www.freeclassicebooks.com

Never regularly sworn into the service of the King, he was under no obligation to

remain now that the moral obligation had been removed, and so it was that he

disappeared from the British camp as mysteriously as he had appeared a few

months before.

More than once had Tarzan reverted to the primitive only to return again to

civilization through love for his mate; but now that she was gone he felt that this

time he had definitely departed forever from the haunts of man, and that he

should live and die a beast among beasts even as he had been from infancy to

maturity.

Between him and destination lay a trackless wilderness of untouched primeval

savagery where, doubtless in many spots, his would be the first human foot to

touch the virgin turf. Nor did this prospect dismay the Tarmangani--rather was it

an urge and an inducement, for rich in his veins flowed that noble strain of blood

that has made most of the earth's surface habitable for man.

The question of food and water that would have risen paramount in the mind of

an ordinary man contemplating such an excursion gave Tarzan little concern. The

wilderness was his natural habitat and woodcraft as inherent to him as

breathing. Like other jungle animals he could scent water from a great distance

and, where you or I might die of thirst, the ape-man would unerringly select the

exact spot at which to dig and find water.

For several days Tarzan traversed a country rich in game and watercourses. He

moved slowly, hunting and fishing, or again fraternizing or quarreling with the

other savage denizens of the jungle. Now it was little Manu, the monkey, who

chattered and scolded at the mighty Tarmangani and in the next breath warned

him that Histah, the snake, lay coiled in the long grass just ahead. Of Manu

Tarzan inquired concerning the great apes--the Mangani--and was told that few

inhabited this part of the jungle, and that even these were hunting farther to the

north this season of the year.

"But there is Bolgani," said Manu. "Would you like to see Bolgani?"

Manu's tone was sneering, and Tarzan knew that it was because little Manu

thought all creatures feared mighty Bolgani, the gorilla. Tarzan arched his great

chest and struck it with a clinched fist. "I am Tarzan," he cried. "While Tarzan

was yet a balu he slew a Bolgani. Tarzan seeks the Mangani, who are his

brothers, but Bolgani he does not seek, so let Bolgani keep from the path of

Tarzan."

Tarzan the Untamed