[pg/etext94/tarz610.txt]

The Jungle Tales of Tarzan by Edgar Rice Burroughs
February, 1994  [Etext #106]

This etext was created by Judith Boss, Omaha, Nebraska.
The equipment:  an IBM-compatible 486/50, a Hewlett-Packard
ScanJet IIc flatbed scanner, and a copy of Calera Recognition
Systems' M/600 Series Professional OCR software and RISC
accelerator board donated by Calera.

This text is in the PUBLIC DOMAIN.



Jungle Tales of Tarzan
by Edgar Rice Burroughs


Contents

CHAPTER

 1  Tarzan's First Love
 2  The Capture of Tarzan
 3  The Fight for the Balu
 4  The God of Tarzan
 5  Tarzan and the Black Boy
 6  The Witch-Doctor Seeks Vengeance
 7  The End of Bukawai
 8  The Lion
 9  The Nightmare
10  The Battle for Teeka
11  A Jungle Joke
12  Tarzan Rescues the Moon



                           1

                  Tarzan's First Love

TEEKA, STRETCHED AT luxurious ease in the shade of the
tropical forest, presented, unquestionably, a most alluring
picture of young, feminine loveliness.  Or at least so
thought Tarzan of the Apes, who squatted upon a low-swinging
branch in a near-by tree and looked down upon her.

Just to have seen him there, lolling upon the swaying
bough of the jungle-forest giant, his brown skin mottled
by the brilliant equatorial sunlight which percolated
through the leafy canopy of green above him, his clean-limbed
body relaxed in graceful ease, his shapely head partly
turned in contemplative absorption and his intelligent,
gray eyes dreamily devouring the object of their devotion,
you would have thought him the reincarnation of some
demigod of old.

You would not have guessed that in infancy he had suckled
at the breast of a hideous, hairy she-ape, nor that in all
his conscious past since his parents had passed away in the
little cabin by the landlocked harbor at the jungle's verge,
he had known no other associates than the sullen bulls
and the snarling cows of the tribe of Kerchak, the great ape. 

Nor, could you have read the thoughts which passed through
that active, healthy brain, the longings and desires
and aspirations which the sight of Teeka inspired,
would you have been any more inclined to give credence
to the reality of the origin of the ape-man. For,
from his thoughts alone, you could never have gleaned
the truth--that he had been born to a gentle English lady
or that his sire had been an English nobleman of time-honored
lineage. 

Lost to Tarzan of the Apes was the truth of his origin. 
That he was John Clayton, Lord Greystoke, with a seat
in the House of Lords, he did not know, nor, knowing,
would have understood. 

Yes, Teeka was indeed beautiful!

Of course Kala had been beautiful--one's mother is always
that--but Teeka was beautiful in a way all her own,
an indescribable sort of way which Tarzan was just
beginning to sense in a rather vague and hazy manner. 

For years had Tarzan and Teeka been play-fellows, and Teeka
still continued to be playful while the young bulls of her own
age were rapidly becoming surly and morose.  Tarzan, if he
gave the matter much thought at all, probably reasoned
that his growing attachment for the young female could
be easily accounted for by the fact that of the former
playmates she and he alone retained any desire to frolic as of
old. 

But today, as he sat gazing upon her, he found himself
noting the beauties of Teeka's form and features--something
he never had done before, since none of them had aught
to do with Teeka's ability to race nimbly through the lower
terraces of the forest in the primitive games of tag and
hide-and-go-seek which Tarzan's fertile brain evolved. 
Tarzan scratched his head, running his fingers deep
into the shock of black hair which framed his shapely,
boyish face--he scratched his head and sighed. 
Teeka's new-found beauty became as suddenly his despair. 
He envied her the handsome coat of hair which covered
her body.  His own smooth, brown hide he hated with a
hatred born of disgust and contempt.  Years back he had
harbored a hope that some day he, too, would be clothed
in hair as were all his brothers and sisters; but of late
he had been forced to abandon the delectable dream. 

Then there were Teeka's great teeth, not so large as the males,
of course, but still mighty, handsome things by comparison
with Tarzan's feeble white ones.  And her beetling brows,
and broad, flat nose, and her mouth! Tarzan had often
practiced making his mouth into a little round circle and then
puffing out his cheeks while he winked his eyes rapidly;
but he felt that he could never do it in the same cute
and irresistible way in which Teeka did it. 

And as he watched her that afternoon, and wondered,
a young bull ape who had been lazily foraging for food
beneath the damp, matted carpet of decaying vegetation
at the roots of a near-by tree lumbered awkwardly
in Teeka's direction.  The other apes of the tribe
of Kerchak moved listlessly about or lolled restfully
in the midday heat of the equatorial jungle.  From time
to time one or another of them had passed close to Teeka,
and Tarzan had been uninterested.  Why was it then that his
brows contracted and his muscles tensed as he saw Taug
pause beside the young she and then squat down close to her?

Tarzan always had liked Taug.  Since childhood they
had romped together.  Side by side they had squatted
near the water, their quick, strong fingers ready to
leap forth and seize Pisah, the fish, should that wary
denizen of the cool depths dart surfaceward to the lure
of the insects Tarzan tossed upon the face of the pool. 

Together they had baited Tublat and teased Numa, the lion. 
Why, then, should Tarzan feel the rise of the short hairs
at the nape of his neck merely because Taug sat close to Teeka?

