They hunted together and fought together. They swung through the trees
when the great cats hunted upon the ground, or they followed game
trails ages old beneath the hoary trees of Pellucidar or out across her
rolling, grassy, flower-spangled meadowland.
They lived well upon the fat of the land for both were mighty hunters.
Tarzan fashioned a new bow and arrows and a stout spear, and these, at
first, the Sagoth refused even to notice, but presently when he saw
how easily and quickly they brought game to their larder he evinced a
keen interest and Tarzan taught him how to use the weapons and later
how to fashion them.
The country through which they traveled was well watered and was
alive with game. It was partly wooded with great stretches of open
land, where tremendous herds of herbivores grazed beneath the eternal
noonday sun, and because of these great herds the beasts of prey were
numerous--and such beasts!
Tarzan had thought that there was no world like his own world and no
jungle like his own jungle, but the more deeply he dipped into the
wonders of Pellucidar the more enamored he became of this savage,
primitive world, teeming with the wild life he loved best. That there
were few men was Pellucidar's chiefest recommendation. Had there been
none the ape-man might have considered this the land of ultimate
perfection, for who is there more conversant with the cruelty and
inconsideration of man than the savage beasts of the jungle?
The friendship that had developed between Tarzan and the Sagoth--and
that was primarily based upon the respect which each felt for the
prowess of the other--increased as each seemed to realize other
admirable, personal qualities and characteristics in his companion, not
the least of which being a common taciturnity. They spoke only when
conversation seemed necessary, and that, in reality, was seldom.
If man spoke only when he had something worth while to say and said
that as quickly as possible, ninety-eight per cent of the human race
might as well be dumb, thereby establishing a heavenly harmony from
pate to tonsil.
And so the companionship of Tar-gash, coupled with the romance of
strange sights and sounds and odors in this new world, acted upon the
ape-man as might a strong drug, filling him with exhilaration and
dulling his sense of responsibility, so that the necessity of finding
his people dwindled to a matter of minor importance. Had he known
that some of them were in trouble his attitude would have changed
immediately, but this he did not know. On the contrary he was only
aware that they had every facility for insuring their safety and their
ultimate return to the outer world and that his absence would not
handicap them in any particular. However, when he did give the matter
thought he knew that he must return to them, that he must find them,
and that sooner or later he must go back with them to the world from
which they had come.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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