Chapter Five

With doglike devotion the Alahis youth clung to Tarzan. The latter had

mastered the meager sign language of his protégée giving them a means of

communication that was adequate for all their needs. The former, gaining

confidence with a growing familiarity with his new weapons, became more

independent, with the result that the two more often separated for the

hunt, thus insuring a more fully stocked larder.

It was upon one of these occasions that Tarzan came suddenly upon a

strange sight. He had been following the scent spoor of Bara the deer

when it was suddenly crossed by that of one of the great female Alali.

That probably meant that another would attempt to rob him of his prey.

The savage instinct of the jungle beast predominated in the guidance of

the breech-clouted ape-man. It was not the polished Lord Greystoke of

London whose snarling upper lip revealed two gleaming fighting fangs--it

was a primordial hunting-brute about to be robbed of its quarry.

Taking to the trees he moved rapidly in the direction of the Alalus

woman, but before he came within sight of her a new scent impinged upon

his nostrils-a strange, new scent that puzzled him. It was the scent of

man, yet strange and unfamiliar to a degree. Never before had anything

like it arrested his attention. It was very faint and yet, somehow, he

knew that it was close, and then, ahead of him, he heard voices, low

musical voices, that came faintly to his ears; and though they were low

and musical there was something in the quality and pitch of them that

suggested excitement. Now Tarzan went more carefully, Bara, the deer, all

but forgotten.

As he drew nearer he realized that there were many voices and much

commotion and then he came upon a large plain that stretched away to

distant hills, and in the foreground, not a hundred yards from him, he

looked upon a sight that might well have caused him to doubt the veracity

of his own eyes. The only familiar figure was a giant Alalus woman.

Surrounding her was a horde of diminutive men--tiny white warriors--mounted

upon what appeared to be a form of the Royal Antelope of the West Coast.

Armed with lances and swords they repeatedly charged at the huge legs of

the Ala-lus, who, backing slowly toward the forest, kicked viciously at

her assailants and struck at them with her heavy bludgeon.

It quickly became evident to Tarzan that they were attempting to

hamstring her and had they been successful they might easily have slain

her then; but though there must have been fully a hundred of them their

chances of success appeared small, since, with a single kick of her

mighty foot the woman could lay low a dozen or more of her assailants at

a time. Already fully half the force was hors de combat, their bodies

with those of many of their mounts being scattered out onto the plain

marking the trail of the combat up to the time that Tarzan had come upon

the scene.

The courage of the survivors, however, filled Tarzan with admiration as

he watched them hurl themselves upon almost certain death in their

stubborn efforts to bring down the female, and then it was that the

ape-man saw the reason, or the apparent reason, for the mad sacrifice of

life--in her left hand the Alalus clutched one of the tiny warriors. It

was to rescue him, evidently, that the others were maintaining this

forlorn hope.

If the warriors filled Tarzan with admiration to scarcely a lesser extent

did their courageous and agile mounts. Always had he thought of the Royal

Antelope, the smallest known member of its family, as the most timid of

creatures, but not so these cousins of theirs. Slightly larger, standing

perhaps fifteen inches at the withers, they were in all other outward

respects identical; yet, at the guidance of their riders, they leaped

fearlessly into close range of those enormous feet and the great,

slashing bludgeon. Perfectly reined were they, too; so perfectly that

their muscles seemed to have coordinated with the minds of their riders.

In and out they bounded, scarcely touching the ground before they were

out of harm's way again. Ten or a dozen feet they covered at a leap, so

that Tarzan wondered not only at their agility but at the almost

marvelous riding ability of the warriors who could keep their seats so

perfectly upon these leaping, bounding, turning, twisting mounts.

It was a pretty sight and an inspiring one, and however unreal it had at

first appeared to him he was not long in realizing that he was looking

upon a race of real pygmies--not members of the black tribe with which all

African explorers are more or less familiar, but with that lost white

race of diminutive men reference to which is occasionally to be found in

ancient manuscript of travel and exploration, of myth and legend.

While the encounter interested him and he viewed it at first as a

disinterested neutral he soon found his sympathies gravitating to the

tiny warriors and when it became evident that the Alalus woman was going

to make good her escape into the forest with her captive, the ape-man

decided to take a hand in the affair himself.

