There was one of the tribe of
Tarzan who questioned his authority,
and that was Terkoz, the son
of Tublat, but he so feared the
keen knife and the deadly arrows
of his new lord that he confined
the manifestation of his objections
to petty disobediences and irritating
mannerisms; Tarzan knew, however,
that he but waited his opportunity
to wrest the kingship from him
by some sudden stroke of treachery,
and so he was ever on his guard
against surprise.
For months the life of the
little band went on much as it
had before, except that Tarzan's
greater intelligence and his
ability as a hunter were the
means of providing for them more
bountifully than ever before.
Most of them, therefore, were
more than content with the change
in rulers.
Tarzan led them by night to
the fields of the black men,
and there, warned by their chief's
superior wisdom, they ate only
what they required, nor ever
did they destroy what they could
not eat, as is the way of Manu,
the monkey, and of most apes.
So, while the blacks were wroth
at the continued pilfering of
their fields, they were not discouraged
in their efforts to cultivate
the land, as would have been
the case had Tarzan permitted
his people to lay waste the plantation
wantonly.
During this period Tarzan paid
many nocturnal visits to the
village, where he often renewed
his supply of arrows. He soon
noticed the food always standing
at the foot of the tree which
was his avenue into the palisade,
and after a little, he commenced
to eat whatever the blacks put
there.
When the awe-struck savages
saw that the food disappeared
overnight they were filled with
consternation and dread, for
it was one thing to put food
out to propitiate a god or a
devil, but quite another thing
to have the spirit really come
into the village and eat it.
Such a thing was unheard of,
and it clouded their superstitious
minds with all manner of vague
fears.
Nor was this all. The periodic
disappearance of their arrows,
and the strange pranks perpetrated
by unseen hands, had wrought
them to such a state that life
had become a veritable burden
in their new home, and now it
was that Mbonga and his head
men began to talk of abandoning
the village and seeking a site
farther on in the jungle.
Presently the black warriors
began to strike farther and farther
south into the heart of the forest
when they went to hunt, looking
for a site for a new village.
More often was the tribe of
Tarzan disturbed by these wandering
huntsmen. Now was the quiet,
fierce solitude of the primeval
forest broken by new, strange
cries. No longer was there safety
for bird or beast. Man had come.
Other animals passed up and
down the jungle by day and by
night--fierce, cruel beasts--but
their weaker neighbors only fled
from their immediate vicinity
to return again when the danger
was past.
With man it is different. When
he comes many of the larger animals
instinctively leave the district
entirely, seldom if ever to return;
and thus it has always been with
the great anthropoids. They flee
man as man flees a pestilence.
For a short time the tribe
of Tarzan lingered in the vicinity
of the beach because their new
chief hated the thought of leaving
the treasured contents of the
little cabin forever. But when
one day a member of the tribe
discovered the blacks in great
numbers on the banks of a little
stream that had been their watering
place for generations, and in
the act of clearing a space in
the jungle and erecting many
huts, the apes would remain no
longer; and so Tarzan led them
inland for many marches to a
spot as yet undefiled by the
foot of a human being.
Once every moon Tarzan would
go swinging rapidly back through
the swaying branches to have
a day with his books, and to
replenish his supply of arrows.
This latter task was becoming
more and more difficult, for
the blacks had taken to hiding
their supply away at night in
granaries and living huts.
This necessitated watching
by day on Tarzan's part to discover
where the arrows were being concealed.
Twice had he entered huts at
night while the inmates lay sleeping
upon their mats, and stolen the
arrows from the very sides of
the warriors. But this method
he realized to be too fraught
with danger, and so he commenced
picking up solitary hunters with
his long, deadly noose, stripping
them of weapons and ornaments
and dropping their bodies from
a high tree into the village
street during the still watches
of the night.
These various escapades again
so terrorized the blacks that,
had it not been for the monthly
respite between Tarzan's visits,
in which they had opportunity
to renew hope that each fresh
incursion would prove the last,
they soon would have abandoned
their new village.
The blacks had not as yet come
upon Tarzan's cabin on the distant
beach, but the ape-man lived
in constant dread that, while
he was away with the tribe, they
would discover and despoil his
treasure. So it came that he
spent more and more time in the
vicinity of his father's last
home, and less and less with
the tribe. Presently the members
of his little community began
to suffer on account of his neglect,
for disputes and quarrels constantly
arose which only the king might
settle peaceably.
At last some of the older apes
spoke to Tarzan on the subject,
and for a month thereafter he
remained constantly with the
tribe.
The duties of kingship among
the anthropoids are not many
or arduous.
