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There
were no formalities. As
Terkoz reached the group, five huge, hairy beasts sprang upon him.
At
heart he was an arrant coward, which is the way with bullies among apes as
well as among men; so he did not remain to fight and die, but tore himself
away from them as quickly as he could and fled into the sheltering boughs
of the forest.
Two
more attempts he made to rejoin the tribe, but on each occasion he was set
upon and driven away. At last
he gave it up, and turned, foaming with rage and hatred, into the jungle.
For
several days he wandered aimlessly, nursing his spite and looking for some
weak thing on which to vent his pent anger.
It
was in this state of mind that the horrible, man-like beast, swinging from
tree to tree, came suddenly upon two women in the jungle.
He
was right above them when he discovered them.
The first intimation Jane Porter had of his presence was when the
great hairy body dropped to the earth beside her, and she saw the awful
face and the snarling, hideous mouth thrust within a foot of her.
One
piercing scream escaped her lips as the brute hand clutched her arm.
Then she was dragged toward those awful fangs which yawned at her
throat. But ere they touched
that fair skin another mood claimed the anthropoid.
The
tribe had kept his women. He
must find others to replace them. This
hairless white ape would be the first of his new household, and so he
threw her roughly across his broad, hairy shoulders and leaped back into
the trees, bearing Jane away.
Esmeralda's
scream of terror had mingled once with that of Jane, and then, as was
Esmeralda's manner under stress of emergency which required presence of
mind, she swooned.
But
Jane did not once lose consciousness.
It is true that that awful face, pressing close to hers, and the
stench of the foul breath beating upon her nostrils, paralyzed her with
terror; but her brain was clear, and she comprehended all that transpired.
With
what seemed to her marvelous rapidity the brute bore her through the
forest, but still she did not cry out or struggle. The sudden advent of
the ape had confused her to such an extent that she thought now that he
was bearing her toward the beach.
For
this reason she conserved her energies and her voice until she could see
that they had approached near enough to the camp to attract the succor she
craved.
She
could not have known it, but she was being borne farther and farther into
the impenetrable jungle.
The
scream that had brought Clayton and the two older men stumbling through
the undergrowth had led Tarzan of the Apes straight to where Esmeralda
lay, but it was not Esmeralda in whom his interest centered, though
pausing over her he saw that she was unhurt.
For
a moment he scrutinized the ground below and the trees above, until the
ape that was in him by virtue of training and environment, combined with
the intelligence that was his by right of birth, told his wondrous
woodcraft the whole story as plainly as though he had seen the thing
happen with his own eyes.
And
then he was gone again into the swaying trees, following the high-flung
spoor which no other human eye could have detected, much less translated.
At
boughs' ends, where the anthropoid swings from one tree to another, there
is most to mark the trail, but least to point the direction of the quarry;
for there the pressure is downward always, toward the small end of the
branch, whether the ape be leaving or entering a tree.
Nearer the center of the tree, where the signs of passage are
fainter, the direction is plainly marked.
Here,
on this branch, a caterpillar has been crushed by the fugitive's great
foot, and Tarzan knows instinctively where that same foot would touch in
the next stride. Here he
looks to find a tiny particle of the demolished larva, ofttimes not more
than a speck of moisture.
Again,
a minute bit of bark has been upturned by the scraping hand, and the
direction of the break indicates the direction of the passage.
Or some great limb, or the stem of the tree itself has been brushed
by the hairy body, and a tiny shred of hair tells him by the direction
from which it is wedged beneath the bark that he is on the right trail.
Nor
does he need to check his speed to catch these seemingly faint records of
the fleeing beast.
To
Tarzan they stand out boldly against all the myriad other scars and
bruises and signs upon the leafy way.
But strongest of all is the scent, for Tarzan is pursuing up the
wind, and his trained nostrils are as sensitive as a hound's.
There
are those who believe that the lower orders are specially endowed by
nature with better olfactory nerves than man, but it is merely a matter of
development.
