upon the scene. -From his one eye Bukawai could see; but had he had -a dozen eyes he could have found no beauty in the fresh -sweetness of the revivified jungle, for to such things, -in the chemistry of temperament, his brain failed -to react; nor, even had he had a nose, which he had not -for years, could he have found enjoyment or sweetness -in the clean-washed air. - -At either side of the leper stood his sole and -constant companions, the two hyenas, sniffing the air. -Presently one of them uttered a low growl and with flattened -head started, sneaking and wary, toward the jungle. -The other followed. Bukawai, his curiosity aroused, -trailed after them, in his hand a heavy knob-stick. - -The hyenas halted a few yards from the prostrate Tarzan, -sniffing and growling. Then came Bukawai, and at first he -could not believe the witness of his own eyes; but when he -did and saw that it was indeed the devil-god his rage knew -no bounds, for he thought him dead and himself cheated -of the revenge he had so long dreamed upon. - -The hyenas approached the ape-man with bared fangs. -Bukawai, with an inarticulate scream, rushed upon them, -striking cruel and heavy blows with his knob-stick, for -there might still be life in the apparently lifeless form. -The beasts, snapping and snarling, half turned upon -their master and their tormentor, but long fear still -held them from his putrid throat. They slunk away a few -yards and squatted upon their haunches, hatred and baffled -hunger gleaming from their savage eyes. - -Bukawai stooped and placed his ear above the ape-man's heart. -It still beat. As well as his sloughed features could -register pleasure they did so; but it was not a pretty sight. -At the ape-man's side lay his long, grass rope. -Quickly Bukawai bound the limp arms behind his prisoner's back, -then he raised him to one of his shoulders, for, though -Bukawai was old and diseased, he was still a strong man. -The hyenas fell in behind as the witch-doctor set off -toward the cave, and through the long black corridors -they followed as Bukawai bore his victim into the bowels -of the hills. Through subterranean chambers, connected by -winding passageways, Bukawai staggered with his load. -At a sudden turning of the corridor, daylight flooded -them and Bukawai stepped out into a small, circular basin -in the hill, apparently the crater of an ancient volcano, -one of those which never reached the dignity of a mountain -and are little more than lava-rimmed pits closed to the earth's -surface. - -Steep walls rimmed the cavity. The only exit was -through the passageway by which Bukawai had entered. -A few stunted trees grew upon the rocky floor. A hundred -feet above could be seen the ragged lips of this cold, -dead mouth of hell. - -Bukawai propped Tarzan against a tree and bound him there -with his own grass rope, leaving his hands free but securing -the knots in such a way that the ape-man could not reach them. -The hyenas slunk to and fro, growling. Bukawai hated them -and they hated him. He knew that they but waited for the time -when he should be helpless, or when their hatred should -rise to such a height as to submerge their cringing fear of him. - -In his own heart was not a little fear of these repulsive -creatures, and because of that fear, Bukawai always kept -the beasts well fed, often hunting for them when their own -forages for food failed, but ever was he cruel to them -with the cruelty of a little brain, diseased, bestial, primitive. - - -He had had them since they were puppies. They had known -no other life than that with him, and though they went -abroad to hunt, always they returned. Of late Bukawai -had come to believe that they returned not so much -from habit as from a fiendish patience which would -submit to every indignity and pain rather than forego -the final vengeance, and Bukawai needed but little -imagination to picture what that vengeance would be. -Today he would see for himself what his end would be; -but another should impersonate Bukawai. - -When he had trussed Tarzan securely, Bukawai went back -into the corridor, driving the hyenas ahead of him, -and pulling across the opening a lattice of laced branches, -which shut the pit from the cave during the night that -Bukawai might sleep in security, for then the hyenas -were penned in the crater that they might not sneak upon -a sleeping Bukawai in the darkness. - -Bukawai returned to the outer cave mouth, filled a vessel -with water at the spring which rose in the little canon -close at hand and returned toward the pit. The hyenas -stood before the lattice looking hungrily toward Tarzan. -They had been fed in this manner before. - -With his water, the witch-doctor approached Tarzan and threw -a portion of the contents of the vessel in the ape-man's face. -There was fluttering of the eyelids, and at the second -application Tarzan opened his eyes and looked about. - -"Devil-god," cried Bukawai, "I am the great witch-doctor. -My medicine is strong. Yours is weak. If it is not, -why do you stay tied here like a goat that is bait -for lions?" - -Tarzan understood nothing the witch-doctor said, therefore he -did not reply, but only stared straight at Bukawai with -cold and level gaze. The hyenas crept up behind him. -He heard them growl; but he did not even turn his head. -He was a beast with a man's brain. The beast in him refused -to show fear in the face of a death which the man-mind -already admitted to be inevitable. - -Bukawai, not yet ready to give his victim to the beasts, -rushed upon the hyenas with his knob-stick. There -was a short scrimmage in which the brutes came off -second best, as they always did. Tarzan watched it. -He saw and realized the hatred which existed between -the two animals and the hideous semblance of a man. - -With the hyenas subdued, Bukawai returned to the baiting -of Tarzan; but finding that the ape-man understood -nothing he said, the witch-doctor finally desisted. -Then he withdrew into the corridor and pulled the latticework -barrier across the opening. He went back into the cave -and got a sleeping mat, which he brought to the opening, -that he might lie down and watch the spectacle of his -revenge in comfort. - -The hyenas were sneaking furtively around the ape-man. -Tarzan strained at his bonds for a moment, but soon -realized that the rope he had braided to hold Numa, -the lion, would hold him quite as successfully. -He did not wish to die; but he could look death in the -face now as he had many times before without a quaver. - -As he pulled upon the rope he felt it rub against the -small tree about which it was passed. Like a flash of -the cinematograph upon the screen, a picture was flashed -before his mind's eye from the storehouse of his memory. -He saw a lithe, boyish figure swinging high above the -ground at the end of a rope. He saw many apes watching -from below, and then he saw the rope part and the boy -hurtle downward toward the ground. Tarzan smiled. -Immediately he commenced to draw the rope rapidly back -and forth across the tree trunk. - -The hyenas, gaining courage, came closer. They sniffed -at his legs; but when he struck at them with his free arms -they slunk off. He knew that with the growth of hunger -they would attack. Coolly, methodically, without haste, -Tarzan drew the rope back and forth against the rough -trunk of the small tree. - -In the entrance to the cavern Bukawai fell asleep. -He thought it would be some time before the beasts gained -sufficient courage or hunger to attack the captive. -Their growls and the cries of the victim would awaken him. -In the meantime he might as well rest, and he did. - -Thus the day wore on, for the hyenas were not famished, -and the rope with which Tarzan was bound was a stronger -one than that of his boyhood, which had parted so quickly -to the chafing of the rough tree bark. Yet, all the -while hunger was growing upon the beasts and the strands -of the grass rope were wearing thinner and thinner. -Bukawai slept. - -It was late afternoon before one of the beasts, -irritated by the gnawing of appetite, made a quick, -growling dash at the ape-man. The noise awoke Bukawai. -He sat up quickly and watched what went on within -the crater. He saw the hungry hyena charge the man, -leaping for the unprotected throat. He saw Tarzan reach -out and seize the growling animal, and then he saw -the second beast spring for the devil-god's shoulder. -There was a mighty heave of the great, smooth-skinned body. -Rounded muscles shot into great, tensed piles beneath -the brown hide--the ape-man surged forward with all his -weight and all his great strength--the bonds parted, -and the three were rolling upon the floor of the crater -snarling, snapping, and rending. - -Bukawai leaped to his feet. Could it be that the devil-god -was to prevail against his servants? Impossible! The -creature was unarmed, and he was down with two hyenas -on top of him; but Bukawai did not know Tarzan. - -The ape-man fastened his fingers upon the throat of one -of the hyenas and rose to one knee, though the other beast -tore at him frantically in an effort to pull him down. -With a single hand Tarzan held the one, and with the other -hand he reached forth and pulled toward him the second beast. - -And then Bukawai, seeing the battle going against his forces, -rushed forward from the cavern brandishing his knob-stick. -Tarzan saw him coming, and rising now to both feet, -a hyena in each hand, he hurled one of the foaming beasts -straight at the witch-doctor's head. Down went the two -in a snarling, biting heap. Tarzan tossed the second hyena -across the crater, while the first gnawed at the rotting -face of its master; but this did not suit the ape-man. -With a kick he sent the beast howling after its companion, -and springing to the side of the prostrate witch-doctor, -dragged him to his feet. - -Bukawai, still conscious, saw death, immediate and terrible, -in the cold eyes of his captor, so he turned upon Tarzan -with teeth and nails. The ape-man shuddered at the proximity -of that raw face to his. The hyenas had had enough -and disappeared through the small aperture leading into -the cave. Tarzan had little difficulty in overpowering -and binding Bukawai. Then he led him to the very tree -to which he had been bound; but in binding Bukawai, -Tarzan saw to it that escape after the same fashion that -he had escaped would be out of the question; then he left him. - -As he passed through the winding corridors and the -subterranean apartments, Tarzan saw nothing of the hyenas. - -"They will return," he said to himself. - -In the crater between the towering walls Bukawai, -cold with terror, trembled, trembled as with ague. - -"They will return!" he cried, his voice rising -to a fright-filled shriek. - -And they did. - - - - - - - 8 - - - The Lion - -NUMA, THE LION, crouched behind a thorn bush close beside -the drinking pool where the river eddied just below the bend. -There was a ford there and on either bank a well-worn trail, -broadened far out at the river's brim, where, for countless -centuries, the wild things of the jungle and of the plains -beyond had come down to drink, the carnivora with bold -and fearless majesty, the herbivora timorous, hesitating, -fearful. - -Numa, the lion, was hungry, he was very hungry, and so he -was quite silent now. On his way to the drinking place -he had moaned often and roared not a little; but as he -neared the spot where he would lie in wait for Bara, -the deer, or Horta, the boar, or some other of the many -luscious-fleshed creatures who came hither to drink, -he was silent. It was a grim, a terrible silence, -shot through with yellow-green light of ferocious eyes, -punctuated with undulating tremors of sinuous tail. - -It was Pacco, the zebra, who came first, and Numa, the lion, -could scarce restrain a roar of anger, for of all the -plains people, none are more wary than Pacco, the zebra. -Behind the black-striped stallion came a herd of thirty -or forty of the plump and vicious little horselike beasts. -As he neared the river, the leader paused often, -cocking his ears and raising his muzzle to sniff the -gentle breeze for the tell-tale scent spoor of the dread -flesh-eaters. - -Numa shifted uneasily, drawing his hind quarters far -beneath his tawny body, gathering himself for the sudden -charge and the savage assault. His eyes shot hungry fire. -His great muscles quivered to the excitement of the moment. - -Pacco came a little nearer, halted, snorted, and wheeled. -There was a pattering of scurrying hoofs and the herd was gone; -but Numa, the lion, moved not. He was familiar with the -ways of Pacco, the zebra. He knew that he would return, -though many times he might wheel and fly before he -summoned the courage to lead his harem and his offspring -to the water. There was the chance that Pacco might be -frightened off entirely. Numa had seen this happen before, -and so he became almost rigid lest he be the one to send -them galloping, waterless, back to the plain. - -Again and again came Pacco and his family, and again -and again did they turn and flee; but each time they came -closer to the river, until at last the plump stallion -dipped his velvet muzzle daintily into the water. -The others, stepping warily, approached their leader. -Numa selected a sleek, fat filly and his flaming eyes burned -greedily as they feasted upon her, for Numa, the lion, -loves scarce anything better than the meat of Pacco, -perhaps because Pacco is, of all the grass-eaters, the most -difficult to catch. - -Slowly the lion rose, and as he rose, a twig snapped beneath -one of his great, padded paws. Like a shot from a rifle -he charged upon the filly; but the snapped twig had been -enough to startle the timorous quarry, so that they -were in instant flight simultaneously with Numa's charge. - -The stallion was last, and with a prodigious leap, -the lion catapulted through the air to seize him; -but the snapping twig had robbed Numa of his dinner, -though his mighty talons raked the zebra's glossy rump, -leaving four crimson bars across the beautiful coat. - -It was an angry Numa that quitted the river and prowled, -fierce, dangerous, and hungry, into the jungle. -Far from particular now was his appetite. Even Dango, -the hyena, would have seemed a tidbit to that ravenous maw. -And in this temper it was that the lion came upon the tribe -of Kerchak, the great ape. - -One does not look for Numa, the lion, this late in the morning. -He should be lying up asleep beside his last night's -kill by now; but Numa had made no kill last night. -He was still hunting, hungrier than ever. - -The anthropoids were idling about the clearing, the first -keen desire of the morning's hunger having been satisfied. -Numa scented them long before he saw them. Ordinarily he -would have turned away in search of other game, for even -Numa respected the mighty muscles and the sharp fangs -of the great bulls of the tribe of Kerchak, but today he -kept on steadily toward them, his bristled snout wrinkled -into a savage snarl. - -Without an instant's hesitation, Numa charged the moment -he reached a point from where the apes were visible -to him. There were a dozen or more of the hairy, -manlike creatures upon the ground in a little glade. -In a tree at one side sat a brown-skinned youth. -He saw Numa's swift charge; he saw the apes turn and flee, -huge bulls trampling upon little balus; only a single she -held her ground to meet the charge, a young she inspired -by new motherhood to the great sacrifice that her balu -might escape. - -Tarzan leaped from his perch, screaming at the flying -bulls beneath and at those who squatted in the safety -of surrounding trees. Had the bulls stood their ground, -Numa would not have carried through that charge unless -goaded by great rage or the gnawing pangs of starvation. -Even then he would not have come off unscathed. - -If the bulls heard, they were too slow in responding, -for Numa had seized the mother ape and dragged her into -the jungle before the males had sufficiently collected their -wits and their courage to rally in defense of their fellow. -Tarzan's angry voice aroused similar anger in the breasts -of the apes. Snarling and barking they followed Numa -into the dense labyrinth of foliage wherein he sought -to hide himself from them. The ape-man was in the lead, -moving rapidly and yet with caution, depending even more -upon his ears and nose than upon his eyes for information -of the lion's whereabouts. - -The spoor was easy to follow, for the dragged body of the -victim left a plain trail, blood-spattered and scentful. -Even such dull creatures as you or I might easily have -followed it. To Tarzan and the apes of Kerchak it was -as obvious as a cement sidewalk. - -Tarzan knew that they were nearing the great cat even -before he heard an angry growl of warning just ahead. -Calling to the apes to follow his example, he swung into -a tree and a moment later Numa was surrounded by a ring -of growling beasts, well out of reach of his fangs and talons -but within plain sight of him. The carnivore crouched -with his fore-quarters upon the she-ape. Tarzan could see -that the latter was already dead; but something within -him made it seem quite necessary to rescue the useless -body from the clutches of the enemy and to punish him. - -He shrieked taunts and insults at Numa, and tearing -dead branches from the tree in which he danced, -hurled them at the lion. The apes followed his example. -Numa roared out in rage and vexation. He was hungry, -but under such conditions he could not feed. - -The apes, if they had been left to themselves, -would doubtless soon have left the lion to peaceful -enjoyment of his feast, for was not the she dead? They -could not restore her to life by throwing sticks at Numa, -and they might even now be feeding in quiet themselves; -but Tarzan was of a different mind. Numa must be punished -and driven away. He must be taught that even though -he killed a Mangani, he would not be permitted to feed -upon his kill. The man-mind looked into the future, -while the apes perceived only the immediate present. -They would be content to escape today the menace of Numa, -while Tarzan saw the necessity, and the means as well, -of safeguarding the days to come. - -So he urged the great anthropoids on until Numa was -showered with missiles that kept his head dodging -and his voice pealing forth its savage protest; -but still he clung desperately to his kill. - -The twigs and branches hurled at Numa, Tarzan soon realized, -did not hurt him greatly even when they struck him, -and did not injure him at all, so the ape-man looked about -for more effective missiles, nor did he have to look long. -An out-cropping of decomposed granite not far from Numa -suggested ammunition of a much more painful nature. -Calling to the apes to watch him, Tarzan slipped to -the ground and gathered a handful of small fragments. -He knew that when once they had seen him carry out his -idea they would be much quicker to follow his lead than -to obey his instructions, were he to command them to -procure pieces of rock and hurl them at Numa, for Tarzan -was not then king of the apes of the tribe of Kerchak. -That came in later years. Now he was but a youth, though one -who already had wrested for himself a place in the councils -of the savage beasts among whom a strange fate had cast him. -The sullen bulls of the older generation still hated -him as beasts hate those of whom they are suspicious, -whose scent characteristic is the scent characteristic -of an alien order and, therefore, of an enemy order. -The younger bulls, those who had grown up through -childhood as his playmates, were as accustomed to Tarzan's -scent as to that of any other member of the tribe. -They felt no greater suspicion of him than of any other -bull of their acquaintance; yet they did not love him, -for they loved none outside the mating season, and the -animosities aroused by other bulls during that season lasted -well over until the next. They were a morose and peevish -band at best, though here and there were those among them -in whom germinated the primal seeds of humanity--reversions -to type, these, doubtless; reversions to the ancient -progenitor who took the first step out of ape-hood -toward humanness, when he walked more often upon his hind -feet and discovered other things for idle hands to do. - -So now Tarzan led where he could not yet command. -He had long since discovered the apish propensity for -mimicry and learned to make use of it. Having filled -his arms with fragments of rotted granite, he clambered -again into a tree, and it pleased him to see that the apes -had followed his example. - -During the brief respite while they were gathering -their ammunition, Numa had settled himself to feed; -but scarce had he arranged himself and his kill when -a sharp piece of rock hurled by the practiced hand of -the ape-man struck him upon the cheek. His sudden roar -of pain and rage was smothered by a volley from the apes, -who had seen Tarzan's act. Numa shook his massive -head and glared upward at his tormentors. For a half -hour they pursued him with rocks and broken branches, -and though he dragged his kill into densest thickets, -yet they always found a way to reach him with their missiles, -giving him no opportunity to feed, and driving him on and on. - -The hairless ape-thing with the man scent was worst of all, -for he had even the temerity to advance upon the ground -to within a few yards of the Lord of the Jungle, that he -might with greater accuracy and force hurl the sharp bits -of granite and the heavy sticks at him. Time and again -did Numa charge--sudden, vicious charges--but the lithe, -active tormentor always managed to elude him and with such -insolent ease that the lion forgot even his great hunger -in the consuming passion of his rage, leaving his meat -for considerable spaces of time in vain efforts to catch -his enemy. - -The apes and Tarzan pursued the great beast to a natural -clearing, -where Numa evidently determined to make a last stand, -taking up his position in the center of the open space, -which was far enough from any tree to render him practically -immune from the rather erratic throwing of the apes, though -Tarzan still found him with most persistent and aggravating -frequency. - -This, however, did not suit the ape-man, since Numa now -suffered an occasional missile with no more than a snarl, -while he settled himself to partake of his delayed feast. -Tarzan scratched his head, pondering some more effective -method of offense, for he had determined to prevent Numa -from profiting in any way through his attack upon the tribe. -The man-mind reasoned against the future, while the -shaggy apes thought only of their present hatred of this -ancestral enemy. Tarzan guessed that should Numa find it -an easy thing to snatch a meal from the tribe of Kerchak, -it would be but a short time before their existence