The Lambertville record. [volume] (Lambertville, N.J.) 1872-1968, 1920-04-02
CHAPTER XVIII.


Home.
AS Tarzan of the Apes hurtled
through the trees the dscordant
sounds of the battle between the Abys-
sinians and the lions smote more and
more distinctly upon his sensitive ears,
redoubling his assurance that the
plight of the human element of the
conflict was critical indeed.
At last the glare of the camp fire
shone plainly through the intervening
trees, and a moment later the giant
figure of the ape-man paused upon an
overhanging bough to look down upon
the bloody scene of carnage below.
His quick eye took in the whole
scene with a single compromising
glance and stopped upon the figure of
a woman standing facing a great lion
across the carcass of a horse.
The carnivore was crOuching to
spring as Tarzan discovered the tragic
the branch upon which the ape-man
stood, naked and unarmed. There was
not even an instant's hesitation upon
the part of the latter-it was as
though he had not even paused in his
swift progress through the trees, so
lightning-like his survey and compre-
hension of the scene below him-so in
Simultaneous his consequent action.
Wide went Jane Clayton's eyes in
wonder and incredulity as she beheld
this seeming apparition risen from the
dead. The lion was forgotten-her
own peril-everything save the won
drous miracle of this strange recru-
descence
She saw the sinewy form leap to
the shoulder of the lion, hurtling
against the leaping beast like a huge,
animate battering ram. She saw the
carnivore brushed aside as he was al
most upon her, and in the instant she
realized that no substanceless wrath
could thus turn the charge of mad
dened lion with brute force greater
than the brute's.
Tarzan, her Tarzan, lived A cry of
unspeakable gladness broke from her
lips, only to die in terror as she saw
the utter defenseless of her mate and
realized that the lion had recovered
himself and was turning upon Tarzan
in mad lust for vengeance.
At the ape-man's feet lay the dis
carded rifle of the dead Abyssiniar
whose mutilated corpse sprawlet
where Numa had abandoned it. The
quick glance which had swept the
ground for some weapon of defense
discovered it, and as the lion reared
upon his hind legs to seize the rasl
| man-thing who had dared interpose it!
puny strength between Numa and hi
| prey, the heavy stock whirred through
the air and splintered upon the broat
| forehead.
Not as an ordinary mortal nigh
strike a blow did Tarzan of the Ape:
strike, but with the maddened frenz!
of wild beast backed by the stee
thews which his wild, arboreal boy
hood had bequeathed him. When th'
blow ended the splintered stock was
driven through the splintered skull into
the savage brain, and the heavy iron
barrel was bent into a rude V.
In the instant that the lion sanh
lifeless to the ground Jane Clayton
threw herself into the eager arms OF
her husband. For a brief instant he
strained her dear form to his breast
and then a glance about him awakened
the ape-man to the dangers which still
surrounded them.
The blacks who had witnessed his
advent looked on in amaZement as
they saw the naked giant leap easily
into the branches of the tree from
whence he had dropped so uncannily
upon the scene and vanish as he had
come, bearing away their prisoner with
him.
Unmolested, Tarzan passed from the
camp of the Abyssinians, from which
the din OF conflict followed him deep
into the jungle until distance gradu-
ally obliterated it entirely.
Back to the spot where he had left
Werper went the ape-man, joy in his
heart now, where fear and sorrow had
so recently reigned, and in his mind
a determination to forgive the Belgian
and aid him in making good his escape.
But when he came to the place Wer-
per was gone, and though Tarzan
called aloud many times he received
40 reply. Convinced that the man had
purposely eluded him for reasons of
his own, John Clayton felt that he was
under no obligations to expose his wife
to further danger and discomfort in
the prosecution of more thorough
search for the missing Belgian.
"He has acknowledged his guilt by
his flight, Jane" he said. ave will
let him go to lie in the bed that he
has made for himself"
Straight as homing pigeons the two
made their way toward the ruin and
desolation that had once been the cen
ter of their happy lives, and which
was soon to be restored by the willing
black hands of laughing laborers,
made happy again by the return of
the master and mistress whom they
had mourned as dead
Past the village of Achmet Eek their
way led them, and there they found
but the charred remains of the pail
SADIE and the native huts, still smok-
ing, as mute evidence of the wrath and
vengeance of a powerful enemy.
"The Waziri," commented Tarzan
with a grim smile.