When Jane realized that she
was being borne away a captive
by the strange forest creature
who had rescued her from the
clutches of the ape she struggled
desperately to escape, but the
strong arms that held her as
easily as though she had been
but a day-old babe only pressed
a little more tightly.
So presently she gave up the
futile effort and lay quietly,
looking through half-closed lids
at the faces of the man who strode
easily through the tangled undergrowth
with her.
The face above her was one
of extraordinary beauty.
A perfect type of the strongly
masculine, unmarred by dissipation,
or brutal or degrading passions.
For, though Tarzan of the Apes
was a killer of men and of beasts,
he killed as the hunter kills,
dispassionately, except on those
rare occasions when he had killed
for hate--though not the brooding,
malevolent hate which marks the
features of its own with hideous
lines.
When Tarzan killed he more
often smiled than scowled, and
smiles are the foundation of
beauty.
One thing the girl had noticed
particularly when she had seen
Tarzan rushing upon Terkoz--the
vivid scarlet band upon his forehead,
from above the left eye to the
scalp; but now as she scanned
his features she noticed that
it was gone, and only a thin
white line marked the spot where
it had been.
As she lay more quietly in
his arms Tarzan slightly relaxed
his grip upon her.
Once he looked down into her
eyes and smiled, and the girl
had to close her own to shut
out the vision of that handsome,
winning face.
Presently Tarzan took to the
trees, and Jane, wondering that
she felt no fear, began to realize
that in many respects she had
never felt more secure in her
whole life than now as she lay
in the arms of this strong, wild
creature, being borne, God alone
knew where or to what fate, deeper
and deeper into the savage fastness
of the untamed forest.
When, with closed eyes, she
commenced to speculate upon the
future, and terrifying fears
were conjured by a vivid imagination,
she had but to raise her lids
and look upon that noble face
so close to hers to dissipate
the last remnant of apprehension.
No, he could never harm her;
of that she was convinced when
she translated the fine features
and the frank, brave eyes above
her into the chivalry which they
proclaimed.
On and on they went through
what seemed to Jane a solid mass
of verdure, yet ever there appeared
to open before this forest god
a passage, as by magic, which
closed behind them as they passed.
Scarce a branch scraped against
her, yet above and below, before
and behind, the view presented
naught but a solid mass of inextricably
interwoven branches and creepers.
As Tarzan moved steadily onward
his mind was occupied with many
strange and new thoughts. Here
was a problem the like of which
he had never encountered, and
he felt rather than reasoned
that he must meet it as a man
and not as an ape.
The free movement through the
middle terrace, which was the
route he had followed for the
most part, had helped to cool
the ardor of the first fierce
passion of his new found love.
Now he discovered himself speculating
upon the fate which would have
fallen to the girl had he not
rescued her from Terkoz.
He knew why the ape had not
killed her, and he commenced
to compare his intentions with
those of Terkoz.
True, it was the order of the
jungle for the male to take his
mate by force; but could Tarzan
be guided by the laws of the
beasts? Was not Tarzan a Man?
But what did men do? He was puzzled;
for he did not know.
He wished that he might ask
the girl, and then it came to
him that she had already answered
him in the futile struggle she
had made to escape and to repulse
him.
But now they had come to their
destination, and Tarzan of the
Apes with Jane in his strong
arms, swung lightly to the turf
of the arena where the great
apes held their councils and
danced the wild orgy of the Dum-Dum.
Though they had come many miles,
it was still but midafternoon,
and the amphitheater was bathed
in the half light which filtered
through the maze of encircling
foliage.
The green turf looked soft
and cool and inviting. The myriad
noises of the jungle seemed far
distant and hushed to a mere
echo of blurred sounds, rising
and falling like the surf upon
a remote shore.
A feeling of dreamy peacefulness
stole over Jane as she sank down
upon the grass where Tarzan had
placed her, and as she looked
up at his great figure towering
above her, there was added a
strange sense of perfect security.