would -be one living nightmare of hideous watchfulness and dread. -Numa must be taught that the killing of an ape brought -immediate punishment and no rewards. It would take but -a few lessons to insure the former safety of the tribe. -This must be some old lion whose failing strength and -agility had forced him to any prey that he could catch; -but even a single lion, undisputed, could exterminate -the tribe, or at least make its existence so precarious -and so terrifying that life would no longer be a -pleasant condition. - -"Let him hunt among the Gomangani," thought Tarzan. -"He will find them easier prey. I will teach ferocious -Numa that he may not hunt the Mangani." - -But how to wrest the body of his victim from the -feeding lion was the first question to be solved. -At last Tarzan hit upon a plan. To anyone but Tarzan -of the Apes it might have seemed rather a risky plan, -and perhaps it did even to him; but Tarzan rather liked -things that contained a considerable element of danger. -At any rate, I rather doubt that you or I would have chosen -a similar plan for foiling an angry and a hungry lion. - -Tarzan required assistance in the scheme he had hit upon -and his assistant must be equally as brave and almost -as active as he. The ape-man's eyes fell upon Taug, -the playmate of his childhood, the rival in his first love -and now, of all the bulls of the tribe, the only one -that might be thought to hold in his savage brain any -such feeling toward Tarzan as we describe among ourselves -as friendship. At least, Tarzan knew, Taug was courageous, -and he was young and agile and wonderfully muscled. - -"Taug!" cried the ape-man. The great ape looked up from a dead -limb he was attempting to tear from a lightning-blasted tree. -"Go close to Numa and worry him," said Tarzan. "Worry him -until he charges. Lead him away from the body of Mamka. -Keep him away as long as you can." - -Taug nodded. He was across the clearing from Tarzan. -Wresting the limb at last from the tree he dropped to the -ground and advanced toward Numa, growling and barking out -his insults. The worried lion looked up and rose to his feet. -His tail went stiffly erect and Taug turned in flight, -for he knew that warming signal of the charge. - -From behind the lion, Tarzan ran quickly toward the center -of the clearing and the body of Mamka. Numa, all his -eyes for Taug, did not see the ape-man. Instead he shot -forward after the fleeing bull, who had turned in flight -not an instant too soon, since he reached the nearest -tree but a yard or two ahead of the pursuing demon. -Like a cat the heavy anthropoid scampered up the bole -of his sanctuary. Numa's talons missed him by little -more than inches. - -For a moment the lion paused beneath the tree, glaring up -at the ape and roaring until the earth trembled, then he -turned back again toward his kill, and as he did so, -his tail shot once more to rigid erectness and he -charged back even more ferociously than he had come, -for what he saw was the naked man-thing running toward -the farther trees with the bloody carcass of his prey -across a giant shoulder. - -The apes, watching the grim race from the safety of -the trees, screamed taunts at Numa and warnings to Tarzan. -The high sun, hot and brilliant, fell like a spotlight -upon the actors in the little clearing, portraying them -in glaring relief to the audience in the leafy shadows -of the surrounding trees. The light-brown body of the -naked youth, all but hidden by the shaggy carcass of the -killed ape, the red blood streaking his smooth hide, -his muscles rolling, velvety, beneath. Behind him -the black-maned lion, head flattened, tail extended, -racing, a jungle thoroughbred, across the sunlit clearing. - -Ah, but this was life! With death at his heels, -Tarzan thrilled with the joy of such living as this; -but would he reach the trees ahead of the rampant death -so close behind? - -Gunto swung from a limb in a tree before him. Gunto was -screaming warnings and advice. - -"Catch me!" cried Tarzan, and with his heavy burden leaped -straight for the big bull hanging there by his hind feet -and one forepaw. And Gunto caught them--the big ape-man -and the dead weight of the slain she-ape--caught them -with one great, hairy paw and whirled them upward until -Tarzan's fingers closed upon a near-by branch. - -Beneath, Numa leaped; but Gunto, heavy and awkward as he -may have appeared, was as quick as Manu, the monkey, -so that the lion's talons but barely grazed him, -scratching a bloody streak beneath one hairy arm. - -Tarzan carried Mamka's corpse to a high crotch, where even -Sheeta, the panther, could not get it. Numa paced angrily -back and forth beneath the tree, roaring frightfully. -He had been robbed of his kill and his revenge also. -He was very savage indeed; but his despoilers were -well out of his reach, and after hurling a few taunts -and missiles at him they swung away through the trees, -fiercely reviling him. - -Tarzan thought much upon the little adventure of that day. -He foresaw what might happen should the great carnivora -of the jungle turn their serious attention upon the tribe -of Kerchak, the great ape, but equally he thought upon -the wild scramble of the apes for safety when Numa first -charged among them. There is little humor in the jungle -that is not grim and awful. The beasts have little -or no conception of humor; but the young Englishman saw -humor in many things which presented no humorous angle -to his associates. - -Since earliest childhood he had been a searcher after fun, -much to the sorrow of his fellow-apes, and now he -saw the humor of the frightened panic of the apes -and the baffled rage of Numa even in this grim jungle -adventure which had robbed Mamka of life, and jeopardized -that of many members of the tribe. - -It was but a few weeks later that Sheeta, the panther, -made a sudden rush among the tribe and snatched a little -balu from a tree where it had been hidden while its mother -sought food. Sheeta got away with his small prize unmolested. -Tarzan was very wroth. He spoke to the bulls of the ease -with which Numa and Sheeta, in a single moon, had slain -two members of the tribe. - -"They will take us all for food," he cried. "We hunt -as we will through the jungle, paying no heed to -approaching enemies. Even Manu, the monkey, does not so. -He keeps two or three always watching for enemies. -Pacco, the zebra, and Wappi, the antelope, have those about -the herd who keep watch while the others feed, while we, -the great Mangani, let Numa, and Sabor, and Sheeta -come when they will and carry us off to feed their balus. - -"Gr-r-rmph," said Numgo. - -"What are we to do?" asked Taug. - -"We, too, should have two or three always watching for the -approach of Numa, and Sabor, and Sheeta," replied Tarzan. -"No others need we fear, except Histah, the snake, and if -we watch for the others we will see Histah if he comes, -though gliding ever so silently." - -And so it was that the great apes of the tribe of Kerchak -posted sentries thereafter, who watched upon three sides -while the tribe hunted, scattered less than had been -their wont. - -But Tarzan went abroad alone, for Tarzan was a man-thing -and sought amusement and adventure and such humor as the grim -and terrible jungle offers to those who know it and do not -fear it--a weird humor shot with blazing eyes and dappled -with the crimson of lifeblood. While others sought -only food and love, Tarzan of the Apes sought food and joy. - -One day he hovered above the palisaded village of Mbonga, -the chief, the jet cannibal of the jungle primeval. -He saw, as he had seen many times before, the witch-doctor, -Rabba Kega, decked out in the head and hide of Gorgo, -the buffalo. It amused Tarzan to see a Gomangani parading -as Gorgo; but it suggested nothing in particular to him -until he chanced to see stretched against the side of -Mbonga's hut the skin of a lion with the head still on. -Then a broad grin widened the handsome face of the savage -beast-youth. - -Back into the jungle he went until chance, agility, strength, -and cunning backed by his marvelous powers of perception, -gave him an easy meal. If Tarzan felt that the world -owed him a living he also realized that it was for him -to collect it, nor was there ever a better collector than -this son of an English lord, who knew even less of the ways -of his forbears than he did of the forbears themselves, -which was nothing. - -It was quite dark when Tarzan returned to the village -of Mbonga and took his now polished perch in the tree -which overhangs the palisade upon one side of the -walled enclosure. As there was nothing in particular -to feast upon in the village there was little life -in the single street, for only an orgy of flesh -and native beer could draw out the people of Mbonga. -Tonight they sat gossiping about their cooking fires, -the older members of the tribe; or, if they were young, -paired off in the shadows cast by the palm-thatched huts. - -Tarzan dropped lightly into the village, and sneaking -stealthily in the concealment of the denser shadows, -approached the hut of the chief, Mbonga. Here he found -that which he sought. There were warriors all about him; -but they did not know that the feared devil-god slunk -noiselessly so near them, nor did they see him possess -himself of that which he coveted and depart from their -village as noiselessly as he had come. - -Later that night, as Tarzan curled himself for sleep, -he lay for a long time looking up at the burning planets -and the twinkling stars and at Goro the moon, and he smiled. -He recalled how ludicrous the great bulls had appeared -in their mad scramble for safety that day when Numa -had charged among them and seized Mamka, and yet he knew -them to be fierce and courageous. It was the sudden -shock of surprise that always sent them into a panic; -but of this Tarzan was not as yet fully aware. That was -something he was to learn in the near future. - -He fell asleep with a broad grin upon his face. - -Manu, the monkey, awoke him in the morning by dropping -discarded bean pods upon his upturned face from a branch -a short distance above him. Tarzan looked up and smiled. -He had been awakened thus before many times. He and Manu -were fairly good friends, their friendship operating upon -a reciprocal basis. Sometimes Manu would come running early -in the morning to awaken Tarzan and tell him that Bara, -the deer, was feeding close at hand, or that Horta, -the boar, was asleep in a mudhole hard by, and in return -Tarzan broke open the shells of the harder nuts and fruits -for Manu, or frightened away Histah, the snake, and Sheeta, -the panther. - -The sun had been up for some time, and the tribe had -already wandered off in search of food. Manu indicated -the direction they had taken with a wave of his hand -and a few piping notes of his squeaky little voice. - -"Come, Manu," said Tarzan, "and you will see that which -shall make you dance for joy and squeal your wrinkled -little head off. Come, follow Tarzan of the Apes." - -With that he set off in the direction Manu had indicated -and above him, chattering, scolding and squealing, -skipped Manu, the monkey. Across Tarzan's shoulders -was the thing he had stolen from the village of Mbonga, -the chief, the evening before. - -The tribe was feeding in the forest beside the clearing -where Gunto, and Taug, and Tarzan had so harassed Numa -and finally taken away from him the fruit of his kill. -Some of them were in the clearing itself. In peace -and content they fed, for were there not three sentries, -each watching upon a different side of the herd? Tarzan -had taught them this, and though he had been away for -several days hunting alone, as he often did, or visiting -at the cabin by the sea, they had not as yet forgotten -his admonitions, and if they continued for a short time -longer to post sentries, it would become a habit of their -tribal life and thus be perpetuated indefinitely. - -But Tarzan, who knew them better than they knew themselves, -was confident that they had ceased to place the watchers about -them the moment that he had left them, and now he planned -not only to have a little fun at their expense but to teach -them a lesson in preparedness, which, by the way, is even -a more vital issue in the jungle than in civilized places. -That you and I exist today must be due to the preparedness -of some shaggy anthropoid of the Oligocene. Of course -the apes of Kerchak were always prepared, after their own -way--Tarzan had merely suggested a new and additional safeguard. - -Gunto was posted today to the north of the clearing. -He squatted in the fork of a tree from where he might -view the jungle for quite a distance about him. -It was he who first discovered the enemy. A rustling -in the undergrowth attracted his attention, and a moment -later he had a partial view of a shaggy mane and tawny -yellow back. Just a glimpse it was through the matted -foliage beneath him; but it brought from Gunto's leathern -lungs a shrill "Kreeg-ah!" which is the ape for beware, -or danger. - -Instantly the tribe took up the cry until "Kreeg-ahs!" rang -through the jungle about the clearing as apes swung quickly -to places of safety among the lower branches of the trees -and the great bulls hastened in the direction of Gunto. - -And then into the clearing strode Numa, the lion-- majestic -and mighty, and from a deep chest issued the moan and the -cough and the rumbling roar that set stiff hairs to bristling -from shaggy craniums down the length of mighty spines. - -Inside the clearing, Numa paused and on the instant -there fell upon him from the trees near by a shower -of broken rock and dead limbs torn from age-old trees. -A dozen times he was hit, and then the apes ran down -and gathered other rocks, pelting him unmercifully. - -Numa turned to flee, but his way was barred by a fusilade -of sharp-cornered missiles, and then, upon the edge -of the clearing, great Taug met him with a huge fragment -of rock as large as a man's head, and down went the Lord -of the Jungle beneath the stunning blow. - -With shrieks and roars and loud barkings the great apes -of the tribe of Kerchak rushed upon the fallen lion. -Sticks and stones and yellow fangs menaced the still form. -In another moment, before he could regain consciousness, -Numa would be battered and torn until only a bloody mass -of broken bones and matted hair remained of what had once been -the most dreaded of jungle creatures. - -But even as the sticks and stones were raised above him -and the great fangs bared to tear him, there descended -like a plummet from the trees above a diminutive -figure with long, white whiskers and a wrinkled face. -Square upon the body of Numa it alighted and there it -danced and screamed and shrieked out its challenge -against the bulls of Kerchak. - -For an instant they paused, paralyzed by the wonder of -the thing. It was Manu, the monkey, Manu, the little coward, -and here he was daring the ferocity of the great Mangani, -hopping about upon the carcass of Numa, the lion, -and crying out that they must not strike it again. - -And when the bulls paused, Manu reached down and seized a -tawny ear. With all his little might he tugged upon the heavy -head until slowly it turned back, revealing the tousled, -black head and clean-cut profile of Tarzan of the Apes. - -Some of the older apes were for finishing what they had -commenced; -but Taug, sullen, mighty Taug, sprang quickly to the -ape-man's side and straddling the unconscious form warned -back those who would have struck his childhood playmate. -And Teeka, his mate, came too, taking her place with bared -fangs at Taug's side. others followed their example, -until at last Tarzan was surrounded by a ring of hairy -champions who would permit no enemy to approach him. - -It was a surprised and chastened Tarzan who opened -his eyes to consciousness a few minutes later. -He looked about him at the surrounding apes and slowly -there returned to him a realization of what had occurred. - -Gradually a broad grin illuminated his features. -His bruises were many and they hurt; but the good that had -come from his adventure was worth all that it had cost. -He had learned, for instance, that the apes of Kerchak -had heeded his teaching, and he had learned that he -had good friends among the sullen beasts whom he had -thought without sentiment. He had discovered that Manu, -the monkey--even little, cowardly Manu--had risked his life -in his defense. - -It made Tarzan very glad to know these things; -but at the other lesson he had been taught he reddened. -He had always been a joker, the only joker in the grim -and terrible company; but now as he lay there half dead -from his hurts, he almost swore a solemn oath forever -to forego practical joking--almost; but not quite. - - - - - - - 9 - - - The Nightmare - -THE BLACKS OF the village of Mbonga, the chief, were feasting, -while above them in a large tree sat Tarzan of the -Apes--grim, terrible, empty, and envious. Hunting had -proved poor that day, for there are lean days as well -as fat ones for even the greatest of the jungle hunters. -Oftentimes Tarzan went empty for more than a full sun, -and he had passed through entire moons during which he -had been but barely able to stave off starvation; -but such times were infrequent. - -There once had been a period of sickness among the -grass-eaters which had left the plains almost bare of game -for several years, and again the great cats had increased -so rapidly and so overrun the country that their prey, -which was also Tarzan's, had been frightened off for a -considerable time. - -But for the most part Tarzan had fed well always. -Today, though, he had gone empty, one misfortune following -another as rapidly as he raised new quarry, so that now, -as he sat perched in the tree above the feasting blacks, -he experienced all the pangs of famine and his hatred -for his lifelong enemies waxed strong in his breast. -It was tantalizing, indeed, to sit there hungry while -these Gomangani filled themselves so full of food that -their stomachs seemed almost upon the point of bursting, -and with elephant steaks at that! - -It was true that Tarzan and Tantor were the best of friends, -and that Tarzan never yet had tasted of the flesh of -the elephant; but the Gomangani evidently had slain one, -and as they were eating of the flesh of their kill, -Tarzan was assailed by no doubts as to the ethics -of his doing likewise, should he have the opportunity. -Had he known that the elephant had died of sickness -several days before the blacks discovered the carcass, -he might not have been so keen to partake of the feast, -for Tarzan of the Apes was no carrion-eater. Hunger, -however, may blunt the most epicurean taste, and Tarzan -was not exactly an epicure. - -What he was at this moment was a very hungry wild beast -whom caution was holding in leash, for the great cooking -pot in the center of the village was surrounded by -black warriors, through whom not even Tarzan of the Apes -might hope to pass unharmed. It would be necessary, -therefore, for the watcher to remain there hungry until -the blacks had gorged themselves to stupor, and then, -if they had left any scraps, to make the best meal he -could from such; but to the impatient Tarzan it seemed -that the greedy Gomangani would rather burst than leave -the feast before the last morsel had been devoured. -For a time they broke the monotony of eating by executing -portions of a hunting dance, a maneuver which sufficiently -stimulated digestion to permit them to fall to once more -with renewed vigor; but with the consumption of appalling -quantities of elephant meat and native beer they presently -became too loggy for physical exertion of any sort, -some reaching a stage where they no longer could rise -from the ground, but lay conveniently close to the great -cooking pot, stuffing themselves into unconsciousness. - -It was well past midnight before Tarzan even could begin -to see the end of the orgy. The blacks were now falling -asleep rapidly; but a few still persisted. From before -their condition Tarzan had no doubt but that he easily -could enter the village and snatch a handful of meat from -before their noses; but a handful was not what he wanted. -Nothing less than a stomachful would allay the gnawing -craving of that great emptiness. He must therefore have -ample time to forage in peace. - -At last but a single warrior remained true to his ideals-- -an old fellow whose once wrinkled belly was now as smooth -and as tight as the head of a drum. With evidences -of great discomfort, and even pain, he would crawl toward -the pot and drag himself slowly to his knees, from which -position he could reach into the receptacle and seize -a piece of meat. Then he would roll over on his back -with a loud groan and lie there while he slowly forced -the food between his teeth and down into his gorged stomach. - -It was evident to Tarzan that the old fellow would -eat until he died, or until there was no more meat. -The ape-man shook his head in disgust. What foul -creatures were these Gomangani? Yet of all the jungle -folk they alone resembled Tarzan closely in form. -Tarzan was a man, and they, too, must be some manner of men, -just as the little monkeys, and the great apes, and Bolgani, -the gorilla, were quite evidently of one great family, -though differing in size and appearance and customs. -Tarzan was ashamed, for of all the beasts of the jungle, -then, man was the most disgusting--man and Dango, the hyena. -Only man and Dango ate until they swelled up like a dead rat. -Tarzan had seen Dango eat his way into the carcass of a dead -elephant and then continue to eat so much that he had been -unable to get out of the hole through which he had entered. -Now he could readily believe that man, given the opportunity, -would do the same. Man, too, was the most unlovely -of creatures--with his skinny legs and his big stomach, -his filed teeth, and his thick, red lips. Man was disgusting. -Tarzan's gaze was riveted upon the hideous old warrior -wallowing in filth beneath him. - -There! the thing was struggling to its knees to reach -for another morsel of flesh. It groaned aloud in pain -and yet it persisted in eating, eating, ever eating. -Tarzan could endure it no longer--neither his hunger nor -his disgust. Silently he slipped to the ground with the -bole of the great tree between himself and the feaster. - -The man was still kneeling, bent almost double in agony, -before the cooking pot. His back was toward the ape-man. -Swiftly and noiselessly Tarzan approached him. There was -no sound as steel fingers closed about the black throat. -The struggle was short, for the man was old and already half -stupefied from the effects of the gorging and the beer. - -Tarzan dropped the inert mass and scooped several large -pieces of meat from the cooking pot--enough to satisfy even -his great hunger--then