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25 - The Outpost of the World · Tarzan of the Apes

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Speaker 1: Chapter twenty five, The Outpost of the World. With report
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Speaker 1: of his gun, Darnault saw the door fly open and
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Speaker 1: the figure of a man pitch headlong within onto the
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Speaker 1: cabin floor. The Frenchman, in his panic, raised his gun
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Speaker 1: to fire again into the prostrate form, but suddenly, in
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Speaker 1: the half dusk of the open door, he saw that
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Speaker 1: the man was white, and in another instant realized that
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Speaker 1: he had shot his friend and protector, Tarzan of the Apes.
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Speaker 1: With a cry of anguish, Darnault sprang to the ape
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Speaker 1: man's side, and, kneeling lifted the latter's head in his arms,
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Speaker 1: calling Tarzan's name aloud. There was no response, and then
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Speaker 1: d'arnault placed his ear above the man's heart. To his joy,
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Speaker 1: he heard it steady beating beneath. Carefully, he lifted Tarzan
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Speaker 1: to the cot, and then, after closing and bolting the door,
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Speaker 1: he lighted one of the lamps and examined the wound.
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Speaker 1: The bullet had struck a glo glancing blow upon the skull.
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Speaker 1: There was an ugly flesh wound, but no signs of
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Speaker 1: a fracture of the skull. Darnau breathed a sigh of
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Speaker 1: relief and went about bathing the blood from Tarzan's face.
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Speaker 1: Soon the cool water revived him, and presently he opened
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Speaker 1: his eyes to look in questioning surprise at d'arnault. The
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Speaker 1: latter had bound the wound with pieces of cloth, and
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Speaker 1: as he saw that Tarzan had regained consciousness, he arose and,
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Speaker 1: going to the table, wrote a message, which he handed
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Speaker 1: to the ape man, explaining the terrible mistake he had
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Speaker 1: made and how thankfully he was that the wound was
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Speaker 1: not more serious. Tarzan, after reading the message, sat on
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Speaker 1: the edge of the couch and laughed. It is nothing,
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Speaker 1: he said in French, and then his vocabulary failing him,
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Speaker 1: he wrote, you should have seen what BULGANI did to me,
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Speaker 1: anchor Jak and Trkoz before I killed them, then you
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Speaker 1: would laugh at such a little scratch. Darnault handed Tarzan
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Speaker 1: the two messages that had been left for him. Tarzan
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Speaker 1: read the first one through with a look of sorrow
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Speaker 1: on his face. The second one he turned over and over,
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Speaker 1: searching for an opening. He had never seen a sealed
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Speaker 1: envelope before. At length he handed it to Darnault. The
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Speaker 1: Frenchman had been watching him and knew that Tarzan was
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Speaker 1: puzzled over the envelope. How strange it seemed that to
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Speaker 1: a full grown white man an envelope was a mystery.
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Speaker 1: Darnault opened it and handed the letter back to Tarzan.
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Speaker 1: Sitting on a campstool, the ape man spread the written
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Speaker 1: sheet before him and read to Tarzan and the Apes.
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Speaker 1: Before I leave, let me add my thanks to those
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Speaker 1: of mister Clayton for the kindness you have shown in
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Speaker 1: permitting us the use of your cabin. That you never
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Speaker 1: came to make friends with us has been a great
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Speaker 1: regret to us. We should have liked so much to
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Speaker 1: have seen and thanked our host. There is another I
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Speaker 1: should like to thank also, But he did not come back.
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Speaker 1: Though I cannot believe that he is dead. I do
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Speaker 1: not know his name. He is the great white giant
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Speaker 1: who wore the diamond locket upon his breast. If you
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Speaker 1: know him and can speak his language, carry my thanks
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Speaker 1: to him and tell him that I waited seven days
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Speaker 1: for him to return. Tell him also that in my
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Speaker 1: home in America, in the city of Baltimore, there will
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Speaker 1: always be a welcome for him if he cares to come.
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Speaker 1: I found a note you wrote me lying among the
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Speaker 1: leaves beneath the tree near the cabin. I do not
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Speaker 1: know how you learn to love me who have never
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Speaker 1: spoken to me, And I am very sorry if it
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Speaker 1: is true, for I have already given my heart to another.
