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第7节

the beasts of tarzan-第7节

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him whom he had cheated of it。



With his crude stone knife he cut a juicy steak from the

hindquarters; and while the great lion paced; growling; back

and forth below him; Lord Greystoke filled his savage belly;

nor ever in the choicest of his exclusive London clubs had a

meal tasted more palatable。



The warm blood of his kill smeared his hands and face

and filled his nostrils with the scent that the savage

carnivora love best。



And when he had finished he left the balance of the carcass

in a high fork of the tree where he had dined; and with Numa

trailing below him; still keen for revenge; he made his way

back to his tree…top shelter; where he slept until the sun was

high the following morning。









Chapter 4





Sheeta





The next few days were occupied by Tarzan in completing

his weapons and exploring the jungle。  He strung his

bow with tendons from the buck upon which he had dined

his first evening upon the new shore; and though he would

have preferred the gut of Sheeta for the purpose; he was

content to wait until opportunity permitted him to kill

one of the great cats。



He also braided a long grass ropesuch a rope as he had

used so many years before to tantalize the ill…natured Tublat;

and which later had developed into a wondrous effective

weapon in the practised hands of the little ape…boy。



A sheath and handle for his hunting…knife he fashioned;

and a quiver for arrows; and from the hide of Bara a belt

and loin…cloth。  Then he set out to learn something of the

strange land in which he found himself。  That it was not his

old familiar west coast of the African continent he knew from

the fact that it faced eastthe rising sun came up out of the

sea before the threshold of the jungle。



But that it was not the east coast of Africa he was equally

positive; for he felt satisfied that the Kincaid had not

passed through the Mediterranean; the Suez Canal; and the Red Sea;

nor had she had time to round the Cape of Good Hope。  So he was

quite at a loss to know where he might be。



Sometimes he wondered if the ship had crossed the broad

Atlantic to deposit him upon some wild South American

shore; but the presence of Numa; the lion; decided him that

such could not be the case。



As Tarzan made his lonely way through the jungle paralleling

the shore; he felt strong upon him a desire for companionship;

so that gradually he commenced to regret that he had not cast

his lot with the apes。  He had seen nothing of them since that

first day; when the influences of civilization were still

paramount within him。



Now he was more nearly returned to the Tarzan of old;

and though he appreciated the fact that there could be

little in common between himself and the great anthropoids;

still they were better than no company at all。



Moving leisurely; sometimes upon the ground and again

among the lower branches of the trees; gathering an occasional

fruit or turning over a fallen log in search of the larger

bugs; which he still found as palatable as of old; Tarzan had

covered a mile or more when his attention was attracted by

the scent of Sheeta up…wind ahead of him。



Now Sheeta; the panther; was one of whom Tarzan was exceptionally

glad to fall in with; for he had it in mind not only to utilize

the great cat's strong gut for his bow; but also to fashion

a new quiver and loin…cloth from pieces of his hide。  

So; whereas the ape…man had gone carelessly before;

he now became the personification of noiseless stealth。



Swiftly and silently he glided through the forest in the wake

of the savage cat; nor was the pursuer; for all his noble birth;

one whit less savage than the wild; fierce thing he stalked。



As he came closer to Sheeta he became aware that the panther

on his part was stalking game of his own; and even as he realized

this fact there came to his nostrils; wafted from his right by a

vagrant breeze; the strong odour of a company of great apes。



The panther had taken to a large tree as Tarzan came within

sight of him; and beyond and below him Tarzan saw the tribe

of Akut lolling in a little; natural clearing。  Some of them

were dozing against the boles of trees; while others roamed

about turning over bits of bark from beneath which they

transferred the luscious grubs and beetles to their mouths。



Akut was the closest to Sheeta。



The great cat lay crouched upon a thick limb; hidden from

the ape's view by dense foliage; waiting patiently until the

anthropoid should come within range of his spring。



Tarzan cautiously gained a position in the same tree with the

panther and a little above him。  In his left hand he grasped

his slim stone blade。  He would have preferred to use his noose;

but the foliage surrounding the huge cat precluded the possibility

of an accurate throw with the rope。



Akut had now wandered quite close beneath the tree wherein

lay the waiting death。  Sheeta slowly edged his hind paws

along the branch still further beneath him; and then with

a hideous shriek he launched himself toward the great ape。  

The barest fraction of a second before his spring another

beast of prey above him leaped; its weird and savage cry

mingling with his。



As the startled Akut looked up he saw the panther almost

above him; and already upon the panther's back the white

ape that had bested him that day near the great water。



The teeth of the ape…man were buried in the back of Sheeta's

neck and his right arm was round the fierce throat; while

the left hand; grasping a slender piece of stone; rose and fell

in mighty blows upon the panther's side behind the left shoulder。



Akut had just time to leap to one side to avoid being

pinioned beneath these battling monsters of the jungle。



With a crash they came to earth at his feet。  Sheeta was screaming;

snarling; and roaring horribly; but the white ape clung

tenaciously and in silence to the thrashing body of his quarry。



Steadily and remorselessly the stone knife was driven home

through the glossy hidetime and again it drank deep; until

with a final agonized lunge and shriek the great feline rolled

over upon its side and; save for the spasmodic jerking of its

muscles; lay quiet and still in death。



Then the ape…man raised his head; as he stood over the

carcass of his kill; and once again through the jungle rang

his wild and savage victory challenge。



Akut and the apes of Akut stood looking in startled wonder

at the dead body of Sheeta and the lithe; straight figure of

the man who had slain him。



Tarzan was the first to speak。



He had saved Akut's life for a purpose; and; knowing the

limitations of the ape intellect; he also knew that he must

make this purpose plain to the anthropoid if it were to serve

him in the way he hoped。



〃I am Tarzan of the Apes;〃 he said; 〃Mighty hunter。  Mighty fighter。

By the great water I spared Akut's life when I might have taken it

and become king of the tribe of Akut。  Now I have saved Akut from

death beneath the rending fangs of Sheeta。



〃When Akut or the tribe of Akut is in danger; let them

call to Tarzan thus〃and the ape…man raised the hideous

cry with which the tribe of Kerchak had been wont to summon

its absent members in times of peril。



〃And;〃 he continued; 〃when they hear Tarzan call to them;

let them remember what he has done for Akut and come to him

with great speed。  Shall it be as Tarzan says?〃



〃Huh!〃 assented Akut; and from the members of his tribe

there rose a unanimous 〃Huh。〃



Then; presently; they went to feeding again as though

nothing had happened; and with them fed John Clayton;

Lord Greystoke。



He noticed; however; that Akut kept always close to him;

and was often looking at him with a strange wonder in his

little bloodshot eyes; and once he did a thing that Tarzan

during all his long years among the apes had never before

seen an ape dohe found a particularly tender morsel and

handed it to Tarzan。



As the tribe hunted; the glistening body of the ape…man

mingled with the brown; shaggy hides of his companions。  

Oftentimes they brushed together in passing; but the apes

had already taken his presence for granted; so that he was

as much one of them as Akut himself。



If he came too close to a she with a young baby; the former

would bare her great fighting fangs and growl ominously;

and occasionally a truculent young bull would snarl a warning

if Tarzan approached while the former was eating。  But in

those things the treatment was no different from that which

they accorded any other member of the tribe。



Tarzan on his part felt very much at home with these fierce;

hairy progenitors of primitive man。  He skipped nimbly out

of reach of each threatening femalefor such is the way of

apes; if they be not in one of their occasional fits of bestial

rageand he growled back at the truculent young bul

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