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21 - An Escape and a Capture · Tarzan and the Golden Lion

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Speaker 1: An escape and a capture. At sight of the true
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Speaker 1: tarzan as to Bamoranda turned and fled blindly into the jungle.
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Speaker 1: His heart was cold with terror as he rushed on
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Speaker 1: in blind fear. He had no objective in mind. He
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Speaker 1: did not know in what direction he was going. His
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Speaker 1: only thought, the thought which dominated him, was based solely
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Speaker 1: upon a desire to put as much distance as possible
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Speaker 1: between himself and the ape man. And so he blundered on,
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Speaker 1: forcing his way through dense thickets of thorns that tore
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Speaker 1: and lacerated his flesh, until at every step he left
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Speaker 1: a trail of blood behind him. At the river's edge,
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Speaker 1: the thorns reached out and seized again, as they had
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Speaker 1: several times before, the precious leopard skin to which he
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Speaker 1: clung with almost the same tenacity as he clung to
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Speaker 1: life itself. But this time the thorns would not leave
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Speaker 1: go their hold, and as he struggled to tear it
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Speaker 1: away from them, his eyes turned back in the direction
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Speaker 1: from which he had come. He heard the sound of
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Speaker 1: a great body moving rapidly through the thicket toward him,
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Speaker 1: and an instant later he saw the baleful glare of
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Speaker 1: two gleaming yellow green spots of flame. With a stifled
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Speaker 1: cry of terror, the spaniard relinquished his hold upon the
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Speaker 1: leopard skin, and wheeling, dived into the river. As the
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Speaker 1: black waters closed above his head, oud ball jaw came
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Speaker 1: to the edge of the bank and looked down upon
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Speaker 1: the widening circles which marked the spot of his quarry's disappearance.
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Speaker 1: For Estebon, who was a strong swimmer, struck boldly for
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Speaker 1: the opposite side of the stream, keeping himself well submerged.
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Speaker 1: For a moment, the golden lion scanned the surface of
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Speaker 1: the river, and then he turned and sniffed at the
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Speaker 1: hide the spaniard had been forced to leave behind, and,
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Speaker 1: grasping it in his jaws, tore it from the thorns
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Speaker 1: that held it and carried it back to lay at
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Speaker 1: the feet of his master. Forced at last to come
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Speaker 1: to the surface for air, the spaniard arose emit a
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Speaker 1: mass of tangled foliage and branches. For a moment he
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Speaker 1: thought that he was lost, so tightly held was he
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Speaker 1: by the entangling boughs. But presently he forced his way upward,
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Speaker 1: and as his head appeared above the surface of the
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Speaker 1: water amidst the foliage, he discovered that he had arisen
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Speaker 1: directly beneath a fallen tree that was floating down the
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Speaker 1: center of the stream. After considerable effort, he managed to
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Speaker 1: draw himself up to the bows and find a place
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Speaker 1: astride the great bowl, and thus he floated down stream
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Speaker 1: in comparative safety. He breathed the deep sigh of relief
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Speaker 1: as he realized with what comparative ease he had escaped
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Speaker 1: the just vengeance of the ape man. It is true
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Speaker 1: that he bemoaned the loss of the hide which carried
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Speaker 1: the map to the location of the hidden gold, but
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Speaker 1: he still retained in his possession of far greater treasure,
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Speaker 1: and as he thought of it, his hands gloatingly fond
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Speaker 1: of the bag of diamonds fastened to his loin cloth.
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Speaker 1: Yet even though he possessed this great fortune and diamonds,
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Speaker 1: his avericious mind constantly returned to the golden ingots by
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Speaker 1: the waterfall. A Waza will get it, he muttered to himself.
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Speaker 1: I never trusted the black dog, and when he deserted me,
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Speaker 1: I knew well enough what his plans were. All night long,
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Speaker 1: Estebamranda floated downstream upon the fallen tree, seeing no life
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Speaker 1: until Shortly after daybreak, he passed a native village upon
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Speaker 1: the shore. It was the village of obi Bi the Cannibal.
