Chapter 7
Betrayed
The two savages, Kaviri and Mugambi, squatting before the entrance
to Kaviri's hut, looked at one another--Kaviri with ill-concealed
alarm.
"What is it?" he whispered.
"It is Bwana Tarzan and his people," replied Mugambi. "But what
they are doing I know not, unless it be that they are devouring
your people who ran away."
Kaviri shuddered and rolled his eyes fearfully toward the jungle.
In all his long life in the savage forest he had never heard such
an awful, fearsome din.
Closer and closer came the sounds, and now with them were mingled
the terrified shrieks of women and children and of men. For twenty
long minutes the blood-curdling cries continued, until they seemed
but a stone's throw from the palisade. Kaviri rose to flee,
but Mugambi seized and held him, for such had been the command of
Tarzan.
A moment later a horde of terrified natives burst from the jungle,
racing toward the shelter of their huts. Like frightened sheep
they ran, and behind them, driving them as sheep might be driven,
came Tarzan and Sheeta and the hideous apes of Akut.
Presently Tarzan stood before Kaviri, the old quiet smile upon his
lips.
"Your people have returned, my brother," he said, "and now you may
select those who are to accompany me and paddle my canoe."
Tremblingly Kaviri tottered to his feet, calling to his people to
come from their huts; but none responded to his summons.
"Tell them," suggested Tarzan, "that if they do not come I shall
send my people in after them."
Kaviri did as he was bid, and in an instant the entire population
of the village came forth, their wide and frightened eyes rolling
from one to another of the savage creatures that wandered about
the village street.
Quickly Kaviri designated a dozen warriors to accompany Tarzan.
The poor fellows went almost white with terror at the prospect of
close contact with the panther and the apes in the narrow confines
of the canoes; but when Kaviri explained to them that there was
no escape--that Bwana Tarzan would pursue them with his grim horde
should they attempt to run away from the duty--they finally went
gloomily down to the river and took their places in the canoe.
It was with a sigh of relief that their chieftain saw the party
disappear about a headland a short distance up-river.
For three days the strange company continued farther and farther
into the heart of the savage country that lies on either side of
the almost unexplored Ugambi. Three of the twelve warriors deserted
during that time; but as several of the apes had finally learned
the secret of the paddles, Tarzan felt no dismay because of the
loss.
As a matter of fact, he could have travelled much more rapidly on
shore, but he believed that he could hold his own wild crew together
to better advantage by keeping them to the boat as much as possible.
Twice a day they landed to hunt and feed, and at night they slept
upon the bank of the mainland or on one of the numerous little
islands that dotted the river.
Before them the natives fled in alarm, so that they found only
deserted villages in their path as they proceeded. Tarzan was
anxious to get in touch with some of the savages who dwelt upon
the river's banks, but so far he had been unable to do so.
Finally he decided to take to the land himself, leaving his company
to follow after him by boat. He explained to Mugambi the thing
that he had in mind, and told Akut to follow the directions of the
black.
"I will join you again in a few days," he said. "Now I go ahead
to learn what has become of the very bad white man whom I seek."
At the next halt Tarzan took to the shore, and was soon lost to
the view of his people.
The first few villages he came to were deserted, showing that news
of the coming of his pack had travelled rapidly; but toward evening
he came upon a distant cluster of thatched huts surrounded by a
rude palisade, within which were a couple of hundred natives.
The women were preparing the evening meal as Tarzan of the Apes
poised above them in the branches of a giant tree which overhung
the palisade at one point.
The ape-man was at a loss as to how he might enter into communication
with these people without either frightening them or arousing their
savage love of battle. He had no desire to fight now, for he was
upon a much more important mission than that of battling with every
chance tribe that he should happen to meet with.
At last he hit upon a plan, and after seeing that he was concealed
from the view of those below, he gave a few hoarse grunts in
imitation of a panther. All eyes immediately turned upward toward
the foliage above.
It was growing dark, and they could not penetrate the leafy screen
which shielded the ape-man from their view. The moment that he had
won their attention he raised his voice to the shriller and more
hideous scream of the beast he personated, and then, scarce stirring
a leaf in his descent, dropped to the ground once again outside
the palisade, and, with the speed of a deer, ran quickly round to
the village gate.
Here he beat upon the fibre-bound saplings of which the barrier
was constructed, shouting to the natives in their own tongue that
he was a friend who wished food and shelter for the night.
Tarzan knew well the nature of the black man. He was aware that
the grunting and screaming of Sheeta in the tree above them would
set their nerves on edge, and that his pounding upon their gate
after dark would still further add to their terror.
