TARZAN
the Untamed
The limb bent beneath the weight of the two.
Page 18
T A R Z A N
THE UNTAMED
BY
EDGAR RICE BURROUGHS
AUTHOR OF
JUNGLE TALES OF TARZAN,
THE WARLORD OF MARS.
THE GODS OF MARS, ETC.
ILLUSTRATED BY
J. ALLEN ST. JOHN
GROSSET & DUNLAP
PUBLISHERS NEWYORK
Made in the United 6tate» of America
Copyright
Edgar Rice Burroughs
1920
Published April, 1920
iff Great Britain
CONTENTS
CHAPTER PAGE
I Murder and Pillage 2
II The Lion's Cave 20
III In the German Lines 41
IV When the Lion Fed 55
V The Golden Locket 77
VI Vengeance and Mercy 98
VII When Blood Told 114
VIII Tarzan and the Great Apes 129
IX Dropped from the Sky 155
X In the Hands of Savages 177
XI Finding the Airplane 199
XII The Black Flier 216
XIII Usanga's Reward 228
XIV The Black Lion 240
XV Mysterious Footprints 257
XVI The Night Attack 276
XVII The Walled City 289
XVIII Among the Maniacs 305
XIX The Queen's Story ........ S26
XX Came Tarzan 350
XXI In the Alcove 363
XXII Out of the Niche 382
XXIII The Flight from Xuja 396
XXIV The Tommies . . 416
TARZAN
the Untamed
Tarzan the Untamed
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 Unterlieutenant 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 circumspec
tion 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 com
pany, behind him the other half — thus were the
dangers of the savage jungle minimized for the
German captain. At the forefront of the columni
TARZAN THE UNTAMED
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 Ger
man 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 deni
zens of the jungle.
Here Tantor, the elephant, took his long way
.from dust wallow to water. Here Buto, the rhinoc-
MURDER AND PILLAGE
eros, blundered blindly in his solitary majesty, while
by night the great cats paced silently upon their
padded feet beneath the dense canopy of overreach
ing trees toward the broad plain beyond where they
found their best hunting.
It was at the edge of this plain which came sud
denly 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 impene
trable jungle, the broad vista of waving grasses dot
ted here and there with open parklike 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 com
panions. "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 up^n the English swinehund long
TARZAN THE UNTAMED
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 lieu
tenant, "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
were 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
Tie had received news of the World War that had
already started, and anticipating an immediate in-
MURDER AND PILLAGE
vasion 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 wha
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 chatter
ing 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
6 TARZAN THE UNTAMED
the myriad life that trod the matted vegetation be
tween the boles of the great trees, or flew or swung
or climbed in the leafy fastnesses upward to the
very apex of the loftiest terraces.
And Numa, 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 iing 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, how
ever 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
iis part before he would swing at last from the
MURDER AND PILLAGE
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 wh:ch
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
the 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
'8 TARZAN THE UNTAMED
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 blood-
lust 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 per
sonal 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 con
fines 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
Ibodies 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
MURDER AND PILLAGE 9
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.
10 TARZAN THE UNTAMED
At one side of the house Tarzan found other
newly made graves and in these he sought final evi
dence 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 tht 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 tafok 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 farevell. As the sun sank slowly
behind the towering fo/ests of the west, he turned
slowly away upon the sti}l- distinct trail of Haupt-
mann 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, sub-,
consciously, 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
MURDER AND PILLAGE 11
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 en
nobled him as it has ennobled countless thousands
since — hatred for Germany and Germans. It cen
tered about the slayer of his mate, of course; but
it included everything German, animate or inani
mate. 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 peace
ful bungalow behind him; and he cursed their
progenitors, their progeny, and all their kind the
while he took silent oath to war upon them relent
lessly 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 happi
ness, 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 curtail
ment of freedom in all its aspects — freedom of
TARZAN THE UNTAMED
action, freedom of thought, freedom of love, freedom
of hate. Clothes he abhorred — uncomfortable,
hideous, confining things that reminded him some
how 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 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-propor
tioned 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 self
ishness 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
MURDER AND PILLAGE 13
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 in
cluded 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 limi
tations. 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.
TARZAN THE UNTAMJ^u
Inwardly as well as outwardly Tarzan had re
verted 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 ti-me for the accomplishment of objects.
The ape-man, naturally, had a slightly more com
prehensive realization of the limitations of time;
but, like the beasts, he moved with majestic delibera
tion when no emergency prompted him to swift
action.
Having dedicated his life to vengeance, vengeance
became his natural state and, therefore, no emer
gency, 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 misrht have
proven terrifying with its accompaniment of rustling
leaves and cracking twigs, and its even morp sug
gestive intervals of utter silence in which tho cmdest
of imaginations might have conjured crunching
beasts of prey tensed for the fatal charge; but
MURDER AND PILLAGE 15
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,
the tree tops were waving wildly in a steadily in
creasing 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 nos
trils 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 him
self 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 plat
form that an instant before had been just above
him and which now was immediately below — but as
16 TARZAN THE UNTAMED
he swung above it we should have heard an ominous
growl, and then as the moon was momentarily un
covered, 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 ac
customed 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 Tar-
mangani 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 ascendency 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.
MURDER AND PILLAGE 17
"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
unslung 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.
18 TARZAN THE UNTAMED
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, groan
ing, 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 ob
scured, 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 pre
carious. 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 others ; 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 in-
MURDER AND PILLAGE 19
stant he toppled upon the now wildly gyrating limb,
clutched frantically to save himself and then plunged
downward into the darkness with Tarzan still cling
ing to him. Crashing through splintering branches
the two fell. Not for an instant did the ape-man
consider relinquishing his death-hold upon his ad
versary. 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 chatter
ing in the dank trees, scolded and fled at his ap
proach. 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
Tugged 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.
20
THE LION'S CAVE 21
Two days later, from the southern slopes of Kili
manjaro, 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 direc
tion 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 dif-
22 TARZAN THE UNTAMED
ferent 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 barri
cade 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 oppo
site end imbued with a full realization of what it
would mean if Numa should suddenly enter the tun
nel 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
THE LION'S CAVE 23
into a large pocket or gulch entirely inclosed by
steep walls of rock. Except for the small passage
way 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 bowlders against Numa's
return ; but even with the thought there came some
thing to his sensitive ears that froze him into
statuesque immobility with eyes glued upon the tun-
TARZAN THE UNTAMED
nel'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 Tarman
gani 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-
THE LION'S CAVE 25
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 be
neath casting a baleful eye upward after every few
steps.
Tarzan scanned the precipitous walls for an
avenue of escape. They would have baffled an ordi
nary man ; but the ape-man, accustomed to climbing,
saw several places where he might gain a foothold,
precarious possibly; but enough to give him rea
sonable assurance of escape if Numa would but be
take 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 it1
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
TARZAN THE UNTAMED
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
Nu-ma 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. Turn
ing 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
THE LION'S CAVE 27
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 — that he had 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 effect 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 be
yond 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 tinder 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 the forests. The firing
28 TARZAN THE UNTAMED
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 na
tive 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 com
posed 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 sol
diers 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
THE LION'S CAVE 29
carried toward the rear. He had crossed the rail
road 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 upor
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 at
tention 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. Unter-
lieutenant 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
30 TARZAN THE UNTAMED
by the expression of the handsome face; the cold,
gray eyes denoted only intense watchfulness. Pres
ently 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
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.
THE LION'S CAVE 31
"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 far
ther 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.
" Unterlieutenant von Goss," replied the soldier.
"He, too, is here."
"I shall find him," returned Tarzan, grimty.
"You helped to crucify Wasimbu, the Waziri, and
while he suffered, you laughed."
The fellow reeled. It was as though in the accu
sation he read also his death sentence. With no
other word Tarzan seized the man again by the
TARZAN THE UNTAMED
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, de-
Ascribed 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 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 sen
tinel'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 talk
ing 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 doubtless already there and there was a great
deal of damning of Belgium.
THE LION'S CAVE 33
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. Pres
ently 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 — with
out a glimmer of compunction he could have wrung
34 TARZAN THE UNTAMED
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 pro
moted 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 ap
parent 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. Mo
mentarily 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 reap
pearance 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 LION'S CAVE 35
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 as
semblage 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 bur
den 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
relaxed his grasp enough to permit the man to
breathe.
" If you make a sound you will be choked again,"
he said.
TARZAN THE UNTAMED
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 recrossed 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 in
clination 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 ap
proach 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
THE LION'S CAVE 37
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 Hs prisoner to be fit now for what lay in
store foi* 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
bnioh at one side and squatting next him waited.
The Gerjnan watched the silent giant with puzzled,
frignte:^ eyes. In the new dawn he, for the first
time, w&s 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 mo
tionless as a marble statue as the creature crouched
38 TARZAN THE UNTAMED
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 fal
tered.
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
39
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 un
derstand 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 hesi
tated and plead. 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
40
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 simul
taneously 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 gib
bering 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.
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 mil
lion Germans bring back his loved one.
While in the German camp in the Pare Mountains,
which lie just east of the boundary line between Ger
man 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 neigh
borhood 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
4.1
42 TARZAN THE UNTAMED
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 at
tention.
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 besting
them. The thought made him lower his head and
growl and it worried him not a little — a bit, per
haps, 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
IN THE GERMAN LINES 43
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-look
ing 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," con
tinued 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 gnaw
ing 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
44 TARZAN THE UNTAMED
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 unslung 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, com
ing 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
IN THE GERMAN LINES 45
had seen a man-thing who made this sound that
reminded him more of N'uma angry than of a man
afraid.
