As the man raised his weapon to his shoulder to fire at Tarzan, a
scream of warning burst from the lips of one of his comrades, to be
drowned by the throaty roar of Numa, the lion, as the swift rush of his
charge carried him over the boma into the midst of the camp.
The man who would have killed Tarzan cast a quick backward glance as
the warning cry apprised him of his danger; and when he saw the lion he
cast away his rifle in his excitement and terror, his terrified scream
mingled with the voice of Numa, and in his anxiety to escape the fangs
of the man-eater he rushed into the arms of the ape-man.
The lion, momentarily confused by the firelight and the swift movement
and the shouts of the men, paused, crouching, as he looked to right and
left. In that brief instant Tarzan seized the fleeing _shifta_, lifted
him high above his head, and hurled him into the face of Numa; then,
as the lion seized its prey and its great jaws closed upon the head
and shoulder of the hapless bandit, he motioned to his companion to
follow him, and, running directly past the lion, leaped the boma at the
very point that Numa had leaped it. Close at his heels was the white
captive of the _shiftas_, and before the bandits had recovered from the
first shock and surprise of the lion's unexpected charge the two had
disappeared in the shadows of the night.
Just outside the camp Tarzan left his companion for a moment while he
swung into the tree where he had left his weapons and recovered them;
then he led the way out of the valley up into the hills. At his elbow
trotted the silent white man he had rescued from certain death at the
hands of the Kaficho and Galla bandits.
During the brief encounter in the camp Tarzan had noted with admiration
the strength, agility, and courage of the stranger who had aroused both
his interest and his curiosity. Here, seemingly, was a man moulded
to the dimensions of Tarzan's own standards, a quiet, resourceful,
courageous fighting man. Radiating that intangible aura which we call
personality, even in his silences he impressed the ape-man with a
conviction that loyalty and dependability were innate characteristics
of the man; so Tarzan, who ordinarily preferred to be alone, was not
displeased to have the companionship of this stranger.
The moon, almost full, had risen above the black mountain mass to
the east, shedding her soft light on hill and valley and forest,
transforming the scene once more into that of a new world which was
different from the world of daylight and from the world of moonless
night, a world of strange greys and silvery greens.
Up toward a fringe of forest that clothed the upper slopes of the
foothills and dipped down into canyon and ravine the two men moved as
noiselessly as the passing shadow of a cloud, yet to one hidden in the
dark recesses of the wood above, their approach was not unheralded,
for on the breath of Usha, the wind, it was borne ahead of them to the
cunning nostrils of the prince of hunters.
Sheeta, the panther, was hungry. For several days prey had been scarce
and elusive. Now, in his nostrils, the scent of the man-things grew
stronger as they drew nearer. It was the pure scent of man that came
to him unvitiated by the hated odor of the flame-belching thunderstick
that he feared and hated. Eagerly, Sheeta, the panther, awaited the
coming of the men.
Within the forest, Tarzan sought a tree where they might lie up for the
night. He had eaten and was not hungry. Whether or not his companion
had eaten was his own concern. This was a law of the jungle from which
Tarzan might deviate for a weak or wounded companion but not for a
strong man able to provide for himself. Had he killed, he would have
shared his kill; but he would not go forth and hunt for another.
Tarzan found a branch that forked horizontally. With his hunting knife
he cut other branches and laid them across the two arms of the Y thus
formed. Over this rude platform he spread leaves; and then he lay down
to sleep, while from an adjacent tree up wind Sheeta watched him.
Sheeta also watched the other man-thing on the ground between the two
trees. The great cat did not move; he seemed scarcely to breathe. Even
Tarzan was unaware of his presence, yet the ape-man was restless. A
sense so delicate that he was not objectively aware of its existence
seemed to warn him that all was not well. He listened intently and
sniffed the air but detected nothing amiss. Below him, his companion
was making his bed upon the ground in preference to risking the
high-flung branches of the trees to which he was unaccustomed. It was
the man upon the ground that Sheeta watched.
At last, his bed of leaves and grasses arranged to suit him, Tarzan's
companion lay down. Sheeta waited. Gradually, almost imperceptibly,
the sinuous muscles were drawing the hind quarters forward beneath
the sleek body in preparation for the spring. Sheeta edged forward on
the great limb upon which he crouched, but in doing so he caused the
branch to move slightly and the leaves at its end to rustle just a
little. Your ears or mine would not have been conscious of any noise,
but the ears of Tarzan are not as are yours or mine.
