[Illustration] Tarzan of the Apes by Edgar Rice Burroughs Contents CHAPTER I. Out to Sea CHAPTER II. The Savage Home CHAPTER III. Life and Death CHAPTER IV. The Apes CHAPTER V. The White Ape CHAPTER VI. Jungle Battles CHAPTER VII. The Light of Knowledge CHAPTER VIII. The Tree-top Hunter CHAPTER IX. Man and Man CHAPTER X. The Fear-Phantom CHAPTER XI. âKing of the Apesâ CHAPTER XII. Manâs Reason CHAPTER XIII. His Own Kind CHAPTER XIV. At the Mercy of the Jungle CHAPTER XV. The Forest God CHAPTER XVI. âMost Remarkableâ CHAPTER XVII. Burials CHAPTER XVIII. The Jungle Toll CHAPTER XIX. The Call of the Primitive CHAPTER XX. Heredity CHAPTER XXI. The Village of Torture CHAPTER XXII. The Search Party CHAPTER XXIII. Brother Men CHAPTER XXIV. Lost Treasure CHAPTER XXV. The Outpost of the World CHAPTER XXVI. The Height of Civilization CHAPTER XXVII. The Giant Again CHAPTER XXVIII. Conclusion CHAPTER I. Out to Sea I had this story from one who had no business to tell it to me, or to any other. I may credit the seductive influence of an old vintage upon the narrator for the beginning of it, and my own skeptical incredulity during the days that followed for the balance of the strange tale. When my convivial host discovered that he had told me so much, and that I was prone to doubtfulness, his foolish pride assumed the task the old vintage had commenced, and so he unearthed written evidence in the form of musty manuscript, and dry official records of the British Colonial Office to support many of the salient features of his remarkable narrative. I do not say the story is true, for I did not witness the happenings which it portrays, but the fact that in the telling of it to you I have taken fictitious names for the principal characters quite sufficiently evidences the sincerity of my own belief that it _may_ be true. The yellow, mildewed pages of the diary of a man long dead, and the records of the Colonial Office dovetail perfectly with the narrative of my convivial host, and so I give you the story as I painstakingly pieced it out from these several various agencies. If you do not find it credible you will at least be as one with me in acknowledging that it is unique, remarkable, and interesting. From the records of the Colonial Office and from the dead manâs diary we learn that a certain young English nobleman, whom we shall call John Clayton, Lord Greystoke, was commissioned to make a peculiarly delicate investigation of conditions in a British West Coast African Colony from whose simple native inhabitants another European power was known to be recruiting soldiers for its native army, which it used solely for the forcible collection of rubber and ivory from the savage tribes along the Congo and the Aruwimi. The natives of the British Colony complained that many of their young men were enticed away through the medium of fair and glowing promises, but that few if any ever returned to their families. The Englishmen in Africa went even further, saying that these poor blacks were held in virtual slavery, since after their terms of enlistment expired their ignorance was imposed upon by their white officers, and they were told that they had yet several years to serve. And so the Colonial Office appointed John Clayton to a new post in British West Africa, but his confidential instructions centered on a thorough investigation of the unfair treatment of black British subjects by the officers of a friendly European power. Why he was sent, is, however, of little moment to this story, for he never made an investigation, nor, in fact, did he ever reach his destination. Clayton was the type of Englishman that one likes best to associate with the noblest monuments of historic achievement upon a thousand victorious battlefieldsâa strong, virile manâmentally, morally, and physically. In stature he was above the average height; his eyes were gray, his features regular and strong; his carriage that of perfect, robust health influenced by his years of army training. Political ambition had caused him to seek transference from the army to the Colonial Office and so we find him, still young, entrusted with a delicate and important commission in the service of the Queen. When he received this appointment he was both elated and appalled. The preferment seemed to him in the nature of a well-merited reward for painstaking and intelligent service, and as a stepping stone to posts of greater importance and responsibility; but, on the other hand, he had been married to the Hon. Alice Rutherford for scarce a three months, and it was the thought of taking this fair young girl into the dangers and isolation of tropical Africa that appalled him. For her sake he would have refused the appointment, but she would not have it so. Instead she insisted that he accept, and, indeed, take her with him. There were mothers and brothers and sisters, and aunts and cousins to express various opinions on the subject, but as to what they severally advised history is silent. We know only that on a bright May morning in 1888, John, Lord Greystoke, and Lady Alice sailed from Dover on their way to Africa. A month later they arrived at Freetown where they chartered a small sailing vessel, the _Fuwalda_, which was to bear them to their final destination. And here John, Lord Greystoke, and Lady Alice, his wife, vanished from the eyes and from the knowledge of men. Two months after they weighed anchor and cleared from the port of Freetown a half dozen British war vessels were scouring the south Atlantic for trace of them or their little vessel, and it was almost immediately that the wreckage was found upon the shores of St. Helena which convinced the world that the _Fuwalda_ had gone down with all on board, and hence the