The return of Tazan

Chapter 8
The Fight in the Desert
As the three squatted upon the roof above the quarters of
the Ouled-Nails they heard the angry cursing of the
Arabs in the room beneath. Abdul translated from time
to time to Tarzan.
"They are berating those in the street below now," said
Abdul, "for permitting us to escape so easily. Those in the
street say that we did not come that way--that we are still
within the building, and that those above, being too cowardly
to attack us, are attempting to deceive them into believing
that we have escaped. In a moment they will have fighting
of their own to attend to if they continue their brawling."
Presently those in the building gave up the search, and
returned to the cafe. A few remained in the street below,
smoking and talking.
Tarzan spoke to the girl, thanking her for the sacrifice she
had made for him, a total stranger.
"I liked you," she said simply. "You were unlike the others
who come to the cafe. You did not speak coarsely to me--
the manner in which you gave me money was not an insult."
"What shall you do after tonight?" he asked. "You cannot return
to the cafe. Can you even remain with safety in Sidi Aissa?"
"Tomorrow it will be forgotten," she replied. "But I should
be glad if it might be that I need never return to this or
another cafe. I have not remained because I wished to;
I have been a prisoner."
"A prisoner!" ejaculated Tarzan incredulously.
"A slave would be the better word," she answered. "I was stolen
in the night from my father''s DOUAR by a band of marauders.
They brought me here and sold me to the Arab who keeps this cafe.
It has been nearly two years now since I saw the last of mine
own people. They are very far to the south. They never come
to Sidi Aissa."
"You would like to return to your people?" asked Tarzan.
"Then I shall promise to see you safely so far as Bou Saada
at least. There we can doubtless arrange with the commandant
to send you the rest of the way."
"Oh, m''sieur," she cried, "how can I ever repay you! You
cannot really mean that you will do so much for a poor
Ouled-Nail. But my father can reward you, and he will, for
is he not a great sheik? He is Kadour ben Saden."
"Kadour ben Saden!" ejaculated Tarzan. "Why, Kadour
ben Saden is in Sidi Aissa this very night. He dined
with me but a few hours since."
"My father in Sidi Aissa?" cried the amazed girl.
"Allah be praised then, for I am indeed saved."
"Hssh!" cautioned Abdul. "Listen."
From below came the sound of voices, quite distinguishable
upon the still night air. Tarzan could not understand the
words, but Abdul and the girl translated.
"They have gone now," said the latter. "It is you they want, m''sieur.
One of them said that the stranger who had offered
money for your slaying lay in the house of Akmed din
Soulef with a broken wrist, but that he had offered a still
greater reward if some would lay in wait for you upon the
road to Bou Saada and kill you."
"It is he who followed m''sieur about the market today,"
exclaimed Abdul. "I saw him again within the cafe--him
and another; and the two went out into the inner court after
talking with this girl here. It was they who attacked and
fired upon us, as we came out of the cafe. Why do they wish
to kill you, m''sieur?"
"I do not know," replied Tarzan, and then, after a pause:
"Unless--" But he did not finish, for the thought that had
come to his mind, while it seemed the only reasonable solution
of the mystery, appeared at the same time quite improbable.
Presently the men in the street went away. The courtyard
and the cafe were deserted. Cautiously Tarzan lowered
himself to the sill of the girl''s window. The room was empty.
He returned to the roof and let Abdul down, then he
lowered the girl to the arms of the waiting Arab.
From the window Abdul dropped the short distance to the
street below, while Tarzan took the girl in his arms and leaped
down as he had done on so many other occasions in his
own forest with a burden in his arms. A little cry of alarm
was startled from the girl''s lips, but Tarzan landed in the
street with but an imperceptible jar, and lowered her in safety
to her feet.
She clung to him for a moment.
"How strong m''sieur is, and how active," she cried.
"EL ADREA, the black lion, himself is not more so."
"I should like to meet this EL ADREA of yours," he said.
"I have heard much about him."
"And you come to the DOUAR of my father you shall see
him," said the girl. "He lives in a spur of the mountains
north of us, and comes down from his lair at night to rob my
father''s DOUAR. With a single blow of his mighty paw he
crushes the skull of a bull, and woe betide the belated
wayfarer who meets EL ADREA abroad at night."
