Chapter XV. The Forest God

by Edgar Rice Burroughs

　　When Clayton heard the report of the firearm he fell intoan agony of fear and apprehension. He knew that one ofthe sailors might be the author of it; but the fact that hehad left the revolver with Jane, together with the overwroughtcondition of his nerves, made him morbidly positivethat she was threatened with some great danger. Perhapseven now she was attempting to defend herself against somesavage man or beast.

　　What were the thoughts of his strange captor or guideClayton could only vaguely conjecture; but that he had heardthe shot, and was in some manner affected by it was quiteevident, for he quickened his pace so appreciably that Clayton,stumbling blindly in his wake, was down a dozen timesin as many minutes in a vain effort to keep pace with him,and soon was left hopelessly behind.

　　Fearing that he would again be irretrievably lost, he calledaloud to the wild man ahead of him, and in a moment had thesatisfaction of seeing him drop lightly to his side from thebranches above.

　　For a moment Tarzan looked at the young man closely, asthough undecided as to just what was best to do; then,stooping down before Clayton, he motioned him to grasp himabout the neck, and, with the white man upon his back,Tarzan took to the trees.

　　The next few minutes the young Englishman never forgot.High into bending and swaying branches he was borne withwhat seemed to him incredible swiftness, while Tarzan chafedat the slowness of his progress.

　　From one lofty branch the agile creature swung with Claytonthrough a dizzy arc to a neighboring tree; then for a hundredyards maybe the sure feet threaded a maze of interwoven limbs,balancing like a tightrope walker high above the black depthsof verdure beneath.

　　From the first sensation of chilling fear Clayton passed toone of keen admiration and envy of those giant muscles andthat wondrous instinct or knowledge which guided this forestgod through the inky blackness of the night as easily and safelyas Clayton would have strolled a London street at high noon.

　　Occasionally they would enter a spot where the foliageabove was less dense, and the bright rays of the moon lit upbefore Clayton's wondering eyes the strange path they weretraversing.

　　At such times the man fairly caught his breath at sight ofthe horrid depths below them, for Tarzan took the easiestway, which often led over a hundred feet above the earth.

　　And yet with all his seeming speed, Tarzan was in realityfeeling his way with comparative slowness, searchingconstantly for limbs of adequate strength for the maintenanceof this double weight.

　　Presently they came to the clearing before the beach.Tarzan's quick ears had heard the strange sounds of Sabor'sefforts to force her way through the lattice, and it seemed toClayton that they dropped a straight hundred feet to earth, soquickly did Tarzan descend. Yet when they struck the groundit was with scarce a jar; and as Clayton released his hold onthe ape-man he saw him dart like a squirrel for the oppositeside of the cabin.

　　The Englishman sprang quickly after him just in time tosee the hind quarters of some huge animal about to disappearthrough the window of the cabin.

　　As Jane opened her eyes to a realization of the imminentperil which threatened her, her brave young heart gave up atlast its final vestige of hope. But then to her surprise she sawthe huge animal being slowly drawn back through the window,and in the moonlight beyond she saw the heads andshoulders of two men.

　　As Clayton rounded the corner of the cabin to behold theanimal disappearing within, it was also to see the ape-manseize the long tail in both hands, and, bracing himself withhis feet against the side of the cabin, throw all his mightystrength into the effort to draw the beast out of the interior.

　　Clayton was quick to lend a hand, but the ape-man jabberedto him in a commanding and peremptory tone somethingwhich Clayton knew to be orders, though he could notunderstand them.

　　At last, under their combined efforts, the great body wasslowly dragged farther and farther outside the window, andthen there came to Clayton's mind a dawning conception ofthe rash bravery of his companion's act.

　　For a naked man to drag a shrieking, clawing man-eaterforth from a window by the tail to save a strange white girl,was indeed the last word in heroism.

　　Insofar as Clayton was concerned it was a very differentmatter, since the girl was not only of his own kind and race,but was the one woman in all the world whom he loved.

