Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1919-07-26
THE NIGHTMARE.

THE blacks of the village o
Mbonga, the chief, were feast
ing, while above them in a larg
tree sat Tarzan of the Apes-grim
terrible, empty, and envious. Hunt
ing had proved poor that day, fo'
there are lean days as well as fa
ones for even the greatest of thu
Jungle hunters. Oftentimes Tarzar
went empty for more than full
sun, and he had PASSED through
entire moons during which he hac
been but barely able to stave of
starvation; but such times were in
frequent.
What he was at this moment was
a very hungry wild beast whom
caution was holding in leash, fol-
the great cooking pot in the center
of the village was surrounded by
black warriors, through whom not
even Tarzan of the Apes might hope
to pass unharmed. 1t would be
necessary, therefore, for the watcher
to remain there hungry until the
blacks had gorged themselves to
stupor, and then, if they had left
any scraps, to make the best meal
he could from such; but to the i'm
patient Tarzan it seemed that the
greedy Gomangani would rather
burst than leave the feast before the
last morsel had been devoured. For
a time they broke the monotony Of
eating by executing portions of a
hunting dance, maneuver when
sufficiently stimulated digestion to
permit them to fall to once more
with renewed vigor; but with the
consumption of appalling quanti-
ties of elephant meat and native
beer they presently became too
loggy for physical exertion of any
sort, some reaching a stage where
they no longer could rise from the
ground, but lay conveniently close
to the great cooking pot, stuffing
themselves into Inconsistencies.
1t was we'll past midnight before
Tarzan even could begin to see the
end of the orgy. The blacks were
now falling alseep rapidly; but a
few still persisted. From their
condition Tarzan had no doubt
that he easily could enter the village
and snatch a handful of meat be-
fore their noses; but handful was
not what he wanted. Nothing less
than a stomachful would allay the
gnawing craving of that great
emptiness. He must therefore have
ample time to forage in peace.
At last but a single warrior re-
NAMED true to his ideals-an old
fellow whose once wrinkled belly
was now as smooth and as tight as
the head of a drum. With evil
dences of great discomfort, and even
pain, he would crawl toward the pot
and drag himself slowly to his
knees, from which position he could
reach into the receptacle and seize
a piece of meat. Then he would
roll over on his back with loud
groan and lie there while he slowly
forced the food between his teeth
and down into his gorged stomach.
1t was evident to Tarzan that
The old fellow would eat until he
died, or until there was no more
meat. The ape-man shook his head
in disgust. What foul creatures were
these Gomangani? Yet of all the
Jungle folk they alone resembled
Tarzan closely in form. Tarzan was
q man, and they, too, must be some
of men, just as the little
monkeys, and the great apes and
the gorilla, were quite evil
IDENTIFY of one great family, though
differing in size and appearance and
customs. Tarzan was ashamed, for
Of all the beasts of the jungle, then,
man was the most disgusting-man
and Dango, the hyena. Only man
and Dango ate until they swelled up
like a dead rat. Tarzan had seen
Dango eat his way into the carcass
of a dead elephant and then con-
tihue to eat so much that he had
been unable to get out of the hole
through which he had entered. Now
he could readily believe that man,
given the opportunity, would do the
same. Man, too, was the most un-
lovely of creatures-with his skinny
legs and his big stomach, his filed
teeth, and his thick, red lips. Man
was disgusting. Tarzan's gaze was
riveted upon the hideous old war
rior wallowing in filth beneath him.
There! the thing was struggling
TO its knees to reach for another
morsel of flesh. 1t groaned aloud in
pain and yet it persisted in eating,
eating, ever eating. Tarzan could
endure it no longer-neither his
hunger nor his disgust. Silently he
slipped to the ground with the bole
of the great tree between himself
and the feaster.
The man was still kneeling, bent
almost double in agony, before the
cooking pot. His back was toward
the ape-man. Swiftly and noise
lessly Tarzan approached him.
There was no sound as steel fingers
closed about the black throat. The
struggle was short, for the man
was old and already half stupefied
from the effects of the gorging and
the beer.