Without further mishap they reached the hotel. The sleepy
landlord objected strenuously to instituting a search for
Kadour ben Saden until the following morning, but a piece
of gold put a different aspect on the matter, so that a few
moments later a servant had started to make the rounds of
the lesser native hostelries where it might be expected that a
desert sheik would find congenial associations. Tarzan had
felt it necessary to find the girl''s father that night, for
fear he might start on his homeward journey too early in the
morning to be intercepted.
They had waited perhaps half an hour when the messenger
returned with Kadour ben Saden. The old sheik entered
the room with a questioning expression upon his proud face.
"Monsieur has done me the honor to--" he commenced, and
then his eyes fell upon the girl. With outstretched arms
he crossed the room to meet her. "My daughter!" he cried.
"Allah is merciful!" and tears dimmed the martial eyes of
the old warrior.
When the story of her abduction and her final rescue had
been told to Kadour ben Saden he extended his hand to Tarzan.
"All that is Kadour ben Saden''s is thine, my friend, even
to his life," he said very simply, but Tarzan knew that
those were no idle words.
It was decided that although three of them would have to
ride after practically no sleep, it would be best to make an
early start in the morning, and attempt to ride all the
way to Bou Saada in one day. It would have been
comparatively easy for the men, but for the girl it
was sure to be a fatiguing journey.
She, however, was the most anxious to undertake it, for
it seemed to her that she could not quickly enough reach the
family and friends from whom she had been separated for
two years.
It seemed to Tarzan that he had not closed his eyes before
he was awakened, and in another hour the party was on its
way south toward Bou Saada. For a few miles the road was
good, and they made rapid progress, but suddenly it became
only a waste of sand, into which the horses sank fetlock
deep at nearly every step. In ad***ion to Tarzan, Abdul,
the sheik, and his daughter were four of the wild plainsmen
of the sheik''s tribe who had accompanied him upon the trip
to Sidi Aissa. Thus, seven guns strong, they entertained little
fear of attack by day, and if all went well they should reach
Bou Saada before nightfall.
A brisk wind enveloped them in the blowing sand of the
desert, until Tarzan''s lips were parched and cracked. What
little he could see of the surrounding country was far from
alluring--a vast expanse of rough country, rolling in little,
barren hillocks, and tufted here and there with clumps of
dreary shrub. Far to the south rose the dim lines of the
Saharan Atlas range. How different, thought Tarzan, from
the gorgeous Africa of his boyhood!
Abdul, always on the alert, looked backward quite as often
as he did ahead. At the top of each hillock that they mounted
he would draw in his horse and, turning, scan the country to
the rear with utmost care. At last his scrutiny was rewarded.
"Look!" he cried. "There are six horsemen behind us."
"Your friends of last evening, no doubt, monsieur," remarked
Kadour ben Saden dryly to Tarzan.
"No doubt," replied the ape-man. "I am sorry that my
society should endanger the safety of your journey. At the
next village I shall remain and question these gentlemen,
while you ride on. There is no necessity for my being at Bou
Saada tonight, and less still why you should not ride in peace."
"If you stop we shall stop," said Kadour ben Saden. "Until
you are safe with your friends, or the enemy has left your
trail, we shall remain with you. There is nothing more to say."
Tarzan nodded his head. He was a man of few words,
and possibly it was for this reason as much as any that
Kadour ben Saden had taken to him, for if there be one
thing that an Arab despises it is a talkative man.
All the balance of the day Abdul caught glimpses of the
horsemen in their rear. They remained always at about the
same distance. During the occasional halts for rest, and
at the longer halt at noon, they approached no closer.
"They are waiting for darkness," said Kadour ben Saden.
And darkness came before they reached Bou Saada. The
last glimpse that Abdul had of the grim, white-robed figures
that trailed them, just before dusk made it impossible to
distinguish them, had made it apparent that they were rapidly
closing up the distance that intervened between them and
their intended quarry. He whispered this fact to Tarzan, for
he did not wish to alarm the girl. The ape-man drew back
beside him.
"You will ride ahead with the others, Abdul," said Tarzan.
"This is my quarrel. I shall wait at the next convenient
spot, and interview these fellows."
"Then Abdul shall wait at thy side," replied the young
Arab, nor would any threats or commands move him from
his decision.
