登陆注册
15328900000061

第61章

The Call of the Primitive.

From the time Tarzan left the tribe of great anthropoids in which he had been raised, it was torn by continual strife and discord.Terkoz proved a cruel and capricious king, so that, one by one, many of the older and weaker apes, upon whom he was particularly prone to vent his brutish nature, took their families and sought the quiet and safety of the far interior.

But at last those who remained were driven to desperation by the continued truculence of Terkoz, and it so happened that one of them recalled the parting admonition of Tarzan:

"If you have a chief who is cruel, do not do as the other apes do, and attempt, any one of you, to pit yourself against him alone.But, instead, let two or three or four of you attack him together.Then, if you will do this, no chief will dare to be other than he should be, for four of you can kill any chief who may ever be over you."And the ape who recalled this wise counsel repeated it to several of his fellows, so that when Terkoz returned to the tribe that day he found a warm reception awaiting him.

There were no formalities.As Terkoz reached the group, five huge, hairy beasts sprang upon him.

At heart he was an arrant coward, which is the way with bullies among apes as well as among men; so he did not remain to fight and die, but tore himself away from them as quickly as he could and fled into the sheltering boughs of the forest.

Two more attempts he made to rejoin the tribe, but on each occasion he was set upon and driven away.At last he gave it up, and turned, foaming with rage and hatred, into the jungle.

For several days he wandered aimlessly, nursing his spite and looking for some weak thing on which to vent his pent anger.

It was in this state of mind that the horrible, man-like beast, swinging from tree to tree, came suddenly upon two women in the jungle.

He was right above them when he discovered them.The first intimation Jane Porter had of his presence was when the great hairy body dropped to the earth beside her, and she saw the awful face and the snarling, hideous mouth thrust within a foot of her.

One piercing scream escaped her lips as the brute hand clutched her arm.Then she was dragged toward those awful fangs which yawned at her throat.But ere they touched that fair skin another mood claimed the anthropoid.

The tribe had kept his women.He must find others to replace them.This hairless white ape would be the first of his new household, and so he threw her roughly across his broad, hairy shoulders and leaped back into the trees, bearing Jane away.

Esmeralda's scream of terror had mingled once with that of Jane, and then, as was Esmeralda's manner under stress of emergency which required presence of mind, she swooned.

But Jane did not once lose consciousness.It is true that that awful face, pressing close to hers, and the stench of the foul breath beating upon her nostrils, paralyzed her with terror;but her brain was clear, and she comprehended all that transpired.

With what seemed to her marvelous rapidity the brute bore her through the forest, but still she did not cry out or struggle.

The sudden advent of the ape had confused her to such an extent that she thought now that he was bearing her toward the beach.

For this reason she conserved her energies and her voice until she could see that they had approached near enough to the camp to attract the succor she craved.

She could not have known it, but she was being borne farther and farther into the impenetrable jungle.

The scream that had brought Clayton and the two older men stumbling through the undergrowth had led Tarzan of the Apes straight to where Esmeralda lay, but it was not Esmeralda in whom his interest centered, though pausing over her he saw that she was unhurt.

For a moment he scrutinized the ground below and the trees above, until the ape that was in him by virtue of training and environment, combined with the intelligence that was his by right of birth, told his wondrous woodcraft the whole story as plainly as though he had seen the thing happen with his own eyes.

And then he was gone again into the swaying trees, following the high-flung spoor which no other human eye could have detected, much less translated.

At boughs' ends, where the anthropoid swings from one tree to another, there is most to mark the trail, but least to point the direction of the quarry; for there the pressure is downward always, toward the small end of the branch, whether the ape be leaving or entering a tree.Nearer the center of the tree, where the signs of passage are fainter, the direction is plainly marked.

Here, on this branch, a caterpillar has been crushed by the fugitive's great foot, and Tarzan knows instinctively where that same foot would touch in the next stride.Here he looks to find a tiny particle of the demolished larva, ofttimes not more than a speck of moisture.

Again, a minute bit of bark has been upturned by the scraping hand, and the direction of the break indicates the direction of the passage.Or some great limb, or the stem of the tree itself has been brushed by the hairy body, and a tiny shred of hair tells him by the direction from which it is wedged beneath the bark that he is on the right trail.

Nor does he need to check his speed to catch these seemingly faint records of the fleeing beast.

To Tarzan they stand out boldly against all the myriad other scars and bruises and signs upon the leafy way.But strongest of all is the scent, for Tarzan is pursuing up the wind, and his trained nostrils are as sensitive as a hound's.

There are those who believe that the lower orders are specially endowed by nature with better olfactory nerves than man, but it is merely a matter of development.

Man's survival does not hinge so greatly upon the perfection of his senses.His power to reason has relieved them of many of their duties, and so they have, to some extent, atrophied, as have the muscles which move the ears and scalp, merely from disuse.