As she watched him from beneath
half-closed lids, Tarzan crossed
the little circular clearing
toward the trees upon the further
side. She noted the graceful
majesty of his carriage, the
perfect symmetry of his magnificent
figure and the poise of his well-shaped
head upon his broad shoulders.
What a perfect creature! There
could be naught of cruelty or
baseness beneath that godlike
exterior. Never, she thought
had such a man strode the earth
since God created the first in
his own image.
With a bound Tarzan sprang
into the trees and disappeared.
Jane wondered where he had gone.
Had he left her there to her
fate in the lonely jungle?
She glanced nervously about.
Every vine and bush seemed but
the lurking-place of some huge
and horrible beast waiting to
bury gleaming fangs into her
soft flesh. Every sound she magnified
into the stealthy creeping of
a sinuous and malignant body.
How different now that he had
left her!
For a few minutes that seemed
hours to the frightened girl,
she sat with tense nerves waiting
for the spring of the crouching
thing that was to end her misery
of apprehension.
She almost prayed for the cruel
teeth that would give her unconsciousness
and surcease from the agony of
fear.
She heard a sudden, slight
sound behind her. With a cry
she sprang to her feet and turned
to face her end.
There stood Tarzan, his arms
filled with ripe and luscious
fruit.
Jane reeled and would have
fallen, had not Tarzan, dropping
his burden, caught her in his
arms. She did not lose consciousness,
but she clung tightly to him,
shuddering and trembling like
a frightened deer.
Tarzan of the Apes stroked
her soft hair and tried to comfort
and quiet her as Kala had him,
when, as a little ape, he had
been frightened by Sabor, the
lioness, or Histah, the snake.
Once he pressed his lips lightly
upon her forehead, and she did
not move, but closed her eyes
and sighed.
She could not analyze her feelings,
nor did she wish to attempt it.
She was satisfied to feel the
safety of those strong arms,
and to leave her future to fate;
for the last few hours had taught
her to trust this strange wild
creature of the forest as she
would have trusted but few of
the men of her acquaintance.
As she thought of the strangeness
of it, there commenced to dawn
upon her the realization that
she had, possibly, learned something
else which she had never really
known before--love. She wondered
and then she smiled.
And still smiling, she pushed
Tarzan gently away; and looking
at him with a half-smiling, half-quizzical
expression that made her face
wholly entrancing, she pointed
to the fruit upon the ground,
and seated herself upon the edge
of the earthen drum of the anthropoids,
for hunger was asserting itself.
Tarzan quickly gathered up
the fruit, and, bringing it,
laid it at her feet; and then
he, too, sat upon the drum beside
her, and with his knife opened
and prepared the various fruits
for her meal.
Together and in silence they
ate, occasionally stealing sly
glances at one another, until
finally Jane broke into a merry
laugh in which Tarzan joined.
"I wish you spoke English," said
the girl.
Tarzan shook his head, and
an expression of wistful and
pathetic longing sobered his
laughing eyes.
Then Jane tried speaking to
him in French, and then in German;
but she had to laugh at her own
blundering attempt at the latter
tongue.
"Anyway," she said to him in
English, "you understand my German
as well as they did in Berlin."
Tarzan had long since reached
a decision as to what his future
procedure should be. He had had
time to recollect all that he
had read of the ways of men and
women in the books at the cabin.
He would act as he imagined the
men in the books would have acted
were they in his place.
Again he rose and went into
the trees, but first he tried
to explain by means of signs
that he would return shortly,
and he did so well that Jane
understood and was not afraid
when he had gone.
Only a feeling of loneliness
came over her and she watched
the point where he had disappeared,
with longing eyes, awaiting his
return. As before, she was appraised
of his presence by a soft sound
behind her, and turned to see
him coming across the turf with
a great armful of branches.
Then he went back again into
the jungle and in a few minutes
reappeared with a quantity of
soft grasses and ferns.
Two more trips he made until
he had quite a pile of material
at hand.
