Part 8 (1/2)
The gryfs below raised their heads and looked in the direction of the interruption One of the sound in its throat It was not a bellow and it did not indicate anger Iryfs repeated the ru ever closer
Tarzan looked at Pan-at-lee ”What is it?” he asked
”I do not know,” she replied ”Perhaps a strange bird, or another horrid beast that dwells in this frightful place”
”Ah,” exclaimed Tarzan; ”there it is Look!”
Pan-at-lee voiced a cry of despair ”A Tor-o-don!”
The creature, walking erect and carrying a stick in one hand, advanced at a slow, luryfs who h afraid Tarzan watched intently The Tor-o-don was now quite close to one of the triceratops It swung its head and snapped at hi in and coe beast across the face with his stick To the ape-ht have annihilated the comparatively puny Tor-o-don instantly in any of a dozen ways, cringed like a whipped cur
”Whee-oo! Whee-oo!” shouted the Tor-o-don and the GRYF caht it to a stop Then the Tor-o-don walked around behind it, clae back ”Whee-oo!” he shouted and prodded the beast with a sharp point of his stick The GRYF commenced to move off
So rapt had Tarzan been in the scene below hiht to escape, for he realized that for him and Pan-at-lee ties to spread before their eyes a page of the dim and distant past They two had looked upon the first man and his primitive beasts of burden
And now the ridden GRYF halted and looked up at the It was sufficient The creature had warned its ed the beast close beneath the tree which held the to his feet upon the horny back Tarzan saw the bestial face, the great fangs, thethe hu, for only such as this e that was theirs
The Tor-o-don beat upon his breast and growled horribly-hideous, uncouth, beastly Tarzan rose to his full height upon a swaying branch-straight and beautiful as a demiGod-unspoiled by the taint of civilization-a perfect speciht have been had the laws of man not interfered with the laws of nature
The Present fitted an arrow to his bow and drew the shaft far back The Past basing its clai hie heart and the Past sank back into the oblivion that had claiuru!”him out of the fullness of her admiration the same title that the warriors of her tribe had bestowed upon him
The ape-man turned to her ”Pan-at-lee,” he said, ”these beasts may keep us treed here indefinitely I doubt if we can escape together, but I have a plan You ree, while I start back across the gorge in sight of the to attract their attention Unless they have more brains than I suspect they will follow one you er than today If I do not come by tomorrow's sun you will have to start back for Kor-ul-JA alone Here is a joint of deer s and this he passed up to her
”I cannot desert you,” she said simply; ”it is not the way of ive o,” replied Tarzan
”It is a command?” she asked
”It is! Good-bye, Pan-at-lee Hasten back to O h the trees
”Good-bye, Tarzan-jad-guru!” she called after hi such a friend”
Tarzan, shouting aloud, continued upon his way and the great gryfs, lured by his voice, followed beneath His ruse was evidently proving successful and he was filled with elation as he led the bellowing beasts farther and farther froe of the opportunity afforded her for escape, yet at the same time he was filled with concern as to her ability to survive the dangers which lay between Kor-ul-GRYF and Kor-ul-JA There were lions and Tor-o-dons and the unfriendly tribe of Kor-ul-lul to hinder her progress, though the distance in itself to the cliffs of her people was not great
He realized her bravery and understood the resourcefulness that she must share in common with all primitive people who, day by day, must contend face to face with nature's law of the survival of the fittest, unaided by any of the numerous artificial protections that civilization has thrown around its brood of weaklings
Several tie Tarzan endeavored to outwit his keen pursuers, but all to no avail Double as he would he could not throw theed theirs to confore of the forest upon the southeastern side of the gorge he sought sootiable portion of the cliff, but though he traveled far both up and down the gorge he discovered no such easy avenue of escape The ape-man finally commenced to entertain an idea of the hopelessness of his case and to realize to the full why the Kor-ul-GRYF had been religiously abjured by the races of Pal-ul-don for all these h since early ently a way out of this cul-de-sac he was no nearer to liberty than at the ed him as he stooped over the carcass of his kill: but with the falling of night careat cats, Tarzan was, to a greater or lesser extent, a nocturnal beast It is true he could not see by night as well as they, but that lack was largely recohly developed sensitiveness of his other organs of perception As the blind follow and interpret their Braille characters with deft fingers, so Tarzan reads the book of the jungle with feet and hands and eyes and ears and nose; each contributing its share to the quick and accurate translation of the text