That they did not reply to his hail was no surprise, for natives
are fearful of any voice that comes out of the night from beyond
their palisades, attributing it always to some demon or other
ghostly visitor; but still he continued to call.
"Let me in, my friends!" he cried. "I am a white man pursuing the
very bad white man who passed this way a few days ago. I follow
to punish him for the sins he has committed against you and me.
"If you doubt my friendship, I will prove it to you by going into
the tree above your village and driving Sheeta back into the jungle
before he leaps among you. If you will not promise to take me in
and treat me as a friend I shall let Sheeta stay and devour you."
For a moment there was silence. Then the voice of an old man came
out of the quiet of the village street.
"If you are indeed a white man and a friend, we will let you come
in; but first you must drive Sheeta away."
"Very well," replied Tarzan. "Listen, and you shall hear Sheeta
fleeing before me."
The ape-man returned quickly to the tree, and this time he made a
great noise as he entered the branches, at the same time growling
ominously after the manner of the panther, so that those below
would believe that the great beast was still there.
When he reached a point well above the village street he made a
great commotion, shaking the tree violently, crying aloud to the
panther to flee or be killed, and punctuating his own voice with
the screams and mouthings of an angry beast.
Presently he raced toward the opposite side of the tree and off into
the jungle, pounding loudly against the boles of trees as he went,
and voicing the panther's diminishing growls as he drew farther
and farther away from the village.
A few minutes later he returned to the village gate, calling to
the natives within.
"I have driven Sheeta away," he said. "Now come and admit me as
you promised."
For a time there was the sound of excited discussion within the
palisade, but at length a half-dozen warriors came and opened the
gates, peering anxiously out in evident trepidation as to the nature
of the creature which they should find waiting there. They were
not much relieved at sight of an almost naked white man; but when
Tarzan had reassured them in quiet tones, protesting his friendship
for them, they opened the barrier a trifle farther and admitted
him.
When the gates had been once more secured the self-confidence of
the savages returned, and as Tarzan walked up the village street
toward the chief's hut he was surrounded by a host of curious men,
women, and children.
From the chief he learned that Rokoff had passed up the river
a week previous, and that he had horns growing from his forehead,
and was accompanied by a thousand devils. Later the chief said
that the very bad white man had remained a month in his village.
Though none of these statements agreed with Kaviri's, that the
Russian was but three days gone from the chieftain's village and
that his following was much smaller than now stated, Tarzan was in
no manner surprised at the discrepancies, for he was quite familiar
with the savage mind's strange manner of functioning.
What he was most interested in knowing was that he was upon the right
trail, and that it led toward the interior. In this circumstance
he knew that Rokoff could never escape him.
After several hours of questioning and cross-questioning the ape-man
learned that another party had preceded the Russian by several
days--three whites--a man, a woman, and a little man-child, with
several Mosulas.
Tarzan explained to the chief that his people would follow him
in a canoe, probably the next day, and that though he might go on
ahead of them the chief was to receive them kindly and have no fear
of them, for Mugambi would see that they did not harm the chief's
people, if they were accorded a friendly reception.
"And now," he concluded, "I shall lie down beneath this tree and
sleep. I am very tired. Permit no one to disturb me."
The chief offered him a hut, but Tarzan, from past experience
of native dwellings, preferred the open air, and, further, he had
plans of his own that could be better carried out if he remained
beneath the tree. He gave as his reason a desire to be close at
hand should Sheeta return, and after this explanation the chief
was very glad to permit him to sleep beneath the tree.
Tarzan had always found that it stood him in good stead to leave
with natives the impression that he was to some extent possessed
of more or less miraculous powers. He might easily have entered
their village without recourse to the gates, but he believed that
a sudden and unaccountable disappearance when he was ready to leave
them would result in a more lasting impression upon their childlike
minds, and so as soon as the village was quiet in sleep he rose,
and, leaping into the branches of the tree above him, faded silently
into the black mystery of the jungle night.
All the balance of that night the ape-man swung rapidly through the
upper and middle terraces of the forest. When the going was good
there he preferred the upper branches of the giant trees, for then
his way was better lighted by the moon; but so accustomed were
all his senses to the grim world of his birth that it was possible
for him, even in the dense, black shadows near the ground, to move
with ease and rapidity. You or I walking beneath the arcs of Main
Street, or Broadway, or State Street, could not have moved more
surely or with a tenth the speed of the agile ape-man through the
gloomy mazes that would have baffled us entirely.