Then he spread the ferns and
grasses upon the ground in a
soft flat bed, and above it leaned
many branches together so that
they met a few feet over its
center. Upon these he spread
layers of huge leaves of the
great elephant's ear, and with
more branches and more leaves
he closed one end of the little
shelter he had built.
Then they sat down together
again upon the edge of the drum
and tried to talk by signs.
The magnificent diamond locket
which hung about Tarzan's neck,
had been a source of much wonderment
to Jane. She pointed to it now,
and Tarzan removed it and handed
the pretty bauble to her.
She saw that it was the work
of a skilled artisan and that
the diamonds were of great brilliancy
and superbly set, but the cutting
of them denoted that they were
of a former day. She noticed
too that the locket opened, and,
pressing the hidden clasp, she
saw the two halves spring apart
to reveal in either section an
ivory miniature.
One was of a beautiful woman
and the other might have been
a likeness of the man who sat
beside her, except for a subtle
difference of expression that
was scarcely definable.
She looked up at Tarzan to
find him leaning toward her gazing
on the miniatures with an expression
of astonishment. He reached out
his hand for the locket and took
it away from her, examining the
likenesses within with unmistakable
signs of surprise and new interest.
His manner clearly denoted that
he had never before seen them,
nor imagined that the locket
opened.
This fact caused Jane to indulge
in further speculation, and it
taxed her imagination to picture
how this beautiful ornament came
into the possession of a wild
and savage creature of the unexplored
jungles of Africa.
Still more wonderful was how
it contained the likeness of
one who might be a brother, or,
more likely, the father of this
woodland demi-god who was even
ignorant of the fact that the
locket opened.
Tarzan was still gazing with
fixity at the two faces. Presently
he removed the quiver from his
shoulder, and emptying the arrows
upon the ground reached into
the bottom of the bag-like receptacle
and drew forth a flat object
wrapped in many soft leaves and
tied with bits of long grass.
Carefully he unwrapped it,
removing layer after layer of
leaves until at length he held
a photograph in his hand.
Pointing to the miniature of
the man within the locket he
handed the photograph to Jane,
holding the open locket beside
it.
The photograph only served
to puzzle the girl still more,
for it was evidently another
likeness of the same man whose
picture rested in the locket
beside that of the beautiful
young woman.
Tarzan was looking at her with
an expression of puzzled bewilderment
in his eyes as she glanced up
at him. He seemed to be framing
a question with his lips.
The girl pointed to the photograph
and then to the miniature and
then to him, as though to indicate
that she thought the likenesses
were of him, but he only shook
his head, and then shrugging
his great shoulders, he took
the photograph from her and having
carefully rewrapped it, placed
it again in the bottom of his
quiver.
For a few moments he sat in
silence, his eyes bent upon the
ground, while Jane held the little
locket in her hand, turning it
over and over in an endeavor
to find some further clue that
might lead to the identity of
its original owner.
At length a simple explanation
occurred to her.
The locket had belonged to
Lord Greystoke, and the likenesses
were of himself and Lady Alice.
This wild creature had simply
found it in the cabin by the
beach. How stupid of her not
to have thought of that solution
before.
But to account for the strange
likeness between Lord Greystoke
and this forest god--that was
quite beyond her, and it is not
strange that she could not imagine
that this naked savage was indeed
an English nobleman.
At length Tarzan looked up
to watch the girl as she examined
the locket. He could not fathom
the meaning of the faces within,
but he could read the interest
and fascination upon the face
of the live young creature by
his side.
She noticed that he was watching
her and thinking that he wished
his ornament again she held it
out to him. He took it from her
and taking the chain in his two
hands he placed it about her
neck, smiling at her expression
of surprise at his unexpected
gift.
Jane shook her head vehemently
and would have removed the golden
links from about her throat,
but Tarzan would not let her.
Taking her hands in his, when
she insisted upon it, he held
them tightly to prevent her.
At last she desisted and with
a little laugh raised the locket
to her lips.
Tarzan did not know precisely
what she meant, but he guessed
correctly that it was her way
of acknowledging the gift, and
so he rose, and taking the locket
in his hand, stooped gravely
like some courtier of old, and
pressed his lips upon it where
hers had rested.