It is true that Taug was no longer the frolicsome ape
of yesterday.  When his snarling-muscles bared his giant
fangs no one could longer imagine that Taug was in as
playful a mood as when he and Tarzan had rolled upon
the turf in mimic battle.  The Taug of today was a huge,
sullen bull ape, somber and forbidding.  Yet he and Tarzan
never had quarreled. 

For a few minutes the young ape-man watched Taug press
closer to Teeka.  He saw the rough caress of the huge
paw as it stroked the sleek shoulder of the she,
and then Tarzan of the Apes slipped catlike to the ground
and approached the two. 

As he came his upper lip curled into a snarl, exposing his
fighting fangs, and a deep growl rumbled from his
cavernous chest.  Taug looked up, batting his blood-shot eyes.
Teeka half raised herself and looked at Tarzan. 
Did she guess the cause of his perturbation? Who may
say? At any rate, she was feminine, and so she reached
up and scratched Taug behind one of his small, flat ears. 

Tarzan saw, and in the instant that he saw, Teeka was no
longer the little playmate of an hour ago; instead she
was a wondrous thing--the most wondrous in the world--and
a possession for which Tarzan would fight to the death
against Taug or any other who dared question his right
of proprietorship. 

Stooped, his muscles rigid and one great shoulder turned
toward the young bull, Tarzan of the Apes sidled nearer
and nearer.  His face was partly averted, but his keen
gray eyes never left those of Taug, and as he came,
his growls increased in depth and volume. 

Taug rose upon his short legs, bristling.  His fighting
fangs were bared.  He, too, sidled, stiff-legged, and growled. 

"Teeka is Tarzan's," said the ape-man, in the low gutturals
of the great anthropoids. 

"Teeka is Taug's," replied the bull ape. 

Thaka and Numgo and Gunto, disturbed by the growlings
of the two young bulls, looked up half apathetic,
half interested.  They were sleepy, but they sensed a fight. 
It would break the monotony of the humdrum jungle life
they led. 

Coiled about his shoulders was Tarzan's long grass rope,
in his hand was the hunting knife of the long-dead father
he had never known.  In Taug's little brain lay a great
respect for the shiny bit of sharp metal which the ape-boy
knew so well how to use.  With it had he slain Tublat,
his fierce foster father, and Bolgani, the gorilla. 
Taug knew these things, and so he came warily, circling about
Tarzan in search of an opening.  The latter, made cautious
because of his lesser bulk and the inferiority of his
natural armament, followed similar tactics.

For a time it seemed that the altercation would
follow the way of the majority of such differences
between members of the tribe and that one of them would
finally lose interest and wander off to prosecute some
other line of endeavor.  Such might have been the end
of it had the CASUS BELLI been other than it was;
but Teeka was flattered at the attention that was being
drawn to her and by the fact that these two young bulls
were contemplating battle on her account.  Such a thing
never before had occurred in Teeka's brief life. 
She had seen other bulls battling for other and older shes,
and in the depth of her wild little heart she had longed
for the day when the jungle grasses would be reddened
with the blood of mortal combat for her fair sake. 

So now she squatted upon her haunches and insulted
both her admirers impartially.  She hurled taunts at
them for their cowardice, and called them vile names,
such as Histah, the snake, and Dango, the hyena. 
She threatened to call Mumga to chastise them with a
stick--Mumga, who was so old that she could no longer
climb and so toothless that she was forced to confine
her diet almost exclusively to bananas and grub-worms.

The apes who were watching heard and laughed. 
Taug was infuriated.  He made a sudden lunge for Tarzan,
but the ape-boy leaped nimbly to one side, eluding him,
and with the quickness of a cat wheeled and leaped back
again to close quarters.  His hunting knife was raised
above his head as he came in, and he aimed a vicious blow
at Taug's neck.  The ape wheeled to dodge the weapon
so that the keen blade struck him but a glancing blow upon
the shoulder. 

The spurt of red blood brought a shrill cry of delight
from Teeka.  Ah, but this was something worth while!
She glanced about to see if others had witnessed this
evidence of her popularity.  Helen of Troy was never
one whit more proud than was Teeka at that moment. 

If Teeka had not been so absorbed in her own vaingloriousness
she might have noted the rustling of leaves in the
tree above her--a rustling which was not caused by
any movement of the wind, since there was no wind. 
And had she looked up she might have seen a sleek body
crouching almost directly over her and wicked yellow
eyes glaring hungrily down upon her, but Teeka did not look up. 

With his wound Taug had backed off growling horribly. 
Tarzan had followed him, screaming insults at him,
and menacing him with his brandishing blade.  Teeka moved
from beneath the tree in an effort to keep close to
the duelists. 

The branch above Teeka bent and swayed a trifle with the
movement of the body of the watcher stretched along it. 
Taug had halted now and was preparing to make a new stand. 
His lips were flecked with foam, and saliva drooled from
his jowls.  He stood with head lowered and arms outstretched,
preparing for a sudden charge to close quarters. 
Could he but lay his mighty hands upon that soft,
brown skin the battle would be his.  Taug considered
Tarzan's manner of fighting unfair.  He would not close. 
Instead, he leaped nimbly just beyond the reach of Taug's
muscular fingers. 

The ape-boy had as yet never come to a real trial
of strength with a bull ape, other than in play,
and so he was not at all sure that it would be safe to put
his muscles to the test in a life and death struggle. 
Not that he was afraid, for Tarzan knew nothing of fear. 
The instinct of self-preservation gave him caution--that
was all.  He took risks only when it seemed necessary,
and then he would hesitate at nothing. 