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Speaker 1: And at sight of the strange figure of the white
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Speaker 1: giant floating down the stream upon the bowl of a tree,
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Speaker 1: the young woman who haspied him raised a great hue
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Speaker 1: and cry, until the population of the village lined the
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Speaker 1: shore watching him pass. It is a strange god, cried one.
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Speaker 1: It is the river devil, said the witch doctor. He
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Speaker 1: is a friend of mine. Now, indeed, shall we catch
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Speaker 1: many fish? If for each tin that you catch you
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Speaker 1: give one to me. It is not the river devil,
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Speaker 1: rumbled the deep voice of ob Bi the Cannibal. You
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Speaker 1: are getting old, he said to the witchdoc in the vleet.
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Speaker 1: Your medicine has been poor medicine. And now you tell
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Speaker 1: me that Obebi's greatest enemy is the river devil. That
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Speaker 1: is Torzan of the Apes. Obebi knows him well, And
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Speaker 1: in truth, every cannibal chief in the vicinity knew Tarzan
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Speaker 1: of the Apes well, and feared and hated him, for
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Speaker 1: relentless had been the ape man's war against them. It
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Speaker 1: is Torzand of the Apes, repeated Obibi, And he is
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Speaker 1: in trouble. Perhaps it is our chance to capture him.
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Speaker 1: He called his warriors about him, and presently half a
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Speaker 1: hundred browny young bucks started at a jog trot down
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Speaker 1: the trail that paralleled the river for many miles. They
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Speaker 1: followed the slowly moving tree which carried Estebam Miranda until
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Speaker 1: at last had had been in the river. The tree
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Speaker 1: was caught in the outer circle of a slow moving eddy,
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Speaker 1: which carried it beneath the overhanging limbs of trees growing
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Speaker 1: close to the river's edge. Cramped and chilled and hungry
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Speaker 1: as he was, Estebama was glad of the opportunity to
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Speaker 1: desert his craft and gain the shore, and so laboriously
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Speaker 1: he drew himself up among the branches of the tree
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Speaker 1: that momentarily offered him a haven of retreat from the river, and,
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Speaker 1: crawling to its stem, lowered himself to the ground beneath,
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Speaker 1: unconscious of the fact that in the grasses around him
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Speaker 1: squatted half a hundred cannibal warriors. Against the bowl of
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Speaker 1: the tree, the spaniard rested for a moment. He felt
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Speaker 1: for the diamonds and found that they were safe. I
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Speaker 1: am a lucky devil. Efter all he said aloud, and
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Speaker 1: almost simultaneously the fifty blacks arose about him and leaped
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Speaker 1: upon him. So sudden was the attack, so overwhelming the force,
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Speaker 1: that the Spaniard had no opportunity to defend himself against them,
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Speaker 1: with the result that he was down and securely bound,
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Speaker 1: almost before he could realize what was happening to him.
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Speaker 1: Oh thurzend of the apes, I have you at last,
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Speaker 1: gloated obi Bi the cannibal. But Estebon did not understand
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Speaker 1: a word the man said, and so he could make
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Speaker 1: no reply. He talked to Obibi in English, but that
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Speaker 1: language the latter did not understand of Only one thing
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Speaker 1: was Estebon certain that he was a prisoner, and that
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Speaker 1: he was being taken back toward the interior. When they
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Speaker 1: reached Obibi's village, there was great rejoicing on the part
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Speaker 1: of the women and the children, and the warriors who
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Speaker 1: had remained behind. But the witch doctor shook his head
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Speaker 1: and made wry faces and dire prophecies. You have seized
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Speaker 1: the river devil, he said, We shall catch no more fish,
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Speaker 1: and presently a great sickness will fall upon the Obibi's people,
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Speaker 1: and they will all die like fly but Obibi only
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Speaker 1: laughed at the witch doctor. For being an old man
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Speaker 1: and a great king, he had accumulated much wisdom. And
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Speaker 1: with the acquisition of wisdom, man is more inclined to
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Speaker 1: be skeptical in matters of religion. You may left now, Obebi,
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Speaker 1: said the witch doctor. But later he will not laugh.
