Chapter VI
Vengeance and Mercy
It was an hour later that Sheeta, the panther, hunting, chanced toglance upward into the blue sky where his attention was attractedby Ska, the vulture, circling slowly above the bush a mile away anddownwind. For a long minute the yellow eyes stared intently at thegruesome bird. They saw Ska dive and rise again to continue hisominous circling and in these movements their woodcraft read thatwhich, while obvious to Sheeta, would doubtless have meant nothingto you or me.
The hunting cat guessed that on the ground beneath Ska was someliving thing of flesh--either a beast feeding upon its kill or adying animal that Ska did not yet dare attack. In either event itmight prove meat for Sheeta, and so the wary feline stalked by acircuitous route, upon soft, padded feet that gave forth no sound,until the circling aasvogel and his intended prey were upwind. Then,sniffing each vagrant zephyr, Sheeta, the panther, crept cautiouslyforward, nor had he advanced any considerable distance before hiskeen nostrils were rewarded with the scent of man--a Tarmangani.
Sheeta paused. He was not a hunter of men. He was young and in hisprime; but always before he had avoided this hated presence. Oflate he had become more accustomed to it with the passing of manysoldiers through his ancient hunting ground, and as the soldiershad frightened away a great part of the game Sheeta had been wontto feed upon, the days had been lean, and Sheeta was hungry.
The circling Ska suggested that this Tarmangani might be helplessand upon the point of dying, else Ska would not have been interestedin him, and so easy prey for Sheeta. With this thought in mind thecat resumed his stalking. Presently he pushed through the thickbush and his yellow-green eyes rested gloatingly upon the body ofan almost naked Tarmangani lying face down in a narrow game trail.
Numa, sated, rose from the carcass of Bertha Kircher's horse andseized the partially devoured body by the neck and dragged it intothe bush; then he started east toward the lair where he had lefthis mate. Being uncomfortably full he was inclined to be sleepyand far from belligerent. He moved slowly and majestically with noeffort at silence or concealment. The king walked abroad, unafraid.
With an occasional regal glance to right or left he moved along anarrow game trail until at a turn he came to a sudden stop at whatlay revealed before him--Sheeta, the panther, creeping stealthilyupon the almost naked body of a Tarmangani lying face down in thedeep dust of the pathway. Numa glared intently at the quiet bodyin the dust. Recognition came. It was his Tarmangani. A low growlof warning rumbled from his throat and Sheeta halted with one pawupon Tarzan's back and turned suddenly to eye the intruder.
What passed within those savage brains? Who may say? The pantherseemed debating the wisdom of defending his find, for he growledhorribly as though warning Numa away from the prey. And Numa? Wasthe idea of property rights dominating his thoughts? The Tarmanganiwas his, or he was the Tarmangani's. Had not the Great White Apemastered and subdued him and, too, had he not fed him? Numa recalledthe fear that he had felt of this man-thing and his cruel spear;but in savage brains fear is more likely to engender respect thanhatred and so Numa found that he respected the creature who hadsubdued and mastered him. He saw Sheeta, upon whom he looked withcontempt, daring to molest the master of the lion. Jealousy andgreed alone might have been sufficient to prompt Numa to drive Sheetaaway, even though the lion was not sufficiently hungry to devourthe flesh that he thus wrested from the lesser cat; but then, too,there was in the little brain within the massive head a sense ofloyalty, and perhaps this it was that sent Numa quickly forward,growling, toward the spitting Sheeta.
For a moment the latter stood his ground with arched back andsnarling face, for all the world like a great, spotted tabby.
Numa had not felt like fighting; but the sight of Sheeta daringto dispute his rights kindled his ferocious brain to sudden fire.His rounded eyes glared with rage, his undulating tail snapped tostiff erectness as, with a frightful roar, he charged this presumingvassal.
It came so suddenly and from so short a distance that Sheeta hadno chance to turn and flee the rush, and so he met it with rakingtalons and snapping jaws; but the odds were all against him. Tothe larger fangs and the more powerful jaws of his adversary wereadded huge talons and the preponderance of the lion's great weight.At the first clash Sheeta was crushed and, though he deliberatelyfell upon his back and drew up his powerful hind legs beneath Numawith the intention of disemboweling him, the lion forestalled himand at the same time closed his awful jaws upon Sheeta's throat.
It was soon over. Numa rose, shaking himself, and stood above thetorn and mutilated body of his foe. His own sleek coat was cut andthe red blood trickled down his flank; though it was but a minorinjury, it angered him. He glared down at the dead panther andthen, in a fit of rage, he seized and mauled the body only to dropit in a moment, lower his head, voice a single terrific roar, andturn toward the ape-man.
