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08 - Tarzan Twins by Edgar Rice Burroughs · Tarzan Twins

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  Speaker 1: Chapter seven. The hot days and the cold nights dragged on.
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  Speaker 1: The food poor and distasteful as it was, the boys
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  Speaker 1: learned to eat, they could not understand why it did
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  Speaker 1: not kill them, for they were sure that it contained
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  Speaker 1: all the germs that had ever been discovered, with several
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  Speaker 1: millions that had not. The hideous knights, made unbearable by
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  Speaker 1: cold and vermin seemed eternities of suffering. Yet the boys
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  Speaker 1: lived on, lived and learned. They learned the language of Okundu,
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  Speaker 1: learned to speak in a dialect that all could understand,
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  Speaker 1: learned to understand that of their captors, the Bagala. Many
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  Speaker 1: other things they came to understand during the days of
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  Speaker 1: their captivity, not the least of which was a new
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  Speaker 1: conception of the negro To doc whose experience with colored
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  Speaker 1: people had been limited to a few worthless specimens of
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  Speaker 1: the Northern States. It came as a revelation even among
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  Speaker 1: the warriors of the Cannibal Bagala, he encountered individuals who
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  Speaker 1: possessed great natural dignity, poise, and evident strength of cans character. Bllala,
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  Speaker 1: a typical West Coast black, densely ignorant and superstitious, had
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  Speaker 1: nevertheless a heart of gold that revealed itself in his
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  Speaker 1: loyalty and generosity, while little Okundu, the pygmy, perhaps among
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  Speaker 1: the lowest in the social scale of all African peoples,
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  Speaker 1: proved a staunch friend and a good comrade. To his
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  Speaker 1: natural shrewdness was added an almost uncanny knowledge of the
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  Speaker 1: jungle and the jungle's people, both beast and human. The
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  Speaker 1: tales he told the boys shortened many a wary hour.
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  Speaker 1: After the first week of their captivity, the boys had
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  Speaker 1: managed to get a message to Chief Galagala through Balala
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  Speaker 1: and Zopinga, explaining to him that being unaccustomed to breathing
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  Speaker 1: the close air of a hut and living always without sunshine,
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  Speaker 1: they would surely die. They asked to be given more
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  Speaker 1: freedom and exercise, pointing out that there was little likelihood
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  Speaker 1: of their being able to escape since they were unfamiliar
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  Speaker 1: with the jungle and would not know in what direction
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  Speaker 1: to go should they be able to leave the village.
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  Speaker 1: But upon one point they were very careful not to
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  Speaker 1: commit themselves. They did not promise not to try to escape,
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  Speaker 1: and as a result of their plea Galagala gave all
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  Speaker 1: the prisoners the freedom of the village during the daytime,
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  Speaker 1: placing the guards at the village gates instead of at
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  Speaker 1: the doorway of the hut in which they had been confined,
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  Speaker 1: and at night there were no guards at all, since
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  Speaker 1: the village gates were then closed and locked, and the
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  Speaker 1: dangers of the jungle were sufficient to keep anyone from
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  Speaker 1: attempting to escape. The boys had really had little hope
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  Speaker 1: that their request would be granted, and there is little
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  Speaker 1: likelihood that it would have been but for the shrewdness
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  Speaker 1: of Ukundu, who had accurately gaged the impression Doc's wizardry
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  Speaker 1: had made upon Galagala, measuring it doubtless by the awe
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  Speaker 1: that it had created in his own superstitious mind. It
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  Speaker 1: was due to a Kundu, therefore, that Bellala did not
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  Speaker 1: transmit the message in the form of a request. Instead,
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  Speaker 1: Zopinga had carried a demand to his chief, backed by
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  Speaker 1: a threat that the white boy which doctor would loose
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  Speaker 1: some very much more terrible medicine upon him if he
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  Speaker 1: refused to permit them the freedom of the village, and
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  Speaker 1: Ukundu had been careful to ensure that the demand included
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  Speaker 1: both Balala and himself, Influenced by their fear of Doc's magic.