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Speaker 1: Wait then, see when with my own hands I killed
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Speaker 1: thousand of the apes, then indeed shall I laugh, replied
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Speaker 1: the chief. And when I and my warriors have eaten
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Speaker 1: his heart and his flesh, then indeed shall we no
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Speaker 1: longer fear any of your devils. Waits, cried the witch
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Speaker 1: doctor angrily. And you shall see. They took the Spaniards
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Speaker 1: securely bound and threw him into a filthy hut, through
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Speaker 1: the doorway of which he could see the women of
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Speaker 1: the village preparing cooking fires and pots for the feast
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Speaker 1: of the coming night. A cold sweat stood out upon
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Speaker 1: the brow of asked bam Miranda as he watched these
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Speaker 1: gruesome preparations, the significance of which he could not misinterpret,
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Speaker 1: when coupled with the gestures and glances that were directed
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Speaker 1: toward the hut where he lay by the inhabitants of
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Speaker 1: the village. The afternoon was almost spent, and the spaniard
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Speaker 1: felt that he could count the hours of life remaining
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Speaker 1: to him upon possibly two fingers of one hand, when
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Speaker 1: there came from the direction of the river a series
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Speaker 1: of piercing screams, which shattered the quiet of the jungle
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Speaker 1: and brought the inhabitants of the village to startled attention,
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Speaker 1: and an instant later sent them in a mad rush
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Speaker 1: in the direction of the fear laden shrieks, but they
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Speaker 1: were too late and reached the river only just in
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Speaker 1: time to see a woman dragged beneath the surface by
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Speaker 1: a huge crocodile. Ah O b B, what did I
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Speaker 1: tell you, demanded the witch doctor exultantly. Already has the
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Speaker 1: devil Goot commenced these revenge upon your people? The ignorant villagers,
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Speaker 1: steeped in superstition, looked fearfully from their witch doctor to
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Speaker 1: their chief ob Be scowled. He is Thurzan of the Apes,
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Speaker 1: he insisted. He is the river devil who has taken
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Speaker 1: the shape of Tarzan of the Apes, insisted the witch doctor.
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Speaker 1: We shall see, replied, O B B. If he is
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Speaker 1: the river devil, he can escape our buns. If he
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Speaker 1: is turns under the apes, he cannot. If he is
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Speaker 1: the River Devil, he will not die a natural death
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Speaker 1: like men die, but will live on forever. If he
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Speaker 1: is Turzan of the Apes, some day he will die.
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Speaker 1: We will keep him then and see, and that will
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Speaker 1: prove whether or not he is Tursen of the Apes
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Speaker 1: or the River Devil. How the witch doctor, it is
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Speaker 1: very simple, replied ob b If some morning we find
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Speaker 1: that he is escaped, we will know that he is
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Speaker 1: the River Devil, And because we have not harmed him
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Speaker 1: but to fit him well while he has been here
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Speaker 1: and non village, he will defend us and no harm
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Speaker 1: will come of it. But if he does not escape,
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Speaker 1: we will know that he is Dozan of the Apes,
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Speaker 1: provided he dies a natural death. And so if he
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Speaker 1: does not escape, we shall keep him until he dies,
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Speaker 1: and then we shall know that he was indeed Tarzan
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Speaker 1: of the Apes. But suppose he does not die, asked
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Speaker 1: the witch doctor, scratching his wooly head. Then exclaimed Obebi triumphantly,
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Speaker 1: we will know that you are right, and that he
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Speaker 1: was indeed the River Devil. Obebi went and ordered the
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Speaker 1: women to take food to the spaniard while the witch
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Speaker 1: doctor stood where Obebi had left him, in the middle
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Speaker 1: of the streets, still scratching his head in thought. And
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Speaker 1: thus was Estebam Miranda, possessor of the most fabulous fortune
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Speaker 1: and diamonds that the world has ever known, condemned to
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Speaker 1: life imprisonment in the village of Obibi the Cannibal. While
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Speaker 1: he had been lying in the hut, his traitors confederate Ohaza,
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Speaker 1: from the opposite bank of the river, from the spot
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Speaker 1: where he and Esteban had hidden the golden ingots, saw
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Speaker 1: Tarzan and his waziri come and search for the gold
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Speaker 1: and go away. And the following morning Owaza came with
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Speaker 1: fifty men whom he recruited from a neighboring village, and
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Speaker 1: dug up the gold and started with it toward the coast.
