A year had passed since the two Swedes had been driven in terror from
the savage country where The Sheik held sway. Little Meriem still
played with Geeka, lavishing all her childish love upon the now almost
hopeless ruin of what had never, even in its palmiest days, possessed
even a slight degree of loveliness. But to Meriem, Geeka was all that
was sweet and adorable. She carried to the deaf ears of the battered
ivory head all her sorrows all her hopes and all her ambitions, for
even in the face of hopelessness, in the clutches of the dread
authority from which there was no escape, little Meriem yet cherished
hopes and ambitions. It is true that her ambitions were rather nebulous
in form, consisting chiefly of a desire to escape with Geeka to some
remote and unknown spot where there were no Sheiks, no Mabunus—where
_El Adrea_ could find no entrance, and where she might play all day
surrounded only by flowers and birds and the harmless little monkeys
playing in the tree tops.
The Sheik had been away for a long time, conducting a caravan of ivory,
skins, and rubber far into the north. The interim had been one of great
peace for Meriem. It is true that Mabunu had still been with her, to
pinch or beat her as the mood seized the villainous old hag; but Mabunu
was only one. When The Sheik was there also there were two of them, and
The Sheik was stronger and more brutal even than Mabunu. Little Meriem
often wondered why the grim old man hated her so. It is true that he
was cruel and unjust to all with whom he came in contact, but to Meriem
he reserved his greatest cruelties, his most studied injustices.
Today Meriem was squatting at the foot of a large tree which grew
inside the palisade close to the edge of the village. She was
fashioning a tent of leaves for Geeka. Before the tent were some pieces
of wood and small leaves and a few stones. These were the household
utensils. Geeka was cooking dinner. As the little girl played she
prattled continuously to her companion, propped in a sitting position
with a couple of twigs. She was totally absorbed in the domestic duties
of Geeka—so much so that she did not note the gentle swaying of the
branches of the tree above her as they bent to the body of the creature
that had entered them stealthily from the jungle.
In happy ignorance the little girl played on, while from above two
steady eyes looked down upon her—unblinking, unwavering. There was none
other than the little girl in this part of the village, which had been
almost deserted since The Sheik had left long months before upon his
journey toward the north.
And out in the jungle, an hour’s march from the village, The Sheik was
leading his returning caravan homeward.
A year had passed since the white men had fired upon the lad and driven
him back into the jungle to take up his search for the only remaining
creatures to whom he might look for companionship—the great apes. For
months the two had wandered eastward, deeper and deeper into the
jungle. The year had done much for the boy—turning his already mighty
muscles to thews of steel, developing his woodcraft to a point where it
verged upon the uncanny, perfecting his arboreal instincts, and
training him in the use of both natural and artificial weapons.
He had become at last a creature of marvelous physical powers and
mental cunning. He was still but a boy, yet so great was his strength
that the powerful anthropoid with which he often engaged in mimic
battle was no match for him. Akut had taught him to fight as the bull
ape fights, nor ever was there a teacher better fitted to instruct in
the savage warfare of primordial man, or a pupil better equipped to
profit by the lessons of a master.
As the two searched for a band of the almost extinct species of ape to
which Akut belonged they lived upon the best the jungle afforded.
Antelope and zebra fell to the boy’s spear, or were dragged down by the
two powerful beasts of prey who leaped upon them from some overhanging
limb or from the ambush of the undergrowth beside the trail to the
water hole or the ford.
The pelt of a leopard covered the nakedness of the youth; but the
wearing of it had not been dictated by any prompting of modesty. With
the rifle shots of the white men showering about him he had reverted to
the savagery of the beast that is inherent in each of us, but that
flamed more strongly in this boy whose father had been raised a beast
of prey. He wore his leopard skin at first in response to a desire to
parade a trophy of his prowess, for he had slain the leopard with his
knife in a hand-to-hand combat. He saw that the skin was beautiful,
which appealed to his barbaric sense of ornamentation, and when it
stiffened and later commenced to decompose because of his having no
knowledge of how to cure or tan it was with sorrow and regret that he
discarded it. Later, when he chanced upon a lone, black warrior wearing
the counterpart of it, soft and clinging and beautiful from proper
curing, it required but an instant to leap from above upon the
shoulders of the unsuspecting black, sink a keen blade into his heart
and possess the rightly preserved hide.
