Akut, discovering that the boy was not close behind him, turned back to
search for him. He had gone but a short distance in return when he was
brought to a sudden and startled halt by sight of a strange figure
moving through the trees toward him. It was the boy, yet could it be?
In his hand was a long spear, down his back hung an oblong shield such
as the black warriors who had attacked them had worn, and upon ankle
and arm were bands of iron and brass, while a loin cloth was twisted
about the youth’s middle. A knife was thrust through its folds.
When the boy saw the ape he hastened forward to exhibit his trophies.
Proudly he called attention to each of his newly won possessions.
Boastfully he recounted the details of his exploit.
“With my bare hands and my teeth I killed him,” he said. “I would have
made friends with them but they chose to be my enemies. And now that I
have a spear I shall show Numa, too, what it means to have me for a
foe. Only the white men and the great apes, Akut, are our friends. Them
we shall seek, all others must we avoid or kill. This have I learned of
the jungle.”
They made a detour about the hostile village, and resumed their journey
toward the coast. The boy took much pride in his new weapons and
ornaments. He practiced continually with the spear, throwing it at some
object ahead hour by hour as they traveled their loitering way, until
he gained a proficiency such as only youthful muscles may attain to
speedily. All the while his training went on under the guidance of
Akut. No longer was there a single jungle spoor but was an open book to
the keen eyes of the lad, and those other indefinite spoor that elude
the senses of civilized man and are only partially appreciable to his
savage cousin came to be familiar friends of the eager boy. He could
differentiate the innumerable species of the herbivora by scent, and he
could tell, too, whether an animal was approaching or departing merely
by the waxing or waning strength of its effluvium. Nor did he need the
evidence of his eyes to tell him whether there were two lions or four
up wind,—a hundred yards away or half a mile.
Much of this had Akut taught him, but far more was instinctive
knowledge—a species of strange intuition inherited from his father. He
had come to love the jungle life. The constant battle of wits and
senses against the many deadly foes that lurked by day and by night
along the pathway of the wary and the unwary appealed to the spirit of
adventure which breathes strong in the heart of every red-blooded son
of primordial Adam. Yet, though he loved it, he had not let his selfish
desires outweigh the sense of duty that had brought him to a
realization of the moral wrong which lay beneath the adventurous
escapade that had brought him to Africa. His love of father and mother
was strong within him, too strong to permit unalloyed happiness which
was undoubtedly causing them days of sorrow. And so he held tight to
his determination to find a port upon the coast where he might
communicate with them and receive funds for his return to London. There
he felt sure that he could now persuade his parents to let him spend at
least a portion of his time upon those African estates which from
little careless remarks dropped at home he knew his father possessed.
That would be something, better at least than a lifetime of the cramped
and cloying restrictions of civilization.
And so he was rather contented than otherwise as he made his way in the
direction of the coast, for while he enjoyed the liberty and the savage
pleasures of the wild his conscience was at the same time clear, for he
knew that he was doing all that lay in his power to return to his
parents. He rather looked forward, too, to meeting white men
again—creatures of his own kind—for there had been many occasions upon
which he had longed for other companionship than that of the old ape.
The affair with the blacks still rankled in his heart. He had
approached them in such innocent good fellowship and with such
childlike assurance of a hospitable welcome that the reception which
had been accorded him had proved a shock to his boyish ideals. He no
longer looked upon the black man as his brother; but rather as only
another of the innumerable foes of the bloodthirsty jungle—a beast of
prey which walked upon two feet instead of four.
But if the blacks were his enemies there were those in the world who
were not. There were those who always would welcome him with open arms;
who would accept him as a friend and brother, and with whom he might
find sanctuary from every enemy. Yes, there were always white men.
