With doglike devotion the Alalus youth clung to Tarzan. The latter had
mastered the meager sign language of his protege giving them a means
of communication that was adequate for all their needs. The former,
gaining confidence with a growing familiarity with his new weapons,
became more independent, with the result that the two more often
separated for the hunt, thus insuring a more fully stocked larder.
It was upon one of these occasions that Tarzan came suddenly upon a
strange sight. He had been following the scent spoor of Bara the deer
when it was suddenly crossed by that of one of the great female Alali.
That probably meant that another would attempt to rob him of his prey.
The savage instinct of the jungle beast predominated in the guidance
of the breech-clouted ape-man. It was not the polished Lord Greystoke
of London whose snarling upper lip revealed two gleaming fighting
fangs--it was a primordial hunting-brute about to be robbed of its
quarry.
Taking to the trees he moved rapidly in the direction of the Alalus
woman, but before he came within sight of her a new scent impinged
upon his nostrils--a strange, new scent that puzzled him. It was the
scent of man, yet strange and unfamiliar to a degree. Never before had
anything like it arrested his attention. It was very faint and yet,
somehow, he knew that it was close, and then, ahead of him, he heard
voices, low musical voices, that came faintly to his ears; and though
they were low and musical there was something in the quality and pitch
of them that suggested excitement. Now Tarzan went more carefully,
Bara, the deer, all but forgotten.
As he drew nearer he realized that there were many voices and much
commotion and then he came upon a large plain that stretched away to
distant hills, and in the foreground, not a hundred yards from him,
he looked upon a sight that might well have caused him to doubt the
veracity of his own eyes. The only familiar figure was a giant Alalus
woman. Surrounding her was a horde of diminutive men--tiny white
warriors--mounted upon what appeared to be a form of the Royal Antelope
of the West Coast. Armed with lances and swords they repeatedly charged
at the huge legs of the Alalus, who, backing slowly toward the forest,
kicked viciously at her assailants and struck at them with her heavy
bludgeon.
It quickly became evident to Tarzan that they were attempting to
ham-string her and had they been successful they might easily have
slain her then; but though there must have been fully a hundred of
them their chances of success appeared small, since, with a single
kick of her mighty foot the woman could lay low a dozen or more of
her assailants at a time. Already fully half the force was _hors
de combat_, their bodies with those of many of their mounts being
scattered out onto the plain marking the trail of the combat up to the
time that Tarzan had come upon the scene.
The courage of the survivors, however, filled Tarzan with admiration
as he watched them hurl themselves upon almost certain death in their
stubborn efforts to bring down the female, and then it was that the
ape-man saw the reason, or the apparent reason, for the mad sacrifice
of life--in her left hand the Alalus clutched one of the tiny warriors.
It was to rescue him, evidently, that the others were maintaining this
forlorn hope.
If the warriors filled Tarzan with admiration to scarcely a lesser
extent did their courageous and agile mounts. Always had he thought of
the Royal Antelope, the smallest known member of its family, as the
most timid of creatures, but not so these cousins of theirs. Slightly
larger, standing perhaps fifteen inches at the withers, they were in
all other outward respects identical; yet, at the guidance of their
riders, they leaped fearlessly into close range of those enormous feet
and the great, slashing bludgeon. Perfectly reined were they, too; so
perfectly that their muscles seemed to have coordinated with the minds
of their riders. In and out they bounded, scarcely touching the ground
before they were out of harm's way again. Ten or a dozen feet they
covered at a leap, so that Tarzan wondered not only at their agility
but at the almost marvelous riding ability of the warriors who could
keep their seats so perfectly upon these leaping, bounding, turning,
twisting mounts.
It was a pretty sight and an inspiring one, and however unreal it
had at first appeared to him he was not long in realizing that he
was looking upon a race of real pygmies--not members of the black
tribe with which all African explorers are more or less familiar,
but with that lost white race of diminutive men reference to which
is occasionally to be found in ancient manuscript of travel and
exploration, of myth and legend.
While the encounter interested him and he viewed it at first as a
disinterested neutral he soon found his sympathies gravitating to the
tiny warriors and when it became evident that the Alalus woman was
going to make good her escape into the forest with her captive, the
ape-man decided to take a hand in the affair himself.
