injustice of Nature aroused within his breast a red rage. He wanted
to kill the thing that had stolen Zora Drinov. He wanted to tear it
with his hands and rend it with his teeth. All the savage instincts of
primitive man were reborn within him as, forgetting the meat that the
moment before had meant so much to him, he plunged headlong into the
jungle upon the faint spoor of To-yat, the king ape.
* * * * *
La of Opar made her way slowly through the jungle after she had
escaped from Ibn Dammuk and his companions. Her native city called to
her, though she knew that she might not enter it in safety; but what
place was there in all the world that she might go to? Something of a
conception of the immensity of the great world had been impressed upon
her during her wandering since she had left Opar, and the futility of
searching further for Tarzan had been indelibly impressed upon her
mind. So she would go back to the vicinity of Opar, and perhaps some
day again Tarzan would come there. That great dangers beset her way she
did not care, for La of Opar was indifferent to life that had never
brought her much of happiness. She lived because she lived; and it is
true that she would strive to prolong life because such is the law of
Nature, which imbues the most miserable unfortunates with as powerful
an urge to prolong their misery as it gives to the fortunate few who
are happy and contented a similar desire to live.
Presently she became aware of pursuit, and so she increased her speed
and kept ahead of those who were following her. Finding a trail, she
followed it, knowing that if it permitted her to increase her speed
it would permit her pursuers also to increase theirs, nor would she
be able to hear them now as plainly as she had before, when they were
forcing their way through the jungle. Still she was confident that they
could not overtake her; but as she was moving swiftly on, a turn in the
trail brought her to a sudden stop, for there, blocking her retreat,
stood a great, maned lion. This time La remembered the animal, not
as Jad-bal-ja, the hunting mate of Tarzan, but as the lion that had
rescued her from the leopard, after Tarzan had deserted her.
Lions were familiar creatures of La of Opar, where they were often
captured by the priests while cubs, and where it was not unusual to
raise some of them occasionally as pets until their growing ferocity
made them unsafe. Therefore, La knew that lions could associate with
people without devouring them; and, having had experience of this
lion's disposition and having as little sense of fear as Tarzan
himself, she quickly made her choice between the lion and the Aarabs
pursuing her and advanced directly toward the great beast, in whose
attitude she saw there was no immediate menace. She was sufficiently a
child of nature to know that death came quickly and painlessly in the
embrace of a lion, and so she had no fear, but only a great curiosity.
Jad-bal-ja had long had the scent spoor of La in his nostrils, as she
had moved with the wind along the jungle trails; and so he had awaited
her, his curiosity aroused by the fainter scent spoor of the men who
trailed her. Now as she came toward him along the trail, he stepped to
one side that she might pass and, like a great cat, rubbed his maned
neck against her legs.
La paused and laid a hand upon his head and spoke to him in low tones
in the language of the first man--the language of the great apes that
was the common language of her people, as it was Tarzan's language.
Hajellan, leading his men in pursuit of La, rounded a bend in the trail
and stopped aghast. He saw a great lion facing him, a lion that bared
its fangs now in an angry snarl; and beside the lion, one hand tangled
in its thick black mane, stood the white woman.
The woman spoke a single word to the lion in a language that Hajellan
did not understand. "Kill!" said La in the language of the great apes.
So accustomed was the high priestess of the Flaming God to command
that it did not occur to her that Numa might do other than obey; and
so, although she did not know that it was thus that Tarzan had been
accustomed to command Jad-bal-ja, she was not surprised when the lion
crouched and charged.
Fodil and Dareyem had pushed close behind their companion as he halted,
and great was their horror when they saw the lion leap forward. They
turned and fled, colliding with the blacks behind them; but Hajellan
only stood paralyzed with fright as Jad-bal-ja reared upon his hind
feet and seized him, his great jaws crunching through the man's head
and shoulders, cracking his skull like an egg shell. He gave the body a
vicious shake and dropped it. Then he turned and looked inquiringly at
La.