Somewhere along the coast or even in the depths of the jungle itself
there were white men. To them he would be a welcome visitor. They would
befriend him. And there were also the great apes—the friends of his
father and of Akut. How glad they would be to receive the son of Tarzan
of the Apes! He hoped that he could come upon them before he found a
trading post upon the coast. He wanted to be able to tell his father
that he had known his old friends of the jungle, that he had hunted
with them, that he had joined with them in their savage life, and their
fierce, primeval ceremonies—the strange ceremonies of which Akut had
tried to tell him. It cheered him immensely to dwell upon these happy
meetings. Often he rehearsed the long speech which he would make to the
apes, in which he would tell them of the life of their former king
since he had left them.
At other times he would play at meeting with white men. Then he would
enjoy their consternation at sight of a naked white boy trapped in the
war togs of a black warrior and roaming the jungle with only a great
ape as his companion.
And so the days passed, and with the traveling and the hunting and the
climbing the boy’s muscles developed and his agility increased until
even phlegmatic Akut marvelled at the prowess of his pupil. And the
boy, realizing his great strength and revelling in it, became careless.
He strode through the jungle, his proud head erect, defying danger.
Where Akut took to the trees at the first scent of Numa, the lad
laughed in the face of the king of beasts and walked boldly past him.
Good fortune was with him for a long time. The lions he met were
well-fed, perhaps, or the very boldness of the strange creature which
invaded their domain so filled them with surprise that thoughts of
attack were banished from their minds as they stood, round-eyed,
watching his approach and his departure. Whatever the cause, however,
the fact remains that on many occasions the boy passed within a few
paces of some great lion without arousing more than a warning growl.
But no two lions are necessarily alike in character or temper. They
differ as greatly as do individuals of the human family. Because ten
lions act similarly under similar conditions one cannot say that the
eleventh lion will do likewise—the chances are that he will not. The
lion is a creature of high nervous development. He thinks, therefore he
reasons. Having a nervous system and brains he is the possessor of
temperament, which is affected variously by extraneous causes. One day
the boy met the eleventh lion. The former was walking across a small
plain upon which grew little clumps of bushes. Akut was a few yards to
the left of the lad who was the first to discover the presence of Numa.
“Run, Akut,” called the boy, laughing. “Numa lies hid in the bushes to
my right. Take to the trees. Akut! I, the son of Tarzan, will protect
you,” and the boy, laughing, kept straight along his way which led
close beside the brush in which Numa lay concealed.
The ape shouted to him to come away, but the lad only flourished his
spear and executed an improvised war dance to show his contempt for the
king of beasts. Closer and closer to the dread destroyer he came,
until, with a sudden, angry growl, the lion rose from his bed not ten
paces from the youth. A huge fellow he was, this lord of the jungle and
the desert. A shaggy mane clothed his shoulders. Cruel fangs armed his
great jaws. His yellow-green eyes blazed with hatred and challenge.
The boy, with his pitifully inadequate spear ready in his hand,
realized quickly that this lion was different from the others he had
met; but he had gone too far now to retreat. The nearest tree lay
several yards to his left—the lion could be upon him before he had
covered half the distance, and that the beast intended to charge none
could doubt who looked upon him now. Beyond the lion was a thorn
tree—only a few feet beyond him. It was the nearest sanctuary but Numa
stood between it and his prey.
The feel of the long spear shaft in his hand and the sight of the tree
beyond the lion gave the lad an idea—a preposterous idea—a ridiculous,
forlorn hope of an idea; but there was no time now to weigh
chances—there was but a single chance, and that was the thorn tree. If
the lion charged it would be too late—the lad must charge first, and to
the astonishment of Akut and none the less of Numa, the boy leaped
swiftly toward the beast. Just for a second was the lion motionless
with surprise and in that second Jack Clayton put to the crucial test
an accomplishment which he had practiced at school.
Straight for the savage brute he ran, his spear held butt foremost
across his body. Akut shrieked in terror and amazement. The lion stood
with wide, round eyes awaiting the attack, ready to rear upon his hind
feet and receive this rash creature with blows that could crush the
skull of a buffalo.
Just in front of the lion the boy placed the butt of his spear upon the
ground, gave a mighty spring, and, before the bewildered beast could
guess the trick that had been played upon him, sailed over the lion’s
head into the rending embrace of the thorn tree—safe but lacerated.
