The Return of Tarzan

  Chapter 16

  The Ivory Raiders

  Waziri's warriors marched at a rapid trot through the jungle in thedirection of the village. For a few minutes, the sharp cracking ofguns ahead warned them to haste, but finally the reports dwindled to anoccasional shot, presently ceasing altogether. Nor was this lessominous than the rattle of musketry, for it suggested but a singlesolution to the little band of rescuers--that the illy garrisonedvillage had already succumbed to the onslaught of a superior force.

  The returning hunters had covered a little more than three miles of thefive that had separated them from the village when they met the firstof the fugitives who had escaped the bullets and clutches of the foe.There were a dozen women, youths, and girls in the party, and soexcited were they that they could scarce make themselves understood asthey tried to relate to Waziri the calamity that had befallen hispeople.

  "They are as many as the leaves of the forest," cried one of the women,in attempting to explain the enemy's force. "There are many Arabs andcountless Manyuema, and they all have guns. They crept close to thevillage before we knew that they were about, and then, with manyshouts, they rushed in upon us, shooting down men, and women, andchildren. Those of us who could fled in all directions into thejungle, but more were killed. I do not know whether they took anyprisoners or not--they seemed only bent upon killing us all. TheManyuema called us many names, saying that they would eat us all beforethey left our country--that this was our punishment for killing theirfriends last year. I did not hear much, for I ran away quickly."

  The march toward the village was now resumed, more slowly and withgreater stealth, for Waziri knew that it was too late to rescue--theironly mission could be one of revenge. Inside the next mile a hundredmore fugitives were met. There were many men among these, and so thefighting strength of the party was augmented.

  Now a dozen warriors were sent creeping ahead to reconnoiter. Waziriremained with the main body, which advanced in a thin line that spreadin a great crescent through the forest. By the chief's side walkedTarzan.

  Presently one of the scouts returned. He had come within sight of thevillage.

  "They are all within the palisade," he whispered.

  "Good!" said Waziri. "We shall rush in upon them and slay them all,"and he made ready to send word along the line that they were to halt atthe edge of the clearing until they saw him rush toward thevillage--then all were to follow.

  "Wait!" cautioned Tarzan. "If there are even fifty guns within thepalisade we shall be repulsed and slaughtered. Let me go alone throughthe trees, so that I may look down upon them from above, and see justhow many there be, and what chance we might have were we to charge. Itwere foolish to lose a single man needlessly if there be no hope ofsuccess. I have an idea that we can accomplish more by cunning than byforce. Will you wait, Waziri?"

  "Yes," said the old chief. "Go!"

  So Tarzan sprang into the trees and disappeared in the direction of thevillage. He moved more cautiously than was his wont, for he knew thatmen with guns could reach him quite as easily in the treetops as on theground. And when Tarzan of the Apes elected to adopt stealth, nocreature in all the jungle could move so silently or so completelyefface himself from the sight of an enemy.

  In five minutes he had wormed his way to the great tree that overhungthe palisade at one end of the village, and from his point of vantagelooked down upon the savage horde beneath. He counted fifty Arabs andestimated that there were five times as many Manyuema. The latter weregorging themselves upon food and, under the very noses of their whitemasters, preparing the gruesome feast which is the PIECE DE RESISTANCEthat follows a victory in which the bodies of their slain enemies fallinto their horrid hands.

  The ape-man saw that to charge that wild horde, armed as they were withguns, and barricaded behind the locked gates of the village, would be afutile task, and so he returned to Waziri and advised him to wait; thathe, Tarzan, had a better plan.

  But a moment before one of the fugitives had related to Waziri thestory of the atrocious murder of the old chief's wife, and so crazedwith rage was the old man that he cast discretion to the winds.Calling his warriors about him, he commanded them to charge, and, withbrandishing spears and savage yells, the little force of scarcely morethan a hundred dashed madly toward the village gates. Before theclearing had been half crossed the Arabs opened up a withering firefrom behind the palisade.

  With the first volley Waziri fell. The speed of the chargersslackened. Another volley brought down a half dozen more. A fewreached the barred gates, only to be shot in their tracks, without theghost of a chance to gain the inside of the palisade, and then thewhole attack crumpled, and the remaining warriors scampered back intothe forest. As they ran the raiders opened the gates, rushing afterthem, to complete the day's work with the utter extermination of thetribe. Tarzan had been among the last to turn back toward the forest,and now, as he ran slowly, he turned from time to time to speed awell-aimed arrow into the body of a pursuer.

  Once within the jungle, he found a little knot of determined blackswaiting to give battle to the oncoming horde, but Tarzan cried to themto scatter, keeping out of harm's way until they could gather in forceafter dark.

  "Do as I tell you," he urged, "and I will lead you to victory overthese enemies of yours. Scatter through the forest, picking up as manystragglers as you can find, and at night, if you think that you havebeen followed, come by roundabout ways to the spot where we killed theelephants today. Then I will explain my plan, and you will find thatit is good. You cannot hope to pit your puny strength and simpleweapons against the numbers and the guns of the Arabs and the Manyuema."