It was a stately and gallant
little compliment performed with
the grace and dignity of utter
unconsciousness of self. It was
the hall-mark of his aristocratic
birth, the natural outcropping
of many generations of fine breeding,
an hereditary instinct of graciousness
which a lifetime of uncouth and
savage training and environment
could not eradicate.
It was growing dark now, and
so they ate again of the fruit
which was both food and drink
for them; then Tarzan rose, and
leading Jane to the little bower
he had erected, motioned her
to go within.
For the first time in hours
a feeling of fear swept over
her, and Tarzan felt her draw
away as though shrinking from
him.
Contact with this girl for
half a day had left a very diferent
Tarzan from the one on whom the
morning's sun had risen.
Now, in every fiber of his
being, heredity spoke louder
than training.
He had not in one swift transition
become a polished gentleman from
a savage ape-man, but at last
the instincts of the former predominated,
and over all was the desire to
please the woman he loved, and
to appear well in her eyes.
So Tarzan of the Apes did the
only thing he knew to assure
Jane of her safety. He removed
his hunting knife from its sheath
and handed it to her hilt first,
again motioning her into the
bower.
The girl understood, and taking
the long knife she entered and
lay down upon the soft grasses
while Tarzan of the Apes stretched
himself upon the ground across
the entrance.
And thus the rising sun found
them in the morning.
When Jane awoke, she did not
at first recall the strange events
of the preceding day, and so
she wondered at her odd surroundings--the
little leafy bower, the soft
grasses of her bed, the unfamiliar
prospect from the opening at
her feet.
Slowly the circumstances of
her position crept one by one
into her mind. And then a great
wonderment arose in her heart--a
mighty wave of thankfulness and
gratitude that though she had
been in such terrible danger,
yet she was unharmed.
She moved to the entrance of
the shelter to look for Tarzan.
He was gone; but this time no
fear assailed her for she knew
that he would return.
In the grass at the entrance
to her bower she saw the imprint
of his body where he had lain
all night to guard her. She knew
that the fact that he had been
there was all that had permitted
her to sleep in such peaceful
security.
With him near, who could entertain
fear? She wondered if there was
another man on earth with whom
a girl could feel so safe in
the heart of this savage African
jungle. Even the lions and panthers
had no fears for her now.
She looked up to see his lithe
form drop softly from a near-by
tree. As he caught her eyes upon
him his face lighted with that
frank and radiant smile that
had won her confidence the day
before.
As he approached her Jane's
heart beat faster and her eyes
brightened as they had never
done before at the approach of
any man.
He had again been gathering
fruit and this he laid at the
entrance of her bower. Once more
they sat down together to eat.
Jane commenced to wonder what
his plans were. Would he take
her back to the beach or would
he keep her here? Suddenly she
realized that the matter did
not seem to give her much concern.
Could it be that she did not
care!
She began to comprehend, also,
that she was entirely contented
sitting here by the side of this
smiling giant eating delicious
fruit in a sylvan paradise far
within the remote depths of an
African jungle--that she was
contented and very happy.
She could not understand it.
Her reason told her that she
should be torn by wild anxieties,
weighted by dread fears, cast
down by gloomy forebodings; but
instead, her heart was singing
and she was smiling into the
answering face of the man beside
her.
When they had finished their
breakfast Tarzan went to her
bower and recovered his knife.
The girl had entirely forgotten
it. She realized that it was
because she had forgotten the
fear that prompted her to accept
it.
Motioning her to follow, Tarzan
walked toward the trees at the
edge of the arena, and taking
her in one strong arm swung to
the branches above.
The girl knew that he was taking
her back to her people, and she
could not understand the sudden
feeling of loneliness and sorrow
which crept over her.
For hours they swung slowly
along.
Tarzan of the Apes did not
hurry. He tried to draw out the
sweet pleasure of that journey
with those dear arms about his
neck as long as possible, and
so he went far south of the direct
route to the beach.