"Very well, then," replied Tarzan. "Here is as good a place
as we could wish. Here are rocks at the top of this hillock.
We shall remain hidden here and give an account of ourselves
to these gentlemen when they appear."
They drew in their horses and dismounted. The others
riding ahead were already out of sight in the darkness.
Beyond them shone the lights of Bou Saada. Tarzan removed
his rifle from its boot and loosened his revolver in its holster.
He ordered Abdul to withdraw behind the rocks with the
horses, so that they should be shielded from the enemies''
bullets should they fire. The young Arab pretended to do as
he was bid, but when he had fastened the two animals securely
to a low shrub he crept back to lie on his belly a few
paces behind Tarzan.
The ape-man stood erect in the middle of the road, waiting.
Nor did he have long to wait. The sound of galloping
horses came suddenly out of the darkness below him, and a
moment later he discerned the moving blotches of lighter
color against the solid background of the night.
"Halt," he cried, "or we fire!"
The white figures came to a sudden stop, and for a moment
there was silence. Then came the sound of a whispered council,
and like ghosts the phantom riders dispersed in all directions.
Again the desert lay still about him, yet it was an ominous
stillness that foreboded evil.
Abdul raised himself to one knee. Tarzan ****ed his
jungle-trained ears, and presently there came to him the
sound of horses walking quietly through the sand to the
east of him, to the west, to the north, and to the south.
They had been surrounded. Then a shot came from the direction
in which he was looking, a bullet whirred through the air
above his head, and he fired at the flash of the enemy''s gun.
Instantly the soundless waste was torn with the quick
staccato of guns upon every hand. Abdul and Tarzan fired
only at the flashes--they could not yet see their foemen.
Presently it became evident that the attackers were circling
their position, drawing closer and closer in as they began to
realize the paltry numbers of the party which opposed them.
But one came too close, for Tarzan was accustomed to using
his eyes in the darkness of the jungle night, than which
there is no more utter darkness this side the grave, and
with a cry of pain a saddle was emptied.
"The odds are evening, Abdul," said Tarzan, with a low laugh.
But they were still far too one-sided, and when the five
remaining horsemen whirled at a signal and charged full
upon them it looked as if there would be a sudden ending
of the battle. Both Tarzan and Abdul sprang to the shelter of
the rocks, that they might keep the enemy in front of them.
There was a mad clatter of galloping hoofs, a volley of shots
from both sides, and the Arabs withdrew to repeat the
maneuver; but there were now only four against the two.
For a few moments there came no sound from out of
the surrounding blackness. Tarzan could not tell whether the
Arabs, satisfied with their losses, had given up the fight, or
were waiting farther along the road to waylay them as they
proceeded on toward Bou Saada. But he was not left long in
doubt, for now all from one direction came the sound of a
new charge. But scarcely had the first gun spoken ere a
dozen shots rang out behind the Arabs. There came the wild
shouts of a new party to the controversy, and the pounding
of the feet of many horses from down the road to Bou Saada.
The Arabs did not wait to learn the identity of the oncomers.
With a parting volley as they dashed by the position which
Tarzan and Abdul were holding, they plunged off along the
road toward Sidi Aissa. A moment later Kadour ben Saden
and his men dashed up.
The old sheik was much relieved to find that neither
Tarzan nor Abdul had received a scratch. Not even had their
horses been wounded. They sought out the two men who had
fallen before Tarzan''s shots, and, finding that both were
dead, left them where they lay.
"Why did you not tell me that you contemplated ambushing
those fellows?" asked the sheik in a hurt tone. "We might
have had them all if the seven of us had stopped to meet them."
"Then it would have been useless to stop at all," replied
Tarzan, "for had we simply ridden on toward Bou Saada they
would have been upon us presently, and all could have been
engaged. It was to prevent the transfer of my own quarrel
to another''s shoulders that Abdul and I stopped off to
question them. Then there is your daughter--I could not be the
cause of exposing her needlessly to the marksmanship of six men."
Kadour ben Saden shrugged his shoulders. He did not
relish having been cheated out of a fight.
The little battle so close to Bou Saada had drawn out a
company of soldiers. Tarzan and his party met them just
outside the town. The officer in charge halted them to learn
the significance of the shots.
