Chapter II
The Lion's Cave
The rain lasted for twenty-four hours and much of the time it fellin torrents so that when it ceased, the trail he had been followingwas entirely obliterated. Cold and uncomfortable--it was a savageTarzan who threaded the mazes of the soggy jungle. Manu, themonkey, shivering and chattering in the dank trees, scolded and fledat his approach. Even the panthers and the lions let the growlingTarmangani pass unmolested.
When the sun shone again upon the second day and a wide, open plainlet the full heat of Kudu flood the chilled, brown body, Tarzan'sspirits rose; but it was still a sullen, surly brute that movedsteadily onward into the south where he hoped again to pick up thetrail of the Germans. He was now in German East Africa and it washis intention to skirt the mountains west of Kilimanjaro, whoserugged peaks he was quite willing to give a wide berth, and thenswing eastward along the south side of the range to the railway thatled to Tanga, for his experience among men suggested that it wastoward this railroad that German troops would be likely to converge.
Two days later, from the southern slopes of Kilimanjaro, he heardthe boom of cannon far away to the east. The afternoon had beendull and cloudy and now as he was passing through a narrow gorge afew great drops of rain began to splatter upon his naked shoulders.Tarzan shook his head and growled his disapproval; then he cast hiseyes about for shelter, for he had had quite enough of the cold anddrenching. He wanted to hasten on in the direction of the boomingnoise, for he knew that there would be Germans fighting against theEnglish. For an instant his bosom swelled with pride at the thoughtthat he was English and then he shook his head again viciously."No!" he muttered, "Tarzan of the Apes is not English, for theEnglish are men and Tarzan is Tarmangani;" but he could not hideeven from his sorrow or from his sullen hatred of mankind in generalthat his heart warmed at the thought it was Englishmen who foughtthe Germans. His regret was that the English were human and notgreat white apes as he again considered himself.
"Tomorrow," he thought, "I will travel that way and find the Germans,"and then he set himself to the immediate task of discovering someshelter from the storm. Presently he espied the low and narrowentrance to what appeared to be a cave at the base of the cliffswhich formed the northern side of the gorge. With drawn knife heapproached the spot warily, for he knew that if it were a cave itwas doubtless the lair of some other beast. Before the entrance laymany large fragments of rock of different sizes, similar to othersscattered along the entire base of the cliff, and it was in Tarzan'smind that if he found the cave unoccupied he would barricade thedoor and insure himself a quiet and peaceful night's repose withinthe sheltered interior. Let the storm rage without--Tarzan wouldremain within until it ceased, comfortable and dry. A tiny rivuletof cold water trickled outward from the opening.
Close to the cave Tarzan kneeled and sniffed the ground. A lowgrowl escaped him and his upper lip curved to expose his fightingfangs. "Numa!" he muttered; but he did not stop. Numa might not beat home--he would investigate. The entrance was so low that theape-man was compelled to drop to all fours before he could pokehis head within the aperture; but first he looked, listened, andsniffed in each direction at his rear--he would not be taken bysurprise from that quarter.
His first glance within the cave revealed a narrow tunnel withdaylight at its farther end. The interior of the tunnel was not sodark but that the ape-man could readily see that it was untenantedat present. Advancing cautiously he crawled toward the oppositeend imbued with a full realization of what it would mean if Numashould suddenly enter the tunnel in front of him; but Numa did notappear and the ape-man emerged at length into the open and stooderect, finding himself in a rocky cleft whose precipitous wallsrose almost sheer on every hand, the tunnel from the gorge passingthrough the cliff and forming a passageway from the outer worldinto a large pocket or gulch entirely enclosed by steep walls ofrock. Except for the small passageway from the gorge, there was noother entrance to the gulch which was some hundred feet in lengthand about fifty in width and appeared to have been worn from therocky cliff by the falling of water during long ages. A tiny streamfrom Kilimanjaro's eternal snow cap still trickled over the edgeof the rocky wall at the upper end of the gulch, forming a littlepool at the bottom of the cliff from which a small rivulet wounddownward to the tunnel through which it passed to the gorge beyond.A single great tree flourished near the center of the gulch, whiletufts of wiry grass were scattered here and there among the rocksof the gravelly floor.