As he stepped from the concealment of the forest the little warriors were

the first to see him. Evidently they mistook him at first for another of

their giant enemies, for a great cry of disappointment rose from them,

and they fell back for the first time since Tarzan had been watching the

unequal struggle. Wishing to make his intentions clear before the little

men set upon him he moved quickly in the direction of the woman, who, the

instant that her eyes fell upon him, made imperative signs for him to

join her in dispatching the balance of the pygmies. She was accustomed to

being feared and obeyed by her mankind, when she had them in her power.

Perhaps she wondered a little at the temerity of this he, for as a rule

they all ran from her; but she needed him badly and that was the idea

that dominated her thoughts.

As Tarzan advanced he commanded her in the sign language he had learned

from the youth that she was to release her captive and go away, molesting

the little men no more. At this she made an ugly grimace and raising her

bludgeon came forward to meet him. The ape-man fitted an arrow to his

bow.

"Go back!" he signed her. "Go back, or I will kill you. Go back, and put

down the little man."

She snarled ferociously and increased her pace. Tarzan raised the arrow

to the level of his eye and drew it back until the bow bent. The pygmies,

realizing that for the moment at least this strange giant was their ally,

sat their mounts and awaited the outcome of the duel. The ape-man hoped

that the woman would obey his commands before he was compelled to take

her life, but even a cursory glance at her face revealed anything but an

intention to relinquish her purpose, which now seemed to be to annihilate

this presumptuous meddler as well.

On she came. Already she was too close to make further delay safe and the

ape-man released his shaft. Straight into her savage heart it drove and as

she stumbled forward Tarzan leaped to meet her, seizing the warrior from

her grasp before she might fall upon the tiny body and crush it, and as

he did so the other warriors, evidently mistaking his intentions, spurred

forward with loud shouts and brandishing weapons; but before they had

reached him he had set the rescued man upon the ground and released him.

Instantly the attitude of the charging pygmies changed again and from war

cries then--tones turned to cheers. Riding forward they drew rein before

the warrior that Tarzan had rescued and several of their number leaped

from their mounts and, kneeling, raised his hand to their lips. It was

evident then to the ape-man that he had rescued one who stood high among

them, their chief, perhaps; and now he wondered what would be their

attitude toward him, as, with a look of amused tolerance upon his grim

features, he watched them as one might watch the interesting doings of a

swarm of ants.

As they felicitated their fellow upon his miraculous escape Tarzan had an

opportunity to inspect them more closely. The tallest of them stood about

eighteen inches in height, their white skins were tanned by exposure to a

shade a trifle darker than his own, yet there was no question but that

they were white men; their features were regular and well proportioned,

so that by any standards of our race they would have been considered

handsome. There were, of course, variations and exceptions; but on the

whole those that he saw before him were fine-looking men. All were

smooth-faced and there seemed to be no very old men among them, while he

whom Tarzan had saved from the Alalus woman was apparently younger than

the average, and much younger than those who had dismounted to do him

homage.

As Tarzan watched them the young man bade the others rise and then

addressed them for a moment after which he turned toward the ape-man and

directed his remarks to him, none of which, of course, Tarzan could

understand. By his manner, however, he guessed that the other was

thanking him and possibly too asking his further intentions toward them

and in reply the ape-man endeavored to assure them that he desired their

friendship. Further to emphasize his peaceful intentions he cast his

weapons aside and took a step toward them, his arms thrown slightly

outward, his open palms in their direction.

The young man seemed to understand his friendly overtures, for he too

advanced, offering his hand to Tarzan. The ape-man knew that the other

meant that he should kiss it, but this he did not do, preferring to

assume a role of equality with their highest. Instead, he kneeled upon

one knee that he might more easily reach the proffered hand of the pygmy

and pressing the tiny fingers gently, inclined his head slightly in a

formal bow which carried no suggestion of servility. The other seemed

satisfied, returned the bow with equal dignity and then attempted to

convey to the ape-man that he and his party were about to ride off across

the plain, inviting him to accompany them.

Rather curious to see more of these remarkable little people Tarzan was

nothing loath to accept the invitation. Before the party set out,

however, they dispersed to gather up their dead and wounded and to put

out of their misery any of the injured antelope that were too severely

hurt to travel. This they did with the relatively long, straight sword

which was part of the armament of each. Their lances they left resting in

cylindrical boots attached to the right side of their saddles. For other

weapons Tarzan could discover nothing but a tiny knife carried in a

scabbard at the right side by each warrior. The blade, like the blade of

the rapier, was two edged but only about an inch and a half long, with a

very sharp point.