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Speaker 1: But know that I am always your friend. Jane Porter
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Speaker 1: Tarzan sat with gaze fixed upon the floor for nearly
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Speaker 1: an hour. It was evident to him from the notes
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Speaker 1: that they did not know that he and Tarzan of
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Speaker 1: the Apes were one and the same. I have given
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Speaker 1: my heart to another, he repeated over and over again
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Speaker 1: to himself. Then she did not love him. How could
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Speaker 1: she have pretended love and raised him to such a
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Speaker 1: pinnacle of hope, only to cast him down to such
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Speaker 1: utter depths of despair. Maybe her kisses were only signs
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Speaker 1: of friendship. How did he know, who knew nothing of
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Speaker 1: the customs of human beings. Suddenly he arose, and, bidding
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Speaker 1: Darnault good night, as he had learned to do, threw
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Speaker 1: himself upon the couch of ferns that had been Jane Porter's.
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Speaker 1: Darnault extinguished the lamp and lay down upon the cot.
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Speaker 1: For a week. They did little but rest, Darnault coaching
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Speaker 1: Tarzan in French. At the end of that time, the
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Speaker 1: two men could converse quite easily. One night, as they
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Speaker 1: were sitting within the cabin before retiring, Tarzan turned to Darnault.
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Speaker 1: Where is America? He said. Darnau pointed toward the northwest,
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Speaker 1: maybe thousands of miles across the ocean. He replied, Why
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Speaker 1: I am going there? Darnault shook his head. It is impossible,
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Speaker 1: my friend, he said. Tarzan rose, and, going to one
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Speaker 1: of the cupboards, returned with a well thumbed geography. Turning
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Speaker 1: to a map of the world, he said, I have
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Speaker 1: never quite understood all this. Explain it to me, please.
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Speaker 1: When Darnault had done so, showing him that the blue
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Speaker 1: represented all the water on the earth, and the bits
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Speaker 1: of other colors, the continents and islands, Tarzan asked him
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Speaker 1: to point out the spot where they now were. Darnaut
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Speaker 1: did so. Now, point out America, said Tarzan, And as
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Speaker 1: Darnault placed his finger upon north thad America, Tarzan smiled
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Speaker 1: and laid his palm upon the page, spanning the great
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Speaker 1: ocean that lay between the two continents. You see, it
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Speaker 1: is not so very far, he said, scarce the width
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Speaker 1: of my hand. Darnaut laughed. How could he make the
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Speaker 1: man understand? Then he took a pencil and made a
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Speaker 1: tiny point upon the shore of Africa. This little mark,
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Speaker 1: he said, is many times larger upon this map than
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Speaker 1: your cabin is upon the earth. Do you see now
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Speaker 1: how very far it is? Tarzan thought for a long time.
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Speaker 1: Do any white men live in Africa? He asked, yes,
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Speaker 1: Where are the nearest. Darnault pointed out a spot on
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Speaker 1: the shore just north of them. So close, asked Tarzan
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Speaker 1: in surprise, Yes, said Darnault, but he is not close.
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Speaker 1: Have they big boats to cross the ocean? Yes? We
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Speaker 1: shall go there tomorrow, announced Tarzan. Again, Darnault smiled and
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Speaker 1: shook his head. It is too far. We should die
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Speaker 1: long before we reached them. Do you wish to stay
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Speaker 1: here then forever, asked Tarzan. No, said Darnault. Then we
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Speaker 1: shall start tomorrow. I do not like it here longer.
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Speaker 1: I should rather die than remain here, I answered d'arnault
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Speaker 1: with a shrug. I do not know, my friend, but
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Speaker 1: that I also would rather die than remain here. If
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Speaker 1: you go, I shall go with you. It is settled, then,
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Speaker 1: said Tarzan. I shall start for America tomorrow. How will
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Speaker 1: you get to America without money? Asked Darnault, What is money,
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Speaker 1: inquired Tarzan. It took a long time to make him understand,
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Speaker 1: even imperfectly. How do men get money, he asked, at last,
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Speaker 1: They work for it, very well. I will work for it. Then, no,
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Speaker 1: my friend returned d'arnault, You need not worry about money,
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Speaker 1: nor need you work for it. I have enough money
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Speaker 1: for two, enough for twenty, much more than is good
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Speaker 1: for one man, and you shall have all you need
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Speaker 1: if ever we reach civilization. So on the following day
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Speaker 1: they started north along the shore, each man carrying a
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Speaker 1: rifle and ammunition, besides bedding and some food and cooking utensils.