When Tarzan h.ad 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 direc
tion 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 drop
ping Bara to the ground turned with raised spear.
Far back went the brown, right hand and then for
ward, 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." £le
46 TARZAN THE UNTAMED
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. Pa
tiently 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,
be came to the edge of a low cliff and saw upon a
7Ar THE GERMAN LINES 47
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 Tar
zan 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
*& front of him a well-hidden machine gun was tra-
48 TARZAN THE UNTAMED
versing No Man's Land in an oblique direction, strik
ing 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 min
utes Tarzan picked off the crew of that gun. Then
he potted a German officer emerging from a dug
out 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
IN THE GERMAN LINES 49
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 hid
den 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 machine-gun fire concentrated upon
50 TARZAN THE UNTAMED
the spot he had just quit and smiled as he contem
plated the waste of German ammunition.
"They have paid heavily for Wasimbu, the
Waziri, whom they crucified, and for his slain fel
lows," 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 num
bers possessed by the enemy and the inability of the
British to more than hold their present position.
They could not advance. Already they had sus
tained 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 conver
sation.
IN THE GERMAN LINES 51
" Something silenced them for a while this after
noon," 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 Lon
don in evening dress. Quite a difference — 'pon my
word, man, you'll have to admit it."
52 TARZAN THE UNTAMED
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 pre
sented the ape-man to his commanding officer and
follows. 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.
IN THE GERMAN LINES 53
"I came alone," replied Tarzan and then, draw
ing himself to his full height, "You men of civili
zation, 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 machine-gun emplacements are hid
den?"
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
54 TARZAN THE UNTAMED
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 leav
ing 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 mili
tary 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, reveal
ing 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
Briti&h 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, follow
ing 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. Unslinging his bow and select
ing 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 under
brush.
Tarzan then descended from the tree, dispatched
55
56 TARZAN THE UNTAMED
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 and 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 concen
trate each of his five senses upon its particular busi
ness. 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 else
where — the former ranging the forest all about and
the latter assaying each passing zephyr. It was
WHEN THE LION FED 57
his nose that first discovered the approach of Sabot,
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 yet
not 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 car
ried 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, recall
ing an argument he had once had with a famous big-
58 TARZAN THE UNTAMED
game hunter who declared that the king of beasts ate
only what he himself had killed. Tarzan knew bet
ter 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 a sufficient number of these strips he sewed
two of the hides together, afterwards piercing holes
every three or four inches around the edges. Run
ning another strip through these holes gave him a
large bag with a draw string. 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
peared 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 discover
ing 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 direc-
WHEN THE LION FED 59
tion 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, and 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 con
ditions 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 ap
peared. 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 sug-
60 TARZAN THE UNTAMED
gestion 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. Imme
diately he was rewarded by the sound of 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. Kis 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 men
tally exulting that always Numa was wasting his
already waning strength.
Finally the ape-man rose and unslung 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
WHEN THE LION FED 61
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 fran
tically at the grass rope with his fore claws. At any
moment he might sever it and Tarzan must, there
fore, 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 posi
tion 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 lioa
62 TARZAN THE UNTAMED
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 gar
ters that fastened tightly around the legs above the
hocks. He secured the front-feet bags in place simi
larly 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 strug
gles 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
WHEN THE LION FED 63
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 secur
ing 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 fas
tened 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 be
came 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, hie
64 TARZAN THE UNTAMED
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
WHEN THE LION FED 65
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 com
menced as strange a journey as the unrecorded his
tory 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 formi
dable denizens of the wild.
TARZAN THE UNTAMED
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 in
vestigate. 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 unslung 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- trail
ing 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 at
titude 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?
WHEN THE LION FED 67
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. Tar
zan 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, fol
lowed by his companions and the she.
Numa attempted to follow them; but 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
68 TARZAN THE UNTAMED
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 unan
nounced 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 a Tarmangani. Any
Mangani who wished to, could enter your camp
almost at will ; but if you had 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."
WHEN THE LION FED 69
"You call them Mangani and yourself Tarman-
gani — what is the difference?" asked Major
Preswick.
" Tar means white," replied Tarzan, " and Man
gani, 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, Tar-
mangani," he concluded, smiling.
Capell smiled. " It is no reproach, Greystoke," he
said ; " and, by Jove, it would be a mark of distinc
tion 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 listen
ing post let your men start across No Man's Land
70 TARZAN THE UNTAMED
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 listen
ing 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
WHEN THE LION FED 71
he recognized in the new note almost a supplica
tion — 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 occa
sional shell vouched for the presence of artillery be
hind 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 German's. 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
72 TARZAN THE UNTAMED
Tarzati 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 f ir 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 tun
nel, 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 bot
tom. 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
was 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
month of the tunnel.
Then Numa balked, only to feel the sharp prick of
Tarzan's knife point in his hind quarters. Goading
WHEN THE LION FED 73
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 explo
sion 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 for
ward 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
74 TARZAN THE UNTAMED
escape this dread creature that from their infancy
had filled them with terror, and again they were re
treating. 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 Ger
man 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 — i
they saw a huge German officer emerge from a dug
out 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
WHEN THE LION FED 75
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 regi
mental 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
76
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 life
less 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 Tar
zan 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.
Unterlieutenant von Goss was dead.
Without a backward glance at the awe-struck sol-
fliers 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 retreat
ing 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 imme
diately taken possession of the abandoned trench and
from this position their flanking fire had raked con
tiguous 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 contest
ing stubbornly every mile of waterless, thorn-cov
ered ground and clinging desperately to their posi
tions along the railway. The officers of the Second
Rhodesians had seen nothing more of Tarzan of the
Apes since he had slain Unterlieutenant von Goss
77
78 TARZAN THE UNTAMED
and disappeared toward the very heart of the Ger
man 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
THE GOLDEN LOCKET 79
concealed in the bushes close beside a regimental
headquarters he listened to the conversation of sev
eral 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 the
ory," 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 nim 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
80 TARZAN THE UNTAMED
to Fraulein Kircher the former's name was no sooner
spoken than this wild man leaped through the win
dow and made for him."
Suddenly the little group became rigid— -listen
ing. "What was that?" snapped one, eyeing the
bushes from which a smothered snarl had issued as
Tarzan of the Apes realized that through his mis
take the perpetrator of the horrid crime at his bun
galow still lived — that the murderer of his wife went
yet unpunished.
For a long minute the officers stood with tensed
nerves, every eye rivetted 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
vrhere 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 biv
ouacked for the night the black soldiers of a native
company commanded by one Hauptmann Fritz
THE GOLDEN LOCKET 81
Schneider. The men were stretched upon the ground
without tents; but there were tents pitched for the
officers. Toward these Tarzan crept. It was slo'.r
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, float
ing 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 gut
tural.
" Silence ! " admonished the ape-man in a low whis
per. "Silence — I km."
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
82 TARZAN THE UNTAMED
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 ter
rible. 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 Wil
helmstal, 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
THE GOLDEN LOCKET 83
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 pres
ently 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 suffi
cient 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
'84 TARZAN THE UNTAMED
water, night was approaching and with it a realiza
tion that she was hopelessly lost in a wild and track
less 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 her
self 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
THE GOLDEN LOCKET 85
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 im
penetrable 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 her
self 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 unstrapped a heavy, military coat from the
86
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 thun
der 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 con
siderable 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 over
wrought 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.
THE GOLDEN LOCKET
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
88 TARZAN THE UNTAMED
her horse and mounted. Already she felt that she
was as good as safe in Wilhelmstal.
Possibly, however, she might have revised her con
clusions 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
rivetted 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
THE GOLDEN LOCKET 89
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 fasci
nation 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 cau
tiously 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 feeding1 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 re
mains of his kill into the bush for hiding and, as
there could be no doubt that he considered her part
90 TARZAN THE UNTAMED
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 mighfc
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 liojv.
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 hor
ribly. 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 ut
tering beastial 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 en
counter from the moment that Numa had leaped upon
his prey. For some time before he had been watch-
THE GOLDEN LOCKET 91
ing 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 head
quarters in conference with the German staff and
again he had seen her within the British lines mas
querading as a British officer. It was the latter
thought that prompted him to interfere. Doubtless
General Jan Smuts would be glad to meet and ques
tion her. She might be forced to divulge informa
tion 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 dif
ferentiate members of the human family, and be
sides 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 demon
strated 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.
93 TARZAN THE UNTAMED
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 lan
guage 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-
THE GOLDEN LOCKET
<yed Astonishment at the handsome figure driving an
$ngry Jioti deliberately from its kill.
When Nwift 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 extri
cate my foot fro^a beneath my horse."
"Try again," commanded Tarzan. "I do not
know how long I -ran 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 her
self 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
94 TARZAN THE UNTAMED
and so did Numa, as Tarzan had thought that ha
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 re
gained 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 won
derful — you did not seem to fear the frightful crea
ture 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 un
deniable; 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 de~
sired only to compass her destruction ; but he would
THE GOLDEN LOCKET 95
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.
96 TARZAN THE UNTAMED
"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 ea*t she was glad to have the
protection of the great, white savage. She specu
lated 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 de
termined 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 S6.
close that she could not miss. As she figured it all
out her eyes rested on the brown skin with the grace
ful muscles rolling beneath it and the perfect lirabs
and head and the carriage that a proud king of old
might have envied.
.- A wave of revulsion for her contemplated net
THE GOLDEN LOCKET 97
surged through her. No, she could not do it — jet,
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
M'T WAS an hour later that Sheeta, the panther,
I
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 down wind. 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 be
neath 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 up wind. Then, sniffing
each vagrant zephyr, Sheeta, the panther, crept cau
tiously forward, nor had he advanced any consider
able distance before his keen nostrils were rewarded
with the scent of man — a Tarmangani.
