Part 2 (2/2)
The Russian could scarce repress a smile as he listened to Lord Greystoke's words, since scarce a half hour had passed since the ti upon the disordered bed jabbering away to Ajax with all the fluency of a born ape
It was during this interview that a plan occurred to Paulvitch, and as a result of it he agreed to accept a certain fabulous sum for the ape, and upon receipt of thesouth from Dover for Africa two days later He had a double purpose in accepting Clayton's offer Prily, as the ape was no longer a source of revenue to hie after having discovered Tarzan It was as though the beast had suffered hile home and exhibited before thousands of curious spectators for the sole purpose of searching out his long lost friend andwith the common herd of humans unnecessary However that may be, the fact remained that no amount of persuasion could influence hie, and upon the single occasion that the trainer attempted force the results were such that the unfortunate man considered himself lucky to have escaped with his life All that saved him was the accidental presence of Jack Clayton, who had been per room reserved for him at the music hall, and had ie beast meant seriousin the heart of the Russian was the desire for revenge, which had been groith constant brooding over the failures and miseries of his life, which he attributed to Tarzan; the latest, and by no er earn money for him The ape's refusal he traced directly to Tarzan, finally convincing hireat anthropoid to refuse to go upon the stage
Paulvitch's naturallyof his h torture and privation Froent perversity it had deteriorated into the indiscrierous menace of the mentally defective His plan, however, was sufficiently cunning to at least cast a doubt upon the assertion that hisIt assured him first of the competence which Lord Greystoke had promised to pay hie upon his benefactor through the son he idolized That part of his scheme was crude and brutal-it lacked the refinement of torture that had marked the master strokes of the Paulvitch of old, when he had worked with that virtuoso of villainy, Nikolas Rokoff-but it at least assured Paulvitch of i that upon the ape, ould thus also be punished for his refusal longer to support the Russian
Everything played with fiendish unanimity into Paulvitch's hands As chance would have it, Tarzan's son overheard his father relating to the boy'sto return Akut safely to his jungle ho the ape hoht have him for a play-fellow Tarzan would not have been averse to this plan; but Lady Greystoke was horrified at the very thought of it Jack pleaded with his ly She was obdurate, and at last the lad appeared to acquiesce in his mother's decision that the ape must be returned to Africa and the boy to school, from which he had been absent on vacation
He did not atteain that day, but instead busied himself in other ways He had always been well supplied with money, so that when necessity de several hundred pounds Soe purchases which he le into the house, undetected, when he returned late in the afternoon
The nexthis father time to precede him and conclude his business with Paulvitch, the lad hastened to the Russian's roo of the man's true character the boy dared not take him fully into his confidence for fear that the old felloould not only refuse to aid him, but would report the whole affair to his father Instead, he simply asked permission to take Ajax to Dover He explained that it would relieve the olda nu the Russian well
”You see,” he went on, ”there will be no danger of detection since I a on an afternoon train for school Instead I will come here after they have left me on board the train Then I can take Ajax to Dover, you see, and arrive at school only a day late No one will be the wiser, no harm will be done, and I shall have had an extra day with Ajax before I lose him forever”
The plan fitted perfectly with that which Paulvitch had in mind Had he knohat further the boy contemplated he would doubtless have entirely abandoned his own schee and aided the boy whole heartedly in the consummation of the lad's, which would have been better for Paulvitch, could he have but read the future but a few short hours ahead
That afternoon Lord and Lady Greystoke bid their son good-bye and saw him safely settled in a first-class coe that would set him down at school in a few hours No sooner had they left hiether, descended froht a cab stand outside the station Here he engaged a cabby to take him to the Russian's address It was dusk when he arrived He found Paulvitch awaiting hi the floor nervously The ape was tied with a stout cord to the bed It was the first time that Jack had ever seen Ajax thus secured He looked questioningly at Paulvitch The uessed that he was to be sent away and he feared he would attempt to escape
Paulvitch carried another piece of cord in his hand There was a noose in one end of it which he was continually playing with He walked back and forth, up and down the roo horribly as he talked silent to himself The boy had never seen him thus-it made him uneasy At last Paulvitch stopped on the opposite side of the room, far from the ape
”Come here,” he said to the lad ”I will show you how to secure the ape should he show signs of rebellion during the trip”
The lad laughed ”It will not be necessary,” he replied ”Ajax will do whatever I tell hirily ”Come here, as I tell you,” he repeated ”If you do not do as I say you shall not accompany the ape to Dover-I will take no chances upon his escaping”
Still s, the lad crossed the room and stood before the Russ
”Turn around, with your back toward me,” directed the latter, ”that I may show you how to bind hi his hands behind him when Paulvitch told hi noose over one of the lad's wrists, took a couple of half hitches about his other wrist, and knotted the cord
The moed With an angry oath he wheeled his prisoner about, tripped hi upon his breast as he fell Froled with his bonds The boy did not cry out-a trait inherited fro the death of his foster ht that there was none to coht the lad's throat He grinned down horribly into the face of his victim
”Your father ruined me,” he mumbled ”This will pay him He will think that the ape did it I will tell him that the ape did it That I left him alone for a few minutes, and that you sneaked in and the ape killed you I will throw your body upon the bed after I have choked the life fro your father he will see the ape squatting over it,” and the twisted fiend cackled in gloating laughter His fingers closed upon the boy's throat
Behind theainst the walls of the little roon of fear or panic showed upon his countenance He was the son of Tarzan The fingers tightened their grip upon his throat It ith difficulty that he breathed, gaspingly The ape lunged against the stout cord that held hiht have done, and surged heavily backward The great y hide There was a rending as of splintered wood-the cord held, but a portion of the footboard of the bed came away
At the sound Paulvitch looked up His hideous face hite with terror-the ape was free
With a single bound the creature was upon him The man shrieked The brute wrenched hiers sunk into the led, futilely-and when they closed, the soul of Alexis Paulvitch passed into the keeping of the deled to his feet, assisted by Akut For two hours under the instructions of the former the ape worked upon the knots that secured his friend's wrists Finally they gave up their secret, and the boy was free Then he opened one of his bags and drew forth soarments His plans had been well made He did not consult the beast, which did all that he directed Together they slunk froht have noted that one of them was an ape