[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
a
a
T
T
n
n
s
s
F
F
f
f
o
o
D
D
r
r
P
P
m
m
Y
Y
e
e
Y
Y
r
r
B
B
2
2
.
.
B
B
A
A
Click here to buy
Click here to buy
w
w
m
m
w
w
o
o
w
w
c
c
.
.
.
.
A
A
Y
Y
B
B
Y
Y
B
B
r r
explaining in low gutturals the details of his exploit.
Chulk and Taglat fingered the fabrics, smelled of them,
and, placing them to their ears, tried to listen to them.
Then Tarzan led them back through the jungle to the
trail, where the three hid themselves and waited.
Nor had they long to wait before two of Achmet Zek's
blacks, clothed in habiliments similar to their master's,
came down the trail on foot, returning to the camp.
One moment they were laughing and talking together--the
next they lay stretched in death upon the trail, three
mighty engines of destruction bending over them.
Tarzan removed their outer garments as he had removed
those of his first victim, and again retired with Chulk
and Taglat to the greater seclusion of the tree they
had first selected.
Here the ape-man arranged the garments upon his shaggy
fellows and himself, until, at a distance, it might
have appeared that three white-robed Arabs squatted
silently among the branches of the forest.
Until dark they remained where they were, for from his
point of vantage, Tarzan could view the enclosure
within the palisade. He marked the position of the hut
in which he had first discovered the scent spoor of the
she he sought. He saw the two sentries standing before
its doorway, and he located the habitation of Achmet
Zek, where something told him he would most likely find
the missing pouch and pebbles.
Chulk and Taglat were, at first, greatly interested in
their wonderful raiment. They fingered the fabric,
smelled of it, and regarded each other intently with
every mark of satisfaction and pride. Chulk, a
humorist in his way, stretched forth a long and hairy
arm, and grasping the hood of Taglat's burnoose pulled
it down over the latter's eyes, extinguishing him,
snuffer-like, as it were.
The older ape, pessimistic by nature, recognized no
such thing as humor. Creatures laid their paws upon
him for but two things--to search for fleas and to
attack. The pulling of the Tarmangani-scented thing
about his head and eyes could not be for the
performance of the former act; therefore it must be the
a
a
T
T
n
n
s
s
F
F
f
f
o
o
D
D
r
r
P
P
m
m
Y
Y
e
e
Y
Y
r
r
B
B
2
2
.
.
B
B
A
A
Click here to buy
Click here to buy
w
w
m
m
w
w
o
o
w
w
c
c
.
.
.
.
A
A
Y
Y
B
B
Y
Y
B
B
r r
latter. He was attacked! Chulk had attacked him.
With a snarl he was at the other's throat, not even
waiting to lift the woolen veil which obscured his
vision. Tarzan leaped upon the two, and swaying and
toppling upon their insecure perch the three great
beasts tussled and snapped at one another until the
ape-man finally succeeded in separating the enraged
anthropoids.
An apology is unknown to these savage progenitors of
man, and explanation a laborious and usually futile
process, Tarzan bridged the dangerous gulf by
distracting their attention from their altercation to a
consideration of their plans for the immediate future.
Accustomed to frequent arguments in which more hair
than blood is wasted, the apes speedily forget such
trivial encounters, and presently Chulk and Taglat were
again squatting in close proximity to each other and
peaceful repose, awaiting the moment when the ape-man
should lead them into the village of the Tarmangani.
It was long after darkness had fallen, that Tarzan led
his companions from their hiding place in the tree to
the ground and around the palisade to the far side of
the village.
Gathering the skirts of his burnoose, beneath one arm,
that his legs might have free action, the ape-man took
a short running start, and scrambled to the top of the
barrier. Fearing lest the apes should rend their
garments to shreds in a similar attempt, he had
directed them to wait below for him, and himself
securely perched upon the summit of the palisade he
unslung his spear and lowered one end of it to Chulk.
The ape seized it, and while Tarzan held tightly to the
upper end, the anthropoid climbed quickly up the shaft
until with one paw he grasped the top of the wall.
To scramble then to Tarzan's side was the work of but an
instant. In like manner Taglat was conducted to their
sides, and a moment later the three dropped silently
within the enclosure.
Tarzan led them first to the rear of the hut in which
Jane Clayton was confined, where, through the roughly
repaired aperture in the wall, he sought with his
a
a
T
T
n
n
s
s
F
F
f
f
o
o
D
D
r
r
P
P
m
m
Y
Y
e
e
Y
Y
r
r
B
B
2
2
.
.
B
B
A
A
Click here to buy
Click here to buy
w
w
m
m
w
w
o
o
w
w
c
c
.
.
.
.
A
A
Y
Y
B
B
Y
Y
B
B
r r
sensitive nostrils for proof that the she he had come
for was within.
Chulk and Taglat, their hairy faces pressed close to
that of the patrician, sniffed with him. Each caught
the scent spoor of the woman within, and each reacted
[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]