he raised the body of the feaster -and shoved it into the vessel. When the other blacks awoke -they would have something to think about! Tarzan grinned. -As he turned toward the tree with his meat, he picked -up a vessel containing beer and raised it to his lips, -but at the first taste he spat the stuff from his mouth -and tossed the primitive tankard aside. He was quite -sure that even Dango would draw the line at such filthy -tasting drink as that, and his contempt for man increased -with the conviction. - -Tarzan swung off into the jungle some half mile or -so before he paused to partake of his stolen food. -He noticed that it gave forth a strange and unpleasant odor, -but assumed that this was due to the fact that it had -stood in a vessel of water above a fire. Tarzan was, -of course, unaccustomed to cooked food. He did not like it; -but he was very hungry and had eaten a considerable -portion of his haul before it was really borne in upon -him that the stuff was nauseating. It required far less -than he had imagined it would to satisfy his appetite. - -Throwing the balance to the ground he curled up in a -convenient crotch and sought slumber; but slumber seemed -difficult to woo. Ordinarily Tarzan of the Apes was asleep -as quickly as a dog after it curls itself upon a hearthrug -before a roaring blaze; but tonight he squirmed and twisted, -for at the pit of his stomach was a peculiar feeling -that resembled nothing more closely than an attempt upon -the part of the fragments of elephant meat reposing there -to come out into the night and search for their elephant; -but Tarzan was adamant. He gritted his teeth and held -them back. He was not to be robbed of his meal after -waiting so long to obtain it. - -He had succeeded in dozing when the roaring of a lion -awoke him. He sat up to discover that it was broad daylight. -Tarzan rubbed his eyes. Could it be that he had really -slept? He did not feel particularly refreshed as he -should have after a good sleep. A noise attracted -his attention, and he looked down to see a lion standing -at the foot of the tree gazing hungrily at him. -Tarzan made a face at the king of beasts, whereat Numa, -greatly to the ape-man's surprise, started to climb up into -the branches toward him. Now, never before had Tarzan seen -a lion climb a tree, yet, for some unaccountable reason, -he was not greatly surprised that this particular lion -should do so. - -As the lion climbed slowly toward him, Tarzan sought -higher branches; but to his chagrin, he discovered that it -was with the utmost difficulty that he could climb at all. -Again and again he slipped back, losing all that he -had gained, while the lion kept steadily at his climbing, -coming ever closer and closer to the ape-man. Tarzan -could see the hungry light in the yellow-green eyes. -He could see the slaver on the drooping jowls, -and the great fangs agape to seize and destroy him. -Clawing desperately, the ape-man at last succeeded in gaining -a little upon his pursuer. He reached the more slender -branches far aloft where he well knew no lion could follow; -yet on and on came devil-faced Numa. It was incredible; -but it was true. Yet what most amazed Tarzan was -that though he realized the incredibility of it all, -he at the same time accepted it as a matter of course, -first that a lion should climb at all and second that he -should enter the upper terraces where even Sheeta, the panther, -dared not venture. - -To the very top of a tall tree the ape-man clawed his awkward -way and after him came Numa, the lion, moaning dismally. -At last Tarzan stood balanced upon the very utmost pinnacle -of a swaying branch, high above the forest. He could go -no farther. Below him the lion came steadily upward, -and Tarzan of the Apes realized that at last the end had come. -He could not do battle upon a tiny branch with Numa, -the lion, especially with such a Numa, to which swaying -branches two hundred feet above the ground provided as -substantial footing as the ground itself. - -Nearer and nearer came the lion. Another moment and he -could reach up with one great paw and drag the ape-man -downward to those awful jaws. A whirring noise above -his head caused Tarzan to glance apprehensively upward. -A great bird was circling close above him. He never had -seen so large a bird in all his life, yet he recognized -it immediately, for had he not seen it hundreds of times -in one of the books in the little cabin by the land-locked -bay--the moss-grown cabin that with its contents was -the sole heritage left by his dead and unknown father -to the young Lord Greystoke? - -In the picture-book the great bird was shown flying far -above the ground with a small child in its talons while, -beneath, a distracted mother stood with uplifted hands. -The lion was already reaching forth a taloned paw to seize -him when the bird swooped and buried no less formidable -talons in Tarzan's back. The pain was numbing; but it -was with a sense of relief that the ape-man felt himself -snatched from the clutches of Numa. - -With a great whirring of wings the bird rose rapidly -until the forest lay far below. It made Tarzan sick -and dizzy to look down upon it from so great a height, -so he closed his eyes tight and held his breath. Higher and -higher climbed the huge bird. Tarzan opened his eyes. -The jungle was so far away that he could see only a dim, -green blur below him, but just above and quite close was -the sun. Tarzan reached out his hands and warmed them, -for they were very cold. Then a sudden madness seized him. -Where was the bird taking him? Was he to submit thus -passively to a feathered creature however enormous? Was he, -Tarzan of the Apes, mighty fighter, to die without striking -a blow in his own defense? Never! - -He snatched the hunting blade from his gee-string -and thrusting upward drove it once, twice, thrice into -the breast above him. The mighty wings fluttered a few -more times, spasmodically, the talons relaxed their hold, -and Tarzan of the Apes fell hurtling downward toward -the distant jungle. - -It seemed to the ape-man that he fell for many minutes before -he crashed through the leafy verdure of the tree tops. -The smaller branches broke his fall, so that he came -to rest for an instant upon the very branch upon which he -had sought slumber the previous night. For an instant he -toppled there in a frantic attempt to regain his equilibrium; -but at last he rolled off, yet, clutching wildly, -he succeeded in grasping the branch and hanging on. - -Once more he opened his eyes, which he had closed during -the fall. Again it was night. With all his old agility he -clambered back to the crotch from which he had toppled. -Below him a lion roared, and, looking downward, Tarzan could -see the yellow-green eyes shining in the moonlight as they -bored hungrily upward through the darkness of the jungle -night toward him. - -The ape-man gasped for breath. Cold sweat stood out -from every pore, there was a great sickness at the pit -of Tarzan's stomach. Tarzan of the Apes had dreamed -his first dream. - -For a long time he sat watching for Numa to climb into the tree -after him, and listening for the sound of the great wings -from above, for to Tarzan of the Apes his dream was a reality. - -He could not believe what he had seen and yet, -having seen even these incredible things, he could -not disbelieve the evidence of his own perceptions. -Never in all his life had Tarzan's senses deceived -him badly, and so, naturally, he had great faith in them. -Each perception which ever had been transmitted to Tarzan's -brain had been, with varying accuracy, a true perception. -He could not conceive of the possibility of apparently -having passed through such a weird adventure in which there -was no grain of truth. That a stomach, disordered by -decayed elephant flesh, a lion roaring in the jungle, -a picture-book, and sleep could have so truly portrayed -all the clear-cut details of what he had seemingly -experienced was quite beyond his knowledge; yet he knew -that Numa could not climb a tree, he knew that there -existed in the jungle no such bird as he had seen, -and he knew, too, that he could not have fallen a tiny -fraction of the distance he had hurtled downward, and lived. - -To say the least, he was a very puzzled Tarzan as he tried -to compose himself once more for slumber--a very puzzled -and a very nauseated Tarzan. - -As he thought deeply upon the strange occurrences of -the night, he witnessed another remarkable happening. -It was indeed quite preposterous, yet he saw it all -with his own eyes--it was nothing less than Histah, -the snake, wreathing his sinuous and slimy way up the bole -of the tree below him--Histah, with the head of the old -man Tarzan had shoved into the cooking pot--the head and -the round, tight, black, distended stomach. As the old -man's frightful face, with upturned eyes, set and glassy, -came close to Tarzan, the jaws opened to seize him. -The ape-man struck furiously at the hideous face, and as he -struck the apparition disappeared. - -Tarzan sat straight up upon his branch trembling in -every limb, wide-eyed and panting. He looked all around -him with his keen, jungle-trained eyes, but he saw naught -of the old man with the body of Histah, the snake, -but on his naked thigh the ape-man saw a caterpillar, -dropped from a branch above him. With a grimace he -flicked it off into the darkness beneath. - -And so the night wore on, dream following dream, nightmare -following nightmare, until the distracted ape-man started -like a frightened deer at the rustling of the wind in the -trees about him, or leaped to his feet as the uncanny laugh -of a hyena burst suddenly upon a momentary jungle silence. -But at last the tardy morning broke and a sick and feverish -Tarzan wound sluggishly through the dank and gloomy mazes -of the forest in search of water. His whole body seemed -on fire, a great sickness surged upward to his throat. -He saw a tangle of almost impenetrable thicket, and, -like the wild beast he was, he crawled into it to die -alone and unseen, safe from the attacks of predatory carnivora. - -But he did not die. For a long time he wanted to; -but presently nature and an outraged stomach relieved -themselves in their own therapeutic manner, the ape-man broke -into a violent perspiration and then fell into a normal and -untroubled sleep which persisted well into the afternoon. -When he awoke he found himself weak but no longer sick. - -Once more he sought water, and after drinking deeply, -took his way slowly toward the cabin by the sea. -In times of loneliness and trouble it had long been his -custom to seek there the quiet and restfulness which he -could find nowhere else. - -As he approached the cabin and raised the crude latch -which his father had fashioned so many years before, -two small, blood-shot eyes watched him from the concealing -foliage of the jungle close by. From beneath shaggy, -beetling brows they glared maliciously upon him, -maliciously and with a keen curiosity; then Tarzan entered -the cabin and closed the door after him. Here, with all -the world shut out from him, he could dream without -fear of interruption. He could curl up and look at -the pictures in the strange things which were books, -he could puzzle out the printed word he had learned to read -without knowledge of the spoken language it represented, -he could live in a wonderful world of which he had no -knowledge beyond the covers of his beloved books. -Numa and Sabor might prowl about close to him, the elements -might rage in all their fury; but here at least, -Tarzan might be entirely off his guard in a delightful -relaxation which gave him all his faculties for the -uninterrupted pursuit of this greatest of all his pleasures. - -Today he turned to the picture of the huge bird which bore -off the little Tarmangani in its talons. Tarzan puckered -his brows as he examined the colored print. Yes, this was -the very bird that had carried him off the day before, -for to Tarzan the dream had been so great a reality -that he still thought another day and a night had passed -since he had lain down in the tree to sleep. - -But the more he thought upon the matter the less positive -he was as to the verity of the seeming adventure through -which he had passed, yet where the real had ceased and -the unreal commenced he was quite unable to determine. -Had he really then been to the village of the blacks at all, -had he killed the old Gomangani, had he eaten of the -elephant meat, had he been sick? Tarzan scratched his -tousled black head and wondered. It was all very strange, -yet he knew that he never had seen Numa climb a tree, -or Histah with the head and belly of an old black man whom -Tarzan already had slain. - -Finally, with a sigh he gave up trying to fathom -the unfathomable, yet in his heart of hearts he knew -that something had come into his life that he never before -had experienced, another life which existed when he slept -and the consciousness of which was carried over into his waking -hours. - -Then he commenced to wonder if some of these strange -creatures which he met in his sleep might not slay him, -for at such times Tarzan of the Apes seemed to be a -different Tarzan, sluggish, helpless and timid--wishing -to flee his enemies as fled Bara, the deer, most fearful -of creatures. - -Thus, with a dream, came the first faint tinge of a knowledge -of fear, a knowledge which Tarzan, awake, had never experienced, -and perhaps he was experiencing what his early forbears -passed through and transmitted to posterity in the form of -superstition first and religion later; for they, as Tarzan, -had seen things at night which they could not explain -by the daylight standards of sense perception or of reason, -and so had built for themselves a weird explanation -which included grotesque shapes, possessed of strange -and uncanny powers, to whom they finally came to attribute -all those inexplicable phenomena of nature which with -each recurrence filled them with awe, with wonder, or with -terror. - -And as Tarzan concentrated his mind on the little bugs -upon the printed page before him, the active recollection -of the strange adventures presently merged into the text -of that which he was reading--a story of Bolgani, -the gorilla, in captivity. There was a more or less -lifelike illustration of Bolgani in colors and in a cage, -with many remarkable looking Tarmangani standing against -a rail and peering curiously at the snarling brute. -Tarzan wondered not a little, as he always did, at the odd -and seemingly useless array of colored plumage which covered -the bodies of the Tarmangani. It always caused him to grin -a trifle when he looked at these strange creatures. -He wondered if they so covered their bodies from shame -of their hairlessness or because they thought the odd things -they wore added any to the beauty of their appearance. -Particularly was Tarzan amused by the grotesque headdresses -of the pictured people. He wondered how some of the shes -succeeded in balancing theirs in an upright position, -and he came as near to laughing aloud as he ever had, -as he contemplated the funny little round things upon -the heads of the hes. - -Slowly the ape-man picked out the meaning of the various -combinations of letters on the printed page, and as he read, -the little bugs, for as such he always thought of the letters, -commenced to run about in a most confusing manner, -blurring his vision and befuddling his thoughts. -Twice he brushed the back of a hand smartly across his eyes; -but only for a moment could he bring the bugs back -to coherent and intelligible form. He had slept ill the -night before and now he was exhausted from loss of sleep, -from sickness, and from the slight fever he had had, -so that it became more and more difficult to fix his attention, -or to keep his eyes open. - -Tarzan realized that he was falling asleep, and just -as the realization was borne in upon him and he had -decided to relinquish himself to an inclination which -had assumed almost the proportions of a physical pain, -he was aroused by the opening of the cabin door. -Turning quickly toward the interruption Tarzan was amazed, -for a moment, to see bulking large in the doorway the huge -and hairy form of Bolgani, the gorilla. - -Now there was scarcely a denizen of the great jungle -with whom Tarzan would rather not have been cooped up -inside the small cabin than Bolgani, the gorilla, yet he -felt no fear, even though his quick eye noted that Bolgani -was in the throes of that jungle madness which seizes -upon so many of the fiercer males. Ordinarily the huge -gorillas avoid conflict, hide themselves from the other -jungle folk, and are generally the best of neighbors; -but when they are attacked, or the madness seizes them, -there is no jungle denizen so bold and fierce as to -deliberately seek a quarrel with them. - -But for Tarzan there was no escape. Bolgani was glowering -at him from red-rimmed, wicked eyes. In a moment he -would rush in and seize the ape-man. Tarzan reached -for the hunting knife where he had lain it on the table -beside him; but as his fingers did not immediately locate -the weapon, he turned a quick glance in search of it. -As he did so his eyes fell upon the book he had been -looking at which still lay open at the picture of Bolgani. -Tarzan found his knife, but he merely fingered it idly -and grinned in the direction of the advancing gorilla. - -Not again would he be fooled by empty things which came -while he slept! In a moment, no doubt, Bolgani would turn -into Pamba, the rat, with the head of Tantor, the elephant. -Tarzan had seen enough of such strange happenings -recently to have some idea as to what he might expect; -but this time Bolgani did not alter his form as he came -slowly toward the young ape-man. - -Tarzan was a bit puzzled, too, that he felt no desire -to rush frantically to some place of safety, as had been -the sensation most conspicuous in the other of his new -and remarkable adventures. He was just himself now, -ready to fight, if necessary; but still sure that no flesh -and blood gorilla stood before him. - -The thing should be fading away into thin air by now, -thought Tarzan, or changing into something else; -yet it did not. Instead it loomed clear-cut and real -as Bolgani himself, the magnificent dark coat glistening -with life and health in a bar of sunlight which shot -across the cabin through the high window behind the young -Lord Greystoke. This was quite the most realistic -of his sleep adventures, thought Tarzan, as he passively -awaited the next amusing incident. - -And then the gorilla charged. Two mighty, calloused hands -seized upon the ape-man, great fangs were bared close -to his face, a hideous growl burst from the cavernous -throat and hot breath fanned Tarzan's cheek, and still he -sat grinning at the apparition. Tarzan might be fooled -once or twice, but not for so many times in succession! -He knew that this Bolgani was no real Bolgani, for had he -been he never could have gained entrance to the cabin, -since only Tarzan knew how to operate the latch. - -The gorilla seemed puzzled by the strange passivity of the -hairless ape. He paused an instant with his jaws snarling -close to the other's throat, then he seemed suddenly -to come to some decision. Whirling the ape-man across -a hairy shoulder, as easily as you or I might lift a babe -in arms, Bolgani turned and dashed out into the open, -racing toward the great trees. - -Now, indeed, was Tarzan sure that this was a sleep -adventure, and so grinned largely as the giant gorilla -bore him, unresisting, away. Presently, reasoned Tarzan, -he would awaken and find himself back in the cabin -where he had fallen asleep. He glanced back at the -thought and saw the cabin door standing wide open. -This would never do! Always had he been careful to close -and latch it against wild intruders. Manu, the monkey, -would make sad havoc there among Tarzan's treasures should -he have access to the interior for even a few minutes. -The question which arose in Tarzan's mind was a baffling one. -Where did sleep adventures end and reality commence? How -was he to be sure that the cabin door was not really open? -Everything about him appeared quite normal--there were none -of the grotesque exaggerations of his former sleep adventures. -It would be better then to be upon the safe side and make -sure that the cabin door was closed--it would do no harm -even if all that seemed to be happening were not happening at -all. - -Tarzan essayed to slip from Bolgani's shoulder; but the -great beast only growled ominously and gripped him tighter. -With a mighty effort the ape-man wrenched himself loose, -and as he slid to the ground, the dream gorilla turned -ferociously upon him, seized him once more and buried -great fangs in a sleek, brown shoulder. - -The grin of derision faded from Tarzan's lips as the pain -and the hot blood aroused his fighting instincts. -Asleep or awake, this thing was no longer a joke! Biting, -tearing, and snarling, the two rolled over upon the ground. -The gorilla now was frantic with insane rage. Again and again -he loosed his hold upon the ape-man's shoulder in an attempt -to seize the jugular; but Tarzan of the Apes had fought -before with creatures who struck first for the vital vein, -and each time he wriggled out of harm's way as he -strove to get his fingers upon his adversary's throat. -At last he succeeded--his great muscles tensed and knotted -beneath his smooth hide as he forced with every ounce -of his mighty strength to push the hairy torso from him. -And as he choked Bolgani and strained him away, -his other hand crept slowly upward between them until -the point of the hunting knife rested over the savage -heart--there was a quick movement of the steel-thewed -wrist and the blade plunged to its goal. - -Bolgani, the gorilla, voiced a single frightful shriek, -tore himself loose from the grasp of the ape-man, rose to -his feet, staggered a few steps and then plunged to earth. -There were a few spasmodic movements of the limbs and the -brute was still. - -Tarzan of the Apes stood looking down upon his kill, -and as he stood there he ran his fingers through his thick, -black shock of hair. Presently he stooped and touched -the dead body. Some of the red life-blood of the gorilla -crimsoned his fingers. He raised them to his nose and sniffed. -Then he shook his head and turned toward the cabin. -The door was still open. He closed it and fastened the latch. -Returning toward the body of his kill he again paused -and scratched his head. - -If this was a sleep adventure, what then was reality? How -was he to know the one from the other? How much of all -that had happened in his life had been real and how much -unreal? - -He placed a foot upon the prostrate form and raising his face -to the heavens gave voice to the kill cry of the bull ape. -Far in the distance a lion answered. It