In the afternoon comes Thaka,
possibly, to complain that old
Mungo has stolen his new wife.
Then must Tarzan summon all before
him, and if he finds that the
wife prefers her new lord he
commands that matters remain
as they are, or possibly that
Mungo give Thaka one of his daughters
in exchange.
Whatever his decision, the
apes accept it as final, and
return to their occupations satisfied.
Then comes Tana, shrieking
and holding tight her side from
which blood is streaming. Gunto,
her husband, has cruelly bitten
her! And Gunto, summoned, says
that Tana is lazy and will not
bring him nuts and beetles, or
scratch his back for him.
So Tarzan scolds them both
and threatens Gunto with a taste
of the death-bearing slivers
if he abuses Tana further, and
Tana, for her part, is compelled
to promise better attention to
her wifely duties.
And so it goes, little family
differences for the most part,
which, if left unsettled would
result finally in greater factional
strife, and the eventual dismemberment
of the tribe.
But Tarzan tired of it, as
he found that kingship meant
the curtailment of his liberty.
He longed for the little cabin
and the sun-kissed sea--for the
cool interior of the well-built
house, and for the never-ending
wonders of the many books.
As he had grown older, he found
that he had grown away from his
people. Their interests and his
were far removed. They had not
kept pace with him, nor could
they understand aught of the
many strange and wonderful dreams
that passed through the active
brain of their human king. So
limited was their vocabulary
that Tarzan could not even talk
with them of the many new truths,
and the great fields of thought
that his reading had opened up
before his longing eyes, or make
known ambitions which stirred
his soul.
Among the tribe he no longer
had friends as of old. A little
child may find companionship
in many strange and simple creatures,
but to a grown man there must
be some semblance of equality
in intellect as the basis for
agreeable association.
Had Kala lived, Tarzan would
have sacrificed all else to remain
near her, but now that she was
dead, and the playful friends
of his childhood grown into fierce
and surly brutes he felt that
he much preferred the peace and
solitude of his cabin to the
irksome duties of leadership
amongst a horde of wild beasts.
The hatred and jealousy of
Terkoz, son of Tublat, did much
to counteract the effect of Tarzan's
desire to renounce his kingship
among the apes, for, stubborn
young Englishman that he was,
he could not bring himself to
retreat in the face of so malignant
an enemy.
That Terkoz would be chosen
leader in his stead he knew full
well, for time and again the
ferocious brute had established
his claim to physical supremacy
over the few bull apes who had
dared resent his savage bullying.
Tarzan would have liked to
subdue the ugly beast without
recourse to knife or arrows.
So much had his great strength
and agility increased in the
period following his maturity
that he had come to believe that
he might master the redoubtable
Terkoz in a hand to hand fight
were it not for the terrible
advantage the anthropoid's huge
fighting fangs gave him over
the poorly armed Tarzan.
The entire matter was taken
out of Tarzan's hands one day
by force of circumstances, and
his future left open to him,
so that he might go or stay without
any stain upon his savage escutcheon.
It happened thus:
The tribe was feeding quietly,
spread over a considerable area,
when a great screaming arose
some distance east of where Tarzan
lay upon his belly beside a limpid
brook, attempting to catch an
elusive fish in his quick, brown
hands.
With one accord the tribe swung
rapidly toward the frightened
cries, and there found Terkoz
holding an old female by the
hair and beating her unmercifully
with his great hands.
As Tarzan approached he raised
his hand aloft for Terkoz to
desist, for the female was not
his, but belonged to a poor old
ape whose fighting days were
long over, and who, therefore,
could not protect his family.
Terkoz knew that it was against
the laws of his kind to strike
this woman of another, but being
a bully, he had taken advantage
of the weakness of the female's
husband to chastise her because
she had refused to give up to
him a tender young rodent she
had captured.
When Terkoz saw Tarzan approaching
without his arrows, he continued
to belabor the poor woman in
a studied effort to affront his
hated chieftain.
Tarzan did not repeat his warning
signal, but instead rushed bodily
upon the waiting Terkoz.
Never had the ape-man fought
so terrible a battle since that
long-gone day when Bolgani, the
great king gorilla had so horribly
manhandled him ere the new-found
knife had, by accident, pricked
the savage heart.
Tarzan's knife on the present
occasion but barely offset the
gleaming fangs of Terkoz, and
what little advantage the ape
had over the man in brute strength
was almost balanced by the latter's
wonderful quickness and agility.
In the sum total of their points,
however, the anthropoid had a
shade the better of the battle,
and had there been no other personal
attribute to influence the final
outcome, Tarzan of the Apes,
the young Lord Greystoke, would
have died as he had lived--an
unknown savage beast in equatorial
Africa.
