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04 - Tarzan Twins by Edgar Rice Burroughs · Tarzan Twins

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  Speaker 1: Chapter three, A new day burst gorgeously into life. A
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  Speaker 1: brilliant sun shone down upon the leafy canopy of green
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  Speaker 1: that roofed the great forest. But far beneath all was
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  Speaker 1: dark and gloomy still. A sleek black warrior moved silently
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  Speaker 1: along a jungle trail. On his back. He carried a
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  Speaker 1: small oval shield, his bow, and his quiver filled with arrows.
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  Speaker 1: Bracelets of iron and of copper encircled his arms. Through
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  Speaker 1: the septum of his nose, which had been pierced to
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  Speaker 1: receive it was a cylindrical piece of wood six or
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  Speaker 1: eight inches in length. From the lobes of his ears
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  Speaker 1: depended heavy ornaments. Necklaces encircled his ebb and throat, and
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  Speaker 1: there were many metal bands and anklets upon his legs.
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  Speaker 1: His hair was plastered thick with mud into which he
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  Speaker 1: had stuck several gaudy feathers. His teeth were filed to
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  Speaker 1: sharp points, and one hand he bore a light hunting spear.
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  Speaker 1: He was Zopinga, a Mugala of the Bagala tribe that
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  Speaker 1: was all powerful in Ugala, the dismal forest country they
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  Speaker 1: claimed as theirs. Thus, early in the morning, z Opingo
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  Speaker 1: was making the round of the snares he had set
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  Speaker 1: the previous day, and the crotch of a mighty jungle giant.
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  Speaker 1: Two boys, chilled, miserable, awoke from a fitful slumber. All night.
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  Speaker 1: They had huddled close together for such warmth as they
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  Speaker 1: might lend each other, but they had been very cold.
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  Speaker 1: They had slept little. The mysterious voices of the jungle night,
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  Speaker 1: the consciousness of the nearby presence of creatures they could
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  Speaker 1: not see, had driven sleep from their eyes, until finally,
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  Speaker 1: overcome by utter exhaustion, they had sunk into an unconsciousness
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  Speaker 1: that could scarcely be called sleep. And even from this
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  Speaker 1: the cold and discomfort around them. Shortly after daybreak, Golly,
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  Speaker 1: said Dick. I sure am cold. You haven't got anything
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  Speaker 1: on me, replied Doc. It must be great in the
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  Speaker 1: jungle at night, said Dick, with a sickly grin. Wasn't
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  Speaker 1: so bad, insisted Doc, bravely so bad as what, asked Dick.
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  Speaker 1: I'll bet you none of the other boys ever stayed
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  Speaker 1: out in a tree all night, with lions and panthers
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  Speaker 1: and tigers prowling all around in the jungle below. Just
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  Speaker 1: wait till we get home and tell them gee, I'll
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  Speaker 1: bet they'll be sore to think they warn't along. There
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  Speaker 1: aren't any tigers in Africa, corrected Dick. And any one
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  Speaker 1: who wants to stay out in the jungle all night
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  Speaker 1: can have my place. I wish I were home in
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  Speaker 1: my own bed, That's what I wish, cry baby. I
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  Speaker 1: am not. I just have some sense, that's all. It's
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  Speaker 1: cold here and I'm hungry. I saw am, I admitted, Doc.
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  Speaker 1: Let's build a fire and get warm and cook breakfast.
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  Speaker 1: How you going to build a fire? And why are
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  Speaker 1: you going to cook for breakfast? You goin to say
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  Speaker 1: abra kadabra, halo, presto, change cars and then pick a
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  Speaker 1: gas range out of my ear? And if you could,
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  Speaker 1: what would you cook on it? Ham and eggs an waffles?
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  Speaker 1: I wouldn't do because we haven't any of the maple
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  Speaker 1: syrup you are always talking about, and cook forgot the marmalade?
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  Speaker 1: You think you're funny, snapped Doc, But I'll show you.
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  Speaker 1: I'll build a fire all right. Where are your matches?
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  Speaker 1: I don't need any matches. How are you going to
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  Speaker 1: build a fire without matches? That's easy. All you gotta
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  Speaker 1: do is rub two sticks together Dick was interested. That's right,
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  Speaker 1: he said, come on, let's go down and get a
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  Speaker 1: fire started. Call you, But wouldn't it be great to
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  Speaker 1: be warm again? I wouldn't care if I got on fire,
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  Speaker 1: said Doc. Only I'm so cold. I don't think i'd burn.
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  Speaker 1: We could melt. That's better than staying frozen. Do you
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  Speaker 1: s'pose it's safe to go down, inquired Doc. Do you
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  Speaker 1: s'pose that old lion is gone home? We could stay
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  Speaker 1: close to a tree and one of us could watch
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  Speaker 1: all the time, suggested Dick. All right, here goes gee,
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  Speaker 1: But I'm stiff. Whof my joints need oiling. Once at
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  Speaker 1: the bottom of the tree, Doc collected a little pile
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  Speaker 1: of twigs, and, taking two of the larger one, he
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  Speaker 1: commenced rubbing them together vigorously, while Dick watched and listened,
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  Speaker 1: ready to sound the alarm at the first sign of danger.
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  Speaker 1: Doc rubbed and rubbed and rubbed. What's the matter with
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  Speaker 1: your old fire, demanded Dick. I don't know, said Doc.
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  Speaker 1: All the books I've ever read about savages and desert
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  Speaker 1: islands and people like that tell how they build their
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  Speaker 1: fires by rubbing two sticks together. Maybe you aren't rubbing
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  Speaker 1: fast enough, suggested Dick. I'm rubbing as fast as I can.
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  Speaker 1: Maybe you'd think this is fun. Well it isn't. It's
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  Speaker 1: hard work. He kept on rubbing and rubbing for several minutes.