In the woman's heart was no more sympathy for her enemies than in the
heart of Jad-bal-ja; she only wished to be rid of them. She did not
care whether they lived or died, and so she did not urge Jad-bal-ja
after those who had escaped. She wondered what the lion would do now
that he had made his kill; and knowing that the vicinity of a feeding
lion was no safe place, she turned and moved on along the trail. But
Jad-bal-ja was no eater of man, not because he had any moral scruples,
but because he was young and active and had no difficulty in killing
prey that he relished far more than he did the salty flesh of man.
Therefore, he left Hajellan lying where he had fallen and followed La
along the shadowy jungle trails.
A black man, naked but for a G string, bearing a message from the Coast
for Zveri, paused where two trails crossed. From his left the wind
was blowing, and to his sensitive nostrils it bore the faint stench
that announced the presence of a lion. Without a moment's hesitation,
the man vanished into the foliage of a tree that overhung the trail.
Perhaps Simba was not hungry, perhaps Simba was not hunting; but the
black messenger was taking no chances. He was sure that the lion was
approaching, and he would wait here where he could see both trails
until he discovered which one Simba took.
Watching with more or less indifference because of the safety of his
sanctuary, the negro was ill-prepared for the shock which the sight
that presently broke upon his vision induced. Never in the lowest steps
of his superstition had he conceived such a scene as he now witnessed,
and he blinked his eyes repeatedly to make sure that he was awake; but,
no, there could be no mistake. It was indeed a white woman almost naked
but for golden ornaments and a soft strip of leopard skin beneath her
narrow stomacher--a white woman who walked with the fingers of one hand
tangled in the black mane of a great golden lion.
Along the trail they came, and at the crossing they turned to the left
into the trail that he had been following. As they disappeared from
his view, the black man fingered the fetich that was suspended from a
cord about his neck and prayed to Mulungo, the god of his people; and
when he again set out toward his destination he took another and more
circuitous route.
Often, after darkness had fallen, Tarzan had come to the camp of the
conspirators and, perched in a tree above them, listened to Zveri
outlining his plans to his companions; so that the ape-man was familiar
with what they intended, down to the minutest detail.
Now, knowing that they would not be prepared to strike for some time,
he was roaming the jungle far away from the sight and stench of man,
enjoying to the full the peace and freedom that were his life. He
knew that Nkima should have reached his destination by this time and
delivered the message that Tarzan had dispatched by him. He was still
puzzled by the strange disappearance of La and piqued by his inability
to pick up her trail. He was genuinely grieved by her disappearance,
for already he had his plans well formulated to restore her to her
throne and punish her enemies; but he gave himself over to no futile
regrets as he swung through the trees in sheer joy of living, or when
hunger overtook him, stalked his prey in the grim and terrible silence
of the hunting beast.
Sometimes he thought of the good-looking young American, to whom he had
taken a fancy in spite of the fact that he considered him an enemy. Had
he known of Colt's now almost hopeless plight, it is possible that he
would have gone to his rescue, but he knew nothing of it.
So, alone and friendless, sunk to the uttermost depths of despair,
Wayne Colt stumbled through the jungle in search of Zora Drinov and her
abductor. But already he had lost the faint trail; and To-yat, far to
his right, lumbered along with his captive safe from pursuit.
Weak from exhaustion and shock, thoroughly terrified now by the
hopelessness of her hideous position, Zora had lost consciousness.
To-yat feared that she was dead; but he carried her on, nevertheless,
that he might at least have the satisfaction of exhibiting her to his
tribe as evidence of his prowess and, perhaps, to furnish an excuse for
another Dum-Dum. Secure in his might, conscious of few enemies that
might with safety to themselves molest him, To-yat did not take the
precaution of silence, but wandered on through the jungle heedless of
all dangers.
Many were the keen ears and sensitive nostrils that carried the message
of his passing to their owners, but to only one did the strange
mingling of the scent spoor of the bull-ape with that of a she-Mangani
suggest a condition worthy of investigation. So as To-yat pursued his
careless way, another creature of the jungle, moving silently on swift
feet, bore down upon him; and when, from a point of vantage, keen eyes
beheld the shaggy bull and the slender, delicate girl, a lip curled in
a silent snarl. A moment later To-yat, the king ape, was brought to a
snarling, bristling halt as the giant figure of a bronzed Tarmangani
dropped lightly into the trail before him, a living threat to his
possession of his prize.