Sheeta paused. He was not a hunter of men.
98
VENGEANCE AND MERCY 99
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, 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 very com
fortable and 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
100 TARZAN THE UNTAMED
glared intently at the quiet body in the dust. Recog
nition 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 dominat
ing 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 spit
ting Sheeta.
For a moment the latter stood his ground with
arched back and snarling face, for all the world
like a great, spotted tabby.
VENGEANCE AND MERCY 101
Nuraa had not felt like fighting; but the sight of
Sheeta daring to dispute his rights kindled his fe
rocious 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 snap
ping 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 prepon
derance 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 disem
boweling 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
102 TARZAN THE UNTAMED
tongue licked Tarzan's face. It was then that Tar-
zan 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 con
vinced 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 astmddle Tarzan w^th his front
paws. The ape-man could not rise, therefore, with
out 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 evi
dently aware that he was alive. Presently the lion
cocked his head on one side and whined. Tarzan
VENGEANCE AND MERCY 103
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 be
side 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 some
thing 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
104 TARZAN THE UNTAMED
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 re
sourcefulness 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 swing
ing 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 rail
way 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 dis
tance, 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
VENGEANCE AND MERCY 105
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 sol
diers 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. Tar
zan 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
106 TAEZAN THE UNTAMED
dog shot through the air for his throat; but he
was dealing with no man now and he found his quick
ness more than matched by the quickness of the Tar-
mangani. 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 power
less. The mighty fingers closed upon his throat;
the man rose, snapped the clawing body once, and
*?ast 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
VENGEANCE AND MERCY 107
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 Im
perial Germany's uniform beat a savage heart that
pulsed with implacable hatred for the Hun. Tar-
zan'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 sweet
heart, 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.
108 TARZAN THE UNTAMED
fTarzan 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
VENGEANCE AND MERCY 109
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 foiohead 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 car
ried 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, Lieu
tenant ? " 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 Fritz 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."
110 TARZAN THE UNTAMED
The two before him saw that he was naked be
neath 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 admon
ished 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 over
spread 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 coun
try," 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
VENGEANCE AND MERCY 111
your lips." He started across the room toward the
burly Hauptmann. Schneider was a large and pow
erful 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 Ger
man's jugular with his teeth!
Schneider seemed to realize this too, for he re
doubled 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
TARZAN THE UNTAMED
each other terrific Hows, until Schneider in a pierc
ing 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 and looked 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 ma^ 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
he 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
VENGEANCE AND MERCY 113
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 Un-
terlieutenant von Goss had died at his hands, and
that he had otherwise wreaked vengeance upon the
men of the German company who had murdered, pil
laged, and raped at Tarzan's bungalow in the Waziri
country. There was still another officer to be ac
counted 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 Wil-
helmstal 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 con
tained permitted the British to frustrate a German
114
WHEN BLOOD TOLD 115
flank attack, he was still much dissatisfied with him
self. 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 Warned this weakness, as he considered it,
upon his association with the effeminating influences
of civilization, for in the bottom of his savage heart
he held in contempt both civilization and its repre
sentatives — 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.
116 TARZAN THE UNTAMED
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 primi-t
tive 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
WHEN BLOOD TOLD 117
in game and water courses. He moved slowly, hunt
ing 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 in
quired 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 Man
gani, 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
118 TARZAN THE UNTAMED
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 dis
tance 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 en-
WHEN BLOOD TOLD 119
countered. The plateau was cut by frequent canyons
the passage of which often entailed hours of wear
ing 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 en
tered 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 ex
perience 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 indi
cation of containing a square foot of hospitable
ground.
However, he had no misgivings but that he would
120 TARZAN THE UNTAMED
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 for
tified by food and water and for the first time, as
he looked down into the abyss and then at the oppo
site 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 hid 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 vul
ture, 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 leav
ings of the hyenas, for Tarzan will leave no bones
WHEN BLOOD TOLD 121
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 ex
hausted 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,
TARZAN THE UNTAMED
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 remark
able 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
WHEN BLOOD TOLD
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 west-
124 TARZAN THE UNTAMED
era 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 from
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 deter
mined shake of his head as he lurched forward on
unsteady legs to take up his valiant fight for sur
vival. 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 him 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
WHEN BLOOD TOLD 125
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 for
ever 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-de
lirious 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 t^iat
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
126 TARZAN THE UNTAMED
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 instan
taneously vitalized the quiet clod that had lain mo-
WHEN BLOOD TOLD 127
tionless 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 unsa-
128 TARZAN THE UNTAMED
vory 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 morn
ing 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 parklike 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.
The fight with Ska.
Page 126
CHAPTER VIII
TAKZAN AND THE GEEAT APES
days the ape-man spent in resting and
jj_ 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 other
wise 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
129
130 TARZAN THE UNTAMED
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 when comparatively close. Had he been
stalking Numa or Sheeta he would have circled
about until his quarry was up wind 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 na
tive 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 BO white officers there, but it was
none the less apparent to Tarzan that these men
were from some German native command, and he
TARZAN AND THE GREAT 'APES 131
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 impene
trable 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 slen
der, 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 Ne
gresses 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 pain
less death that the ape-man would have meted to her
only interested Tarzan to the extent that the more
182 TARZAN THE UNTAMED
frighful 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 pleas
ures of blackbaiting — 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 ser
geant, 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 sur
rounded the tree into which their comrade had
vanished.
Usanga called but received no reply, then he ad
vanced slowly with rifle at the ready, peering up
TARZAN AND THE GREAT APES 133
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 fas
tened 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
forward; 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. Im
paled 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, argu
ing that they had offended some demon of the wood
134 TARZAN THE UNTAMED
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 pre
vailed 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 Kappy characteristic of the Negro race
which they hold in common with little children, that
their spirits seldom remain depressed for a con
siderable 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
light-heartedness. 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 en
tire 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 hap
pen in broad daylight what frightful thing might not
fall to their lot when night had enshrouded them in
TARZAN AND THE GREAT APES 135
her mantle of darkness. They trembled in antici
pation.
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 pres
ence of the women that had saved her from worse
treatment at the hands of some of the men1 —
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 evi
dently 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 vil
lage 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
136 TARZAN THE UNTAMED
Usanga would learn how these villagers stood with
this savage god and if they had his goodwill 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 preci
ous 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 hos
pitality. 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 Afri
can 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 as
sured them was infested by lions of great size and
TARZAN AND THE GREAT APES 137
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 deter
mined hope of eventually delivering the little packet
to her chief.
The natives seemed to have forgotten her exist
ence — 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 —
138 TARZAN THE UNTAMED
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 large fire. As she ap
proached 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 vessel was wrested
from them by some greedy neighbor. 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 unlicensed abandon.
TARZAN AND THE GREAT APES 139
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 evi
dently assured that Naratu had noticed nothing, he
ordered the warrior who was still holding the infu
riated 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.
140 TARZAN THE UNTAMED
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 conver
sation 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, mut
tering and grumbling, the sergeant approached the
white girl. He was very drunk, so drunk that sev
TARZAN AND THE GREAT APES 141
eral 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, prom
ising 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 simul
taneously there burst into the hut a raging demon
of jealousy. Naratu had come. Kicking, scratch
ing, 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 vil
lage 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
142 TARZAN THE UNTAMED
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 de
tails 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
TARZAN AND THE GREAT APES 143
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 ter
races, he followed the trail that Usanga's party had
taken earlier in the afternoon. He had little diffi
culty 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
Tmts overcome by stupor, yet Tarzan made no noise
that even a sober man keenly alert might have heard.
144 TARZAN THE UNTAMED
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 motion
less 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 remain
ing 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 as
sured 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 Lon
don by night.
He had entered the trees again and was outside
TARZAN AND THE GREAT APES 145
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 leav
ing 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.
IWhither 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 ele
phant, buffalo, rhinoceros, and the other herbivo
rous 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
146 TARZAN THE UNTAMED
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 hide
ous creatures almost magnificent in their appearance.
The girl had watched them but a minute or two
when the little band was joined by others, com
ing 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
TARZAN AND THE GREAT APES 147
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 imme
diately 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, ponder
ous cadence, at first without time but presently set
tling 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
148 TARZAN THE UNTAMED
girl spellbound, and as there seemed little likeli
hood 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 stop
ping 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 answer
ing 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
TARZAN AND THE GREAT APES 149
against fifty? She saw the brown-skinned figure
bathed in moonlight walk straight toward the snarl
ing 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 head
quarters, 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
reared the apes. She heard sounds issue from his
throat — sounds identical with those uttered by the
apes — and though she could scarce believe the testi
mony 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 with balus growled and bristled as he passed
close, but none hindered him and thus he came to the
150 TARZAN THE UNTAMED
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
TARZAN AND THE GREAT APES 151
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 Tar
zan 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 imme
diately took up the cadence of the dance where they
had dropped it to watch their king slay the foolish
Tarmangani.
152 TARZAN THE UNTAMED
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, prob
ably, 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 moon
light 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
TARZAN AND THE GREAT APES 153
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 Tar-
mangani, 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.
154 TARZAN THE UNTAMED
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
LtEUTENANT 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 conti
nent 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-Old
wick 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 lim-
155
156 TARZAN TEE UNTAMED
her, 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 coun
try 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 envi-
DROPPED FROM THE SKY 157
ronment of luxury, indolence, and ease than the
more strenuous exigencies of life's sterner require
ments.
