After Clayton had plunged into
the jungle, the sailors --mutineers
of the Arrow--fell into a discussion
of their next step; but on one
point all were agreed--that they
should hasten to put off to the
anchored Arrow, where they could
at least be safe from the spears
of their unseen foe. And so,
while Jane Porter and Esmeralda
were barricading themselves within
the cabin, the cowardly crew
of cutthroats were pulling rapidly
for their ship in the two boats
that had brought them ashore.
So much had Tarzan seen that
day that his head was in a whirl
of wonder. But the most wonderful
sight of all, to him, was the
face of the beautiful white girl.
Here at last was one of his
own kind; of that he was positive.
And the young man and the two
old men; they, too, were much
as he had pictured his own people
to be.
But doubtless they were as
ferocious and cruel as other
men he had seen. The fact that
they alone of all the party were
unarmed might account for the
fact that they had killed no
one. They might be very different
if provided with weapons.
Tarzan had seen the young man
pick up the fallen revolver of
the wounded Snipes and hide it
away in his breast; and he had
also seen him slip it cautiously
to the girl as she entered the
cabin door.
He did not understand anything
of the motives behind all that
he had seen; but, somehow, intuitively
he liked the young man and the
two old men, and for the girl
he had a strange longing which
he scarcely understood. As for
the big black woman, she was
evidently connected in some way
to the girl, and so he liked
her, also.
For the sailors, and especially
Snipes, he had developed a great
hatred. He knew by their threatening
gestures and by the expression
upon their evil faces that they
were enemies of the others of
the party, and so he decided
to watch closely.
Tarzan wondered why the men
had gone into the jungle, nor
did it ever occur to him that
one could become lost in that
maze of undergrowth which to
him was as simple as is the main
street of your own home town
to you.
When he saw the sailors row
away toward the ship, and knew
that the girl and her companion
were safe in his cabin, Tarzan
decided to follow the young man
into the jungle and learn what
his errand might be. He swung
off rapidly in the direction
taken by Clayton, and in a short
time heard faintly in the distance
the now only occasional calls
of the Englishman to his friends.
Presently Tarzan came up with
the white man, who, almost fagged,
was leaning against a tree wiping
the perspiration from his forehead.
The ape-man, hiding safe behind
a screen of foliage, sat watching
this new specimen of his own
race intently.
At intervals Clayton called
aloud and finally it came to
Tarzan that he was searching
for the old man.
Tarzan was on the point of
going off to look for them himself,
when he caught the yellow glint
of a sleek hide moving cautiously
through the jungle toward Clayton.
It was Sheeta, the leopard.
Now, Tarzan heard the soft bending
of grasses and wondered why the
young white man was not warned.
Could it be he had failed to
note the loud warning? Never
before had Tarzan known Sheeta
to be so clumsy.
No, the white man did not hear.
Sheeta was crouching for the
spring, and then, shrill and
horrible, there rose from the
stillness of the jungle the awful
cry of the challenging ape, and
Sheeta turned, crashing into
the underbrush.
Clayton came to his feet with
a start. His blood ran cold.
Never in all his life had so
fearful a sound smote upon his
ears. He was no coward; but if
ever man felt the icy fingers
of fear upon his heart, William
Cecil Clayton, eldest son of
Lord Greystoke of England, did
that day in the fastness of the
African jungle.
The noise of some great body
crashing through the underbrush
so close beside him, and the
sound of that bloodcurdling shriek
from above, tested Clayton's
courage to the limit; but he
could not know that it was to
that very voice he owed his life,
nor that the creature who hurled
it forth was his own cousin--the
real Lord Greystoke.
The afternoon was drawing to
a close, and Clayton, disheartened
and discouraged, was in a terrible
quandary as to the proper course
to pursue; whether to keep on
in search of Professor Porter,
at the almost certain risk of
his own death in the jungle by
night, or to return to the cabin
where he might at least serve
to protect Jane from the perils
which confronted her on all sides.
He did not wish to return to
camp without her father; still
more, he shrank from the thought
of leaving her alone and unprotected
in the hands of the mutineers
of the Arrow, or to the hundred
unknown dangers of the jungle.
