Chapter 17
On the Deck of the "Kincaid"
When Mugambi had turned back into the jungle with the pack he had adefinite purpose in view. It was to obtain a dugout wherewith totransport the beasts of Tarzan to the side of the Kincaid. Nor was helong in coming upon the object which he sought.
Just at dusk he found a canoe moored to the bank of a small tributaryof the Ugambi at a point where he had felt certain that he should findone.
Without loss of time he piled his hideous fellows into the craft andshoved out into the stream. So quickly had they taken possession ofthe canoe that the warrior had not noticed that it was alreadyoccupied. The huddled figure sleeping in the bottom had entirelyescaped his observation in the darkness of the night that had nowfallen.
But no sooner were they afloat than a savage growling from one of theapes directly ahead of him in the dugout attracted his attention to ashivering and cowering figure that trembled between him and the greatanthropoid. To Mugambi's astonishment he saw that it was a nativewoman. With difficulty he kept the ape from her throat, and after atime succeeded in quelling her fears.
It seemed that she had been fleeing from marriage with an old man sheloathed and had taken refuge for the night in the canoe she had foundupon the river's edge.
Mugambi did not wish her presence, but there she was, and rather thanlose time by returning her to the shore the black permitted her toremain on board the canoe.
As quickly as his awkward companions could paddle the dugoutdown-stream toward the Ugambi and the Kincaid they moved through thedarkness. It was with difficulty that Mugambi could make out theshadowy form of the steamer, but as he had it between himself and theocean it was much more apparent than to one upon either shore of theriver.
As he approached it he was amazed to note that it seemed to be recedingfrom him, and finally he was convinced that the vessel was movingdown-stream. Just as he was about to urge his creatures to renewedefforts to overtake the steamer the outline of another canoe burstsuddenly into view not three yards from the bow of his own craft.
At the same instant the occupants of the stranger discovered theproximity of Mugambi's horde, but they did not at first recognize thenature of the fearful crew. A man in the bow of the oncoming boatchallenged them just as the two dugouts were about to touch.
For answer came the menacing growl of a panther, and the fellow foundhimself gazing into the flaming eyes of Sheeta, who had raised himselfwith his forepaws upon the bow of the boat, ready to leap in upon theoccupants of the other craft.
Instantly Rokoff realized the peril that confronted him and hisfellows. He gave a quick command to fire upon the occupants of theother canoe, and it was this volley and the scream of the terrifiednative woman in the canoe with Mugambi that both Tarzan and Jane hadheard.
Before the slower and less skilled paddlers in Mugambi's canoe couldpress their advantage and effect a boarding of the enemy the latter hadturned swiftly down-stream and were paddling for their lives in thedirection of the Kincaid, which was now visible to them.
The vessel after striking upon the bar had swung loose again into aslow-moving eddy, which returns up-stream close to the southern shoreof the Ugambi only to circle out once more and join the downward flow ahundred yards or so farther up. Thus the Kincaid was returning JaneClayton directly into the hands of her enemies.
It so happened that as Tarzan sprang into the river the vessel was notvisible to him, and as he swam out into the night he had no idea that aship drifted so close at hand. He was guided by the sounds which hecould hear coming from the two canoes.
As he swam he had vivid recollections of the last occasion upon whichhe had swum in the waters of the Ugambi, and with them a sudden shuddershook the frame of the giant.
But, though he twice felt something brush his legs from the slimydepths below him, nothing seized him, and of a sudden he quite forgotabout crocodiles in the astonishment of seeing a dark mass loomsuddenly before him where he had still expected to find the open river.
So close was it that a few strokes brought him up to the thing, when tohis amazement his outstretched hand came in contact with a ship's side.
As the agile ape-man clambered over the vessel's rail there came to hissensitive ears the sound of a struggle at the opposite side of the deck.
Noiselessly he sped across the intervening space.
The moon had risen now, and, though the sky was still banked withclouds, a lesser darkness enveloped the scene than that which hadblotted out all sight earlier in the night. His keen eyes, therefore,saw the figures of two men grappling with a woman.
