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diff --git a/old/1401.txt b/old/1401.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..8914a5d --- /dev/null +++ b/old/1401.txt @@ -0,0 +1,12057 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Tarzan the Untamed, 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: Tarzan the Untamed + +Author: Edgar Rice Burroughs + +Posting Date: January 28, 2010 [EBook #1401] +Release Date: August, 1998 +First Posted: November 6, 2001 +[Last updated: July 29, 2012] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK TARZAN THE UNTAMED *** + + + + +Produced by Judith Boss + + + + + + + + + +Tarzan the Untamed + + +By + +Edgar Rice Burroughs + + + + + +CONTENTS + +CHAPTER + + I Murder and Pillage + II The Lion's Cave + III In the German Lines + IV When the Lion Fed + V The Golden Locket + VI Vengeance and Mercy + VII When Blood Told + VIII Tarzan and the Great Apes + IX Dropped from the Sky + X In the Hands of Savages + XI Finding the Airplane + XII The Black Flier + XIII Usanga's Reward + XIV The Black Lion + XV Mysterious Footprints + XVI The Night Attack + XVII The Walled City + XVIII Among the Maniacs + XIX The Queen's Story + XX Came Tarzan + XXI In the Alcove + XXII Out of the Niche + XXIII The Flight from Xuja + XXIV The Tommies + + + + +Chapter I + +Murder and Pillage + + +Hauptmann Fritz Schneider trudged wearily through the somber aisles +of the dark forest. Sweat rolled down his bullet head and stood +upon his heavy jowls and bull neck. His lieutenant marched beside +him while Underlieutenant von Goss brought up the rear, following +with a handful of askaris the tired and all but exhausted porters +whom the black soldiers, following the example of their white officer, +encouraged with the sharp points of bayonets and the metal-shod +butts of rifles. + +There were no porters within reach of Hauptmann Schneider so he +vented his Prussian spleen upon the askaris nearest at hand, yet +with greater circumspection since these men bore loaded rifles--and +the three white men were alone with them in the heart of Africa. + +Ahead of the hauptmann marched half his company, behind him the +other half--thus were the dangers of the savage jungle minimized +for the German captain. At the forefront of the column staggered +two naked savages fastened to each other by a neck chain. These +were the native guides impressed into the service of Kultur and upon +their poor, bruised bodies Kultur's brand was revealed in divers +cruel wounds and bruises. + +Thus even in darkest Africa was the light of German civilization +commencing to reflect itself upon the undeserving natives just as +at the same period, the fall of 1914, it was shedding its glorious +effulgence upon benighted Belgium. + +It is true that the guides had led the party astray; but this is +the way of most African guides. Nor did it matter that ignorance +rather than evil intent had been the cause of their failure. It +was enough for Hauptmann Fritz Schneider to know that he was lost +in the African wilderness and that he had at hand human beings less +powerful than he who could be made to suffer by torture. That he +did not kill them outright was partially due to a faint hope that +they might eventually prove the means of extricating him from his +difficulties and partially that so long as they lived they might +still be made to suffer. + +The poor creatures, hoping that chance might lead them at last +upon the right trail, insisted that they knew the way and so led +on through a dismal forest along a winding game trail trodden deep +by the feet of countless generations of the savage denizens of the +jungle. + +Here Tantor, the elephant, took his long way from dust wallow to +water. Here Buto, the rhinoceros, blundered blindly in his solitary +majesty, while by night the great cats paced silently upon their +padded feet beneath the dense canopy of overreaching trees toward +the broad plain beyond, where they found their best hunting. + +It was at the edge of this plain which came suddenly and unexpectedly +before the eyes of the guides that their sad hearts beat with +renewed hope. Here the hauptmann drew a deep sigh of relief, for +after days of hopeless wandering through almost impenetrable jungle +the broad vista of waving grasses dotted here and there with open +park like woods and in the far distance the winding line of green +shrubbery that denoted a river appeared to the European a veritable +heaven. + +The Hun smiled in his relief, passed a cheery word with his lieutenant, +and then scanned the broad plain with his field glasses. Back and +forth they swept across the rolling land until at last they came +to rest upon a point near the center of the landscape and close to +the green-fringed contours of the river. + +"We are in luck," said Schneider to his companions. "Do you see +it?" + +The lieutenant, who was also gazing through his own glasses, +finally brought them to rest upon the same spot that had held the +attention of his superior. + +"Yes," he said, "an English farm. It must be Greystoke's, for there +is none other in this part of British East Africa. God is with us, +Herr Captain." + +"We have come upon the English schweinhund long before he can have +learned that his country is at war with ours," replied Schneider. +"Let him be the first to feel the iron hand of Germany." + +"Let us hope that he is at home," said the lieutenant, "that we +may take him with us when we report to Kraut at Nairobi. It will +go well indeed with Herr Hauptmann Fritz Schneider if he brings in +the famous Tarzan of the Apes as a prisoner of war." + +Schneider smiled and puffed out his chest. "You are right, my +friend," he said, "it will go well with both of us; but I shall +have to travel far to catch General Kraut before he reaches Mombasa. +These English pigs with their contemptible army will make good time +to the Indian Ocean." + +It was in a better frame of mind that the small force set out across +the open country toward the trim and well-kept farm buildings of +John Clayton, Lord Greystoke; but disappointment was to be their +lot since neither Tarzan of the Apes nor his son was at home. + +Lady Jane, ignorant of the fact that a state of war existed between +Great Britain and Germany, welcomed the officers most hospitably +and gave orders through her trusted Waziri to prepare a feast for +the black soldiers of the enemy. + +Far to the east, Tarzan of the Apes was traveling rapidly from +Nairobi toward the farm. At Nairobi he had received news of the +World War that had already started, and, anticipating an immediate +invasion of British East Africa by the Germans, was hurrying homeward +to fetch his wife to a place of greater security. With him were a +score of his ebon warriors, but far too slow for the ape-man was +the progress of these trained and hardened woodsmen. + +When necessity demanded, Tarzan of the Apes sloughed the thin +veneer of his civilization and with it the hampering apparel that +was its badge. In a moment the polished English gentleman reverted +to the naked ape man. + +His mate was in danger. For the time, that single thought dominated. +He did not think of her as Lady Jane Greystoke, but rather as the +she he had won by the might of his steel thews, and that he must +hold and protect by virtue of the same offensive armament. + +It was no member of the House of Lords who swung swiftly and grimly +through the tangled forest or trod with untiring muscles the wide +stretches of open plain--it was a great he ape filled with a single +purpose that excluded all thoughts of fatigue or danger. + +Little Manu, the monkey, scolding and chattering in the upper +terraces of the forest, saw him pass. Long had it been since he had +thus beheld the great Tarmangani naked and alone hurtling through +the jungle. Bearded and gray was Manu, the monkey, and to his dim +old eyes came the fire of recollection of those days when Tarzan +of the Apes had ruled supreme, Lord of the Jungle, over all the +myriad life that trod the matted vegetation between the boles of +the great trees, or flew or swung or climbed in the leafy fastness +upward to the very apex of the loftiest terraces. + +And Numa, the lion, lying up for the day close beside last night's +successful kill, blinked his yellow-green eyes and twitched his +tawny tail as he caught the scent spoor of his ancient enemy. + +Nor was Tarzan senseless to the presence of Numa or Manu or any of +the many jungle beasts he passed in his rapid flight towards the +west. No particle had his shallow probing of English society dulled +his marvelous sense faculties. His nose had picked out the presence +of Numa, the lion, even before the majestic king of beasts was +aware of his passing. + +He had heard noisy little Manu, and even the soft rustling of the +parting shrubbery where Sheeta passed before either of these alert +animals sensed his presence. + +But however keen the senses of the ape-man, however swift his +progress through the wild country of his adoption, however mighty +the muscles that bore him, he was still mortal. Time and space +placed their inexorable limits upon him; nor was there another who +realized this truth more keenly than Tarzan. He chafed and fretted +that he could not travel with the swiftness of thought and that the +long tedious miles stretching far ahead of him must require hours +and hours of tireless effort upon his part before he would swing +at last from the final bough of the fringing forest into the open +plain and in sight of his goal. + +Days it took, even though he lay up at night for but a few hours +and left to chance the finding of meat directly on his trail. If +Wappi, the antelope, or Horta, the boar, chanced in his way when +he was hungry, he ate, pausing but long enough to make the kill +and cut himself a steak. + +Then at last the long journey drew to its close and he was passing +through the last stretch of heavy forest that bounded his estate +upon the east, and then this was traversed and he stood upon the +plain's edge looking out across his broad lands towards his home. + +At the first glance his eyes narrowed and his muscles tensed. Even +at that distance he could see that something was amiss. A thin +spiral of smoke arose at the right of the bungalow where the barns +had stood, but there were no barns there now, and from the bungalow +chimney from which smoke should have arisen, there arose nothing. + +Once again Tarzan of the Apes was speeding onward, this time even +more swiftly than before, for he was goaded now by a nameless fear, +more product of intuition than of reason. Even as the beasts, +Tarzan of the Apes seemed to possess a sixth sense. Long before he +reached the bungalow, he had almost pictured the scene that finally +broke upon his view. + +Silent and deserted was the vine-covered cottage. Smoldering embers +marked the site of his great barns. Gone were the thatched huts of +his sturdy retainers, empty the fields, the pastures, and corrals. +Here and there vultures rose and circled above the carcasses of +men and beasts. + +It was with a feeling as nearly akin to terror as he ever had +experienced that the ape-man finally forced himself to enter his +home. The first sight that met his eyes set the red haze of hate +and bloodlust across his vision, for there, crucified against the +wall of the living-room, was Wasimbu, giant son of the faithful +Muviro and for over a year the personal bodyguard of Lady Jane. + +The overturned and shattered furniture of the room, the brown pools +of dried blood upon the floor, and prints of bloody hands on walls +and woodwork evidenced something of the frightfulness of the battle +that had been waged within the narrow confines of the apartment. +Across the baby grand piano lay the corpse of another black warrior, +while before the door of Lady Jane's boudoir were the dead bodies +of three more of the faithful Greystoke servants. + +The door of this room was closed. With drooping shoulders and dull +eyes Tarzan stood gazing dumbly at the insensate panel which hid +from him what horrid secret he dared not even guess. + +Slowly, with leaden feet, he moved toward the door. Gropingly his +hand reached for the knob. Thus he stood for another long minute, +and then with a sudden gesture he straightened his giant frame, +threw back his mighty shoulders and, with fearless head held high, +swung back the door and stepped across the threshold into the +room which held for him the dearest memories and associations of +his life. No change of expression crossed his grim and stern-set +features as he strode across the room and stood beside the little +couch and the inanimate form which lay face downward upon it; the +still, silent thing that had pulsed with life and youth and love. + +No tear dimmed the eye of the ape-man, but the God who made him alone +could know the thoughts that passed through that still half-savage +brain. For a long time he stood there just looking down upon the +dead body, charred beyond recognition, and then he stooped and lifted +it in his arms. As he turned the body over and saw how horribly +death had been meted he plumbed, in that instant, the uttermost +depths of grief and horror and hatred. + +Nor did he require the evidence of the broken German rifle in the +outer room, or the torn and blood-stained service cap upon the +floor, to tell him who had been the perpetrators of this horrid +and useless crime. + +For a moment he had hoped against hope that the blackened corpse was +not that of his mate, but when his eyes discovered and recognized +the rings upon her fingers the last faint ray of hope forsook him. + +In silence, in love, and in reverence he buried, in the little +rose garden that had been Jane Clayton's pride and love, the poor, +charred form and beside it the great black warriors who had given +their lives so futilely in their mistress' protection. + +At one side of the house Tarzan found other newly made graves +and in these he sought final evidence of the identity of the real +perpetrators of the atrocities that had been committed there in +his absence. + +Here he disinterred the bodies of a dozen German askaris and found +upon their uniforms the insignia of the company and regiment to +which they had belonged. This was enough for the ape-man. White +officers had commanded these men, nor would it be a difficult task +to discover who they were. + +Returning to the rose garden, he stood among the Hun trampled +blooms and bushes above the grave of his dead--with bowed head he +stood there in a last mute farewell. As the sun sank slowly behind +the towering forests of the west, he turned slowly away upon the +still-distinct trail of Hauptmann Fritz Schneider and his blood-stained +company. + +His was the suffering of the dumb brute--mute; but though voiceless +no less poignant. At first his vast sorrow numbed his other faculties +of thought--his brain was overwhelmed by the calamity to such an +extent that it reacted to but a single objective suggestion: She is +dead! She is dead! She is dead! Again and again this phrase beat +monotonously upon his brain--a dull, throbbing pain, yet mechanically +his feet followed the trail of her slayer while, subconsciously, +his every sense was upon the alert for the ever-present perils of +the jungle. + +Gradually the labor of his great grief brought forth another +emotion so real, so tangible, that it seemed a companion walking +at his side. It was Hate--and it brought to him a measure of solace +and of comfort, for it was a sublime hate that ennobled him as +it has ennobled countless thousands since--hatred for Germany and +Germans. It centered about the slayer of his mate, of course; but +it included everything German, animate or inanimate. As the thought +took firm hold upon him he paused and raising his face to Goro, the +moon, cursed with upraised hand the authors of the hideous crime +that had been perpetrated in that once peaceful bungalow behind +him; and he cursed their progenitors, their progeny, and all their +kind the while he took silent oath to war upon them relentlessly +until death overtook him. + +There followed almost immediately a feeling of content, for, where +before his future at best seemed but a void, now it was filled +with possibilities the contemplation of which brought him, if not +happiness, at least a surcease of absolute grief, for before him +lay a great work that would occupy his time. + +Stripped not only of all the outward symbols of civilization, Tarzan +had also reverted morally and mentally to the status of the savage +beast he had been reared. Never had his civilization been more than +a veneer put on for the sake of her he loved because he thought it +made her happier to see him thus. In reality he had always held the +outward evidences of so-called culture in deep contempt. Civilization +meant to Tarzan of the Apes a curtailment of freedom in all its +aspects--freedom of action, freedom of thought, freedom of love, +freedom of hate. Clothes he abhorred--uncomfortable, hideous, +confining things that reminded him somehow of bonds securing him to +the life he had seen the poor creatures of London and Paris living. +Clothes were the emblems of that hypocrisy for which civilization +stood--a pretense that the wearers were ashamed of what the clothes +covered, of the human form made in the semblance of God. Tarzan +knew how silly and pathetic the lower orders of animals appeared in +the clothing of civilization, for he had seen several poor creatures +thus appareled in various traveling shows in Europe, and he knew, +too, how silly and pathetic man appears in them since the only men +he had seen in the first twenty years of his life had been, like +himself, naked savages. The ape-man had a keen admiration for a +well-muscled, well-proportioned body, whether lion, or antelope, +or man, and it had ever been beyond him to understand how clothes +could be considered more beautiful than a clear, firm, healthy +skin, or coat and trousers more graceful than the gentle curves of +rounded muscles playing beneath a flexible hide. + +In civilization Tarzan had found greed and selfishness and cruelty +far beyond that which he had known in his familiar, savage jungle, +and though civilization had given him his mate and several friends +whom he loved and admired, he never had come to accept it as you +and I who have known little or nothing else; so it was with a sense +of relief that he now definitely abandoned it and all that it stood +for, and went forth into the jungle once again stripped to his loin +cloth and weapons. + +The hunting knife of his father hung at his left hip, his bow and +his quiver of arrows were slung across his shoulders, while around +his chest over one shoulder and beneath the opposite arm was coiled +the long grass rope without which Tarzan would have felt quite as +naked as would you should you be suddenly thrust upon a busy highway +clad only in a union suit. A heavy war spear which he sometimes +carried in one hand and again slung by a thong about his neck so +that it hung down his back completed his armament and his apparel. +The diamond-studded locket with the pictures of his mother and +father that he had worn always until he had given it as a token +of his highest devotion to Jane Clayton before their marriage was +missing. She always had worn it since, but it had not been upon +her body when he found her slain in her boudoir, so that now his +quest for vengeance included also a quest for the stolen trinket. + +Toward midnight Tarzan commenced to feel the physical strain of +his long hours of travel and to realize that even muscles such as +his had their limitations. His pursuit of the murderers had not +been characterized by excessive speed; but rather more in keeping +with his mental attitude, which was marked by a dogged determination +to require from the Germans more than an eye for an eye and more +than a tooth for a tooth, the element of time entering but slightly +into his calculations. + +Inwardly as well as outwardly Tarzan had reverted to beast and in +the lives of beasts, time, as a measurable aspect of duration, has +no meaning. The beast is actively interested only in NOW, and as +it is always NOW and always shall be, there is an eternity of time +for the accomplishment of objects. The ape-man, naturally, had a +slightly more comprehensive realization of the limitations of time; +but, like the beasts, he moved with majestic deliberation when no +emergency prompted him to swift action. + +Having dedicated his life to vengeance, vengeance became his natural +state and, therefore, no emergency, so he took his time in pursuit. +That he had not rested earlier was due to the fact that he had +felt no fatigue, his mind being occupied by thoughts of sorrow and +revenge; but now he realized that he was tired, and so he sought +a jungle giant that had harbored him upon more than a single other +jungle night. + +Dark clouds moving swiftly across the heavens now and again eclipsed +the bright face of Goro, the moon, and forewarned the ape-man +of impending storm. In the depth of the jungle the cloud shadows +produced a thick blackness that might almost be felt--a blackness +that to you and me might have proven terrifying with its accompaniment +of rustling leaves and cracking twigs, and its even more suggestive +intervals of utter silence in which the crudest of imaginations +might have conjured crouching beasts of prey tensed for the fatal +charge; but through it Tarzan passed unconcerned, yet always alert. +Now he swung lightly to the lower terraces of the overarching +trees when some subtle sense warned him that Numa lay upon a kill +directly in his path, or again he sprang lightly to one side as +Buto, the rhinoceros, lumbered toward him along the narrow, deep-worn +trail, for the ape-man, ready to fight upon necessity's slightest +pretext, avoided unnecessary quarrels. + +When he swung himself at last into the tree he sought, the moon was +obscured by a heavy cloud, and the tree tops were waving wildly in +a steadily increasing wind whose soughing drowned the lesser noises +of the jungle. Upward went Tarzan toward a sturdy crotch across which +he long since had laid and secured a little platform of branches. +It was very dark now, darker even than it had been before, for +almost the entire sky was overcast by thick, black clouds. + +Presently the man-beast paused, his sensitive nostrils dilating as +he sniffed the air about him. Then, with the swiftness and agility of +a cat, he leaped far outward upon a swaying branch, sprang upward +through the darkness, caught another, swung himself upon it and +then to one still higher. What could have so suddenly transformed +his matter-of-fact ascent of the giant bole to the swift and wary +action of his detour among the branches? You or I could have seen +nothing--not even the little platform that an instant before had +been just above him and which now was immediately below--but as he +swung above it we should have heard an ominous growl; and then as +the moon was momentarily uncovered, we should have seen both the +platform, dimly, and a dark mass that lay stretched upon it--a dark +mass that presently, as our eyes became accustomed to the lesser +darkness, would take the form of Sheeta, the panther. + +In answer to the cat's growl, a low and equally ferocious growl +rumbled upward from the ape-man's deep chest--a growl of warning +that told the panther he was trespassing upon the other's lair; but +Sheeta was in no mood to be dispossessed. With upturned, snarling +face he glared at the brown-skinned Tarmangani above him. Very slowly +the ape-man moved inward along the branch until he was directly +above the panther. In the man's hand was the hunting knife of his +long-dead father--the weapon that had first given him his real +ascendancy over the beasts of the jungle; but he hoped not to be +forced to use it, knowing as he did that more jungle battles were +settled by hideous growling than by actual combat, the law of bluff +holding quite as good in the jungle as elsewhere--only in matters +of love and food did the great beasts ordinarily close with fangs +and talons. + +Tarzan braced himself against the bole of the tree and leaned closer +toward Sheeta. + +"Stealer of balus!" he cried. The panther rose to a sitting position, +his bared fangs but a few feet from the ape-man's taunting face. +Tarzan growled hideously and struck at the cat's face with his +knife. "I am Tarzan of the Apes," he roared. "This is Tarzan's +lair. Go, or I will kill you." + +Though he spoke in the language of the great apes of the jungle, +it is doubtful that Sheeta understood the words, though he knew +well enough that the hairless ape wished to frighten him from his +well-chosen station past which edible creatures might be expected +to wander sometime during the watches of the night. + +Like lightning the cat reared and struck a vicious blow at his +tormentor with great, bared talons that might well have torn away +the ape-man's face had the blow landed; but it did not land--Tarzan +was even quicker than Sheeta. As the panther came to all fours +again upon the little platform, Tarzan un-slung his heavy spear and +prodded at the snarling face, and as Sheeta warded off the blows, +the two continued their horrid duet of blood-curdling roars and +growls. + +Goaded to frenzy the cat presently determined to come up after this +disturber of his peace; but when he essayed to leap to the branch +that held Tarzan he found the sharp spear point always in his +face, and each time as he dropped back he was prodded viciously in +some tender part; but at length, rage having conquered his better +judgment, he leaped up the rough bole to the very branch upon which +Tarzan stood. Now the two faced each other upon even footing and +Sheeta saw a quick revenge and a supper all in one. The hairless +ape-thing with the tiny fangs and the puny talons would be helpless +before him. + +The heavy limb bent beneath the weight of the two beasts as Sheeta +crept cautiously out upon it and Tarzan backed slowly away, growling. +The wind had risen to the proportions of a gale so that even the +greatest giants of the forest swayed, groaning, to its force and +the branch upon which the two faced each other rose and fell like +the deck of a storm-tossed ship. Goro was now entirely obscured, +but vivid flashes of lightning lit up the jungle at brief intervals, +revealing the grim tableau of primitive passion upon the swaying +limb. + +Tarzan backed away, drawing Sheeta farther from the stem of the +tree and out upon the tapering branch, where his footing became +ever more precarious. The cat, infuriated by the pain of spear +wounds, was overstepping the bounds of caution. Already he had +reached a point where he could do little more than maintain a secure +footing, and it was this moment that Tarzan chose to charge. With +a roar that mingled with the booming thunder from above he leaped +toward the panther, who could only claw futilely with one huge paw +while he clung to the branch with the other; but the ape-man did +not come within that parabola of destruction. Instead he leaped +above menacing claws and snapping fangs, turning in mid-air and +alighting upon Sheeta's back, and at the instant of impact his knife +struck deep into the tawny side. Then Sheeta, impelled by pain and +hate and rage and the first law of Nature, went mad. Screaming +and clawing he attempted to turn upon the ape-thing clinging to +his back. For an instant he toppled upon the now wildly gyrating +limb, clutched frantically to save himself, and then plunged downward +into the darkness with Tarzan still clinging to him. Crashing +through splintering branches the two fell. Not for an instant did +the ape-man consider relinquishing his death-hold upon his adversary. +He had entered the lists in mortal combat and true to the primitive +instincts of the wild--the unwritten law of the jungle--one or both +must die before the battle ended. + +Sheeta, catlike, alighted upon four out-sprawled feet, the weight +of the ape-man crushing him to earth, the long knife again imbedded +in his side. Once the panther struggled to rise; but only to sink +to earth again. Tarzan felt the giant muscles relax beneath him. +Sheeta was dead. Rising, the ape-man placed a foot upon the body of +his vanquished foe, raised his face toward the thundering heavens, +and as the lightning flashed and the torrential rain broke upon +him, screamed forth the wild victory cry of the bull ape. + +Having accomplished his aim and driven the enemy from his lair, +Tarzan gathered an armful of large fronds and climbed to his dripping +couch. Laying a few of the fronds upon the poles he lay down and +covered himself against the rain with the others, and despite the +wailing of the wind and the crashing of the thunder, immediately +fell asleep. + + + + +Chapter II + +The Lion's Cave + + +The rain lasted for twenty-four hours and much of the time it fell +in torrents so that when it ceased, the trail he had been following +was entirely obliterated. Cold and uncomfortable--it was a savage +Tarzan who threaded the mazes of the soggy jungle. Manu, the +monkey, shivering and chattering in the dank trees, scolded and fled +at his approach. Even the panthers and the lions let the growling +Tarmangani pass unmolested. + +When the sun shone again upon the second day and a wide, open plain +let the full heat of Kudu flood the chilled, brown body, Tarzan's +spirits rose; but it was still a sullen, surly brute that moved +steadily onward into the south where he hoped again to pick up the +trail of the Germans. He was now in German East Africa and it was +his intention to skirt the mountains west of Kilimanjaro, whose +rugged peaks he was quite willing to give a wide berth, and then +swing eastward along the south side of the range to the railway that +led to Tanga, for his experience among men suggested that it was +toward this railroad that German troops would be likely to converge. + +Two days later, from the southern slopes of Kilimanjaro, he heard +the boom of cannon far away to the east. The afternoon had been +dull and cloudy and now as he was passing through a narrow gorge a +few great drops of rain began to splatter upon his naked shoulders. +Tarzan shook his head and growled his disapproval; then he cast his +eyes about for shelter, for he had had quite enough of the cold and +drenching. He wanted to hasten on in the direction of the booming +noise, for he knew that there would be Germans fighting against the +English. For an instant his bosom swelled with pride at the thought +that he was English and then he shook his head again viciously. +"No!" he muttered, "Tarzan of the Apes is not English, for the +English are men and Tarzan is Tarmangani;" but he could not hide +even from his sorrow or from his sullen hatred of mankind in general +that his heart warmed at the thought it was Englishmen who fought +the Germans. His regret was that the English were human and not +great white apes as he again considered himself. + +"Tomorrow," he thought, "I will travel that way and find the Germans," +and then he set himself to the immediate task of discovering some +shelter from the storm. Presently he espied the low and narrow +entrance to what appeared to be a cave at the base of the cliffs +which formed the northern side of the gorge. With drawn knife he +approached the spot warily, for he knew that if it were a cave it +was doubtless the lair of some other beast. Before the entrance lay +many large fragments of rock of different sizes, similar to others +scattered along the entire base of the cliff, and it was in Tarzan's +mind that if he found the cave unoccupied he would barricade the +door and insure himself a quiet and peaceful night's repose within +the sheltered interior. Let the storm rage without--Tarzan would +remain within until it ceased, comfortable and dry. A tiny rivulet +of cold water trickled outward from the opening. + +Close to the cave Tarzan kneeled and sniffed the ground. A low +growl escaped him and his upper lip curved to expose his fighting +fangs. "Numa!" he muttered; but he did not stop. Numa might not be +at home--he would investigate. The entrance was so low that the +ape-man was compelled to drop to all fours before he could poke +his head within the aperture; but first he looked, listened, and +sniffed in each direction at his rear--he would not be taken by +surprise from that quarter. + +His first glance within the cave revealed a narrow tunnel with +daylight at its farther end. The interior of the tunnel was not so +dark but that the ape-man could readily see that it was untenanted +at present. Advancing cautiously he crawled toward the opposite +end imbued with a full realization of what it would mean if Numa +should suddenly enter the tunnel in front of him; but Numa did not +appear and the ape-man emerged at length into the open and stood +erect, finding himself in a rocky cleft whose precipitous walls +rose almost sheer on every hand, the tunnel from the gorge passing +through the cliff and forming a passageway from the outer world +into a large pocket or gulch entirely enclosed by steep walls of +rock. Except for the small passageway from the gorge, there was no +other entrance to the gulch which was some hundred feet in length +and about fifty in width and appeared to have been worn from the +rocky cliff by the falling of water during long ages. A tiny stream +from Kilimanjaro's eternal snow cap still trickled over the edge +of the rocky wall at the upper end of the gulch, forming a little +pool at the bottom of the cliff from which a small rivulet wound +downward to the tunnel through which it passed to the gorge beyond. +A single great tree flourished near the center of the gulch, while +tufts of wiry grass were scattered here and there among the rocks +of the gravelly floor. + +The bones of many large animals lay about and among them were +several human skulls. Tarzan raised his eyebrows. "A man-eater," +he murmured, "and from appearances he has held sway here for a long +time. Tonight Tarzan will take the lair of the man-eater and Numa +may roar and grumble upon the outside." + +The ape-man had advanced well into the gulch as he investigated +his surroundings and now as he stood near the tree, satisfied that +the tunnel would prove a dry and quiet retreat for the night, he +turned to retrace his way to the outer end of the entrance that he +might block it with boulders against Numa's return, but even with +the thought there came something to his sensitive ears that froze +him into statuesque immobility with eyes glued upon the tunnel's +mouth. A moment later the head of a huge lion framed in a great +black mane appeared in the opening. The yellow-green eyes glared, +round and unblinking, straight at the trespassing Tarmangani, a low +growl rumbled from the deep chest, and lips curled back to expose +the mighty fangs. + +"Brother of Dango!" shouted Tarzan, angered that Numa's return should +have been so timed as to frustrate his plans for a comfortable +night's repose. "I am Tarzan of the Apes, Lord of the Jungle. +Tonight I lair here--go!" + +But Numa did not go. Instead he rumbled forth a menacing roar and +took a few steps in Tarzan's direction. The ape-man picked up a +rock and hurled it at the snarling face. One can never be sure of +a lion. This one might turn tail and run at the first intimation +of attack--Tarzan had bluffed many in his time--but not now. The +missile struck Numa full upon the snout--a tender part of a cat's +anatomy--and instead of causing him to flee it transformed him into +an infuriated engine of wrath and destruction. + +Up went his tail, stiff and erect, and with a series of frightful +roars he bore down upon the Tarmangani at the speed of an express +train. Not an instant too soon did Tarzan reach the tree and swing +himself into its branches and there he squatted, hurling insults at +the king of beasts while Numa paced a circle beneath him, growling +and roaring in rage. + +It was raining now in earnest adding to the ape-man's discomfort +and disappointment. He was very angry; but as only direct necessity +had ever led him to close in mortal combat with a lion, knowing +as he did that he had only luck and agility to pit against the +frightful odds of muscle, weight, fangs, and talons, he did not now +even consider descending and engaging in so unequal and useless a +duel for the mere reward of a little added creature comfort. And +so he sat perched in the tree while the rain fell steadily and the +lion padded round and round beneath, casting a baleful eye upward +after every few steps. + +Tarzan scanned the precipitous walls for an avenue of escape. They +would have baffled an ordinary man; but the ape-man, accustomed +to climbing, saw several places where he might gain a foothold, +precarious possibly; but enough to give him reasonable assurance +of escape if Numa would but betake himself to the far end of the +gulch for a moment. Numa, however, notwithstanding the rain, gave +no evidence of quitting his post so that at last Tarzan really +began to consider seriously if it might not be as well to take the +chance of a battle with him rather than remain longer cold and wet +and humiliated in the tree. + +But even as he turned the matter over in his mind Numa turned +suddenly and walked majestically toward the tunnel without even a +backward glance. The instant that he disappeared, Tarzan dropped +lightly to the ground upon the far side of the tree and was away at +top speed for the cliff. The lion had no sooner entered the tunnel +than he backed immediately out again and, pivoting like a flash, +was off across the gulch in full charge after the flying ape-man; +but Tarzan's lead was too great--if he could find finger or foothold +upon the sheer wall he would be safe; but should he slip from the +wet rocks his doom was already sealed as he would fall directly into +Numa's clutches where even the Great Tarmangani would be helpless. + +With the agility of a cat Tarzan ran up the cliff for thirty feet +before he paused, and there finding a secure foothold, he stopped +and looked down upon Numa who was leaping upward in a wild and +futile attempt to scale the rocky wall to his prey. Fifteen or +twenty feet from the ground the lion would scramble only to fall +backward again defeated. Tarzan eyed him for a moment and then +commenced a slow and cautious ascent toward the summit. Several +times he had difficulty in finding holds but at last he drew himself +over the edge, rose, picked up a bit of loose rock, hurled it at +Numa and strode away. + +Finding an easy descent to the gorge, he was about to pursue his +journey in the direction of the still-booming guns when a sudden +thought caused him to halt and a half-smile to play about his lips. +Turning, he trotted quickly back to the outer opening of Numa's +tunnel. Close beside it he listened for a moment and then rapidly +began to gather large rocks and pile them within the entrance. +He had almost closed the aperture when the lion appeared upon the +inside--a very ferocious and angry lion that pawed and clawed at +the rocks and uttered mighty roars that caused the earth to tremble; +but roars did not frighten Tarzan of the Apes. At Kala's shaggy +breast he had closed his infant eyes in sleep upon countless nights +in years gone by to the savage chorus of similar roars. Scarcely a +day or night of his jungle life--and practically all his life had +been spent in the jungle--had he not heard the roaring of hungry +lions, or angry lions, or love-sick lions. Such sounds affected +Tarzan as the tooting of an automobile horn may affect you--if you +are in front of the automobile it warns you out of the way, if you +are not in front of it you scarcely notice it. Figuratively Tarzan +was not in front of the automobile--Numa could not reach him and +Tarzan knew it, so he continued deliberately to choke the entrance +until there was no possibility of Numa's getting out again. When +he was quite through he made a grimace at the hidden lion beyond +the barrier and resumed his way toward the east. "A man-eater who +will eat no more men," he soliloquized. + +That night Tarzan lay up under an overhanging shelf of rock. The +next morning he resumed his journey, stopping only long enough to +make a kill and satisfy his hunger. The other beasts of the wild +eat and lie up; but Tarzan never let his belly interfere with his +plans. In this lay one of the greatest differences between the ape-man +and his fellows of the jungles and forests. The firing ahead rose +and fell during the day. He had noticed that it was highest at +dawn and immediately after dusk and that during the night it almost +ceased. In the middle of the afternoon of the second day he came +upon troops moving up toward the front. They appeared to be raiding +parties, for they drove goats and cows along with them and there +were native porters laden with grain and other foodstuffs. He saw +that these natives were all secured by neck chains and he also saw +that the troops were composed of native soldiers in German uniforms. +The officers were white men. No one saw Tarzan, yet he was here and +there about and among them for two hours. He inspected the insignia +upon their uniforms and saw that they were not the same as that +which he had taken from one of the dead soldiers at the bungalow +and then he passed on ahead of them, unseen in the dense bush. He +had come upon Germans and had not killed them; but it was because +the killing of Germans at large was not yet the prime motive of +his existence--now it was to discover the individual who slew his +mate. + +After he had accounted for him he would take up the little matter +of slaying ALL Germans who crossed his path, and he meant that many +should cross it, for he would hunt them precisely as professional +hunters hunt the man-eaters. + +As he neared the front lines the troops became more numerous. There +were motor trucks and ox teams and all the impedimenta of a small +army and always there were wounded men walking or being carried +toward the rear. He had crossed the railroad some distance back and +judged that the wounded were being taken to it for transportation +to a base hospital and possibly as far away as Tanga on the coast. + +It was dusk when he reached a large camp hidden in the foothills of +the Pare Mountains. As he was approaching from the rear he found +it but lightly guarded and what sentinels there were, were not +upon the alert, and so it was an easy thing for him to enter after +darkness had fallen and prowl about listening at the backs of tents, +searching for some clew to the slayer of his mate. + +As he paused at the side of a tent before which sat a number of +native soldiers he caught a few words spoken in native dialect that +riveted his attention instantly: "The Waziri fought like devils; +but we are greater fighters and we killed them all. When we were +through the captain came and killed the woman. He stayed outside +and yelled in a very loud voice until all the men were killed. +Underlieutenant von Goss is braver--he came in and stood beside the +door shouting at us, also in a very loud voice, and bade us nail +one of the Waziri who was wounded to the wall, and then he laughed +loudly because the man suffered. We all laughed. It was very funny." + +Like a beast of prey, grim and terrible, Tarzan crouched in the +shadows beside the tent. What thoughts passed through that savage +mind? Who may say? No outward sign of passion was revealed by the +expression of the handsome face; the cold, gray eyes denoted only +intense watchfulness. Presently the soldier Tarzan had heard first +rose and with a parting word turned away. He passed within ten +feet of the ape-man and continued on toward the rear of the camp. +Tarzan followed and in the shadows of a clump of bushes overtook +his quarry. There was no sound as the man beast sprang upon the +back of his prey and bore it to the ground for steel fingers closed +simultaneously upon the soldier's throat, effectually stifling +any outcry. By the neck Tarzan dragged his victim well into the +concealment of the bushes. + +"Make no sound," he cautioned in the man's own tribal dialect as +he released his hold upon the other's throat. + +The fellow gasped for breath, rolling frightened eyes upward to +see what manner of creature it might be in whose power he was. In +the darkness he saw only a naked brown body bending above him; but +he still remembered the terrific strength of the mighty muscles +that had closed upon his wind and dragged him into the bushes as +though he had been but a little child. If any thought of resistance +had crossed his mind he must have discarded it at once, as he made +no move to escape. + +"What is the name of the officer who killed the woman at the bungalow +where you fought with the Waziri?" asked Tarzan. + +"Hauptmann Schneider," replied the black when he could again command +his voice. + +"Where is he?" demanded the ape-man. + +"He is here. It may be that he is at headquarters. Many of the +officers go there in the evening to receive orders." + +"Lead me there," commanded Tarzan, "and if I am discovered I will +kill you immediately. Get up!" + +The black rose and led the way by a roundabout route back through +the camp. Several times they were forced to hide while soldiers +passed; but at last they reached a great pile of baled hay from about +the corner of which the black pointed out a two-story building in +the distance. + +"Headquarters," he said. "You can go no farther unseen. There are +many soldiers about." + +Tarzan realized that he could not proceed farther in company with +the black. He turned and looked at the fellow for a moment as though +pondering what disposition to make of him. + +"You helped to crucify Wasimbu, the Waziri," he accused in a low +yet none the less terrible tone. + +The black trembled, his knees giving beneath him. "He ordered us +to do it," he plead. + +"Who ordered it done?" demanded Tarzan. + +"Underlieutenant von Goss," replied the soldier. "He, too, is here." + +"I shall find him," returned Tarzan, grimly. "You helped to crucify +Wasimbu, the Waziri, and, while he suffered, you laughed." + +The fellow reeled. It was as though in the accusation he read also +his death sentence. With no other word Tarzan seized the man again +by the neck. As before there was no outcry. The giant muscles tensed. +The arms swung quickly upward and with them the body of the black +soldier who had helped to crucify Wasimbu, the Waziri, described a +circle in the air--once, twice, three times, and then it was flung +aside and the ape-man turned in the direction of General Kraut's +headquarters. + +A single sentinel in the rear of the building barred the way. +Tarzan crawled, belly to the ground, toward him, taking advantage +of cover as only the jungle-bred beast of prey can do. When the +sentinel's eyes were toward him, Tarzan hugged the ground, motionless +as stone; when they were turned away, he moved swiftly forward. +Presently he was within charging distance. He waited until the man +had turned his back once more and then he rose and sped noiselessly +down upon him. Again there was no sound as he carried the dead +body with him toward the building. + +The lower floor was lighted, the upper dark. Through the windows +Tarzan saw a large front room and a smaller room in rear of it. +In the former were many officers. Some moved about talking to one +another, others sat at field tables writing. The windows were open +and Tarzan could hear much of the conversation; but nothing that +interested him. It was mostly about the German successes in Africa +and conjectures as to when the German army in Europe would reach +Paris. Some said the Kaiser was doubtlessly already there, and +there was a great deal of damning Belgium. + +In the smaller back room a large, red-faced man sat behind a table. +Some other officers were also sitting a little in rear of him, +while two stood at attention before the general, who was questioning +them. As he talked, the general toyed with an oil lamp that stood +upon the table before him. Presently there came a knock upon the +door and an aide entered the room. He saluted and reported: "Fraulein +Kircher has arrived, sir." + +"Bid her enter," commanded the general, and then nodded to the two +officers before him in sign of dismissal. + +The Fraulein, entering, passed them at the door. The officers in +the little room rose and saluted, the Fraulein acknowledging the +courtesy with a bow and a slight smile. She was a very pretty +girl. Even the rough, soiled riding habit and the caked dust upon +her face could not conceal the fact, and she was young. She could +not have been over nineteen. + +She advanced to the table behind which the general stood and, taking +a folded paper from an inside pocket of her coat, handed it to him. + +"Be seated, Fraulein," he said, and another officer brought her +a chair. No one spoke while the general read the contents of the +paper. + +Tarzan appraised the various people in the room. He wondered if one +might not be Hauptmann Schneider, for two of them were captains. +The girl he judged to be of the intelligence department--a spy. +Her beauty held no appeal for him--without a glimmer of compunction +he could have wrung that fair, young neck. She was German and that +was enough; but he had other and more important work before him. +He wanted Hauptmann Schneider. + +Finally the general looked up from the paper. + +"Good," he said to the girl, and then to one of his aides, "Send +for Major Schneider." + +Major Schneider! Tarzan felt the short hairs at the back of his +neck rise. Already they had promoted the beast who had murdered +his mate--doubtless they had promoted him for that very crime. + +The aide left the room and the others fell into a general conversation +from which it became apparent to Tarzan that the German East African +forces greatly outnumbered the British and that the latter were +suffering heavily. The ape-man stood so concealed in a clump of +bushes that he could watch the interior of the room without being +seen from within, while he was at the same time hidden from the view +of anyone who might chance to pass along the post of the sentinel +he had slain. Momentarily he was expecting a patrol or a relief to +appear and discover that the sentinel was missing, when he knew an +immediate and thorough search would be made. + +Impatiently he awaited the coming of the man he sought and at +last he was rewarded by the reappearance of the aide who had been +dispatched to fetch him accompanied by an officer of medium size +with fierce, upstanding mustaches. The newcomer strode to the table, +halted and saluted, reporting. The general acknowledged the salute +and turned toward the girl. + +"Fraulein Kircher," he said, "allow me to present Major Schneider--" + +Tarzan waited to hear no more. Placing a palm upon the sill of +the window he vaulted into the room into the midst of an astounded +company of the Kaiser's officers. With a stride he was at the table +and with a sweep of his hand sent the lamp crashing into the fat +belly of the general who, in his mad effort to escape cremation, +fell over backward, chair and all, upon the floor. Two of the aides +sprang for the ape-man who picked up the first and flung him in the +face of the other. The girl had leaped from her chair and stood +flattened against the wall. The other officers were calling aloud +for the guard and for help. Tarzan's purpose centered upon but +a single individual and him he never lost sight of. Freed from +attack for an instant he seized Major Schneider, threw him over his +shoulder and was out of the window so quickly that the astonished +assemblage could scarce realize what had occurred. + +A single glance showed him that the sentinel's post was still vacant +and a moment later he and his burden were in the shadows of the +hay dump. Major Schneider had made no outcry for the very excellent +reason that his wind was shut off. Now Tarzan released his grasp +enough to permit the man to breathe. + +"If you make a sound you will be choked again," he said. + +Cautiously and after infinite patience Tarzan passed the final +outpost. Forcing his captive to walk before him he pushed on toward +the west until, late into the night, he re-crossed the railway where +he felt reasonably safe from discovery. The German had cursed and +grumbled and threatened and asked questions; but his only reply +was another prod from Tarzan's sharp war spear. The ape-man herded +him along as he would have driven a hog with the difference that +he would have had more respect and therefore more consideration +for a hog. + +Until now Tarzan had given little thought to the details of revenge. +Now he pondered what form the punishment should take. Of only one +thing was he certain--it must end in death. Like all brave men +and courageous beasts Tarzan had little natural inclination to +torture--none, in fact; but this case was unique in his experience. +An inherent sense of justice called for an eye for an eye and his +recent oath demanded even more. Yes, the creature must suffer even +as he had caused Jane Clayton to suffer. Tarzan could not hope to +make the man suffer as he had suffered, since physical pain may +never approach the exquisiteness of mental torture. + +All through the long night the ape-man goaded on the exhausted and +now terrified Hun. The awful silence of his captor wrought upon the +German's nerves. If he would only speak! Again and again Schneider +tried to force or coax a word from him; but always the result was +the same--continued silence and a vicious and painful prod from the +spear point. Schneider was bleeding and sore. He was so exhausted +that he staggered at every step, and often he fell only to be +prodded to his feet again by that terrifying and remorseless spear. + +It was not until morning that Tarzan reached a decision and it came +to him then like an inspiration from above. A slow smile touched +his lips and he immediately sought a place to lie up and rest--he +wished his prisoner to be fit now for what lay in store for him. +Ahead was a stream which Tarzan had crossed the day before. He knew +the ford for a drinking place and a likely spot to make an easy +kill. Cautioning the German to utter silence with a gesture the +two approached the stream quietly. Down the game trail Tarzan saw +some deer about to leave the water. He shoved Schneider into the +brush at one side and, squatting next him, waited. The German +watched the silent giant with puzzled, frightened eyes. In the new +dawn he, for the first time, was able to obtain a good look at his +captor, and, if he had been puzzled and frightened before, those +sensations were nothing to what he experienced now. + +Who and what could this almost naked, white savage be? He had +heard him speak but once--when he had cautioned him to silence--and +then in excellent German and the well-modulated tones of culture. +He watched him now as the fascinated toad watches the snake that +is about to devour it. He saw the graceful limbs and symmetrical +body motionless as a marble statue as the creature crouched in the +concealment of the leafy foliage. Not a muscle, not a nerve moved. +He saw the deer coming slowly along the trail, down wind and +unsuspecting. He saw a buck pass--an old buck--and then a young and +plump one came opposite the giant in ambush, and Schneider's eyes +went wide and a scream of terror almost broke from his lips as he +saw the agile beast at his side spring straight for the throat of +the young buck and heard from those human lips the hunting roar of +a wild beast. Down went the buck and Tarzan and his captive had +meat. The ape-man ate his raw, but he permitted the German to build +a fire and cook his portion. + +The two lay up until late in the afternoon and then took up the +journey once again--a journey that was so frightful to Schneider +because of his ignorance of its destination that he at times groveled +at Tarzan's feet begging for an explanation and for mercy; but on +and on in silence the ape-man went, prodding the failing Hun whenever +the latter faltered. + +It was noon of the third day before they reached their destination. +After a steep climb and a short walk they halted at the edge of +a precipitous cliff and Schneider looked down into a narrow gulch +where a single tree grew beside a tiny rivulet and sparse grass +broke from a rock-strewn soil. Tarzan motioned him over the edge; +but the German drew back in terror. The Ape-man seized him and +pushed him roughly toward the brink. "Descend," he said. It was +the second time he had spoken in three days and perhaps his very +silence, ominous in itself, had done more to arouse terror in the +breast of the Boche than even the spear point, ever ready as it +always was. + +Schneider looked fearfully over the edge; but was about to essay +the attempt when Tarzan halted him. "I am Lord Greystoke," he +said. "It was my wife you murdered in the Waziri country. You will +understand now why I came for you. Descend." + +The German fell upon his knees. "I did not murder your wife," +he cried. "Have mercy! I did not murder your wife. I do not know +anything about--" + +"Descend!" snapped Tarzan, raising the point of his spear. He knew +that the man lied and was not surprised that he did. A man who +would murder for no cause would lie for less. Schneider still +hesitated and pled. The ape-man jabbed him with the spear and Schneider +slid fearfully over the top and began the perilous descent. Tarzan +accompanied and assisted him over the worst places until at last +they were within a few feet of the bottom. + +"Be quiet now," cautioned the ape-man. He pointed at the entrance +to what appeared to be a cave at the far end of the gulch. "There +is a hungry lion in there. If you can reach that tree before +he discovers you, you will have several days longer in which to +enjoy life and then--when you are too weak to cling longer to the +branches of the tree Numa, the man-eater, will feed again for the +last time." He pushed Schneider from his foothold to the ground +below. "Now run," he said. + +The German trembling in terror started for the tree. He had almost +reached it when a horrid roar broke from the mouth of the cave and +almost simultaneously a gaunt, hunger mad lion leaped into the +daylight of the gulch. Schneider had but a few yards to cover; +but the lion flew over the ground to circumvent him while Tarzan +watched the race with a slight smile upon his lips. + +Schneider won by a slender margin, and as Tarzan scaled the cliff +to the summit, he heard behind him mingled with the roaring of the +baffled cat, the gibbering of a human voice that was at the same +time more bestial than the beast's. + +Upon the brink of the cliff the ape-man turned and looked back +into the gulch. High in the tree the German clung frantically to +a branch across which his body lay. Beneath him was Numa--waiting. + +The ape-man raised his face to Kudu, the sun, and from his mighty +chest rose the savage victory cry of the bull ape. + + + + +Chapter III + +In the German Lines + + +Tarzan was not yet fully revenged. There were many millions of +Germans yet alive--enough to keep Tarzan pleasantly occupied the +balance of his life, and yet not enough, should he kill them all, +to recompense him for the great loss he had suffered--nor could +the death of all those million Germans bring back his loved one. + +While in the German camp in the Pare Mountains, which lie just +east of the boundary line between German and British East Africa, +Tarzan had overheard enough to suggest that the British were getting +the worst of the fighting in Africa. At first he had given the +matter but little thought, since, after the death of his wife, the +one strong tie that had held him to civilization, he had renounced +all mankind, considering himself no longer man, but ape. + +After accounting for Schneider as satisfactorily as lay within his +power he circled Kilimanjaro and hunted in the foothills to the +north of that mightiest of mountains as he had discovered that in +the neighborhood of the armies there was no hunting at all. Some +pleasure he derived through conjuring mental pictures from time to +time of the German he had left in the branches of the lone tree at +the bottom of the high-walled gulch in which was penned the starving +lion. He could imagine the man's mental anguish as he became weakened +from hunger and maddened by thirst, knowing that sooner or later he +must slip exhausted to the ground where waited the gaunt man-eater. +Tarzan wondered if Schneider would have the courage to descend to +the little rivulet for water should Numa leave the gulch and enter +the cave, and then he pictured the mad race for the tree again +when the lion charged out to seize his prey as he was certain to +do, since the clumsy German could not descend to the rivulet without +making at least some slight noise that would attract Numa's attention. + +But even this pleasure palled, and more and more the ape-man found +himself thinking of the English soldiers fighting against heavy +odds and especially of the fact that it was Germans who were beating +them. The thought made him lower his head and growl and it worried +him not a little--a bit, perhaps, because he was finding it difficult +to forget that he was an Englishman when he wanted only to be an +ape. And at last the time came when he could not longer endure the +thought of Germans killing Englishmen while he hunted in safety a +bare march away. + +His decision made, he set out in the direction of the German camp, +no well-defined plan formulated; but with the general idea that +once near the field of operations he might find an opportunity to +harass the German command as he so well knew how to do. His way +took him along the gorge close to the gulch in which he had left +Schneider, and, yielding to a natural curiosity, he scaled the cliffs +and made his way to the edge of the gulch. The tree was empty, nor +was there sign of Numa, the lion. Picking up a rock he hurled it +into the gulch, where it rolled to the very entrance to the cave. +Instantly the lion appeared in the aperture; but such a different-looking +lion from the great sleek brute that Tarzan had trapped there two +weeks before. Now he was gaunt and emaciated, and when he walked +he staggered. + +"Where is the German?" shouted Tarzan. "Was he good eating, or only +a bag of bones when he slipped and fell from the tree?" + +Numa growled. "You look hungry, Numa," continued the ape-man. "You +must have been very hungry to eat all the grass from your lair and +even the bark from the tree as far up as you can reach. Would you +like another German?" and smiling he turned away. + +A few minutes later he came suddenly upon Bara, the deer, asleep +beneath a tree, and as Tarzan was hungry he made a quick kill, +and squatting beside his prey proceeded to eat his fill. As he +was gnawing the last morsel from a bone his quick ears caught the +padding of stealthy feet behind him, and turning he confronted +Dango, the hyena, sneaking upon him. With a growl the ape-man +picked up a fallen branch and hurled it at the skulking brute. "Go +away, eater of carrion!" he cried; but Dango was hungry and being +large and powerful he only snarled and circled slowly about as +though watching for an opportunity to charge. Tarzan of the Apes +knew Dango even better than Dango knew himself. He knew that the +brute, made savage by hunger, was mustering its courage for an +attack, that it was probably accustomed to man and therefore more +or less fearless of him and so he un-slung his heavy spear and +laid it ready at his side while he continued his meal, all the time +keeping a watchful eye upon the hyena. + +He felt no fear, for long familiarity with the dangers of his wild +world had so accustomed him to them that he took whatever came as +a part of each day's existence as you accept the homely though no +less real dangers of the farm, the range, or the crowded metropolis. +Being jungle bred he was ready to protect his kill from all comers +within ordinary limitations of caution. Under favorable conditions +Tarzan would face even Numa himself and, if forced to seek safety +by flight, he could do so without any feeling of shame. There was +no braver creature roamed those savage wilds and at the same time +there was none more wise--the two factors that had permitted him +to survive. + +Dango might have charged sooner but for the savage growls of the +ape-man--growls which, coming from human lips, raised a question +and a fear in the hyena's heart. He had attacked women and children +in the native fields and he had frightened their men about their +fires at night; but he never had seen a man-thing who made this +sound that reminded him more of Numa angry than of a man afraid. + +When Tarzan had completed his repast he was about to rise and hurl +a clean-picked bone at the beast before he went his way, leaving +the remains of his kill to Dango; but a sudden thought stayed him +and instead he picked up the carcass of the deer, threw it over +his shoulder, and set off in the direction of the gulch. For a +few yards Dango followed, growling, and then realizing that he was +being robbed of even a taste of the luscious flesh he cast discretion +to the winds and charged. Instantly, as though Nature had given him +eyes in the back of his head, Tarzan sensed the impending danger +and, dropping Bara to the ground, turned with raised spear. Far +back went the brown, right hand and then forward, lightning-like, +backed by the power of giant muscles and the weight of his brawn +and bone. The spear, released at the right instant, drove straight +for Dango, caught him in the neck where it joined the shoulders +and passed through the body. + +When he had withdrawn the shaft from the hyena Tarzan shouldered +both carcasses and continued on toward the gulch. Below lay Numa +beneath the shade of the lone tree and at the ape-man's call he +staggered slowly to his feet, yet weak as he was, he still growled +savagely, even essaying a roar at the sight of his enemy. Tarzan +let the two bodies slide over the rim of the cliff. "Eat, Numa!" +he cried. "It may be that I shall need you again." He saw the lion, +quickened to new life at the sight of food, spring upon the body +of the deer and then he left him rending and tearing the flesh as +he bolted great pieces into his empty maw. + +The following day Tarzan came within sight of the German lines. +From a wooded spur of the hills he looked down upon the enemy's +left flank and beyond to the British lines. His position gave him +a bird's-eye view of the field of battle, and his keen eyesight +picked out many details that would not have been apparent to a man +whose every sense was not trained to the highest point of perfection +as were the ape-man's. He noted machine-gun emplacements cunningly +hidden from the view of the British and listening posts placed well +out in No Man's Land. + +As his interested gaze moved hither and thither from one point of +interest to another he heard from a point upon the hillside below +him, above the roar of cannon and the crack of rifle fire, a single +rifle spit. Immediately his attention was centered upon the spot +where he knew a sniper must be hid. Patiently he awaited the next +shot that would tell him more surely the exact location of the +rifleman, and when it came he moved down the steep hillside with +the stealth and quietness of a panther. Apparently he took no +cognizance of where he stepped, yet never a loose stone was disturbed +nor a twig broken--it was as though his feet saw. + +Presently, as he passed through a clump of bushes, he came to the +edge of a low cliff and saw upon a ledge some fifteen feet below +him a German soldier prone behind an embankment of loose rock and +leafy boughs that hid him from the view of the British lines. The +man must have been an excellent shot, for he was well back of the +German lines, firing over the heads of his fellows. His high-powered +rifle was equipped with telescope sights and he also carried +binoculars which he was in the act of using as Tarzan discovered +him, either to note the effect of his last shot or to discover +a new target. Tarzan let his eye move quickly toward that part of +the British line the German seemed to be scanning, his keen sight +revealing many excellent targets for a rifle placed so high above +the trenches. + +The Hun, evidently satisfied with his observations, laid aside +his binoculars and again took up his rifle, placed its butt in the +hollow of his shoulder and took careful aim. At the same instant a +brown body sprang outward from the cliff above him. There was no +sound and it is doubtful that the German ever knew what manner of +creature it was that alighted heavily upon his back, for at the +instant of impact the sinewy fingers of the ape-man circled the +hairy throat of the Boche. There was a moment of futile struggling +followed by the sudden realization of dissolution--the sniper was +dead. + +Lying behind the rampart of rocks and boughs, Tarzan looked down +upon the scene below. Near at hand were the trenches of the Germans. +He could see officers and men moving about in them and almost in +front of him a well-hidden machine gun was traversing No Man's Land +in an oblique direction, striking the British at such an angle as +to make it difficult for them to locate it. + +Tarzan watched, toying idly with the rifle of the dead German. +Presently he fell to examining the mechanism of the piece. He +glanced again toward the German trenches and changed the adjustment +of the sights, then he placed the rifle to his shoulder and took +aim. Tarzan was an excellent shot. With his civilized friends he +had hunted big game with the weapons of civilization and though he +never had killed except for food or in self-defense he had amused +himself firing at inanimate targets thrown into the air and had +perfected himself in the use of firearms without realizing that +he had done so. Now indeed would he hunt big game. A slow smile +touched his lips as his finger closed gradually upon the trigger. +The rifle spoke and a German machine gunner collapsed behind his +weapon. In three minutes Tarzan picked off the crew of that gun. +Then he spotted a German officer emerging from a dugout and the +three men in the bay with him. Tarzan was careful to leave no one +in the immediate vicinity to question how Germans could be shot in +German trenches when they were entirely concealed from enemy view. + +Again adjusting his sights he took a long-range shot at a distant +machine-gun crew to his right. With calm deliberation he wiped them +out to a man. Two guns were silenced. He saw men running through +the trenches and he picked off several of them. By this time the +Germans were aware that something was amiss--that an uncanny sniper +had discovered a point of vantage from which this sector of the +trenches was plainly visible to him. At first they sought to discover +his location in No Man's Land; but when an officer looking over +the parapet through a periscope was struck full in the back of the +head with a rifle bullet which passed through his skull and fell +to the bottom of the trench they realized that it was beyond the +parados rather than the parapet that they should search. + +One of the soldiers picked up the bullet that had killed his +officer, and then it was that real excitement prevailed in that +particular bay, for the bullet was obviously of German make. Hugging +the parados, messengers carried the word in both directions and +presently periscopes were leveled above the parados and keen eyes +were searching out the traitor. It did not take them long to locate +the position of the hidden sniper and then Tarzan saw a machine +gun being trained upon him. Before it had gotten into action its +crew lay dead about it; but there were other men to take their +places, reluctantly perhaps; but driven on by their officers they +were forced to it and at the same time two other machine guns were +swung around toward the ape-man and put into operation. + +Realizing that the game was about up Tarzan with a farewell shot +laid aside the rifle and melted into the hills behind him. For many +minutes he could hear the sputter of machinegun fire concentrated +upon the spot he had just quit and smiled as he contemplated the +waste of German ammunition. + +"They have paid heavily for Wasimbu, the Waziri, whom they crucified, +and for his slain fellows," he mused; "but for Jane they can never +pay--no, not if I killed them all." + +After dark that night he circled the flanks of both armies and +passed through the British out-guards and into the British lines. +No man saw him come. No man knew that he was there. + +Headquarters of the Second Rhodesians occupied a sheltered position +far enough back of the lines to be comparatively safe from enemy +observation. Even lights were permitted, and Colonel Capell sat +before a field table, on which was spread a military map, talking +with several of his officers. A large tree spread above them, a +lantern sputtered dimly upon the table, while a small fire burned +upon the ground close at hand. The enemy had no planes and no other +observers could have seen the lights from the German lines. + +The officers were discussing the advantage in numbers possessed by +the enemy and the inability of the British to more than hold their +present position. They could not advance. Already they had sustained +severe losses in every attack and had always been driven back by +overwhelming numbers. There were hidden machine guns, too, that +bothered the colonel considerably. It was evidenced by the fact +that he often reverted to them during the conversation. + +"Something silenced them for a while this afternoon," said one of +the younger officers. "I was observing at the time and I couldn't +make out what the fuss was about; but they seemed to be having a +devil of a time in a section of trench on their left. At one time I +could have sworn they were attacked in the rear--I reported it to +you at the time, sir, you'll recall--for the blighters were pepperin' +away at the side of that bluff behind them. I could see the dirt +fly. I don't know what it could have been." + +There was a slight rustling among the branches of the tree above +them and simultaneously a lithe, brown body dropped in their midst. +Hands moved quickly to the butts of pistols; but otherwise there +was no movement among the officers. First they looked wonderingly +at the almost naked white man standing there with the firelight +playing upon rounded muscles, took in the primitive attire and +the equally primitive armament and then all eyes turned toward the +colonel. + +"Who the devil are you, sir?" snapped that officer. + +"Tarzan of the Apes," replied the newcomer. + +"Oh, Greystoke!" cried a major, and stepped forward with outstretched +hand. + +"Preswick," acknowledged Tarzan as he took the proffered hand. + +"I didn't recognize you at first," apologized the major. "The +last time I saw you you were in London in evening dress. Quite a +difference--'pon my word, man, you'll have to admit it." + +Tarzan smiled and turned toward the colonel. "I overheard your +conversation," he said. "I have just come from behind the German +lines. Possibly I can help you." + +The colonel looked questioningly toward Major Preswick who quickly +rose to the occasion and presented the ape-man to his commanding +officer and fellows. Briefly Tarzan told them what it was that +brought him out alone in pursuit of the Germans. + +"And now you have come to join us?" asked the colonel. + +Tarzan shook his head. "Not regularly," he replied. "I must fight +in my own way; but I can help you. Whenever I wish I can enter the +German lines." + +Capell smiled and shook his head. "It's not so easy as you think," +he said; "I've lost two good officers in the last week trying it--and +they were experienced men; none better in the Intelligence Department." + +"Is it more difficult than entering the British lines?" asked +Tarzan. + +The colonel was about to reply when a new thought appeared to occur +to him and he looked quizzically at the ape-man. "Who brought you +here?" he asked. "Who passed you through our out-guards?" + +"I have just come through the German lines and yours and passed +through your camp," he replied. "Send word to ascertain if anyone +saw me." + +"But who accompanied you?" insisted Capell. + +"I came alone," replied Tarzan and then, drawing himself to +his full height, "You men of civilization, when you come into the +jungle, are as dead among the quick. Manu, the monkey, is a sage +by comparison. I marvel that you exist at all--only your numbers, +your weapons, and your power of reasoning save you. Had I a few +hundred great apes with your reasoning power I could drive the +Germans into the ocean as quickly as the remnant of them could +reach the coast. Fortunate it is for you that the dumb brutes cannot +combine. Could they, Africa would remain forever free of men. But +come, can I help you? Would you like to know where several machinegun +emplacements are hidden?" + +The colonel assured him that they would, and a moment later Tarzan +had traced upon the map the location of three that had been bothering +the English. "There is a weak spot here," he said, placing a finger +upon the map. "It is held by blacks; but the machine guns out in +front are manned by whites. If--wait! I have a plan. You can fill +that trench with your own men and enfilade the trenches to its +right with their own machine guns." + +Colonel Capell smiled and shook his head. "It sounds very easy," +he said. + +"It IS easy--for me," replied the ape-man. "I can empty that section +of trench without a shot. I was raised in the jungle--I know the +jungle folk--the Gomangani as well as the others. Look for me again +on the second night," and he turned to leave. + +"Wait," said the colonel. "I will send an officer to pass you +through the lines." + +Tarzan smiled and moved away. As he was leaving the little group +about headquarters he passed a small figure wrapped in an officer's +heavy overcoat. The collar was turned up and the visor of the +military cap pulled well down over the eyes; but, as the ape-man +passed, the light from the fire illuminated the features of the +newcomer for an instant, revealing to Tarzan a vaguely familiar +face. Some officer he had known in London, doubtless, he surmised, +and went his way through the British camp and the British lines +all unknown to the watchful sentinels of the out-guard. + +Nearly all night he moved across Kilimanjaro's foothills, tracking +by instinct an unknown way, for he guessed that what he sought would +be found on some wooded slope higher up than he had come upon his +other recent journeys in this, to him, little known country. Three +hours before dawn his keen nostrils apprised him that somewhere in +the vicinity he would find what he wanted, and so he climbed into +a tall tree and settled himself for a few hours' sleep. + + + + +Chapter IV + +When the Lion Fed + + +Kudu, the sun, was well up in the heavens when Tarzan awoke. The +ape-man stretched his giant limbs, ran his fingers through his thick +hair, and swung lightly down to earth. Immediately he took up the +trail he had come in search of, following it by scent down into +a deep ravine. Cautiously he went now, for his nose told him that +the quarry was close at hand, and presently from an overhanging +bough he looked down upon Horta, the boar, and many of his kinsmen. +Un-slinging his bow and selecting an arrow, Tarzan fitted the shaft +and, drawing it far back, took careful aim at the largest of the +great pigs. In the ape-man's teeth were other arrows, and no sooner +had the first one sped, than he had fitted and shot another bolt. +Instantly the pigs were in turmoil, not knowing from whence the +danger threatened. They stood stupidly at first and then commenced +milling around until six of their number lay dead or dying about +them; then with a chorus of grunts and squeals they started off at +a wild run, disappearing quickly in the dense underbrush. + +Tarzan then descended from the tree, dispatched those that were not +already dead and proceeded to skin the carcasses. As he worked, +rapidly and with great skill, he neither hummed nor whistled as +does the average man of civilization. It was in numerous little +ways such as these that he differed from other men, due, probably, +to his early jungle training. The beasts of the jungle that he had +been reared among were playful to maturity but seldom thereafter. +His fellow-apes, especially the bulls, became fierce and surly as +they grew older. Life was a serious matter during lean seasons--one +had to fight to secure one's share of food then, and the habit once +formed became lifelong. Hunting for food was the life labor of the +jungle bred, and a life labor is a thing not to be approached with +levity nor prosecuted lightly. So all work found Tarzan serious, +though he still retained what the other beasts lost as they grew +older--a sense of humor, which he gave play to when the mood suited +him. It was a grim humor and sometimes ghastly; but it satisfied +Tarzan. + +Then, too, were one to sing and whistle while working on the ground, +concentration would be impossible. Tarzan possessed the ability to +concentrate each of his five senses upon its particular business. +Now he worked at skinning the six pigs and his eyes and his fingers +worked as though there was naught else in all the world than these +six carcasses; but his ears and his nose were as busily engaged +elsewhere--the former ranging the forest all about and the latter +assaying each passing zephyr. It was his nose that first discovered +the approach of Sabor, the lioness, when the wind shifted for a +moment. + +As clearly as though he had seen her with his eyes, Tarzan knew +that the lioness had caught the scent of the freshly killed pigs +and immediately had moved down wind in their direction. He knew +from the strength of the scent spoor and the rate of the wind about +how far away she was and that she was approaching from behind him. +He was finishing the last pig and he did not hurry. The five pelts +lay close at hand--he had been careful to keep them thus together +and near him--an ample tree waved its low branches above him. + +He did not even turn his head for he knew she was not yet in sight; +but he bent his ears just a bit more sharply for the first sound +of her nearer approach. When the final skin had been removed he +rose. Now he heard Sabor in the bushes to his rear, but not yet +too close. Leisurely he gathered up the six pelts and one of the +carcasses, and as the lioness appeared between the boles of two +trees he swung upward into the branches above him. Here he hung +the hides over a limb, seated himself comfortably upon another with +his back against the bole of the tree, cut a hind quarter from +the carcass he had carried with him and proceeded to satisfy his +hunger. Sabor slunk, growling, from the brush, cast a wary eye +upward toward the ape-man and then fell upon the nearest carcass. + +Tarzan looked down upon her and grinned, recalling an argument he +had once had with a famous big-game hunter who had declared that +the king of beasts ate only what he himself had killed. Tarzan knew +better for he had seen Numa and Sabor stoop even to carrion. + +Having filled his belly, the ape-man fell to work upon the hides--all +large and strong. First he cut strips from them about half an inch +wide. When he had sufficient number of these strips he sewed two of +the hides together, afterwards piercing holes every three or four +inches around the edges. Running another strip through these +holes gave him a large bag with a drawstring. In similar fashion he +produced four other like bags, but smaller, from the four remaining +hides and had several strips left over. + +All this done he threw a large, juicy fruit at Sabor, cached the +remainder of the pig in a crotch of the tree and swung off toward +the southwest through the middle terraces of the forest, carrying +his five bags with him. Straight he went to the rim of the gulch +where he had imprisoned Numa, the lion. Very stealthily he approached +the edge and peered over. Numa was not in sight. Tarzan sniffed +and listened. He could hear nothing, yet he knew that Numa must be +within the cave. He hoped that he slept--much depended upon Numa +not discovering him. + +Cautiously he lowered himself over the edge of the cliff, and with +utter noiselessness commenced the descent toward the bottom of the +gulch. He stopped often and turned his keen eyes and ears in the +direction of the cave's mouth at the far end of the gulch, some +hundred feet away. As he neared the foot of the cliff his danger +increased greatly. If he could reach the bottom and cover half +the distance to the tree that stood in the center of the gulch he +would feel comparatively safe for then, even if Numa appeared, he +felt that he could beat him either to the cliff or to the tree, +but to scale the first thirty feet of the cliff rapidly enough to +elude the leaping beast would require a running start of at least +twenty feet as there were no very good hand- or footholds close +to the bottom--he had had to run up the first twenty feet like +a squirrel running up a tree that other time he had beaten an +infuriated Numa to it. He had no desire to attempt it again unless +the conditions were equally favorable at least, for he had escaped +Numa's raking talons by only a matter of inches on the former +occasion. + +At last he stood upon the floor of the gulch. Silent as a disembodied +spirit he advanced toward the tree. He was half way there and no +sign of Numa. He reached the scarred bole from which the famished +lion had devoured the bark and even torn pieces of the wood itself +and yet Numa had not appeared. As he drew himself up to the lower +branches he commenced to wonder if Numa were in the cave after +all. Could it be possible that he had forced the barrier of rocks +with which Tarzan had plugged the other end of the passage where +it opened into the outer world of freedom? Or was Numa dead? The +ape-man doubted the verity of the latter suggestion as he had fed +the lion the entire carcasses of a deer and a hyena only a few +days since--he could not have starved in so short a time, while the +little rivulet running across the gulch furnished him with water +a-plenty. + +Tarzan started to descend and investigate the cavern when it occurred +to him that it would save effort were he to lure Numa out instead. +Acting upon the thought he uttered a low growl. Immediately he was +rewarded by the sound of a movement within the cave and an instant +later a wild-eyed, haggard lion rushed forth ready to face the +devil himself were he edible. When Numa saw Tarzan, fat and sleek, +perched in the tree he became suddenly the embodiment of frightful +rage. His eyes and his nose told him that this was the creature +responsible for his predicament and also that this creature was +good to eat. Frantically the lion sought to scramble up the bole of +the tree. Twice he leaped high enough to catch the lowest branches +with his paws, but both times he fell backward to the earth. Each +time he became more furious. His growls and roars were incessant +and horrible and all the time Tarzan sat grinning down upon him, +taunting him in jungle billingsgate for his inability to reach +him and mentally exulting that always Numa was wasting his already +waning strength. + +Finally the ape-man rose and un-slung his rope. He arranged the +coils carefully in his left hand and the noose in his right, and +then he took a position with each foot on one of two branches that +lay in about the same horizontal plane and with his back pressed +firmly against the stem of the tree. There he stood hurling insults +at Numa until the beast was again goaded into leaping upward at +him, and as Numa rose the noose dropped quickly over his head and +about his neck. A quick movement of Tarzan's rope hand tightened +the coil and when Numa slipped backward to the ground only his hind +feet touched, for the ape-man held him swinging by the neck. + +Moving slowly outward upon the two branches Tarzan swung Numa out +so that he could not reach the bole of the tree with his raking +talons, then he made the rope fast after drawing the lion clear +of the ground, dropped his five pigskin sacks to earth and leaped +down himself. Numa was striking frantically at the grass rope with +his fore claws. At any moment he might sever it and Tarzan must, +therefore, work rapidly. + +First he drew the larger bag over Numa's head and secured it about +his neck with the draw string, then he managed, after considerable +effort, during which he barely escaped being torn to ribbons by +the mighty talons, to hog-tie Numa--drawing his four legs together +and securing them in that position with the strips trimmed from +the pigskins. + +By this time the lion's efforts had almost ceased--it was evident +that he was being rapidly strangled and as that did not at all +suit the purpose of the Tarmangani the latter swung again into the +tree, unfastened the rope from above and lowered the lion to the +ground where he immediately followed it and loosed the noose about +Numa's neck. Then he drew his hunting knife and cut two round holes +in the front of the head bag opposite the lion's eyes for the double +purpose of permitting him to see and giving him sufficient air to +breathe. + +This done Tarzan busied himself fitting the other bags, one over +each of Numa's formidably armed paws. Those on the hind feet he +secured not only by tightening the draw strings but also rigged +garters that fastened tightly around the legs above the hocks. +He secured the front-feet bags in place similarly above the great +knees. Now, indeed, was Numa, the lion, reduced to the harmlessness +of Bara, the deer. + +By now Numa was showing signs of returning life. He gasped for +breath and struggled; but the strips of pigskin that held his four +legs together were numerous and tough. Tarzan watched and was sure +that they would hold, yet Numa is mightily muscled and there was +the chance, always, that he might struggle free of his bonds after +which all would depend upon the efficacy of Tarzan's bags and draw +strings. + +After Numa had again breathed normally and was able to roar +out his protests and his rage, his struggles increased to Titanic +proportions for a short time; but as a lion's powers of endurance +are in no way proportionate to his size and strength he soon tired +and lay quietly. Amid renewed growling and another futile attempt +to free himself, Numa was finally forced to submit to the further +indignity of having a rope secured about his neck; but this time +it was no noose that might tighten and strangle him; but a bowline +knot, which does not tighten or slip under strain. + +The other end of the rope Tarzan fastened to the stem of the tree, +then he quickly cut the bonds securing Numa's legs and leaped aside +as the beast sprang to his feet. For a moment the lion stood with +legs far outspread, then he raised first one paw and then another, +shaking them energetically in an effort to dislodge the strange +footgear that Tarzan had fastened upon them. Finally he began to paw +at the bag upon his head. The ape-man, standing with ready spear, +watched Numa's efforts intently. Would the bags hold? He sincerely +hoped so. Or would all his labor prove fruitless? + +As the clinging things upon his feet and face resisted his every +effort to dislodge them, Numa became frantic. He rolled upon the +ground, fighting, biting, scratching, and roaring; he leaped to his +feet and sprang into the air; he charged Tarzan, only to be brought +to a sudden stop as the rope securing him to the tree tautened. +Then Tarzan stepped in and rapped him smartly on the head with the +shaft of his spear. Numa reared upon his hind feet and struck at +the ape-man and in return received a cuff on one ear that sent him +reeling sideways. When he returned to the attack he was again sent +sprawling. After the fourth effort it appeared to dawn upon the king +of beasts that he had met his master, his head and tail dropped and +when Tarzan advanced upon him he backed away, though still growling. + +Leaving Numa tied to the tree Tarzan entered the tunnel and removed +the barricade from the opposite end, after which he returned to +the gulch and strode straight for the tree. Numa lay in his path +and as Tarzan approached growled menacingly. The ape-man cuffed +him aside and unfastened the rope from the tree. Then ensued a +half-hour of stubbornly fought battle while Tarzan endeavored to +drive Numa through the tunnel ahead of him and Numa persistently +refused to be driven. At last, however, by dint of the unrestricted +use of his spear point, the ape-man succeeded in forcing the lion +to move ahead of him and eventually guided him into the passageway. +Once inside, the problem became simpler since Tarzan followed closely +in the rear with his sharp spear point, an unremitting incentive +to forward movement on the part of the lion. If Numa hesitated he +was prodded. If he backed up the result was extremely painful and +so, being a wise lion who was learning rapidly, he decided to keep +on going and at the end of the tunnel, emerging into the outer +world, he sensed freedom, raised his head and tail and started off +at a run. + +Tarzan, still on his hands and knees just inside the entrance, was +taken unaware with the result that he was sprawled forward upon +his face and dragged a hundred yards across the rocky ground before +Numa was brought to a stand. It was a scratched and angry Tarzan +who scrambled to his feet. At first he was tempted to chastise +Numa; but, as the ape-man seldom permitted his temper to guide him +in any direction not countenanced by reason, he quickly abandoned +the idea. + +Having taught Numa the rudiments of being driven, he now urged him +forward and there commenced as strange a journey as the unrecorded +history of the jungle contains. The balance of that day was eventful +both for Tarzan and for Numa. From open rebellion at first the lion +passed through stages of stubborn resistance and grudging obedience +to final surrender. He was a very tired, hungry, and thirsty lion +when night overtook them; but there was to be no food for him that +day or the next--Tarzan did not dare risk removing the head bag, +though he did cut another hole which permitted Numa to quench his +thirst shortly after dark. Then he tied him to a tree, sought food +for himself, and stretched out among the branches above his captive +for a few hours' sleep. + +Early the following morning they resumed their journey, winding over +the low foothills south of Kilimanjaro, toward the east. The beasts +of the jungle who saw them took one look and fled. The scent spoor +of Numa, alone, might have been enough to have provoked flight in +many of the lesser animals, but the sight of this strange apparition +that smelled like a lion, but looked like nothing they ever had +seen before, being led through the jungles by a giant Tarmangani +was too much for even the more formidable denizens of the wild. + +Sabor, the lioness, recognizing from a distance the scent of her +lord and master intermingled with that of a Tarmangani and the +hide of Horta, the boar, trotted through the aisles of the forest +to investigate. Tarzan and Numa heard her coming, for she voiced +a plaintive and questioning whine as the baffling mixture of odors +aroused her curiosity and her fears, for lions, however terrible +they may appear, are often timid animals and Sabor, being of the +gentler sex, was, naturally, habitually inquisitive as well. + +Tarzan un-slung his spear for he knew that he might now easily have +to fight to retain his prize. Numa halted and turned his outraged +head in the direction of the coming she. He voiced a throaty growl +that was almost a purr. Tarzan was upon the point of prodding him +on again when Sabor broke into view, and behind her the ape-man saw +that which gave him instant pause--four full-grown lions trailing +the lioness. + +To have goaded Numa then into active resistance might have brought +the whole herd down upon him and so Tarzan waited to learn first +what their attitude would be. He had no idea of relinquishing his +lion without a battle; but knowing lions as he did, he knew that +there was no assurance as to just what the newcomers would do. + +The lioness was young and sleek, and the four males were in their +prime--as handsome lions as he ever had seen. Three of the males +were scantily maned but one, the foremost, carried a splendid, +black mane that rippled in the breeze as he trotted majestically +forward. The lioness halted a hundred feet from Tarzan, while the +lions came on past her and stopped a few feet nearer. Their ears +were upstanding and their eyes filled with curiosity. Tarzan could +not even guess what they might do. The lion at his side faced them +fully, standing silent now and watchful. + +Suddenly the lioness gave vent to another little whine, at which +Tarzan's lion voiced a terrific roar and leaped forward straight +toward the beast of the black mane. The sight of this awesome +creature with the strange face was too much for the lion toward +which he leaped, dragging Tarzan after him, and with a growl the +lion turned and fled, followed by his companions and the she. + +Numa attempted to follow them; Tarzan held him in leash and when +he turned upon him in rage, beat him unmercifully across the head +with his spear. Shaking his head and growling, the lion at last moved +off again in the direction they had been traveling; but it was an +hour before he ceased to sulk. He was very hungry--half famished +in fact--and consequently of an ugly temper, yet so thoroughly +subdued by Tarzan's heroic methods of lion taming that he was +presently pacing along at the ape-man's side like some huge St. +Bernard. + +It was dark when the two approached the British right, after a +slight delay farther back because of a German patrol it had been +necessary to elude. A short distance from the British line of +out-guard sentinels Tarzan tied Numa to a tree and continued on +alone. He evaded a sentinel, passed the out-guard and support, and +by devious ways came again to Colonel Capell's headquarters, where +he appeared before the officers gathered there as a disembodied +spirit materializing out of thin air. + +When they saw who it was that came thus unannounced they smiled +and the colonel scratched his head in perplexity. + +"Someone should be shot for this," he said. "I might just as well +not establish an out-post if a man can filter through whenever he +pleases." + +Tarzan smiled. "Do not blame them," he said, "for I am not a man. +I am Tarmangani. Any Mangani who wished to, could enter your camp +almost at will; but if you have them for sentinels no one could +enter without their knowledge." + +"What are the Mangani?" asked the colonel. "Perhaps we might enlist +a bunch of the beggars." + +Tarzan shook his head. "They are the great apes," he explained; "my +people; but you could not use them. They cannot concentrate long +enough upon a single idea. If I told them of this they would be +much interested for a short time--I might even hold the interest +of a few long enough to get them here and explain their duties to +them; but soon they would lose interest and when you needed them +most they might be off in the forest searching for beetles instead +of watching their posts. They have the minds of little children--that +is why they remain what they are." + +"You call them Mangani and yourself Tarmangani--what is the +difference?" asked Major Preswick. + +"Tar means white," replied Tarzan, "and Mangani, great ape. My name--the +name they gave me in the tribe of Kerchak--means White-skin. When +I was a little balu my skin, I presume, looked very white indeed +against the beautiful, black coat of Kala, my foster mother +and so they called me Tarzan, the Tarmangani. They call you, too, +Tarmangani," he concluded, smiling. + +Capell smiled. "It is no reproach, Greystoke," he said; "and, by +Jove, it would be a mark of distinction if a fellow could act the +part. And now how about your plan? Do you still think you can empty +the trench opposite our sector?" + +"Is it still held by Gomangani?" asked Tarzan. + +"What are Gomangani?" inquired the colonel. "It is still held by +native troops, if that is what you mean." + +"Yes," replied the ape-man, "the Gomangani are the great black +apes--the Negroes." + +"What do you intend doing and what do you want us to do?" asked +Capell. + +Tarzan approached the table and placed a finger on the map. "Here +is a listening post," he said; "they have a machine gun in it. A +tunnel connects it with this trench at this point." His finger moved +from place to place on the map as he talked. "Give me a bomb and +when you hear it burst in this listening post let your men start +across No Man's Land slowly. Presently they will hear a commotion +in the enemy trench; but they need not hurry, and, whatever they +do, have them come quietly. You might also warn them that I may be +in the trench and that I do not care to be shot or bayoneted." + +"And that is all?" queried Capell, after directing an officer to +give Tarzan a hand grenade; "you will empty the trench alone?" + +"Not exactly alone," replied Tarzan with a grim smile; "but I shall +empty it, and, by the way, your men may come in through the tunnel +from the listening post if you prefer. In about half an hour, +Colonel," and he turned and left them. + +As he passed through the camp there flashed suddenly upon the screen +of recollection, conjured there by some reminder of his previous +visit to headquarters, doubtless, the image of the officer he had +passed as he quit the colonel that other time and simultaneously +recognition of the face that had been revealed by the light from +the fire. He shook his head dubiously. No, it could not be and +yet the features of the young officer were identical with those of +Fraulein Kircher, the German spy he had seen at German headquarters +the night he took Major Schneider from under the nose of the Hun +general and his staff. + +Beyond the last line of sentinels Tarzan moved quickly in the +direction of Numa, the lion. The beast was lying down as Tarzan +approached, but he rose as the ape-man reached his side. A low +whine escaped his muzzled lips. Tarzan smiled for he recognized in +the new note almost a supplication--it was more like the whine of +a hungry dog begging for food than the voice of the proud king of +beasts. + +"Soon you will kill--and feed," he murmured in the vernacular of +the great apes. + +He unfastened the rope from about the tree and, with Numa close +at his side, slunk into No Man's Land. There was little rifle fire +and only an occasional shell vouched for the presence of artillery +behind the opposing lines. As the shells from both sides were +falling well back of the trenches, they constituted no menace to +Tarzan; but the noise of them and that of the rifle fire had a marked +effect upon Numa who crouched, trembling, close to the Tarmangani +as though seeking protection. + +Cautiously the two beasts moved forward toward the listening post +of the Germans. In one hand Tarzan carried the bomb the English had +given him, in the other was the coiled rope attached to the lion. +At last Tarzan could see the position a few yards ahead. His keen +eyes picked out the head and shoulders of the sentinel on watch. +The ape-man grasped the bomb firmly in his right hand. He measured +the distance with his eye and gathered his feet beneath him, then +in a single motion he rose and threw the missile, immediately +flattening himself prone upon the ground. + +Five seconds later there was a terrific explosion in the center of +the listening post. Numa gave a nervous start and attempted to break +away; but Tarzan held him and, leaping to his feet, ran forward, +dragging Numa after him. At the edge of the post he saw below him +but slight evidence that the position had been occupied at all, +for only a few shreds of torn flesh remained. About the only thing +that had not been demolished was a machine gun which had been +protected by sand bags. + +There was not an instant to lose. Already a relief might be crawling +through the communication tunnel, for it must have been evident to +the sentinels in the Hun trenches that the listening post had been +demolished. Numa hesitated to follow Tarzan into the excavation; +but the ape-man, who was in no mood to temporize, jerked him roughly +to the bottom. Before them lay the mouth of the tunnel that led +back from No Man's Land to the German trenches. Tarzan pushed Numa +forward until his head was almost in the aperture, then as though +it were an afterthought, he turned quickly and, taking the machine +gun from the parapet, placed it in the bottom of the hole close +at hand, after which he turned again to Numa, and with his knife +quickly cut the garters that held the bags upon his front paws. +Before the lion could know that a part of his formidable armament +was again released for action, Tarzan had cut the rope from his +neck and the head bag from his face, and grabbing the lion from +the rear had thrust him partially into the mouth of the tunnel. + +Then Numa balked, only to feel the sharp prick of Tarzan's knife +point in his hind quarters. Goading him on the ape-man finally +succeeded in getting the lion sufficiently far into the tunnel +so that there was no chance of his escaping other than by going +forward or deliberately backing into the sharp blade at his rear. +Then Tarzan cut the bags from the great hind feet, placed his +shoulder and his knife point against Numa's seat, dug his toes +into the loose earth that had been broken up by the explosion of +the bomb, and shoved. + +Inch by inch at first Numa advanced. He was growling now and presently +he commenced to roar. Suddenly he leaped forward and Tarzan knew +that he had caught the scent of meat ahead. Dragging the machine +gun beside him the ape-man followed quickly after the lion whose +roars he could plainly hear ahead mingled with the unmistakable +screams of frightened men. Once again a grim smile touched the lips +of this man-beast. + +"They murdered my Waziri," he muttered; "they crucified Wasimbu, +son of Muviro." + +When Tarzan reached the trench and emerged into it there was no one +in sight in that particular bay, nor in the next, nor the next as +he hurried forward in the direction of the German center; but in the +fourth bay he saw a dozen men jammed in the angle of the traverse +at the end while leaping upon them and rending with talons and fangs +was Numa, a terrific incarnation of ferocity and ravenous hunger. + +Whatever held the men at last gave way as they fought madly with +one another in their efforts to escape this dread creature that +from their infancy had filled them with terror, and again they +were retreating. Some clambered over the parados and some even over +the parapet preferring the dangers of No Man's Land to this other +soul-searing menace. + +As the British advanced slowly toward the German trenches, they +first met terrified blacks who ran into their arms only too willing +to surrender. That pandemonium had broken loose in the Hun trench +was apparent to the Rhodesians not only from the appearance of the +deserters, but from the sounds of screaming, cursing men which came +clearly to their ears; but there was one that baffled them for it +resembled nothing more closely than the infuriated growling of an +angry lion. + +And when at last they reached the trench, those farthest on the left +of the advancing Britishers heard a machine gun sputter suddenly +before them and saw a huge lion leap over the German parados with +the body of a screaming Hun soldier between his jaws and vanish +into the shadows of the night, while squatting upon a traverse to +their left was Tarzan of the Apes with a machine gun before him +with which he was raking the length of the German trenches. + +The foremost Rhodesians saw something else--they saw a huge German +officer emerge from a dugout just in rear of the ape-man. They saw +him snatch up a discarded rifle with bayonet fixed and creep upon +the apparently unconscious Tarzan. They ran forward, shouting +warnings; but above the pandemonium of the trenches and the machine +gun their voices could not reach him. The German leaped upon the +parapet behind him--the fat hands raised the rifle butt aloft for +the cowardly downward thrust into the naked back and then, as moves +Ara, the lightning, moved Tarzan of the Apes. + +It was no man who leaped forward upon that Boche officer, striking +aside the sharp bayonet as one might strike aside a straw in a +baby's hand--it was a wild beast and the roar of a wild beast was +upon those savage lips, for as that strange sense that Tarzan owned +in common with the other jungle-bred creatures of his wild domain +warned him of the presence behind him and he had whirled to meet +the attack, his eyes had seen the corps and regimental insignia upon +the other's blouse--it was the same as that worn by the murderers +of his wife and his people, by the despoilers of his home and his +happiness. + +It was a wild beast whose teeth fastened upon the shoulder of the +Hun--it was a wild beast whose talons sought that fat neck. And +then the boys of the Second Rhodesian Regiment saw that which will +live forever in their memories. They saw the giant ape-man pick +the heavy German from the ground and shake him as a terrier might +shake a rat--as Sabor, the lioness, sometimes shakes her prey. +They saw the eyes of the Hun bulge in horror as he vainly struck +with his futile hands against the massive chest and head of his +assailant. They saw Tarzan suddenly spin the man about and placing +a knee in the middle of his back and an arm about his neck bend +his shoulders slowly backward. The German's knees gave and he sank +upon them, but still that irresistible force bent him further and +further. He screamed in agony for a moment--then something snapped +and Tarzan cast him aside, a limp and lifeless thing. + +The Rhodesians started forward, a cheer upon their lips--a cheer +that never was uttered--a cheer that froze in their throats, for +at that moment Tarzan placed a foot upon the carcass of his kill +and, raising his face to the heavens, gave voice to the weird and +terrifying victory cry of the bull ape. + +Underlieutenant von Goss was dead. + +Without a backward glance at the awe-struck soldiers Tarzan leaped +the trench and was gone. + + + + +Chapter V + +The Golden Locket + + +The little British army in East Africa, after suffering severe +reverses at the hands of a numerically much superior force, was +at last coming into its own. The German offensive had been broken +and the Huns were now slowly and doggedly retreating along the +railway to Tanga. The break in the German lines had followed the +clearing of a section of their left-flank trenches of native soldiers +by Tarzan and Numa, the lion, upon that memorable night that the +ape-man had loosed a famishing man-eater among the superstitious +and terror-stricken blacks. The Second Rhodesian Regiment had +immediately taken possession of the abandoned trench and from this +position their flanking fire had raked contiguous sections of the +German line, the diversion rendering possible a successful night +attack on the part of the balance of the British forces. + +Weeks had elapsed. The Germans were contesting stubbornly every +mile of waterless, thorn-covered ground and clinging desperately +to their positions along the railway. The officers of the Second +Rhodesians had seen nothing more of Tarzan of the Apes since he +had slain Underlieutenant von Goss and disappeared toward the very +heart of the German position, and there were those among them who +believed that he had been killed within the enemy lines. + +"They may have killed him," assented Colonel Capell; "but I fancy +they never captured the beggar alive." + +Nor had they, nor killed him either. Tarzan had spent those intervening +weeks pleasantly and profitably. He had amassed a considerable +fund of knowledge concerning the disposition and strength of German +troops, their methods of warfare, and the various ways in which a +lone Tarmangani might annoy an army and lower its morale. + +At present he was prompted by a specific desire. There was a certain +German spy whom he wished to capture alive and take back to the +British. When he had made his first visit to German headquarters, +he had seen a young woman deliver a paper to the German general, +and later he had seen that same young woman within the British +lines in the uniform of a British officer. The conclusions were +obvious--she was a spy. + +And so Tarzan haunted German headquarters upon many nights hoping +to see her again or to pick up some clew as to her whereabouts, +and at the same time he utilized many an artifice whereby he might +bring terror to the hearts of the Germans. That he was successful +was often demonstrated by the snatches of conversation he overheard as +he prowled through the German camps. One night as he lay concealed +in the bushes close beside a regimental headquarters he listened to +the conversation of several Boche officers. One of the men reverted +to the stories told by the native troops in connection with their +rout by a lion several weeks before and the simultaneous appearance +in their trenches of a naked, white giant whom they were perfectly +assured was some demon of the jungle. + +"The fellow must have been the same as he who leaped into the +general's headquarters and carried off Schneider," asserted one. +"I wonder how he happened to single out the poor major. They say +the creature seemed interested in no one but Schneider. He had von +Kelter in his grasp, and he might easily have taken the general +himself; but he ignored them all except Schneider. Him he pursued +about the room, seized and carried off into the night. Gott knows +what his fate was." + +"Captain Fritz Schneider has some sort of theory," said another. +"He told me only a week or two ago that he thinks he knows why his +brother was taken--that it was a case of mistaken identity. He was +not so sure about it until von Goss was killed, apparently by the +same creature, the night the lion entered the trenches. Von Goss was +attached to Schneider's company. One of Schneider's men was found +with his neck wrung the same night that the major was carried off +and Schneider thinks that this devil is after him and his +command--that it came for him that night and got his brother by +mistake. He says Kraut told him that in presenting the major to +Fraulein Kircher the former's name was no sooner spoken than this +wild man leaped through the window and made for him." + +Suddenly the little group became rigid--listening. "What was that?" +snapped one, eyeing the bushes from which a smothered snarl had +issued as Tarzan of the Apes realized that through his mistake the +perpetrator of the horrid crime at his bungalow still lived--that +the murderer of his wife went yet unpunished. + +For a long minute the officers stood with tensed nerves, every eye +riveted upon the bushes from whence the ominous sound had issued. +Each recalled recent mysterious disappearances from the heart of +camps as well as from lonely out-guards. Each thought of the silent +dead he had seen, slain almost within sight of their fellows by some +unseen creature. They thought of the marks upon dead throats--made +by talons or by giant fingers, they could not tell which--and those +upon shoulders and jugulars where powerful teeth had fastened and +they waited with drawn pistols. + +Once the bushes moved almost imperceptibly and an instant later +one of the officers, without warning, fired into them; but Tarzan +of the Apes was not there. In the interval between the moving of +the bushes and the firing of the shot he had melted into the night. +Ten minutes later he was hovering on the outskirts of that part +of camp where were bivouacked for the night the black soldiers of +a native company commanded by one Hauptmann Fritz Schneider. The +men were stretched upon the ground without tents; but there were +tents pitched for the officers. Toward these Tarzan crept. It was +slow and perilous work, as the Germans were now upon the alert for +the uncanny foe that crept into their camps to take his toll by +night, yet the ape-man passed their sentinels, eluded the vigilance +of the interior guard, and crept at last to the rear of the officers' +line. + +Here he flattened himself against the ground close behind the +nearest tent and listened. From within came the regular breathing +of a sleeping man--one only. Tarzan was satisfied. With his knife +he cut the tie strings of the rear flap and entered. He made no +noise. The shadow of a falling leaf, floating gently to earth upon +a still day, could have been no more soundless. He moved to the +side of the sleeping man and bent low over him. He could not know, +of course, whether it was Schneider or another, as he had never seen +Schneider; but he meant to know and to know even more. Gently he +shook the man by the shoulder. The fellow turned heavily and grunted +in a thick guttural. + +"Silence!" admonished the ape-man in a low whisper. "Silence--I +kill." + +The Hun opened his eyes. In the dim light he saw a giant figure +bending over him. Now a mighty hand grasped his shoulder and another +closed lightly about his throat. + +"Make no outcry," commanded Tarzan; "but answer in a whisper my +questions. What is your name?" + +"Luberg," replied the officer. He was trembling. The weird presence +of this naked giant filled him with dread. He, too, recalled the +men mysteriously murdered in the still watches of the night camps. +"What do you want?" + +"Where is Hauptmann Fritz Schneider?" asked Tarzan, "Which is his +tent?" + +"He is not here," replied Luberg. "He was sent to Wilhelmstal +yesterday." + +"I shall not kill you--now," said the ape-man. "First I shall go +and learn if you have lied to me and if you have your death shall +be the more terrible. Do you know how Major Schneider died?" + +Luberg shook his head negatively. + +"I do," continued Tarzan, "and it was not a nice way to die--even +for an accursed German. Turn over with your face down and cover +your eyes. Do not move or make any sound." + +The man did as he was bid and the instant that his eyes were turned +away, Tarzan slipped from the tent. An hour later he was outside +the German camp and headed for the little hill town of Wilhelmstal, +the summer seat of government of German East Africa. + +Fraulein Bertha Kircher was lost. She was humiliated and angry--it +was long before she would admit it, that she, who prided herself +upon her woodcraft, was lost in this little patch of country between +the Pangani and the Tanga railway. She knew that Wilhelmstal lay +southeast of her about fifty miles; but, through a combination of +untoward circumstances, she found herself unable to determine which +was southeast. + +In the first place she had set out from German headquarters on a +well-marked road that was being traveled by troops and with every +reason to believe that she would follow that road to Wilhelmstal. +Later she had been warned from this road by word that a strong +British patrol had come down the west bank of the Pangani, effected +a crossing south of her, and was even then marching on the railway +at Tonda. + +After leaving the road she found herself in thick bush and as the +sky was heavily overcast she presently had recourse to her compass +and it was not until then that she discovered to her dismay that +she did not have it with her. So sure was she of her woodcraft, +however, that she continued on in the direction she thought west +until she had covered sufficient distance to warrant her in feeling +assured that, by now turning south, she could pass safely in rear +of the British patrol. + +Nor did she commence to feel any doubts until long after she had +again turned toward the east well south, as she thought, of the +patrol. It was late afternoon--she should long since have struck +the road again south of Tonda; but she had found no road and now +she began to feel real anxiety. + +Her horse had traveled all day without food or water, night +was approaching and with it a realization that she was hopelessly +lost in a wild and trackless country notorious principally for its +tsetse flies and savage beasts. It was maddening to know that she +had absolutely no knowledge of the direction she was traveling--that +she might be forging steadily further from the railway, deeper +into the gloomy and forbidding country toward the Pangani; yet it +was impossible to stop--she must go on. + +Bertha Kircher was no coward, whatever else she may have been, but +as night began to close down around her she could not shut out from +her mind entirely contemplation of the terrors of the long hours +ahead before the rising sun should dissipate the Stygian gloom--the +horrid jungle night--that lures forth all the prowling, preying +creatures of destruction. + +She found, just before dark, an open meadow-like break in the +almost interminable bush. There was a small clump of trees near the +center and here she decided to camp. The grass was high and thick, +affording feed for her horse and a bed for herself, and there was +more than enough dead wood lying about the trees to furnish a good +fire well through the night. Removing the saddle and bridle from +her mount she placed them at the foot of a tree and then picketed +the animal close by. Then she busied herself collecting firewood +and by the time darkness had fallen she had a good fire and enough +wood to last until morning. + +From her saddlebags she took cold food and from her canteen a +swallow of water. She could not afford more than a small swallow +for she could not know how long a time it might be before she should +find more. It filled her with sorrow that her poor horse must go +waterless, for even German spies may have hearts and this one was +very young and very feminine. + +It was now dark. There was neither moon nor stars and the light +from her fire only accentuated the blackness beyond. She could see +the grass about her and the boles of the trees which stood out in +brilliant relief against the solid background of impenetrable night, +and beyond the firelight there was nothing. + +The jungle seemed ominously quiet. Far away in the distance she +heard faintly the boom of big guns; but she could not locate their +direction. She strained her ears until her nerves were on the point +of breaking; but she could not tell from whence the sound came. And +it meant so much to her to know, for the battle-lines were north +of her and if she could but locate the direction of the firing she +would know which way to go in the morning. + +In the morning! Would she live to see another morning? She squared +her shoulders and shook herself together. Such thoughts must be +banished--they would never do. Bravely she hummed an air as she +arranged her saddle near the fire and pulled a quantity of long +grass to make a comfortable seat over which she spread her saddle +blanket. Then she un-strapped a heavy, military coat from the cantle +of her saddle and donned it, for the air was already chill. + +Seating herself where she could lean against the saddle she prepared +to maintain a sleepless vigil throughout the night. For an hour +the silence was broken only by the distant booming of the guns and +the low noises of the feeding horse and then, from possibly a mile +away, came the rumbling thunder of a lion's roar. The girl started +and laid her hand upon the rifle at her side. A little shudder ran +through her slight frame and she could feel the goose flesh rise +upon her body. + +Again and again was the awful sound repeated and each time she was +certain that it came nearer. She could locate the direction of this +sound although she could not that of the guns, for the origin of +the former was much closer. The lion was up wind and so could not +have caught her scent as yet, though he might be approaching to +investigate the light of the fire which could doubtless be seen +for a considerable distance. + +For another fear-filled hour the girl sat straining her eyes and +ears out into the black void beyond her little island of light. +During all that time the lion did not roar again; but there was +constantly the sensation that it was creeping upon her. Again and +again she would start and turn to peer into the blackness beyond +the trees behind her as her overwrought nerves conjured the stealthy +fall of padded feet. She held the rifle across her knees at the +ready now and she was trembling from head to foot. + +Suddenly her horse raised his head and snorted, and with a little +cry of terror the girl sprang to her feet. The animal turned and +trotted back toward her until the picket rope brought him to a stand, +and then he wheeled about and with ears up-pricked gazed out into +the night; but the girl could neither see nor hear aught. + +Still another hour of terror passed during which the horse often +raised his head to peer long and searchingly into the dark. The girl +replenished the fire from time to time. She found herself becoming +very sleepy. Her heavy lids persisted in drooping; but she dared +not sleep. Fearful lest she might be overcome by the drowsiness +that was stealing through her she rose and walked briskly to and +fro, then she threw some more wood on the fire, walked over and +stroked her horse's muzzle and returned to her seat. + +Leaning against the saddle she tried to occupy her mind with plans +for the morrow; but she must have dozed. With a start she awoke. +It was broad daylight. The hideous night with its indescribable +terrors was gone. + +She could scarce believe the testimony of her senses. She had slept +for hours, the fire was out and yet she and the horse were safe +and alive, nor was there sign of savage beast about. And, best of +all, the sun was shining, pointing the straight road to the east. +Hastily she ate a few mouthfuls of her precious rations, which with +a swallow of water constituted her breakfast. Then she saddled her +horse and mounted. Already she felt that she was as good as safe +in Wilhelmstal. + +Possibly, however, she might have revised her conclusions could she +have seen the two pairs of eyes watching her every move intently +from different points in the bush. + +Light-hearted and unsuspecting, the girl rode across the clearing +toward the bush while directly before her two yellow-green eyes +glared round and terrible, a tawny tail twitched nervously and +great, padded paws gathered beneath a sleek barrel for a mighty +spring. The horse was almost at the edge of the bush when Numa, +the lion, launched himself through the air. He struck the animal's +right shoulder at the instant that it reared, terrified, to wheel +in flight. The force of the impact hurled the horse backward to the +ground and so quickly that the girl had no opportunity to extricate +herself; but fell to the earth with her mount, her left leg pinned +beneath its body. + +Horror-stricken, she saw the king of beasts open his mighty jaws +and seize the screaming creature by the back of its neck. The +great jaws closed, there was an instant's struggle as Numa shook +his prey. She could hear the vertebrae crack as the mighty fangs +crunched through them, and then the muscles of her faithful friend +relaxed in death. + +Numa crouched upon his kill. His terrifying eyes riveted themselves +upon the girl's face--she could feel his hot breath upon her cheek +and the odor of the fetid vapor nauseated her. For what seemed +an eternity to the girl the two lay staring at each other and then +the lion uttered a menacing growl. + +Never before had Bertha Kircher been so terrified--never before had +she had such cause for terror. At her hip was a pistol--a formidable +weapon with which to face a man; but a puny thing indeed with +which to menace the great beast before her. She knew that at best +it could but enrage him and yet she meant to sell her life dearly, +for she felt that she must die. No human succor could have availed +her even had it been there to offer itself. For a moment she tore +her gaze from the hypnotic fascination of that awful face and +breathed a last prayer to her God. She did not ask for aid, for she +felt that she was beyond even divine succor--she only asked that +the end might come quickly and with as little pain as possible. + +No one can prophesy what a lion will do in any given emergency. +This one glared and growled at the girl for a moment and then fell +to feeding upon the dead horse. Fraulein Kircher wondered for an +instant and then attempted to draw her leg cautiously from beneath +the body of her mount; but she could not budge it. She increased +the force of her efforts and Numa looked up from his feeding to +growl again. The girl desisted. She hoped that he might satisfy +his hunger and then depart to lie up, but she could not believe +that he would leave her there alive. Doubtless he would drag the +remains of his kill into the bush for hiding and, as there could +be no doubt that he considered her part of his prey, he would +certainly come back for her, or possibly drag her in first and kill +her. + +Again Numa fell to feeding. The girl's nerves were at the breaking +point. She wondered that she had not fainted under the strain +of terror and shock. She recalled that she often had wished she +might see a lion, close to, make a kill and feed upon it. God! how +realistically her wish had been granted. + +Again she bethought herself of her pistol. As she had fallen, the +holster had slipped around so that the weapon now lay beneath her. +Very slowly she reached for it; but in so doing she was forced to +raise her body from the ground. Instantly the lion was aroused. +With the swiftness of a cat he reached across the carcass of the +horse and placed a heavy, taloned paw upon her breast, crushing her +back to earth, and all the time he growled and snarled horribly. +His face was a picture of frightful rage incarnate. For a moment +neither moved and then from behind her the girl heard a human voice +uttering bestial sounds. + +Numa suddenly looked up from the girl's face at the thing beyond +her. His growls increased to roars as he drew back, ripping the +front of the girl's waist almost from her body with his long talons, +exposing her white bosom, which through some miracle of chance the +great claws did not touch. + +Tarzan of the Apes had witnessed the entire encounter from the +moment that Numa had leaped upon his prey. For some time before, +he had been watching the girl, and after the lion attacked her he +had at first been minded to let Numa have his way with her. What +was she but a hated German and a spy besides? He had seen her at +General Kraut's headquarters, in conference with the German staff +and again he had seen her within the British lines masquerading as +a British officer. It was the latter thought that prompted him to +interfere. Doubtless General Jan Smuts would be glad to meet and +question her. She might be forced to divulge information of value +to the British commander before Smuts had her shot. + +Tarzan had recognized not only the girl, but the lion as well. All +lions may look alike to you and me; but not so to their intimates +of the jungle. Each has his individual characteristics of face and +form and gait as well defined as those that differentiate members +of the human family, and besides these the creatures of the jungle +have a still more positive test--that of scent. Each of us, man or +beast, has his own peculiar odor, and it is mostly by this that +the beasts of the jungle, endowed with miraculous powers of scent, +recognize individuals. + +It is the final proof. You have seen it demonstrated a thousand +times--a dog recognizes your voice and looks at you. He knows your +face and figure. Good, there can be no doubt in his mind but that +it is you; but is he satisfied? No, sir--he must come up and smell +of you. All his other senses may be fallible, but not his sense of +smell, and so he makes assurance positive by the final test. + +Tarzan recognized Numa as he whom he had muzzled with the hide of +Horta, the boar--as he whom he handled by a rope for two days and +finally loosed in a German front-line trench, and he knew that Numa +would recognize him--that he would remember the sharp spear that +had goaded him into submission and obedience and Tarzan hoped that +the lesson he had learned still remained with the lion. + +Now he came forward calling to Numa in the language of the great +apes--warning him away from the girl. It is open to question that +Numa, the lion, understood him; but he did understand the menace of +the heavy spear that the Tarmangani carried so ready in his brown, +right hand, and so he drew back, growling, trying to decide in his +little brain whether to charge or flee. + +On came the ape-man with never a pause, straight for the lion. "Go +away, Numa," he cried, "or Tarzan will tie you up again and lead +you through the jungle without food. See Arad, my spear! Do you +recall how his point stuck into you and how with his haft I beat +you over the head? Go, Numa! I am Tarzan of the Apes!" + +Numa wrinkled the skin of his face into great folds, until his +eyes almost disappeared and he growled and roared and snarled and +growled again, and when the spear point came at last quite close +to him he struck at it viciously with his armed paw; but he drew +back. Tarzan stepped over the dead horse and the girl lying behind +him gazed in wide-eyed astonishment at the handsome figure driving +an angry lion deliberately from its kill. + +When Numa had retreated a few yards, the ape-man called back to +the girl in perfect German, "Are you badly hurt?" + +"I think not," she replied; "but I cannot extricate my foot from +beneath my horse." + +"Try again," commanded Tarzan. "I do not know how long I can hold +Numa thus." + +The girl struggled frantically; but at last she sank back upon an +elbow. + +"It is impossible," she called to him. + +He backed slowly until he was again beside the horse, when he +reached down and grasped the cinch, which was still intact. Then +with one hand he raised the carcass from the ground. The girl +freed herself and rose to her feet. + +"You can walk?" asked Tarzan. + +"Yes," she said; "my leg is numb; but it does not seem to be +injured." + +"Good," commented the ape-man. "Back slowly away behind me--make +no sudden movements. I think he will not charge." + +With utmost deliberation the two backed toward the bush. Numa +stood for a moment, growling, then he followed them, slowly. Tarzan +wondered if he would come beyond his kill or if he would stop there. +If he followed them beyond, then they could look for a charge, and +if Numa charged it was very likely that he would get one of them. +When the lion reached the carcass of the horse Tarzan stopped and +so did Numa, as Tarzan had thought that he would and the ape-man +waited to see what the lion would do next. He eyed them for a +moment, snarled angrily and then looked down at the tempting meat. +Presently he crouched upon his kill and resumed feeding. + +The girl breathed a deep sigh of relief as she and the ape-man +resumed their slow retreat with only an occasional glance from the +lion, and when at last they reached the bush and had turned and +entered it, she felt a sudden giddiness overwhelm her so that she +staggered and would have fallen had Tarzan not caught her. It was +only a moment before she regained control of herself. + +"I could not help it," she said, in half apology. "I was so close +to death--such a horrible death--it unnerved me for an instant; +but I am all right now. How can I ever thank you? It was so +wonderful--you did not seem to fear the frightful creature in the +least; yet he was afraid of you. Who are you?" + +"He knows me," replied Tarzan, grimly--"that is why he fears me." + +He was standing facing the girl now and for the first time +he had a chance to look at her squarely and closely. She was very +beautiful--that was undeniable; but Tarzan realized her beauty only +in a subconscious way. It was superficial--it did not color her +soul which must be black as sin. She was German--a German spy. He +hated her and desired only to compass her destruction; but he would +choose the manner so that it would work most grievously against +the enemy cause. + +He saw her naked breasts where Numa had torn her clothing from her +and dangling there against the soft, white flesh he saw that which +brought a sudden scowl of surprise and anger to his face--the +diamond-studded, golden locket of his youth--the love token that +had been stolen from the breast of his mate by Schneider, the Hun. +The girl saw the scowl but did not interpret it correctly. Tarzan +grasped her roughly by the arm. + +"Where did you get this?" he demanded, as he tore the bauble from +her. + +The girl drew herself to her full height. "Take your hand from me," +she demanded, but the ape-man paid no attention to her words, only +seizing her more forcibly. + +"Answer me!" he snapped. "Where did you get this?" + +"What is it to you?" she countered. + +"It is mine," he replied. "Tell me who gave it to you or I will +throw you back to Numa." + +"You would do that?" she asked. + +"Why not?" he queried. "You are a spy and spies must die if they +are caught." + +"You were going to kill me, then?" + +"I was going to take you to headquarters. They would dispose of +you there; but Numa can do it quite as effectively. Which do you +prefer?" + +"Hauptmann Fritz Schneider gave it to me," she said. + +"Headquarters it will be then," said Tarzan. "Come!" The girl +moved at his side through the bush and all the time her mind worked +quickly. They were moving east, which suited her, and as long as +they continued to move east she was glad to have the protection +of the great, white savage. She speculated much upon the fact that +her pistol still swung at her hip. The man must be mad not to take +it from her. + +"What makes you think I am a spy?" she asked after a long silence. + +"I saw you at German headquarters," he replied, "and then again +inside the British lines." + +She could not let him take her back to them. She must reach +Wilhelmstal at once and she was determined to do so even if she +must have recourse to her pistol. She cast a side glance at the +tall figure. What a magnificent creature! But yet he was a brute +who would kill her or have her killed if she did not slay him. And +the locket! She must have that back--it must not fail to reach +Wilhelmstal. Tarzan was now a foot or two ahead of her as the path +was very narrow. Cautiously she drew her pistol. A single shot would +suffice and he was so close that she could not miss. As she figured +it all out her eyes rested on the brown skin with the graceful muscles +rolling beneath it and the perfect limbs and head and the carriage +that a proud king of old might have envied. A wave of revulsion +for her contemplated act surged through her. No, she could not +do it--yet, she must be free and she must regain possession of +the locket. And then, almost blindly, she swung the weapon up and +struck Tarzan heavily upon the back of the head with its butt. Like +a felled ox he dropped in his tracks. + + + + +Chapter VI + +Vengeance and Mercy + + +It was an hour later that Sheeta, the panther, hunting, chanced to +glance upward into the blue sky where his attention was attracted +by Ska, the vulture, circling slowly above the bush a mile away and +downwind. For a long minute the yellow eyes stared intently at the +gruesome bird. They saw Ska dive and rise again to continue his +ominous circling and in these movements their woodcraft read that +which, while obvious to Sheeta, would doubtless have meant nothing +to you or me. + +The hunting cat guessed that on the ground beneath Ska was some +living thing of flesh--either a beast feeding upon its kill or a +dying animal that Ska did not yet dare attack. In either event it +might prove meat for Sheeta, and so the wary feline stalked by a +circuitous route, upon soft, padded feet that gave forth no sound, +until the circling aasvogel and his intended prey were upwind. Then, +sniffing each vagrant zephyr, Sheeta, the panther, crept cautiously +forward, nor had he advanced any considerable distance before his +keen nostrils were rewarded with the scent of man--a Tarmangani. + +Sheeta paused. He was not a hunter of men. He was young and in his +prime; but always before he had avoided this hated presence. Of +late he had become more accustomed to it with the passing of many +soldiers through his ancient hunting ground, and as the soldiers +had frightened away a great part of the game Sheeta had been wont +to feed upon, the days had been lean, and Sheeta was hungry. + +The circling Ska suggested that this Tarmangani might be helpless +and upon the point of dying, else Ska would not have been interested +in him, and so easy prey for Sheeta. With this thought in mind the +cat resumed his stalking. Presently he pushed through the thick +bush and his yellow-green eyes rested gloatingly upon the body of +an almost naked Tarmangani lying face down in a narrow game trail. + +Numa, sated, rose from the carcass of Bertha Kircher's horse and +seized the partially devoured body by the neck and dragged it into +the bush; then he started east toward the lair where he had left +his mate. Being uncomfortably full he was inclined to be sleepy +and far from belligerent. He moved slowly and majestically with no +effort at silence or concealment. The king walked abroad, unafraid. + +With an occasional regal glance to right or left he moved along a +narrow game trail until at a turn he came to a sudden stop at what +lay revealed before him--Sheeta, the panther, creeping stealthily +upon the almost naked body of a Tarmangani lying face down in the +deep dust of the pathway. Numa glared intently at the quiet body +in the dust. Recognition came. It was his Tarmangani. A low growl +of warning rumbled from his throat and Sheeta halted with one paw +upon Tarzan's back and turned suddenly to eye the intruder. + +What passed within those savage brains? Who may say? The panther +seemed debating the wisdom of defending his find, for he growled +horribly as though warning Numa away from the prey. And Numa? Was +the idea of property rights dominating his thoughts? The Tarmangani +was his, or he was the Tarmangani's. Had not the Great White Ape +mastered and subdued him and, too, had he not fed him? Numa recalled +the fear that he had felt of this man-thing and his cruel spear; +but in savage brains fear is more likely to engender respect than +hatred and so Numa found that he respected the creature who had +subdued and mastered him. He saw Sheeta, upon whom he looked with +contempt, daring to molest the master of the lion. Jealousy and +greed alone might have been sufficient to prompt Numa to drive Sheeta +away, even though the lion was not sufficiently hungry to devour +the flesh that he thus wrested from the lesser cat; but then, too, +there was in the little brain within the massive head a sense of +loyalty, and perhaps this it was that sent Numa quickly forward, +growling, toward the spitting Sheeta. + +For a moment the latter stood his ground with arched back and +snarling face, for all the world like a great, spotted tabby. + +Numa had not felt like fighting; but the sight of Sheeta daring +to dispute his rights kindled his ferocious brain to sudden fire. +His rounded eyes glared with rage, his undulating tail snapped to +stiff erectness as, with a frightful roar, he charged this presuming +vassal. + +It came so suddenly and from so short a distance that Sheeta had +no chance to turn and flee the rush, and so he met it with raking +talons and snapping jaws; but the odds were all against him. To +the larger fangs and the more powerful jaws of his adversary were +added huge talons and the preponderance of the lion's great weight. +At the first clash Sheeta was crushed and, though he deliberately +fell upon his back and drew up his powerful hind legs beneath Numa +with the intention of disemboweling him, the lion forestalled him +and at the same time closed his awful jaws upon Sheeta's throat. + +It was soon over. Numa rose, shaking himself, and stood above the +torn and mutilated body of his foe. His own sleek coat was cut and +the red blood trickled down his flank; though it was but a minor +injury, it angered him. He glared down at the dead panther and +then, in a fit of rage, he seized and mauled the body only to drop +it in a moment, lower his head, voice a single terrific roar, and +turn toward the ape-man. + +Approaching the still form he sniffed it over from head to foot. +Then he placed a huge paw upon it and turned it over with its face +up. Again he smelled about the body and at last with his rough tongue +licked Tarzan's face. It was then that Tarzan opened his eyes. + +Above him towered the huge lion, its hot breath upon his face, its +rough tongue upon his cheek. The ape-man had often been close to +death; but never before so close as this, he thought, for he was +convinced that death was but a matter of seconds. His brain was +still numb from the effects of the blow that had felled him, and +so he did not, for a moment, recognize the lion that stood over +him as the one he had so recently encountered. + +Presently, however, recognition dawned upon him and with it +a realization of the astounding fact that Numa did not seem bent +on devouring him--at least not immediately. His position was a +delicate one. The lion stood astraddle Tarzan with his front paws. +The ape-man could not rise, therefore, without pushing the lion away +and whether Numa would tolerate being pushed was an open question. +Too, the beast might consider him already dead and any movement that +indicated the contrary was true would, in all likelihood, arouse +the killing instinct of the man-eater. + +But Tarzan was tiring of the situation. He was in no mood to lie +there forever, especially when he contemplated the fact that the +girl spy who had tried to brain him was undoubtedly escaping as +rapidly as possible. + +Numa was looking right into his eyes now evidently aware that he was +alive. Presently the lion cocked his head on one side and whined. +Tarzan knew the note, and he knew that it spelled neither rage nor +hunger, and then he risked all on a single throw, encouraged by +that low whine. + +"Move, Numa!" he commanded and placing a palm against the tawny +shoulder he pushed the lion aside. Then he rose and with a hand +on his hunting knife awaited that which might follow. It was then +that his eyes fell for the first time on the torn body of Sheeta. +He looked from the dead cat to the live one and saw the marks of +conflict upon the latter, too, and in an instant realized something +of what had happened--Numa had saved him from the panther! + +It seemed incredible and yet the evidence pointed clearly to the +fact. He turned toward the lion and without fear approached and +examined his wounds which he found superficial, and as Tarzan knelt +beside him Numa rubbed an itching ear against the naked, brown +shoulder. Then the ape-man stroked the great head, picked up his +spear, and looked about for the trail of the girl. This he soon +found leading toward the east, and as he set out upon it something +prompted him to feel for the locket he had hung about his neck. It +was gone! + +No trace of anger was apparent upon the ape-man's face unless it +was a slight tightening of the jaws; but he put his hand ruefully +to the back of his head where a bump marked the place where the +girl had struck him and a moment later a half-smile played across +his lips. He could not help but admit that she had tricked him +neatly, and that it must have taken nerve to do the thing she did +and to set out armed only with a pistol through the trackless waste +that lay between them and the railway and beyond into the hills +where Wilhelmstal lies. + +Tarzan admired courage. He was big enough to admit it and admire +it even in a German spy, but he saw that in this case it only added +to her resourcefulness and made her all the more dangerous and the +necessity for putting her out of the way paramount. He hoped to +overtake her before she reached Wilhelmstal and so he set out at +the swinging trot that he could hold for hours at a stretch without +apparent fatigue. + +That the girl could hope to reach the town on foot in less than two +days seemed improbable, for it was a good thirty miles and part +of it hilly. Even as the thought crossed his mind he heard the +whistle of a locomotive to the east and knew that the railway was +in operation again after a shutdown of several days. If the train +was going south the girl would signal it if she had reached the +right of way. His keen ears caught the whining of brake shoes on +wheels and a few minutes later the signal blast for brakes off. +The train had stopped and started again and, as it gained headway +and greater distance, Tarzan could tell from the direction of the +sound that it was moving south. + +The ape-man followed the trail to the railway where it ended +abruptly on the west side of the track, showing that the girl had +boarded the train, just as he thought. There was nothing now but +to follow on to Wilhelmstal, where he hoped to find Captain Fritz +Schneider, as well as the girl, and to recover his diamond-studded +locket. + +It was dark when Tarzan reached the little hill town of Wilhelmstal. +He loitered on the outskirts, getting his bearings and trying to +determine how an almost naked white man might explore the village +without arousing suspicion. There were many soldiers about and +the town was under guard, for he could see a lone sentinel walking +his post scarce a hundred yards from him. To elude this one would +not be difficult; but to enter the village and search it would be +practically impossible, garbed, or un-garbed, as he was. + +Creeping forward, taking advantage of every cover, lying flat and +motionless when the sentry's face was toward him, the ape-man at +last reached the sheltering shadows of an outhouse just inside the +lines. From there he moved stealthily from building to building +until at last he was discovered by a large dog in the rear of one of +the bungalows. The brute came slowly toward him, growling. Tarzan +stood motionless beside a tree. He could see a light in the bungalow +and uniformed men moving about and he hoped that the dog would not +bark. He did not; but he growled more savagely and, just at the +moment that the rear door of the bungalow opened and a man stepped +out, the animal charged. + +He was a large dog, as large as Dango, the hyena, and he charged +with all the vicious impetuosity of Numa, the lion. As he came +Tarzan knelt and the dog shot through the air for his throat; but +he was dealing with no man now and he found his quickness more +than matched by the quickness of the Tarmangani. His teeth never +reached the soft flesh--strong fingers, fingers of steel, seized +his neck. He voiced a single startled yelp and clawed at the naked +breast before him with his talons; but he was powerless. The mighty +fingers closed upon his throat; the man rose, snapped the clawing +body once, and cast it aside. At the same time a voice from the +open bungalow door called: "Simba!" + +There was no response. Repeating the call the man descended the +steps and advanced toward the tree. In the light from the doorway +Tarzan could see that he was a tall, broad-shouldered man in the +uniform of a German officer. The ape-man withdrew into the shadow +of the tree's stem. The man came closer, still calling the dog--he +did not see the savage beast, crouching now in the shadow, awaiting +him. When he had approached within ten feet of the Tarmangani, +Tarzan leaped upon him--as Sabor springs to the kill, so sprang the +ape-man. The momentum and weight of his body hurled the German to +the ground, powerful fingers prevented an outcry and, though the +officer struggled, he had no chance and a moment later lay dead +beside the body of the dog. + +As Tarzan stood for a moment looking down upon his kill and regretting +that he could not risk voicing his beloved victory cry, the sight +of the uniform suggested a means whereby he might pass to and +fro through Wilhelmstal with the minimum chance of detection. Ten +minutes later a tall, broad-shouldered officer stepped from the +yard of the bungalow leaving behind him the corpses of a dog and +a naked man. + +He walked boldly along the little street and those who passed him +could not guess that beneath Imperial Germany's uniform beat a +savage heart that pulsed with implacable hatred for the Hun. Tarzan's +first concern was to locate the hotel, for here he guessed he would +find the girl, and where the girl was doubtless would be Hauptmann +Fritz Schneider, who was either her confederate, her sweetheart, +or both, and there, too, would be Tarzan's precious locket. + +He found the hotel at last, a low, two-storied building with +a veranda. There were lights on both floors and people, mostly +officers, could be seen within. The ape-man considered entering +and inquiring for those he sought; but his better judgment finally +prompted him to reconnoiter first. Passing around the building he +looked into all the lighted rooms on the first floor and, seeing +neither of those for whom he had come, he swung lightly to the roof +of the veranda and continued his investigations through windows of +the second story. + +At one corner of the hotel in a rear room the blinds were drawn; +but he heard voices within and once he saw a figure silhouetted +momentarily against the blind. It appeared to be the figure +of a woman; but it was gone so quickly that he could not be sure. +Tarzan crept close to the window and listened. Yes, there was a +woman there and a man--he heard distinctly the tones of their voices +although he could overhear no words, as they seemed to be whispering. + +The adjoining room was dark. Tarzan tried the window and found it +unlatched. All was quiet within. He raised the sash and listened +again--still silence. Placing a leg over the sill he slipped within +and hurriedly glanced about. The room was vacant. Crossing to the +door he opened it and looked out into the hall. There was no one +there, either, and he stepped out and approached the door of the +adjoining room where the man and woman were. + +Pressing close to the door he listened. Now he distinguished +words, for the two had raised their voices as though in argument. +The woman was speaking. + +"I have brought the locket," she said, "as was agreed upon between +you and General Kraut, as my identification. I carry no other +credentials. This was to be enough. You have nothing to do but give +me the papers and let me go." + +The man replied in so low a tone that Tarzan could not catch the +words and then the woman spoke again--a note of scorn and perhaps +a little of fear in her voice. + +"You would not dare, Hauptmann Schneider," she said, and then: "Do +not touch me! Take your hands from me!" + +It was then that Tarzan of the Apes opened the door and stepped +into the room. What he saw was a huge, bull-necked German officer +with one arm about the waist of Fraulein Bertha Kircher and a hand +upon her forehead pushing her head back as he tried to kiss her +on the mouth. The girl was struggling against the great brute; but +her efforts were futile. Slowly the man's lips were coming closer +to hers and slowly, step by step, she was being carried backward. + +Schneider heard the noise of the opening and closing door behind +him and turned. At sight of this strange officer he dropped the +girl and straightened up. + +"What is the meaning of this intrusion, Lieutenant?" he demanded, +noting the other's epaulettes. "Leave the room at once." + +Tarzan made no articulate reply; but the two there with him heard +a low growl break from those firm lips--a growl that sent a shudder +through the frame of the girl and brought a pallor to the red face +of the Hun and his hand to his pistol but even as he drew his weapon +it was wrested from him and hurled through the blind and window to +the yard beyond. Then Tarzan backed against the door and slowly +removed the uniform coat. + +"You are Hauptmann Schneider," he said to the German. + +"What of it?" growled the latter. + +"I am Tarzan of the Apes," replied the ape-man. "Now you know why +I intrude." + +The two before him saw that he was naked beneath the coat which he +threw upon the floor and then he slipped quickly from the trousers +and stood there clothed only in his loin cloth. The girl had +recognized him by this time, too. + +"Take your hand off that pistol," Tarzan admonished her. Her hand +dropped at her side. "Now come here!" + +She approached and Tarzan removed the weapon and hurled it after +the other. At the mention of his name Tarzan had noted the sickly +pallor that overspread the features of the Hun. At last he had found +the right man. At last his mate would be partially avenged--never +could she be entirely avenged. Life was too short and there were +too many Germans. + +"What do you want of me?" demanded Schneider. + +"You are going to pay the price for the thing you did at the little +bungalow in the Waziri country," replied the ape-man. + +Schneider commenced to bluster and threaten. Tarzan turned the key +in the lock of the door and hurled the former through the window +after the pistols. Then he turned to the girl. "Keep out of the +way," he said in a low voice. "Tarzan of the Apes is going to kill." + +The Hun ceased blustering and began to plead. "I have a wife and +children at home," he cried. "I have done nothing, I--" + +"You are going to die as befits your kind," said Tarzan, "with blood +on your hands and a lie on your lips." He started across the room +toward the burly Hauptmann. Schneider was a large and powerful +man--about the height of the ape-man but much heavier. He saw that +neither threats nor pleas would avail him and so he prepared to +fight as a cornered rat fights for its life with all the maniacal +rage, cunning, and ferocity that the first law of nature imparts +to many beasts. + +Lowering his bull head he charged for the ape-man and in the center +of the floor the two clinched. There they stood locked and swaying +for a moment until Tarzan succeeded in forcing his antagonist backward +over a table which crashed to the floor, splintered by the weight +of the two heavy bodies. + +The girl stood watching the battle with wide eyes. She saw the two +men rolling hither and thither across the floor and she heard with +horror the low growls that came from the lips of the naked giant. +Schneider was trying to reach his foe's throat with his fingers +while, horror of horrors, Bertha Kircher could see that the other +was searching for the German's jugular with his teeth! + +Schneider seemed to realize this too, for he redoubled his efforts +to escape and finally succeeded in rolling over on top of the ape-man +and breaking away. Leaping to his feet he ran for the window; but +the ape-man was too quick for him and before he could leap through +the sash a heavy hand fell upon his shoulder and he was jerked +back and hurled across the room to the opposite wall. There Tarzan +followed him, and once again they locked, dealing each other terrific +blows, until Schneider in a piercing voice screamed, "Kamerad! +Kamerad!" + +Tarzan grasped the man by the throat and drew his hunting knife. +Schneider's back was against the wall so that though his knees +wobbled he was held erect by the ape-man. Tarzan brought the sharp +point to the lower part of the German's abdomen. + +"Thus you slew my mate," he hissed in a terrible voice. "Thus +shall you die!" + +The girl staggered forward. "Oh, God, no!" she cried. "Not that. +You are too brave--you cannot be such a beast as that!" + +Tarzan turned at her. "No," he said, "you are right, I cannot do +it--I am no German," and he raised the point of his blade and sunk +it deep into the putrid heart of Hauptmann Fritz Schneider, putting +a bloody period to the Hun's last gasping cry: "I did not do it! +She is not--" + +Then Tarzan turned toward the girl and held out his hand. "Give +me my locket," he said. + +She pointed toward the dead officer. "He has it." Tarzan searched +him and found the trinket. "Now you may give me the papers," he said +to the girl, and without a word she handed him a folded document. + +For a long time he stood looking at her before ho spoke again. + +"I came for you, too," he said. "It would be difficult to take you +back from here and so I was going to kill you, as I have sworn to +kill all your kind; but you were right when you said that I was +not such a beast as that slayer of women. I could not slay him as +he slew mine, nor can I slay you, who are a woman." + +He crossed to the window, raised the sash and an instant later he +had stepped out and disappeared into the night. And then Fraulein +Bertha Kircher stepped quickly to the corpse upon the floor, slipped +her hand inside the blouse and drew forth a little sheaf of papers +which she tucked into her waist before she went to the window and +called for help. + + + + +Chapter VII + +When Blood Told + + +Tarzan of the Apes was disgusted. He had had the German spy, Bertha +Kircher, in his power and had left her unscathed. It is true that he +had slain Hauptmann Fritz Schneider, that Underlieutenant von Goss +had died at his hands, and that he had otherwise wreaked vengeance +upon the men of the German company who had murdered, pillaged, and +raped at Tarzan's bungalow in the Waziri country. There was still +another officer to be accounted for, but him he could not find. +It was Lieutenant Obergatz he still sought, though vainly, for at +last he learned that the man had been sent upon some special mission, +whether in Africa or back to Europe Tarzan's informant either did +not know or would not divulge. + +But the fact that he had permitted sentiment to stay his hand when +he might so easily have put Bertha Kircher out of the way in the +hotel at Wilhelmstal that night rankled in the ape-man's bosom. +He was shamed by his weakness, and when he had handed the paper +she had given him to the British chief of staff, even though +the information it contained permitted the British to frustrate a +German flank attack, he was still much dissatisfied with himself. +And possibly the root of this dissatisfaction lay in the fact that +he realized that were he again to have the same opportunity he +would still find it as impossible to slay a woman as it had been +in Wilhelmstal that night. + +Tarzan blamed this weakness, as he considered it, upon his association +with the effeminizing influences of civilization, for in the bottom +of his savage heart he held in contempt both civilization and its +representatives--the men and women of the civilized countries of +the world. Always was he comparing their weaknesses, their vices, +their hypocrisies, and their little vanities with the open, +primitive ways of his ferocious jungle mates, and all the while +there battled in that same big heart with these forces another mighty +force--Tarzan's love and loyalty for his friends of the civilized +world. + +The ape-man, reared as he had been by savage beasts amid savage +beasts, was slow to make friends. Acquaintances he numbered by the +hundreds; but of friends he had few. These few he would have died +for as, doubtless, they would have died for him; but there were +none of these fighting with the British forces in East Africa, and +so, sickened and disgusted by the sight of man waging his cruel +and inhuman warfare, Tarzan determined to heed the insistent call +of the remote jungle of his youth, for the Germans were now on the +run and the war in East Africa was so nearly over that he realized +that his further services would be of negligible value. + +Never regularly sworn into the service of the King, he was under +no obligation to remain now that the moral obligation had been +removed, and so it was that he disappeared from the British camp +as mysteriously as he had appeared a few months before. + +More than once had Tarzan reverted to the primitive only to return +again to civilization through love for his mate; but now that she +was gone he felt that this time he had definitely departed forever +from the haunts of man, and that he should live and die a beast +among beasts even as he had been from infancy to maturity. + +Between him and his destination lay a trackless wilderness of untouched +primeval savagery where, doubtless in many spots, his would be the +first human foot to touch the virgin turf. Nor did this prospect +dismay the Tarmangani--rather was it an urge and an inducement, for +rich in his veins flowed that noble strain of blood that has made +most of the earth's surface habitable for man. + +The question of food and water that would have risen paramount in +the mind of an ordinary man contemplating such an excursion gave +Tarzan little concern. The wilderness was his natural habitat +and woodcraft as inherent to him as breathing. Like other jungle +animals he could scent water from a great distance and, where you +or I might die of thirst, the ape-man would unerringly select the +exact spot at which to dig and find water. + +For several days Tarzan traversed a country rich in game +and watercourses. He moved slowly, hunting and fishing, or again +fraternizing or quarreling with the other savage denizens of +the jungle. Now it was little Manu, the monkey, who chattered and +scolded at the mighty Tarmangani and in the next breath warned him +that Histah, the snake, lay coiled in the long grass just ahead. +Of Manu Tarzan inquired concerning the great apes--the Mangani--and +was told that few inhabited this part of the jungle, and that even +these were hunting farther to the north this season of the year. + +"But there is Bolgani," said Manu. "Would you like to see Bolgani?" + +Manu's tone was sneering, and Tarzan knew that it was because little +Manu thought all creatures feared mighty Bolgani, the gorilla. +Tarzan arched his great chest and struck it with a clinched fist. +"I am Tarzan," he cried. "While Tarzan was yet a balu he slew a +Bolgani. Tarzan seeks the Mangani, who are his brothers, but Bolgani +he does not seek, so let Bolgani keep from the path of Tarzan." + +Little Manu, the monkey, was much impressed, for the way of the +jungle is to boast and to believe. It was then that he condescended +to tell Tarzan more of the Mangani. + +"They go there and there and there," he said, making a wide sweep +with a brown hand first toward the north, then west, and then south +again. "For there," and he pointed due west, "is much hunting; but +between lies a great place where there is no food and no water, +so they must go that way," and again he swung his hand through the +half-circle that explained to Tarzan the great detour the apes made +to come to their hunting ground to the west. + +That was all right for the Mangani, who are lazy and do not care to +move rapidly; but for Tarzan the straight road would be the best. +He would cross the dry country and come to the good hunting in a third +of the time that it would take to go far to the north and circle +back again. And so it was that he continued on toward the west, and +crossing a range of low mountains came in sight of a broad plateau, +rock strewn and desolate. Far in the distance he saw another range +of mountains beyond which he felt must lie the hunting ground of +the Mangani. There he would join them and remain for a while before +continuing on toward the coast and the little cabin that his father +had built beside the land-locked harbor at the jungle's edge. + +Tarzan was full of plans. He would rebuild and enlarge the cabin +of his birth, constructing storage houses where he would make the +apes lay away food when it was plenty against the times that were +lean--a thing no ape ever had dreamed of doing. And the tribe would +remain always in the locality and he would be king again as he had +in the past. He would try to teach them some of the better things +that he had learned from man, yet knowing the ape-mind as only +Tarzan could, he feared that his labors would be for naught. + +The ape-man found the country he was crossing rough in the extreme, +the roughest he ever had encountered. The plateau was cut by frequent +canyons the passage of which often entailed hours of wearing effort. +The vegetation was sparse and of a faded brown color that lent to +the whole landscape a most depressing aspect. Great rocks were strewn +in every direction as far as the eye could see, lying partially +embedded in an impalpable dust that rose in clouds about him at +every step. The sun beat down mercilessly out of a cloudless sky. + +For a day Tarzan toiled across this now hateful land and at the +going down of the sun the distant mountains to the west seemed no +nearer than at morn. Never a sign of living thing had the ape-man +seen, other than Ska, that bird of ill omen, that had followed him +tirelessly since he had entered this parched waste. + +No littlest beetle that he might eat had given evidence that life +of any sort existed here, and it was a hungry and thirsty Tarzan who +lay down to rest in the evening. He decided now to push on during +the cool of the night, for he realized that even mighty Tarzan had +his limitations and that where there was no food one could not eat +and where there was no water the greatest woodcraft in the world +could find none. It was a totally new experience to Tarzan to find +so barren and terrible a country in his beloved Africa. Even the +Sahara had its oases; but this frightful world gave no indication +of containing a square foot of hospitable ground. + +However, he had no misgivings but that he would fare forth into +the wonder country of which little Manu had told him, though it +was certain that he would do it with a dry skin and an empty belly. +And so he fought on until daylight, when he again felt the need +of rest. He was at the edge of another of those terrible canyons, +the eighth he had crossed, whose precipitous sides would have taxed +to the uttermost the strength of an untired man well fortified by +food and water, and for the first time, as he looked down into the +abyss and then at the opposite side that he must scale, misgivings +began to assail his mind. + +He did not fear death--with the memory of his murdered mate still +fresh in his mind he almost courted it, yet strong within him +was that primal instinct of self-preservation--the battling force +of life that would keep him an active contender against the Great +Reaper until, fighting to the very last, he should be overcome by +a superior power. + +A shadow swung slowly across the ground beside him, and looking +up, the ape-man saw Ska, the vulture, wheeling a wide circle above +him. The grim and persistent harbinger of evil aroused the man +to renewed determination. He arose and approached the edge of the +canyon, and then, wheeling, with his face turned upward toward the +circling bird of prey, he bellowed forth the challenge of the bull +ape. + +"I am Tarzan," he shouted, "Lord of the Jungle. Tarzan of the Apes +is not for Ska, eater of carrion. Go back to the lair of Dango +and feed off the leavings of the hyenas, for Tarzan will leave no +bones for Ska to pick in this empty wilderness of death." + +But before he reached the bottom of the canyon he again was forced +to the realization that his great strength was waning, and when he +dropped exhausted at the foot of the cliff and saw before him the +opposite wall that must be scaled, he bared his fighting fangs and +growled. For an hour he lay resting in the cool shade at the foot +of the cliff. All about him reigned utter silence--the silence of +the tomb. No fluttering birds, no humming insects, no scurrying +reptiles relieved the deathlike stillness. This indeed was the +valley of death. He felt the depressing influence of the horrible +place settling down upon him; but he staggered to his feet, shaking +himself like a great lion, for was he not still Tarzan, mighty +Tarzan of the Apes? Yes, and Tarzan the mighty he would be until +the last throb of that savage heart! + +As he crossed the floor of the canyon he saw something lying close +to the base of the side wall he was approaching--something that +stood out in startling contrast to all the surroundings and yet +seemed so much a part and parcel of the somber scene as to suggest +an actor amid the settings of a well-appointed stage, and, as though +to carry out the allegory, the pitiless rays of flaming Kudu topped +the eastern cliff, picking out the thing lying at the foot of the +western wall like a giant spotlight. + +And as Tarzan came nearer he saw the bleached skull and bones of +a human being about which were remnants of clothing and articles +of equipment that, as he examined them, filled the ape-man with +curiosity to such an extent that for a time he forgot his own +predicament in contemplation of the remarkable story suggested by +these mute evidences of a tragedy of a time long past. + +The bones were in a fair state of preservation and indicated by +their intactness that the flesh had probably been picked from them +by vultures as none was broken; but the pieces of equipment bore +out the suggestion of their great age. In this protected spot where +there were no frosts and evidently but little rainfall, the bones +might have lain for ages without disintegrating, for there were +here no other forces to scatter or disturb them. + +Near the skeleton lay a helmet of hammered brass and a corroded +breastplate of steel while at one side was a long, straight sword +in its scabbard and an ancient harquebus. The bones were those of +a large man--a man of wondrous strength and vitality Tarzan knew +he must have been to have penetrated thus far through the dangers +of Africa with such a ponderous yet at the same time futile armament. + +The ape-man felt a sense of deep admiration for this nameless +adventurer of a bygone day. What a brute of a man he must have been +and what a glorious tale of battle and kaleidoscopic vicissitudes +of fortune must once have been locked within that whitened skull! +Tarzan stooped to examine the shreds of clothing that still lay +about the bones. Every particle of leather had disappeared, doubtless +eaten by Ska. No boots remained, if the man had worn boots, but +there were several buckles scattered about suggesting that a great +part of his trappings had been of leather, while just beneath the +bones of one hand lay a metal cylinder about eight inches long and +two inches in diameter. As Tarzan picked it up he saw that it had +been heavily lacquered and had withstood the slight ravages of +time so well as to be in as perfect a state of preservation today +as it had been when its owner dropped into his last, long sleep +perhaps centuries ago. + +As he examined it he discovered that one end was closed with +a friction cover which a little twisting force soon loosened and +removed, revealing within a roll of parchment which the ape-man +removed and opened, disclosing a number of age-yellowed sheets +closely written upon in a fine hand in a language which he guessed +to be Spanish but which he could not decipher. Upon the last sheet +was a roughly drawn map with numerous reference points marked upon +it, all unintelligible to Tarzan, who, after a brief examination +of the papers, returned them to their metal case, replaced the top +and was about to toss the little cylinder to the ground beside the +mute remains of its former possessor when some whim of curiosity +unsatisfied prompted him to slip it into the quiver with his arrows, +though as he did so it was with the grim thought that possibly +centuries hence it might again come to the sight of man beside his +own bleached bones. + +And then, with a parting glance at the ancient skeleton, he turned +to the task of ascending the western wall of the canyon. Slowly +and with many rests he dragged his weakening body upwards. Again and +again he slipped back from sheer exhaustion and would have fallen +to the floor of the canyon but for merest chance. How long it took +him to scale that frightful wall he could not have told, and when +at last he dragged himself over the top it was to lie weak and +gasping, too spent to rise or even to move a few inches farther +from the perilous edge of the chasm. + +At last he arose, very slowly and with evident effort gaining his +knees first and then staggering to his feet, yet his indomitable +will was evidenced by a sudden straightening of his shoulders and +a determined shake of his head as he lurched forward on unsteady +legs to take up his valiant fight for survival. Ahead he scanned +the rough landscape for sign of another canyon which he knew would +spell inevitable doom. The western hills rose closer now though +weirdly unreal as they seemed to dance in the sunlight as though +mocking him with their nearness at the moment that exhaustion was +about to render them forever unattainable. + +Beyond them he knew must be the fertile hunting grounds of which Manu +had told. Even if no canyon intervened, his chances of surmounting +even low hills seemed remote should he have the fortune to reach +their base; but with another canyon hope was dead. Above them Ska +still circled, and it seemed to the ape-man that the ill-omened +bird hovered ever lower and lower as though reading in that failing +gait the nearing of the end, and through cracked lips Tarzan growled +out his defiance. + +Mile after mile Tarzan of the Apes put slowly behind him, borne up +by sheer force of will where a lesser man would have lain down to +die and rest forever tired muscles whose every move was an agony of +effort; but at last his progress became practically mechanical--he +staggered on with a dazed mind that reacted numbly to a single +urge--on, on, on! The hills were now but a dim, ill-defined blur +ahead. Sometimes he forgot that they were hills, and again he +wondered vaguely why he must go on forever through all this torture +endeavoring to overtake them--the fleeing, elusive hills. Presently +he began to hate them and there formed within his half-delirious +brain the hallucination that the hills were German hills, that they +had slain someone dear to him, whom he could never quite recall, +and that he was pursuing to slay them. + +This idea, growing, appeared to give him strength--a new and +revivifying purpose--so that for a time he no longer staggered; but +went forward steadily with head erect. Once he stumbled and fell, +and when he tried to rise he found that he could not--that his +strength was so far gone that he could only crawl forward on his +hands and knees for a few yards and then sink down again to rest. + +It was during one of these frequent periods of utter exhaustion +that he heard the flap of dismal wings close above him. With his +remaining strength he turned himself over on his back to see Ska +wheel quickly upward. With the sight Tarzan's mind cleared for a +while. + +"Is the end so near as that?" he thought. "Does Ska know that I am +so near gone that he dares come down and perch upon my carcass?" +And even then a grim smile touched those swollen lips as into the +savage mind came a sudden thought--the cunning of the wild beast +at bay. Closing his eyes he threw a forearm across them to protect +them from Ska's powerful beak and then he lay very still and waited. + +It was restful lying there, for the sun was now obscured by clouds +and Tarzan was very tired. He feared that he might sleep and something +told him that if he did he would never awaken, and so he concentrated +all his remaining powers upon the one thought of remaining awake. +Not a muscle moved--to Ska, circling above, it became evident that +the end had come--that at last he should be rewarded for his long +vigil. + +Circling slowly he dropped closer and closer to the dying man. Why +did not Tarzan move? Had he indeed been overcome by the sleep of +exhaustion, or was Ska right--had death at last claimed that mighty +body? Was that great, savage heart stilled forever? It is unthinkable. + +Ska, filled with suspicions, circled warily. Twice he almost alighted +upon the great, naked breast only to wheel suddenly away; but the +third time his talons touched the brown skin. It was as though the +contact closed an electric circuit that instantaneously vitalized +the quiet clod that had lain motionless so long. A brown hand swept +downward from the brown forehead and before Ska could raise a wing +in flight he was in the clutches of his intended victim. + +Ska fought, but he was no match for even a dying Tarzan, and +a moment later the ape-man's teeth closed upon the carrion-eater. +The flesh was coarse and tough and gave off an unpleasant odor and +a worse taste; but it was food and the blood was drink and Tarzan +only an ape at heart and a dying ape into the bargain--dying of +starvation and thirst. + +Even mentally weakened as he was the ape-man was still master +of his appetite and so he ate but sparingly, saving the rest, and +then, feeling that he now could do so safely, he turned upon his +side and slept. + +Rain, beating heavily upon his body, awakened him and sitting up he +cupped his hands and caught the precious drops which he transferred +to his parched throat. Only a little he got at a time; but that +was best. The few mouthfuls of Ska that he had eaten, together with +the blood and rain water and the sleep had refreshed him greatly +and put new strength into his tired muscles. + +Now he could see the hills again and they were close and, though +there was no sun, the world looked bright and cheerful, for Tarzan +knew that he was saved. The bird that would have devoured him, and +the providential rain, had saved him at the very moment that death +seemed inevitable. + +Again partaking of a few mouthfuls of the unsavory flesh of Ska, +the vulture, the ape-man arose with something of his old force +and set out with steady gait toward the hills of promise rising +alluringly ahead. Darkness fell before he reached them; but he +kept on until he felt the steeply rising ground that proclaimed +his arrival at the base of the hills proper, and then he lay down +and waited until morning should reveal the easiest passage to the +land beyond. The rain had ceased, but the sky still was overcast +so that even his keen eyes could not penetrate the darkness farther +than a few feet. And there he slept, after eating again of what +remained of Ska, until the morning sun awakened him with a new +sense of strength and well-being. + +And so at last he came through the hills out of the valley of death +into a land of park-like beauty, rich in game. Below him lay a deep +valley through the center of which dense jungle vegetation marked +the course of a river beyond which a primeval forest extended +for miles to terminate at last at the foot of lofty, snow-capped +mountains. It was a land that Tarzan never had looked upon before, +nor was it likely that the foot of another white man ever had +touched it unless, possibly, in some long-gone day the adventurer +whose skeleton he had found bleaching in the canyon had traversed +it. + + + + +Chapter VIII + +Tarzan and the Great Apes + + +Three days the ape-man spent in resting and recuperating, eating +fruits and nuts and the smaller animals that were most easily +bagged, and upon the fourth he set out to explore the valley and +search for the great apes. Time was a negligible factor in the +equation of life--it was all the same to Tarzan if he reached the +west coast in a month or a year or three years. All time was his and +all Africa. His was absolute freedom--the last tie that had bound +him to civilization and custom had been severed. He was alone but +he was not exactly lonely. The greater part of his life had been +spent thus, and though there was no other of his kind, he was at +all times surrounded by the jungle peoples for whom familiarity had +bred no contempt within his breast. The least of them interested +him, and, too, there were those with whom he always made friends +easily, and there were his hereditary enemies whose presence gave a +spice to life that might otherwise have become humdrum and monotonous. + +And so it was that on the fourth day he set out to explore the +valley and search for his fellow-apes. He had proceeded southward +for a short distance when his nostrils were assailed by the scent +of man, of Gomangani, the black man. There were many of them, and +mixed with their scent was another-that of a she Tarmangani. + +Swinging through the trees Tarzan approached the authors of these +disturbing scents. He came warily from the flank, but paying no +attention to the wind, for he knew that man with his dull senses +could apprehend him only through his eyes or ears and then only +when comparatively close. Had he been stalking Numa or Sheeta he +would have circled about until his quarry was upwind from him, thus +taking practically all the advantage up to the very moment that +he came within sight or hearing; but in the stalking of the dull +clod, man, he approached with almost contemptuous indifference, +so that all the jungle about him knew that he was passing--all but +the men he stalked. + +From the dense foliage of a great tree he watched them pass--a +disreputable mob of blacks, some garbed in the uniform of German +East African native troops, others wearing a single garment of the +same uniform, while many had reverted to the simple dress of their +forbears--approximating nudity. There were many black women with +them, laughing and talking as they kept pace with the men, all of +whom were armed with German rifles and equipped with German belts +and ammunition. + +There were no white officers there, but it was none the less apparent +to Tarzan that these men were from some German native command, +and he guessed that they had slain their officers and taken to the +jungle with their women, or had stolen some from native villages +through which they must have passed. It was evident that they were +putting as much ground between themselves and the coast as possible +and doubtless were seeking some impenetrable fastness of the vast +interior where they might inaugurate a reign of terror among the +primitively armed inhabitants and by raiding, looting, and rape +grow rich in goods and women at the expense of the district upon +which they settled themselves. + +Between two of the black women marched a slender white girl. She +was hatless and with torn and disheveled clothing that had evidently +once been a trim riding habit. Her coat was gone and her waist half +torn from her body. Occasionally and without apparent provocation +one or the other of the Negresses struck or pushed her roughly. +Tarzan watched through half-closed eyes. His first impulse was to +leap among them and bear the girl from their cruel clutches. He had +recognized her immediately and it was because of this fact that he +hesitated. + +What was it to Tarzan of the Apes what fate befell this enemy +spy? He had been unable to kill her himself because of an inherent +weakness that would not permit him to lay hands upon a woman, all +of which of course had no bearing upon what others might do to +her. That her fate would now be infinitely more horrible than the +quick and painless death that the ape-man would have meted to her +only interested Tarzan to the extent that the more frightful the +end of a German the more in keeping it would be with what they all +deserved. + +And so he let the blacks pass with Fraulein Bertha Kircher in their +midst, or at least until the last straggling warrior suggested to +his mind the pleasures of black-baiting--an amusement and a sport +in which he had grown ever more proficient since that long-gone day +when Kulonga, the son of Mbonga, the chief, had cast his unfortunate +spear at Kala, the ape-man's foster mother. + +The last man, who must have stopped for some purpose, was fully a +quarter of a mile in rear of the party. He was hurrying to catch +up when Tarzan saw him, and as he passed beneath the tree in which +the ape-man perched above the trail, a silent noose dropped deftly +about his neck. The main body still was in plain sight, and as the +frightened man voiced a piercing shriek of terror, they looked back +to see his body rise as though by magic straight into the air and +disappear amidst the leafy foliage above. + +For a moment the blacks stood paralyzed by astonishment and fear; +but presently the burly sergeant, Usanga, who led them, started +back along the trail at a run, calling to the others to follow +him. Loading their guns as they came the blacks ran to succor their +fellow, and at Usanga's command they spread into a thin line that +presently entirely surrounded the tree into which their comrade +had vanished. + +Usanga called but received no reply; then he advanced slowly with +rifle at the ready, peering up into the tree. He could see no +one--nothing. The circle closed in until fifty blacks were searching +among the branches with their keen eyes. What had become of their +fellow? They had seen him rise into the tree and since then many +eyes had been fastened upon the spot, yet there was no sign of him. +One, more venturesome than his fellows, volunteered to climb into +the tree and investigate. He was gone but a minute or two and +when he dropped to earth again he swore that there was no sign of +a creature there. + +Perplexed, and by this time a bit awed, the blacks drew slowly +away from the spot and with many backward glances and less laughing +continued upon their journey until, when about a mile beyond the +spot at which their fellow had disappeared, those in the lead saw +him peering from behind a tree at one side of the trail just in +front of them. With shouts to their companions that he had been +found they ran forwards; but those who were first to reach the +tree stopped suddenly and shrank back, their eyes rolling fearfully +first in one direction and then in another as though they expected +some nameless horror to leap out upon them. + +Nor was their terror without foundation. Impaled upon the end of +a broken branch the head of their companion was propped behind the +tree so that it appeared to be looking out at them from the opposite +side of the bole. + +It was then that many wished to turn back, arguing that they +had offended some demon of the wood upon whose preserve they had +trespassed; but Usanga refused to listen to them, assuring them +that inevitable torture and death awaited them should they return +and fall again into the hands of their cruel German masters. At +last his reasoning prevailed to the end that a much-subdued and +terrified band moved in a compact mass, like a drove of sheep, +forward through the valley and there were no stragglers. + +It is a happy characteristic of the Negro race, which they hold +in common with little children, that their spirits seldom remain +depressed for a considerable length of time after the immediate +cause of depression is removed, and so it was that in half an hour +Usanga's band was again beginning to take on to some extent its +former appearance of carefree lightheartedness. Thus were the heavy +clouds of fear slowly dissipating when a turn in the trail brought +them suddenly upon the headless body of their erstwhile companion +lying directly in their path, and they were again plunged into the +depth of fear and gloomy forebodings. + +So utterly inexplicable and uncanny had the entire occurrence been +that there was not a one of them who could find a ray of comfort +penetrating the dead blackness of its ominous portent. What had +happened to one of their number each conceived as being a wholly +possible fate for himself--in fact quite his probable fate. If such +a thing could happen in broad daylight what frightful thing might +not fall to their lot when night had enshrouded them in her mantle +of darkness. They trembled in anticipation. + +The white girl in their midst was no less mystified than they; but +far less moved, since sudden death was the most merciful fate to +which she might now look forward. So far she had been subjected +to nothing worse than the petty cruelties of the women, while, on +the other hand, it had alone been the presence of the women that +had saved her from worse treatment at the hands of some of the +men--notably the brutal, black sergeant, Usanga. His own woman +was of the party--a veritable giantess, a virago of the first +magnitude--and she was evidently the only thing in the world of +which Usanga stood in awe. Even though she was particularly cruel +to the young woman, the latter believed that she was her sole +protection from the degraded black tyrant. + +Late in the afternoon the band came upon a small palisaded village +of thatched huts set in a clearing in the jungle close beside +a placid river. At their approach the villagers came pouring out, +and Usanga advanced with two of his warriors to palaver with the +chief. The experiences of the day had so shaken the nerves of the +black sergeant that he was ready to treat with these people rather +than take their village by force of arms, as would ordinarily have +been his preference; but now a vague conviction influenced him +that there watched over this part of the jungle a powerful demon +who wielded miraculous power for evil against those who offended +him. First Usanga would learn how these villagers stood with this +savage god and if they had his good will Usanga would be most +careful to treat them with kindness and respect. + +At the palaver it developed that the village chief had food, +goats, and fowl which he would be glad to dispose of for a proper +consideration; but as the consideration would have meant parting +with precious rifles and ammunition, or the very clothing from their +backs, Usanga began to see that after all it might be forced upon +him to wage war to obtain food. + +A happy solution was arrived at by a suggestion of one of his +men--that the soldiers go forth the following day and hunt for the +villagers, bringing them in so much fresh meat in return for their +hospitality. This the chief agreed to, stipulating the kind and +quantity of game to be paid in return for flour, goats, and fowl, +and a certain number of huts that were to be turned over to the +visitors. The details having been settled after an hour or more +of that bickering argument of which the native African is so fond, +the newcomers entered the village where they were assigned to huts. + +Bertha Kircher found herself alone in a small hut close to the palisade +at the far end of the village street, and though she was neither +bound nor guarded, she was assured by Usanga that she could not +escape the village without running into almost certain death in the +jungle, which the villagers assured them was infested by lions of +great size and ferocity. "Be good to Usanga," he concluded, "and +no harm will befall you. I will come again to see you after the +others are asleep. Let us be friends." + +As the brute left her the girl's frame was racked by a convulsive +shudder as she sank to the floor of the hut and covered her face +with her hands. She realized now why the women had not been left +to guard her. It was the work of the cunning Usanga, but would not +his woman suspect something of his intentions? She was no fool and, +further, being imbued with insane jealousy she was ever looking +for some overt act upon the part of her ebon lord. Bertha Kircher +felt that only she might save her and that she would save her if +word could be but gotten to her. But how? + +Left alone and away from the eyes of her captors for the first time +since the previous night, the girl immediately took advantage of +the opportunity to assure herself that the papers she had taken +from the body of Hauptmann Fritz Schneider were still safely sewn +inside one of her undergarments. + +Alas! Of what value could they now ever be to her beloved country? +But habit and loyalty were so strong within her that she still clung +to the determined hope of eventually delivering the little packet +to her chief. + +The natives seemed to have forgotten her existence--no one came +near the hut, not even to bring her food. She could hear them at +the other end of the village laughing and yelling and knew that +they were celebrating with food and native beer--knowledge which +only increased her apprehension. To be prisoner in a native village +in the very heart of an unexplored region of Central Africa--the +only white woman among a band of drunken Negroes! The very thought +appalled her. Yet there was a slight promise in the fact that she +had so far been unmolested--the promise that they might, indeed, +have forgotten her and that soon they might become so hopelessly +drunk as to be harmless. + +Darkness had fallen and still no one came. The girl wondered if +she dared venture forth in search of Naratu, Usanga's woman, for +Usanga might not forget that he had promised to return. No one was +near as she stepped out of the hut and made her way toward the part +of the village where the revelers were making merry about a fire. +As she approached she saw the villagers and their guests squatting +in a large circle about the blaze before which a half-dozen naked +warriors leaped and bent and stamped in some grotesque dance. +Pots of food and gourds of drink were being passed about among +the audience. Dirty hands were plunged into the food pots and the +captured portions devoured so greedily that one might have thought +the entire community had been upon the point of starvation. The +gourds they held to their lips until the beer ran down their chins +and the vessels were wrested from them by greedy neighbors. The +drink had now begun to take noticeable effect upon most of them, +with the result that they were beginning to give themselves up to +utter and licentious abandon. + +As the girl came nearer, keeping in the shadow of the huts, looking +for Naratu she was suddenly discovered by one upon the edge of the +crowd--a huge woman, who rose, shrieking, and came toward her. From +her aspect the white girl thought that the woman meant literally +to tear her to pieces. So utterly wanton and uncalled-for was the +attack that it found the girl entirely unprepared, and what would +have happened had not a warrior interfered may only be guessed. +And then Usanga, noting the interruption, came lurching forward to +question her. + +"What do you want," he cried, "food and drink? Come with me!" and +he threw an arm about her and dragged her toward the circle. + +"No!" she cried, "I want Naratu. Where is Naratu?" + +This seemed to sober the black for a moment as though he +had temporarily forgotten his better half. He cast quick, fearful +glances about, and then, evidently assured that Naratu had noticed +nothing, he ordered the warrior who was still holding the infuriated +black woman from the white girl to take the latter back to her hut +and to remain there on guard over her. + +First appropriating a gourd of beer for himself the warrior +motioned the girl to precede him, and thus guarded she returned to +her hut, the fellow squatting down just outside the doorway, where +he confined his attentions for some time to the gourd. + +Bertha Kircher sat down at the far side of the hut awaiting she +knew not what impending fate. She could not sleep so filled was her +mind with wild schemes of escape though each new one must always be +discarded as impractical. Half an hour after the warrior had returned +her to her prison he rose and entered the hut, where he tried to +engage in conversation with her. Groping across the interior he +leaned his short spear against the wall and sat down beside her, +and as he talked he edged closer and closer until at last he could +reach out and touch her. Shrinking, she drew away. + +"Do not touch me!" she cried. "I will tell Usanga if you do not +leave me alone, and you know what he will do to you." + +The man only laughed drunkenly, and, reaching out his hand, grabbed +her arm and dragged her toward him. She fought and cried aloud for +Usanga and at the same instant the entrance to the hut was darkened +by the form of a man. + +"What is the matter?" shouted the newcomer in the deep tones that +the girl recognized as belonging to the black sergeant. He had +come, but would she be any better off? She knew that she would not +unless she could play upon Usanga's fear of his woman. + +When Usanga found what had happened he kicked the warrior out of +the hut and bade him begone, and when the fellow had disappeared, +muttering and grumbling, the sergeant approached the white girl. He +was very drunk, so drunk that several times she succeeded in eluding +him and twice she pushed him so violently away that he stumbled +and fell. + +Finally he became enraged and rushing upon her, seized her in his +long, apelike arms. Striking at his face with clenched fists she +tried to protect herself and drive him away. She threatened him +with the wrath of Naratu, and at that he changed his tactics and +began to plead, and as he argued with her, promising her safety +and eventual freedom, the warrior he had kicked out of the hut made +his staggering way to the hut occupied by Naratu. + +Usanga finding that pleas and promises were as unavailing as +threats, at last lost both his patience and his head, seizing the +girl roughly, and simultaneously there burst into the hut a raging +demon of jealousy. Naratu had come. Kicking, scratching, striking, +biting, she routed the terrified Usanga in short order, and +so obsessed was she by her desire to inflict punishment upon her +unfaithful lord and master that she quite forgot the object of his +infatuation. + +Bertha Kircher heard her screaming down the village street at Usanga's +heels and trembled at the thought of what lay in store for her at +the hands of these two, for she knew that tomorrow at the latest +Naratu would take out upon her the full measure of her jealous +hatred after she had spent her first wrath upon Usanga. + +The two had departed but a few minutes when the warrior guard +returned. He looked into the hut and then entered. "No one will +stop me now, white woman," he growled as he stepped quickly across +the hut toward her. + +Tarzan of the Apes, feasting well upon a juicy haunch from Bara, +the deer, was vaguely conscious of a troubled mind. He should +have been at peace with himself and all the world, for was he not +in his native element surrounded by game in plenty and rapidly +filling his belly with the flesh he loved best? But Tarzan of +the Apes was haunted by the picture of a slight, young girl being +shoved and struck by brutal Negresses, and in imagination could +see her now camped in this savage country a prisoner among degraded +blacks. + +Why was it so difficult to remember that she was only a hated German +and a spy? Why would the fact that she was a woman and white always +obtrude itself upon his consciousness? He hated her as he hated +all her kind, and the fate that was sure to be hers was no more +terrible than she in common with all her people deserved. The matter +was settled and Tarzan composed himself to think of other things, +yet the picture would not die--it rose in all its details and annoyed +him. He began to wonder what they were doing to her and where they +were taking her. He was very much ashamed of himself as he had been +after the episode in Wilhelmstal when his weakness had permitted +him to spare this spy's life. Was he to be thus weak again? No! + +Night came and he settled himself in an ample tree to rest until +morning; but sleep would not come. Instead came the vision of a +white girl being beaten by black women, and again of the same girl +at the mercy of the warriors somewhere in that dark and forbidding +jungle. + +With a growl of anger and self-contempt Tarzan arose, shook himself, +and swung from his tree to that adjoining, and thus, through the +lower terraces, he followed the trail that Usanga's party had taken +earlier in the afternoon. He had little difficulty as the band had +followed a well-beaten path and when toward midnight the stench +of a native village assailed his delicate nostrils he guessed that +his goal was near and that presently he should find her whom he +sought. + +Prowling stealthily as prowls Numa, the lion, stalking a wary +prey, Tarzan moved noiselessly about the palisade, listening and +sniffing. At the rear of the village he discovered a tree whose +branches extended over the top of the palisade and a moment later +he had dropped quietly into the village. + +From hut to hut he went searching with keen ears and nostrils some +confirming evidence of the presence of the girl, and at last, faint +and almost obliterated by the odor of the Gomangani, he found it +hanging like a delicate vapor about a small hut. The village was +quiet now, for the last of the beer and the food had been disposed +of and the blacks lay in their huts overcome by stupor, yet Tarzan +made no noise that even a sober man keenly alert might have heard. + +He passed around to the entrance of the hut and listened. From +within came no sound, not even the low breathing of one awake; yet +he was sure that the girl had been here and perhaps was even now, +and so he entered, slipping in as silently as a disembodied spirit. +For a moment he stood motionless just within the entranceway, +listening. No, there was no one here, of that he was sure, but he +would investigate. As his eyes became accustomed to the greater +darkness within the hut an object began to take form that presently +outlined itself in a human form supine upon the floor. + +Tarzan stepped closer and leaned over to examine it--it was the dead +body of a naked warrior from whose chest protruded a short spear. +Then he searched carefully every square foot of the remaining floor +space and at last returned to the body again where he stooped and +smelled of the haft of the weapon that had slain the black. A slow +smile touched his lips--that and a slight movement of his head +betokened that he understood. + +A rapid search of the balance of the village assured him that the +girl had escaped and a feeling of relief came over him that no harm +had befallen her. That her life was equally in jeopardy in the +savage jungle to which she must have flown did not impress him +as it would have you or me, since to Tarzan the jungle was not +a dangerous place--he considered one safer there than in Paris or +London by night. + +He had entered the trees again and was outside the palisade when +there came faintly to his ears from far beyond the village an old, +familiar sound. Balancing lightly upon a swaying branch he stood, +a graceful statue of a forest god, listening intently. For a minute +he stood thus and then there broke from his lips the long, weird +cry of ape calling to ape and he was away through the jungle toward +the sound of the booming drum of the anthropoids leaving behind him +an awakened and terrified village of cringing blacks, who would +forever after connect that eerie cry with the disappearance of +their white prisoner and the death of their fellow-warrior. + +Bertha Kircher, hurrying through the jungle along a well-beaten +game trail, thought only of putting as much distance as possible +between herself and the village before daylight could permit pursuit +of her. Whither she was going she did not know, nor was it a matter +of great moment since death must be her lot sooner or later. + +Fortune favored her that night, for she passed unscathed through +as savage and lion-ridden an area as there is in all Africa--a +natural hunting ground which the white man has not yet discovered, +where deer and antelope and zebra, giraffe and elephant, buffalo, +rhinoceros, and the other herbivorous animals of central Africa +abound unmolested by none but their natural enemies, the great +cats which, lured here by easy prey and immunity from the rifles +of big-game hunters, swarm the district. + +She had fled for an hour or two, perhaps, when her attention was +arrested by the sound of animals moving about, muttering and growling +close ahead. Assured that she had covered a sufficient distance +to insure her a good start in the morning before the blacks could +take to her trail, and fearful of what the creatures might be, +she climbed into a large tree with the intention of spending the +balance of the night there. + +She had no sooner reached a safe and comfortable branch when she +discovered that the tree stood upon the edge of a small clearing +that had been hidden from her by the heavy undergrowth upon the +ground below, and simultaneously she discovered the identity of +the beasts she had heard. + +In the center of the clearing below her, clearly visible in the +bright moonlight, she saw fully twenty huge, manlike apes--great, +shaggy fellows who went upon their hind feet with only slight +assistance from the knuckles of their hands. The moonlight glanced +from their glossy coats, the numerous gray-tipped hairs imparting +a sheen that made the hideous creatures almost magnificent in their +appearance. + +The girl had watched them but a minute or two when the little band +was joined by others, coming singly and in groups until there were +fully fifty of the great brutes gathered there in the moonlight. +Among them were young apes and several little ones clinging tightly +to their mothers' shaggy shoulders. Presently the group parted to +form a circle about what appeared to be a small, flat-topped mound +of earth in the center of the clearing. Squatting close about this +mound were three old females armed with short, heavy clubs with +which they presently began to pound upon the flat top of the earth +mound which gave forth a dull, booming sound, and almost immediately +the other apes commenced to move about restlessly, weaving in and +out aimlessly until they carried the impression of a moving mass +of great, black maggots. + +The beating of the drum was in a slow, ponderous cadence, at first +without time but presently settling into a heavy rhythm to which +the apes kept time with measured tread and swaying bodies. Slowly +the mass separated into two rings, the outer of which was composed +of shes and the very young, the inner of mature bulls. The former +ceased to move and squatted upon their haunches, while the bulls +now moved slowly about in a circle the center of which was the drum +and all now in the same direction. + +It was then that there came faintly to the ears of the girl from +the direction of the village she had recently quitted a weird and +high-pitched cry. The effect upon the apes was electrical--they +stopped their movements and stood in attitudes of intent listening +for a moment, and then one fellow, huger than his companions, raised +his face to the heavens and in a voice that sent the cold shudders +through the girl's slight frame answered the far-off cry. + +Once again the beaters took up their drumming and the slow dance +went on. There was a certain fascination in the savage ceremony +that held the girl spellbound, and as there seemed little likelihood +of her being discovered, she felt that she might as well remain +the balance of the night in her tree and resume her flight by the +comparatively greater safety of daylight. + +Assuring herself that her packet of papers was safe she sought as +comfortable a position as possible among the branches, and settled +herself to watch the weird proceedings in the clearing below her. + +A half-hour passed, during which the cadence of the drum increased +gradually. Now the great bull that had replied to the distant call +leaped from the inner circle to dance alone between the drummers +and the other bulls. He leaped and crouched and leaped again, now +growling and barking, again stopping to raise his hideous face +to Goro, the moon, and, beating upon his shaggy breast, uttered +a piercing scream-the challenge of the bull ape, had the girl but +known it. + +He stood thus in the full glare of the great moon, motionless after +screaming forth his weird challenge, in the setting of the primeval +jungle and the circling apes a picture of primitive savagery and +power--a mightily muscled Hercules out of the dawn of life--when +from close behind her the girl heard an answering scream, and an +instant later saw an almost naked white man drop from a near-by +tree into the clearing. + +Instantly the apes became a roaring, snarling pack of angry beasts. +Bertha Kircher held her breath. What maniac was this who dared +approach these frightful creatures in their own haunts, alone against +fifty? She saw the brown-skinned figure bathed in moonlight walk +straight toward the snarling pack. She saw the symmetry and the +beauty of that perfect body--its grace, its strength, its wondrous +proportioning, and then she recognized him. It was the same creature +whom she had seen carry Major Schneider from General Kraut's +headquarters, the same who had rescued her from Numa, the lion; +the same whom she had struck down with the butt of her pistol and +escaped when he would have returned her to her enemies, the same +who had slain Hauptmann Fritz Schneider and spared her life that +night in Wilhelmstal. + +Fear-filled and fascinated she watched him as he neared the apes. +She heard sounds issue from his throat--sounds identical with +those uttered by the apes--and though she could scarce believe the +testimony of her own ears, she knew that this godlike creature was +conversing with the brutes in their own tongue. + +Tarzan halted just before he reached the shes of the outer circle. +"I am Tarzan of the Apes!" he cried. "You do not know me because +I am of another tribe, but Tarzan comes in peace or he comes to +fight--which shall it be? Tarzan will talk with your king," and so +saying he pushed straight forward through the shes and the young +who now gave way before him, making a narrow lane through which he +passed toward the inner circle. + +Shes and balus growled and bristled as he passed closer, but none +hindered him and thus he came to the inner circle of bulls. Here +bared fangs menaced him and growling faces hideously contorted. "I +am Tarzan," he repeated. "Tarzan comes to dance the Dum-Dum with +his brothers. Where is your king?" Again he pressed forward and the +girl in the tree clapped her palms to her cheeks as she watched, +wide-eyed, this madman going to a frightful death. In another instant +they would be upon him, rending and tearing until that perfect form +had been ripped to shreds; but again the ring parted, and though +the apes roared and menaced him they did not attack, and at last +he stood in the inner circle close to the drum and faced the great +king ape. + +Again he spoke. "I am Tarzan of the Apes," he cried. "Tarzan comes +to live with his brothers. He will come in peace and live in peace +or he will kill; but he has come and he will stay. Which--shall +Tarzan dance the Dum-Dum in peace with his brothers, or shall Tarzan +kill first?" + +"I am Go-lat, King of the Apes," screamed the great bull. "I kill! +I kill! I kill!" and with a sullen roar he charged the Tarmangani. + +The ape-man, as the girl watched him, seemed entirely unprepared +for the charge and she looked to see him borne down and slain at +the first rush. The great bull was almost upon him with huge hands +outstretched to seize him before Tarzan made a move, but when he +did move his quickness would have put Ara, the lightning, to shame. +As darts forward the head of Histah, the snake, so darted forward +the left hand of the man-beast as he seized the left wrist of his +antagonist. A quick turn and the bull's right arm was locked beneath +the right arm of his foe in a jujutsu hold that Tarzan had learned +among civilized men--a hold with which he might easily break the +great bones, a hold that left the ape helpless. + +"I am Tarzan of the Apes!" screamed the ape-man. "Shall Tarzan +dance in peace or shall Tarzan kill?'' + +"I kill! I kill! I kill!" shrieked Go-lat. + +With the quickness of a cat Tarzan swung the king ape over one hip +and sent him sprawling to the ground. "I am Tarzan, King of all +the Apes!" he shouted. "Shall it be peace?" + +Go-lat, infuriated, leaped to his feet and charged again, shouting +his war cry: "I kill! I kill! I kill!" and again Tarzan met him +with a sudden hold that the stupid bull, being ignorant of, could +not possibly avert--a hold and a throw that brought a scream of +delight from the interested audience and suddenly filled the girl +with doubts as to the man's madness--evidently he was quite safe +among the apes, for she saw him swing Go-lat to his back and then +catapult him over his shoulder. The king ape fell upon his head +and lay very still. + +"I am Tarzan of the Apes!" cried the ape-man. "I come to dance the +Dum-Dum with my brothers," and he made a motion to the drummers, +who immediately took up the cadence of the dance where they had +dropped it to watch their king slay the foolish Tarmangani. + +It was then that Go-lat raised his head and slowly crawled to his +feet. Tarzan approached him. "I am Tarzan of the Apes," he cried. +"Shall Tarzan dance the Dum-Dum with his brothers now, or shall he +kill first?" + +Go-lat raised his bloodshot eyes to the face of the Tarmangani. +"Kagoda!" he cried. "Tarzan of the Apes will dance the Dum-Dum with +his brothers and Go-lat will dance with him!" + +And then the girl in the tree saw the savage man leaping, bending, and +stamping with the savage apes in the ancient rite of the Dum-Dum. +His roars and growls were more beastly than the beasts. His +handsome face was distorted with savage ferocity. He beat upon his +great breast and screamed forth his challenge as his smooth, brown +hide brushed the shaggy coats of his fellows. It was weird; it +was wonderful; and in its primitive savagery it was not without +beauty--the strange scene she looked upon, such a scene as no other +human being, probably, ever had witnessed--and yet, withal, it was +horrible. + +As she gazed, spell-bound, a stealthy movement in the tree behind +her caused her to turn her head, and there, back of her, blazing +in the reflected moonlight, shone two great, yellow-green eyes. +Sheeta, the panther, had found her out. + +The beast was so close that it might have reached out and touched +her with a great, taloned paw. There was no time to think, no +time to weigh chances or to choose alternatives. Terror-inspired +impulse was her guide as, with a loud scream, she leaped from the +tree into the clearing. + +Instantly the apes, now maddened by the effects of the dancing and +the moonlight, turned to note the cause of the interruption. They +saw this she Tarmangani, helpless and alone and they started for +her. Sheeta, the panther, knowing that not even Numa, the lion, +unless maddened by starvation, dares meddle with the great apes at +their Dum-Dum, had silently vanished into the night, seeking his +supper elsewhere. + +Tarzan, turning with the other apes toward the cause of the +interruption, saw the girl, recognized her and also her peril. +Here again might she die at the hands of others; but why consider +it! He knew that he could not permit it, and though the acknowledgment +shamed him, it had to be admitted. + +The leading shes were almost upon the girl when Tarzan leaped among +them, and with heavy blows scattered them to right and left; and +then as the bulls came to share in the kill they thought this new +ape-thing was about to make that he might steal all the flesh for +himself, they found him facing them with an arm thrown about the +creature as though to protect her. + +"This is Tarzan's she," he said. "Do not harm her." It was the only +way he could make them understand that they must not slay her. He +was glad that she could not interpret the words. It was humiliating +enough to make such a statement to wild apes about this hated enemy. + +So once again Tarzan of the Apes was forced to protect a Hun. +Growling, he muttered to himself in extenuation: + +"She is a woman and I am not a German, so it could not be otherwise!" + + + + +Chapter IX + +Dropped from the Sky + + +Lieutenant Harold Percy Smith-Oldwick, Royal Air Service, was on +reconnaissance. A report, or it would be better to say a rumor, +had come to the British headquarters in German East Africa that +the enemy had landed in force on the west coast and was marching +across the dark continent to reinforce their colonial troops. In +fact the new army was supposed to be no more than ten or twelve days' +march to the west. Of course the thing was ridiculous--preposterous--but +preposterous things often happen in war; and anyway no good general +permits the least rumor of enemy activity to go uninvestigated. + +Therefore Lieutenant Harold Percy Smith-Oldwick flew low toward +the west, searching with keen eyes for signs of a Hun army. Vast +forests unrolled beneath him in which a German army corps might +have lain concealed, so dense was the overhanging foliage of the +great trees. Mountain, meadowland, and desert passed in lovely +panorama; but never a sight of man had the young lieutenant. + +Always hoping that he might discover some sign of their passage--a +discarded lorry, a broken limber, or an old camp site--he continued +farther and farther into the west until well into the afternoon. +Above a tree-dotted plain through the center of which flowed a +winding river he determined to turn about and start for camp. It +would take straight flying at top speed to cover the distance before +dark; but as he had ample gasoline and a trustworthy machine there +was no doubt in his mind but that he could accomplish his aim. It +was then that his engine stalled. + +He was too low to do anything but land, and that immediately, +while he had the more open country accessible, for directly east of +him was a vast forest into which a stalled engine could only have +plunged him to certain injury and probable death; and so he came +down in the meadowland near the winding river and there started to +tinker with his motor. + +As he worked he hummed a tune, some music-hall air that had been +popular in London the year before, so that one might have thought +him working in the security of an English flying field surrounded +by innumerable comrades rather than alone in the heart of an unexplored +African wilderness. It was typical of the man that he should be +wholly indifferent to his surroundings, although his looks entirely +belied any assumption that he was of particularly heroic strain. + +Lieutenant Harold Percy Smith-Oldwick was fair-haired, blue-eyed, +and slender, with a rosy, boyish face that might have been molded +more by an environment of luxury, indolence, and ease than the more +strenuous exigencies of life's sterner requirements. + +And not only was the young lieutenant outwardly careless of the +immediate future and of his surroundings, but actually so. That +the district might be infested by countless enemies seemed not to +have occurred to him in the remotest degree. He bent assiduously +to the work of correcting the adjustment that had caused his motor +to stall without so much as an upward glance at the surrounding +country. The forest to the east of him, and the more distant jungle +that bordered the winding river, might have harbored an army of +bloodthirsty savages, but neither could elicit even a passing show +of interest on the part of Lieutenant Smith-Oldwick. + +And even had he looked, it is doubtful if he would have seen the +score of figures crouching in the concealment of the undergrowth +at the forest's edge. There are those who are reputed to be endowed +with that which is sometimes, for want of a better appellation, +known as the sixth sense--a species of intuition which apprises +them of the presence of an unseen danger. The concentrated gaze of +a hidden observer provokes a warning sensation of nervous unrest in +such as these, but though twenty pairs of savage eyes were gazing +fixedly at Lieutenant Harold Percy Smith-Oldwick, the fact aroused +no responsive sensation of impending danger in his placid breast. +He hummed peacefully and, his adjustment completed, tried out his +motor for a minute or two, then shut it off and descended to the +ground with the intention of stretching his legs and taking a smoke +before continuing his return flight to camp. Now for the first time +he took note of his surroundings, to be immediately impressed by +both the wildness and the beauty of the scene. In some respects the +tree-dotted meadowland reminded him of a park-like English forest, +and that wild beasts and savage men could ever be a part of so +quiet a scene seemed the remotest of contingencies. + +Some gorgeous blooms upon a flowering shrub at a little distance +from his machine caught the attention of his aesthetic eye, and as +he puffed upon his cigarette, he walked over to examine the flowers +more closely. As he bent above them he was probably some hundred +yards from his plane and it was at this instant that Numabo, chief +of the Wamabo, chose to leap from his ambush and lead his warriors +in a sudden rush upon the white man. + +The young Englishman's first intimation of danger was a chorus of +savage yells from the forest behind him. Turning, he saw a score +of naked, black warriors advancing rapidly toward him. They moved +in a compact mass and as they approached more closely their rate +of speed noticeably diminished. Lieutenant Smith-Oldwick realized +in a quick glance that the direction of their approach and their +proximity had cut off all chances of retreating to his plane, and +he also understood that their attitude was entirely warlike and +menacing. He saw that they were armed with spears and with bows and +arrows, and he felt quite confident that notwithstanding the fact +that he was armed with a pistol they could overcome him with the +first rush. What he did not know about their tactics was that at +any show of resistance they would fall back, which is the nature of +the native Negroes, but that after numerous advances and retreats, +during which they would work themselves into a frenzy of rage by +much shrieking, leaping, and dancing, they would eventually come +to the point of a determined and final assault. + +Numabo was in the forefront, a fact which taken in connection with +his considerably greater size and more warlike appearance, indicated +him as the natural target and it was at Numabo that the Englishman +aimed his first shot. Unfortunately for him it missed its target, +as the killing of the chief might have permanently dispersed +the others. The bullet passed Numabo to lodge in the breast of a +warrior behind him and as the fellow lunged forward with a scream +the others turned and retreated, but to the lieutenant's chagrin +they ran in the direction of the plane instead of back toward the +forest so that he was still cut off from reaching his machine. + +Presently they stopped and faced him again. They were talking loudly +and gesticulating, and after a moment one of them leaped into the +air, brandishing his spear and uttering savage war cries, which +soon had their effect upon his fellows so that it was not long ere +all of them were taking part in the wild show of savagery, which +would bolster their waning courage and presently spur them on to +another attack. + +The second charge brought them closer to the Englishman, and though +he dropped another with his pistol, it was not before two or three +spears had been launched at him. He now had five shots remaining +and there were still eighteen warriors to be accounted for, so that +unless he could frighten them off, it was evident that his fate +was sealed. + +That they must pay the price of one life for every attempt to take +his had its effect upon them and they were longer now in initiating +a new rush and when they did so it was more skillfully ordered than +those that had preceded it, for they scattered into three bands +which, partially surrounding him, came simultaneously toward him +from different directions, and though he emptied his pistol with +good effect, they reached him at last. They seemed to know that +his ammunition was exhausted, for they circled close about him now +with the evident intention of taking him alive, since they might +easily have riddled him with their sharp spears with perfect safety +to themselves. + +For two or three minutes they circled about him until, at a word +from Numabo, they closed in simultaneously, and though the slender +young lieutenant struck out to right and left, he was soon overwhelmed +by superior numbers and beaten down by the hafts of spears in brawny +hands. + +He was all but unconscious when they finally dragged him to his +feet, and after securing his hands behind his back, pushed him +roughly along ahead of them toward the jungle. + +As the guard prodded him