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Scarce
a branch scraped against her, yet above and below, before and behind, the
view presented naught but a solid mass of inextricably interwoven branches
and creepers.
As
Tarzan moved steadily onward his mind was occupied with many strange and
new thoughts. Here was a problem the like of which he had never
encountered, and he felt rather than reasoned that he must meet it as a
man and not as an ape. The
free movement through the middle terrace, which was the route he had
followed for the most part, had helped to cool the ardor of the first
fierce passion of his new found love.
Now
he discovered himself speculating upon the fate which would have fallen to
the girl had he not rescued her from Terkoz.
He
knew why the ape had not killed her, and he commenced to compare his
intentions with those of Terkoz.
True,
it was the order of the jungle for the male to take his mate by force; but
could Tarzan be guided by the laws of the beasts?
Was not Tarzan a Man? But
what did men do? He was
puzzled; for he did not know.
He
wished that he might ask the girl, and then it came to him that she had
already answered him in the futile struggle she had made to escape and to
repulse him.
But
now they had come to their destination, and Tarzan of the Apes with Jane
in his strong arms, swung lightly to the turf of the arena where the great
apes held their councils and danced the wild orgy of the Dum-Dum.
Though
they had come many miles, it was still but midafternoon, and the
amphitheater was bathed in the half light which filtered through the maze
of encircling foliage.
The
green turf looked soft and cool and inviting.
The myriad noises of the jungle seemed far distant and hushed to a
mere echo of blurred sounds, rising and falling like the surf upon a
remote shore.
A
feeling of dreamy peacefulness stole over Jane as she sank down upon the
grass where Tarzan had placed her, and as she looked up at his great
figure towering above her, there was added a strange sense of perfect
security.
As
she watched him from beneath half-closed lids, Tarzan crossed the little
circular clearing toward the trees upon the further side.
She noted the graceful majesty of his carriage, the perfect
symmetry of his magnificent figure and the poise of his well-shaped head
upon his broad shoulders.
What
a perfect creature! There
could be naught of cruelty or baseness beneath that godlike exterior.
Never, she thought had such a man strode the earth since God
created the first in his own image.
With
a bound Tarzan sprang into the trees and disappeared. Jane wondered where
he had gone. Had he left her there to her fate in the lonely jungle?
She
glanced nervously about. Every
vine and bush seemed but the lurking-place of some huge and horrible beast
waiting to bury gleaming fangs into her soft flesh.
Every sound she magnified into the stealthy creeping of a sinuous
and malignant body.
How
different now that he had left her!
For
a few minutes that seemed hours to the frightened girl, she sat with tense
nerves waiting for the spring of the crouching thing that was to end her
misery of apprehension.
She
almost prayed for the cruel teeth that would give her unconsciousness and
surcease from the agony of fear.
She
heard a sudden, slight sound behind her.
With a cry she sprang to her feet and turned to face her end.
There
stood Tarzan, his arms filled with ripe and luscious fruit.
Jane
reeled and would have fallen, had not Tarzan, dropping his burden, caught
her in his arms. She did not lose consciousness, but she clung tightly to him,
shuddering and trembling like a frightened deer.
Tarzan
of the Apes stroked her soft hair and tried to comfort and quiet her as
Kala had him, when, as a little ape, he had been frightened by Sabor, the
lioness, or Histah, the snake.
Once
he pressed his lips lightly upon her forehead, and she did not move, but
closed her eyes and sighed.
She
could not analyze her feelings, nor did she wish to attempt it.
She was satisfied to feel the safety of those strong arms, and to
leave her future to fate; for the last few hours had taught her to trust
this strange wild creature of the forest as she would have trusted but few
of the men of her acquaintance.
As
she thought of the strangeness of it, there commenced to dawn upon her the
realization that she had, possibly, learned something else which she had
never really known before--love. She
wondered and then she smiled.
And
still smiling, she pushed Tarzan gently away; and looking at him with a
half-smiling, half-quizzical expression that made her face wholly
entrancing, she pointed to the fruit upon the ground, and seated herself
upon the edge of the earthen drum of the anthropoids, for hunger was
asserting itself.
Tarzan
quickly gathered up the fruit, and, bringing it, laid it at her feet; and
then he, too, sat upon the drum beside her, and with his knife opened and
prepared the various fruits for her meal.