He heard; and his eyes, turning quickly, sought and found the intruder.
At the same instant Sheeta launched himself at the man lying on his
rude pallet on the ground below; and as Sheeta sprang so did Tarzan.
What happened happened very quickly; it was a matter of seconds only.
As the two beasts sprang, Tarzan voiced a roar that was intended both
to warn his companion and to distract the attention of Sheeta from his
prey. The man upon the ground leaped quickly to one side, prompted more
by an instinctive reaction than by reason. The panther's body brushed
him as it struck the ground, but the beast's thoughts were now upon the
thing that had voiced that menacing roar rather than upon its intended
prey.
Wheeling as he leaped aside, the man turned and saw the savage
carnivore just as Tarzan landed full upon the beast's back. He heard
the mingled growls of the two as they closed in battle, and his scalp
stiffened as he realized that the sounds coming from the lips of his
companion were quite as bestial as those issuing from the throat of the
carnivore.
Tarzan sought a hold about the neck of the panther, while the great cat
instantly attempted to roll over on its back that it might rip the body
of its antagonist to shreds with the terrible talons that armed its
hind feet. But this strategy the ape-man had anticipated; and rolling
beneath Sheeta as Sheeta rolled, he locked his powerful legs beneath
the belly of the panther; then the great cat leaped to its feet again
and sought to shake the man-thing from its back; and all the while a
mighty arm was tightening about its neck, closing off its wind.
With frantic leaps and bounds the panther hurled itself about in the
moonlight while Tarzan's companion stood unarmed and helpless. Twice
he had tried to run in and assist the ape-man, but both times the two
bodies had struck him and sent him spinning across the ground. Now he
saw a new factor being injected into the battle; Tarzan had succeeded
in drawing his knife. Momentarily the blade flashed before his eyes;
then it was buried in the body of Sheeta. The cat, screaming from pain
and rage, redoubled its efforts to dislodge the creature clinging to it
in the embrace of death; but again the knife fell.
Now Sheeta stood trembling upon uncertain feet as once again the
knife was plunged deeply into his side; then, his great voice forever
stilled, he sank lifeless to the ground as the ape-man rolled from
beneath him and sprang to his feet.
The man whose life Tarzan had saved came forward and laid a hand upon
the shoulder of the ape-man, speaking a few words in a low voice but
in a tongue that Tarzan did not understand though he guessed that it
expressed the gratitude that the manner of the man betokened.
What thoughts were in the mind of Tarzan's companion? Twice within an
hour this strange white man had saved him from death. For what reasons,
the man could not guess. That sentiments of friendship and loyalty were
aroused in his breast would seem only natural if he possessed either
honor or gratitude, but of this we can have no knowledge until we know
him better. As yet he is not even a name to us; and, following the
policy of Tarzan, we shall not judge him until we know him better; then
we may learn to like him, or we may have reason to despise him.
Influenced by the attack of the panther and knowing that Numa was
abroad, Tarzan, by signs, persuaded the man to come up into the tree;
and here the ape-man helped him construct a nest similar to his own.
For the balance of the night they slept in peace, and the sun was an
hour old before either stirred the following morning; then the ape-man
rose and stretched himself.
Nearby, the other man sat up and looked about him. His eyes met
Tarzan's, and he smiled and nodded. For the first time the ape-man had
an opportunity to examine his new acquaintance by daylight. The man
had removed his single garment for the night, covering himself with
leaves and branches. Now as he arose, his only garment was a G string,
and Tarzan saw six feet of well-muscled, well-proportioned body topped
by a head that seemed to bespeak breeding and intelligence. The man's
features were strong, clear cut and harmoniously placed; the face was
more noticeable for strength and rugged masculinity than for beauty.
The wild beast in Tarzan looked into the brown eyes of the stranger
and was satisfied that here was one who might be trusted; the man in
him noted the headband that confined the black hair, saw the strangely
wrought ivory ornament in the center of the forehead, the habergeon
that he was now donning, the ivory ornaments on wrists and ankles, and
found his curiosity piqued.
