As Mo-sar carried Jane Clayton from the palace of Ko-tan, the king, the
woman struggled incessantly to regain her freedom. He tried to compel
her to walk, but despite his threats and his abuse she would not
voluntarily take a single step in the direction in which he wished her
to go. Instead she threw herself to the ground each time he sought to
place her upon her feet, and so of necessity he was compelled to carry
her though at last he tied her hands and gagged her to save himself
from further lacerations, for the beauty and slenderness of the woman
belied her strength and courage. When he came at last to where his men
had gathered he was glad indeed to turn her over to a couple of
stalwart warriors, but these too were forced to carry her since
Mo-sar's fear of the vengeance of Ko-tan's retainers would brook no
delays.
And thus they came down out of the hills from which A-lur is carved, to
the meadows that skirt the lower end of Jad-ben-lul, with Jane Clayton
carried between two of Mo-sar's men. At the edge of the lake lay a
fleet of strong canoes, hollowed from the trunks of trees, their bows
and sterns carved in the semblance of grotesque beasts or birds and
vividly colored by some master in that primitive school of art, which
fortunately is not without its devotees today.
Into the stern of one of these canoes the warriors tossed their captive
at a sign from Mo-sar, who came and stood beside her as the warriors
were finding their places in the canoes and selecting their paddles.
"Come, Beautiful One," he said, "let us be friends and you shall not be
harmed. You will find Mo-sar a kind master if you do his bidding," and
thinking to make a good impression on her he removed the gag from her
mouth and the thongs from her wrists, knowing well that she could not
escape surrounded as she was by his warriors, and presently, when they
were out on the lake, she would be as safely imprisoned as though he
held her behind bars.
And so the fleet moved off to the accompaniment of the gentle splashing
of a hundred paddles, to follow the windings of the rivers and lakes
through which the waters of the Valley of Jad-ben-Otho empty into the
great morass to the south. The warriors, resting upon one knee, faced
the bow and in the last canoe Mo-sar tiring of his fruitless attempts
to win responses from his sullen captive, squatted in the bottom of the
canoe with his back toward her and resting his head upon the gunwale
sought sleep.
Thus they moved in silence between the verdure-clad banks of the little
river through which the waters of Jad-ben-lul emptied--now in the
moonlight, now in dense shadow where great trees overhung the stream,
and at last out upon the waters of another lake, the black shores of
which seemed far away under the weird influence of a moonlight night.
Jane Clayton sat alert in the stern of the last canoe. For months she
had been under constant surveillance, the prisoner first of one
ruthless race and now the prisoner of another. Since the long-gone day
that Hauptmann Fritz Schneider and his band of native German troops had
treacherously wrought the Kaiser's work of rapine and destruction on
the Greystoke bungalow and carried her away to captivity she had not
drawn a free breath. That she had survived unharmed the countless
dangers through which she had passed she attributed solely to the
beneficence of a kind and watchful Providence.
At first she had been held on the orders of the German High Command
with a view of her ultimate value as a hostage and during these months
she had been subjected to neither hardship nor oppression, but when the
Germans had become hard pressed toward the close of their unsuccessful
campaign in East Africa it had been determined to take her further into
the interior and now there was an element of revenge in their motives,
since it must have been apparent that she could no longer be of any
possible military value.
Bitter indeed were the Germans against that half-savage mate of hers
who had cunningly annoyed and harassed them with a fiendishness of
persistence and ingenuity that had resulted in a noticeable loss in
morale in the sector he had chosen for his operations. They had to
charge against him the lives of certain officers that he had
deliberately taken with his own hands, and one entire section of trench
that had made possible a disastrous turning movement by the British.
Tarzan had out-generaled them at every point. He had met cunning with
cunning and cruelty with cruelties until they feared and loathed his
very name. The cunning trick that they had played upon him in
destroying his home, murdering his retainers, and covering the
abduction of his wife in such a way as to lead him to believe that she
had been killed, they had regretted a thousand times, for a
thousandfold had they paid the price for their senseless ruthlessness,
and now, unable to wreak their vengeance directly upon him, they had
conceived the idea of inflicting further suffering upon his mate.
In sending her into the interior to avoid the path of the victorious
British, they had chosen as her escort Lieutenant Erich Obergatz who
had been second in command of Schneider's company, and who alone of its
officers had escaped the consuming vengeance of the ape-man. For a long
time Obergatz had held her in a native village, the chief of which was
still under the domination of his fear of the ruthless German
oppressors. While here only hardships and discomforts assailed her,
Obergatz himself being held in leash by the orders of his distant
superior but as time went on the life in the village grew to be a
veritable hell of cruelties and oppressions practiced by the arrogant
Prussian upon the villagers and the members of his native command--for
time hung heavily upon the hands of the lieutenant and with idleness
combining with the personal discomforts he was compelled to endure, his
none too agreeable temper found an outlet first in petty interference
with the chiefs and later in the practice of absolute cruelties upon
them.