along the narrow trail, Lieutenant +Smith-Oldwick could not but wonder why they had wished to take him +alive. He knew that he was too far inland for his uniform to have +any significance to this native tribe to whom no inkling of the +World War probably ever had come, and he could only assume that he +had fallen into the hands of the warriors of some savage potentate +upon whose royal caprice his fate would hinge. + +They had marched for perhaps half an hour when the Englishman saw +ahead of them, in a little clearing upon the bank of the river, +the thatched roofs of native huts showing above a crude but strong +palisade; and presently he was ushered into a village street where +he was immediately surrounded by a throng of women and children +and warriors. Here he was soon the center of an excited mob whose +intent seemed to be to dispatch him as quickly as possible. The +women were more venomous than the men, striking and scratching him +whenever they could reach him, until at last Numabo, the chief, was +obliged to interfere to save his prisoner for whatever purpose he +was destined. + +As the warriors pushed the crowd back, opening a space through +which the white man was led toward a hut, Lieutenant Smith-Oldwick +saw coming from the opposite end of the village a number of Negroes +wearing odds and ends of German uniforms. He was not a little +surprised at this, and his first thought was that he had at last +come in contact with some portion of the army which was rumored to +be crossing from the west coast and for signs of which he had been +searching. + +A rueful smile touched his lips as he contemplated the unhappy +circumstances which surrounded the accession of this knowledge for +though he was far from being without hope, he realized that only +by the merest chance could he escape these people and regain his +machine. + +Among the partially uniformed blacks was a huge fellow in the tunic +of a sergeant and as this man's eyes fell upon the British officer, +a loud cry of exultation broke from his lips, and immediately his +followers took up the cry and pressed forward to bait the prisoner. + +"Where did you get the Englishman?" asked Usanga, the black sergeant, +of the chief Numabo. "Are there many more with him?" + +"He came down from the sky," replied the native chief, "in a strange +thing which flies like a bird and which frightened us very much at +first; but we watched for a long time and saw that it did not seem +to be alive, and when this white man left it we attacked him and +though he killed some of my warriors, we took him, for we Wamabos +are brave men and great warriors." + +Usanga's eyes went wide. "He flew here through the sky?" he asked. + +"Yes," said Numabo. "In a great thing which resembled a bird he +flew down out of the sky. The thing is still there where it came +down close to the four trees near the second bend in the river. We +left it there because, not knowing what it was, we were afraid to +touch it and it is still there if it has not flown away again." + +"It cannot fly," said Usanga, "without this man in it. It is a +terrible thing which filled the hearts of our soldiers with terror, +for it flew over our camps at night and dropped bombs upon us. +It is well that you captured this white man, Numabo, for with his +great bird he would have flown over your village tonight and killed +all your people. These Englishmen are very wicked white men." + +"He will fly no more," said Numabo. "It is not intended that a man +should fly through the air; only wicked demons do such things as +that and Numabo, the chief, will see that this white man does not +do it again," and with the words he pushed the young officer roughly +toward a hut in the center of the village, where he was left under +guard of two stalwart warriors. + +For an hour or more the prisoner was left to his own devices, which +consisted in vain and unremitting attempts to loosen the strands +which fettered his wrists, and then he was interrupted by the +appearance of the black sergeant Usanga, who entered his hut and +approached him. + +"What are they going to do with me?" asked the Englishman. "My +country is not at war with these people. You speak their language. +Tell them that I am not an enemy, that my people are the friends +of the black people and that they must let me go in peace." + +Usanga laughed. "They do not know an Englishman from a German," he +replied. "It is nothing to them what you are, except that you are +a white man and an enemy." + +"Then why did they take me alive?" asked the lieutenant. + +"Come," said Usanga and he led the Englishman to the doorway of +the hut. "Look," he said, and pointed a black forefinger toward +the end of the village street where a wider space between the huts +left a sort of plaza. + +Here Lieutenant Harold Percy Smith-Oldwick saw a number of Negresses +engaged in laying fagots around a stake and in preparing fires +beneath a number of large cooking vessels. The sinister suggestion +was only too obvious. + +Usanga was eyeing the white man closely, but if he expected to be +rewarded by any signs of fear, he was doomed to disappointment and +the young lieutenant merely turned toward him with a shrug: "Really +now, do you beggars intend eating me?" + +"Not my people," replied Usanga. "We do not eat human flesh, but +the Wamabos do. It is they who will eat you, but we will kill you +for the feast, Englishman." + +The Englishman remained standing in the doorway of the hut, an +interested spectator of the preparations for the coming orgy that +was so horribly to terminate his earthly existence. It can hardly +be assumed that he felt no fear; yet, if he did, he hid it perfectly +beneath an imperturbable mask of coolness. Even the brutal Usanga +must have been impressed by the bravery of his victim since, though +he had come to abuse and possibly to torture the helpless prisoner, +he now did neither, contenting himself merely with berating whites +as a race and Englishmen especially, because of the terror the +British aviators had caused Germany's native troops in East Africa. + +"No more," he concluded, "will your great bird fly over our people +dropping death among them from the skies--Usanga will see to that," +and he walked abruptly away toward a group of his own fighting men +who were congregated near the stake where they were laughing and +joking with the women. + +A few minutes later the Englishman saw them pass out of the village +gate, and once again his thoughts reverted to various futile plans +for escape. + +Several miles north of the village on a little rise of ground close +to the river where the jungle, halting at the base of a knoll, had +left a few acres of grassy land sparsely wooded, a man and a girl +were busily engaged in constructing a small boma, in the center of +which a thatched hut already had been erected. + +They worked almost in silence with only an occasional word of +direction or interrogation between them. + +Except for a loin cloth, the man was naked, his smooth skin tanned +to a deep brown by the action of sun and wind. He moved with the +graceful ease of a jungle cat and when he lifted heavy weights, +the action seemed as effortless as the raising of empty hands. + +When he was not looking at her, and it was seldom that he did, the +girl found her eyes wandering toward him, and at such times there +was always a puzzled expression upon her face as though she found +in him an enigma which she could not solve. As a matter of fact, +her feelings toward him were not un-tinged with awe, since in +the brief period of their association she had discovered in this +handsome, godlike giant the attributes of the superman and the +savage beast closely intermingled. At first she had felt only that +unreasoning feminine terror which her unhappy position naturally +induced. + +To be alone in the heart of an unexplored wilderness of Central +Africa with a savage wild man was in itself sufficiently appalling, +but to feel also that this man was a blood enemy, that he hated her +and her kind and that in addition thereto he owed her a personal +grudge for an attack she had made upon him in the past, left no +loophole for any hope that he might accord her even the minutest +measure of consideration. + +She had seen him first months since when he had entered the +headquarters of the German high command in East Africa and carried +off the luckless Major Schneider, of whose fate no hint had ever +reached the German officers; and she had seen him again upon that +occasion when he had rescued her from the clutches of the lion and, +after explaining to her that he had recognized her in the British +camp, had made her prisoner. It was then that she had struck him +down with the butt of her pistol and escaped. That he might seek +no personal revenge for her act had been evidenced in Wilhelmstal +the night that he had killed Hauptmann Fritz Schneider and left +without molesting her. + +No, she could not fathom him. He hated her and at the same time +he had protected her as had been evidenced again when he had kept +the great apes from tearing her to pieces after she had escaped +from the Wamabo village to which Usanga, the black sergeant, had +brought her a captive; but why was he saving her? For what sinister +purpose could this savage enemy be protecting her from the other +denizens of his cruel jungle? She tried to put from her mind the +probable fate which awaited her, yet it persisted in obtruding +itself upon her thoughts, though always she was forced to admit that +there was nothing in the demeanor of the man to indicate that her +fears were well grounded. She judged him perhaps by the standards +other men had taught her and because she looked upon him as a savage +creature, she felt that she could not expect more of chivalry from +him than was to be found in the breasts of the civilized men of +her acquaintance. + +Fraulein Bertha Kircher was by nature a companionable and cheerful +character. She was not given to morbid forebodings, and above all +things she craved the society of her kind and that interchange of +thought which is one of the marked distinctions between man and +the lower animals. Tarzan, on the other hand, was sufficient unto +himself. Long years of semi-solitude among creatures whose powers +of oral expression are extremely limited had thrown him almost +entirely upon his own resources for entertainment. + +His active mind was never idle, but because his jungle mates could +neither follow nor grasp the vivid train of imaginings that his +man-mind wrought, he had long since learned to keep them to himself; +and so now he found no need for confiding them in others. This +fact, linked with that of his dislike for the girl, was sufficient +to seal his lips for other than necessary conversation, and so they +worked on together in comparative silence. Bertha Kircher, however, +was nothing if not feminine and she soon found that having someone +to talk to who would not talk was extremely irksome. Her fear of +the man was gradually departing, and she was full of a thousand +unsatisfied curiosities as to his plans for the future in so far as +they related to her, as well as more personal questions regarding +himself, since she could not but wonder as to his antecedents and +his strange and solitary life in the jungle, as well as his friendly +intercourse with the savage apes among which she had found him. + +With the waning of her fears she became sufficiently emboldened +to question him, and so she asked him what he intended doing after +the hut and boma were completed. + +"I am going to the west coast where I was born," replied Tarzan. +"I do not know when. I have all my life before me and in the jungle +there is no reason for haste. We are not forever running as fast +as we can from one place to another as are you of the outer world. +When I have been here long enough I will go on toward the west, +but first I must see that you have a safe place in which to sleep, +and that you have learned how to provide yourself with necessaries. +That will take time." + +"You are going to leave me here alone?" cried the girl; her tones +marked the fear which the prospect induced. "You are going to leave +me here alone in this terrible jungle, a prey to wild beasts and +savage men, hundreds of miles from a white settlement and in a +country which gives every evidence of never having been touched by +the foot of civilized men?" + +"Why not?" asked Tarzan. "I did not bring you here. Would one of +your men accord any better treatment to an enemy woman?" + +"Yes," she exclaimed. "They certainly would. No man of my race +would leave a defenseless white woman alone in this horrible place." + +Tarzan shrugged his broad shoulders. The conversation seemed +profitless and it was further distasteful to him for the reason +that it was carried on in German, a tongue which he detested as +much as he did the people who spoke it. He wished that the girl +spoke English and then it occurred to him that as he had seen her +in disguise in the British camp carrying on her nefarious work as +a German spy, she probably did speak English and so he asked her. + +"Of course I speak English," she exclaimed, "but I did not know +that you did." + +Tarzan looked his wonderment but made no comment. He only wondered why +the girl should have any doubts as to the ability of an Englishman +to speak English, and then suddenly it occurred to him that she +probably looked upon him merely as a beast of the jungle who by +accident had learned to speak German through frequenting the district +which Germany had colonized. It was there only that she had seen +him and so she might not know that he was an Englishman by birth, +and that he had had a home in British East Africa. It was as well, +he thought, that she knew little of him, as the less she knew the +more he might learn from her as to her activities in behalf of the +Germans and of the German spy system of which she was a representative; +and so it occurred to him to let her continue to think that he was +only what he appeared to be--a savage denizen of his savage jungle, +a man of no race and no country, hating all white men impartially; +and this in truth, was what she did think of him. It explained +perfectly his attacks upon Major Schneider and the Major's brother, +Hauptmann Fritz. + +Again they worked on in silence upon the boma which was now nearly +completed, the girl helping the man to the best of her small +ability. Tarzan could not but note with grudging approval the +spirit of helpfulness she manifested in the oft-times painful labor +of gathering and arranging the thorn bushes which constituted the +temporary protection against roaming carnivores. Her hands and arms +gave bloody token of the sharpness of the numerous points that had +lacerated her soft flesh, and even though she were an enemy Tarzan +could not but feel compunction that he had permitted her to do this +work, and at last he bade her stop. + +"Why?" she asked. "It is no more painful to me than it must be to +you, and, as it is solely for my protection that you are building +this boma, there is no reason why I should not do my share." + +"You are a woman," replied Tarzan. "This is not a woman's work. If +you wish to do something, take those gourds I brought this morning +and fill them with water at the river. You may need it while I am +away." + +"While you are away--" she said. "You are going away?" + +"When the boma is built I am going out after meat," he replied. +"Tomorrow I will go again and take you and show you how you may +make your own kills after I am gone." + +Without a word she took the gourds and walked toward the river. As +she filled them, her mind was occupied with painful forebodings of +the future. She knew that Tarzan had passed a death sentence upon +her, and that the moment that he left her, her doom was sealed, +for it could be but a question of time--a very short time--before +the grim jungle would claim her, for how could a lone woman hope +successfully to combat the savage forces of destruction which +constituted so large a part of existence in the jungle? + +So occupied was she with the gloomy prophecies that she had neither +ears nor eyes for what went on about her. Mechanically she filled +the gourds and, taking them up, turned slowly to retrace her steps +to the boma only to voice immediately a half-stifled scream and +shrink back from the menacing figure looming before her and blocking +her way to the hut. + +Go-lat, the king ape, hunting a little apart from his tribe, had seen +the woman go to the river for water, and it was he who confronted +her when she turned back with her filled gourds. Go-lat was not +a pretty creature when judged by standards of civilized humanity, +though the shes of his tribe and even Go-lat himself, considered +his glossy black coat shot with silver, his huge arms dangling to +his knees, his bullet head sunk between his mighty shoulders, marks +of great personal beauty. His wicked, bloodshot eyes and broad +nose, his ample mouth and great fighting fangs only enhanced the +claim of this Adonis of the forest upon the affections of his shes. + +Doubtless in the little, savage brain there was a well-formed +conviction that this strange she belonging to the Tarmangani must +look with admiration upon so handsome a creature as Go-lat, for +there could be no doubt in the mind of any that his beauty entirely +eclipsed such as the hairless white ape might lay claim to. + +But Bertha Kircher saw only a hideous beast, a fierce and terrible +caricature of man. Could Go-lat have known what passed through her +mind, he must have been terribly chagrined, though the chances are +that he would have attributed it to a lack of discernment on her +part. Tarzan heard the girl's cry and looking up saw at a glance +the cause of her terror. Leaping lightly over the boma, he ran +swiftly toward her as Go-lat lumbered closer to the girl the while +he voiced his emotions in low gutturals which, while in reality the +most amicable of advances, sounded to the girl like the growling +of an enraged beast. As Tarzan drew nearer he called aloud to the +ape and the girl heard from the human lips the same sounds that +had fallen from those of the anthropoid. + +"I will not harm your she," Go-lat called to Tarzan. + +"I know it," replied the ape-man, "but she does not. She is like +Numa and Sheeta, who do not understand our talk. She thinks you +come to harm her." + +By this time Tarzan was beside the girl. "He will not harm you," +he said to her. "You need not be afraid. This ape has learned his +lesson. He has learned that Tarzan is lord of the jungle. He will +not harm that which is Tarzan's." + +The girl cast a quick glance at the man's face. It was evident to +her that the words he had spoken meant nothing to him and that the +assumed proprietorship over her was, like the boma, only another +means for her protection. + +"But I am afraid of him," she said. + +"You must not show your fear. You will be often surrounded by these +apes. At such times you will be safest. Before I leave you I will +give you the means of protecting yourself against them should one +of them chance to turn upon you. If I were you I would seek their +society. Few are the animals of the jungle that dare attack the +great apes when there are several of them together. If you let +them know that you are afraid of them, they will take advantage of +it and your life will be constantly menaced. The shes especially +would attack you. I will let them know that you have the means of +protecting yourself and of killing them. If necessary, I will show +you how and then they will respect and fear you." + +"I will try," said the girl, "but I am afraid that it will be +difficult. He is the most frightful creature I ever have seen." +Tarzan smiled. "Doubtless he thinks the same of you," he said. + +By this time other apes had entered the clearing and they were now +the center of a considerable group, among which were several bulls, +some young shes, and some older ones with their little balus clinging +to their backs or frolicking around at their feet. Though they had +seen the girl the night of the Dum-Dum when Sheeta had forced her +to leap from her concealment into the arena where the apes were +dancing, they still evinced a great curiosity regarding her. Some +of the shes came very close and plucked at her garments, commenting +upon them to one another in their strange tongue. The girl, by +the exercise of all the will power she could command, succeeded in +passing through the ordeal without evincing any of the terror and +revulsion that she felt. Tarzan watched her closely, a half-smile +upon his face. He was not so far removed from recent contact with +civilized people that he could not realize the torture that she +was undergoing, but he felt no pity for this woman of a cruel enemy +who doubtless deserved the worst suffering that could be meted to +her. Yet, notwithstanding his sentiments toward her, he was forced +to admire her fine display of courage. Suddenly he turned to the +apes. + +"Tarzan goes to hunt for himself and his she," he said. "The she +will remain there," and he pointed toward the hut. "See that no +member of the tribe harms her. Do you understand?" + +The apes nodded. "We will not harm her," said Go-lat. + +"No," said Tarzan. "You will not. For if you do, Tarzan will kill +you," and then turning to the girl, "Come," he said, "I am going to +hunt now. You had better remain at the hut. The apes have promised +not to harm you. I will leave my spear with you. It will be the best +weapon you could have in case you should need to protect yourself, +but I doubt if you will be in any danger for the short time that +I am away." + +He walked with her as far as the boma and when she had entered he +closed the gap with thorn bushes and turned away toward the forest. +She watched him moving across the clearing, noting the easy, catlike +tread and the grace of every movement that harmonized so well with +the symmetry and perfection of his figure. At the forest's edge +she saw him swing lightly into a tree and disappear from view, and +then, being a woman, she entered the hut and, throwing herself upon +the ground, burst into tears. + + + + +Chapter X + +In the Hands of Savages + + +Tarzan sought Bara, the deer, or Horta, the boar, for of all the +jungle animals he doubted if any would prove more palatable to the +white woman, but though his keen nostrils were ever on the alert, +he traveled far without being rewarded with even the faintest +scent spoor of the game he sought. Keeping close to the river where +he hoped to find Bara or Horta approaching or leaving a drinking +place he came at last upon the strong odor of the Wamabo village +and being ever ready to pay his hereditary enemies, the Gomangani, +an undesired visit, he swung into a detour and came up in the rear +of the village. From a tree which overhung the palisade he looked +down into the street where he saw the preparations going on which +his experience told him indicated the approach of one of those +frightful feasts the piece de resistance of which is human flesh. + +One of Tarzan's chief divertissements was the baiting of the blacks. +He realized more keen enjoyment through annoying and terrifying them +than from any other source of amusement the grim jungle offered. +To rob them of their feast in some way that would strike terror +to their hearts would give him the keenest of pleasure, and so +he searched the village with his eyes for some indication of the +whereabouts of the prisoner. His view was circumscribed by the +dense foliage of the tree in which he sat, and, so that he might +obtain a better view, he climbed further aloft and moved cautiously +out upon a slender branch. + +Tarzan of the Apes possessed a woodcraft scarcely short of the +marvelous but even Tarzan's wondrous senses were not infallible. +The branch upon which he made his way outward from the bole was no +smaller than many that had borne his weight upon countless other +occasions. Outwardly it appeared strong and healthy and was in full +foliage, nor could Tarzan know that close to the stem a burrowing +insect had eaten away half the heart of the solid wood beneath the +bark. + +And so when he reached a point far out upon the limb, it snapped +close to the bole of the tree without warning. Below him were no +larger branches that he might clutch and as he lunged downward his +foot caught in a looped creeper so that he turned completely over +and alighted on the flat of his back in the center of the village +street. + +At the sound of the breaking limb and the crashing body falling +through the branches the startled blacks scurried to their huts +for weapons, and when the braver of them emerged, they saw the +still form of an almost naked white man lying where he had fallen. +Emboldened by the fact that he did not move they approached more +closely, and when their eyes discovered no signs of others of his +kind in the tree, they rushed forward until a dozen warriors stood +about him with ready spears. At first they thought that the falling +had killed him, but upon closer examination they discovered that +the man was only stunned. One of the warriors was for thrusting a +spear through his heart, but Numabo, the chief, would not permit +it. + +"Bind him," he said. "We will feed well tonight." + +And so they bound his hands and feet with thongs of gut and carried +him into the hut where Lieutenant Harold Percy Smith-Oldwick awaited +his fate. The Englishman had also been bound hand and foot by this +time for fear that at the last moment he might escape and rob them +of their feast. A great crowd of natives were gathered about the +hut attempting to get a glimpse of the new prisoner, but Numabo +doubled the guard before the entrance for fear that some of his +people, in the exuberance of their savage joy, might rob the others +of the pleasures of the death dance which would precede the killing +of the victims. + +The young Englishman had heard the sound of Tarzan's body crashing +through the tree to the ground and the commotion in the village +which immediately followed, and now, as he stood with his back +against the wall of the hut, he looked upon the fellow-prisoner that +the blacks carried in and laid upon the floor with mixed feelings +of surprise and compassion. He realized that he never had seen +a more perfect specimen of manhood than that of the unconscious +figure before him, and he wondered to what sad circumstances the +man owed his capture. It was evident that the new prisoner was +himself as much a savage as his captors if apparel and weapons were +any criterion by which to judge; yet it was also equally evident +that he was a white man and from his well-shaped head and clean-cut +features that he was not one of those unhappy halfwits who so often +revert to savagery even in the heart of civilized communities. + +As he watched the man, he presently noticed that his eyelids were +moving. Slowly they opened and a pair of gray eyes looked blankly +about. With returning consciousness the eyes assumed their natural +expression of keen intelligence, and a moment later, with an +effort, the prisoner rolled over upon his side and drew himself to +a sitting position. He was facing the Englishman, and as his eyes +took in the bound ankles and the arms drawn tightly behind the +other's back, a slow smile lighted his features. + +"They will fill their bellies tonight," he said. + +The Englishman grinned. "From the fuss they made," he said, "the +beggars must be awfully hungry. They like to have eaten me alive +when they brought me in. How did they get you?" + +Tarzan shrugged his head ruefully. "It was my own fault," he +replied. "I deserve to be eaten. I crawled out upon a branch that +would not bear my weight and when it broke, instead of alighting +on my feet, I caught my foot in a trailer and came down on my head. +Otherwise they would not have taken me--alive." + +"Is there no escape?" asked the Englishman. + +"I have escaped them before," replied Tarzan, "and I have seen +others escape them. I have seen a man taken away from the stake +after a dozen spear thrusts had pierced his body and the fire had +been lighted about his feet." + +Lieutenant Smith-Oldwick shuddered. "God!" he exclaimed, "I hope I +don't have to face that. I believe I could stand anything but the +thought of the fire. I should hate like the devil to go into a funk +before the devils at the last moment." + +"Don't worry," said Tarzan. "It doesn't last long and you won't +funk. It is really not half as bad as it sounds. There is only a +brief period of pain before you lose consciousness. I have seen it +many times before. It is as good a way to go as another. We must +die sometime. What difference whether it be tonight, tomorrow night, +or a year hence, just so that we have lived--and I have lived!" + +"Your philosophy may be all right, old top," said the young +lieutenant, "but I can't say that it is exactly satisfying." + +Tarzan laughed. "Roll over here," he said, "where I can get at +your bonds with my teeth." The Englishman did as he was bid and +presently Tarzan was working at the thongs with his strong white +teeth. He felt them giving slowly beneath his efforts. In another +moment they would part, and then it would be a comparatively simple +thing for the Englishman to remove the remaining bonds from Tarzan +and himself. + +It was then that one of the guards entered the hut. In an instant he +saw what the new prisoner was doing and raising his spear, struck +the ape-man a vicious blow across the head with its shaft. Then he +called in the other guards and together they fell upon the luckless +men, kicking and beating them unmercifully, after which they bound +the Englishman more securely than before and tied both men fast on +opposite sides of the hut. When they had gone Tarzan looked across +at his companion in misery. + +"While there is life," he said, "there is hope," but he grinned as +he voiced the ancient truism. + +Lieutenant Harold Percy Smith-Oldwick returned the other's smile. +"I fancy," he said, "that we are getting short on both. It must +be close to supper time now." + +Zu-tag hunted alone far from the balance of the tribe of Go-lat, +the great ape. Zu-tag (Big-neck) was a young bull but recently +arrived at maturity. He was large, powerful, and ferocious and at +the same time far above the average of his kind in intelligence as +was denoted by a fuller and less receding forehead. Already Go-lat +saw in this young ape a possible contender for the laurels of his +kingship and consequently the old bull looked upon Zu-tag with +jealousy and disfavor. It was for this reason, possibly, as much +as another that Zu-tag hunted so often alone; but it was his utter +fearlessness that permitted him to wander far afield away from the +protection which numbers gave the great apes. One of the results +of this habit was a greatly increased resourcefulness which found +him constantly growing in intelligence and powers of observation. + +Today he had been hunting toward the south and was returning along +the river upon a path he often followed because it led by the +village of the Gomangani whose strange and almost apelike actions +and peculiar manners of living had aroused his interest and curiosity. +As he had done upon other occasions he took up his position in a +tree from which he could overlook the interior of the village and +watch the blacks at their vocations in the street below. + +Zu-tag had scarcely more than established himself in his tree when, +with the blacks, he was startled by the crashing of Tarzan's body +from the branches of another jungle giant to the ground within the +palisade. He saw the Negroes gather about the prostrate form and +later carry it into the hut; and once he rose to his full height +upon the limb where he had been squatting and raised his face to +the heavens to scream out a savage protest and a challenge, for he +had recognized in the brown-skinned Tarmangani the strange white +ape who had come among them a night or two before in the midst of +their Dum-Dum, and who by so easily mastering the greatest among +them, had won the savage respect and admiration of this fierce +young bull. + +But Zu-tag's ferocity was tempered by a certain native cunning and +caution. Before he had voiced his protest there formed in his mind +the thought that he would like to save this wonderful white ape +from the common enemy, the Gomangani, and so he screamed forth no +challenge, wisely determining that more could be accomplished by +secrecy and stealth than by force of muscle and fang. + +At first he thought to enter the village alone and carry off the +Tarmangani; but when he saw how numerous were the warriors and that +several sat directly before the entrance to the lair into which the +prisoner had been carried, it occurred to him that this was work +for many rather than one, and so, as silently as he had come, he +slipped away through the foliage toward the north. + +The tribe was still loitering about the clearing where stood the hut +that Tarzan and Bertha Kircher had built. Some were idly searching +for food just within the forest's edge, while others squatted +beneath the shade of trees within the clearing. + +The girl had emerged from the hut, her tears dried and was gazing +anxiously toward the south into the jungle where Tarzan had disappeared. +Occasionally she cast suspicious glances in the direction of the +huge shaggy anthropoids about her. How easy it would be for one +of those great beasts to enter the boma and slay her. How helpless +she was, even with the spear that the white man had left her, she +realized as she noted for the thousandth time the massive shoulders, +the bull necks, and the great muscles gliding so easily beneath the +glossy coats. Never, she thought, had she seen such personifications +of brute power as were represented by these mighty bulls. Those +huge hands would snap her futile spear as she might snap a match in +two, while their lightest blow could crush her into insensibility +and death. + +It was while she was occupied with these depressing thoughts that +there dropped suddenly into the clearing from the trees upon the +south the figure of a mighty young bull. At that time all of the +apes looked much alike to Bertha Kircher, nor was it until some +time later that she realized that each differed from the others +in individual characteristics of face and figure as do individuals +of the human races. Yet even then she could not help but note +the wondrous strength and agility of this great beast, and as he +approached she even found herself admiring the sheen of his heavy, +black, silvershot coat. + +It was evident that the newcomer was filled with suppressed excitement. +His demeanor and bearing proclaimed this even from afar, nor was +the girl the only one to note it. For as they saw him coming many +of the apes arose and advanced to meet him, bristling and growling +as is their way. Go-lat was among these latter, and he advanced +stiffly with the hairs upon his neck and down his spine erect, +uttering low growls and baring his fighting fangs, for who might +say whether Zu-tag came in peace or otherwise? The old king had +seen other young apes come thus in his day filled with a sudden +resolution to wrest the kingship from their chief. He had seen +bulls about to run amuck burst thus suddenly from the jungle upon +the members of the tribe, and so Go-lat took no chances. + +Had Zu-tag come indolently, feeding as he came, he might have +entered the tribe without arousing notice or suspicion, but when +one comes thus precipitately, evidently bursting with some emotion +out of the ordinary, let all apes beware. There was a certain amount +of preliminary circling, growling, and sniffing, stiff-legged and +stiff-haired, before each side discovered that the other had no +intention of initiating an attack and then Zu-tag told Go-lat what +he had seen among the lairs of the Gomangani. + +Go-lat grunted in disgust and turned away. "Let the white ape take +care of himself," he said. + +"He is a great ape," said Zu-tag. "He came to live in peace with +the tribe of Go-lat. Let us save him from the Gomangani." + +Go-lat grunted again and continued to move away. + +"Zu-tag will go alone and get him," cried the young ape, "if Go-lat +is afraid of the Gomangani." + +The king ape wheeled in anger, growling loudly and beating upon +his breast. "Go-lat is not afraid," he screamed, "but he will not +go, for the white ape is not of his tribe. Go yourself and take +the Tarmangani's she with you if you wish so much to save the white +ape." + +"Zu-tag will go," replied the younger bull, "and he will take the +Tarmangani's she and all the bulls of Go-lat who are not cowards," +and so saying he cast his eyes inquiringly about at the other apes. +"Who will go with Zu-tag to fight the Gomangani and bring away our +brother," he demanded. + +Eight young bulls in the full prime of their vigor pressed forward +to Zu-tag's side, but the old bulls with the conservatism and +caution of many years upon their gray shoulders, shook their heads +and waddled away after Go-lat. + +"Good," cried Zu-tag. "We want no old shes to go with us to fight +the Gomangani for that is work for the fighters of the tribe." + +The old bulls paid no attention to his boastful words, but the eight +who had volunteered to accompany him were filled with self-pride so +that they stood around vaingloriously beating upon their breasts, +baring their fangs and screaming their hideous challenge until the +jungle reverberated to the horrid sound. + +All this time Bertha Kircher was a wide-eyed and terrified spectator to +what, as she thought, could end only in a terrific battle between +these frightful beasts, and when Zu-tag and his followers began +screaming forth their fearsome challenge, the girl found herself +trembling in terror, for of all the sounds of the jungle there is +none more awe inspiring than that of the great bull ape when he +issues his challenge or shrieks forth his victory cry. + +If she had been terrified before she was almost paralyzed with +fear now as she saw Zu-tag and his apes turn toward the boma and +approach her. With the agility of a cat Zu-tag leaped completely +over the protecting wall and stood before her. Valiantly she held +her spear before her, pointing it at his breast. He commenced to +jabber and gesticulate, and even with her scant acquaintance with +the ways of the anthropoids, she realized that he was not menacing +her, for there was little or no baring of fighting fangs and his +whole expression and attitude was of one attempting to explain a +knotty problem or plead a worthy cause. At last he became evidently +impatient, for with a sweep of one great paw he struck the spear +from her hand and coming close, seized her by the arm, but not +roughly. She shrank away in terror and yet some sense within her +seemed to be trying to assure her that she was in no danger from +this great beast. Zu-tag jabbered loudly, ever and again pointing +into the jungle toward the south and moving toward the boma, +pulling the girl with him. He seemed almost frantic in his efforts +to explain something to her. He pointed toward the boma, herself, +and then to the forest, and then, at last, as though by a sudden +inspiration, he reached down and, seizing the spear, repeatedly +touched it with his forefinger and again pointed toward the south. +Suddenly it dawned upon the girl that what the ape was trying +to explain to her was related in some way to the white man whose +property they thought she was. Possibly her grim protector was in +trouble and with this thought firmly established, she no longer +held back, but started forward as though to accompany the young +bull. At the point in the boma where Tarzan had blocked the entrance, +she started to pull away the thorn bushes, and, when Zu-tag saw +what she was doing, he fell to and assisted her so that presently +they had an opening through the boma through which she passed with +the great ape. + +Immediately Zu-tag and his eight apes started off rapidly toward +the jungle, so rapidly that Bertha Kircher would have had to run +at top speed to keep up with them. This she realized she could not +do, and so she was forced to lag behind, much to the chagrin of +Zu-tag, who constantly kept running back and urging her to greater +speed. Once he took her by the arm and tried to draw her along. +Her protests were of no avail since the beast could not know that +they were protests, nor did he desist until she caught her foot in +some tangled grass and fell to the ground. Then indeed was Zu-tag +furious and growled hideously. His apes were waiting at the edge +of the forest for him to lead them. He suddenly realized that this +poor weak she could not keep up with them and that if they traveled +at her slow rate they might be too late to render assistance to the +Tarmangani, and so without more ado, the giant anthropoid picked +Bertha Kircher bodily from the ground and swung her to his back. +Her arms were about his neck and in this position he seized her +wrists in one great paw so that she could not fall off and started +at a rapid rate to join his companions. + +Dressed as she was in riding breeches with no entangling skirts to +hinder or catch upon passing shrubbery, she soon found that she +could cling tightly to the back of the mighty bull and when a moment +later he took to the lower branches of the trees, she closed her +eyes and clung to him in terror lest she be precipitated to the +ground below. + +That journey through the primeval forest with the nine great apes +will live in the memory of Bertha Kircher for the balance of her +life, as clearly delineated as at the moment of its enactment. + +The first overwhelming wave of fear having passed, she was at last +able to open her eyes and view her surroundings with increased +interest and presently the sensation of terror slowly left her to +be replaced by one of comparative security when she saw the ease +and surety with which these great beasts traveled through the trees; +and later her admiration for the young bull increased as it became +evident that even burdened with her additional weight, he moved more +rapidly and with no greater signs of fatigue than his unburdened +fellows. + +Not once did Zu-tag pause until he came to a stop among the branches +of a tree no great distance from the native village. They could +hear the noises of the life within the palisade, the laughing and +shouting of the Negroes, and the barking of dogs, and through the +foliage the girl caught glimpses of the village from which she had +so recently escaped. She shuddered to think of the possibility of +having to return to it and of possible recapture, and she wondered +why Zu-tag had brought her here. + +Now the apes advanced slowly once more and with great caution, +moving as noiselessly through the trees as the squirrels themselves +until they had reached a point where they could easily overlook +the palisade and the village street below. + +Zu-tag squatted upon a great branch close to the bole of the tree +and by loosening the girl's arms from about his neck, indicated +that she was to find a footing for herself and when she had done +so, he turned toward her and pointed repeatedly at the open doorway +of a hut upon the opposite side of the street below them. By various +gestures he seemed to be trying to explain something to her and at +last she caught at the germ of his idea--that her white man was a +prisoner there. + +Beneath them was the roof of a hut onto which she saw that she +could easily drop, but what she could do after she had entered the +village was beyond her. + +Darkness was already falling and the fires beneath the cooking pots +had been lighted. The girl saw the stake in the village street and +the piles of fagots about it and in terror she suddenly realized +the portent of these grisly preparations. Oh, if she but only had +some sort of a weapon that might give her even a faint hope, some +slight advantage against the blacks. Then she would not hesitate +to venture into the village in an attempt to save the man who had +upon three different occasions saved her. She knew that he hated her +and yet strong within her breast burned the sense of her obligation +to him. She could not fathom him. Never in her life had she seen a +man at once so paradoxical and dependable. In many of his ways he +was more savage than the beasts with which he associated and yet, +on the other hand, he was as chivalrous as a knight of old. For +several days she had been lost with him in the jungle absolutely +at his mercy, yet she had come to trust so implicitly in his honor +that any fear she had had of him was rapidly disappearing. + +On the other hand, that he might be hideously cruel was evidenced +to her by the fact that he was planning to leave her alone in the +midst of the frightful dangers which menaced her by night and by +day. + +Zu-tag was evidently waiting for darkness to fall before carrying +out whatever plans had matured in his savage little brain, for he +and his fellows sat quietly in the tree about her, watching the +preparations of the blacks. Presently it became apparent that some +altercation had arisen among the Negroes, for a score or more of +them were gathered around one who appeared to be their chief, and +all were talking and gesticulating heatedly. The argument lasted +for some five or ten minutes when suddenly the little knot broke +and two warriors ran to the opposite side of the village from whence +they presently returned with a large stake which they soon set up +beside the one already in place. The girl wondered what the purpose +of the second stake might be, nor did she have long to wait for an +explanation. + +It was quite dark by this time, the village being lighted by the +fitful glare of many fires, and now she saw a number of warriors +approach and enter the hut Zu-tag had been watching. A moment later +they reappeared, dragging between them two captives, one of whom +the girl immediately recognized as her protector and the other as +an Englishman in the uniform of an aviator. This, then, was the +reason for the two stakes. + +Arising quickly she placed a hand upon Zu-tag's shoulder and pointed +down into the village. "Come," she said, as if she had been talking +to one of her own kind, and with the word she swung lightly to the +roof of the hut below. From there to the ground was but a short drop +and a moment later she was circling the hut upon the side farthest +from the fires, keeping in the dense shadows where there was little +likelihood of being discovered. She turned once to see that Zu-tag +was directly behind her and could see his huge bulk looming up +in the dark, while beyond was another one of his eight. Doubtless +they had all followed her and this fact gave her a greater sense +of security and hope than she had before experienced. + +Pausing beside the hut next to the street, she peered cautiously +about the corner. A few inches from her was the open doorway of the +structure, and beyond, farther down the village street, the blacks +were congregating about the prisoners, who were already being bound +to the stakes. All eyes were centered upon the victims, and there +was only the remotest chance that she and her companions would +be discovered until they were close upon the blacks. She wished, +however, that she might have some sort of a weapon with which to +lead the attack, for she could not know, of course, for a certainty +whether the great apes would follow her or not. Hoping that she +might find something within the hut, she slipped quickly around +the corner and into the doorway and after her, one by one, came +the nine bulls. Searching quickly about the interior, she presently +discovered a spear, and, armed with this, she again approached the +entrance. + +Tarzan of the Apes and Lieutenant Harold Percy Smith-Oldwick were +bound securely to their respective stakes. Neither had spoken for +some time. The Englishman turned his head so that he could see his +companion in misery. Tarzan stood straight against his stake. His +face was entirely expressionless in so far as either fear or anger +were concerned. His countenance portrayed bored indifference though +both men knew that they were about to be tortured. + +"Good-bye, old top," whispered the young lieutenant. + +Tarzan turned his eyes in the direction of the other and smiled. +"Good-bye," he said. "If you want to get it over in a hurry, inhale +the smoke and flames as rapidly as you can." + +"Thanks," replied the aviator and though he made a wry face, he +drew himself up very straight and squared his shoulders. + +The women and children had seated themselves in a wide circle about +the victims while the warriors, hideously painted, were forming +slowly to commence the dance of death. Again Tarzan turned to his +companion. "If you'd like to spoil their fun," he said, "don't +make any fuss no matter how much you suffer. If you can carry on to +the end without changing the expression upon your face or uttering +a single word, you will deprive them of all the pleasures of this +part of the entertainment. Good-bye again and good luck." + +The young Englishman made no reply but it was evident from the set +of his jaws that the Negroes would get little enjoyment out of him. + +The warriors were circling now. Presently Numabo would draw first +blood with his sharp spear which would be the signal for the +beginning of the torture after a little of which the fagots would +be lighted around the feet of the victims. + +Closer and closer danced the hideous chief, his yellow, sharp-filed +teeth showing in the firelight between his thick, red lips. Now +bending double, now stamping furiously upon the ground, now leaping +into the air, he danced step by step in the narrowing circle that +would presently bring him within spear reach of the intended feast. + +At last the spear reached out and touched the ape-man on the +breast and when it came away, a little trickle of blood ran down +the smooth, brown hide and almost simultaneously there broke from +the outer periphery of the expectant audience a woman's shriek which +seemed a signal for a series of hideous screamings, growlings and +barkings, and a great commotion upon that side of the circle. The +victims could not see the cause of the disturbance, but Tarzan did +not have to see, for he knew by the voices of the apes the identity +of the disturbers. He only wondered what had brought them and what +the purpose of the attack, for he could not believe that they had +come to rescue him. + +Numabo and his warriors broke quickly from the circle of their dance +to see pushing toward them through the ranks of their screaming +and terrified people the very white girl who had escaped them a +few nights before, and at her back what appeared to their surprised +eyes a veritable horde of the huge and hairy forest men upon whom +they looked with considerable fear and awe. + +Striking to right and left with his heavy fists, tearing with +his great fangs, came Zu-tag, the young bull, while at his heels, +emulating his example, surged his hideous apes. Quickly they came +through the old men and the women and children, for straight toward +Numabo and his warriors the girl led them. It was then that they +came within range of Tarzan's vision and he saw with unmixed surprise +who it was that led the apes to his rescue. + +To Zu-tag he shouted: "Go for the big bulls while the she unbinds +me," and to Bertha Kircher: "Quick! Cut these bonds. The apes will +take care of the blacks." + +Turning from her advance the girl ran to his side. She had no knife +and the bonds were tied tightly but she worked quickly and coolly +and as Zu-tag and his apes closed with the warriors, she succeeded +in loosening Tarzan's bonds sufficiently to permit him to extricate +his own hands so that in another minute he had freed himself. + +"Now unbind the Englishman," he cried, and, leaping forward, ran +to join Zu-tag and his fellows in their battle against the blacks. +Numabo and his warriors, realizing now the relatively small numbers +of the apes against them, had made a determined stand and with +spears and other weapons were endeavoring to overcome the invaders. +Three of the apes were already down, killed or mortally wounded, +when Tarzan, realizing that the battle must eventually go against +the apes unless some means could be found to break the morale of +the Negroes, cast about him for some means of bringing about the +desired end. And suddenly his eye lighted upon a number of weapons +which he knew would accomplish the result. A grim smile touched +his lips as he snatched a vessel of boiling water from one of the +fires and hurled it full in the faces of the warriors. Screaming +with terror and pain they fell back though Numabo urged them to +rush forward. + +Scarcely had the first cauldron of boiling water spilled its +contents upon them ere Tarzan deluged them with a second, nor was +there any third needed to send them shrieking in every direction +to the security of their huts. + +By the time Tarzan had recovered his own weapons the girl had released +the young Englishman, and, with the six remaining apes, the three +Europeans moved slowly toward the village gate, the aviator arming +himself with a spear discarded by one of the scalded warriors, as +they eagerly advanced toward the outer darkness. + +Numabo was unable to rally the now thoroughly terrified and +painfully burned warriors so that rescued and rescuers passed out +of the village into the blackness of the jungle without further +interference. + +Tarzan strode through the jungle in silence. Beside him walked Zu-tag, +the great ape, and behind them strung the surviving anthropoids +followed by Fraulein Bertha Kircher and Lieutenant Harold Percy +Smith-Oldwick, the latter a thoroughly astonished and mystified +Englishman. + +In all his life Tarzan of the Apes had been obliged to acknowledge +but few obligations. He won his way through his savage world by the +might of his own muscle, the superior keenness of his five senses +and his God-given power to reason. Tonight the greatest of +all obligations had been placed upon him--his life had been saved +by another and Tarzan shook his head and growled, for it had been +saved by one whom he hated above all others. + + + + +Chapter XI + +Finding the Airplane + + +Tarzan of the Apes, returning from a successful hunt, with the +body of Bara, the deer, across one sleek, brown shoulder, paused +in the branches of a great tree at the edge of a clearing and gazed +ruefully at two figures walking from the river to the boma-encircled +hut a short distance away. + +The ape-man shook his tousled head and sighed. His eyes wandered +toward the west and his thoughts to the far-away cabin by the +land-locked harbor of the great water that washed the beach of his +boyhood home--to the cabin of his long-dead father to which the +memories and treasures of a happy childhood lured him. Since the +loss of his mate, a great longing had possessed him to return to +the haunts of his youth--to the untracked jungle wilderness where +he had lived the life he loved best long before man had invaded +the precincts of his wild stamping grounds. There he hoped in a +renewal of the old life under the old conditions to win surcease +from sorrow and perhaps some measure of forgetfulness. + +But the little cabin and the land-locked harbor were many long, +weary marches away, and he was handicapped by the duty which he +felt he owed to the two figures walking in the clearing before him. +One was a young man in a worn and ragged uniform of the British Royal +Air Forces, the other, a young woman in the even more disreputable +remnants of what once had been trim riding togs. + +A freak of fate had thrown these three radically different types +together. One was a savage, almost naked beast-man, one an English +army officer, and the woman, she whom the ape-man knew and hated +as a German spy. + +How he was to get rid of them Tarzan could not imagine unless +he accompanied them upon the weary march back to the east coast, +a march that would necessitate his once more retracing the long, +weary way he already had covered towards his goal, yet what else +could be done? These two had neither the strength, endurance, nor +jungle-craft to accompany him through the unknown country to the +west, nor did he wish them with him. The man he might have tolerated, +but he could not even consider the presence of the girl in the +far-off cabin, which had in a way become sacred to him through +its memories, without a growl or anger rising to his lips. There +remained, then, but the one way, since he could not desert them. +He must move by slow and irksome marches back to the east coast, +or at least to the first white settlement in that direction. + +He had, it is true, contemplated leaving the girl to her fate but +that was before she had been instrumental in saving him from torture +and death at the hands of the black Wamabos. He chafed under the +obligation she had put upon him, but no less did he acknowledge +it and as he watched the two, the rueful expression upon his face +was lightened by a smile as he thought of the helplessness of them. +What a puny thing, indeed, was man! How ill equipped to combat the +savage forces of nature and of nature's jungle. Why, even the tiny +balu of the tribe of Go-lat, the great ape, was better fitted to +survive than these, for a balu could at least escape the numerous +creatures that menaced its existence, while with the possible +exception of Kota, the tortoise, none moved so slowly as did helpless +and feeble man. + +Without him these two doubtless would starve in the midst of plenty, +should they by some miracle escape the other forces of destruction +which constantly threatened them. That morning Tarzan had brought +them fruit, nuts, and plantain, and now he was bringing them the +flesh of his kill, while the best that they might do was to fetch +water from the river. Even now, as they walked across the clearing +toward the boma, they were in utter ignorance of the presence +of Tarzan near them. They did not know that his sharp eyes were +watching them, nor that other eyes less friendly were glaring at +them from a clump of bushes close beside the boma entrance. They +did not know these things, but Tarzan did. No more than they could +he see the creature crouching in the concealment of the foliage, yet +he knew that it was there and what it was and what its intentions, +precisely as well as though it had been lying in the open. + +A slight movement of the leaves at the top of a single stem had +apprised him of the presence of a creature there, for the movement +was not that imparted by the wind. It came from pressure at the +bottom of the stem which communicates a different movement to the +leaves than does the wind passing among them, as anyone who has +lived his lifetime in the jungle well knows, and the same wind that +passed through the foliage of the bush brought to the ape-man's +sensitive nostrils indisputable evidence of the fact that Sheeta, +the panther, waited there for the two returning from the river. + +They had covered half the distance to the boma entrance when Tarzan +called to them to stop. They looked in surprise in the direction +from which his voice had come to see him drop lightly to the ground +and advance toward them. + +"Come slowly toward me," he called to them. "Do not run for if you +run Sheeta will charge." + +They did as he bid, their faces filled with questioning wonderment. + +"What do you mean?" asked the young Englishman. "Who is Sheeta?" +but for answer the ape-man suddenly hurled the carcass of Bara, the +deer, to the ground and leaped quickly toward them, his eyes upon +something in their rear; and then it was that the two turned and +learned the identity of Sheeta, for behind them was a devil-faced +cat charging rapidly toward them. + +Sheeta with rising anger and suspicion had seen the ape-man leap +from the tree and approach the quarry. His life's experiences backed +by instinct told him that the Tarmangani was about to rob him of +his prey and as Sheeta was hungry, he had no intention of being +thus easily deprived of the flesh he already considered his own. + +The girl stifled an involuntary scream as she saw the proximity +of the fanged fury bearing down upon them. She shrank close to the +man and clung to him and all unarmed and defenseless as he was, the +Englishman pushed her behind him and shielding her with his body, +stood squarely in the face of the panther's charge. Tarzan noted +the act, and though accustomed as he was to acts of courage, he +experienced a thrill from the hopeless and futile bravery of the +man. + +The charging panther moved rapidly, and the distance which separated +the bush in which he had concealed himself from the objects of his +desire was not great. In the time that one might understandingly +read a dozen words the strong-limbed cat could have covered the +entire distance and made his kill, yet if Sheeta was quick, quick +too was Tarzan. The English lieutenant saw the ape-man flash by him +like the wind. He saw the great cat veer in his charge as though +to elude the naked savage rushing to meet him, as it was evidently +Sheeta's intention to make good his kill before attempting to +protect it from Tarzan. + +Lieutenant Smith-Oldwick saw these things and then with increasing +wonder he saw the ape-man swerve, too, and leap for the spotted cat +as a football player leaps for a runner. He saw the strong, brown +arms encircling the body of the carnivore, the left arm in front +of the beast's left shoulder and the right arm behind his right +foreleg, and with the impact the two together rolling over and over +upon the turf. He heard the snarls and growls of bestial combat, +and it was with a feeling of no little horror that he realized that +the sounds coming from the human throat of the battling man could +scarce be distinguished from those of the panther. + +The first momentary shock of terror over, the girl released her +grasp upon the Englishman's arm. "Cannot we do something?" she +asked. "Cannot we help him before the beast kills him?" + +The Englishman looked upon the ground for some missile with which +to attack the panther and then the girl uttered an exclamation and +started at a run toward the hut. "Wait there," she called over her +shoulder. "I will fetch the spear that he left me." + +Smith-Oldwick saw the raking talons of the panther searching for +the flesh of the man and the man on his part straining every muscle +and using every artifice to keep his body out of range of them. The +muscles of his arms knotted under the brown hide. The veins stood +out upon his neck and forehead as with ever-increasing power he +strove to crush the life from the great cat. The ape-man's teeth +were fastened in the back of Sheeta's neck and now he succeeded +in encircling the beast's torso with his legs which he crossed and +locked beneath the cat's belly. Leaping and snarling, Sheeta sought +to dislodge the ape-man's hold upon him. He hurled himself upon +the ground and rolled over and over. He reared upon his hind legs +and threw himself backwards but always the savage creature upon +his back clung tenaciously to him, and always the mighty brown arms +crushed tighter and tighter about his chest. + +And then the girl, panting from her quick run, returned with the +short spear Tarzan had left her as her sole weapon of protection. +She did not wait to hand it to the Englishman who ran forward to +receive it, but brushed past him and leaped into close quarters +beside the growling, tumbling mass of yellow fur and smooth brown +hide. Several times she attempted to press the point home into +the cat's body, but on both occasions the fear of endangering the +ape-man caused her to desist, but at last the two lay motionless +for a moment as the carnivore sought a moment's rest from the +strenuous exertions of battle, and then it was that Bertha Kircher +pressed the point of the spear to the tawny side and drove it deep +into the savage heart. + +Tarzan rose from the dead body of Sheeta and shook himself after +the manner of beasts that are entirely clothed with hair. Like +many other of his traits and mannerisms this was the result of +environment rather than heredity or reversion, and even though he +was outwardly a man, the Englishman and the girl were both impressed +with the naturalness of the act. It was as though Numa, emerging +from a fight, had shaken himself to straighten his rumpled mane and +coat, and yet, too, there was something uncanny about it as there +had been when the savage growls and hideous snarls issued from +those clean-cut lips. + +Tarzan looked at the girl, a quizzical expression upon his face. +Again had she placed him under obligations to her, and Tarzan of +the Apes did not wish to be obligated to a German spy; yet in his +honest heart he could not but admit a certain admiration for her +courage, a trait which always greatly impressed the ape-man, he +himself the personification of courage. + +"Here is the kill," he said, picking the carcass of Bara from the +ground. "You will want to cook your portion, I presume, but Tarzan +does not spoil his meat with fire." + +They followed him to the boma where he cut several pieces of meat +from the carcass for them, retaining a joint for himself. The +young lieutenant prepared a fire, and the girl presided over the +primitive culinary rights of their simple meal. As she worked some +little way apart from them, the lieutenant and the ape-man watched +her. + +"She is wonderful. Is she not?" murmured Smith-Oldwick. + +"She is a German and a spy," replied Tarzan. + +The Englishman turned quickly upon him. "What do you mean?" he +cried. + +"I mean what I say," replied the ape-man. "She is a German and a +spy." + +"I do not believe it!" exclaimed the aviator. + +"You do not have to," Tarzan assured him. "It is nothing to me +what you believe. I saw her in conference with the Boche general +and his staff at the camp near Taveta. They all knew her and called +her by name and she handed him a paper. The next time I saw her +she was inside the British lines in disguise, and again I saw her +bearing word to a German officer at Wilhelmstal. She is a German +and a spy, but she is a woman and therefore I cannot destroy her." + +"You really believe that what you say is true?" asked the young +lieutenant. "My God! I cannot believe it. She is so sweet and brave +and good." + +The ape-man shrugged his shoulders. "She is brave," he said, "but +even Pamba, the rat, must have some good quality, but she is what +I have told you and therefore I hate her and you should hate her." + +Lieutenant Harold Percy Smith-Oldwick buried his face in his hands. +"God forgive me," he said at last. "I cannot hate her." + +The ape-man cast a contemptuous look at his companion and arose. +"Tarzan goes again to hunt," he said. "You have enough food for +two days. By that time he will return." + +The two watched him until he had disappeared in the foliage of the +trees at the further side of the clearing. + +When he had gone the girl felt a vague sense of apprehension that +she never experienced when Tarzan was present. The invisible menaces +lurking in the grim jungle seemed more real and much more imminent +now that the ape-man was no longer near. While he had been there +talking with them, the little thatched hut and its surrounding +thorn boma had seemed as safe a place as the world might afford. +She wished that he had remained--two days seemed an eternity in +contemplation--two days of constant fear, two days, every moment of +which would be fraught with danger. She turned toward her companion. + +"I wish that he had remained," she said. "I always feel so much +safer when he is near. He is very grim and very terrible, and yet +I feel safer with him than with any man I ever have known. He seems +to dislike me and yet I know that he would let no harm befall me. +I cannot understand him." + +"Neither do I understand him," replied the Englishman; "but I know +this much--our presence here is interfering with his plans. He would +like to be rid of us, and I half imagine that he rather hopes to +find when he returns that we have succumbed to one of the dangers +which must always confront us in this savage land. + +"I think that we should try to return to the white settlements. This +man does not want us here, nor is it reasonable to assume that we +could long survive in such a savage wilderness. I have traveled and +hunted in several parts of Africa, but never have I seen or heard +of any single locality so overrun with savage beasts and dangerous +natives. If we set out for the east coast at once we would be in +but little more danger than we are here, and if we could survive +a day's march, I believe that we will find the means of reaching +the coast in a few hours, for my plane must still be in the same +place that I landed just before the blacks captured me. Of course +there is no one here who could operate it nor is there any reason +why they should have destroyed it. As a matter of fact, the natives +would be so fearful and suspicious of so strange and incomprehensible +a thing that the chances are they would not dare approach it. Yes, +it must be where I left it and all ready to carry us safely to the +settlements." + +"But we cannot leave," said the girl, "until he returns. We could +not go away like that without thanking him or bidding him farewell. +We are under too great obligations to him." + +The man looked at her in silence for a moment. He wondered if +she knew how Tarzan felt toward her and then he himself began to +speculate upon the truth of the ape-man's charges. The longer he +looked at the girl, the less easy was it to entertain the thought +that she was an enemy spy. He was upon the point of asking +her point-blank but he could not bring himself to do so, finally +determining to wait until time and longer acquaintance should reveal +the truth or falsity of the accusation. + +"I believe," he said as though there had been no pause in their +conversation, "that the man would be more than glad to find us +gone when he returns. It is not necessary to jeopardize our lives +for two more days in order that we may thank him, however much +we may appreciate his services to us. You have more than balanced +your obligations to him and from what he told me I feel that you +especially should not remain here longer." + +The girl looked up at him in astonishment. "What do you mean?" she +asked. + +"I do not like to tell," said the Englishman, digging nervously at +the turf with the point of a stick, "but you have my word that he +would rather you were not here." + +"Tell me what he said," she insisted, "I have a right to know." + +Lieutenant Smith-Oldwick squared his shoulders and raised his eyes +to those of the girl. "He said that he hated you," he blurted. "He +has only aided you at all from a sense of duty because you are a +woman." + +The girl paled and then flushed. "I will be ready to go," she said, +"in just a moment. We had better take some of this meat with us. +There is no telling when we will be able to get more." + +And so the two set out down the river toward the south. The man +carried the short spear that Tarzan had left with the girl, while +she was entirely unarmed except for a stick she had picked up from +among those left after the building of the hut. Before departing +she had insisted that the man leave a note for Tarzan thanking him +for his care of them and bidding him goodbye. This they left pinned +to the inside wall of the hut with a little sliver of wood. + +It was necessary that they be constantly on the alert since they +never knew what might confront them at the next turn of the winding +jungle trail or what might lie concealed in the tangled bushes at +either side. There was also the ever-present danger of meeting some +of Numabo's black warriors and as the village lay directly in their +line of march, there was the necessity for making a wide detour +before they reached it in order to pass around it without being +discovered. + +"I am not so much afraid of the native blacks," said the girl, "as +I am of Usanga and his people. He and his men were all attached +to a German native regiment. They brought me along with them when +they deserted, either with the intention of holding me ransom or +selling me into the harem of one of the black sultans of the north. +Usanga is much more to be feared than Numabo for he has had the +advantage of European military training and is armed with more or +less modern weapons and ammunition." + +"It is lucky for me," remarked the Englishman, "that it was the +ignorant Numabo who discovered and captured me rather than the +worldly wise Usanga. He would have felt less fear of the giant +flying machine and would have known only too well how to wreck it." + +"Let us pray that the black sergeant has not discovered it," said +the girl. + +They made their way to a point which they guessed was about a mile +above the village, then they turned into the trackless tangle of +undergrowth to the east. So dense was the verdure at many points +that it was with the utmost difficulty they wormed their way through, +sometimes on hands and knees and again by clambering over numerous +fallen tree trunks. Interwoven with dead limbs and living branches +were the tough and ropelike creepers which formed a tangled network +across their path. + +South of them in an open meadowland a number of black warriors were +gathered about an object which elicited much wondering comment. The +blacks were clothed in fragments of what had once been uniforms of +a native German command. They were a most unlovely band and chief +among them in authority and repulsiveness was the black sergeant +Usanga. The object of their interest was a British aeroplane. + +Immediately after the Englishman had been brought to Numabo's village +Usanga had gone out in search of the plane, prompted partially by +curiosity and partially by an intention to destroy it, but when he +had found it, some new thought had deterred him from carrying out +his design. The thing represented considerable value as he well +knew and it had occurred to him that in some way he might turn his +prize to profit. Every day he had returned to it, and while at +first it had filled him with considerable awe, he eventually came +to look upon it with the accustomed eye of a proprietor, so that +he now clambered into the fuselage and even advanced so far as to +wish that he might learn to operate it. + +What a feat it would be indeed to fly like a bird far above the +highest tree top! How it would fill his less favored companions +with awe and admiration! If Usanga could but fly, so great would be +the respect of all the tribesmen throughout the scattered villages +of the great interior, they would look upon him as little less than +a god. + +Usanga rubbed his palms together and smacked his thick lips. Then +indeed, would he be very rich, for all the villages would pay +tribute to him and he could even have as many as a dozen wives. +With that thought, however, came a mental picture of Naratu, the +black termagant, who ruled him with an iron hand. Usanga made a +wry face and tried to forget the extra dozen wives, but the lure of +the idea remained and appealed so strongly to him that he presently +found himself reasoning most logically that a god would not be much +of a god with less than twenty-four wives. + +He fingered the instruments and the control, half hoping and half +fearing that he would alight upon the combination that would put +the machine in flight. Often had he watched the British air-men +soaring above the German lines and it looked so simple he was quite +sure that he could do it himself if there was somebody who could +but once show him how. There was, of course, always the hope that +the white man who came in the machine and who had escaped from +Numabo's village might fall into Usanga's hands and then indeed +would he be able to learn how to fly. It was in this hope that +Usanga spent so much time in the vicinity of the plane, reasoning +as he did that eventually the white man would return in search of +it. + +And at last he was rewarded, for upon this very day after he had +quit the machine and entered the jungle with