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