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Speaker 1: The latter seemed to Tarzan a most useless encumbrance, so
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Speaker 1: he threw his away. But you must learn to eat
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Speaker 1: cooked food, my friend, remonstrated d'arnault. No civilized men eat
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Speaker 1: raw flesh. There will be time enough when I reach civilization,
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Speaker 1: said Tarzan. I do not like the things, and they
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Speaker 1: only spoil the taste of good meat. For a month,
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Speaker 1: they traveled north, sometimes finding food in plenty, and again
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Speaker 1: going hungry for days. They saw no signs of natives,
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Speaker 1: nor were they molested by wild beasts. Their journey was
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Speaker 1: a miracle of ease. Tarzan asked questions and learned rapidly.
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Speaker 1: D'arnault taught him many of the refinements of civilization, even
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Speaker 1: to the use of knife and fork, but sometimes Tarzan
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Speaker 1: would drop them in disgust and grasp his food in
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Speaker 1: his strong brown hands, tearing it with his molars like
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Speaker 1: a wild beast. Then Darnault would expostulate with him, saying,
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Speaker 1: you must not eat like a brute, Tarzan, while I
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Speaker 1: am trying to make a gentleman of you, mon dieu,
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Speaker 1: gentlemen do not. Thus it is terrible. Tarzan would grin
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Speaker 1: sheepishly and pick up his knife and fork again, but
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Speaker 1: at heart he hated them. On the journey, he told
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Speaker 1: Darnault about the great chest he had seen the sailors Bury,
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Speaker 1: of how he had dug it up and carried it
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Speaker 1: to the gathering place of the apes and buried it there.
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Speaker 1: It must be the treasure chest of Professor Porter, said Darnault,
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Speaker 1: it is too bad, But of course you did not know.
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Speaker 1: Then Tarzan recalled the letter written by Jane to her friend,
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Speaker 1: the one he had stolen when they first came to
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Speaker 1: his cabin. And now he knew what was in the chest,
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Speaker 1: and what it meant to Jane. Tomorrow, we shall go
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Speaker 1: back after it, he announced to Darnault. Go back, exclaimed Darnault,
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Speaker 1: But my dear fellow, we have now been three weeks
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Speaker 1: upon the march. It would require three more to return
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Speaker 1: to the treasure, and then, with that enormous weight which required,
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Speaker 1: you say, for sailors to carry it, would be months
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Speaker 1: before we had again reached this spot. It must be done,
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Speaker 1: my friend insisted Tarzan. You may go on towards civilization
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Speaker 1: and I will return for the treasure. I can go
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Speaker 1: very much faster alone. I have a better plan, Tarzan,
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Speaker 1: exclaimed Darnault. We shall go on together to the nearest settlement,
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Speaker 1: and there we will charter a boat and sail back
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Speaker 1: down the coast for the treasure, and so transport it easily.
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Speaker 1: That will be safer and quicker, and also not require
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Speaker 1: us to be separated. What do you think of that plan?
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Speaker 1: Very well, said Tarzan. The treasure will be there whenever
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Speaker 1: we go for it. And while I could fetch it
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Speaker 1: now and catch up with you in a moon or two,
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Speaker 1: I shall feel safer for you to know that you
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Speaker 1: are not alone on the trail. When I see how
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Speaker 1: helpless you are, Darnault, I often wonder how the human
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Speaker 1: race has escaped annihilation all these ages which you tell
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Speaker 1: me about. Why Sabor single handed could exterminate a thousand
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Speaker 1: of you, Darnaut laughed. You will think more highly of
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Speaker 1: your genus when you have seen its armies and navies,
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Speaker 1: its great cities, and its mighty engineering works. Then you
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Speaker 1: will realize that it is mind and not muscle, that
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Speaker 1: makes the human animal greater than the mighty beasts of
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Speaker 1: your jungle. Alone and unarmed, a single man is no
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Speaker 1: match for any of the larger beasts. But if ten
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Speaker 1: men were together, they would combine their wits and their
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Speaker 1: muscles against their savage enemies, while the beasts, being unable
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Speaker 1: to reason, would never think of combining against the men. Otherwise, Tarzan,
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Speaker 1: of the Apes, how long would you have lasted in
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Speaker 1: the savage wilderness? You are right, d'arnault, replied Tarzan. For
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Speaker 1: if Kirchak had come to tublats Aid that night at
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Speaker 1: the dumb Dum, there would have been an end of me.