Possibly, too, he thought,
the professor and Philander might
have returned to camp. Yes, that
was more than likely. At least
he would return and see, before
he continued what seemed to be
a most fruitless quest. And so
he started, stumbling back through
the thick and matted underbrush
in the direction that he thought
the cabin lay.
To Tarzan's surprise the young
man was heading further into
the jungle in the general direction
of Mbonga's village, and the
shrewd young ape-man was convinced
that he was lost.
To Tarzan this was scarcely
incomprehensible; his judgment
told him that no man would venture
toward the village of the cruel
blacks armed only with a spear
which, from the awkward way in
which he carried it, was evidently
an unaccustomed weapon to this
white man. Nor was he following
the trail of the old men. That,
they had crossed and left long
since, though it had been fresh
and plain before Tarzan's eyes.
Tarzan was perplexed. The fierce
jungle would make easy prey of
this unprotected stranger in
a very short time if he were
not guided quickly to the beach.
Yes, there was Numa, the lion,
even now, stalking the white
man a dozen paces to the right.
Clayton heard the great body
paralleling his course, and now
there rose upon the evening air
the beast's thunderous roar.
The man stopped with upraised
spear and faced the brush from
which issued the awful sound.
The shadows were deepening, darkness
was settling in.
God! To die here alone, beneath
the fangs of wild beasts; to
be torn and rended; to feel the
hot breath of the brute on his
face as the great paw crushed
down up his breast!
For a moment all was still.
Clayton stood rigid, with raised
spear. Presently a faint rustling
of the bush apprised him of the
stealthy creeping of the thing
behind. It was gathering for
the spring. At last he saw it,
not twenty feet away--the long,
lithe, muscular body and tawny
head of a huge black-maned lion.
The beast was upon its belly,
moving forward very slowly. As
its eyes met Clayton's it stopped,
and deliberately, cautiously
gathered its hind quarters behind
it.
In agony the man watched, fearful
to launch his spear, powerless
to fly.
He heard a noise in the tree
above him. Some new danger, he
thought, but he dared not take
his eyes from the yellow green
orbs before him. There was a
sharp twang as of a broken banjo-string,
and at the same instant an arrow
appeared in the yellow hide of
the crouching lion.
With a roar of pain and anger
the beast sprang; but, somehow,
Clayton stumbled to one side,
and as he turned again to face
the infuriated king of beasts,
he was appalled at the sight
which confronted him. Almost
simultaneously with the lion's
turning to renew the attack a
half-naked giant dropped from
the tree above squarely on the
brute's back.
With lightning speed an arm
that was banded layers of iron
muscle encircled the huge neck,
and the great beast was raised
from behind, roaring and pawing
the air--raised as easily as
Clayton would have lifted a pet
dog.
The scene he witnessed there
in the twilight depths of the
African jungle was burned forever
into the Englishman's brain.
The man before him was the
embodiment of physical perfection
and giant strength; yet it was
not upon these he depended in
his battle with the great cat,
for mighty as were his muscles,
they were as nothing by comparison
with Numa's. To his agility,
to his brain and to his long
keen knife he owed his supremacy.
His right arm encircled the
lion's neck, while the left hand
plunged the knife time and again
into the unprotected side behind
the left shoulder. The infuriated
beast, pulled up and backwards
until he stood upon his hind
legs, struggled impotently in
this unnatural position.
Had the battle been of a few
seconds' longer duration the
outcome might have been different,
but it was all accomplished so
quickly that the lion had scarce
time to recover from the confusion
of its surprise ere it sank lifeless
to the ground.
Then the strange figure which
had vanquished it stood erect
upon the carcass, and throwing
back the wild and handsome head,
gave out the fearsome cry which
a few moments earlier had so
startled Clayton.
Before him he saw the figure
of a young man, naked except
for a loin cloth and a few barbaric
ornaments about arms and legs;
on the breast a priceless diamond
locket gleaming against a smooth
brown skin.
The hunting knife had been
returned to its homely sheath,
and the man was gathering up
his bow and quiver from where
he had tossed them when he leaped
to attack the lion.
