Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1919-06-21


he came down out of the trees and
awoke Numgo and told him how
great was Tarzan-how he had
frightened Goro out of the sky and
made him tremble. Tarzan spoke of
the moon as he, for all things large
or awe-inspiring are male to the
ape folk.
Numgo was not much impressed,
but he was very sleepy, so he told
Tarzan to 60 away and leave his
betters alone.
"But where shall I find God?" in
sisted Tarzan. "You are very old;
if there is God you must have seen
Him. What does He look like? ?
Where does He lve?"
81 am God" replied Numgo. "Now
sleep and disturb me no more"
Tarzan looked at Numgo steadily
for several minutes, his shapely head
sank just trife between his great
shoulders, his square chin shot for
ward and his short upper lip drew
back, exposing his white teeth. Then,
with low growl he leaped upon the
ape and buried his fangs in the
others hairy shoulder, clutching the
great neck in his mighty fingers.
Twice he shook the old, ape, then he
released his tooth-hold.
care you God?" he demanded.
4 \
a poor, old ape. Leave me alone.
Go ask the Gomangani where God is.
They are hairless like yourself and
very wise, too. They should know"
Tarzan released Numgo and
turned away. The suggestion that
he consult the blacks appealed to
him, and though his relations with
the people of Mbonga, the chief, were
the antithesis of friendly, he could
at least spy upon his hated enemies
and discover if they had any inter-
course with God.
1t was dark when Tarzan came to
the village of Mbonga. As silently
as the sant shadows of the night he
sought his accustomed place among
the branches of the great tree which
overhung the palisade. Below him,
in the village street, he saw men
and women. The men were hide
ously painted-more hideously than
usual. Among them moved weird
and grotesque figure, a tall ffigure
that went upon the two legs of a
man and yet had the head of buff
falo. A tail dangled to his ankles
behind him, and in one hand he car
ried zebra's tail while in the other
c.utched bunch of small arrows.
Tarzan was electrified. Could it
be that chance had given him thus
early an opportunity to look upon
God? Surely this thing was neither
man nor beast, so what could it be
then other than the Creator of the
Universe! The ape-man watched
the every move of the strange
creature. He saw the black men and
women fall back at its approach as
though they stood in terror of its
mysterious powers.
Presently he discovered that the
deity was speaking and that all lis
tened in silence to his words. Tar
zan was sure that none other than
God could inspire such awe in the
hearts of the Gomangani, or stop
their mouths so effectually without
recourse to arrows or spears. Tar
zan had come to look with contempt
upon the blacks, principally because
of their garru:ity. The small apes
talked great deal and ran away
from an enemy. The big, old bulls
of Kerchak talked but little and
fought upon the slightest provoca-
tion. Numa, the lion, was not given
to loquacity, yet of all the jungle
folk there were few who fought more
often than he.
Tarzan witnessed strange things
that night, none of which he under
stood, and, perhaps because they
were strange, he thought that they
must have to do with the God he
could not understand. He saw three
youths receive their first war spears
in a weird ceremony which the
grotesque witch-doctor strove sue
cessfully to render uncanny and
awesome.
Hugely interested, he watched the
slashing of the three brown arms
and the exchange of blood with
Mbonga, the chief, in the rites of
the ceremony of blood brotherhood.
He saw the zebra's tail dipped into
a caldron of water above which the
witch-doctor had made magical
passes the while he danced and
leaped about it, and he saw the
breasts and foreheads of each Of
the three novitiates sprinkled with
the charmed liquid. Could the ape
man have known the purpose of this
act, that it was intended to render
the recipient invulnerable to the at
tacks of his enemies and fearless in
the face of any danger, he would
doubtless have leaped into the village
street and appropriated the zebra's
tail and a portion of the contents Of
the caldron.
The longer Tarzan watched, the
more convinced he became that his