his warriors, he heard +voices to the north and when he and his men had hidden in the dense +foliage upon either side of the trail, Usanga was presently filled +with elation by the appearance of the British officer and the white +girl whom the black sergeant had coveted and who had escaped him. + +The Negro could scarce restrain a shout of elation, for he had not +hoped that fate would be so kind as to throw these two whom he most +desired into his power at the same time. + +As the two came down the trail all unconscious of impending danger, +the man was explaining that they must be very close to the point +at which the plane had landed. Their entire attention was centered +on the trail directly ahead of them, as they momentarily expected +it to break into the meadowland where they were sure they would +see the plane that would spell life and liberty for them. + +The trail was broad, and they were walking side by side so that at +a sharp turn the park-like clearing was revealed to them simultaneously +with the outlines of the machine they sought. + +Exclamations of relief and delight broke from their lips, and at +the same instant Usanga and his black warriors rose from the bushes +all about them. + + + + +Chapter XII + +The Black Flier + + +The girl was almost crushed by terror and disappointment. To have +been thus close to safety and then to have all hope snatched away +by a cruel stroke of fate seemed unendurable. The man was disappointed, +too, but more was he angry. He noted the remnants of the uniforms +upon the blacks and immediately he demanded to know where were +their officers. + +"They cannot understand you," said the girl and so in the bastard +tongue that is the medium of communication between the Germans and +the blacks of their colony, she repeated the white man's question. + +Usanga grinned. "You know where they are, white woman," he replied. +"They are dead, and if this white man does not do as I tell him, +he, too, will be dead." + +"What do you want of him?" asked the girl. + +"I want him to teach me how to fly like a bird," replied Usanga. + +Bertha Kircher looked her astonishment, but repeated the demand to +the lieutenant. + +The Englishman meditated for a moment. "He wants to learn to fly, +does he?" he repeated. "Ask him if he will give us our freedom if +I teach him to fly." + +The girl put the question to Usanga, who, degraded, cunning, and +entirely unprincipled, was always perfectly willing to promise +anything whether he had any intentions of fulfilling his promises +or not, and so immediately assented to the proposition. + +"Let the white man teach me to fly," he said, "and I will take you +back close to the settlements of your people, but in return for +this I shall keep the great bird," and he waved a black hand in +the direction of the aeroplane. + +When Bertha Kircher had repeated Usanga's proposition to the +aviator, the latter shrugged his shoulders and with a wry face +finally agreed. "I fancy there is no other way out of it," he said. +"In any event the plane is lost to the British government. If I +refuse the black scoundrel's request, there is no doubt but what +he will make short work of me with the result that the machine will +lie here until it rots. If I accept his offer it will at least be +the means of assuring your safe return to civilization and that" +he added, "is worth more to me than all the planes in the British +Air Service." + +The girl cast a quick glance at him. These were the first words he +had addressed to her that might indicate that his sentiments toward +her were more than those of a companion in distress. She regretted +that he had spoken as he had and he, too, regretted it almost +instantly as he saw the shadow cross her face and realized that +he had unwittingly added to the difficulties of her already almost +unbearable situation. + +"Forgive me," he said quickly. "Please forget what that remark +implied. I promise you that I will not offend again, if it does +offend you, until after we are both safely out of this mess." + +She smiled and thanked him, but the thing had been said and could +never be unsaid, and Bertha Kircher knew even more surely than as +though he had fallen upon his knees and protested undying devotion +that the young English officer loved her. + +Usanga was for taking his first lesson in aviation immediately. The +Englishman attempted to dissuade him, but immediately the black +became threatening and abusive, since, like all those who are +ignorant, he was suspicious that the intentions of others were +always ulterior unless they perfectly coincided with his wishes. + +"All right, old top," muttered the Englishman, "I will give you +the lesson of your life," and then turning to the girl: "Persuade +him to let you accompany us. I shall be afraid to leave you here +with these devilish scoundrels." But when she put the suggestion +to Usanga the black immediately suspected some plan to thwart +him--possibly to carry him against his will back to the German +masters he had traitorously deserted, and glowering at her savagely, +he obstinately refused to entertain the suggestion. + +"The white woman will remain here with my people," he said. "They +will not harm her unless you fail to bring me back safely." + +"Tell him," said the Englishman, "that if you are not standing in +plain sight in this meadow when I return, I will not land, but will +carry Usanga back to the British camp and have him hanged." + +Usanga promised that the girl would be in evidence upon their +return, and took immediate steps to impress upon his warriors that +under penalty of death they must not harm her. Then, followed +by the other members of his party, he crossed the clearing toward +the plane with the Englishman. Once seated within what he already +considered his new possession, the black's courage began to wane +and when the motor was started and the great propeller commenced +to whir, he screamed to the Englishman to stop the thing and permit +him to alight, but the aviator could neither hear nor understand +the black above the noise of the propeller and exhaust. By this +time the plane was moving along the ground and even then Usanga was +upon the verge of leaping out, and would have done so had he been +able to unfasten the strap from about his waist. Then the plane rose +from the ground and in a moment soared gracefully in a wide circle +until it topped the trees. The black sergeant was in a veritable +collapse of terror. He saw the earth dropping rapidly from beneath +him. He saw the trees and river and at a distance the little clearing +with the thatched huts of Numabo's village. He tried hard not to +think of the results of a sudden fall to the rapidly receding ground +below. He attempted to concentrate his mind upon the twenty-four +wives which this great bird most assuredly would permit him to +command. Higher and higher rose the plane, swinging in a wide circle +above the forest, river, and meadowland and presently, much to his +surprise, Usanga discovered that his terror was rapidly waning, so +that it was not long before there was forced upon him a consciousness +of utter security, and then it was that he began to take notice of +the manner in which the white man guided and manipulated the plane. + +After half an hour of skillful maneuvering, the Englishman rose +rapidly to a considerable altitude, and then, suddenly, without +warning, he looped and flew with the plane inverted for a few +seconds. + +"I said I'd give this beggar the lesson of his life," he murmured as +he heard, even above the whir of the propeller, the shriek of the +terrified Negro. A moment later Smith-Oldwick had righted the machine +and was dropping rapidly toward the earth. He circled slowly a few +times above the meadow until he had assured himself that Bertha +Kircher was there and apparently unharmed, then he dropped gently +to the ground so that the machine came to a stop a short distance +from where the girl and the warriors awaited them. + +It was a trembling and ashen-hued Usanga who tumbled out of the +fuselage, for his nerves were still on edge as a result of the +harrowing experience of the loop, yet with terra firma once more +under foot, he quickly regained his composure. Strutting about +with great show and braggadocio, he strove to impress his followers +with the mere nothingness of so trivial a feat as flying birdlike +thousands of yards above the jungle, though it was long until he +had thoroughly convinced himself by the force of autosuggestion +that he had enjoyed every instant of the flight and was already +far advanced in the art of aviation. + +So jealous was the black of his new-found toy that he would not +return to the village of Numabo, but insisted on making camp close +beside the plane, lest in some inconceivable fashion it should be +stolen from him. For two days they camped there, and constantly +during daylight hours Usanga compelled the Englishman to instruct +him in the art of flying. + +Smith-Oldwick, in recalling the long months of arduous training he +had undergone himself before he had been considered sufficiently +adept to be considered a finished flier, smiled at the conceit of +the ignorant African who was already demanding that he be permitted +to make a flight alone. + +"If it was not for losing the machine," the Englishman explained to +the girl, "I'd let the bounder take it up and break his fool neck +as he would do inside of two minutes." + +However, he finally persuaded Usanga to bide his time for a few +more days of instruction, but in the suspicious mind of the Negro +there was a growing conviction that the white man's advice was prompted +by some ulterior motive; that it was in the hope of escaping with +the machine himself by night that he refused to admit that Usanga +was entirely capable of handling it alone and therefore in no further +need of help or instruction, and so in the mind of the black there +formed a determination to outwit the white man. The lure of the +twenty-four seductive wives proved in itself a sufficient incentive +and there, too, was added his desire for the white girl whom he +had long since determined to possess. + +It was with these thoughts in mind that Usanga lay down to sleep +in the evening of the second day. Constantly, however, the thought +of Naratu and her temper arose to take the keen edge from his pleasant +imaginings. If he could but rid himself of her! The thought having +taken form persisted, but always it was more than outweighed by the +fact that the black sergeant was actually afraid of his woman, so +much afraid of her in fact that he would not have dared to attempt +to put her out of the way unless he could do so secretly while +she slept. However, as one plan after another was conjured by the +strength of his desires, he at last hit upon one which came to him +almost with the force of a blow and brought him sitting upright +among his sleeping companions. + +When morning dawned Usanga could scarce wait for an opportunity to +put his scheme into execution, and the moment that he had eaten, +he called several of his warriors aside and talked with them for +some moments. + +The Englishman, who usually kept an eye upon his black captor, +saw now that the latter was explaining something in detail to his +warriors, and from his gestures and his manner it was apparent that +he was persuading them to some new plan as well as giving them +instructions as to what they were to do. Several times, too, he +saw the eyes of the Negroes turned upon him and once they flashed +simultaneously toward the white girl. + +Everything about the occurrence, which in itself seemed trivial enough, +aroused in the mind of the Englishman a well-defined apprehension +that something was afoot that boded ill for him and for the girl. +He could not free himself of the idea and so he kept a still closer +watch over the black although, as he was forced to admit to himself, +he was quite powerless to avert any fate that lay in store for +them. Even the spear that he had had when captured had been taken +away from him, so that now he was unarmed and absolutely at the +mercy of the black sergeant and his followers. + +Lieutenant Harold Percy Smith-Oldwick did not have long to wait +before discovering something of Usanga's plan, for almost immediately +after the sergeant finished giving his instructions, a number of +warriors approached the Englishman, while three went directly to +the girl. + +Without a word of explanation the warriors seized the young officer +and threw him to the ground upon his face. For a moment he struggled +to free himself and succeeded in landing a few heavy blows among +his assailants, but he was too greatly outnumbered to hope to more +than delay them in the accomplishment of their object which he +soon discovered was to bind him securely hand and foot. When they +had finally secured him to their satisfaction, they rolled him +over on his side and then it was he saw Bertha Kircher had been +similarly trussed. + +Smith-Oldwick lay in such a position that he could see nearly the +entire expanse of meadow and the aeroplane a short distance away. +Usanga was talking to the girl who was shaking her head in vehement +negatives. + +"What is he saying?" called the Englishman. + +"He is going to take me away in the plane," the girl called back. +"He is going to take me farther inland to another country where +he says that he will be king and I am to be one of his wives," and +then to the Englishman's surprise she turned a smiling face toward +him, "but there is no danger," she continued, "for we shall both +be dead within a few minutes--just give him time enough to get +the machine under way, and if he can rise a hundred feet from the +ground I shall never need fear him more." + +"God!" cried the man. "Is there no way that you can dissuade him? +Promise him anything. Anything that you want. I have money, more +money than that poor fool could imagine there was in the whole +world. With it he can buy anything that money will purchase, fine +clothes and food and women, all the women he wants. Tell him this +and tell him that if he will spare you I give him my word that I +will fetch it all to him." + +The girl shook her head. "It is useless," she said. "He would not +understand and if he did understand, he would not trust you. The +blacks are so unprincipled themselves that they can imagine no +such thing as principle or honor in others, and especially do these +blacks distrust an Englishman whom the Germans have taught them to +believe are the most treacherous and degraded of people. No, it is +better thus. I am sorry that you cannot go with us, for if he goes +high enough my death will be much easier than that which probably +awaits you." + +Usanga had been continually interrupting their brief conversation +in an attempt to compel the girl to translate it to him, for he +feared that they were concocting some plan to thwart him, and to +quiet and appease him, she told him that the Englishman was merely +bidding her farewell and wishing her good luck. Suddenly she turned +to the black. "Will you do something for me?" she asked. "If I go +willingly with you?" + +"What is it you want?" he inquired. + +"Tell your men to free the white man after we are gone. He can +never catch us. That is all I ask of you. If you will grant him +his freedom and his life, I will go willingly with you. + +"You will go with me anyway," growled Usanga. "It is nothing to +me whether you go willingly or not. I am going to be a great king +and you will do whatever I tell you to do." + +He had in mind that he would start properly with this woman. There +should be no repetition of his harrowing experience with Naratu. +This wife and the twenty-four others should be carefully selected +and well trained. Hereafter Usanga would be master in his own house. + +Bertha Kircher saw that it was useless to appeal to the brute +and so she held her peace though she was filled with sorrow in +contemplating the fate that awaited the young officer, scarce more +than a boy, who had impulsively revealed his love for her. + +At Usanga's order one of the blacks lifted her from the ground and +carried her to the machine, and after Usanga had clambered aboard, +they lifted her up and he reached down and drew her into the fuselage +where he removed the thongs from her wrists and strapped her into +her seat and then took his own directly ahead of her. + +The girl turned her eyes toward the Englishman. She was very pale +but her lips smiled bravely. + +"Good-bye!" she cried. + +"Good-bye, and God bless you!" he called back--his voice the least +bit husky--and then: "The thing I wanted to say--may I say it now, +we are so very near the end?" + +Her lips moved but whether they voiced consent or refusal he did +not know, for the words were drowned in the whir of the propeller. + +The black had learned his lesson sufficiently well so that the +motor was started without bungling and the machine was soon under +way across the meadowland. A groan escaped the lips of the distracted +Englishman as he watched the woman he loved being carried to almost +certain death. He saw the plane tilt and the machine rise from +the ground. It was a good take-off--as good as Lieutenant Harold +Percy Smith-Oldwick could make himself but he realized that it was +only so by chance. At any instant the machine might plunge to earth +and even if, by some miracle of chance, the black could succeed +in rising above the tree tops and make a successful flight, there +was not one chance in one hundred thousand that he could ever land +again without killing his fair captive and himself. + +But what was that? His heart stood still. + + + + +Chapter XIII + +Usanga's Reward + + +For two days Tarzan of the Apes had been hunting leisurely to the +north, and swinging in a wide circle, he had returned to within +a short distance of the clearing where he had left Bertha Kircher +and the young lieutenant. He had spent the night in a large tree +that overhung the river only a short distance from the clearing, +and now in the early morning hours he was crouching at the water's +edge waiting for an opportunity to capture Pisah, the fish, thinking +that he would take it back with him to the hut where the girl could +cook it for herself and her companion. + +Motionless as a bronze statue was the wily ape-man, for well he knew +how wary is Pisah, the fish. The slightest movement would frighten +him away and only by infinite patience might he be captured at +all. Tarzan depended upon his own quickness and the suddenness of +his attack, for he had no bait or hook. His knowledge of the ways +of the denizens of the water told him where to wait for Pisah. It +might be a minute or it might be an hour before the fish would swim +into the little pool above which he crouched, but sooner or later +one would come. That the ape-man knew, so with the patience of the +beast of prey he waited for his quarry. + +At last there was a glint of shiny scales. Pisah was coming. In a +moment he would be within reach and then with the swiftness of light +two strong, brown hands would plunge into the pool and seize him, +but, just at the moment that the fish was about to come within reach, +there was a great crashing in the underbrush behind the ape-man. +Instantly Pisah was gone and Tarzan, growling, had wheeled about +to face whatever creature might be menacing him. The moment that +he turned he saw that the author of the disturbance was Zu-tag. + +"What does Zu-tag want?" asked the ape-man. + +"Zu-tag comes to the water to drink," replied the ape. + +"Where is the tribe?" asked Tarzan. + +"They are hunting for pisangs and scimatines farther back in the +forest," replied Zu-tag. + +"And the Tarmangani she and bull--" asked Tarzan, "are they safe?" + +"They have gone away," replied Zu-tag. "Kudu has come out of his +lair twice since they left." + +"Did the tribe chase them away?" asked Tarzan. + +"No," replied the ape. "We did not see them go. We do not know why +they left." + +Tarzan swung quickly through the trees toward the clearing. The +hut and boma were as he had left them, but there was no sign of +either the man or the woman. Crossing the clearing, he entered the +boma and then the hut. Both were empty, and his trained nostrils +told him that they had been gone for at least two days. As he was +about to leave the hut he saw a paper pinned upon the wall with a +sliver of wood and taking it down, he read: + + +After what you told me about Miss Kircher, and knowing that you +dislike her, I feel that it is not fair to her and to you that we +should impose longer upon you. I know that our presence is keeping +you from continuing your journey to the west coast, and so I +have decided that it is better for us to try and reach the white +settlements immediately without imposing further upon you. We both +thank you for your kindness and protection. If there was any way +that I might repay the obligation I feel, I should be only too glad +to do so. + + +It was signed by Lieutenant Harold Percy Smith-Oldwick. + +Tarzan shrugged his shoulders, crumpled the note in his hand and +tossed it aside. He felt a certain sense of relief from responsibility +and was glad that they had taken the matter out of his hands. They +were gone and would forget, but somehow he could not forget. He +walked out across the boma and into the clearing. He felt uneasy +and restless. Once he started toward the north in response to +a sudden determination to continue his way to the west coast. He +would follow the winding river toward the north a few miles where +its course turned to the west and then on toward its source across +a wooded plateau and up into the foothills and the mountains. Upon +the other side of the range he would search for a stream running +downward toward the west coast, and thus following the rivers he +would be sure of game and water in plenty. + +But he did not go far. A dozen steps, perhaps, and he came to +a sudden stop. "He is an Englishman," he muttered, "and the other +is a woman. They can never reach the settlements without my help. +I could not kill her with my own hands when I tried, and if I let +them go on alone, I will have killed her just as surely as though +I had run my knife into her heart. No," and again he shook his +head. "Tarzan of the Apes is a fool and a weak, old woman," and he +turned back toward the south. + +Manu, the monkey, had seen the two Tarmangani pass two days before. +Chattering and scolding, he told Tarzan all about it. They had +gone in the direction of the village of the Gomangani, that much +had Manu seen with his own eyes, so the ape-man swung on through +the jungle in a southerly direction and though with no concentrated +effort to follow the spoor of those he trailed, he passed numerous +evidences that they had gone this way--faint suggestions of their +scent spoor clung lightly to leaf or branch or bole that one +or the other had touched, or in the earth of the trail their feet +had trod, and where the way wound through the gloomy depth of dank +forest, the impress of their shoes still showed occasionally in +the damp mass of decaying vegetation that floored the way. + +An inexplicable urge spurred Tarzan to increasing, speed. The +same still, small voice that chided him for having neglected them +seemed constantly whispering that they were in dire need of him +now. Tarzan's conscience was troubling him, which accounted for +the fact that he compared himself to a weak, old woman, for the +ape-man, reared in savagery and inured to hardships and cruelty, +disliked to admit any of the gentler traits that in reality were +his birthright. + +The trail made a detour to the east of the village of the Wamabos, +and then returned to the wide elephant path nearer to the river, +where it continued in a southerly direction for several miles. At +last there came to the ears of the ape-man a peculiar whirring, +throbbing sound. For an instant he paused, listening intently, "An +aeroplane!" he muttered, and hastened forward at greatly increased +speed. + +When Tarzan of the Apes finally reached the edge of the meadowland +where Smith-Oldwick's plane had landed, he took in the entire scene +in one quick glance and grasped the situation, although he could +scarce give credence to the things he saw. Bound and helpless, +the English officer lay upon the ground at one side of the meadow, +while around him stood a number of the black deserters from the +German command. Tarzan had seen these men before and knew who they +were. Coming toward him down the meadow was an aeroplane piloted +by the black Usanga and in the seat behind the pilot was the white +girl, Bertha Kircher. How it befell that the ignorant savage could +operate the plane, Tarzan could not guess nor had he time in which +to speculate upon the subject. His knowledge of Usanga, together +with the position of the white man, told him that the black sergeant +was attempting to carry off the white girl. Why he should be doing +this when he had her in his power and had also captured and secured +the only creature in the jungle who might wish to defend her in so +far as the black could know, Tarzan could not guess, for he knew +nothing of Usanga's twenty-four dream wives nor of the black's +fear of the horrid temper of Naratu, his present mate. He did not +know, then, that Usanga had determined to fly away with the white +girl never to return, and to put so great a distance between himself +and Naratu that the latter never could find him again; but it was +this very thing that was in the black's mind although not even his +own warriors guessed it. He had told them that he would take the +captive to a sultan of the north and there obtain a great price for +her and that when he returned they should have some of the spoils. + +These things Tarzan did not know. All he knew was what he saw--a +Negro attempting to fly away with a white girl. Already the +machine was slowly leaving the ground. In a moment more it would +rise swiftly out of reach. At first Tarzan thought of fitting an +arrow to his bow and slaying Usanga, but as quickly he abandoned +the idea because he knew that the moment the pilot was slain the +machine, running wild, would dash the girl to death among the trees. + +There was but one way in which he might hope to succor her--a way +which if it failed must send him to instant death and yet he did +not hesitate in an attempt to put it into execution. + +Usanga did not see him, being too intent upon the unaccustomed duties +of a pilot, but the blacks across the meadow saw him and they ran +forward with loud and savage cries and menacing rifles to intercept +him. They saw a giant white man leap from the branches of a tree +to the turf and race rapidly toward the plane. They saw him take +a long grass rope from about his shoulders as he ran. They saw the +noose swinging in an undulating circle above his head. They saw +the white girl in the machine glance down and discover him. + +Twenty feet above the running ape-man soared the huge plane. The +open noose shot up to meet it, and the girl, half guessing the +ape-man's intentions, reached out and caught the noose and, bracing +herself, clung tightly to it with both hands. Simultaneously Tarzan +was dragged from his feet and the plane lurched sideways in response +to the new strain. Usanga clutched wildly at the control and the +machine shot upward at a steep angle. Dangling at the end of the +rope the ape-man swung pendulum-like in space. The Englishman, lying +bound upon the ground, had been a witness of all these happenings. +His heart stood still as he saw Tarzan's body hurtling through the +air toward the tree tops among which it seemed he must inevitably +crash; but the plane was rising rapidly, so that the beast-man +cleared the top-most branches. Then slowly, hand over hand, he +climbed toward the fuselage. The girl, clinging desperately to the +noose, strained every muscle to hold the great weight dangling at +the lower end of the rope. + +Usanga, all unconscious of what was going on behind him, drove the +plane higher and higher into the air. + +Tarzan glanced downward. Below him the tree tops and the river +passed rapidly to the rear and only a slender grass rope and the +muscles of a frail girl stood between him and the death yawning +there thousands of feet below. + +It seemed to Bertha Kircher that the fingers of her hands were dead. +The numbness was running up her arms to her elbows. How much longer +she could cling to the straining strands she could not guess. It +seemed to her that those lifeless fingers must relax at any instant +and then, when she had about given up hope, she saw a strong brown +hand reach up and grasp the side of the fuselage. Instantly the +weight upon the rope was removed and a moment later Tarzan of the +Apes raised his body above the side and threw a leg over the edge. +He glanced forward at Usanga and then, placing his mouth close to +the girl's ear he cried: "Have you ever piloted a plane?" The girl +nodded a quick affirmative. + +"Have you the courage to climb up there beside the black and seize +the control while I take care of him?" + +The girl looked toward Usanga and shuddered. "Yes," she replied, +"but my feet are bound." + +Tarzan drew his hunting knife from its sheath and reaching down, +severed the thongs that bound her ankles. Then the girl unsnapped +the strap that held her to her seat. With one hand Tarzan grasped +the girl's arm and steadied her as the two crawled slowly across +the few feet which intervened between the two seats. A single slight +tip of the plane would have cast them both into eternity. Tarzan +realized that only through a miracle of chance could they reach +Usanga and effect the change in pilots and yet he knew that that +chance must be taken, for in the brief moments since he had first +seen the plane, he had realized that the black was almost without +experience as a pilot and that death surely awaited them in any +event should the black sergeant remain at the control. + +The first intimation Usanga had that all was not well with him was +when the girl slipped suddenly to his side and grasped the control +and at the same instant steel-like fingers seized his throat. A brown +hand shot down with a keen blade and severed the strap about his +waist and giant muscles lifted him bodily from his seat. Usanga +clawed the air and shrieked but he was helpless as a babe. Far +below the watchers in the meadow could see the aeroplane careening +in the sky, for with the change of control it had taken a sudden +dive. They saw it right itself and, turning in a short circle, return +in their direction, but it was so far above them and the light of +the sun so strong that they could see nothing of what was going on +within the fuselage; but presently Lieutenant Smith-Oldwick gave +a gasp of dismay as he saw a human body plunge downward from the +plane. Turning and twisting in mid-air it fell with ever-increasing +velocity and the Englishman held his breath as the thing hurtled +toward them. + +With a muffled thud it flattened upon the turf near the center of +the meadow, and when at last the Englishman could gain the courage +to again turn his eyes upon it, he breathed a fervent prayer of +thanks, for the shapeless mass that lay upon the blood-stained turf +was covered with an ebon hide. Usanga had reaped his reward. + +Again and again the plane circled above the meadow. The blacks, at +first dismayed at the death of their leader, were now worked to a +frenzy of rage and a determination to be avenged. The girl and the +ape-man saw them gather in a knot about the body of their fallen +chief. They saw as they circled above the meadow the black fists +shaken at them, and the rifles brandishing a menace toward them. +Tarzan still clung to the fuselage directly behind the pilot's seat. +His face was close beside Bertha Kircher's, and at the top of his +voice, above the noise of propeller, engine and exhaust, he screamed +a few words of instruction into her ear. + +As the girl grasped the significance of his words she paled, but +her lips set in a hard line and her eyes shone with a sudden fire +of determination as she dropped the plane to within a few feet of +the ground and at the opposite end of the meadow from the blacks +and then at full speed bore down upon the savages. So quickly the +plane came that Usanga's men had no time to escape it after they +realized its menace. It touched the ground just as it struck among +them and mowed through them, a veritable juggernaut of destruction. +When it came to rest at the edge of the forest the ape-man leaped +quickly to the ground and ran toward the young lieutenant, and as +he went he glanced at the spot where the warriors had stood, ready +to defend himself if necessary, but there was none there to oppose +him. Dead and dying they lay strewn for fifty feet along the turf. + +By the time Tarzan had freed the Englishman the girl joined them. +She tried to voice her thanks to the ape-man but he silenced her +with a gesture. + +"You saved yourself," he insisted, "for had you been unable to +pilot the plane, I could not have helped you, and now," he said, +"you two have the means of returning to the settlements. The day +is still young. You can easily cover the distance in a few hours +if you have sufficient petrol." He looked inquiringly toward the +aviator. + +Smith-Oldwick nodded his head affirmatively. "I have plenty," he +replied. + +"Then go at once," said the ape-man. "Neither of you belong in the +jungle." A slight smile touched his lips as he spoke. + +The girl and the Englishman smiled too. "This jungle is no place +for us at least," said Smith-Oldwick, "and it is no place for any +other white man. Why don't you come back to civilization with us?" + +Tarzan shook his head. "I prefer the jungle," he said. + +The aviator dug his toe into the ground and still looking down, +blurted something which he evidently hated to say. "If it is a +matter of living, old top," he said, "er--money, er--you know--" + +Tarzan laughed. "No," he said. "I know what you are trying to say. +It is not that. I was born in the jungle. I have lived all my life +in the jungle, and I shall die in the jungle. I do not wish to +live or die elsewhere." + +The others shook their heads. They could not understand him. + +"Go," said the ape-man. "The quicker you go, the quicker you will +reach safety." + +They walked to the plane together. Smith-Oldwick pressed the +ape-man's hand and clambered into the pilot's seat. "Good-bye," +said the girl as she extended her hand to Tarzan. "Before I go +won't you tell me you don't hate me any more?" Tarzan's face clouded. +Without a word he picked her up and lifted her to her place behind +the Englishman. An expression of pain crossed Bertha Kircher's +face. The motor started and a moment later the two were being borne +rapidly toward the east. + +In the center of the meadow stood the ape-man watching them. "It +is too bad that she is a German and a spy," he said, "for she is +very hard to hate." + + + + +Chapter XIV + +The Black Lion + + +Numa, the lion, was hungry. He had come out of the desert country +to the east into a land of plenty but though he was young and strong, +the wary grass-eaters had managed to elude his mighty talons each +time he had thought to make a kill. + +Numa, the lion, was hungry and very savage. For two days he had +not eaten and now he hunted in the ugliest of humors. No more did +Numa roar forth a rumbling challenge to the world but rather he +moved silent and grim, stepping softly that no cracking twig might +betray his presence to the keen-eared quarry he sought. + +Fresh was the spoor of Bara, the deer, that Numa picked up in the +well-beaten game trail he was following. No hour had passed since +Bara had come this way; the time could be measured in minutes and +so the great lion redoubled the cautiousness of his advance as he +crept stealthily in pursuit of his quarry. + +A light wind was moving through the jungle aisles, and it wafted +down now to the nostrils of the eager carnivore the strong scent +spoor of the deer, exciting his already avid appetite to a point +where it became a gnawing pain. Yet Numa did not permit himself to +be carried away by his desires into any premature charge such as +had recently lost him the juicy meat of Pacco, the zebra. Increasing +his gait but slightly he followed the tortuous windings of the +trail until suddenly just before him, where the trail wound about +the bole of a huge tree, he saw a young buck moving slowly ahead +of him. + +Numa judged the distance with his keen eyes, glowing now like two +terrible spots of yellow fire in his wrinkled, snarling face. He +could do it--this time he was sure. One terrific roar that would +paralyze the poor creature ahead of him into momentary inaction, +and a simultaneous charge of lightning-like rapidity and Numa, the +lion, would feed. The sinuous tail, undulating slowly at its tufted +extremity, whipped suddenly erect. It was the signal for the charge +and the vocal organs were shaped for the thunderous roar when, as +lightning out of a clear sky, Sheeta, the panther, leaped suddenly +into the trail between Numa and the deer. + +A blundering charge made Sheeta, for with the first crash of his +spotted body through the foliage verging the trail, Bara gave a +single startled backward glance and was gone. + +The roar that was intended to paralyze the deer broke horribly from +the deep throat of the great cat--an angry roar of rage against +the meddling Sheeta who had robbed him of his kill, and the charge +that was intended for Bara was launched against the panther; but +here too Numa was doomed to disappointment, for with the first notes +of his fearsome roar Sheeta, considering well the better part of +valor, leaped into a near-by tree. + +A half-hour later it was a thoroughly furious Numa who came +unexpectedly upon the scent of man. Heretofore the lord of the jungle +had disdained the unpalatable flesh of the despised man-thing. Such +meat was only for the old, the toothless, and the decrepit who no +longer could make their kills among the fleet-footed grass-eaters. +Bara, the deer, Horta, the boar, and, best and wariest, Pacco, the +zebra, were for the young, the strong, and the agile, but Numa was +hungry--hungrier than he ever had been in the five short years of +his life. + +What if he was a young, powerful, cunning, and ferocious beast? +In the face of hunger, the great leveler, he was as the old, the +toothless, and the decrepit. His belly cried aloud in anguish and +his jowls slavered for flesh. Zebra or deer or man, what mattered +it so that it was warm flesh, red with the hot juices of life? +Even Dango, the hyena, eater of offal, would, at the moment, have +seemed a tidbit to Numa. + +The great lion knew the habits and frailties of man, though he never +before had hunted man for food. He knew the despised Gomangani as +the slowest, the most stupid, and the most defenseless of creatures. +No woodcraft, no cunning, no stealth was necessary in the hunting +of man, nor had Numa any stomach for either delay or silence. + +His rage had become an almost equally consuming passion with +his hunger, so that now, as his delicate nostrils apprised him of +the recent passage of man, he lowered his head and rumbled forth +a thunderous roar, and at a swift walk, careless of the noise he +made, set forth upon the trail of his intended quarry. + +Majestic and terrible, regally careless of his surroundings, the +king of beasts strode down the beaten trail. The natural caution +that is inherent to all creatures of the wild had deserted him. +What had he, lord of the jungle, to fear and, with only man to hunt, +what need of caution? And so he did not see or scent what a more +wary Numa might readily have discovered until, with the cracking of +twigs and a tumbling of earth, he was precipitated into a cunningly +devised pit that the wily Wamabos had excavated for just this +purpose in the center of the game trail. + +Tarzan of the Apes stood in the center of the clearing watching the +plane shrinking to diminutive toy-like proportions in the eastern +sky. He had breathed a sigh of relief as he saw it rise safely with +the British flier and Fraulein Bertha Kircher. For weeks he had +felt the hampering responsibility of their welfare in this savage +wilderness where their utter helplessness would have rendered them +easy prey for the savage carnivores or the cruel Wamabos. Tarzan +of the Apes loved unfettered freedom, and now that these two were +safely off his hands, he felt that he could continue upon his +journey toward the west coast and the long-untenanted cabin of his +dead father. + +And yet, as he stood there watching the tiny speck in the east, +another sigh heaved his broad chest, nor was it a sigh of relief, +but rather a sensation which Tarzan had never expected to feel +again and which he now disliked to admit even to himself. It could +not be possible that he, the jungle bred, who had renounced forever +the society of man to return to his beloved beasts of the wilds, +could be feeling anything akin to regret at the departure of these +two, or any slightest loneliness now that they were gone. Lieutenant +Harold Percy Smith-Oldwick Tarzan had liked, but the woman whom he +had known as a German spy he had hated, though he never had found it +in his heart to slay her as he had sworn to slay all Huns. He had +attributed this weakness to the fact that she was a woman, although +he had been rather troubled by the apparent inconsistency of +his hatred for her and his repeated protection of her when danger +threatened. + +With an irritable toss of his head he wheeled suddenly toward the +west as though by turning his back upon the fast disappearing plane +he might expunge thoughts of its passengers from his memory. At +the edge of the clearing he paused; a giant tree loomed directly +ahead of him and, as though actuated by sudden and irresistible +impulse, he leaped into the branches and swung himself with apelike +agility to the topmost limbs that would sustain his weight. There, +balancing lightly upon a swaying bough, he sought in the direction +of the eastern horizon for the tiny speck that would be the British +plane bearing away from him the last of his own race and kind that +he expected ever again to see. + +At last his keen eyes picked up the ship flying at a considerable +altitude far in the east. For a few seconds he watched it speeding +evenly eastward, when, to his horror, he saw the speck dive suddenly +downward. The fall seemed interminable to the watcher and he +realized how great must have been the altitude of the plane before +the drop commenced. Just before it disappeared from sight its +downward momentum appeared to abate suddenly, but it was still +moving rapidly at a steep angle when it finally disappeared from +view behind the far hills. + +For half a minute the ape-man stood noting distant landmarks that +he judged might be in the vicinity of the fallen plane, for no +sooner had he realized that these people were again in trouble than +his inherent sense of duty to his own kind impelled him once more +to forego his plans and seek to aid them. + +The ape-man feared from what he judged of the location of the machine +that it had fallen among the almost impassable gorges of the arid +country just beyond the fertile basin that was bounded by the +hills to the east of him. He had crossed that parched and desolate +country of the dead himself and he knew from his own experience +and the narrow escape he had had from succumbing to its relentless +cruelty no lesser man could hope to win his way to safety from +any considerable distance within its borders. Vividly he recalled +the bleached bones of the long-dead warrior in the bottom of the +precipitous gorge that had all but proved a trap for him as well. +He saw the helmet of hammered brass and the corroded breastplate of +steel and the long straight sword in its scabbard and the ancient +harquebus--mute testimonials to the mighty physique and the +warlike spirit of him who had somehow won, thus illy caparisoned +and pitifully armed, to the center of savage, ancient Africa; and +he saw the slender English youth and the slight figure of the girl +cast into the same fateful trap from which this giant of old had +been unable to escape--cast there wounded and broken perhaps, if +not killed. + +His judgment told him that the latter possibility was probably +the fact, and yet there was a chance that they might have landed +without fatal injuries, and so upon this slim chance he started out +upon what he knew would be an arduous journey, fraught with many +hardships and unspeakable peril, that he might attempt to save them +if they still lived. + +He had covered a mile perhaps when his quick ears caught the sound +of rapid movement along the game trail ahead of him. The sound, +increasing in volume, proclaimed the fact that whatever caused it +was moving in his direction and moving rapidly. Nor was it long +before his trained senses convinced him that the footfalls were +those of Bara, the deer, in rapid flight. Inextricably confused in +Tarzan's character were the attributes of man and of beasts. Long +experience had taught him that he fights best or travels fastest +who is best nourished, and so, with few exceptions, Tarzan could +delay his most urgent business to take advantage of an opportunity +to kill and feed. This perhaps was the predominant beast trait in +him. The transformation from an English gentleman, impelled by the +most humanitarian motives, to that of a wild beast crouching in the +concealment of a dense bush ready to spring upon its approaching +prey, was instantaneous. + +And so, when Bara came, escaping the clutches of Numa and Sheeta, +his terror and his haste precluded the possibility of his sensing +that other equally formidable foe lying in ambush for him. Abreast +of the ape-man came the deer; a light-brown body shot from the +concealing verdure of the bush, strong arms encircled the sleek +neck of the young buck and powerful teeth fastened themselves in +the soft flesh. Together the two rolled over in the trail and a +moment later the ape-man rose, and, with one foot upon the carcass +of his kill, raised his voice in the victory cry of the bull ape. + +Like an answering challenge came suddenly to the ears of the +ape-man the thunderous roar of a lion, a hideous angry roar in which +Tarzan thought that he discerned a note of surprise and terror. In +the breast of the wild things of the jungle, as in the breasts of +their more enlightened brothers and sisters of the human race, the +characteristic of curiosity is well developed. Nor was Tarzan far +from innocent of it. The peculiar note in the roar of his hereditary +enemy aroused a desire to investigate, and so, throwing the carcass +of Bara, the deer, across his shoulder, the ape-man took to the +lower terraces of the forest and moved quickly in the direction +from which the sound had come, which was in line with the trail he +had set out upon. + +As the distance lessened, the sounds increased in volume, which +indicated that he was approaching a very angry lion and presently, +where a jungle giant overspread the broad game trail that countless +thousands of hoofed and padded feet had worn and trampled into a +deep furrow during perhaps countless ages, he saw beneath him the +lion pit of the Wamabos and in it, leaping futilely for freedom +such a lion as even Tarzan of the Apes never before had beheld. A +mighty beast it was that glared up at the ape-man--large, powerful +and young, with a huge black mane and a coat so much darker than +any Tarzan ever had seen that in the depths of the pit it looked +almost black--a black lion! + +Tarzan who had been upon the point of taunting and reviling his +captive foe was suddenly turned to open admiration for the beauty +of the splendid beast. What a creature! How by comparison the +ordinary forest lion was dwarfed into insignificance! Here indeed +was one worthy to be called king of beasts. With his first sight of +the great cat the ape-man knew that he had heard no note of terror +in that initial roar; surprise doubtless, but the vocal chords of +that mighty throat never had reacted to fear. + +With growing admiration came a feeling of quick pity for the hapless +situation of the great brute rendered futile and helpless by the +wiles of the Gomangani. Enemy though the beast was, he was less an +enemy to the ape-man than those blacks who had trapped him, for +though Tarzan of the Apes claimed many fast and loyal friends among +certain tribes of African natives, there were others of degraded +character and bestial habits that he looked upon with utter loathing, +and of such were the human flesh-eaters of Numabo the chief. For +a moment Numa, the lion, glared ferociously at the naked man-thing +upon the tree limb above him. Steadily those yellow-green eyes +bored into the clear eyes of the ape-man, and then the sensitive +nostrils caught the scent of the fresh blood of Bara and the eyes +moved to the carcass lying across the brown shoulder, and there +came from the cavernous depths of the savage throat a low whine. + +Tarzan of the Apes smiled. As unmistakably as though a human voice +had spoken, the lion had said to him "I am hungry, even more than +hungry. I am starving," and the ape-man looked down upon the lion +beneath him and smiled, a slow quizzical smile, and then he shifted +the carcass from his shoulder to the branch before him and, drawing +the long blade that had been his father's, deftly cut off a hind +quarter and, wiping the bloody blade upon Bara's smooth coat, he +returned it to its scabbard. Numa, with watering jaws, looked up +at the tempting meat and whined again and the ape-man smiled down +upon him his slow smile and, raising the hind quarter in his strong +brown hands buried his teeth in the tender, juicy flesh. + +For the third time Numa, the lion, uttered that low pleading whine +and then, with a rueful and disgusted shake of his head, Tarzan of +the Apes raised the balance of the carcass of Bara, the deer, and +hurled it to the famished beast below. + +"Old woman," muttered the ape-man. "Tarzan has become a weak old +woman. Presently he would shed tears because he has killed Bara, +the deer. He cannot see Numa, his enemy, go hungry, because Tarzan's +heart is turning to water by contact with the soft, weak creatures +of civilization." But yet he smiled, nor was he sorry that he had +given way to the dictates of a kindly impulse. + +As Tarzan tore the flesh from that portion of the kill he had retained +for himself his eyes were taking in each detail of the scene below. +He saw the avidity with which Numa devoured the carcass; he noted +with growing admiration the finer points of the beast, and also +the cunning construction of the trap. The ordinary lion pit with +which Tarzan was familiar had stakes imbedded in the bottom, upon +whose sharpened points the hapless lion would be impaled, but this +pit was not so made. Here the short stakes were set at intervals of +about a foot around the walls near the top, their sharpened points +inclining downward so that the lion had fallen unhurt into the trap +but could not leap out because each time he essayed it his head +came in contact with the sharp end of a stake above him. + +Evidently, then, the purpose of the Wamabos was to capture a lion +alive. As this tribe had no contact whatsoever with white men in +so far as Tarzan knew, their motive was doubtless due to a desire +to torture the beast to death that they might enjoy to the utmost +his dying agonies. + +Having fed the lion, it presently occurred to Tarzan that his act +would be futile were he to leave the beast to the mercies of the +blacks, and then too it occurred to him that he could derive more +pleasure through causing the blacks discomfiture than by leaving +Numa to his fate. But how was he to release him? By removing two +stakes there would be left plenty of room for the lion to leap from +the pit, which was not of any great depth. However, what assurance +had Tarzan that Numa would not leap out instantly the way to +freedom was open, and before the ape-man could gain the safety of +the trees? Regardless of the fact that Tarzan felt no such fear +of the lion as you and I might experience under like circumstances, +he yet was imbued with the sense of caution that is necessary to +all creatures of the wild if they are to survive. Should necessity +require, Tarzan could face Numa in battle, although he was not so +egotistical as to think that he could best a full-grown lion in +mortal combat other than through accident or the utilization of the +cunning of his superior man-mind. To lay himself liable to death +futilely, he would have considered as reprehensible as to have +shunned danger in time of necessity; but when Tarzan elected to do +a thing he usually found the means to accomplish it. + +He had now fully determined to liberate Numa, and having so determined, +he would accomplish it even though it entailed considerable personal +risk. He knew that the lion would be occupied with his feeding for +some time, but he also knew that while feeding he would be doubly +resentful of any fancied interference. Therefore Tarzan must work +with caution. + +Coming to the ground at the side of the pit, he examined the stakes +and as he did so was rather surprised to note that Numa gave no +evidence of anger at his approach. Once he turned a searching gaze +upon the ape-man for a moment and then returned to the flesh of +Bara. Tarzan felt of the stakes and tested them with his weight. +He pulled upon them with the muscles of his strong arms, presently +discovering that by working them back and forth he could loosen +them: and then a new plan was suggested to him so that he fell to +work excavating with his knife at a point above where one of the +stakes was imbedded. The loam was soft and easily removed, and it +was not long until Tarzan had exposed that part of one of the stakes +which was imbedded in the wall of the pit to almost its entire +length, leaving only enough imbedded to prevent the stake from +falling into the excavation. Then he turned his attention to an +adjoining stake and soon had it similarly exposed, after which he +threw the noose of his grass rope over the two and swung quickly +to the branch of the tree above. Here he gathered in the slack of +the rope and, bracing himself against the bole of the tree, pulled +steadily upward. Slowly the stakes rose from the trench in which +they were imbedded and with them rose Numa's suspicion and growling. + +Was this some new encroachment upon his rights and his liberties? +He was puzzled and, like all lions, being short of temper, he +was irritated. He had not minded it when the Tarmangani squatted +upon the verge of the pit and looked down upon him, for had not +this Tarmangani fed him? But now something else was afoot and the +suspicion of the wild beast was aroused. As he watched, however, +Numa saw the stakes rise slowly to an erect position, tumble +against each other and then fall backwards out of his sight upon +the surface of the ground above. Instantly the lion grasped the +possibilities of the situation, and, too, perhaps he sensed the fact +that the man-thing had deliberately opened a way for his escape. +Seizing the remains of Bara in his great jaws, Numa, the lion, +leaped agilely from the pit of the Wamabos and Tarzan of the Apes +melted into the jungles to the east. + +On the surface of the ground or through the swaying branches of the +trees the spoor of man or beast was an open book to the ape-man, but +even his acute senses were baffled by the spoorless trail of the +airship. Of what good were eyes, or ears, or the sense of smell +in following a thing whose path had lain through the shifting +air thousands of feet above the tree tops? Only upon his sense of +direction could Tarzan depend in his search for the fallen plane. +He could not even judge accurately as to the distance it might +lie from him, and he knew that from the moment that it disappeared +beyond the hills it might have traveled a considerable distance at +right angles to its original course before it crashed to earth. If +its occupants were killed or badly injured the ape-man might search +futilely in their immediate vicinity for some time before finding +them. + +There was but one thing to do and that was to travel to a point +as close as possible to where he judged the plane had landed, and +then to follow in ever-widening circles until he picked up their +scent spoor. And this he did. + +Before he left the valley of plenty he made several kills and +carried the choicest cuts of meat with him, leaving all the dead +weight of bones behind. The dense vegetation of the jungle terminated +at the foot of the western slope, growing less and less abundant +as he neared the summit beyond which was a sparse growth of sickly +scrub and sunburned grasses, with here and there a gnarled and hardy +tree that had withstood the vicissitudes of an almost waterless +existence. + +From the summit of the hills Tarzan's keen eyes searched the arid +landscape before him. In the distance he discerned the ragged +tortuous lines that marked the winding course of the hideous gorges +which scored the broad plain at intervals--the terrible gorges that +had so nearly claimed his life in punishment for his temerity in +attempting to invade the sanctity of their ancient solitude. + +For two days Tarzan sought futilely for some clew to the whereabouts +of the machine or its occupants. He cached portions of his kills at +different points, building cairns of rock to mark their locations. +He crossed the first deep gorge and circled far beyond it. Occasionally +he stopped and called aloud, listening for some response but +only silence rewarded him--a sinister silence that his cries only +accentuated. + +Late in the evening of the second day he came to the well-remembered +gorge in which lay the clean-picked bones of the ancient adventurer, +and here, for the first time, Ska, the vulture, picked up his trail. +"Not this time, Ska," cried the ape-man in a taunting voice, "for +now indeed is Tarzan Tarzan. Before, you stalked the grim skeleton +of a Tarmangani and even then you lost. Waste not your time upon +Tarzan of the Apes in the full of his strength." But still Ska, the +vulture, circled and soared above him, and the ape-man, notwithstanding +his boasts, felt a shudder of apprehension. Through his brain ran +a persistent and doleful chant to which he involuntarily set two +words, repeated over and over again in horrible monotony: "Ska +knows! Ska knows!" until, shaking himself in anger, he picked up +a rock and hurled it at the grim scavenger. + +Lowering himself over the precipitous side of the gorge Tarzan half +clambered and half slid to the sandy floor beneath. He had come +upon the rift at almost the exact spot at which he had clambered +from it weeks before, and there he saw, just as he had left it, +just, doubtless, as it had lain for centuries, the mighty skeleton +and its mighty armor. + +As he stood looking down upon this grim reminder that another man +of might had succumbed to the cruel powers of the desert, he was +brought to startled attention by the report of a firearm, the sound +of which came from the depths of the gorge to the south of him, +and reverberated along the steep walls of the narrow rift. + + + + +Chapter XV + +Mysterious Footprints + + +As the British plane piloted by Lieutenant Harold Percy Smith-Oldwick +rose above the jungle wilderness where Bertha Kircher's life had +so often been upon the point of extinction, and sped toward the +east, the girl felt a sudden contraction of the muscles of her +throat. She tried very hard to swallow something that was not there. +It seemed strange to her that she should feel regret in leaving +behind her such hideous perils, and yet it was plain to her that +such was the fact, for she was also leaving behind something beside +the dangers that had menaced her--a unique figure that had entered +her life, and for which she felt an unaccountable attraction. + +Before her in the pilot's seat sat an English officer and gentleman +whom, she knew, loved her, and yet she dared to feel regret in his +company at leaving the stamping ground of a wild beast! + +Lieutenant Smith-Oldwick, on his part, was in the seventh heaven +of elation. He was in possession again of his beloved ship, he was +flying swiftly in the direction of his comrades and his duty, and +with him was the woman he loved. The fly in the ointment, however, +was the accusation Tarzan had made against this woman. He had said +that she was a German, and a spy, and from the heights of bliss the +English officer was occasionally plunged to the depths of despair +in contemplation of the inevitable, were the ape-man's charges to +prove true. He found himself torn between sentiments of love and +honor. On the one hand he could not surrender the woman he loved +to the certain fate that must be meted out to her if she were in +truth an enemy spy, while on the other it would be equally impossible +for him as an Englishman and an officer to give her aid or protection. + +The young man contented himself therefore with repeated mental +denials of her guilt. He tried to convince himself that Tarzan was +mistaken, and when he conjured upon the screen of recollection the +face of the girl behind him, he was doubly reassured that those +lines of sweet femininity and character, those clear and honest +eyes, could not belong to one of the hated alien race. + +And so they sped toward the east, each wrapped in his own thoughts. +Below them they saw the dense vegetation of the jungle give place +to the scantier growth upon the hillside, and then before them +there spread the wide expanse of arid wastelands marked by the deep +scarring of the narrow gorges that long-gone rivers had cut there +in some forgotten age. + +Shortly after they passed the summit of the ridge which formed +the boundary between the desert and the fertile country, Ska, the +vulture, winging his way at a high altitude toward his aerie, caught +sight of a strange new bird of gigantic proportions encroaching upon +the preserves of his aerial domain. Whether with intent to give +battle to the interloper or merely impelled by curiosity, Ska rose +suddenly upward to meet the plane. Doubtless he misjudged the speed +of the newcomer, but be that as it may, the tip of the propeller +blade touched him and simultaneously many things happened. The +lifeless body of Ska, torn and bleeding, dropped plummet-like toward +the ground; a bit of splintered spruce drove backward to strike +the pilot on the forehead; the plane shuddered and trembled and +as Lieutenant Harold Percy Smith-Oldwick sank forward in momentary +unconsciousness the ship dived headlong toward the earth. + +Only for an instant was the pilot unconscious, but that instant +almost proved their undoing. When he awoke to a realization of +their peril it was also to discover that his motor had stalled. +The plane had attained frightful momentum, and the ground seemed +too close for him to hope to flatten out in time to make a safe +landing. Directly beneath him was a deep rift in the plateau, a +narrow gorge, the bottom of which appeared comparatively level and +sand covered. + +In the brief instant in which he must reach a decision, the safest +plan seemed to attempt a landing in the gorge, and this he did, but +not without considerable damage to the plane and a severe shaking-up +for himself and his passenger. + +Fortunately neither of them was injured but their condition seemed +indeed a hopeless one. It was a grave question as to whether the +man could repair his plane and continue the journey, and it seemed +equally questionable as to their ability either to proceed on foot +to the coast or retrace their way to the country they had just +left. The man was confident that they could not hope to cross the +desert country to the east in the face of thirst and hunger, while +behind them in the valley of plenty lay almost equal danger in the +form of carnivores and the warlike natives. + +After the plane came to its sudden and disastrous stop, Smith-Oldwick +turned quickly to see what the effect of the accident had been on +the girl. He found her pale but smiling, and for several seconds +the two sat looking at each other in silence. + +"This is the end?" the girl asked. + +The Englishman shook his head. "It is the end of the first leg, +anyway," he replied. + +"But you can't hope to make repairs here," she said dubiously. + +"No," he said, "not if they amount to anything, but I may be able +to patch it up. I will have to look her over a bit first. Let us +hope there is nothing serious. It's a long, long way to the Tanga +railway." + +"We would not get far," said the girl, a slight note of hopelessness +in her tone. "Entirely unarmed as we are, it would be little less +than a miracle if we covered even a small fraction of the distance." + +"But we are not unarmed," replied the man. "I have an extra pistol +here, that the beggars didn't discover," and, removing the cover +of a compartment, he drew forth an automatic. + +Bertha Kircher leaned back in her seat and laughed aloud, a mirthless, +half-hysterical laugh. "That popgun!" she exclaimed. "What earthly +good would it do other than to infuriate any beast of prey you +might happen to hit with it?" + +Smith-Oldwick looked rather crestfallen. "But it is a weapon," he +said. "You will have to admit that, and certainly I could kill a +man with it." + +"You could if you happened to hit him," said the girl, "or the +thing didn't jam. Really, I haven't much faith in an automatic. I +have used them myself." + +"Oh, of course," he said ironically, "an express rifle would be +better, for who knows but we might meet an elephant here in the +desert." + +The girl saw that he was hurt, and she was sorry, for she realized +that there was nothing he would not do in her service or protection, +and that it was through no fault of his that he was so illy armed. +Doubtless, too, he realized as well as she the futility of his +weapon, and that he had only called attention to it in the hope of +reassuring her and lessening her anxiety. + +"Forgive me," she said. "I did not mean to be nasty, but this +accident is the proverbial last straw. It seems to me that I have +borne all that I can. Though I was willing to give my life in the +service of my country, I did not imagine that my death agonies would +be so long drawn out, for I realize now that I have been dying for +many weeks." + +"What do you mean!" he exclaimed; "what do you mean by that! You +are not dying. There is nothing the matter with you." + +"Oh, not that," she said, "I did not mean that. What I mean is that +at the moment the black sergeant, Usanga, and his renegade German +native troops captured me and brought me inland, my death warrant +was signed. Sometimes I have imagined that a reprieve has been +granted. Sometimes I have hoped that I might be upon the verge of +winning a full pardon, but really in the depths of my heart I have +known that I should never live to regain civilization. I have done +my bit for my country, and though it was not much I can at least +go with the realization that it was the best I was able to offer. +All that I can hope for now, all that I ask for, is a speedy +fulfillment of the death sentence. I do not wish to linger any more +to face constant terror and apprehension. Even physical torture +would be preferable to what I have passed through. I have no doubt +that you consider me a brave woman, but really my terror has been +boundless. The cries of the carnivores at night fill me with a dread +so tangible that I am in actual pain. I feel the rending talons +in my flesh and the cruel fangs munching upon my bones--it is as +real to me as though I were actually enduring the horrors of such +a death. I doubt if you can understand it--men are so different." + +"Yes," he said, "I think I can understand it, and because I understand +I can appreciate more than you imagine the heroism you have shown +in your endurance of all that you have passed through. There can +be no bravery where there is no fear. A child might walk into a +lion's den, but it would take a very brave man to go to its rescue." + +"Thank you," she said, "but I am not brave at all, and now I am +very much ashamed of my thoughtlessness for your own feelings. I +will try and take a new grip upon myself and we will both hope for +the best. I will help you all I can if you will tell me what I may +do." + +"The first thing," he replied, "is to find out just how serious +our damage is, and then to see what we can do in the way of repairs." + +For two days Smith-Oldwick worked upon the damaged plane--worked +in the face of the fact that from the first he realized the case +was hopeless. And at last he told her. + +"I knew it," she said, "but I believe that I felt much as you must +have; that however futile our efforts here might be, it would be +infinitely as fatal to attempt to retrace our way to the jungle we +just left or to go on toward the coast. You know and I know that we +could not reach the Tanga railway on foot. We should die of thirst +and starvation before we had covered half the distance, and if we +return to the jungle, even were we able to reach it, it would be +but to court an equally certain, though different, fate." + +"So we might as well sit here and wait for death as to uselessly +waste our energies in what we know would be a futile attempt at +escape?" he asked. + +"No," she replied, "I shall never give up like that. What I meant +was that it was useless to attempt to reach either of the places +where we know that there is food and water in abundance, so we +must strike out in a new direction. Somewhere there may be water +in this wilderness and if there is, the best chance of our finding +it would be to follow this gorge downward. We have enough food and +water left, if we are careful of it, for a couple of days and in +that time we might stumble upon a spring or possibly even reach +the fertile country which I know lies to the south. When Usanga +brought me to the Wamabo country from the coast he took a southerly +route along which there was usually water and game in plenty. It +was not until we neared our destination that the country became +overrun with carnivores. So there is hope if we can reach the +fertile country south of us that we can manage to pull through to +the coast." + +The man shook his head dubiously. "We can try it," he said. +"Personally, I do not fancy sitting here waiting for death." + +Smith-Oldwick was leaning against the ship, his dejected gaze +directed upon the ground at his feet. The girl was looking south +down the gorge in the direction of their one slender chance of +life. Suddenly she touched him on the arm. + +"Look," she whispered. + +The man raised his eyes quickly in the direction of her gaze to +see the massive head of a great lion who was regarding them from +beyond a rocky projection at the first turning of the gorge. + +"Phew!" he exclaimed, "the beggars are everywhere." + +"They do not go far from water do they," asked the girl hopefully. + +"I should imagine not," he replied; "a lion is not particularly +strong on endurance." + +"Then he is a harbinger of hope," she exclaimed. + +The man laughed. "Cute little harbinger of hope!" he said. "Reminds +me of Cock Robin heralding spring." + +The girl cast a quick glance at him. "Don't be silly, and I don't +care if you do laugh. He fills me with hope." + +"It is probably mutual," replied Smith-Oldwick, "as we doubtless +fill him with hope." + +The lion evidently having satisfied himself as to the nature of +the creatures before him advanced slowly now in their direction. + +"Come," said the man, "let's climb aboard," and he helped the girl +over the side of the ship. + +"Can't he get in here?" she asked. + +"I think he can," said the man. + +"You are reassuring," she returned. + +"I don't feel so." He drew his pistol. + +"For heaven's sake," she cried, "don't shoot at him with that thing. +You might hit him." + +"I don't intend to shoot at him but I might succeed in frightening +him away if he attempts to reach us here. Haven't you ever seen a +trainer work with lions? He carries a silly little pop-gun loaded +with blank cartridges. With that and a kitchen chair he subdues +the most ferocious of beasts." + +"But you haven't a kitchen chair," she reminded him. + +"No," he said, "Government is always muddling things. I have always +maintained that airplanes should be equipped with kitchen chairs." + +Bertha Kircher laughed as evenly and with as little hysteria as +though she were moved by the small talk of an afternoon tea. + +Numa, the lion, came steadily toward them; his attitude seemed +more that of curiosity than of belligerency. Close to the side of +the ship he stopped and stood gazing up at them. + +"Magnificent, isn't he?" exclaimed the man. + +"I never saw a more beautiful creature," she replied, "nor one with +such a dark coat. Why, he is almost black." + +The sound of their voices seemed not to please the lord of the +jungle, for he suddenly wrinkled his great face into deep furrows +as he bared his fangs beneath snarling lips and gave vent to an +angry growl. Almost simultaneously he crouched for a spring and +immediately Smith-Oldwick discharged his pistol into the ground in +front of the lion. The effect of the noise upon Numa seemed but to +enrage him further, and with a horrid roar he sprang for the author +of the new and disquieting sound that had outraged his ears. + +Simultaneously Lieutenant Harold Percy Smith-Oldwick vaulted nimbly +out of the cockpit on the opposite side of his plane, calling to +the girl to follow his example. The girl, realizing the futility +of leaping to the ground, chose the remaining alternative and +clambered to the top of the upper plane. + +Numa, unaccustomed to the idiosyncrasies of construction of an +airship and having gained the forward cockpit, watched the girl +clamber out of his reach without at first endeavoring to prevent +her. Having taken possession of the plane his anger seemed suddenly +to leave him and he made no immediate move toward following +Smith-Oldwick. The girl, realizing the comparative safety of her +position, had crawled to the outer edge of the wing and was calling +to the man to try and reach the opposite end of the upper plane. + +It was this scene upon which Tarzan of the Apes looked as he +rounded the bend of the gorge above the plane after the pistol shot +had attracted his attention. The girl was so intent upon watching +the efforts of the Englishman to reach a place of safety, and the +latter was so busily occupied in attempting to do so that neither +at once noticed the silent approach of the ape-man. + +It was Numa who first noticed the intruder. The lion immediately +evinced his displeasure by directing toward him a snarling countenance +and a series of warning growls. His action called the attention of +the two upon the upper plane to the newcomer, eliciting a stifled +"Thank God!" from the girl, even though she could scarce credit the +evidence of her own eyes that it was indeed the savage man, whose +presence always assured her safety, who had come so providentially +in the nick of time. + +Almost immediately both were horrified to see Numa leap from the +cockpit and advance upon Tarzan. The ape-man, carrying his stout +spear in readiness, moved deliberately onward to meet the carnivore, +which he had recognized as the lion of the Wamabos' pit. He knew +from the manner of Numa's approach what neither Bertha Kircher nor +Smith-Oldwick knew--that there was more of curiosity than belligerency +in it, and he wondered if in that great head there might not be a +semblance of gratitude for the kindness that Tarzan had done him. + +There was no question in Tarzan's mind but that Numa recognized +him, for he knew his fellows of the jungle well enough to know that +while they oft-times forgot certain sensations more quickly than +man there are others which remain in their memories for years. A +well-defined scent spoor might never be forgotten by a beast if it +had first been sensed under unusual circumstances, and so Tarzan +was confident that Numa's nose had already reminded him of all the +circumstances of their brief connection. + +Love