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bound before he could make half an effort to escape。



Then they threw him down upon his back; and as his eyes

turned toward the crowd that stood near; they fell upon the

malign face of Nikolas Rokoff。



A sneer curled the Russian's lips。  He stepped quite close

to Tarzan。



〃Pig!〃 he cried。  〃Have you not learned sufficient

wisdom to keep away from Nikolas Rokoff?〃



Then he kicked the prostrate man full in the face。



〃That for your welcome;〃 he said。



〃Tonight; before my Ethiop friends eat you; I shall tell

you what has already befallen your wife and child; and what

further plans I have for their futures。〃









Chapter 8





The Dance of Death





Through the luxuriant; tangled vegetation of the Stygian

jungle night a great lithe body made its way sinuously

and in utter silence upon its soft padded feet。  Only two

blazing points of yellow…green flame shone occasionally with

the reflected light of the equatorial moon that now and again

pierced the softly sighing roof rustling in the night wind。



Occasionally the beast would stop with high…held nose;

sniffing searchingly。  At other times a quick; brief incursion

into the branches above delayed it momentarily in its steady

journey toward the east。  To its sensitive nostrils came the

subtle unseen spoor of many a tender four…footed creature;

bringing the slaver of hunger to the cruel; drooping jowl。



But steadfastly it kept on its way; strangely ignoring the

cravings of appetite that at another time would have sent

the rolling; fur…clad muscles flying at some soft throat。



All that night the creature pursued its lonely way; and the

next day it halted only to make a single kill; which it tore

to fragments and devoured with sullen; grumbling rumbles as

though half famished for lack of food。



It was dusk when it approached the palisade that surrounded

a large native village。  Like the shadow of a swift and silent

death it circled the village; nose to ground; halting at last

close to the palisade; where it almost touched the backs

of several huts。  Here the beast sniffed for a moment; and then;

turning its head upon one side; listened with up…pricked ears。



What it heard was no sound by the standards of human ears;

yet to the highly attuned and delicate organs of the beast

a message seemed to be borne to the savage brain。  A wondrous

transformation was wrought in the motionless mass of

statuesque bone and muscle that had an instant before stood

as though carved out of the living bronze。



As if it had been poised upon steel springs; suddenly released;

it rose quickly and silently to the top of the palisade;

disappearing; stealthily and catlike; into the dark space

between the wall and the back of an adjacent hut。



In the village street beyond women were preparing many little

fires and fetching cooking…pots filled with water; for a great

feast was to be celebrated ere the night was many hours older。  

About a stout stake near the centre of the circling fires

a little knot of black warriors stood conversing; their bodies

smeared with white and blue and ochre in broad and grotesque bands。  

Great circles of colour were drawn about their eyes and lips;

their breasts and abdomens; and from their clay…plastered

coiffures rose gay feathers and bits of long; straight wire。



The village was preparing for the feast; while in a hut at

one side of the scene of the coming orgy the bound victim of

their bestial appetites lay waiting for the end。  And such an end!



Tarzan of the Apes; tensing his mighty muscles; strained

at the bonds that pinioned him; but they had been re…enforced

many times at the instigation of the Russian; so that not even

the ape…man's giant brawn could budge them。



Death!



Tarzan had looked the Hideous Hunter in the face many a time;

and smiled。  And he would smile again tonight when he knew

the end was coming quickly; but now his thoughts were not

of himself; but of those othersthe dear ones who must

suffer most because of his passing。



Jane would never know the manner of it。  For that he thanked Heaven;

and he was thankful also that she at least was safe in the heart of

the world's greatest city。  Safe among kind and loving friends who

would do their best to lighten her misery。



But the boy!



Tarzan writhed at the thought of him。  His son!  And now

hethe mighty Lord of the Junglehe; Tarzan; King of the

Apes; the only one in all the world fitted to find and save the

child from the horrors that Rokoff's evil mind had planned

had been trapped like a silly; dumb creature。  He was to die

in a few hours; and with him would go the child's last chance

of succour。



Rokoff had been in to see and revile and abuse him several

times during the afternoon; but he had been able to wring no

word of remonstrance or murmur of pain from the lips of the

giant captive。



So at last he had given up; reserving his particular bit of

exquisite mental torture for the last moment; when; just

before the savage spears of the cannibals should for ever make

the object of his hatred immune to further suffering; the

Russian planned to reveal to his enemy the true whereabouts of

his wife whom he thought safe in England。



Dusk had fallen upon the village; and the ape…men could hear

the preparations going forward for the torture and the feast。  

The dance of death he could picture in his mind's eyefor

he had seen the thing many times in the past。  Now he was

to be the central figure; bound to the stake。



The torture of the slow death as the circling warriors cut

him to bits with the fiendish skill; that mutilated without

bringing unconsciousness; had no terrors for him。  He was

inured to suffering and to the sight of blood and to cruel

death; but the desire to live was no less strong within him;

and until the last spark of life should flicker and go out; his

whole being would remain quick with hope and determination。  

Let them relax their watchfulness but for an instant; he

knew that his cunning mind and giant muscles would find a

way to escapeescape and revenge。



As he lay; thinking furiously on every possibility of self…

salvation; there came to his sensitive nostrils a faint and a

familiar scent。  Instantly every faculty of his mind was upon

the alert。  Presently his trained ears caught the sound of the

soundless presence withoutbehind the hut wherein he lay。  

His lips moved; and though no sound came forth that might

have been appreciable to a human ear beyond the walls of

his prison; yet he realized that the one beyond would hear。  

Already he knew who that one was; for his nostrils had told

him as plainly as your eyes or mine tell us of the identity of

an old friend whom we come upon in broad daylight。



An instant later he heard the soft sound of a fur…clad

body and padded feet scaling the outer wall behind the

hut and then a tearing at the poles which formed the wall。  

Presently through the hole thus made slunk a great beast;

pressing its cold muzzle close to his neck。



It was Sheeta; the panther。



The beast snuffed round the prostrate man; whining a little。  

There was a limit to the interchange of ideas which could

take place between these two; and so Tarzan could not be

sure that Sheeta understood all that he attempted to

communicate to him。  That the man was tied and helpless Sheeta

could; of course; see; but that to the mind of the panther this

would carry any suggestion of harm in so far as his master

was concerned; Tarzan could not guess。



What had brought the beast to him?  The fact that he had

come augured well for what he might accomplish; but when

Tarzan tried to get Sheeta to gnaw his bonds asunder the great

animal could not seem to understand what was expected of him;

and; instead; but licked the wrists and arms of the prisoner。



Presently there came an interruption。  Some one was

approaching the hut。  Sheeta gave a low growl and slunk into

the blackness of a far corner。  Evidently the visitor did not

hear the warning sound; for almost immediately he entered

the huta tall; naked; savage warrior。



He came to Tarzan's side and pricked him with a spear。  

From the lips of the ape…man came a weird; uncanny sound;

and in answer to it there leaped from the blackness of the

hut's farthermost corner a bolt of fur…clad death。  Full upon

the breast of the painted savage the great beast struck;

burying sharp talons in the black flesh and sinking

great yellow fangs in the ebon throat。



There was a fearful scream of anguish and terror from the black;

and mingled with it was the hideous challenge of the killing panther。

Then came silencesilence except for the rending of bloody flesh

and the crunching of human bones between mighty jaws。



The noise had brought sudden quiet to the village without。  

Then there came the sound of voices in consult

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