It took a dozen attempts on the part of the thoroughly frightened blacks to
reenter their village, past the horrible, grinning face of their dead fellow,
and when they found the food and arrows gone they knew, what they had only too
well feared, that Mirando had seen the evil spirit of the jungle.
That now seemed to them the logical explanation. Only those who saw this
terrible god of the jungle died; for was it not true that none left alive in the
village had ever seen him? Therefore, those who had died at his hands must have
seen him and paid the penalty with their lives.
As long as they supplied him with arrows and food he would not harm them unless
they looked upon him, so it was ordered by Mbonga that in addition to the food
offering there should also be laid out an offering of arrows for this Munan-
go-Keewati, and this was done from then on.
If you ever chance to pass that far off African village you will still see
before a tiny thatched hut, built just without the village, a little iron pot in
which is a quantity of food, and beside it a quiver of well-daubed arrows.
When Tarzan came in sight of the beach where stood his cabin, a strange and
unusual spectacle met his vision.
On the placid waters of the landlocked harbor floated a great ship, and on the
beach a small boat was drawn up.
But, most wonderful of all, a number of white men like himself were moving about
between the beach and his cabin.
Tarzan saw that in many ways they were like the men of his picture books. He
crept closer through the trees until he was quite close above them.
There were ten men, swarthy, sun-tanned, villainous looking fellows. Now they
had congregated by the boat and were talking in loud, angry tones, with much
gesticulating and shaking of fists.
Presently one of them, a little, mean-faced, black-bearded fellow with a
countenance which reminded Tarzan of Pamba, the rat, laid his hand upon the
shoulder of a giant who stood next him, and with whom all the others had been
arguing and quarreling.
The little man pointed inland, so that the giant was forced to turn away from
the others to look in the direction indicated. As he turned, the little,
mean-faced man drew a revolver from his belt and shot the giant in the back.
The big fellow threw his hands above his head, his knees bent beneath him, and
without a sound he tumbled forward upon the beach, dead.
The report of the weapon, the first that Tarzan had ever heard, filled him with
wonderment, but even this unaccustomed sound could not startle his healthy
nerves into even a semblance of panic.
The conduct of the white strangers it was that caused him the greatest
perturbation. He puckered his brows into a frown of deep thought. It was well,
thought he, that he had not given way to his first impulse to rush forward and
greet these white men as brothers.
They were evidently no different from the black men--no more civilized than the
apes--no less cruel than Sabor.
For a moment the others stood looking at the little, mean- faced man and the
giant lying dead upon the beach.
Then one of them laughed and slapped the little man upon the back. There was
much more talk and gesticulating, but less quarreling.
Presently they launched the boat and all jumped into it and rowed away toward
the great ship, where Tarzan could see other figures moving about upon the deck.
When they had clambered aboard, Tarzan dropped to earth behind a great tree and
crept to his cabin, keeping it always between himself and the ship.
Slipping in at the door he found that everything had been ransacked. His books
and pencils strewed the floor. His weapons and shields and other little store of
treasures were littered about.
As he saw what had been done a great wave of anger surged through him, and the
new made scar upon his forehead stood suddenly out, a bar of inflamed crimson
against his tawny hide.
Quickly he ran to the cupboard and searched in the far recess of the lower
shelf. Ah! He breathed a sigh of relief as he drew out the little tin box, and,
opening it, found his greatest treasures undisturbed.
The photograph of the smiling, strong-faced young man, and the little black
puzzle book were safe.
What was that?
His quick ear had caught a faint but unfamiliar sound.
Running to the window Tarzan looked toward the harbor, and there he saw that a
boat was being lowered from the great ship beside the one already in the water.
Soon he saw many people clambering over the sides of the larger vessel and
dropping into the boats. They were coming back in full force.
For a moment longer Tarzan watched while a number of boxes and bundles were
lowered into the waiting boats, then, as they shoved off from the ship's side,
the ape-man snatched up a piece of paper, and with a pencil printed on it for a
few moments until it bore several lines of strong, well-made, almost
letter-perfect characters.