of the sporting chance is inherent in the Anglo-Saxon race and +it was not now Tarzan of the Apes but rather John Clayton, Lord +Greystoke, who smilingly welcomed the sporting chance which he must +take to discover how far-reaching was Numa's gratitude. + +Smith-Oldwick and the girl saw the two nearing each other. The +former swore softly beneath his breath while he nervously fingered +the pitiful weapon at his hip. The girl pressed her open palms to +her cheeks as she leaned forward in stony-eyed, horror-stricken +silence. While she had every confidence in the prowess of the godlike +creature who thus dared brazenly to face the king of beasts, she +had no false conception of what must certainly happen when they +met. She had seen Tarzan battle with Sheeta, the panther, and she +had realized then that powerful as the man was, it was only agility, +cunning, and chance that placed him upon anywhere near an equal +footing with his savage adversary, and that of the three factors +upon his side chance was the greatest. + +She saw the man and the lion stop simultaneously, not more than +a yard apart. She saw the beast's tail whipping from side to side +and she could hear his deep-throated growls rumbling from his +cavernous breast, but she could read correctly neither the movement +of the lashing tail nor the notes of the growl. + +To her they seemed to indicate nothing but bestial rage while to +Tarzan of the Apes they were conciliatory and reassuring in the +extreme. And then she saw Numa move forward again until his nose +touched the man's naked leg and she closed her eyes and covered +them with her palms. For what seemed an eternity she waited for +the horrid sound of the conflict which she knew must come, but all +she heard was an explosive sigh of relief from Smith-Oldwick and +a half-hysterical "By Jove! Just fancy it!" + +She looked up to see the great lion rubbing his shaggy head against +the man's hip, and Tarzan's free hand entangled in the black mane +as he scratched Numa, the lion, behind a back-laid ear. + +Strange friendships are often formed between the lower animals +of different species, but less often between man and the savage +felidae, because of the former's inherent fear of the great cats. +And so after all, therefore, the friendship so suddenly developed +between the savage lion and the savage man was not inexplicable. + +As Tarzan approached the plane Numa walked at his side, and when +Tarzan stopped and looked up at the girl and the man Numa stopped +also. + +"I had about given up hope of finding you," said the ape-man, "and +it is evident that I found you just in time." + +"But how did you know we were in trouble?" asked the English officer. + +"I saw your plane fall," replied Tarzan. "I was watching you from +a tree beside the clearing where you took off. I didn't have much +to locate you by other than the general direction, but it seems +that you volplaned a considerable distance toward the south after +you disappeared from my view behind the hills. I have been looking +for you further toward the north. I was just about to turn back +when I heard your pistol shot. Is your ship beyond repair?" + +"Yes," replied Smith-Oldwick, "it is hopeless." + +"What are your plans, then? What do you wish to do?" Tarzan directed +his question to the girl. + +"We want to reach the coast," she said, "but it seems impossible +now." + +"I should have thought so a little while ago," replied the ape-man, +"but if Numa is here there must be water within a reasonable +distance. I ran across this lion two days ago in the Wamabo country. +I liberated him from one of their pits. To have reached this spot +he must have come by some trail unknown to me--at least I crossed +no game trail and no spoor of any animal after I came over the hills +out of the fertile country. From which direction did he come upon +you?" + +"It was from the south," replied the girl. "We thought, too, that +there must be water in that direction." + +"Let's find out then," said Tarzan. + +"But how about the lion?" asked Smith-Oldwick. + +"That we will have to discover," replied the ape-man, "and we can +only do so if you will come down from your perch." + +The officer shrugged his shoulders. The girl turned her gaze upon +him to note the effect of Tarzan's proposal. The Englishman grew +suddenly very white, but there was a smile upon his lips as without +a word he slipped over the edge of the plane and clambered to the +ground behind Tarzan. + +Bertha Kircher realized that the man was afraid nor did she blame +him, and she also realized the remarkable courage that he had shown +in thus facing a danger that was very real to him. + +Numa standing close to Tarzan's side raised his head and glared at +the young Englishman, growled once, and looked up at the ape-man. +Tarzan retained a hold upon the beast's mane and spoke to him in +the language of the great apes. To the girl and Smith-Oldwick the +growling gutturals falling from human lips sounded uncanny in the +extreme, but whether Numa understood them or not they appeared to +have the desired effect upon him, as he ceased growling, and as +Tarzan walked to Smith-Oldwick's side Numa accompanied him, nor +did he offer to molest the officer. + +"What did you say to him?" asked the girl. + +Tarzan smiled. "I told him," he replied, "that I am Tarzan of the +Apes, mighty hunter, killer of beasts, lord of the jungle, and that +you are my friends. I have never been sure that all of the other +beasts understand the language of the Mangani. I know that Manu, +the monkey, speaks nearly the same tongue and I am sure that Tantor, +the elephant, understands all that I say to him. We of the jungle +are great boasters. In our speech, in our carriage, in every detail +of our demeanor we must impress others with our physical power and +our ferocity. That is why we growl at our enemies. We are telling +them to beware or we shall fall upon them and tear them to pieces. +Perhaps Numa does not understand the words that I use but I believe +that my tones and my manner carry the impression that I wish them +to convey. Now you may come down and be introduced." + +It required all the courage that Bertha Kircher possessed to lower +herself to the ground within reach of the talons and fangs of this +untamed forest beast, but she did it. Nor did Numa do more than +bare his teeth and growl a little as she came close to the ape-man. + +"I think you are safe from him as long as I am present," said the +ape-man. "The best thing to do is simply to ignore him. Make no +advances, but be sure to give no indication of fear and, if possible +always keep me between you and him. He will go away presently I am +sure and the chances are that we shall not see him again." + +At Tarzan's suggestion Smith-Oldwick removed the remaining water +and provisions from the plane and, distributing the burden among +them, they set off toward the south. Numa did not follow them, but +stood by the plane watching until they finally disappeared from +view around a bend in the gorge. + +Tarzan had picked up Numa's trail with the intention of following +it southward in the belief that it would lead to water. In the sand +that floored the bottom of the gorge tracks were plain and easily +followed. At first only the fresh tracks of Numa were visible, but +later in the day the ape-man discovered the older tracks of other +lions and just before dark he stopped suddenly in evident surprise. +His two companions looked at him questioningly, and in answer to +their implied interrogations he pointed at the ground directly in +front of him. + +"Look at those," he exclaimed. + +At first neither Smith-Oldwick nor the girl saw anything but a +confusion of intermingled prints of padded feet in the sand, but +presently the girl discovered what Tarzan had seen, and an exclamation +of surprise broke from her lips. + +"The imprint of human feet!" she cried. + +Tarzan nodded. + +"But there are no toes," the girl pointed out. + +"The feet were shod with a soft sandal," explained Tarzan. + +"Then there must be a native village somewhere in the vicinity," +said Smith-Oldwick. + +"Yes," replied the ape-man, "but not the sort of natives which we +would expect to find here in this part of Africa where others all +go unshod with the exception of a few of Usanga's renegade German +native troops who wear German army shoes. I don't know that you can +notice it, but it is evident to me that the foot inside the sandal +that made these imprints were not the foot of a Negro. If you will +examine them carefully you will notice that the impression of the +heel and ball of the foot are well marked even through the sole of +the sandal. The weight comes more nearly in the center of a Negro's +footprint." + +"Then you think these were made by a white person?" + +"It looks that way," replied Tarzan, and suddenly, to the surprise +of both the girl and Smith-Oldwick, he dropped to his hands and +knees and sniffed at the tracks--again a beast utilizing the senses +and woodcraft of a beast. Over an area of several square yards his +keen nostrils sought the identity of the makers of the tracks. At +length he rose to his feet. + +"It is not the spoor of the Gomangani," he said, "nor is it exactly +like that of white men. There were three who came this way. They +were men, but of what race I do not know." + +There was no apparent change in the nature of the gorge except that +it had steadily grown deeper as they followed it downward until now +the rocky and precipitous sides rose far above them. At different +points natural caves, which appeared to have been eroded by the action +of water in some forgotten age, pitted the side walls at various +heights. Near them was such a cavity at the ground's level--an +arched cavern floored with white sand. Tarzan indicated it with a +gesture of his hand. + +"We will lair here tonight," he said, and then with one of his +rare, slow smiles: "We will CAMP here tonight." + +Having eaten their meager supper Tarzan bade the girl enter the +cavern. + +"You will sleep inside," he said. "The lieutenant and I will lie +outside at the entrance." + + + + +Chapter XVI + +The Night Attack + + +As the girl turned to bid them good night, she thought that she +saw a shadowy form moving in the darkness beyond them, and almost +simultaneously she was sure that she heard the sounds of stealthy +movement in the same direction. + +"What is that?" she whispered. "There is something out there in +the darkness." + +"Yes," replied Tarzan, "it is a lion. It has been there for some +time. Hadn't you noticed it before?" + +"Oh!" cried the girl, breathing a sigh of relief, "is it our lion?" + +"No," said Tarzan, "it is not our lion; it is another lion and he +is hunting." + +"He is stalking us?" asked the girl. + +"He is," replied the ape-man. Smith-Oldwick fingered the grip of +his pistol. + +Tarzan saw the involuntary movement and shook his head. + +"Leave that thing where it is, Lieutenant," he said. + +The officer laughed nervously. "I couldn't help it, you know, old +man," he said; "instinct of self-preservation and all that." + +"It would prove an instinct of self-destruction," said Tarzan. +"There are at least three hunting lions out there watching us. If +we had a fire or the moon were up you would see their eyes plainly. +Presently they may come after us but the chances are that they will +not. If you are very anxious that they should, fire your pistol +and hit one of them." + +"What if they do charge?" asked the girl; "there is no means of +escape." + +"Why, we should have to fight them," replied Tarzan. + +"What chance would we three have against them?" asked the girl. + +The ape-man shrugged his shoulders. "One must die sometime," he +said. "To you doubtless it may seem terrible--such a death; but +Tarzan of the Apes has always expected to go out in some such way. +Few of us die of old age in the jungle, nor should I care to die +thus. Some day Numa will get me, or Sheeta, or a black warrior. +These or some of the others. What difference does it make which +it is, or whether it comes tonight or next year or in ten years? +After it is over it will be all the same." + +The girl shuddered. "Yes," she said in a dull, hopeless voice, +"after it is over it will be all the same." + +Then she went into the cavern and lay down upon the sand. Smith-Oldwick +sat in the entrance and leaned against the cliff. Tarzan squatted +on the opposite side. + +"May I smoke?" questioned the officer of Tarzan. "I have been +hoarding a few cigarettes and if it won't attract those bouncers +out there I would like to have one last smoke before I cash in. +Will you join me?" and he proffered the ape-man a cigarette. + +"No, thanks," said Tarzan, "but it will be all right if you smoke. +No wild animal is particularly fond of the fumes of tobacco so it +certainly won't entice them any closer." + +Smith-Oldwick lighted his cigarette and sat puffing slowly upon +it. He had proffered one to the girl but she had refused, and thus +they sat in silence for some time, the silence of the night ruffled +occasionally by the faint crunching of padded feet upon the soft +sands of the gorge's floor. + +It was Smith-Oldwick who broke the silence. "Aren't they unusually +quiet for lions?" he asked. + +"No," replied the ape-man; "the lion that goes roaring around the +jungle does not do it to attract prey. They are very quiet when +they are stalking their quarry." + +"I wish they would roar," said the officer. "I wish they would +do anything, even charge. Just knowing that they are there and +occasionally seeing something like a shadow in the darkness and the +faint sounds that come to us from them are getting on my nerves. +But I hope," he said, "that all three don't charge at once." + +"Three?" said Tarzan. "There are seven of them out there now." + +"Good Lord! exclaimed Smith-Oldwick. + +"Couldn't we build a fire," asked the girl, "and frighten them +away?" + +"I don't know that it would do any good," said Tarzan, "as I have +an idea that these lions are a little different from any that we +are familiar with and possibly for the same reason which at first +puzzled me a little--I refer to the apparent docility in the +presence of a man of the lion who was with us today. A man is out +there now with those lions." + +"It is impossible!" exclaimed Smith-Oldwick. "They would tear him +to pieces." + +"What makes you think there is a man there?" asked the girl. + +Tarzan smiled and shook his head. "I am afraid you would not +understand," he replied. "It is difficult for us to understand +anything that is beyond our own powers." + +"What do you mean by that?" asked the officer. + +"Well," said Tarzan, "if you had been born without eyes you could +not understand sense impressions that the eyes of others transmit +to their brains, and as you have both been born without any sense +of smell I am afraid you cannot understand how I can know that +there is a man there." + +"You mean that you scent a man?" asked the girl. + +Tarzan nodded affirmatively. + +"And in the same way you know the number of lions?" asked the man. + +"Yes," said Tarzan. "No two lions look alike, no two have the same +scent." + +The young Englishman shook his head. "No," he said, "I cannot +understand." + +"I doubt if the lions or the man are here necessarily for the purpose +of harming us," said Tarzan, "because there has been nothing to +prevent their doing so long before had they wished to. I have a +theory, but it is utterly preposterous." + +"What is it?" asked the girl. + +"I think they are here," replied Tarzan, "to prevent us from going +some place that they do not wish us to go; in other words we are +under surveillance, and possibly as long as we don't go where we +are not wanted we shall not be bothered." + +"But how are we to know where they don't want us to go?" asked +Smith-Oldwick. + +"We can't know," replied Tarzan, "and the chances are that the very +place we are seeking is the place they don't wish us to trespass +on." + +"You mean the water?" asked the girl. + +"Yes," replied Tarzan. + +For some time they sat in silence which was broken only by an +occasional sound of movement from the outer darkness. It must have +been an hour later that the ape-man rose quietly and drew his long +blade from its sheath. Smith-Oldwick was dozing against the rocky +wall of the cavern entrance, while the girl, exhausted by the +excitement and fatigue of the day, had fallen into deep slumber. An +instant after Tarzan arose, Smith-Oldwick and the girl were aroused +by a volley of thunderous roars and the noise of many padded feet +rushing toward them. + +Tarzan of the Apes stood directly before the entrance to the cavern, +his knife in his hand, awaiting the charge. The ape-man had not +expected any such concerted action as he now realized had been taken +by those watching them. He had known for some time that other men +had joined those who were with the lions earlier in the evening, +and when he arose to his feet it was because he knew that the lions +and the men were moving cautiously closer to him and his party. +He might easily have eluded them, for he had seen that the face of +the cliff rising above the mouth of the cavern might be scaled by +as good a climber as himself. It might have been wiser had he tried +to escape, for he knew that in the face of such odds even he was +helpless, but he stood his ground though I doubt if he could have +told why. + +He owed nothing either of duty or friendship to the girl sleeping +in the cavern, nor could he longer be of any protection to her or +her companion. Yet something held him there in futile self-sacrifice. + +The great Tarmangani had not even the satisfaction of striking a +blow in self-defense. A veritable avalanche of savage beasts rolled +over him and threw him heavily to the ground. In falling his head +struck the rocky surface of the cliff, stunning him. + +It was daylight when he regained consciousness. The first dim +impression borne to his awakening mind was a confusion of savage +sounds which gradually resolved themselves into the growling +of lions, and then, little by little, there came back to him the +recollections of what had preceded the blow that had felled him. + +Strong in his nostrils was the scent of Numa, the lion, and against +one naked leg he could feel the coat of some animal. Slowly Tarzan +opened his eyes. He was lying on his side and as he looked down his +body, he saw that a great lion stood straddling him--a great lion +who growled hideously at something which Tarzan could not see. + +With the full return of his senses Tarzan's nose told him that the +beast above him was Numa of the Wamabo pit. + +Thus reassured, the ape-man spoke to the lion and at the same time +made a motion as though he would arise. Immediately Numa stepped +from above him. As Tarzan raised his head, he saw that he still +lay where he had fallen before the opening of the cliff where the +girl had been sleeping and that Numa, backed against the cliffside, +was apparently defending him from two other lions who paced to and +fro a short distance from their intended victim. + +And then Tarzan turned his eyes into the cave and saw that the girl +and Smith-Oldwick were gone. + +His efforts had been for naught. With an angry toss of his head, +the ape-man turned upon the two lions who had continued to pace +back and forth a few yards from him. Numa of the lion pit turned a +friendly glance in Tarzan's direction, rubbed his head against the +ape-man's side, and then directed his snarling countenance toward +the two hunters. + +"I think," said Tarzan to Numa, "that you and I together can make +these beasts very unhappy." He spoke in English, which, of course, +Numa did not understand at all, but there must have been something +reassuring in the tone, for Numa whined pleadingly and moved +impatiently to and fro parallel with their antagonists. + +"Come," said Tarzan suddenly and grasping the lion's mane with his +left hand he moved toward the other lions, his companion pacing +at his side. As the two advanced the others drew slowly back and, +finally separating, moved off to either side. Tarzan and Numa +passed between them but neither the great black-maned lion nor the +man failed to keep an eye upon the beast nearer him so that they +were not caught unawares when, as though at some preconcerted +signal, the two cats charged simultaneously from opposite directions. + +The ape-man met the charge of his antagonist after the same fashion +of fighting that he had been accustomed to employing in previous +encounters with Numa and Sheeta. To have attempted to meet the +full shock of a lion's charge would have been suicidal even for +the giant Tarmangani. Instead he resorted to methods of agility and +cunning, for quick as are the great cats, even quicker is Tarzan +of the Apes. + +With outspread, raking talons and bared fangs Numa sprang for the +naked chest of the ape-man. Throwing up his left arm as a boxer might +ward off a blow, Tarzan struck upward beneath the left forearm of +the lion, at the same time rushing in with his shoulder beneath +the animal's body and simultaneously drove his blade into the tawny +hide behind the shoulder. With a roar of pain Numa wheeled again, +the personification of bestial rage. Now indeed would he exterminate +this presumptuous man-thing who dared even to think that he could +thwart the king of beasts in his desires. But as he wheeled, his +intended quarry wheeled with him, brown fingers locked in the heavy +mane on the powerful neck and again the blade struck deep into the +lion's side. + +Then it was that Numa went mad with hate and pain and at the same +instant the ape-man leaped full upon his back. Easily before had +Tarzan locked his legs beneath the belly of a lion while he clung +to its long mane and stabbed it until his point reached its heart. +So easy it had seemed before that he experienced a sharp feeling of +resentment that he was unable to do so now, for the quick movements +of the lion prevented him, and presently, to his dismay, as the +lion leaped and threw him about, the ape-man realized that he was +swinging inevitably beneath those frightful talons. + +With a final effort he threw himself from Numa's back and sought, +by his quickness, to elude the frenzied beast for the fraction of +an instant that would permit him to regain his feet and meet the +animal again upon a more even footing. But this time Numa was too +quick for him and he was but partially up when a great paw struck +him on the side of the head and bowled him over. + +As he fell he saw a black streak shoot above him and another lion +close upon his antagonist. Rolling from beneath the two battling lions +Tarzan regained his feet, though he was half dazed and staggering +from the impact of the terrible blow he had received. Behind him +he saw a lifeless lion lying torn and bleeding upon the sand, and +before him Numa of the pit was savagely mauling the second lion. + +He of the black coat tremendously outclassed his adversary in +point of size and strength as well as in ferocity. The battling +beasts made a few feints and passes at each other before the larger +succeeded in fastening his fangs in the other's throat, and then, +as a cat shakes a mouse, the larger lion shook the lesser, and when +his dying foe sought to roll beneath and rake his conqueror with +his hind claws, the other met him halfway at his own game, and as +the great talons buried themselves in the lower part of the other's +chest and then were raked downward with all the terrific strength +of the mighty hind legs, the battle was ended. + +As Numa rose from his second victim and shook himself, Tarzan could +not but again note the wondrous proportions and symmetry of the +beast. The lions they had bested were splendid specimens themselves +and in their coats Tarzan noted a suggestion of the black which +was such a strongly marked characteristic of Numa of the pit. Their +manes were just a trifle darker than an ordinary black-maned lion +but the tawny shade on the balance of their coats predominated. +However, the ape-man realized that they were a distinct species +from any he had seen as though they had sprung originally from a +cross between the forest lion of his acquaintance and a breed of +which Numa of the pit might be typical. + +The immediate obstruction in his way having been removed, Tarzan was +for setting out in search of the spoor of the girl and Smith-Oldwick, +that he might discover their fate. He suddenly found himself +tremendously hungry and as he circled about over the sandy bottom +searching among the tangled network of innumerable tracks for those +of his proteges, there broke from his lips involuntarily the whine +of a hungry beast. Immediately Numa of the pit pricked up his ears +and, regarding the ape-man steadily for a moment, he answered the +call of hunger and started briskly off toward the south, stopping +occasionally to see if Tarzan was following. + +The ape-man realized that the beast was leading him to food, and so +he followed and as he followed his keen eyes and sensitive nostrils +sought for some indication of the direction taken by the man and +the girl. Presently out of the mass of lion tracks, Tarzan picked +up those of many sandaled feet and the scent spoor of the members +of the strange race such as had been with the lions the night +before, and then faintly he caught the scent spoor of the girl and +a little later that of Smith-Oldwick. Presently the tracks thinned +and here those of the girl and the Englishman became well marked. + +They had been walking side by side and there had been men and +lions to the right and left of them, and men and lions in front and +behind. The ape-man was puzzled by the possibilities suggested by +the tracks, but in the light of any previous experience he could +not explain satisfactorily to himself what his perceptions indicated. + +There was little change in the formation of the gorge; it still +wound its erratic course between precipitous cliffs. In places it +widened out and again it became very narrow and always deeper the +further south they traveled. Presently the bottom of the gorge began +to slope more rapidly. Here and there were indications of ancient +rapids and waterfalls. The trail became more difficult but was well +marked and showed indications of great antiquity, and, in places, +the handiwork of man. They had proceeded for a half or three-quarters +of a mile when, at a turning of the gorge, Tarzan saw before him a +narrow valley cut deep into the living rock of the earth's crust, +with lofty mountain ranges bounding it upon the south. How far it +extended east and west he could not see, but apparently it was no +more than three or four miles across from north to south. + +That it was a well-watered valley was indicated by the wealth of +vegetation that carpeted its floor from the rocky cliffs upon the +north to the mountains on the south. + +Over the edge of the cliffs from which the ape-man viewed the valley +a trail had been hewn that led downward to the base. Preceded by +the lion Tarzan descended into the valley, which, at this point, +was forested with large trees. Before him the trail wound onward +toward the center of the valley. Raucous-voiced birds of brilliant +plumage screamed among the branches while innumerable monkeys +chattered and scolded above him. + +The forest teemed with life, and yet there was borne in upon the +ape-man a sense of unutterable loneliness, a sensation that he +never before had felt in his beloved jungles. There was unreality +in everything about him--in the valley itself, lying hidden +and forgotten in what was supposed to be an arid waste. The birds +and the monkeys, while similar in type to many with which he was +familiar, were identical with none, nor was the vegetation without +its idiosyncrasies. It was as though he had been suddenly transported +to another world and he felt a strange restlessness that might +easily have been a premonition of danger. + +Fruits were growing among the trees and some of these he saw that +Manu, the monkey, ate. Being hungry he swung to the lower branches +and, amidst a great chattering of the monkeys, proceeded to eat +such of the fruit as he saw the monkeys ate in safety. When he had +partially satisfied his hunger, for meat alone could fully do so, +he looked about him for Numa of the pit to discover that the lion +had gone. + + + + +Chapter XVII + +The Walled City + + +Dropping to the ground once more he picked up the trail of the girl +and her captors, which he followed easily along what appeared to +be a well-beaten trail. It was not long before he came to a small +stream, where he quenched his thirst, and thereafter he saw that +the trail followed in the general direction of the stream, which +ran southwesterly. Here and there were cross trails and others +which joined the main avenue, and always upon each of them were the +tracks and scent of the great cats, of Numa, the lion, and Sheeta, +the panther. + +With the exception of a few small rodents there appeared to be no +other wild life on the surface of the valley. There was no indication +of Bara, the deer, or Horta, the boar, or of Gorgo, the buffalo, +Buto, Tantor, or Duro. Histah, the snake, was there. He saw him in +the trees in greater numbers than he ever had seen Histah before; +and once beside a reedy pool he caught a scent that could have +belonged to none other than Gimla the crocodile, but upon none of +these did the Tarmangani care to feed. + +And so, as he craved meat, he turned his attention to the birds +above him. His assailants of the night before had not disarmed +him. Either in the darkness and the rush of the charging lions the +human foe had overlooked him or else they had considered him dead; +but whatever the reason he still retained his weapons--his spear +and his long knife, his bow and arrows, and his grass rope. + +Fitting a shaft to his bow Tarzan awaited an opportunity to bring +down one of the larger birds, and when the opportunity finally +presented itself he drove the arrow straight to its mark. As the +gaily plumaged creature fluttered to earth its companions and the +little monkeys set up a most terrific chorus of wails and screaming +protests. The whole forest became suddenly a babel of hoarse screams +and shrill shrieks. + +Tarzan would not have been surprised had one or two birds in the +immediate vicinity given voice to terror as they fled, but that the +whole life of the jungle should set up so weird a protest filled +him with disgust. It was an angry face that he turned up toward +the monkeys and the birds as there suddenly stirred within him a +savage inclination to voice his displeasure and his answer to what +he considered their challenge. And so it was that there broke upon +this jungle for the first time Tarzan's hideous scream of victory +and challenge. + +The effect upon the creatures above him was instantaneous. Where +before the air had trembled to the din of their voices, now utter +silence reigned and a moment later the ape-man was alone with his +puny kill. + +The silence following so closely the previous tumult carried +a sinister impression to the ape-man, which still further aroused +his anger. Picking the bird from where it had fallen he withdrew +his arrow from the body and returned it to his quiver. Then with +his knife he quickly and deftly removed the skin and feathers +together. He ate angrily, growling as though actually menaced by +a near-by foe, and perhaps, too, his growls were partially induced +by the fact that he did not care for the flesh of birds. Better +this, however, than nothing and from what his senses had told him +there was no flesh in the vicinity such as he was accustomed to +and cared most for. How he would have enjoyed a juicy haunch from +Pacco, the zebra, or a steak from the loin of Gorgo, the buffalo! +The very thought made his mouth water and increased his resentment +against this unnatural forest that harbored no such delicious +quarry. + +He had but partially consumed his kill when he suddenly became +aware of a movement in the brush at no great distance from him +and downwind, and a moment later his nostrils picked up the scent +of Numa from the opposite direction, and then upon either side he +caught the fall of padded feet and the brushing of bodies against +leafy branches. The ape-man smiled. What stupid creature did they +think him, to be surprised by such clumsy stalkers? Gradually the +sounds and scents indicated that lions were moving upon him from +all directions, that he was in the center of a steadily converging +circle of beasts. Evidently they were so sure of their prey that +they were making no effort toward stealth, for he heard twigs crack +beneath their feet, and the brushing of their bodies against the +vegetation through which they forced their way. + +He wondered what could have brought them. It seemed unreasonable +to believe that the cries of the birds and the monkeys should +have summoned them, and yet, if not, it was indeed a remarkable +coincidence. His judgment told him that the death of a single bird +in this forest which teemed with birds could scarce be of sufficient +moment to warrant that which followed. Yet even in the face of reason +and past experience he found that the whole affair perplexed him. + +He stood in the center of the trail awaiting the coming of the lions +and wondering what would be the method of their attack or if they +would indeed attack. Presently a maned lion came into view along +the trail below him. At sight of him the lion halted. The beast was +similar to those that had attacked him earlier in the day, a trifle +larger and a trifle darker than the lions of his native jungles, +but neither so large nor so black as Numa of the pit. + +Presently he distinguished the outlines of other lions in the +surrounding brush and among the trees. Each of them halted as it +came within sight of the ape-man and there they stood regarding +him in silence. Tarzan wondered how long it would be before they +charged and while he waited he resumed his feeding, though with +every sense constantly alert. + +One by one the lions lay down, but always their faces were toward +him and their eyes upon him. There had been no growling and no +roaring--just the quiet drawing of the silent circle about him. +It was all so entirely foreign to anything that Tarzan ever before +had seen lions do that it irritated him so that presently, having +finished his repast, he fell to making insulting remarks to first +one and then another of the lions, after the habit he had learned +from the apes of his childhood. + +"Dango, eater of carrion," he called them, and he compared them most +unfavorably with Histah, the snake, the most loathed and repulsive +creature of the jungle. Finally he threw handfuls of earth at them +and bits of broken twigs, and then the lions growled and bared +their fangs, but none of them advanced. + +"Cowards," Tarzan taunted them. "Numa with a heart of Bara, the +deer." He told them who he was, and after the manner of the jungle +folk he boasted as to the horrible things he would do to them, but +the lions only lay and watched him. + +It must have been a half hour after their coming that Tarzan caught +in the distance along the trail the sound of footsteps approaching. +They were the footsteps of a creature who walked upon two legs, +and though Tarzan could catch no scent spoor from that direction +he knew that a man was approaching. Nor had he long to wait before +his judgment was confirmed by the appearance of a man who halted +in the trail directly behind the first lion that Tarzan had seen. + +At sight of the newcomer the ape-man realized that here was one +similar to those who had given off the unfamiliar scent spoor that +he had detected the previous night, and he saw that not only in +the matter of scent did the man differ from other human beings with +whom Tarzan was familiar. + +The fellow was strongly built with skin of a leathery appearance, +like parchment yellowed with age. His hair, which was coal black +and three or four inches in length, grew out stiffly at right angles +to his scalp. His eyes were close set and the irises densely black +and very small, so that the white of the eyeball showed around +them. The man's face was smooth except for a few straggly hairs on +his chin and upper lip. The nose was aquiline and fine, but the +hair grew so far down on the forehead as to suggest a very low +and brutal type. The upper lip was short and fine while the lower +lip was rather heavy and inclined to be pendulous, the chin being +equally weak. Altogether the face carried the suggestion of a +once strong and handsome countenance entirely altered by physical +violence or by degraded habits and thoughts. The man's arms were +long, though not abnormally so, while his legs were short, though +straight. + +He was clothed in tight-fitting nether garments and a loose, +sleeveless tunic that fell just below his hips, while his feet +were shod in soft-soled sandals, the wrappings of which extended +halfway to his knees, closely resembling a modern spiral military +legging. He carried a short, heavy spear, and at his side swung +a weapon that at first so astonished the ape-man that he could +scarcely believe the evidence of his senses--a heavy saber in +a leather-covered scabbard. The man's tunic appeared to have been +fabricated upon a loom--it was certainly not made of skins, while +the garments that covered his legs were quite as evidently made +from the hides of rodents. + +Tarzan noted the utter unconcern with which the man approached the +lions, and the equal indifference of Numa to him. The fellow paused +for a moment as though appraising the ape-man and then pushed on +past the lions, brushing against the tawny hide as he passed him +in the trail. + +About twenty feet from Tarzan the man stopped, addressing the former +in a strange jargon, no syllable of which was intelligible to the +Tarmangani. His gestures indicated numerous references to the lions +surrounding them, and once he touched his spear with the forefinger +of his left hand and twice he struck the saber at his hip. + +While he spoke Tarzan studied the fellow closely, with the result +that there fastened itself upon his mind a strange conviction--that +the man who addressed him was what might only be described as a +rational maniac. As the thought came to the ape-man he could not +but smile, so paradoxical the description seemed. Yet a closer +study of the man's features, carriage, and the contour of his head +carried almost incontrovertibly the assurance that he was insane, +while the tones of his voice and his gestures resembled those of +a sane and intelligent mortal. + +Presently the man had concluded his speech and appeared to be waiting +questioningly Tarzan's reply. The ape-man spoke to the other first +in the language of the great apes, but he soon saw that the words +carried no conviction to his listener. Then with equal futility +he tried several native dialects but to none of these did the man +respond. + +By this time Tarzan began to lose patience. He had wasted sufficient +time by the road, and as he had never depended much upon speech in +the accomplishment of his ends, he now raised his spear and advanced +toward the other. This, evidently, was a language common to both, +for instantly the fellow raised his own weapon and at the same time +a low call broke from his lips, a call which instantly brought to +action every lion in the hitherto silent circle. A volley of roars +shattered the silence of the forest and simultaneously lions sprang +into view upon all sides as they closed in rapidly upon their +quarry. The man who had called them stepped back, his teeth bared +in a mirthless grin. + +It was then that Tarzan first noticed that the fellow's upper canines +were unusually long and exceedingly sharp. It was just a flashing +glimpse he got of them as he leaped agilely from the ground and, to +the consternation of both the lions and their master, disappeared +in the foliage of the lower terrace, flinging back over his shoulder +as he swung rapidly away: "I am Tarzan of the Apes; mighty hunter; +mighty fighter! None in the jungle more powerful, none more cunning +than Tarzan!" + +A short distance beyond the point at which they had surrounded him, +Tarzan came to the trail again and sought for the spoor of Bertha +Kircher and Lieutenant Smith-Oldwick. He found them quickly and +continued upon his search for the two. The spoor lay directly along +the trail for another half-mile when the way suddenly debouched +from the forest into open land and there broke upon the astonished +view of the ape-man the domes and minarets of a walled city. + +Directly before him in the wall nearest him Tarzan saw a low-arched +gateway to which a well-beaten trail led from that which he had +been following. In the open space between the forest and the city +walls, quantities of garden stuff was growing, while before him +at his feet, in an open man-made ditch, ran a stream of water! The +plants in the garden were laid out in well-spaced, symmetrical rows +and appeared to have been given excellent attention and cultivation. +Tiny streams were trickling between the rows from the main ditch +before him and at some distance to his right he could see people +at work among the plants. + +The city wall appeared to be about thirty feet in height, its +plastered expanse unbroken except by occasional embrasures. Beyond +the wall rose the domes of several structures and numerous minarets +dotted the sky line of the city. The largest and central dome +appeared to be gilded, while others were red, or blue, or yellow. +The architecture of the wall itself was of uncompromising simplicity. +It was of a cream shade and appeared to be plastered and painted. +At its base was a line of well-tended shrubs and at some distance +towards its eastern extremity it was vine covered to the top. + +As he stood in the shadow of the trail, his keen eyes taking in every +detail of the picture before him, he became aware of the approach +of a party in his rear and there was borne to him the scent of the +man and the lions whom he had so readily escaped. Taking to the +trees Tarzan moved a short distance to the west and, finding a +comfortable crotch at the edge of the forest where he could watch +the trail leading through the gardens to the city gate, he awaited +the return of his would-be captors. And soon they came--the strange +man followed by the pack of great lions. Like dogs they moved along +behind him down the trail among the gardens to the gate. + +Here the man struck upon the panels of the door with the butt of +his spear, and when it opened in response to his signal he passed +in with his lions. Beyond the open door Tarzan, from his distant +perch, caught but a fleeting glimpse of life within the city, just +enough to indicate that there were other human creatures who abode +there, and then the door closed. + +Through that door he knew that the girl and the man whom he sought +to succor had been taken into the city. What fate lay in store +for them or whether already it had been meted out to them he could +not even guess, nor where, within that forbidding wall, they were +incarcerated he could not know. But of one thing he was assured: +that if he were to aid them he could not do it from outside the +wall. He must gain entrance to the city first, nor did he doubt, +that once within, his keen senses would eventually reveal the +whereabouts of those whom he sought. + +The low sun was casting long shadows across the gardens when Tarzan +saw the workers returning from the eastern field. A man came first, +and as he came he lowered little gates along the large ditch of +running water, shutting off the streams that had run between the rows +of growing plants; and behind him came other men carrying burdens +of fresh vegetables in great woven baskets upon their shoulders. +Tarzan had not realized that there had been so many men working in +the field, but now as he sat there at the close of the day he saw +a procession filing in from the east, bearing the tools and the +produce back into the city. + +And then, to gain a better view, the ape-man ascended to the topmost +branches of a tall tree where he overlooked the nearer wall. From +this point of vantage he saw that the city was long and narrow, and +that while the outer walls formed a perfect rectangle, the streets +within were winding. Toward the center of the city there appeared +to be a low, white building around which the larger edifices of +the city had been built, and here, in the fast-waning light, Tarzan +thought that between two buildings he caught the glint of water, +but of that he was not sure. His experience of the centers of +civilization naturally inclined him to believe that this central +area was a plaza about which the larger buildings were grouped +and that there would be the most logical place to search first for +Bertha Kircher and her companion. + +And then the sun went down and darkness quickly enveloped the +city--a darkness that was accentuated for the ape-man rather than +relieved by the artificial lights which immediately appeared in +many of the windows visible to him. + +Tarzan had noticed that the roofs of most of the buildings were +flat, the few exceptions being those of what he imagined to be the +more pretentious public structures. How this city had come to exist +in this forgotten part of unexplored Africa the ape-man could not +conceive. Better than another, he realized something of the unsolved +secrets of the Great Dark Continent, enormous areas of which have +as yet been untouched by the foot of civilized man. Yet he could +scarce believe that a city of this size and apparently thus well +constructed could have existed for the generations that it must +have been there, without intercourse with the outer world. Even +though it was surrounded by a trackless desert waste, as he knew +it to be, he could not conceive that generation after generation +of men could be born and die there without attempting to solve the +mysteries of the world beyond the confines of their little valley. + +And yet, here was the city surrounded by tilled land and filled +with people! + +With the coming of night there arose throughout the jungle the cries +of the great cats, the voice of Numa blended with that of Sheeta, +and the thunderous roars of the great males reverberated through +the forest until the earth trembled, and from within the city came +the answering roars of other lions. + +A simple plan for gaining entrance to the city had occurred to +Tarzan, and now that darkness had fallen he set about to put it +into effect. Its success hinged entirely upon the strength of the +vines he had seen surmounting the wall toward the east. In this +direction he made his way, while from out of the forest about him +the cries of the flesh-eaters increased in volume and ferocity. A +quarter of a mile intervened between the forest and the city wall--a +quarter of a mile of cultivated land unrelieved by a single tree. +Tarzan of the Apes realized his limitations and so he knew that +it would undoubtedly spell death for him to be caught in the open +space by one of the great black lions of the forest if, as he had +already surmised, Numa of the pit was a specimen of the forest lion +of the valley. + +He must, therefore, depend entirely upon his cunning and his speed, +and upon the chance that the vine would sustain his weight. + +He moved through the middle terrace, where the way is always +easiest, until he reached a point opposite the vine-clad portion +of the wall, and there he waited, listening and scenting, until he +might assure himself that there was no Numa within his immediate +vicinity, or, at least, none that sought him. And when he was quite +sure that there was no lion close by in the forest, and none in +the clearing between himself and the wall, he dropped lightly to +the ground and moved stealthily out into the open. + +The rising moon, just topping the eastern cliffs, cast its bright +rays upon the long stretch of open garden beneath the wall. And, too, +it picked out in clear relief for any curious eyes that chanced to +be cast in that direction, the figure of the giant ape-man moving +across the clearing. It was only chance, of course, that a great +lion hunting at the edge of the forest saw the figure of the man +halfway between the forest and the wall. Suddenly there broke upon +Tarzan's ears a menacing sound. It was not the roar of a hungry +lion, but the roar of a lion in rage, and, as he glanced back in +the direction from which the sound came, he saw a huge beast moving +out from the shadow of the forest toward him. + +Even in the moonlight and at a distance Tarzan saw that the lion +was huge; that it was indeed another of the black-maned monsters +similar to Numa of the pit. For an instant he was impelled to turn +and fight, but at the same time the thought of the helpless girl +imprisoned in the city flashed through his brain and, without an +instant's hesitation, Tarzan of the Apes wheeled and ran for the +wall. Then it was that Numa charged. + +Numa, the lion, can run swiftly for a short distance, but he lacks +endurance. For the period of an ordinary charge he can cover the +ground with greater rapidity possibly than any other creature in +the world. Tarzan, on the other hand, could run at great speed for +long distances, though never as rapidly as Numa when the latter +charged. + +The question of his fate, then, rested upon whether, with his start +he could elude Numa for a few seconds; and, if so, if the lion would +then have sufficient stamina remaining to pursue him at a reduced +gait for the balance of the distance to the wall. + +Never before, perhaps, was staged a more thrilling race, and yet it +was run with only the moon and stars to see. Alone and in silence +the two beasts sped across the moonlit clearing. Numa gained with +appalling rapidity upon the fleeing man, yet at every bound Tarzan +was nearer to the vine-clad wall. Once the ape-man glanced back. +Numa was so close upon him that it seemed inevitable that at the +next bound he should drag him down; so close was he that the ape-man +drew his knife as he ran, that he might at least give a good account +of himself in the last moments of his life. + +But Numa had reached the limit of his speed and endurance. Gradually +he dropped behind but he did not give up the pursuit, and now Tarzan +realized how much hinged upon the strength of the untested vines. + +If, at the inception of the race, only Goro and the stars had looked +down upon the contestants, such was not the case at its finish, +since from an embrasure near the summit of the wall two close-set +black eyes peered down upon the two. Tarzan was a dozen yards +ahead of Numa when he reached the wall. There was no time to stop +and institute a search for sturdy stems and safe handholds. His +fate was in the hands of chance and with the realization he gave a +final spurt and running catlike up the side of the wall among the +vines, sought with his hands for something that would sustain his +weight. Below him Numa leaped also. + + + + +Chapter XVIII + +Among the Maniacs + + +As the lions swarmed over her protectors, Bertha Kircher shrank +back in the cave in a momentary paralysis of fright super-induced, +perhaps, by the long days of terrific nerve strain which she had +undergone. + +Mingled with the roars of the lions had been the voices of men, +and presently out of the confusion and turmoil she felt the near +presence of a human being, and then hands reached forth and seized +her. It was dark and she could see but little, nor any sign of the +English officer or the ape-man. The man who seized her kept the +lions from her with what appeared to be a stout spear, the haft of +which he used to beat off the beasts. The fellow dragged her from +the cavern the while he shouted what appeared to be commands and +warnings to the lions. + +Once out upon the light sands of the bottom of the gorge objects +became more distinguishable, and then she saw that there were +other men in the party and that two half led and half carried the +stumbling figure of a third, whom she guessed must be Smith-Oldwick. + +For a time the lions made frenzied efforts to reach the two captives +but always the men with them succeeded in beating them off. The +fellows seemed utterly unafraid of the great beasts leaping and +snarling about them, handling them much the same as one might handle +a pack of obstreperous dogs. Along the bed of the old watercourse +that once ran through the gorge they made their way, and as the +first faint lightening of the eastern horizon presaged the coming +dawn, they paused for a moment upon the edge of a declivity, which +appeared to the girl in the strange light of the waning night as a +vast, bottomless pit; but, as their captors resumed their way and +the light of the new day became stronger, she saw that they were +moving downward toward a dense forest. + +Once beneath the over-arching trees all was again Cimmerian darkness, +nor was the gloom relieved until the sun finally arose beyond the +eastern cliffs, when she saw that they were following what appeared +to be a broad and well-beaten game trail through a forest of great +trees. The ground was unusually dry for an African forest and +the underbrush, while heavily foliaged, was not nearly so rank +and impenetrable as that which she had been accustomed to find +in similar woods. It was as though the trees and the bushes grew +in a waterless country, nor was there the musty odor of decaying +vegetation or the myriads of tiny insects such as are bred in damp +places. + +As they proceeded and the sun rose higher, the voices of the +arboreal jungle life rose in discordant notes and loud chattering +about them. Innumerable monkeys scolded and screamed in the branches +overhead, while harsh-voiced birds of brilliant plumage darted +hither and thither. She noticed presently that their captors often +cast apprehensive glances in the direction of the birds and on +numerous occasions seemed to be addressing the winged denizens of +the forest. + +One incident made a marked impression on her. The man who immediately +preceded her was a fellow of powerful build, yet, when a brilliantly +colored parrot swooped downward toward him, he dropped upon his knees +and covering his face with his arms bent forward until his head +touched the ground. Some of the others looked at him and laughed +nervously. Presently the man glanced upward and seeing that the +bird had gone, rose to his feet and continued along the trail. + +It was at this brief halt that Smith-Oldwick was brought to her +side by the men who had been supporting him. He had been rather +badly mauled by one of the lions; but was now able to walk alone, +though he was extremely weak from shock and loss of blood. + +"Pretty mess, what?" he remarked with a wry smile, indicating his +bloody and disheveled state. + +"It is terrible," said the girl. "I hope you are not suffering." + +"Not as much as I should have expected," he replied, "but I feel +as weak as a fool. What sort of creatures are these beggars, anyway?" + +"I don't know," she replied, "there is something terribly uncanny +about their appearance." + +The man regarded one of their captors closely for a moment and +then, turning to the girl asked, "Did you ever visit a madhouse?" + +She looked up at him in quick understanding and with a horrified +expression in her eyes. "That's it!" she cried. + +"They have all the earmarks," he said. "Whites of the eyes showing +all around the irises, hair growing stiffly erect from the scalp +and low down upon the forehead--even their mannerisms and their +carriage are those of maniacs." + +The girl shuddered. + +"Another thing about them," continued the Englishman, "that doesn't +appear normal is that they are afraid of parrots and utterly fearless +of lions." + +"Yes," said the girl; "and did you notice that the birds seem utterly +fearless of them--really seem to hold them in contempt? Have you +any idea what language they speak?" + +"No," said the man, "I have been trying to figure that out. It's not +like any of the few native dialects of which I have any knowledge." + +"It doesn't sound at all like the native language," said the girl, +"but there is something familiar about it. You know, every now and +then I feel that I am just on the verge of understanding what they +are saying, or at least that somewhere I have heard their tongue +before, but final recognition always eludes me." + +"I doubt if you ever heard their language spoken," said the man. +"These people must have lived in this out-of-the-way valley for +ages and even if they had retained the original language of their +ancestors without change, which is doubtful, it must be some tongue +that is no longer spoken in the outer world." + +At one point where a stream of water crossed the trail the party +halted while the lions and the men drank. They motioned to their +captives to drink too, and as Bertha Kircher and Smith-Oldwick, +lying prone upon the ground drank from the clear, cool water of the +rivulet, they were suddenly startled by the thunderous roar of a +lion a short distance ahead of them. Instantly the lions with them +set up a hideous response, moving restlessly to and fro with their +eyes always either turned in the direction from which the roar had +come or toward their masters, against whom the tawny beasts slunk. +The men loosened the sabers in their scabbards, the weapons that +had aroused Smith-Oldwick's curiosity as they had Tarzan's, and +grasped their spears more firmly. + +Evidently there were lions and lions, and while they evinced no +fear of the beasts which accompanied them, it was quite evident +that the voice of the newcomer had an entirely different effect +upon them, although the men seemed less terrified than the lions. +Neither, however, showed any indication of an inclination to flee; +on the contrary the entire party advanced along the trail in the +direction of the menacing roars, and presently there appeared in +the center of the path a black lion of gigantic proportions. To +Smith-Oldwick and the girl he appeared to be the same lion that +they had encountered at the plane and from which Tarzan had rescued +them. But it was not Numa of the pit, although he resembled him +closely. + +The black beast stood directly in the center of the trail lashing +his tail and growling menacingly at the advancing party. The men +urged on their own beasts, who growled and whined but hesitated +to charge. Evidently becoming impatient, and in full consciousness +of his might the intruder raised his tail stiffly erect and shot +forward. Several of the defending lions made a half-hearted attempt to +obstruct his passage, but they might as well have placed themselves +in the path of an express train, as hurling them aside the great +beast leaped straight for one of the men. A dozen spears were +launched at him and a dozen sabers leaped from their scabbards; +gleaming, razor-edged weapons they were, but for the instant rendered +futile by the terrific speed of the charging beast. + +Two of the spears entering his body but served to further enrage +him as, with demoniacal roars, he sprang upon the hapless man he +had singled out for his prey. Scarcely pausing in his charge he +seized the fellow by the shoulder and, turning quickly at right +angles, leaped into the concealing foliage that flanked the trail, +and was gone, bearing his victim with him. + +So quickly had the whole occurrence transpired that the formation +of the little party was scarcely altered. There had been no +opportunity for flight, even if it had been contemplated; and now +that the lion was gone with his prey the men made no move to pursue +him. They paused only long enough to recall the two or three of +their lions that had scattered and then resumed the march along +the trail. + +"Might be an everyday occurrence from all the effect it has on +them," remarked Smith-Oldwick to the girl. + +"Yes," she said. "They seem to be neither surprised nor disconcerted, +and evidently they are quite sure that the lion, having got what +he came for, will not molest them further." + +"I had thought," said the Englishman, "that the lions of the Wamabo +country were about the most ferocious in existence, but they are +regular tabby cats by comparison with these big black fellows. +Did you ever see anything more utterly fearless or more terribly +irresistible than that charge?" + +For a while, as they walked side by side, their thoughts and +conversation centered upon this latest experience, until the trail +emerging from the forest opened to their view a walled city and an +area of cultivated land. Neither could suppress an exclamation of +surprise. + +"Why, that wall is a regular engineering job," exclaimed Smith-Oldwick. + +"And look at the domes and minarets of the city beyond," cried the +girl. "There must be a civilized people beyond that wall. Possibly +we are fortunate to have fallen into their hands." + +Smith-Oldwick shrugged his shoulders. "I hope so," he said, "though +I am not at all sure about people who travel about with lions and +are afraid of parrots. There must be something wrong with them." + +The party followed the trail across the field to an arched gateway +which opened at the summons of one of their captors, who beat upon +the heavy wooden panels with his spear. Beyond, the gate opened +into a narrow street which seemed but a continuation of the jungle +trail leading from the forest. Buildings on either hand adjoined +the wall and fronted the narrow, winding street, which was only +visible for a short distance ahead. The houses were practically +all two-storied structures, the upper stories flush with the street +while the walls of the first story were set back some ten feet, +a series of simple columns and arches supporting the front of the +second story and forming an arcade on either side of the narrow +thoroughfare. + +The pathway in the center of the street was unpaved, but the floors +of the arcades were cut stone of various shapes and sizes but all +carefully fitted and laid without mortar. These floors gave evidence +of great antiquity, there being a distinct depression down the +center as though the stone had been worn away by the passage of +countless sandaled feet during the ages that it had lain there. + +There were few people astir at this early hour, and these were of +the same type as their captors. At first those whom they saw were +only men, but as they went deeper into the city they came upon a +few naked children playing in the soft dust of the roadway. Many +they passed showed the greatest surprise and curiosity in the +prisoners, and often made inquiries of the guards, which the two +assumed must have been in relation to themselves, while others +appeared not to notice them at all. + +"I wish we could understand their bally language," exclaimed +Smith-Oldwick. + +"Yes," said the girl, "I would like to ask them what they are going +to do with us." + +"That would be interesting," said the man. "I have been doing +considerable wondering along that line myself." + +"I don't like the way their canine teeth are filed," said the girl. +"It's too suggestive of some of the cannibals I have seen." + +"You don't really believe they are cannibals, do you?" asked the +man. "You don't think white people are ever cannibals, do you?" + +"Are these people white?" asked the girl. + +"They're not Negroes, that's certain," rejoined the man. "Their +skin is yellow, but yet it doesn't resemble the Chinese exactly, +nor are any of their features Chinese." + +It was at this juncture that they caught their first glimpse of a +native woman. She was similar in most respects to the men though +her stature was smaller and her figure more symmetrical. Her face +was more repulsive than that of the men, possibly because of the fact +that she was a woman, which rather accentuated the idiosyncrasies +of eyes, pendulous lip, pointed tusks and stiff, low-growing hair. +The latter was longer than that of the men and much heavier. It +hung about her shoulders and was confined by a colored bit of some +lacy fabric. Her single garment appeared to be nothing more than +a filmy scarf which was wound tightly around her body from below +her naked breasts, being caught up some way at the bottom near her +ankles. Bits of shiny metal resembling gold, ornamented both the +headdress and the skirt. Otherwise the woman was entirely without +jewelry. Her bare arms were slender and shapely and her hands and +feet well proportioned and symmetrical. + +She came close to the party as they passed her, jabbering to the +guards who paid no attention to her. The prisoners had an opportunity +to observe her closely as she followed at their side for a short +distance. + +"The figure of a houri," remarked Smith-Oldwick, "with the face of +an imbecile." + +The street they followed was intersected at irregular intervals by +crossroads which, as they glanced down them, proved to be equally +as tortuous as that through which they were being conducted. The +houses varied but little in design. Occasionally there were bits +of color, or some attempt at other architectural ornamentation. +Through open windows and doors they could see that the walls of +the houses were very thick and that all apertures were quite small, +as though the people had built against extreme heat, which they +realized must have been necessary in this valley buried deep in an +African desert. + +Ahead they occasionally caught glimpses of larger structures, and +as they approached them, came upon what was evidently a part of +the business section of the city. There were numerous small shops +and bazaars interspersed among the residences, and over the doors +of these were signs painted in characters strongly suggesting Greek +origin and yet it was not Greek as both the Englishman and the girl +knew. + +Smith-Oldwick was by this time beginning to feel more acutely the +pain of his wounds and the consequent weakness that was greatly +aggravated by loss of blood. He staggered now occasionally and the +girl, seeing his plight, offered him her arm. + +"No," he expostulated, "you have passed through too much yourself +to have any extra burden imposed upon you." But though he made a +valiant effort to keep up with their captors he occasionally lagged, +and upon one such occasion the guards for the first time showed +any disposition toward brutality. + +It was a big fellow who walked at Smith-Oldwick's left. Several +times he took hold of the Englishman's arm and pushed him forward +not ungently, but when the captive lagged again and again the +fellow suddenly, and certainly with no just provocation, flew into +a perfect frenzy of rage. He leaped upon the wounded man, striking +him viciously with his fists and, bearing him to the ground, grasped +his throat in his left hand while with his right he drew his long +sharp saber. Screaming terribly he waved the blade above his head. + +The others stopped and turned to look upon the encounter with no +particular show of interest. It was as though one of the party had +paused to readjust a sandal and the others merely waited until he +was ready to march on again. + +But if their captors were indifferent, Bertha Kircher was not. The +close-set blazing eyes, the snarling fanged face, and the frightful +screams filled her with horror, while the brutal and wanton attack +upon the wounded man aroused within her the spirit of protection +for the weak that is inherent in all women. Forgetful of everything +other than that a weak and defenseless man was being brutally murdered +before her eyes, the girl cast aside discretion and, rushing to +Smith-Oldwick's assistance, seized the uplifted sword arm of the +shrieking creature upon the prostrate Englishman. + +Clinging desperately to the fellow she surged backward with all her +weight and strength with the result that she overbalanced him and +sent him sprawling to the pavement upon his back. In his efforts +to save himself he relaxed his grasp upon the grip of his saber +which had no sooner fallen to the ground than it was seized upon by +the girl. Standing erect beside the prostrate form of the English +officer Bertha Kircher, the razor-edged weapon grasped firmly in +her hand, faced their captors. + +She was a brave figure; even her soiled and torn riding togs and +disheveled hair detracted nothing from her appearance. The creature +she had felled scrambled quickly to his feet and in the instant +his whole demeanor changed. From demoniacal rage he became suddenly +convulsed with hysterical laughter although it was a question in +the girl's mind as to which was the more terrifying. His companions +stood looking on with vacuous grins upon their countenances, while +he from whom the girl had wrested the weapon leaped up and down +shrieking with laughter. If Bertha Kircher had needed further +evidence to assure her that they were in the hands of a mentally +deranged people the man's present actions would have been sufficient +to convince her. The sudden uncontrolled rage and now the equally +uncontrolled and mirthless laughter but emphasized the facial +attributes of idiocy. + +Suddenly realizing how helpless she was in the event any one of the +men should seek to overpower her, and moved by a sudden revulsion +of feeling that brought on almost a nausea of disgust, the girl +hurled the weapon upon the ground at the feet of the laughing maniac +and, turning, kneeled beside the Englishman. + +"It was wonderful of you," he said, "but you shouldn't have done +it. Don't antagonize them: I believe that they are all mad and you +know they say that one should always humor a madman." + +She shook her head. "I couldn't see him kill you," she said. + +A sudden light sprang to the man's eyes as he reached out a hand and +grasped the girl's fingers. "Do you care a little now?" he asked. +"Can't you tell me that you do--just a bit?" + +She did not withdraw her hand from his but she shook her head +sadly. "Please don't," she said. "I am sorry that I can only like +you very much." + +The light died from his eyes and his fingers relaxed their grasp on +hers. "Please forgive me," he murmured. "I intended waiting until +we got out of this mess and you were safe among your own people. +It must have been the shock or something like that, and seeing you +defending me as you did. Anyway, I couldn't help it and really it +doesn't make much difference what I say now, does it?" + +"What do you mean?" she asked quickly. + +He shrugged and smiled ruefully. "I will never leave this city +alive," he said. "I wouldn't mention it except that I realize that +you must know it as well as I. I was pretty badly torn up by the +lion and this fellow here has about finished me. There might be +some hope if we were among civilized people, but here with these +frightful creatures what care could we get even if they were +friendly?" + +Bertha Kircher knew that he spoke the truth, and yet she could not +bring herself to an admission that Smith-Oldwick would die. She +was very fond of him, in fact her great regret was that she did +not love him, but she knew that she did not. + +It seemed to her that it could be such an easy thing for any girl +to love Lieutenant Harold Percy Smith-Oldwick--an English officer +and a gentleman, the scion of an old family and himself a man of +ample means, young, good-looking and affable. What more could a +girl ask for than to have such a man love her and that she possessed +Smith-Oldwick's love there was no doubt in Bertha Kircher's mind. + +She sighed, and then, laying her hand impulsively on his forehead, +she whispered, "Do not give up hope, though. Try to live for my +sake and for your sake I will try to love you." + +It was as though new life had suddenly been injected into the +man's veins. His face lightened instantly and with strength that +he himself did not know he possessed he rose slowly to his feet, +albeit somewhat unsteadily. The girl helped him and supported him +after he had arisen. + +For the moment they had been entirely unconscious of their +surroundings and now as she looked at their captors she saw that +they had fallen again into their almost habitual manner of stolid +indifference, and at a gesture from one of them the march was +resumed as though no untoward incident had occurred. + +Bertha Kircher experienced a sudden reaction from the momentary +exaltation of her recent promise to the Englishman. She knew that +she had spoken more for him than for herself but now that it was +over she realized, as she had realized the moment before she had +spoken, that it was unlikely she would ever care for him the way +he wished. But what had she promised? Only that she would try to +love him. "And now?" she asked herself. + +She realized that there might be little hope of their ever returning +to civilization. Even if these people should prove friendly and +willing to let them depart in peace, how were they to find their +way back to the coast? With Tarzan dead, as she fully believed him +after having seen his body lying lifeless at the mouth of the cave +when she had been dragged forth by her captor, there seemed no +power at their command which could guide them safely. + +The two had scarcely mentioned the ape-man since their capture, for +each realized fully what his loss meant to them. They had compared +notes relative to those few exciting moments of the final attack +and capture and had found that they agreed perfectly upon all that +had occurred. Smith-Oldwick had even seen the lion leap upon Tarzan +at the instant that the former was awakened by the roars of the +charging beasts, and though the night had been dark, he had been +able to see that the body of the savage ape-man had never moved +from the instant that it had come down beneath the beast. + +And so, if at other times within the past few weeks Bertha Kircher +had felt that her situation was particularly hopeless, she was now +ready to admit that hope was absolutely extinct. + +The streets were beginning to fill with the strange men and women +of this strange city. Sometimes individuals would notice them +and seem to take a great interest in them, and again others would +pass with vacant stares, seemingly unconscious of their immediate +surroundings and paying no attention whatsoever to the prisoners. +Once they heard hideous screams up a side street, and looking they +saw a man in the throes of a demoniacal outburst of rage, similar +to that which they had witnessed in the recent attack upon +Smith-Oldwick. This creature was venting his insane rage upon a +child which he repeatedly struck and bit, pausing only long enough +to shriek at frequent intervals. Finally, just before they passed +out of sight the creature raised the limp body of the child high +above his head and cast it down with all his strength upon the +pavement, and then, wheeling and screaming madly at the top of his +lungs, he dashed headlong up the winding street. + +Two women and several men had stood looking on at the cruel attack. +They were at too great a distance for the Europeans to know whether +their facial expressions portrayed pity or rage, but be that as it +may, none offered to interfere. + +A few yards farther on a hideous hag leaned from a second story +window where she laughed and jibbered and made horrid grimaces at +all who passed her. Others went their ways apparently attending to +whatever duties called them, as soberly as the inhabitants of any +civilized community. + +"God," muttered Smith-Oldwick, "what an awful place!" + +The girl turned suddenly toward him. "You still have your pistol?" +she asked him. + +"Yes," he replied. "I tucked it inside my shirt. They did not +search me and it was too dark for them to see whether I carried any +weapons or not. So I hid it in the hope that I might get through +with it." + +She moved closer to him and took hold of his hand. "Save one +cartridge for me, please?" she begged. + +Smith-Oldwick looked down at her and blinked his eyes very rapidly. +An unfamiliar and disconcerting moisture had come into them. He +had realized, of course, how bad a plight was theirs but somehow +it had seemed to affect him only: it did not seem possible that +anyone could harm this sweet and beautiful girl. + +And that she should have to be destroyed--destroyed by him! It +was