"Because I, Tar-gash, say 'take them off,'" growled the other.
"You are not M'wa-lot. He is king. If M'wa-lot says take them off, we
will take them off."
"I am not M'wa-lot, To-yad; I am Tar-gash, and Tar-gash says 'take them
off.'"
To-yad swung to Tarzan's side. "M'wa-lot will come soon," he said. "If
M'wa-lot says take them off, we shall take them off. We do not take
orders from Tar-gash."
Like a panther, quickly, silently Tar-gash sprang straight for the
throat of To-yad. There was no warning, not even an instant of
hesitation. In this Tarzan saw that Tar-gash differed from the great
apes with whom the Lord of the Jungle had been familiar upon the outer
crust, for among them two bulls ordinarily must need have gone through
a long preliminary of stiff-legged strutting and grumbled invective
before either one launched himself upon the other in deadly combat. But
the mind of Tar-gash had functioned with like celerity, so much so that
decision and action had appeared to be almost simultaneous.
The impact of the heavy body of Tar-gash toppled To-yad from the
branch upon which he had been standing, but so naturally arboreal were
the two great creatures that even as they fell they reached out and
seized the same branch and still fighting, each with his free hand and
his heavy fangs, they hung there a second breaking their fall, and
then dropped to the ground. They fought almost silently except for
low growls, Tar-gash seeking the jugular of To-yad with those sharp,
white fangs that had given him his name. To-yad, his every faculty
concentrated upon defense, kept the grinning jaws from his flesh and
suddenly twisting quickly around, tore loose from the powerful fingers
of his opponent and sought safety in flight. But like a football
player, Tar-gash launched himself through the air; his long hairy arms
encircled the legs of the fleeing To-yad, bringing him heavily to the
ground, and an instant later the powerful aggressor was on the back of
his opponent and To-yad's jugular was at the mercy of his foe, but the
great jaws of Tar-gash did not close.
"Ka-goda?" he inquired.
"Ka-goda," growled To-yad, and instantly Tar-gash arose from the body
of the other bull.
With the agility of a monkey the victor leaped back into the branches
of the tree. "Remove the bonds from the wrists of the gilak," he said,
and at the same time he glared ferociously about him to see if there
was another so mutinously minded as To-yad; but none spoke and none
objected as one of the Sagoths who had dragged Tarzan up into the tree
untied the bonds that secured his wrists.
"If he tries to run away from us," said Tar-gash, "kill him."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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