Man's
survival does not hinge so greatly upon the perfection of his senses.
His power to reason has relieved them of many of their duties, and
so they have, to some extent, atrophied, as have the muscles which move
the ears and scalp, merely from disuse.
The
muscles are there, about the ears and beneath the scalp, and so are the
nerves which transmit sensations to the brain, but they are
under-developed because they are not needed.
Not
so with Tarzan of the Apes. From
early infancy his survival had depended upon acuteness of eyesight,
hearing, smell, touch, and taste far more than upon the more slowly
developed organ of reason.
The
least developed of all in Tarzan was the sense of taste, for he could eat
luscious fruits, or raw flesh, long buried with almost equal appreciation;
but in that he differed but slightly from more civilized epicures.
Almost
silently the ape-man sped on in the track of Terkoz and his prey, but the
sound of his approach reached the ears of the fleeing beast and spurred it
on to greater speed.
Three
miles were covered before Tarzan overtook them, and then Terkoz, seeing
that further flight was futile, dropped to the ground in a small open
glade, that he might turn and fight for his prize or be free to escape
unhampered if he saw that the pursuer was more than a match for him.
He
still grasped Jane in one great arm as Tarzan bounded like a leopard into
the arena which nature had provided for this primeval-like battle.
When
Terkoz saw that it was Tarzan who pursued him, he jumped to the conclusion
that this was Tarzan's woman, since they were of the same kind--white and
hairless--and so he rejoiced at this opportunity for double revenge upon
his hated enemy.
To
Jane the strange apparition of this god-like man was as wine to sick
nerves.
From
the description which Clayton and her father and Mr. Philander had given
her, she knew that it must be the same wonderful creature who had saved
them, and she saw in him only a protector and a friend.
But
as Terkoz pushed her roughly aside to meet Tarzan's charge, and she saw
the great proportions of the ape and the mighty muscles and the fierce
fangs, her heart quailed. How
could any vanquish such a mighty antagonist?
Like
two charging bulls they came together, and like two wolves sought each
other's throat. Against the
long canines of the ape was pitted the thin blade of the man's knife.
Jane--her
lithe, young form flattened against the trunk of a great tree, her hands
tight pressed against her rising and falling bosom, and her eyes wide with
mingled horror, fascination, fear, and admiration--watched the primordial
ape battle with the primeval man for possession of a woman--for her.
As
the great muscles of the man's back and shoulders knotted beneath the
tension of his efforts, and the huge biceps and forearm held at bay those
mighty tusks, the veil of centuries of civilization and culture was swept
from the blurred vision of the Baltimore girl.
When
the long knife drank deep a dozen times of Terkoz' heart's blood, and the
great carcass rolled lifeless upon the ground, it was a primeval woman who
sprang forward with outstretched arms toward the primeval man who had
fought for her and won her.
And
Tarzan?
He
did what no red-blooded man needs lessons in doing. He took his woman in
his arms and smothered her upturned, panting lips with kisses.
For
a moment Jane lay there with half-closed eyes.
For a moment--the first in her young life--she knew the meaning of
love.
But
as suddenly as the veil had been withdrawn it dropped again, and an
outraged conscience suffused her face with its scarlet mantle, and a
mortified woman thrust Tarzan of the Apes from her and buried her face in
her hands.
Tarzan
had been surprised when he had found the girl he had learned to love after
a vague and abstract manner a willing prisoner in his arms.
Now he was surprised that she repulsed him.
He
came close to her once more and took hold of her arm. She turned upon him
like a tigress, striking his great breast with her tiny hands.
Tarzan
could not understand it.
A
moment ago and it had been his intention to hasten Jane back to her
people, but that little moment was lost now in the dim and distant past of
things which were but can never be again, and with it the good intentions
had gone to join the impossible.
Since
then Tarzan of the Apes had felt a warm, lithe form close pressed to his.
Hot, sweet breath against his cheek and mouth had fanned a new
flame to life within his breast, and perfect lips had clung to his in
burning kisses that had seared a deep brand into his soul--a brand which
marked a new Tarzan.