At dawn he stopped to feed, and then he slept for several hours,
taking up the pursuit again toward noon.
Twice he came upon natives, and, though he had considerable
difficulty in approaching them, he succeeded in each instance in
quieting both their fears and bellicose intentions toward him, and
learned from them that he was upon the trail of the Russian.
Two days later, still following up the Ugambi, he came upon a large
village. The chief, a wicked-looking fellow with the sharp-filed
teeth that often denote the cannibal, received him with apparent
friendliness.
The ape-man was now thoroughly fatigued, and had determined to
rest for eight or ten hours that he might be fresh and strong when
he caught up with Rokoff, as he was sure he must do within a very
short time.
The chief told him that the bearded white man had left his village
only the morning before, and that doubtless he would be able to
overtake him in a short time. The other party the chief had not
seen or heard of, so he said.
Tarzan did not like the appearance or manner of the fellow, who
seemed, though friendly enough, to harbour a certain contempt for
this half-naked white man who came with no followers and offered
no presents; but he needed the rest and food that the village would
afford him with less effort than the jungle, and so, as he knew no
fear of man, beast, or devil, he curled himself up in the shadow
of a hut and was soon asleep.
Scarcely had he left the chief than the latter called two of his
warriors, to whom he whispered a few instructions. A moment later
the sleek, black bodies were racing along the river path, up-stream,
toward the east.
In the village the chief maintained perfect quiet. He would permit
no one to approach the sleeping visitor, nor any singing, nor loud
talking. He was remarkably solicitous lest his guest be disturbed.
Three hours later several canoes came silently into view from up
the Ugambi. They were being pushed ahead rapidly by the brawny
muscles of their black crews. Upon the bank before the river
stood the chief, his spear raised in a horizontal position above
his head, as though in some manner of predetermined signal to those
within the boats.
And such indeed was the purpose of his attitude--which meant that
the white stranger within his village still slept peacefully.
In the bows of two of the canoes were the runners that the chief
had sent forth three hours earlier. It was evident that they had
been dispatched to follow and bring back this party, and that the
signal from the bank was one that had been determined upon before
they left the village.
In a few moments the dugouts drew up to the verdure-clad bank. The
native warriors filed out, and with them a half-dozen white men.
Sullen, ugly-looking customers they were, and none more so than
the evil-faced, black-bearded man who commanded them.
"Where is the white man your messengers report to be with you?" he
asked of the chief.
"This way, bwana," replied the native. "Carefully have I kept
silence in the village that he might be still asleep when you
returned. I do not know that he is one who seeks you to do you
harm, but he questioned me closely about your coming and your going,
and his appearance is as that of the one you described, but whom
you believed safe in the country which you called Jungle Island.
"Had you not told me this tale I should not have recognized him,
and then he might have gone after and slain you. If he is a friend
and no enemy, then no harm has been done, bwana; but if he proves
to be an enemy, I should like very much to have a rifle and some
ammunition."
"You have done well," replied the white man, "and you shall have
the rifle and ammunition whether he be a friend or enemy, provided
that you stand with me."
"I shall stand with you, bwana," said the chief, "and now come and
look upon the stranger, who sleeps within my village."
So saying, he turned and led the way toward the hut, in the shadow
of which the unconscious Tarzan slept peacefully.
Behind the two men came the remaining whites and a score of warriors;
but the raised forefingers of the chief and his companion held them
all to perfect silence.
As they turned the corner of the hut, cautiously and upon tiptoe,
an ugly smile touched the lips of the white as his eyes fell upon
the giant figure of the sleeping ape-man.
The chief looked at the other inquiringly. The latter nodded his
head, to signify that the chief had made no mistake in his suspicions.
Then he turned to those behind him and, pointing to the sleeping
man, motioned for them to seize and bind him.
A moment later a dozen brutes had leaped upon the surprised Tarzan,
and so quickly did they work that he was securely bound before he
could make half an effort to escape.
Then they threw him down upon his back, and as his eyes turned
toward the crowd that stood near, they fell upon the malign face
of Nikolas Rokoff.
A sneer curled the Russian's lips. He stepped quite close to
Tarzan.
"Pig!" he cried. "Have you not learned sufficient wisdom to keep
away from Nikolas Rokoff?"
Then he kicked the prostrate man full in the face.
"That for your welcome," he said.
"Tonight, before my Ethiop friends eat you, I shall tell you what
has already befallen your wife and child, and what further plans
I have for their futures."