His own method of fighting seemed best fitted to his build
and to his armament.  His teeth, while strong and sharp, were,
as weapons of offense, pitifully inadequate by comparison
with the mighty fighting fangs of the anthropoids. 
By dancing about, just out of reach of an antagonist,
Tarzan could do infinite injury with his long,
sharp hunting knife, and at the same time escape
many of the painful and dangerous wounds which would
be sure to follow his falling into the clutches of a bull ape. 

And so Taug charged and bellowed like a bull, and Tarzan
of the Apes danced lightly to this side and that,
hurling jungle billingsgate at his foe, the while he
nicked him now and again with his knife. 

There were lulls in the fighting when the two would stand
panting for breath, facing each other, mustering their
wits and their forces for a new onslaught.  It was
during a pause such as this that Taug chanced to let
his eyes rove beyond his foeman.  Instantly the entire
aspect of the ape altered.  Rage left his countenance
to be supplanted by an expression of fear. 

With a cry that every ape there recognized, Taug turned
and fled.  No need to question him--his warning proclaimed
the near presence of their ancient enemy. 

Tarzan started to seek safety, as did the other members
of the tribe, and as he did so he heard a panther's
scream mingled with the frightened cry of a she-ape.
Taug heard, too; but he did not pause in his flight. 

With the ape-boy, however, it was different.  He looked
back to see if any member of the tribe was close pressed
by the beast of prey, and the sight that met his eyes
filled them with an expression of horror. 

Teeka it was who cried out in terror as she fled across
a little clearing toward the trees upon the opposite side,
for after her leaped Sheeta, the panther, in easy,
graceful bounds.  Sheeta appeared to be in no hurry. 
His meat was assured, since even though the ape reached
the trees ahead of him she could not climb beyond his
clutches before he could be upon her. 

Tarzan saw that Teeka must die.  He cried to Taug
and the other bulls to hasten to Teeka's assistance,
and at the same time he ran toward the pursuing beast,
taking down his rope as he came.  Tarzan knew that once
the great bulls were aroused none of the jungle,
not even Numa, the lion, was anxious to measure fangs
with them, and that if all those of the tribe who chanced
to be present today would charge, Sheeta, the great cat,
would doubtless turn tail and run for his life. 

Taug heard, as did the others, but no one came to Tarzan's
assistance or Teeka's rescue, and Sheeta was rapidly
closing up the distance between himself and his prey. 

The ape-boy, leaping after the panther, cried aloud to
the beast in an effort to turn it from Teeka or otherwise
distract its attention until the she-ape could gain the
safety of the higher branches where Sheeta dared not go. 
He called the panther every opprobrious name that fell
to his tongue.  He dared him to stop and do battle with him;
but Sheeta only loped on after the luscious titbit now
almost within his reach. 

Tarzan was not far behind and he was gaining, but the
distance was so short that he scarce hoped to overhaul
the carnivore before it had felled Teeka.  In his right hand
the boy swung his grass rope above his head as he ran. 
He hated to chance a miss, for the distance was much
greater than he ever had cast before except in practice. 
It was the full length of his grass rope which separated
him from Sheeta, and yet there was no other thing to do. 
He could not reach the brute's side before it overhauled Teeka. 
He must chance a throw. 

And just as Teeka sprang for the lower limb of a great tree,
and Sheeta rose behind her in a long, sinuous leap,
the coils of the ape-boy's grass rope shot swiftly
through the air, straightening into a long thin line
as the open noose hovered for an instant above the savage
head and the snarling jaws.  Then it settled--clean
and true about the tawny neck it settled, and Tarzan,
with a quick twist of his rope-hand, drew the noose taut,
bracing himself for the shock when Sheeta should have
taken up the slack. 

Just short of Teeka's glossy rump the cruel talons raked
the air as the rope tightened and Sheeta was brought to a
sudden stop--a stop that snapped the big beast over upon
his back.  Instantly Sheeta was up--with glaring eyes,
and lashing tail, and gaping jaws, from which issued
hideous cries of rage and disappointment. 

He saw the ape-boy, the cause of his discomfiture,
scarce forty feet before him, and Sheeta charged. 

Teeka was safe now; Tarzan saw to that by a quick glance
into the tree whose safety she had gained not an instant
too soon, and Sheeta was charging.  It was useless to risk
his life in idle and unequal combat from which no good
could come; but could he escape a battle with the enraged
cat? And if he was forced to fight, what chance had he
to survive? Tarzan was constrained to admit that his
position was aught but a desirable one.  The trees were
too far to hope to reach in time to elude the cat. 
Tarzan could but stand facing that hideous charge. 
In his right hand he grasped his hunting knife--a puny,
futile thing indeed by comparison with the great rows
of mighty teeth which lined Sheeta's powerful jaws,
and the sharp talons encased within his padded paws;
yet the young Lord Greystoke faced it with the same courageous
resignation with which some fearless ancestor went down
to defeat and death on Senlac Hill by Hastings. 

From safety points in the trees the great apes watched,
screaming hatred at Sheeta and advice at Tarzan, for the
progenitors of man have, naturally, many human traits. 
Teeka was frightened.  She screamed at the bulls to hasten
to Tarzan's assistance; but the bulls were otherwise
engaged--principally in giving advice and making faces. 
Anyway, Tarzan was not a real Mangani, so why should they
risk their lives in an effort to protect him?

