the return of tarzan-第35章
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came in viewit was Horta; the boar。 Here was delicious
meatand Tarzan's mouth watered。 The grasses where Numa
lay were very still nowominously still。 Horta passed
beneath Tarzana few more steps and he would be within the
radius of Numa's spring。 Tarzan could imagine how old
Numa's eyes were shininghow he was already sucking
in his breath for the awful roar which would freeze his prey
for the brief instant between the moment of the spring and
the sinking of terrible fangs into splintering bones。
But as Numa gathered himself; a slender rope flew through
the air from the low branches of a near…by tree。 A noose
settled about Horta's neck。 There was a frightened grunt;
a squeal; and then Numa saw his quarry dragged backward
up the trail; and; as he sprang; Horta; the boar; soared
upward beyond his clutches into the tree above; and a mocking
face looked down and laughed into his own。
Then indeed did Numa roar。 Angry; threatening; hungry;
he paced back and forth beneath the taunting ape…man。
Now he stopped; and; rising on his hind legs against the stem
of the tree that held his enemy; sharpened his huge claws upon
the bark; tearing out great pieces that laid bare the white
wood beneath。
And in the meantime Tarzan had dragged the struggling
Horta to the limb beside him。 Sinewy fingers completed the
work the choking noose had commenced。 The ape…man had
no knife; but nature had equipped him with the means of
tearing his food from the quivering flank of his prey; and
gleaming teeth sank into the succulent flesh while the raging
lion looked on from below as another enjoyed the dinner
that he had thought already his。
It was quite dark by the time Tarzan had gorged himself。
Ah; but it had been delicious! Never had he quite accustomed
himself to the ruined flesh that civilized men had served
him; and in the bottom of his savage heart there had
constantly been the craving for the warm meat of the
fresh kill; and the rich; red blood。
He wiped his bloody hands upon a bunch of leaves;
slung the remains of his kill across his shoulder; and swung
off through the middle terrace of the forest toward his cabin;
and at the same instant Jane Porter and William Cecil
Clayton arose from a sumptuous dinner upon the LADY
ALICE; thousands of miles to the east; in the Indian Ocean。
Beneath Tarzan walked Numa; the lion; and when the ape…man
deigned to glance downward he caught occasional glimpses
of the baleful green eyes following through the darkness。
Numa did not roar nowinstead; he moved stealthily;
like the shadow of a great cat; but yet he took no step
that did not reach the sensitive ears of the ape…man。
Tarzan wondered if he would stalk him to his cabin door。
He hoped not; for that would mean a night's sleep curled in
the crotch of a tree; and he much preferred the bed of
grasses within his own abode。 But he knew just the tree
and the most comfortable crotch; if necessity demanded that
he sleep out。 A hundred times in the past some great jungle
cat had followed him home; and compelled him to seek shelter
in this same tree; until another mood or the rising sun had
sent his enemy away。
But presently Numa gave up the chase and; with a series
of blood…curdling moans and roars; turned angrily back in
search of another and an easier dinner。 So Tarzan came to his
cabin unattended; and a few moments later was curled up in
the mildewed remnants of what had once been a bed of grasses。
Thus easily did Monsieur Jean C。 Tarzan slough the thin skin
of his artificial civilization; and sink happy and contented
into the deep sleep of the wild beast that has fed to repletion。
Yet a woman's 〃yes〃 would have bound him to that other life
forever; and made the thought of this savage existence repulsive。
Tarzan slept late into the following forenoon; for he had
been very tired from the labors and exertion of the long
night and day upon the ocean; and the jungle jaunt that had
brought into play muscles that he had scarce used for nearly
two years。 When he awoke he ran to the brook first to drink。
Then he took a plunge into the sea; swimming about for
a quarter of an hour。 Afterward he returned to his cabin;
and breakfasted off the flesh of Horta。 This done; he buried
the balance of the carcass in the soft earth outside the cabin;
for his evening meal。
Once more he took his rope and vanished into the jungle。
This time he hunted nobler quarryman; although had you
asked him his own opinion he could have named a dozen
other denizens of the jungle which he considered far the
superiors in nobility of the men he hunted。 Today Tarzan
was in quest of weapons。 He wondered if the women and
children had remained in Mbonga's village after the punitive
expedition from the French cruiser had massacred all the
warriors in revenge for D'Arnot's supposed death。 He hoped
that he should find warriors there; for he knew not how
long a quest he should have to make were the village deserted。
The ape…man traveled swiftly through the forest; and about
noon came to the site of the village; but to his disappointment
found that the jungle had overgrown the plantain fields
and that the thatched huts had fallen in decay。 There was no
sign of man。 He clambered about among the ruins for half
an hour; hoping that he might discover some forgotten
weapon; but his search was without fruit; and so he took up
his quest once more; following up the stream; which flowed
from a southeasterly direction。 He knew that near fresh
water he would be most likely to find another settlement。
As he traveled he hunted as he had hunted with his ape
people in the past; as Kala had taught him to hunt; turning
over rotted logs to find some toothsome vermin; running high
into the trees to rob a bird's nest; or pouncing upon a tiny
rodent with the quickness of a cat。 There were other things
that he ate; too; but the less detailed the account of an ape's
diet; the betterand Tarzan was again an ape; the same fierce;
brutal anthropoid that Kala had taught him to be; and that
he had been for the first twenty years of his life。
Occasionally he smiled as he recalled some friend who
might even at the moment be sitting placid and immaculate
within the precincts of his select Parisian clubjust as Tarzan
had sat but a few months before; and then he would stop;
as though turned suddenly to stone as the gentle breeze
carried to his trained nostrils the scent of some new prey or
a formidable enemy。
That night he slept far inland from his cabin; securely
wedged into the crotch of a giant tree; swaying a hundred
feet above the ground。 He had eaten heartily againthis
time from the flesh of Bara; the deer; who had fallen prey to
his quick noose。
Early the next morning he resumed his journey; always
following the course of the stream。 For three days he
continued his quest; until he had come to a part of the
jungle in which he never before had been。 Occasionally upon
the higher ground the forest was much thinner; and in the far
distance through the trees he could see ranges of mighty
mountains; with wide plains in the foreground。 Here; in the
open spaces; were new gamecountless antelope and vast
herds of zebra。 Tarzan was entrancedhe would make a long
visit to this new world。
On the morning of the fourth day his nostrils were suddenly
surprised by a faint new scent。 It was the scent of man;
but yet a long way off。 The ape…man thrilled with pleasure。
Every sense was on the alert as with crafty stealth he
moved quickly through the trees; up…wind; in the direction
of his prey。 Presently he came upon ita lone warrior
treading softly through the jungle。
Tarzan followed close above his quarry; waiting for a
clearer space in which to hurl his rope。 As he stalked
the unconscious man; new thoughts presented themselves to
the ape…manthoughts born of the refini