www.freeclassicebooks.com

Chapter II - The Lion's Cave

The rain lasted for twenty-four hours and much of the time it fell in torrents so

that when it ceased, the trail he had been following was entirely obliterated. Cold

and uncomfortable--it was a savage Tarzan who threaded the mazes of the soggy

jungle. Manu, the monkey, shivering and chattering in the dank trees, scolded

and fled at his approach. Even the panthers and the lions let the growling

Tarmangani pass unmolested.

When the sun shone again upon the second day and a wide, open plain let the

full heat of Kudu flood the chilled, brown body, Tarzan's spirits rose; but it was

still a sullen, surly brute that moved steadily onward into the south where he

hoped again to pick up the trail of the Germans. He was now in German East

Africa and it was his intention to skirt the mountains west of Kilimanjaro, whose

rugged peaks he was quite willing to give a wide berth, and then swing eastward

along the south side of the range to the railway that led to Tanga, for his

experience among men suggested that it was toward this railroad that German

troops would be likely to converge.

Two days later, from the southern slopes of Kilimanjaro, he heard the boom of

cannon far away to the east. The afternoon had been dull and cloudy and now as

he was passing through a narrow gorge a few great drops of rain began to splatter

upon his naked shoulders. Tarzan shook his head and growled his disapproval;

then he cast his eyes about for shelter, for he had had quite enough of the cold

and drenching. He wanted to hasten on in the direction of the booming noise, for

he knew that there would be Germans fighting against the English. For an

instant his bosom swelled with pride at the thought that he was English and then

he shook his head again viciously. "No!" he muttered, "Tarzan of the Apes is not

English, for the English are men and Tarzan is Tarmangani;" but he could not

hide even from his sorrow or from his sullen hatred of mankind in general that

his heart warmed at the thought it was Englishmen who fought the Germans.

His regret was that the English were human and not great white apes as he again

considered himself.

Tomorrow," he thought, "I will travel that way and find the Germans," and then

he set himself to the immediate task of discovering some shelter from the storm.

Presently he espied the low and narrow entrance to what appeared to be a cave at

the base of the cliffs which formed the northern side of the gorge. With drawn

knife he approached the spot warily, for he knew that if it were a cave it was

doubtless the lair of some other beast. Before the entrance lay many large

fragments of rock of different sizes, similar to others scattered along the entire

Tarzan the Untamed