THE TRAINING OF JAD-BAL-JA
AND so Tarzan of the Apes, and Jane Clayton, and Korak came home after a
long absence and with them came Jad-bal-ja, the golden lion, and Za, the
bitch. Among the first to meet them and to welcome them home was old
Muviro, father of Wasimbu, who had given his life in defense of the home
and wife of the ape-man.
“Ah, Bwana,” cried the faithful black, “my old eyes are made young again
by the sight of you. It has been long that you have been gone, but
though many doubted that you would return, old Muviro knew that the
great world held nothing that might overcome his master. And so he knew,
too, that his master would return to the home of his love and the land
where his faithful Waziri awaited him; but that she, whom we have
mourned as dead, should have returned is beyond belief, and great shall
be the rejoicing in the huts of the Waziri tonight. And the earth shall
tremble to the dancing feet of the warriors and the heavens ring with
the glad cries of their women, since the three they love most on earth
have come back to them.”
And in truth, great indeed was the rejoicing in the huts of the Waziri.
And not for one night alone, but for many nights did the dancing and the
rejoicing continue until Tarzan was compelled to put a stop to the
festivities that he and his family might gain a few hours of unbroken
slumber. The ape-man found that not only had his faithful Waziri, under
the equally faithful guidance of his English foreman, Jervis, completely
rehabilitated his stables, corrals, and outbuildings as well as the
native huts, but had restored the interior of the bungalow, so that in
all outward appearances the place was precisely as it had been before
the raid of the Germans.
Jervis was at Nairobi on the business of the estate, and it was some
days after their arrival that he returned to the ranch. His surprise and
happiness were no less genuine than those of the Waziri. With the chief
and warriors he sat for hours at the feet of the Big Bwana, listening to
an account of the strange land of Pal-ul-don and the adventures that had
befallen the three during Lady Greystoke’s captivity there, and with the
Waziri he marveled at the queer pets the ape-man had brought back with
him. That Tarzan might have fancied a mongrel native cur was strange
enough, but that he should have adopted a cub of his hereditary enemies,
Numa and Sabor, seemed beyond all belief. And equally surprising to them
all was the manner of Tarzan’s education of the cub.
The golden lion and his foster mother occupied a corner of the ape-man’s
bedroom, and many was the hour each day that he spent in training and
educating the little spotted, yellow ball—all playfulness and affection
now, but one day to grow into a great, savage beast of prey.
As the days passed and the golden lion grew, Tarzan taught it many
tricks—to fetch and carry, to lie motionless in hiding at his almost
inaudible word of command, to move from point to point as he indicated,
to hunt for hidden things by scent and to retrieve them, and when meat
was added to its diet he fed it always in a way that brought grim smiles
to the savage lips of the Waziri warriors, for Tarzan had built for him
a dummy in the semblance of a man and the meat that the lion was to eat
was fastened always at the throat of the dummy. Never did the manner of
feeding vary. At a word from the ape-man the golden lion would crouch,
belly to the ground, and then Tarzan would point at the dummy and
whisper the single word “kill.” However hungry he might be, the lion
learned never to move toward his meat until that single word had been
uttered by its master; and then with a rush and a savage growl it drove
straight for the flesh. While it was little it had difficulty at first
in clambering up the dummy to the savory morsel fastened at the figure’s
throat, but as it grew older and larger it gained the objective more
easily, and finally a single leap would carry it to its goal and down
would go the dummy upon its back with the young lion tearing at its
throat.
There was one lesson that, of all the others, was most difficult to
learn and it is doubtful that any other than Tarzan of the Apes, reared
by beasts, among beasts, could have overcome the savage blood-lust of
the carnivore and rendered his natural instinct subservient to the will
of his master. It took weeks and months of patient endeavor to
accomplish this single item of the lion’s education, which consisted in
teaching him that at the word “fetch” he must find any indicated object
and return with it to his master, even the dummy with raw meat tied at
its throat, and that he must not touch the meat nor harm the dummy nor
any other article that he was fetching, but place them carefully at the
ape-man’s feet. Afterward he learned always to be sure of his reward,
which usually consisted in a double portion of the meat that he loved
best.
Lady Greystoke and Korak were often interested spectators of the
education of the golden lion, though the former expressed mystification
as to the purpose of such elaborate training of the young cub and some
misgivings as to the wisdom of the ape-man’s program.
“What in the world can you do with such a brute after he is grown?” she
asked. “He bids fair to be a mighty Numa. Being accustomed to men he
will be utterly fearless of them, and having fed always at the throat of
a dummy he will look there at the throat of living men for his food
hereafter.”
“He will feed only upon what I tell him to feed,” replied the ape-man.
“But you do not expect him to feed always upon men?” she interrogated,
laughingly.
“He will never feed upon men.”
“But how can you prevent it, having taught him from cubhood always to
feed upon men?”
“I am afraid, Jane, that you under-estimate the intelligence of a lion,
or else I very much over-estimate it. If your theory is correct the
hardest part of my work is yet before me, but if I am right it is
practically complete now. However, we will experiment a bit and see
which is right. We shall take Jad-bal-ja out upon the plain with us this
afternoon. Game is plentiful and we shall have no difficulty in
ascertaining just how much control I have over young Numa after all.”
