Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1919-08-09


them. At least he sometimes
thought so, but always at the
thought there rose within him a
strange revulsion of feeling, which
he could not interpret or understand
he simply knew that he hated the
Gomangani, and that he would
rather be Histah, the snake, than
one of these.
But their ways were interesting,
and Tarzan never tired of spying
upon them, and from them he learn
ed much more than he realized,
though always his principal thought
was Of some new way in which he
could render their lives miserable.
The batting of the blacks was Tar
zan's chief advertisement.
Tarzan realized now that the
blacks were very near and that there
were many of them, so he went
silently and with great caution.
Noiselessly he moved through the
lush grasses of the open spaces, and
where the forest was dense, swung
from one swaying branch 70 an
other, or, leaped lightly over tangled
masses of fallen trees where there
was no way through the lower
terraces, and the ground was choked
and impossible.
And so presently he came within
sight of the black warriors of
Mbonga, the chief. They were en-
gagged in pursuit with which Tar
zan was more or less familiar, hav-
ing watched them at it upon other
occasions. They were placing and
batting trap for Numa, the lion.
In cage upon wheels they were
tying kid, so fastening it that when
Numa seized the unfortunate crea-
ture, the door Of the cage would
drop behind him, making him
prisone:.
These things the blacks had
learned in their old home, before
! they escaped through the untracked
jungle to their new village. For
merly they had dwelt in the Belgian
Congo until the cruelties of their
heartless oppressors had driven
them to seek the safety of unex-
plored solitudes beyond the boun-
. diaries of Leopolds domain. y
In their old life they often had
trapped animals for the agents of
European dealers, and had learned
| from fo,, ~, ,1r,f
this one, which permitted them to
capture even Numa without injuring
him, and to transport him in safety
and with comparative ease to their
village.
No longer was there a white mar
ket for their savage wares; but
there was still sufficient incentive
| for the taking of Numa-alive.l First
was the necessity for ridding the
jungle of man-eaters, and it was
only after depredations by these
grim and terrible scourges, that a
lion hunt was organized. Secondarily
t was the excuse for an orgy of cele-
, bration was the hunt successful, and
, the fact that such fetes were rem
: dered doubly pleasurable by the
presence of a live creature that
might be put to death by torture.
Tarzan had witnessed these cruel
l rites in the past. Being himself
more savage than the savage war
{ riors of the Gomangani, he was not
, so, shocked by the cruelty of them
{ as he should have been, yet they did
shock him. He could not understand
| the strange feeling of revulsion
which possessed him at such times.
He had no love for Numa, the lion,
yet he bristled with rage when the
) blacks inflicted upon his enemy such
/ indignities and cruelties as only the
: mind of the one creature nodded in
the image of God can conceive.
: Upon two occasions he had freed
Numa from the trap before the
, blacks had returned to discover the
: success or failure of their venture.
He would do the same today-th@s
, he decided Immediately he realized
the nature of their intentions.
, Leaving the trap in the center of
broad elephant trail near the
| drinking hole, the warriors turned
l back toward their village. On the
t morrow they would come again.
: Tarzan looked after them, upon his
t lips an unconscious sneer-the heri-
: tage of unguessed caste. He saw
!, them file along the broad trail, be-
: meath the overhanging verdure of
, leafy branch and looped and
: festooned creepers, brushing ebon
: shoulders against gorgeous blooms
| which inscrutable Nature has seen
fit to lavish most profusely farthest
, from the eye of man.
{ AS Tarzan watched, through mar
rowed lids, the last of the warriors
; disappear beyond a turn in the
= trail, his expression altered to the
f urge of newborn thought. A slow,
' grim smile touched his lips. He
: looked down upon the frightened,
t bleating kid, advertising, in its fear
= and its innocence, its presence and
r its helplessness.
= Dropping to the ground, Tarzan
approached the trap and entered.
/, Without disturbing the fiber cord,
urb;ch ,y,.