Chapter V
The Golden Locket
The little British army in East Africa, after suffering severereverses at the hands of a numerically much superior force, wasat last coming into its own. The German offensive had been brokenand the Huns were now slowly and doggedly retreating along therailway to Tanga. The break in the German lines had followed theclearing of a section of their left-flank trenches of native soldiersby Tarzan and Numa, the lion, upon that memorable night that theape-man had loosed a famishing man-eater among the superstitiousand terror-stricken blacks. The Second Rhodesian Regiment hadimmediately taken possession of the abandoned trench and from thisposition their flanking fire had raked contiguous sections of theGerman line, the diversion rendering possible a successful nightattack on the part of the balance of the British forces.
Weeks had elapsed. The Germans were contesting stubbornly everymile of waterless, thorn-covered ground and clinging desperatelyto their positions along the railway. The officers of the SecondRhodesians had seen nothing more of Tarzan of the Apes since hehad slain Underlieutenant von Goss and disappeared toward the veryheart of the German position, and there were those among them whobelieved that he had been killed within the enemy lines.
"They may have killed him," assented Colonel Capell; "but I fancythey never captured the beggar alive."
Nor had they, nor killed him either. Tarzan had spent those interveningweeks pleasantly and profitably. He had amassed a considerablefund of knowledge concerning the disposition and strength of Germantroops, their methods of warfare, and the various ways in which alone Tarmangani might annoy an army and lower its morale.
At present he was prompted by a specific desire. There was a certainGerman spy whom he wished to capture alive and take back to theBritish. When he had made his first visit to German headquarters,he had seen a young woman deliver a paper to the German general,and later he had seen that same young woman within the Britishlines in the uniform of a British officer. The conclusions wereobvious--she was a spy.
And so Tarzan haunted German headquarters upon many nights hopingto see her again or to pick up some clew as to her whereabouts,and at the same time he utilized many an artifice whereby he mightbring terror to the hearts of the Germans. That he was successfulwas often demonstrated by the snatches of conversation he overheard ashe prowled through the German camps. One night as he lay concealedin the bushes close beside a regimental headquarters he listened tothe conversation of several Boche officers. One of the men revertedto the stories told by the native troops in connection with theirrout by a lion several weeks before and the simultaneous appearancein their trenches of a naked, white giant whom they were perfectlyassured was some demon of the jungle.
"The fellow must have been the same as he who leaped into thegeneral's headquarters and carried off Schneider," asserted one."I wonder how he happened to single out the poor major. They saythe creature seemed interested in no one but Schneider. He had vonKelter in his grasp, and he might easily have taken the generalhimself; but he ignored them all except Schneider. Him he pursuedabout the room, seized and carried off into the night. Gott knowswhat his fate was."
"Captain Fritz Schneider has some sort of theory," said another."He told me only a week or two ago that he thinks he knows why hisbrother was taken--that it was a case of mistaken identity. He wasnot so sure about it until von Goss was killed, apparently by thesame creature, the night the lion entered the trenches. Von Goss wasattached to Schneider's company. One of Schneider's men was foundwith his neck wrung the same night that the major was carried offand Schneider thinks that this devil is after him and hiscommand--that it came for him that night and got his brother bymistake. He says Kraut told him that in presenting the major toFraulein Kircher the former's name was no sooner spoken than thiswild man leaped through the window and made for him."
Suddenly the little group became rigid--listening. "What was that?"snapped one, eyeing the bushes from which a smothered snarl hadissued as Tarzan of the Apes realized that through his mistake theperpetrator of the horrid crime at his bungalow still lived--thatthe murderer of his wife went yet unpunished.
For a long minute the officers stood with tensed nerves, every eyeriveted upon the bushes from whence the ominous sound had issued.Each recalled recent mysterious disappearances from the heart ofcamps as well as from lonely out-guards. Each thought of the silentdead he had seen, slain almost within sight of their fellows by someunseen creature. They thought of the marks upon dead throats--madeby talons or by giant fingers, they could not tell which--and thoseupon shoulders and jugulars where powerful teeth had fastened andthey waited with drawn pistols.
