登陆注册
5161700000025

第25章

Tarzan Becomes a Beast Again

For a moment Werper had stood above the sleeping ape-man, his murderous knife poised for the fatal thrust;

but fear stayed his hand.What if the first blow should fail to drive the point to his victim's heart?

Werper shuddered in contemplation of the disastrous consequences to himself.Awakened, and even with a few moments of life remaining, the giant could literally tear his assailant to pieces should he choose, and the Belgian had no doubt but that Tarzan would so choose.

Again came the soft sound of padded footsteps in the reeds--closer this time.Werper abandoned his design.

Before him stretched the wide plain and escape.

The jewels were in his possession.To remain longer was to risk death at the hands of Tarzan, or the jaws of the hunter creeping ever nearer.Turning, he slunk away through the night, toward the distant forest.

Tarzan slept on.Where were those uncanny, guardian powers that had formerly rendered him immune from the dangers of surprise? Could this dull sleeper be the alert, sensitive Tarzan of old?

Perhaps the blow upon his head had numbed his senses, temporarily--who may say? Closer crept the stealthy creature through the reeds.The rustling curtain of vegetation parted a few paces from where the sleeper lay, and the massive head of a lion appeared.The beast surveyed the ape-man intently for a moment, then he crouched, his hind feet drawn well beneath him, his tail lashing from side to side.

It was the beating of the beast's tail against the reeds which awakened Tarzan.Jungle folk do not awaken slowly--instantly, full consciousness and full command of their every faculty returns to them from the depth of profound slumber.

Even as Tarzan opened his eyes he was upon his feet, his spear grasped firmly in his hand and ready for attack.Again was he Tarzan of the Apes, sentient, vigilant, ready.

No two lions have identical characteristics, nor does the same lion invariably act similarly under like circumstances.Whether it was surprise, fear or caution which prompted the lion crouching ready to spring upon the man, is immaterial--the fact remains that he did not carry out his original design, he did not spring at the man at all, but, instead, wheeled and sprang back into the reeds as Tarzan arose and confronted him.

The ape-man shrugged his broad shoulders and looked about for his companion.Werper was nowhere to be seen.At first Tarzan suspected that the man had been seized and dragged off by another lion, but upon examination of the ground he soon discovered that the Belgian had gone away alone out into the plain.

For a moment he was puzzled; but presently came to the conclusion that Werper had been frightened by the approach of the lion, and had sneaked off in terror.

A sneer touched Tarzan's lips as he pondered the man's act--the desertion of a comrade in time of danger, and without warning.Well, if that was the sort of creature Werper was, Tarzan wished nothing more of him.

He had gone, and for all the ape-man cared, he might remain away--Tarzan would not search for him.

A hundred yards from where he stood grew a large tree, alone upon the edge of the reedy jungle.Tarzan made his way to it, clambered into it, and finding a comfortable crotch among its branches, reposed himself for uninterrupted sleep until morning.

And when morning came Tarzan slept on long after the sun had risen.His mind, reverted to the primitive, was untroubled by any more serious obligations than those of providing sustenance, and safeguarding his life.

Therefore, there was nothing to awaken for until danger threatened, or the pangs of hunger assailed.

It was the latter which eventually aroused him.

Opening his eyes, he stretched his giant thews, yawned, rose and gazed about him through the leafy foliage of his retreat.Across the wasted meadowlands and fields of John Clayton, Lord Greystoke, Tarzan of the Apes looked, as a stranger, upon the moving figures of Basuli and his braves as they prepared their morning meal and made ready to set out upon the expedition which Basuli had planned after discovering the havoc and disaster which had befallen the estate of his dead master.

The ape-man eyed the blacks with curiosity.

In the back of his brain loitered a fleeting sense of familiarity with all that he saw, yet he could not connect any of the various forms of life, animate and inanimate, which had fallen within the range of his vision since he had emerged from the darkness of the pits of Opar, with any particular event of the past.

Hazily he recalled a grim and hideous form, hairy, ferocious.A vague tenderness dominated his savage sentiments as this phantom memory struggled for recognition.His mind had reverted to his childhood days--it was the figure of the giant she-ape, Kala, that he saw; but only half recognized.He saw, too, other grotesque, manlike forms.They were of Terkoz, Tublat, Kerchak, and a smaller, less ferocious figure, that was Neeta, the little playmate of his boyhood.

