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第41章

the return of tarzan-第41章

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this terrible place; but the Arabs feared to take up the march

through the grim and hostile forest beset by this new and

terrible enemy while laden with the great store of ivory they

had found within the village; but; worse yet; they hated to

leave the ivory behind。



Finally the entire expedition took refuge within the thatched

hutshere; at least; they would be free from the arrows。

Tarzan; from the tree above the village; had marked the hut

into which the chief Arabs had gone; and; balancing himself

upon an overhanging limb; he drove his heavy spear with

all the force of his giant muscles through the thatched roof。

A howl of pain told him that it had found a mark。

With this parting salute to convince them that there was no

safety for them anywhere within the country; Tarzan returned

to the forest; collected his warriors; and withdrew a mile

to the south to rest and eat。  He kept sentries in several

trees that commanded a view of the trail toward the

village; but there was no pursuit。



An inspection of his force showed not a single casualtynot

even a minor wound; while rough estimates of the enemies'

loss convinced the blacks that no fewer than twenty

had fallen before their arrows。  They were wild with elation;

and were for finishing the day in one glorious rush upon the

village; during which they would slaughter the last of

their foemen。  They were even picturing the various tortures

they would inflict; and gloating over the suffering of the

Manyuema; for whom they entertained a peculiar hatred;

when Tarzan put his foot down flatly upon the plan。



〃You are crazy!〃 he cried。  〃I have shown you the only

way to fight these people。  Already you have killed twenty

of them without the loss of a single warrior; whereas;

yesterday; following your own tactics; which you would now

renew; you lost at least a dozen; and killed not a single

Arab or Manyuema。  You will fight just as I tell you to fight;

or I shall leave you and go back to my own country。〃



They were frightened when he threatened this; and

promised to obey him scrupulously if he would but promise

not to desert them。



〃Very well;〃 he said。  〃We shall return to the elephant

BOMA for the night。  I have a plan to give the Arabs a little

taste of what they may expect if they remain in our country;

but I shall need no help。  Come!  If they suffer no more for

the balance of the day they will feel reassured; and the

relapse into fear will be even more nerve…racking than as

though we continued to frighten them all afternoon。〃



So they marched back to their camp of the previous night; and;

lighting great fires; ate and recounted the adventures of the

day until long after dark。  Tarzan slept until midnight; then

he arose and crept into the Cimmerian blackness of the forest。

An hour later he came to the edge of the clearing before

the village。  There was a camp…fire burning within the palisade。

The ape…man crept across the clearing until he stood before

the barred gates。  Through the interstices he saw a lone sentry

sitting before the fire。



Quietly Tarzan went to the tree at the end of the village street。

He climbed softly to his place; and fitted an arrow to his bow。

For several minutes he tried to sight fairly upon the sentry;

but the waving branches and flickering firelight convinced

him that the danger of a miss was too greathe must touch

the heart full in the center to bring the quiet and sudden

death his plan required。



He had brought; besides; his bow; arrows; and rope; the

gun he had taken the previous day from the other sentry he

had killed。  Caching all these in a convenient crotch of the

tree; he dropped lightly to the ground within the palisade;

armed only with his long knife。  The sentry's back was toward him。

Like a cat Tarzan crept upon the dozing man。  He was within

two paces of him nowanother instant and the knife would

slide silently into the fellow's heart。



Tarzan crouched for a spring; for that is ever the quickest

and surest attack of the jungle beastwhen the man;

warned; by some subtle sense; sprang to his feet and faced

the ape…man。







Chapter 17





The White Chief of the Waziri





When the eyes of the black Manyuema savage fell

upon the strange apparition that confronted him with

menacing knife they went wide in horror。  He forgot

the gun within his hands; he even forgot to cry outhis

one thought was to escape this fearsome…looking white savage;

this giant of a man upon whose massive rolling muscles and

mighty chest the flickering firelight played。



But before he could turn Tarzan was upon him; and then

the sentry thought to scream for aid; but it was too late。

A great hand was upon his windpipe; and he was being borne

to the earth。  He battled furiously but futilelywith the

grim tenacity of a bulldog those awful fingers were clinging

to his throat。  Swiftly and surely life was being choked from him。

His eyes bulged; his tongue protruded; his face turned

to a ghastly purplish huethere was a convulsive tremor of

the stiffening muscles; and the Manyuema sentry lay quite still。



The ape…man threw the body across one of his broad

shoulders and; gathering up the fellow's gun; trotted silently

up the sleeping village street toward the tree that gave him

such easy ingress to the palisaded village。  He bore the dead

sentry into the midst of the leafy maze above。



First he stripped the body of cartridge belt and such

ornaments as he craved; wedging it into a convenient crotch

while his nimble fingers ran over it in search of the loot

he could not plainly see in the dark。  When he had finished he

took the gun that had belonged to the man; and walked

far out upon a limb; from the end of which he could obtain

a better view of the huts。  Drawing a careful bead on the

beehive structure in which he knew the chief Arabs to be;

he pulled the trigger。  Almost instantly there was an

answering groan。  Tarzan smiled。  He had made another lucky hit。



Following the shot there was a moment's silence in the

camp; and then Manyuema and Arab came pouring from

the huts like a swarm of angry hornets; but if the truth were

known they were even more frightened than they were angry。

The strain of the preceding day had wrought upon the

fears of both black and white; and now this single shot in

the night conjured all manner of terrible conjectures in

their terrified minds。



When they discovered that their sentry had disappeared;

their fears were in no way allayed; and as though to bolster

their courage by warlike actions; they began to fire

rapidly at the barred gates of the village; although no enemy

was in sight。  Tarzan took advantage of the deafening roar of

this fusillade to fire into the mob beneath him。



No one heard his shot above the din of rattling musketry

in the street; but some who were standing close saw one

of their number crumple suddenly to the earth。  When they

leaned over him he was dead。  They were panic…stricken; and

it took all the brutal authority of the Arabs to keep the

Manyuema from rushing helter…skelter into the jungleanywhere

to escape from this terrible village。



After a time they commenced to quiet down; and as no

further mysterious deaths occurred among them they took

heart again。  But it was a short…lived respite; for just as

they had concluded that they would not be disturbed again

Tarzan gave voice to a weird moan; and as the raiders looked

up in the direction from which the sound seemed to come;

the ape…man; who stood swinging the dead body of the sentry

gently to and fro; suddenly shot the corpse far out above

their heads。



With howls of alarm the throng broke in all directions

to escape this new and terrible creature who seemed to be

springing upon them。  To their fear…distorted imaginations the

body of the sentry; falling with wide…sprawled arms and

legs; assumed the likeness of 

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