search was stopped ere it had scarce begun; though hope lingered in longing hearts for many years. The _Fuwalda_, a barkentine of about one hundred tons, was a vessel of the type often seen in coastwise trade in the far southern Atlantic, their crews composed of the offscourings of the seaâunhanged murderers and cutthroats of every race and every nation. The _Fuwalda_ was no exception to the rule. Her officers were swarthy bullies, hating and hated by their crew. The captain, while a competent seaman, was a brute in his treatment of his men. He knew, or at least he used, but two arguments in his dealings with themâa belaying pin and a revolverânor is it likely that the motley aggregation he signed would have understood aught else. So it was that from the second day out from Freetown John Clayton and his young wife witnessed scenes upon the deck of the _Fuwalda_ such as they had believed were never enacted outside the covers of printed stories of the sea. It was on the morning of the second day that the first link was forged in what was destined to form a chain of circumstances ending in a life for one then unborn such as has never been paralleled in the history of man. Two sailors were washing down the decks of the _Fuwalda_, the first mate was on duty, and the captain had stopped to speak with John Clayton and Lady Alice. The men were working backwards toward the little party who were facing away from the sailors. Closer and closer they came, until one of them was directly behind the captain. In another moment he would have passed by and this strange narrative would never have been recorded. But just that instant the officer turned to leave Lord and Lady Greystoke, and, as he did so, tripped against the sailor and sprawled headlong upon the deck, overturning the water-pail so that he was drenched in its dirty contents. For an instant the scene was ludicrous; but only for an instant. With a volley of awful oaths, his face suffused with the scarlet of mortification and rage, the captain regained his feet, and with a terrific blow felled the sailor to the deck. The man was small and rather old, so that the brutality of the act was thus accentuated. The other seaman, however, was neither old nor smallâa huge bear of a man, with fierce black mustachios, and a great bull neck set between massive shoulders. As he saw his mate go down he crouched, and, with a low snarl, sprang upon the captain crushing him to his knees with a single mighty blow. From scarlet the officerâs face went white, for this was mutiny; and mutiny he had met and subdued before in his brutal career. Without waiting to rise he whipped a revolver from his pocket, firing point blank at the great mountain of muscle towering before him; but, quick as he was, John Clayton was almost as quick, so that the bullet which was intended for the sailorâs heart lodged in the sailorâs leg instead, for Lord Greystoke had struck down the captainâs arm as he had seen the weapon flash in the sun. Words passed between Clayton and the captain, the former making it plain that he was disgusted with the brutality displayed toward the crew, nor would he countenance anything further of the kind while he and Lady Greystoke remained passengers. The captain was on the point of making an angry reply, but, thinking better of it, turned on his heel and black and scowling, strode aft. He did not care to antagonize an English official, for the Queenâs mighty arm wielded a punitive instrument which he could appreciate, and which he fearedâEnglandâs far-reaching navy. The two sailors picked themselves up, the older man assisting his wounded comrade to rise. The big fellow, who was known among his mates as Black Michael, tried his leg gingerly, and, finding that it bore his weight, turned to Clayton with a word of gruff thanks. Though the fellowâs tone was surly, his words were evidently well meant. Ere he had scarce finished his little speech he had turned and was limping off toward the forecastle with the very apparent intention of forestalling any further conversation. They did not see him again for several days, nor did the captain accord them more than the surliest of grunts when he was forced to speak to them. They took their meals in his cabin, as they had before the unfortunate occurrence; but the captain was careful to see that his duties never permitted him to eat at the same time. The other officers were coarse, illiterate fellows, but little above the villainous crew they bullied, and were only too glad to avoid social intercourse with the polished English noble and his lady, so that the Claytons were left very much to themselves. This in itself accorded perfectly with their desires, but it also rather isolated them from the life of the little ship so that they were unable to keep in touch with the daily happenings which were to culminate so soon in bloody tragedy. There was in the whole atmosphere of the craft that undefinable something which presages disaster. Outwardly, to the knowledge of the Claytons, all went on as before upon the little vessel; but that there was an undertow leading them toward some unknown danger both felt, though they did not speak of it to each other. On the second day after the wounding of Black Michael, Clayton came on deck just in time to see the limp body of one of the crew being carried below by four of his fellows while the first mate, a heavy belaying pin in his hand, stood glowering at the little party of sullen sailors. Clayton asked no questionsâhe did not need toâand the following day, as the great lines of a British battleship grew out of the distant horizon, he half determined to demand that he and Lady Alice be put aboard her, for his fears were steadily increasing that