Through a maze of jagged peaks Thoar led the way. To him time meant
nothing; to Jason Gridley it was little more than a memory. When they
found food they ate; when they were tired they slept, and always just
ahead there were perilous crags to skirt and stupendous cliffs to
scale. To the American it would have seemed incredible that a girl ever
could find her way here had he not had occasion to follow where The Red
Flower of Zoram led.
Occasionally they were forced to take a lower route which led into the
forests that climbed high along the slopes of the mountains, and here
they found more game and with Thoar's assistance Jason fashioned a
garment from the hide of a mountain goat. It was at best but a sketchy
garment; yet it sufficed for the purpose for which it was intended and
left his arms and legs free. Nor was it long before he realized its
advantages and wondered why civilized man of the outer crust should so
encumber himself with useless clothing, when the demands of temperature
did not require it.
As Jason became better acquainted with Thoar he found his regard for
him changing from suspicion to admiration, and finally to a genuine
liking for the savage Pellucidarian, in spite of the fact that this
sentiment was tinged with a feeling that, while not positive animosity,
was yet akin to it. It was difficult for Jason to fathom the sentiment
which seemed to animate him. There could be no rivalry between him and
this primitive warrior and yet Jason's whole demeanor and attitude
toward Thoar was such as might be scrupulously observed by any
honorable man toward an honorable opponent or rival.
They seldom, if ever, spoke of Jana; yet thoughts of her were uppermost
in the mind of each of them. Jason often found himself reviewing every
detail of his association with her; every little characteristic gesture
and expression was indelibly imprinted upon his memory, as were the
contours of her perfect figure and the radiant loveliness of her face.
Not even the bitter words with which she had parted with him could
erase the memory of her joyous comradeship. Never before in his life
had he missed the companionship of any woman. At times he tried to
crowd her from his thoughts by recalling incidents of his friendship
with Cynthia Furnois or Barbara Green, but the vision of The Red Flower
of Zoram remained persistently in the foreground, while that of Cynthia
and Barbara always faded gradually into forgetfulness.
This state of mental subjugation to the personality of an untutored
savage, however beautiful, annoyed his ego and he tried to escape it by
dwelling upon the sorrow entailed by the death of Tarzan; but somehow
he never could convince himself that Tarzan was dead. It was one of
those things that it was simply impossible to conceive.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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