was very real and, -yet, he did not know. Puzzled, he turned away into the jungle. - -No, he did not know what was real and what was not; -but there was one thing that he did know--never again -would he eat of the flesh of Tantor, the elephant. - - - - - - - 10 - - - The Battle for Teeka - -THE DAY WAS perfect. A cool breeze tempered the heat -of the equatorial sun. Peace had reigned within the tribe -for weeks and no alien enemy had trespassed upon its -preserves from without. To the ape-mind all this was -sufficient evidence that the future would be identical -with the immediate past--that Utopia would persist. - -The sentinels, now from habit become a fixed tribal custom, -either relaxed their vigilance or entirely deserted -their posts, as the whim seized them. The tribe was -far scattered in search of food. Thus may peace and -prosperity undermine the safety of the most primitive -community even as it does that of the most cultured. - -Even the individuals became less watchful and alert, -so that one might have thought Numa and Sabor and Sheeta -entirely deleted from the scheme of things. The shes -and the balus roamed unguarded through the sullen jungle, -while the greedy males foraged far afield, and thus it -was that Teeka and Gazan, her balu, hunted upon the extreme -southern edge of the tribe with no great male near them. - -Still farther south there moved through the forest -a sinister figure--a huge bull ape, maddened by solitude -and defeat. A week before he had contended for the -kingship of a tribe far distant, and now battered, -and still sore, he roamed the wilderness an outcast. -Later he might return to his own tribe and submit to the -will of the hairy brute he had attempted to dethrone; -but for the time being he dared not do so, since he -had sought not only the crown but the wives, as well, -of his lord and master. It would require an entire moon -at least to bring forgetfulness to him he had wronged, -and so Toog wandered a strange jungle, grim, terrible, -hate-filled. - -It was in this mental state that Toog came unexpectedly upon -a young she feeding alone in the jungle--a stranger she, -lithe and strong and beautiful beyond compare. -Toog caught his breath and slunk quickly to one side -of the trail where the dense foliage of the tropical -underbrush concealed him from Teeka while permitting -him to feast his eyes upon her loveliness. - -But not alone were they concerned with Teeka--they roved -the surrounding jungle in search of the bulls and cows -and balus of her tribe, though principally for the bulls. -When one covets a she of an alien tribe one must take -into consideration the great, fierce, hairy guardians -who seldom wander far from their wards and who will -fight a stranger to the death in protection of the mate -or offspring of a fellow, precisely as they would fight -for their own. - -Toog could see no sign of any ape other than the strange -she and a young balu playing near by. His wicked, -blood-shot eyes half closed as they rested upon the charms -of the former--as for the balu, one snap of those great -jaws upon the back of its little neck would prevent -it from raising any unnecessary alarm. - -Toog was a fine, big male, resembling in many ways -Teeka's mate, Taug. Each was in his prime, and each was -wonderfully muscled, perfectly fanged and as horrifyingly -ferocious as the most exacting and particular she could wish. -Had Toog been of her own tribe, Teeka might as readily have -yielded to him as to Taug when her mating time arrived; -but now she was Taug's and no other male could claim -her without first defeating Taug in personal combat. -And even then Teeka retained some rights in the matter. -If she did not favor a correspondent, she could enter -the lists with her rightful mate and do her part toward -discouraging his advances, a part, too, which would prove -no mean assistance to her lord and master, for Teeka, -even though her fangs were smaller than a male's, could use -them to excellent effect. - -Just now Teeka was occupied in a fascinating search -for beetles, to the exclusion of all else. She did not -realize how far she and Gazan had become separated from -the balance of the tribe, nor were her defensive senses upon -the alert as they should have been. Months of immunity from -danger under the protecting watchfulness of the sentries, -which Tarzan had taught the tribe to post, had lulled them -all into a sense of peaceful security based on that fallacy -which has wrecked many enlightened communities in the past -and will continue to wreck others in the future--that -because they have not been attacked they never will be. - -Toog, having satisfied himself that only the she and her balu -were in the immediate vicinity, crept stealthily forward. -Teeka's back was toward him when he finally rushed upon her; -but her senses were at last awakened to the presence -of danger and she wheeled to face the strange bull just -before he reached her. Toog halted a few paces from her. -His anger had fled before the seductive feminine charms -of the stranger. He made conciliatory noises--a species -of clucking sound with his broad, flat lips--that were, -too, not greatly dissimilar to that which might be produced -in an osculatory solo. - -But Teeka only bared her fangs and growled. Little Gazan -started to run toward his mother, but she warned him away -with a quick "Kreeg-ah!" telling him to run high into -a tall tree. Evidently Teeka was not favorably impressed -by her new suitor. Toog realized this and altered -his methods accordingly. He swelled his giant chest, -beat upon it with his calloused knuckles and swaggered -to and fro before her. - -"I am Toog," he boasted. "Look at my fighting fangs. -Look at my great arms and my mighty legs. With one bite I -can slay your biggest bull. Alone have I slain Sheeta. -I am Toog. Toog wants you." Then he waited for the effect, -nor did he have long to wait. Teeka turned with a -swiftness which belied her great weight and bolted -in the opposite direction. Toog, with an angry growl, -leaped in pursuit; but the smaller, lighter female was too -fleet for him. He chased her for a few yards and then, -foaming and barking, he halted and beat upon the ground -with his hard fists. - -From the tree above him little Gazan looked down and -witnessed the stranger bull's discomfiture. Being young, -and thinking himself safe above the reach of the heavy male, -Gazan screamed an ill-timed insult at their tormentor. -Toog looked up. Teeka had halted at a little distance--she -would not go far from her balu; that Toog quickly realized -and as quickly determined to take advantage of. He saw -that the tree in which the young ape squatted was isolated -and that Gazan could not reach another without coming -to earth. He would obtain the mother through her love -for her young. - -He swung himself into the lower branches of the tree. -Little Gazan ceased to insult him; his expression of -deviltry changed to one of apprehension, which was quickly -followed by fear as Toog commenced to ascend toward him. -Teeka screamed to Gazan to climb higher, and the little -fellow scampered upward among the tiny branches which would -not support the weight of the great bull; but nevertheless -Toog kept on climbing. Teeka was not fearful. She knew -that he could not ascend far enough to reach Gazan, -so she sat at a little distance from the tree and applied -jungle opprobrium to him. Being a female, she was a past -master of the art. - -But she did not know the malevolent cunning of Toog's -little brain. She took it for granted that the bull -would climb as high as he could toward Gazan and then, -finding that he could not reach him, resume his pursuit -of her, which she knew would prove equally fruitless. -So sure was she of the safety of her balu and her own ability -to take care of herself that she did not voice the cry -for help which would soon have brought the other members -of the tribe flocking to her side. - -Toog slowly reached the limit to which he dared risk -his great weight to the slender branches. Gazan was -still fifteen feet above him. The bull braced himself -and seized the main branch in his powerful hands, then he -commenced shaking it vigorously. Teeka was appalled. -Instantly she realized what the bull purposed. -Gazan clung far out upon a swaying limb. At the first -shake he lost his balance, though he did not quite fall, -clinging still with his four hands; but Toog redoubled -his efforts; the shaking produced a violent snapping -of the limb to which the young ape clung. Teeka saw -all too plainly what the outcome must be and forgetting -her own danger in the depth of her mother love, -rushed forward to ascend the tree and give battle to the -fearsome creature that menaced the life of her little one. - -But before ever she reached the bole, Toog had succeeded, -by violent shaking of the branch, to loosen Gazan's hold. -With a cry the little fellow plunged down through the foliage, -clutching futilely for a new hold, and alighted with -a sickening thud at his mother's feet, where he lay -silent and motionless. Moaning, Teeka stooped to lift -the still form in her arms; but at the same instant Toog -was upon her. - -Struggling and biting she fought to free herself; but the giant -muscles of the great bull were too much for her lesser strength. -Toog struck and choked her repeatedly until finally, -half unconscious, she lapsed into quasi submission. -Then the bull lifted her to his shoulder and turned -back to the trail toward the south from whence he had come. - -Upon the ground lay the quiet form of little Gazan. -He did not moan. He did not move. The sun rose slowly -toward meridian. A mangy thing, lifting its nose to -scent the jungle breeze, crept through the underbrush. -It was Dango, the hyena. Presently its ugly muzzle broke -through some near-by foliage and its cruel eyes fastened -upon Gazan. - -Early that morning, Tarzan of the Apes had gone to -the cabin by the sea, where he passed many an hour at -such times as the tribe was ranging in the vicinity. -On the floor lay the skeleton of a man--all that remained -of the former Lord Greystoke--lay as it had fallen -some twenty years before when Kerchak, the great ape, -had thrown it, lifeless, there. Long since had the -termites and the small rodents picked clean the sturdy -English bones. For years Tarzan had seen it lying there, -giving it no more attention than he gave the countless -thousand bones that strewed his jungle haunts. -On the bed another, smaller, skeleton reposed and the -youth ignored it as he ignored the other. How could he -know that the one had been his father, the other his -mother? The little pile of bones in the rude cradle, -fashioned with such loving care by the former Lord Greystoke, -meant nothing to him-- that one day that little skull -was to help prove his right to a proud title was as far -beyond his ken as the satellites of the suns of Orion. -To Tarzan they were bones--just bones. He did not -need them, for there was no meat left upon them, and they -were not in his way, for he knew no necessity for a bed, -and the skeleton upon the floor he easily could step over. - -Today he was restless. He turned the pages first of one -book and then of another. He glanced at pictures which he -knew by heart, and tossed the books aside. He rummaged -for the thousandth time in the cupboard. He took out a bag -which contained several small, round pieces of metal. -He had played with them many times in the years gone by; -but always he replaced them carefully in the bag, -and the bag in the cupboard, upon the very shelf where -first he had discovered it. In strange ways did heredity -manifest itself in the ape-man. Come of an orderly race, -he himself was orderly without knowing why. The apes -dropped things wherever their interest in them waned--in -the tall grass or from the high-flung branches of the trees. -What they dropped they sometimes found again, by accident; -but not so the ways of Tarzan. For his few belongings -he had a place and scrupulously he returned each -thing to its proper place when he was done with it. -The round pieces of metal in the little bag always -interested him. Raised pictures were upon either side, -the meaning of which he did not quite understand. -The pieces were bright and shiny. It amused him to arrange -them in various figures upon the table. Hundreds of times -had he played thus. Today, while so engaged, he dropped -a lovely yellow piece-- an English sovereign--which rolled -beneath the bed where lay all that was mortal of the once -beautiful Lady Alice. - -True to form, Tarzan at once dropped to his hands and knees -and searched beneath the bed for the lost gold piece. -Strange as it might appear, he had never before looked -beneath the bed. He found the gold piece, and something -else he found, too--a small wooden box with a loose cover. -Bringing them both out he returned the sovereign to -its bag and the bag to its shelf within the cupboard; -then he investigated the box. It contained a quantity -of cylindrical bits of metal, cone-shaped at one -end and flat at the other, with a projecting rim. -They were all quite green and dull, coated with years -of verdigris. - -Tarzan removed a handful of them from the box and examined them. -He rubbed one upon another and discovered that the green -came off, leaving a shiny surface for two-thirds of -their length and a dull gray over the cone-shaped end. -Finding a bit of wood he rubbed one of the cylinders rapidly -and was rewarded by a lustrous sheen which pleased him. - -At his side hung a pocket pouch taken from the body -of one of the numerous black warriors he had slain. -Into this pouch he put a handful of the new playthings, -thinking to polish them at his leisure; then he replaced -the box beneath the bed, and finding nothing more to -amuse him, left the cabin and started back in the direction -of the tribe. - -Shortly before he reached them he heard a great commotion -ahead of him--the loud screams of shes and balus, -the savage, angry barking and growling of the great bulls. -Instantly he increased his speed, for the "Kreeg-ahs" -that came to his ears warned him that something was amiss -with his fellows. - -While Tarzan had been occupied with his own devices -in the cabin of his dead sire, Taug, Teeka's mighty mate, -had been hunting a mile to the north of the tribe. -At last, his belly filled, he had turned lazily back toward -the clearing where he had last seen the tribe and presently -commenced passing its members scattered alone or in twos -or threes. Nowhere did he see Teeka or Gazan, and soon -he began inquiring of the other apes where they might be; -but none had seen them recently. - -Now the lower orders are not highly imaginative. -They do not, as you and I, paint vivid mental pictures -of things which might have occurred, and so Taug did -not now apprehend that any misfortune had overtaken -his mate and their off-spring-- he merely knew that he -wished to find Teeka that he might lie down in the shade -and have her scratch his back while his breakfast digested; -but though he called to her and searched for her and -asked each whom he met, he could find no trace of Teeka, -nor of Gazan either. - -He was beginning to become peeved and had about made up -his mind to chastise Teeka for wandering so far afield -when he wanted her. He was moving south along a game trail, -his calloused soles and knuckles giving forth no sound, -when he came upon Dango at the opposite side of a -small clearing. The eater of carrion did not see Taug, -for all his eyes were for something which lay in the grass -beneath a tree--something upon which he was sneaking -with the cautious stealth of his breed. - -Taug, always cautious himself, as it behooves one to be -who fares up and down the jungle and desires to survive, -swung noiselessly into a tree, where he could have -a better view of the clearing. He did not fear Dango; -but he wanted to see what it was that Dango stalked. -In a way, possibly, he was actuated as much by curiosity -as by caution. - -And when Taug reached a place in the branches from -which he could have an unobstructed view of the clearing -he saw Dango already sniffing at something directly -beneath him-- something which Taug instantly recognized -as the lifeless form of his little Gazan. - -With a cry so frightful, so bestial, that it momentarily -paralyzed the startled Dango, the great ape launched his -mighty bulk upon the surprised hyena. With a cry and a snarl, -Dango, crushed to earth, turned to tear at his assailant; -but as effectively might a sparrow turn upon a hawk. -Taug's great, gnarled fingers closed upon the hyena's -throat and back, his jaws snapped once on the mangy neck, -crushing the vertebrae, and then he hurled the dead body -contemptuously aside. - -Again he raised his voice in the call of the bull ape -to its mate, but there was no reply; then he leaned down to -sniff at the body of Gazan. In the breast of this savage, -hideous beast there beat a heart which was moved, -however slightly, by the same emotions of paternal love -which affect us. Even had we no actual evidence of this, -we must know it still, since only thus might be explained -the survival of the human race in which the jealousy -and selfishness of the bulls would, in the earliest -stages of the race, have wiped out the young as rapidly -as they were brought into the world had not God implanted -in the savage bosom that paternal love which evidences -itself most strongly in the protective instinct of the male. - -In Taug the protective instinct was not alone highly developed; -but affection for his offspring as well, for Taug was an -unusually intelligent specimen of these great, manlike apes -which the natives of the Gobi speak of in whispers; -but which no white man ever had seen, or, if seeing, -lived to tell of until Tarzan of the Apes came among them. - -And so Taug felt sorrow as any other father might feel -sorrow at the loss of a little child. To you little -Gazan might have seemed a hideous and repulsive creature, -but to Taug and Teeka he was as beautiful and as cute -as is your little Mary or Johnnie or Elizabeth Ann to you, -and he was their firstborn, their only balu, and a he--three -things which might make a young ape the apple of any fond -father's eye. - -For a moment Taug sniffed at the quiet little form. -With his muzzle and his tongue he smoothed and caressed -the rumpled coat. From his savage lips broke a low moan; -but quickly upon the heels of sorrow came the overmastering -desire for revenge. - -Leaping to his feet he screamed out a volley of "Kreegahs," -punctuated from time to time by the blood-freezing -cry of an angry, challenging bull--a rage-mad bull -with the blood lust strong upon him. - -Answering his cries came the cries of the tribe as they swung -through the trees toward him. It was these that Tarzan -heard on his return from his cabin, and in reply to them he -raised his own voice and hurried forward with increased speed -until he fairly flew through the middle terraces of the forest. - -When at last he came upon the tribe he saw their members -gathered about Taug and something which lay quietly upon -the ground. Dropping among them, Tarzan approached -the center of the group. Taug was stiff roaring -out his challenges; but when he saw Tarzan he ceased -and stooping picked up Gazan in his arms and held him -out for Tarzan to see. Of all the bulls of the tribe, -Taug held affection for Tarzan only. Tarzan he trusted -and looked up to as one wiser and more cunning. -To Tarzan he came now--to the playmate of his balu days, -the companion of innumerable battles of his maturity. - -When Tarzan saw the still form in Taug's arms, a low growl -broke from his lips, for he too loved Teeka's little balu. - -"Who did it?" he asked. "Where is Teeka?" - -"I do not know," replied Taug. "I found him lying here -with Dango about to feed upon him; but it was not Dango -that did it--there are no fang marks upon him." - -Tarzan came closer and placed an ear against Gazan's breast. -"He is not dead," he said. "Maybe he will not die." -He pressed through the crowd of apes and circled once -about them, examining the ground step by step. Suddenly he -stopped and placing his nose close to the earth sniffed. -Then he sprang to his feet, giving a peculiar cry. -Taug and the others pressed forward, for the sound told them -that the hunter had found the spoor of his quarry. - -"A stranger bull has been here," said Tarzan. "It was he -that hurt Gazan. He has carried off Teeka." - -Taug and the other bulls commenced to roar and threaten; -but they did nothing. Had the stranger bull been within -sight they would have torn him to pieces; but it did not -occur to them to follow him. - -"If the three bulls had been watching around the tribe -this would not have happened," said Tarzan. "Such things -will happen as long as you do not keep the three bulls -watching for an enemy. The jungle is full of enemies, -and yet you let your shes and your balus feed where they will, -alone and unprotected. Tarzan goes now--he goes to find -Teeka and bring her back to the tribe." - -The idea appealed to the other bulls. "We will all go," -they cried. - -"No," said Tarzan, "you will not all go. We cannot -take shes and balus when we go out to hunt and fight. -You must remain to guard them or you will lose them all." - -They scratched their heads. The wisdom of his advice -was dawning upon them, but at first they had been carried -away by the new idea--the idea of following up an enemy -offender to wrest his prize from him and punish him. -The community instinct was ingrained in their characters -through ages of custom. They did not know why they had not -thought to pursue and punish the offender--they could not know -that it was because they had as yet not reached a mental -plane which would permit them to work as individuals. -In times of stress, the community instinct sent them -huddling into a compact herd where the great bulls, -by the weight of their combined strength and ferocity, -could best protect them from an enemy. The idea of separating -to do battle with a foe had not yet occurred to them--it was -too foreign to custom, too inimical to community interests; -but to Tarzan it was the first and most natural thought. -His senses told him that there was but a single bull -connected with the attack upon Teeka and Gazan. A single -enemy did not require the entire tribe for his punishment. -Two swift bulls could quickly overhaul him and rescue Teeka. - -In the past no one ever had thought to go forth in search -of the shes that were occasionally stolen from the tribe. -If Numa, Sabor, Sheeta or a wandering bull ape from another -tribe chanced to carry off a maid or a matron while no -one was looking, that was the end of it--she was gone, -that was all. The bereaved husband, if the victim chanced -to have been mated, growled around for a day or two