too hideous: it was unbelievable, unthinkable! If he had been +filled with apprehension before, he was doubly perturbed now. + +"I don't believe I could do it, Bertha," he said. + +"Not even to save me from something worse?" she asked. + +He shook his head dismally. "I could never do it," he replied. + +The street that they were following suddenly opened upon a wide +avenue, and before them spread a broad and beautiful lagoon, the +quiet surface of which mirrored the clear cerulean of the sky. Here +the aspect of all their surroundings changed. The buildings were +higher and much more pretentious in design and ornamentation. +The street itself was paved in mosaics of barbaric but stunningly +beautiful design. In the ornamentation of the buildings there was +considerable color and a great deal of what appeared to be gold +leaf. In all the decorations there was utilized in various ways the +conventional figure of the parrot, and, to a lesser extent, that +of the lion and the monkey. + +Their captors led them along the pavement beside the lagoon for a +short distance and then through an arched doorway into one of the +buildings facing the avenue. Here, directly within the entrance +was a large room furnished with massive benches and tables, many of +which were elaborately hand carved with the figures of the inevitable +parrot, the lion, or the monkey, the parrot always predominating. + +Behind one of the tables sat a man who differed in no way that the +captives could discover from those who accompanied them. Before +this person the party halted, and one of the men who had brought +them made what seemed to be an oral report. Whether they were +before a judge, a military officer, or a civil dignitary they could +not know, but evidently he was a man of authority, for, after +listening to whatever recital was being made to him the while +he closely scrutinized the two captives, he made a single futile +attempt to converse with them and then issued some curt orders to +him who had made the report. + +Almost immediately two of the men approached Bertha Kircher and +signaled her to accompany them. Smith-Oldwick started to follow her +but was intercepted by one of their guards. The girl stopped then +and turned back, at the same time looking at the man at the table +and making signs with her hands, indicating, as best she could, +that she wished Smith-Oldwick to remain with her, but the fellow +only shook his head negatively and motioned to the guards to remove +her. The Englishman again attempted to follow but was restrained. +He was too weak and helpless even to make an attempt to enforce +his wishes. He thought of the pistol inside his shirt and then of +the futility of attempting to overcome an entire city with the few +rounds of ammunition left to him. + +So far, with the single exception of the attack made upon him, they +had no reason to believe that they might not receive fair treatment +from their captors, and so he reasoned that it might be wiser to +avoid antagonizing them until such a time as he became thoroughly +convinced that their intentions were entirely hostile. He saw the +girl led from the building and just before she disappeared from +his view she turned and waved her hand to him: + +"Good luck!" she cried, and was gone. + +The lions that had entered the building with the party had, during +their examination by the man at the table, been driven from the +apartment through a doorway behind him. Toward this same doorway +two of the men now led Smith-Oldwick. He found himself in a long +corridor from the sides of which other doorways opened, presumably +into other apartments of the building. At the far end of the corridor +he saw a heavy grating beyond which appeared an open courtyard. +Into this courtyard the prisoner was conducted, and as he entered +it with the two guards he found himself in an opening which was +bounded by the inner walls of the building. It was in the nature +of a garden in which a number of trees and flowering shrubs grew. +Beneath several of the trees were benches and there was a bench +along the south wall, but what aroused his most immediate attention +was the fact that the lions who had assisted in their capture and +who had accompanied them upon the return to the city, lay sprawled +about upon the ground or wandered restlessly to and fro. + +Just inside the gate his guard halted. The two men exchanged a few +words and then turned and reentered the corridor. The Englishman +was horror-stricken as the full realization of his terrible plight +forced itself upon his tired brain. He turned and seized the grating +in an attempt to open it and gain the safety of the corridor, but +he found it securely locked against his every effort, and then he +called aloud to the retreating figure of the men within. The only +reply he received was a high-pitched, mirthless laugh, and then +the two passed through the doorway at the far end of the corridor +and he was alone with the lions. + + + + +Chapter XIX + +The Queen's Story + + +In the meantime Bertha Kircher was conducted the length of the +plaza toward the largest and most pretentious of the buildings +surrounding it. This edifice covered the entire width of one end +of the plaza. It was several stories in height, the main entrance +being approached by a wide flight of stone steps, the bottom of +which was guarded by enormous stone lions, while at the top there +were two pedestals flanking the entrance and of the same height, +upon each of which was the stone image of a large parrot. As the +girl neared these latter images she saw that the capital of each +column was hewn into the semblance of a human skull upon which +the parrots perched. Above the arched doorway and upon the walls +of the building were the figures of other parrots, of lions, and +of monkeys. Some of these were carved in bas-relief; others were +delineated in mosaics, while still others appeared to have been +painted upon the surface of the wall. + +The colorings of the last were apparently much subdued by age +with the result that the general effect was soft and beautiful. +The sculpturing and mosaic work were both finely executed, giving +evidence of a high degree of artistic skill. Unlike the first +building into which she had been conducted, the entrance to which +had been doorless, massive doors closed the entrance which she now +approached. In the niches formed by the columns which supported +the door's arch, and about the base of the pedestals of the stone +parrots, as well as in various other places on the broad stairway, +lolled some score of armed men. The tunics of these were all of a +vivid yellow and upon the breast and back of each was embroidered +the figure of a parrot. + +As she was conducted up the stairway one of these yellow-coated +warriors approached and halted her guides at the top of the steps. +Here they exchanged a few words and while they were talking the +girl noticed that he who had halted them, as well as those whom +she could see of his companions, appeared to be, if possible, of +a lower mentality than her original captors. + +Their coarse, bristling hair grew so low upon their foreheads as, +in some instances, to almost join their eyebrows, while the irises +were smaller, exposing more of the white of the eyeball. + +After a short parley the man in charge of the doorway, for such +he seemed to be, turned and struck upon one of the panels with +the butt of his spear, at the same time calling to several of his +companions, who rose and came forward at his command. Soon the great +doors commenced slowly to swing creakingly open, and presently, +as they separated, the girl saw behind them the motive force which +operated the massive doors--to each door a half-dozen naked Negroes. + +At the doorway her two guards were turned back and their places taken +by a half dozen of the yellow-coated soldiery. These conducted her +through the doorway which the blacks, pulling upon heavy chains, +closed behind them. And as the girl watched them she noted with +horror that the poor creatures were chained by the neck to the +doors. + +Before her led a broad hallway in the center of which was a little +pool of clear water. Here again in floor and walls was repeated in +new and ever-changing combinations and designs, the parrots, the +monkeys, and the lions, but now many of the figures were of what +the girl was convinced must be gold. The walls of the corridor +consisted of a series of open archways through which, upon either +side, other spacious apartments were visible. The hallway was +entirely unfurnished, but the rooms on either side contained benches +and tables. Glimpses of some of the walls revealed the fact that +they were covered with hangings of some colored fabric, while upon +the floors were thick rugs of barbaric design and the skins of +black lions and beautifully marked leopards. + +The room directly to the right of the entrance was filled with men +wearing the yellow tunics of her new guard while the walls were hung +with numerous spears and sabers. At the far end of the corridor a +low flight of steps led to another closed doorway. Here the guard +was again halted. One of the guards at this doorway, after receiving +the report of one of those who accompanied her, passed through the +door, leaving them standing outside. It was fully fifteen minutes +before he returned, when the guard was again changed and the girl +conducted into the chamber beyond. + +Through three other chambers and past three more massive doors, at +each of which her guard was changed, the girl was conducted before +she was ushered into a comparatively small room, back and forth +across the floor of which paced a man in a scarlet tunic, upon the +front and back of which was embroidered an enormous parrot and upon +whose head was a barbaric headdress surmounted by a stuffed parrot. + +The walls of this room were entirely hidden by hangings upon which +hundreds, even thousands, of parrots were embroidered. Inlaid in +the floor were golden parrots, while, as thickly as they could be +painted, upon the ceiling were brilliant-hued parrots with wings +outspread as though in the act of flying. + +The man himself was larger of stature than any she had yet seen +within the city. His parchment-like skin was wrinkled with age and +he was much fatter than any other of his kind that she had seen. +His bared arms, however, gave evidence of great strength and his +gait was not that of an old man. His facial expression denoted almost +utter imbecility and he was quite the most repulsive creature that +ever Bertha Kircher had looked upon. + +For several minutes after she was conducted into his presence +he appeared not to be aware that she was there but continued his +restless pacing to and fro. Suddenly, without the slightest warning, +and while he was at the far end of the room from her with his back +toward her, he wheeled and rushed madly at her. Involuntarily the +girl shrank back, extending her open palms toward the frightful +creature as though to hold him aloof but a man upon either side of +her, the two who had conducted her into the apartment, seized and +held her. + +Although he rushed violently toward her the man stopped without +touching her. For a moment his horrid white-rimmed eyes glared +searchingly into her face, immediately following which he burst +into maniacal laughter. For two or three minutes the creature gave +himself over to merriment and then, stopping as suddenly as he +had commenced to laugh, he fell to examining the prisoner. He felt +of her hair, her skin, the texture of the garment she wore and by +means of signs made her understand she was to open her mouth. In +the latter he seemed much interested, calling the attention of one +of the guards to her canine teeth and then baring his own sharp +fangs for the prisoner to see. + +Presently he resumed pacing to and fro across the floor, and it +was fully fifteen minutes before he again noticed the prisoner, and +then it was to issue a curt order to her guards, who immediately +conducted her from the apartment. + +The guards now led the girl through a series of corridors and +apartments to a narrow stone stairway which led to the floor above, +finally stopping before a small door where stood a naked Negro armed +with a spear. At a word from one of her guards the Negro opened the +door and the party passed into a low-ceiled apartment, the windows +of which immediately caught the girl's attention through the fact +that they were heavily barred. The room was furnished similarly to +those that she had seen in other parts of the building, the same +carved tables and benches, the rugs upon the floor, the decorations +upon the walls, although in every respect it was simpler than +anything she had seen on the floor below. In one corner was a low +couch covered with a rug similar to those on the floor except that +it was of a lighter texture, and upon this sat a woman. + +As Bertha Kircher's eyes alighted upon the occupant of the room +the girl gave a little gasp of astonishment, for she recognized +immediately that here was a creature more nearly of her own kind +than any she had seen within the city's walls. An old woman it was +who looked at her through faded blue eyes, sunken deep in a wrinkled +and toothless face. But the eyes were those of a sane and intelligent +creature, and the wrinkled face was the face of a white woman. + +At sight of the girl the woman rose and came forward, her gait so +feeble and unsteady that she was forced to support herself with a +long staff which she grasped in both her hands. One of the guards +spoke a few words to her and then the men turned and left the +apartment. The girl stood just within the door waiting in silence +for what might next befall her. + +The old woman crossed the room and stopped before her, raising +her weak and watery eyes to the fresh young face of the newcomer. +Then she scanned her from head to foot and once again the old eyes +returned to the girl's face. Bertha Kircher on her part was not +less frank in her survey of the little old woman. It was the latter +who spoke first. In a thin, cracked voice she spoke, hesitatingly, +falteringly, as though she were using unfamiliar words and speaking +a strange tongue. + +"You are from the outer world?" she asked in English. "God grant +that you may speak and understand this tongue." + +"English?" the girl exclaimed, "Yes, of course, I speak English." + +"Thank God!" cried the little old woman. "I did not know whether I +myself might speak it so that another could understand. For sixty +years I have spoken only their accursed gibberish. For sixty years +I have not heard a word in my native language. Poor creature! Poor +creature!" she mumbled. "What accursed misfortune threw you into +their hands?" + +"You are an English woman?" asked Bertha Kircher. "Did I understand +you aright that you are an English woman and have been here for +sixty years?" + +The old woman nodded her head affirmatively. "For sixty years I +have never been outside of this palace. Come," she said, stretching +forth a bony hand. "I am very old and cannot stand long. Come and +sit with me on my couch." + +The girl took the proffered hand and assisted the old lady back +to the opposite side of the room and when she was seated the girl +sat down beside her. + +"Poor child! Poor child!" moaned the old woman. "Far better to have +died than to have let them bring you here. At first I might have +destroyed myself but there was always the hope that someone would +come who would take me away, but none ever comes. Tell me how they +got you." + +Very briefly the girl narrated the principal incidents which led +up to her capture by some of the creatures of the city. + +"Then there is a man with you in the city?" asked the old woman. + +"Yes," said the girl, "but I do not know where he is nor what are +their intentions in regard to him. In fact, I do not know what +their intentions toward me are." + +"No one might even guess," said the old woman. "They do not know +themselves from one minute to the next what their intentions are, +but I think you can rest assured, my poor child, that you will +never see your friend again." + +"But they haven't slain you," the girl reminded her, "and you have +been their prisoner, you say, for sixty years." + +"No," replied her companion, "they have not killed me, nor will +they kill you, though God knows before you have lived long in this +horrible place you will beg them to kill you." + +"Who are they--" asked Bertha Kircher, "what kind of people? They +differ from any that I ever have seen. And tell me, too, how you +came here." + +"It was long ago," said the old woman, rocking back and forth on +the couch. "It was long ago. Oh, how long it was! I was only twenty +then. Think of it, child! Look at me. I have no mirror other than +my bath, I cannot see what I look like for my eyes are old, but +with my fingers I can feel my old and wrinkled face, my sunken eyes, +and these flabby lips drawn in over toothless gums. I am old and +bent and hideous, but then I was young and they said that I was +beautiful. No, I will not be a hypocrite; I was beautiful. My glass +told me that. + +"My father was a missionary in the interior and one day there came +a band of Arabian slave raiders. They took the men and women of +the little native village where my father labored, and they took +me, too. They did not know much about our part of the country so +they were compelled to rely upon the men of our village whom they +had captured to guide them. They told me that they never before +had been so far south and that they had heard there was a country +rich in ivory and slaves west of us. They wanted to go there and +from there they would take us north, where I was to be sold into +the harem of some black sultan. + +"They often discussed the price I would bring, and that that price +might not lessen, they guarded me jealously from one another so +the journeys were made as little fatiguing for me as possible. I +was given the best food at their command and I was not harmed. + +"But after a short time, when we had reached the confines of the +country with which the men of our village were familiar and had +entered upon a desolate and arid desert waste, the Arabs realized +at last that we were lost. But they still kept on, ever toward +the west, crossing hideous gorges and marching across the face of +a burning land beneath the pitiless sun. The poor slaves they had +captured were, of course, compelled to carry all the camp equipage +and loot and thus heavily burdened, half starved and without water, +they soon commenced to die like flies. + +"We had not been in the desert land long before the Arabs were +forced to kill their horses for food, and when we reached the first +gorge, across which it would have been impossible to transport the +animals, the balance of them were slaughtered and the meat loaded +upon the poor staggering blacks who still survived. + +"Thus we continued for two more days and now all but a handful of +blacks were dead, and the Arabs themselves had commenced to succumb +to hunger and thirst and the intense heat of the desert. As far as +the eye could reach back toward the land of plenty from whence we +had come, our route was marked by circling vultures in the sky and +by the bodies of the dead who lay down in the trackless waste for +the last time. The ivory had been abandoned tusk by tusk as the +blacks gave out, and along the trail of death was strewn the camp +equipage and the horse trappings of a hundred men. + +"For some reason the Arab chief favored me to the last, possibly +with the idea that of all his other treasures I could be most easily +transported, for I was young and strong and after the horses were +killed I had walked and kept up with the best of the men. We English, +you know, are great walkers, while these Arabians had never walked +since they were old enough to ride a horse. + +"I cannot tell you how much longer we kept on but at last, with +our strength almost gone, a handful of us reached the bottom of a +deep gorge. To scale the opposite side was out of the question and +so we kept on down along the sands of what must have been the bed +of an ancient river, until finally we came to a point where we +looked out upon what appeared to be a beautiful valley in which we +felt assured that we would find game in plenty. + +"By then there were only two of us left--the chief and myself. I +do not need to tell you what the valley was, for you found it in +much the same way as I did. So quickly were we captured that it +seemed they must have been waiting for us, and I learned later that +such was the case, just as they were waiting for you. + +"As you came through the forest you must have seen the monkeys +and parrots and since you have entered the palace, how constantly +these animals, and the lions, are used in the decorations. At home +we were all familiar with talking parrots who repeated the things +that they were taught to say, but these parrots are different +in that they all talk in the same language that the people of the +city use, and they say that the monkeys talk to the parrots and the +parrots fly to the city and tell the people what the monkeys say. +And, although it is hard to believe, I have learned that this is +so, for I have lived here among them for sixty years in the palace +of their king. + +"They brought me, as they brought you, directly to the palace. The +Arabian chief was taken elsewhere. I never knew what became of him. +Ago XXV was king then. I have seen many kings since that day. He +was a terrible man; but then, they are all terrible." + +"What is the matter with them?" asked the girl. + +"They are a race of maniacs," replied the old woman. "Had you not +guessed it? Among them are excellent craftsmen and good farmers +and a certain amount of law and order, such as it is. + +"They reverence all birds, but the parrot is their chief deity. +There is one who is held here in the palace in a very beautiful +apartment. He is their god of gods. He is a very old bird. If what +Ago told me when I came is true, he must be nearly three hundred +years old by now. Their religious rites are revolting in the +extreme, and I believe that it may be the practice of these rites +through ages that has brought the race to its present condition of +imbecility. + +"And yet, as I said, they are not without some redeeming qualities. +If legend may be credited, their forebears--a little handful of +men and women who came from somewhere out of the north and became +lost in the wilderness of central Africa--found here only a barren +desert valley. To my own knowledge rain seldom, if ever, falls +here, and yet you have seen a great forest and luxuriant vegetation +outside of the city as well as within. This miracle is accomplished +by the utilization of natural springs which their ancestors developed, +and upon which they have improved to such an extent that the entire +valley receives an adequate amount of moisture at all times. + +"Ago told me that many generations before his time the forest was +irrigated by changing the course of the streams which carried the +spring water to the city but that when the trees had sent their +roots down to the natural moisture of the soil and required no +further irrigation, the course of the stream was changed and other +trees were planted. And so the forest grew until today it covers +almost the entire floor of the valley except for the open space +where the city stands. I do not know that this is true. It may be +that the forest has always been here, but it is one of their legends +and it is borne out by the fact that there is not sufficient rainfall +here to support vegetation. + +"They are peculiar people in many respects, not only in their form +of worship and religious rites but also in that they breed lions +as other people breed cattle. You have seen how they use some of +these lions but the majority of them they fatten and eat. At first, +I imagine, they ate lion meat as a part of their religious ceremony +but after many generations they came to crave it so that now it is +practically the only flesh they eat. They would, of course, rather +die than eat the flesh of a bird, nor will they eat monkey's meat, +while the herbivorous animals they raise only for milk, hides, +and flesh for the lions. Upon the south side of the city are the +corrals and pastures where the herbivorous animals are raised. +Boar, deer, and antelope are used principally for the lions, while +goats are kept for milk for the human inhabitants of the city." + +"And you have lived here all these years," exclaimed the girl, +"without ever seeing one of your own kind?" + +The old woman nodded affirmatively. + +"For sixty years you have lived here," continued Bertha Kircher, +"and they have not harmed you!" + +"I did not say they had not harmed me," said the old woman, "they +did not kill me, that is all." + +"What"--the girl hesitated--"what," she continued at last, "was +your position among them? Pardon me," she added quickly, "I think +I know but I should like to hear from your own lips, for whatever +your position was, mine will doubtless be the same." + +The old woman nodded. "Yes," she said, "doubtless; if they can keep +you away from the women." + +"What do you mean?" asked the girl. + +"For sixty years I have never been allowed near a woman. They would +kill me, even now, if they could reach me. The men are frightful, +God knows they are frightful! But heaven keep you from the women!" + +"You mean," asked the girl, "that the men will not harm me?" + +"Ago XXV made me his queen," said the old woman. "But he had many +other queens, nor were they all human. He was not murdered for ten +years after I came here. Then the next king took me, and so it has +been always. I am the oldest queen now. Very few of their women live +to a great age. Not only are they constantly liable to assassination +but, owing to their subnormal mentalities, they are subject to +periods of depression during which they are very likely to destroy +themselves." + +She turned suddenly and pointed to the barred windows. "You see +this room," she said, "with the black eunuch outside? Wherever +you see these you will know that there are women, for with very +few exceptions they are never allowed out of captivity. They are +considered and really are more violent than the men." + +For several minutes the two sat in silence, and then the younger +woman turned to the older. + +"Is there no way to escape?" she asked. + +The old woman pointed again to the barred windows and then to the +door, saying: "And there is the armed eunuch. And if you should +pass him, how could you reach the street? And if you reached the +street, how could you pass through the city to the outer wall? And +even if, by some miracle, you should gain the outer wall, and, by +another miracle, you should be permitted to pass through the gate, +could you ever hope to traverse the forest where the great black +lions roam and feed upon men? No!" she exclaimed, answering her +own question, "there is no escape, for after one had escaped from +the palace and the city and the forest it would be but to invite +death in the frightful desert land beyond. + +"In sixty years you are the first to find this buried city. In +a thousand no denizen of this valley has ever left it, and within +the memory of man, or even in their legends, none had found them +prior to my coming other than a single warlike giant, the story of +whom has been handed down from father to son. + +"I think from the description that he must have been a Spaniard, +a giant of a man in buckler and helmet, who fought his way through +the terrible forest to the city gate, who fell upon those who were +sent out to capture him and slew them with his mighty sword. And +when he had eaten of the vegetables from the gardens, and the fruit +from the trees and drank of the water from the stream, he turned +about and fought his way back through the forest to the mouth of +the gorge. But though he escaped the city and the forest he did +not escape the desert. For a legend runs that the king, fearful +that he would bring others to attack them, sent a party after him +to slay him. + +"For three weeks they did not find him, for they went in the wrong +direction, but at last they came upon his bones picked clean by +the vultures, lying a day's march up the same gorge through which +you and I entered the valley. I do not know," continued the old +woman, "that this is true. It is just one of their many legends." + +"Yes," said the girl, "it is true. I am sure it is true, for I have +seen the skeleton and the corroded armor of this great giant." + +At this juncture the door was thrown open without ceremony and a +Negro entered bearing two flat vessels in which were several smaller +ones. These he set down on one of the tables near the women, and, +without a word, turned and left. With the entrance of the man +with the vessels, a delightful odor of cooked food had aroused the +realization in the girl's mind that she was very hungry, and at +a word from the old woman she walked to the table to examine the +viands. The larger vessels which contained the smaller ones were +of pottery while those within them were quite evidently of hammered +gold. To her intense surprise she found lying between the smaller +vessels a spoon and a fork, which, while of quaint design, were quite +as serviceable as any she had seen in more civilized communities. +The tines of the fork were quite evidently of iron or steel, the +girl did not know which, while the handle and the spoon were of +the same material as the smaller vessels. + +There was a highly seasoned stew with meat and vegetables, a dish +of fresh fruit, and a bowl of milk beside which was a little jug +containing something which resembled marmalade. So ravenous was she +that she did not even wait for her companion to reach the table, +and as she ate she could have sworn that never before had she tasted +more palatable food. The old woman came slowly and sat down on one +of the benches opposite her. + +As she removed the smaller vessels from the larger and arranged +them before her on the table a crooked smile twisted her lips as +she watched the younger woman eat. + +"Hunger is a great leveler," she said with a laugh. + +"What do you mean?" asked the girl. + +"I venture to say that a few weeks ago you would have been nauseated +at the idea of eating cat." + +"Cat?" exclaimed the girl. + +"Yes," said the old woman. "What is the difference--a lion is a +cat." + +"You mean I am eating lion now?" + +"Yes," said the old woman, "and as they prepare it, it is very +palatable. You will grow very fond of it." + +Bertha Kircher smiled a trifle dubiously. "I could not tell it," +she said, "from lamb or veal." + +"No," said the woman, "it tastes as good to me. But these lions +are very carefully kept and very carefully fed and their flesh is +so seasoned and prepared that it might be anything so far as taste +is concerned." + +And so Bertha Kircher broke her long fast upon strange fruits, lion +meat, and goat's milk. + +Scarcely had she finished when again the door opened and there +entered a yellow-coated soldier. He spoke to the old woman. + +"The king," she said, "has commanded that you be prepared and brought +to him. You are to share these apartments with me. The king knows +that I am not like his other women. He never would have dared to +put you with them. Herog XVI has occasional lucid intervals. You +must have been brought to him during one of these. Like the rest +of them he thinks that he alone of all the community is sane, but +more than once I have thought that the various men with whom I have +come in contact here, including the kings themselves, looked upon +me as, at least, less mad than the others. Yet how I have retained +my senses all these years is beyond me." + +"What do you mean by prepare?" asked Bertha Kircher. "You said +that the king had commanded I be prepared and brought to him." + +"You will be bathed and furnished with a robe similar to that which +I wear." + +"Is there no escape?" asked the girl. "Is there no way even in +which I can kill myself?" + +The woman handed her the fork. "This is the only way," she said, +"and you will notice that the tines are very short and blunt." + +The girl shuddered and the old woman laid a hand gently upon her +shoulder. "He may only look at you and send you away," she said. +"Ago XXV sent for me once, tried to talk with me, discovered +that I could not understand him and that he could not understand +me, ordered that I be taught the language of his people, and then +apparently forgot me for a year. Sometimes I do not see the king +for a long period. There was one king who ruled for five years +whom I never saw. There is always hope; even I whose very memory +has doubtless been forgotten beyond these palace walls still hope, +though none knows better how futilely." + +The old woman led Bertha Kircher to an adjoining apartment in +the floor of which was a pool of water. Here the girl bathed and +afterward her companion brought her one of the clinging garments +of the native women and adjusted it about her figure. The material +of the robe was of a gauzy fabric which accentuated the rounded +beauty of the girlish form. + +"There," said the old woman, as she gave a final pat to one of the +folds of the garment, "you are a queen indeed!" + +The girl looked down at her naked breasts and but half-concealed +limbs in horror. "They are going to lead me into the presence of +men in this half-nude condition!" she exclaimed. + +The old woman smiled her crooked smile. "It is nothing," she said. +"You will become accustomed to it as did I who was brought up in +the home of a minister of the gospel, where it was considered little +short of a crime for a woman to expose her stockinged ankle. By +comparison with what you will doubtless see and the things that +you may be called upon to undergo, this is but a trifle." + +For what seemed hours to the distraught girl she paced the floor +of her apartment, awaiting the final summons to the presence of the +mad king. Darkness had fallen and the oil flares within the palace +had been lighted long before two messengers appeared with instructions +that Herog demanded her immediate presence and that the old woman, +whom they called Xanila, was to accompany her. The girl felt some +slight relief when she discovered that she was to have at least +one friend with her, however powerless to assist her the old woman +might be. + +The messengers conducted the two to a small apartment on the floor +below. Xanila explained that this was one of the anterooms off +the main throneroom in which the king was accustomed to hold court +with his entire retinue. A number of yellow-tunicked warriors sat +about upon the benches within the room. For the most part their +eyes were bent upon the floor and their attitudes that of moody +dejection. As the two women entered several glanced indifferently +at them, but for the most part no attention was paid to them. + +While they were waiting in the anteroom there entered from another +apartment a young man uniformed similarly to the others with the +exception that upon his head was a fillet of gold, in the front of +which a single parrot feather rose erectly above his forehead. As +he entered, the other soldiers in the room rose to their feet. + +"That is Metak, one of the king's sons," Xanila whispered to the +girl. + +The prince was crossing the room toward the audience chamber when +his glance happened to fall upon Bertha Kircher. He halted in his +tracks and stood looking at her for a full minute without speaking. +The girl, embarrassed by his bold stare and her scant attire, flushed +and, dropping her gaze to the floor, turned away. Metak suddenly +commenced to tremble from head to foot and then, without warning +other than a loud, hoarse scream he sprang forward and seized the +girl in his arms. + +Instantly pandemonium ensued. The two messengers who had been charged +with the duty of conducting the girl to the king's presence danced, +shrieking, about the prince, waving their arms and gesticulating +wildly as though they would force him to relinquish her, the +while they dared not lay hands upon royalty. The other guardsmen, +as though suffering in sympathy the madness of their prince, ran +forward screaming and brandishing their sabers. + +The girl fought to release herself from the horrid embrace of the +maniac, but with his left arm about her he held her as easily as +though she had been but a babe, while with his free hand he drew +his saber and struck viciously at those nearest him. + +One of the messengers was the first to feel the keen edge of +Metak's blade. With a single fierce cut the prince drove through +the fellow's collar bone and downward to the center of his chest. +With a shrill shriek that rose above the screaming of the other +guardsmen the man dropped to the floor, and as the blood gushed +from the frightful wound he struggled to rise once more to his feet +and then sank back again and died in a great pool of his own blood. + +In the meantime Metak, still clinging desperately to the girl, +had backed toward the opposite door. At the sight of the blood two +of the guardsmen, as though suddenly aroused to maniacal frenzy, +dropped their sabers to the floor and fell upon each other with +nails and teeth, while some sought to reach the prince and some +to defend him. In a corner of the room sat one of the guardsmen +laughing uproariously and just as Metak succeeded in reaching the +door and taking the girl through, she thought that she saw another +of the men spring upon the corpse of the dead messenger and bury +his teeth in its flesh. + +During the orgy of madness Xanila had kept closely at the girl's +side but at the door of the room Metak had seen her and, wheeling +suddenly, cut viciously at her. Fortunately for Xanila she was +halfway through the door at the time, so that Metak's blade but +dented itself upon the stone arch of the portal, and then Xanila, +guided doubtless by the wisdom of sixty years of similar experiences, +fled down the corridor as fast as her old and tottering legs would +carry her. + +Metak, once outside the door, returned his saber to its scabbard +and lifting the girl bodily from the ground carried her off in the +opposite direction from that taken by Xanila. + + + + +Chapter XX + +Came Tarzan + + +Just before dark that evening, an almost exhausted flier entered +the headquarters of Colonel Capell of the Second Rhodesians and +saluted. + +"Well, Thompson," asked the superior, "what luck? The others have +all returned. Never saw a thing of Oldwick or his plane. I guess +we shall have to give it up unless you were more successful." + +"I was," replied the young officer. "I found the plane." + +"No!" ejaculated Colonel Capell. "Where was it? Any sign of Oldwick?" + +"It is in the rottenest hole in the ground you ever saw, quite a +bit inland. Narrow gorge. Saw the plane all right but can't reach +it. There was a regular devil of a lion wandering around it. I +landed near the edge of the cliff and was going to climb down and +take a look at the plane. But this fellow hung around for an hour +or more and I finally had to give it up." + +"Do you think the lions got Oldwick?" asked the colonel. + +"I doubt it," replied Lieutenant Thompson, "from the fact that there +was no indication that the lion had fed anywhere about the plane. +I arose after I found it was impossible to get down around the +plane and reconnoitered up and down the gorge. Several miles to the +south I found a small, wooded valley in the center of which--please +don't think me crazy, sir--is a regular city--streets, buildings, +a central plaza with a lagoon, good-sized buildings with domes and +minarets and all that sort of stuff." + +The elder officer looked at the younger compassionately. "You're +all wrought up, Thompson," he said. "Go and take a good sleep. You +have been on this job now for a long while and it must have gotten +on your nerves." + +The young man shook his head a bit irritably. "Pardon me, sir," he +said, "but I am telling you the truth. I am not mistaken. I circled +over the place several times. It may be that Oldwick has found his +way there--or has been captured by these people." + +"Were there people in the city?" asked the colonel. + +"Yes, I saw them in the streets." + +"Do you think cavalry could reach the valley?" asked the colonel. + +"No," replied Thompson, "the country is all cut up with these +deep gorges. Even infantry would have a devil of a time of it, and +there is absolutely no water that I could discover for at least a +two days' march." + +It was at this juncture that a big Vauxhall drew up in front of the +headquarters of the Second Rhodesians and a moment later General +Smuts alighted and entered. Colonel Capell arose from his chair and +saluted his superior, and the young lieutenant saluted and stood +at attention. + +"I was passing," said the general, "and I thought I would stop for +a chat. By the way, how is the search for Lieutenant Smith-Oldwick +progressing? I see Thompson here and I believe he was one of those +detailed to the search." + +"Yes," said Capell, "he was. He is the last to come in. He found the +lieutenant's ship," and then he repeated what Lieutenant Thompson +had reported to him. The general sat down at the table with Colonel +Capell, and together the two officers, with the assistance of the +flier, marked the approximate location of the city which Thompson +had reported he'd discovered. + +"It's a mighty rough country," remarked Smuts, "but we can't leave +a stone unturned until we have exhausted every resource to find +that boy. We will send out a small force; a small one will be more +likely to succeed than a large one. About one company, Colonel, +or say two, with sufficient motor lorries for transport of rations +and water. Put a good man in command and let him establish a base +as far to the west as the motors can travel. You can leave one +company there and send the other forward. I am inclined to believe +you can establish your base within a day's march of the city and +if such is the case the force you send ahead should have no trouble +on the score of lack of water as there certainly must be water +in the valley where the city lies. Detail a couple of planes for +reconnaissance and messenger service so that the base can keep in +touch at all times with the advance party. When can your force move +out?" + +"We can load the lorries tonight," replied Capell, "and march about +one o'clock tomorrow morning." + +"Good," said the general, "keep me advised," and returning the +others' salutes he departed. + +As Tarzan leaped for the vines he realized that the lion was +close upon him and that his life depended upon the strength of the +creepers clinging to the city walls; but to his intense relief he +found the stems as large around as a man's arm, and the tendrils +which had fastened themselves to the wall so firmly fixed, that his +weight upon the stem appeared to have no appreciable effect upon +them. + +He heard Numa's baffled roar as the lion slipped downward clawing +futilely at the leafy creepers, and then with the agility of the +apes who had reared him, Tarzan bounded nimbly aloft to the summit +of the wall. + +A few feet below him was the flat roof of the adjoining building +and as he dropped to it his back was toward the niche from which +an embrasure looked out upon the gardens and the forest beyond, so +that he did not see the figure crouching there in the dark shadow. +But if he did not see he was not long in ignorance of the fact that +he was not alone, for scarcely had his feet touched the roof when +a heavy body leaped upon him from behind and brawny arms encircled +him about the waist. + +Taken at a disadvantage and lifted from his feet, the ape-man was, +for the time being, helpless. Whatever the creature was that had +seized him, it apparently had a well-defined purpose in mind, for +it walked directly toward the edge of the roof so that it was soon +apparent to Tarzan that he was to be hurled to the pavement below--a +most efficacious manner of disposing of an intruder. That he would +be either maimed or killed the ape-man was confident; but he had +no intention of permitting his assailant to carry out the plan. + +Tarzan's arms and legs were free but he was in such a disadvantageous +position that he could not use them to any good effect. His only +hope lay in throwing the creature off its balance, and to this end +Tarzan straightened his body and leaned as far back against his +captor as he could, and then suddenly lunged forward. The result was +as satisfactory as he could possibly have hoped. The great weight +of the ape-man thrown suddenly out from an erect position caused +the other also to lunge violently forward with the result that to +save himself he involuntarily released his grasp. Catlike in his +movements, the ape-man had no sooner touched the roof than he was +upon his feet again, facing his adversary, a man almost as large +as himself and armed with a saber which he now whipped from its +scabbard. Tarzan, however, had no mind to allow the use of this +formidable weapon and so he dove for the other's legs beneath the +vicious cut that was directed at him from the side, and as a football +player tackles an opposing runner, Tarzan tackled his antagonist, +carrying him backward several yards and throwing him heavily to +the roof upon his back. + +No sooner had the man touched the roof than the ape-man was upon +his chest, one brawny hand sought and found the sword wrist and +the other the throat of the yellow-tunicked guardsman. Until then +the fellow had fought in silence but just as Tarzan's fingers +touched his throat he emitted a single piercing shriek that the +brown fingers cut off almost instantly. The fellow struggled to +escape the clutch of the naked creature upon his breast but equally +as well might he have fought to escape the talons of Numa, the +lion. + +Gradually his struggles lessened, his pin-point eyes popped from +their sockets, rolling horribly upward, while from his foam-flecked +lips his swollen tongue protruded. As his struggles ceased Tarzan +arose, and placing a foot upon the carcass of his kill, was upon +the point of screaming forth his victory cry when the thought that +the work before him required the utmost caution sealed his lips. + +Walking to the edge of the roof he looked down into the narrow, +winding street below. At intervals, apparently at each street +intersection, an oil flare sputtered dimly from brackets set +in the walls a trifle higher than a man's head. For the most part +the winding alleys were in dense shadow and even in the immediate +vicinity of the flares the illumination was far from brilliant. +In the restricted area of his vision he could see that there were +still a few of the strange inhabitants moving about the narrow +thoroughfares. + +To prosecute his search for the young officer and the girl he must +be able to move about the city as freely as possible, but to pass +beneath one of the corner flares, naked as he was except for a +loin cloth, and in every other respect markedly different from the +inhabitants of the city, would be but to court almost immediate +discovery. As these thoughts flashed through his mind and he cast +about for some feasible plan of action, his eyes fell upon the +corpse upon the roof near him, and immediately there occurred to +him the possibility of disguising himself in the raiment of his +conquered adversary. + +It required but a few moments for the ape-man to clothe himself +in the tights, sandals, and parrot emblazoned yellow tunic of the +dead soldier. Around his waist he buckled the saber belt but beneath +the tunic he retained the hunting knife of his dead father. His +other weapons he could not lightly discard, and so, in the hope +that he might eventually recover them, he carried them to the edge +of the wall and dropped them among the foliage at its base. At the +last moment he found it difficult to part with his rope, which, +with his knife, was his most accustomed weapon, and one which he +had used for the greatest length of time. He found that by removing +the saber belt he could wind the rope about his waist beneath his +tunic, and then replacing the belt still retain it entirely concealed +from chance observation. + +At last, satisfactorily disguised, and with even his shock of black +hair adding to the verisimilitude of his likeness to the natives +of the city, he sought for some means of reaching the street below. +While he might have risked a drop from the eaves of the roof he +feared to do so lest he attract the attention of passers-by, and +probable discovery. The roofs of the buildings varied in height but +as the ceilings were all low he found that he could easily travel +along the roof tops and this he did for some little distance, until +he suddenly discovered just ahead of him several figures reclining +upon the roof of a near-by building. + +He had noticed openings in each roof, evidently giving ingress to +the apartments below, and now, his advance cut off by those ahead +of him, he decided to risk the chance of reaching the street +through the interior of one of the buildings. Approaching one of +the openings he leaned over the black hole, and listened for sounds +of life in the apartment below. Neither his ears nor his nose +registered evidence of the presence of any living creature in the +immediate vicinity, and so without further hesitation the ape-man +lowered his body through the aperture and was about to drop +when his foot came in contact with the rung of a ladder, which he +immediately took advantage of to descend to the floor of the room +below. + +Here, all was almost total darkness until his eyes became accustomed +to the interior, the darkness of which was slightly alleviated +by the reflected light from a distant street flare which shone +intermittently through the narrow windows fronting the thoroughfare. +Finally, assured that the apartment was unoccupied, Tarzan sought +for a stairway to the ground floor. This he found in a dark hallway +upon which the room opened--a flight of narrow stone steps leading +downward toward the street. Chance favored him so that he reached +the shadows of the arcade without encountering any of the inmates +of the house. + +Once on the street he was not at a loss as to the direction in which +he wished to go, for he had tracked the two Europeans practically +to the gate, which he felt assured must have given them entry to +the city. His keen sense of direction and location made it possible +for him to judge with considerable accuracy the point within the +city where he might hope to pick up the spoor of those whom he +sought. + +The first need, however, was to discover a street paralleling the +northern wall along which he could make his way in the direction of +the gate he had seen from the forest. Realizing that his greatest +hope of success lay in the boldness of his operations he moved off +in the direction of the nearest street flare without making any +other attempt at concealment than keeping in the shadows of the +arcade, which he judged would draw no particular attention to him +in that he saw other pedestrians doing likewise. The few he passed +gave him no heed, and he had almost reached the nearest intersection +when he saw several men wearing yellow tunics identical to that +which he had taken from his prisoner. + +They were coming directly toward him and the ape-man saw that should +he continue on he would meet them directly at the intersection +of the two streets in the full light of the flare. His first +inclination was to go steadily on, for personally he had no objection +to chancing a scrimmage with them; but a sudden recollection of the +girl, possibly a helpless prisoner in the hands of these people, +caused him to seek some other and less hazardous plan of action. + +He had almost emerged from the shadow of the arcade into the full +light of the flare and the approaching men were but a few yards +from him, when he suddenly kneeled and pretended to adjust the +wrappings of his sandals--wrappings, which, by the way, he was +not at all sure that he had adjusted as their makers had intended +them to be adjusted. He was still kneeling when the soldiers came +abreast of him. Like the others he had passed they paid no attention +to him and the moment they were behind him he continued upon his +way, turning to the right at the intersection of the two streets. + +The street he now took was, at this point, so extremely winding +that, for the most part, it received no benefit from the flares at +either corner, so that he was forced practically to grope his way +in the dense shadows of the arcade. The street became a little +straighter just before he reached the next flare, and as he came +within sight of it he saw silhouetted against a patch of light the +figure of a lion. The beast was coming slowly down the street in +Tarzan's direction. + +A woman crossed the way directly in front of it and the lion paid +no attention to her, nor she to the lion. An instant later a little +child ran after the woman and so close did he run before the lion +that the beast was forced to turn out of its way a step to avoid +colliding with the little one. The ape-man grinned and crossed +quickly to the opposite side of the street, for his delicate senses +indicated that at this point the breeze stirring through the city +streets and deflected by the opposite wall would now blow from the +lion toward him as the beast passed, whereas if he remained upon +the side of the street upon which he had been walking when he +discovered the carnivore, his scent would have been borne to the +nostrils of the animal, and Tarzan was sufficiently jungle-wise +to realize that while he might deceive the eyes of man and beast +he could not so easily disguise from the nostrils of one of the +great cats that he was a creature of a different species from the +inhabitants of the city, the only human beings, possibly, that Numa +was familiar with. In him the cat would recognize a stranger, and, +therefore, an enemy, and Tarzan had no desire to be delayed by an +encounter with a savage lion. His ruse worked successfully, the +lion passing him with not more than a side glance in his direction. + +He had proceeded for some little distance and had about reached a +point where he judged he would find the street which led up from +the city gate when, at an intersection of two streets, his nostrils +caught the scent spoor of the girl. Out of a maze of other scent +spoors the ape-man picked the familiar odor of the girl and, a second +later, that of Smith-Oldwick. He had been forced to accomplish +it, however, by bending very low at each street intersection in +repeated attention to his sandal wrappings, bringing his nostrils +as close to the pavement as possible. + +As he advanced along the street through which the two had been +conducted earlier in the day he noted, as had they, the change +in the type of buildings as he passed from a residence district +into that portion occupied by shops and bazaars. Here the number +of flares was increased so that they appeared not only at street +intersections but midway between as well, and there were many +more people abroad. The shops were open and lighted, for with the +setting of the sun the intense heat of the day had given place to +a pleasant coolness. Here also the number of lions, roaming loose +through the thoroughfares, increased, and also for the first time +Tarzan noted the idiosyncrasies of the people. + +Once he was nearly upset by a naked man running rapidly through +the street screaming at the top of his voice. And again he nearly +stumbled over a woman who was making her way in the shadows of one +of the arcades upon all fours. At first the ape-man thought she was +hunting for something she had dropped, but as he drew to one side +to watch her, he saw that she was doing nothing of the kind--that +she had merely elected to walk upon her hands and knees rather +than erect upon her feet. In another block he saw two creatures +struggling upon the roof of an adjacent building until finally one +of them, wrenching himself free from the grasp of the other, gave +his adversary a mighty push which hurled him to the pavement below, +where he lay motionless upon the dusty road. For an instant a wild +shriek re-echoed through the city from the lungs of the victor and +then, without an instant's hesitation, the fellow leaped headfirst +to the street beside the body of his victim. A lion moved out from +the dense shadows of a doorway and approached the two bloody and +lifeless things before him. Tarzan wondered what effect the odor +of blood would have upon the beast and was surprised to see that +the animal only sniffed at the corpses and the hot red blood and +then lay down beside the two dead men. + +He had passed the lion but a short distance when his attention was +called to the figure of a man lowering himself laboriously from the +roof of a building upon the east side of the thoroughfare. Tarzan's +curiosity was aroused. + + + + +Chapter XXI + +In the Alcove + + +As Smith-Oldwick realized that he was alone and practically defenseless +in an enclosure filled with great lions he was, in his weakened +condition, almost in a state verging upon hysterical terror. +Clinging to the grating for support he dared not turn his head in +the direction of the beasts behind him. He felt his knees giving +weakly beneath him. Something within his head spun rapidly around. +He became very dizzy and nauseated and then suddenly all went +black before his eyes as his limp body collapsed at the foot of +the grating. + +How long he lay there unconscious he never knew; but as reason +slowly reasserted itself in his semi-conscious state he was aware +that he lay in a cool bed upon the whitest of linen in a bright +and cheery room, and that upon one side close to him was an open +window, the delicate hangings of which were fluttering in a soft +summer breeze which blew in from a sun-kissed orchard of ripening +fruit which he could see without--an old orchard in which soft, +green grass grew between the laden trees, and where the sun filtered +through the foliage; and upon the dappled greensward a little child +was playing with a frolicsome puppy. + +"God," thought the man, "what a horrible nightmare I have passed +through!" and then he felt a hand stroking his brow and cheek--a +cool and gentle hand that smoothed away his troubled recollections. +For a long minute Smith-Oldwick lay in utter peace and content +until gradually there was forced upon his sensibilities the fact +that the hand had become rough, and that it was no longer cool but +hot and moist; and suddenly he opened his eyes and looked up into +the face of a huge lion. + +Lieutenant Harold Percy Smith-Oldwick was not only an English +gentleman and an officer in name, he was also what these implied--a +brave man; but when he realized that the sweet picture he had looked +upon was but the figment of a dream, and that in reality he still +lay where he had fallen at the foot of the grating with a lion +standing over him licking his face, the tears sprang to his eyes +and ran down his cheeks. Never, he thought, had an unkind fate +played so cruel a joke upon a human being. + +For some time he lay feigning death while the lion, having ceased +to lick him, sniffed about his body. There are some things than which +death is to be preferred; and there came at last to the Englishman +the realization that it would be better to die swiftly than to +lie in this horrible predicament until his mind broke beneath the +strain and he went mad. + +And so, deliberately and without haste, he rose, clinging to the +grating for support. At his first move the lion growled, but after +that he paid no further attention to the man, and when at last +Smith-Oldwick had regained his feet the lion moved indifferently +away. Then it was that the man turned and looked about the enclosure. + +Sprawled beneath the shade of the trees and lying upon the long bench +beside the south wall the great beasts rested, with the exception +of two or three who moved restlessly about. It was these that the +man feared and yet when two more of them had passed him by he began +to feel reassured, recalling the fact that they were accustomed to +the presence of man. + +And yet he dared not move from the grating. As the man examined his +surroundings he noted that the branches of one of the trees near +the further wall spread close beneath an open window. If he could +reach that tree and had strength to do so, he could easily climb +out upon the branch and escape, at least, from the enclosure of the +lions. But in order to reach the tree he must pass the full length +of the enclosure, and at the very bole of the tree itself two lions +lay sprawled out in slumber. + +For half an hour the man stood gazing longingly at this seeming +avenue of escape, and at last, with a muttered oath, he straightened +up and throwing back his shoulders in a gesture of defiance, he +walked slowly and deliberately down the center of the courtyard. +One of the prowling lions turned from the side wall and moved +toward the center directly in the man's path, but Smith-Oldwick was +committed to what he considered his one chance, for even temporary +safety, and so he kept on, ignoring the presence of the beast. The +lion slouched to his side and sniffed him and then, growling, he +bared his teeth. + +Smith-Oldwick drew the pistol from his shirt. "If he has made up +his mind to kill me," he thought. "I can't see that it will make +any difference in the long run whether I infuriate him or not. The +beggar can't kill me any deader in one mood than another." + +But with the man's movement in withdrawing the weapon from his shirt +the lion's attitude suddenly altered and though he still growled +he turned and sprang away, and then at last the Englishman stood +almost at the foot of the tree that was his goal, and between him +and safety sprawled a sleeping lion. + +Above him was a limb that ordinarily he could have leaped for and +reached with ease; but weak from his wounds and loss of blood he +doubted his ability to do so now. There was even a question as to +whether he would be able to ascend the tree at all. There was just +one chance: the lowest branch left the bole within easy reach of a +man standing on the ground close to the tree's stem, but to reach +a position where the branch would be accessible he must step over +the body of a lion. Taking a deep breath he placed one foot between +the sprawled legs of the beast and gingerly raised the other to plant +it upon the opposite side of the tawny body. "What," he thought, +"if the beggar should happen to wake now?" The suggestion sent a +shudder through his frame but he did not hesitate or withdraw his +foot. Gingerly he planted it beyond the lion, threw his weight +forward upon it and cautiously brought his other foot to the side +of the first. He had passed and the lion had not awakened. + +Smith-Oldwick was weak from loss of blood and the hardships he had +undergone, but the realization of his situation impelled him to a +show of agility and energy which he probably could scarcely have +equaled when in possession of his normal strength. With his life +depending upon the success of his efforts, he swung himself quickly +to the lower branches of the tree and scrambled upward out of reach +of possible harm from the lions below--though the sudden movement +in the branches above them awakened both the sleeping beasts. The +animals raised their heads and looked questioningly up for a moment +and then lay back again to resume their broken slumber. + +So easily had the Englishman succeeded thus far that he suddenly +began to question as to whether he had at any time been in real +danger. The lions, as he knew, were accustomed to the presence of +men, but yet they were still lions and he was free to admit that +he breathed more easily now that he was safe above their clutches. + +Before him lay the open window he had seen from the ground. He +was now on a level with it and could see an apparently unoccupied +chamber beyond, and toward this he made his way along a stout +branch that swung beneath the opening. It was not a difficult feat +to reach the window, and a moment later he drew himself over the +sill and dropped into the room. + +He found himself in a rather spacious apartment, the floor of which +was covered with rugs of barbaric design, while the few pieces of +furniture were of a similar type to that which he had seen in the +room on the first floor into which he and Bertha Kircher had been +ushered at the conclusion of their journey. At one end of the room +was what appeared to be a curtained alcove, the heavy hangings of +which completely hid the interior. In the wall opposite the window +and near the alcove was a closed door, apparently the only exit +from the room. + +He could see, in the waning light without, that the close of the +day was fast approaching, and he hesitated while he deliberated the +advisability of waiting until darkness had fallen, or of immediately +searching for some means of escape from the building and the city. +He at last decided that it would do no harm to investigate beyond +the room, that he might have some idea as how best to plan his +escape after dark. To this end he crossed the room toward the door +but he had taken only a few steps when the hangings before the +alcove separated and the figure of a woman appeared in the opening. + +She was young and beautifully formed; the single drapery wound around +her body from below her breasts left no detail of her symmetrical +proportions unrevealed, but her face was the face of an imbecile. +At sight of her Smith-Oldwick halted, momentarily expecting that +his presence would elicit screams for help from her. On the contrary +she came toward him smiling, and when she was close her slender, +shapely fingers touched the sleeve of his torn blouse as a curious +child might handle a new toy, and still with the same smile she +examined him from head to foot, taking in, in childish wonderment, +every detail of his apparel. + +Presently she spoke to him in a soft, well-modulated voice which +contrasted sharply with her facial appearance. The voice and the +girlish figure harmonized perfectly and seemed to belong to each +other, while the head and face were those of another creature. +Smith-Oldwick could understand no word of what she said, but +nevertheless he spoke to her in his own cultured tone, the effect +of which upon her was evidently most gratifying, for before he +realized her intentions or could prevent her she had thrown both +arms about his neck and was kissing him with the utmost abandon. + +The man tried to free himself from her rather surprising attentions, +but she only clung more tightly to him, and suddenly, as he recalled +that he had always heard that one must humor the mentally deficient, +and at the same time seeing in her a possible agency of escape, he +closed his eyes and returned her embraces. + +It was at this juncture that the door opened and a man entered. +With the sound from the first movement of the latch, Smith-Oldwick +opened his eyes, but though he endeavored to disengage himself +from the girl he realized that the newcomer had seen their rather +compromising position. The girl, whose back was toward the door, +seemed at first not to realize that someone had entered, but when +she did she turned quickly and as her eyes fell upon the man whose +terrible face was now distorted with an expression of hideous rage +she turned, screaming, and fled toward the alcove. The Englishman, +flushed and embarrassed, stood where she had left him. With the +sudden realization of the futility of attempting an explanation, +came that of the menacing appearance of the man, whom he now +recognized as the official who had received them in the room below. +The fellow's face, livid with insane rage and, possibly, jealousy, +was twitching violently, accentuating the maniacal expression that +it habitually wore. + +For a moment he seemed paralyzed by anger, and then with a loud +shriek that rose into an uncanny wail, he drew his curved saber +and sprang toward the Englishman. To Smith-Oldwick there seemed +no possible hope of escaping the keen-edged weapon in the hands of +the infuriated man, and though he felt assured that it would draw +down upon him an equally sudden and possibly more terrible death, +he did the only thing that remained for him to do--drew his pistol +and fired straight for the heart of the oncoming man. Without even +so much as a groan the fellow lunged forward upon the floor at +Smith-Oldwick's feet--killed instantly with a bullet through the +heart. For several seconds the silence of the tomb reigned in the +apartment. + +The Englishman, standing over the prostrate figure of the dead +man, watched the door with drawn weapon, expecting momentarily to +hear the rush of feet of those whom he was sure would immediately +investigate the report of the pistol. But no sounds came from below +to indicate that anyone there had heard the explosion, and presently +the man's attention was distracted from the door to the alcove, +between the hangings of which the face of the girl appeared. The +eyes were widely dilated and the lower jaw dropped in an expression +of surprise and awe. + +The girl's gaze was riveted upon the figure upon the floor, and +presently she crept stealthily into the room and tiptoed toward +the corpse. She appeared as though constantly poised for flight, +and when she had come to within two or three feet of the body she +stopped and, looking up at Smith-Oldwick, voiced some interrogation +which he could not, of course, understand. Then she came close to +the side of the dead man and kneeling upon the floor felt gingerly +of the body. + +Presently she shook the corpse by the shoulder, and then with a +show of strength which her tenderly girlish form belied, she turned +the body over on its back. If she had been in doubt before, one +glance at the hideous features set in death must have convinced +her that life was extinct, and with the realization there broke +from her lips peal after peal of mad, maniacal laughter as with her +little hands she beat upon the upturned face and breast of the dead +man. It was a gruesome sight from which the Englishman involuntarily +drew back--a gruesome, disgusting sight such as, he realized, might +never be witnessed outside a madhouse or this frightful city. + +In the midst of her frenzied rejoicing at the death of the man, +and Smith-Oldwick could attribute her actions to no other cause, +she suddenly desisted from her futile attacks upon the insensate +flesh and, leaping to her feet, ran quickly to the door, where +she shot a wooden bolt into its socket, thus securing them from +interference from without. Then she returned to the center of the +room and spoke rapidly to the Englishman, gesturing occasionally +toward the body of the slain man. When he could not understand, +she presently became provoked and in a sudden hysteria of madness +she rushed forward as though to strike the Englishman. Smith-Oldwick +dropped back a few steps and leveled his pistol upon her. Mad though +she must have been, she evidently was not so mad but what she had +connected the loud report, the diminutive weapon, and the sudden +death of the man in whose house she dwelt, for she instantly desisted +and quite as suddenly as it had come upon her, her homicidal mood +departed. + +Again the vacuous, imbecile smile took possession of her features, +and her voice, dropping its harshness, resumed the soft, well-modulated +tones with which she had first addressed him. Now she attempted by +signs to indicate her wishes, and motioning Smith-Oldwick to follow +her she went to the hangings and opening them disclosed the alcove. +It was rather more than an alcove, being a fair-sized room heavy +with rugs and hangings and soft, pillowed couches. Turning at the +entrance she pointed to the corpse upon the floor of the outer +room, and then crossing the alcove she raised some draperies which +covered a couch and fell to the floor upon all sides, disclosing +an opening beneath the furniture. + +To this opening she pointed and then again to the corpse, indicating +plainly to the Englishman that it was her desire that the body be +hidden here. But if he had been in doubt, she essayed to dispel it +by grasping his sleeve and urging him in the direction of the body +which the two of them then lifted and half carried and half dragged +into the alcove. At first they encountered some difficulty when +they endeavored to force the body of the man into the small space +she had selected for it, but eventually they succeeded in doing +so. Smith-Oldwick was again impressed by the fiendish brutality of +the girl. In the center of the room lay a blood-stained rug which +the girl quickly gathered up and draped over a piece of furniture +in such a way that the stain was hidden. By rearranging the other +rugs and by bringing one from the alcove she restored the room to +order so no outward indication of the tragedy so recently enacted +there was apparent. + +These things attended to, and the hangings draped once more about +the couch that they might hide the gruesome thing beneath, the girl +once more threw her arms about the Englishman's neck and dragged him +toward the soft and luxurious pillows above the dead man. Acutely +conscious of the horror of his position, filled with loathing, +disgust, and an outraged sense of decency, Smith-Oldwick was also +acutely alive to the demands of self-preservation. He felt that +he was warranted in buying his life at almost any price; but there +was a point at which his finer nature rebelled. + +It was at this juncture that a loud knock sounded upon the door of +the outer room. Springing from the couch, the girl seized the man +by the arm and dragged him after her to the wall close by the head +of the couch. Here she drew back one of the hangings, revealing a +little niche behind, into which she shoved the Englishman and dropped +the hangings before him, effectually hiding him from observation +from the rooms beyond. + +He heard her cross the alcove to the door of the outer room, and +heard the bolt withdrawn followed by the voice of a man mingled +with that of the girl. The tones of both seemed rational so that +he might have been listening to an ordinary conversation in some +foreign tongue. Yet with the gruesome experiences of the day behind +him, he could not but momentarily expect some insane outbreak from +beyond the hangings. + +He was aware from the sounds that the two had entered the alcove, +and, prompted by a desire to know what manner of man he might +next have to contend with, he slightly parted the heavy folds that +hid the two from his view and looking out saw them sitting on the +couch with their arms about each other, the girl with the same +expressionless smile upon her face that she had vouchsafed him. +He found he could so arrange the hangings that a very narrow slit +between two of them permitted him to watch the actions of those in +the alcove without revealing himself or increasing his liability +of detection. + +He saw the girl lavishing her kisses upon the newcomer, a much +younger man than he whom Smith-Oldwick had dispatched. Presently +the girl disengaged herself from the embrace of her lover as though +struck by a sudden memory. Her brows puckered as in labored thought +and then with a startled expression, she threw a glance backward +toward the hidden niche where the Englishman stood, after which she +whispered rapidly to her companion, occasionally jerking her head +in the direction of the niche and on several occasions making a +move with one hand and forefinger, which Smith-Oldwick could not +mistake as other than an attempt to describe his pistol and its +use. + +It was evident then to him that she was betraying him, and without +further loss of time he turned his back toward the hangings and +commenced a rapid examination of his hiding place. In the alcove +the man and the girl whispered, and then cautiously and with great +stealth, the man rose and drew his curved saber. On tiptoe he +approached the hangings, the girl creeping at his side. Neither +spoke now, nor was there any