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14 - At the Mercy of the Jungle · Tarzan of the Apes

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Speaker 1: Chapter fourteen, at the Mercy of the Jungle. After Clayton
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Speaker 1: had plunged into the jungle, the sailors mutineers of the
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Speaker 1: arrow fell into a discussion of their next step. But
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Speaker 1: on one point all were agreed that they should hasten
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Speaker 1: to put off to the anchored arrow, where they could
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Speaker 1: at least be safe from the spears of their unseen foe.
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Speaker 1: And so, while Jane Porter and as Marellda were barricading
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Speaker 1: themselves within the cabin, the cowardly crew of cutthroats were
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Speaker 1: pulling rapidly for their ship and the two boats that
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Speaker 1: had brought them ashore. So much had Tarzan seen that
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Speaker 1: day that his head was in a whirl of wonder.
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Speaker 1: But the most wonderful sight of all to him was
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Speaker 1: the face of the beautiful white girl. Here at last
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Speaker 1: was one of his own kind. Of that he was positive.
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Speaker 1: And the young man and the two old men, they too,
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Speaker 1: or much as he had pictured his own people to be.
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Speaker 1: But doubtless they were as ferocious a cruel as other
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Speaker 1: men he had seen. The Fact that they alone, of
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Speaker 1: all the party, were unarmed, might account for the fact
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Speaker 1: that they had killed no one. They might be very
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Speaker 1: different if provided with weapons. Tarzan had seen the young
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Speaker 1: man pick up the fallen revolver of the wounded Snipes
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Speaker 1: and hide it away in his breast, and he had
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Speaker 1: also seen him slip it cautiously to the girl as
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Speaker 1: she entered the cabin door. He did not understand anything
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Speaker 1: of the motives behind all that he had seen, but
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Speaker 1: somehow intuitively he liked the young man and the two
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Speaker 1: old men, and for the girl he had a strange
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Speaker 1: longing which he scarcely understood. As for the big black woman,
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Speaker 1: she was evidently connected in some way to the girl,
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Speaker 1: and so he liked her. Also. For the sailors, and
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Speaker 1: especially Snipes, he had developed a great hatred. He knew
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Speaker 1: by their threatening gestures and by the expression upon their
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Speaker 1: evil faces, that they were enemies of the others of
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Speaker 1: the party, and so he decided to watch closely. Tarzan
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Speaker 1: wondered why the men had gone into the jungle, nor
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Speaker 1: did it ever occur to him that one could become
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Speaker 1: lost in that maze of undergrowth, which to him was
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Speaker 1: as simple as is the main street of your own
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Speaker 1: hometown to you. When he saw the sailors row away
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Speaker 1: toward the ship, and knew that the girl and her
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Speaker 1: companion were safe in his cabin. Tarzan decided to follow
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Speaker 1: the young man into the jungle and learn what his
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Speaker 1: errand might be. He swung off rapidly in the direction
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Speaker 1: taken by Clayton, and in a short time heard faintly
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Speaker 1: in the distance the now only occasional calls of the
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Speaker 1: Englishman to his friends. Presently, Tarzan came up with the
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Speaker 1: white man, who almost fagged was leaning against a tree,
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Speaker 1: wiping the perspiration from his forehead. The ape man, hiding
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Speaker 1: safe behind a screen of foliage, sat watching this new
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Speaker 1: specimen of his own race intently. At intervals, Clayton called aloud,
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Speaker 1: and finally it came to Tarzan that he was searching
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Speaker 1: for the old man. Tarzan was on the point of
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Speaker 1: going off to look for them himself when he caught
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Speaker 1: the yellow glint of a sleek hide moving cautiously through
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Speaker 1: the jungle toward Clayton. It was Sheita, the leopard. Now
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Speaker 1: Tarzan heard the soft bending of grasses and wondered why
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Speaker 1: the young white man was not warned. Could it be
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Speaker 1: he had failed to note the loud warning. Never before
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Speaker 1: had Tarzan known Sita to be so clumsy. No, the
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Speaker 1: white man did not hear Sita was crouching for the spring.
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Speaker 1: And then shrill and horrible, there rose from the stillness
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Speaker 1: of the jungle, the awful cry of the challenging ape,
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Speaker 1: and Sita turned, crashing into the underbrush. Clayton came to
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Speaker 1: his feet with a start. His blood ran cold. Never
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Speaker 1: in all his life had so fearful a sound smote
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Speaker 1: upon his ears. He was no coward, But if ever
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Speaker 1: man felt the icy fingers of fear upon his heart,
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Speaker 1: William Cecil Clayton, eldest son of Lord Greystoke of England,
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Speaker 1: did that day, in the fastness of the African jungle.