What the self-sufficient German could not see was plain to Jane
Clayton--that the sympathies of Obergatz' native soldiers lay with the
villagers and that all were so heartily sickened by his abuse that it
needed now but the slightest spark to detonate the mine of revenge and
hatred that the pig-headed Hun had been assiduously fabricating beneath
his own person.
And at last it came, but from an unexpected source in the form of a
German native deserter from the theater of war. Footsore, weary, and
spent, he dragged himself into the village late one afternoon, and
before Obergatz was even aware of his presence the whole village knew
that the power of Germany in Africa was at an end. It did not take long
for the lieutenant's native soldiers to realize that the authority that
held them in service no longer existed and that with it had gone the
power to pay them their miserable wage. Or at least, so they reasoned.
To them Obergatz no longer represented aught else than a powerless and
hated foreigner, and short indeed would have been his shrift had not a
native woman who had conceived a doglike affection for Jane Clayton
hurried to her with word of the murderous plan, for the fate of the
innocent white woman lay in the balance beside that of the guilty
Teuton.
"Already they are quarreling as to which one shall possess you," she
told Jane.
"When will they come for us?" asked Jane. "Did you hear them say?"
"Tonight," replied the woman, "for even now that he has none to fight
for him they still fear the white man. And so they will come at night
and kill him while he sleeps."
Jane thanked the woman and sent her away lest the suspicion of her
fellows be aroused against her when they discovered that the two whites
had learned of their intentions. The woman went at once to the hut
occupied by Obergatz. She had never gone there before and the German
looked up in surprise as he saw who his visitor was.
Briefly she told him what she had heard. At first he was inclined to
bluster arrogantly, with a great display of bravado but she silenced
him peremptorily.
"Such talk is useless," she said shortly. "You have brought upon
yourself the just hatred of these people. Regardless of the truth or
falsity of the report which has been brought to them, they believe in
it and there is nothing now between you and your Maker other than
flight. We shall both be dead before morning if we are unable to escape
from the village unseen. If you go to them now with your silly
protestations of authority you will be dead a little sooner, that is
all."
"You think it is as bad as that?" he said, a noticeable alteration in
his tone and manner.
"It is precisely as I have told you," she replied. "They will come
tonight and kill you while you sleep. Find me pistols and a rifle and
ammunition and we will pretend that we go into the jungle to hunt. That
you have done often. Perhaps it will arouse suspicion that I accompany
you but that we must chance. And be sure my dear Herr Lieutenant to
bluster and curse and abuse your servants unless they note a change in
your manner and realizing your fear know that you suspect their
intention. If all goes well then we can go out into the jungle to hunt
and we need not return.
"But first and now you must swear never to harm me, or otherwise it
would be better that I called the chief and turned you over to him and
then put a bullet into my own head, for unless you swear as I have
asked I were no better alone in the jungle with you than here at the
mercies of these degraded blacks."
"I swear," he replied solemnly, "in the names of my God and my Kaiser
that no harm shall befall you at my hands, Lady Greystoke."
"Very well," she said, "we will make this pact to assist each other to
return to civilization, but let it be understood that there is and
never can be any semblance even of respect for you upon my part. I am
drowning and you are the straw. Carry that always in your mind, German."
If Obergatz had held any doubt as to the sincerity of her word it would
have been wholly dissipated by the scathing contempt of her tone. And
so Obergatz, without further parley, got pistols and an extra rifle for
Jane, as well as bandoleers of cartridges. In his usual arrogant and
disagreeable manner he called his servants, telling them that he and
the white kali were going out into the brush to hunt. The beaters would
go north as far as the little hill and then circle back to the east and
in toward the village. The gun carriers he directed to take the extra
pieces and precede himself and Jane slowly toward the east, waiting for
them at the ford about half a mile distant. The blacks responded with
greater alacrity than usual and it was noticeable to both Jane and
Obergatz that they left the village whispering and laughing.
"The swine think it is a great joke," growled Obergatz, "that the
afternoon before I die I go out and hunt meat for them."
As soon as the gun bearers disappeared in the jungle beyond the village
the two Europeans followed along the same trail, nor was there any
attempt upon the part of Obergatz' native soldiers, or the warriors of
the chief to detain them, for they too doubtless were more than willing
that the whites should bring them in one more mess of meat before they
killed them.