The ivory ornament in the center of the headband was shaped like a
concave, curved trowel, the point of which projected above the top of
the man's head and curved forward. His wristlets and anklets were of
long flat strips of ivory laid close together and fastened around the
limbs by leather thongs that were laced through holes piercing the
strips near their tops and bottoms. His sandals were of heavy leather,
apparently elephant hide, and were supported by leather thongs fastened
to the bottoms of his anklets.
On each arm below the shoulder he wore an ivory disc upon which was
carved a design; about his neck was a band of smaller ivory discs
elaborately carved, and from the lowest of these a strap ran down to
his habergeon, which was also supported by shoulder straps. Depending
from each side of his headband was another ivory disc of large size,
above which was a smaller disc. The larger discs covered his ears.
Heavy, curved, wedge-shaped pieces of ivory were held, one upon each
shoulder, by the same straps that supported his habergeon.
That all these trappings were solely for purposes of ornamentation
Tarzan did not believe. He saw that almost without exception they
would serve as a protection against a cutting weapon such as a sword
or battle-ax; and he could not but wonder where the stalwart warrior
who wore them had had his genesis, for nowhere in the world, so far as
Tarzan knew, was there a race of men wearing armor and ornaments such
as these.
But speculation concerning this matter was relegated to the background
of his thoughts by hunger and recollection of the remains of
yesterday's kill that he had hung high in a tree of the forest farther
up the river; so he dropped lightly to the ground, motioning the young
warrior to follow him; and set off in the direction of his cache,
keeping his keen senses always on the alert for enemies.
Cleverly hidden by leafy branches, the meat was intact when Tarzan
reached it. He cut several strips and tossed them down to the warrior
waiting on the ground below; then he cut some for himself and crouching
in a crotch proceeded to eat it raw. His companion watched him for a
moment in surprise; then he made fire with a bit of steel and flint and
cooked his own portion.
As he ate, Tarzan's active mind was considering plans for the future.
He had come to Abyssinia for a specific purpose, though the matter was
not of such immediate importance that it demanded instant attention.
In fact, in the philosophy that a lifetime of primitive environment
had inspired, time was not an important consideration. The phenomenon
of this ivory-armored warrior aroused questions that intrigued his
interest to a far greater extent than did the problems that had
brought him thus far from his own stamping grounds, and he decided
that the latter should wait the solving of the riddle of this seeming
anachronism that his new-made acquaintance presented.
Having no other means of communication than signs rendered an exchange
of ideas between the two difficult, but when they had finished their
meal and Tarzan had descended to the ground he succeeded in asking his
companion in what direction he wished to go. The warrior pointed in a
northeasterly direction toward the high mountains; and, as plainly as
he could through the medium of signs, invited Tarzan to accompany him
to his country. This invitation Tarzan accepted and motioned the other
to lead the way.
For days that stretched to weeks the two men struck deeper and deeper
into the heart of a stupendous mountain system. Always mentally alert
and eager to learn, Tarzan took advantage of the opportunity provided
by time and propinquity to learn the language of his companion, and he
proved such an apt pupil that they were soon able to make themselves
understood to one another.
Among the first things that Tarzan learned was that his companion's
name was Valthor, while Valthor took the earliest opportunity to evince
an interest in the ape-man's weapons; and as he was unarmed, Tarzan
spent a day in making a spear and bow and arrows for him. Thereafter,
as Valthor taught the lord of the jungle to speak his language, Tarzan
instructed the former in the use of the bow, the spear being already a
familiar weapon to the young warrior.
Thus the days and the weeks passed and the two seemed no nearer the
country of Valthor than when they had started from the vicinity of the
camp of the _shiftas_. Tarzan found game of certain varieties plentiful
in the mountains, and it was he who kept their larder supplied. The
impressive scenery that was marked by rugged grandeur held the interest
of the ape-man undiminished. He hunted, and he enjoyed the beauties of
unspoiled nature, practically oblivious of the passage of time.
But Valthor was less patient; and at last, late one day when they found
themselves at the head of a blind canyon where stupendous cliffs barred
further progress, he admitted defeat. "I am lost," he said simply.
"That," remarked Tarzan, "I could have told you many days ago."