and then, -if he were strong enough, took another mate within the tribe, -and if not, wandered far into the jungle on the chance -of stealing one from another community. - -In the past Tarzan of the Apes had condoned this -practice for the reason that he had had no interest -in those who had been stolen; but Teeka had been -his first love and Teeka's balu held a place in his -heart such as a balu of his own would have held. -Just once before had Tarzan wished to follow and revenge. -That had been years before when Kulonga, the son of Mbonga, -the chief, had slain Kala. Then, single-handed, Tarzan -had pursued and avenged. Now, though to a lesser degree, -he was moved by the same passion. - -He turned toward Taug. "Leave Gazan with Mumga," he said. -"She is old and her fangs are broken and she is no good; -but she can take care of Gazan until we return with Teeka, -and if Gazan is dead when we come back," he turned to -address Mumga, "I will kill you, too." - -"Where are we going?" asked Taug. - -"We are going to get Teeka," replied the ape-man, "and -kill the bull who has stolen her. Come!" - -He turned again to the spoor of the stranger bull, -which showed plainly to his trained senses, nor did he -glance back to note if Taug followed. The latter laid -Gazan in Mumga's arms with a parting: "If he dies Tarzan -will kill you," and he followed after the brown-skinned -figure that already was moving at a slow trot along -the jungle trail. - -No other bull of the tribe of Kerchak was so good a -trailer as Tarzan, for his trained senses were aided -by a high order of intelligence. His judgment told him -the natural trail for a quarry to follow, so that he -need but note the most apparent marks upon the way, -and today the trail of Toog was as plain to him as type -upon a printed page to you or me. - -Following close behind the lithe figure of the ape-man came -the huge and shaggy bull ape. No words passed between them. -They moved as silently as two shadows among the myriad -shadows of the forest. Alert as his eyes and ears, -was Tarzan's patrician nose. The spoor was fresh, and now -that they had passed from the range of the strong ape odor -of the tribe he had little difficulty in following Toog -and Teeka by scent alone. Teeka's familiar scent spoor -told both Tarzan and Taug that they were upon her trail, -and soon the scent of Toog became as familiar as the other. - -They were progressing rapidly when suddenly dense -clouds overcast the sun. Tarzan accelerated his pace. -Now he fairly flew along the jungle trail, or, where Toog -had taken to the trees, followed nimbly as a squirrel along -the bending, undulating pathway of the foliage branches, -swinging from tree to tree as Toog had swung before them; -but more rapidly because they were not handicapped by a -burden such as Toog's. - -Tarzan felt that they must be almost upon the quarry, -for the scent spoor was becoming stronger and stronger, -when the jungle was suddenly shot by livid lightning, -and a deafening roar of thunder reverberated through the -heavens and the forest until the earth trembled and shook. -Then came the rain--not as it comes to us of the -temperate zones, but as a mighty avalanche of water--a -deluge which spills tons instead of drops upon the bending -forest giants and the terrified creatures which haunt -their shade. - -And the rain did what Tarzan knew that it would do-- it -wiped the spoor of the quarry from the face of the earth. -For a half hour the torrents fell--then the sun burst forth, -jeweling the forest with a million scintillant gems; -but today the ape-man, usually alert to the changing wonders -of the jungle, saw them not. Only the fact that the spoor -of Teeka and her abductor was obliterated found lodgment -in his thoughts. - -Even among the branches of the trees there are well-worn trails, -just as there are trails upon the surface of the ground; -but in the trees they branch and cross more often, -since the way is more open than among the dense undergrowth -at the surface. Along one of these well-marked trails -Tarzan and Taug continued after the rain had ceased, -because the ape-man knew that this was the most logical -path for the thief to follow; but when they came to a fork, -they were at a loss. Here they halted, while Tarzan -examined every branch and leaf which might have been -touched by the fleeing ape. - -He sniffed the bole of the tree, and with his keen eyes -he sought to find upon the bark some sign of the way -the quarry had taken. It was slow work and all the time, -Tarzan knew, the bull of the alien tribe was forging -steadily away from them--gaining precious minutes that might -carry him to safety before they could catch up with him. - -First along one fork he went, and then another, applying every -test that his wonderful junglecraft was cognizant of; -but again and again he was baffled, for the scent had been -washed away by the heavy downpour, in every exposed place. -For a half hour Tarzan and Taug searched, until at last, -upon the bottom of a broad leaf, Tarzan's keen nose caught -the faint trace of the scent spoor of Toog, where the leaf -had brushed a hairy shoulder as the great ape passed -through the foliage. - -Once again the two took up the trail, but it was slow -work now and there were many discouraging delays when -the spoor seemed lost beyond recovery. To you or me -there would have been no spoor, even before the coming -of the rain, except, possibly, where Toog had come -to earth and followed a game trail. In such places -the imprint of a huge handlike foot and the knuckles -of one great hand were sometimes plain enough for an -ordinary mortal to read. Tarzan knew from these and -other indications that the ape was yet carrying Teeka. -The depth of the imprint of his feet indicated a much greater -weight than that of any of the larger bulls, for they -were made under the combined weight of Toog and Teeka, -while the fact that the knuckles of but one hand touched -the ground at any time showed that the other hand was -occupied in some other business--the business of holding -the prisoner to a hairy shoulder. Tarzan could follow, -in sheltered places, the changing of the burden from one -shoulder to another, as indicated by the deepening of the -foot imprint upon the side of the load, and the changing -of the knuckle imprints from one side of the trail to the other. - -There were stretches along the surface paths where the ape had -gone for considerable distances entirely erect upon his hind -feet--walking as a man walks; but the same might have been -true of any of the great anthropoids of the same species, -for, unlike the chimpanzee and the gorilla, they walk -without the aid of their hands quite as readily as with. -It was such things, however, which helped to identify -to Tarzan and to Taug the appearance of the abductor, -and with his individual scent characteristic already -indelibly impressed upon their memories, they were in a -far better position to know him when they came upon him, -even should he have disposed of Teeka before, than is a modern -sleuth with his photographs and Bertillon measurements, -equipped to recognize a fugitive from civilized justice. - -But with all their high-strung and delicately attuned -perceptive faculties the two bulls of the tribe of Kerchak -were often sore pressed to follow the trail at all, -and at best were so delayed that in the afternoon of the -second day, they still had not overhauled the fugitive. -The scent was now strong, for it had been made since the rain, -and Tarzan knew that it would not be long before they -came upon the thief and his loot. Above them, as they -crept stealthily forward, chattered Manu, the monkey, -and his thousand fellows; squawked and screamed the -brazen-throated birds of plumage; buzzed and hummed the -countless insects amid the rustling of the forest leaves, -and, as they passed, a little gray-beard, squeaking and -scolding upon a swaying branch, looked down and saw them. -Instantly the scolding and squeaking ceased, and off -tore the long-tailed mite as though Sheeta, the panther, -had been endowed with wings and was in close pursuit of him. -To all appearances he was only a very much frightened -little monkey, fleeing for his life--there seemed nothing -sinister about him. - -And what of Teeka during all this time? Was she at last -resigned to her fate and accompanying her new mate -in the proper humility of a loving and tractable spouse? -A single glance at the pair would have answered these -questions to the utter satisfaction of the most captious. -She was torn and bleeding from many wounds, inflicted by the -sullen Toog in his vain efforts to subdue her to his will, -and Toog too was disfigured and mutilated; but with -stubborn ferocity, he still clung to his now useless prize. - -On through the jungle he forced his way in the direction -of the stamping ground of his tribe. He hoped that his -king would have forgotten his treason; but if not he -was still resigned to his fate--any fate would be better -than suffering longer the sole companionship of this -frightful she, and then, too, he wished to exhibit -his captive to his fellows. Maybe he could wish her -on the king--it is possible that such a thought urged him on. - -At last they came upon two bulls feeding in a parklike -grove--a beautiful grove dotted with huge boulders half -embedded in the rich loam--mute monuments, possibly, to a -forgotten age when mighty glaciers rolled their slow course -where now a torrid sun beats down upon a tropic jungle. - -The two bulls looked up, baring long fighting fangs, -as Toog appeared in the distance. The latter recognized -the two as friends. "It is Toog," he growled. "Toog has -come back with a new she." - -The apes waited his nearer approach. Teeka turned a snarling, -fanged face toward them. She was not pretty to look upon, -yet through the blood and hatred upon her countenance -they realized that she was beautiful, and they envied -Toog--alas! they did not know Teeka. - -As they squatted looking at one another there raced through -the trees toward them a long-tailed little monkey with -gray whiskers. He was a very excited little monkey when he -came to a halt upon the limb of a tree directly overhead. -"Two strange bulls come," he cried. One is a Mangani, -the other a hideous ape without hair upon his body. -They follow the spoor of Toog. I saw them." - -The four apes turned their eyes backward along the trail -Toog had just come; then they looked at one another for -a minute. "Come," said the larger of Toog's two friends, -"we will wait for the strangers in the thick bushes beyond -the clearing." - -He turned and waddled away across the open place, -the others following him. The little monkey danced about, -all excitement. His chief diversion in life was to bring -about bloody encounters between the larger denizens of -the forest, that he might sit in the safety of the trees -and witness the spectacles. He was a glutton for gore, -was this little, whiskered, gray monkey, so long as it was -the gore of others-- a typical fight fan was the graybeard. - -The apes hid themselves in the shrubbery beside the -trail along which the two stranger bulls would pass. -Teeka trembled with excitement. She had heard the words -of Manu, and she knew that the hairless ape must be Tarzan, -while the other was, doubtless, Taug. Never, in her -wildest hopes, had she expected succor of this sort. -Her one thought had been to escape and find her way back -to the tribe of Kerchak; but even this had appeared to her -practically impossible, so closely did Toog watch her. - -As Taug and Tarzan reached the grove where Toog had come -upon his friends, the ape scent became so strong that -both knew the quarry was but a short distance ahead. -And so they went even more cautiously, for they wished -to come upon the thief from behind if they could -and charge him before he was aware of their presence. -That a little gray-whiskered monkey had forestalled them -they did not know, nor that three pairs of savage eyes -were already watching their every move and waiting for them -to come within reach of itching paws and slavering jowls. - -On they came across the grove, and as they entered -the path leading into the dense jungle beyond, a sudden -"Kreeg-ah!" shrilled out close before them--a "Kreeg-ah" -in the familiar voice of Teeka. The small brains -of Toog and his companions had not been able to foresee -that Teeka might betray them, and now that she had, -they went wild with rage. Toog struck the she a mighty -blow that felled her, and then the three rushed forth -to do battle with Tarzan and Taug. The little monkey -danced upon his perch and screamed with delight. - -And indeed he might well be delighted, for it was a -lovely fight. There were no preliminaries, no formalities, -no introductions-- the five bulls merely charged and clinched. -They rolled in the narrow trail and into the thick -verdure beside it. They bit and clawed and scratched -and struck, and all the while they kept up the most -frightful chorus of growlings and barkings and roarings. -In five minutes they were torn and bleeding, and the little -graybeard leaped high, shrilling his primitive bravos; -but always his attitude was "thumbs down." He wanted -to see something killed. He did not care whether it -were friend or foe. It was blood he wanted--blood and death. - -Taug had been set upon by Toog and another of the apes, -while Tarzan had the third--a huge brute with the strength -of a buffalo. Never before had Tarzan's assailant beheld -so strange a creature as this slippery, hairless bull with -which he battled. Sweat and blood covered Tarzan's sleek, -brown hide. Again and again he slipped from the clutches -of the great bull, and all the while he struggled to free -his hunting knife from the scabbard in which it had stuck. - -At length he succeeded--a brown hand shot out and clutched -a hairy throat, another flew upward clutching the sharp blade. -Three swift, powerful strokes and the bull relaxed -with a groan, falling limp beneath his antagonist. -Instantly Tarzan broke from the clutches of the dying bull -and sprang to Taug's assistance. Toog saw him coming -and wheeled to meet him. In the impact of the charge, -Tarzan's knife was wrenched from his hand and then Toog -closed with him. Now was the battle even--two against -two--while on the verge, Teeka, now recovered from the blow -that had felled her, slunk waiting for an opportunity -to aid. She saw Tarzan's knife and picked it up. -She never had used it, but knew how Tarzan used it. -Always had she been afraid of the thing which dealt death -to the mightiest of the jungle people with the ease that -Tantor's great tusks deal death to Tantor's enemies. - -She saw Tarzan's pocket pouch torn from his side, -and with the curiosity of an ape, that even danger and -excitement cannot entirely dispel, she picked this up, too. - -Now the bulls were standing--the clinches had been broken. -Blood streamed down their sides--their faces were crimsoned -with it. Little graybeard was so fascinated that at last -he had even forgotten to scream and dance; but sat rigid -with delight in the enjoyment of the spectacle. - -Back across the grove Tarzan and Taug forced their adversaries. -Teeka followed slowly. She scarce knew what to do. -She was lame and sore and exhausted from the frightful -ordeal through which she had passed, and she had -the confidence of her sex in the prowess of her mate -and the other bull of her tribe--they would not need -the help of a she in their battle with these two strangers. - -The roars and screams of the fighters reverberated through -the jungle, awakening the echoes in the distant hills. -From the throat of Tarzan's antagonist had come a score -of "Kreeg-ahs!" and now from behind came the reply he -had awaited. Into the grove, barking and growling, -came a score of huge bull apes--the fighting men of -Toog's tribe. - -Teeka saw them first and screamed a warning to Tarzan and Taug. -Then she fled past the fighters toward the opposite -side of the clearing, fear for a moment claiming her. -Nor can one censure her after the frightful ordeal from -which she was still suffering. - -Down upon them came the great apes. In a moment Tarzan -and Taug would be torn to shreds that would later form -the PIECE DE RESISTANCE of the savage orgy of a Dum-Dum. -Teeka turned to glance back. She saw the impending -fate of her defenders and there sprung to life in her -savage bosom the spark of martyrdom, that some common -forbear had transmitted alike to Teeka, the wild ape, -and the glorious women of a higher order who have invited -death for their men. With a shrill scream she ran toward -the battlers who were rolling in a great mass at the foot -of one of the huge boulders which dotted the grove; -but what could she do? The knife she held she could -not use to advantage because of her lesser strength. -She had seen Tarzan throw missiles, and she had learned -this with many other things from her childhood playmate. -She sought for something to throw and at last her fingers -touched upon the hard objects in the pouch that had been -torn from the ape-man. Tearing the receptacle open, -she gathered a handful of shiny cylinders--heavy for -their size, they seemed to her, and good missiles. -With all her strength she hurled them at the apes battling -in front of the granite boulder. - -The result surprised Teeka quite as much as it did the apes. -There was a loud explosion, which deafened the fighters, -and a puff of acrid smoke. Never before had one there -heard such a frightful noise. Screaming with terror, -the stranger bulls leaped to their feet and fled back -toward the stamping ground of their tribe, while Taug -and Tarzan slowly gathered themselves together and arose, -lame and bleeding, to their feet. They, too, would have -fled had they not seen Teeka standing there before them, -the knife and the pocket pouch in her hands. - -"What was it?" asked Tarzan. - -Teeka shook her head. "I hurled these at the stranger bulls," -and she held forth another handful of the shiny metal -cylinders with the dull gray, cone-shaped ends. - -Tarzan looked at them and scratched his head. - -"What are they?" asked Taug. - -"I do not know," said Tarzan. "I found them." - -The little monkey with the gray beard halted among the trees -a mile away and huddled, terrified, against a branch. -He did not know that the dead father of Tarzan of the Apes, -reaching back out of the past across a span of twenty years, -had saved his son's life. - -Nor did Tarzan, Lord Greystoke, know it either. - - - - - - - 11 - - - A Jungle Joke - -TIME SELDOM HUNG heavily upon Tarzan's hands. Even where -there is sameness there cannot be monotony if most of -the sameness consists in dodging death first in one form -and then in another; or in inflicting death upon others. -There is a spice to such an existence; but even this Tarzan -of the Apes varied in activities of his own invention. - -He was full grown now, with the grace of a Greek god -and the thews of a bull, and, by all the tenets of apedom, -should have been sullen, morose, and brooding; but he -was not. His spirits seemed not to age at all--he was -still a playful child, much to the discomfiture of his -fellow-apes. They could not understand him or his ways, -for with maturity they quickly forgot their youth and -its pastimes. - -Nor could Tarzan quite understand them. It seemed strange -to him that a few moons since, he had roped Taug about an ankle -and dragged him screaming through the tall jungle grasses, -and then rolled and tumbled in good-natured mimic battle -when the young ape had freed himself, and that today when -he had come up behind the same Taug and pulled him over -backward upon the turf, instead of the playful young ape, -a great, snarling beast had whirled and leaped for his throat. - -Easily Tarzan eluded the charge and quickly Taug's anger -vanished, -though it was not replaced with playfulness; yet the ape-man -realized that Taug was not amused nor was he amusing. -The big bull ape seemed to have lost whatever sense of humor -he once may have possessed. With a grunt of disappointment, -young Lord Greystoke turned to other fields of endeavor. -A strand of black hair fell across one eye. He brushed -it aside with the palm of a hand and a toss of his head. -It suggested something to do, so he sought his quiver which -lay cached in the hollow bole of a lightning-riven tree. -Removing the arrows he turned the quiver upside down, -emptying upon the ground the contents of its bottom-- -his few treasures. Among them was a flat bit of stone -and a shell which he had picked up from the beach near -his father's cabin. - -With great care he rubbed the edge of the shell back and -forth upon the flat stone until the soft edge was quite -fine and sharp. He worked much as a barber does who hones -a razor, and with every evidence of similar practice; but his -proficiency was the result of years of painstaking effort. -Unaided he had worked out a method of his own for putting -an edge upon the shell--he even tested it with the ball -of his thumb-- and when it met with his approval he -grasped a wisp of hair which fell across his eyes, -grasped it between the thumb and first finger of his left -hand and sawed upon it with the sharpened shell until it -was severed. All around his head he went until his black -shock was rudely bobbed with a ragged bang in front. -For the appearance of it he cared nothing; but in the -matter of safety and comfort it meant everything. -A lock of hair falling in one's eyes at the wrong moment -might mean all the difference between life and death, -while straggly strands, hanging down one's back were -most uncomfortable, especially when wet with dew or rain -or perspiration. - -As Tarzan labored at his tonsorial task, his active -mind was busy with many things. He recalled his -recent battle with Bolgani, the gorilla, the wounds -of which were but just healed. He pondered the strange -sleep adventures of his first dreams, and he smiled -at the painful outcome of his last practical joke upon -the tribe, when, dressed in the hide of Numa, the lion, -he had come roaring upon them, only to be leaped upon -and almost killed by the great bulls whom he had taught -how to defend themselves from an attack of their ancient enemy. - -His hair lopped off to his entire satisfaction, and seeing -no possibility of pleasure in the company of the tribe, -Tarzan swung leisurely into the trees and set off in -the direction of his cabin; but when part way there his -attention was attracted by a strong scent spoor coming -from the north. It was the scent of the Gomangani. - -Curiosity, that best-developed, common heritage of man -and ape, always prompted Tarzan to investigate where the -Gomangani were concerned. There was that about them -which aroused his imagination. Possibly it was because -of the diversity of their activities and