A quarter of a mile from the village, Obergatz turned toward the south
from the trail that led to the ford and hurrying onward the two put as
great a distance as possible between them and the village before night
fell. They knew from the habits of their erstwhile hosts that there was
little danger of pursuit by night since the villagers held Numa, the
lion, in too great respect to venture needlessly beyond their stockade
during the hours that the king of beasts was prone to choose for
hunting.
And thus began a seemingly endless sequence of frightful days and
horror-laden nights as the two fought their way toward the south in the
face of almost inconceivable hardships, privations, and dangers. The
east coast was nearer but Obergatz positively refused to chance
throwing himself into the hands of the British by returning to the
territory which they now controlled, insisting instead upon attempting
to make his way through an unknown wilderness to South Africa where,
among the Boers, he was convinced he would find willing sympathizers
who would find some way to return him in safety to Germany, and the
woman was perforce compelled to accompany him.
And so they had crossed the great thorny, waterless steppe and come at
last to the edge of the morass before Pal-ul-don. They had reached this
point just before the rainy season when the waters of the morass were
at their lowest ebb. At this time a hard crust is baked upon the dried
surface of the marsh and there is only the open water at the center to
materially impede progress. It is a condition that exists perhaps not
more than a few weeks, or even days at the termination of long periods
of drought, and so the two crossed the otherwise almost impassable
barrier without realizing its latent terrors. Even the open water in
the center chanced to be deserted at the time by its frightful denizens
which the drought and the receding waters had driven southward toward
the mouth of Pal-ul-don's largest river which carries the waters out of
the Valley of Jad-ben-Otho.
Their wanderings carried them across the mountains and into the Valley
of Jad-ben-Otho at the source of one of the larger streams which bears
the mountain waters down into the valley to empty them into the main
river just below The Great Lake on whose northern shore lies A-lur. As
they had come down out of the mountains they had been surprised by a
party of Ho-don hunters. Obergatz had escaped while Jane had been
taken prisoner and brought to A-lur. She had neither seen nor heard
aught of the German since that time and she did not know whether he had
perished in this strange land, or succeeded in successfully eluding its
savage denizens and making his way at last into South Africa.
For her part, she had been incarcerated alternately in the palace and
the temple as either Ko-tan or Lu-don succeeded in wresting her
temporarily from the other by various strokes of cunning and intrigue.
And now at last she was in the power of a new captor, one whom she knew
from the gossip of the temple and the palace to be cruel and degraded.
And she was in the stern of the last canoe, and every enemy back was
toward her, while almost at her feet Mo-sar's loud snores gave ample
evidence of his unconsciousness to his immediate surroundings.
The dark shore loomed closer to the south as Jane Clayton, Lady
Greystoke, slid quietly over the stern of the canoe into the chill
waters of the lake. She scarcely moved other than to keep her nostrils
above the surface while the canoe was yet discernible in the last rays
of the declining moon. Then she struck out toward the southern shore.
Alone, unarmed, all but naked, in a country overrun by savage beasts
and hostile men, she yet felt for the first time in many months a
sensation of elation and relief. She was free! What if the next moment
brought death, she knew again, at least a brief instant of absolute
freedom. Her blood tingled to the almost forgotten sensation and it was
with difficulty that she restrained a glad triumphant cry as she
clambered from the quiet waters and stood upon the silent beach.
Before her loomed a forest, darkly, and from its depths came those
nameless sounds that are a part of the night life of the jungle--the
rustling of leaves in the wind, the rubbing together of contiguous
branches, the scurrying of a rodent, all magnified by the darkness to
sinister and awe-inspiring proportions; the hoot of an owl, the distant
scream of a great cat, the barking of wild dogs, attested the presence
of the myriad life she could not see--the savage life, the free life of
which she was now a part. And then there came to her, possibly for the
first time since the giant ape-man had come into her life, a fuller
realization of what the jungle meant to him, for though alone and
unprotected from its hideous dangers she yet felt its lure upon her and
an exaltation that she had not dared hope to feel again.
Ah, if that mighty mate of hers were but by her side! What utter joy
and bliss would be hers! She longed for no more than this. The parade
of cities, the comforts and luxuries of civilization held forth no
allure half as insistent as the glorious freedom of the jungle.