But there was that which had
raised him far above his fellows
of the jungle--that little spark
which spells the whole vast difference
between man and brute--Reason.
This it was which saved him from
death beneath the iron muscles
and tearing fangs of Terkoz.
Scarcely had they fought a
dozen seconds ere they were rolling
upon the ground, striking, tearing
and rending--two great savage
beasts battling to the death.
Terkoz had a dozen knife wounds
on head and breast, and Tarzan
was torn and bleeding--his scalp
in one place half torn from his
head so that a great piece hung
down over one eye, obstructing
his vision.
But so far the young Englishman
had been able to keep those horrible
fangs from his jugular and now,
as they fought less fiercely
for a moment, to regain their
breath, Tarzan formed a cunning
plan. He would work his way to
the other's back and, clinging
there with tooth and nail, drive
his knife home until Terkoz was
no more.
The maneuver was accomplished
more easily than he had hoped,
for the stupid beast, not knowing
what Tarzan was attempting, made
no particular effort to prevent
the accomplishment of the design.
But when, finally, he realized
that his antagonist was fastened
to him where his teeth and fists
alike were useless against him,
Terkoz hurled himself about upon
the ground so violently that
Tarzan could but cling desperately
to the leaping, turning, twisting
body, and ere he had struck a
blow the knife was hurled from
his hand by a heavy impact against
the earth, and Tarzan found himself
defenseless.
During the rollings and squirmings
of the next few minutes, Tarzan's
hold was loosened a dozen times
until finally an accidental circumstance
of those swift and everchanging
evolutions gave him a new hold
with his right hand, which he
realized was absolutely unassailable.
His arm was passed beneath
Terkoz's arm from behind and
his hand and forearm encircled
the back of Terkoz's neck. It
was the half-Nelson of modern
wrestling which the untaught
ape-man had stumbled upon, but
superior reason showed him in
an instant the value of the thing
he had discovered. It was the
difference to him between life
and death.
And so he struggled to encompass
a similar hold with the left
hand, and in a few moments Terkoz's
bull neck was creaking beneath
a full-Nelson.
There was no more lunging about
now. The two lay perfectly still
upon the ground, Tarzan upon
Terkoz's back. Slowly the bullet
head of the ape was being forced
lower and lower upon his chest.
Tarzan knew what the result
would be. In an instant the neck
would break. Then there came
to Terkoz's rescue the same thing
that had put him in these sore
straits--a man's reasoning power.
"If I kill him," thought Tarzan, "what
advantage will it be to me? Will
it not rob the tribe of a great
fighter? And if Terkoz be dead,
he will know nothing of my supremacy,
while alive he will ever be an
example to the other apes."
"KA-GODA?" hissed Tarzan in
Terkoz's ear, which, in ape tongue,
means, freely translated: "Do
you surrender?"
For a moment there was no reply,
and Tarzan added a few more ounces
of pressure, which elicited a
horrified shriek of pain from
the great beast.
"KA-GODA?" repeated
Tarzan.
"KA-GODA!" cried
Terkoz.
"Listen," said Tarzan, easing
up a trifle, but not releasing
his hold. "I am Tarzan, King
of the Apes, mighty hunter, mighty
fighter. In all the jungle there
is none so great.
"You have said:
`KA-GODA' to me. All the tribe
have heard.
Quarrel no more with your king
or your people, for next time
I shall kill you. Do you understand?"
"HUH," assented
Terkoz.
"And you are
satisfied?"
"HUH," said
the ape.
Tarzan let him up, and in a
few minutes all were back at
their vocations, as though naught
had occurred to mar the tranquility
of their primeval forest haunts.
But deep in the minds of the
apes was rooted the conviction
that Tarzan was a mighty fighter
and a strange creature. Strange
because he had had it in his
power to kill his enemy, but
had allowed him to live--unharmed.
That afternoon as the tribe
came together, as was their wont
before darkness settled on the
jungle, Tarzan, his wounds washed
in the waters of the stream,
called the old males about him.
"You have seen again to-day
that Tarzan of the Apes is the
greatest among you," he said.
"HUH," they replied with one
voice, "Tarzan is great."
"Tarzan," he continued, "is
not an ape. He is not like his
people. His ways are not their
ways, and so Tarzan is going
back to the lair of his own kind
by the waters of the great lake
which has no farther shore. You
must choose another to rule you,
for Tarzan will not return."
And thus young Lord Greystoke
took the first step toward the
goal which he had set--the finding
of other white men like himself.
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