nothing but harm could result from remaining on the lowering, sullen _Fuwalda_. Toward noon they were within speaking distance of the British vessel, but when Clayton had nearly decided to ask the captain to put them aboard her, the obvious ridiculousness of such a request became suddenly apparent. What reason could he give the officer commanding her majestyâs ship for desiring to go back in the direction from which he had just come! What if he told them that two insubordinate seamen had been roughly handled by their officers? They would but laugh in their sleeves and attribute his reason for wishing to leave the ship to but one thingâcowardice. John Clayton, Lord Greystoke, did not ask to be transferred to the British man-of-war. Late in the afternoon he saw her upper works fade below the far horizon, but not before he learned that which confirmed his greatest fears, and caused him to curse the false pride which had restrained him from seeking safety for his young wife a few short hours before, when safety was within reachâa safety which was now gone forever. It was mid-afternoon that brought the little old sailor, who had been felled by the captain a few days before, to where Clayton and his wife stood by the shipâs side watching the ever diminishing outlines of the great battleship. The old fellow was polishing brasses, and as he came edging along until close to Clayton he said, in an undertone: ââEllâs to pay, sir, on this âere craft, anâ mark my word for it, sir. âEllâs to pay.â âWhat do you mean, my good fellow?â asked Clayton. âWy, hasnât ye seen wats goinâ on? Hasnât ye âeard that devilâs spawn of a capting anâ is mates knockinâ the bloominâ lights outen âarf the crew? âTwo busted âeads yesteâday, anâ three to-day. Black Michaelâs as good as new agin anâ âeâs not the bully to stand fer it, not âe; anâ mark my word for it, sir.â âYou mean, my man, that the crew contemplates mutiny?â asked Clayton. âMutiny!â exclaimed the old fellow. âMutiny! They means murder, sir, anâ mark my word for it, sir.â âWhen?â âHitâs cominâ, sir; hitâs cominâ but Iâm not a-sayinâ wen, anâ Iâve said too damned much now, but ye was a good sort tâother day anâ I thought it no moreân right to warn ye. But keep a still tongue in yer âead anâ when ye âear shootinâ git below anâ stay there. âThatâs all, only keep a still tongue in yer âead, or theyâll put a pill between yer ribs, anâ mark my word for it, sir,â and the old fellow went on with his polishing, which carried him away from where the Claytons were standing. âDeuced cheerful outlook, Alice,â said Clayton. âYou should warn the captain at once, John. Possibly the trouble may yet be averted,â she said. âI suppose I should, but yet from purely selfish motives I am almost prompted to âkeep a still tongue in my âead.â Whatever they do now they will spare us in recognition of my stand for this fellow Black Michael, but should they find that I had betrayed them there would be no mercy shown us, Alice.â âYou have but one duty, John, and that lies in the interest of vested authority. If you do not warn the captain you are as much a party to whatever follows as though you had helped to plot and carry it out with your own head and hands.â âYou do not understand, dear,â replied Clayton. âIt is of you I am thinkingâthere lies my first duty. The captain has brought this condition upon himself, so why then should I risk subjecting my wife to unthinkable horrors in a probably futile attempt to save him from his own brutal folly? You have no conception, dear, of what would follow were this pack of cutthroats to gain control of the _Fuwalda_.â âDuty is duty, John, and no amount of sophistries may change it. I would be a poor wife for an English lord were I to be responsible for his shirking a plain duty. I realize the danger which must follow, but I can face it with you.â âHave it as you will then, Alice,â he answered, smiling. âMaybe we are borrowing trouble. While I do not like the looks of things on board this ship, they may not be so bad after all, for it is possible that the âAncient Marinerâ was but voicing the desires of his wicked old heart rather than speaking of real facts. âMutiny on the high sea may have been common a hundred years ago, but in this good year 1888 it is the least likely of happenings. âBut there goes the captain to his cabin now. If I am going to warn him I might as well get the beastly job over for I have little stomach to talk with the brute at all.â So saying he strolled carelessly in the direction of the companionway through which the captain had passed, and a moment later was knocking at his door. âCome in,â growled the deep tones of that surly officer. And when Clayton had entered, and closed the door behind him: âWell?â âI have come to report the gist of a conversation I heard to-day, because I feel that, while there may be nothing to it, it is as well that you be forearmed. In short, the men contemplate mutiny and murder.â âItâs a lie!â roared the captain. âAnd if you have been interfering again with the discipline of this ship, or meddling in affairs that donât concern you you can take the consequences, and be damned. I donât care whether you are an English lord or not. Iâm captain of this here ship, and from now on you keep your meddling nose out of my business.â The captain had worked himself up to such a frenzy of rage that he was fairly purple of face, and he shrieked the last words at the top of his voice, emphasizing his remarks by a loud thumping of the table with one huge fist, and shaking the other in Claytonâs face. Greystoke never turned a hair, but stood eying the excited man with level gaze. âCaptain Billings,â he drawled finally, âif you will pardon my candor, I might remark that you are something of an ass.