Together
and in silence they ate, occasionally stealing sly glances at one another,
until finally Jane broke into a merry laugh in which Tarzan joined.
"I
wish you spoke English," said the girl.
Tarzan
shook his head, and an expression of wistful and pathetic longing sobered
his laughing eyes.
Then
Jane tried speaking to him in French, and then in German; but she had to
laugh at her own blundering attempt at the latter tongue.
"Anyway,"
she said to him in English, "you understand my German as well as they
did in Berlin."
Tarzan
had long since reached a decision as to what his future procedure should
be. He had had time to
recollect all that he had read of the ways of men and women in the books
at the cabin. He would act as
he imagined the men in the books would have acted were they in his place.
Again
he rose and went into the trees, but first he tried to explain by means of
signs that he would return shortly, and he did so well that Jane
understood and was not afraid when he had gone.
Only
a feeling of loneliness came over her and she watched the point where he
had disappeared, with longing eyes, awaiting his return.
As before, she was appraised of his presence by a soft sound behind
her, and turned to see him coming across the turf with a great armful of
branches.
Then
he went back again into the jungle and in a few minutes reappeared with a
quantity of soft grasses and ferns.
Two
more trips he made until he had quite a pile of material at hand.
Then
he spread the ferns and grasses upon the ground in a soft flat bed, and
above it leaned many branches together so that they met a few feet over
its center. Upon these he
spread layers of huge leaves of the great elephant's ear, and with more
branches and more leaves he closed one end of the little shelter he had
built.
Then
they sat down together again upon the edge of the drum and tried to talk
by signs.
The
magnificent diamond locket which hung about Tarzan's neck, had been a
source of much wonderment to Jane. She pointed to it now, and Tarzan
removed it and handed the pretty bauble to her.
She
saw that it was the work of a skilled artisan and that the diamonds were
of great brilliancy and superbly set, but the cutting of them denoted that
they were of a former day. She noticed too that the locket opened, and,
pressing the hidden clasp, she saw the two halves spring apart to reveal
in either section an ivory miniature.
One
was of a beautiful woman and the other might have been a likeness of the
man who sat beside her, except for a subtle difference of expression that
was scarcely definable.
She
looked up at Tarzan to find him leaning toward her gazing on the
miniatures with an expression of astonishment. He reached out his hand for
the locket and took it away from her, examining the likenesses within with
unmistakable signs of surprise and new interest.
His manner clearly denoted that he had never before seen them, nor
imagined that the locket opened.
This
fact caused Jane to indulge in further speculation, and it taxed her
imagination to picture how this beautiful ornament came into the
possession of a wild and savage creature of the unexplored jungles of
Africa.
Still
more wonderful was how it contained the likeness of one who might be a
brother, or, more likely, the father of this woodland demi-god who was
even ignorant of the fact that the locket opened.
Tarzan
was still gazing with fixity at the two faces. Presently he removed the
quiver from his shoulder, and emptying the arrows upon the ground reached
into the bottom of the bag-like receptacle and drew forth a flat object
wrapped in many soft leaves and tied with bits of long grass.
Carefully
he unwrapped it, removing layer after layer of leaves until at length he
held a photograph in his hand.
Pointing
to the miniature of the man within the locket he handed the photograph to
Jane, holding the open locket beside it.
The
photograph only served to puzzle the girl still more, for it was evidently
another likeness of the same man whose picture rested in the locket beside
that of the beautiful young woman.
Tarzan
was looking at her with an expression of puzzled bewilderment in his eyes
as she glanced up at him. He
seemed to be framing a question with his lips.
The
girl pointed to the photograph and then to the miniature and then to him,
as though to indicate that she thought the likenesses were of him, but he
only shook his head, and then shrugging his great shoulders, he took the
photograph from her and having carefully rewrapped it, placed it again in
the bottom of his quiver.
For
a few moments he sat in silence, his eyes bent upon the ground, while Jane
held the little locket in her hand, turning it over and over in an
endeavor to find some further clue that might lead to the identity of its
original owner.
At
length a simple explanation occurred to her.
The
locket had belonged to Lord Greystoke, and the likenesses were of himself
and Lady Alice.
This
wild creature had simply found it in the cabin by the beach. How stupid of
her not to have thought of that solution before.