As he stepped from the concealment of the forest the little warriors
were the first to see him. Evidently they mistook him at first for
another of their giant enemies, for a great cry of disappointment rose
from them, and they fell back for the first time since Tarzan had been
watching the unequal struggle. Wishing to make his intentions clear
before the little men set upon him he moved quickly in the direction
of the woman, who, the instant that her eyes fell upon him, made
imperative signs for him to join her in dispatching the balance of the
pygmies. She was accustomed to being feared and obeyed by her mankind,
when she had them in her power. Perhaps she wondered a little at the
temerity of this he, for as a rule they all ran from her; but she
needed him badly and that was the idea that dominated her thoughts.
As Tarzan advanced he commanded her in the sign language he had learned
from the youth that she was to release her captive and go away,
molesting the little men no more. At this she made an ugly grimace and
raising her bludgeon came forward to meet him. The ape-man fitted an
arrow to his bow.
"Go back!" he signed her. "Go back, or I will kill you. Go back, and
put down the little man."
She snarled ferociously and increased her pace. Tarzan raised the
arrow to the level of his eye and drew it back until the bow bent. The
pygmies, realizing that for the moment at least this strange giant
was their ally, sat their mounts and awaited the outcome of the duel.
The ape-man hoped that the woman would obey his commands before he
was compelled to take her life, but even a cursory glance at her face
revealed anything but an intention to relinquish her purpose, which now
seemed to be to annihilate this presumptuous meddler as well.
On she came. Already she was too close to make further delay safe and
the ape-man released his shaft. Straight into her savage heart it drove
and as she stumbled forward Tarzan leaped to meet her, seizing the
warrior from her grasp before she might fall upon the tiny body and
crush it, and as he did so the other warriors, evidently mistaking his
intentions, spurred forward with loud shouts and brandishing weapons;
but before they had reached him he had set the rescued man upon the
ground and released him.
Instantly the attitude of the charging pygmies changed again and from
war cries their tones turned to cheers. Riding forward they drew rein
before the warrior that Tarzan had rescued and several of their number
leaped from their mounts and, kneeling, raised his hand to their lips.
It was evident then to the ape-man that he had rescued one who stood
high among them, their chief, perhaps; and now he wondered what would
be their attitude toward him, as, with a look of amused tolerance upon
his grim features, he watched them as one might watch the interesting
doings of a swarm of ants.
As they felicitated their fellow upon his miraculous escape Tarzan
had an opportunity to inspect them more closely. The tallest of them
stood about eighteen inches in height, their white skins were tanned
by exposure to a shade a trifle darker than his own, yet there was no
question but that they were white men; their features were regular and
well proportioned, so that by any standards of our race they would
have been considered handsome. There were, of course, variations and
exceptions; but on the whole those that he saw before him were fine
looking men. All were smooth faced and there seemed to be no very old
men among them, while he whom Tarzan had saved from the Alalus woman
was apparently younger than the average, and much younger than those
who had dismounted to do him homage.
As Tarzan watched them the young man bade the others rise and then
addressed them for a moment after which he turned toward the ape-man
and directed his remarks to him, none of which, of course, Tarzan
could understand. By his manner, however, he guessed that the other
was thanking him and possibly too asking his further intentions toward
them and in reply the ape-man endeavored to assure them that he desired
their friendship. Further to emphasize his peaceful intentions he cast
his weapons aside and took a step toward them, his arms thrown slightly
outward, his open palms in their direction.
The young man seemed to understand his friendly overtures, for he
too advanced, offering his hand to Tarzan. The ape-man knew that the
other meant that he should kiss it, but this he did not do, preferring
to assume a role of equality with their highest. Instead, he kneeled
upon one knee that he might more easily reach the profferred hand of
the pygmy and pressing the tiny fingers gently, inclined his head
slightly in a formal bow which carried no suggestion of servility. The
other seemed satisfied, returned the bow with equal dignity and then
attempted to convey to the ape-man that he and his party were about to
ride off across the plain, inviting him to accompany them.
