The Beasts of Tarzan

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endons from the buck upon which he had dined his first evening upon the new shore, and though he would have preferred

before to tantalize the ill-natured Tublat, and which later had developed i

hen 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

the Kincaid had not passed through the Mediterranean, the Suez Canal, and the Red Sea, nor had

to deposit him upon some wild South American shore; but the prese

companionship, so that gradually he commenced to regret that he had not cast his lot with the apes. He had se

reciated the fact that there could be little in common between himself

onal fruit or turning over a fallen log in search of the larger bugs, which he still found as palatable as of ol

to utilize the great cat's strong gut for his bow, but also to fashion a new quiver and loin-cloth from pieces of

of the savage cat, nor was the pursuer, for all his noble birt

g game of his own, and even as he realized this fact there came to his nostrils, waf

e of Akut lolling in a little, natural clearing. Some of them were dozing against the boles of trees, while others roa

he closest

m the ape's view by dense foliage, waiting patiently unt

his left hand he grasped his slim stone blade. He would have preferred to use his noose, but th

the branch still further beneath him, and then with a hideous shriek he launched himself toward the great ape. The barest

above him, and already upon the panther's back the whit

m was round the fierce throat, while the left hand, grasping a slender piece of st

de to avoid being pinioned beneath t

ing, snarling, and roaring horribly; but the white ape clung t

ain it drank deep, until with a final agonized lunge and shriek the great feline rolled over u

the carcass of his kill, and once again through the

led wonder at the dead body of Sheeta and the li

the first

s of the ape intellect, he also knew that he must make this purpose

water I spared Akut's life when I might have taken it and become king of the tr

thus"-and the ape-man raised the hideous cry with which the tribe of

em, let them remember what he has done for Akut and co

om the members of his tribe

in as though nothing had happened, and wi

nder in his little bloodshot eyes, and once he did a thing that Tarzan during all his long years among

ides of his companions. Oftentimes they brushed together in passing, but the apes had al

ly, and occasionally a truculent young bull would snarl a warning if Tarzan approached while the former was eatin

such is the way of apes, if they be not in one of their occasional fits of bestial rage-and he growled back at the truculent young bulls, baring his canine t

ally through a well-laid plan to impress himself indelibly upon their memories, which at best are none too long; for Tarzan fro

m he decided to again take up his exploration. To this end he set out toward the north ear

ross the water as heretofore, and so he reasoned that the shore line had trended toward the west. All the second day he continued his ra

ter opposite the land, and then the ape-man guess

t him ashore

ng he should have known that such would be the one adopted by the Russian, and what could

hing for him to find the means of delivering the infant Jack into the hands of the cruel and s

als whose intentions toward him were of the kindest. The ape-man had had sufficient experience with the lower savages of Africa to know that even the

horrible practices that would form a part of his life-training would alone be suffici

a savage man-eater! It was

ted hideously. Tarzan groaned. Could he but feel the

Ja

tion was infinitely less terrible than hers, for he at least knew that one of his loved ones

ss the truth, for the knowledge would hav

by his gloomy thoughts, there presently came to his ears

which it emanated, presently coming upon a

cate itself; but one great limb across its back and the smaller entangling branch

that he might dispatch the beast that otherwise must die of starvati

it! He was sure from the fact that the panther moved all its limbs in its futile struggle for freed

to the quiver and, throwing the bow about his

selves made when contented and happy. It was the nearest approach to

al it was necessary to come within reach of those long, strong talons, and when the tree had been removed t

ded, he act

oicing his friendly and conciliatory purr. The cat turned his head toward the man, eyeing h

e, and as he did so his bare leg pressed against the ca

extended his

feeling the encumbering weight diminish, quickly crawled from beneath. Tarzan le

life in his hands to free this savage jungle fellow; nor would it have sur

ew paces from the tree watching the ape-man

pposite side, for Sheeta cannot climb to the heights to which the ape-man can go; but something, a spirit of bravado perhaps,

pe-man brushed past him within a foot of the dripping jaws, and as he continued on

feelings or merely stalking him against the time he should be hungry; but finally he w

oose about the animal's neck he called to Sheeta, using a purr similar to that which he had ut

d heard panthers use after a kill

underbrush close at hand, and the long, lithe

her gave forth a shrill scream, and a moment later two beast

rangely assorted pair ro

alled the other, and thus

oar that Sheeta had dispatched, Numa, the lion, grim and te

from their kill. Sheeta bounded into a near-by thicket, wh

head erect, he dropped the sinuous noose about the maned neck, drawing the stout strands taut with a sudden jerk. At the

ns, leaped into sight, Tarzan dropped to the earth beside the struggling and infuriated Num

is stone knife upon the other, so that before the mighty clawing of the king of bea

wo savage throats the victory cry of the bull-ape and th

re of painted warriors, drawing their long war-canoe upon the bea