The wicked eyes of the bull shot fire and hate. "Go away," he said. "I
am To-yat. Go away or I kill."
"Put down the she," demanded Tarzan.
"No," bellowed To-yat. "She is mine."
"Put down the she," repeated Tarzan, "and go your way; or I kill. I am
Tarzan of the Apes, Lord of the Jungle!"
Tarzan drew the hunting knife of his father and crouched as he advanced
toward the bull. To-yat snarled; and seeing that the other meant to
give battle, he cast the body of the girl aside that he might not be
handicapped. As they circled, each looking for an advantage, there came
a sudden, terrific crashing sound in the jungle down wind from them.
Tantor, the elephant, asleep in the security of the depth of the
forest, had been suddenly awakened by the growling of the two beasts.
Instantly his nostrils caught a familiar scent spoor--the scent spoor
of his beloved Tarzan--and his ears told him that he was facing in
battle the great Mangani, whose scent was also strong in the nostrils
of Tantor.
To the snapping and bending of trees, the great bull rushed through the
forest; and as he emerged suddenly, towering above them, To-yat, the
king ape, seeing death in those angry eyes and gleaming tusks, turned
and fled into the jungle.
XIII
THE LION-MAN
Peter Zveri was, in a measure, regaining some of the confidence that
he had lost in the ultimate success of his plan, for his agents
were succeeding at last in getting to him some of his much needed
supplies, together with contingents of disaffected blacks wherewith to
recruit his forces to sufficient numbers to insure the success of his
contemplated invasion of Italian Somaliland. It was his plan to make a
swift and sudden incursion, destroying native villages and capturing an
outpost or two, then retreating quickly across the border, pack away
the French uniforms for possible future use and undertake the overthrow
of Ras Tafari in Abyssinia, where his agents had assured him conditions
were ripe for a revolution. With Abyssinia under his control to serve
as a rallying point, his agents assured him that the native tribes of
all Northern Africa would flock to his standards.
In distant Bokhara a fleet of two hundred planes--bombers, scouts,
and fighting planes--made available through the greed of American
capitalists, were being mobilized for a sudden dash across Persia and
Arabia to his base in Abyssinia. With these to support his great native
army, he felt that his position would be secure, the malcontents of
Egypt would join forces with him and, with Europe embroiled in a war
that would prevent any concerted action against him, his dream of
empire might be assured and his position made impregnable for all time.
Perhaps it was a mad dream; perhaps Peter Zveri was mad--but, then,
what great world conqueror has not been a little mad?
He saw his frontiers pushed toward the south as, little by little,
he extended his dominion, until one day he should rule a great
continent--Peter I, Emperor of Africa.
"You seem happy, Comrade Zveri," said little Antonio Mori.
"Why should I not be, Tony?" demanded the dreamer. "I see success just
before us. We should all be happy, but we are going to be very much
happier later on."
"Yes," said Tony, "when the Philippines are free, I shall be very
happy. Do you not think that I should be a very big man back there,
then, Comrade Zveri?"
"Yes," said the Russian, "but you can be a bigger man if you stay here
and work for me. How would you like to be a Grand Duke, Tony?"
"A Grand Duke!" exclaimed the Filipino. "I thought there were no more
Grand Dukes."
"But perhaps there may be again."
"They were wicked men who ground down the working classes," said Tony.
"To be a Grand Duke who grinds down the rich and takes money from
them might not be so bad," said Peter. "Grand Dukes are very rich and
powerful. Would you not like to be rich and powerful, Tony?"
"Well, of course, who would not?"
"Then always do as I tell you, Tony; and some day I shall make you a
Grand Duke," said Zveri.
The camp was filled with activity now at all times, for Zveri had
conceived the plan of whipping his native recruits into some semblance
of military order and discipline. Romero, Dorsky, and Ivitch having had
military experience, the camp was filled with marching men, deploying,
charging and assembling, practicing the Manual of Arms, and being
instructed in the rudiments of fire discipline.
The day following his conversation with Zveri, Tony was assisting the
Mexican, who was sweating over a company of black recruits.