That it was the woman who had accompanied Anderssen toward the interiorhe did not know, though he suspected as much, as he was now quitecertain that this was the deck of the Kincaid upon which chance had ledhim.
But he wasted little time in idle speculation. There was a woman indanger of harm from two ruffians, which was enough excuse for theape-man to project his giant thews into the conflict without furtherinvestigation.
The first that either of the sailors knew that there was a new force atwork upon the ship was the falling of a mighty hand upon a shoulder ofeach. As if they had been in the grip of a fly-wheel, they were jerkedsuddenly from their prey.
"What means this?" asked a low voice in their ears.
They were given no time to reply, however, for at the sound of thatvoice the young woman had sprung to her feet and with a little cry ofjoy leaped toward their assailant.
"Tarzan!" she cried.
The ape-man hurled the two sailors across the deck, where they rolled,stunned and terrified, into the scuppers upon the opposite side, andwith an exclamation of incredulity gathered the girl into his arms.
Brief, however, were the moments for their greeting.
Scarcely had they recognized one another than the clouds above themparted to show the figures of a half-dozen men clambering over the sideof the Kincaid to the steamer's deck.
Foremost among them was the Russian. As the brilliant rays of theequatorial moon lighted the deck, and he realized that the man beforehim was Lord Greystoke, he screamed hysterical commands to hisfollowers to fire upon the two.
Tarzan pushed Jane behind the cabin near which they had been standing,and with a quick bound started for Rokoff. The men behind theRussian, at least two of them, raised their rifles and fired at thecharging ape-man; but those behind them were otherwise engaged--for upthe monkey-ladder in their rear was thronging a hideous horde.
First came five snarling apes, huge, manlike beasts, with bared fangsand slavering jaws; and after them a giant black warrior, his longspear gleaming in the moonlight.
Behind him again scrambled another creature, and of all the horridhorde it was this they most feared--Sheeta, the panther, with gleamingjaws agape and fiery eyes blazing at them in the mightiness of his hateand of his blood lust.
The shots that had been fired at Tarzan missed him, and he would havebeen upon Rokoff in another instant had not the great coward dodgedbackward between his two henchmen, and, screaming in hysterical terror,bolted forward toward the forecastle.
For the moment Tarzan's attention was distracted by the two men beforehim, so that he could not at the time pursue the Russian. About himthe apes and Mugambi were battling with the balance of the Russian'sparty.
Beneath the terrible ferocity of the beasts the men were soonscampering in all directions--those who still lived to scamper, for thegreat fangs of the apes of Akut and the tearing talons of Sheetaalready had found more than a single victim.
Four, however, escaped and disappeared into the forecastle, where theyhoped to barricade themselves against further assault. Here theyfound Rokoff, and, enraged at his desertion of them in their moment ofperil, no less than at the uniformly brutal treatment it had been hiswont to accord them, they gloated upon the opportunity now offered themto revenge themselves in part upon their hated employer.
Despite his prayers and grovelling pleas, therefore, the
y hurled himbodily out upon the deck, delivering him to the mercy of the fearfulthings from which they had themselves just escaped.
Tarzan saw the man emerge from the forecastle--saw and recognized hisenemy; but another saw him even as soon.
It was Sheeta, and with grinning jaws the mighty beast slunk silentlytoward the terror-stricken man.
When Rokoff saw what it was that stalked him his shrieks for helpfilled the air, as with trembling knees he stood, as one paralyzed,before the hideous death that was creeping upon him.
Tarzan took a step toward the Russian, his brain burning with a ragingfire of vengeance. At last he had the murderer of his son at hismercy. His was the right to avenge.
Once Jane had stayed his hand that time that he sought to take the lawinto his own power and mete to Rokoff the death that he had so longmerited; but this time none should stay him.
His fingers clenched and unclenched spasmodically as he approached thetrembling Russ, beastlike and ominous as a brute of prey.
Presently he saw that Sheeta was about to forestall him, robbing him ofthe fruits of his great hate.
He called sharply to the panther, and the words, as if they had brokena hideous spell that had held the Russian, galvanized him into suddenaction. With a scream he turned and fled toward the bridge.