There were no after-qualms of conscience. In the jungle might is right,
nor does it take long to inculcate this axiom in the mind of a jungle
dweller, regardless of what his past training may have been. That the
black would have killed him had he had the chance the boy knew full
well. Neither he nor the black were any more sacred than the lion, or
the buffalo, the zebra or the deer, or any other of the countless
creatures who roamed, or slunk, or flew, or wriggled through the dark
mazes of the forest. Each had but a single life, which was sought by
many. The greater number of enemies slain the better chance to prolong
that life. So the boy smiled and donned the finery of the vanquished,
and went his way with Akut, searching, always searching for the elusive
anthropoids who were to welcome them with open arms. And at last they
found them. Deep in the jungle, buried far from sight of man, they came
upon such another little natural arena as had witnessed the wild
ceremony of the Dum-Dum in which the boy’s father had taken part long
years before.
First, at a great distance, they heard the beating of the drum of the
great apes. They were sleeping in the safety of a huge tree when the
booming sound smote upon their ears. Both awoke at once. Akut was the
first to interpret the strange cadence.
“The great apes!” he growled. “They dance the Dum-Dum. Come, Korak, son
of Tarzan, let us go to our people.”
Months before Akut had given the boy a name of his own choosing, since
he could not master the man given name of Jack. Korak is as near as it
may be interpreted into human speech. In the language of the apes it
means Killer. Now the Killer rose upon the branch of the great tree
where he had been sleeping with his back braced against the stem. He
stretched his lithe young muscles, the moonlight filtering through the
foliage from above dappling his brown skin with little patches of
light.
The ape, too, stood up, half squatting after the manner of his kind.
Low growls rumbled from the bottom of his deep chest—growls of excited
anticipation. The boy growled in harmony with the ape. Then the
anthropoid slid softly to the ground. Close by, in the direction of the
booming drum, lay a clearing which they must cross. The moon flooded it
with silvery light. Half-erect, the great ape shuffled into the full
glare of the moon. At his side, swinging gracefully along in marked
contrast to the awkwardness of his companion, strode the boy, the dark,
shaggy coat of the one brushing against the smooth, clear hide of the
other. The lad was humming now, a music hall air that had found its way
to the forms of the great English public school that was to see him no
more. He was happy and expectant. The moment he had looked forward to
for so long was about to be realized. He was coming into his own. He
was coming home. As the months had dragged or flown along, retarded or
spurred on as privation or adventure predominated, thoughts of his own
home, while oft recurring, had become less vivid. The old life had
grown to seem more like a dream than a reality, and the balking of his
determination to reach the coast and return to London had finally
thrown the hope of realization so remotely into the future that it too
now seemed little more than a pleasant but hopeless dream.
Now all thoughts of London and civilization were crowded so far into
the background of his brain that they might as well have been
non-existent. Except for form and mental development he was as much an
ape as the great, fierce creature at his side.
In the exuberance of his joy he slapped his companion roughly on the
side of the head. Half in anger, half in play the anthropoid turned
upon him, his fangs bared and glistening. Long, hairy arms reached out
to seize him, and, as they had done a thousand times before, the two
clinched in mimic battle, rolling upon the sward, striking, growling
and biting, though never closing their teeth in more than a rough
pinch. It was wondrous practice for them both. The boy brought into
play wrestling tricks that he had learned at school, and many of these
Akut learned to use and to foil. And from the ape the boy learned the
methods that had been handed down to Akut from some common ancestor of
them both, who had roamed the teeming earth when ferns were trees and
crocodiles were birds.
But there was one art the boy possessed which Akut could not master,
though he did achieve fair proficiency in it for an ape—boxing. To have
his bull-like charges stopped and crumpled with a suddenly planted fist
upon the end of his snout, or a painful jolt in the short ribs, always
surprised Akut. It angered him too, and at such times his mighty jaws
came nearer to closing in the soft flesh of his friend than at any
other, for he was still an ape, with an ape’s short temper and brutal
instincts; but the difficulty was in catching his tormentor while his
rage lasted, for when he lost his head and rushed madly into close
quarters with the boy he discovered that the stinging hail of blows
released upon him always found their mark and effectually stopped
him—effectually and painfully. Then he would withdraw growling
viciously, backing away with grinning jaws distended, to sulk for an
hour or so.