Akut had never before seen a pole-vault. Now he leaped up and down
within the safety of his own tree, screaming taunts and boasts at the
discomfited Numa, while the boy, torn and bleeding, sought some
position in his thorny retreat in which he might find the least agony.
He had saved his life; but at considerable cost in suffering. It seemed
to him that the lion would never leave, and it was a full hour before
the angry brute gave up his vigil and strode majestically away across
the plain. When he was at a safe distance the boy extricated himself
from the thorn tree; but not without inflicting new wounds upon his
already tortured flesh.
It was many days before the outward evidence of the lesson he had
learned had left him; while the impression upon his mind was one that
was to remain with him for life. Never again did he uselessly tempt
fate.
He took long chances often in his after life; but only when the taking
of chances might further the attainment of some cherished end—and,
always thereafter, he practiced pole-vaulting.
For several days the boy and the ape lay up while the former recovered
from the painful wounds inflicted by the sharp thorns. The great
anthropoid licked the wounds of his human friend, nor, aside from this,
did they receive other treatment, but they soon healed, for healthy
flesh quickly replaces itself.
When the lad felt fit again the two continued their journey toward the
coast, and once more the boy’s mind was filled with pleasurable
anticipation.
And at last the much dreamed of moment came. They were passing through
a tangled forest when the boy’s sharp eyes discovered from the lower
branches through which he was traveling an old but well-marked spoor—a
spoor that set his heart to leaping—the spoor of man, of white men, for
among the prints of naked feet were the well defined outlines of
European made boots. The trail, which marked the passage of a
good-sized company, pointed north at right angles to the course the boy
and the ape were taking toward the coast.
Doubtless these white men knew the nearest coast settlement. They might
even be headed for it now. At any rate it would be worth while
overtaking them if even only for the pleasure of meeting again
creatures of his own kind. The lad was all excitement; palpitant with
eagerness to be off in pursuit. Akut demurred. He wanted nothing of
men. To him the lad was a fellow ape, for he was the son of the king of
apes. He tried to dissuade the boy, telling him that soon they should
come upon a tribe of their own folk where some day when he was older
the boy should be king as his father had before him. But Jack was
obdurate. He insisted that he wanted to see white men again. He wanted
to send a message to his parents. Akut listened and as he listened the
intuition of the beast suggested the truth to him—the boy was planning
to return to his own kind.
The thought filled the old ape with sorrow. He loved the boy as he had
loved the father, with the loyalty and faithfulness of a hound for its
master. In his ape brain and his ape heart he had nursed the hope that
he and the lad would never be separated. He saw all his fondly
cherished plans fading away, and yet he remained loyal to the lad and
to his wishes. Though disconsolate he gave in to the boy’s
determination to pursue the _safari_ of the white men, accompanying him
upon what he believed would be their last journey together.
The spoor was but a couple of days old when the two discovered it,
which meant that the slow-moving caravan was but a few hours distant
from them whose trained and agile muscles could carry their bodies
swiftly through the branches above the tangled undergrowth which had
impeded the progress of the laden carriers of the white men.
The boy was in the lead, excitement and anticipation carrying him ahead
of his companion to whom the attainment of their goal meant only
sorrow. And it was the boy who first saw the rear guard of the caravan
and the white men he had been so anxious to overtake.
Stumbling along the tangled trail of those ahead a dozen heavily laden
blacks who, from fatigue or sickness, had dropped behind were being
prodded by the black soldiers of the rear guard, kicked when they fell,
and then roughly jerked to their feet and hustled onward. On either
side walked a giant white man, heavy blonde beards almost obliterating
their countenances. The boy’s lips formed a glad cry of salutation as
his eyes first discovered the whites—a cry that was never uttered, for
almost immediately he witnessed that which turned his happiness to
anger as he saw that both the white men were wielding heavy whips
brutally upon the naked backs of the poor devils staggering along
beneath loads that would have overtaxed the strength and endurance of
strong men at the beginning of a new day.