But
to account for the strange likeness between Lord Greystoke and this forest
god--that was quite beyond her, and it is not strange that she could not
imagine that this naked savage was indeed an English nobleman.
At
length Tarzan looked up to watch the girl as she examined the locket.
He could not fathom the meaning of the faces within, but he could
read the interest and fascination upon the face of the live young creature
by his side.
She
noticed that he was watching her and thinking that he wished his ornament
again she held it out to him. He
took it from her and taking the chain in his two hands he placed it about
her neck, smiling at her expression of surprise at his unexpected gift.
Jane
shook her head vehemently and would have removed the golden links from
about her throat, but Tarzan would not let her.
Taking her hands in his, when she insisted upon it, he held them
tightly to prevent her.
At
last she desisted and with a little laugh raised the locket to her lips.
Tarzan
did not know precisely what she meant, but he guessed correctly that it
was her way of acknowledging the gift, and so he rose, and taking the
locket in his hand, stooped gravely like some courtier of old, and pressed
his lips upon it where hers had rested.
It
was a stately and gallant little compliment performed with the grace and
dignity of utter unconsciousness of self. It was the hall-mark of his
aristocratic birth, the natural outcropping of many generations of fine
breeding, an hereditary instinct of graciousness which a lifetime of
uncouth and savage training and environment could not eradicate.
It
was growing dark now, and so they ate again of the fruit which was both
food and drink for them; then Tarzan rose, and leading Jane to the little
bower he had erected, motioned her to go within.
For
the first time in hours a feeling of fear swept over her, and Tarzan felt
her draw away as though shrinking from him.
Contact
with this girl for half a day had left a very diferent Tarzan from the one
on whom the morning's sun had risen.
Now,
in every fiber of his being, heredity spoke louder than training.
He
had not in one swift transition become a polished gentleman from a savage
ape-man, but at last the instincts of the former predominated, and over
all was the desire to please the woman he loved, and to appear well in her
eyes.
So
Tarzan of the Apes did the only thing he knew to assure Jane of her
safety. He removed his
hunting knife from its sheath and handed it to her hilt first, again
motioning her into the bower.
The
girl understood, and taking the long knife she entered and lay down upon
the soft grasses while Tarzan of the Apes stretched himself upon the
ground across the entrance.
And
thus the rising sun found them in the morning.
When
Jane awoke, she did not at first recall the strange events of the
preceding day, and so she wondered at her odd surroundings--the little
leafy bower, the soft grasses of her bed, the unfamiliar prospect from the
opening at her feet.
Slowly
the circumstances of her position crept one by one into her mind.
And then a great wonderment arose in her heart--a mighty wave of
thankfulness and gratitude that though she had been in such terrible
danger, yet she was unharmed.
She
moved to the entrance of the shelter to look for Tarzan. He was gone; but
this time no fear assailed her for she knew that he would return.
In
the grass at the entrance to her bower she saw the imprint of his body
where he had lain all night to guard her. She knew that the fact that he
had been there was all that had permitted her to sleep in such peaceful
security.
With
him near, who could entertain fear? She
wondered if there was another man on earth with whom a girl could feel so
safe in the heart of this savage African jungle.
Even the lions and panthers had no fears for her now.
She
looked up to see his lithe form drop softly from a near-by tree.
As he caught her eyes upon him his face lighted with that frank and
radiant smile that had won her confidence the day before.
As
he approached her Jane's heart beat faster and her eyes brightened as they
had never done before at the approach of any man.
He
had again been gathering fruit and this he laid at the entrance of her
bower. Once more they sat
down together to eat.
Jane
commenced to wonder what his plans were.
Would he take her back to the beach or would he keep her here?
Suddenly she realized that the matter did not seem to give her much
concern. Could it be that she
did not care!
She
began to comprehend, also, that she was entirely contented sitting here by
the side of this smiling giant eating delicious fruit in a sylvan paradise
far within the remote depths of an African jungle--that she was contented
and very happy.
She
could not understand it. Her
reason told her that she should be torn by wild anxieties, weighted by
dread fears, cast down by gloomy forebodings; but instead, her heart was
singing and she was smiling into the answering face of the man beside her.
When
they had finished their breakfast Tarzan went to her bower and recovered
his knife. The girl had entirely forgotten it. She realized that it was because she had forgotten the fear
that prompted her to accept it.