And now Sheeta was almost upon the lithe, naked body,
and--the body was not there.  Quick as was the great cat,
the ape-boy was quicker.  He leaped to one side almost
as the panther's talons were closing upon him, and as Sheeta
went hurtling to the ground beyond, Tarzan was racing
for the safety of the nearest tree. 

The panther recovered himself almost immediately and,
wheeling, tore after his prey, the ape-boy's rope
dragging along the ground behind him.  In doubling back
after Tarzan, Sheeta had passed around a low bush. 
It was a mere nothing in the path of any jungle creature
of the size and weight of Sheeta--provided it had no
trailing rope dangling behind.  But Sheeta was handicapped
by such a rope, and as he leaped once again after Tarzan
of the Apes the rope encircled the small bush, became
tangled in it and brought the panther to a sudden stop. 
An instant later Tarzan was safe among the higher branches
of a small tree into which Sheeta could not follow him. 

Here he perched, hurling twigs and epithets at the raging
feline beneath him.  The other members of the tribe now
took up the bombardment, using such hard-shelled fruits
and dead branches as came within their reach, until Sheeta,
goaded to frenzy and snapping at the grass rope,
finally succeeded in severing its strands.  For a moment
the panther stood glaring first at one of his tormentors
and then at another, until, with a final scream of rage,
he turned and slunk off into the tangled mazes of the jungle. 

A half hour later the tribe was again upon the ground,
feeding as though naught had occurred to interrupt the somber
dullness of their lives.  Tarzan had recovered the greater
part of his rope and was busy fashioning a new noose,
while Teeka squatted close behind him, in evident token
that her choice was made. 

Taug eyed them sullenly.  Once when he came close,
Teeka bared her fangs and growled at him, and Tarzan
showed his canines in an ugly snarl; but Taug did not
provoke a quarrel.  He seemed to accept after the manner
of his kind the decision of the she as an indication
that he had been vanquished in his battle for her favors. 

Later in the day, his rope repaired, Tarzan took to the trees
in search of game.  More than his fellows he required meat,
and so, while they were satisfied with fruits and herbs
and beetles, which could be discovered without much effort
upon their part, Tarzan spent considerable time hunting
the game animals whose flesh alone satisfied the cravings
of his stomach and furnished sustenance and strength
to the mighty thews which, day by day, were building
beneath the soft, smooth texture of his brown hide. 

Taug saw him depart, and then, quite casually, the big beast
hunted closer and closer to Teeka in his search for food. 
At last he was within a few feet of her, and when he shot
a covert glance at her he saw that she was appraising him
and that there was no evidence of anger upon her face. 

Taug expanded his great chest and rolled about on his
short legs, making strange growlings in his throat. 
He raised his lips, baring his fangs.  My, but what great,
beautiful fangs he had! Teeka could not but notice them. 
She also let her eyes rest in admiration upon Taug's beetling
brows and his short, powerful neck.  What a beautiful
creature he was indeed!

Taug, flattered by the unconcealed admiration in her eyes,
strutted about, as proud and as vain as a peacock.
Presently he began to inventory his assets, mentally,
and shortly he found himself comparing them with those
of his rival. 

Taug grunted, for there was no comparison.  How could
one compare his beautiful coat with the smooth and naked
hideousness of Tarzan's bare hide? Who could see beauty
in the stingy nose of the Tarmangani after looking at
Taug's broad nostrils? And Tarzan's eyes! Hideous things,
showing white about them, and entirely unrimmed with red. 
Taug knew that his own blood-shot eyes were beautiful,
for he had seen them reflected in the glassy surface of many
a drinking pool. 

The bull drew nearer to Teeka, finally squatting close
against her.  When Tarzan returned from his hunting a short
time later it was to see Teeka contentedly scratching
the back of his rival. 

Tarzan was disgusted.  Neither Taug nor Teeka saw him
as he swung through the trees into the glade.  He paused
a moment, looking at them; then, with a sorrowful grimace,
he turned and faded away into the labyrinth of leafy
boughs and festooned moss out of which he had come. 

Tarzan wished to be as far away from the cause of his heartache
as he could.  He was suffering the first pangs of blighted love,
and he didn't quite know what was the matter with him. 
He thought that he was angry with Taug, and so he couldn't
understand why it was that he had run away instead
of rushing into mortal combat with the destroyer of his
happiness. 

He also thought that he was angry with Teeka, yet a
vision of her many beauties persisted in haunting him,
so that he could only see her in the light of love
as the most desirable thing in the world. 

The ape-boy craved affection.  From babyhood until the
time of her death, when the poisoned arrow of Kulonga
had pierced her savage heart, Kala had represented
to the English boy the sole object of love which he had known.

In her wild, fierce way Kala had loved her adopted son,
and Tarzan had returned that love, though the outward
demonstrations of it were no greater than might have
been expected from any other beast of the jungle. 
It was not until he was bereft of her that the boy
realized how deep had been his attachment for his mother,
for as such he looked upon her. 

In Teeka he had seen within the past few hours a
substitute for Kala--someone to fight for and to hunt
for--someone to caress; but now his dream was shattered. 
Something hurt within his breast.  He placed his hand
over his heart and wondered what had happened to him. 
Vaguely he attributed his pain to Teeka.  The more he
thought of Teeka as he had last seen her, caressing Taug,
the more the thing within his breast hurt him. 

Tarzan shook his head and growled; then on and on
through the jungle he swung, and the farther he traveled
and the more he thought upon his wrongs, the nearer
he approached becoming an irreclaimable misogynist. 