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Speaker 1: The noise of some great body crashing through the underbrush
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Speaker 1: so close beside him, and the sound of that blood
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Speaker 1: curdling shriek from above, tested Clayton's courage to the limit.
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Speaker 1: But he could not know that it was to that
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Speaker 1: very voice he owed his life, nor that the creature
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Speaker 1: who hurled it forth was his own cousin, the real
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Speaker 1: Lord Greystoke. The afternoon was drawing to a close, and Clayton,
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Speaker 1: disheartened and discouraged, was in a terrible quandary as to
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Speaker 1: the proper course to pursue, whether to keep on in
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Speaker 1: search of Professor Porter at the almost certain risk of
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Speaker 1: his own death in the jungle by night, or to
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Speaker 1: return to the cabin, where he might at least serve
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Speaker 1: to protect Jane from the perils which confronted her on
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Speaker 1: all sides. He did not wish to return to camp
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Speaker 1: without her father. Still More, he shrank from the thought
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Speaker 1: of leaving her alone and unprotected in the hands of
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Speaker 1: the mutineers of the Arrow, or to the hundred unknown
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Speaker 1: dangers of the jungle. Possibly too, he thought the Professor
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Speaker 1: and Phalander might have returned to camp. Yes, that was
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Speaker 1: more than likely. At least he would return and see
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Speaker 1: before he continued what seemed to be a most fruitless quest.
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Speaker 1: And so he started stumbling back through the thick and
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Speaker 1: matted underbrush and the direction that he thought the cabin lay.
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Speaker 1: To Tarzan's surprise, the young man was heading farther into
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Speaker 1: the jungle in the general direction of Mabonga's village, and
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Speaker 1: the shrewd young ape man was convinced that he was lost.
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Speaker 1: To Tarzan. This was scarcely incomprehensible. His judgment told him
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Speaker 1: that no man would venture toward the village of the
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Speaker 1: cruel blacks, armed only with a spear, which, from the
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Speaker 1: awkward way in which he carried it, was evidently an
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Speaker 1: unaccustomed weapon to this white man. Nor was he following
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Speaker 1: the trail of the old men that they had crossed
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Speaker 1: and left long since, though it had been fresh and
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Speaker 1: plain before Tarzan's eyes. Tarzan was perplexed. The fierce jungle
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Speaker 1: would make easy prey of this unprotected stranger in a
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Speaker 1: very short time if he were not guided quickly to
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Speaker 1: the beach. Yes, there was Numa the lion, even now
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Speaker 1: stalking the white man. A dozen paces to the right.
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Speaker 1: Clayton heard the great body paralleling his course, And now
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Speaker 1: there rose upon the evening air the beast's thunderous roar.
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Speaker 1: The man stopped with upraised spear and faced the brush
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Speaker 1: from which issued the awful sound. The shadows were deepening,
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Speaker 1: darkness was settling in God, to die here alone beneath
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Speaker 1: the fangs of wild beasts, to be torn and rendered,
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Speaker 1: to feel the hot breath of the brute on his
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Speaker 1: face as the great paw crushed down on his breast.
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Speaker 1: For a moment all was still. Clayton stood rigid with
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Speaker 1: raised spear, Presently a faint rustling of the bush apprised
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Speaker 1: him of the stealthy creeping of the thing behind it
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Speaker 1: was gathering for the spring. At last he saw it,
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Speaker 1: not twenty feet away, the long, lithe muscular body and
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Speaker 1: tawny head of a huge, black maned lion. The beast
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Speaker 1: was upon its belly, moving forward very slowly. As its
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Speaker 1: eyes met Clayton's, it stopped and deliberately, cautiously gathered its
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Speaker 1: hind quarters behind it. In agony, the man watched, fearful
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Speaker 1: to launch his spear, powerless to fly. He heard a
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Speaker 1: noise in the tree above him. Some new danger, he thought,
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Speaker 1: but he dared not take his eyes from the yellow
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Speaker 1: green orbs before him. There was a sharp twang, as
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Speaker 1: of a broken banjo string, and at the same instant
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Speaker 1: an arrow appeared in the yellow highight of the crouching lion.