“I’ll wager a hundred pounds,” said Korak, laughing, “that he does just
what he jolly well pleases after he gets a taste of live blood.”
“You’re on, my son,” said the ape-man. “I think I am going to show you
and your mother this afternoon what you or anyone else never dreamed
could be accomplished.”
“Lord Greystoke, the world’s premier animal trainer!” cried Lady
Greystoke, and Tarzan joined them in their laughter.
“It is not animal training,” said the ape-man. “The plan upon which I
work would be impossible to anyone but Tarzan of the Apes. Let us take a
hypothetical case to illustrate what I mean. There comes to you some
creature whom you hate, whom by instinct and heredity you consider a
deadly enemy. You are afraid of him. You understand no word that he
speaks. Finally, by means sometimes brutal he impresses upon your mind
his wishes. You may do the thing he wants, but do you do it with a
spirit of unselfish loyalty? You do not—you do it under compulsion,
hating the creature that forces his will upon you. At any moment that
you felt it was in your power to do so, you would disobey him. You would
even go further—you would turn upon him and destroy him. On the other
hand, there comes to you one with whom you are familiar; he is a friend,
a protector. He understands and speaks the language that you understand
and speak. He has fed you, he has gained your confidence by kindness and
protection, he asks you to do something for him. Do you refuse? No, you
obey willingly. It is thus that the golden lion will obey me.”
“As long as it suits his purpose to do so,” commented Korak.
“Let me go a step farther then,” said the ape-man. “Suppose that this
creature, whom you love and obey, has the power to punish, even to kill
you, if it is necessary so to do to enforce his commands. How then about
your obedience?”
“We’ll see,” said Korak, “how easily the golden lion will make one
hundred pounds for me.”
That afternoon they set out across the plain, Jad-bal-ja following
Tarzan’s horse’s heels. They dismounted at a little clump of trees some
distance from the bungalow and from there proceeded onward warily toward
a swale in which antelopes were usually to be found, moving up which
they came cautiously to the heavy brush that bordered the swale upon
their side. There was Tarzan, Jane, and Korak, and close beside Tarzan
the golden lion—four jungle hunters—and of the four Jad-bal-ja, the
lion, was the least accomplished. Stealthily they crawled through the
brush, scarce a leaf rustling to their passage, until at last they
looked down into the swale upon a small herd of antelope grazing
peacefully below. Closest to them was an old buck, and him Tarzan
pointed out in some mysterious manner to Jad-bal-ja.
“Fetch him,” he whispered, and the golden lion rumbled a scarce audible
acknowledgment of the command.
Stealthily he worked his way through the brush. The antelopes fed on,
unsuspecting. The distance separating the lion from his prey was over
great for a successful charge, and so Jad-bal-ja waited, hiding in the
brush, until the antelope should either graze closer to him or turn its
back toward him. No sound came from the four watching the grazing
herbivora, nor did the latter give any indication of a suspicion of the
nearness of danger. The old buck moved slowly closer to Jad-bal-ja.
Almost imperceptibly the lion was gathering for the charge. The only
noticeable movement was the twitching of his tail’s tip, and then, as
lightning from the sky, as an arrow from a bow, he shot from immobility
to tremendous speed in an instant. He was almost upon the buck before
the latter realized the proximity of danger, and then it was too late,
for scarcely had the antelope wheeled than the lion rose upon its hind
legs and seized it, while the balance of the herd broke into precipitate
flight.
“Now,” said Korak, “we shall see.”
“He will bring the antelope to me,” said Tarzan confidently.
The golden lion hesitated a moment, growling over the carcass of his
kill. Then he seized it by the back and with his head turned to one side
dragged it along the ground beside him, as he made his way slowly back
toward Tarzan. Through the brush he dragged the slain antelope until he
had dropped it at the feet of his master, where he stood, looking up at
the face of the ape-man with an expression that could not have been
construed into aught but pride in his achievement and a plea for
commendation.
Tarzan stroked his head and spoke to him in a low voice, praising him,
and then, drawing his hunting knife, he cut the jugular of the antelope
and let the blood from the carcass. Jane and Korak stood close, watching
Jad-bal-ja—what would the lion do with the smell of fresh, hot blood in
his nostrils? He sniffed at it and growled, and with bared fangs he eyed
the three wickedly. The ape-man pushed him away with his open palm and
the lion growled again angrily and snapped at him.
Quick is Numa, quick is Bara, the deer, but Tarzan of the Apes is
lightning. So swiftly did he strike, and so heavily, that Jad-bal-ja was
falling on his back almost in the very instant that he had growled at
his master. Swiftly he came to his feet again and the two stood facing
one another.
“Down!” commanded the ape-man. “Lie down, Jad-bal-ja!” His voice was low
and firm. The lion hesitated but for an instant, and then lay down as
Tarzan of the Apes had taught him to do at the word of command. Tarzan
turned and lifted the carcass of the antelope to his shoulder.
“Come,” he said to Jad-bal-ja. “Heel!” and without another glance at the
carnivore he moved off toward the horses.
“I might have known it,” said Korak, with a laugh, “and saved my hundred
pounds.”
“Of course you might have known it,” said his mother.