Chapter XIV
At the Mercy of the Jungle
After Clayton had plunged into the jungle, the sailors--mutineers ofthe Arrow--fell into a discussion of their next step; but on one pointall were agreed--that they should hasten to put off to the anchoredArrow, where they could at least be safe from the spears of theirunseen foe. And so, while Jane Porter and Esmeralda were barricadingthemselves within the cabin, the cowardly crew of cutthroats werepulling rapidly for their ship in the two boats that had brought themashore.
So much had Tarzan seen that day that his head was in a whirl ofwonder. But the most wonderful sight of all, to him, was the face ofthe beautiful white girl.
Here at last was one of his own kind; of that he was positive. And theyoung man and the two old men; they, too, were much as he had picturedhis own people to be.
But doubtless they were as ferocious and cruel as other men he hadseen. The fact that they alone of all the party were unarmed mightaccount for the fact that they had killed no one. They might be verydifferent if provided with weapons.
Tarzan had seen the young man pick up the fallen revolver of thewounded Snipes and hide it away in his breast; and he had also seen himslip it cautiously to the girl as she entered the cabin door.
He did not understand anything of the motives behind all that he hadseen; but, somehow, intuitively he liked the young man and the two oldmen, and for the girl he had a strange longing which he scarcelyunderstood. As for the big black woman, she was evidently connected insome way to the girl, and so he liked her, also.
For the sailors, and especially Snipes, he had developed a greathatred. He knew by their threatening gestures and by the expressionupon their evil faces that they were enemies of the others of theparty, and so he decided to watch closely.
Tarzan wondered why the men had gone into the jungle, nor did it everoccur to him that one could become lost in that maze of undergrowthwhich to him was as simple as is the main street of your own home townto you.
When he saw the sailors row away toward the ship, and knew that thegirl and her companion were safe in his cabin, Tarzan decided to followthe young man into the jungle and learn what his errand might be. Heswung off rapidly in the direction taken by Clayton, and in a shorttime heard faintly in the distance the now only occasional calls of theEnglishman to his friends.
Presently Tarzan came up with the white man, who, almost fagged, wasleaning against a tree wiping the perspiration from his forehead. Theape-man, hiding safe behind a screen of foliage, sat watching this newspecimen of his own race intently.
At intervals Clayton called aloud and finally it came to Tarzan that hewas searching for the old man.
Tarzan was on the point of going off to look for them himself, when hecaught the yellow glint of a sleek hide moving cautiously through thejungle toward Clayton.
It was Sheeta, the leopard. Now, Tarzan heard the soft bending ofgrasses and wondered why the young white man was not warned. Could itbe he had failed to note the loud warning? Never before had Tarzanknown Sheeta to be so clumsy.
No, the white man did not hear. Sheeta was crouching for the spring,and then, shrill and horrible, there rose from the stillness of thejungle the awful cry of the challenging ape, and Sheeta turned,crashing into the underbrush.
Clayton came to his feet with a start. His blood ran cold. Never inall his life had so fearful a sound smote upon his ears. He was nocoward; but if ever man felt the icy fingers of fear upon his heart,William Cecil Clayton, eldest son of Lord Greystoke of England, didthat day in the fastness of the African jungle.
The noise of some great body crashing through the underbrush so closebeside him, and the sound of that bloodcurdling shriek from above,tested Clayton's courage to the limit; but he could not know that itwas to that very voice he owed his life, nor that the creature whohurled it forth was his own cousin--the real Lord Greystoke.
The afternoon was drawing to a close, and Clayton, disheartened anddiscouraged, was in a terrible quandary as to the proper course topursue; whether to keep on in search of Professor Porter, at the almostcertain risk of his own death in the jungle by night, or to return tothe cabin where he might at least serve to protect Jane from the perilswhich confronted her on all sides.
He did not wish to return to camp without her father; still more, heshrank from the thought of leaving her alone and unprotected in thehands of the mutineers of the Arrow, or to the hundred unknown dangersof the jungle.