And not only was the young lieutenant outwardly
careless of the immediate future and of his sur
roundings, 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 con
cealment 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 appella
tion, known as the sixth sense — a species of intui
tion 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 sen
sation of impending danger in his placid breast.
He hummed peacefully and, his adjustment com
pleted, tried out his motor for a minute or two,
158 TARZAN THE UNTAMED
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 parklike
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 prob
ably 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 re
treating 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
DROPPED FROM THE SKY 159
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 nat
ural target and it was at Numabo that the English
man 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
160 TARZAN THE UNTAMED
waning courage and presently spur them on to an
other 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 skilfully 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 them
selves.
For two or three minutes they circled about him
until at a word from Numabo, they closed in simul
taneously and though the slender young lieutenant
struck out to right and left, he was soon over
whelmed by superior numbers and beaten down by
the hafts of spears in brawny hands.
He was all but unconscious when they finally drag
ged him to his feet, and after securing his hands
DROPPED FROM THE SKY 161
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 clear
ing 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 vil
lage 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.
sAs 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
162 TARZAN THE UNTAMED
was that he had at last come in contact with some
portion of the army which was rumored to be cross
ing 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 ex
ultation broke from his lips, and immediately his fol
lowers 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
DROPPED FROM THE SKY 163
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 offi
cer 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 appear
ance 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
164 TARZAN THE UNTAMED
of the black people and that they must let me go
in peace."
Usanga laughed. " They do not know an English
man 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 vil
lage 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 sug
gestion 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 door
way of the hut, an interested spectator of the prep
arations for the coming orgy that was so horribly
to terminate his earthly existence. It can hardly be
DROPPED FROM THE SKY 165
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 English
men 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 occa
sional 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
166 TARZAN THE UNTAMED
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 untinged
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 wilder
ness 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 com
mand 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
DROPPED FROM THE SKY 167
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 es
caped. 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 deni
zens 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 crea
ture, 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 com
panionable and cheerful character. She was not
given to morbid forebodings and above all things,
she craved the society of her kind and that inter-
168 TARZAN THE UNTAMED
change of thought which is one of the marked dis
tinctions between man and the lower animals.
Tarzan, on the other hand, was sufficient unto him
self. 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 to
gether 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 net 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 suffi
ciently emboldened to question him, and so she asked
him what he intended doing after the hut and boma
were completed.
DROPPED FROM THE SKY 169
" 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 pros
pect 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 set
tlement and in a country which gives every evidence
of never having been touched by the foot of civilized
man?"
"Why not?" asked Tarzan. "I did not bring
you here. Would one of your men accord any bet
ter 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 con
versation seemed profitless and it was further dis
tasteful to him for the reason that it was carried
on in German, a tongue which he detested as much
as 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
170 TARZAN THE UNTAMED
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 com
ment. 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 Ger
many 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 Ger
man 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 im
partially ; and this in truth, was what she did think
of him. It explained perfectly his attacks upon
Major Schneider and the Major's brother, Haupt-
mann 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
DROPPED FROM THE SKY 171
^of helpfulness she manifested in the ofttimes painful
labor of gathering and arranging the thorn bushes
which constituted the temporary protection against
roaming carnivora. 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
172 TARZAN THE UNTAMED
claim her, for how could a lone woman hope suc
cessfully 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 be
longing to the Tarmangani must look with admira
tion upon so handsome a creature as Go-lat, for
there could be no doubt in the mind of any that his
DROPPED FROM THE SKY 173
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 under
stand 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 pro-
174 TARZAN THE UNTAMED
prietorship 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 b«
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 pro
tecting 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
DROPPED FROM THE SKY 175
were dancing, they still evinced a great curiosity re
garding 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 willpower 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."
176 TARZAN THE UNTAMED
He walked with her as far as the boma and when
she ha/1 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 perfec
tion 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 divertisements was the bait
ing 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
177
178 TARZAN THE UNTAMED
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 com
pletely 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 crash
ing 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
IN THE HANDS OF SAVAGES 179
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 to
night."
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 imme
diately followed, and now as he stood with his back
against the wall of the hut, he looked upon the fel
low-prisoner that the blacks carried in and laid
upon the floor with mixed feelings of surprise and
180 TARZAN THE UNTAMED
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 circumstance 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 half-wits 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 re
turning 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 hun
gry. 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
/AT THE HANDS OF SAVAGES 181
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
182 TARZAN THE UNTAMED
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 haft. Then
he called in the other guards and together they fell
upon the luckless men, kicking and beating them un
mercifully 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 intel
ligence 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
IN THE HANDS OF SAVAGES 183
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 grow
ing 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 Goman-
gani 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 him
self 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 chal
lenge, 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
184 TARZAN THE UNTAMED
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 ho\\
numerous were the warriors and that several sat di
rectly 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 be
neath 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 glid-
IN THE HANDS OF SAVAGES 185
ing 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 depress
ing 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 ad
miring the sheen of his heavy, black, silver-shot 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, utter
ing 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 young1 apes
come thus in his day filled with a sudden resolution
to wrest the kingship from their chief. He had seen
186 TARZAN THE UNTAMED
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 pre
cipitately, 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 Tar-
mangani'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*
IN THE HANDS OF SAVAGES 187
"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 accom
pany 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
188 TARZAN THE UNTAMED
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 as of one attempting to explain a knotty prob-
lem 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, pull
ing 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 estab
lished, 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
72V THE HANDS OF SAVAGES 189
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 sud
denly 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 com
panions.
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
190 TARZAN THE UNTAMED
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 de
lineated 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 shout
ing 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 won
dered why Zu-tag had brought her here.
Now the apes advanced slowly once more and with
great caution, moving as noiselessly through the trees
/AT THE HANDS OF SAVAGES 191
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 be
yond her.
Darkness was already falling and the fires be
neath 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
192 TARZAN THE UNTAMED
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 prepara
tion 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 pres
ently 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
IN THE HANDS OF SAVAGES 193
the hut Zu-tag had been watching. A moment later
they reappeared dragging between them two cap
tives, 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 ex
perienced.
Pausing beside the hut next to the street, slie
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 al
ready 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-
"
194 TARZAN THE UNTAMED
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. Search
ing quickly about the interior, she presently dis
covered a spear and armed with this, she again ap
proached the entrance.
Tarzan of the Apes and Lieutenant Harold Percy
Smith-Oldwick were bound securely to their respec
tive 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 expression
less 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 lieu
tenant.
Tarzan turned his eyes in the direction of the
other and smiled. "Good-bye," he said. *4If 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
IN THE HANDS OF SAVAGES 195
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 sound, 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 leap
ing into the air, he danced step by step in the nar
rowing 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 disturbanc:
196 TARZAN THE UNTAMED
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 suc
ceeded in loosening Tarzan's bonds sufficiently to
IN THE HANDS OF SAVAGES lf>/
permit him to extricate his own hands so that in
another minute he had freed himself.
" Now unbind the Englishman," he cried, and leap
ing 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 weapons were endeavor
ing 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 se
curity 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
198 TARZAN THE UNTAMED
the scalded warriors, as they eagerly advanced to
ward 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 inter
ference.
Tarzan strode through the jungle in silence. Be
side 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 as
tonished 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 AIUPLANE
TARZAN of the Apes, returning from a success
ful 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 long
ing 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
199
200 TARZAN THE UNTAMED
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 uni
form of the British Royal Air Forces. The other,
a young woman in the even more disreputable rem
nants 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 accom
pany 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
& way become sacred to him through its memories,
without a growl of 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 instru
mental in saving him from torture and death at
FINDING THE AIRPLANE 201
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 tor
toise, 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 con
stantly 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 en
trance. 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 ** was and what
202 TARZAN THE UNTAMED
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 dif
ferent 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 evi
dence 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 ques
tioning wonderment.
" What do you mean'? " asked the young English
man. "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 charg
ing rapidly toward them.
FINDING THE AIRPLANE 203
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 ex
perienced 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 understand-
ingly 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
204 TARZAN THE UNTAMED
then with increasing wonder he saw the ape-man
swerve, too, and leap for the spotted cat as a foot
ball 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 fore
head 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
FINDING THE AIRPLANE 205
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 dis
lodge the ape-man's hold upon him. He hurled him
self upon the ground and rolled over and over. He
reared upon his hind legs and threw himself back
wards 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 yel
low 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 bat
tle, 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 environ
ment rather than heredity or reversion, and even
though he was outwardly a man, the Englishman and
206 TARZAN THE UNTAMED
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 un
canny 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 per
sonification 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 sev
eral pieces of meat from the carcass for them, retain
ing a joint for himself. The young lieutenant pre
pared 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.
FINDING THE AIRPLANE 207
" 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 con
ference 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 com
panion 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
208 TARZAN THE UNTAMED
apprehension that she never experienced when Tar-
zan 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 Eng
lishman; "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 over-run with
FINDING THE AIRPLANE 209
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 ap
proach 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.
210 TARZAN THE UNTAMED
It is not necessary to jeopardize our lives for two
more days in order that we may thank him, how
ever 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 espe
cially 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 Tar-
zan 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 good-bye. This they left
FINDING THE AIRPLANE
pinned to the inside wall of tbe 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 for 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
advantages 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 dis
covered it," said the
TARZAN THE UNTAMED
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 au
thority 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 curi
osity 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,
FINDING THE AIRPLANE 213
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 admira
tion ! 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 him
self 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
214 TARZAN THE UNTAMED
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 v«ry
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 ela
tion, 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 cen
tered on the trail directly ahead of them as they
momentarily expected it to break into the meadow-
land 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 parklike clearing
was revealed to them simultaneously as were the
outlines of the machine they sought.