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  Speaker 1: The villagers treated the boys with more respect than they
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  Speaker 1: would have ordinarily been accorded, and there was one youth
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  Speaker 1: in particular who gave them a very wide berth, keeping
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  Speaker 1: as far from them as possible. This was Pabu, the
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  Speaker 1: youth within whose thick skull, it was popularly believed repose
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  Speaker 1: the big medicine of the white boy witch doctor. Since
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  Speaker 1: the moment that Doc had made the two knives disappear
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  Speaker 1: within Pabu's left ear, that unhappy individual had been the
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  Speaker 1: object of much suspicious observation upon the part of all
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  Speaker 1: the villagers. At first, he had enjoyed this unusual celebrity
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  Speaker 1: and had strutted about with great pompousness. But when it
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  Speaker 1: had been whispered that Galagalla was becoming consumed with curiosity
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  Speaker 1: to learn if the big medicine was indeed inside Pabu's head,
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  Speaker 1: the youth had filled with a great terror that kept
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  Speaker 1: him almost continuously in the seclusion and dirt of his
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  Speaker 1: father's hut. For he knew of but one way in
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  Speaker 1: which Galagala could definitely learn if the big medicine was
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  Speaker 1: actually within his skull, And Pabu knew Galagala well enough
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  Speaker 1: to know that whenever the spirit chanced to move him,
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  Speaker 1: he would not hesitate to make a thorough investigation, no
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  Speaker 1: matter how painful or how fatal to Pabu. One day,
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  Speaker 1: as the boys were lying in the shade beside their hut,
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  Speaker 1: Galagala approached them. With him was an evil faced individual
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  Speaker 1: whom the boys recognized as Entomo, the witch doctor of
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  Speaker 1: the Bagala, a Mugala of great power whose influence over
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  Speaker 1: Galagala made him, in many ways virtually chief of the Bagala.
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  Speaker 1: His wrinkled face was seamed and lined by age and
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  Speaker 1: vicious thoughts, and clouded by a perpetual scowl, a fit
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  Speaker 1: setting for his bloodshot eyes and his sharp filed cannibal teeth.
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  Speaker 1: As the two approached the boys, and Tomo excitedly urged
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  Speaker 1: something upon the Chief, but he ceased speaking as they
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  Speaker 1: came with an ear shot of Dick and doc as
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  Speaker 1: though fearful that they might overhear and understand. However, Galagala,
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  Speaker 1: stopping in front of his two young captives, let the
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  Speaker 1: cat out of the bag and Tomo say your medicine
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  Speaker 1: no good, he announced, Let him make better medicine, retorted
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  Speaker 1: Doc in halting and faulty. Bagala and Tomos say your
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  Speaker 1: medicine not in Pabu's head, continued Galagala, I say it is.
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  Speaker 1: Didn't you see me put it in there? We find out,
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  Speaker 1: announced the chief. How you find out? Demanded Dick, and
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  Speaker 1: then as a sudden thought popped into his head. Golly,
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  Speaker 1: you don't mean how you find out what's in a nut,
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  Speaker 1: retorted Galagala. You crack it, but you'd kill him, cried Doc,
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  Speaker 1: horror stricken. And if we do not find the big
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  Speaker 1: medicine and there we kill you, said in Tamo, who
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  Speaker 1: would have liked nothing better than to get rid of
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  Speaker 1: the white boy whose big medicine had had a bad
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  Speaker 1: effect upon Intomo's reputation as a witch doctor since he
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  Speaker 1: had been unable to duplicate Doc's exhibition of wizardry. You'll
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  Speaker 1: come now, he continued, We find out. An accompanied by
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  Speaker 1: Gallagala and the boys and Tomo led the way toward
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  Speaker 1: the center of the village, where, in an open space
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  Speaker 1: before the chief's hut, all the ceremonies of the tribe
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  Speaker 1: were conducted. While Pabu was being searched out and dragged,
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  Speaker 1: resisting and screaming to be sacrificed upon the altar of
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  Speaker 1: ignorance and superstition. Word ran rapidly through the village that
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  Speaker 1: a bit of delicious entertainment was about to be staged,
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  Speaker 1: and there resulted a rush for grand stand seats. A
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  Speaker 1: ring of savage warriors kept a circular place cleared. In
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  Speaker 1: the center of this clearing stood Galagala and in Tomo.
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  Speaker 1: To them, Pabu was dragged. Dick and Dox stood shoulder
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  Speaker 1: to shoulder in the front rank of specta, their tanned
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  Speaker 1: faces blanched with horror. Two warriors held the half fainting Pabu,
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  Speaker 1: while in Tomo, armed with a knob carry, made mystical
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  Speaker 1: passes in the air and mumbled a weird incantation that
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  Speaker 1: was supposed to weaken the strength of the white boy's
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  Speaker 1: big medicine in the event that it should actually be
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  Speaker 1: found within the unfortunate Pabu's head. Golly, whispered Dick. Can't
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  Speaker 1: we do something to stop them before and Tomo breaks
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  Speaker 1: that boy's head open with his club? Makes me feel
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  Speaker 1: like a murderer, groaned Doc. You will be a murderer
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  Speaker 1: almost if they go through with this thing, said Dick.
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  Speaker 1: But if you tell him the truth. They'll kill us
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  Speaker 1: when they don't find the knives inside his cocoa. They'll
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  Speaker 1: kill us anyway, replied Doc. Then you'd better tell him,
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  Speaker 1: advised Dick. There's no use letting him kill that poor kid.
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  Speaker 1: I've got it, cried Doc. For the love of Mike, quick,
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  Speaker 1: slip me your knife. Don't let anyone see it here.