interests. -The apes lived to eat and sleep and propagate. -The same was true of all the other denizens of the jungle, -save the Gomangani. - -These black fellows danced and sang, scratched around in the -earth from which they had cleared the trees and underbrush; -they watched things grow, and when they had ripened, -they cut them down and put them in straw-thatched huts. -They made bows and spears and arrows, poison, cooking pots, -things of metal to wear around their arms and legs. -If it hadn't been for their black faces, their hideously -disfigured features, and the fact that one of them had -slain Kala, Tarzan might have wished to be one of them. -At least he sometimes thought so, but always at the thought -there rose within him a strange revulsion of feeling, which he -could not interpret or understand--he simply knew that he -hated the Gomangani, and that he would rather be Histah, -the snake, than one of these. - -But their ways were interesting, and Tarzan never tired -of spying upon them. and from them he learned much more than -he realized, though always his principal thought was of some -new way in which he could render their lives miserable. -The baiting of the blacks was Tarzan's chief divertissement. - -Tarzan realized now that the blacks were very near -and that there were many of them, so he went silently -and with great caution. Noiselessly he moved through -the lush grasses of the open spaces, and where the forest -was dense, swung from one swaying branch to another, -or leaped lightly over tangled masses of fallen trees -where there was no way through the lower terraces, -and the ground was choked and impassable. - -And so presently he came within sight of the black -warriors of Mbonga, the chief. They were engaged in a -pursuit with which Tarzan was more or less familiar, -having watched them at it upon other occasions. -They were placing and baiting a trap for Numa, the lion. -In a cage upon wheels they were tying a kid, so fastening -it that when Numa seized the unfortunate creature, -the door of the cage would drop behind him, making him -a prisoner. - -These things the blacks had learned in their old home, -before they escaped through the untracked jungle to their -new village. Formerly they had dwelt in the Belgian -Congo until the cruelties of their heartless oppressors -had driven them to seek the safety of unexplored solitudes -beyond the boundaries of Leopold's domain. - -In their old life they often had trapped animals for the -agents of European dealers, and had learned from them -certain tricks, such as this one, which permitted them -to capture even Numa without injuring him, and to transport -him in safety and with comparative ease to their village. - -No longer was there a white market for their savage wares; -but there was still a sufficient incentive for the taking -of Numa--alive. First was the necessity for ridding the -jungle of man-eaters, and it was only after depredations -by these grim and terrible scourges that a lion hunt -was organized. Secondarily was the excuse for an orgy -of celebration was the hunt successful, and the fact that -such fetes were rendered doubly pleasurable by the presence -of a live creature that might be put to death by torture. - -Tarzan had witnessed these cruel rites in the past. -Being himself more savage than the savage warriors -of the Gomangani, he was not so shocked by the cruelty -of them as he should have been, yet they did shock him. -He could not understand the strange feeling of revulsion -which possessed him at such times. He had no love for Numa, -the lion, yet he bristled with rage when the blacks -inflicted upon his enemy such indignities and cruelties -as only the mind of the one creature molded in the image -of God can conceive. - -Upon two occasions he had freed Numa from the trap before -the blacks had returned to discover the success or failure -of their venture. He would do the same today--that he -decided immediately he realized the nature of their intentions. - -Leaving the trap in the center of a broad elephant trail -near the drinking hole, the warriors turned back toward -their village. On the morrow they would come again. -Tarzan looked after them, upon his lips an unconscious -sneer--the heritage of unguessed caste. He saw them file -along the broad trail, beneath the overhanging verdure -of leafy branch and looped and festooned creepers, -brushing ebon shoulders against gorgeous blooms which -inscrutable Nature has seen fit to lavish most profusely -farthest from the eye of man. - -As Tarzan watched, through narrowed lids, the last -of the warriors disappear beyond a turn in the trail, -his expression altered to the urge of a newborn thought. -A slow, grim smile touched his lips. He looked down upon -the frightened, bleating kid, advertising, in its fear -and its innocence, its presence and its helplessness. - -Dropping to the ground, Tarzan approached the trap and entered. -Without disturbing the fiber cord, which was adjusted to drop -the door at the proper time, he loosened the living bait, -tucked it under an arm and stepped out of the cage. - -With his hunting knife he quieted the frightened animal, -severing its jugular; then he dragged it, bleeding, -along the trail down to the drinking hole, the half smile -persisting upon his ordinarily grave face. At the water's -edge the ape-man stooped and with hunting knife and quick -strong fingers deftly removed the dead kid's viscera. -Scraping a hole in the mud, he buried these parts which he -did not eat, and swinging the body to his shoulder took -to the trees. - -For a short distance he pursued his way in the wake of the -black warriors, coming down presently to bury the meat -of his kill where it would be safe from the depredations -of Dango, the hyena, or the other meat-eating beasts -and birds of the jungle. He was hungry. Had he been -all beast he would have eaten; but his man-mind could -entertain urges even more potent than those of the belly, -and now he was concerned with an idea which kept a smile -upon his lips and his eyes sparkling in anticipation. -An idea, it was, which permitted him to forget that he -was hungry. - -The meat safely cached, Tarzan trotted along the elephant -trail after the Gomangani. Two or three miles from the -cage he overtook them and then he swung into the trees -and followed above and behind them--waiting his chance. - -Among the blacks was Rabba Kega, the witch-doctor. Tarzan -hated them all; but Rabba Kega he especially hated. -As the blacks filed along the winding path, Rabba Kega, -being lazy, dropped behind. This Tarzan noted, and it -filled him with satisfaction--his being radiated a grim -and terrible content. Like an angel of death he hovered -above the unsuspecting black. - -Rabba Kega, knowing that the village was but a short -distance ahead, sat down to rest. Rest well, O Rabba -Kega! It is thy last opportunity. - -Tarzan crept stealthily among the branches of the tree -above the well-fed, self-satisfied witch-doctor. -He made no noise that the dull ears of man could -hear above the soughing of the gentle jungle breeze -among the undulating foliage of the upper terraces, -and when he came close above the black man he halted, -well concealed by leafy branch and heavy creeper. - -Rabba Kega sat with his back against the bole of a tree, -facing Tarzan. The position was not such as the waiting -beast of prey desired, and so, with the infinite patience -of the wild hunter, the ape-man crouched motionless and -silent as a graven image until the fruit should be ripe -for the plucking. A poisonous insect buzzed angrily out -of space. It loitered, circling, close to Tarzan's face. -The ape-man saw and recognized it. The virus of its -sting spelled death for lesser things than he--for -him it would mean days of anguish. He did not move. -His glittering eyes remained fixed upon Rabba Kega -after acknowledging the presence of the winged torture -by a single glance. He heard and followed the movements -of the insect with his keen ears, and then he felt it -alight upon his forehead. No muscle twitched, for the -muscles of such as he are the servants of the brain. -Down across his face crept the horrid thing--over nose -and lips and chin. Upon his throat it paused, and turning, -retraced its steps. Tarzan watched Rabba Kega. -Now not even his eyes moved. So motionless he crouched -that only death might counterpart his movelessness. -The insect crawled upward over the nut-brown cheek and stopped -with its antennae brushing the lashes of his lower lid. -You or I would have started back, closing our eyes -and striking at the thing; but you and I are the slaves, -not the masters of our nerves. Had the thing crawled upon -the eyeball of the ape-man, it is believable that he could -yet have remained wide-eyed and rigid; but it did not. -For a moment it loitered there close to the lower lid, -then it rose and buzzed away. - -Down toward Rabba Kega it buzzed and the black man heard it, -saw it, struck at it, and was stung upon the cheek before -he killed it. Then he rose with a howl of pain and anger, -and as he turned up the trail toward the village of Mbonga, -the chief, his broad, black back was exposed to the silent -thing waiting above him. - -And as Rabba Kega turned, a lithe figure shot outward -and downward from the tree above upon his broad shoulders. -The impact of the springing creature carried Rabba Kega -to the ground. He felt strong jaws close upon his neck, -and when he tried to scream, steel fingers throttled his throat. -The powerful black warrior struggled to free himself; -but he was as a child in the grip of his adversary. - -Presently Tarzan released his grip upon the other's throat; -but each time that Rabba Kega essayed a scream, the cruel -fingers choked him painfully. At last the warrior desisted. -Then Tarzan half rose and kneeled upon his victim's back, -and when Rabba Kega struggled to arise, the ape-man -pushed his face down into the dirt of the trail. -With a bit of the rope that had secured the kid, -Tarzan made Rabba Kega's wrists secure behind his back, -then he rose and jerked his prisoner to his feet, -faced him back along the trail and pushed him on ahead. - -Not until he came to his feet did Rabba Kega obtain -a square look at his assailant. When he saw that it -was the white devil-god his heart sank within him and -his knees trembled; but as he walked along the trail -ahead of his captor and was neither injured nor molested -his spirits slowly rose, so that he took heart again. -Possibly the devil-god did not intend to kill him after all. -Had he not had little Tibo in his power for days without -harming him, and had he not spared Momaya, Tibo's mother, -when he easily might have slain her? - -And then they came upon the cage which Rabba Kega, -with the other black warriors of the village of Mbonga, -the chief, had placed and baited for Numa. Rabba Kega -saw that the bait was gone, though there was no lion -within the cage, nor was the door dropped. He saw and he -was filled with wonder not unmixed with apprehension. -It entered his dull brain that in some way this combination -of circumstances had a connection with his presence there -as the prisoner of the white devil-god. - -Nor was he wrong. Tarzan pushed him roughly into -the cage, and in another moment Rabba Kega understood. -Cold sweat broke from every pore of his body--he trembled -as with ague--for the ape-man was binding him securely -in the very spot the kid had previously occupied. -The witch-doctor pleaded, first for his life, and then -for a death less cruel; but he might as well have saved -his pleas for Numa, since already they were directed toward -a wild beast who understood no word of what he said. - -But his constant jabbering not only annoyed Tarzan, -who worked in silence, but suggested that later the black -might raise his voice in cries for succor, so he stepped out -of the cage, gathered a handful of grass and a small stick -and returning, jammed the grass into Rabba Kega's mouth, -laid the stick crosswise between his teeth and fastened -it there with the thong from Rabba Kega's loin cloth. -Now could the witch-doctor but roll his eyes and sweat. -Thus Tarzan left him. - -The ape-man went first to the spot where he had cached -the body of the kid. Digging it up, he ascended into a -tree and proceeded to satisfy his hunger. What remained -he again buried; then he swung away through the trees -to the water hole, and going to the spot where fresh, -cold water bubbled from between two rocks, he drank deeply. -The other beasts might wade in and drink stagnant water; -but not Tarzan of the Apes. In such matters he was fastidious. -From his hands he washed every trace of the repugnant -scent of the Gomangani, and from his face the blood of -the kid. Rising, he stretched himself not unlike some huge, -lazy cat, climbed into a near-by tree and fell asleep. - -When he awoke it was dark, though a faint luminosity still -tinged the western heavens. A lion moaned and coughed -as it strode through the jungle toward water. It was -approaching the drinking hole. Tarzan grinned sleepily, -changed his position and fell asleep again. - -When the blacks of Mbonga, the chief, reached their village -they discovered that Rabba Kega was not among them. -When several hours had elapsed they decided that something -had happened to him, and it was the hope of the majority -of the tribe that whatever had happened to him might -prove fatal. They did not love the witch-doctor. Love -and fear seldom are playmates; but a warrior is a warrior, -and so Mbonga organized a searching party. That his own -grief was not unassuagable might have been gathered from -the fact that he remained at home and went to sleep. -The young warriors whom he sent out remained steadfast to -their purpose for fully half an hour, when, unfortunately for -Rabba Kega-- upon so slight a thing may the fate of a man -rest--a honey bird attracted the attention of the searchers -and led them off for the delicious store it previously -had marked down for betrayal, and Rabba Kega's doom was sealed. - -When the searchers returned empty handed, Mbonga was wroth; -but when he saw the great store of honey they brought with -them his rage subsided. Already Tubuto, young, agile and -evil-minded, with face hideously painted, was practicing -the black art upon a sick infant in the fond hope of -succeeding to the office and perquisites of Rabba Kega. -Tonight the women of the old witch-doctor would moan -and howl. Tomorrow he would be forgotten. Such is life, -such is fame, such is power--in the center of the world's -highest civilization, or in the depths of the black, -primeval jungle. Always, everywhere, man is man, nor has -he altered greatly beneath his veneer since he scurried -into a hole between two rocks to escape the tyrannosaurus -six million years ago. - -The morning following the disappearance of Rabba Kega, -the warriors set out with Mbonga, the chief, to examine -the trap they had set for Numa. Long before they -reached the cage, they heard the roaring of a great -lion and guessed that they had made a successful bag, -so it was with shouts of joy that they approached -the spot where they should find their captive. - -Yes! There he was, a great, magnificent specimen--a huge, -black-maned lion. The warriors were frantic with delight. -They leaped into the air and uttered savage cries--hoarse -victory cries, and then they came closer, and the cries -died upon their lips, and their eyes went wide so that the -whites showed all around their irises, and their pendulous -lower lips drooped with their drooping jaws. They drew -back in terror at the sight within the cage--the mauled -and mutilated corpse of what had, yesterday, been Rabba Kega, -the witch-doctor. - -The captured lion had been too angry and frightened to feed -upon the body of his kill; but he had vented upon it much -of his rage, until it was a frightful thing to behold. - -From his perch in a near-by tree Tarzan of the Apes, -Lord Greystoke, looked down upon the black warriors -and grinned. Once again his self-pride in his ability -as a practical joker asserted itself. It had lain dormant -for some time following the painful mauling he had received -that time he leaped among the apes of Kerchak clothed -in the skin of Numa; but this joke was a decided success. - -After a few moments of terror, the blacks came closer to -the cage, rage taking the place of fear--rage and curiosity. -How had Rabba Kega happened to be in the cage? Where was -the kid? There was no sign nor remnant of the original bait. -They looked closely and they saw, to their horror, -that the corpse of their erstwhile fellow was bound -with the very cord with which they had secured the kid. -Who could have done this thing? They looked at one another. - -Tubuto was the first to speak. He had come hopefully out -with the expedition that morning. Somewhere he might find -evidence of the death of Rabba Kega. Now he had found it, -and he was the first to find an explanation. - -"The white devil-god," he whispered. "It is the work -of the white devil-god!" - -No one contradicted Tubuto, for, indeed, who else could it -have been but the great, hairless ape they all so feared? And -so their hatred of Tarzan increased again with an increased -fear of him. And Tarzan sat in his tree and hugged himself. - -No one there felt sorrow because of the death of Rabba Kega; -but each of the blacks experienced a personal fear of -the ingenious mind which might discover for any of them -a death equally horrible to that which the witch-doctor -had suffered. It was a subdued and thoughtful company -which dragged the captive lion along the broad elephant -path back to the village of Mbonga, the chief. - -And it was with a sigh of relief that they finally rolled -it into the village and closed the gates behind them. -Each had experienced the sensation of being spied upon from -the moment they left the spot where the trap had been set, -though none had seen or heard aught to give tangible food -to his fears. - -At the sight of the body within the cage with the lion, -the women and children of the village set up a most -frightful lamentation, working themselves into a joyous -hysteria which far transcended the happy misery derived -by their more civilized prototypes who make a business of -dividing their time between the movies and the neighborhood -funerals of friends and strangers--especially strangers. - -From a tree overhanging the palisade, Tarzan watched -all that passed within the village. He saw the frenzied -women tantalizing the great lion with sticks and stones. -The cruelty of the blacks toward a captive always induced -in Tarzan a feeling of angry contempt for the Gomangani. -Had he attempted to analyze this feeling he would have -found it difficult, for during all his life he had been -accustomed to sights of suffering and cruelty. He, himself, -was cruel. All the beasts of the jungle were cruel; -but the cruelty of the blacks was of a different order. -It was the cruelty of wanton torture of the helpless, -while the cruelty of Tarzan and the other beasts was the -cruelty of necessity or of passion. - -Perhaps, had he known it, he might have credited this -feeling of repugnance at the sight of unnecessary -suffering to heredity--to the germ of British love -of fair play which had been bequeathed to him by his -father and his mother; but, of course, he did not know, -since he still believed that his mother had been Kala, -the great ape. - -And just in proportion as his anger rose against the -Gomangani his savage sympathy went out to Numa, the lion, -for, though Numa was his lifetime enemy, there was neither -bitterness nor contempt in Tarzan's sentiments toward him. -In the ape-man's mind, therefore, the determination -formed to thwart the blacks and liberate the lion; -but he must accomplish this in some way which would -cause the Gomangani the greatest chagrin and discomfiture. - -As he squatted there watching the proceeding beneath him, -he saw the warriors seize upon the cage once more and drag -it between two huts. Tarzan knew that it would remain -there now until evening, and that the blacks were planning -a feast and orgy in celebration of their capture. -When he saw that two warriors were placed beside the cage, -and that these drove off the women and children and young -men who would have eventually tortured Numa to death, -he knew that the lion would be safe until he was needed -for the evening's entertainment, when he would be more -cruelly and scientifically tortured for the edification of -the entire tribe. - -Now Tarzan preferred to bait the blacks in as theatric -a manner as his fertile imagination could evolve. -He had some half-formed conception of their superstitious -fears and of their especial dread of night, and so he -decided to wait until darkness fell and the blacks partially -worked to hysteria by their dancing and religious rites -before he took any steps toward the freeing of Numa. -In the meantime, he hoped, an idea adequate to the -possibilities of the various factors at hand would occur -to him. Nor was it long before one did. - -He had swung off through the jungle to search for food -when the plan came to him. At first it made him smile -a little and then look dubious, for he still retained -a vivid memory of the dire results that had followed -the carrying out of a very wonderful idea along almost -identical lines, yet he did not abandon his intention, -and a moment later, food temporarily forgotten, he was -swinging through the middle terraces in rapid flight -toward the stamping ground of the tribe of Kerchak, -the great ape. - -As was his wont, he alighted in the midst of the little -band without announcing his approach save by a hideous -scream just as he sprang from a branch above them. -Fortunate are the apes of Kerchak that their kind is -not subject to heart failure, for the methods of Tarzan -subjected them to one severe shock after another, -nor could they ever accustom themselves to the ape-man's -peculiar style of humor. - -Now, when they saw who it was they merely snarled and -grumbled angrily for a moment and then resumed their -feeding or their napping which he had interrupted, and he, -having had his little joke, made his way to the hollow tree -where he kept his treasures hid from the inquisitive eyes -and fingers of his fellows and the mischievous little manus. -Here he withdrew a closely rolled hide--the hide of Numa with -the head on; a clever bit of primitive curing and mounting, -which had once been the property of the witch-doctor, -Rabba Kega, until Tarzan had stolen it from the village. - -With this he made his way back through the jungle toward -the village of the blacks, stopping to hunt and feed upon -the way, and, in the afternoon, even napping for an hour, -so that it was already dusk when he entered the great -tree which overhung the palisade and gave him a view -of the