Possibly, too, he thought, the professor and Philander might havereturned to camp. Yes, that was more than likely. At least he wouldreturn and see, before he continued what seemed to be a most fruitlessquest. And so he started, stumbling back through the thick and mattedunderbrush in the direction that he thought the cabin lay.
To Tarzan's surprise the young man was heading further into the junglein the general direction of Mbonga's village, and the shrewd youngape-man was convinced that he was lost.
To Tarzan this was scarcely comprehensible; his judgment told himthat no man would venture toward the village of the cruel blacks armedonly with a spear which, from the awkward way in which he carried it,was evidently an unaccustomed weapon to this white man. Nor was hefollowing the trail of the old men. That, they had crossed and leftlong since, though it had been fresh and plain before Tarzan's eyes.
Tarzan was perplexed. The fierce jungle would make easy prey of thisunprotected stranger in a very short time if he were not guided quicklyto the beach.
Yes, there was Numa, the lion, even now, stalking the white man a dozenpaces to the right.
Clayton heard the great body paralleling his course, and now there roseupon the evening air the beast's thunderous roar. The man stopped withupraised spear and faced the brush from which issued the awful sound.The shadows were deepening, darkness was settling in.
God! To die here alone, beneath the fangs of wild beasts; to be tornand rended; to feel the hot breath of the brute on his face as thegreat paw crushed down upon his breast!
For a moment all was still. Clayton stood rigid, with raised spear.Presently a faint rustling of the bush apprised him of the stealthycreeping of the thing behind. It was gathering for the spring. Atlast he saw it, not twenty feet away--the long, lithe, muscular bodyand tawny head of a huge black-maned lion.
The beast was upon its belly, moving forward very slowly. As its eyesmet Clayton's it stopped, and deliberately, cautiously gathered itshind quarters behind it.
In agony the man watched, fearful to launch his spear, powerless to fly.
He heard a noise in the tree above him. Some new danger, he thought,but he dared not take his eyes from the yellow green orbs before him.There was a sharp twang as of a broken banjo-string, and at the sameinstant an arrow appeared in the yellow hide of the crouching lion.
With a roar of pain and anger the beast sprang; but, somehow, Claytonstumbled to one side, and as he turned again to face the infuriatedking of beasts, he was appalled at the sight which confronted him.Almost simultaneously with the lion's turning to renew the attack ahalf-naked giant dropped from the tree above squarely on the brute'sback.
With lightning speed an arm that was banded layers of iron muscleencircled the huge neck, and the great beast was raised from behind,roaring and pawing the air--raised as easily as Clayton would havelifted a pet dog.
The scene he witnessed there in the twilight depths of the Africanjungle was burned forever into the Englishman's brain.
The man before him was the embodiment of physical perfection and giantstrength; yet it was not upon these he depended in his battle with thegreat cat, for mighty as were his muscles, they were as nothing bycomparison with Numa's. To his agility, to his brain and to his longkeen knife he owed his supremacy.
His right arm encircled the lion's neck, while the left hand plungedthe knife time and again into the unprotected side behind the leftshoulder. The infuriated beast, pulled up and backwards until he stoodupon his hind legs, struggled impotently in this unnatural position.
Had the battle been of a few seconds' longer duration the outcome mighthave been different, but it was all accomplished so quickly that thelion had scarce time to recover from the confusion of its surprise ereit sank lifeless to the ground.
Then the strange figure which had vanquished it stood erect upon thecarcass, and throwing back the wild and handsome head, gave out thefearsome cry which a few moments earlier had so startled Clayton.
Before him he saw the figure of a young man, naked except for a loincloth and a few barbaric ornaments about arms and legs; on the breast apriceless diamond locket gleaming against a smooth brown skin.
The hunting knife had been returned to its homely sheath, and the manwas gathering up his bow and quiver from where he had tossed them whenhe leaped to attack the lion.