Every now and then the rear guard and the white men cast apprehensive
glances rearward as though momentarily expecting the materialization of
some long expected danger from that quarter. The boy had paused after
his first sight of the caravan, and now was following slowly in the
wake of the sordid, brutal spectacle. Presently Akut came up with him.
To the beast there was less of horror in the sight than to the lad, yet
even the great ape growled beneath his breath at useless torture being
inflicted upon the helpless slaves. He looked at the boy. Now that he
had caught up with the creatures of his own kind, why was it that he
did not rush forward and greet them? He put the question to his
companion.
“They are fiends,” muttered the boy. “I would not travel with such as
they, for if I did I should set upon them and kill them the first time
they beat their people as they are beating them now; but,” he added,
after a moment’s thought, “I can ask them the whereabouts of the
nearest port, and then, Akut, we can leave them.”
The ape made no reply, and the boy swung to the ground and started at a
brisk walk toward the _safari_. He was a hundred yards away, perhaps,
when one of the whites caught sight of him. The man gave a shout of
alarm, instantly levelling his rifle upon the boy and firing. The
bullet struck just in front of its mark, scattering turf and fallen
leaves against the lad’s legs. A second later the other white and the
black soldiers of the rear guard were firing hysterically at the boy.
Jack leaped behind a tree, unhit. Days of panic ridden flight through
the jungle had filled Carl Jenssen and Sven Malbihn with jangling
nerves and their native boys with unreasoning terror. Every new note
from behind sounded to their frightened ears the coming of The Sheik
and his bloodthirsty entourage. They were in a blue funk, and the sight
of the naked white warrior stepping silently out of the jungle through
which they had just passed had been sufficient shock to let loose in
action all the pent nerve energy of Malbihn, who had been the first to
see the strange apparition. And Malbihn’s shout and shot had set the
others going.
When their nervous energy had spent itself and they came to take stock
of what they had been fighting it developed that Malbihn alone had seen
anything clearly. Several of the blacks averred that they too had
obtained a good view of the creature but their descriptions of it
varied so greatly that Jenssen, who had seen nothing himself, was
inclined to be a trifle skeptical. One of the blacks insisted that the
thing had been eleven feet tall, with a man’s body and the head of an
elephant. Another had seen THREE immense Arabs with huge, black beards;
but when, after conquering their nervousness, the rear guard advanced
upon the enemy’s position to investigate they found nothing, for Akut
and the boy had retreated out of range of the unfriendly guns.
Jack was disheartened and sad. He had not entirely recovered from the
depressing effect of the unfriendly reception he had received at the
hands of the blacks, and now he had found an even more hostile one
accorded him by men of his own color.
“The lesser beasts flee from me in terror,” he murmured, half to
himself, “the greater beasts are ready to tear me to pieces at sight.
Black men would kill me with their spears or arrows. And now white men,
men of my own kind, have fired upon me and driven me away. Are all the
creatures of the world my enemies? Has the son of Tarzan no friend
other than Akut?”
The old ape drew closer to the boy.
“There are the great apes,” he said. “They only will be the friends of
Akut’s friend. Only the great apes will welcome the son of Tarzan. You
have seen that men want nothing of you. Let us go now and continue our
search for the great apes—our people.”
The language of the great apes is a combination of monosyllabic
gutturals, amplified by gestures and signs. It may not be literally
translated into human speech; but as near as may be this is what Akut
said to the boy.
The two proceeded in silence for some time after Akut had spoken. The
boy was immersed in deep thought—bitter thoughts in which hatred and
revenge predominated. Finally he spoke: “Very well, Akut,” he said, “we
will find our friends, the great apes.”
The anthropoid was overjoyed; but he gave no outward demonstration of
his pleasure. A low grunt was his only response, and a moment later he
had leaped nimbly upon a small and unwary rodent that had been
surprised at a fatal distance from its burrow. Tearing the unhappy
creature in two Akut handed the lion’s share to the lad.