The bones of many large animals lay about and among them wereseveral human skulls. Tarzan raised his eyebrows. "A man-eater,"he murmured, "and from appearances he has held sway here for a longtime. Tonight Tarzan will take the lair of the man-eater and Numamay roar and grumble upon the outside."
The ape-man had advanced well into the gulch as he investigatedhis surroundings and now as he stood near the tree, satisfied thatthe tunnel would prove a dry and quiet retreat for the night, heturned to retrace his way to the outer end of the entrance that hemight block it with boulders against Numa's return, but even withthe thought there came something to his sensitive ears that frozehim into statuesque immobility with eyes glued upon the tunnel'smouth. A moment later the head of a huge lion framed in a greatblack mane appeared in the opening. The yellow-green eyes glared,round and unblinking, straight at the trespassing Tarmangani, a lowgrowl rumbled from the deep chest, and lips curled back to exposethe mighty fangs.
"Brother of Dango!" shouted Tarzan, angered that Numa's return shouldhave been so timed as to frustrate his plans for a comfortablenight's repose. "I am Tarzan of the Apes, Lord of the Jungle.Tonight I lair here--go!"
But Numa did not go. Instead he rumbled forth a menacing roar andtook a few steps in Tarzan's direction. The ape-man picked up arock and hurled it at the snarling face. One can never be sure ofa lion. This one might turn tail and run at the first intimationof attack--Tarzan had bluffed many in his time--but not now. Themissile struck Numa full upon the snout--a tender part of a cat'sanatomy--and instead of causing him to flee it transformed him intoan infuriated engine of wrath and destruction.
Up went his tail, stiff and erect, and with a series of frightfulroars he bore down upon the Tarmangani at the speed of an expresstrain. Not an instant too soon did Tarzan reach the tree and swinghimself into its branches and there he squatted, hurling insults atthe king of beasts while Numa paced a circle beneath him, growlingand roaring in rage.
It was raining now in earnest adding to the ape-man's discomfortand disappointment. He was very angry; but as only direct necessityhad ever led him to close in mortal combat with a lion, knowingas he did that he had only luck and agility to pit against thefrightful odds of muscle, weight, fangs, and talons, he did not noweven consider descending and engaging in so unequal and useless aduel for the mere reward of a little added creature comfort. Andso he sat perched in the tree while the rain fell steadily and thelion padded round and round beneath, casting a baleful eye upwardafter every few steps.
Tarzan scanned the precipitous walls for an avenue of escape. Theywould have baffled an ordinary man; but the ape-man, accustomedto climbing, saw several places where he might gain a foothold,precarious possibly; but enough to give him reasonable assuranceof escape if Numa would but betake himself to the far end of thegulch for a moment. Numa, however, notwithstanding the rain, gaveno evidence of quitting his post so that at last Tarzan reallybegan to consider seriously if it might not be as well to take thechance of a battle with him rather than remain longer cold and wetand humiliated in the tree.
But even as he turned the matter over in his mind Numa turnedsuddenly and walked majestically toward the tunnel without even abackward glance. The instant that he disappeared, Tarzan droppedlightly to the ground upon the far side of the tree and was away attop speed for the cliff. The lion had no sooner entered the tunnelthan he backed immediately out again and, pivoting like a flash,was off across the gulch in full charge after the flying ape-man;but Tarzan's lead was too great--if he could
find finger or footholdupon the sheer wall he would be safe; but should he slip from thewet rocks his doom was already sealed as he would fall directly intoNuma's clutches where even the Great Tarmangani would be helpless.
With the agility of a cat Tarzan ran up the cliff for thirty feetbefore he paused, and there finding a secure foothold, he stoppedand looked down upon Numa who was leaping upward in a wild andfutile attempt to scale the rocky wall to his prey. Fifteen ortwenty feet from the ground the lion would scramble only to fallbackward again defeated. Tarzan eyed him for a moment and thencommenced a slow and cautious ascent toward the summit. Severaltimes he had difficulty in finding holds but at last he drew himselfover the edge, rose, picked up a bit of loose rock, hurled it atNuma and strode away.