Slowly, very slowly, as these visions of the past animated his lethargic memory, he came to recognize them.They took definite shape and form, adjusting themselves nicely to the various incidents of his life with which they had been intimately connected.His boyhood among the apes spread itself in a slow panorama before him, and as it unfolded it induced within him a mighty longing for the companionship of the shaggy, low-browed brutes of his past.

He watched the blacks scatter their cook fire and depart; but though the face of each of them had but recently been as familiar to him as his own, they awakened within him no recollections whatsoever.

同类推荐
  • 倩女离魂

    倩女离魂

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 菩萨璎珞本业经

    菩萨璎珞本业经

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 杂说

    杂说

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • Of the Conduct of the Understanding

    Of the Conduct of the Understanding

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • Tom Swift & his Electric Runabout

    Tom Swift & his Electric Runabout

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
热门推荐
  • 稚界

    稚界

    在虚幻与现实中徘徊,欲望伴随着力量在疯狂生长,在虚幻与现实的界限里谁是“真”,那个又是“假”谁是真谁是假或许已经不重要了吧?
  • 俊美夫婿平凡妻

    俊美夫婿平凡妻

    《姣月不是姣月》上一世为情凄惨而亡,这一世只想平平淡淡一人渡过余生就好,奈何心中无红尘,红尘却有你?罢了,既然命中有红尘,那便试着再用一次情。在女尊王朝当地主,想想还是不错的,冷悠然希望这一世能健康幸福美满……
  • 驸马难为:公主太倾城

    驸马难为:公主太倾城

    项佳期身为穿越来的九公主,表示生活压力山大!必须聪明,玩得了宫斗;要强大,上战场能保命;脸要皮厚,混的了江湖;要懂政治,皇子夺嫡必须站好队;还得有群能干忠心的属下,来冲锋陷阵和保驾护航……项佳期心里有点儿小哀伤,她期待的是锦衣玉食、花前月下,可尔虞我诈、步步惊心怎么这么多啊?极品美男纷至沓来,均愿许她一生一世一双人,而她会选谁,陪她共度一世繁华?情节虚构,请勿模仿
  • 华严金师子章

    华严金师子章

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 从异界开始的星辰大海

    从异界开始的星辰大海

    一名天才科学家穿越了,穿越到了一个文明程度极高的修炼文明,然而等他千辛万苦成为该文明的一方巨头后,却出现了一场意外,他十分悲剧地又来了一次穿越...来到一个似乎是剑与魔法的世界...然后故事就开始了。
  • 探索与发展新论

    探索与发展新论

    《探索与发展新论》借鉴与参考的作用比较明显,除可供各级机关相关工作人员、企事业单位行政人员、管理人员、营销人员、工会工作人员等学习使用外,还可以作为论文范本,为相应的职称论文评审提供直接的参考依据,资料、学习、参考、借鉴、交流等综合作用比较突出。《探索与发展新论》主要内容包括:新闻真实和审美的几个要素表达、现代企业工会个性发展的主要元素、现代管理制度因素和人文因素变化及管理模式的创新等。
  • 潜婚

    潜婚

    短短两小时的相亲宴,李希乐就这样莫名其妙的给潜婚了。妈妈说:他英俊潇洒,一表人才;嗯,她承认,这男人长得的确养眼。妈妈说:他温文尔雅,成熟有礼;呃哼,她服,这男人在人前实在是太会伪装,简直一腹黑。妈妈说:他心思细密,事业有成;没错,她信,这男人挥金如土,响当当的一凯子爹。妈妈说:一看他温柔的眼,就知道是疼老婆的好男人;好吧,这点她非常确信。。。绝对是谎话,P话,这男人跟温柔天生的绝缘体,他从没疼过她,宠过她。可是,为什么妈妈没有说,对于她这个名正言顺的老婆他只会用强迫,威胁,呼喝,叫喊,咆吼。。。天啊,可怜她才二十二岁,她可不想被这个婚姻潜规则一辈子啊!不行,她要绝地大反击,反身潜腹男。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。趴在餐桌上,对着桌上的十几人,李希乐假蹙着眉,娇吟滴滴的喊道:“老公、、人家肚子好疼哦,好像大姨妈来了,你去买那个那个回来给我好不好嘛?”来桌的客人齐刷刷的瞟向男人,只见男人仍斯文的夹着菜,直到咽完最后一口茶,他才悠哉哉的从性感的薄唇里飘出四个字:“忍忍就好!”
  • 导弹百科(世界科技百科)

    导弹百科(世界科技百科)