"A handful of marauders," replied Kadour ben Saden.
"They attacked two of our number who had dropped behind,
but when we returned to them the fellows soon dispersed.
They left two dead. None of my party was injured."
This seemed to satisfy the officer, and after taking the
names of the party he marched his men on toward the scene
of the skirmish to bring back the dead men for purposes of
identification, if possible.
Two days later, Kadour ben Saden, with his daughter and
followers, rode south through the pass below Bou Saada,
bound for their home in the far wilderness. The sheik had
urged Tarzan to accompany him, and the girl had added her
entreaties to those of her father; but, though he could not
explain it to them, Tarzan''s duties loomed particularly large
after the happenings of the past few days, so that he could not
think of leaving his post for an instant. But he promised to
come later if it lay within his power to do so, and they had
to content themselves with that assurance.
During these two days Tarzan had spent practically all his
time with Kadour ben Saden and his daughter. He was keenly
interested in this race of stern and dignified warriors, and
embraced the opportunity which their friendship offered to
learn what he could of their lives and customs. He even
commenced to acquire the rudiments of their language under the
pleasant tutorage of the brown-eyed girl. It was with real
regret that he saw them depart, and he sat his horse at the
opening to the pass, as far as which he had accompanied
them, gazing after the little party as long as he could catch a
glimpse of them.
Here were people after his own heart! Their wild, rough
lives, filled with danger and hardship, appealed to this half-
savage man as nothing had appealed to him in the midst of the
effeminate civilization of the great cities he had visited. Here
was a life that excelled even that of the jungle, for here he
might have the society of men--real men whom he could honor and
respect, and yet be near to the wild nature that he loved.
In his head revolved an idea that when he had completed his
mission he would resign and return to live for the remainder
of his life with the tribe of Kadour ben Saden.
Then he turned his horse''s head and rode slowly back to Bou Saada.
The front of the Hotel du Petit Sahara, where Tarzan
stopped in Bou Saada, is taken up with the bar, two dining-
rooms, and the kitchens. Both of the dining-rooms open
directly off the bar, and one of them is reserved for the use
of the officers of the garrison. As you stand in the barroom
you may look into either of the dining-rooms if you wish.
It was to the bar that Tarzan repaired after speeding
Kadour ben Saden and his party on their way. It was yet
early in the morning, for Kadour ben Saden had elected to
ride far that day, so that it happened that when Tarzan
returned there were guests still at breakfast.
As his casual glance wandered into the officers'' dining-
room, Tarzan saw something which brought a look of interest
to his eyes. Lieutenant Gernois was sitting there, and as
Tarzan looked a white-robed Arab approached and, bending,
whispered a few words into the lieutenant''s ear. Then he
passed on out of the building through another door.
In itself the thing was nothing, but as the man had stooped
to speak to the officer, Tarzan had caught sight of something
which the accidental parting of the man''s burnoose had
revealed--he carried his left arm in a sling.

Grrrrrrrrrrrrrr

Chapter 9
Numa "El Adrea"
On the same day that Kadour ben Saden rode south the
diligence from the north brought Tarzan a letter from
D''Arnot which had been forwarded from Sidi-bel-Abbes.
It opened the old wound that Tarzan would have
been glad to have forgotten; yet he was not sorry that
D''Arnot had written, for one at least of his subjects could
never cease to interest the ape-man. Here is the letter:
MY DEAR JEAN:
Since last I wrote you I have been across to London on a
matter of business. I was there but three days. The very first
day I came upon an old friend of yours--quite unexpectedly--in
Henrietta Street. Now you never in the world would guess whom.
None other than Mr. Samuel T. Philander. But it is true.
I can see your look of incredulity. Nor is this all.
He insisted that I return to the hotel with him, and there
I found the others--Professor Archimedes Q. Porter, Miss
Porter, and that enormous black woman, Miss Porter''s maid
--Esmeralda, you will recall. While I was there Clayton
came in. They are to be married soon, or rather sooner, for
I rather suspect that we shall receive announcements almost
any day. On account of his father''s death it is to be a
very quiet affair--only blood relatives.
While I was alone with Mr. Philander the old fellow became
rather confidential. Said Miss Porter had already postponed
the wedding on three different occasions. He confided
that it appeared to him that she was not particularly anxious
to marry Clayton at all; but this time it seems that it is
quite likely to go through.