Finding an easy descent to the gorge, he was about to pursue hisjourney in the direction of the still-booming guns when a suddenthought caused him to halt and a half-smile to play about his lips.Turning, he trotted quickly back to the outer opening of Numa'stunnel. Close beside it he listened for a moment and then rapidlybegan to gather large rocks and pile them within the entrance.He had almost closed the aperture when the lion appeared upon theinside--a very ferocious and angry lion that pawed and clawed atthe rocks and uttered mighty roars that caused the earth to tremble;but roars did not frighten Tarzan of the Apes. At Kala's shaggybreast he had closed his infant eyes in sleep upon countless nightsin years gone by to the savage chorus of similar roars. Scarcely aday or night of his jungle life--and practically all his life hadbeen spent in the jungle--had he not heard the roaring of hungrylions, or angry lions, or love-sick lions. Such sounds affectedTarzan as the tooting of an automobile horn may affect you--if youare in front of the automobile it warns you out of the way, if youare not in front of it you scarcely notice it. Figuratively Tarzanwas not in front of the automobile--Numa could not reach him andTarzan knew it, so he continued deliberately to choke the entranceuntil there was no possibility of Numa's getting out again. Whenhe was quite through he made a grimace at the hidden lion beyondthe barrier and resumed his way toward the east. "A man-eater whowill eat no more men," he soliloquized.
That night Tarzan lay up under an overhanging shelf of rock. Thenext morning he resumed his journey, stopping only long enough tomake a kill and satisfy his hunger. The other beasts of the wildeat and lie up; but Tarzan never let his belly interfere with hisplans. In this lay one of the greatest differences between the ape-manand his fellows of the jungles and forests. The firing ahead roseand fell during the day. He had noticed that it was highest atdawn and immediately after dusk and that during the night it almostceased. In the middle of the afternoon of the second day he cameupon troops moving up toward the front. They appeared to be raidingparties, for they drove goats and cows along with them and therewere native porters laden with grain and other foodstuffs. He sawthat these natives were all secured by neck chains and he also sawthat the troops were composed of native soldiers in German uniforms.The officers were white men. No one saw Tarzan, yet he was here andthere about and among them for two hours. He inspected the insigniaupon their uniforms and saw that they were not the same as thatwhich he had taken from one of the dead soldiers at the bungalowand then he passed on ahead of them, unseen in the dense bush. Hehad come upon Germans and had not killed them; but it was becausethe killing of Germans at large was not yet the prime motive ofhis existence--now it was to discover the individual who slew hismate.
After he had accounted for him he would take up the little matterof slaying ALL Germans who crossed his path, and he meant that manyshould cross it, for he would hunt them precisely as professionalhunters hunt the man-eaters.
As he neared the front lines the troops became more numerous. Therewere motor trucks and ox teams and all the impedimenta of a smallarmy and always there were wounded men walking or being carriedtoward the rear. He had crossed the railroad some distance back andjudged that the wounded were being taken to it for transportationto a base hospital and possibly as far away as Tanga on the coast.
It was dusk when he reached a large camp hidden in the foothills ofthe Pare Mountains. As he was approaching from the rear he foundit but lightly guarded and what sentinels there were, were notupon the alert, and so it was an easy thing for him to enter afterdarkness had fallen and prowl about listening at the backs of tents,searching for some clew to the slayer of his mate.
As he paused at the side of a tent before which sat a number ofnative soldiers he caught a few words spoken in native dialect thatriveted his attention instantly: "The Waziri fought like devils;but we are greater fighters and we killed them all. When we werethrough the captain came and killed the woman. He stayed outsideand yelled in a very loud voice until all the men were killed.Underlieutenant von Goss is braver--he came in and stood beside thedoor shouting at us, also in a very loud voice, and bade us nailone of the Waziri who was wounded to the wall, and then he laughedloudly because the man suffered. We all laughed. It was very funny."
Like a beast of prey, grim and terrible, Tarzan crouched in theshadows beside the tent. What thoughts passed through that savagemind? Who may say? No outward sign of passion was revealed by theexpression of the handsome face; the cold, gray eyes denoted onlyintense watchfulness. Presently the soldier Tarzan had heard firstrose and with a parting word turned away. He passed within tenfeet of the ape-man and continued on toward the rear of the camp.Tarzan followed and in the shadows of a clump of bushes overtookhis quarry. There was no sound as the man beast sprang upon theback of his prey and bore it to the ground for steel fingers closedsimultaneously upon the soldier's throat, effectually stiflingany outcry. By the neck Tarzan dragged his victim well into theconcealment of the bushes.