â Whereupon he turned and left the captain with the same indifferent ease that was habitual with him, and which was more surely calculated to raise the ire of a man of Billingsâ class than a torrent of invective. So, whereas the captain might easily have been brought to regret his hasty speech had Clayton attempted to conciliate him, his temper was now irrevocably set in the mold in which Clayton had left it, and the last chance of their working together for their common good was gone. âWell, Alice,â said Clayton, as he rejoined his wife, âI might have saved my breath. The fellow proved most ungrateful. Fairly jumped at me like a mad dog. âHe and his blasted old ship may hang, for aught I care; and until we are safely off the thing I shall spend my energies in looking after our own welfare. And I rather fancy the first step to that end should be to go to our cabin and look over my revolvers. I am sorry now that we packed the larger guns and the ammunition with the stuff below.â They found their quarters in a bad state of disorder. Clothing from their open boxes and bags strewed the little apartment, and even their beds had been torn to pieces. âEvidently someone was more anxious about our belongings than we,â said Clayton. âLetâs have a look around, Alice, and see whatâs missing.â A thorough search revealed the fact that nothing had been taken but Claytonâs two revolvers and the small supply of ammunition he had saved out for them. âThose are the very things I most wish they had left us,â said Clayton, âand the fact that they wished for them and them alone is most sinister.â âWhat are we to do, John?â asked his wife. âPerhaps you were right in that our best chance lies in maintaining a neutral position. âIf the officers are able to prevent a mutiny, we have nothing to fear, while if the mutineers are victorious our one slim hope lies in not having attempted to thwart or antagonize them.â âRight you are, Alice. Weâll keep in the middle of the road.â As they started to straighten up their cabin, Clayton and his wife simultaneously noticed the corner of a piece of paper protruding from beneath the door of their quarters. As Clayton stooped to reach for it he was amazed to see it move further into the room, and then he realized that it was being pushed inward by someone from without. Quickly and silently he stepped toward the door, but, as he reached for the knob to throw it open, his wifeâs hand fell upon his wrist. âNo, John,â she whispered. âThey do not wish to be seen, and so we cannot afford to see them. Do not forget that we are keeping to the middle of the road.â Clayton smiled and dropped his hand to his side. Thus they stood watching the little bit of white paper until it finally remained at rest upon the floor just inside the door. Then Clayton stooped and picked it up. It was a bit of grimy, white paper roughly folded into a ragged square. Opening it they found a crude message printed almost illegibly, and with many evidences of an unaccustomed task. Translated, it was a warning to the Claytons to refrain from reporting the loss of the revolvers, or from repeating what the old sailor had told themâto refrain on pain of death. âI rather imagine weâll be good,â said Clayton with a rueful smile. âAbout all we can do is to sit tight and wait for whatever may come.â CHAPTER II. The Savage Home Nor did they have long to wait, for the next morning as Clayton was emerging on deck for his accustomed walk before breakfast, a shot rang out, and then another, and another. The sight which met his eyes confirmed his worst fears. Facing the little knot of officers was the entire motley crew of the _Fuwalda_, and at their head stood Black Michael. At the first volley from the officers the men ran for shelter, and from points of vantage behind masts, wheel-house and cabin they returned the fire of the five men who represented the hated authority of the ship. Two of their number had gone down before the captainâs revolver. They lay where they had fallen between the combatants. But then the first mate lunged forward upon his face, and at a cry of command from Black Michael the mutineers charged the remaining four. The crew had been able to muster but six firearms, so most of them were armed with boat hooks, axes, hatchets and crowbars. The captain had emptied his revolver and was reloading as the charge was made. The second mateâs gun had jammed, and so there were but two weapons opposed to the mutineers as they bore down upon the officers, who now started to give back before the infuriated rush of their men. Both sides were cursing and swearing in a frightful manner, which, together with the reports of the firearms and the screams and groans of the wounded, turned the deck of the _Fuwalda_ to the likeness of a madhouse. Before the officers had taken a dozen backward steps the men were upon them. An ax in the hands of a burly Negro cleft the captain from forehead to chin, and an instant later the others were down: dead or wounded from dozens of blows and bullet wounds. Short and grisly had been the work of the mutineers of the _Fuwalda_, and through it all John Clayton had stood leaning carelessly beside the companionway puffing meditatively upon his pipe as though he had been but watching an indifferent cricket match. As the last officer went down he thought it was time that he returned to his wife lest some members of the crew find her alone below. Though outwardly calm and indifferent, Clayton was inwardly apprehensive and wrought up, for he feared for his wifeâs safety at the hands of these ignorant, half-brutes into whose hands fate had so remorselessly thrown them. As he turned to descend the ladder he was surprised to see his wife standing on the steps almost at his side. âHow long have you been here, Alice?