FINDING THE AIRPLANE 215
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 XH
THE BLACK FLIEU
THE girl was almost crushed by terror and dis
appointment. 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 com
munication 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
216
THE BLACK FLIER 217
wants to learn to fly, does he?" he repeated. "Ask
him if he will give us our freedom if I teach Hm
to fly."
The girl put the question to Usanga who, de
graded, 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 Eircher 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 govern
ment. 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
218 TARZAN THE UNTAMED
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 dis
suade him, but immediately the black became threat
ening 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 sus
pected 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 sug
gestion.
"The white woman will remain here with my
THE BLACK FLIER 2W
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 evi
dence 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 clear
ing 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
220 TARZAN THE UNTAMED
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 con
sciousness 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 skilful 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 ma
chine 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
THE BLACK FLIER
with great show and braggadocio, he strove to im
press 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 auto
suggestion that he had enjoyed every instant of the
flight and was already far advanced in the art of
aviation.
So jealous was tne 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 fiier, 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 Eng
lishman 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
TARZAN THE UNTAMED
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 coulc
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 explain
ing something in detail to his warriors, and from his
THE BLACK FLIER 223
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. Sev
eral 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 some
thing 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 cap
tured had been taken 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 out
numbered to hope to more than delay them in the
accomplishment of their object which he soon dis-
TARZAN THE UNTAMED
covered was to bind him securely hand and foot.
When they had finally secured him to their satis
faction, they rolled him over on his side and then
it was he saw that Bertha Kircher had been simi
larly 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 cKssuade 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 BLACK FLIER 225
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
226 TARZAN THE UNTAMED
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 meadow-
land. A groan escaped the lips of the distracted
THE BLACK FLIER
Englishman as he watched the woman he loved being
carried to almost certain death. He saw the planes
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 suc
ceed in rising above the tree tops and make a suc
cessful flight, there was not one chance in one hun
dred thousand that he could ever land again without
killing his fair captive and himself.
But what was that? His heart stood still.
CHAPTER XIH
USANGA'S REWARD
FOR two days Tarzan of the Apes had been hunt
ing leisurely to the north, and swinging in a
wide circle, he had returned to within a short dis
tance 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 denizena
of the water told him where to wait for Pisah.
It might be a minute or it might be an hour befbre
the fish would swim into the little pool above which
he crouched, but sooner or later one would come.
228
USANGA'S REWARD 229
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
woman. Crossing the clearing, he entered the boma
and then the hut. Both were empty, and his trained
230
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 impos
ing 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 he 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.
USANGA'S REWARD 231
But he did not go far. A dozen steps, perhaps,
and he came to a sudden stop. "He is an English
man," 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, 1 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
lirection 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 sug
gestions 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 vegeta
tion that floored the way.
An inexplicable urge spurred Tarzan to increas
ing 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.
232 TARZAN THE UNTAMED
Tarzan's conscience was troubling him which ao^
counted for the fact that he compared himself to a
weak, old woman, for the ape-man, reared in savage
ry 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 ele
phant 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 mut
tered, 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 specu
late upon the subject. His knowledge of Usanga,
USANCES REWARD 233
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 him
self 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 knev
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
234 TARZAN THE UNTAMED
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 her
self, clung tightly to it with both hands. Simul
taneously 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 happen
ings. 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.
USANGA'S REWARD 235
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
£36 TARZAN THE UNTAMED
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 ex
perience 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 direc
tion, 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
USANGA'S REWARD 237
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
fcis 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 pro
peller, 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
TARZAN THE UNTAMED
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 war
riors 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 belongs 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-Old
wick, "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.
USANGA'S REWARD 239
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-Old-
wick 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 that 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 English
man. 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 Ger
man 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 fol
lowing. No hour had passed since Bara came this
wav; 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
240
The ape-man swung pendulum-like in space.
Page 234
THE BLACK LION 241
deer, exciting his already avid appetite to a point
where it became a gnawing pain. Yet Nuraa 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 sud
denly 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 back
ward 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
TARZAN THE UNTAMED
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
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 that 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 slow
est, the most stupid, and 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.
THE BLACK LION 243
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 sur
roundings, 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 cun
ningly 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
toylike 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 carnivora 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
TARZAN THE UNTAMED
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 Ger
man 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 mem
ory. 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 sus
tain his weight. There, balancing lightly upon a
THE BLACK LION 245
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 dis
tant landmarks that he judged might be in the vicin
ity 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
246 TARZANiTHE UNTAMED
4
safety from any considerable distance within its
borders. Vividly he recalled the bleached bones of
the long-dead warrior in the bottom of the pre
cipitous 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 har
quebus — mute testimonials to the mighty physique
and the warlike spirit of him who had somehow won,
thus illy caparisoned and pitifully armed, to the cen
ter 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 vol
ume, 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.
THE BLACK LION 247
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 mo
tives, to that of a wild beast crouching in the con
cealment 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 for
midable 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 pow
erful 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 sis
ters of the human race, the characteristic of curios
ity is well developed. Nor was Tarzan far from
innocent of it. The peculiar note in the roar of his
248 TARZAN THE UNTAMED
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 count
less 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 Tar
zan 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
THE BLACK LION
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 tempt
ing meat and whined again and the ape-man smiled
down upon him his slow smile and, raising the hind
250 TARZAN THE UNTAMED
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 dis
gusted 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 un
hurt 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.
THE BLACK LION 251
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 tor
ture the beast to death that they might enjoy to
the utmost his d}Ting agonies.
Having fed the lion it presently occurred to Tar
zan that his act would be futile were he to leave the
beast to the mercies of the blacks, and then too it oc
curred 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 re'
lease 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 ex
perience 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 him
self liable to death futilely, he would have con
sidered as reprehensible as to have shunned danger
•n time of necessity; but when Tarzan elected to do
TARZAN THE UNTAMED
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
aven 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 re
turned 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
THE BLACK LION 258
gathered in the slack of the rope and, bracing him
self 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 some
thing 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. In
stantly the lion grasped the possibilities of the situa
tion, 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 sway
ing 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 di-
254 TARZAN THE UNTAMED
rection 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 be
yond 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, find
ing 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 ter
rible gorges that had so nearly claimed his life in
THE BLACK LION 255
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 occu
pants. He cached portions of his kills at different
points, building cairns of rock to mark their loca
tions. 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 taunt
ing voice, "for now indeed is Tarzan Tarzan. Be
fore, 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 involun
tarily 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
256 TARZAN THE UNTAMED
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 cen
turies, the mighty skeleton and its mighty armor.
As he stood looking down upon this grim re
minder 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
S 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
257
258 TARZAN THE UNTAMED
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 waste-lands 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 ki»
MYSTERIOUS FOOTPRINTS 259
way at a high altitude toward his aerie, caught sight
of a strange new bird of gigantic proportions en
croaching 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 simul
taneously 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 mo
mentary unconsciousness the shio 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 con
siderable damage to the plane and a severe shaking-
up for himself and his passenger.
260 TARZAN THE UNTAMED
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 pro
ceed 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 carnivora 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
MYSTERIOUS FOOTPRINTS 201
have an extra pistol here, that the beggars didn't
discover," and, removing the cover of a compart
ment, 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 j am. Really, I haven't
much faith in an automatic. I have used them my
self."
"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
262 TARZAN THE UNTAMED
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 ser
geant, Usanga, and his renegade German native
troops captured me and brought me inland, my
death warrant was signed. Sometimes I have real
ized 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 sen
tence. I do not wish to linger any more to face con
stant terror and apprehension. Even physical tor
ture would be preferable to what I have passed,
through. I have no doubt that you consider me ft
brave woman, but really my terror has been bound
less. The cries of the carnivora at night fill me with
a dread so tangible that I am in actual pain. J.
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."
MYSTERIOUS FOOTPRINTS 263
"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 thought
lessness 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 ef
forts 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 be
fore 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."
264 TARZAN THE UNTAMED
"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 at
tempt 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 pos
sibly 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 des
tination that the country became overrun with car-
nivora. 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. Sud
denly she touched him on the arm.
"Look," she whispered.
MYSTERIOUS FOOTPRINTS 265
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 pro
jection at the first turning of the gorge.
"Phew!" he exclaimed, "the beggars are every
where."
" 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 her
alding 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
266 TARZAN THE UNTAMED
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 bel
ligerency. 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 re
plied, "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
MYSTERIOUS FOOTPRINTS 267
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 fol
low his example. The girl, realizing the futility of
leaping to the ground, chose the remaining alterna*
tive and clambered to the top of the upper plane.
Numa, unaccustomed to the idiosyncrasies of con
struction of an airship and having gained the for
ward 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 im
mediate move toward following Smith-Oldwick. The
girl, realizing the comparative safety of her posi
tion, 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 at
tempting 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
TARZAN THE UNTAMED
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 Tar-
zan. The ape-man, carrying his stout spear in'
readiness, moved deliberately onward to meet the car
nivore, 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 grati
tude 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 ofttimes
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
MYSTERIOUS FOOTPRINTS
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 move
ment 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 con
ciliatory 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
270 TARZAN THE UNTAMED
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 be
tween man and the savage carnivora, because of the'
former's inherent fear of the great cats. And so
after all, therefore, the friendship so suddenly de
veloped 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?"
MYSTERIOUS FOOTPRINTS 271
"Yes," replied Smith-Oldwick, "it is hopeless."
"What are your plans, then? What do you wish
to do?" Tarzan directed his question to the gin.