同类推荐
  • The Anti-Slavery Crusade

    The Anti-Slavery Crusade

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。
  • 衡曲麈谭

    衡曲麈谭

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。
  • 明太祖宝训

    明太祖宝训

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。
  • 大方广佛华严经续入法界品

    大方广佛华严经续入法界品

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。
  • 乾隆下江南

    乾隆下江南

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。
热门推荐
  • 福妻驾到

    福妻驾到

    现代饭店彪悍老板娘魂穿古代。不分是非的极品婆婆?三年未归生死不明的丈夫?心狠手辣的阴毒亲戚?贪婪而好色的地主老财?吃上顿没下顿的贫困宭境?不怕不怕,神仙相助,一技在手,天下我有!且看现代张悦娘,如何身带福气玩转古代,开面馆、收小弟、左纳财富,右傍美男,共绘幸福生活大好蓝图!!!!快本新书《天媒地聘》已经上架开始销售,只要3.99元即可将整本书抱回家,你还等什么哪,赶紧点击下面的直通车,享受乐乐精心为您准备的美食盛宴吧!)
  • 星云年代

    星云年代

    涅磐历1527年,一个伟大的时代正在落幕。在这一年,传说中的将星纷纷陨落。在这一年,凡人在时代的风云中苦苦挣扎。在这一年,周业22岁,是临时从军校抽调的共和国轻型战舰舰长。在这一年,刘亚杰22岁,是临时从军校抽调的共和国后勤补给参谋。在这一年,罗拉·维·埃利奥特·罗梅洛21岁,是娇生惯养、不知世事艰辛的帝国子爵。在这一年,雷斯顿·李26岁,是厌倦家族、只身出走的帝国中央军少校。在这一年,……在这一年,他们都是默默无闻的小人物。也就在这一年的春天,一个激荡的时代拉开了帷幕。这些曾经平凡或并不平凡的人们从这里开始,绽放出耀眼的光彩,最终构成了这个时代夺目的星云。
  • 妖孽王爷:绝宠异能世子妃

    妖孽王爷:绝宠异能世子妃

    (此书已弃坑)只因赤雪灵狐选择了她,便遭到了宗门追杀。“凤千玲!交出赤雪灵狐,吾等饶你不死!”三长老目眦欲裂。凤千玲冷冷一笑,决绝的引爆自身异能,与他们同归于尽!!一朝穿越,她成了人们口中的灾星。“杀了她!这个灾星!”“杀了她!”灵魂的代替,让她重新绽放光芒!灾星?再叫她一声试试!杀遍天下,她遇到了他,一个绝世妖孽。一个冷酷,却独对她温柔的妖孽。“玲儿,嫁给我可好?”“好。”简简单单一个字,便注定了一切。
  • 都市之我的老婆要修仙

    都市之我的老婆要修仙

    海底火山喷发,吐出了一个年代久远的冰棺,冰棺之中,一个少年渐渐苏醒。一万年的时间,时代已然更替,修真者成为了传说。为了报答恩情,他成为了一代卖鱼强。繁华的都市中,一个个性格迥异的美女擦身而过。“修真的道路是孤独的。”他以这样的理由拒绝着她们。“不肯和本小姐双修的话,本小姐立马就给你去买顶绿帽子!”“......”“正所谓孤道友不孤贫道,来,双修走着!”
  • 虎圣

    虎圣

    人力能胜天,那一只白虎呢?混沌决能改变他么?称霸人界、仙界、神界还有圣界之后,虎战,又该何去何从?(处女作~~~多支持啊~~~)
  • 樱初心

    樱初心

    一程山水,会因一个人而丰盈;一段时光,会因一场相遇而葱茏,清风绕过处,心如素雅的青莲,将一湄如水的清韵,散发出明媚悠远的清宁,尘封住,初识的那一眼凝眸!当文艺画家遇到花店女孩,艺术的火花四溅,灼伤了彼此纯净的心灵,窗外月色皎洁,静静品味,如同咖啡本苦涩又甜蜜,欢迎大家赏看“樱初心”,韵雪谢谢大家~我是一个很懒不愿用心的女孩,却不想有一天开始了”樱初心"之路,至此把我最美好,最用心的故事讲给大家听。樱初心是一本慢热型的文文,它记载了一个花店女孩和画家男生的纯情故事,期中包含了友情与爱情之间的纠结故事,精彩之余不失乐趣,欢迎亲们来勾搭QQ:451604154
  • 亿万独宠:首席追妻999次

    亿万独宠:首席追妻999次

    她是豪门千金,因为拒绝帝少天价聘礼被赶出家门,当天更是遭遇小男友劈腿!这姥姥不疼舅舅不爱的简直把她气死了,不联姻!就是不联姻!她上街随便找一个男人宠着自己气死你们。于是可爱的艾珊珊就这样被“随便找的男神哥哥”拐走了。“男神!我要你给我暴虐狗渣男。”“没问题!”他当天就把她的劈腿男友名誉尽毁。“男神!我要你帮我气死臭显摆的帝少。”“可以。”当天他就用一百倍的聘礼闪瞎聘婚帝少钛合金眼。“男神,你这么厉害。你到底是什么人啊。”男人神秘一笑:“我叫‘老公’。”
  • 何似尘诺殇

    何似尘诺殇

    “喜欢和爱有什么区别之分?””喜欢是一种感情。“他宠溺的摸了摸伊诺的头说:“而爱就是你,不可以失去”
  • 仙野寻踪

    仙野寻踪

    大道至上,天地初开,洪荒妖兽崩地极天南,大河悬天而挂,直灌中原大地,妖兽循河流密山而育,吸天地精华,渐成妖灵鬼魄,横无所忌,食人肉作乐,嚼骨而歌,万灵山乃天地初开女娲赐予中原平川中一座神山,尚得女娲之神力庇佑未经妖魔鬼怪指染,而却岌岌可危,妖界大妖王千羽王,命座下四大妖王前去天地四方寻找欲集天地造化之血融大妖王妖血打破女娲神力庇护,以统治整个华夏大地,造化之血乃传承女娲神血的人族后代所持,具备女娲之神血的些许灵力,持造化之血之人,必乃经十世轮回,且前为仙班之位,因大德大功却因极力封印九天之上虚无之门而陨落
  • 顾天下

    顾天下

    一位来历成谜的少年,一片悠久瑰丽的土地,一段口口相传的传奇,一个精彩绝伦的故事。