Once the bushes moved almost imperceptibly and an instant laterone of the officers, without warning, fired into them; but Tarzanof the Apes was not there. In the interval between the moving ofthe bushes and the firing of the shot he had melted into the night.Ten minutes later he was hovering on the outskirts of that partof camp where were bivouacked for the night the black soldiers ofa native company commanded by one Hauptmann Fritz Schneider. Themen were stretched upon the ground without tents; but there weretents pitched for the officers. Toward these Tarzan crept. It wasslow and perilous work, as the Germans were now upon the alert forthe uncanny foe that crept into their camps to take his toll bynight, yet the ape-man passed their sentinels, eluded the vigilanceof the interior guard, and crept at last to the rear of the officers'line.
Here he flattened himself against the ground close behind thenearest tent and listened. From within came the regular breathingof a sleeping man--one only. Tarzan was satisfied. With his knifehe cut the tie strings of the rear flap and entered. He made nonoise. The shadow of a falling leaf, floating gently to earth upona still day, could have been no more soundless. He moved to theside of the sleeping man and bent low over him. He could not know,of course, whether it was Schneider or another, as he had never seenSchneider; but he meant to know and to know even more. Gently heshook the man by the shoulder. The fellow turned heavily and gruntedin a thick guttural.
"Silence!" admonished the ape-man in a low whisper. "Silence--Ikill."
The Hun opened his eyes. In the dim light he saw a giant figurebending over him. Now a mighty hand grasped his shoulder and anotherclosed lightly about his throat.
"Make no outcry," commanded Tarzan; "but answer in a whisper myquestions. What is your name?"
"Luberg," replied the officer. He was trembling. The weird presenceof this naked giant filled him with dread. He, too, recalled themen mysteriously murdered in the still watches of the night camps."What do you want?"
"Where is Hauptmann Fritz Schneider?" asked Tarzan, "Which is histent?"
"He is not here," replied Luberg. "He was sent to Wilhelmstalyesterday."
"I shall not kill you--now," said the ape-man. "First I shall goand learn if you have lied to me and if you have your death shallbe the more terrible. Do you know how Major Schneider died?"
Luberg shook his head negatively.
"I do," continued Tarzan, "and it was not a nice way to die--evenfor an accursed German. Turn over with your face down and coveryour eyes. Do not move or make any sound."
The man did as he was bid and the instant that his eyes were turnedaway, Tarzan slipped from the tent. An hour later he was outsidethe German camp and headed for the little hill town of Wilhelmstal,the summer seat of government of German East Africa.
Fraulein Bertha Kircher was lost. She was humiliated and angry--itwas long before she would admit it, that she, who prided herselfupon her woodcraft, was lost in this little patch of country betweenthe Pangani and the Tanga railway. She knew that Wilhelmstal laysoutheast of her about fifty miles; but, through a combination ofuntoward circumstances, she found herself unable to determine whichwas southeast.
In the first place she had set out from German headquarters on awell-marked road that was being traveled by troops and with everyreason to believe that she would follow that road to Wilhelmstal.Later she had been warned from this road by word
that a strongBritish patrol had come down the west bank of the Pangani, effecteda crossing south of her, and was even then marching on the railwayat Tonda.
After leaving the road she found herself in thick bush and as thesky was heavily overcast she presently had recourse to her compassand it was not until then that she discovered to her dismay thatshe did not have it with her. So sure was she of her woodcraft,however, that she continued on in the direction she thought westuntil she had covered sufficient distance to warrant her in feelingassured that, by now turning south, she could pass safely in rearof the British patrol.
Nor did she commence to feel any doubts until long after she hadagain turned toward the east well south, as she thought, of thepatrol. It was late afternoon--she should long since have struckthe road again south of Tonda; but she had found no road and nowshe began to feel real anxiety.