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Speaker 1: But Kerchak could never think far enough ahead to take
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Speaker 1: advantage of any such opportunity. Even Kayla, my mother, could
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Speaker 1: never plan ahead. She simply ate what she needed when
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Speaker 1: she needed it, and if the supply was very scarce,
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Speaker 1: even though she found plenty for several meals, she would
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Speaker 1: never gather any ahead. I remember that she used to
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Speaker 1: think it very silly of me to burden myself with
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Speaker 1: extra food upon the march, though she was quite glad
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Speaker 1: to eat it with me. If the way chanced to
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Speaker 1: be barren of sustenance, then you knew your mother, Tarzan
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Speaker 1: asked Darnault in surprise. Yes, she was a great, fine ape,
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Speaker 1: larger than I and weighed twice as much. And your father,
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Speaker 1: asked Darnault, I did not know him. Kyelah told me
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Speaker 1: he was a white ape and hairless, like myself. I
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Speaker 1: know now that he must have been a white man.
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Speaker 1: Darnault looked long and earnestly at his companion Tarzan. He said,
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Speaker 1: at length, it is impossible that the ape Kaylah was
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Speaker 1: your mother, if such a thing can be, which I
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Speaker 1: doubt you would have inherited some of the characteristics of
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Speaker 1: the ape. But you have not. You are pure man,
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Speaker 1: and I should say, the offspring of highly bred and
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Speaker 1: intelligent parents. Have you not the slightest clue to your past?
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Speaker 1: Not the slightest, replied Tarzan. No writings in the cabin
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Speaker 1: that might have told something of the lives of its
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Speaker 1: original inmates. I have read everything that was in the cabin,
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Speaker 1: with the exception of one book, which I know now
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Speaker 1: to be written in a language other than English. Possibly
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Speaker 1: you can read it. Tarzan fished the little black Diary
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Speaker 1: from the bottom of his quiver and handed it to
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Speaker 1: his companion. D'arnault glanced at the title page. It is
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Speaker 1: the Diary of John Clayton, Lord Greystoke, an English nobleman,
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Speaker 1: and it is written in French, he said. Then he
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Speaker 1: proceeded to read the diary that had been written over
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Speaker 1: twenty years before, and which recorded the details of the
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Speaker 1: story which we already know, the story of adventure, hardships
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Speaker 1: and sorrow of John Clayton and his wife Alice, from
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Speaker 1: the day they left England until an hour before he
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Speaker 1: was struck down by Kuchak. D'arnault read aloud. At times
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Speaker 1: his voice broke, and he was forced to stop reading
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Speaker 1: for the pitiful hopelessness that spoke between the lines. Occasionally
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Speaker 1: he glanced at Tarzan, but the ape man sat upon
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Speaker 1: his haunches like a carven image. His eyes fixed upon
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Speaker 1: the ground. Only when the little Babe was mentioned did
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Speaker 1: the tone of the diary altar from the habitual note
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Speaker 1: of despair, which crept into it by degrees after the
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Speaker 1: first two months upon the shore. Then the passages were
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Speaker 1: tinged with a subdued happiness that was even sadder than
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Speaker 1: the rest. One entry showed an almost hopeful spirit. Today
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Speaker 1: our little boy is sick months old. He is sitting
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Speaker 1: in Alice's lap beside the table where I am writing,
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Speaker 1: a happy, healthy, perfect child. Somehow, even against all reason,
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Speaker 1: I seemed to see him a grown man, taking his
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Speaker 1: father's place in the world, the second John Clayton, and
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Speaker 1: bringing added honors to the house of Greystoke. There As
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Speaker 1: though to give my prophecy the weight of his endorsement,
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Speaker 1: he has grabbed my pen in his chuvvy fists, and
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Speaker 1: with its ink, bigrimed little fingers has placed the seal
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Speaker 1: of his tiny fingerprints upon the page. And there on
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Speaker 1: the margin of the page were the partially blurred imprints
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Speaker 1: of four wee fingers and the outer half of the thumb.
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Speaker 1: When Darnault had finished the diary, the two men sat
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Speaker 1: in silence for some minutes. Well Tarzan of the apes.
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Speaker 1: What think you asked, Darnault, does not this little book
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Speaker 1: clear up the mystery of your parentage? Why man, you
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Speaker 1: are Lord Christoke? The book speaks of but one child,
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Speaker 1: he replied. Its little skeleton lay in the crib where
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Speaker 1: it died, crying for nourishment, from the first time I
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Speaker 1: entered the cabin until Professor Porter's party buried it with
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Speaker 1: its father and mother beside the cabin. No, that was
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Speaker 1: the babe the books speaks of. And the mystery of
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Speaker 1: my origin is deeper than before, for I have thought
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Speaker 1: much of late of the possibility of that cabin having
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Speaker 1: been my birthplace. I am afraid that Kayla spoke the truth,
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Speaker 1: he concluded. Sadly. D'arnault shook his head. He was unconvinced,
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Speaker 1: and in his mind had sprung the determination to prove
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Speaker 1: the correctness of his theory, for he had discovered the
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Speaker 1: key which alone could unlock the mystery or consign it
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Speaker 1: forever to the realms of the unfathomable. A week later,
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Speaker 1: the two men came suddenly upon a clearing in the forest.