Rather curious to see more of these remarkable little people Tarzan
was nothing loath to accept the invitation. Before the party set out,
however, they dispersed to gather up their dead and wounded and to put
out of their misery any of the injured antelope that were too severely
hurt to travel. This they did with the relatively long, straight sword
which was part of the armament of each. Their lances they left resting
in cylindrical boots attached to the right side of their saddles. For
other weapons Tarzan could discover nothing but a tiny knife carried in
a scabbard at the right side by each warrior. The blade, like the blade
of the rapier, was two edged but only about an inch and a half long,
with a very sharp point.
Having gathered the dead and wounded, the latter were examined by the
young leader of the party, who was accompanied by the five or six who
had gathered about him at the time that Tarzan had released him. These
Tarzan took to be lieutenants, or under-chiefs. He saw them question
the wounded and in three cases, each evidently a hopeless one, the
leader ran his sword quickly through the hearts of the unhappy men.
While this seemingly cruel, yet unquestionably sound, military
measure was being carried out, the balance of the warriors, directed
by under-officers, were excavating a long trench beside the dead, of
which there were twenty, their tool being a stout shovel blade carried
attached to the saddle and which could be quickly fitted to the butt of
the spear or lance. The men worked with extreme rapidity and under a
plan that seemed to abhor lost motion, of which there was the absolute
minimum, until in an incredibly short time they had excavated a trench
fifty inches in length, eighteen inches wide and nine inches deep,
the equivalent of which to men of normal size would have been nearly
seventeen feet long, six feet wide and three feet deep. Into this they
packed the dead like sardines and in two layers. They then shoveled
back sufficient earth to fill the interstices between the bodies and
to come to a level with the top of the upper layer, after which loose
stones were rolled in until the bodies were entirely covered by two
inches of stones. The remaining earth from the excavation was then
piled over all.
By the time this work was completed the loose antelope had been caught
and the wounded strapped to their backs. At a word from their commander
the party formed with military precision, a detail started ahead with
the wounded and a moment later the balance of the troop was mounted
and on the way. The method of mounting and taking up the march was
unique and a source of considerable interest to Tarzan. The dismounted
warriors were standing in line facing the young leader who was mounted,
as were the several officers who accompanied him. Each warrior held his
mount by the bridle. The commander made a rapid signal with the raised
point of his sword--there was no spoken word of command--immediately
after which he dropped the point quickly at his side simultaneously
wheeling his mount, which leaped quickly off in the direction that
the troop was facing, the mounts of his officers wheeling with him as
though actuated by a single brain, and at the same instant the mount
of each alternate warrior in the line leaped forward and as it leaped
its rider swung to his saddle, vaulting to his seat as lightly as a
feather. The instant the first line had cleared them the antelopes of
the second line leaped in pursuit, their riders mounted as had the
others before them and with a second and longer leap the intervals
were closed and the whole troop raced forward in a compact line. It was
a most clever and practical evolution and one that made it possible to
put mounted troops in motion as rapidly as foot troops; there was no
long delay caused by taking distance, mounting and closing ranks.
As the troop galloped away ten warriors wheeled from the left flank
and, following one of the officers who had detached himself from the
party of the commander of the troop, returned to Tarzan. By signs the
officer conveyed to the ape-man the intelligence that he was to follow
this party which would guide him to their destination. Already the main
body was far away across the open plain, their lithe mounts clearing as
many as five or six feet in a single bound. Even the swift Tarzan could
not have kept pace with them.
As the ape-man started away under the guidance of the detachment his
thoughts reverted for an instant to the Alalus youth who was hunting
alone in the forest behind them, but he soon put the creature from
his mind with the realization that it was better equipped to defend
itself than any of its kind, and that when he had made his visit to the
country of the pygmies he could doubtless return and find the Alalus,
if he so desired.
Tarzan, inured to hardship and to long and rapid marches, fell into a
dog-trot such as he could keep up for hours at a time without rest,
while his guides, trotting their graceful mounts, kept just ahead of
him. The plain was more rolling than it had appeared from the verge
of the forest, with here and there a clump of trees; the grass was
plentiful and there were occasional bands of the larger species of
antelope grazing at intervals. At sight of the approaching riders
and the comparatively giantlike figure of Tarzan they broke and ran.
