Tarzan the Terrible | Page 7

sensed on the instant the truth of the miracle of his saving, and turning in his tracks,
had leaped forward with raised bludgeon to Tarzan's assistance and Numa's undoing. A
single terrific blow upon the flattened skull of the beast laid him insensible and then as
Tarzan's knife found the wild heart a few convulsive shudders and a sudden relaxation
marked the passing of the carnivore.
Leaping to his feet the ape-man placed his foot upon the carcass of his kill and, raising
his face to Goro, the moon, voiced the savage victory cry that had so often awakened the
echoes of his native jungle.
As the hideous scream burst from the ape-man's lips the man-thing stepped quickly back
as in sudden awe, but when Tarzan returned his hunting knife to its sheath and turned
toward him the other saw in the quiet dignity of his demeanor no cause for apprehension.
For a moment the two stood appraising each other, and then the man-thing spoke. Tarzan
realized that the creature before him was uttering articulate sounds which expressed in
speech, though in a language with which Tarzan was unfamiliar, the thoughts of a man
possessing to a greater or less extent the same powers of reason that he possessed. In
other words, that though the creature before him had the tail and thumbs and great toes of
a monkey, it was, in all other respects, quite evidently a man.
The blood, which was now flowing down Tarzan's side, caught the creature's attention.
From the pocket-pouch at his side he took a small bag and approaching Tarzan indicated
by signs that he wished the ape-man to lie down that he might treat the wound,
whereupon, spreading the edges of the cut apart, he sprinkled the raw flesh with powder
from the little bag. The pain of the wound was as nothing to the exquisite torture of the
remedy but, accustomed to physical suffering, the ape-man withstood it stoically and in a
few moments not only had the bleeding ceased but the pain as well.
In reply to the soft and far from unpleasant modulations of the other's voice, Tarzan
spoke in various tribal dialects of the interior as well as in the language of the great apes,
but it was evident that the man understood none of these. Seeing that they could not make
each other understood, the pithecanthropus advanced toward Tarzan and placing his left
hand over his own heart laid the palm of his right hand over the heart of the ape-man. To
the latter the action appeared as a form of friendly greeting and, being versed in the ways
of uncivilized races, he responded in kind as he realized it was doubtless intended that he
should. His action seemed to satisfy and please his new-found acquaintance, who
immediately fell to talking again and finally, with his head tipped back, sniffed the air in
the direction of the tree above them and then suddenly pointing toward the carcass of
Bara, the deer, he touched his stomach in a sign language which even the densest might
interpret. With a wave of his hand Tarzan invited his guest to partake of the remains of
his savage repast, and the other, leaping nimbly as a little monkey to the lower branches
of the tree, made his way quickly to the flesh, assisted always by his long, strong sinuous
tail.

The pithecanthropus ate in silence, cutting small strips from the deer's loin with his keen
knife. From his crotch in the tree Tarzan watched his companion, noting the
preponderance of human attributes which were doubtless accentuated by the paradoxical
thumbs, great toes, and tail.
He wondered if this creature was representative of some strange race or if, what seemed
more likely, but an atavism. Either supposition would have seemed preposterous enough
did he not have before him the evidence of the creature's existence. There he was,
however, a tailed man with distinctly arboreal hands and feet. His trappings, gold
encrusted and jewel studded, could have been wrought only by skilled artisans; but
whether they were the work of this individual or of others like him, or of an entirely
different race, Tarzan could not, of course, determine.
His meal finished, the guest wiped his fingers and lips with leaves broken from a nearby
branch, looked up at Tarzan with a pleasant smile that revealed a row of strong white
teeth, the canines of which were no longer than Tarzan's own, spoke a few words which
Tarzan judged were a polite expression of thanks and then sought a comfortable place in
the tree for the night.
The earth was shadowed in the darkness which precedes the dawn when Tarzan was
awakened by a violent shaking of the tree in which he had found shelter. As