Her horse had traveled all day without food or water, nightwas approaching and with it a realization that she was hopelesslylost in a wild and trackless country notorious principally for itstsetse flies and savage beasts. It was maddening to know that shehad absolutely no knowledge of the direction she was traveling--thatshe might be forging steadily further from the railway, deeperinto the gloomy and forbidding country toward the Pangani; yet itwas impossible to stop--she must go on.
Bertha Kircher was no coward, whatever else she may have been, butas night began to close down around her she could not shut out fromher mind entirely contemplation of the terrors of the long hoursahead before the rising sun should dissipate the Stygian gloom--thehorrid jungle night--that lures forth all the prowling, preyingcreatures of destruction.
She found, just before dark, an open meadow-like break in thealmost interminable bush. There was a small clump of trees near thecenter and here she decided to camp. The grass was high and thick,affording feed for her horse and a bed for herself, and there wasmore than enough dead wood lying about the trees to furnish a goodfire well through the night. Removing the saddle and bridle fromher mount she placed them at the foot of a tree and then picketedthe animal close by. Then she busied herself collecting firewoodand by the time darkness had fallen she had a good fire and enoughwood to last until morning.
From her saddlebags she took cold food and from her canteen aswallow of water. She could not afford more than a small swallowfor she could not know how long a time it might be before she shouldfind more. It filled her with sorrow that her poor horse must gowaterless, for even German spies may have hearts and this one wasvery young and very feminine.
It was now dark. There was neither moon nor stars and the lightfrom her fire only accentuated the blackness beyond. She could seethe grass about her and the boles of the trees which stood out inbrilliant relief against the solid background of impenetrable night,and beyond the firelight there was nothing.
The jungle seemed ominously quiet. Far away in the distance sheheard faintly the boom of big guns; but she could not locate theirdirection. She strained her ears until her nerves were on the pointof breaking; but she could not tell from whence the sound came. Andit meant so much to her to know, for the battle-lines were northof her and if she could but locate the direction of the firing shewould know which way to go in the morning.
In the morning! Would she live to see another morning? She squaredher shoulders and shook herself together. Such thoughts must bebanished--they would never do. Bravely she hummed an air as shearranged her saddle near the fire and pulled a quantity of longgrass to make a comfortable seat over which she spread her saddleblanket. Then she un-strapped a heavy, military coat from the cantleof her saddle and donned it, for the air was already chill.
Seating herself where she could lean against the saddle she preparedto maintain a sleepless vigil throughout the night. For an hourthe silence was broken only by the distant booming of the guns andthe low noises of the feeding horse and then, from possibly a mileaway, came the rumbling thunder of a lion's roar. The girl startedand laid her hand upon the rifle at her side. A little shudder ranthrough her slight frame and she could feel the goose flesh riseupon her body.
Again and again was the awful sound repeated and each time she wascertain that it came nearer. She could locate the direction of thissound although she could not that of the guns, for the origin ofthe former was much closer. The lion was up wind and so could nothave caught her scent as yet, though he might be approaching toinvestigate the light of the fire which could doubtless be seenfor a considerable distance.
For another fear-filled hour the girl sat straining her eyes andears out into the black void beyond her little island of light.During all that time the lion did not roar again; but there wasconstantly the sensation that it was creeping upon her. Again andagain she would start and turn to peer into the blackness beyondthe trees behind her as her overwrought nerves conjured the stealthyfall of padded feet. She held the rifle across her knees at theready now and she was trembling from head to foot.
Suddenly her horse raised his head and snorted, and with a littlecry of terror the girl sprang to her feet. The animal turned andtrotted back toward her until the picket rope brought him to a stand,and then he wheeled about and with ears up-pricked gazed out intothe night; but the girl could neither see nor hear aught.