Once they passed a rhinoceros, the party making only a slight detour
to avoid it, and later, in a clump of trees, the leader halted his
detachment suddenly and seizing his lance advanced again slowly toward
a clump of bushes at the same time transmitting an order to his men
which caused them to spread and surround the thicket.
Tarzan halted and watched the proceedings. The wind was blowing from
him in the direction of the thicket, so that he could not determine
what manner of creature, if any, had attracted the attention of the
officer; but presently, when the warriors had completely surrounded the
bushes and those upon the other side had ridden into it, their spears
couched and ready, he heard an ugly snarl issuing from the center of
the thicket and an instant later an African wild cat sprang into view,
leaping directly at the officer waiting with ready spear to receive it.
The weight and momentum of the beast all but unseated the rider, the
point of whose spear had met the cat full in the chest. There were
a few spasmodic struggles before death ensued, during which, had the
spear broken, the man would have been badly mauled and perhaps killed,
for the cat was relatively as formidable a beast as is the lion to us.
The instant that it died four warriors leaped forward and with their
sharp knives removed the head and skin in an incredibly short time.
Tarzan could not but note that everything these people did was
accomplished with maximum efficiency. Never did there seem to be any
lost motion, never was one at a loss as to what to do, never did one
worker get in the way of another. Scarcely ten minutes had elapsed from
the moment that they had encountered the cat before the detachment was
again moving, the head of the beast fastened to the saddle of one of
the warriors, the skin to that of another.
The officer who commanded the detachment was a young fellow, not much,
if any, older than the commander of the troop. That he was courageous
Tarzan could bear witness from the manner in which he had faced what
must have been, to so diminutive a people, a most deadly and ferocious
beast; but then, the entire party's hopeless attack upon the Alalus
woman had proved that they all were courageous, and the ape-man admired
and respected courage. Already he liked these little men, though it
was at times still difficult for him to accept them as a reality, so
prone are we to disbelieve in the possibility of the existence of any
form of life with which we are not familiar by association or credible
repute.
They had been traveling for almost six hours across the plain, the
wind had changed and there was borne to Tarzan's nostrils clearly the
scent of Bara the deer, ahead. The ape-man, who had tasted no food that
day, was ravenous, with the result that the odor of meat aroused all
the savage instincts fostered by his strange up-bringing. Springing
forward abreast the leader of the detachment that was escorting him
he signed them to halt and then as clearly as he could through the
comparatively laborious and never quite satisfactory medium of further
signs explained that he was hungry, that there was meat ahead and that
they should remain in the rear until he had stalked his prey and made
his kill.
The officer having understood and signified his assent Tarzan crept
stealthily forward toward a small clump of trees beyond which his keen
scent told him there were several antelope, and behind Tarzan followed
the detachment, so noiselessly that even the keen ears of the ape-man
heard them not.
Sheltered by the trees Tarzan saw a dozen or more antelope grazing a
short distance beyond, the nearest being scarce a hundred feet from the
small grove. Unslinging his bow and taking a handful of arrows from
his quiver, the ape-man moved noiselessly to the tree nearest the
antelope. The detachment was not far behind him, though it had stopped
the moment the officer saw the game that Tarzan was stalking, lest it
be frightened away.
The pygmies knew naught of bows and arrows and so they watched with
deep interest every move of the ape-man. They saw him fit an arrow
to his bow, draw it far back and release it almost all in a single
movement, so quick with this weapon was he, and they saw the antelope
leap to the impact of the missile which was followed in rapid
succession by a second and a third, and as he shot his bolts Tarzan
leaped forward in pursuit of his prey; but there was no danger that he
would lose it. With the second arrow the buck was upon his knees and
when Tarzan reached him he was already dead.
The warriors who had followed close behind Tarzan the instant that
there was no further need for caution were already surrounding the
antelope, where they were talking with much more excitement than Tarzan
had seen them display upon any previous occasion, their interest
seemingly centered about the death dealing projectiles that had so
easily laid the great animal low, for to them this antelope was as
large as would be the largest elephant to us; and as they caught the
ape-man's eye they smiled and rubbed their palms together very rapidly
with a circular motion, an act which Tarzan assumed to be in the nature
of applause.