entire village. He saw that Numa was still alive -and that the guards were even dozing beside the cage. -A lion is no great novelty to a black man in the lion country, -and the first keen edge of their desire to worry the brute -having worn off, the villagers paid little or no attention -to the great cat, preferring now to await the grand event -of the night. - -Nor was it long after dark before the festivities commenced. -To the beating of tom-toms, a lone warrior, crouched -half doubled, leaped into the firelight in the center -of a great circle of other warriors, behind whom stood -or squatted the women and the children. The dancer -was painted and armed for the hunt and his movements -and gestures suggested the search for the spoor of game. -Bending low, sometimes resting for a moment on one knee, -he searched the ground for signs of the quarry; -again he poised, statuesque, listening. The warrior -was young and lithe and graceful; he was full-muscled -and arrow-straight. The firelight glistened upon his ebon -body and brought out into bold relief the grotesque -designs painted upon his face, breasts, and abdomen. - -Presently he bent low to the earth, then leaped high in air. -Every line of face and body showed that he had struck the scent. -Immediately he leaped toward the circle of warriors about him, -telling them of his find and summoning them to the hunt. -It was all in pantomime; but so truly done that even -Tarzan could follow it all to the least detail. - -He saw the other warriors grasp their hunting spears -and leap to their feet to join in the graceful, -stealthy "stalking dance." It was very interesting; -but Tarzan realized that if he was to carry his design -to a successful conclusion he must act quickly. -He had seen these dances before and knew that after -the stalk would come the game at bay and then the kill, -during which Numa would be surrounded by warriors, -and unapproachable. - -With the lion's skin under one arm the ape-man dropped -to the ground in the dense shadows beneath the tree and -then circled behind the huts until he came out directly -in the rear of the cage, in which Numa paced nervously -to and fro. The cage was now unguarded, the two warriors -having left it to take their places among the other dancers. - -Behind the cage Tarzan adjusted the lion's skin about him, -just as he had upon that memorable occasion when the apes -of Kerchak, failing to pierce his disguise, had all but -slain him. Then, on hands and knees, he crept forward, -emerged from between the two huts and stood a few paces -back of the dusky audience, whose whole attention was -centered upon the dancers before them. - -Tarzan saw that the blacks had now worked themselves to a -proper pitch of nervous excitement to be ripe for the lion. -In a moment the ring of spectators would break at a point -nearest the caged lion and the victim would be rolled -into the center of the circle. It was for this moment -that Tarzan waited. - -At last it came. A signal was given by Mbonga, the chief, -at which the women and children immediately in front -of Tarzan rose and moved to one side, leaving a broad -path opening toward the caged lion. At the same instant -Tarzan gave voice to the low, couching roar of an angry -lion and slunk slowly forward through the open lane toward -the frenzied dancers. - -A woman saw him first and screamed. Instantly there -was a panic in the immediate vicinity of the ape-man. The -strong light from the fire fell full upon the lion head -and the blacks leaped to the conclusion, as Tarzan had -known they would, that their captive had escaped his cage. - -With another roar, Tarzan moved forward. The dancing -warriors paused but an instant. They had been hunting -a lion securely housed within a strong cage, and now -that he was at liberty among them, an entirely different -aspect was placed upon the matter. Their nerves were not -attuned to this emergency. The women and children already -had fled to the questionable safety of the nearest huts, -and the warriors were not long in following their example, -so that presently Tarzan was left in sole possession -of the village street. - -But not for long. Nor did he wish to be left thus -long alone. It would not comport with his scheme. -Presently a head peered forth from a near-by hut, and then -another and another until a score or more of warriors were -looking out upon him, waiting for his next move--waiting -for the lion to charge or to attempt to escape from the village. - -Their spears were ready in their hands against either -a charge or a bolt for freedom, and then the lion rose -erect upon its hind legs, the tawny skin dropped from it -and there stood revealed before them in the firelight -the straight young figure of the white devil-god. - -For an instant the blacks were too astonished to act. -They feared this apparition fully as much as they did Numa, -yet they would gladly have slain the thing could they -quickly enough have gathered together their wits; -but fear and superstition and a natural mental density -held them paralyzed while the ape-man stooped and gathered -up the lion skin. They saw him turn then and walk -back into the shadows at the far end of the village. -Not until then did they gain courage to pursue him, -and when they had come in force, with brandished spears -and loud war cries, the quarry was gone. - -Not an instant did Tarzan pause in the tree. Throwing the -skin over a branch he leaped again into the village upon -the opposite side of the great bole, and diving into the -shadow of a hut, ran quickly to where lay the caged lion. -Springing to the top of the cage he pulled upon the cord -which raised the door, and a moment later a great lion -in the prime of his strength and vigor leaped out into -the village. - -The warriors, returning from a futile search for Tarzan, -saw him step into the firelight. Ah! there was the -devil-god again, up to his old trick. Did he think -he could twice fool the men of Mbonga, the chief, -the same way in so short a time? They would show him! -For long they had waited for such an opportunity to rid -themselves forever of this fearsome jungle demon. -As one they rushed forward with raised spears. - -The women and the children came from the huts to witness -the slaying of the devil-god. The lion turned blazing eyes -upon them and then swung about toward the advancing warriors. - -With shouts of savage joy and triumph they came toward him, -menacing him with their spears. The devil-god was theirs! - -And then, with a frightful roar, Numa, the lion, charged. - -The men of Mbonga, the chief, met Numa with ready spears -and screams of raillery. In a solid mass of muscled ebony -they waited the coming of the devil-god; yet beneath -their brave exteriors lurked a haunting fear that all -might not be quite well with them--that this strange -creature could yet prove invulnerable to their weapons -and inflict upon them full punishment for their effrontery. -The charging lion was all too lifelike--they saw that in -the brief instant of the charge; but beneath the tawny -hide they knew was hid the soft flesh of the white man, -and how could that withstand the assault of many war spears? - -In their forefront stood a huge young warrior in the full -arrogance of his might and his youth. Afraid? Not he! He -laughed as Numa bore down upon him; he laughed and couched -his spear, setting the point for the broad breast. -And then the lion was upon him. A great paw swept away -the heavy war spear, splintering it as the hand of man -might splinter a dry twig. - -Down went the black, his skull crushed by another blow. -And then the lion was in the midst of the warriors, -clawing and tearing to right and left. Not for long did -they stand their ground; but a dozen men were mauled before -the others made good their escape from those frightful -talons and gleaming fangs. - -In terror the villagers fled hither and thither. -No hut seemed a sufficiently secure asylum with Numa -ranging within the palisade. From one to another fled -the frightened blacks, while in the center of the village -Numa stood glaring and growling above his kills. - -At last a tribesman flung wide the gates of the village -and sought safety amid the branches of the forest -trees beyond. Like sheep his fellows followed him, -until the lion and his dead remained alone in the village. - -From the nearer trees the men of Mbonga saw the lion lower -his great head and seize one of his victims by the shoulder -and then with slow and stately tread move down the village -street past the open gates and on into the jungle. -They saw and shuddered, and from another tree Tarzan -of the Apes saw and smiled. - -A full hour elapsed after the lion had disappeared -with his feast before the blacks ventured down from -the trees and returned to their village. Wide eyes -rolled from side to side, and naked flesh contracted -more to the chill of fear than to the chill of the jungle night. - -"It was he all the time," murmured one. "It was the devil-god." - -"He changed himself from a lion to a man, and back again -into a lion," whispered another. - -"And he dragged Mweeza into the forest and is eating him," -said a third, shuddering. - -"We are no longer safe here," wailed a fourth. "Let us -take our belongings and search for another village site -far from the haunts of the wicked devil-god." - -But with morning came renewed courage, so that the -experiences of the preceding evening had little -other effect than to increase their fear of Tarzan -and strengthen their belief in his supernatural origin. - -And thus waxed the fame and the power of the ape-man in the -mysterious haunts of the savage jungle where he ranged, -mightiest of beasts because of the man-mind which directed -his giant muscles and his flawless courage. - - - - - - - 12 - - - Tarzan Rescues the Moon - -THE MOON SHONE down out of a cloudless sky--a huge, -swollen moon that seemed so close to earth that one might -wonder that she did not brush the crooning tree tops. -It was night, and Tarzan was abroad in the jungle--Tarzan, -the ape-man; mighty fighter, mighty hunter. Why he swung -through the dark shadows of the somber forest he could -not have told you. It was not that he was hungry--he had -fed well this day, and in a safe cache were the remains -of his kill, ready against the coming of a new appetite. -Perhaps it was the very joy of living that urged him -from his arboreal couch to pit his muscles and his senses -against the jungle night, and then, too, Tarzan always was -goaded by an intense desire to know. - -The jungle which is presided over by Kudu, the sun, -is a very different jungle from that of Goro, the moon. -The diurnal jungle has its own aspect--its own lights -and shades, its own birds, its own blooms, its own beasts; -its noises are the noises of the day. The lights and -shades of the nocturnal jungle are as different as one -might imagine the lights and shades of another world -to differ from those of our world; its beasts, its blooms, -and its birds are not those of the jungle of Kudu, -the sun. - -Because of these differences Tarzan loved to investigate -the jungle by night. Not only was the life another life; -but it was richer in numbers and in romance; it was -richer in dangers, too, and to Tarzan of the Apes danger -was the spice of life. And the noises of the jungle -night--the roar of the lion, the scream of the leopard, -the hideous laughter of Dango, the hyena, were music -to the ears of the ape-man. - -The soft padding of unseen feet, the rustling of leaves -and grasses to the passage of fierce beasts, the sheen -of opalesque eyes flaming through the dark, the million -sounds which proclaimed the teeming life that one might -hear and scent, though seldom see, constituted the appeal -of the nocturnal jungle to Tarzan. - -Tonight he had swung a wide circle--toward the east first -and then toward the south, and now he was rounding back again -into the north. His eyes, his ears and his keen nostrils -were ever on the alert. Mingled with the sounds he knew, -there were strange sounds--weird sounds which he never -heard until after Kudu had sought his lair below the far -edge of the big water-sounds which belonged to Goro, -the moon--and to the mysterious period of Goro's supremacy. -These sounds often caused Tarzan profound speculation. -They baffled him because he thought that he knew his jungle -so well that there could be nothing within it unfamiliar to him. -Sometimes he thought that as colors and forms appeared -to differ by night from their familiar daylight aspects, -so sounds altered with the passage of Kudu and the coming -of Goro, and these thoughts roused within his brain a vague -conjecture that perhaps Goro and Kudu influenced these changes. -And what more natural that eventually he came to attribute -to the sun and the moon personalities as real as his -own? The sun was a living creature and ruled the day. -The moon, endowed with brains and miraculous powers, -ruled the night. - -Thus functioned the untrained man-mind groping through the -dark night of ignorance for an explanation of the things -he could not touch or smell or hear and of the great, -unknown powers of nature which he could not see. - -As Tarzan swung north again upon his wide circle -the scent of the Gomangani came to his nostrils, -mixed with the acrid odor of wood smoke. The ape-man -moved quickly in the direction from which the scent -was borne down to him upon the gentle night wind. -Presently the ruddy sheen of a great fire filtered -through the foliage to him ahead, and when Tarzan came -to a halt in the trees near it, he saw a party of half -a dozen black warriors huddled close to the blaze. -It was evidently a hunting party from the village of Mbonga, -the chief, caught out in the jungle after dark. -In a rude circle about them they had constructed a thorn -boma which, with the aid of the fire, they apparently -hoped would discourage the advances of the larger carnivora. - -That hope was not conviction was evidenced by the very palpable -terror in which they crouched, wide-eyed and trembling, -for already Numa and Sabor were moaning through the jungle -toward them. There were other creatures, too, in the shadows -beyond the firelight. Tarzan could see their yellow -eyes flaming there. The blacks saw them and shivered. -Then one arose and grasping a burning branch from the fire -hurled it at the eyes, which immediately disappeared. -The black sat down again. Tarzan watched and saw that it -was several minutes before the eyes began to reappear -in twos and fours. - -Then came Numa, the lion, and Sabor, his mate. The other -eyes scattered to right and left before the menacing -growls of the great cats, and then the huge orbs of the -man-eaters flamed alone out of the darkness. Some of -the blacks threw themselves upon their faces and moaned; -but he who before had hurled the burning branch now -hurled another straight at the faces of the hungry lions, -and they, too, disappeared as had the lesser lights -before them. Tarzan was much interested. He saw a new -reason for the nightly fires maintained by the blacks--a -reason in addition to those connected with warmth and -light and cooking. The beasts of the jungle feared fire, -and so fire was, in a measure, a protection from them. -Tarzan himself knew a certain awe of fire. Once he had, -in investigating an abandoned fire in the village of the blacks, -picked up a live coal. Since then he had maintained -a respectful distance from such fires as he had seen. -One experience had sufficed. - -For a few minutes after the black hurled the firebrand no -eyes appeared, though Tarzan could hear the soft padding -of feet all about him. Then flashed once more the twin -fire spots that marked the return of the lord of the -jungle and a moment later, upon a slightly lower level, -there appeared those of Sabor, his mate. - -For some time they remained fixed and unwavering--a -constellation of fierce stars in the jungle night--then -the male lion advanced slowly toward the boma, where all -but a single black still crouched in trembling terror. -When this lone guardian saw that Numa was again approaching, -he threw another firebrand, and, as before, Numa retreated -and with him Sabor, the lioness; but not so far, this time, -nor for so long. Almost instantly they turned and began -circling the boma, their eyes turning constantly toward -the firelight, while low, throaty growls evidenced their -increasing displeasure. Beyond the lions glowed the flaming -eyes of the lesser satellites, until the black jungle was -shot all around the black men's camp with little spots of fire. - -Again and again the black warrior hurled his puny brands at -the two big cats; but Tarzan noticed that Numa paid little -or no attention to them after the first few retreats. -The ape-man knew by Numa's voice that the lion was hungry -and surmised that he had made up his mind to feed upon -a Gomangani; but would he dare a closer approach to the -dreaded flames? - -Even as the thought was passing in Tarzan's mind, -Numa stopped his restless pacing and faced the boma. -For a moment he stood motionless, except for the quick, -nervous upcurving of his tail, then he walked deliberately -forward, while Sabor moved restlessly to and fro where he -had left her. The black man called to his comrades -that the lion was coming, but they were too far gone -in fear to do more than huddle closer together and moan -more loudly than before. - -Seizing a blazing branch the man cast it straight -into the face of the lion. There was an angry roar, -followed by a swift charge. With a single bound -the savage beast cleared the boma wall as, with almost -equal agility, the warrior cleared it upon the opposite -side and, chancing the dangers lurking in the darkness, -bolted for the nearest tree. - -Numa was out of the boma almost as soon as he was inside it; -but as he went back over the low thorn wall, he took -a screaming negro with him. Dragging his victim along -the ground he walked back toward Sabor, the lioness, -who joined him, and the two continued into the blackness, -their savage growls mingling with the piercing shrieks of -the doomed and terrified man. - -At a little distance from the blaze the lions halted, -there ensued a short succession of unusually vicious growls -and roars, during which the cries and moans of the black -man ceased--forever. - -Presently Numa reappeared in the firelight. He made -a second trip into the boma and the former grisly tragedy -was reenacted with another howling victim. - -Tarzan rose and stretched lazily. The entertainment -was beginning to bore him. He yawned and turned upon -his way toward the clearing where the tribe would -be sleeping in the encircling trees. - -Yet even when he had found his familiar crotch and curled -himself for slumber, he felt no desire to sleep. -For a long time he lay awake thinking and dreaming. -He looked up into the heavens and watched the moon and -the stars. He wondered what they were and what power -kept them from falling. His was an inquisitive mind. -Always he had been full of questions concerning all that -passed around him; but there never had been one to answer -his questions. In childhood he had wanted to KNOW, and, -denied almost all knowledge, he still, in manhood, -was filled with the great, unsatisfied curiosity of -a child. - -He was never quite content merely to perceive that things -happened--he desired to know WHY they happened. -He wanted to know what made things go. The secret -of life interested him immensely. The miracle of death -he could not quite fathom. Upon innumerable occasions -he had investigated the internal mechanism of his kills, -and once or twice he had opened the chest cavity of victims -in time to see the heart still pumping. - -He had learned from experience that a knife thrust through -this organ brought immediate death nine times out of ten, -while he might stab an antagonist innumerable times -in other places without even disabling him. And so he -had come to think of the heart, or, as he called it, -"the red thing that breathes," as the seat and origin -of life. - -The brain and its functionings he did not comprehend at all. -That his sense perceptions were transmitted to his brain -and there translated, classified, and labeled was something -quite beyond him. He thought that his fingers knew when -they touched something, that his eyes knew when they saw, -his ears when they heard, his nose when it scented. - -He considered his throat, epidermis, and the hairs -of his head as the three principal seats of emotion. -When Kala had been slain a peculiar choking sensation -had possessed his throat; contact with Histah, the snake, -imparted an unpleasant sensation to the skin of his whole body; -while the approach of an enemy made the hairs on his scalp -stand erect. - -Imagine, if you can, a child filled with the wonders -of nature, bursting with queries and surrounded only -by beasts of the jungle to whom his questionings were -as strange as Sanskrit would have been. If he asked -Gunto what made it rain, the big old ape would but gaze -at him in dumb astonishment for an instant and then -return to his interesting and edifying search for fleas; -and when he questioned Mumga, who was very old and should -have been very wise, but wasn't, as to the reason for -the closing of certain flowers after Kudu had deserted -the sky, and the opening of others during the night, -he was surprised to discover that Mumga had never -noticed these interesting facts, though she could tell -to an inch just where the fattest grubworm should be hiding. - -To Tarzan these things were wonders. They appealed to his -intellect and to his imagination. He saw the flowers -close and open; he saw certain blooms which turned their -faces always toward the sun; he saw leaves which moved -when there was no breeze; he saw vines crawl like living -things up the boles and over the branches of great trees; -and to Tarzan of the Apes the flowers and the vines and -the trees were living creatures. He often talked to them, -as he talked to Goro, the moon, and Kudu, the sun, -and always was he disappointed that they did not reply. -He asked them questions; but they could not answer, -though he knew that the whispering of the leaves was the -language of the leaves--they talked with one another. - -The wind he attributed to the trees and grasses. He thought -that they swayed themselves to and fro, creating the wind. -In no other way could he account for this phenomenon. -The rain he finally attributed to the stars, the moon, -and the sun; but his hypothesis was entirely unlovely -and unpoetical. - -Tonight as Tarzan lay thinking, there sprang to his fertile -imagination an explanation of the stars and the moon. -He became quite excited about it. Taug was sleeping -in a nearby crotch. Tarzan swung over beside him. - -"Taug!" he cried. Instantly the great bull was awake -and bristling, sensing