Again
he laid his hand upon her arm. Again
she repulsed him. And then
Tarzan of the Apes did just what his first ancestor would have done.
He
took his woman in his arms and carried her into the jungle.
Early the following morning the four within the little cabin
by the beach were awakened by the booming of a cannon. Clayton was the
first to rush out, and there, beyond the harbor's mouth, he saw two
vessels lying at anchor.
One
was the Arrow and the other a small French cruiser. The sides of the
latter were crowded with men gazing shoreward, and it was evident to
Clayton, as to the others who had now joined him, that the gun which they
had heard had been fired to attract their attention if they still remained
at the cabin.
Both
vessels lay at a considerable distance from shore, and it was doubtful if
their glasses would locate the waving hats of the little party far in
between the harbor's points.
Esmeralda
had removed her red apron and was waving it frantically above her head;
but Clayton, still fearing that even this might not be seen, hurried off
toward the northern point where lay his signal pyre ready for the match.
It
seemed an age to him, as to those who waited breathlessly behind, ere he
reached the great pile of dry branches and underbrush.
As
he broke from the dense wood and came in sight of the vessels again, he
was filled with consternation to see that the Arrow was making sail and
that the cruiser was already under way.
Quickly
lighting the pyre in a dozen places, he hurried to the extreme point of
the promontory, where he stripped off his shirt, and, tying it to a fallen
branch, stood waving it back and forth above him.
But
still the vessels continued to stand out; and he had given up all hope,
when the great column of smoke, rising above the forest in one dense
vertical shaft, attracted the attention of a lookout aboard the cruiser,
and instantly a dozen glasses were leveled on the beach.
Presently
Clayton saw the two ships come about again; and while the Arrow lay
drifting quietly on the ocean, the cruiser steamed slowly back toward
shore.
At
some distance away she stopped, and a boat was lowered and dispatched
toward the beach.
As
it was drawn up a young officer stepped out.
"Monsieur
Clayton, I presume?" he asked.
"Thank
God, you have come!" was Clayton's reply.
"And it may be that it is not too late even now."
"What
do you mean, Monsieur?" asked the officer.
Clayton
told of the abduction of Jane Porter and the need of armed men to aid in
the search for her.
"MON
DIEU!" exclaimed the officer, sadly.
"Yesterday and it would not have been too late.
Today and it may be better that the poor lady were never found. It is horrible, Monsieur. It is too horrible."
Other
boats had now put off from the cruiser, and Clayton, having pointed out
the harbor's entrance to the officer, entered the boat with him and its
nose was turned toward the little landlocked bay, into which the other
craft followed.
Soon
the entire party had landed where stood Professor Porter, Mr. Philander
and the weeping Esmeralda.
Among
the officers in the last boats to put off from the cruiser was the
commander of the vessel; and when he had heard the story of Jane's
abduction, he generously called for volunteers to accompany Professor
Porter and Clayton in their search.
Not
an officer or a man was there of those brave and sympathetic Frenchmen who
did not quickly beg leave to be one of the expedition.
The
commander selected twenty men and two officers, Lieutenant D'Arnot and
Lieutenant Charpentier. A
boat was dispatched to the cruiser for provisions, ammunition, and
carbines; the men were already armed with revolvers.
Then,
to Clayton's inquiries as to how they had happened to anchor off shore and
fire a signal gun, the commander, Captain Dufranne, explained that a month
before they had sighted the Arrow bearing southwest under considerable
canvas, and that when they had signaled her to come about she had but
crowded on more sail.
They
had kept her hull-up until sunset, firing several shots after her, but the
next morning she was nowhere to be seen. They had then continued to cruise
up and down the coast for several weeks, and had about forgotten the
incident of the recent chase, when, early one morning a few days before
the lookout had described a vessel laboring in the trough of a heavy sea
and evidently entirely out of control.
As
they steamed nearer to the derelict they were surprised to note that it
was the same vessel that had run from them a few weeks earlier.