Two days later he was still hunting alone--very morose
and very unhappy; but he was determined never to return
to the tribe.  He could not bear the thought of seeing
Taug and Teeka always together.  As he swung upon
a great limb Numa, the lion, and Sabor, the lioness,
passed beneath him, side by side, and Sabor leaned
against the lion and bit playfully at his cheek. 
It was a half-caress. Tarzan sighed and hurled a nut at them. 

Later he came upon several of Mbonga's black warriors. 
He was upon the point of dropping his noose about the
neck of one of them, who was a little distance from
his companions, when he became interested in the thing
which occupied the savages.  They were building a cage
in the trail and covering it with leafy branches. 
When they had completed their work the structure was
scarcely visible. 

Tarzan wondered what the purpose of the thing might be,
and why, when they had built it, they turned away and started
back along the trail in the direction of their village. 

It had been some time since Tarzan had visited the blacks
and looked down from the shelter of the great trees which
overhung their palisade upon the activities of his enemies,
from among whom had come the slayer of Kala. 

Although he hated them, Tarzan derived considerable
entertainment in watching them at their daily life within
the village, and especially at their dances, when the
fires glared against their naked bodies as they leaped
and turned and twisted in mimic warfare.  It was rather
in the hope of witnessing something of the kind that he
now followed the warriors back toward their village,
but in this he was disappointed, for there was no dance
that night. 

Instead, from the safe concealment of his tree, Tarzan saw
little groups seated about tiny fires discussing the events
of the day, and in the darker corners of the village he
descried isolated couples talking and laughing together,
and always one of each couple was a young man and the
other a young woman. 

Tarzan cocked his head upon one side and thought,
and before he went to sleep that night, curled in the crotch
of the great tree above the village, Teeka filled his mind,
and afterward she filled his dreams--she and the young
black men laughing and talking with the young black women. 

Taug, hunting alone, had wandered some distance from
the balance of the tribe.  He was making his way slowly
along an elephant path when he discovered that it was
blocked with undergrowth.  Now Taug, come into maturity,
was an evil-natured brute of an exceeding short temper. 
When something thwarted him, his sole idea was to overcome
it by brute strength and ferocity, and so now when he found
his way blocked, he tore angrily into the leafy screen
and an instant later found himself within a strange lair,
his progress effectually blocked, notwithstanding his most
violent efforts to forge ahead.

Biting and striking at the barrier, Taug finally worked
himself into a frightful rage, but all to no avail;
and at last he became convinced that he must turn back. 
But when he would have done so, what was his chagrin to
discover that another barrier had dropped behind him while he
fought to break down the one before him! Taug was trapped. 
Until exhaustion overcame him he fought frantically for
his freedom; but all for naught. 

In the morning a party of blacks set out from the village
of Mbonga in the direction of the trap they had constructed
the previous day, while among the branches of the trees above
them hovered a naked young giant filled with the curiosity
of the wild things.  Manu, the monkey, chattered and
scolded as Tarzan passed, and though he was not afraid
of the familiar figure of the ape-boy, he hugged closer
to him the little brown body of his life's companion. 
Tarzan laughed as he saw it; but the laugh was followed
by a sudden clouding of his face and a deep sigh. 

A little farther on, a gaily feathered bird strutted
about before the admiring eyes of his somber-hued mate. 
It seemed to Tarzan that everything in the jungle was
combining to remind him that he had lost Teeka; yet every
day of his life he had seen these same things and thought
nothing of them. 

When the blacks reached the trap, Taug set up a great commotion. 
Seizing the bars of his prison, he shook them frantically,
and all the while he roared and growled terrifically. 
The blacks were elated, for while they had not built
their trap for this hairy tree man, they were delighted
with their catch. 

Tarzan pricked up his ears when he heard the voice of a
great ape and, circling quickly until he was down wind
from the trap, he sniffed at the air in search of the scent
spoor of the prisoner.  Nor was it long before there came
to those delicate nostrils the familiar odor that told
Tarzan the identity of the captive as unerringly as though
he had looked upon Taug with his eyes.  Yes, it was Taug,
and he was alone. 

Tarzan grinned as he approached to discover what the blacks
would do to their prisoner.  Doubtless they would slay him
at once.  Again Tarzan grinned.  Now he could have Teeka
for his own, with none to dispute his right to her. 
As he watched, he saw the black warriors strip the screen
from about the cage, fasten ropes to it and drag it away
along the trail in the direction of their village. 

Tarzan watched until his rival passed out of sight,
still beating upon the bars of his prison and growling
out his anger and his threats.  Then the ape-boy turned
and swung rapidly off in search of the tribe, and Teeka. 

Once, upon the journey, he surprised Sheeta and his family
in a little overgrown clearing.  The great cat lay stretched
upon the ground, while his mate, one paw across her lord's
savage face, licked at the soft white fur at his throat. 

Tarzan increased his speed then until he fairly flew
through the forest, nor was it long before he came upon
the tribe.  He saw them before they saw him, for of all
the jungle creatures, none passed more quietly than Tarzan
of the Apes.  He saw Kamma and her mate feeding side
by side, their hairy bodies rubbing against each other. 
And he saw Teeka feeding by herself.  Not for long
would she feed thus in loneliness, thought Tarzan,
as with a bound he landed amongst them. 

There was a startled rush and a chorus of angry
and frightened snarls, for Tarzan had surprised them;
but there was more, too, than mere nervous shock to account
for the bristling neck hair which remained standing long
after the apes had discovered the identity of the newcomer. 

