| 83 | 84 | 85 | 86 | 87 |
| 1 | 41 | 81 | 122 | 162 |
|
www.freeclassicebooks.com
As much as the ape-man detested the thought of sleeping within a native hut, he
had determined to do so this night, on the chance that he might be able to induce
one of the younger men to sit and chat with him before the fire that burned in the
centre of the smoke-filled dwelling, and from him draw the truths he sought. So
Tarzan accepted the invitation of old M'ganwazam, insisting, however, that he
much preferred sharing a hut with some of the younger men rather than driving
the chief's old wife out in the cold.
The toothless old hag grinned her appreciation of this suggestion, and as the plan
still better suited the chief's scheme, in that it would permit him to surround
Tarzan with a gang of picked assassins, he readily assented, so that presently
Tarzan had been installed in a hut close to the village gate.
As there was to be a dance that night in honour of a band of recently returned
hunters, Tarzan was left alone in the hut, the young men, as M'ganwazam
explained, having to take part in the festivities.
As soon as the ape-man was safely installed in the trap, M'Ganwazam called
about him the young warriors whom he had selected to spend the night with the
white devil!
None of them was overly enthusiastic about the plan, since deep in their
superstitious hearts lay an exaggerated fear of the strange white giant; but the
word of M'ganwazam was law among his people, so not one dared refuse the duty
he was called upon to perform.
As M'ganwazam unfolded his plan in whispers to the savages squatting about
him the old, toothless hag, to whom Tarzan had saved her hut for the night,
hovered about the conspirators ostensibly to replenish the supply of firewood for
the blaze about which the men sat, but really to drink in as much of their
conversation as possible.
Tarzan had slept for perhaps an hour or two despite the savage din of the
revellers when his keen senses came suddenly alert to a suspiciously stealthy
movement in the hut in which he lay. The fire had died down to a little heap of
glowing embers, which accentuated rather than relieved the darkness that
shrouded the interior of the evil-smelling dwelling, yet the trained senses of the
ape-man warned him of another presence creeping almost silently toward him
through the gloom.
He doubted that it was one of his hut mates returning from the festivities, for he
still heard the wild cries of the dancers and the din of the tom-toms in the village
street without. Who could it be that took such pains to conceal his approach?
8
5
Page
Quick Jump
|