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Speaker 1: In the distance, buildings surrounded by a strong palisade. Between
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Speaker 1: them and the enclosure stretched a cultivated field in which
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Speaker 1: a number of Negroes were working. The two halted at
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Speaker 1: the edge of the jungle. Tarzan fitted his bow with
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Speaker 1: a poisoned arrow, but Darnault placed a hand upon his arm.
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Speaker 1: What would you do, Tarzan, he asked. They will try
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Speaker 1: to kill us if they see us. Replied Tarzan, I
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Speaker 1: prefer to be the killer. Maybe they are friends, suggested Tarnau.
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Speaker 1: They are black, was Tarzan's only reply, and again he
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Speaker 1: drew back his shaft. You must not, Tarzan, cried Darnault.
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Speaker 1: White men do not kill wantonly mon dieu. But you
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Speaker 1: have much to learn. I pity the ruffian who crosses you,
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Speaker 1: my wild man. When I take you to Paris, I
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Speaker 1: will have my hands full keeping your neck from beneath
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Speaker 1: the guillotine. Tarzan lowered his bow and smiled. I do
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Speaker 1: not know why I should kill the blacks back there
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Speaker 1: in my jungle, but not kill them here. Suppose Numa,
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Speaker 1: the lion should spring out upon us, I should say,
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Speaker 1: then I presume good morning, monsieur Numa. How is Madame Numa. Eh,
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Speaker 1: wait until the blacks spring upon you, replied Darnault, then
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Speaker 1: you may kill them. Do not assume that men are
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Speaker 1: your enemies until they prove it. Come, said Tarzan. Let
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Speaker 1: us go and present ourselves to be killed. And he
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Speaker 1: started straight across the field, his head held high, and
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Speaker 1: the tropical sun beating upon his smooth brown skin. Behind
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Speaker 1: him came Darnault, clothed in some garments which have been
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Speaker 1: discarded at the cabin by Clayton, when the officers of
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Speaker 1: the French cruiser had fitted him out in more presentable fashion.
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Speaker 1: Presently one of the blacks looked up and beholding Tarzan,
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Speaker 1: turned shrieking toward the palisade. In an instant, the air
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Speaker 1: was filled with cries of terror from the fleeing gardeners.
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Speaker 1: But before any had reached the palisade, a white man
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Speaker 1: emerged from the enclosure, rifle in hand, to discover the
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Speaker 1: cause of the emotion. What he saw brought his rifle
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Speaker 1: to his shoulder, and Tarzan and the Apes would have
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Speaker 1: felt cold lead once again, had not d'arnault cried loudly
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Speaker 1: to the man with the leveled gun, do not fire.
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Speaker 1: We are friends. Halt then was the reply. Stop. Tarzan,
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Speaker 1: cried Darnault, he thinks we are enemies. Tarzan dropped into
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Speaker 1: a walk, and together he and d'arnault advanced toward the
20:39
Speaker 1: white man by the gate. The latter eyed them in
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Speaker 1: puzzled bewilderment. What manner of men are you? He asked
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Speaker 1: in French. White men replied d'arnault, We have been lost
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Speaker 1: in the jungle for a long time. The man had
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Speaker 1: lowered his rifle and now advanced with outstretched hand. I
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Speaker 1: am Father Constantine of the French mission here, he said,
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Speaker 1: and I am glad to welcome you. This is Monsieur Tarzan.
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Speaker 1: Father Constantine, replied d'arnault, indicating the ape man, And as
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Speaker 1: the priest extended his hand to Tarzan, d'arnault added, and
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Speaker 1: I am Paul d'arnault of the French Navy. Father Constantine
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Speaker 1: took the hand which Tarzan extended in imitation of the
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Speaker 1: priest's act, while the latter took in the superb physique
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Speaker 1: and handsome face in one quick, keen glance. And thus
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Speaker 1: came Tarzan of the Apes to the first outpost of civilization.
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Speaker 1: For a week they remained there, and the ape man,
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Speaker 1: keenly observant, learned much of the ways of men. Meanwhile,
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Speaker 1: black women sewed white duck garments for himself and d'arnault,
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Speaker 1: so that they might continue their journey properly clothed. End
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Speaker 1: of chapter