Tarzan noticed this as he had noticed it many times
in the past--that always his sudden coming among them
left them nervous and unstrung for a considerable time,
and that they one and all found it necessary to satisfy
themselves that he was indeed Tarzan by smelling about him
a half dozen or more times before they calmed down.

Pushing through them, he made his way toward Teeka;
but as he approached her the ape drew away. 

"Teeka," he said, "it is Tarzan.  You belong to Tarzan. 
I have come for you."

The ape drew closer, looking him over carefully. 
Finally she sniffed at him, as though to make assurance
doubly sure. 

"Where is Taug?" she asked. 

"The Gomangani have him," replied Tarzan.  "They will
kill him."

In the eyes of the she, Tarzan saw a wistful expression
and a troubled look of sorrow as he told her of Taug's fate;
but she came quite close and snuggled against him,
and Tarzan, Lord Greystoke, put his arm about her. 

As he did so he noticed, with a start, the strange
incongruity of that smooth, brown arm against the black
and hairy coat of his lady-love. He recalled the paw of
Sheeta's mate across Sheeta's face--no incongruity there. 
He thought of little Manu hugging his she, and how the one
seemed to belong to the other.  Even the proud male bird,
with his gay plumage, bore a close resemblance to his
quieter spouse, while Numa, but for his shaggy mane,
was almost a counterpart of Sabor, the lioness. 
The males and the females differed, it was true;
but not with such differences as existed between Tarzan
and Teeka. 

Tarzan was puzzled.  There was something wrong.  His arm
dropped from the shoulder of Teeka.  Very slowly he drew
away from her.  She looked at him with her head cocked
upon one side.  Tarzan rose to his full height and beat
upon his breast with his fists.  He raised his head toward
the heavens and opened his mouth.  From the depths of his
lungs rose the fierce, weird challenge of the victorious
bull ape.  The tribe turned curiously to eye him.
He had killed nothing, nor was there any antagonist to be
goaded to madness by the savage scream.  No, there was
no excuse for it, and they turned back to their feeding,
but with an eye upon the ape-man lest he be preparing
to suddenly run amuck. 

As they watched him they saw him swing into a near-by
tree and disappear from sight.  Then they forgot him,
even Teeka. 

Mbonga's black warriors, sweating beneath their strenuous task,
and resting often, made slow progress toward their village. 
Always the savage beast in the primitive cage growled
and roared when they moved him.  He beat upon the bars
and slavered at the mouth.  His noise was hideous. 

They had almost completed their journey and were making
their final rest before forging ahead to gain the clearing
in which lay their village.  A few more minutes would
have taken them out of the forest, and then, doubtless,
the thing would not have happened which did happen.

A silent figure moved through the trees above them. 
Keen eyes inspected the cage and counted the number
of warriors.  An alert and daring brain figured upon
the chances of success when a certain plan should be put
to the test. 

Tarzan watched the blacks lolling in the shade. 
They were exhausted.  Already several of them slept. 
He crept closer, pausing just above them.  Not a leaf rustled
before his stealthy advance.  He waited in the infinite
patience of the beast of prey.  Presently but two of the
warriors remained awake, and one of these was dozing. 

Tarzan of the Apes gathered himself, and as he did so the
black who did not sleep arose and passed around to the rear
of the cage.  The ape-boy followed just above his head. 
Taug was eyeing the warrior and emitting low growls. 
Tarzan feared that the anthropoid would awaken the sleepers. 

In a whisper which was inaudible to the ears of the Negro,
Tarzan whispered Taug's name, cautioning the ape to silence,
and Taug's growling ceased. 

The black approached the rear of the cage and examined
the fastenings of the door, and as he stood there the
beast above him launched itself from the tree full upon
his back.  Steel fingers circled his throat, choking the
cry which sprang to the lips of the terrified man. 
Strong teeth fastened themselves in his shoulder,
and powerful legs wound themselves about his torso. 

The black in a frenzy of terror tried to dislodge
the silent thing which clung to him.  He threw himself
to the ground and rolled about; but still those mighty
fingers closed more and more tightly their deadly grip. 

The man's mouth gaped wide, his swollen tongue protruded,
his eyes started from their sockets; but the relentless
fingers only increased their pressure. 

Taug was a silent witness of the struggle.  In his fierce
little brain he doubtless wondered what purpose prompted
Tarzan to attack the black.  Taug had not forgotten his
recent battle with the ape-boy, nor the cause of it. 
Now he saw the form of the Gomangani suddenly go limp. 
There was a convulsive shiver and the man lay still. 

Tarzan sprang from his prey and ran to the door of the cage. 
With nimble fingers he worked rapidly at the thongs
which held the door in place.  Taug could only watch--he
could not help.  Presently Tarzan pushed the thing up
a couple of feet and Taug crawled out.  The ape would
have turned upon the sleeping blacks that he might wreak
his pent vengeance; but Tarzan would not permit it. 

Instead, the ape-boy dragged the body of the black
within the cage and propped it against the side bars. 
Then he lowered the door and made fast the thongs as they
had been before. 

A happy smile lighted his features as he worked,
for one of his principal diversions was the baiting
of the blacks of Mbonga's village.  He could imagine
their terror when they awoke and found the dead body
of their comrade fast in the cage where they had left
the great ape safely secured but a few minutes before. 

Tarzan and Taug took to the trees together, the shaggy
coat of the fierce ape brushing the sleek skin of the
English lordling as they passed through the primeval
jungle side by side. 

"Go back to Teeka," said Tarzan.  "She is yours. 
Tarzan does not want her."