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Speaker 1: With a roar of pain and anger. The beast sprang,
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Speaker 1: but somehow Clayton stumbled to one side, and as he
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Speaker 1: turned again to face the infuriated king of beasts, he
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Speaker 1: was appalled at the sight which confronted him. Almost simultaneously,
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Speaker 1: with the lions turning to renew the attack, a half
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Speaker 1: naked giant dropped from the tree above squarely on the
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Speaker 1: brute's back with lightning speed. An arm that was banded
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Speaker 1: layers of iron muscle encircled the huge neck, and the
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Speaker 1: great beast was raised from behind, roaring and pawing the air,
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Speaker 1: raised as easily as Clayton would have lifted a pet dog.
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Speaker 1: The scene he witnessed there in the twilight depths of
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Speaker 1: the African jungle was burned forever into the Englishman's brain.
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Speaker 1: The man before him was the embodiment of physical perfection
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Speaker 1: and giant strength. Yet it was not upon these he
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Speaker 1: depended in his battle with the great cat. For mighty
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Speaker 1: as were his muscles, they were as now by comparison
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Speaker 1: with numas to his agility. To his brain, and to
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Speaker 1: his long, keen knife, he owed his supremacy. His right
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Speaker 1: arm encircled the lion's neck, while the left hand plunged
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Speaker 1: the knife time and again into the unprotected side behind
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Speaker 1: the left shoulder. The infuriated beast pulled up and backwards
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Speaker 1: until he stood upon his hind legs, struggled impotently in
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Speaker 1: this unnatural position. Had the battle been of a few
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Speaker 1: seconds longer duration, the outcome might have been different. But
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Speaker 1: it was all accomplished so quickly that the lion had
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Speaker 1: scarce time to recover from the confusion of its surprise.
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Speaker 1: Ere it sank lifeless to the ground. Then the strange
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Speaker 1: figure which had vanquished it stood erect upon the carcass, and,
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Speaker 1: throwing back the wild and handsome head, gave out the
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Speaker 1: fearsome cry which a few moments earlier had so startled Clayton.
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Speaker 1: Before him, he saw the figure of a young man,
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Speaker 1: naked except for a loincloth than a few barbaric ornaments
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Speaker 1: about his arms and legs. On the breast a priceless
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Speaker 1: diamond locket gleaming against the smooth brown skin. The hunting
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Speaker 1: knife had been returned to its homely sheath, and the
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Speaker 1: man was gathering up his bow and quiver from where
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Speaker 1: he had tossed them when he leaped to attack the lion.
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Speaker 1: Clayton spoke to the stranger in English, thanking him for
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Speaker 1: his brave rescue and complimenting him on the wondrous strength
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Speaker 1: and dexterity he had displayed. But the only answer was
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Speaker 1: a steady stare and a faint shrug of the mighty shoulders,
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Speaker 1: which might betoken either disparagement of the service rendered or
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Speaker 1: ignorance of Clayton's language. When the bow and quiver had
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Speaker 1: been slung to his back, the wild man, for such
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Speaker 1: Clayton now thought him, once more, drew his knife and
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Speaker 1: deftly carved a dozen large strips of meat from the
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Speaker 1: lion's carcass. Then, squatting upon his haunches, he proceeded to eat, first,
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Speaker 1: motioning Clayton to join him. The strong white teeth sank
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Speaker 1: into the raw and dripping flesh, an apparent relish of
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Speaker 1: the meal. But Clayton could not bring himself to share
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Speaker 1: the uncooked meat with this strange host. Instead, he watched him,
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Speaker 1: and presently there dawned upon him the conviction that this
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Speaker 1: was Tarzan of the Apes, whose notice he had seen
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Speaker 1: posted upon the cabin door that morning. If so, he
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Speaker 1: must speak English again. Clayton attempted speech with the ape man,
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Speaker 1: but the replies, now vocal, were in a strange tongue
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Speaker 1: which resembled the chattering of monkeys, mingled with the growling
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Speaker 1: of some wild beast. No, this could not be Tarzan
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Speaker 1: of the Apes, for it was very evident that he
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Speaker 1: was an utter stranger to English. When Tarzan had completed
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Speaker 1: his repast, he rose, and, pointing in a very different
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Speaker 1: direction from that which Clayton had been pursuing, started off
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Speaker 1: through the jungle toward the point he had indicated. Clayton,
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Speaker 1: bewoled and confused, hesitated to follow him, for he thought
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Speaker 1: he was but being led more deeply into the mazes
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Speaker 1: of the forest. But the ape man, seeing him disinclined
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Speaker 1: to follow, returned, and, grasping him by the coat, dragged
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Speaker 1: him along until he was convinced that Clayton understood what
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Speaker 1: was required of him. Then he left him to follow voluntarily.
