Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1916-05-20

/ IUuT6 bIOnRiN IN TINS ODN WnOHe INtH0A hhN
| been raised beast Of prey.
He wore his leopard skin at first in
| response to q desire to parade trophy
Of his prowees, for he had slain the leopard
| with his knife In hand-to-hand combat
| He saw that the skin was beautiful, which
| appealed to his barbaric sense Of orna-
mentetion and when II stlffensd and later
| commenced 10 decompose because OF his
having no knowledge Of how to cure or tan
II It was with sorrow and regret that he
discarded II.
Later, when he chanced upon lone black
/ warrior wearing the counterpart OF H.
| sort and cllnging and beautiful from proper
curing, II required but an instant to leap
from above upon the shoulders OF the un-
suspecting black, sink q keen blade into
his. heart and become the possessor Of the
properly preserved hide.
| There were no after.uualms of conscience.
| IN the jungle might Is right, nor does II
take long to inculcate this axiom In the
MIND MIND or jungle-dwelles regardless OF
what his past training may have been.
Ihat the black would have killed him had
ne had the chance, the boy knew full we'll.
Neither he nor the black was any more
sacred than the lion or the buffalo, the
zebra or the deer, or any other of the
| countless creatures who ruamed or skunk
or iew or wriggled through the dark mazes
OF the forest. Each had but q single life,
which was sought by many. The greater
number OF enemies slain, the better chance
to prolong that life.
SO the boy smiled and donned the fnery
Oh the vanauished, and went his way with
Akut, searching, always searching for the
elusive anthropoids who we're to welcome
them with open arms
And at last they found them Doep in
that jungle, buried far from the sight OF
man, they came upon such another little
natural arena as had witnessed the wild
, ceremony OF the Dum-Dum, in which the
boys rather had taken part long years
before.
First, at great distance. they heard the
beating OF the drum of the great apes
They were sleeping in the safety of a huge
tree when the booming sound smote upon
their ears. Both awoke at once.
Akut was the first to interpret the strong
cadence.
The great apes!" he growled. "They
dance the Dum-Dum. Come, Korak, son
OF TarZan, let us so to our people"
Months before Akut had given the boy
name of his own choosing, since he
eouid not master the man-gven name of
JACK korak IS near as 1t may be inter-
pieteo into hun"n speech. In the language
o. the apes 1t means Killer
Now the Killer rose upon the branch
or the great tree where he had been sleep
! ing with his back braced against the
stem He stretched his 1.-THE young muscles.
the moonlight flterng through the foliage
) from above dappling his brown skin with
J little patches of light.
The ape. too, stood UP. half sauattlng
after the manner OF his kind. Low growls
rnnoled from the bottom of his deep chest
-growls of excited anticipation The boy
growled In harmony with the ape
Then the anthropoid slid softly to the
ground Close by, in the direction of the
booming drum. lay clearing which they
must cross The moon flooded II with
sivery light
} Half erect, the great ape shuftied into the
tull glare Of the moon. At his side, swing
) ing gracefully along In marked contrast
to the awkwardness of his companion strode
the hoy, the dark, shaggy coat of the one
Lrushing against the smooth, clear skin
of the other
, The lad was humming now music
hall air that had found its way to the
forms, of the great English public school
that was to see him more. He was
happy and expectant. The moment he
had looked forward to for SO long was
about to be realized
He was coming into his own He was
coming home. As the months had dragged
or hown along retarded or spurred on
as privation or adventure predominated,
thoughts of his own home, while Oft re-
curing. had become less vivid, The old
life had grown to seem more like a dream
than reality, and the baking of his
determination to reach the coast and re-
turn 10 London had finally thrown the
hope of realization SO remotely into the
future that It, too. now seemed little more
than pleasant but hopeless dream
Now all thoughts Of London and civrliza-
} ton were crowded so far into the back
ground of his brain that they might as
: we'll have been nonexistent. Except for
form and mental development, he was as
much an ape as the great, fierce creature
at his side.
In the exuberance of his joy he slapped
his companion roughly on the side of his
head Half In anger, half in play the
anthropoid turned upon him. his fangs
barred and slistening. Long. hairy arms
rehened out 10 seize him. and as they
, had doEe thousand times before, the two
, cinched In mimic battle, rolling upon the
sward, striking, growing and biting, though
never closing their teeth in more than a
rough pinch
, 1t was wonderous practice for them both.
The boy brought into play wrestling tricks
that he had learned at school, and many
of these Akut learned 10 use and to foil,
And from the ape the boy learned the
methods that had been handed down "a
Akut from some common ancestor of them
both, who had roamed the teemng earth
when ferns were trees and crocodies were
birds,
But there was one art the bow possessed
which Akut could not master though he
did achieve fair proficiency in it for an
ape-boxing, To have his bulkIke charges
stopped and crumpled with a suddenly
planted fist upon the end of his snout or
painful jolt in the short ribs. always
} surprised Akut II angered him, too and
at such times his mighty Jaws came nearer
to closing In the soft flesh of his friend than
at any other for he was stlll an ape, with
an apes short temper and brutal Instincts.
But the difficulty was to catch his tor
mentor while hh rage lasted, for when
he lost his head and rushed madly into
close quarters with the boy he discovered
that the singing hail OF blows released
upon him always found their mark and ef-
fectually stopped him-effectually and pain
fully.
Then he would withdraw, growing VIC
iOuslyi backing away with grlnning Jaws
dlstended to sulk for an hour or so,
! Tonight they did not box. Just for a
moment or two they wrestIed playfully until
the scent OF Sheeta, the panther, brought
them to their feet. alert and wary. The
| great cat was passing through the Jungle
In front OF them, For moment II paused,
listening. The boy and the ape growled
menaeingly in chorus, and the earnlvore
moved on.
Then the two took up their Journey to.
ward the sound OF the num-Dum Louder
and louder came the beating Of the drum
, Now, at least, they could hear the growing
, of the dancing apes and strong TO their
nostrils came the scent OF their kind. The
- 80 "A. mt