"Tarzan has found another she?" asked Taug. 

The ape-boy shrugged. 

"For the Gomangani there is another Gomangani," he said;
"for Numa, the lion, there is Sabor, the lioness;
for Sheeta there is a she of his own kind; for Bara,
the deer; for Manu, the monkey; for all the beasts
and the birds of the jungle is there a mate.  Only for
Tarzan of the Apes is there none.  Taug is an ape. 
Teeka is an ape.  Go back to Teeka.  Tarzan is a man. 
He will go alone."






                           2

                 The Capture of Tarzan

THE BLACK WARRIORS labored in the humid heat of the jungle's
stifling shade.  With war spears they loosened the thick,
black loam and the deep layers of rotting vegetation. 
With heavy-nailed fingers they scooped away the disintegrated
earth from the center of the age-old game trail.  Often they
ceased their labors to squat, resting and gossiping,
with much laughter, at the edge of the pit they were digging.

Against the boles of near-by trees leaned their long,
oval shields of thick buffalo hide, and the spears
of those who were doing the scooping.  Sweat glistened
upon their smooth, ebon skins, beneath which rolled
rounded muscles, supple in the perfection of nature's
uncontaminated health. 

A reed buck, stepping warily along the trail toward water,
halted as a burst of laughter broke upon his startled ears. 
For a moment he stood statuesque but for his sensitively
dilating nostrils; then he wheeled and fled noiselessly
from the terrifying presence of man. 

A hundred yards away, deep in the tangle of impenetrable
jungle, Numa, the lion, raised his massive head.  Numa had
dined well until almost daybreak and it had required much
noise to awaken him.  Now he lifted his muzzle and sniffed
the air, caught the acrid scent spoor of the reed buck
and the heavy scent of man.  But Numa was well filled. 
With a low, disgusted grunt he rose and slunk away.

Brilliantly plumaged birds with raucous voices darted from
tree to tree.  Little monkeys, chattering and scolding,
swung through the swaying limbs above the black warriors. 
Yet they were alone, for the teeming jungle with all its
myriad life, like the swarming streets of a great metropolis,
is one of the loneliest spots in God's great universe. 

But were they alone?

Above them, lightly balanced upon a leafy tree limb, a gray-eyed
youth watched with eager intentness their every move. 
The fire of hate, restrained, smoldered beneath the lad's
evident desire to know the purpose of the black men's labors. 
Such a one as these it was who had slain his beloved Kala. 
For them there could be naught but enmity, yet he liked
well to watch them, avid as he was for greater knowledge
of the ways of man. 

He saw the pit grow in depth until a great hole yawned
the width of the trail--a hole which was amply large
enough to hold at one time all of the six excavators. 
Tarzan could not guess the purpose of so great a labor. 
And when they cut long stakes, sharpened at their upper ends,
and set them at intervals upright in the bottom of the pit,
his wonderment but increased, nor was it satisfied with
the placing of the light cross-poles over the pit, or the
careful arrangement of leaves and earth which completely
hid from view the work the black men had performed. 

When they were done they surveyed their handiwork with
evident satisfaction, and Tarzan surveyed it, too.  Even to
his practiced eye there remained scarce a vestige of evidence
that the ancient game trail had been tampered with in any way. 

So absorbed was the ape-man in speculation as to
the purpose of the covered pit that he permitted
the blacks to depart in the direction of their village
without the usual baiting which had rendered him
the terror of Mbonga's people and had afforded Tarzan
both a vehicle of revenge and a source of inexhaustible delight. 

Puzzle as he would, however, he could not solve the mystery
of the concealed pit, for the ways of the blacks were still
strange ways to Tarzan.  They had entered his jungle but a
short time before--the first of their kind to encroach upon
the age-old supremacy of the beasts which laired there. 
To Numa, the lion, to Tantor, the elephant, to the great
apes and the lesser apes, to each and all of the myriad
creatures of this savage wild, the ways of man were new. 
They had much to learn of these black, hairless creatures
that walked erect upon their hind paws--and they were
learning it slowly, and always to their sorrow. 

Shortly after the blacks had departed, Tarzan swung easily
to the trail.  Sniffing suspiciously, he circled the edge
of the pit.  Squatting upon his haunches, he scraped
away a little earth to expose one of the cross-bars. He
sniffed at this, touched it, cocked his head upon one side,
and contemplated it gravely for several minutes.  Then he
carefully re-covered it, arranging the earth as neatly
as had the blacks.  This done, he swung himself back among
the branches of the trees and moved off in search of his
hairy fellows, the great apes of the tribe of Kerchak. 

Once he crossed the trail of Numa, the lion, pausing for a
moment to hurl a soft fruit at the snarling face of his enemy,
and to taunt and insult him, calling him eater of carrion
and brother of Dango, the hyena.  Numa, his yellow-green
eyes round and burning with concentrated hate, glared up
at the dancing figure above him.  Low growls vibrated his
heavy jowls and his great rage transmitted to his sinuous
tail a sharp, whiplike motion; but realizing from past
experience the futility of long distance argument with the
ape-man, he turned presently and struck off into the tangled
vegetation which hid him from the view of his tormentor. 
With a final scream of jungle invective and an apelike
grimace at his departing foe, Tarzan continued along his way. 