Clayton spoke to the stranger
in English, thanking him for
his brave rescue and complimenting
him on the wondrous strength
and dexterity he had displayed,
but the only answer was a steady
stare and a faint shrug of the
mighty shoulders, which might
betoken either disparagement
of the service rendered, or ignorance
of Clayton's language.
When the bow and quiver had
been slung to his back the wild
man, for such Clayton now thought
him, once more drew his knife
and deftly carved a dozen large
strips of meat from the lion's
carcass. Then, squatting upon
his haunches, he proceeded to
eat, first motioning Clayton
to join him.
The strong white teeth sank
into the raw and dripping flesh
in apparent relish of the meal,
but Clayton could not bring himself
to share the uncooked meat with
his strange host; instead he
watched him, and presently there
dawned upon him the conviction
that this was Tarzan of the Apes,
whose notice he had seen posted
upon the cabin door that morning.
If so he must speak English.
Again Clayton attempted speech
with the ape-man; but the replies,
now vocal, were in a strange
tongue, which resembled the chattering
of monkeys mingled with the growling
of some wild beast.
No, this could not be Tarzan
of the Apes, for it was very
evident that he was an utter
stranger to English.
When Tarzan had completed his
repast he rose and, pointing
a very different direction from
that which Clayton had been pursuing,
started off through the jungle
toward the point he had indicated.
Clayton, bewildered and confused,
hesitated to follow him, for
he thought he was but being led
more deeply into the mazes of
the forest; but the ape-man,
seeing him disinclined to follow,
returned, and, grasping him by
the coat, dragged him along until
he was convinced that Clayton
understood what was required
of him. Then he left him to follow
voluntarily.
The Englishman, finally concluding
that he was a prisoner, saw no
alternative open but to accompany
his captor, and thus they traveled
slowly through the jungle while
the sable mantle of the impenetrable
forest night fell about them,
and the stealthy footfalls of
padded paws mingled with the
breaking of twigs and the wild
calls of the savage life that
Clayton felt closing in upon
him.
Suddenly Clayton heard the
faint report of a firearm--a
single shot, and then silence.
In the cabin by the beach two
thoroughly terrified women clung
to each other as they crouched
upon the low bench in the gathering
darkness.
The Negress sobbed hysterically,
bemoaning the evil day that had
witnessed her departure from
her dear Maryland, while the
white girl, dry eyed and outwardly
calm, was torn by inward fears
and forebodings. She feared not
more for herself than for the
three men whom she knew to be
wandering in the abysmal depths
of the savage jungle, from which
she now heard issuing the almost
incessant shrieks and roars,
barkings and growlings of its
terrifying and fearsome denizens
as they sought their prey.
And now there came the sound
of a heavy body brushing against
the side of the cabin. She could
hear the great padded paws upon
the ground outside. For an instant,
all was silence; even the bedlam
of the forest died to a faint
murmur. Then she distinctly heard
the beast outside sniffing at
the door, not two feet from where
she crouched. Instinctively the
girl shuddered, and shrank closer
to the black woman.
"Hush!" she whispered. "Hush,
Esmeralda," for the woman's sobs
and groans seemed to have attracted
the thing that stalked there
just beyond the thin wall.
A gentle scratching sound was
heard on the door. The brute
tried to force an entrance; but
presently this ceased, and again
she heard the great pads creeping
stealthily around the cabin.
Again they stopped--beneath the
window on which the terrified
eyes of the girl now glued themselves.
"God!" she
murmured, for now, silhouetted
against the moonlit
sky beyond, she saw framed in
the tiny square of the latticed
window the head of a huge lioness.
The gleaming eyes were fixed
upon her in intent ferocity.
"Look, Esmeralda!" she whispered. "For
God's sake, what shall we do?
Look! Quick! The window!"
Esmeralda, cowering still closer
to her mistress, took one frightened
glance toward the little square
of moonlight, just as the lioness
emitted a low, savage snarl.
The sight that met the poor
woman's eyes was too much for
the already overstrung nerves.
"Oh, Gaberelle!" she
shrieked, and slid to the floor
an inert
and senseless mass.
For what seemed an eternity
the great brute stood with its
forepaws upon the sill, glaring
into the little room. Presently
it tried the strength of the
lattice with its great talons.
