Chapter 6
His first night in the jungle was one which the son of Tarzan heldlongest in his memory. No savage carnivora menaced him. There wasnever a sign of hideous barbarian. Or, if there were, the boy'stroubled mind took no cognizance of them. His conscience was harassedby the thought of his mother's suffering. Self-blame plunged him intothe depths of misery. The killing of the American caused him little orno remorse. The fellow had earned his fate. Jack's regret on thisscore was due mainly to the effect which the death of Condon had hadupon his own plans. Now he could not return directly to his parents ashe had planned. Fear of the primitive, borderland law, of which he hadread highly colored, imaginary tales, had thrust him into the jungle afugitive. He dared not return to the coast at this point--not that hewas so greatly influenced through personal fear as from a desire toshield his father and mother from further sorrow and from the shame ofhaving their honored name dragged through the sordid degradation of amurder trial.
With returning day the boy's spirits rose. With the rising sun rosenew hope within his breast. He would return to civilization by anotherway. None would guess that he had been connected with the killing ofthe stranger in the little out-of-the-way trading post upon a remoteshore.
Crouched close to the great ape in the crotch of a tree the boy hadshivered through an almost sleepless night. His light pajamas had beenbut little protection from the chill dampness of the jungle, and onlythat side of him which was pressed against the warm body of his shaggycompanion approximated to comfort. And so he welcomed the rising sunwith its promise of warmth as well as light--the blessed sun, dispellerof physical and mental ills.
He shook Akut into wakefulness.
"Come," he said. "I am cold and hungry. We will search for food, outthere in the sunlight," and he pointed to an open plain, dotted withstunted trees and strewn with jagged rock.
The boy slid to the ground as he spoke, but the ape first lookedcarefully about, sniffing the morning air. Then, satisfied that nodanger lurked near, he descended slowly to the ground beside the boy.
"Numa, and Sabor his mate, feast upon those who descend first and lookafterward, while those who look first and descend afterward live tofeast themselves." Thus the old ape imparted to the son of Tarzan theboy's first lesson in jungle lore. Side by side they set off acrossthe rough plain, for the boy wished first to be warm. The ape showedhim the best places to dig for rodents and worms; but the lad onlygagged at the thought of devouring the repulsive things. Some eggsthey found, and these he sucked raw, as also he ate roots and tuberswhich Akut unearthed. Beyond the plain and across a low bluff theycame upon water--brackish, ill-smelling stuff in a shallow water hole,the sides and bottom of which were trampled by the feet of many beasts.A herd of zebra galloped away as they approached.
The lad was too thirsty by now to cavil at anything even remotelyresembling water, so he drank his fill while Akut stood with raisedhead, alert for any danger. Before the ape drank he cautioned the boyto be watchful; but as he drank he raised his head from time to time tocast a quick glance toward a clump of bushes a hundred yards away uponthe opposite side of the water hole. When he had done he rose andspoke to the boy, in the language that was their common heritage--thetongue of the great apes.
"There is no danger near?" he asked.
"None," replied the boy. "I saw nothing move while you drank."
"Your eyes will help you but little in the jungle," said the ape.
"Here, if you would live, you must depend upon your ears and your nosebut most upon your nose. When we came down to drink I knew that nodanger lurked near upon this side of the water hole, for else thezebras would have discovered it and fled before we came; but upon theother side toward which the wind blows danger might lie concealed. Wecould not smell it for its scent is being blown in the other direction,and so I bent my ears and eyes down wind where my nose cannot travel."
"And you found--nothing?" asked the lad, with a laugh.
"I found Numa crouching in that clump of bushes where the tall grassesgrow," and Akut pointed.
"A lion?" exclaimed the boy. "How do you know? I can see nothing."
"Numa is there, though," replied the great ape. "First I heard himsigh. To you the sigh of Numa may sound no different from the othernoises which the wind makes among the grasses and the trees; but lateryou must learn to know the sigh of Numa. Then I watched and at last Isaw the tall grasses moving at one point to a force other than theforce of the wind. See, they are spread there upon either side ofNuma's great body, and as he breathes--you see? You see the littlemotion at either side that is not caused by the wind--the motion thatnone of the other grasses have?"
The boy strained his eyes--better eyes than the ordinary boyinherits--and at last he gave a little exclamation of discovery.
