Chapter 6
A Hideous Crew
The war-canoe with its savage load moved slowly toward the break in
the reef through which it must pass to gain the open sea. Tarzan,
Mugambi, and Akut wielded the paddles, for the shore kept the west
wind from the little sail.
Sheeta crouched in the bow at the ape-man's feet, for it had
seemed best to Tarzan always to keep the wicked beast as far from
the other members of the party as possible, since it would require
little or no provocation to send him at the throat of any than the
white man, whom he evidently now looked upon as his master.
In the stern was Mugambi, and just in front of him squatted Akut,
while between Akut and Tarzan the twelve hairy apes sat upon their
haunches, blinking dubiously this way and that, and now and then
turning their eyes longingly back toward shore.
All went well until the canoe had passed beyond the reef. Here
the breeze struck the sail, sending the rude craft lunging among
the waves that ran higher and higher as they drew away from the
shore.
With the tossing of the boat the apes became panic-stricken.
They first moved uneasily about, and then commenced grumbling and
whining. With difficulty Akut kept them in hand for a time; but
when a particularly large wave struck the dugout simultaneously
with a little squall of wind their terror broke all bounds, and,
leaping to their feet, they all but overturned the boat before Akut
and Tarzan together could quiet them. At last calm was restored,
and eventually the apes became accustomed to the strange antics of
their craft, after which no more trouble was experienced with them.
The trip was uneventful, the wind held, and after ten hours'
steady sailing the black shadows of the coast loomed close before
the straining eyes of the ape-man in the bow. It was far too dark
to distinguish whether they had approached close to the mouth of
the Ugambi or not, so Tarzan ran in through the surf at the closest
point to await the dawn.
The dugout turned broadside the instant that its nose touched the
sand, and immediately it rolled over, with all its crew scrambling
madly for the shore. The next breaker rolled them over and over,
but eventually they all succeeded in crawling to safety, and in a
moment more their ungainly craft had been washed up beside them.
The balance of the night the apes sat huddled close to one another
for warmth; while Mugambi built a fire close to them over which he
crouched. Tarzan and Sheeta, however, were of a different mind,
for neither of them feared the jungle night, and the insistent
craving of their hunger sent them off into the Stygian blackness
of the forest in search of prey.
Side by side they walked when there was room for two abreast.
At other times in single file, first one and then the other in
advance. It was Tarzan who first caught the scent of meat--a bull
buffalo--and presently the two came stealthily upon the sleeping
beast in the midst of a dense jungle of reeds close to a river.
Closer and closer they crept toward the unsuspecting beast, Sheeta
upon his right side and Tarzan upon his left nearest the great
heart. They had hunted together now for some time, so that they
worked in unison, with only low, purring sounds as signals.
For a moment they lay quite silent near their prey, and then at a
sign from the ape-man Sheeta sprang upon the great back, burying
his strong teeth in the bull's neck. Instantly the brute sprang
to his feet with a bellow of pain and rage, and at the same instant
Tarzan rushed in upon his left side with the stone knife, striking
repeatedly behind the shoulder.
One of the ape-man's hands clutched the thick mane, and as the
bull raced madly through the reeds the thing striking at his life
was dragged beside him. Sheeta but clung tenaciously to his hold
upon the neck and back, biting deep in an effort to reach the spine.
For several hundred yards the bellowing bull carried his two savage
antagonists, until at last the blade found his heart, when with a
final bellow that was half-scream he plunged headlong to the earth.
Then Tarzan and Sheeta feasted to repletion.
After the meal the two curled up together in a thicket, the man's
black head pillowed upon the tawny side of the panther. Shortly
after dawn they awoke and ate again, and then returned to the beach
that Tarzan might lead the balance of the pack to the kill.
When the meal was done the brutes were for curling up to sleep, so
Tarzan and Mugambi set off in search of the Ugambi River. They had
proceeded scarce a hundred yards when they came suddenly upon a
broad stream, which the Negro instantly recognized as that down which
he and his warriors had paddled to the sea upon their ill-starred
expedition.
The two now followed the stream down to the ocean, finding that it
emptied into a bay not over a mile from the point upon the beach
at which the canoe had been thrown the night before.
Tarzan was much elated by the discovery, as he knew that in the
vicinity of a large watercourse he should find natives, and from
some of these he had little doubt but that he should obtain news
of Rokoff and the child, for he felt reasonably certain that the
Russian would rid himself of the baby as quickly as possible after
having disposed of Tarzan.
He and Mugambi now righted and launched the dugout, though it was a
most difficult feat in the face of the surf which rolled continuously
in upon the beach; but at last they were successful, and soon after
were paddling up the coast toward the mouth of the Ugambi. Here
they experienced considerable difficulty in making an entrance
against the combined current and ebb tide, but by taking advantage
of eddies close in to shore they came about dusk to a point nearly
opposite the spot where they had left the pack asleep.