â âSince the beginning,â she replied. âHow awful, John. Oh, how awful! What can we hope for at the hands of such as those?â âBreakfast, I hope,â he answered, smiling bravely in an attempt to allay her fears. âAt least,â he added, âIâm going to ask them. Come with me, Alice. We must not let them think we expect any but courteous treatment.â The men had by this time surrounded the dead and wounded officers, and without either partiality or compassion proceeded to throw both living and dead over the sides of the vessel. With equal heartlessness they disposed of their own dead and dying. Presently one of the crew spied the approaching Claytons, and with a cry of: âHereâs two more for the fishes,â rushed toward them with uplifted ax. But Black Michael was even quicker, so that the fellow went down with a bullet in his back before he had taken a half dozen steps. With a loud roar, Black Michael attracted the attention of the others, and, pointing to Lord and Lady Greystoke, cried: âThese here are my friends, and they are to be left alone. Dâye understand? âIâm captain of this ship now, anâ what I says goes,â he added, turning to Clayton. âJust keep to yourselves, and nobodyâll harm ye,â and he looked threateningly on his fellows. The Claytons heeded Black Michaelâs instructions so well that they saw but little of the crew and knew nothing of the plans the men were making. Occasionally they heard faint echoes of brawls and quarreling among the mutineers, and on two occasions the vicious bark of firearms rang out on the still air. But Black Michael was a fit leader for this band of cutthroats, and, withal held them in fair subjection to his rule. On the fifth day following the murder of the shipâs officers, land was sighted by the lookout. Whether island or mainland, Black Michael did not know, but he announced to Clayton that if investigation showed that the place was habitable he and Lady Greystoke were to be put ashore with their belongings. âYouâll be all right there for a few months,â he explained, âand by that time weâll have been able to make an inhabited coast somewhere and scatter a bit. Then Iâll see that yer goverâmentâs notified where you be anâ theyâll soon send a man-oâwar to fetch ye off. âIt would be a hard matter to land you in civilization without a lot oâ questions being asked, anâ none oâ us here has any very convincinâ answers up our sleeves.â Clayton remonstrated against the inhumanity of landing them upon an unknown shore to be left to the mercies of savage beasts, and, possibly, still more savage men. But his words were of no avail, and only tended to anger Black Michael, so he was forced to desist and make the best he could of a bad situation. About three oâclock in the afternoon they came about off a beautiful wooded shore opposite the mouth of what appeared to be a land-locked harbor. Black Michael sent a small boat filled with men to sound the entrance in an effort to determine if the _Fuwalda_ could be safely worked through the entrance. In about an hour they returned and reported deep water through the passage as well as far into the little basin. Before dark the barkentine lay peacefully at anchor upon the bosom of the still, mirror-like surface of the harbor. The surrounding shores were beautiful with semitropical verdure, while in the distance the country rose from the ocean in hill and tableland, almost uniformly clothed by primeval forest. No signs of habitation were visible, but that the land might easily support human life was evidenced by the abundant bird and animal life of which the watchers on the _Fuwaldaâs_ deck caught occasional glimpses, as well as by the shimmer of a little river which emptied into the harbor, insuring fresh water in plenitude. As darkness settled upon the earth, Clayton and Lady Alice still stood by the shipâs rail in silent contemplation of their future abode. From the dark shadows of the mighty forest came the wild calls of savage beastsâthe deep roar of the lion, and, occasionally, the shrill scream of a panther. The woman shrank closer to the man in terror-stricken anticipation of the horrors lying in wait for them in the awful blackness of the nights to come, when they should be alone upon that wild and lonely shore. Later in the evening Black Michael joined them long enough to instruct them to make their preparations for landing on the morrow. They tried to persuade him to take them to some more hospitable coast near enough to civilization so that they might hope to fall into friendly hands. But no pleas, or threats, or promises of reward could move him. âI am the only man aboard who would not rather see ye both safely dead, and, while I know thatâs the sensible way to make sure of our own necks, yet Black Michaelâs not the man to forget a favor. Ye saved my life once, and in return Iâm goinâ to spare yours, but thatâs all I can do. âThe men wonât stand for any more, and if we donât get ye landed pretty quick they may even change their minds about giving ye that much show. Iâll put all yer stuff ashore with ye as well as cookinâ utensils anâ some old sails for tents, anâ enough grub to last ye until ye can find fruit and game. âWith yer guns for protection, ye ought to be able to live here easy enough until help comes. When I get safely hid away Iâll see to it that the British goverâment learns about where ye be; for the life of me I couldnât tell âem exactly where, for I donât know myself. But theyâll find ye all right.