Approaching the still form he sniffed it over from head to foot.Then he placed a huge paw upon it and turned it over with its faceup. Again he smelled about the body and at last with his rough tonguelicked Tarzan's face. It was then that Tarzan opened his eyes.
Above him towered the huge lion, its hot breath upon his face, itsrough tongue upon his cheek. The ape-man had often been close todeath; but never before so close as this, he thought, for he wasconvinced that death was but a matter of seconds. His brain wasstill numb from the effects of the blow that had felled him, andso he did not, for a moment, recognize the lion that stood overhim as the one he had so recently encountered.
Presently, however, recognition dawned upon him and with ita realization of the astounding fact that Numa did not seem benton devouring him--at least not immediately. His position was adelicate one. The lion stood astraddle Tarzan with his front paws.The ape-man could not rise, therefore, without pushing the lion awayand whether Numa would tolerate being pushed was an open question.Too, the beast might consider him already dead and any movement thatindicated the contrary was true would, in all likelihood, arousethe killing instinct of the man-eater.
But Tarzan was tiring of the situation. He was in no mood to liethere forever, especially when he contemplated the fact that thegirl spy who had tried to brain him was undoubtedly escaping asrapidly as possible.
Numa was looking right into his eyes now evidently aware that he wasalive. Presently the lion cocked his head on one side and whined.Tarzan knew the note, and he knew that it spelled neither rage norhunger, and then he risked all on a single throw, encouraged bythat low whine.
"Move, Numa!" he commanded and placing a palm against the tawnyshoulder he pushed the lion aside. Then he rose and with a handon his hunting knife awaited that which might follow. It was thenthat his eyes fell for the first time on the torn body of Sheeta.He looked from the dead cat to the live one and saw the marks ofconflict upon the latter, too, and in an instant realized somethingof what had happened--Numa had saved him from the panther!
It seemed incredible and yet the evidence pointed clearly to thefact. He turned toward the lion and without fear approached andexamined his wounds which he found superficial, and as Tarzan kneltbeside him Numa rubbed an itching ear against the naked, brownshoulder. Then the ape-man stroked the great head, picked up hisspear, and looked about for the trail of the girl. This he soonfound leading toward the east, and as he set out upon it somethingprompted him to feel for the locket he had hung about his neck. Itwas gone!
No trace of anger was apparent upon the ape-man's face unless itwas a slight tightening of the jaws; but he put his hand ruefullyto the back of his head where a bump marked the place where thegirl had struck him and a moment later a half-smile played acrosshis lips. He could not help but admit that she had tricked himneatly, and that it must have taken nerve to do the thing she didand to set out armed only with a pistol through the trackless wastethat lay between them and the railway and beyond into the hillswhere Wilhelmstal lies.
Tarzan admired courage. He was big enough to admit it and admireit even in a German spy,
but he saw that in this case it only addedto her resourcefulness and made her all the more dangerous and thenecessity for putting her out of the way paramount. He hoped toovertake her before she reached Wilhelmstal and so he set out atthe swinging trot that he could hold for hours at a stretch withoutapparent fatigue.
That the girl could hope to reach the town on foot in less than twodays seemed improbable, for it was a good thirty miles and partof it hilly. Even as the thought crossed his mind he heard thewhistle of a locomotive to the east and knew that the railway wasin operation again after a shutdown of several days. If the trainwas going south the girl would signal it if she had reached theright of way. His keen ears caught the whining of brake shoes onwheels and a few minutes later the signal blast for brakes off.The train had stopped and started again and, as it gained headwayand greater distance, Tarzan could tell from the direction of thesound that it was moving south.
The ape-man followed the trail to the railway where it endedabruptly on the west side of the track, showing that the girl hadboarded the train, just as he thought. There was nothing now butto follow on to Wilhelmstal, where he hoped to find Captain FritzSchneider, as well as the girl, and to recover his diamond-studdedlocket.
It was dark when Tarzan reached the little hill town of Wilhelmstal.He loitered on the outskirts, getting his bearings and trying todetermine how an almost naked white man might explore the villagewithout arousing suspicion. There were many soldiers about andthe town was under guard, for he could see a lone sentinel walkinghis post scarce a hundred yards from him. To elude this one wouldnot be difficult; but to enter the village and search it would bepractically impossible, garbed, or un-garbed, as he was.