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Speaker 1: That night, o Waza made camp just outside a tiny
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Speaker 1: village of a minor chief who was weak in warriors.
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Speaker 1: The old fellow invited o Waza into his compound, and
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Speaker 1: there he fed him and gave him native beer, while
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Speaker 1: the chief's people circulated among Oaza's boys, plying them with
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Speaker 1: innumerable questions, until at last the truth leaked out and
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Speaker 1: the chief knew that Oaza's porters were carrying a great
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Speaker 1: store of yellow gold. When the Chief learned this for certain,
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Speaker 1: he was much perturbed, But finally a smile acrossed his
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Speaker 1: face as he talked with the half drunken Oaza. You
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Speaker 1: have much gold with you, said the old chief, and
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Speaker 1: it is very heavy. It will be hard to get
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Speaker 1: your boys to carry it all the way back to
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Speaker 1: the coast, yes, said Oaza. But I shall pay them well.
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Speaker 1: If they did not have to carry it so far
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Speaker 1: from home, you would not have to pay them so much,
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Speaker 1: would you, asked the chief. No, said Owaza. But I
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Speaker 1: cannot dispose of it, decided the coast. I know where
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Speaker 1: he can dispose of it within two days march, replied
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Speaker 1: the old Chief. Where demanded Oaza? And who here in
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Speaker 1: the interior will buy it? There is a white man
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Speaker 1: who will give you a little piece of paper for it,
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Speaker 1: and you can take that paper to the coast and
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Speaker 1: get the full value of your gold. Who is this
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Speaker 1: white man, demanded Owaza? And where isy? He is a
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Speaker 1: friend of mine, said the chief, And if you wish,
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Speaker 1: I will take you to him on the morrow, and
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Speaker 1: you can bring with you all your gold and get
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Speaker 1: the little piece of paper good, said Oaza, And then
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Speaker 1: I shall not have to pay the carriers but a
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Speaker 1: very small amount. The carriers were glad, indeed, to learn
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Speaker 1: the next day that they were not to go all
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Speaker 1: the way to the coast, for even the lure of
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Speaker 1: payment was not sufficient to overcome their dislike to so
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Speaker 1: long a journey and the fear of being at so
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Speaker 1: great a distance from home. They were very happy therefore
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Speaker 1: as they set forth on a two days march toward
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Speaker 1: the northeast, and Owaza was happy, and so was the
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Speaker 1: old chief, who accompanied them himself. Though why he was
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Speaker 1: happy about it, Owaza could not guess. They had marched
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Speaker 1: for almost two days when the chief sent one of
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Speaker 1: his own men forward with a message. It is to
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Speaker 1: my friend, he said, to tell him to come and
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Speaker 1: meet us and lead us to his village. And a
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Speaker 1: few hours later, as the little caravan emerged from the
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Speaker 1: jungle on to a broad a plain, they saw not
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Speaker 1: far from them, and approaching rapidly, a large band of warriors.
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Speaker 1: Oaza halted, who are those? He demanded. Those are the
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Speaker 1: warriors of my friend, replied the chief, and he is
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Speaker 1: with them. See, and he pointed toward a figure at
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Speaker 1: the head of the blacks, who were approaching at a trot,
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Speaker 1: their spears and white plumes gleaming in the sunshine. They
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Speaker 1: come for war and not for peace, said Oaza fearfully.
