Part 6 (1/2)

Chapter 7

Akut, discovering that the boy was not close behind hione but a short distance in return when he was brought to a sudden and startled halt by sight of a strange figure h the trees toward hi spear, down his back hung an oblong shi+eld such as the black warriors who had attacked them had worn, and upon ankle and arm were bands of iron and brass, while a loin cloth isted about the youth's h its folds

When the boy saw the ape he hastened forward to exhibit his trophies Proudly he called attention to each of his neon possessions Boastfully he recounted the details of his exploit

”With my bare hands and my teeth I killed him,” he said ”I would have made friends with them but they chose to be my enemies And now that I have a spear I shall show Numa, too, what it reat apes, Akut, are our friends Them we shall seek, all others le”

They e, and resumed their journey toward the coast The boy took much pride in his neeapons and orna it at so way, until he gained a proficiency such as only youthfulwent on under the guidance of Akut No longer was there a single jungle spoor but was an open book to the keen eyes of the lad, and those other indefinite spoor that elude the senses of civilized e cousin caer boy He could differentiate the innumerable species of the herbivora by scent, and he could tell, too, whether an ani or waning strength of its effluvium Nor did he need the evidence of his eyes to tell him whether there were two lions or four up wind,-a hundred yards away or half a ht hie intuition inherited frole life The constant battle of wits and senses against thethe pathway of the wary and the unwary appealed to the spirit of adventure which breathes strong in the heart of every red-blooded son of prih he loved it, he had not let his selfish desires outweigh the sense of duty that had brought hi which lay beneath the adventurous escapade that had brought hi within hi to per theht to his deterht communicate with them and receive funds for his return to London There he felt sure that he could now persuade his parents to let him spend at least a portion of his time upon those African estates which from little careless remarks dropped at ho, better at least than a lifeti restrictions of civilization

And so he was rather contented than otherwise as he made his way in the direction of the coast, for while he enjoyed the liberty and the savage pleasures of the wild his conscience was at the sa all that lay in his power to return to his parents He rather looked forward, too, to ain-creatures of his own kind-for there had been ed for other companionshi+p than that of the old ape The affair with the blacks still rankled in his heart He had approached theood fellowshi+p and with such childlike assurance of a hospitable welcome that the reception which had been accorded hier looked upon the black man as his brother; but rather as only another of the innule-a beast of prey which walked upon two feet instead of four

But if the blacks were his enemies there were those in the world ere not There were those who alould welcome him with open arms; ould accept hiht find sanctuary from every ene the coast or even in the depths of the jungle itself there hite men To them he would be a welcoreat apes-the friends of his father and of Akut How glad they would be to receive the son of Tarzan of the Apes! He hoped that he could co post upon the coast He wanted to be able to tell his father that he had known his old friends of the jungle, that he had hunted with thee life, and their fierce, prie ceremonies of which Akut had tried to tell his Often he rehearsed the long speech which he would make to the apes, in which he would tell the since he had left the hite ht of a naked white boy trapped in the war togs of a black warrior and roareat ape as his companion

And so the days passed, and with the traveling and the hunting and the cliility increased until even phlegmatic Akuthis great strength and revelling in it, becale, his proud head erect, defying danger Where Akut took to the trees at the first scent of Nu of beasts and walked boldly past hi time The lions he e creature which invaded their dohts of attack were banished fro his approach and his departure Whatever the cause, however, the fact remains that on reat lion without arousing rowl

But no two lions are necessarily alike in character or tereatly as do individuals of the human family Because ten lions act similarly under similar conditions one cannot say that the eleventh lion will do likewise-the chances are that he will not The lion is a creature of high nervous develop a nervous system and brains he is the possessor of temperament, which is affected variously by extraneous causes One day the boyacross a srew little clumps of bushes Akut was a few yards to the left of the lad as the first to discover the presence of Nu ”Nuht Take to the trees Akut! I, the son of Tarzan, will protect you,” and the boy, laughing, kept straight along his hich led close beside the brush in which Numa lay concealed

The ape shouted to him to come away, but the lad only flourished his spear and executed an i of beasts Closer and closer to the dread destroyer he carowl, the lion rose froe felloas, this lord of the jungle and the desert A shaggy reat jaws His yellow-green eyes blazed with hatred and challenge

The boy, with his pitifully inadequate spear ready in his hand, realized quickly that this lion was different froone too far now to retreat The nearest tree lay several yards to his left-the lion could be upon him before he had covered half the distance, and that the beast intended to charge none could doubt who looked upon him now Beyond the lion was a thorn tree-only a few feet beyond him It was the nearest sanctuary but Nu spear shaft in his hand and the sight of the tree beyond the lion gave the lad an idea-a preposterous idea-a ridiculous, forlorn hope of an idea; but there was no tile chance, and that was the thorn tree If the lion charged it would be too late-the lad e first, and to the astonishment of Akut and none the less of Numa, the boy leaped swiftly toward the beast Just for a second was the lion motionless with surprise and in that second Jack Clayton put to the crucial test an accoht for the savage brute he ran, his spear held butt foremost across his body Akut shrieked in terror and a the attack, ready to rear upon his hind feet and receive this rash creature with blows that could crush the skull of a buffalo

Just in front of the lion the boy placed the butt of his spear upon the ground, gave a uess the trick that had been played upon hi embrace of the thorn tree-safe but lacerated

Akut had never before seen a pole-vault Now he leaped up and doithin the safety of his own tree, screa taunts and boasts at the discoht soht find the least agony He had saved his life; but at considerable cost in suffering It seemed to him that the lion would never leave, and it was a full hour before the angry brute gave up his vigil and strode majestically away across the plain When he was at a safe distance the boy extricated hi neounds upon his already tortured flesh

It was many days before the outward evidence of the lesson he had learned had left him; while the impression upon his ain did he uselessly te chances often in his after life; but only when the taking of chances ht further the attainment of some cherished end-and, always thereafter, he practiced pole-vaulting

For several days the boy and the ape lay up while the former recovered froreat anthropoid licked the wounds of his human friend, nor, aside from this, did they receive other treatment, but they soon healed, for healthy flesh quickly replaces itself

When the lad felt fit again the two continued their journey toward the coast, and once more the boy's mind was filled with pleasurable anticipation

And at last the h a tangled forest when the boy's sharp eyes discovered fro an old but well--the spoor ofthe prints of naked feet were the well defined outlines of European ood-sized coles to the course the boy and the ape were taking toward the coast

Doubtless these white ht even be headed for it now At any rate it would be worth while overtaking theain creatures of his own kind The lad was all exciteerness to be off in pursuit Akut de of men To hi of apes He tried to dissuade the boy, telling him that soon they should come upon a tribe of their own folk where so as his father had before him But Jack was obdurate He insisted that he wanted to see white e to his parents Akut listened and as he listened the intuition of the beast suggested the truth to hi to return to his own kind