danger from the nocturnal summons. -"Look, Taug!" exclaimed Tarzan, pointing toward the stars. -"See the eyes of Numa and Sabor, of Sheeta and Dango. -They wait around Goro to leap in upon him for their kill. -See the eyes and the nose and the mouth of Goro. And the -light that shines upon his face is the light of the great -fire he has built to frighten away Numa and Sabor and Dango -and Sheeta. - -"All about him are the eyes, Taug, you can see them! But -they do not come very close to the fire--there are few -eyes close to Goro. They fear the fire! It is the fire -that saves Goro from Numa. Do you see them, Taug? Some -night Numa will be very hungry and very angry--then he -will leap over the thorn bushes which encircle Goro and we -will have no more light after Kudu seeks his lair--the -night will be black with the blackness that comes when -Goro is lazy and sleeps late into the night, or when he -wanders through the skies by day, forgetting the jungle -and its people." - -Taug looked stupidly at the heavens and then at Tarzan. -A meteor fell, blazing a flaming way through the sky. - -"Look!" cried Tarzan. "Goro has thrown a burning branch -at Numa." - -Taug grumbled. "Numa is down below," he said. "Numa does -not hunt above the trees." But he looked curiously -and a little fearfully at the bright stars above him, -as though he saw them for the first time, and doubtless -it was the first time that Taug ever had seen the stars, -though they had been in the sky above him every night -of his life. To Taug they were as the gorgeous jungle -blooms--he could not eat them and so he ignored them. - -Taug fidgeted and was nervous. For a long time he -lay sleepless, watching the stars--the flaming eyes -of the beasts of prey surrounding Goro, the moon--Goro, -by whose light the apes danced to the beating of their -earthen drums. If Goro should be eaten by Numa there could -be no more Dum-Dums. Taug was overwhelmed by the thought. -He glanced at Tarzan half fearfully. Why was his friend -so different from the others of the tribe? No one else whom -Taug ever had known had had such queer thoughts as Tarzan. -The ape scratched his head and wondered, dimly, if Tarzan -was a safe companion, and then he recalled slowly, -and by a laborious mental process, that Tarzan had served -him better than any other of the apes, even the strong -and wise bulls of the tribe. - -Tarzan it was who had freed him from the blacks at the -very time that Taug had thought Tarzan wanted Teeka. -It was Tarzan who had saved Taug's little balu from death. -It was Tarzan who had conceived and carried out the plan -to pursue Teeka's abductor and rescue the stolen one. -Tarzan had fought and bled in Taug's service so many times -that Taug, although only a brutal ape, had had impressed -upon his mind a fierce loyalty which nothing now could -swerve--his friendship for Tarzan had become a habit, -a tradition almost, which would endure while Taug endured. -He never showed any outward demonstration of affection--he -growled at Tarzan as he growled at the other bulls -who came too close while he was feeding--but he would -have died for Tarzan. He knew it and Tarzan knew it; -but of such things apes do not speak--their vocabulary, -for the finer instincts, consisting more of actions -than words. But now Taug was worried, and he fell -asleep again still thinking of the strange words of -his fellow. - -The following day he thought of them again, and without -any intention of disloyalty he mentioned to Gunto what -Tarzan had suggested about the eyes surrounding Goro, -and the possibility that sooner or later Numa would -charge the moon and devour him. To the apes all large -things in nature are male, and so Goro, being the largest -creature in the heavens by night, was, to them, a bull. - -Gunto bit a sliver from a horny finger and recalled -the fact that Tarzan had once said that the trees talked -to one another, and Gozan recounted having seen the ape-man -dancing alone in the moonlight with Sheeta, the panther. -They did not know that Tarzan had roped the savage beast -and tied him to a tree before he came to earth and leaped -about before the rearing cat, to tantalize him. - -Others told of seeing Tarzan ride upon the back of Tantor, -the elephant; of his bringing the black boy, Tibo, -to the tribe, and of mysterious things with which he -communed in the strange lair by the sea. They had never -understood his books, and after he had shown them to one -or two of the tribe and discovered that even the pictures -carried no impression to their brains, he had desisted. - -"Tarzan is not an ape," said Gunto. "He will bring -Numa to eat us, as he is bringing him to eat Goro. -We should kill him." - -Immediately Taug bristled. Kill Tarzan! "First you will -kill Taug," he said, and lumbered away to search for food. - -But others joined the plotters. They thought of many -things which Tarzan had done--things which apes did not do -and could not understand. Again Gunto voiced the opinion -that the Tarmangani, the white ape, should be slain, -and the others, filled with terror about the stories they -had heard, and thinking Tarzan was planning to slay Goro, -greeted the proposal with growls of accord. - -Among them was Teeka, listening with all her ears; -but her voice was not raised in furtherance of the plan. -Instead she bristled, showing her fangs, and afterward -she went away in search of Tarzan; but she could not -find him, as he was roaming far afield in search of meat. -She found Taug, though, and told him what the others -were planning, and the great bull stamped upon the ground -and roared. His bloodshot eyes blazed with wrath, -his upper lip curled up to expose his fighting fangs, -and the hair upon his spine stood erect, and then a rodent -scurried across the open and Taug sprang to seize it. -In an instant he seemed to have forgotten his rage -against the enemies of his friend; but such is the mind of -an ape. - -Several miles away Tarzan of the Apes lolled upon the -broad head of Tantor, the elephant. He scratched beneath -the great ears with the point of a sharp stick, and he -talked to the huge pachyderm of everything which filled -his black-thatched head. Little, or nothing, of what he -said did Tantor understand; but Tantor is a good listener. -Swaying from side to side he stood there enjoying -the companionship of his friend, the friend he loved, -and absorbing the delicious sensations of the scratching. - -Numa, the lion, caught the scent of man, and warily stalked -it until he came within sight of his prey upon the head -of the mighty tusker; then he turned, growling and muttering, -away in search of more propitious hunting grounds. - -The elephant caught the scent of the lion, borne to him by -an eddying breeze, and lifting his trunk trumpeted loudly. -Tarzan stretched back luxuriously, lying supine at full -length along the rough hide. Flies swarmed about his face; -but with a leafy branch torn from a tree he lazily brushed -them away. - -"Tantor," he said, "it is good to be alive. It is good -to lie in the cool shadows. It is good to look upon -the green trees and the bright colors of the flowers--upon -everything which Bulamutumumo has put here for us. -He is very good to us, Tantor; He has given you tender leaves -and bark, and rich grasses to eat; to me He has given Bara -and Horta and Pisah, the fruits and the nuts and the roots. -He provides for each the food that each likes best. -All that He asks is that we be strong enough or cunning enough -to go forth and take it. Yes, Tantor, it is good to live. -I should hate to die." - -Tantor made a little sound in his throat and curled his -trunk upward that he might caress the ape-man's cheek -with the finger at its tip. - -"Tantor," said Tarzan presently, "turn and feed in -the direction of the tribe of Kerchak, the great ape, -that Tarzan may ride home upon your head without walking." - -The tusker turned and moved slowly off along a broad, -tree-arched trail, pausing occasionally to pluck a tender -branch, or strip the edible bark from an adjacent tree. -Tarzan sprawled face downward upon the beast's head and back, -his legs hanging on either side, his head supported by his -open palms, his elbows resting on the broad cranium. -And thus they made their leisurely way toward the gathering -place of the tribe. - -Just before they arrived at the clearing from the north -there reached it from the south another figure--that -of a well-knit black warrior, who stepped cautiously -through the jungle, every sense upon the alert against -the many dangers which might lurk anywhere along the way. -Yet he passed beneath the southernmost sentry that was -posted in a great tree commanding the trail from the south. -The ape permitted the Gomangani to pass unmolested, for he -saw that he was alone; but the moment that the warrior -had entered the clearing a loud "Kreeg-ah!" rang out from -behind him, immediately followed by a chorus of replies -from different directions, as the great bulls crashed -through the trees in answer to the summons of their fellow. - -The black man halted at the first cry and looked about him. -He could see nothing, but he knew the voice of the hairy -tree men whom he and his kind feared, not alone because -of the strength and ferocity of the savage beings, -but as well through a superstitious terror engendered -by the manlike appearance of the apes. - -But Bulabantu was no coward. He heard the apes all about him; -he knew that escape was probably impossible, so he stood -his ground, his spear ready in his hand and a war cry -trembling on his lips. He would sell his life dearly, -would Bulabantu, under-chief of the village of Mbonga, -the chief. - -Tarzan and Tantor were but a short distance away when the -first cry of the sentry rang out through the quiet jungle. -Like a flash the ape-man leaped from the elephant's -back to a near-by tree and was swinging rapidly -in the direction of the clearing before the echoes -of the first "Kreeg-ah" had died away. When he arrived -he saw a dozen bulls circling a single Gomangani. -With a blood-curdling scream Tarzan sprang to the attack. -He hated the blacks even more than did the apes, -and here was an opportunity for a kill in the open. -What had the Gomangani done? Had he slain one of the tribe? - -Tarzan asked the nearest ape. No, the Gomangani had -harmed none. Gozan, being on watch, had seen him coming -through the forest and had warned the tribe--that was all. -The ape-man pushed through the circle of bulls, none of -which as yet had worked himself into sufficient frenzy -for a charge, and came where he had a full and close -view of the black. He recognized the man instantly. -Only the night before he had seen him facing the eyes -in the dark, while his fellows groveled in the dirt -at his feet, too terrified even to defend themselves. -Here was a brave man, and Tarzan had deep admiration -for bravery. Even his hatred of the blacks was not so -strong a passion as his love of courage. He would have -joyed in battling with a black warrior at almost any time; -but this one he did not wish to kill--he felt, vaguely, -that the man had earned his life by his brave defense -of it on the preceding night, nor did he fancy the odds -that were pitted against the lone warrior. - -He turned to the apes. "Go back to your feeding," -he said, "and let this Gomangani go his way in peace. -He has not harmed us, and last night I saw him fighting Numa -and Sabor with fire, alone in the jungle. He is brave. -Why should we kill one who is brave and who has not attacked -us? Let him go." - -The apes growled. They were displeased. "Kill the Gomangani!" -cried one. - -"Yes." roared another, "kill the Gomangani and the -Tarmangani as well." - -"Kill the white ape!" screamed Gozan, "he is no ape at all; -but a Gomangani with his skin off." - -"Kill Tarzan!" bellowed Gunto. "Kill! Kill! Kill!" - -The bulls were now indeed working themselves into the frenzy -of slaughter; but against Tarzan rather than the black man. -A shaggy form charged through them, hurling those it -came in contact with to one side as a strong man might -scatter children. It was Taug--great, savage Taug. - -"Who says 'kill Tarzan'?" he demanded. "Who kills Tarzan -must kill Taug, too. Who can kill Taug? Taug will tear -your insides from you and feed them to Dango." - -"We can kill you all," replied Gunto. "There are many -of us and few of you," and he was right. Tarzan knew -that he was right. Taug knew it; but neither would admit -such a possibility. It is not the way of bull apes. - -"I am Tarzan," cried the ape-man. "I am Tarzan. -Mighty hunter; mighty fighter. In all the jungle none -so great as Tarzan." - -Then, one by one, the opposing bulls recounted their virtues -and their prowess. And all the time the combatants came -closer and closer to one another. Thus do the bulls work -themselves to the proper pitch before engaging in battle. - -Gunto came, stiff-legged, close to Tarzan and sniffed at him, -with bared fangs. Tarzan rumbled forth a low, menacing growl. -They might repeat these tactics a dozen times; but sooner -or later one bull would close with another and then the -whole hideous pack would be tearing and rending at their prey. - -Bulabantu, the black man, had stood wide-eyed in wonder from -the moment he had seen Tarzan approaching through the apes. -He had heard much of this devil-god who ran with the -hairy tree people; but never before had he seen him in -full daylight. He knew him well enough from the description -of those who had seen him and from the glimpses he had had -of the marauder upon several occasions when the ape-man -had entered the village of Mbonga, the chief, by night, -in the perpetration of one of his numerous ghastly jokes. - -Bulabantu could not, of course, understand anything -which passed between Tarzan and the apes; but he saw -that the ape-man and one of the larger bulls were in -argument with the others. He saw that these two were -standing with their back toward him and between him -and the balance of the tribe, and he guessed, though it -seemed improbable, that they might be defending him. -He knew that Tarzan had once spared the life of Mbonga, -the chief, and that he had succored Tibo, and Tibo's -mother, Momaya. So it was not impossible that he would -help Bulabantu; but how he could accomplish it Bulabantu -could not guess; nor as a matter of fact could Tarzan, -for the odds against him were too great. - -Gunto and the others were slowly forcing Tarzan and Taug -back toward Bulabantu. The ape-man thought of his words -with Tantor just a short time before: "Yes, Tantor, -it is good to live. I should hate to die." And now -he knew that he was about to die, for the temper -of the great bulls was mounting rapidly against him. -Always had many of them hated him, and all were suspicious -of him. They knew he was different. Tarzan knew it too; -but he was glad that he was--he was a MAN; that he had -learned from his picture-books, and he was very proud of -the distinction. Presently, though, he would be a dead man. - -Gunto was preparing to charge. Tarzan knew the signs. -He knew that the balance of the bulls would charge -with Gunto. Then it would soon be over. Something moved -among the verdure at the opposite side of the clearing. -Tarzan saw it just as Gunto, with the terrifying cry -of a challenging ape, sprang forward. Tarzan voiced -a peculiar call and then crouched to meet the assault. -Taug crouched, too, and Bulabantu, assured now that -these two were fighting upon his side, couched his spear -and sprang between them to receive the first charge of -the enemy. - -Simultaneously a huge bulk broke into the clearing -from the jungle behind the charging bulls. -The trumpeting of a mad tusker rose shrill above -the cries of the anthropoids, as Tantor, the elephant, -dashed swiftly across the clearing to the aid of his friend. - -Gunto never closed upon the ape-man, nor did a fang enter -flesh upon either side. The terrific reverberation of -Tantor's challenge sent the bulls scurrying to the trees, -jabbering and scolding. Taug raced off with them. -Only Tarzan and Bulabantu remained. The latter stood -his ground because he saw that the devil-god did not run, -and because the black had the courage to face a certain -and horrible death beside one who had quite evidently dared -death for him. - -But it was a surprised Gomangani who saw the mighty -elephant come to a sudden halt in front of the ape-man -and caress him with his long, sinuous trunk. - -Tarzan turned toward the black man. "Go!" he said in -the language of the apes, and pointed in the direction -of the village of Mbonga. Bulabantu understood the gesture, -if not the word, nor did he lose time in obeying. -Tarzan stood watching him until he had disappeared. -He knew that the apes would not follow. Then he said -to the elephant: "Pick me up!" and the tusker swung him -lightly to his head. - -"Tarzan goes to his lair by the big water," shouted the -ape-man to the apes in the trees. "All of you are more -foolish than Manu, except Taug and Teeka. Taug and Teeka -may come to see Tarzan; but the others must keep away. -Tarzan is done with the tribe of Kerchak." - -He prodded Tantor with a calloused toe and the big beast -swung off across the clearing, the apes watching them -until they were swallowed up by the jungle. - -Before the night fell Taug killed Gunto, picking a quarrel -with him over his attack upon Tarzan. - -For a moon the tribe saw nothing of Tarzan of the Apes. -Many of them probably never gave him a thought; but there -were those who missed him more than Tarzan imagined. -Taug and Teeka often wished that he was back, and Taug determined -a dozen times to go and visit Tarzan in his seaside lair; -but first one thing and then another interfered. - -One night when Taug lay sleepless looking up at the starry -heavens he recalled the strange things that Tarzan once -had suggested to him--that the bright spots were the eyes -of the meat-eaters waiting in the dark of the jungle -sky to leap upon Goro, the moon, and devour him. -The more he thought about this matter the more perturbed -he became. - -And then a strange thing happened. Even as Taug looked -at Goro, he saw a portion of one edge disappear, -precisely as though something was gnawing upon it. -Larger and larger became the hole in the side of Goro. -With a scream, Taug leaped to his feet. His frenzied -"Kreeg-ahs!" brought the terrified tribe screaming and -chattering toward him. - -"Look!" cried Taug, pointing at the moon. "Look! It -is as Tarzan said. Numa has sprung through the fires -and is devouring Goro. You called Tarzan names and -drove him from the tribe; now see how wise he was. -Let one of you who hated Tarzan go to Goro's aid. -See the eyes in the dark jungle all about Goro. He is -in danger and none can help him--none except Tarzan. -Soon Goro will be devoured by Numa and we shall have no -more light after Kudu seeks his lair. How shall we dance -the Dum-Dum without the light of Goro?" - -The apes trembled and whimpered. Any manifestation -of the powers of nature always filled them with terror, -for they could not understand. - -"Go and bring Tarzan," cried one, and then they all took up -the cry of "Tarzan!" "Bring Tarzan!" "He will save Goro." -But who was to travel the dark jungle by night to fetch -him? - -"I will go," volunteered Taug, and an instant later he -was off through the Stygian gloom toward the little -land-locked harbor by the sea. - -And as the tribe waited they watched the slow devouring -of the moon. Already Numa had eaten out a great -semicircular piece. At that rate Goro would be entirely gone -before Kudu came again. The apes trembled at the thought -of perpetual darkness by night. They could not sleep. -Restlessly they moved here and there among the branches -of trees, watching Numa of the skies at his deadly feast, -and listening for the coming of Taug with Tarzan. - -Goro was nearly gone when the apes heard the sounds of -the approach through the trees of the two they awaited, -and presently Tarzan, followed by Taug, swung into -a nearby tree. - -The ape-man wasted no time in idle words. In his hand was -his long bow and at his back hung a quiver full of arrows, -poisoned arrows that he had stolen from the village of -the blacks; just as he had stolen the bow. Up into a great -tree he clambered, higher and higher until he stood swaying -upon a small limb which bent low beneath his weight. -Here he had a clear and unobstructed view of the heavens. -He saw Goro and the inroads which the hungry Numa had made -into his shining surface. - -Raising his face to the moon, Tarzan shrilled forth -his hideous challenge. Faintly and from afar came -the roar of an answering lion. The apes shivered. -Numa of the skies had answered Tarzan. - -Then the ape-man fitted an arrow to his bow, and drawing -the shaft far back, aimed its point at the heart of Numa -where he lay in the heavens devouring Goro. There was a loud -twang as the released bolt shot into the dark heavens. -Again and again did Tarzan of the Apes launch his arrows -at Numa, and all the while the apes of the tribe of Kerchak -huddled together in terror. - -At last came a cry from Taug. "Look! Look!" he screamed. -"Numa is killed. Tarzan has killed Numa. See! Goro is -emerging from the belly of Numa," and, sure enough, the moon -was gradually emerging from whatever had devoured her, -whether it was Numa, the lion, or the shadow of the earth; -but were you to try to convince an ape of the tribe of -Kerchak that it was aught but Numa who so nearly devoured -Goro that night, or that another than Tarzan preserved -the brilliant god of their savage and mysterious rites -from a frightful death, you would have difficulty--and -a fight on your hands. - -And so Tarzan of the Apes came back to the tribe of Kerchak, -and in his coming he took a long stride toward the kingship, -which he ultimately won, for now the apes looked up to him -as a superior being. - -In all the tribe there was but one who was at all -skeptical about the plausibility of Tarzan's remarkable -rescue of Goro, and that one, strange as it may seem, -was Tarzan of the Apes. - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg Etext of Jungle Tales of Tarzan - diff --git a/old/old/tarz610.zip b/old/old/tarz610.zip Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index c023ee6..0000000 --- a/old/old/tarz610.zip +++ /dev/null diff --git a/old/readme.htm b/old/readme.htm deleted file mode 100644 index ab30aba..0000000 --- a/old/readme.htm +++ /dev/null @@ -1,13 +0,0 @@ -<!DOCTYPE html> -<html lang="en"> -<head> - <meta charset="utf-8"> -</head> -<body> -<div> - Old versions of this book's files are here.<br> - Any future changes are reflected in the GitHub repository:<br> - <a href="https://github.com/gutenbergbooks/106">https://github.com/gutenbergbooks/106</a> -</div> -</body> -</html>
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