"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
mast 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 di
rection did he come upon you ? "
"It was from the south," replied the girl. "We
thought too that there must be water in that di
rection."
"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 Tar-
zan'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 re*
272 TARZAN THE UNTAMED
markable 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 re
tained 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 ap
peared to have the desired effect upon him as he
ceased his 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 little detail of our demeanor we must im
press 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
MYSTERIOUS FOOTPRINTS 273
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 in
tention 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 dis
covered the older tracks of other lions and just be
fore dark he stopped suddenly in evident surprise.
His two companions looked at him questioningly, and
274 TARZAN THE UNTAMED
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 dis
covered 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," ex-»
plained 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 im
prints was not the foot of a Negro. If you will
examine them carefully you will notice that the im
pression 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 sud-
MYSTERIOUS FOOTPRINTS 275
denly, 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 dif
ferent 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 in
dicated 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 simul
taneously 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,
"it is our lion?"
" No," said Tarzan, " it is not our lion ; it is an
other lion and he is hunting."
" He is stalking us ? " asked the girl.
" He is," replied the ape-man. Smith-Oldwick fin
gered 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."
276
THE NIGHT ATTACK £77
" 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. Pres
ently 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.
278 TARZAN THE UNTAMED
" May I smoke ? " questioned the officer of Tarzan.
"I have been hoarding a few cigarettes and if it
won't attract those bounders 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 r,oar," 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.
THE NIGHT ATTACK 279
" 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 diffi
cult 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 with
out 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."
230 TARZAN THE UNTAMED
The young Englishman shook his head. "No,"
he said, "I cannot understand." «
"I doubt if the lions or the man are here neces
sarily 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 pre
vent 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.
THE NIGHT ATTACK 281
Tarzan of the Apes stood directly before the en
trance 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 ris
ing 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 satis
faction of striking a blow in self-defense. A veri
table 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
£82 TARZAN THE UNTAMED
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 defend
ing 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 and sacrifices 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.
THE NIGHT 'ATTACK 283
" 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 forward
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 pre
concerted 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
284 TARZAN THE UNTAMED
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 presumptions
man-thing who dared even to think that he could
thwart the king of beasts in his desires. But aa
he wheeled, his intended quarry wheeled with him,
brown fingers locked in the heavy mane on the power
ful 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 be
fore that he experienced a sharp feeling of resent
ment 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 tfc*
side of the head and bowled him over.
THE NIGHT ATTACK 285
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 noticed a sug
gestion 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
286 TARZAN THE UNTAMED
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 acquaint
ance 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 him
self 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, Tar
zan picked up those of many sandled 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
THE NIGHT ATTACK 287
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.
Thore was little change in the formation of the
gorge; it still wound its erratic course between pre
cipitous cliffs. In places it widened out and again
it became very narrow and always deeper the farther
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 moun
tains 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
288 TARZAN THE UNTAMED
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 chat
tered 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 every
thing 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 iden
tical with none, nor was the vegetation without its
idiosyncrasies. It was as though he had been sud
denly 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
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 there
after 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
289
290 TARZAN THE UNTAMED
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 com
panions 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 sud
denly 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 in
stantaneous. 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 WALLED CITY 291
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, growl
ing 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 down wind, 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 the scents indicated that
lions were moving upon him from all directions,
that he was in the center of a steadily converging
292 TARZAN THE UNTAMED
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 vegeta
tion 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 coinci
dence. 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.
THE WALLED CITY 293
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 ap
proaching. Nor had he long to wait before his
judgment was confirmed by the appearance of a man
294 TARZAN THE UNTAMED
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 hand
some countenance entirely altered by physical vio
lence 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
THE WALLED CITY 295
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 evi
dence of his senses — a heavy saber in a leather-cov
ered 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 ad
dressed 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 car-
296 TARZAN THE UNTAMED
ried almost incontrovertibly the assurance that he
was insane, while the tones of his voice and his ges
tures Tesembled 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 accomplish
ment of his ends, he now raised his spear and ad
vanced 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 fel
low's upper canines were unusually long and exceed
ingly 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 mas
ter, disappeared in the foliage of the lower terrace,
THE WALLED CITY 297
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 mina
rets of a walled city.
Directly before him in the wall nearest him Tar
zan 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 cultiva
tion. 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
TARZAN THE UNTAMED
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
THE WALLED CITY 299
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 vege
tables 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
300 TARZAN THE UNTAMED
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 logi
cal 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 accentu
ated 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
THE WALLED CITY 301
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 thunder
ous 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 gaming 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 in
creased 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 limita
tions 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 cun
ning 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 oppo
site the vine-clad portion of the wall, and there he
302 TARZAN THE UNTAMED
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 moved1 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 hesita
tion, 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 dis-
THE WALLED CITY 303
tance, 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 re
duced gait for the balance of the distance to the
wall.
Never before, perhaps, was staged a more thrill
ing 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,
304 TARZAN THE UNTAMED
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 realiza
tion 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
S THE lions swarmed over her protectors,
Bertha Kircher shrank back in the cave in a
momentary paralysis of fright superinduced, per
haps, 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
305
806 TARZAN THE UNTAMED
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 hori
zon 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 impene
trable 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
AMONG THE MANIACS 307
notes and loud chattering about them. Innumerable
monkeys scolded and screamed in the branches over
head 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 occa
sions 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 par
rot 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 sup
porting 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 re
plied, "but I feel as weak as a fool. What sort
of creatures are these beggars, anyway?"
308 TARZAN THE UNTAMED
"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 ear-marks," he said. "Whites
of the eyes showing all around the irises, hair grow
ing stiffly erect from the scalp and low down upon
the forehead — even their mannerisms and their car
riage are those of maniacs."
The girl shuddered.
"Another thing about them," continued the Eng
lishman, "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."
AMONG THE MANIACS 309
"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 in
clination to flee; on the contrary the entire party
advanced along the trail in the direction of the
menacing roars, and presently there appeared in
810 TARZAN THE UNTAMED
the center of the path a black lion of gigantic pro
portions. To Smith-Oldwick and the girl he ap
peared to be the same lion that they had encoun
tered 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 ob
struct 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 scab
bards; gleaming, razor-edged weapons they were,
but for the instant rerdered 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
AMONG THE MANIACS 311
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 scat
tered 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 sur
prised 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 ex
clamation 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
312 TARZAN THE UNTAMED
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. Build
ings on either hand adjoined the wall and fronted
the narrow, winding street which was only visible
for a short distance ahead. The houses were prac
tically 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 col
umns 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 floor 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,
AMONG THE MANIACS 313
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 lan
guage," 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
814 TARZAN THE UNTAMED
•^•••••••^•^•••••^•••••••iii.iii^i • i ••^•^^^^•••ii 11 i 1.1 ii .•••••^••••••••^•••^•By-^i
face was more repulsive than that of the men, pos
sibly 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 slen
der and shapely and her hands and feet well propor
tioned 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 win
dows and doors they could see that the walls of the
AMONG THE MANIACS
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 }^et 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 conse
quent 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 English
man's arm and pushed him forward not ungently,
but when the captive lagged again and again the fel
low suddenly, and certainly with no just provoca
tion, flew into a perfect frenzy of rage. He leaped
upon the wounded man, striking him viciously with
316 TARZAN THE UNTAMED
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 read
just 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 mur
dered 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. Stand
ing erect beside the prostrate form of the English
officer Bertha Kircher, the razor-edged weapon
grasped firmly in her hand, faced their captors.
AMONG THE MANIACS 317
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.
318 TARZAN THE UNTAMED
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 mur
mured. "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
AMONG THE MANIACS 319
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-Old-
wick'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 in
jected 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 sup
ported him after he had arisen.
For the moment they had been entirely unconsci
ous 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 indiffer
ence, 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 be
fore she had spoken, that it was unlikely she would
ever care for him the way he wished. But what had
TARZAN THE UNTAMED
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 per
fectly 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. Some
times individuals would notice them and seem to take
a great interest in them, and again others would
AMONG THE MANIACS 321
pass with vacant stares, seemingly unconscious of
their immediate surroundings and paying no atten
tion 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 creatur«
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 jib-
bered 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.
822 TARZAN THE UNTAMED
" 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 pos
sible 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 un
believable, 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 beau-
AMONG THE MANIACS 323
tiful 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 decora
tions there was utilized in various ways the conven
tional 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 evi
dently he was a man of authority for, after listen
ing 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 inter
cepted by one of their guards. The girl stopped
324 TARZAN THE UNTAMED
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 am
munition 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 ap-
AMONG THE MANIACS 325
peared 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 accom
panied them upon the return to the city, lay
sprawled about upon the ground or wandered rest
lessly to and fro.
Just inside the gate his guard halted. The two
men exchanged a few words and then turned and re-
entered 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, mirth
less 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 sem
blance 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 par
rots, 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 evi-
826
THE QUEEN'S STORY 327
dence 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 em
broidered 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, expos
ing 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 creak-
ingly open, and presently, as they separated, the
girl saw behind them the motive force which operated
328 TARZAN THE UNTAMED
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 hall
way 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
THE QUEEN'S STORY 329
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 cham
ber 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 human creature
that ever Bertha Kircher had looked upon.
For several minutes after she was conducted intc
330 TARZAN THE UNTAMED
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 crea
ture 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 that
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 stair-
THE QUEEN'S STORY 331
way 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
pasred 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 deco
rations 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 occu
pant of the room the girl gave a little gasp of aston
ishment, 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
882 TARZAN THE UNTAMED
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, fal-
teringly, 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
THE QUEEN'S STORY 333
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 de
stroyed 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 inci
dents 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
334 TARZAN THE UNTAMED
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< %oman, 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,
THE QUEEN'S STORY 335
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 still they 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 ani
mals, 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
TARZAN THE UNTAMED
bodies of the dead who lay down in the trackless
waste for the last time. The ivory had been aban
doned tusk by tusk as the blacks gave out, and
along that trail of death was strewn the camp
equipage and the horse trappings of a hundred men.