Valthor looked at him in surprise. "How could you know that," he
demanded, "when you yourself do not know in what direction my country
lies?"
"I know," replied the ape-man, "because during the past week you have
led the way toward the four points of the compass, and today we are
within five miles of where we were a week ago. Across this ridge at
our right, not more than five miles away, is the little stream where I
killed the ibex and the gnarled old tree in which we slept that night
just seven suns ago."
Valthor scratched his head in perplexity, and then he smiled. "I cannot
dispute you," he admitted. "Perhaps you are right, but what are we
going to do?"
"Do you know in what direction your country lies from the camp in which
I found you?" asked Tarzan.
"Thenar is due east of that point," replied Valthor; "of that I am
positive."
"Then we are directly southwest of it now, for we have travelled a
considerable distance toward the south since we entered the higher
mountains. If your country lies in these mountains then it should not
be difficult to find it if we can keep moving always in a northeasterly
direction."
"This jumble of mountains with their twisting canyons and gorges
confuses me," Valthor admitted. "You see, in all my life before I have
never been farther from Thenar than the valley of Onthar, and both
these valleys are surrounded by landmarks with which I am so familiar
that I need no other guides. It has never been necessary for me to
consult the positions of the sun, the moon, nor the stars before;
and so they have been of no help to me since we set out in search
of Thenar. Do you believe that you could hold a course toward the
northeast in this maze of mountains? If you can, then you had better
lead the way rather than I."
"I can go toward the northeast," Tarzan assured him, "but I cannot find
your country unless it lies in my path."
"If we reach a point within fifty or a hundred miles of it, from some
high eminence we shall see Xarator," explained Valthor; "and then I
shall know my way to Thenar, for Xarator is almost due west of Athne."
"What are Xarator and Athne?" demanded Tarzan.
"Xarator is a great peak the center of which is filled with fire and
molten rock. It lies at the north end of the valley of Onthar and
belongs to the men of Cathne, the city of gold. Athne, the city of
ivory, is the city from which I come. The men of Cathne, in the valley
of Onthar, are the enemies of my people."
"Tomorrow, then," said Tarzan, "we shall set out for the city of Athne
in the valley of Thenar."
As Tarzan and Valthor ate meat that they had cut from yesterday's kill
and carried with them, many weary miles to the south a black-maned lion
lashed his tail angrily and voiced a savage growl as he stood over the
body of a buffalo calf he had killed and faced an angry bull pawing the
earth and bellowing a few yards away.
Rare is the beast that will face Gorgo, the buffalo, when rage inflames
his red-rimmed eyes; but the great lion showed no intention of leaving
its prey even in the face of the bull's threatened charge. He stood
his ground. The roars of the lion and the bull mingled in a savage,
thunderous dissonance that shook the ground, stilling the voices of the
lesser people of the jungle.
Gorgo gored the earth, working himself into a frenzy of rage. Behind
him, bellowing, stood the mother of the slain calf. Perhaps she was
urging her lord and master to avenge the murder. The other members of
the herd had bolted into the thickest of the jungle leaving these two
to contest with Numa his right to his kill, leaving vengeance to those
powerful horns backed by that massive neck.
With a celerity and agility that belied his great weight, the bull
charged. That two such huge beasts could move so quickly and so lightly
seemed incredible, as it seemed incredible that any creature could
either withstand or avoid the menace of those mighty horns; but the
lion was ready, and as the bull was almost upon him, he leaped to one
side, reared upon his hind feet and with one massive, taloned paw
struck the bull a terrific blow on the side of its head that wheeled
it half around and sent it stumbling to its knees, half stunned and
bleeding, its great jawbone crushed and splintered. And before Gorgo
could regain his feet, Numa leaped full upon his back, buried his teeth
in the bulging muscles of the great neck, and with one paw reached for
the nose of the bellowing bull, jerking the head back with a mighty
surge that snapped the vertebrae.
Instantly the lion was on his feet again facing the cow, but she did
not charge. Instead, bellowing, she crashed away into the jungle
leaving the king of beasts standing with his forefeet upon his latest
kill.
That night Numa fed well; but when he had gorged himself he did not
lie up as a lion should, but continued toward the north along the
mysterious trail he had been following for many days.