Creeping forward, taking advantage of every cover, lying flat andmotionless when the sentry's face was toward him, the ape-man atlast reached the sheltering shadows of an outhouse just inside thelines. From there he moved stealthily from building to buildinguntil at last he was discovered by a large dog in the rear of one ofthe bungalows. The brute came slowly toward him, growling. Tarzanstood motionless beside a tree. He could see a light in the bungalowand uniformed men moving about and he hoped that the dog would notbark. He did not; but he growled more savagely and, just at themoment that the rear door of the bungalow opened and a man steppedout, the animal charged.
He was a large dog, as large as Dango, the hyena, and he chargedwith all the vicious impetuosity of Numa, the lion. As he cameTarzan knelt and the dog shot through the air for his throat; buthe was dealing with no man now and he found his quickness morethan matched by the quickness of the Tarmangani. His teeth neverreached the soft flesh--strong fingers, fingers of steel, seizedhis neck. He voiced a single startled yelp and clawed at the nakedbreast before him with his talons; but he was powerless. The mightyfingers closed upon his throat; the man rose, snapped the clawingbody once, and cast it aside. At the same time a voice from theopen bungalow door called: "Simba!"
There was no response. Repeating the call the man descended thesteps and advanced toward the tree. In the light from the doorwayTarzan could see that he was a tall, broad-shouldered man in theuniform of a German officer. The ape-man withdrew into the shadowof the tree's stem. The man came closer, still calling the dog--hedid not see the savage beast, crouching now in the shadow, awaitinghim. When he had approached within ten feet of the Tarmangani,Tarzan leaped upon him--as Sabor springs to the kill, so sprang theape-man. The momentum and weight of his body hurled the German tothe ground, powerful fingers prevented an outcry and, though theofficer struggled, he had no chance and a moment later lay deadbeside the body of the dog.
As Tarzan stood for a moment looking down upon his kill and regrettingthat he could not risk voicing his beloved victory cry, the sightof the uniform suggested a means whereby he might pass to andfro through Wilhelmstal with the minimum chance of detection. Tenminutes later a tall, broad-shouldered officer stepped from theyard of the bungalow leaving behind him the corpses of a dog anda naked man.
He walked boldly along the little street and those who passed himcould not guess that beneath Imperial Germany's uniform beat asavage heart that pulsed with implacable hatred for the Hun. Tarzan'sfirst concern was to locate the hotel, for here he guessed he wouldfind the girl, and where the girl was doubtless would be HauptmannFritz Schneider, who was either her confederate, her sweetheart,or both, and there, too, would be Tarzan's precious locket.
He found the hotel at last, a low, two-storied building witha veranda. There were lights on both floors and people, mostlyofficers, could be seen within. The ape-man considered enteringand inquiring for those he sought; but his better judgment finallyprompted him to reconnoiter first. Passing around the building helooked into all the lighted rooms on the first floor and, seeingneither of those for whom he had come, he swung lightly to the roofof the veranda and continued his investigations through windows ofthe second story.
At one corner of the hotel in a rear room the blinds were drawn;but he heard voices within and once he saw a figure silhouettedmomentarily against the blind. It appeared to be the figureof a woman; but it was gone so quickly that he could not be sure.Tarzan crept close to the window and listened. Yes, there was awoman there and a man--he heard distinctly the tones of their voicesalthough he could overhear no words, as they seemed to be whispering.
The adjoining room was dark. Tarzan tried the window and found itunlatched. All was quiet within. He raised the sash and listenedagain--still silence. Placing a leg over the sill he slipped withinand hurriedly glanced about. The room was vacant. Crossing to thedoor he opened it and looked out into the hall. There was no onethere, either, and he stepped out and approached the door of theadjoining room where the man and woman were.
Pressing close to the door he listened. Now he distinguishedwords, for the two had raised their voices as though in argument.The woman was speaking.
"I have brought the locket," she said, "as was agreed upon betweenyou and General Kraut, as my identification. I carry no othercredentials. This was to be enough. You have nothing to do but giveme the papers and let me go."
The man replied in so low a tone that Tarzan could not catch thewords and then the woman spoke again--a note of scorn and perhapsa little of fear in her voice.
"You would not dare, Hauptmann Schneider," she said, and then: "Donot touch me! Take your hands from me!"
It was then that Tarzan of the Apes opened the door and steppedinto the room. What he saw was a huge, bull-necked German officerwith one arm about the waist of Fraulein Bertha Kircher and a handupon her forehead pushing her head back as he tried to kiss heron the mouth. The girl was struggling against the great brute; buther efforts were futile. Slowly the man's lips were coming closerto hers and slowly, step by step, she was being carried backward.
Schneider heard the noise of the opening and closing door behindhim and turned. At sight of this strange officer he dropped thegirl and straightened up.
"What is the meaning of this intrusion, Lieutenant?" he demanded,noting the other's epaulettes. "Leave the room at once."
