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the fertile basin that was bounded by the hills to the east of him. He had crossed
that parched and desolate country of the dead himself and he knew from his own
experience and the narrow escape he had had from succumbing to its relentless
cruelty no lesser man could hope to win his way to safety from any considerable
distance within its borders. Vividly he recalled the bleached bones of the long-
dead warrior in the bottom of the precipitous gorge that had all but proved a trap
for him as well. He saw the helmet of hammered brass and the corroded
breastplate of steel and the long straight sword in its scabbard and the ancient
harquebus--mute testimonials to the mighty physique and the warlike spirit of
him who had somehow won, thus illy caparisoned and pitifully armed, to the
center of savage, ancient Africa; and he saw the slender English youth and the
slight figure of the girl cast into the same fateful trap from which this giant of old
had been unable to escape--cast there wounded and broken perhaps, if not killed.
His judgment told him that the latter possibility was probably the fact, and yet
there was a chance that they might have landed without fatal injuries, and so
upon this slim chance he started out upon what he knew would be an arduous
journey, fraught with many hardships and unspeakable peril, that he might
attempt to save them if they still lived.
He had covered a mile perhaps when his quick ears caught the sound of rapid
movement along the game trail ahead of him. The sound, increasing in volume,
proclaimed the fact that whatever caused it was moving in his direction and
moving rapidly. Nor was it long before his trained senses convinced him that the
footfalls were those of Bara, the deer, in rapid flight. Inextricably confused in
Tarzan's character were the attributes of man and of beasts. Long experience had
taught him that he fights best or travels fastest who is best nourished, and so,
with few exceptions, Tarzan could delay his most urgent business to take
advantage of an opportunity to kill and feed. This perhaps was the predominant
beast trait in him. The transformation from an English gentleman, impelled by
the most humanitarian motives, to that of a wild beast crouching in the
concealment of a dense bush ready to spring upon its approaching prey, was
instantaneous.
And so, when Bara came, escaping the clutches of Numa and Sheeta, his terror
and his haste precluded the possibility of his sensing that other equally
formidable foe lying in ambush for him. Abreast of the ape-man came the deer; a
light-brown body shot from the concealing verdure of the bush, strong arms
encircled the sleek neck of the young buck and powerful teeth fastened
themselves in the soft flesh. Together the two rolled over in the trail and a
moment later the ape-man rose, and, with one foot upon the carcass of his kill,
raised his voice in the victory cry of the bull ape.
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