Still another hour of terror passed during which the horse oftenraised his head to peer long and searchingly into the dark. The girlreplenished the fire from time to time. She found herself becomingvery sleepy. Her heavy lids persisted in drooping; but she darednot sleep. Fearful lest she might be overcome by the drowsinessthat was stealing through her she rose and walked briskly to andfro, then she threw some more wood on the fire, walked over andstroked her horse's muzzle and returned to her seat.
Leaning against the saddle she tried to occupy her mind with plansfor the morrow; but she must have dozed. With a start she awoke.It was broad daylight. The hideous night with its indescribableterrors was gone.
She could scarce believe the testimony of her senses. She had sleptfor hours, the fire was out and yet she and the horse were safeand alive, nor was there sign of savage beast about. And, best ofall, the sun was shining, pointing the straight road to the east.Hastily she ate a few mouthfuls of her precious rations, which witha swallow of water constituted her breakfast. Then she saddled herhorse and mounted. Already she felt that she was as good as safein Wilhelmstal.
Possibly, however, she might have revised her conclusions could shehave seen the two pairs of eyes watching her every move intentlyfrom different points in the bush.
Light-hearted and unsuspecting, the girl rode across the clearingtoward the bush while directly before her two yellow-green eyesglared round and terrible, a tawny tail twitched nervously andgreat, padded paws gathered beneath a sleek barrel for a mightyspring. The horse was almost at the edge of the bush when Numa,the lion, launched himself through the air. He struck the animal'sright shoulder at the instant that it reared, terrified, to wheelin flight. The force of the impact hurled the horse backward to theground and so quickly that the girl had no opportunity to extricateherself; but fell to the earth with her mount, her left leg pinnedbeneath its body.
Horror-stricken, she saw the king of beasts open his mighty jawsand seize the screaming creature by the back of its neck. Thegreat jaws closed, there was an instant's struggle as Numa shookhis prey. She could hear the vertebrae crack as the mighty fangscrunched through them, and then the muscles of her faithful friendrelaxed in death.
Numa crouched upon his kill. His terrifying eyes riveted themselvesupon the girl's face--she could feel his hot breath upon her cheekand the odor of the fetid vapor nauseated her. For what seemedan eternity to the girl the two lay staring at each other and thenthe lion uttered a menacing growl.
Never before had Bertha Kircher been so terrified--never before hadshe had such cause for terror. At her hip was a pistol--a formidableweapon with which to face a man; but a puny thing indeed withwhich to menace the great beast before her. She knew that at bestit could but enrage him and yet she meant to sell he
r life dearly,for she felt that she must die. No human succor could have availedher even had it been there to offer itself. For a moment she toreher gaze from the hypnotic fascination of that awful face andbreathed a last prayer to her God. She did not ask for aid, for shefelt that she was beyond even divine succor--she only asked thatthe end might come quickly and with as little pain as possible.
No one can prophesy what a lion will do in any given emergency.This one glared and growled at the girl for a moment and then fellto feeding upon the dead horse. Fraulein Kircher wondered for aninstant and then attempted to draw her leg cautiously from beneaththe body of her mount; but she could not budge it. She increasedthe force of her efforts and Numa looked up from his feeding togrowl again. The girl desisted. She hoped that he might satisfyhis hunger and then depart to lie up, but she could not believethat he would leave her there alive. Doubtless he would drag theremains of his kill into the bush for hiding and, as there couldbe no doubt that he considered her part of his prey, he wouldcertainly come back for her, or possibly drag her in first and killher.
Again Numa fell to feeding. The girl's nerves were at the breakingpoint. She wondered that she had not fainted under the strainof terror and shock. She recalled that she often had wished shemight see a lion, close to, make a kill and feed upon it. God! howrealistically her wish had been granted.
Again she bethought herself of her pistol. As she had fallen, theholster had slipped around so that the weapon now lay beneath her.Very slowly she reached for it; but in so doing she was forced toraise her body from the ground. Instantly the lion was aroused.With the swiftness of a cat he reached across the carcass of thehorse and placed a heavy, taloned paw upon her breast, crushing herback to earth, and all the time he growled and snarled horribly.His face was a picture of frightful rage incarnate. For a momentneither moved and then from behind her the girl heard a human voiceuttering bestial sounds.