Clayton spoke to the stranger in English, thanking him for his braverescue and complimenting him on the wondrous strength and dexterity hehad displayed, but the only answer was a steady stare and a faint shrugof the mighty shoulders, which might betoken either disparagement ofthe service rendered, or ignorance of Clayton's language.
When the bow and quiver had been slung to his back the wild man, forsuch Clayton now thought him, once more drew his knife and deftlycarved a dozen large strips of meat from the lion's carcass. Then,squatting upon his haunches, he proceeded to eat, first motioningClayton to join him.
The strong white teeth sank into the raw and dripping flesh in apparentrelish of the meal, but Clayton could not bring himself to share theuncooked meat with his strange host; instead he watched him, andpresently there dawned upon him the conviction that this was Tarzan ofthe Apes, whose notice he had seen posted upon the cabin door thatmorning.
If so he must speak English.
Again Clayton attempted speech with the ape-man; but the replies, nowvocal, were in a strange tongue, which resembled the chattering ofmonkeys mingled with the growling of some wild beast.
No, this could not be Tarzan of the Apes, for it was very evident thathe was an utter stranger to English.
When Tarzan had completed his repast he rose and, pointing a verydifferent direction from that which Clayton had been pursuing, startedoff through the jungle toward the point he had indicated.
Clayton, bewildered and confused, hesitated to follow him, for hethought he was but being led more deeply into the mazes of the forest;but the ape-man, seeing him disinclined to follow, returned, and,grasping him by the coat, dragged him along until he was convinced thatClayton understood what was required of him. Then he left him tofollow voluntarily.
The Englishman, finally concluding that he was a prisoner, saw noalternative open but to accompany his captor, and thus they traveledslowly through the jungle while the sable mantle of the impenetrableforest night fell about them, and the stealthy footfalls of padded pawsmingled with the breaking of twigs and the wild calls of the savagelife that Clayton felt closing in upon him.
Suddenly Clayton heard the faint report of a firearm--a single shot,and then silence.
In the cabin by the beach two thoroughly terrified women clung to eachother as they crouched upon the low bench in the gathering darkness.
The Negress sobbed hysterically, bemoaning the evil day that hadwitnessed her departure from her dear Maryland, while the white girl,dry eyed and outwardly calm, was torn by inward fears and forebodings.She feared not more for herself than for the three men whom she knew tobe wandering in the abysmal depths of the savage jungle, from which shenow heard issuing the almost incessant shrieks and roars, barkings andgrowlings of its terrifying and fearsome denizens as they sought theirprey.
And now there came the sound of a heavy body brushing against the sideof the cabin. She could hear the great padded paws upon the groundoutside. For an instant, all was silence; even the bedlam of theforest died to a faint murmur. Then she distinctly heard the beastoutside sniffing at the door, not two feet from where she crouched.Instinctively the girl shuddered, and shrank closer to the black woman.
”Hush!” she whispered. ”Hush, Esmeralda,” for the woman's sobs andgroans seemed to have attracted the thing that stalked there justbeyond the thin wall.
A gentle scratching sound was heard on the door. The brute tried toforce an entrance; but presently this ceased, and again she heard thegreat pads creeping stealthily around the cabin. Again theystopped--beneath the window on which the terrified eyes of the girl nowglued themselves.
”God!” she murmured, for now, silhouetted against the moonlit skybeyond, she saw framed in the tiny square of the latticed window thehead of a huge lioness. The gleaming eyes were fixed upon her inintent ferocity.
”Look, Esmeralda!” she whispered. ”For God's sake, what shall we do?Look! Quick! The window!”
Esmeralda, cowering still closer to her mistress, took one frightenedglance toward the little square of moonlight, just as the lionessemitted a low, savage snarl.
The sight that met the poor woman's eyes was too much for the alreadyoverstrung nerves.
”Oh, Gaberelle!” she shrieked, and slid to the floor an inert andsenseless mass.
For what seemed an eternity the great brute stood with its forepawsupon the sill, glaring into the little room. Presently it tried thestrength of the lattice with its great talons.