"For some reason the Arab chief favored me ta
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, ^antil 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 did I. 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
THE QUEEN'S STORY 337
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 re
peated 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 else
where. 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 S " 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
TARZAN THE UNTAMED
brought the race to its present condition of im
becility.
"And yet, as I said, they are not without some
redeeming qualities. If legend may be credited
their forbears — a little handful of men and women
who came from somewhere out of the north and be
came 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 vegeta
tion 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 wjiich 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
THE QUEEN'S STORY 339
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 genera
tions they came to crave it so that now it is practi
cally 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 prin
cipally for the lions, while goats are kept for milk
for the human inhabitants of the city."
"And you have lived here all these years," ex
claimed 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 con
tinued 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, " doubt-
340 TARZAN THE UNTAMED
less ; 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 men
talities, they are subject to periods of depression
during which they are very likely to destroy them
selves."
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 win-
THE QUEEN'S STORY 341
dows 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 ques
tion, " 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
342 TARZAN THE UNTAMED
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 with
out 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 be
tween 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
THE QUEEN'S STORY 343
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 dif
ference — 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
:ould not tell it," she said, " from lamb or veal."
No," said the woman, " it tastes as grood to me.
S44 TARZAN THE UNTAMED
But these lions are very carefully kept and very
carefully fed and their flesh is so seasoned and pre
pared 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 com
munity 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 com
manded 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
THE QUEEN'S STORY 345
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 adj oining
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
346 TARZAN THE UNTAMED
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. Dark
ness had fallen and the oil flares within the palace
had been lighted long before two messengers ap
peared 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 throne-
room 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 uni
formed similarly to the others with the exception
THE QUEEN'S STORY 347
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 speak
ing. 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 warn
ing other than a loud, hoarse scream he sprang
forward and seized the girl in his arms.
Instantly pandemonium ensued. The two mes
sengers 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
348 TARZAN THE UNTAMED
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.
THE QUEEN'S STORY 349
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
CHAPTER XX
CAME TARZAN
JUST before dark that evening, an almost ex
hausted 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 regu
lar 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
350
CAME TARZAN 351
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 compas
sionately. " 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
352 TARZAN THE UNTAMED
Rhodesians and a moment later General Smut
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 discovered.
"It's a mighty rough country," remarked Smut,
"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 com
pany, Colonel, or say two, with sufficient motor
lorries for transport of rations and water. Put a
good man in command and let him establish 9- base
as far to the west as the motors can travel. You
can leave one company there and send the other for
ward. 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
A fierce cut drove through the fellows collar bone.
Page 348
CAME TARZAN 353
^•^^M^^^^^^^B^MMMW^M^^^^MMM^B^^^^^^^HMMMMMMMMHMBOMMMIMMMM^^^MHWMV^^^B^^MM
there certainly must be water in the valley where
the city lies. Detail a couple of planes for recon
naissance 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 de
pended 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
«o firmly fixed, that his weight upon the stem ap
peared 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 ad
joining 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
354 TARZAN THE UNTAMED
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. What
ever the creature was that had seized him, it ap
parently 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 effi
cacious 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 posi
tion 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 for
midable weapon and so he dove for the other's
CAME TARZAN 355
legs beneath the vicious cut that was directed at him
from the side, and as a football player tackles an op
posing runner, Tarzan tackled his antagonist, carry
ing 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 pierc
ing shriek that the brown fingers cut off almost in
stantly. 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 up
ward, 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
356 TARZAN THE UNTAMED
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 thor
oughfares.
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 buclded the saber belt but beneath the
tunic he retained the hunting knife of his dead
father. His other weapons he could not lightly dis-
. card, 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 tha
CAME TARZAN 357
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 sev
eral 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 advan
tage 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
358 TARZAN THE UNTAMED
which was slightly alleviated by the reflected light
from a distant street flare which shone intermittently
through the narrow windows fronting the thorough
fare. Finalty, assured that the apartment was un
occupied, 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 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 hcpe
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 conceal
ment 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 like
wise. The few he passed gave him no heed, and he
had almost reached the nearest intersection when
CAME TARZAN 359
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 inclina
tion 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 ap
proaching 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
860 TARZAN THE UNTAMED
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, pos
sibly, 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 h? d
about reached a point where he judged he would
find the street which led up from the city gate
CAME TARZAN 361
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, how
ever, by bending very low at each street intersec
tion 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, in
creased, 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 —
362 TARZAN THE UNTAMED
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 mo
tionless 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 twe
bloody and lifeless things before him. Tarzan won
dered 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 lower
ing 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
A3 SMITH-OLDWICK realized that he was
alone and practically defenseless in an enclo
sure 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 rap
idly 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
363
364 TARZAN THE UNTAMED
dappled greensward a little child was playing with a
frolicsome puppy.
" God," thought the man, " what a horrible night
mare 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 recol
lections. 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 ioke upon a human being.
For some time ue 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.
IN THE ALCOVE 365
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 the 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 vhe 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 shoulders1 in a gesture of defiance, he
walked slowly and deliberately down the center of
the courtyard. One of the prowling lions turned
TARZAN THE UNTAMED
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 beg
gar 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 Hon.
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
IN THE ALCOVE 3(>7
Jt 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 with
draw 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 ani
mals 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
368 TARZAN THE UNTAMED
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 build
ing 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 oponing.
She was young and beautifully formed ; the single
drapery wound around her body from below her
IN THE ALCOVE 369
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-modu
lated voice which contrasted sharply with her facial
appearance. The voice and the girlish figure har
monized 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 pos
sible agency of escape, he closed his eyes and re
turned her embraces.
It was at this juncture that the door opened and
370 TARZAN THE UNTAMED
a man entered. With the sound from the first move
ment 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 at
tempting an explanation, came that of the menac
ing 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, accentu
ating 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 ter
rible 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
IN THE ALCOVE 371
much as a groan the fellow lunged forward upon the
floor at Smith-Oldwick's feet — killed instantly with
a bullet through his 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 atten
tion 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 quickly 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 con-
172
vinced her that life was extinct, and with the realiza
tion 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 Eng
lishman involuntarily drew back — a gruesome, dis
gusting 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 harsh
ness, resumed the soft, well-modulated tones with
IN THE ALCOVE 373
which' she had first addressed him. Now she at
tempted by signs to indicate her wishes, and motion
ing 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, pil
lowed 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 en
deavored 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 hid
den. 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
TARZAN THE UNTAMED
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 out
raged 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 hang
ings, 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, he 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 experi
ences of the day behind him, he could not but mo
mentarily 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
IN THE ALCOVE 375
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 him
self 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 hang-
876 TARZAN THE UNTAMED
ings, the girl creeping at his side, ^either 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 froic
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 suspici
ously into every nook and corner that they passed,
she guessed that the prince's punishment might be
t)oth 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
72V THE 'ALCOVE 377
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 war
riors, at one end of which sat the king upon a great
throne; beside this4 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 huraan."
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 un
controllable 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 an*5,
turning, fled again in a new direction. But now a
378 TARZAN THE UNTAMED
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 consider
able 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 disap
pear 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 nar
row 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. «oKd
IN THE ALCOVE S79
wall was just beyond it, ending the corridor. There
fore, 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 al
ternative 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 trapdoor 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 an(J
women and children and lions, and of all that he saw
380 TARZAN THE UNTAMED
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 care
fully 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
Tier, for he knew that alone and with the few remain
ing 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 that 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 pos
sible 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
IN THE ALCOVE 381
he discovered a location sufficiently to his liking.
But even here he was compelled to wait a consid
erable 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 him
self over the edge of the roofs, footsteps approach
ing 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.
\
OUT OF THE NICHE
, 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 indica
tion 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 im
partiality upon the flesh of the grass-eaters and
man. Like Numa of the pit they occasionally made
882
OUT OF THE NICHE 383
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 pur
poses, 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 to
gether by withes. At intervals there are gates
through which the flocks are turned on to the graz
ing 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 cun
ning brain he crept stealthily along the outer side of
the palisade, testing each gateway with a padded
884 TARZAN THE UNTAMED
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
OUT OF THE NICHE 385
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-OldwJck's first thought when he was ac
costed 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
Ms 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
yeapon, and with this purpose in mind the English
man 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-Old-
wick suddenly as weak as a babe, so that he was
forced to grasp the ape-man's arm for support — i
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
"*\ 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 English
man.
"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 con
vince himself, " She may be a German and a spy,
but she is a woman — a white woman — I can't leave
her here."
OUT OF THE NICHE 387
"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 compan
ion. "I have it," he exclaimed. "I know where
there is a fellow who doesn't need his clothes any
more, 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."
388 TARZAN THE UNTAMED
"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 de
posited safely upon the roof.
"There," remarked Tarzan. "Now, lead me to
the place you speak of."
OUT OF THE NICHE 389
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 be
neath. Smith-Oldwick followed him and together
tfie two crept through the darkness toward the door
in the back wall of the niche in which the English
man had been hidden by the girl. They found the
<ioor ajar and opening it Tarzan saw a streak of
light showing through the hangings that separated
>t from the alcove.
Placing his eye close to the aperture he saw the
girl awd 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 g>eat number of African tribes over a consider
able proportion of the Dark Continent, the Tar-
mangnni 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.