â After he had left them they went silently below, each wrapped in gloomy forebodings. Clayton did not believe that Black Michael had the slightest intention of notifying the British government of their whereabouts, nor was he any too sure but that some treachery was contemplated for the following day when they should be on shore with the sailors who would have to accompany them with their belongings. Once out of Black Michaelâs sight any of the men might strike them down, and still leave Black Michaelâs conscience clear. And even should they escape that fate was it not but to be faced with far graver dangers? Alone, he might hope to survive for years; for he was a strong, athletic man. But what of Alice, and that other little life so soon to be launched amidst the hardships and grave dangers of a primeval world? The man shuddered as he meditated upon the awful gravity, the fearful helplessness, of their situation. But it was a merciful Providence which prevented him from foreseeing the hideous reality which awaited them in the grim depths of that gloomy wood. Early next morning their numerous chests and boxes were hoisted on deck and lowered to waiting small boats for transportation to shore. There was a great quantity and variety of stuff, as the Claytons had expected a possible five to eight yearsâ residence in their new home. Thus, in addition to the many necessities they had brought, there were also many luxuries. Black Michael was determined that nothing belonging to the Claytons should be left on board. Whether out of compassion for them, or in furtherance of his own self-interests, it would be difficult to say. There was no question but that the presence of property of a missing British official upon a suspicious vessel would have been a difficult thing to explain in any civilized port in the world. So zealous was he in his efforts to carry out his intentions that he insisted upon the return of Claytonâs revolvers to him by the sailors in whose possession they were. Into the small boats were also loaded salt meats and biscuit, with a small supply of potatoes and beans, matches, and cooking vessels, a chest of tools, and the old sails which Black Michael had promised them. As though himself fearing the very thing which Clayton had suspected, Black Michael accompanied them to shore, and was the last to leave them when the small boats, having filled the shipâs casks with fresh water, were pushed out toward the waiting _Fuwalda_. As the boats moved slowly over the smooth waters of the bay, Clayton and his wife stood silently watching their departureâin the breasts of both a feeling of impending disaster and utter hopelessness. And behind them, over the edge of a low ridge, other eyes watchedâclose set, wicked eyes, gleaming beneath shaggy brows. As the _Fuwalda_ passed through the narrow entrance to the harbor and out of sight behind a projecting point, Lady Alice threw her arms about Claytonâs neck and burst into uncontrolled sobs. Bravely had she faced the dangers of the mutiny; with heroic fortitude she had looked into the terrible future; but now that the horror of absolute solitude was upon them, her overwrought nerves gave way, and the reaction came. He did not attempt to check her tears. It were better that nature have her way in relieving these long-pent emotions, and it was many minutes before the girlâlittle more than a child she wasâcould again gain mastery of herself. âOh, John,â she cried at last, âthe horror of it. What are we to do? What are we to do?â âThere is but one thing to do, Alice,â and he spoke as quietly as though they were sitting in their snug living room at home, âand that is work. Work must be our salvation. We must not give ourselves time to think, for in that direction lies madness. âWe must work and wait. I am sure that relief will come, and come quickly, when once it is apparent that the _Fuwalda_ has been lost, even though Black Michael does not keep his word to us.â âBut John, if it were only you and I,â she sobbed, âwe could endure it I know; butââ âYes, dear,â he answered, gently, âI have been thinking of that, also; but we must face it, as we must face whatever comes, bravely and with the utmost confidence in our ability to cope with circumstances whatever they may be. âHundreds of thousands of years ago our ancestors of the dim and distant past faced the same problems which we must face, possibly in these same primeval forests. That we are here today evidences their victory. âWhat they did may we not do? And even better, for are we not armed with ages of superior knowledge, and have we not the means of protection, defense, and sustenance which science has given us, but of which they were totally ignorant? What they accomplished, Alice, with instruments and weapons of stone and bone, surely that may we accomplish also.â âAh, John, I wish that I might be a man with a manâs philosophy, but I am but a woman, seeing with my heart rather than my head, and all that I can see is too horrible, too unthinkable to put into words. âI only hope you are right, John. I will do my best to be a brave primeval woman, a fit mate for the primeval man.