During a period of rest, as the Mexican and Filipino were enjoying
a smoke, Tony turned to his companion. "You have travelled much,
Comrade," said the Filipino. "Perhaps you can tell me what sort of
uniform a Grand Duke wears."
"I have heard," said Romero, "that in Hollywood and New York many of
them wear aprons."
Tony grimaced. "I do not think," he said, "that I want to be a Grand
Duke."
The blacks in the camp, held sufficiently interested and busy in
drills to keep them out of mischief, with plenty of food and with
the prospects of fighting and marching still in the future, were
a contented and happy lot. Those who had undergone the harrowing
experiences of Opar and those other untoward incidents that had upset
their equanimity had entirely regained their self confidence, a
condition for which Zveri took all the credit to himself, assuming that
it was due to his remarkable gift for leadership. And then a runner
arrived in camp with a message for him and with a weird story of having
seen a white woman hunting in the jungle with a black-maned golden
lion. This was sufficient to recall to the blacks the other weird
occurrences and to remind them that there were supernatural agencies at
work in this territory, that it was peopled by ghosts and demons, and
that at any moment some dire calamity might befall them.
But if this story upset the equanimity of the blacks, the message that
the runner brought to Zveri precipitated an emotional outbreak in the
Russian that bordered closely upon the frenzy of insanity. Blaspheming
in a loud voice, he strode back and forth before his tent; nor would he
explain to any of his lieutenants the cause of his anger.
And while Zveri fumed, other forces were gathering against him. Through
the jungle moved a hundred ebon warriors, their smooth, sleek skin,
their rolling muscles and elastic step bespeaking their physical
fitness. They were naked but for narrow loin cloths of leopard or
lion skin and a few of those ornaments that are dear to the hearts of
savages--anklets and arm bands of copper and necklaces of the claws
of lions or leopards--while above the head of each floated a white
plume. But here the primitiveness of their equipment ceased, for their
weapons were the weapons of modern fighting men; high-powered service
rifles, revolvers, and bandoleers of cartridges. It was, indeed, a
formidable appearing company that swung steadily and silently through
the jungle, and upon the shoulder of the black chief who led them rode
a little monkey.
* * * * *
Tarzan was relieved when Tantor's sudden and unexpected charge drove
To-yat into the jungle; for Tarzan of the Apes found no pleasure in
quarreling with the Mangani, which he considered above all other
creatures his brothers. He never forgot that he had been nursed at the
breast of Kala, the she-ape, nor that he had grown to manhood in the
tribe of Kerchak, the king. From infancy to manhood he had thought of
himself only as an ape, and even now it was often easier for him to
understand and appreciate the motives of the great Mangani than those
of man.
At a signal from Tarzan, Tantor stopped; and assuming again his
customary composure, though still alert to any danger that might
threaten his friend, he watched while the ape-man turned and knelt
beside the prostrate girl. Tarzan had at first thought her dead, but he
soon discovered that she was only in a swoon. Lifting her in his arms,
he spoke a half dozen words to the great pachyderm, who turned about
and, putting down his head, started off straight into the dense jungle,
making a pathway along which Tarzan bore the unconscious girl.
Straight as an arrow moved Tantor, the elephant, to halt at last upon
the bank of a considerable river. Beyond this was a spot that Tarzan
had in mind to which he wished to convey To-yat's unfortunate captive,
whom he had recognized immediately as the young woman he had seen in
the base camp of the conspirators and a cursory examination of whom
convinced him was upon the verge of death from starvation, shock, and
exposure.
Once again he spoke to Tantor; and the great pachyderm, twining his
trunk around their bodies, lifted the two gently to his broad back.
Then he waded into the river and set out for the opposite shore. The
channel in the center was deep and swift, and Tantor was swept off his
feet and carried down stream for a considerable distance before he
found footing again, but eventually he won to the opposite bank. Here
again he went ahead, making trail, until at last he broke into a broad,
well marked game trail.
Now Tarzan took the lead, and Tantor followed. While they moved thus
silently toward their destination, Zora Drinov opened her eyes.
