Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1919-07-05

agonlZed moan OF a child. No long
er did Tarzan hesitate. Hurting the
door aside, he sprang into the dark
opening. Narrow and black was the
corridor; but long use of his eyes
in the stygian blackness of the
jungle nights had given to the ape
man something of the noctural Wis
ionary powers of the wild things
with which he had consorted since
babyhood
He moved rapidly and yet with
caution, for the place was dark, un-
familiar and winding. As he ad-
vanced, he heard more and more
loudly the savage snarls of the two
hyenas, mingled with the scraping
and scratching of their paws upon
wood. The means of a child grew
in volume. and Tarzan recognized
in them the voice of the little black
boy he once had sought to adopt as
his balu.
There was no hysteria in the ape
mans advance. Too accustomed
was he to the passing of life in the
jungle to be greatly wrought even
by the death of one whom he knew:
but the lust for battle spurred him
on. He was only a wild beast at
heart and his wild beasts heart beat
high in anticipation of conflict.
In the rocky chamber of the hills
center, little Tibo crouched low
against the wall as far from the
hunger-crazed beasts as he could
drag himself. He saw the lattice
giving to the frantic clawing of the
hyenas. He knew that in few
minutes his little life would flicker
out horribly beneath, the repding,
yellow fangs of these loathsome
creatures.
Beneath the buffetings of the
powerful bodies, the lattice sagged
inward, until, with crash it gave
way, letting the carnivora in upon
the boy. Tibo cast one affrighted
glance toward them, then closed his
eyes and buried his face in his arms.
sobbing piteously.
For moment the hyenas paused,
caution and cowardice holding them
from their prey. They stood thus
glaring at the lad, then slowly,
stealthily, crouching, they crept to-
ward him. 1t was thus that Tarzan
came upon them, bursting into, the
chamber swiftly and silently; but
not so silently that the keen-eared
beasts did not note his coming. With
angry growls they turned from Tibo
upon the ape-man, as, with a smile
upon his lips, he ran toward them.
For an instant one of the animals
stood its ground; but the ape-man
did not deign even to draw his hunt
ing knife against despised Dango.
Rushing in upon the brute he grasp
ed it by the scruff of the neck, Just
as it attempted to dodge past him,
and hurled it across the cavern after
its fellow, which already was stink
ing into the corridor, bent upon
escape.
Then Tarzan picked Tibo from
the floor, and when the child felt
human hands upon him instead of
the paws and fangs of the hyenas,
he rolled his eyes upward in sur
prise and incredulity, and as they
fell upon Tarzan, sobs of relief
broke from the childish lips and his
hands clutched at his deliverer as
though the white devil-god was not
the most feared of jungle creatures.
When Tarzan came to the cave
mouth the hyenas were nowhere in
sight, and after permitting Tibo to
quench his thirst in the spring
which rose near by, he lifted the boy
to his shoulders and set off toward
the jungle at a rapid trot, deter
mined to still the annoying howl
ings Of Momaya as quickly as pos
sible, for he shrewdly had guessed
that the absence of her balu was
the cause of her lamentation.
"He is not dead at the bottom of
the river" cried Bukawai. "What
does this fellow know about making
magic? Who is he, anyway, that he
dare say Bukawai's magic is not
good magic? Bukawai sees Mo-
maya's son. He is far away and
alone and in great danger. Hasten
then with the ten fat goats, the"
But he got no further. There was
sudden interruption from above,
from the branches of the very tree
beneath which they squatted, and as
the five blacks looked up they almost
swoomed in fright as they saw the
great, white devil-god looking down
upon them; but before they could
flee they saw another face, that Of
the lost little Tibo, and his face was
laughing and very happy.
And then Tarzan dropped fear
lessly among them, the boy still upon
his back, and deposited him before
his mother. Momaya, Ibeto, Rabba
Kega and Mbonga were all crowd
ing around the lad trying 70 ques-
ton him at the same time. Sud-
denly Momaya turned ferociously to
fall upon Bukawai, for the by had
told her all that he had suffered at
the hands of the cruel old mar; but
Bukawai was no longer there-he
had required no recourse to black