Making the craft fast to an overhanging bough, the two made their
way into the jungle, presently coming upon some of the apes feeding
upon fruit a little beyond the reeds where the buffalo had fallen.
Sheeta was not anywhere to be seen, nor did he return that night,
so that Tarzan came to believe that he had wandered away in search
of his own kind.
Early the next morning the ape-man led his band down to the
river, and as he walked he gave vent to a series of shrill cries.
Presently from a great distance and faintly there came an answering
scream, and a half-hour later the lithe form of Sheeta bounded into
view where the others of the pack were clambering gingerly into
the canoe.
The great beast, with arched back and purring like a contented tabby,
rubbed his sides against the ape-man, and then at a word from the
latter sprang lightly to his former place in the bow of the dugout.
When all were in place it was discovered that two of the apes of
Akut were missing, and though both the king ape and Tarzan called
to them for the better part of an hour, there was no response, and
finally the boat put off without them. As it happened that the
two missing ones were the very same who had evinced the least desire
to accompany the expedition from the island, and had suffered the
most from fright during the voyage, Tarzan was quite sure that they
had absented themselves purposely rather than again enter the canoe.
As the party were putting in for the shore shortly after noon to
search for food a slender, naked savage watched them for a moment
from behind the dense screen of verdure which lined the river's
bank, then he melted away up-stream before any of those in the
canoe discovered him.
Like a deer he bounded along the narrow trail until, filled with
the excitement of his news, he burst into a native village several
miles above the point at which Tarzan and his pack had stopped to
hunt.
"Another white man is coming!" he cried to the chief who squatted
before the entrance to his circular hut. "Another white man, and
with him are many warriors. They come in a great war-canoe to
kill and rob as did the black-bearded one who has just left us."
Kaviri leaped to his feet. He had but recently had a taste of the
white man's medicine, and his savage heart was filled with bitterness
and hate. In another moment the rumble of the war-drums rose from
the village, calling in the hunters from the forest and the tillers
from the fields.
Seven war-canoes were launched and manned by paint-daubed, befeathered
warriors. Long spears bristled from the rude battle-ships, as they
slid noiselessly over the bosom of the water, propelled by giant
muscles rolling beneath glistening, ebony hides.
There was no beating of tom-toms now, nor blare of native horn,
for Kaviri was a crafty warrior, and it was in his mind to take
no chances, if they could be avoided. He would swoop noiselessly
down with his seven canoes upon the single one of the white man,
and before the guns of the latter could inflict much damage upon
his people he would have overwhelmed the enemy by force of numbers.
Kaviri's own canoe went in advance of the others a short distance,
and as it rounded a sharp bend in the river where the swift current
bore it rapidly on its way it came suddenly upon the thing that
Kaviri sought.
So close were the two canoes to one another that the black had only
an opportunity to note the white face in the bow of the oncoming
craft before the two touched and his own men were upon their feet,
yelling like mad devils and thrusting their long spears at the
occupants of the other canoe.
But a moment later, when Kaviri was able to realize the nature of
the crew that manned the white man's dugout, he would have given
all the beads and iron wire that he possessed to have been safely
within his distant village. Scarcely had the two craft come together
than the frightful apes of Akut rose, growling and barking, from the
bottom of the canoe, and, with long, hairy arms far outstretched,
grasped the menacing spears from the hands of Kaviri's warriors.
The blacks were overcome with terror, but there was nothing to do
other than to fight. Now came the other war-canoes rapidly down
upon the two craft. Their occupants were eager to join the battle,
for they thought that their foes were white men and their native
porters.
They swarmed about Tarzan's craft; but when they saw the nature of
the enemy all but one turned and paddled swiftly upriver. That
one came too close to the ape-man's craft before its occupants
realized that their fellows were pitted against demons instead
of men. As it touched Tarzan spoke a few low words to Sheeta and
Akut, so that before the attacking warriors could draw away there
sprang upon them with a blood-freezing scream a huge panther, and
into the other end of their canoe clambered a great ape.
At one end the panther wrought fearful havoc with his mighty talons
and long, sharp fangs, while Akut at the other buried his yellow
canines in the necks of those that came within his reach, hurling
the terror-stricken blacks overboard as he made his way toward the
centre of the canoe.
Kaviri was so busily engaged with the demons that had entered his
own craft that he could offer no assistance to his warriors in the
other. A giant of a white devil had wrested his spear from him as
though he, the mighty Kaviri, had been but a new-born babe. Hairy
monsters were overcoming his fighting men, and a black chieftain
like himself was fighting shoulder to shoulder with the hideous
pack that opposed him.
Kaviri battled bravely against his antagonist, for he felt that
death had already claimed him, and so the least that he could do
would be to sell his life as dearly as possible; but it was soon
evident that his best was quite futile when pitted against the
superhuman brawn and agility of the creature that at last found
his throat and bent him back into the bottom of the canoe.