Of course they all asked after you, but I respected your
wishes in the matter of your true origin, and only spoke to
them of your present affairs.
Miss Porter was especially interested in everything I had
to say about you, and asked many questions. I am afraid I
took a rather unchivalrous delight in picturing your desire
and resolve to go back eventually to your native jungle.
I was sorry afterward, for it did seem to cause her real
anguish to contemplate the awful dangers to which you wished
to return. "And yet," she said, "I do not know. There are
more unhappy fates than the grim and terrible jungle presents
to Monsieur Tarzan. At least his conscience will be free
from remorse. And there are moments of quiet and restfulness
by day, and vistas of exquisite beauty. You may find it
strange that I should say it, who experienced such terrifying
experiences in that frightful forest, yet at times I long to
return, for I cannot but feel that the happiest moments of
my life were spent there."
There was an expression of ineffable sadness on her face
as she spoke, and I could not but feel that she knew that I
knew her secret, and that this was her way of transmitting
to you a last tender message from a heart that might still
enshrine your memory, though its possessor belonged to another.
Clayton appeared nervous and ill at ease while you were
the subject of conversation. He wore a worried and harassed
expression. Yet he was very kindly in his expressions of
interest in you. I wonder if he suspects the truth about you?
Tennington came in with Clayton. They are great friends,
you know. He is about to set out upon one of his interminable
cruises in that yacht of his, and was urging the entire party
to accompany him. Tried to inveigle me into it, too.
Is thinking of circumnavigating Africa this time. I told him
that his precious toy would take him and some of his friends
to the bottom of the ocean one of these days if he didn''t get
it out of his head that she was a liner or a battleship.
I returned to Paris day before yesterday, and yesterday I
met the Count and Countess de Coude at the races. They
inquired after you. De Coude really seems quite fond of you.
Doesn''t appear to harbor the least ill will. Olga is as
beautiful as ever, but a trifle subdued. I imagine that she
learned a lesson through her acquaintance with you that will
serve her in good stead during the balance of her life. It is
fortunate for her, and for De Coude as well, that it was you
and not another man more sophisticated.
Had you really paid court to Olga''s heart I am afraid that
there would have been no hope for either of you.
She asked me to tell you that Nikolas had left France.
She paid him twenty thousand francs to go away, and stay.
She is congratulating herself that she got rid of him before
he tried to carry out a threat he recently made her that he
should kill you at the first opportunity. She said that she
should hate to think that her brother''s blood was on your
hands, for she is very fond of you, and made no bones in
saying so before the count. It never for a moment seemed to
occur to her that there might be any possibility of any other
outcome of a meeting between you and Nikolas. The count
quite agreed with her in that. He added that it would take a
regiment of Rokoffs to kill you. He has a most healthy
respect for your prowess.
Have been ordered back to my ship. She sails from Havre in
two days under sealed orders. If you will address me in her
care, the letters will find me eventually. I shall write you
as soon as another opportunity presents.
Your sincere friend,
PAUL D''ARNOT.
"I fear," mused Tarzan, half aloud, "that Olga has thrown
away her twenty thousand francs."
He read over that part of D''Arnot''s letter several times
in which he had quoted from his conversation with Jane
Porter. Tarzan derived a rather pathetic happiness from
it, but it was better than no happiness at all.
The following three weeks were quite uneventful. On
several occasions Tarzan saw the mysterious Arab, and once
again he had been exchanging words with Lieutenant Gernois;
but no amount of espionage or shadowing by Tarzan revealed
the Arab''s lodgings, the location of which Tarzan was
anxious to ascertain.
Gernois, never cordial, had kept more than ever aloof
from Tarzan since the episode in the dining-room of the
hotel at Aumale. His attitude on the few occasions that
they had been thrown together had been distinctly hostile.
That he might keep up the appearance of the character
he was playing, Tarzan spent considerable time hunting in
the vicinity of Bou Saada. He would spend entire days in
the foothills, ostensibly searching for gazelle, but on the
few occasions that he came close enough to any of the
beautiful little animals to harm them he invariably allowed
them to escape without so much as taking his rifle from its
boot. The ape-man could see no sport in slaughtering the
most harmless and defenseless of God''s creatures for the
mere pleasure of killing.