Numa suddenly looked up from the girl's face at the thing beyondher. His growls increased to roars as he drew back, ripping thefront of the girl's waist almost from her body with his long talons,exposing her white bosom, which through some miracle of chance thegreat claws did not touch.
Tarzan of the Apes had witnessed the entire encounter from themoment that Numa had leaped upon his prey. For some time before,he had been watching the girl, and after the lion attacked her hehad at first been minded to let Numa have his way with her. Whatwas she but a hated German and a spy besides? He had seen her atGeneral Kraut's headquarters, in conference with the German staffand again he had seen her within the British lines masquerading asa British officer. It was the latter thought that prompted him tointerfere. Doubtless General Jan Smuts would be glad to meet andquestion her. She might be forced to divulge information of valueto the British commander before Smuts had her shot.
Tarzan had recognized not only the girl, but the lion as well. Alllions may look alike to you and me; but not so to their intimatesof the jungle. Each has his individual characteristics of face andform and gait as well defined as those that differentiate membersof the human family, and besides these the creatures of the junglehave a still more positive test--that of scent. Each of us, man orbeast, has his own peculiar odor, and it is mostly by this thatthe beasts of the jungle, endowed with miraculous powers of scent,recognize individuals.
It is the final proof. You have seen it demonstrated a thousandtimes--a dog recognizes your voice and looks at you. He knows yourface and figure. Good, there can be no doubt in his mind but thatit is you; but is he satisfied? No, sir--he must come up and smellof you. All his other senses may be fallible, but not his sense ofsmell, and so he makes assurance positive by the final test.
Tarzan recognized Numa as he whom he had muzzled with the hide ofHorta, the boar--as he whom he handled by a rope for two days andfinally loosed in a German front-line trench, and he knew that Numawould recognize him--that he would remember the sharp spear thathad goaded him into submission and obedience and Tarzan hoped thatthe lesson he had learned still remained with the lion.
Now he came forward calling to Numa in the language of the greatapes--warning him away from the girl. It is open to question thatNuma, the lion, understood him; but he did understand the menace ofthe heavy spear that the Tarmangani carried so ready in his brown,right hand, and so he drew back, growling, trying to decide in hislittle brain whether to charge or flee.
On came the ape-man with never a pause, straight for the lion. "Goaway, Numa," he cried, "or Tarzan will tie you up again and leadyou through the jungle without food. See Arad, my spear! Do yourecall how his point stuck into you and how with his haft I beatyou over the head? Go, Numa! I am Tarzan of the Apes!"
Numa wrinkled the skin of his face into great folds, until hiseyes almost disappeared and he growled and roared and snarled andgrowled again, and when the spear point came at last quite closeto him he struck at it viciously with his armed paw; but he drewback. Tarzan stepped over the dead horse and the girl lying behindhim gazed in wide-eyed astonishment at the handsome figure drivingan angry lion deliberately from its kill.
When Numa had retreated a few yards, the ape-man called back tothe girl in perfect German, "Are you badly hurt?"
"I think not," she replied; "but I cannot extricate my foot frombeneath my horse."
"Try again," commanded Tarzan. "I do not know how long I can holdNuma thus."
The girl struggled frantically; but at last she sank back upon anelbow.
"It is impossible," she called to him.
He backed slowly until he was again beside the horse, when hereached down and grasped the cinch, which was still intact. Thenwith one hand he raised the carcass from the ground. The girlfreed herself and rose to her feet.
"You can walk?" asked Tarzan.
"Yes," she said; "my leg is numb; but it does not seem to beinjured."
"Good," commented the ape-man. "Back slowly away behind me--makeno sudden movements. I think he will not charge."