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Speaker 1: The Englishman, finally concluding that he was a prisoner, saw
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Speaker 1: no alternative open but to accompany his captor, and thus
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Speaker 1: they traveled slowly through the jungle, while the sable mantle
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Speaker 1: of the impenetrable forest night fell about them, and the
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Speaker 1: stealthy footfalls of padded claws mingled with the breaking of
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Speaker 1: twigs and the wild calls of the savage life that
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Speaker 1: Clayton felt closing in upon him. Suddenly, Clayton heard the
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Speaker 1: faint report of a firearm, a single shot, and then silence.
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Speaker 1: In the cabin by the beach, two thoroughly terrified women
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Speaker 1: clung to each other as they crouched upon the low
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Speaker 1: bench in the gathering darkness, the negress sobbed hysterically, bemoaning
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Speaker 1: the evil day that had witnessed her departure from her
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Speaker 1: dear Maryland, while the white girl, dry eyed and outwardly calm,
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Speaker 1: was torn by inward fears and forebodings. She feared not
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Speaker 1: more for herself than for the three men whom she
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Speaker 1: knew to be wandering in the abysmal depths of the
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Speaker 1: savage jungle, from which she now heard issuing the almost
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Speaker 1: incessant shrieks and roars, barkings and growlings of its terrifying
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Speaker 1: and fearsome denizens as they sought their prey. And now
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Speaker 1: there came the sound of a heavy body brushing against
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Speaker 1: the side of the cabin. She could hear the great,
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Speaker 1: padded paws upon the ground outside. For an instant, all
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Speaker 1: was silence, even the bedlam of the forest died to
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Speaker 1: a faint murmur. Then she distinctly heard the beast outside,
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Speaker 1: sniffing at the door, not two feet from where she crouched. Instinctively,
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Speaker 1: the girl shuddered and shrank closer to the black woman. Hush,
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Speaker 1: she whispered, Hush, as Marelda for the woman's sobs and
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Speaker 1: groans seemed to have attracted the thing that stalked there.
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Speaker 1: Just beyond the thin wall, a gentle scratching sound was
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Speaker 1: heard on the door. The brute tried to force an entrance,
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Speaker 1: but presently this ceased, and again she heard the great
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Speaker 1: pads creeping stealthily around the cabin. Again they stopped beneath
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Speaker 1: the window on which the terrified eyes of the girl
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Speaker 1: now glued themselves. God, she murmured. For now, silhouetted against
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Speaker 1: the moonlit sky beyond, she saw framed in the tiny
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Speaker 1: square of the latticed window, the head of a huge lioness.
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Speaker 1: The gleaming eyes were fixed upon her in intent ferocity.
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Speaker 1: Look as Maralda, she whispered, For God's sake, what shall
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Speaker 1: we do? Look quick the window as Maria Eralda, cowering
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Speaker 1: still closer to her mistress, took one frightened glance toward
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Speaker 1: the little square of moonlight, just as the lioness emitted
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Speaker 1: a low, savage snarl. The sight that met the poor
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Speaker 1: woman's eyes was too much for the already overstrung nerves.
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Speaker 1: Oh Gabriel, she shrieked and slid to the floor an
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Speaker 1: inert and senseless mass for what seemed an eternity. The
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Speaker 1: great brute stood with its forepaws upon the sill, glaring
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Speaker 1: into the little room. Presently he tried the strength of
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Speaker 1: the lattice with its great talons. The girl had almost
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Speaker 1: ceased to breathe, when, to her relief, the head disappeared,
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Speaker 1: and she heard the brute's footsteps leaving the window. But
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Speaker 1: now they came to the door again, and once more
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Speaker 1: the scratching commenced, this time with increasing force, until the
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Speaker 1: great beast was tearing at the massive panels in a
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Speaker 1: perfect frenzy of eagerness to seize its defenseless victims. Could
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Speaker 1: Jane have known the immense strength of that door, built
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Speaker 1: piece by piece, she would have felt less fear of
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Speaker 1: the lioness reaching her by this avenue. Little did John
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Speaker 1: Clayton imagine when he fashioned that crude but mighty portal
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Speaker 1: that one day, twenty years later it would shield a
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Speaker 1: fair American girl, then unborn, from the teeth and talons
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Speaker 1: of a man eater. For fully twenty minutes, the brute
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Speaker 1: alternately sniffed and tore at the door, occasionally giving voice
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Speaker 1: to a wild, savage cry of baffled rage. At length, however,
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Speaker 1: she gave up the attempt, and Jane heard her returning
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Speaker 1: toward the window beneath which she paused for an instant,
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Speaker 1: and then launched her great weight against the time worn lattice.