In fact, Tarzan had never killed for "pleasure," nor to
him was there pleasure in killing. It was the joy of righteous
battle that he loved--the ecstasy of victory. And the keen
and successful hunt for food in which he pitted his skill
and craftiness against the skill and craftiness of another;
but to come out of a town filled with food to shoot down a
soft-eyed, pretty gazelle--ah, that was crueller than the
deliberate and cold-blooded murder of a fellow man.
Tarzan would have none of it, and so he hunted alone
that none might discover the sham that he was practicing.
And once, probably because of the fact that he rode alone,
he was like to have lost his life. He was riding slowly
through a little ravine when a shot sounded close behind
him, and a bullet passed through the cork helmet he wore.
Although he turned at once and galloped rapidly to the top
of the ravine, there was no sign of any enemy, nor did he
see aught of another human being until he reached Bou Saada.
"Yes," he soliloquized, in recalling the occurrence,
"Olga has indeed thrown away her twenty thousand francs."
That night he was Captain Gerard''s guest at a little dinner.
"Your hunting has not been very fortunate?" questioned
the officer.
"No," replied Tarzan; "the game hereabout is timid, nor do
I care particularly about hunting game birds or antelope.
I think I shall move on farther south, and have a try at
some of your Algerian lions."
"Good!" exclaimed the captain. "We are marching toward Djelfa
on the morrow. You shall have company that far at least.
Lieutenant Gernois and I, with a hundred men, are ordered
south to patrol a district in which the marauders are giving
considerable trouble. Possibly we may have the pleasure
of hunting the lion together--what say you?"
Tarzan was more than pleased, nor did he hesitate to say so;
but the captain would have been astonished had he known
the real reason of Tarzan''s pleasure. Gernois was sitting
opposite the ape-man. He did not seem so pleased with his
captain''s invitation.
"You will find lion hunting more exciting than gazelle
shooting," remarked Captain Gerard, "and more dangerous."
"Even gazelle shooting has its dangers," replied Tarzan.
"Especially when one goes alone. I found it so today.
I also found that while the gazelle is the most timid
of animals, it is not the most cowardly."
He let his glance rest only casually upon Gernois after
he had spoken, for he did not wish the man to know that he
was under suspicion, or surveillance, no matter what he
might think. The effect of his remark upon him, however,
might tend to prove his connection with, or knowledge of,
certain recent happenings. Tarzan saw a dull red creep up
from beneath Gernois'' collar. He was satisfied, and quickly
changed the subject.
When the column rode south from Bou Saada the next
morning there were half a dozen Arabs bringing up the rear.
"They are not attached to the command," replied Gerard
in response to Tarzan''s query. "They merely accompany us
on the road for companionship."
Tarzan had learned enough about Arab character since
he had been in Algeria to know that this was no real motive,
for the Arab is never overfond of the companionship of
strangers, and especially of French soldiers. So his
suspicions were aroused, and he decided to keep a sharp eye
on the little party that trailed behind the column at a distance
of about a quarter of a mile. But they did not come close
enough even during the halts to enable him to obtain a
close scrutiny of them.
He had long been convinced that there were hired assassins
on his trail, nor was he in great doubt but that Rokoff was
at the bottom of the plot. Whether it was to be revenge for
the several occasions in the past that Tarzan had defeated the
Russian''s purposes and humiliated him, or was in some way
connected with his mission in the Gernois affair, he could not
determine. If the latter, and it seemed probable since the
evidence he had had that Gernois suspected him, then he
had two rather powerful enemies to contend with, for there
would be many opportunities in the wilds of Algeria, for
which they were bound, to dispatch a suspected enemy
quietly and without attracting suspicion.
After camping at Djelfa for two days the column moved to the
southwest, from whence word had come that the marauders were
operating against the tribes whose DOUARS were situated
at the foot of the mountains.

Grrrrrrrrrrrrrr

The little band of Arabs who had accompanied them from
Bou Saada had disappeared suddenly the very night that
orders had been given to prepare for the morrow''s march
from Djelfa. Tarzan made casual inquiries among the men,
but none could tell him why they had left, or in what
direction they had gone. He did not like the looks of it,
especially in view of the fact that he had seen Gernois in
conversation with one of them some half hour after Captain
Gerard had issued his instructions relative to the new move.