With utmost deliberation the two backed toward the bush. Numastood for a moment, growling, then he followed them, slowly. Tarzanwondered if he would come beyond his kill or if he would stop there.If he followed them beyond, then they could look for a charge, andif Numa charged it was very likely that he would get one of them.When the lion reached the carcass of the horse Tarzan stopped andso did Numa, as Tarzan had thought that he would and the ape-manwaited to see what the lion would do next. He eyed them for amoment, snarled angrily and then looked down at the tempting meat.Presently he crouched upon his kill and resumed feeding.
The girl breathed a deep sigh of relief as she and the ape-manresumed their slow retreat with only an occasional glance from thelion, and when at last they reached the bush and had turned andentered it, she felt a sudden giddiness overwhelm her so that shestaggered and would have fallen had Tarzan not caught her. It wasonly a moment before she regained control of herself.
"I could not help it," she said, in half apology. "I was so closeto death--such a horrible death--it unnerved me for an instant;but I am all right now. How can I ever thank you? It was sowonderful--you did not seem to fear the frightful creature in theleast; yet he was afraid of you. Who are you?"
"He knows me," replied Tarzan, grimly--"that is why he fears me."
He was standing facing the girl now and for the first timehe had a chance to look at her squarely and closely. She was verybeautiful--that was undeniable; but Tarzan realized her beauty onlyin a subconscious way. It was superficial--it did not color hersoul which must be black as sin. She was German--a German spy. Hehated her and desired only to compass her destruction; but he wouldchoose the manner so that it would work most grievously againstthe enemy cause.
He saw her naked breasts where Numa had torn her clothing from herand dangling there against the soft, white flesh he saw that whichbrought a sudden scowl of surprise and anger to his face--thediamond-studded, golden locket of his youth--the love token thathad been stolen from the breast of his mate by Schneider, the Hun.The girl saw the sc
owl but did not interpret it correctly. Tarzangrasped her roughly by the arm.
"Where did you get this?" he demanded, as he tore the bauble fromher.
The girl drew herself to her full height. "Take your hand from me,"she demanded, but the ape-man paid no attention to her words, onlyseizing her more forcibly.
"Answer me!" he snapped. "Where did you get this?"
"What is it to you?" she countered.
"It is mine," he replied. "Tell me who gave it to you or I willthrow you back to Numa."
"You would do that?" she asked.
"Why not?" he queried. "You are a spy and spies must die if theyare caught."
"You were going to kill me, then?"
"I was going to take you to headquarters. They would dispose ofyou there; but Numa can do it quite as effectively. Which do youprefer?"
"Hauptmann Fritz Schneider gave it to me," she said.
"Headquarters it will be then," said Tarzan. "Come!" The girlmoved at his side through the bush and all the time her mind workedquickly. They were moving east, which suited her, and as long asthey continued to move east she was glad to have the protectionof the great, white savage. She speculated much upon the fact thather pistol still swung at her hip. The man must be mad not to takeit from her.
"What makes you think I am a spy?" she asked after a long silence.
"I saw you at German headquarters," he replied, "and then againinside the British lines."
She could not let him take her back to them. She must reachWilhelmstal at once and she was determined to do so even if shemust have recourse to her pistol. She cast a side glance at thetall figure. What a magnificent creature! But yet he was a brutewho would kill her or have her killed if she did not slay him. Andthe locket! She must have that back--it must not fail to reachWilhelmstal. Tarzan was now a foot or two ahead of her as the pathwas very narrow. Cautiously she drew her pistol. A single shot wouldsuffice and he was so close that she could not miss. As she figuredit all out her eyes rested on the brown skin with the graceful musclesrolling beneath it and the perfect limbs and head and the carriagethat a proud king of old might have envied. A wave of revulsionfor her contemplated act surged through her. No, she could notdo it--yet, she must be free and she must regain possession ofthe locket. And then, almost blindly, she swung the weapon up andstruck Tarzan heavily upon the back of the head with its butt. Likea felled ox he dropped in his tracks.
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