Motioning
her to follow, Tarzan walked toward the trees at the edge of the arena,
and taking her in one strong arm swung to the branches above.
The
girl knew that he was taking her back to her people, and she could not
understand the sudden feeling of loneliness and sorrow which crept over
her.
For
hours they swung slowly along.
Tarzan
of the Apes did not hurry. He
tried to draw out the sweet pleasure of that journey with those dear arms
about his neck as long as possible, and so he went far south of the direct
route to the beach.
Several
times they halted for brief rests, which Tarzan did not need, and at noon
they stopped for an hour at a little brook, where they quenched their
thirst, and ate.
So
it was nearly sunset when they came to the clearing, and Tarzan, dropping
to the ground beside a great tree, parted the tall jungle grass and
pointed out the little cabin to her.
She
took him by the hand to lead him to it, that she might tell her father
that this man had saved her from death and worse than death, that he had
watched over her as carefully as a mother might have done.
But
again the timidity of the wild thing in the face of human habitation swept
over Tarzan of the Apes. He
drew back, shaking his head.
The
girl came close to him, looking up with pleading eyes. Somehow she could
not bear the thought of his going back into the terrible jungle alone.
Still
he shook his head, and finally he drew her to him very gently and stooped
to kiss her, but first he looked into her eyes and waited to learn if she
were pleased, or if she would repulse him.
Just
an instant the girl hesitated, and then she realized the truth, and
throwing her arms about his neck she drew his face to hers and kissed
him--unashamed.
"I
love you--I love you," she murmured.
From
far in the distance came the faint sound of many guns.
Tarzan and Jane raised their heads.
From
the cabin came Mr. Philander and Esmeralda.
From
where Tarzan and the girl stood they could not see the two vessels lying
at anchor in the harbor.
Tarzan
pointed toward the sounds, touched his breast and pointed again.
She understood. He was
going, and something told her that it was because he thought her people
were in danger.
Again
he kissed her.
"Come
back to me," she whispered. "I
shall wait for you--always."
He
was gone--and Jane turned to walk across the clearing to the cabin.
Mr.
Philander was the first to see her. It
was dusk and Mr. Philander was very near sighted.
"Quickly,
Esmeralda!" he cried. "Let
us seek safety within; it is a lioness.
Bless me!"
Esmeralda
did not bother to verify Mr. Philander's vision. His tone was enough.
She was within the cabin and had slammed and bolted the door before
he had finished pronouncing her name.
The "Bless me" was startled out of Mr. Philander by the
discovery that Esmeralda, in the exuberance of her haste, had fastened him
upon the same side of the door as was the close-approaching lioness.
He
beat furiously upon the heavy portal.
"Esmeralda! Esmeralda!" he shrieked.
"Let me in. I am
being devoured by a lion."
Esmeralda
thought that the noise upon the door was made by the lioness in her
attempts to pursue her, so, after her custom, she fainted.
Mr.
Philander cast a frightened glance behind him.
Horrors!
The thing was quite close now.
He tried to scramble up the side of the cabin, and succeeded in
catching a fleeting hold upon the thatched roof.
For
a moment he hung there, clawing with his feet like a cat on a clothesline,
but presently a piece of the thatch came away, and Mr. Philander,
preceding it, was precipitated upon his back.
At
the instant he fell a remarkable item of natural history leaped to his
mind. If one feigns death
lions and lionesses are supposed to ignore one, according to Mr.
Philander's faulty memory.
So
Mr. Philander lay as he had fallen, frozen into the horrid semblance of
death. As his arms and legs
had been extended stiffly upward as he came to earth upon his back the
attitude of death was anything but impressive.
Jane
had been watching his antics in mild-eyed surprise. Now she laughed--a
little choking gurgle of a laugh; but it was enough.
Mr. Philander rolled over upon his side and peered about.
At length he discovered her.
"Jane!"
he cried. "Jane Porter. Bless me!"
He
scrambled to his feet and rushed toward her.
He could not believe that it was she, and alive.
"Bless
me!" Where did you come
from? Where in the world have
you been? How--"
"Mercy,
Mr. Philander," interrupted the girl, "I can never remember so
many questions."
"Well,
well," said Mr. Philander. "Bless
me! I am so filled with
surprise and exuberant delight at seeing you safe and well again that I
scarcely know what I am saying, really.
But come, tell me all that has happened to you."
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