The Beasts of Tarzan

ry or

en her husband rowed to the verdure-clad shore of Jungle

the Kincaid's taciturn and repellent cook. She asked him

ard," replied the Swede, and that w

ased to importune him for information; but never did she forget to greet him

d the Kincaid came to anchor in the mouth of a great r

ome to offer you safety, liberty, and ease. My heart has been softene

ngle, roaming wild with the savage beasts that were his fellows. Now I am a gentl

sorely missed in your relations with the poor ape that through your girlish infatuation you married so thoughtlessly. I love yo

gy neck his little head was cocked to one side, his close-set eyes were half closed, his ears, so expressive was his whole attitude

, the look of surprise upon Jane Clayton's face turned to

that you should be so fatuous as to believe that I, wife of John Clayton, would come to you willingly, even to save my life

ication flushed out the pallor of his face. H

ss has cost you all that you hold dear-even the life of your baby-for, by the bones of St. Peter, I'll forego all that I

n turned we

annot judge yet for himself, but I, his mother, can foresee that should it have been given him to survive to man's estate he would willingly sacrifice his li

e to his diseased mind that if he could force her to accede to his demands as the price of her life and her child's, the cup of

rage and desire. Like a wild beast he sprang upon her, and with h

n opened noisily. Rokoff leaped to his f

dity. His lower jaw drooped in vacuous harmony. He busied himself in arra

ian glar

ied, "by entering here wi

ery blue eyes upon Roko

" he said, and then he began rearrangin

you miserable blockhead!" roared Rokoff,

ham-like paw slid stealthily to the handle of the long, slim knif

ed short in his advance. Then

will be sent ashore upon one pretext or another except you and the child, Paulvitch a

rtent of his words. When he had done he banged out of the cabin witho

ke-the idiotic expression that had masked his thoughts had

," he said. "Hay ben th

looked at him

od all that h

sen gr

at," h

as going on in here a

reat me like darty dog. Ay help you, lady. You yus

en," she asked, "when all th

t blow purty soon purty hard," and

ul to him for what he already had done. The feeling that among these enemies she had one friend brought the first ray o

into conversation relative to his plans to aid her, but all that she could get from him was his stereotyped prophe

e empty dishes he whispered very low, "Leave on your clothes

he room at once, but Jane la

sked. "I cannot

erssen, scowling. "Ay ban halpin'

s she to do? Suspicions as to the intentions of the Swede swarmed her brain. Might sh

evil himself than with Nikolas Rokoff, for the devi

ed clothed long past her usual hour for retiring, and her blankets were neatly rolled and bound w

muffled figure of the Swede. On one arm he carried a bundle, evidently his blankets. His

uite clos

not make some noise when yo

folded the sleeping infant to her breast, while hot tears of joy ran d

erssen. "We got

nt of the monkey-ladder, holding the child for her as she climbed to the waiting boat below. A moment later he had cut the rope that held

on broke through the clouds there was revealed upon their left the mouth of a tributary r

een rowed up this very stream to a little village where he had bartered with the natives for such provisions as they had

in a great arch above the centre of the river. Spanish moss dropped from the gracefully bending limbs, and enormous creepers cl

crocodile, startled by the splashing of the oars, or, snorting and blowing, a fa

hyena, the coughing grunt of the panther, the deep and awful roar of the lion. And with them strange, uncann

e to her bosom, and because of that little tender, helpless thing sh

py and thankful for the moment, however brief, that she might press her baby tightly in her arms. She could scar

but a tiny peep at those beloved features, but only the dim outline of the baby face rewarded h

ght the boat's nose to the shore before a clearing where could be dimly see

paid to assist him. She took them to the chief's hut, but Anderssen said that they would sleep wi

ess filthy and vermin-ridden, spread Jane's blankets on the ground for

the hard ground, but at last, the baby in the hollow of her arm, she dro

who owns this characteristic in its most exaggerated form. Instinctively Jane Clayton drew the baby mo

k caked in layers within its neck; but the spirit of the giver touched her deeply, and her face lightened for a moment wit

to her lips, though for the life of her she could scarce restrain the qualm of

the gourd from her, drank a portion himself, and the

er impatient desire to have at least a brief glance at the beloved face. The natives had withdr

lifting the blanket that now protected its face from the sun, she not

t a short day before, and now, within the past twenty-four hours, she had learned that h

mself in every way the contrary since the day before. It scarce seemed credible that he could be serving her from

yes and repulsive features, she shuddered, for she was convinced th

uncovering the baby's face, there came a little grunt from the wee bun

Now she might feas

om before the infant's face; Anders

at arm's length from her, her eyes glued in horro

her knees gave beneath her, and s