The girl had almost ceased
to breathe, when, to her relief,
the head disappeared and she
heard the brute's footsteps leaving
the window. But now they came
to the door again, and once more
the scratching commenced; this
time with increasing force until
the great beast was tearing at
the massive panels in a perfect
frenzy of eagerness to seize
its defenseless victims.
Could Jane have known the immense
strength of that door, built
piece by piece, she would have
felt less fear of the lioness
reaching her by this avenue.
Little did John Clayton imagine
when he fashioned that crude
but mighty portal that one day,
twenty years later, it would
shield a fair American girl,
then unborn, from the teeth and
talons of a man-eater.
For fully twenty minutes the
brute alternately sniffed and
tore at the door, occasionally
giving voice to a wild, savage
cry of baffled rage. At length,
however, she gave up the attempt,
and Jane heard her returning
toward the window, beneath which
she paused for an instant, and
then launched her great weight
against the timeworn lattice.
The girl heard the wooden rods
groan beneath the impact; but
they held, and the huge body
dropped back to the ground below.
Again and again the lioness
repeated these tactics, until
finally the horrified prisoner
within saw a portion of the lattice
give way, and in an instant one
great paw and the head of the
animal were thrust within the
room.
Slowly the powerful neck and
shoulders spread the bars apart,
and the lithe body protruded
farther and farther into the
room.
As in a trance, the girl rose,
her hand upon her breast, wide
eyes staring horror-stricken
into the snarling face of the
beast scarce ten feet from her.
At her feet lay the prostrate
form of the Negress. If she could
but arouse her, their combined
efforts might possibly avail
to beat back the fierce and bloodthirsty
intruder.
Jane stooped to grasp the black
woman by the shoulder. Roughly
she shook her.
"Esmeralda! Esmeralda!" she
cried. "Help me, or we are lost."
Esmeralda opened her eyes.
The first object they encountered
was the dripping fangs of the
hungry lioness.
With a horrified
scream the poor woman rose
to her hands
and knees, and in this position
scurried across the room, shrieking: "O
Gaberelle! O Gaberelle!" at the
top of her lungs.
Esmeralda weighed some two
hundred and eighty pounds, and
her extreme haste, added to her
extreme corpulency, produced
a most amazing result when Esmeralda
elected to travel on all fours.
For a moment the lioness remained
quiet with intense gaze directed
upon the flitting Esmeralda,
whose goal appeared to be the
cupboard, into which she attempted
to propel her huge bulk; but
as the shelves were but nine
or ten inches apart, she only
succeeded in getting her head
in; whereupon, with a final screech,
which paled the jungle noises
into insignificance, she fainted
once again.
With the subsidence of Esmeralda
the lioness renewed her efforts
to wriggle her huge bulk through
the weakening lattice.
The girl, standing pale and
rigid against the farther wall,
sought with ever-increasing terror
for some loophole of escape.
Suddenly her hand, tight-pressed
against her bosom, felt the hard
outline of the revolver that
Clayton had left with her earlier
in the day.
Quickly she snatched it from
its hiding-place, and, leveling
it full at the lioness's face,
pulled the trigger.
There was a flash of flame,
the roar of the discharge, and
an answering roar of pain and
anger from the beast.
Jane Porter saw the great form
disappear from the window, and
then she, too, fainted, the revolver
falling at her side.
But Sabor was not killed. The
bullet had but inflicted a painful
wound in one of the great shoulders.
It was the surprise at the blinding
flash and the deafening roar
that had caused her hasty but
temporary retreat.
In another instant she was
back at the lattice, and with
renewed fury was clawing at the
aperture, but with lessened effect,
since the wounded member was
almost useless.
She saw her prey--the two women--lying
senseless upon the floor. There
was no longer any resistance
to be overcome. Her meat lay
before her, and Sabor had only
to worm her way through the lattice
to claim it.
Slowly she forced her great
bulk, inch by inch, through the
opening. Now her head was through,
now one great forearm and shoulder.
Carefully she drew up the wounded
member to insinuate it gently
beyond the tight pressing bars.
A moment more and both shoulders
through, the long, sinuous body
and the narrow hips would glide
quickly after.
It was on this sight that Jane
Porter again opened her eyes.
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