"Make no sound," he cautioned in the man's own tribal dialect ashe released his hold upon the other's throat.
The fellow gasped for breath, rolling frightened eyes upward tosee what manner of creature it might be in whose power he was. Inthe darkness he saw only a naked brown body bending above him; buthe still remembered the terrific strength of the mighty musclesthat had closed upon his wind and dragged him into the bushes asthough he had been but a little child. If any thought of resistancehad crossed his mind he must have discarded it at once, as he madeno move to escape.
"What is the name of the officer who killed the woman at the bungalowwhere you fought with the Waziri?" asked Tarzan.
"Hauptmann Schneider," replied the black when he could again commandhis voice.
"Where is he?" demanded the ape-man.
"He is here. It may be that he is at headquarters. Many of theofficers go there in the evening to receive orders."
"Lead me there," commanded Tarzan, "and if I am discovered I willkill you immediately. Get up!"
The black rose and led the way by a roundabout route back throughthe camp. Several times they were forced to hide while soldierspassed; but at last they reached a great pile of baled hay from aboutthe corner of which the black pointed out a two-story building inthe distance.
"Headquarters," he said. "You can go no farther unseen. There aremany soldiers about."
Tarzan realized that he could not proceed farther in company withthe black. He turned and looked at the fellow for a moment as thoughpondering what disposition to make of him.
"You helped to crucify Wasimbu, the Waziri," he accused in a lowyet none the less terrible tone.
The black trembled, his knees giving beneath him. "He ordered usto do it," he plead.
"Who ordered it done?" demanded Tarzan.
"Underlieutenant von Goss," replied the soldier. "He, too, is here."
"I shall find him," returned Tarzan, grimly. "You helped to crucifyWasimbu, the Waziri, and, while he suffered, you laughed."
The fellow reeled. It was as though in the accusation he read alsohis death sentence. With no other word Tarzan seized the man againby the neck. As before there was no outcry. The giant muscles tensed.The arms swung quickly upward and with them the body of the blacksoldier who had helped to crucify Wasimbu, the Waziri,
described acircle in the air--once, twice, three times, and then it was flungaside and the ape-man turned in the direction of General Kraut'sheadquarters.
A single sentinel in the rear of the building barred the way.Tarzan crawled, belly to the ground, toward him, taking advantageof cover as only the jungle-bred beast of prey can do. When thesentinel's eyes were toward him, Tarzan hugged the ground, motionlessas stone; when they were turned away, he moved swiftly forward.Presently he was within charging distance. He waited until the manhad turned his back once more and then he rose and sped noiselesslydown upon him. Again there was no sound as he carried the deadbody with him toward the building.
The lower floor was lighted, the upper dark. Through the windowsTarzan saw a large front room and a smaller room in rear of it.In the former were many officers. Some moved about talking to oneanother, others sat at field tables writing. The windows were openand Tarzan could hear much of the conversation; but nothing thatinterested him. It was mostly about the German successes in Africaand conjectures as to when the German army in Europe would reachParis. Some said the Kaiser was doubtlessly already there, andthere was a great deal of damning Belgium.
In the smaller back room a large, red-faced man sat behind a table.Some other officers were also sitting a little in rear of him,while two stood at attention before the general, who was questioningthem. As he talked, the general toyed with an oil lamp that stoodupon the table before him. Presently there came a knock upon thedoor and an aide entered the room. He saluted and reported: "FrauleinKircher has arrived, sir."
"Bid her enter," commanded the general, and then nodded to the twoofficers before him in sign of dismissal.
The Fraulein, entering, passed them at the door. The officers inthe little room rose and saluted, the Fraulein acknowledging thecourtesy with a bow and a slight smile. She was a very prettygirl. Even the rough, soiled riding habit and the caked dust uponher face could not conceal the fact, and she was young. She couldnot have been over nineteen.
She advanced to the table behind which the general stood and, takinga folded paper from an inside pocket of her coat, handed it to him.
"Be seated, Fraulein," he said, and another officer brought hera chair. No one spoke while the general read the contents of thepaper.