Tonight they did not box. Just for a moment or two they wrestled
playfully, until the scent of Sheeta, the panther, brought them to
their feet, alert and wary. The great cat was passing through the
jungle in front of them. For a moment it paused, listening. The boy and
the ape growled menacingly in chorus and the carnivore moved on.
Then the two took up their journey toward the sound of the Dum-Dum.
Louder and louder came the beating of the drum. Now, at last, they
could hear the growling of the dancing apes, and strong to their
nostrils came the scent of their kind. The lad trembled with
excitement. The hair down Akut’s spine stiffened—the symptoms of
happiness and anger are often similar.
Silently they crept through the jungle as they neared the meeting place
of the apes. Now they were in the trees, worming their way forward,
alert for sentinels. Presently through a break in the foliage the scene
burst upon the eager eyes of the boy. To Akut it was a familiar one;
but to Korak it was all new. His nerves tingled at the savage sight.
The great bulls were dancing in the moonlight, leaping in an irregular
circle about the flat-topped earthen drum about which three old females
sat beating its resounding top with sticks worn smooth by long years of
use.
Akut, knowing the temper and customs of his kind, was too wise to make
their presence known until the frenzy of the dance had passed. After
the drum was quiet and the bellies of the tribe well-filled he would
hail them. Then would come a parley, after which he and Korak would be
accepted into membership by the community. There might be those who
would object; but such could be overcome by brute force, of which he
and the lad had an ample surplus. For weeks, possibly months, their
presence might cause ever decreasing suspicion among others of the
tribe; but eventually they would become as born brothers to these
strange apes.
He hoped that they had been among those who had known Tarzan, for that
would help in the introduction of the lad and in the consummation of
Akut’s dearest wish, that Korak should become king of the apes. It was
with difficulty, however, that Akut kept the boy from rushing into the
midst of the dancing anthropoids—an act that would have meant the
instant extermination of them both, since the hysterical frenzy into
which the great apes work themselves during the performance of their
strange rites is of such a nature that even the most ferocious of the
carnivora give them a wide berth at such times.
As the moon declined slowly toward the lofty, foliaged horizon of the
amphitheater the booming of the drum decreased and lessened were the
exertions of the dancers, until, at last, the final note was struck and
the huge beasts turned to fall upon the feast they had dragged hither
for the orgy.
From what he had seen and heard Akut was able to explain to Korak that
the rites proclaimed the choosing of a new king, and he pointed out to
the boy the massive figure of the shaggy monarch, come into his
kingship, no doubt, as many human rulers have come into theirs—by the
murder of his predecessor.
When the apes had filled their bellies and many of them had sought the
bases of the trees to curl up in sleep Akut plucked Korak by the arm.
“Come,” he whispered. “Come slowly. Follow me. Do as Akut does.”
Then he advanced slowly through the trees until he stood upon a bough
overhanging one side of the amphitheater. Here he stood in silence for
a moment. Then he uttered a low growl. Instantly a score of apes leaped
to their feet. Their savage little eyes sped quickly around the
periphery of the clearing. The king ape was the first to see the two
figures upon the branch. He gave voice to an ominous growl. Then he
took a few lumbering steps in the direction of the intruders. His hair
was bristling. His legs were stiff, imparting a halting, jerky motion
to his gait. Behind him pressed a number of bulls.
He stopped just a little before he came beneath the two—just far enough
to be beyond their spring. Wary king! Here he stood rocking himself to
and fro upon his short legs, baring his fangs in hideous grinnings,
rumbling out an ever increasing volume of growls, which were slowly but
steadily increasing to the proportions of roars. Akut knew that he was
planning an attack upon them. The old ape did not wish to fight. He had
come with the boy to cast his lot with the tribe.