Only Gernois and Tarzan knew the direction of the proposed march.
All the soldiers knew was that they were to be prepared to
break camp early the next morning. Tarzan wondered if
Gernois could have revealed their destination to the Arabs.
Late that afternoon they went into camp at a little oasis in
which was the DOUAR of a sheik whose flocks were being
stolen, and whose herdsmen were being killed. The Arabs
came out of their goatskin tents, and surrounded the soldiers,
asking many questions in the native tongue, for the soldiers
were themselves natives. Tarzan, who, by this time, with the
assistance of Abdul, had picked up quite a smattering of
Arab, questioned one of the younger men who had accompanied
the sheik while the latter paid his respects to Captain Gerard.
No, he had seen no party of six horsemen riding from
the direction of Djelfa. There were other oases scattered
about--possibly they had been journeying to one of these.
Then there were the marauders in the mountains above
--they often rode north to Bou Saada in small parties, and
even as far as Aumale and Bouira. It might indeed have been
a few marauders returning to the band from a pleasure trip
to one of these cities.
Early the next morning Captain Gerard split his command
in two, giving Lieutenant Gernois command of one party,
while he headed the other. They were to scour the mountains
upon opposite sides of the plain.
"And with which detachment will Monsieur Tarzan ride?"
asked the captain. "Or maybe it is that monsieur does not
care to hunt marauders?"
"Oh, I shall be delighted to go," Tarzan hastened to explain.
He was wondering what excuse he could make to accompany Gernois.
His embarrassment was short-lived, and was relieved from a most
unexpected source. It was Gernois himself who spoke.
"If my captain will forego the pleasure of Monsieur Tarzan''s
company for this once, I shall esteem it an honor indeed
to have monsieur ride with me today," he said, nor was his
tone lacking in cordiality. In fact, Tarzan imagined
that he had overdone it a trifle, but, even so, he was both
astounded and pleased, hastening to express his delight at
the arrangement.
And so it was that Lieutenant Gernois and Tarzan rode
off side by side at the head of the little detachment of
SPAHIS. Gernois'' cordiality was short-lived. No soone
had they ridden out of sight of Captain Gerard and his men
than he lapsed once more into his accustomed taciturnity.
As they advanced the ground became rougher. Steadily it ascended
toward the mountains, into which they filed through a narrow
canon close to noon. By the side of a little rivulet
Gernois called the midday halt. Here the men prepared and
ate their frugal meal, and refilled their canteens.
After an hour''s rest they advanced again along the canon,
until they presently came to a little valley, from which
several rocky gorges diverged. Here they halted, while
Gernois minutely examined the surrounding heights from
the center of the depression.
"We shall separate here," he said, "several riding into each
of these gorges," and then he commenced to detail his various
squads and issue instructions to the non-commissioned officers
who were to command them. When he had done he turned to Tarzan.
"Monsieur will be so good as to remain here until we return."
Tarzan demurred, but the officer cut him short. "There may
be fighting for one of these sections," he said, "and
troops cannot be embarrassed by civilian noncombatants
during action."
"But, my dear lieutenant," expostulated Tarzan, "I am
most ready and willing to place myself under command
of yourself or any of your sergeants or corporals, and to
fight in the ranks as they direct. It is what I came for."
"I should be glad to think so," retorted Gernois, with a
sneer he made no attempt to disguise. Then shortly:
"You are under my orders, and they are that you remain here
until we return. Let that end the matter," and he turned and
spurred away at the head of his men. A moment later Tarzan
found himself alone in the midst of a desolate mountain fastness.
The sun was hot, so he sought the shelter of a nearby
tree, where he tethered his horse, and sat down upon the
ground to smoke. Inwardly he swore at Gernois for the trick
he had played upon him. A mean little revenge, thought
Tarzan, and then suddenly it occurred to him that the man
would not be such a fool as to antagonize him through a
trivial annoyance of so petty a description. There must be
something deeper than this behind it. With the thought he
arose and removed his rifle from its boot. He looked to its
loads and saw that the magazine was full. Then he inspected
his revolver. After this preliminary precaution he scanned the
surrounding heights and the mouths of the several gorges
--he was determined that he should not be caught napping.