Tarzan appraised the various people in the room. He wondered if onemight not be Hauptmann Schneider, for two of them were captains.The girl he judged to be of the intelligence department--a spy.Her beauty held no appeal for him--without a glimmer of compunctionhe could have wrung that fair, young neck. She was German and thatwas enough; but he had other and more important work before him.He wanted Hauptmann Schneider.
Finally the general looked up from the paper.
"Good," he said to the girl, and then to one of his aides, "Sendfor Major Schneider."
Major Schneider! Tarzan felt the short hairs at the back of hisneck rise. Already they had promoted the beast who had murderedhis mate--doubtless they had promoted him for that very crime.
The aide left the room and the others fell into a general conversationfrom which it became apparent to Tarzan that the German East Africanforces greatly outnumbered the British and that the latter weresuffering heavily. The ape-man stood so concealed in a clump ofbushes that he could watch the interior of the room without beingseen from within, while he was at the same time hidden from the viewof anyone who might chance to pass along the post of the sentinelhe had slain. Momentarily he was expecting a patrol or a relief toappear and discover that the sentinel was missing, when he knew animmediate and thorough search would be made.
Impatiently he awaited the coming of the man he sought and atlast he was rewarded by the reappearance of the aide who had beendispatched to fetch him accompanied by an officer of medium sizewith fierce, upstanding mustaches. The newcomer strode to the table,halted and saluted, reporting. The general acknowledged the saluteand turned toward the girl.
"Fraulein Kircher," he said, "allow me to present Major Schneider--"
Tarzan waited to hear no more. Placing a palm upon the sill ofthe window he vaulted into the room into the midst of an astoundedcompany of the Kaiser's officers. With a stride he was at the tableand with a sweep of his hand sent the lamp crashing into the fatbelly of the general who, in his mad effort to escape cremation,fell over backward, chair and all, upon the floor. Two of the aidessprang for the ape-man who picked up the first and flung him in theface of the other. The girl had leaped from her chair and stoodflattened against the wall. The other officers were calling aloudfor the guard and for help. Tarzan's purpose centered upon buta single individual and him he never lost sight of. Freed fromattack for an instant he seized Major Schneider, threw him over hisshoulder and was out of the window so quickly that the astonishedassemblage could scarce realize what had occurred.
A single glance showed him that the sentinel's post was still vacantand a moment later he and his burden were in the shadows of thehay dump. Major Schneider had made no outcry for the very excellentreason that his wind was shut off. Now Tarzan released his graspenough to permit the man to breathe.
"If you make a sound you will be choked again," he said.
Cautiously and after infinite patience Tarzan passed the finaloutpost. Forcing his captive to walk before him he pushed on towardthe west until, late into the night, he re-crossed the railway wherehe felt reasonably safe from discovery. The German had cursed andgrumbled and threatened and asked questions; but his only replywas another prod from Tarzan's sharp war spear. The ape-man herdedhim along as he would have driven a hog with the difference thathe would have had more respect and therefore more considerationfor a hog.
Until now Tarzan had given little thought to the details of revenge.Now he pondered what form the punishment should take. Of only onething was he certain--it must end in death. Like all brave menand courageous beasts Tarzan had little natural inclination totorture--none, in fact; but this case was unique in his experience.An inherent sense of justice called for an eye for an eye and hisrecent oath demanded even more. Yes, the creature must suffer evenas he had caused Jane Clayton to suffer. Tarzan could not hope tomake the man suffer as he had suffered, since physical pain maynever approach the exquisiteness of mental torture.
All through the long night the ape-man goaded on the exhausted andnow terrified Hun. The awful silence of his captor wrought upon theGerman's nerves. If he would only speak! Again and again Schneidertried to force or coax a word from him; but always the result wasthe same--continued silence and a vicious and painful prod from thespear point. Schneider was bleeding and sore. He was so exhaustedthat he staggered at every step, and often he fell only to beprodded to his feet again by that terrifying and remorseless spear.