sound in the room as the girl sprang +forward and with outstretched arm and pointing finger indicated +a point upon the curtain at the height of a man's breast. Then +she stepped to one side, and her companion, raising his blade to +a horizontal position, lunged suddenly forward and with the full +weight of his body and his right arm, drove the sharp point through +the hangings and into the niche behind for its full length. + +Bertha Kircher, finding her struggles futile and realizing that she +must conserve her strength for some chance opportunity of escape, +desisted from her efforts to break from the grasp of Prince Metak +as the fellow fled with her through the dimly lighted corridors +of the palace. Through many chambers the prince fled, bearing his +prize. It was evident to the girl that, though her captor was the +king's son, he was not above capture and punishment for his deeds, +as otherwise he would not have shown such evident anxiety to escape +with her, as well as from the results of his act. + +From the fact that he was constantly turning affrighted eyes behind +them, and glancing suspiciously into every nook and corner that +they passed, she guessed that the prince's punishment might be both +speedy and terrible were he caught. + +She knew from their route that they must have doubled back several +times although she had quite lost all sense of direction; but she +did not know that the prince was as equally confused as she, and +that really he was running in an aimless, erratic manner, hoping +that he might stumble eventually upon a place of refuge. + +Nor is it to be wondered at that this offspring of maniacs should +have difficulty in orienting himself in the winding mazes of a +palace designed by maniacs for a maniac king. Now a corridor turned +gradually and almost imperceptibly in a new direction, again one +doubled back upon and crossed itself; here the floor rose gradually +to the level of another story, or again there might be a spiral +stairway down which the mad prince rushed dizzily with his burden. +Upon what floor they were or in what part of the palace even Metak +had no idea until, halting abruptly at a closed door, he pushed +it open to step into a brilliantly lighted chamber filled with +warriors, at one end of which sat the king upon a great throne; +beside this, to the girl's surprise, she saw another throne where +was seated a huge lioness, recalling to her the words of Xanila +which, at the time, had made no impression on her: "But he had many +other queens, nor were they all human." + +At sight of Metak and the girl, the king rose from his throne and +started across the chamber, all semblance of royalty vanishing in +the maniac's uncontrollable passion. And as he came he shrieked +orders and commands at the top of his voice. No sooner had Metak so +unwarily opened the door to this hornets' nest than he immediately +withdrew and, turning, fled again in a new direction. But now +a hundred men were close upon his heels, laughing, shrieking, and +possibly cursing. He dodged hither and thither, distancing them for +several minutes until, at the bottom of a long runway that inclined +steeply downward from a higher level, he burst into a subterranean +apartment lighted by many flares. + +In the center of the room was a pool of considerable size, the +level of the water being but a few inches below the floor. Those +behind the fleeing prince and his captive entered the chamber in +time to see Metak leap into the water with the girl and disappear +beneath the surface taking his captive with him, nor, though they +waited excitedly around the rim of the pool, did either of the two +again emerge. + +When Smith-Oldwick turned to investigate his hiding place, his +hands, groping upon the rear wall, immediately came in contact with +the wooden panels of a door and a bolt such as that which secured +the door of the outer room. Cautiously and silently drawing the +wooden bar he pushed gently against the panel to find that the door +swung easily and noiselessly outward into utter darkness. Moving +carefully and feeling forward for each step he passed out of the +niche, closing the door behind him. + +Feeling about, he discovered that he was in a narrow corridor which +he followed cautiously for a few yards to be brought up suddenly +by what appeared to be a ladder across the passageway. He felt of +the obstruction carefully with his hands until he was assured that +it was indeed a ladder and that a solid wall was just beyond it, +ending the corridor. Therefore, as he could not go forward and as +the ladder ended at the floor upon which he stood, and as he did +not care to retrace his steps, there was no alternative but to climb +upward, and this he did, his pistol ready in a side pocket of his +blouse. + +He had ascended but two or three rungs when his head came suddenly +and painfully in contact with a hard surface above him. Groping +about with one hand over his head he discovered that the obstacle +seemed to be the covering to a trap door in the ceiling which, +with a little effort, he succeeded in raising a couple of inches, +revealing through the cracks the stars of a clear African night. + +With a sigh of relief, but with unabated caution, he gently slid +the trapdoor to one side far enough to permit him to raise his +eyes above the level of the roof. A quick glance assured him that +there was none near enough to observe his movements, nor, in fact, +as far as he could see, was anyone in sight. + +Drawing himself quickly through the aperture he replaced the cover +and endeavored to regain his bearings. Directly to the south of him +the low roof he stood upon adjoined a much loftier portion of the +building, which rose several stories above his head. A few yards +to the west he could see the flickering light of the flares of a +winding street, and toward this he made his way. + +From the edge of the roof he looked down upon the night life of +the mad city. He saw men and women and children and lions, and of +all that he saw it was quite evident to him that only the lions were +sane. With the aid of the stars he easily picked out the points of +the compass, and following carefully in his memory the steps that +had led him into the city and to the roof upon which he now stood, +he knew that the thoroughfare upon which he looked was the same +along which he and Bertha Kircher had been led as prisoners earlier +in the day. + +If he could reach this he might be able to pass undetected in the +shadows of the arcade to the city gate. He had already given up as +futile the thought of seeking out the girl and attempting to succor +her, for he knew that alone and with the few remaining rounds of +ammunition he possessed, he could do nothing against this city-full +of armed men. That he could live to cross the lion-infested forest +beyond the city was doubtful, and having, by some miracle, won to +the desert beyond, his fate would be certainly sealed; but yet he +was consumed with but one desire--to leave behind him as far as +possible this horrid city of maniacs. + +He saw that the roofs rose to the same level as that upon which +he stood unbroken to the north to the next street intersection. +Directly below him was a flare. To reach the pavement in safety +it was necessary that he find as dark a portion of the avenue as +possible. And so he sought along the edge of the roofs for a place +where he might descend in comparative concealment. + +He had proceeded some little way beyond a point where the street curved +abruptly to the east before he discovered a location sufficiently +to his liking. But even here he was compelled to wait a considerable +time for a satisfactory moment for his descent, which he had +decided to make down one of the pillars of the arcade. Each time +he prepared to lower himself over the edge of the roofs, footsteps +approaching in one direction or another deterred him until at last +he had almost come to the conclusion that he would have to wait +for the entire city to sleep before continuing his flight. + +But finally came a moment which he felt propitious and though +with inward qualms, it was with outward calm that he commenced the +descent to the street below. + +When at last he stood beneath the arcade he was congratulating +himself upon the success that had attended his efforts up to this +point when, at a slight sound behind him, he turned to see a tall +figure in the yellow tunic of a warrior confronting him. + + + + +Chapter XXII + +Out of the Niche + + +Numa, the lion, growled futilely in baffled rage as he slipped +back to the ground at the foot of the wall after his unsuccessful +attempt to drag down the fleeing ape-man. He poised to make a +second effort to follow his escaping quarry when his nose picked +up a hitherto unnoticed quality in the scent spoor of his intended +prey. Sniffing at the ground that Tarzan's feet had barely touched, +Numa's growl changed to a low whine, for he had recognized the +scent spoor of the man-thing that had rescued him from the pit of +the Wamabos. + +What thoughts passed through that massive head? Who may say? But +now there was no indication of baffled rage as the great lion turned +and moved majestically eastward along the wall. At the eastern end +of the city he turned toward the south, continuing his way to the +south side of the wall along which were the pens and corrals where +the herbivorous flocks were fattened for the herds of domesticated +lions within the city. The great black lions of the forest fed +with almost equal impartiality upon the flesh of the grass-eaters +and man. Like Numa of the pit they occasionally made excursions across +the desert to the fertile valley of the Wamabos, but principally +they took their toll of meat from the herds of the walled city of +Herog, the mad king, or seized upon some of his luckless subjects. + +Numa of the pit was in some respects an exception to the rule which +guided his fellows of the forest in that as a cub he had been +trapped and carried into the city, where he was kept for breeding +purposes, only to escape in his second year. They had tried to teach +him in the city of maniacs that he must not eat the flesh of man, +and the result of their schooling was that only when aroused to +anger or upon that one occasion that he had been impelled by the +pangs of hunger, did he ever attack man. + +The animal corrals of the maniacs are protected by an outer wall +or palisade of upright logs, the lower ends of which are imbedded +in the ground, the logs themselves being placed as close together +as possible and further reinforced and bound together by withes. +At intervals there are gates through which the flocks are turned +on to the grazing land south of the city during the daytime. It is +at such times that the black lions of the forest take their greatest +toll from the herds, and it is infrequent that a lion attempts to +enter the corrals at night. But Numa of the pit, having scented the +spoor of his benefactor, was minded again to pass into the walled +city, and with that idea in his cunning brain he crept stealthily +along the outer side of the palisade, testing each gateway with a +padded foot until at last he discovered one which seemed insecurely +fastened. Lowering his great head he pressed against the gate, surging +forward with all the weight of his huge body and the strength of +his giant sinews--one mighty effort and Numa was within the corral. + +The enclosure contained a herd of goats which immediately upon the +advent of the carnivore started a mad stampede to the opposite end +of the corral which was bounded by the south wall of the city. Numa +had been within such a corral as this before, so that he knew that +somewhere in the wall was a small door through which the goatherd +might pass from the city to his flock; toward this door he made his +way, whether by plan or accident it is difficult to say, though in +the light of ensuing events it seems possible that the former was +the case. + +To reach the gate he must pass directly through the herd which had +huddled affrightedly close to the opening so that once again there +was a furious rush of hoofs as Numa strode quickly to the side of +the portal. If Numa had planned, he had planned well, for scarcely +had he reached his position when the door opened and a herder's head +was projected into the enclosure, the fellow evidently seeking an +explanation of the disturbance among his flock. Possibly he discovered +the cause of the commotion, but it is doubtful, for it was dark +and the great, taloned paw that reached up and struck downward a +mighty blow that almost severed his head from his body, moved so +quickly and silently that the man was dead within a fraction of +a second from the moment that he opened the door, and then Numa, +knowing now his way, passed through the wall into the dimly lighted +streets of the city beyond. + +Smith-Oldwick's first thought when he was accosted by the figure in +the yellow tunic of a soldier was to shoot the man dead and trust +to his legs and the dimly lighted, winding streets to permit his +escape, for he knew that to be accosted was equivalent to recapture +since no inhabitant of this weird city but would recognize him +as an alien. It would be a simple thing to shoot the man from the +pocket where the pistol lay without drawing the weapon, and with +this purpose in mind the Englishman slipped his hands into the +side pocket of his blouse, but simultaneously with this action his +wrist was seized in a powerful grasp and a low voice whispered in +English: "Lieutenant, it is I, Tarzan of the Apes." + +The relief from the nervous strain under which he had been laboring +for so long, left Smith-Oldwick suddenly as weak as a babe, so that +he was forced to grasp the ape-man's arm for support--and when he +found his voice all he could do was to repeat: "You? You? I thought +you were dead!" + +"No, not dead," replied Tarzan, "and I see that you are not either. +But how about the girl?" + +"I haven't seen her," replied the Englishman, "since we were +brought here. We were taken into a building on the plaza close by +and there we were separated. She was led away by guards and I was +put into a den of lions. I haven't seen her since." + +"How did you escape?" asked the ape-man. + +"The lions didn't seem to pay much attention to me and I climbed +out of the place by way of a tree and through a window into a room +on the second floor. Had a little scrimmage there with a fellow and +was hidden by one of their women in a hole in the wall. The loony +thing then betrayed me to another bounder who happened in, but I +found a way out and up onto the roof where I have been for quite +some time now waiting for a chance to get down into the street +without being seen. That's all I know, but I haven't the slightest +idea in the world where to look for Miss Kircher." + +"Where were you going now?" asked Tarzan. + +Smith-Oldwick hesitated. "I--well, I couldn't do anything here +alone and I was going to try to get out of the city and in some +way reach the British forces east and bring help." + +"You couldn't do it," said Tarzan. "Even if you got through the +forest alive you could never cross the desert country without food +or water." + +"What shall we do, then?" asked the Englishman. + +"We will see if we can find the girl," replied the ape-man, and +then, as though he had forgotten the presence of the Englishman and +was arguing to convince himself, "She may be a German and a spy, +but she is a woman--a white woman--I can't leave her here." + +"But how are we going to find her?" asked the Englishman. + +"I have followed her this far," replied Tarzan, "and unless I am +greatly mistaken I can follow her still farther." + +"But I cannot accompany you in these clothes without exposing us +both to detection and arrest," argued Smith-Oldwick. + +"We will get you other clothes, then," said Tarzan. + +"How?" asked the Englishman. + +"Go back to the roof beside the city wall where I entered," replied +the ape-man with a grim smile, "and ask the naked dead man there +how I got my disguise." + +Smith-Oldwick looked quickly up at his companion. "I have it," he +exclaimed. "I know where there is a fellow who doesn't need his +clothes anymore, and if we can get back on this roof I think we can +find him and get his apparel without much resistance. Only a girl +and a young fellow whom we could easily surprise and overcome." + +"What do you mean?" asked Tarzan. "How do you know that the man +doesn't need his clothes any more." + +"I know he doesn't need them," replied the Englishman, "because I +killed him." + +"Oh!" exclaimed the ape-man, "I see. I guess it might be easier +that way than to tackle one of these fellows in the street where +there is more chance of our being interrupted." + +"But how are we going to reach the roof again, after all?" queried +Smith-Oldwick. + +"The same way you came down," replied Tarzan. "This roof is low +and there is a little ledge formed by the capital of each column; +I noticed that when you descended. Some of the buildings wouldn't +have been so easy to negotiate." + +Smith-Oldwick looked up toward the eaves of the low roof. "It's +not very high," he said, "but I am afraid I can't make it. I'll +try--I've been pretty weak since a lion mauled me and the guards +beat me up, and too, I haven't eaten since yesterday." + +Tarzan thought a moment. "You've got to go with me," he said at +last. "I can't leave you here. The only chance you have of escape +is through me and I can't go with you now until we have found the +girl." + +"I want to go with you," replied Smith-Oldwick. "I'm not much good +now but at that two of us may be better than one." + +"All right," said Tarzan, "come on," and before the Englishman +realized what the other contemplated Tarzan had picked him up +and thrown him across his shoulder. "Now, hang on," whispered the +ape-man, and with a short run he clambered apelike up the front of the +low arcade. So quickly and easily was it done that the Englishman +scarcely had time to realize what was happening before he was +deposited safely upon the roof. + +"There," remarked Tarzan. "Now, lead me to the place you speak of." + +Smith-Oldwick had no difficulty in locating the trap in the roof +through which he had escaped. Removing the cover the ape-man bent +low, listening and sniffing. "Come," he said after a moment's +investigation and lowered himself to the floor beneath. Smith-Oldwick +followed him, and together the two crept through the darkness toward +the door in the back wall of the niche in which the Englishman +had been hidden by the girl. They found the door ajar and opening +it Tarzan saw a streak of light showing through the hangings that +separated it from the alcove. + +Placing his eye close to the aperture he saw the girl and the young +man of which the Englishman had spoken seated on opposite sides of +a low table upon which food was spread. Serving them was a giant +Negro and it was he whom the ape-man watched most closely. Familiar +with the tribal idiosyncrasies of a great number of African tribes +over a considerable proportion of the Dark Continent, the Tarmangani +at last felt reasonably assured that he knew from what part of +Africa this slave had come, and the dialect of his people. There +was, however, the chance that the fellow had been captured in +childhood and that through long years of non-use his native language +had become lost to him, but then there always had been an element +of chance connected with nearly every event of Tarzan's life, so he +waited patiently until in the performance of his duties the black +man approached a little table which stood near the niche in which +Tarzan and the Englishman hid. + +As the slave bent over some dish which stood upon the table his +ear was not far from the aperture through which Tarzan looked. +Apparently from a solid wall, for the Negro had no knowledge of +the existence of the niche, came to him in the tongue of his own +people, the whispered words: "If you would return to the land of +the Wamabo say nothing, but do as I bid you." + +The black rolled terrified eyes toward the hangings at his side. +The ape-man could see him tremble and for a moment was fearful that +in his terror he would betray them. "Fear not," he whispered, "we +are your friends." + +At last the Negro spoke in a low whisper, scarcely audible even to +the keen ears of the ape-man. "What," he asked, "can poor Otobu do +for the god who speaks to him out of the solid wall?" + +"This," replied Tarzan. "Two of us are coming into this room. Help +us prevent this man and woman from escaping or raising an outcry +that will bring others to their aid." + +"I will help you," replied the Negro, "to keep them within this +room, but do not fear that their outcries will bring others. These +walls are built so that no sound may pass through, and even if it +did what difference would it make in this village which is constantly +filled with the screams of its mad people. Do not fear their cries. +No one will notice them. I go to do your bidding." + +Tarzan saw the black cross the room to the table upon which he +placed another dish of food before the feasters. Then he stepped +to a place behind the man and as he did so raised his eyes to the +point in the wall from which the ape-man's voice had come to him, +as much as to say, "Master, I am ready." + +Without more delay Tarzan threw aside the hangings and stepped +into the room. As he did so the young man rose from the table to be +instantly seized from behind by the black slave. The girl, whose +back was toward the ape-man and his companion, was not at first +aware of their presence but saw only the attack of the slave upon +her lover, and with a loud scream she leaped forward to assist the +latter. Tarzan sprang to her side and laid a heavy hand upon her +arm before she could interfere with Otobu's attentions to the young +man. At first, as she turned toward the ape-man, her face reflected +only mad rage, but almost instantly this changed into the vapid +smile with which Smith-Oldwick was already familiar and her slim +fingers commenced their soft appraisement of the newcomer. + +Almost immediately she discovered Smith-Oldwick but there was +neither surprise nor anger upon her countenance. Evidently the poor +mad creature knew but two principal moods, from one to the other +of which she changed with lightning-like rapidity. + +"Watch her a moment," said Tarzan to the Englishman, "while I disarm +that fellow," and stepping to the side of the young man whom Otobu +was having difficulty in subduing Tarzan relieved him of his saber. +"Tell them," he said to the Negro, "if you speak their language, +that we will not harm them if they leave us alone and let us depart +in peace." + +The black had been looking at Tarzan with wide eyes, evidently +not comprehending how this god could appear in so material a form, +and with the voice of a white bwana and the uniform of a warrior +of this city to which he quite evidently did not belong. But +nevertheless his first confidence in the voice that offered him +freedom was not lessened and he did as Tarzan bid him. + +"They want to know what you want," said Otobu, after he had spoken +to the man and the girl. + +"Tell them that we want food for one thing," said Tarzan, "and +something else that we know where to find in this room. Take the +man's spear, Otobu; I see it leaning against the wall in the corner +of the room. And you, Lieutenant, take his saber," and then again +to Otobu, "I will watch the man while you go and bring forth that +which is beneath the couch over against this wall," and Tarzan +indicated the location of the piece of furniture. + +Otobu, trained to obey, did as he was bid. The eyes of the man and +the girl followed him, and as he drew back the hangings and dragged +forth the corpse of the man Smith-Oldwick had slain, the girl's lover +voiced a loud scream and attempted to leap forward to the side of +the corpse. Tarzan, however, seized him and then the fellow turned +upon him with teeth and nails. It was with no little difficulty +that Tarzan finally subdued the man, and while Otobu was removing +the outer clothing from the corpse, Tarzan asked the black to +question the young man as to his evident excitement at the sight +of the body. + +"I can tell you Bwana," replied Otobu. "This man was his father." + +"What is he saying to the girl?" asked Tarzan. + +"He is asking her if she knew that the body of his father was under +the couch. And she is saying that she did not know it." + +Tarzan repeated the conversation to Smith-Oldwick, who smiled. "If +the chap could have seen her removing all evidence of the crime and +arranging the hangings of the couch so that the body was concealed +after she had helped me drag it across the room, he wouldn't have +very much doubt as to her knowledge of the affair. The rug you see +draped over the bench in the corner was arranged to hide the blood +stain--in some ways they are not so loony after all." + +The black man had now removed the outer garments from the dead +man, and Smith-Oldwick was hastily drawing them on over his own +clothing. "And now," said Tarzan, "we will sit down and eat. One +accomplishes little on an empty stomach." As they ate the ape-man +attempted to carry on a conversation with the two natives through +Otobu. He learned that they were in the palace which had belonged +to the dead man lying upon the floor beside them. He had held an +official position of some nature, and he and his family were of +the ruling class but were not members of the court. + +When Tarzan questioned them about Bertha Kircher, the young man +said that she had been taken to the king's palace; and when asked +why replied: "For the king, of course." + +During the conversation both the man and the girl appeared quite +rational, even asking some questions as to the country from which +their uninvited guests had come, and evidencing much surprise when +informed that there was anything but waterless wastes beyond their +own valley. + +When Otobu asked the man, at Tarzan's suggestion, if he was familiar +with the interior of the king's palace, he replied that he was; +that he was a friend of Prince Metak, one of the king's sons, and +that he often visited the palace and that Metak also came here to +his father's palace frequently. As Tarzan ate he racked his brain +for some plan whereby he might utilize the knowledge of the young +man to gain entrance to the palace, but he had arrived at nothing +which he considered feasible when there came a loud knocking upon +the door of the outer room. + +For a moment no one spoke and then the young man raised his voice +and cried aloud to those without. Immediately Otobu sprang for the +fellow and attempted to smother his words by clapping a palm over +his mouth. + +"What is he saying?" asked Tarzan. + +"He is telling them to break down the door and rescue him and the +girl from two strangers who entered and made them prisoners. If +they enter they will kill us all." + +"Tell him," said Tarzan, "to hold his peace or I will slay him." + +Otobu did as he was instructed and the young maniac lapsed into +scowling silence. Tarzan crossed the alcove and entered the outer +room to note the effect of the assaults upon the door. Smith-Oldwick +followed him a few steps, leaving Otobu to guard the two prisoners. +The ape-man saw that the door could not long withstand the heavy +blows being dealt the panels from without. "I wanted to use that +fellow in the other room," he said to Smith-Oldwick, "but I am +afraid we will have to get out of here the way we came. We can't +accomplish anything by waiting here and meeting these fellows. +From the noise out there there must be a dozen of them. Come," he +said, "you go first and I will follow." + +As the two turned back from the alcove they witnessed an entirely +different scene from that upon which they had turned their backs +but a moment or two before. Stretched on the floor and apparently +lifeless lay the body of the black slave, while the two prisoners +had vanished completely. + + + + +Chapter XXIII + +The Flight from Xuja + + +As Metak bore Bertha Kircher toward the edge of the pool, the girl +at first had no conception of the deed he contemplated but when, as +they approached the edge, he did not lessen his speed she guessed +the frightful truth. As he leaped head foremost with her into the +water, she closed her eyes and breathed a silent prayer, for she +was confident that the maniac had no other purpose than to drown +himself and her. And yet, so potent is the first law of nature that +even in the face of certain death, as she surely believed herself, +she clung tenaciously to life, and while she struggled to free +herself from the powerful clutches of the madman, she held her +breath against the final moment when the asphyxiating waters must +inevitably flood her lungs. + +Through the frightful ordeal she maintained absolute control of +her senses so that, after the first plunge, she was aware that the +man was swimming with her beneath the surface. He took perhaps not +more than a dozen strokes directly toward the end wall of the pool +and then he arose; and once again she knew that her head was above +the surface. She opened her eyes to see that they were in a corridor +dimly lighted by gratings set in its roof--a winding corridor, +water filled from wall to wall. + +Along this the man was swimming with easy powerful strokes, at the +same time holding her chin above the water. For ten minutes he swam +thus without stopping and the girl heard him speak to her, though +she could not understand what he said, as he evidently immediately +realized, for, half floating, he shifted his hold upon her so that +he could touch her nose and mouth with the fingers of one hand. She +grasped what he meant and immediately took a deep breath, whereat +he dove quickly beneath the surface pulling her down with him and +again for a dozen strokes or more he swam thus wholly submerged. + +When they again came to the surface, Bertha Kircher saw that they +were in a large lagoon and that the bright stars were shining high +above them, while on either hand domed and minareted buildings were +silhouetted sharply against the starlit sky. Metak swam swiftly to +the north side of the lagoon where, by means of a ladder, the two +climbed out upon the embankment. There were others in the plaza +but they paid but little if any attention to the two bedraggled +figures. As Metak walked quickly across the pavement with the girl +at his side, Bertha Kircher could only guess at the man's intentions. +She could see no way in which to escape and so she went docilely +with him, hoping against hope that some fortuitous circumstance +might eventually arise that would give her the coveted chance for +freedom and life. + +Metak led her toward a building which, as she entered, she recognized +as the same to which she and Lieutenant Smith-Oldwick had been led +when they were brought into the city. There was no man sitting +behind the carved desk now, but about the room were a dozen or more +warriors in the tunics of the house to which they were attached, in +this case white with a small lion in the form of a crest or badge +upon the breast and back of each. + +As Metak entered and the men recognized him they arose, and in answer +to a query he put, they pointed to an arched doorway at the rear +of the room. Toward this Metak led the girl, and then, as though +filled with a sudden suspicion, his eyes narrowed cunningly and +turning toward the soldiery he issued an order which resulted in +their all preceding him through the small doorway and up a flight +of stairs a short distance beyond. + +The stairway and the corridor above were lighted by small flares +which revealed several doors in the walls of the upper passageway. +To one of these the men led the prince. Bertha Kircher saw them +knock upon the door and heard a voice reply faintly through the +thick door to the summons. The effect upon those about her was +electrical. Instantly excitement reigned, and in response to orders +from the king's son the soldiers commenced to beat heavily upon the +door, to throw their bodies against it and to attempt to hew away +the panels with their sabers. The girl wondered at the cause of +the evident excitement of her captors. + +She saw the door giving to each renewed assault, but what she did +not see just before it crashed inward was the figures of the two +men who alone, in all the world, might have saved her, pass between +the heavy hangings in an adjoining alcove and disappear into a dark +corridor. + +As the door gave and the warriors rushed into the apartment followed +by the prince, the latter became immediately filled with baffled +rage, for the rooms were deserted except for the dead body of the +owner of the palace, and the still form of the black slave, Otobu, +where they lay stretched upon the floor of the alcove. + +The prince rushed to the windows and looked out, but as the suite +overlooked the barred den of lions from which, the prince thought, +there could be no escape, his puzzlement was only increased. Though +he searched about the room for some clue to the whereabouts of its +former occupants he did not discover the niche behind the hangings. +With the fickleness of insanity he quickly tired of the search, +and, turning to the soldiers who had accompanied him from the floor +below, dismissed them. + +After setting up the broken door as best they could, the men left +the apartment and when they were again alone Metak turned toward +the girl. As he approached her, his face distorted by a hideous +leer, his features worked rapidly in spasmodic twitches. The girl, +who was standing at the entrance of the alcove, shrank back, her +horror reflected in her face. Step by step she backed across the +room, while the crouching maniac crept stealthily after her with +claw-like fingers poised in anticipation of the moment they should +leap forth and seize her. + +As she passed the body of the Negro, her foot touched some obstacle +at her side, and glancing down she saw the spear with which Otobu +had been supposed to hold the prisoners. Instantly she leaned forward +and snatched it from the floor with its sharp point directed at +the body of the madman. The effect upon Metak was electrical. From +stealthy silence he broke into harsh peals of laughter, and drawing +his saber danced to and fro before the girl, but whichever way he +went the point of the spear still threatened him. + +Gradually the girl noticed a change in the tone of the creature's +screams that was also reflected in the changing expression upon his +hideous countenance. His hysterical laughter was slowly changing +into cries of rage while the silly leer upon his face was supplanted +by a ferocious scowl and up-curled lips, which revealed the sharpened +fangs beneath. + +He now ran rapidly in almost to the spear's point, only to jump +away, run a few steps to one side and again attempt to make an +entrance, the while he slashed and hewed at the spear with such +violence that it was with difficulty the girl maintained her guard, +and all the time was forced to give ground step by step. She had +reached the point where she was standing squarely against the couch +at the side of the room when, with an incredibly swift movement, +Metak stooped and grasping a low stool hurled it directly at her +head. + +She raised the spear to fend off the heavy missile, but she was +not entirely successful, and the impact of the blow carried her +backward upon the couch, and instantly Metak was upon her. + +Tarzan and Smith-Oldwick gave little thought as to what had become +of the other two occupants of the room. They were gone, and so far +as these two were concerned they might never return. Tarzan's one +desire was to reach the street again, where, now that both of them +were in some sort of disguise, they should be able to proceed with +comparative safety to the palace and continue their search for the +girl. + +Smith-Oldwick preceded Tarzan along the corridor and as they reached +the ladder he climbed aloft to remove the trap. He worked for a +moment and then, turning, addressed Tarzan. + +"Did we replace the cover on this trap when we came down? I don't +recall that we did." + +"No," said Tarzan, "it was left open." + +"So I thought," said Smith-Oldwick, "but it's closed now and locked. +I cannot move it. Possibly you can," and he descended the ladder. + +Even Tarzan's immense strength, however, had no effect other than +to break one of the rungs of the ladder against which he was pushing, +nearly precipitating him to the floor below. After the rung broke +he rested for a moment before renewing his efforts, and as he stood +with his head near the cover of the trap, he distinctly heard voices +on the roof above him. + +Dropping down to Oldwick's side he told him what he had heard. "We +had better find some other way out," he said, and the two started +to retrace their steps toward the alcove. Tarzan was again in the +lead, and as he opened the door in the back of the niche, he was +suddenly startled to hear, in tones of terror and in a woman's +voice, the words: "O God, be merciful" from just beyond the hangings. + +Here was no time for cautious investigation and, not even waiting +to find the aperture and part the hangings, but with one sweep of +a brawny hand dragging them from their support, the ape-man leaped +from the niche into the alcove. + +At the sound of his entry the maniac looked up, and as he saw at +first only a man in the uniform of his father's soldiers, he shrieked +forth an angry order, but at the second glance, which revealed the +face of the newcomer, the madman leaped from the prostrate form +of his victim and, apparently forgetful of the saber which he had +dropped upon the floor beside the couch as he leaped to grapple +with the girl, closed with bare hands upon his antagonist, his +sharp-filed teeth searching for the other's throat. + +Metak, the son of Herog, was no weakling. Powerful by nature and +rendered still more so in the throes of one of his maniacal fits +of fury he was no mean antagonist, even for the mighty ape-man, +and to this a distinct advantage for him was added by the fact that +almost at the outset of their battle Tarzan, in stepping backward, +struck his heel against the corpse of the man whom Smith-Oldwick +had killed, and fell heavily backward to the floor with Metak upon +his breast. + +With the quickness of a cat the maniac made an attempt to fasten +his teeth in Tarzan's jugular, but a quick movement of the latter +resulted in his finding a hold only upon the Tarmangani's shoulder. +Here he clung while his fingers sought Tarzan's throat, and it was +then that the ape-man, realizing the possibility of defeat, called +to Smith-Oldwick to take the girl and seek to escape. + +The Englishman looked questioningly at Bertha Kircher, who had now +risen from the couch, shaking and trembling. She saw the question +in his eyes and with an effort she drew herself to her full height. +"No," she cried, "if he dies here I shall die with him. Go if you +wish to. You can do nothing here, but I--I cannot go." + +Tarzan had now regained his feet, but the maniac still clung to +him tenaciously. The girl turned suddenly to Smith-Oldwick. "Your +pistol!" she cried. "Why don't you shoot him?" + +The man drew the weapon from his pocket and approached the two +antagonists, but by this time they were moving so rapidly that there +was no opportunity for shooting one without the danger of hitting +the other. At the same time Bertha Kircher circled about them with +the prince's saber, but neither could she find an opening. Again +and again the two men fell to the floor, until presently Tarzan +found a hold upon the other's throat, against which contingency +Metak had been constantly battling, and slowly, as the giant fingers +closed, the other's mad eyes protruded from his livid face, his jaws +gaped and released their hold upon Tarzan's shoulder, and then in +a sudden excess of disgust and rage the ape-man lifted the body +of the prince high above his head and with all the strength of his +great arms hurled it across the room and through the window where +it fell with a sickening thud into the pit of lions beneath. + +As Tarzan turned again toward his companions, the girl was standing +with the saber still in her hand and an expression upon her face +that he never had seen there before. Her eyes were wide and misty +with unshed tears, while her sensitive lips trembled as though she +were upon the point of giving way to some pent emotion which her +rapidly rising and falling bosom plainly indicated she was fighting +to control. + +"If we are going to get out of here," said the ape-man, "we can't +lose any time. We are together at last and nothing can be gained by +delay. The question now is the safest way. The couple who escaped +us evidently departed through the passageway to the roof and secured +the trap against us so that we are cut off in that direction. What +chance have we below? You came that way," and he turned toward +the girl. + +"At the foot of the stairs," she said, "is a room full of armed +men. I doubt if we could pass that way." + +It was then that Otobu raised himself to a sitting posture. "So +you are not dead after all," exclaimed the ape-man. "Come, how +badly are you hurt?" + +The Negro rose gingerly to his feet, moved his arms and legs and +felt of his head. + +"Otobu does not seem to be hurt at all, Bwana," he replied, "only +for a great ache in his head." + +"Good," said the ape-man. "You want to return to the Wamabo country?" + +"Yes, Bwana." + +"Then lead us from the city by the safest way." + +"There is no safe way," replied the black, "and even if we reach +the gates we shall have to fight. I can lead you from this building +to a side street with little danger of meeting anyone on the way. +Beyond that we must take our chance of discovery. You are all +dressed as are the people of this wicked city so perhaps we may +pass unnoticed, but at the gate it will be a different matter, for +none is permitted to leave the city at night." + +"Very well," replied the ape-man, "let us be on our way." + +Otobu led them through the broken door of the outer room, and part +way down the corridor he turned into another apartment at the right. +This they crossed to a passageway beyond, and, finally, traversing +several rooms and corridors, he led them down a flight of steps +to a door which opened directly upon a side street in rear of the +palace. + +Two men, a woman, and a black slave were not so extraordinary +a sight upon the streets of the city as to arouse comment. When +passing beneath the flares the three Europeans were careful to +choose a moment when no chance pedestrian might happen to get a view +of their features, but in the shadow of the arcades there seemed +little danger of detection. They had covered a good portion of the +distance to the gate without mishap when there came to their ears +from the central portion of the city sounds of a great commotion. + +"What does that mean?" Tarzan asked of Otobu, who was now trembling +violently. + +"Master," he replied, "they have discovered that which has happened +in the palace of Veza, mayor of the city. His son and the girl +escaped and summoned soldiers who have now doubtless discovered +the body of Veza." + +"I wonder," said Tarzan, "if they have discovered the party I threw +through the window." + +Bertha Kircher, who understood enough of the dialect to follow their +conversation, asked Tarzan if he knew that the man he had thrown +from the window was the king's son. The ape-man laughed. "No," he +said, "I did not. That rather complicates matters--at least if they +have found him." + +Suddenly there broke above the turmoil behind them the clear strains +of a bugle. Otobu increased his pace. "Hurry, Master," he cried, +"it is worse than I had thought." + +"What do you mean?" asked Tarzan. + +"For some reason the king's guard and the king's lions are being +called out. I fear, O Bwana, that we cannot escape them. But why +they should be called out for us I do not know." + +But if Otobu did not know, Tarzan at least guessed that they had +found the body of the king's son. Once again the notes of the bugle +rose high and clear upon the night air. "Calling more lions?" asked +Tarzan. + +"No, Master," replied Otobu. "It is the parrots they are calling." + +They moved on rapidly in silence for a few minutes when their +attention was attracted by the flapping of the wings of a bird +above them. They looked up to discover a parrot circling about over +their heads. + +"Here are the parrots, Otobu," said Tarzan with a grin. "Do they +expect to kill us with parrots?" + +The Negro moaned as the bird darted suddenly ahead of them toward +the city wall. "Now indeed are we lost, Master," cried the black. +"The bird that found us has flown to the gate to warn the guard." + +"Come, Otobu, what are you talking about?" exclaimed Tarzan irritably. +"Have you lived among these lunatics so long that you are yourself +mad?" + +"No, Master," replied Otobu. "I am not mad. You do not know them. +These terrible birds are like human beings without hearts or souls. +They speak the language of the people of this city of Xuja. They +are demons, Master, and when in sufficient numbers they might even +attack and kill us." + +"How far are we from the gate?" asked Tarzan. + +"We are not very far," replied the Negro. "Beyond this next turn +we will see it a few paces ahead of us. But the bird has reached +it before us and by now they are summoning the guard," the truth +of which statement was almost immediately indicated by sounds of +many voices raised evidently in commands just ahead of them, while +from behind came increased evidence of approaching pursuit--loud +screams and the roars of lions. + +A few steps ahead a narrow alley opened from the east into the +thoroughfare they were following and as they approached it there +emerged from its dark shadows the figure of a mighty lion. Otobu +halted in his tracks and shrank back against Tarzan. "Look, Master," +he whimpered, "a great black lion of the forest!" + +Tarzan drew the saber which still hung at his side. "We cannot go +back," he said. "Lions, parrots, or men, it must be all the same," +and he moved steadily forward in the direction of the gate. What +wind was stirring in the city street moved from Tarzan toward the +lion and when the ape-man had approached to within a few yards +of the beast, who had stood silently eyeing them up to this time, +instead of the expected roar, a whine broke from the beast's throat. +The ape-man was conscious of a very decided feeling of relief. "It's +Numa of the pit," he called back to his companions, and to Otobu, +"Do not fear, this lion will not harm us." + +Numa moved forward to the ape-man's side and then turning, paced +beside him along the narrow street. At the next turn they came in +sight of the gate, where, beneath several flares, they saw a group +of at least twenty warriors prepared to seize them, while from the +opposite direction the roars of the pursuing lions sounded close +upon them, mingling with the screams of numerous parrots which now +circled about their heads. Tarzan halted and turned to the young +aviator. "How many rounds of ammunition have you left?" he asked. + +"I have seven in the pistol," replied Smith-Oldwick, "and perhaps +a dozen more cartridges in my blouse pocket." + +"I'm going to rush them," said Tarzan. "Otobu, you stay at the side +of the woman. Oldwick, you and I will go ahead, you upon my left. +I think we need not try to tell Numa what to do," for even then +the great lion was baring his fangs and growling ferociously at the +guardsmen, who appeared uneasy in the face of this creature which, +above all others, they feared. + +"As we advance, Oldwick," said the ape-man, "fire one shot. It +may frighten them, and after that fire only when necessary. All +ready? Let's go!" and he moved forward toward the gate. At the +same time, Smith-Oldwick discharged his weapon and a yellow-coated +warrior screamed and crumpled forward upon his face. For a minute +the others showed symptoms of panic but one, who seemed to be an +officer, rallied them. "Now," said Tarzan, "all together!" and he +started at a run for the gate. Simultaneously the lion, evidently +scenting the purpose of the Tarmangani, broke into a full charge +toward the guard. + +Shaken by the report of the unfamiliar weapon, the ranks of the +guardsmen broke before the furious assault of the great beast. +The officer screamed forth a volley of commands in a mad fury of +uncontrolled rage but the guardsmen, obeying the first law of nature +as well as actuated by their inherent fear of the black denizen of +the forest scattered to right and left to elude the monster. With +ferocious growls Numa wheeled to the right, and with raking talons +struck right and left among a little handful of terrified guardsmen +who were endeavoring to elude him, and then Tarzan and Smith-Oldwick +closed with the others. + +For a moment their most formidable antagonist was the officer in +command. He wielded his curved saber as only an adept might as he +faced Tarzan, to whom the similar weapon in his own hand was most +unfamiliar. Smith-Oldwick could not fire for fear of hitting the +ape-man when suddenly to his dismay he saw Tarzan's weapon fly from +his grasp as the Xujan warrior neatly disarmed his opponent. With +a scream the fellow raised his saber for the final cut that would +terminate the earthly career of Tarzan of the Apes when, to the +astonishment of both the ape-man and Smith-Oldwick, the fellow +stiffened rigidly, his weapon dropped from the nerveless fingers +of his upraised hand, his mad eyes rolled upward and foam flecked +his bared lip. Gasping as though in the throes of strangulation +the fellow pitched forward at Tarzan's feet. + +Tarzan stooped and picked up the dead man's weapon, a smile upon +his face as he turned and glanced toward the young Englishman. + +"The fellow is an epileptic," said Smith-Oldwick. "I suppose +many of them are. Their nervous condition is not without its good +points--a normal man would have gotten you." + +The other guardsmen seemed utterly demoralized at the loss of their +leader. They were huddled upon the opposite side of the street at +the left of the gate, screaming at the tops of their voices and +looking in the direction from which sounds of reinforcements were +coming, as though urging on the men and lions that were already too +close for the comfort of the fugitives. Six guardsmen still stood +with their backs against the gate, their weapons flashing in the +light of the flares and their parchment-like faces distorted in +horrid grimaces of rage and terror. + +Numa had pursued two fleeing warriors down the street which paralleled +the wall for a short distance at this point. The ape-man turned to +Smith-Oldwick. "You will have to use your pistol now," he said, "and +we must get by these fellows at once;" and as the young Englishman +fired, Tarzan rushed in to close quarters as though he had not +already discovered that with the saber he was no match for these +trained swordsmen. Two men fell to Smith-Oldwick's first two shots +and then he missed, while the four remaining divided, two leaping +for the aviator and two for Tarzan. + +The ape-man rushed in in an effort to close with one of his +antagonists where the other's saber would be comparatively useless. +Smith-Oldwick dropped one of his assailants with a bullet through +the chest and pulled his trigger on the second, only to have the +hammer fall futilely upon an empty chamber. The cartridges in his +weapon were exhausted and the warrior with his razor-edged, gleaming +saber was upon him. + +Tarzan raised his own weapon but once and that to divert a vicious +cut for his head. Then he was upon one of his assailants and +before the fellow could regain his equilibrium and leap back after +delivering his cut, the ape-man had seized him by the neck and +crotch. Tarzan's other antagonist was edging around to one side +where he might use his weapon, and as he raised the blade to strike +at the back of the Tarmangani's neck, the latter swung the body of +his comrade upward so that it received the full force of the blow. +The blade sank deep into the body of the warrior, eliciting a single +frightful scream, and then Tarzan hurled the dying man in the face +of his final adversary. + +Smith-Oldwick, hard pressed and now utterly defenseless, had given +up all hope in the instant that he realized his weapon was empty, +when, from his left, a living bolt of black-maned ferocity shot +past him to the breast of his opponent. Down went the Xujan, his +face bitten away by one snap of the powerful jaws of Numa of the +pit. + +In the few seconds that had been required for the consummation +of these rapidly ensuing events, Otobu had dragged Bertha Kircher +to the gate which he had unbarred and thrown open, and with the +vanquishing of the last of the active guardsmen, the party passed +out of the maniac city of Xuja into the outer darkness beyond. At +the same moment a half dozen lions rounded the last turn in the +road leading back toward the plaza, and at sight of them Numa of +the pit wheeled and charged. For a moment the lions of the city +stood their ground, but only for a moment, and then before the +black beast was upon them, they turned and fled, while Tarzan and +his party moved rapidly toward the blackness of the forest beyond +the garden. + +"Will they follow us out of the city?" Tarzan asked Otobu. + +"Not at night," replied the black. "I have been a slave here for +five years but never have I known these people to leave the city +by night. If they go beyond the forest in the daytime they usually +wait until the dawn of another day before they return, as they fear +to pass through the country of the black lions after dark. No, I +think, Master, that they will not follow us tonight, but tomorrow +they will come, and, O Bwana, then will they surely get us, or +those that are left of us, for at least one among us must be the +toll of the black lions as we pass through their forest." + +As they crossed the garden, Smith-Oldwick refilled the magazine +of his pistol and inserted a cartridge in the chamber. The girl +moved silently at Tarzan's left, between him and the aviator. Suddenly +the ape-man stopped and turned toward the city, his mighty frame, +clothed in the yellow tunic of Herog's soldiery, plainly visible +to the others beneath the light of the stars. They saw him raise +his head and they heard break from his lips the plaintive note of +a lion calling to his fellows. Smith-Oldwick felt a distinct shudder +pass through his frame, while Otobu, rolling the whites of his eyes +in terrified surprise, sank tremblingly to his knees. But the girl +thrilled and she felt her heart beat in a strange exultation, and +then she drew nearer to the beast-man until her shoulder touched his +arm. The act was involuntary and for a moment she scarce realized +what she had done, and then she stepped silently back, thankful +that the light of the stars was not sufficient to reveal to the +eyes of her companions the flush which she felt mantling her cheek. +Yet she was not ashamed of the impulse that had prompted her, but +rather of the act itself which she knew, had Tarzan noticed it, +would have been repulsive to him. + +From the open gate of the city of maniacs came the answering cry +of a lion. The little group waited where they stood until presently +they saw the majestic proportions of the black lion as he approached +them along the trail. When he had rejoined them Tarzan fastened +the fingers of one hand in the black mane and started on once more +toward the forest. Behind them, from the city, rose a bedlam of +horrid sounds, the roaring of lions mingling with the raucous voices +of the screaming parrots and the mad shrieks of the maniacs. As +they entered the Stygian darkness of the forest the girl once again +involuntarily shrank closer to the ape-man, and this time Tarzan +was aware of the contact. + +Himself without fear, he yet instinctively appreciated how terrified +the girl must be. Actuated by a sudden kindly impulse he found +her hand and took it in his own and thus they continued upon their +way, groping through the blackness of the trail. Twice they were +approached by forest lions, but upon both occasions the deep growls +of Numa of the pit drove off their assailants. Several times they +were compelled to rest, for Smith-Oldwick was constantly upon the +verge of exhaustion, and toward morning Tarzan was forced to carry +him on the steep ascent from the bed of the valley. + + + + +Chapter XXIV + +The Tommies + + +Daylight overtook them after they had entered the gorge, but, tired +as they all were with the exception of Tarzan, they realized that +they must keep on at all costs until they found a spot where they +might ascend the precipitous side of the gorge to the floor of the +plateau above. Tarzan and Otobu were both equally confident that +the Xujans would not follow them beyond the gorge, but though they +scanned every inch of the frowning cliffs upon either hand noon +came and there was still no indication of any avenue of escape +to right or left. There were places where the ape-man alone might +have negotiated the ascent but none where the others could hope +successfully to reach the plateau, nor where Tarzan, powerful and +agile as he was, could have ventured safely to carry them aloft. + +For half a day the ape-man had been either carrying or supporting +Smith-Oldwick and now, to his chagrin, he saw that the girl was +faltering. He had realized well how much she had undergone and +how greatly the hardships and dangers and the fatigue of the past +weeks must have told upon her vitality. He saw how bravely she +attempted to keep up, yet how often she stumbled and staggered as +she labored through the sand and gravel of the gorge. Nor could +he help but admire her fortitude and the uncomplaining effort she +was making to push on. + +The Englishman must have noticed her condition too, for some time +after noon, he stopped suddenly and sat down in the sand. "It's +no use," he said to Tarzan. "I can go no farther. Miss Kircher is +rapidly weakening. You will have to go on without me." + +"No," said the girl, "we cannot do that. We have all been through +so much together and the chances of our escape are still so remote +that whatever comes, let us remain together, unless," and she looked +up at Tarzan, "you, who have done so much for us to whom you are +under no obligations, will go on without us. I for one wish that +you would. It must be as evident to you as it is to me that you +cannot save us, for though you succeeded in dragging us from the +path of our pursuers, even your great strength and endurance could +never take one of us across the desert waste which lies between +here and the nearest fertile country." + +The ape-man returned her serious look with a smile. "You are +not dead," he said to her, "nor is the lieutenant, nor Otobu, nor +myself. One is either dead or alive, and until we are dead we should +plan only upon continuing to live. Because we remain here and rest +is no indication that we shall die here. I cannot carry you both +to the country of the Wamabos, which is the nearest spot at which +we may expect to find game and water, but we shall not give up on +that account. So far we have found a way. Let us take things as +they come. Let us rest now because you and Lieutenant Smith-Oldwick +need the rest, and when you are stronger we will go on again." + +"But the Xujans--?" she asked, "may they not follow us here?" + +"Yes," he said, "they probably will. But we need not be concerned +with them until they come." + +"I wish," said the girl, "that I possessed your philosophy but I +am afraid it is beyond me." + +"You were not born and reared in the jungle by wild beasts and +among wild beasts, or you would possess, as I do, the fatalism of +the jungle." + +And so they moved to the side of the gorge beneath the shade of an +overhanging rock and lay down in the hot sand to rest. Numa wandered +restlessly to and fro and finally, after sprawling for a moment +close beside the ape-man, rose and moved off up the gorge to be +lost to view a moment later beyond the nearest turn. + +For an hour the little party rested and then Tarzan suddenly +rose and, motioning the others to silence, listened. For a minute +he stood motionless, his keen ears acutely receptive to sounds so +faint and distant that none of the other three could detect the +slightest break in the utter and deathlike quiet of the gorge. +Finally the ape-man relaxed and turned toward them. "What is it?" +asked the girl. + +"They are coming," he replied. "They are yet some distance away, +though not far, for the sandaled feet of the men and the pads of +the lions make little noise upon the soft sands." + +"What shall we do--try to go on?" asked Smith-Oldwick. "I believe +I could make a go of it now for a short way. I am much rested. How +about you Miss Kircher?" + +"Oh, yes," she said, "I am much stronger. Yes, surely I can go on." + +Tarzan knew that neither of them quite spoke the truth, that people +do not recover so quickly from utter exhaustion, but he saw no +other way and there was always the hope that just beyond the next +turn would be a way out of the gorge. + +"You help the lieutenant, Otobu," he said, turning to the black, +"and I will carry Miss Kircher," and though the girl objected, +saying that he must not waste his strength, he lifted her lightly +in his arms and moved off up the canyon, followed by Otobu and +the Englishman. They had gone no great distance when the others of +the party became aware of the sounds of pursuit, for now the lions +were whining as though the fresh scent spoor of their quarry had +reached their nostrils. + +"I wish that your Numa would return," said the girl. + +"Yes," said Tarzan, "but we shall have to do the best we can +without him. I should like to find some place where we can barricade +ourselves against attack from all sides. Possibly then we might +hold them off. Smith-Oldwick is a good shot and if there are not +too many men he might be able to dispose of them provided they can +only come at him one at a time. The lions don't bother me so much. +Sometimes they are stupid animals, and I am sure that these that +pursue us, and who are so dependent upon the masters that have +raised and trained them, will be easily handled after the warriors +are disposed of." + +"You think there is some hope, then?" she asked. + +"We are still alive," was his only answer. + +"There," he said presently, "I thought I recalled this very spot." +He pointed toward a fragment that had evidently fallen from the +summit of the cliff and which now lay imbedded in the sand a few +feet from the base. It was a jagged fragment of rock which rose some +ten feet above the surface of the sand, leaving a narrow aperture +between it and the cliff behind. Toward this they directed their +steps and when finally they reached their goal they found a space +about two feet wide and ten feet long between the rock and the +cliff. To be sure it was open at both ends but at least they could +not be attacked upon all sides at once. + +They had scarcely concealed themselves before Tarzan's quick ears +caught a sound upon the face of the cliff above them, and looking +up he saw a diminutive monkey perched upon a slight projection--an +ugly-faced little monkey who looked down upon them for a moment and +then scampered away toward the south in the direction from which +their pursuers were coming. Otobu had seen the monkey too. "He will +tell the parrots," said the black, "and the parrots will tell the +madmen." + +"It is all the same," replied Tarzan; "the lions would have found +us here. We could not hope to hide from them." + +He placed Smith-Oldwick, with his pistol, at the north opening of +their haven and told Otobu to stand with his spear at the Englishman's +shoulder, while he himself prepared to guard the southern approach. +Between them he had the girl lie down in the sand. "You will be +safe there in the event that they use their spears," he said. + +The minutes that dragged by seemed veritable eternities to Bertha +Kircher and then at last, and almost with relief, she knew that the +pursuers were upon them. She heard the angry roaring of the lions +and the cries of the madmen. For several minutes the men seemed to +be investigating the stronghold which their quarry had discovered. +She could hear them both to the north and south and then from +where she lay she saw a lion charging for the ape-man before her. +She saw the giant arm swing back with the curved saber and she +saw it fall with terrific velocity and meet the lion as he rose to +grapple with the man, cleaving his skull as cleanly as a butcher +opens up a sheep. + +Then she heard footsteps running rapidly toward Smith-Oldwick and, +as his pistol spoke, there was a scream and the sound of a falling +body. Evidently disheartened by the failure of their first attempt +the assaulters drew off, but only for a short time. Again they came, +this time a man opposing Tarzan and a lion seeking to overcome +Smith-Oldwick. Tarzan had cautioned the young Englishman not +to waste his cartridges upon the lions and it was Otobu with the +Xujan spear who met the beast, which was not subdued until both +he and Smith-Oldwick had been mauled, and the latter had succeeded +in running the point of the saber the girl had carried, into the +beast's heart. The man who opposed Tarzan inadvertently came too +close in an attempt to cut at the ape-man's head, with the result +that an instant later his corpse lay with the neck broken upon the +body of the lion. + +Once again the enemy withdrew, but again only for a short time, +and now they came in full force, the lions and the men, possibly +a half dozen of each, the men casting their spears and the lions +waiting just behind, evidently for the signal to charge. + +"Is this the end?" asked the girl. + +"No," cried the ape-man, "for we still live!" + +The words had scarcely passed his lips when the remaining warriors, +rushing in, cast their spears simultaneously from both sides. In +attempting to shield the girl, Tarzan received one of the shafts +in the shoulder, and so heavily had the weapon been hurled that it +bore him backward to the ground. Smith-Oldwick fired his pistol +twice when he too was struck down, the weapon entering his right +leg midway between hip and knee. Only Otobu remained to face the +enemy, for the Englishman, already weak from his wounds and from +the latest mauling he had received at the claws of the lion, had +lost consciousness as he sank to the ground with this new hurt. + +As he fell his pistol dropped from his fingers, and the girl, seeing, +snatched it up. As Tarzan struggled to rise, one of the warriors +leaped full upon his breast and bore him back as, with fiendish +shrieks, he raised the point of his saber above the other's heart. +Before he could drive it home the girl leveled Smith-Oldwick's +pistol and fired point-blank at the fiend's face. + +Simultaneously there broke upon the astonished ears of both attackers +and attacked a volley of shots from the gorge. With the sweetness +of the voice of an angel from heaven the Europeans heard the +sharp-barked commands of an English noncom. Even above the roars +of the lions and the screams of the maniacs, those beloved tones +reached the ears of Tarzan and the girl at the very moment that +even the ape-man had given up the last vestige of hope. + +Rolling the body of the warrior to one side Tarzan struggled to +his feet, the spear still protruding from his shoulder. The girl +rose too, and as Tarzan wrenched the weapon from his flesh and stepped +out from behind the concealment of their refuge, she followed at +his side. The skirmish that had resulted in their rescue was soon +over. Most of the lions escaped but all of the pursuing Xujans +had been slain. As Tarzan and the girl came into full view of the +group, a British Tommy leveled his rifle at the ape-man. Seeing the +fellow's actions and realizing instantly the natural error that +Tarzan's yellow tunic had occasioned the girl sprang between him +and the soldier. "Don't shoot," she cried to the latter, "we are +both friends." + +"Hold up your hands, you, then," he commanded Tarzan. "I ain't +taking no chances with any duffer with a yellow shirt." + +At this juncture the British sergeant who had been in command of +the advance guard approached and when Tarzan and the girl spoke +to him in English, explaining their disguises, he accepted their +word, since they were evidently not of the same race as the creatures +which lay dead about them. Ten minutes later the main body of the +expedition came into view. Smith-Oldwick's wounds were dressed, +as well as were those of the ape-man, and in half an hour they were +on their way to the camp of their rescuers. + +That night it was arranged that the following day Smith-Oldwick and +Bertha Kircher should be transported to British headquarters near +the coast by aeroplane, the two planes attached to the expeditionary +force being requisitioned for the purpose. Tarzan and Otobu declined +the offers of the British captain to accompany his force overland +on the return march as Tarzan explained that his country lay to +the west, as did Otobu's, and that they would travel together as +far as the country of the Wamabos. + +"You are not going back with us, then?" asked the girl. + +"No," replied the ape-man. "My home is upon the west coast. I will +continue my journey in that direction." + +She cast appealing eyes toward him. "You will go back into that +terrible jungle?" she asked. "We shall never see you again?" + +He looked at her a moment in silence. "Never," he said, and without +another word turned and walked away. + +In the morning Colonel Capell came from the base camp in one of the +planes that was to carry Smith-Oldwick and the girl to the east. +Tarzan was standing some distance away as the ship landed and +the officer descended to the ground. He saw the colonel greet his +junior in command of the advance detachment, and then he saw him +turn toward Bertha Kircher who was standing a few paces behind the +captain. Tarzan wondered how the German spy felt in this situation, +especially when she must know that there was one there who knew her +real status. He saw Colonel Capell walk toward her with outstretched +hands and smiling face and, although he could not hear the words of +his greeting, he saw that it was friendly and cordial to a degree. + +Tarzan turned away scowling, and if any had been close by they +might have heard a low growl rumble from his chest. He knew that +his country was at war with Germany and that not only his duty to +the land of his fathers, but also his personal grievance against +the enemy people and his hatred of them, demanded that he expose +the girl's perfidy, and yet he hesitated, and because he hesitated +he growled--not at the German spy but at himself for his weakness. + +He did not see her again before she entered a plane and was borne +away toward the east. He bid farewell to Smith-Oldwick and received +again the oft-repeated thanks of the young Englishman. And then +he saw him too borne aloft in the high circling plane and watched +until the ship became a speck far above the eastern horizon to +disappear at last high in air. + +The Tommies, their packs and accouterments slung, were waiting the +summons to continue their return march. Colonel Capell had, through +a desire to personally observe the stretch of country between the +camp of the advance detachment and the base, decided to march back +his troops. Now that all was in readiness for departure he turned to +Tarzan. "I wish you would come back with us, Greystoke," he said, +"and if my appeal carries no inducement possibly that of Smith-Oldwick +and the young lady who just left us may. They asked me to urge +you to return to civilization." + +"No;" said Tarzan, "I shall go my own way. Miss Kircher and +Lieutenant Smith-Oldwick were only prompted by a sense of gratitude +in considering my welfare." + +"Miss Kircher?" exclaimed Capell and then he laughed, "You know +her then as Bertha Kircher, the German spy?" + +Tarzan looked at the other a moment in silence. It was beyond him +to conceive that a British officer should thus laconically speak +of an enemy spy whom he had had within his power and permitted to +escape. "Yes," he replied, "I knew that she was Bertha Kircher, +the German spy?" + +"Is that all you knew?" asked Capell. + +"That is all," said the ape-man. + +"She is the Honorable Patricia Canby," said Capell, "one of the +most valuable members of the British Intelligence Service attached +to the East African forces. Her father and I served in India together +and I have known her ever since she was born. + +"Why, here's a packet of papers she took from a German officer and +has been carrying it through all her vicissitudes--single-minded +in the performance of her duty. Look! I haven't yet had time to +examine them but as you see here is a military sketch map, a bundle +of reports, and the diary of one Hauptmann Fritz Schneider." + +"The diary of Hauptmann Fritz Schneider!" repeated Tarzan in a +constrained voice. "May I see it, Capell? He is the man who murdered +Lady Greystoke." + +The Englishman handed the little volume over to the other without +a word. Tarzan ran through the pages quickly looking for a certain +date--the date that the horror had been committed--and when he found +it he read rapidly. Suddenly a gasp of incredulity burst from his +lips. Capell looked at him questioningly. + +"God!" exclaimed the ape-man. "Can this be true? Listen!" and he +read an excerpt from the closely written page: + +"'Played a little joke on the English pig. When he comes home he +will find the burned body of his wife in her boudoir--but he will +only think it is his wife. Had von Goss substitute the body of a +dead Negress and char it after putting Lady Greystoke's rings on +it--Lady G will be of more value to the High Command alive than +dead.'" + +"She lives!" cried Tarzan. + +"Thank God!" exclaimed Capell. "And now?" + +"I will return with you, of course. How terribly I have wronged +Miss Canby, but how could I know? I even told Smith-Oldwick, who +loves her, that she was a German spy. + +"Not only must I return to find my wife but I must right this +wrong." + +"Don't worry about that," said Capell, "she must have convinced him +that she is no enemy spy, for just before they left this morning +he told me she had promised to marry him." + + + + + + Note: I have made the following changes to the text: + + PAGE LINE ORIGINAL CHANGED TO + 25 10 noislessly noiselessly + 40 34 hole bole + 41 45 later latter + 53 43 but "but + 66 19 half-smiled half-smile + 69 45 to many too many + 75 16 fine find + 81 3 forth fourth + 86 14 hoplessly hopelessly + 86 42 interferred interfered + 93 15 born borne + 101 40 Englishman Englishmen + 108 16 divertisements divertissements + 110 29 asid said + 127 14 apppreciate appreciate + 128 45 fuseluge fuselage + 138 25 as the at the + 142 34 girls' girl's + 146 44 sourroundings, surroundings, + 148 30 spirit on spirit of + 149 33 upon upon. + 153 3 immediately immediate + 153 39 nothwithstanding notwithstanding + 159 43 "The The + 163 45 known know + 171 8 one the on the + 172 8 sandled sandaled + 175 2 junlgle jungle + 181 46 swifty swiftly + 189 23 not, not. + 198 45 "Come," Come," + 219 1 still sill + 225 21 sigh or sigh of + 227 20 occasionaly occasionally + 228 5 gazing grazing + 234 24 prisoners. prisoners. + 237 11 qiuckly quickly + 237 16 opproached approached + 243 16 is his in his + 244 32 second seconds + +I have also omitted the page-wide line beneath each chapter +heading. + + + + + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's Tarzan the Untamed, by Edgar Rice Burroughs + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK TARZAN THE UNTAMED *** + +***** This file should be named 1401.txt or 1401.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/1/4/0/1401/ + +Produced by Judith Boss + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions 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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