"Yes," he said, "I see. He lies there," and he pointed. "His head istoward us. Is he watching us?"
"Numa is watching us," replied Akut, "but we are in little danger,unless we approach too close, for he is lying upon his kill. His bellyis almost full, or we should hear him crunching the bones. He iswatching us in silence merely from curiosity. Presently he will resumehis feeding or he will rise and come down to the water for a drink. Ashe neither fears or desires us he will not try to hide his presencefrom us; but now is an excellent time to learn to know Numa, for youmust learn to know him well if you would live long in the jungle.Where the great apes are many Numa leaves us alone. Our fangs are longand strong, and we can fight; but when we are alone and he is hungry weare no match for him. Come, we will circle him and catch his scent.The sooner you learn to know it the better; but keep close to thetrees, as we go around him, for Numa often does that which he is leastexpected to do. And keep your ears and your eyes and your nose open.Remember always that there may be an enemy behind every bush, in everytree and amongst every clump of jungle grass. While you are avoidingNuma do not run into the jaws of Sabor, his mate. Follow me," and Akutset off in a wide circle about the water hole and the crouching lion.
The boy followed close upon his heels, his every sense upon the alert,his nerves keyed to the highest pitch of excitement. This was life!For the instant he forgot his resolutions of a few minutes past tohasten to the coast at some other point than that at which he hadlanded and make his way immediately back to London. He thought nowonly of the savage joy of living, and of pitting one's wits and prowessagainst the wiles and might of the savage jungle brood which hauntedthe broad plains and the gloomy forest aisles of the great, untamedcontinent. He knew no fear. His father had had none to transmit tohim; but honor and conscience he did have and these were to trouble himmany times as they battled with his inherent love of freedom forpossession of his soul.
They had passed but a short distance to the rear of Numa when the boycaught the unpleasant odor of the carnivore. His face lighted with asmile. Something told him that he would have known that scent among amyriad of others even if Akut had not told him that a lion lay near.There was a strange familiarity--a weird familiarity in it that madethe short hairs rise at the nape of his neck, and brought his upper lipinto an involuntary snarl that bared his fighting fangs. There was asense of stretching of the skin about his ears, for all the world asthough those members were flattening back against his skull inpreparation for deadly combat. His skin tingled. He was aglow with apleasurable sensation that he never before had known. He was, upon theinstant, another creature--wary, alert, ready. Thus did the scent ofNuma, the lion, transform the boy into a beast.
He had never seen a lion--his mother had gone to great pains to preventit. But he had devoured countless pictures of them, and now he wasravenous to feast his eyes upon the king of beasts in the flesh. As hetrailed Akut he kept an eye cocked over one shoulder, rearward, in thehope that Numa might rise from his kill and reveal himself. Thus ithappened that he dropped some little way behind Akut, and the next heknew he was recalled suddenly to a contemplation of other matters thanthe hidden Numa by a
shrill scream of warning from the Ape. Turninghis eyes quickly in the direction of his companion, the boy saw that,standing in the path directly before him, which sent tremors ofexcitement racing along every nerve of his body. With bodyhalf-merging from a clump of bushes in which she must have lain hiddenstood a sleek and beautiful lioness. Her yellow-green eyes were roundand staring, boring straight into the eyes of the boy. Not ten pacesseparated them. Twenty paces behind the lioness stood the great ape,bellowing instructions to the boy and hurling taunts at the lioness inan evident effort to attract her attention from the lad while he gainedthe shelter of a near-by tree.
But Sabor was not to be diverted. She had her eyes upon the lad. Hestood between her and her mate, between her and the kill. It wassuspicious. Probably he had ulterior designs upon her lord and masteror upon the fruits of their hunting. A lioness is short tempered.Akut's bellowing annoyed her. She uttered a little rumbling growl,taking a step toward the boy.
"The tree!" screamed Akut.
The boy turned and fled, and at the same instant the lioness charged.The tree was but a few paces away. A limb hung ten feet from theground, and as the boy leaped for it the lioness leaped for him. Likea monkey he pulled himself up and to one side. A great forepaw caughthim a glancing blow at the hips--just grazing him. One curved talonhooked itself into the waist band of his pajama trousers, ripping themfrom him as the lioness sped by. Half-naked the lad drew himself tosafety as the beast turned and leaped for him once more.