This notice he stuck upon the door with a small sharp splinter of wood. Then
gathering up his precious tin box, his arrows, and as many bows and spears as he
could carry, he hastened through the door and disappeared into the forest.
When the two boats were beached upon the silvery sand it was a strange
assortment of humanity that clambered ashore.
Some twenty souls in all there were, fifteen of them rough and villainous
appearing seamen.
The others of the party were of different stamp.
One was an elderly man, with white hair and large rimmed spectacles. His
slightly stooped shoulders were draped in an ill-fitting, though immaculate,
frock coat, and a shiny silk hat added to the incongruity of his garb in an
African jungle.
The second member of the party to land was a tall young man in white ducks,
while directly behind came another elderly man with a very high forehead and a
fussy, excitable manner.
After these came a huge Negress clothed like Solomon as to colors. Her great
eyes rolled in evident terror, first toward the jungle and then toward the
cursing band of sailors who were removing the bales and boxes from the boats.
The last member of the party to disembark was a girl of about nineteen, and it
was the young man who stood at the boat's prow to lift her high and dry upon
land. She gave him a brave and pretty smile of thanks, but no words passed
between them.
In silence the party advanced toward the cabin. It was evident that whatever
their intentions, all had been decided upon before they left the ship; and so
they came to the door, the sailors carrying the boxes and bales, followed by the
five who were of so different a class. The men put down their burdens, and then
one caught sight of the notice which Tarzan had posted.
"Ho, mates!" he cried. "What's here? This sign was not posted an hour ago or
I'll eat the cook."
The others gathered about, craning their necks over the shoulders of those
before them, but as few of them could read at all, and then only after the most
laborious fashion, one finally turned to the little old man of the top hat and
frock coat.
"Hi, perfesser," he called, "step for'rd and read the bloomin' notis."
Thus addressed, the old man came slowly to where the sailors stood, followed by
the other members of his party. Adjusting his spectacles he looked for a moment
at the placard and then, turning away, strolled off muttering to himself: "Most
remarkable--most remarkable!"
"Hi, old fossil," cried the man who had first called on him for assistance, "did
je think we wanted of you to read the bloomin' notis to yourself? Come back here
and read it out loud, you old barnacle."
The old man stopped and, turning back, said: "Oh, yes, my dear sir, a thousand
pardons. It was quite thoughtless of me, yes--very thoughtless. Most
remarkable--most remarkable!"
Again he faced the notice and read it through, and doubtless would have turned
off again to ruminate upon it had not the sailor grasped him roughly by the
collar and howled into his ear.
"Read it out loud, you blithering old idiot."
"Ah, yes indeed, yes indeed," replied the professor softly, and adjusting his
spectacles once more he read aloud:
THIS IS THE HOUSE OF TARZAN, THE KILLER OF BEASTS AND MANY BLACK MEN. DO NOT
HARM THE THINGS WHICH ARE TARZAN'S. TARZAN WATCHES. TARZAN OF THE APES.
"Who the devil is Tarzan?" cried the sailor who had before spoken.
"He evidently speaks English," said the young man.
"But what does `Tarzan of the Apes' mean?" cried the girl.
"I do not know, Miss Porter," replied the young man, "unless we have discovered
a runaway simian from the London Zoo who has brought back a European education
to his jungle home. What do you make of it, Professor Porter?" he added, turning
to the old man.
Professor Archimedes Q. Porter adjusted his spectacles.
"Ah, yes, indeed; yes indeed--most remarkable, most remarkable!" said the
professor; "but I can add nothing further to what I have already remarked in
elucidation of this truly momentous occurrence," and the professor turned slowly
in the direction of the jungle.
"But, papa," cried the girl, "you haven't said anything about it yet."
"Tut, tut, child; tut, tut," responded Professor Porter, in a kindly and
indulgent tone, "do not trouble your pretty head with such weighty and abstruse
problems," and again he wandered slowly off in still another direction, his eyes
bent upon the ground at his feet, his hands clasped behind him beneath the
flowing tails of his coat.
"I reckon the daffy old bounder don't know no more'n we do about it," growled
the rat-faced sailor.
