Ukundo, master of jungle craft, led the little party by ways that
no other might have found. He did not always follow the well-beaten
trails, but seemed to know by instinct where short cuts might be taken
and where one, by crawling upon all fours, might find a way through
what seemed an impenetrable mass of tangled vegetation. For half an
hour they moved along in silence; then Ukundo stopped.
"Lion!" he whispered. "He is coming! Take to the trees!"
Dick and Doc could see nothing, could hear nothing. They had been
following each other by the not always simple expedient of actually
touching the one ahead. If they lost touch, they were as good as lost
until they again made contact. Now they saw no trees. They knew there
were trees all about them, but they could see none. The blackness was
everywhere--darkness absolute. They stood up and groped about.
"Hurry!" warned Ukundo. "He comes!"
They heard a crashing in the underbrush. Doc's fingers came in contact
with the bole of a great tree. "Here, Dick!" he whispered. "Here's a
tree! This way!" He felt Dick touch him. The noise in the underbrush
seemed very close.
"Climb!" said Dick. "I've found the tree. Hurry up!"
Doc attempted to scramble up the giant trunk, but he could not span
it with his arms, nor could Dick. They reached through the darkness
searching for a branch, but found none. A horrid growl sounded almost
in their ears. Dick realized that the beast was upon him and in the
instant he obeyed the first impulse that seized him. He wheeled about
facing the animal he could not see and, holding his spear in both
hands, thrust it violently outward in the direction of that blood
curdling growl. At the same instant he felt a heavy body strike the
weapon. He was hurled to the ground and a great weight hurtled against
him, a thunderous, deafening roar shook the earth, as the lion lunged
into the thicket just beyond him, where there followed such a tumult as
might have been made by a dozen lions fighting over their kill.
"Dick!" called Doc. "Are you all right?"
"Yes. Are you?"
"You bet! Hurry! I've found a way up this tree. Here! Over here!"
Dick groped his way to Doc, who had discovered a smaller tree growing
near the huge one they had been unable to climb, and soon the two
boys were perched high above the angry lion thrashing about in the
underbrush and emitting terrific roars and growls.
By shouting, they soon located Ukundo and Bulala in nearby trees; but
they could not see them, and after a short discussion it was decided
that they remain where they were until morning, when they could get an
early start and hasten on towards the country of Ukundo, who promised
that all of them would receive a warm and hospitable welcome.
Presently the lion ceased its noise and the boys tried to settle
themselves with some degree of safety and comfort that they might
snatch a brief sleep, for they knew that they had a day ahead of them
that would tax to the utmost their weakened bodies unfitted by weeks of
captivity and the vile food. Dick was concerned about his spear, which
had been knocked from his grasp when the lion sprang against him.
And at last morning came, and with the first peep of dawn, Ukundo urged
them to descend and continue their flight, assuring them that the
Bagalla would be certain to trail them at least to the limits of Ugalla.
Dick and Doc scrambled down to search for Dick's spear. The first thing
their eyes fell upon was the dead body of a great black-maned lion,
from the chest of which protruded the missing weapon.
"Gee!" exclaimed Doc. "You killed him, Dick! You killed a lion!"
Ukundo and Bulala joined them and many were the congratulations heaped
upon the astonished Dick. A hasty examination revealed what seemed the
only explanation of the surprising event. In leaping for Dick, the lion
must have misjudged the distance in the darkness and jumped too high.
Dick's spear, thrust outward by chance, had been held at precisely the
right angle and the lion had impaled itself upon the point, which had
first entered its lungs, after which, the lion, in its mad efforts to
dislodge the weapon had turned the point into its own heart.
"Golly!" exclaimed Dick, "I'd like to take it along. Just the head,
even."
"Cut off its tail," suggested Doc. "That's about all of it you'll feel
like carrying after an hour or so."
And so Dick took the tail as the trophy of his first big game and the
four resumed their flight, already tired and hungry before the day
fully dawned.
Their progress was slow because the boys could not travel fast. Their
bare feet were sore and bleeding and the naked flesh of their bodies
was torn and scratched by the cruel thorns that seemed to reach out to
seize them.
At noon they reached an open stretch of country where travelling was
easier and their spirits were refreshed, for the dismal jungle had
exercised a depressing effect upon them for many days--an effect
which they had not actually realized until they had come out into the
comparative open of the clearing.
"Gee!" exclaimed Doc. "It's just like the beginning of a long vacation."
"I know we're going to be all right now," said Dick, and at that very
instant three-score painted Bagalla warriors leapt from ambush all
about them.
The four looked about in consternation. They were completely
surrounded. There was no escape.
"Shall we fight?" cried Doc.
"Yes!" replied Dick. "Bulala! Ukundo! will you fight with us? They will
only kill us if they capture us."
"We had better die fighting," replied Ukundo.
Doc fitted an arrow to his bow and shot it at the oncoming warriors,
but, sped by an unaccustomed hand, the arrow only described a graceful
curve and stuck upright in the ground a few yards from Doc's feet. The
Bagalla shouted in derision and rushed forward. Then Dick shot, but
the string slipped from the notch in the end of the arrow an when he
released the missile, it fell at his feet. But Ukundo was more adept.
He drew the shaft far back, and when he let it fly, it embedded itself
deeply in the breast of a shouting Bagalla. Then the Bagalla halted.
They danced fiercely and shouted insults at the four.
"Why don't they shoot at us?" asked Dick.
"They want to take us alive," said Bulala.
"In a moment they will all charge from different directions,"
prophesied Ukundo. "We shall kill some, but they will take us alive."
Dick had thrown down his bow and stood ready with his spear. Doc
followed his example. "I never did like an old bow and arrow, anyway,"
he said.
"Here they come!" warned Dick. "Good bye, Doc!"
"Good bye, Dick!" replied his cousin.
"Don't let 'em take you alive!"
"Poor Mother!"
"Golly! Here come a million more of the beggars!" exclaimed Dick.
And sure enough, with waving plumes there came what seemed a veritable
horde of mighty warriors, grim and savage, pouring out of the nearby
forest.
"They are not Bagalla," said Ukundo.
"Look!" cried Doc. "There's a white man leading them."
"It is Tarzan, Lord of the Jungle, and his mighty Waziri!" exclaimed
Ukundo.
"Tarzan?" shouted Dick. "Yes, it is Tarzan. We are saved!"
[Illustration: "It is Tarzan! We are saved!"]
The Bagalla, warned now by the savage war-cry of the Waziri, turned in
their direction.
At sight of Tarzan and his warriors the ranks of the Bagalla were
thrown into confusion.
They forgot their prey and thought only of escape, for well they knew
the power and the wrath of Tarzan of the Apes.
Like frightened rabbits they scurried for the jungle, pursued by the
Waziri warriors, who showered arrows and spears among them.
As they disappeared from the clearing, Tarzan approached the boys.
"I thank God that I have found you," he said. "I did not think you
could survive the dangers of the jungle. But when I saw you make your
stand against the Bagalla, I knew why you had survived. You are brave
lads! In the jungle only the brave may live. I am very proud of you."
Ukundo and Bulala had gone down on their hands and knees before the
Lord of the Jungle and now Tarzan noticed them. "Who are these?" he
demanded.
"They are our very good friends," said Doc. "Without them we should
never have escaped."
"They shall be rewarded," said Tarzan, "when we reach home tomorrow.
And so shall you boys. What in all the world would you like most?"
"A whole apple pie," said Doc.