  They finally assented. "When you scatter," explained Tarzan, inconclusion, "your foes will have to scatter to follow you, and so itmay happen that if you are watchful you can drop many a Manyuema withyour arrows from behind some great trees."

  They had barely time to hasten away farther into the forest before thefirst of the raiders had crossed the clearing and entered it in pursuitof them.

  Tarzan ran a short distance along the ground before he took to thetrees. Then he raced quickly to the upper terrace, there doubling onhis tracks and making his way rapidly back toward the village. Here hefound that every Arab and Manyuema had joined in the pursuit, leavingthe village deserted except for the chained prisoners and a singleguard.

  The sentry stood at the open gate, looking in the direction of theforest, so that he did not see the agile giant that dropped to theground at the far end of the village street. With drawn bow theape-man crept stealthily toward his unsuspecting victim. The prisonershad already discovered him, and with wide eyes filled with wonder andwith hope they watched their would-be rescuer. Now he halted not tenpaces from the unconscious Manyuema. The shaft was drawn back its fulllength at the height of the keen gray eye that sighted along itspolished surface. There was a sudden twang as the brown fingersreleased their hold, and without a sound the raider sank forward uponhis face, a wooden shaft transfixing his heart and protruding a footfrom his black chest.

  Then Tarzan turned his attention to the fifty women and youths chainedneck to neck on the long slave chain. There was no releasing of theancient padlocks in the time that was left him, so the ape-man calledto them to follow him as they were, and, snatching the gun andcartridge belt from the dead sentry, he led the now happy band outthrough the village gate and into the forest upon the far side of theclearing.

  It was a slow and arduous march, for the slave chain was new to thesepeople, and there were many delays as one of their number would stumbleand fall, dragging others down with her. Then, too, Tarzan had beenforced to make a wide detour to avoid any possibility of meeting withreturning raiders. He was partially guided by occasional shots whichindicated that the Arab horde was still in touch with the villagers;but he knew that if they would but follow his advice there would be butfew casualties other than on the side of the marauders.

  Toward dusk the firing cease
d entirely, and Tarzan knew that the Arabshad all returned to the village. He could scarce repress a smile oftriumph as he thought of their rage on discovering that their guard hadbeen killed and their prisoners taken away. Tarzan had wished that hemight have taken some of the great store of ivory the villagecontained, solely for the purpose of still further augmenting the wrathof his enemies; but he knew that that was not necessary for itssalvation, since he already had a plan mapped out which wouldeffectually prevent the Arabs leaving the country with a single tusk.And it would have been cruel to have needlessly burdened these poor,overwrought women with the extra weight of the heavy ivory.

  It was after midnight when Tarzan, with his slow-moving caravan,approached the spot where the elephants lay. Long before they reachedit they had been guided by the huge fire the natives had built in thecenter of a hastily improvised BOMA, partially for warmth and partiallyto keep off chance lions.

  When they had come close to the encampment Tarzan called aloud to letthem know that friends were coming. It was a joyous reception thelittle party received when the blacks within the BOMA saw the long fileof fettered friends and relatives enter the firelight. These had allbeen given up as lost forever, as had Tarzan as well, so that the happyblacks would have remained awake all night to feast on elephant meatand celebrate the return of their fellows, had not Tarzan insisted thatthey take what sleep they could, against the work of the coming day.

  At that, sleep was no easy matter, for the women who had lost their menor their children in the day's massacre and battle made night hideouswith their continued wailing and howling. Finally, however, Tarzansucceeded in silencing them, on the plea that their noise would attractthe Arabs to their hiding-place, when all would be slaughtered.

  When dawn came Tarzan explained his plan of battle to the warriors, andwithout demur one and all agreed that it was the safest and surest wayin which to rid themselves of their unwelcome visitors and be revengedfor the murder of their fellows.

  First the women and children, with a guard of some twenty old warriorsand youths, were started southward, to be entirely out of the zone ofdanger. They had instructions to erect temporary shelter and constructa protecting BOMA of thorn bush; for the plan of campaign which Tarzanhad chosen was one which might stretch out over many days, or evenweeks, during which time the warriors would not return to the new camp.

  Two hours after daylight a thin circle of black warriors surrounded thevillage. At intervals one was perched high in the branches of a treewhich could overlook the palisade. Presently a Manyuema within thevillage fell, pierced by a single arrow. There had been no sound ofattack--none of the hideous war-cries or vainglorious waving ofmenacing spears that ordinarily marks the attack of savages--just asilent messenger of death from out of the silent forest.

  The Arabs and their followers were thrown into a fine rage at thisunprecedented occurrence. They ran for the gates, to wreak direvengeance upon the foolhardy perpetrator of the outrage; but theysuddenly realized that they did not know which way to turn to find thefoe. As they stood debating with many angry shouts and muchgesticulating, one of the Arabs sank silently to the ground in theirvery midst--a thin arrow protruding from his heart.