â Claytonâs first thought was to arrange a sleeping shelter for the night; something which might serve to protect them from prowling beasts of prey. He opened the box containing his rifles and ammunition, that they might both be armed against possible attack while at work, and then together they sought a location for their first nightâs sleeping place. A hundred yards from the beach was a little level spot, fairly free of trees; here they decided eventually to build a permanent house, but for the time being they both thought it best to construct a little platform in the trees out of reach of the larger of the savage beasts in whose realm they were. To this end Clayton selected four trees which formed a rectangle about eight feet square, and cutting long branches from other trees he constructed a framework around them, about ten feet from the ground, fastening the ends of the branches securely to the trees by means of rope, a quantity of which Black Michael had furnished him from the hold of the _Fuwalda_. Across this framework Clayton placed other smaller branches quite close together. This platform he paved with the huge fronds of elephantâs ear which grew in profusion about them, and over the fronds he laid a great sail folded into several thicknesses. Seven feet higher he constructed a similar, though lighter platform to serve as roof, and from the sides of this he suspended the balance of his sailcloth for walls. When completed he had a rather snug little nest, to which he carried their blankets and some of the lighter luggage. It was now late in the afternoon, and the balance of the daylight hours were devoted to the building of a rude ladder by means of which Lady Alice could mount to her new home. All during the day the forest about them had been filled with excited birds of brilliant plumage, and dancing, chattering monkeys, who watched these new arrivals and their wonderful nest building operations with every mark of keenest interest and fascination. Notwithstanding that both Clayton and his wife kept a sharp lookout they saw nothing of larger animals, though on two occasions they had seen their little simian neighbors come screaming and chattering from the near-by ridge, casting frightened glances back over their little shoulders, and evincing as plainly as though by speech that they were fleeing some terrible thing which lay concealed there. Just before dusk Clayton finished his ladder, and, filling a great basin with water from the near-by stream, the two mounted to the comparative safety of their aerial chamber. As it was quite warm, Clayton had left the side curtains thrown back over the roof, and as they sat, like Turks, upon their blankets, Lady Alice, straining her eyes into the darkening shadows of the wood, suddenly reached out and grasped Claytonâs arms. âJohn,â she whispered, âlook! What is it, a man?â As Clayton turned his eyes in the direction she indicated, he saw silhouetted dimly against the shadows beyond, a great figure standing upright upon the ridge. For a moment it stood as though listening and then turned slowly, and melted into the shadows of the jungle. âWhat is it, John?â âI do not know, Alice,â he answered gravely, âit is too dark to see so far, and it may have been but a shadow cast by the rising moon.â âNo, John, if it was not a man it was some huge and grotesque mockery of man. Oh, I am afraid.â He gathered her in his arms, whispering words of courage and love into her ears. Soon after, he lowered the curtain walls, tying them securely to the trees so that, except for a little opening toward the beach, they were entirely enclosed. As it was now pitch dark within their tiny aerie they lay down upon their blankets to try to gain, through sleep, a brief respite of forgetfulness. Clayton lay facing the opening at the front, a rifle and a brace of revolvers at his hand. Scarcely had they closed their eyes than the terrifying cry of a panther rang out from the jungle behind them. Closer and closer it came until they could hear the great beast directly beneath them. For an hour or more they heard it sniffing and clawing at the trees which supported their platform, but at last it roamed away across the beach, where Clayton could see it clearly in the brilliant moonlightâa great, handsome beast, the largest he had ever seen. During the long hours of darkness they caught but fitful snatches of sleep, for the night noises of a great jungle teeming with myriad animal life kept their overwrought nerves on edge, so that a hundred times they were startled to wakefulness by piercing screams, or the stealthy moving of great bodies beneath them. CHAPTER III. Life and Death Morning found them but little, if at all refreshed, though it was with a feeling of intense relief that they saw the day dawn. As soon as they had made their meager breakfast of salt pork, coffee and biscuit, Clayton commenced work upon their house, for he realized that they could hope for no safety and no peace of mind at night until four strong walls effectually barred the jungle life from them. The task was an arduous one and required the better part of a month, though he built but one small room. He constructed his cabin of small logs about six inches in diameter, stopping the chinks with clay which he found at the depth of a few feet beneath the surface soil. At one end he built a fireplace of small stones from the beach. These also he set in clay and when the house had been entirely completed he applied a coating of the clay to the entire outside surface to the thickness of four inches. In the window opening he set small branches about an inch in diameter both vertically and horizontally, and so woven that they formed a substantial grating that could withstand the strength of a powerful animal. Thus they obtained air and proper ventilation without fear of lessening the safety of their cabin. The A-shaped roof was thatched with small branches laid close together and over these long jungle grass and palm fronds, with a final coating of clay. The door he built of pieces of the packing-boxes which had held their belongings, nailing one piece upon another, the grain of contiguous layers running transversely, until he had a solid body some three inches thick and of such great strength that they were both moved to laughter as they gazed upon it. Here the greatest difficulty confronted Clayton, for he had no means whereby to hang his massive door now that he had built it. After two daysâ work, however, he succeeded in fashioning two massive