Akut, from a near-by tree, jabbered and scolded, calling the lionessall manner of foul names. The boy, patterning his conduct after thatof his preceptor, unstoppered the vials of his invective upon the headof the enemy, until in realization of the futility of words as weaponshe bethought himself of something heavier to hurl. There was nothingbut dead twigs and branches at hand, but these he flung at theupturned, snarling face of Sabor just as his father had before himtwenty years ago, when as a boy he too had taunted and tantalized thegreat cats of the jungle.
The lioness fretted about the bole of the tree for a short time; butfinally, either realizing the uselessness of her vigil, or prompted bythe pangs of hunger, she stalked majestically away and disappeared inthe brush that hid her lord, who had not once shown himself during thealtercation.
Freed from their retreats Akut and the boy came to the ground, to takeup their interrupted journey once more. The old ape scolded the ladfor his carelessness.
"Had you not been so intent upon the lion behind you you might havediscovered the lioness much sooner than you did."
"But you passed right by her without seeing her," retorted the boy.
Akut was chagrined.
"It is thus," he said, "that jungle folk die. We go cautiously for alifetime, and then, just for an instant, we forget, and--" he groundhis teeth in mimicry of the crunching of great jaws in flesh. "It is alesson," he resumed. "You have learned that you may not for too longkeep your eyes and your ears and your nose all bent in the samedirection."
That night the son of Tarzan was colder than he ever had been in allhis life. The pajama trousers had not been heavy; but they had beenmuch heavier than nothing. And the next day he roasted in the hot sun,for again their way led much across wide and treeless plains.
It was still in the boy's mind to travel to the south, and circle backto the coast in search of another outpost of civilization. He had saidnothing of this plan to Akut, for he knew that the old ape would lookwith displeasure upon any suggestion that savored of separation.
For a month the two wandered on, the boy learning rapidly the laws ofthe jungle; his muscles adapting themselves to the new mode of lifethat had been thrust upon them. The thews of the sire had beentransmitted to the son--it needed only the hardening of use to developthem. The lad found that it came quite naturally to him to swingthrough the trees. Even at great heights he never felt the slightestdizziness, and when he had caught the knack of the swing and therelease, he could hurl himself through space from branch to branch witheven greater agility than the heavier Akut.
And with exposure came a toughening and hardening of his smooth, whiteskin, browning now beneath the sun and wind. He had removed his pajamajacket one day to bathe in a little stream that was too small to harborcrocodiles, and while he and Akut had been disporting themselves in thecool waters a monkey had dropped down from the over hanging trees,snatched up the boy's single remaining article of civilized garmenture,and scampered away with it.
For a time Jack was angry; but when he had been without the jacket fora short while he began to realize that being half-clothed is infinitelymore uncomfortable than being entirely naked. Soon he did not miss hisclothing in the least, and from that he came to revel in the freedom ofhis unhampered state. Occasionally a smile would cross his face as hetried to imagine the surprise of his schoolmates could they but see himnow. They would envy him. Yes, how they would envy him. He feltsorry for them at such times, and again as he thought of them amidluxuries and comforts of their English homes, happy with their fathersand mothers, a most uncomfortable lump would arise into the boy'sthroat, and he would see a vision of his mother's face through a blurof mist that came unbidden to his eyes. Then it was that he urged Akutonward, for now they were headed westward toward the coast. The oldape thought that they were searching for a tribe of his own kind, nordid the boy disabuse his mind of this belief. It would do to tell Akutof his real plans when they had come within sight of civilization.
One day as they were moving slowly along beside a river they cameunexpectedly upon a native village. Some children were playing besidethe water. The boy's heart leaped within his breast at sight ofthem--for over a month he had seen no human being. What if these werenaked savages? What if their skins were black? Were they notcreatures fashioned in the mold of their Maker, as was he? They werehis brothers and sisters! He started toward them. With a low warningAkut laid a hand upon his arm to hold him back. The boy shook himselffree, and with a shout of greeting ran forward toward the ebon players.
The sound of his voice brought every head erect. Wide eyes viewed himfor an instant, and then, with screams of terror, the children turnedand fled toward the village. At their heels ran their mothers, andfrom the village gate, in response to the alarm, came a score ofwarriors, hastily snatched spears and shields ready in their hands.