After him pounced Sheeta the panther, unmindful of his master's warningvoice.
Tarzan was about to leap after the two when he felt a light touch uponhis arm. Turning, he found Jane at his elbow.
"Do not leave me," she whispered. "I am afraid."
Tarzan glanced behind her.
All about were the hideous apes of Akut. Some, even, were approachingthe young woman with bared fangs and menacing guttural warnings.
The ape-man warned them back. He had forgotten for the moment thatthese were but beasts, unable to differentiate his friends and hisfoes. Their savage natures were roused by their recent battle with thesailors, and now all flesh outside the pack was meat to them.
Tarzan turned again toward the Russian, chagrined that he should haveto forgo the pleasure of personal revenge--unless the man should escapeSheeta. But as he looked he saw that there could be no hope of that.The fellow had retreated to the end of the bridge, where he now stoodtrembling and wide-eyed, facing the beast that moved slowly toward him.
The panther crawled with belly to the planking, uttering uncannymouthings. Rokoff stood as though petrified, his eyes protruding fromtheir sockets, his mouth agape, and the cold sweat of terror clammyupon his brow.
Below him, upon the deck, he had seen the great anthropoids, and so hadnot dared to seek escape in that direction. In fact, even now one ofthe brutes was leaping to seize the bridge-rail and draw himself up tothe Russian's side.
Before him was the panther, silent and crouched.
Rokoff could not move. His knees trembled. His voice broke ininarticulate shrieks. With a last piercing wail he sank to hisknees--and then Sheeta sprang.
Full upon the man's breast the tawny body hurtled, tumbling the Russianto his back.
As the great fangs tore at the throat and chest, Jane Clayton turnedaway in horror; but not so Tarzan of the Apes. A cold smile ofsatisfaction touched his lips. The scar upon his forehead that hadburned scarlet faded to the normal hue of his tanned skin anddisappeared.
Rokoff fought furiously but futilely against the growling, rending fatethat had overtaken him. For all his countless crimes he was punishedin the brief moment of the hideous death that claimed him at the last.
After his struggles ceased Tarzan approached, at Jane's suggestion, towrest the body from the panther and give what remained of it decenthuman burial; but the great cat rose snarling above its kill,threatening even the master it loved in its savage way, so that ratherthan kill his friend of the jungle, Tarzan was forced to relinquish hisintentions.
All that night Sheeta, the panther, crouched upon the grisly thing thathad been Nikolas Rokoff. The bridge of the Kincaid was slippery withblood. Beneath the brilliant tropic moon the great beast feasteduntil, when the sun rose the following morning, there remained ofTarzan's great enemy only gnawed and broken bones.
Of the Russian's party, all were accounted for except Paulvitch. Fourwere prisoners in the Kincaid's forecastle. The rest were dead.
With these men Tarzan got up steam upon the vessel, and with theknowledge of the mate, who happened to be one of those surviving, heplanned to set out in quest of Jungle Island; but as the morning dawnedthere came with it a heavy gale from the west which raised a sea intowhich the mate of the Kincaid dared not venture. All that day the shiplay within the shelter of the mouth of the river; for, though nightwitnessed a lessening of the wind, it was thought safer to wait fordaylight before attempting the navigation of the winding channel to thesea.
Upon the deck of the steamer the pack wandered without let or hindranceby day, for they had soon learned through Tarzan and Mugambi that theymust harm no one upon the Kincaid; but at night they were confinedbelow.
Tarzan's joy had been unbounded when he learned from his wife that thelittle child who had died in the village of M'ganwazam was not theirson. Who the baby could have been, or what had become of their own,they could not imagine, and as both Rokoff and Paulvitch were gone,there was no way of discovering.
There was, however, a certain sense of relief in the knowledge thatthey might yet hope. Until positive proof of the baby's death reachedthem there was always that to buoy them up.
It seemed quite evident that their little Jack had not been broughtaboard the Kincaid. Anderssen would have known of it had such been thecase, but he had assured Jane time and time again that the little onehe had brought to her cabin the night he aided her to escape was theonly one that had been aboard the Kincaid since she lay at Dover.