hardwood hinges, and with these he hung the door so that it opened and closed easily. The stuccoing and other final touches were added after they moved into the house, which they had done as soon as the roof was on, piling their boxes before the door at night and thus having a comparatively safe and comfortable habitation. The building of a bed, chairs, table, and shelves was a relatively easy matter, so that by the end of the second month they were well settled, and, but for the constant dread of attack by wild beasts and the ever growing loneliness, they were not uncomfortable or unhappy. At night great beasts snarled and roared about their tiny cabin, but, so accustomed may one become to oft repeated noises, that soon they paid little attention to them, sleeping soundly the whole night through. Thrice had they caught fleeting glimpses of great man-like figures like that of the first night, but never at sufficiently close range to know positively whether the half-seen forms were those of man or brute. The brilliant birds and the little monkeys had become accustomed to their new acquaintances, and as they had evidently never seen human beings before they presently, after their first fright had worn off, approached closer and closer, impelled by that strange curiosity which dominates the wild creatures of the forest and the jungle and the plain, so that within the first month several of the birds had gone so far as even to accept morsels of food from the friendly hands of the Claytons. One afternoon, while Clayton was working upon an addition to their cabin, for he contemplated building several more rooms, a number of their grotesque little friends came shrieking and scolding through the trees from the direction of the ridge. Ever as they fled they cast fearful glances back of them, and finally they stopped near Clayton jabbering excitedly to him as though to warn him of approaching danger. At last he saw it, the thing the little monkeys so fearedâthe man-brute of which the Claytons had caught occasional fleeting glimpses. It was approaching through the jungle in a semi-erect position, now and then placing the backs of its closed fists upon the groundâa great anthropoid ape, and, as it advanced, it emitted deep guttural growls and an occasional low barking sound. Clayton was at some distance from the cabin, having come to fell a particularly perfect tree for his building operations. Grown careless from months of continued safety, during which time he had seen no dangerous animals during the daylight hours, he had left his rifles and revolvers all within the little cabin, and now that he saw the great ape crashing through the underbrush directly toward him, and from a direction which practically cut him off from escape, he felt a vague little shiver play up and down his spine. He knew that, armed only with an ax, his chances with this ferocious monster were small indeedâand Alice; O God, he thought, what will become of Alice? There was yet a slight chance of reaching the cabin. He turned and ran toward it, shouting an alarm to his wife to run in and close the great door in case the ape cut off his retreat. Lady Greystoke had been sitting a little way from the cabin, and when she heard his cry she looked up to see the ape springing with almost incredible swiftness, for so large and awkward an animal, in an effort to head off Clayton. With a low cry she sprang toward the cabin, and, as she entered, gave a backward glance which filled her soul with terror, for the brute had intercepted her husband, who now stood at bay grasping his ax with both hands ready to swing it upon the infuriated animal when he should make his final charge. âClose and bolt the door, Alice,â cried Clayton. âI can finish this fellow with my ax.â But he knew he was facing a horrible death, and so did she. The ape was a great bull, weighing probably three hundred pounds. His nasty, close-set eyes gleamed hatred from beneath his shaggy brows, while his great canine fangs were bared in a horrid snarl as he paused a moment before his prey. Over the bruteâs shoulder Clayton could see the doorway of his cabin, not twenty paces distant, and a great wave of horror and fear swept over him as he saw his young wife emerge, armed with one of his rifles. She had always been afraid of firearms, and would never touch them, but now she rushed toward the ape with the fearlessness of a lioness protecting its young. âBack, Alice,â shouted Clayton, âfor Godâs sake, go back.â But she would not heed, and just then the ape charged, so that Clayton could say no more. The man swung his ax with all his mighty strength, but the powerful brute seized it in those terrible hands, and tearing it from Claytonâs grasp hurled it far to one side. With an ugly snarl he closed upon his defenseless victim, but ere his fangs had reached the throat they thirsted for, there was a sharp report and a bullet entered the apeâs back between his shoulders. Throwing Clayton to the ground the beast turned upon his new enemy. There before him stood the terrified girl vainly trying to fire another bullet into the animalâs body; but she did not understand the mechanism of the firearm, and the hammer fell futilely upon an empty cartridge. Almost simultaneously Clayton regained his feet, and without thought of the utter hopelessness of it, he rushed forward to drag the ape from his wifeâs prostrate form. With little or no effort he succeeded, and the great bulk rolled inertly upon the turf before himâthe ape was dead. The bullet had done its work. A hasty examination of his wife revealed no marks upon her, and Clayton decided that the huge
{'title': 'Tarzan of the Apes by Edgar Rice Burroughs', 'source': 'Project Gutenberg', 'lang': 'en'}