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  Speaker 1: That's it, now watch my smoke. Slipping Dick's knife inside
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  Speaker 1: his loincloth beside his own, Doc stepped forward into the circle. Wait,
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  Speaker 1: he commanded, advancing toward in Tomo, but addressing Galagala, You
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  Speaker 1: need not kill Pabu. I can prove that the big
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  Speaker 1: medicine that belongs to my friend and the big medicine
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  Speaker 1: that belongs to me are both inside Pabo's head. I
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  Speaker 1: am a great witch doctor, and do not have to
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  Speaker 1: crack Pabu's skull open to get the medicine out the
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  Speaker 1: way Intamu does see, and before Intamo could prevent, Doc
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  Speaker 1: stepped close to the unfortunate victim of Intamo's jealousy and
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  Speaker 1: Galagala's curiosity, and, with two swift movements of his right hand,
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  Speaker 1: appeared to withdraw the knives from Pabu's ear turning, he
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  Speaker 1: exhibited them upon the palm of his open hand to
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  Speaker 1: Galagala and the assembled Bagala. Perhaps Doc's bagala had been
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  Speaker 1: lame and halting, but there was no one there who
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  Speaker 1: did not perfectly understand the wondrous powers of his great magic,
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  Speaker 1: nor fail to see that his medicine and was much
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  Speaker 1: stronger than that of Intamo. For it is very true
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  Speaker 1: that we are all convinced by what we think we see,
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  Speaker 1: quite as surely as by what we actually do see.
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  Speaker 1: Galigallo was nonplussed, and Tomo was furious. Being an unscrupulous
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  Speaker 1: old fakir himself, he was convinced that Doc had done
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  Speaker 1: no more than play a clever trick upon them all,
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  Speaker 1: a trick by which he, for one, did not intend
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  Speaker 1: to be fooled. But now he knew that Doc had
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  Speaker 1: beaten him at his own game, and perhaps in the
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  Speaker 1: bottom of his ignorant, savage brain there was enough natural
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  Speaker 1: superstition to have convinced him that, perhaps, after all, here
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  Speaker 1: was a real, genuine witch doctor who commanded demons and
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  Speaker 1: controlled their supernatural powers. His fear and hatred of Doc
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  Speaker 1: were increased a hundredfold by the happenings of the past
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  Speaker 1: few minutes, and within his evil heart there crystallized the
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  Speaker 1: determination to rid himself as quickly as possible of this
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  Speaker 1: dangerous competitor. Had he known what was coming, he would
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  Speaker 1: have used it his knob carry to that end upon
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  Speaker 1: the instant, for Doc had been smitten by another of
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  Speaker 1: those brilliant ideas that had made him famous and feared
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  Speaker 1: at school as a practical joker, though it is only
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  Speaker 1: fair to record that his jokes had always been harmless
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  Speaker 1: and good natured ones until he had met in Tomo.
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  Speaker 1: He wheeled suddenly toward that portion of the ring where
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  Speaker 1: the greatest throng was gathered, and held the two knives
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  Speaker 1: out upon his open palm. Ladies and gentlemen, he cried,
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  Speaker 1: we have here two ordinary pocket knives. The fact that
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  Speaker 1: he spoke English, and that none of his auditors understood
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  Speaker 1: him but added to the impressiveness of his words. Since
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  Speaker 1: all the tribe was quite convinced that he was about
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  Speaker 1: to make big medicine, step right up and examine them,
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  Speaker 1: fill them, bite them, some of his hearers began to
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  Speaker 1: show evidences of growing nervousness. You see that they are genuine.
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  Speaker 1: You will note that I have no accomplices. Now, ladies
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  Speaker 1: and gentlemen, watch me closely, as upon the other occasions.
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  Speaker 1: He placed his left palm over the knives, glasp his hands,
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  Speaker 1: blew upon them, raised them above his head. Abra cadabra,
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  Speaker 1: he screamed, with such sudden shrillness that his audience fell
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  Speaker 1: back in terror. I'll opresto, change cars and be gone.
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  Speaker 1: He turned slowly about until he had located the exact
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  Speaker 1: position of Intamo, and then before the unsuspecting which doctor
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  Speaker 1: could guess his purpose, doc sprang quickly to his side
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  Speaker 1: and placed both palms over the old villain's ear. Now
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  Speaker 1: you see him, now you don't, he concluded, and turned
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  Speaker 1: with outspread empty palms toward Galagala. He stood thus in
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  Speaker 1: impressive silence for several seconds while the true meaning of
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  Speaker 1: what he had done sank into the muddy brains of
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  Speaker 1: his audience. Then he addressed, Galagala. You saw me take
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  Speaker 1: the big medicine from the head of Pabu and place
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  Speaker 1: it on the head of Intamo. He said, in the
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  Speaker 1: language of the chief. If you want to make sure
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  Speaker 1: that it is in Intamo's head, it may be that
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  Speaker 1: he will loan you his war club. End of chapter
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  Speaker 1: seven s