Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1919-05-31
|1ARZAN,S FIRST LOVE y III
copvrieht. A. {. nccmrs q Co.
copDrioht, 1910. Public Ledger Con, ponp
CHAPTER 1
Tarzan's First Love

fJyEEKA, stretched at luxurious eas
= in the shade of the tropical forest
presented, unquestionably, a most al
1uring picture of young, feminine love
]iness. Or at least so thought Tarzar
Of the Apes, who squatted upon low
swinging branch in nearby tree AM
looked down upon her.
Just to have seen him there, lollint
upon the swaying bough of the jungle
forest giant, his brown skin notified b,
4 the brilliant equatorial sunlight which
percolated through the leafy canopy o.
green above him. his clean limbed body
relaxed in graceful ease, his shapelS
head partly turned in contemplativt
Absorption and his intelligent. gray eyes
dreamily devouring the object of theil
devotion. you would have thought hin
the reincarnation Of some demigod oi
old.
You would not have guessed that II
infancy he had sucked at the breast OF
q hideous hairy she ape. nor that in al
his conscious past since his parents had
passed away in the little cabin by the
land locked harbor at the jungle verge
he had known no other associates than
( the sulen bulls and the snarling cows
of the tribe of Kerchak, the great ape.
Nor, could you have read the
thoughts which passed through that az :
tive, healthy brain. the lonsings and
desires and aspirations which the sight
Of Teeka inspired. would you have been
any more inclined to give credence to
the reality ,of the origin of the ape
man. For, from his thoughts alone,
you could never have Cleaned the
truth--that he had been born of gentle
English lady or that his sire had been
an English nobleman of time honored
lineoge.
Lost to Tarzan of the Apes was the
truth Of his origin That he was John
Clayton. Lord Greystoke. with seat
in the House of Lords. he did not know.
nor, knowing, would have understood.
Yes. Teeka was indeed beautiful.
OF course Kala had been beautiful
ones mother is always that-but Teeka
was beautiful in a way all her own. an
Undesirable sort OF way which Tarzan
was just beginning to sense in rather
vague and hazy manner.
For years had Tarzan and Teeka been
play fellows. and Teeks still continued
TO be playful while the young bulls Of
her own age were rapidly becoming sur
ly and morose. Tarzan, IL he gave the
matter much thought at all, probably
reasoned that his growing attachment
for the young female could be easily
accounted for by the fact that of the
former playmates she and he alone re-
tanned any desire to frolic as of old.
But today, as he sat gazing upon her.
he found himself noting the beauties of
Teeka's form and features-something
he never had done before, since none of
them had aught to do with Texas
ability to race nimbly through the lower
terraces of the forest in the primitive
games of tag and hide and go seek
which Tarzan's fertile brain evolved.
Tarzan scratched his head. running
his fingers deep into the shock of black
hair which framed his shapely, boyish
face-he scratched his head and sighed
Texas new found beauty became as
suddenly his despair. He envied her
;she handsome coat of hair which covered
her body. His own smooth. brown
hide he hated with hatred born of dis
gust and contempt. Years back he had
harbored a hope that some day he. too.
would be clothed in hair as were all his
brothers and sisters but Of late he had
been forced to abandon the delectable
dream.
Then there were Teeka's great teeth
not so large as the males. of course. but
still mighty, handsome things by COM
parison with Tarzan's feeble white ones
And her beetling brows. and broad, fat
nose, and her mouth! Tarzan had often
practiced making his mouth into little
round circle and then putting out his
cheeks while he winked his eyes rapidly {;
but he felt that he could never do it
in the same cute and irresistible way in
which Teeka did it.
And as he watched her that after
noon, and wondered, young bull ape
who had been lazily foraging for food
beneath the damp, matted carpet of
decaying vegetation at the roots of a
nearby tree numbered awkwardly in
Texas direction. The other apes of
the tribe of Kerchak moved listlessly
about or lolled restfully in the midday
heat OF the equatorial jungle. From
time to time one or another of them had
passed close to Teeka, and Tarzan had
been uninterested. Why was it then
that his brows contracted and his mus
cles tensed as he saw Taug pause be =
side the young she and then squat down
close to her?
Tarzan always had liked Taug. Since
childhood they had romped together.
Side by side they had squatted near the
water, their quick. strong fingers ready
to leap forth and seize Pisah. the fish.
should that wary denizen of the cool
depths dart surfaceward to the lure OF
the insects Tarzan tossed upon the face
of the pool.
Together they had baited Tulbat and
teased Numa, the lion. Why. then,
should Tarzan feel the rise of the short
hairs at the nape of his neck merely
because Taug sat close to Teeka?
1t is true that Taug was no longer the
frolicsome ape of yesterday. When his
snarling- muscles barred his giant fapps
no one could longer imagine that Taus
was In as playful mood as when he
and Tarzan had rolled upon the turt
In mimic battle.
The Taug of today was huge. sulIer
Dull ape. somber and forbiddinx. Vet
ne and Tarzan never had quarreled.
For a few minutes the young ape
man watched Taug press closer to
Ieeka. He saw the rough caress of the