    科学是人类进步的第一推动力,而科学知识的普及则是实现这一推动的必由之路。在新的时代,科技的发展、人们生活水平的不断提高,为我们青少年的科普教育提供了新的契机。抓住这个契机,大力普及科学知识,传播科学精神,提高青少年的科学素质,是我们全社会的重要课题。科学教育,是提高青少年素质的重要因素,是现代教育的核心,这不仅能使青少年获得生活和未来所需的知识与技能,更重要的是能使青少年获得科学思想、科学精神、科学态度及科学方法的熏陶和培养。科学教育,让广大青少年树立这样一个牢固的信念:科学总是在寻求、发现和了解世界的新现象,研究和掌握新规律,它是创造性的,它又是在不懈地追求真理,需要我们不断地努力奋斗。
  • 爱情这东西

    爱情这东西

    爱情这东西,时间很关键。认识得太早或太晚,都不行。这是东单写的日记,他坚持写日记,哪怕每一天只写几个字。东单没有爱情过,虽然他有过一次婚姻。那次婚姻很简单,就是父亲跟他说,你就跟我老部下的闺女结婚吧,这闺女不错。东单见了那闺女一面,那闺女叫莫三。人长得不算很漂亮,但性格很温顺,皮肤也很白皙,两只眼睛不大,可汪着一个让东单想看的故事。结婚没有一年就有了孩子,两年后,莫三提出离婚。离婚的理由也很简单,那就是东单天天晚上总想着跟她上床办事,莫三很不喜欢。东单把这个理由告诉了父亲,父亲气闷地找到了他老部下,两个人关在房间里足有三个小时。
  • 代嫁狂妾

    代嫁狂妾

    强推影的新文《天价傻妃:娶一送一》粗鲁的撕裂,霸道的占有,一夜的狂乱,却不知,却不知承欢的人是谁。众目睽睽之下,衣袖被他无情的撕裂,朱沙不现,证据确凿的‘真像’,刺痛了他的眸,愤恨着他的心。“竟然珠胎暗结。”微眯的眸子中是刺骨的冰冷,“说,那个男人是谁。”“是谁?重要吗?”淡淡的一笑,心却猛然的痛着,他竟然是这般的不相信她。“是不重要,但我会让他生不如死。”狠绝的低吼中似乎隐约伴着咬牙切齿的嘶磨声。“只可惜,你伤不了他。”唇角微扯,她冷冷地笑着,似讥讽,却更似悲哀。“这天下,还没有我伤不了的人。”双眸危险地眯起,直直地射向她,冷到滞血的冰,炽如焚烧的怒,两种情感,两种极端,在他的眸子深处,相克?交融?“好,那就试试。”她云淡风轻般地笑着,他或许可以伤到了天下所有的人,但却独独不能伤到......片段二:“娘子,好香呀!”绝美的笑脸,带着一丝陶醉,靠近她撩人的发丝。“别闹了。”含糊的声音,带着一丝羞涩,却隐着让人心醉的甜蜜。房内的他与她柔情缠绵,窗外的他却是一脸的冰冷,她,只不过短短的几天,竟然另嫁他人......……她竟然穿越到这个长得平凡的不能再平凡,而且还是生病烧坏了脑子的的女人身上。悲?那个据说是才貌双绝惊才风逸,天下最富有,最有势力,连皇上都要敬他的三分的男人,竟然要娶她?难道这个社会丑女,傻女更吃香?喜?只是,他娶她,却并非那么简单,而她也终究只是他的一个丑妾,而且还是一个心智发育不全的傻子。那平凡的不能再平凡的容貌,那痴痴傻傻的伪装,碍了谁的眼,刺了谁的心?她终究还是被他送回………只是当凤凰涅磐,浴火重生时,她又迷了谁的眼,痛了谁的心?******************************************成亲当日。花轿抬到门前,他轻掀轿帘,却不见新人,只见一块石头下压着的一张纸。看着她那眉飞色舞的字体,他那千年不变的眸子中隐隐的喷出几股火光。“好,很好。“他那完美的无懈可击的脸上,却漫起淡淡的笑,只是,没有人看到,那丝笑中,隐着的寒意。“挖地三尺,也要将那个女人给本王活捉回来。”那个女人竟然敢逃婚,他会让她知道,这么做的后果。……“孟拂影,你疯够了没,我告诉你,我白逸辰绝对不会娶你这个疯子,我就是要娶岚儿,我现在就退婚,今天我就来个先斩后奏。”白逸辰咬牙切齿的吼道。