Adventure stories; Fantasy fiction; Tarzan (Fictitious character) -- Fiction
They had come within a day’s march of the bungalow when Tarzan
discovered the spoor of a considerable body of warriors. As some men
devour the latest stock-market quotations as though their very existence
depended upon an accurate knowledge of them, so Tarzan of the Apes
devoured every scrap of information that the jungle held for him, for,
in truth, an accurate knowledge of all that this information could
impart to him had been during his lifetime a _sine qua non_ to his
existence. So now he carefully examined the spoor that lay before him,
several days old though it was and partially obliterated by the passage
of beasts since it had been made, but yet legible enough to the keen
eyes and nostrils of the ape-man. His partial indifference suddenly gave
way to keen interest, for among the footprints of the great warriors he
saw now and again the smaller one of a white woman—a loved footprint
that he knew as well as you know your mother’s face.
“The Waziri returned and told her that I was missing,” he soliloquized,
“and now she has set out with them to search for me.” He turned to the
lion. “Well, Jad-bal-ja, once again we turn away from home—but no,
where she is is home.”
The direction that the trail led rather mystified Tarzan of the Apes, as
it was not along the direct route toward Opar, but in a rather more
southerly direction. On the sixth day his keen ears caught the sound of
approaching men, and presently there was wafted to his nostrils the
spoor of blacks. Sending Jad-bal-ja into a thicket to hide, Tarzan took
to the trees and moved rapidly in the direction of the approaching
negroes. As the distance between them lessened the scent became
stronger, until, even before he saw them, Tarzan knew that they were
Waziri, but the one effluvium that would have filled his soul with
happiness was lacking.
It was a surprised Usula who, at the head of the sad and dejected
Waziri, came at the turning of the trail suddenly face to face with his
master.
“Tarzan of the Apes!” cried Usula. “Is it indeed you?”
“It is none other,” replied the ape-man, “but where is Lady Greystoke?”
“Ah, master, how can we tell you!” cried Usula.
“You do not mean—” cried Tarzan. “It cannot be. Nothing could happen to
her while she was guarded by my Waziri!”
The warriors hung their heads in shame and sorrow. “We offer our lives
for hers,” said Usula, simply. He threw down his spear and shield and,
stretching his arms wide apart, bared his great breast to Tarzan.
“Strike, Bwana,” he said.
The ape-man turned away with bowed head. Presently he looked at Usula
again. “Tell me how it happened,” he said, “and forget your foolish
speech as I have forgotten the suggestion which prompted it.”
Briefly Usula narrated the events which had led up to the death of Jane,
and when he was done Tarzan of the Apes spoke but three words, voicing a
question which was typical of him.
“Where is Luvini?” he asked.
“Ah, that we do not know,” replied Usula.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account