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

SCahC dld 1t loose its hold upon any
of its intended victims, for il had In
cluded the ape-man in its cold em-
brace the minute that he had fallen
upon it.
Still clinging to the tree, the
mighty reptile held the three az
though they had been without weight.
the while it sought to crush the lifc
from them. Tarzan had drawn his
Knife and this he now plunged rapid
Iy into the body of the enemy; but
the encircling folds promised to san
MS life before he had inflicted a
death wound upon the snake. YET
on he fought, nor once did he seek To
escape the horrid death that con
fronted him-his sole aim was to slav
Histah and thus free Teeka and her
balu.
The great, wide-gaping jaws Of
the snake turned and lowered above
nm. The elastic nav, which could
accommodate a rabit or a horned
buck with equal facility, yawned for
him; but Histah, in turning his at.
tention upon the ape-man. brought
his head within reach of Tarzan's
blade. Instantly brown hand
leaped forth and seized the mottled
neck, and another drove the heavy
, hunting knife to the hilt into the lit
tie brain.
Convulsively Histah shuddered
and relaxed, tensed and relaxed
again, whipping and striking with
his great body; but no longer SEN
tlent or sensible. Histah was dead,
but in his death throes he might
easily dispatch dozen apes or men.
Quickly Tarzan seized Teeka and
dragged her to the ground beneath.
then he extricated the balu and tossed
1t to its mother. Still Histah whip
ped about, clinging to the ape-man;
but after dozen efforts Tarzan sue
ceeded in wriggling free and leaping
to the ground out of range of the
mighty battering of the dying snake.
A circle of apes surroun' d the
scene of the battle; but the moment
that Tarzan broke safely from the
enemy they turned silently away to
resume their interrupted feeding.
and Teeka turned with them, appar-
emily forgetful of all but her balu
and the fact that when the inter
ruption had occurred she just had
discovered an ingeniously hidden
nest containing three perfectly good
eggs.
Tarzan, equally Indifferent to a
battle that was over, merely cast a
parting glance at the still writhing
body of Histah and wandered off to-
ward the little pool which served
to water the tribe at this point.
Strangely, he did not give the victory
cry over the vanquished Histah.
Why, he could not have told you,
other than that to him Histah was
not an animal. He differed in some
peculiar way from the other deni-
zens of the jungle. Tarzan only
knew that he hated him.
At the pool Tarzan drank his fill
and lay stretched upon the soft grass
beneath the shade of a tree. His
mind reverted to the battle with
II 20, lo
to him that Teeka should have placed
herself within the folds of the hor-
rid monster Why had she done it?
Why, indeed, had he? Teeka did not
belond to him, nor did Teeka's balu.
They were both Taug's. Why then
had he done this thing? Histah was
rot food for him when he was dead.
There seemed to Tarzan, now that
he gave the matter thought, no rea-
son in the world why he should have
done the thing he did, and presently
it occurred to him that he had acted
almost Involuntary, just as he had
acted when he had released the old
Gomangani the previous evening.
What made him do such things?
Somebody more powerful than he
must force him to act at times. "All-
powerful" thought Tarzan. "The
little bugs say that God is all-pow-
erful. It must be that God made me
do these things, for l never did them
by myself. 1t was God made Teeka
rush upon Hstah. Teeka would
never go near Histah of her own
volition. 1t was God who held my
knife from the throat of the
old Gomangani. God accomplishes
strange things for he is 'all-power-
ful.' ! cannot see Him; but | know
that it must be God who does these
things. No Mangani, no Gomangani,
no Tarmangani could do them"
And the howers-who made them
grow? All, now it was all explained
the flowers, the trees, the moon,
the sun, himself, every living crea-
ture in the jungle-they were all
made by God out of nothing.
And what was God? What did
God look like? Of that he had no
conception; but he was sure that
everything that was good came from
God-his good act in refraining