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  Speaker 1: Finally he stopped. Exhausted. What you're stopping for, demanded Dick.
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  Speaker 1: The old sticks won't burn, replied Doc disgustedly. And anyway,
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  Speaker 1: I've rubbed so fast that I've got warm. Satisfied that
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  Speaker 1: there was something wrong with their fire making, they decided
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  Speaker 1: to warm themselves by exercise, knowing that a good brisk
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  Speaker 1: run would set the blood to tingling in their veins.
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  Speaker 1: But then the question rose as to the direction in
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  Speaker 1: which they should run, as well as a place where
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  Speaker 1: they might find room in which to run. The tangled
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  Speaker 1: undergrowth grew close around them. Nothing could run in that
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  Speaker 1: they had no idea where the trail was. There was
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  Speaker 1: nothing left therefore but the trees. And so they clambered
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  Speaker 1: back to the lower branches, and with stiff fingers and
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  Speaker 1: numb joints, started once more in the direction they thought
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  Speaker 1: would lead them to the railway. As they moved forward,
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  Speaker 1: they commenced to feel the reviving influence of renewed warmth
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  Speaker 1: and life. But as they forgot the cold, they became
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  Speaker 1: more conscious of their hunger, and now thirst was added
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  Speaker 1: to their discomfort. They heard the sounds of the smaller
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  Speaker 1: life of the jungle, and occasionally caught fleeting glimpses of
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  Speaker 1: beautifully colored birds. A small monkey came and ran along
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  Speaker 1: their heads, and as chattering, attracted others, until soon there
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  Speaker 1: were many monkeys around them. They did not seem very
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  Speaker 1: much afraid of the boys, nor were they unfriendly. They
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  Speaker 1: were merely curious, and they were always eating, a fact
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  Speaker 1: which drove the boys nearly crazy with hunger. They watched
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  Speaker 1: carefully to discover what the monkeys ate, for they knew
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  Speaker 1: that what the monkeys ate with safety, they might eat,
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  Speaker 1: But when they discovered that the bill of fare appeared
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  Speaker 1: to consist quite largely of caterpillars, they changed their minds.
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  Speaker 1: After a while, they saw one of the monkeys gather
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  Speaker 1: fruit from a tree and eat it with great relish,
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  Speaker 1: and they lost no time in clambering up into the
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  Speaker 1: branches of that same tree and searching for more of
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  Speaker 1: the fruit. It did not taste very good, but it
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  Speaker 1: was food, and stopped gnawing pangs of hunger and its
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  Speaker 1: juices helped to satisfy their thirst. When they had eaten,
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  Speaker 1: they continued their search for the railway and found it
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  Speaker 1: easier to travel through the trees. Though they were as
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  Speaker 1: yet far from perfect at it, the food had given
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  Speaker 1: them renewed hope, and they were quite sure now that
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  Speaker 1: they would soon reach the twin bands of steel that
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  Speaker 1: would mean rescue, for even if their train had left,
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  Speaker 1: there would be other trains along which would surely stop
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  Speaker 1: at sight of two white boys. They might not have
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  Speaker 1: felt so much confidence had they dreamed that they were
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  Speaker 1: traveling deeper and deeper into the forest directly away from
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  Speaker 1: the railway. Dick, who was in the lead, suddenly voiced
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  Speaker 1: an exclamation of satisfaction and relief. Here's the old trail,
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  Speaker 1: he cried. Now we can make some time. Gee, but
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  Speaker 1: it's good to get your old feet on the ground again,
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  Speaker 1: said Doc, as the two boys stood again on solid footing,
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  Speaker 1: Come on, now, let's beat it. With brisk steps, they
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  Speaker 1: set off along the game trail that ran in the
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  Speaker 1: same general direction they had been traveling. Positive now that
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  Speaker 1: they were on the right road, Doc, his spirits rising
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  Speaker 1: to the occasion, broke into a gay whistle ahead of them,
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  Speaker 1: Zupinga came to an abrupt halt. For an instant he
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  Speaker 1: stood listening intently. Then he dropped to his hands and
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  Speaker 1: knees and placed his ear against the ground, and remained
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  Speaker 1: there for a moment, motionless. When he arose, he still
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  Speaker 1: remained in a listening attitude, straining every faculty to interpret
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  Speaker 1: the sounds that were approaching him along the trail. Just
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  Speaker 1: before the boys came into sight, the sun Savage warrior
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  Speaker 1: stepped into the green wall of the jungle trail. The
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  Speaker 1: leaves and branches dropped back, forming an impenetrable screen behind
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  Speaker 1: which Zopingo waited. The boys came confidently on while Zopinga
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  Speaker 1: adjusted his shield upon his left fore arm and took
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  Speaker 1: a new grip upon his light hunting spear. The warrior
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  Speaker 1: did not see the boys until they were almost opposite him,
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  Speaker 1: but when he did, the grasp of his spear hand released,
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  Speaker 1: and a look of relief and satisfaction overspread his black
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  Speaker 1: and evil countenance, for he saw that he had nothing
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  Speaker 1: to fear from two unarmed white boys. He waited until
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  Speaker 1: a turn in the trail took them from his view,
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  Speaker 1: then stepped out into the trail. And followed them. Zopinga
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  Speaker 1: was greatly elated. What matter now that his snares had
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  Speaker 1: failed to entrap a single victim. Had they all been filled,
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  Speaker 1: the reward would not have equalled this windfall that had
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  Speaker 1: come to him. Without the slightest effort upon his part,
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  Speaker 1: the victims of his snares he would have had to
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  Speaker 1: carry home. But this new quarry walked upon their own legs,
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  Speaker 1: and most accommodatingly, were headed directly for the village of
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  Speaker 1: the Begala end of Chapter three