390 TARZAN THE UNTAMED
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 noth
ing, but do as I bid you."
The black rolled terrified eyes toward the hang
ings 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 com
ing 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
OUT OF THE NICHE 391
the feasters. Then he stepped to a place behind
fche 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 hang^
ings 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 lat
ter. 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 Eng
lishman, "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
392 TARZAN THE UNTAMED
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,"
•aid 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 indi
cated 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
OUT OF THE NICHE 393
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-Old-
wick 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 con
cealed 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 gar
ments 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.
394 TARZAN THE UNTAMED
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 ques
tions 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 sugges
tion, 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 with
out. 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."
OUT OF THE NICHE 395
"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 wit
nessed 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 XXIH
THE FLIGHT FROM XUJA
S METAK bore Bertha Kircher toward the
edge of the pool, the girl at first had no con
ception 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 con
fident 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
396
THE FLIGHT TROM XV J A 397
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 pow
erful 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 sub
merged.
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
398 TARZAN THE UNTAMED
that would give her the coveted chance for freedom
and life.
Metak led her toward a building which, as they
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 sit
ting 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 jpf 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 nar
rowed 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 ex
citement 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 FLIGHT FROtfXUJA 399
The girl wondered at the cause of the evident excite
ment 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 dis
appear 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
slare, 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 dis
cover the niche behind the hangings. With the fick-
lenifi% 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
400 TARZAN THE UNTAMED
of the alcove, shrank back, her horror reflected ini
her face. Step by step she backed across the room,
while the crouching maniac crept stealthily afteu
her with clawlike 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 sup
posed 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, ano?
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 itt
the changing expression upon his hideous coun
tenance. His hysterical laughter was slowly chang
ing 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 <^ngsr
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
THE FLIGHT FROM XUJA 401
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 cor
ridor 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 pre-
TARZAN THE UNTAMED
cipitating 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 for
getful 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. Pow
erful by nature and rendered still more so in the
THE FLIGHT FROM XV J A 403
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 find
ing 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 sud
denly 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 op
portunity for shooting one without the danger of
404 TARZAN THE UNTAMED
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 passage
way to the roof and secured the trap against us
so that we are cut off in that direction. What
THE FLIGHT FROM XUJA 405
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 per
mitted 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,
406 TARZAN THE UNTAMED
traversing several rooms and corridors, he led them
down a flight of steps to a door which opened di
rectly 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 detec
tion. They had covered a good portion of the dis
tance 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
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 sum
moned 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 compli
cates matters — at least if they have found him."
Suddenly there broke above the turmoil behind
them the clear strains of a bugle. Otobu increased
THE FLIGHT FROM XV J A 407
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
408 TARZAN THE UNTAMED *-
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 suffi
cient 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. " Be
yond 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 com
mands 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, par
rots, or men, it must be all the same," and he moved
steadily forward in the direction of the gate. What
wind T?as 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, in
stead of the expected roar, a whine broke from the
beast's throat. The ape-man was conscious of a
THE FLIGHT FROM XUJA
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 am
munition have you left ? " he asked.
"I have seven in the pistol," replied Smith-Old-
wick, "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
410 TARZAN THE UNTAMED
^^ — — •-••—••— »•»
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 Tarman-
gajii, 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 un
controlled 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 handfiJ
of terrified guardsmen who were endeavoring to eludt
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
THE FLIGHT FROM XUJA 411
stiffened rigidly, his weapon dropped from the nerve
less 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 con
dition 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 rein
forcements 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 parch
ment-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-Old
wick. "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
412 TARZAN THE UNTAMED
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 avia
tor 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 de
fenseless, had given up all hope in the instant that
he realized his weapon was empty, when, from his
THE FLIGHT FROM XV J A 413
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 van
quishing 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 mo
ment 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 foHow us tonight, but tomorrow they will
come, and, O Bwana, then will they surely get us,
or those that arfe left of us, for at least one among
414 TARZAN THE UNTAMED
us must be the toll of the black lions as we pass
through their forest."
As they crossed the garden, Smith-Oldwick re
filled 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. Sud
denly 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 be
neath 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 com
panions 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 re
pulsive 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 ma
jestic proportions of the black lion as he approached
THE FLIGHT FROM XV J A 415
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 rau
cous 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 involun
tarily shrank closer to the ape-man, and this time
Tarzan was aware of the contact.
Himself without fear, he yet instinctively appre
ciated 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 com
pelled 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 en
tered 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 nego
tiated 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 carry
ing 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
416
THE TOMMIES 417
•
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 un
complaining 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 with
out 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 what
ever comes, let us remain together, unless," and sh«
looked up at Tarzan, " you, who have done so much
for us, to whom you are under no obligation, 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
418 TARZAN THE UNTAMED
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 be
neath the shade of an overhanging rock and lay
down in the hot sand to rest. Numa wandered rest
lessly 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 Tar-
zan 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
THE TOMMIES 419
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 • an 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, turn
ing 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 be
came 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
420 TARZAN THE UNTAMED
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. Some
times 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,
\vill be easily handled after the warriors are dis
posed 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 be
tween 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
THE TOMMIES 421
will tell the parrots," said the black, " and the par
rots 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 ap
proach. 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*
422 TARZAN THE UNTAMED
Again they came, this time a man opposing Tarzan
and a lion seeking to overcome Smith-Oldwick. Tar
zan 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 inad
vertently 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 mid
way 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 ha4
THE TOMMIES 423
received at the claws of the lion, had lost conscious
ness 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 arise, 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 non-com.
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 fol
lowed at his side. The skirmish that had resulted
in their rescue was soon over. Most of the lions es
caped 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 in
stantly the natural error that Tarzan's yellow tuniq
424 TARZAN THE UNTAMED
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 Eng-
iisn, 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 trans
ported to British headquarters near the coast by
aeroplane, the two planes attached to the expedi
tionary force being requisitioned for the purpose.
Tarzan and Otobu declined the offers of the British
captain to accompany his force overland on the re
turn 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 TOMMIES 425
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 stand
ing 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 detach
ment, 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 out
stretched 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
426 TARZAN THE UNTAMED
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 with his troops. Now that
all was in readiness for departure he turned to Tar-
zan. "I wish you would come back with us, Grey-
stoke," 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 OTT2 way.
Miss Kircher and Lieutenant Smith-Oldwick were
only prompted by a sense of gratitude in consider
ing 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
THE TOMMIES 427
should thus laconically speak of an enemy spy whom
he had had within his power and permitted to es
cape. "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 ex
amine 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 ! " re
peated 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 in
credulity burst from his lips. Capell looked at him
questioningly.
"God!" exclaimed the ape-man. "Can this be
428 TARZAN THE UNTAMED
true? Listen!" and he read an excerpt from the
closely written page:
"'Played a little joke on the English pig. iWhen
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 inarry^ him.3"
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EDGAR RICE BURROUGHS
NOVELS
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TARZAN THE UNTAMED
Tells of Tarzan' s return to the life of the ape-man in
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JUNGLE TALES OF TARZAN
Records the many wonderful exploits by which Tarzan t
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A PRINCESS OF MARS
Forty-three million miles from the earth — a succession
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John Carter, American, finds himself on the planet Mars,
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THE GODS OF MARS
Continuing John Carter' s adventures on the Planet Mars,
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THE WARLORD OF MARS
Old acquaintances, made in the two other stories, reap
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THUVIA. MAID OF MARS
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THE RIVER'S END~
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KAZAN
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I5OBEL
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RIDERS OF THE PURPLE SAGE
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THE SCAR
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THE MARRIAGE OF BARRY WICKLOW
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THE UPHILL ROAD
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WINDS OF THE WORLD
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May be had wherever boohs are sold. Ask for Brosset t Duirtsp's list.
DANGEROUS DAYS.
A brilliant story of married life. A romance of fine purpose and
stirring appeal.
THE AMAZING INTERLUDE.
Illustrations by The Kinneys.
The story of a great love which cannot be pictured— an interlude
—•amazing, romantic.
LOVE STORIES.
This book is exactly what its title indicates, a collection of lovfc
affairs— sparkling with humor, tenderness and sweetness.
"K." Illustrated.
K. LeMoyne, famous surgeon, goes to live in a little towr where
beautifu' Sidney Page lives. She is in training to become a narse.
The joys and troubles of their young love are cold with keen and
sympathetic appreciation.
THE MAN IN LOWER TEN.
Illustrated by Howard Chandler Christy.
An absorbing detective story woven around the ity^terious death
of the " Man in Lower Ten."
WHEN A MAN MARRIES.
Illustrated by Harrison Fisher and Mayo Bunker.
A young artist, whose wife had recently divorced him, finds that
his aunt is soon to visit him. The aunt, who contributes to the
family income, knows nothing of the domestic upheaval. How the
young man met the situation is entertainingly told.
THE CIRCULAR STAIRCASE. Illustrated by Lester Ralph.
The occupants of "Sunnyside" find the dead body of Arnold
Armstrong on the circular staircase. Following the murder a bank
failure is announced. Around these two events is woven a plot of
absorbing interest.
THE STREET OF SEVEN STARS. (Photoplay Edition.)
Harmony Wells, studying in Vienna to be a great violinist, sud.
denly realizes that her money is almost gone. She meets a young
ambitious doctor who offers her chivalry and sympathy, and together
with world- worn Dr. Anna and Jimmie, the waif, they share their
love and slender means.
GROSSET & DUNLAP, PUBLISHERS, NEW YORK
UC SOUTHERN REGIONAL UBWRYFACIU"