"Keep a civil tongue in your head," cried the young man, his face paling in
anger, at the insulting tone of the sailor. "You've murdered our officers and
robbed us. We are absolutely in your power, but you'll treat Professor Porter
and Miss Porter with respect or I'll break that vile neck of yours with my bare
hands--guns or no guns," and the young fellow stepped so close to the rat-faced
sailor that the latter, though he bore two revolvers and a villainous looking
knife in his belt, slunk back abashed.
"You damned coward," cried the young man. "You'd never dare shoot a man until
his back was turned. You don't dare shoot me even then," and he deliberately
turned his back full upon the sailor and walked nonchalantly away as if to put
him to the test.
The sailor's hand crept slyly to the butt of one of his revolvers; his wicked
eyes glared vengefully at the retreating form of the young Englishman. The gaze
of his fellows was upon him, but still he hesitated. At heart he was even a
greater coward than Mr. William Cecil Clayton had imagined.
Two keen eyes had watched every move of the party from the foliage of a nearby
tree. Tarzan had seen the surprise caused by his notice, and while he could
understand nothing of the spoken language of these strange people their gestures
and facial expressions told him much.
The act of the little rat-faced sailor in killing one of his comrades had
aroused a strong dislike in Tarzan, and now that he saw him quarreling with the
fine-looking young man his animosity was still further stirred.
Tarzan had never seen the effects of a firearm before, though his books had
taught him something of them, but when he saw the rat-faced one fingering the
butt of his revolver he thought of the scene he had witnessed so short a time
before, and naturally expected to see the young man murdered as had been the
huge sailor earlier in the day.
So Tarzan fitted a poisoned arrow to his bow and drew a bead upon the rat-faced
sailor, but the foliage was so thick that he soon saw the arrow would be
deflected by the leaves or some small branch, and instead he launched a heavy
spear from his lofty perch.
Clayton had taken but a dozen steps. The rat-faced sailor had half drawn his
revolver; the other sailors stood watching the scene intently.
Professor Porter had already disappeared into the jungle, whither he was being
followed by the fussy Samuel T. Philander, his secretary and assistant.
Esmeralda, the Negress, was busy sorting her mistress' baggage from the pile of
bales and boxes beside the cabin, and Miss Porter had turned away to follow
Clayton, when something caused her to turn again toward the sailor.
And then three things happened almost simultaneously. The sailor jerked out his
weapon and leveled it at Clayton's back, Miss Porter screamed a warning, and a
long, metal- shod spear shot like a bolt from above and passed entirely through
the right shoulder of the rat-faced man.
The revolver exploded harmlessly in the air, and the seaman crumpled up with a
scream of pain and terror.
Clayton turned and rushed back toward the scene. The sailors stood in a
frightened group, with drawn weapons, peering into the jungle. The wounded man
writhed and shrieked upon the ground.
Clayton, unseen by any, picked up the fallen revolver and slipped it inside his
shirt, then he joined the sailors in gazing, mystified, into the jungle.
"Who could it have been?" whispered Jane Porter, and the young man turned to see
her standing, wide-eyed and wondering, close beside him.
"I dare say Tarzan of the Apes is watching us all right," he answered, in a
dubious tone. "I wonder, now, who that spear was intended for. If for Snipes,
then our ape friend is a friend indeed.
"By jove, where are your father and Mr. Philander? There's someone or something
in that jungle, and it's armed, whatever it is. Ho! Professor! Mr. Philander!"
young Clayton shouted. There was no response.
"What's to be done, Miss Porter?" continued the young man, his face clouded by a
frown of worry and indecision.
"I can't leave you here alone with these cutthroats, and you certainly can't
venture into the jungle with me; yet someone must go in search of your father.
He is more than apt to wandering off aimlessly, regardless of danger or
direction, and Mr. Philander is only a trifle less impractical than he. You will
pardon my bluntness, but our lives are all in jeopardy here, and when we get
your father back something must be done to impress upon him the dangers to which
he exposes you as well as himself by his absent-mindedness."