It was not until morning that Tarzan reached a decision and it cameto him then like an inspiration from above. A slow smile touchedhis lips and he immediately sought a place to lie up and rest--hewished his prisoner to be fit now for what lay in store for him.Ahead was a stream which Tarzan had crossed the day before. He knewthe ford for a drinking place and a likely spot to make an easykill. Cautioning the German to utter silence with a gesture thetwo approached the stream quietly. Down the game trail Tarzan sawsome deer about to leave the water. He shoved Schneider into thebrush at one side and, squatting next him, waited. The Germanwatched the silent giant with puzzled, frightened eyes. In the newdawn he, for the first time, was able to obtain a good look at hiscaptor, and, if he had been puzzled and frightened before, thosesensations were nothing to what he experienced now.
Who and what could this almost naked, white savage be? He hadheard him speak but once--when he had cautioned him to silence--andthen in excellent German and the well-modulated tones of culture.He watched him now as the fascinated toad watches the snake thatis about to devour it. He saw the graceful limbs and symmetricalbody motionless as a marble statue as the creature crouched in theconcealment of the leafy foliage. Not a muscle, not a nerve moved.He saw the deer coming slowly along the trail, down wind andunsuspecting. He
saw a buck pass--an old buck--and then a young andplump one came opposite the giant in ambush, and Schneider's eyeswent wide and a scream of terror almost broke from his lips as hesaw the agile beast at his side spring straight for the throat ofthe young buck and heard from those human lips the hunting roar ofa wild beast. Down went the buck and Tarzan and his captive hadmeat. The ape-man ate his raw, but he permitted the German to builda fire and cook his portion.
The two lay up until late in the afternoon and then took up thejourney once again--a journey that was so frightful to Schneiderbecause of his ignorance of its destination that he at times groveledat Tarzan's feet begging for an explanation and for mercy; but onand on in silence the ape-man went, prodding the failing Hun wheneverthe latter faltered.
It was noon of the third day before they reached their destination.After a steep climb and a short walk they halted at the edge ofa precipitous cliff and Schneider looked down into a narrow gulchwhere a single tree grew beside a tiny rivulet and sparse grassbroke from a rock-strewn soil. Tarzan motioned him over the edge;but the German drew back in terror. The Ape-man seized him andpushed him roughly toward the brink. "Descend," he said. It wasthe second time he had spoken in three days and perhaps his verysilence, ominous in itself, had done more to arouse terror in thebreast of the Boche than even the spear point, ever ready as italways was.
Schneider looked fearfully over the edge; but was about to essaythe attempt when Tarzan halted him. "I am Lord Greystoke," hesaid. "It was my wife you murdered in the Waziri country. You willunderstand now why I came for you. Descend."
The German fell upon his knees. "I did not murder your wife,"he cried. "Have mercy! I did not murder your wife. I do not knowanything about--"
"Descend!" snapped Tarzan, raising the point of his spear. He knewthat the man lied and was not surprised that he did. A man whowould murder for no cause would lie for less. Schneider stillhesitated and pled. The ape-man jabbed him with the spear and Schneiderslid fearfully over the top and began the perilous descent. Tarzanaccompanied and assisted him over the worst places until at lastthey were within a few feet of the bottom.
"Be quiet now," cautioned the ape-man. He pointed at the entranceto what appeared to be a cave at the far end of the gulch. "Thereis a hungry lion in there. If you can reach that tree beforehe discovers you, you will have several days longer in which toenjoy life and then--when you are too weak to cling longer to thebranches of the tree Numa, the man-eater, will feed again for thelast time." He pushed Schneider from his foothold to the groundbelow. "Now run," he said.
The German trembling in terror started for the tree. He had almostreached it when a horrid roar broke from the mouth of the cave andalmost simultaneously a gaunt, hunger mad lion leaped into thedaylight of the gulch. Schneider had but a few yards to cover;but the lion flew over the ground to circumvent him while Tarzanwatched the race with a slight smile upon his lips.
Schneider won by a slender margin, and as Tarzan scaled the cliffto the summit, he heard behind him mingled with the roaring of thebaffled cat, the gibbering of a human voice that was at the sametime more bestial than the beast's.
Upon the brink of the cliff the ape-man turned and looked backinto the gulch. High in the tree the German clung frantically toa branch across which his body lay. Beneath him was Numa--waiting.
The ape-man raised his face to Kudu, the sun, and from his mightychest rose the savage victory cry of the bull ape.
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