Her forestaysail and mizzen spanker were set as though an effort
had been made to hold her head up into the wind, but the sheets had
parted, and the sails were tearing to ribbons in the half gale of wind.
In
the high sea that was running it was a difficult and dangerous task to
attempt to put a prize crew aboard her; and as no signs of life had been
seen above deck, it was decided to stand by until the wind and sea abated;
but just then a figure was seen clinging to the rail and feebly waving a
mute signal of despair toward them.
Immediately
a boat's crew was ordered out and an attempt was successfully made to
board the Arrow.
The
sight that met the Frenchmen's eyes as they clambered over the ship's side
was appalling.
A
dozen dead and dying men rolled hither and thither upon the pitching deck,
the living intermingled with the dead. Two of the corpses appeared to have
been partially devoured as though by wolves.
The
prize crew soon had the vessel under proper sail once more and the living
members of the ill-starred company carried below to their hammocks.
The
dead were wrapped in tarpaulins and lashed on deck to be identified by
their comrades before being consigned to the deep.
None
of the living was conscious when the Frenchmen reached the Arrow's deck.
Even the poor devil who had waved the single despairing signal of
distress had lapsed into unconsciousness before he had learned whether it
had availed or not.
It
did not take the French officer long to learn what had caused the terrible
condition aboard; for when water and brandy were sought to restore the
men, it was found that there was none, nor even food of any description.
He
immediately signalled to the cruiser to send water, medicine, and
provisions, and another boat made the perilous trip to the Arrow.
When
restoratives had been applied several of the men regained consciousness,
and then the whole story was told. That
part of it we know up to the sailing of the Arrow after the murder of
Snipes, and the burial of his body above the treasure chest.
It
seems that the pursuit by the cruiser had so terrorized the mutineers that
they had continued out across the Atlantic for several days after losing
her; but on discovering the meager supply of water and provisions aboard,
they had turned back toward the east.
With
no one on board who understood navigation, discussions soon arose as to
their whereabouts; and as three days' sailing to the east did not raise
land, they bore off to the north, fearing that the high north winds that
had prevailed had driven them south of the southern extremity of Africa.
They
kept on a north-northeasterly course for two days, when they were
overtaken by a calm which lasted for nearly a week.
Their water was gone, and in another day they would be without
food.
Conditions
changed rapidly from bad to worse. One
man went mad and leaped overboard. Soon
another opened his veins and drank his own blood.
When
he died they threw him overboard also, though there were those among them
who wanted to keep the corpse on board. Hunger was changing them from
human beasts to wild beasts.
Two
days before they had been picked up by the cruiser they had become too
weak to handle the vessel, and that same day three men died.
On the following morning it was seen that one of the corpses had
been partially devoured.
All
that day the men lay glaring at each other like beasts of prey, and the
following morning two of the corpses lay almost entirely stripped of
flesh.
The
men were but little stronger for their ghoulish repast, for the want of
water was by far the greatest agony with which they had to contend.
And then the cruiser had come.
When
those who could had recovered, the entire story had been told to the
French commander; but the men were too ignorant to be able to tell him at
just what point on the coast the professor and his party had been
marooned, so the cruiser had steamed slowly along within sight of land,
firing occasional signal guns and scanning every inch of the beach with
glasses. They had anchored by
night so as not to neglect a particle of the shore line, and it had
happened that the preceding night had brought them off the very beach
where lay the little camp they sought.
The
signal guns of the afternoon before had not been heard by those on shore,
it was presumed, because they had doubtless been in the thick of the
jungle searching for Jane Porter, where the noise of their own crashing
through the underbrush would have drowned the report of a far distant gun.
By
the time the two parties had narrated their several adventures, the
cruiser's boat had returned with supplies and arms for the expedition.
Within
a few minutes the little body of sailors and the two French officers,
together with Professor Porter and Clayton, set off upon their hopeless
and ill-fated quest into the untracked jungle.
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