The girl had almost ceased to breathe, when, to her relief, the headdisappeared and she heard the brute's footsteps leaving the window.But now they came to the door again, and once more the scratchingcommenced; this time with increasing force until the great beast wastearing at the massive panels in a perfect frenzy of eagerness to seizeits defenseless victims.
Could Jane have known the immense strength of that door, built piece bypiece, she would have felt less fear of the lioness reaching her bythis avenue.
Little did John Clayton imagine when he fashioned that crude but mightyportal that one day, twenty years later, it would shield a fairAmerican girl, then unborn, from the teeth and talons of a man-eater.
For fully twenty minutes the brute alternately sniffed and tore at thedoor, occasionally giving voice to a wild, savage cry of baffled rage.At length, however, she gave up the attempt, and Jane heard herreturning toward the window, beneath which she paused for an instant,and then launched her great weight against the timeworn lattice.
The girl heard the wooden rods groan beneath the impact; but they held,and the huge body dropped back to the ground below.
Again and again the lioness repeated these tactics, until finally thehorrified prisoner within saw a portion of the lattice give way, and inan instant one great paw and the head of the animal were thrust withinthe room.
Slowly the powerful neck and shoulders spread the bars apart, and thelithe body protruded farther and farther into the room.
As in a trance, the girl rose, her hand upon her breast, wide eyesstaring horror-stricken into the snarling face of the beast scarce tenfeet from her. At her feet lay the prostrate form of the Negress. Ifshe could but arouse her, their combined efforts might possibly availto beat back the fierce and bloodthirsty intruder.
Jane stooped to grasp the black woman by the shoulder. Roughly sheshook her.
”Esmeralda! Esmeralda!” she cried. ”Help me, or we are lost.”
Esmeralda opened her eyes. The first object they encountered was thedripping fangs of the hungry lioness.
With a horrified scream the poor woman rose to her hands and knees, andin this position scurried across the room, shrieking: ”O Gaberelle! OGaberelle!” at the top of her lungs.
Esmeralda weighed some two hundred and eighty pounds, and her extremehaste, added to her extreme corpulency, produced a most amazing resultwhen Esmeralda elected to travel on all fours.
For a moment the lioness remained quiet with intense gaze directed uponthe flitting Esmeralda, whose goal appeared to be the cupboard, intowhich she attempted to propel her huge bulk; but as the shelves werebut nine or ten inches apart, she only succeeded in getting her headin; whereupon, with a final screech, which paled the jungle noises intoinsignificance, she fainted once again.
With the subsidence of Esmeralda the lioness renewed her efforts towriggle her huge bulk through the weakening lattice.
The girl, standing pale and rigid against the farther wall, sought withever-increasing terror for some loophole of escape. Suddenly her hand,tight-pressed against her bosom, felt the hard outline of the revolverthat Clayton had left with her earlier in the day.
Quickly she snatched it from its hiding-place, and, leveling it full atthe lioness's face, pulled the trigger.
There was a flash of flame, the roar of the discharge, and an answeringroar of pain and anger from the beast.
Jane Porter saw the great form disappear from the window, and then she,too, fainted, the revolver falling at her side.
But Sabor was not killed. The bullet had but inflicted a painful woundin one of the great shoulders. It was the surprise at the blindingflash and the deafening roar that had caused her hasty but temporaryretreat.
In another instant she was back at the lattice, and with renewed furywas clawing at the aperture, but with lessened effect, since thewounded member was almost useless.
She saw her prey--the two women--lying senseless upon the floor. Therewas no longer any resistance to be overcome. Her meat lay before her,and Sabor had only to worm her way through the lattice to claim it.
Slowly she forced her great bulk, inch by inch, through the opening.Now her head was through, now one great forearm and shoulder.
Carefully she drew up the wounded member to insinuate it gently beyondthe tight pressing bars.
A moment more and both shoulders through, the long, sinuous body andthe narrow hips would glide quickly after.
It was on this sight that Jane Porter again opened her eyes.