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Speaker 1: That depends upon you. Oaza replied the Chief. I do
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Speaker 1: not understand you, said o Waza, but you will in
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Speaker 1: a few minutes after my friend has come. As the
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Speaker 1: advancing warriors approached more closely, Owaza sigh. Giant white at
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Speaker 1: their head, a white whom he mistook for Esteban, the
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Speaker 1: confederate he had so traitorously deserted. He turned upon the chief.
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Speaker 1: He have betrayed me, he cried. Wait, said the old chief.
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Speaker 1: Nothing that belongs to you shall be taken from you.
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Speaker 1: The gold is not his, cried Oaza. He stole it.
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Speaker 1: And he pointed at Tarzan, who had approached and halted
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Speaker 1: before him, but who ignored him entirely, and turned to
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Speaker 1: the chief. Your runner came, he said to the old man,
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Speaker 1: and brought your message. And Tarzan and his Wazir have
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Speaker 1: to see what they could do for their old friend.
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Speaker 1: The Chief smiled. Your runner came to me, o Tarzan.
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Speaker 1: Four days since, and two days later came this man
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Speaker 1: with his carriers bearing gold ingots toward the coast. I
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Speaker 1: told him that I had a friend who would buy them,
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Speaker 1: giving him a little piece of paper for them, but that,
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Speaker 1: of course, only in case the gold belonged to Owaza.
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Speaker 1: The ape man smiled. You have done well, my friend,
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Speaker 1: he said. The gold does not belong to Owaza. It
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Speaker 1: does not belong to you either, cried O Waza. You
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Speaker 1: are not Tarzan of the Apes. I know you. You
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Speaker 1: came with the four white men and the white woman
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Speaker 1: to steal the gold from Tarzan's country, and then you
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Speaker 1: stole it from your own friends. The chief of Waziri laughed.
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Speaker 1: The ape man smiled one of his slow smiles. The
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Speaker 1: other was an impostor. O Waza, he said, but I
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Speaker 1: am Tarzan of the Apes, and I thank you for
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Speaker 1: bringing my gold to me. Come, he said, it is
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Speaker 1: but a few more miles to my home. And the
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Speaker 1: ape man compelled Owaza to direct his carriers to bear
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Speaker 1: the golden ingots to the gray struck bungalow. There Tarzan
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Speaker 1: fed the carriers and paid them, and the next morning
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Speaker 1: sent them back toward their own country. And he sent
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Speaker 1: Oaza with them, but not without a gift. Of value,
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Speaker 1: accompanied with an admonition that the black never again returned
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Speaker 1: to Tarzan's country. When they had all departed, and Tarzan
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Speaker 1: and Jane and Korak were standing upon the veranda of
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Speaker 1: the bungalow, with jab Balja lying at their feet, the
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Speaker 1: ape man threw an arm about his mate's shoulders. I
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Speaker 1: shall have to retract what I said about the gold
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Speaker 1: of Opar not being for me. For you see before
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Speaker 1: you a new fortune that has come all the way
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Speaker 1: from the treasure vaults of Opar without any effort on
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Speaker 1: my part. Now, if some one would only bring your
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Speaker 1: diamonds back, laughed Jane. No chance of that, said Tarzan.
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Speaker 1: They are unquestionably at the bottom of the Ugogo River,
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Speaker 1: and far away upon the banks of the Ugogo in
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Speaker 1: the village of Obibi, the cannibal Esteba Miranda lay in
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Speaker 1: the filth of the hut that had been assigned to him,
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Speaker 1: gloating over the fortune that he could never utilize as
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Speaker 1: he entered upon a life of captivity that the stubbornness
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Speaker 1: and superstition of Obibi had doomed him to undergo. End
12:48
Speaker 1: of chapter end of Tarzan and the Golden Mion by
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Speaker 1: Edgar Rice Burroughs,