  Tarzan had placed the finest marksmen of the tribe in the surroundingtrees, with directions never to reveal themselves while the enemy wasfaced in their direction. As a black released his messenger of deathhe would slink behind the sheltering stem of the tree he had selected,nor would he again aim until a watchful eye told him that none waslooking toward his tree.

  Three times the Arabs started across the clearing in the direction fromwhich they thought the arrows came, but each time another arrow wouldcome from behind to take its toll from among their number. Then theywould turn and charge in a new direction. Finally they set out upon adetermined search of the forest, but the blacks melted before them, sothat they saw no sign of an enemy.

  But above them lurked a grim figure in the dense foliage of the mightytrees--it was Tarzan of the Apes, hovering over them as if he had beenthe shadow of death. Presently a Manyuema forged ahead of hiscompanions; there was none to see from what direction death came, andso it came quickly, and a moment later those behind stumbled over thedead body of their comrade--the inevitable arrow piercing the stillheart.

  It does not take a great deal of this manner of warfare to get upon thenerves of white men, and so it is little to be wondered at that theManyuema were soon panic-stricken. Did one forge ahead an arrow foundhis heart; did one lag behind he never again was seen alive; did onestumble to one side, even for a bare moment from the sight of hisfellows, he did not return--and always when they came upon the bodiesof their dead they found those terrible arrows driven with the accuracyof superhuman power straight through the victim's heart. But worsethan all else was the hideous fact that not once during the morning hadthey seen or heard the slightest sign of an enemy other than thepitiless arrows.

  When finally they returned to the village it was no better. Every nowand then, at varying intervals that were maddening in the terriblesuspense they caused, a man would plunge forward dead. The blacksbesought their masters to leave this terrible place, but the Arabsfeared to take up the march through the grim and hostile forest besetby this new and terrible enemy while laden with the great store ofivory they had found within the village; but, worse yet, they hated toleave the ivory behind.

  Finally the entire expedition took refuge within the thatchedhuts--here, at least, they would be free from the arrows. Tarzan, fromthe tree above the village, had marked the hut into which the chiefArabs had gone, and, balancing himself upon an overhanging limb, hedrove his heavy spear with all the force of his giant muscles throughthe thatched roof. A howl of pain told him that it had found a mark.With this parting salute to convince them that there was no safety forthem anywhere within the country, Tarzan returned to the forest,collected his warriors, and withdrew a mile to the south to rest andeat. He kept sentries in several trees that commanded a view of thetrail toward the village, but there was no pursuit.

  An inspection of his force showed not a single casualty--not even aminor wound; while rough estimates of the enemies' loss convinced theblacks that no fewer than twenty had fallen before their arrows. Theywere wild with elation, and were for finishing the day in one gloriousrush upon the village, during which they would slaughter the last oftheir foemen. They were even picturing the various tortures they wouldinflict, and gloating over the suffering of the Manyuema, for whom theyentertained a peculiar hatred, when Tarzan put his foot down flatlyupon the plan.

  "You are crazy!" he cried. "I have shown you the only way to fightthese people. Already you have killed twenty of them without the lossof a single warrior, whereas, yesterday, following your own tactics,which you would now renew, you lost at least a dozen, and killed not asingle Arab or Manyuema. You will fight just as I tell you to fight,or I shall leave you and go back to my own country."

  They were frightened when he threatened this, and promised to obey himscrupulously if he would but promise not to desert them.

  "Very well," he said. "We shall return to the elephant BOMA for thenight. I have a plan to give the Arabs a little taste of what they mayexpect if they remain in our country, but I shall need no help. Come!If they suffer no more for the balance of the day they will feelreassured, and the relapse into fear will be even more nerve-rackingthan as though we continued to frighten them all afternoon."

  So they marched back to their camp of the previous night, and, lightinggreat fires, ate and recounted the adventures of the day until longafter dark. Tarzan slept until midnight, then he arose and crept intothe Cimmerian blackness of the forest. An hour later he came to theedge of the clearing before the village. There was a camp-fire burningwithin the palisade. The ape-man crept across the clearing until hestood before the barred gates. Through the interstices he saw a lonesentry sitting before the fire.

  Quietly Tarzan went to the tree at the end of the village street. Hecl
imbed softly to his place, and fitted an arrow to his bow. Forseveral minutes he tried to sight fairly upon the sentry, but thewaving branches and flickering firelight convinced him that the dangerof a miss was too great--he must touch the heart full in the center tobring the quiet and sudden death his plan required.

  He had brought, besides, his bow, arrows, and rope, the gun he hadtaken the previous day from the other sentry he had killed. Cachingall these in a convenient crotch of the tree, he dropped lightly to theground within the palisade, armed only with his long knife. Thesentry's back was toward him. Like a cat Tarzan crept upon the dozingman. He was within two paces of him now--another instant and the knifewould slide silently into the fellow's heart.

  Tarzan crouched for a spring, for that is ever the quickest and surestattack of the jungle beast--when the man, warned, by some subtle sense,sprang to his feet and faced the ape-man.