"I quite agree with you," replied the girl, "and I am not offended at all. Dear
old papa would sacrifice his life for me without an instant's hesitation,
provided one could keep his mind on so frivolous a matter for an entire instant.
There is only one way to keep him in safety, and that is to chain him to a tree.
The poor dear is SO impractical."
"I have it!" suddenly exclaimed Clayton. "You can use a revolver, can't you?"
"Yes. Why?"
"I have one. With it you and Esmeralda will be comparatively safe in this cabin
while I am searching for your father and Mr. Philander. Come, call the woman and
I will hurry on. They can't have gone far."
Jane did as he suggested and when he saw the door close safely behind them
Clayton turned toward the jungle.
Some of the sailors were drawing the spear from their wounded comrade and, as
Clayton approached, he asked if he could borrow a revolver from one of them
while he searched the jungle for the professor.
The rat-faced one, finding he was not dead, had regained his composure, and with
a volley of oaths directed at Clayton refused in the name of his fellows to
allow the young man any firearms.
This man, Snipes, had assumed the role of chief since he had killed their former
leader, and so little time had elapsed that none of his companions had as yet
questioned his authority.
Clayton's only response was a shrug of the shoulders, but as he left them he
picked up the spear which had transfixed Snipes, and thus primitively armed, the
son of the then Lord Greystoke strode into the dense jungle.
Every few moments he called aloud the names of the wanderers. The watchers in
the cabin by the beach heard the sound of his voice growing ever fainter and
fainter, until at last it was swallowed up by the myriad noises of the primeval
wood.
When Professor Archimedes Q. Porter and his assistant, Samuel T. Philander,
after much insistence on the part of the latter, had finally turned their steps
toward camp, they were as completely lost in the wild and tangled labyrinth of
the matted jungle as two human beings well could be, though they did not know
it.
It was by the merest caprice of fortune that they headed toward the west coast
of Africa, instead of toward Zanzibar on the opposite side of the dark
continent.
When in a short time they reached the beach, only to find no camp in sight,
Philander was positive that they were north of their proper destination, while,
as a matter of fact they were about two hundred yards south of it.
It never occurred to either of these impractical theorists to call aloud on the
chance of attracting their friends' attention. Instead, with all the assurance
that deductive reasoning from a wrong premise induces in one, Mr. Samuel T.
Philander grasped Professor Archimedes Q. Porter firmly by the arm and hurried
the weakly protesting old gentleman off in the direction of Cape Town, fifteen
hundred miles to the south.
When Jane and Esmeralda found themselves safely behind the cabin door the
Negress's first thought was to barricade the portal from the inside. With this
idea in mind she turned to search for some means of putting it into execution;
but her first view of the interior of the cabin brought a shriek of terror to
her lips, and like a frightened child the huge woman ran to bury her face on her
mistress' shoulder.
Jane, turning at the cry, saw the cause of it lying prone upon the floor before
them--the whitened skeleton of a man. A further glance revealed a second
skeleton upon the bed.
"What horrible place are we in?" murmured the awe-struck girl. But there was no
panic in her fright.
At last, disengaging herself from the frantic clutch of the still shrieking
Esmeralda, Jane crossed the room to look into the little cradle, knowing what
she should see there even before the tiny skeleton disclosed itself in all its
pitiful and pathetic frailty.
What an awful tragedy these poor mute bones proclaimed! The girl shuddered at
thought of the eventualities which might lie before herself and her friends in
this ill-fated cabin, the haunt of mysterious, perhaps hostile, beings.
Quickly, with an impatient stamp of her little foot, she endeavored to shake off
the gloomy forebodings, and turning to Esmeralda bade her cease her wailing.
"Stop, Esmeralda, stop it this minute!" she cried. "You are only making it
worse."
She ended lamely, a little quiver in her own voice as she thought of the three
men, upon whom she depended for protection, wandering in the depth of that awful
forest.
Soon the girl found that the door was equipped with a heavy wooden bar upon the
inside, and after several efforts the combined strength of the two enabled them
to slip it into place, the first time in twenty years.
Then they sat down upon a bench with their arms about one another, and waited.
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