At sight of the consternation he had wrought the boy halted. The gladsmile faded from his face as with wild shouts and menacing gestures thewarriors ran toward him. Akut was calling to him from behind to turnand flee, telling him that the blacks would kill him. For a moment hestood watching them coming, then he raised his hand with the palmtoward them in signal for them to halt, calling out at the same timethat he came as a friend--that he had only wanted to play with theirchildren. Of course they did not understand a word that he addressedto them, and their answer was what any naked creature who had runsuddenly out of the jungle upon their women and children might haveexpected--a shower of spears. The missiles struck all about the boy,but none touched him. Again his spine tingled and the short hairslifted at the nape of his neck and along the top of his scalp. Hiseyes narrowed. Sudden hatred flared in them to wither the expressionof glad friendliness that had lighted them but an instant before. Witha low snarl, quite similar to that of a baffled beast, he turned andran into the jungle. There was Akut awaiting him in a tree. The apeurged him to hasten in flight, for the wise old anthropoid knew thatthey two, naked and unarmed, were no match for the sinewy blackwarriors who would doubtless make some sort of search for them throughthe jungle.
But a new power moved the son of Tarzan. He had come with a boy's gladand open heart to offer his friendship to these people who were humanbeings like himself. He had been met with suspicion and spears. Theyhad not even listened to him. Rage and hatred consumed him. When Akuturged speed he held back. He wanted to fight, yet his reason made itall too plain that it would be but a foolish sacrifice of his life tomeet these armed men
with his naked hands and his teeth--already theboy thought of his teeth, of his fighting fangs, when possibility ofcombat loomed close.
Moving slowly through the trees he kept his eyes over his shoulder,though he no longer neglected the possibilities of other dangers whichmight lurk on either hand or ahead--his experience with the lioness didnot need a repetition to insure the permanency of the lesson it hadtaught. Behind he could hear the savages advancing with shouts andcries. He lagged further behind until the pursuers were in sight.They did not see him, for they were not looking among the branches ofthe trees for human quarry. The lad kept just ahead of them. For amile perhaps they continued the search, and then they turned backtoward the village. Here was the boy's opportunity, that for which hehad been waiting, while the hot blood of revenge coursed through hisveins until he saw his pursuers through a scarlet haze.
When they turned back he turned and followed them. Akut was no longerin sight. Thinking that the boy followed he had gone on further ahead.He had no wish to tempt fate within range of those deadly spears.Slinking silently from tree to tree the boy dogged the footsteps of thereturning warriors. At last one dropped behind his fellows as theyfollowed a narrow path toward the village. A grim smile lit the lad'sface. Swiftly he hurried forward until he moved almost above theunconscious black--stalking him as Sheeta, the panther, stalked hisprey, as the boy had seen Sheeta do on many occasions.
Suddenly and silently he leaped forward and downward upon the broadshoulders of his prey. In the instant of contact his fingers soughtand found the man's throat. The weight of the boy's body hurled theblack heavily to the ground, the knees in his back knocking the breathfrom him as he struck. Then a set of strong, white teeth fastenedthemselves in his neck, and muscular fingers closed tighter upon hiswind-pipe. For a time the warrior struggled frantically, throwinghimself about in an effort to dislodge his antagonist; but all thewhile he was weakening and all the while the grim and silent thing hecould not see clung tenaciously to him, and dragged him slowly into thebush to one side of the trail.
Hidden there at last, safe from the prying eyes of searchers, shouldthey miss their fellow and return for him, the lad choked the life fromthe body of his victim. At last he knew by the sudden struggle,followed by limp relaxation, that the warrior was dead. Then a strangedesire seized him. His whole being quivered and thrilled.Involuntarily he leaped to his feet and placed one foot upon the bodyof his kill. His chest expanded. He raised his face toward theheavens and opened his mouth to voice a strange, weird cry that seemedscreaming within him for outward expression, but no sound passed hislips--he just stood there for a full minute, his face turned toward thesky, his breast heaving to the pent emotion, like an animate statue ofvengeance.
The silence which marked the first great kill of the son of Tarzan wasto typify all his future kills, just as the hideous victory cry of thebull ape had marked the kills of his mighty sire.
The Son of Tarzan Page 6