A lion moaned in the blackness to her right, eliciting delicious
thrills that crept along her spine. The hair at the back of her head
seemed to stand erect--yet she was unafraid. The muscles bequeathed her
by some primordial ancestor reacted instinctively to the presence of an
ancient enemy--that was all. The woman moved slowly and deliberately
toward the wood. Again the lion moaned; this time nearer. She sought a
low-hanging branch and finding it swung easily into the friendly
shelter of the tree. The long and perilous journey with Obergatz had
trained her muscles and her nerves to such unaccustomed habits. She
found a safe resting place such as Tarzan had taught her was best and
there she curled herself, thirty feet above the ground, for a night's
rest. She was cold and uncomfortable and yet she slept, for her heart
was warm with renewed hope and her tired brain had found temporary
surcease from worry.
She slept until the heat of the sun, high in the heavens, awakened her.
She was rested and now her body was well as her heart was warm. A
sensation of ease and comfort and happiness pervaded her being. She
rose upon her gently swaying couch and stretched luxuriously, her naked
limbs and lithe body mottled by the sunlight filtering through the
foliage above combined with the lazy gesture to impart to her
appearance something of the leopard. With careful eye she scrutinized
the ground below and with attentive ear she listened for any warning
sound that might suggest the near presence of enemies, either man or
beast. Satisfied at last that there was nothing close of which she
need have fear she clambered to the ground. She wished to bathe but the
lake was too exposed and just a bit too far from the safety of the
trees for her to risk it until she became more familiar with her
surroundings. She wandered aimlessly through the forest searching for
food which she found in abundance. She ate and rested, for she had no
objective as yet. Her freedom was too new to be spoiled by plannings
for the future. The haunts of civilized man seemed to her now as vague
and unattainable as the half-forgotten substance of a dream. If she
could but live on here in peace, waiting, waiting for--HIM. It was the
old hope revived. She knew that he would come some day, if he lived.
She had always known that, though recently she had believed that he
would come too late. If he lived! Yes, he would come if he lived, and
if he did not live she were as well off here as elsewhere, for then
nothing mattered, only to wait for the end as patiently as might be.
Her wanderings brought her to a crystal brook and there she drank and
bathed beneath an overhanging tree that offered her quick asylum in the
event of danger. It was a quiet and beautiful spot and she loved it
from the first. The bottom of the brook was paved with pretty stones
and bits of glassy obsidian. As she gathered a handful of the pebbles
and held them up to look at them she noticed that one of her fingers
was bleeding from a clean, straight cut. She fell to searching for the
cause and presently discovered it in one of the fragments of volcanic
glass which revealed an edge that was almost razor-like. Jane Clayton
was elated. Here, God-given to her hands, was the first beginning with
which she might eventually arrive at both weapons and tools--a cutting
edge. Everything was possible to him who possessed it--nothing without.
She sought until she had collected many of the precious bits of
stone--until the pouch that hung at her right side was almost filled.
Then she climbed into the great tree to examine them at leisure. There
were some that looked like knife blades, and some that could easily be
fashioned into spear heads, and many smaller ones that nature seemed to
have intended for the tips of savage arrows.
The spear she would essay first--that would be easiest. There was a
hollow in the bole of the tree in a great crotch high above the ground.
Here she cached all of her treasure except a single knifelike sliver.
With this she descended to the ground and searching out a slender
sapling that grew arrow-straight she hacked and sawed until she could
break it off without splitting the wood. It was just the right diameter
for the shaft of a spear--a hunting spear such as her beloved Waziri
had liked best. How often had she watched them fashioning them, and
they had taught her how to use them, too--them and the heavy war
spears--laughing and clapping their hands as her proficiency increased.
She knew the arborescent grasses that yielded the longest and toughest
fibers and these she sought and carried to her tree with the spear
shaft that was to be. Clambering to her crotch she bent to her work,
humming softly a little tune. She caught herself and smiled--it was the
first time in all these bitter months that song had passed her lips or
such a smile.
"I feel," she sighed, "I almost feel that John is near--my John--my
Tarzan!"
She cut the spear shaft to the proper length and removed the twigs and
branches and the bark, whittling and scraping at the nubs until the
surface was all smooth and straight. Then she split one end and
inserted a spear point, shaping the wood until it fitted perfectly.
This done she laid the shaft aside and fell to splitting the thick
grass stems and pounding and twisting them until she had separated and
partially cleaned the fibers. These she took down to the brook and
washed and brought back again and wound tightly around the cleft end of
the shaft, which she had notched to receive them, and the upper part of
the spear head which she had also notched slightly with a bit of stone.
It was a crude spear but the best that she could attain in so short a
time. Later, she promised herself, she should have others--many of
them--and they would be spears of which even the greatest of the Waziri
spear-men might be proud.
18