Having withdrawn his arrows and returned them to his quiver Tarzan
signed to the leader of the detachment that he would borrow his rapier.
For an instant the man seemed to hesitate and all his fellows watched
him intently, but he drew the sword and passed it hilt foremost to the
ape-man. If you are going to eat flesh raw while it is still warm you
do not bleed the carcass, nor did Tarzan in this instance. Instead he
merely cut off a hind quarter, sliced off what he wanted and fell to
devouring it hungrily.
The little men viewed his act with surprise not unmixed with horror
and when he offered them some of the flesh they refused it and drew
away. What their reaction he could not know, but he guessed that they
held a strong aversion to the eating of raw meat. Later he was to learn
that their revulsion was due to the fact that within the entire range
of their experience, here-to-fore, the only creatures that devoured
raw meat devoured the pygmies as well. When, therefore, they saw this
mighty giant eating the flesh of his kill raw they could not but draw
the conclusion that should he become sufficiently hungry he would eat
them.
Wrapping some of the meat of the antelope in its own skin Tarzan
secured it to his back and the party resumed its journey. The warriors
now seemed troubled and as they conversed in low tones they cast many
backward glances in the direction of the ape-man. They were not afraid
for themselves, for these warriors scarcely knew the meaning of fear.
The question that caused them apprehension related to the wisdom of
leading among their people such a huge devourer of raw flesh, who, at a
single hurried meal, had eaten the equivalent of a grown man.
The afternoon was drawing to a close when Tarzan discerned in the
far distance what appeared to be a group of symmetrical, dome-shaped
hillocks and later, as they approached these, he saw a body of mounted
warriors galloping to meet them. From his greater height he saw these
before the others saw them, and attracting the officer's attention made
signs apprising the latter of his discovery, but the oncoming warriors
were hidden from the view of their fellows by the inequalities of the
ground.
Realizing this Tarzan stooped and, before the officer could guess his
intention, had gathered antelope and rider gently in his powerful hands
and lifted them high above the ground. For an instant consternation
held the remaining warriors. Swords flashed and a warning cry arose
and even the plucky pygmy in his grasp drew his own diminutive weapon;
but a smile from the ape-man reassured them all, and an instant later
the officer saw why Tarzan had raised him aloft. He called down to the
others below him then and from their manner as from that of him whom
he held the ape-man guessed that the approaching party was composed of
friends of his escort, and so, a few minutes later, it proved when he
was surrounded by several hundreds of the pygmies, all friendly, eager
and curious. Among them was the leader whom he had rescued from the
Alalus woman and him he greeted with a handshake.
A consultation now took place between the leader of the detachment that
had escorted the ape-man, the young commander of the larger party and
several older warriors. By the expressions of their faces and the tone
of their voices Tarzan judged that the matter was serious and that it
concerned him he was sure from the numerous glances that were cast in
his direction. He could not know, though, that the subject of their
discussion was based upon the report of the commander of the escort
that their mighty guest was an eater of raw flesh and the consequent
danger of bringing him among their people.
The chief among them, the young commander, settled the question,
however, by reminding them that though the giant must have been
very hungry to have devoured as much flesh as they told him he had,
nevertheless he had traveled for many hours with only a small number of
their warriors always within easy reach of him and had not offered to
molest them. This seemed a conclusive argument of his good intentions
and consequently the cavalcade set forth without further delay in the
direction of the hillocks that were now in plain view a mile or two
away.
As they neared them Tarzan saw what appeared to be literally
innumerable little men moving about among the hillocks, and as he came
nearer still he realized that these seeming hillocks were symmetrical
mounds of small stones quite evidently built by the pygmies themselves
and that the hordes of pygmies moving about among them were workers,
for here was a long line all moving in one direction, emerging from
a hole in the ground and following a well-defined path to a half
completed hillock that was evidently in course of construction. Another
line moved, empty-handed, in the opposite direction, entering the
ground through a second hole, and upon the flanks of each line and at
frequent intervals, marched armed warriors, while other similar lines
of guarded workers moved in and out of openings in each of the other
domelike structures, carrying to the mind of the ape-man a suggestion
of ants laboring about their hills.