　　Though he knew that the lioness would make short workof both of them, he pulled with a will to keep it from JanePorter. And then he recalled the battle between this man andthe great, black-maned lion which he had witnessed a shorttime before, and he commenced to feel more assurance.

　　Tarzan was still issuing orders which Clayton could not understand.

　　He was trying to tell the stupid white man to plunge hispoisoned arrows into Sabor's back and sides, and to reach thesavage heart with the long, thin hunting knife that hung atTarzan's hip; but the man would not understand, and Tarzandid not dare release his hold to do the things himself, for heknew that the puny white man never could hold mightySabor alone, for an instant.

　　Slowly the lioness was emerging from the window. At lasther shoulders were out.

　　And then Clayton saw an incredible thing. Tarzan, rackinghis brains for some means to cope single-handed with theinfuriated beast, had suddenly recalled his battle with Terkoz;and as the great shoulders came clear of the window, so thatthe lioness hung upon the sill only by her forepaws, Tarzansuddenly released his hold upon the brute.

　　With the quickness of a striking rattler he launched himselffull upon Sabor's back, his strong young arms seeking andgaining a full-Nelson upon the beast, as he had learned it thatother day during his bloody, wrestling victory over Terkoz.

　　With a roar the lioness turned completely over upon herback, falling full upon her enemy; but the black-haired giantonly closed tighter his hold.

　　Pawing and tearing at earth and air, Sabor rolled andthrew herself this way and that in an effort to dislodge thisstrange antagonist; but ever tighter and tighter drew the ironbands that were forcing her head lower and lower upon hertawny breast.

　　Higher crept the steel forearms of the ape-man about the backof Sabor's neck. Weaker and weaker became the lioness's efforts.

　　At last Clayton saw the immense muscles of Tarzan'sshoulders and biceps leap into corded knots beneath the silvermoonlight. There was a long sustained and supreme effort onthe ape-man's part--and the vertebrae of Sabor's neck partedwith a sharp snap.

　　In an instant Tarzan was upon his feet, and for the secondtime that day Clayton heard the bull ape's savage roar ofvictory. Then he heard Jane's agonized cry:

　　"Cecil--Mr. Clayton! Oh, what is it? What is it?"

　　Running quickly to the cabin door, Clayton called out that allwas right, and shouted to her to open the door. As quickly asshe could she raised the great bar and fairly dragged Clayton within.

　　"What was that awful noise?" she whispered, shrinkingclose to him.

　　"It was the cry of the kill from the throat of the man whohas just saved your life, Miss Porter. Wait, I will fetchhim so you may thank him."

　　The frightened girl would not be left alone, so sheaccompanied Clayton to the side of the cabin where laythe dead body of the lioness.

　　Tarzan of the Apes was gone.

　　Clayton called several times, but there was no reply, and sothe two returned to the greater safety of the interior.

　　"What a frightful sound!" cried Jane, "I shudder at themere thought of it. Do not tell me that a human throatvoiced that hideous and fearsome shriek."

　　"But it did, Miss Porter," replied Clayton; "or at least ifnot a human throat that of a forest god."

　　And then he told her of his experiences with this strangecreature--of how twice the wild man had saved his life--ofthe wondrous strength, and agility, and bravery--of thebrown skin and the handsome face.

　　"I cannot make it out at all," he concluded. "At first Ithought he might be Tarzan of the Apes; but he neitherspeaks nor understands English, so that theory is untenable."

　　"Well, whatever he may be," cried the girl, "we owe himour lives, and may God bless him and keep him in safety inhis wild and savage jungle!"

　　"Amen," said Clayton, fervently.

　　"For the good Lord's sake, ain't I dead?"

　　The two turned to see Esmeralda sitting upright upon thefloor, her great eyes rolling from side to side as though shecould not believe their testimony as to her whereabouts.

　　And now, for Jane Porter, the reaction came, and she threwherself upon the bench, sobbing with hysterical laughter.