“I am Akut,” he said. “This is Korak. Korak is the son of Tarzan who
was king of the apes. I, too, was king of the apes who dwelt in the
midst of the great waters. We have come to hunt with you, to fight with
you. We are great hunters. We are mighty fighters. Let us come in
peace.”
The king ceased his rocking. He eyed the pair from beneath his beetling
brows. His bloodshot eyes were savage and crafty. His kingship was very
new and he was jealous of it. He feared the encroachments of two
strange apes. The sleek, brown, hairless body of the lad spelled “man,”
and man he feared and hated.
“Go away!” he growled. “Go away, or I will kill you.”
The eager lad, standing behind the great Akut, had been pulsing with
anticipation and happiness. He wanted to leap down among these hairy
monsters and show them that he was their friend, that he was one of
them. He had expected that they would receive him with open arms, and
now the words of the king ape filled him with indignation and sorrow.
The blacks had set upon him and driven him away. Then he had turned to
the white men—to those of his own kind—only to hear the ping of bullets
where he had expected words of cordial welcome. The great apes had
remained his final hope. To them he looked for the companionship man
had denied him. Suddenly rage overwhelmed him.
The king ape was almost directly beneath him. The others were formed in
a half circle several yards behind the king. They were watching events
interestedly. Before Akut could guess his intention, or prevent, the
boy leaped to the ground directly in the path of the king, who had now
succeeded in stimulating himself to a frenzy of fury.
“I am Korak!” shouted the boy. “I am the Killer. I came to live among
you as a friend. You want to drive me away. Very well, then, I shall
go; but before I go I shall show you that the son of Tarzan is your
master, as his father was before him—that he is not afraid of your king
or you.”
For an instant the king ape had stood motionless with surprise. He had
expected no such rash action upon the part of either of the intruders.
Akut was equally surprised. Now he shouted excitedly for Korak to come
back, for he knew that in the sacred arena the other bulls might be
expected to come to the assistance of their king against an outsider,
though there was small likelihood that the king would need assistance.
Once those mighty jaws closed upon the boy’s soft neck the end would
come quickly. To leap to his rescue would mean death for Akut, too; but
the brave old ape never hesitated. Bristling and growling, he dropped
to the sward just as the king ape charged.
The beast’s hands clutched for their hold as the animal sprang upon the
lad. The fierce jaws were wide distended to bury the yellow fangs
deeply in the brown hide. Korak, too, leaped forward to meet the
attack; but leaped crouching, beneath the outstretched arms. At the
instant of contact the lad pivoted on one foot, and with all the weight
of his body and the strength of his trained muscles drove a clenched
fist into the bull’s stomach. With a gasping shriek the king ape
collapsed, clutching futilely for the agile, naked creature nimbly
sidestepping from his grasp.
Howls of rage and dismay broke from the bull apes behind the fallen
king, as with murder in their savage little hearts they rushed forward
upon Korak and Akut; but the old ape was too wise to court any such
unequal encounter. To have counseled the boy to retreat now would have
been futile, and Akut knew it. To delay even a second in argument would
have sealed the death warrants of them both. There was but a single
hope and Akut seized it. Grasping the lad around the waist he lifted
him bodily from the ground, and turning ran swiftly toward another tree
which swung low branches above the arena. Close upon their heels
swarmed the hideous mob; but Akut, old though he was and burdened by
the weight of the struggling Korak, was still fleeter than his
pursuers.
With a bound he grasped a low limb, and with the agility of a little
monkey swung himself and the boy to temporary safety. Nor did he
hesitate even here; but raced on through the jungle night, bearing his
burden to safety. For a time the bulls pursued; but presently, as the
swifter outdistanced the slower and found themselves separated from
their fellows they abandoned the chase, standing roaring and screaming
until the jungle reverberated to their hideous noises. Then they turned
and retraced their way to the amphitheater.
When Akut felt assured that they were no longer pursued he stopped and
released Korak. The boy was furious.
“Why did you drag me away?” he cried. “I would have taught them! I
would have taught them all! Now they will think that I am afraid of
them.”
“What they think cannot harm you,” said Akut. “You are alive. If I had
not brought you away you would be dead now and so would I. Do you not
know that even Numa slinks from the path of the great apes when there
are many of them and they are mad?”