The sun sank lower and lower, yet there was no sign of
returning SPAHIS. At last the valley was submerged in
shadow Tarzan was too proud to go back to camp until he had
given the detachment ample time to return to the valley,
which he thought was to have been their rendezvous.
With the closing in of night he felt safer from attack, for
he was at home in the dark. He knew that none might approach
him so cautiously as to elude those alert and sensitive
ears of his; then there were his eyes, too, for he could
see well at night; and his nose, if they came toward him
from up-wind, would apprise him of the approach of an enemy
while they were still a great way off.
So he felt that he was in little danger, and thus lulled
to a sense of security he fell asleep, with his back against
the tree.
He must have slept for several hours, for when he was
suddenly awakened by the frightened snorting and plunging
of his horse the moon was shining full upon the little valley,
and there, not ten paces before him, stood the grim cause of
the terror of his mount.
Superb, majestic, his graceful tail extended and quivering,
and his two eyes of fire riveted full upon his prey, stood
Numa EL ADREA, the black lion. A little thrill of joy
tingled through Tarzan''s nerves. It was like meeting an old
friend after years of separation. For a moment he sat rigid to
enjoy the magnificent spectacle of this lord of the wilderness.
But now Numa was crouching for the spring. Very slowly
Tarzan raised his gun to his shoulder. He had never killed a
large animal with a gun in all his life--heretofore he had
depended upon his spear, his poisoned arrows, his rope, his
knife, or his bare hands. Instinctively he wished that he had
his arrows and his knife--he would have felt surer with them.
Numa was lying quite flat upon the ground now, presenting
only his head. Tarzan would have preferred to fire a little
from one side, for he knew what terrific damage the lion
could do if he lived two minutes, or even a minute after he
was hit. The horse stood trembling in terror at Tarzan''s back.
The ape-man took a cautious step to one side--Numa but followed
him with his eyes. Another step he took, and then another.
Numa had not moved. Now he could aim at a point between
the eye and the ear.
His finger tightened upon the trigger, and as he fired
Numa sprang. At the same instant the terrified horse
made a last frantic effort to escape--the tether parted,
and he went careening down the canon toward the desert.
No ordinary man could have escaped those frightful claws
when Numa sprang from so short a distance, but Tarzan was
no ordinary man. From earliest childhood his muscles had
been trained by the fierce exigencies of his existence to act
with the rapi***y of thought. As quick as was EL ADREA,
Tarzan of the Apes was quicker, and so the great beast
crashed against a tree where he had expected to feel the soft
flesh of man, while Tarzan, a couple of paces to the right,
pumped another bullet into him that brought him clawing
and roaring to his side.
Twice more Tarzan fired in quick succession, and then
EL ADREA lay still and roared no more. It was no longer
Monsieur Jean Tarzan; it was Tarzan of the Apes that put a
savage foot upon the body of his savage kill, and, raising
his face to the full moon, lifted his mighty voice in the weird
and terrible challenge of his kind--a bull ape had made his kill.
And the wild things in the wild mountains stopped in their
hunting, and trembled at this new and awful voice,
while down in the desert the children of the wilderness came
out of their goatskin tents and looked toward the mountains,
wondering what new and savage scourge had come to devastate
their flocks.
A half mile from the valley in which Tarzan stood, a score
of white-robed figures, bearing long, wicked-looking guns,
halted at the sound, and looked at one another with
questioning eyes. But presently, as it was not repeated,
they took up their silent, stealthy way toward the valley.
Tarzan was now confident that Gernois had no intention
of returning for him, but he could not fathom the object
that had prompted the officer to desert him, yet leave him
free to return to camp. His horse gone, he decided that it
would be foolish to remain longer in the mountains, so he
set out toward the desert.
He had scarcely entered the confines of the canon when
the first of the white-robed figures emerged into the valley
upon the opposite side. For a moment they scanned the little
depression from behind sheltering bowlders, but when they
had satisfied themselves that it was empty they advanced
across it. Beneath the tree at one side they came upon the
body of EL ADREA. With muttered exclamations they crowded
about it. Then, a moment later, they hurried down the canon
which Tarzan was threading a brief distance in advance of them.
They moved cautiously and in silence, taking advantage of shelter,
as men do who are stalking man.

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