Instantly recollection of her plight filled her consciousness; and then
almost simultaneously she realized that her cheek, resting upon the
shoulder of her captor, was not pressing against a shaggy coat, but
against the smooth skin of a human body, and then she turned her head
and looked at the profile of the creature that was carrying her.
She thought at first that she was the victim of some strange
hallucination of terror; for, of course, she could not measure the time
that she had been unconscious, nor recall any of the incidents that had
occurred during that period. The last thing that she remembered was
that she had been in the arms of a great ape, who was carrying her off
to the jungle. She had closed her eyes; and when she opened them again,
the ape had been transformed into a handsome demigod of the forest.
She closed her eyes and turned her head so that she faced back over the
man's shoulder. She thought that she would keep her eyes tightly closed
for a moment, then open them and turn them stealthily once more toward
the face of the creature that was carrying her so lightly along the
jungle trail. Perhaps this time he would be an ape again, and then she
would know that she was indeed mad, or dreaming.
And when she did open her eyes, the sight that met them convinced her
that she was experiencing a nightmare; for plodding along the trail
directly behind her, was a giant bull elephant.
Tarzan, apprised of her returning consciousness by the movement of her
head upon his shoulder, turned his own to look at her and saw her
gazing at Tantor in wide-eyed astonishment. Then she turned toward him,
and their eyes met.
"Who are you?" she asked in a whisper. "Am I dreaming?" But the ape-man
only turned his eyes to the front and made no reply.
Zora thought of struggling to free herself; but realizing that she was
very weak and helpless, she at last resigned herself to her fate and
let her cheek fall again to the bronzed shoulder of the ape-man.
When Tarzan finally stopped and laid his burden upon the ground, it was
in a little clearing through which ran a tiny stream of clear water.
Immense trees arched overhead, and through their foliage the great sun
dappled the grass beneath them.
As Zora Drinov lay stretched upon the soft turf, she realized for the
first time how weak she was; for when she attempted to rise, she found
that she could not. As her eyes took in the scene about her, it seemed
more than ever like a dream--the great bull elephant standing almost
above her and the bronzed figure of an almost naked giant squatting
upon his haunches beside the little stream. She saw him fold a great
leaf into the shape of a cornucopia and, after filling it with water,
rise and come toward her. Without a word he stooped, and putting an arm
beneath her shoulders and raising her to a sitting position, he offered
her the water from his improvised cup.
She drank deeply, for she was very thirsty. Then, looking up into the
handsome face above her, she voiced her thanks; but when the man did
not reply, she thought, naturally, that he did not understand her.
When she had satisfied her thirst and he had lowered her gently to the
ground again, he swung lightly into a tree and disappeared into the
forest. But above her the great elephant stood, as though on guard, his
huge body swaying gently to and fro.
The quiet and peace of her surroundings tended to soothe her nerves,
but deeply rooted in her mind was the conviction that her situation was
most precarious. The man was a mystery to her; and while she knew,
of course, that the ape that had stolen her had not been transformed
miraculously into a handsome forest god, yet she could not account
in any way for his presence or for the disappearance of the ape,
except upon the rather extravagant hypothesis that the two had worked
together, the ape having stolen her for this man, who was its master.
There had been nothing in the man's attitude to suggest that he
intended to harm her, and yet so accustomed was she to gauge all men by
the standards of civilized society that she could not conceive that he
had other than ulterior designs.
To her analytical mind the man presented a paradox that intrigued her
imagination, seeming, as he did, so utterly out of place in this savage
African jungle; while at the same time he harmonized perfectly with
his surroundings, in which he seemed absolutely at home and assured
of himself, a fact that was still further impressed upon her by the
presence of the wild bull elephant, to which the man paid no more
attention than one would to a lap dog. Had he been unkempt, filthy,
and degraded in appearance, she would have catalogued him immediately
as one of those social outcasts, usually half demented, who are
occasionally found far from the haunts of men, living the life of wild
beasts, whose high standards of decency and cleanliness they uniformly
fail to observe. But this creature had suggested more the trained
athlete in whom cleanliness was a fetich, nor did his well-shaped head
and intelligent eyes even remotely suggest mental or moral degradation.