Several times they halted for
brief rests, which Tarzan did
not need, and at noon they stopped
for an hour at a little brook,
where they quenched their thirst,
and ate.
So it was nearly sunset when
they came to the clearing, and
Tarzan, dropping to the ground
beside a great tree, parted the
tall jungle grass and pointed
out the little cabin to her.
She took him by the hand to
lead him to it, that she might
tell her father that this man
had saved her from death and
worse than death, that he had
watched over her as carefully
as a mother might have done.
But again the timidity of the
wild thing in the face of human
habitation swept over Tarzan
of the Apes. He drew back, shaking
his head.
The girl came close to him,
looking up with pleading eyes.
Somehow she could not bear the
thought of his going back into
the terrible jungle alone.
Still he shook his head, and
finally he drew her to him very
gently and stooped to kiss her,
but first he looked into her
eyes and waited to learn if she
were pleased, or if she would
repulse him.
Just an instant the girl hesitated,
and then she realized the truth,
and throwing her arms about his
neck she drew his face to hers
and kissed him--unashamed.
"I love you--I love you," she
murmured.
From far in the distance came
the faint sound of many guns.
Tarzan and Jane raised their
heads.
From the cabin came Mr. Philander
and Esmeralda.
From where Tarzan and the girl
stood they could not see the
two vessels lying at anchor in
the harbor.
Tarzan pointed toward the sounds,
touched his breast and pointed
again. She understood. He was
going, and something told her
that it was because he thought
her people were in danger.
Again he kissed her.
"Come back to me," she whispered. "I
shall wait for you--always."
He was gone--and Jane turned
to walk across the clearing to
the cabin.
Mr. Philander was the first
to see her. It was dusk and Mr.
Philander was very near sighted.
"Quickly, Esmeralda!" he cried. "Let
us seek safety within; it is
a lioness. Bless me!"
Esmeralda did
not bother to verify Mr. Philander's
vision.
His tone was enough. She was
within the cabin and had slammed
and bolted the door before he
had finished pronouncing her
name. The "Bless me" was startled
out of Mr. Philander by the discovery
that Esmeralda, in the exuberance
of her haste, had fastened him
upon the same side of the door
as was the close-approaching
lioness.
He beat furiously upon the
heavy portal.
"Esmeralda! Esmeralda!" he
shrieked. "Let me in. I am being
devoured by a lion."
Esmeralda thought that the
noise upon the door was made
by the lioness in her attempts
to pursue her, so, after her
custom, she fainted.
Mr. Philander cast a frightened
glance behind him.
Horrors! The thing was quite
close now. He tried to scramble
up the side of the cabin, and
succeeded in catching a fleeting
hold upon the thatched roof.
For a moment he hung there,
clawing with his feet like a
cat on a clothesline, but presently
a piece of the thatch came away,
and Mr. Philander, preceding
it, was precipitated upon his
back.
At the instant he fell a remarkable
item of natural history leaped
to his mind. If one feigns death
lions and lionesses are supposed
to ignore one, according to Mr.
Philander's faulty memory.
So Mr. Philander lay as he
had fallen, frozen into the horrid
semblance of death. As his arms
and legs had been extended stiffly
upward as he came to earth upon
his back the attitude of death
was anything but impressive.
Jane had been watching his
antics in mild-eyed surprise.
Now she laughed--a little choking
gurgle of a laugh; but it was
enough. Mr. Philander rolled
over upon his side and peered
about. At length he discovered
her.
"Jane!" he cried. "Jane
Porter. Bless me!"
He scrambled to his feet and
rushed toward her. He could not
believe that it was she, and
alive.
"Bless me!" Where
did you come from? Where in
the world have
you been? How--"
"Mercy, Mr. Philander," interrupted
the girl, "I can never remember
so many questions."
"Well, well," said Mr. Philander. "Bless
me! I am so filled with surprise
and exuberant delight at seeing
you safe and well again that
I scarcely know what I am saying,
really. But come, tell me all
that has happened to you."
|