Presently Kaviri's head began to whirl--objects became confused
and dim before his eyes--there was a great pain in his chest as
he struggled for the breath of life that the thing upon him was
shutting off for ever. Then he lost consciousness.
When he opened his eyes once more he found, much to his surprise,
that he was not dead. He lay, securely bound, in the bottom of
his own canoe. A great panther sat upon its haunches, looking down
upon him.
Kaviri shuddered and closed his eyes again, waiting for the ferocious
creature to spring upon him and put him out of his misery of terror.
After a moment, no rending fangs having buried themselves in his
trembling body, he again ventured to open his eyes. Beyond the
panther kneeled the white giant who had overcome him.
The man was wielding a paddle, while directly behind him Kaviri saw
some of his own warriors similarly engaged. Back of them again
squatted several of the hairy apes.
Tarzan, seeing that the chief had regained consciousness, addressed
him.
"Your warriors tell me that you are the chief of a numerous people,
and that your name is Kaviri," he said.
"Yes," replied the black.
"Why did you attack me? I came in peace."
"Another white man `came in peace' three moons ago," replied Kaviri;
"and after we had brought him presents of a goat and cassava and
milk, he set upon us with his guns and killed many of my people,
and then went on his way, taking all of our goats and many of our
young men and women."
"I am not as this other white man," replied Tarzan. "I should
not have harmed you had you not set upon me. Tell me, what was
the face of this bad white man like? I am searching for one who
has wronged me. Possibly this may be the very one."
"He was a man with a bad face, covered with a great, black beard,
and he was very, very wicked--yes, very wicked indeed."
"Was there a little white child with him?" asked Tarzan, his heart
almost stopped as he awaited the black's answer.
"No, bwana," replied Kaviri, "the white child was not with this
man's party--it was with the other party."
"Other party!" exclaimed Tarzan. "What other party?"
"With the party that the very bad white man was pursuing. There
was a white man, woman, and the child, with six Mosula porters.
They passed up the river three days ahead of the very bad white
man. I think that they were running away from him."
A white man, woman, and child! Tarzan was puzzled. The child must
be his little Jack; but who could the woman be--and the man? Was
it possible that one of Rokoff's confederates had conspired with
some woman--who had accompanied the Russian--to steal the baby from
him?
If this was the case, they had doubtless purposed returning the
child to civilization and there either claiming a reward or holding
the little prisoner for ransom.
But now that Rokoff had succeeded in chasing them far inland, up
the savage river, there could be little doubt but that he would
eventually overhaul them, unless, as was still more probable, they
should be captured and killed by the very cannibals farther up the
Ugambi, to whom, Tarzan was now convinced, it had been Rokoff's
intention to deliver the baby.
As he talked to Kaviri the canoes had been moving steadily up-river
toward the chief's village. Kaviri's warriors plied the paddles
in the three canoes, casting sidelong, terrified glances at their
hideous passengers. Three of the apes of Akut had been killed in
the encounter, but there were, with Akut, eight of the frightful
beasts remaining, and there was Sheeta, the panther, and Tarzan
and Mugambi.
Kaviri's warriors thought that they had never seen so terrible a
crew in all their lives. Momentarily they expected to be pounced
upon and torn asunder by some of their captors; and, in fact,
it was all that Tarzan and Mugambi and Akut could do to keep the
snarling, ill-natured brutes from snapping at the glistening, naked
bodies that brushed against them now and then with the movements
of the paddlers, whose very fear added incitement to the beasts.
At Kaviri's camp Tarzan paused only long enough to eat the food
that the blacks furnished, and arrange with the chief for a dozen
men to man the paddles of his canoe.
Kaviri was only too glad to comply with any demands that the ape-man
might make if only such compliance would hasten the departure of
the horrid pack; but it was easier, he discovered, to promise men
than to furnish them, for when his people learned his intentions
those that had not already fled into the jungle proceeded to do
so without loss of time, so that when Kaviri turned to point out
those who were to accompany Tarzan, he discovered that he was the
only member of his tribe left within the village.
Tarzan could not repress a smile.
"They do not seem anxious to accompany us," he said; "but just
remain quietly here, Kaviri, and presently you shall see your people
flocking to your side."
Then the ape-man rose, and, calling his pack about him, commanded
that Mugambi remain with Kaviri, and disappeared in the jungle with
Sheeta and the apes at his heels.
For half an hour the silence of the grim forest was broken only
by the ordinary sounds of the teeming life that but adds to its
lowering loneliness. Kaviri and Mugambi sat alone in the palisaded
village, waiting.
Presently from a great distance came a hideous sound. Mugambi
recognized the weird challenge of the ape-man. Immediately from
different points of the compass rose a horrid semicircle of similar
shrieks and screams, punctuated now and again by the blood-curdling
cry of a hungry panther.
