The Kennewick courier. [volume] (Kennewick, Wash.) 1905-1914, 1914-01-23
TARTAN OF
THE APES
By EDGAR RICE
BURROUGHS
Copyright. 1912. by the Frank A.
Copyright. 1912. by the Frank A.
Munsey Company

not more LOT lerSolI IMAM IOF the CuTVe
men whom she knew to be wandering
In the abysmal depths of the jungle,
from which now issued the incessant
shrieks and roars. barkings and growl-
ings of it's terrifying and fearsome in
mates.
Now came the sound of a heavy
body brushing against the side of the
cabin. She could hear the great pad
ded paws upon the ground without
Then for an instant all was silence.
Hush" the girl whispered. Hush,
Esmeraldap' for the woman's sobs and
groans seemed to have attracted the
thing that stalked there just beyond
the thin wall.
A gentle scratching sound was heard
on the door. The brute tried to force
an entrance, but presently this ceased,
and again she heard the great padded
paws creep stealthily around the cabin.
Again they superintendent the win
dow, on which the terrified eyes of the
girl now glued themselves.
"Heavens!' she murmured, for, sill
houetted against the moonlit sky be-
yond, she saw framed in the tiny
square Of the latticed window the head
Of huge tiger. The cleaning eyes
were fixed upon her in tense ferocity.
look, Esmeraldar' she whispered.
what shall we do? Look! Quick!
The Window
Esmeralda covered still closer to her
mistress and glanced affrighted toward
the little square Of moonlight just as
the tiger emitted low, savage snarl
The sight that met the poor blacks
eyes was too much for the already
overstrung nerves.
"Oh, Gabrielr' she shrieked and slid
to the floor. an inert and senseless
mass.
For what seemed an eternity the
great brute stood with its fore paws
upon the sill. glazing into the little
room. Presently it tried the strength
of the lattice with its great talons.
The girl had almost ceased to
breathe when to her relief the head
disappeared and she heard the brute's
footsteps leaving the window. But
now they came to the door again, and
once more the scratching commenced,
but this time with increasing force
until the great beast was tearing at
the massive panels in a perfect frenzy
Of fury.
Could Jane Porter have known the
immense strength Of that door, builded
piece by piece. she would have felt
less fear of the tiger reaching her by
this avenue.
For fully twenty minutes the brute
alternately shifted and tore at the door,
occasionally giving voice to cry Of
baffled rage At length, however, he
gave up the attempt, and Jane Porter
heard him returning toward the win
dow. beneath which he paused for an
instant and then launched his great
weight against the time worn lattice
The girl heard the wooden rods
groan beneath the impact, but they
held, and the huge body dropped back
to the ground below.
Again and again the tiger repeated
these tactics until finally the Mortified
prisoner within saw a portion Of the
lattice give way, and in an instant one
great paw and the head Of the animal
were thrust within the room.
Slowly the powerful neck and shout
ders were spreading the bars apart
and the 1.-THE body came farther and
farther into the room
in f,.on hn r;pI
hand upon her breast, wide eyes star
ing horror stricken into the snarling
face of the beast scarce ten feet from
her. At her feet lay the PROSTATE
form of the negress.
The girl. standing pale and rigid
against the farther wall. sought with
the young Englishman never forgot
High into bending and swaying branch
es he was borne with what seemed tt
him incredible swiftness, while Tarzar
chafed at the slowness of his progress
From the first sensation of chilling
| fear Clayton passed to one of admira
ton and envy Of those giant muscles
and that wOndrous instinct or knowl
| edge which guided this forest goo
through the inky blackness Of the
night
Presently they came to the clearing
before the beach. TarZan'S quick ear:
had heard the. strange sounds of Sa
boris efforts to force his way through
the lattice, and it seemed to Clayton
that they dropped a straight hundred
feet to earth so quickly did Tarzal
descend. Yet when they struck tn,
ground it was with scarce a jar, ant
as Clayton released his hold on tn,
ape man he saw him dart like SOUR
rel for the opposite side Of the cabin.
The Englishman sprang quickly afte
him just in time to see the hind quar-
tiers of some huge animal about to dis
appear within the cabin.
AS Jane Porter opened her eyes to
realization of the again imminent peri
which threatened her her brave hear
gave up its final vestige Of hope, an
she turned to grope for the falle
weapon that she might mete to hersel
merciful death before the cruel fang
tore at her flesh.
The tiger was almost through tn
window before she found the weapon
and she raised it quickly to her tempt