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Speaker 1: The girl heard the wooden rods groan beneath the impact,
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Speaker 1: but they held, and the huge body dropped back to
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Speaker 1: the ground below. Again and again, the lioness repeated these tactics,
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Speaker 1: until finally the horrified prisoner within saw a portion of
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Speaker 1: the lattice give way, and in an instant, one great
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Speaker 1: paw and the head of the animal were thrust within
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Speaker 1: the room. Slowly, the powerful neck and shoulders spread the
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Speaker 1: bars apart, and the lithe body protruded farther and farther
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Speaker 1: into the room, as in a trance. The girl rose
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Speaker 1: her hand upon her breast, wide eyes staring horror stricken
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Speaker 1: into the snarling face of the beasts scarce ten feet
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Speaker 1: from her. At her feet lay the prostrate form of
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Speaker 1: the negress. If she could but arouse her, their combined
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Speaker 1: efforts might possibly avail to beat back the fierce and
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Speaker 1: bloodthirsty intruder. Jane stooped to grasp the black woman by
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Speaker 1: the shoulder roughly, she shook her Here's Marelda, here's Marelda,
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Speaker 1: she cried, help me, or we are lost. As Marelda
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Speaker 1: opened her eyes, the first object they encountered was the
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Speaker 1: dripping fangs of the hu hungry lioness. With a horrified scream,
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Speaker 1: the poor woman rose to her hands and knees, and
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Speaker 1: in this position scurried across the room, shrieking oh gebiro
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Speaker 1: oh ghetto at the top of her lungs. Esmerelda weighed
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Speaker 1: some two hundred and eighty pounds, and her extreme haste,
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Speaker 1: added to her extreme corpulency, produced a most amazing result
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Speaker 1: when Esmerelda elected to travel on all fours for a moment,
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Speaker 1: the lioness remained quiet, with intense gaze directed upon the
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Speaker 1: flitting Esmerelda, whose goal appeared to be the cupboard into
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Speaker 1: which she attempted to propel her huge bulk, but as
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Speaker 1: the shells were but nine or ten inches apart, she
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Speaker 1: only succeeded in getting her head in, whereupon, with a
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Speaker 1: final screech which paled the jungle noises into insignificance, she
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Speaker 1: fainted once again. With the subsidence of Esmeralda, the lioness
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Speaker 1: renewed her efforts to wriggle her huge bulk through the
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Speaker 1: weakening life. The girl, standing pale and rigid against the
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Speaker 1: farther wall, sought with ever increasing terror for some loophole
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Speaker 1: of escape. Suddenly, her hand tight pressed against her bosom,
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Speaker 1: felt the hard outline of the revolver that Clayton had
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Speaker 1: left with her earlier in the day. Quickly she snatched
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Speaker 1: it from siding place, and, leveling it full at the
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Speaker 1: lioness's face, pulled the trigger. There was a flash of flame,
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Speaker 1: the roar of the discharge, and an answering roar of
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Speaker 1: pain and anger from the beast. Jane Porter saw the
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Speaker 1: great form disappear from the window, and then she too fainted,
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Speaker 1: the revolver falling at her side. But Sabor was not killed.
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Speaker 1: The bullet had but inflicted a painful wound in one
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Speaker 1: of the great shoulders. It was the surprise at the
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Speaker 1: blinding flash and the deafening roar that had caused her
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Speaker 1: hasty but temporary retreat. In another instant, she was back
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Speaker 1: at the lattice, and with renewed fury, was clawing at
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Speaker 1: the aperture, but with lessened effect, since the wounded member
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Speaker 1: was almost useless, she saw her prey, the two women
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Speaker 1: lying senseless upon the floor. There was no longer any
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Speaker 1: resistance to be overcome. Her meat lay before her, and
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Speaker 1: Saber had only to worm her way through the lattice
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Speaker 1: to claimant. Slowly she forced her great bulk inch by
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Speaker 1: inch through the opening. Now her head was through. Now
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Speaker 1: one great forearm and shoulder. Carefully she drew up the
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Speaker 1: wounded member to insinuate it gently beyond the tight pressing bars.
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Speaker 1: A moment more, and both shoulders threw the long, sinuous body,
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Speaker 1: and the narrow hips would glide quickly after. It was
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Speaker 1: on this side that Jane Porter again opened her eyes.
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Speaker 1: End of chapter