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Until now Tarzan had given little thought to the details of revenge. Now he
pondered what form the punishment should take. Of only one thing was he
certain--it must end in death. Like all brave men and courageous beasts Tarzan
had little natural inclination to torture--none, in fact; but this case was unique in
his experience. An inherent sense of justice called for an eye for an eye and his
recent oath demanded even more. Yes, the creature must suffer even as he had
caused Jane Clayton to suffer. Tarzan could not hope to make the man suffer as
he had suffered, since physical pain may never approach the exquisiteness of
mental torture.
All through the long night the ape-man goaded on the exhausted and now
terrified Hun. The awful silence of his captor wrought upon the German's nerves.
If he would only speak! Again and again Schneider tried to force or coax a word
from him; but always the result was the same--continued silence and a vicious
and painful prod from the spear point. Schneider was bleeding and sore. He was
so exhausted that he staggered at every step, and often he fell only to be prodded
to his feet again by that terrifying and remorseless spear.
It was not until morning that Tarzan reached a decision and it came to him then
like an inspiration from above. A slow smile touched his lips and he immediately
sought a place to lie up and rest--he wished his prisoner to be fit now for what lay
in store for him. Ahead was a stream which Tarzan had crossed the day before.
He knew the ford for a drinking place and a likely spot to make an easy kill.
Cautioning the German to utter silence with a gesture the two approached the
stream quietly. Down the game trail Tarzan saw some deer about to leave the
water. He shoved Schneider into the brush at one side and, squatting next him,
waited. The German watched the silent giant with puzzled, frightened eyes. In
the new dawn he, for the first time, was able to obtain a good look at his captor,
and, if he had been puzzled and frightened before, those sensations were nothing
to what he experienced now.
Who and what could this almost naked, white savage be? He had heard him
speak but once--when he had cautioned him to silence--and then in excellent
German and the well-modulated tones of culture. He watched him now as the
fascinated toad watches the snake that is about to devour it. He saw the graceful
limbs and symmetrical body motionless as a marble statue as the creature
crouched in the concealment of the leafy foliage. Not a muscle, not a nerve
moved. He saw the deer coming slowly along the trail, down wind and
unsuspecting. He saw a buck pass--an old buck--and then a young and plump
one came opposite the giant in ambush, and Schneider's eyes went wide and a
scream of terror almost broke from his lips as he saw the agile beast at his side
spring straight for the throat of the young buck and heard from those human lips
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