Another mile and a shifting wind brought to his keen
nostrils a familiar, pungent odor close at hand,
and a moment later there loomed beneath him a huge,
gray-black bulk forging steadily along the jungle trail. 
Tarzan seized and broke a small tree limb, and at the
sudden cracking sound the ponderous figure halted. 
Great ears were thrown forward, and a long, supple trunk
rose quickly to wave to and fro in search of the scent
of an enemy, while two weak, little eyes peered suspiciously
and futilely about in quest of the author of the noise
which had disturbed his peaceful way. 

Tarzan laughed aloud and came closer above the head
of the pachyderm. 

"Tantor! Tantor!" he cried.  "Bara, the deer, is less fearful
than you--you, Tantor, the elephant, greatest of the jungle
folk with the strength of as many Numas as I have toes upon
my feet and fingers upon my hands.  Tantor, who can uproot
great trees, trembles with fear at the sound of a broken twig."

A rumbling noise, which might have been either a sign
of contempt or a sigh of relief, was Tantor's only reply
as the uplifted trunk and ears came down and the beast's
tail dropped to normal; but his eyes still roved about
in search of Tarzan.  He was not long kept in suspense,
however, as to the whereabouts of the ape-man, for a second
later the youth dropped lightly to the broad head of his
old friend.  Then stretching himself at full length,
he drummed with his bare toes upon the thick hide, and as
his fingers scratched the more tender surfaces beneath the
great ears, he talked to Tantor of the gossip of the jungle
as though the great beast understood every word that he said. 

Much there was which Tarzan could make Tantor understand,
and though the small talk of the wild was beyond
the great, gray dreadnaught of the jungle, he stood
with blinking eyes and gently swaying trunk as though
drinking in every word of it with keenest appreciation. 
As a matter of fact it was the pleasant, friendly voice
and caressing hands behind his ears which he enjoyed,
and the close proximity of him whom he had often borne
upon his back since Tarzan, as a little child, had once
fearlessly approached the great bull, assuming upon the
part of the pachyderm the same friendliness which filled
his own heart. 

In the years of their association Tarzan had discovered
that he possessed an inexplicable power to govern and
direct his mighty friend.  At his bidding, Tantor would
come from a great distance--as far as his keen ears could
detect the shrill and piercing summons of the ape-man--and
when Tarzan was squatted upon his head, Tantor would
lumber through the jungle in any direction which his
rider bade him go.  It was the power of the man-mind
over that of the brute and it was just as effective
as though both fully understood its origin, though neither did. 

For half an hour Tarzan sprawled there upon Tantor's back. 
Time had no meaning for either of them.  Life, as they saw it,
consisted principally in keeping their stomachs filled. 
To Tarzan this was a less arduous labor than to Tantor,
for Tarzan's stomach was smaller, and being omnivorous,
food was less difficult to obtain.  If one sort did not
come readily to hand, there were always many others to
satisfy his hunger.  He was less particular as to his diet
than Tantor, who would eat only the bark of certain trees,
and the wood of others, while a third appealed to him only
through its leaves, and these, perhaps, just at certain
seasons of the year. 

Tantor must needs spend the better part of his life
in filling his immense stomach against the needs of his
mighty thews.  It is thus with all the lower orders--their
lives are so occupied either with searching for food or
with the processes of digestion that they have little time
for other considerations.  Doubtless it is this handicap
which has kept them from advancing as rapidly as man,
who has more time to give to thought upon other matters. 

However, these questions troubled Tarzan but little,
and Tantor not at all.  What the former knew was that
he was happy in the companionship of the elephant. 
He did not know why.  He did not know that because he was
a human being-- a normal, healthy human being--he craved
some living thing upon which to lavish his affection. 
His childhood playmates among the apes of Kerchak were
now great, sullen brutes.  They felt nor inspired but
little affection.  The younger apes Tarzan still played
with occasionally.  In his savage way he loved them;
but they were far from satisfying or restful companions. 
Tantor was a great mountain of calm, of poise, of stability. 
It was restful and satisfying to sprawl upon his rough
pate and pour one's vague hopes and aspirations into
the great ears which flapped ponderously to and fro
in apparent understanding.  Of all the jungle folk,
Tantor commanded Tarzan's greatest love since Kala
had been taken from him.  Sometimes Tarzan wondered
if Tantor reciprocated his affection.  It was difficult
to know. 

It was the call of the stomach--the most compelling and
insistent call which the jungle knows--that took Tarzan
finally back to the trees and off in search of food,
while Tantor continued his interrupted journey in the
opposite direction. 

For an hour the ape-man foraged.  A lofty nest yielded
its fresh, warm harvest.  Fruits, berries, and tender
plantain found a place upon his menu in the order that he
happened upon them, for he did not seek such foods. 
Meat, meat, meat! It was always meat that Tarzan
of the Apes hunted; but sometimes meat eluded him, as today. 

And as he roamed the jungle his active mind busied itself
not alone with his hunting, but with many other subjects. 
He had a habit of recalling often the events of the preceding
days and hours.  He lived over his visit with Tantor;
he cogitated upon the digging blacks and the strange,
covered pit they had left behind them.  He wondered
again and again what its purpose might be.  He compared
perceptions and arrived at judgments.  He compared judgments,
reaching conclusions--not always correct ones, it is true,
but at least he used his brain for the purpose God
intended it, which was the less difficult because he was
not handicapped by the second-hand, and usually erroneous,
judgment of others. 

And as he puzzled over the covered pit, there loomed
suddenly before his mental vision a huge, gray-black bulk
which lumbered ponderously along a jungle trail.
Instantly Tarzan tensed to the shock of a sudden fear. 
Decision and action usu