Tarzan made no articulate reply; but the two there with him hearda low growl break from those firm lips--a growl that sent a shudderthrough the frame of the girl and brought a pallor to the red faceof the Hun and his hand to his pistol but even as he drew his weaponit was wrested from him and hurled through the blind and window tothe yard beyond. Then Tarzan backed against the door and slowlyremoved the uniform coat.
"You are Hauptmann Schneider," he said to the German.
"What of it?" growled the latter.
"I am Tarzan of the Apes," replied the ape-man. "Now you know whyI intrude."
The two before him saw that he was naked beneath the coat which hethrew upon the floor and then he slipped quickly from the trousersand stood there clothed only in his loin cloth. The girl hadrecognized him by this time, too.
"Take your hand off that pistol," Tarzan admonished her. Her handdropped at her side. "Now come here!"
She approached and Tarzan removed t
he weapon and hurled it afterthe other. At the mention of his name Tarzan had noted the sicklypallor that overspread the features of the Hun. At last he had foundthe right man. At last his mate would be partially avenged--nevercould she be entirely avenged. Life was too short and there weretoo many Germans.
"What do you want of me?" demanded Schneider.
"You are going to pay the price for the thing you did at the littlebungalow in the Waziri country," replied the ape-man.
Schneider commenced to bluster and threaten. Tarzan turned the keyin the lock of the door and hurled the former through the windowafter the pistols. Then he turned to the girl. "Keep out of theway," he said in a low voice. "Tarzan of the Apes is going to kill."
The Hun ceased blustering and began to plead. "I have a wife andchildren at home," he cried. "I have done nothing, I--"
"You are going to die as befits your kind," said Tarzan, "with bloodon your hands and a lie on your lips." He started across the roomtoward the burly Hauptmann. Schneider was a large and powerfulman--about the height of the ape-man but much heavier. He saw thatneither threats nor pleas would avail him and so he prepared tofight as a cornered rat fights for its life with all the maniacalrage, cunning, and ferocity that the first law of nature impartsto many beasts.
Lowering his bull head he charged for the ape-man and in the centerof the floor the two clinched. There they stood locked and swayingfor a moment until Tarzan succeeded in forcing his antagonist backwardover a table which crashed to the floor, splintered by the weightof the two heavy bodies.
The girl stood watching the battle with wide eyes. She saw the twomen rolling hither and thither across the floor and she heard withhorror the low growls that came from the lips of the naked giant.Schneider was trying to reach his foe's throat with his fingerswhile, horror of horrors, Bertha Kircher could see that the otherwas searching for the German's jugular with his teeth!
Schneider seemed to realize this too, for he redoubled his effortsto escape and finally succeeded in rolling over on top of the ape-manand breaking away. Leaping to his feet he ran for the window; butthe ape-man was too quick for him and before he could leap throughthe sash a heavy hand fell upon his shoulder and he was jerkedback and hurled across the room to the opposite wall. There Tarzanfollowed him, and once again they locked, dealing each other terrificblows, until Schneider in a piercing voice screamed, "Kamerad!Kamerad!"
Tarzan grasped the man by the throat and drew his hunting knife.Schneider's back was against the wall so that though his kneeswobbled he was held erect by the ape-man. Tarzan brought the sharppoint to the lower part of the German's abdomen.
"Thus you slew my mate," he hissed in a terrible voice. "Thusshall you die!"
The girl staggered forward. "Oh, God, no!" she cried. "Not that.You are too brave--you cannot be such a beast as that!"
Tarzan turned at her. "No," he said, "you are right, I cannot doit--I am no German," and he raised the point of his blade and sunkit deep into the putrid heart of Hauptmann Fritz Schneider, puttinga bloody period to the Hun's last gasping cry: "I did not do it!She is not--"
Then Tarzan turned toward the girl and held out his hand. "Giveme my locket," he said.
She pointed toward the dead officer. "He has it." Tarzan searchedhim and found the trinket. "Now you may give me the papers," he saidto the girl, and without a word she handed him a folded document.
For a long time he stood looking at her before ho spoke again.
"I came for you, too," he said. "It would be difficult to take youback from here and so I was going to kill you, as I have sworn tokill all your kind; but you were right when you said that I wasnot such a beast as that slayer of women. I could not slay him ashe slew mine, nor can I slay you, who are a woman."
He crossed to the window, raised the sash and an instant later hehad stepped out and disappeared into the night. And then FrauleinBertha Kircher stepped quickly to the corpse upon the floor, slippedher hand inside the blouse and drew forth a little sheaf of paperswhich she tucked into her waist before she went to the window andcalled for help.