Having gathered the dead and wounded, the latter were examined by the

young leader of the party, who was accompanied by the five or six who had

gathered about him at the time that Tarzan had released him. These Tarzan

took to be lieutenants, or under-chiefs. He saw them question the wounded

and in three cases, each evidently a hopeless one, the leader ran his

sword quickly through the hearts of the unhappy men.

While this seemingly cruel, yet unquestionably sound, military measure

was being carried out, the balance of the warriors, directed by

under-officers, were excavating a long trench beside the dead, of which

there were twenty, their tool being a stout shovel blade carried attached

to the saddle and which could be quickly fitted to the butt of the spear

or lance. The men worked with extreme rapidity and under a plan that

seemed to abhor lost motion, of which there was the absolute minimum,

until in an incredibly short time they had excavated a trench fifty

inches in length, eighteen inches wide and nine inches deep, the

equivalent of which to men of normal size would have been nearly

seventeen feet long, six feet wide and three feet deep. Into this they

packed the dead like sardines and in two layers. They then shoveled back

sufficient earth to fill the interstices between the bodies and to come

to a level with the top of the upper layer, after which loose stones were

rolled in until the bodies were entirely covered by two inches of stones.

The remaining earth from the excavation was then piled over all.

By the time this work was completed the loose antelope had been caught

and the wounded strapped to their backs. At a word from their commander

the party formed with military precision, a detail started ahead with the

wounded and a moment later the balance of the troop was mounted and on

the way. The method of mounting and taking up the march was unique and a

source of considerable interest to Tarzan. The dismounted warriors were

standing in line facing the young leader who was mounted, as were the

several officers who accompanied him. Each warrior held his mount by the

bridle. The commander made a rapid signal with the raised point of his

sword--there was no spoken word of command--immediately after which he

dropped the point quickly at his side simultaneously wheeling his mount,

which leaped quickly off in the direction that the troop was facing, the

mounts of his officers wheeling with him as though actuated by a single

brain, and at the same instant the mount of each alternate warrior in the

line leaped forward and as it leaped its rider swung to his saddle,

vaulting to his seat as lightly as a feather. The instant the first line

had cleared them the antelopes of the second line leaped in pursuit,

their riders mounted as had the others before them and with a second and

longer leap the intervals were closed and the whole troop raced forward

in a compact line. It was a most clever and practical evolution and one

that made it possible to put mounted troops in motion as rapidly as foot

troops; there was no long delay caused by taking distance, mounting and

closing ranks.

As the troop galloped away ten warriors wheeled from the left flank and,

following one of the officers who had detached himself from the party of

the commander of the troop, returned to Tarzan. By signs the officer

conveyed to the ape-man the intelligence that he was to follow this party

which would guide him to their destination. Already the main body was far

away across the open plain, their lithe mounts clearing as many as five

or six feet in a single bound. Even the swift Tarzan could not have kept

pace with them.

As the ape-man started away under the guidance of the detachment his

thoughts reverted for an instant to the Alalus youth who was hunting

alone in the forest behind them, but he soon put the creature from his

mind with the realization that it was better equipped to defend itself

than any of its kind, and that when he had made his visit to the country

of the pygmies he could doubtless return and find the Alalus, if he so

desired.

Tarzan, inured to hardship and to long and rapid marches, fell into a

dogtrot such as he could keep up for hours at a time without rest, while

his guides, trotting their graceful mounts, kept just ahead of him. The

plain was more rolling than it had appeared from the verge of the forest,

with here and there a clump of trees; the grass was plentiful and there

were occasional bands of the larger species of antelope grazing at

intervals. At sight of the approaching riders and the comparatively

giant-like figure of Tarzan they broke and ran. Once they passed a

rhinoceros, the party making only a slight detour to avoid it, and later,

in a clump of trees, the leader halted his detachment suddenly and

seizing his lance advanced again slowly toward a clump of bushes at the

same time transmitting an order to his men which caused them to spread

and surround the thicket.

Tarzan halted and watched the proceedings. The wind was blowing from him

in the direction of the thicket, so that he could not determine what

manner of creature, if any, had attracted the attention of the officer;

but presently, when the warriors had completely surrounded the bushes and

those upon the other side had ridden into it, their spears couched and

ready, he heard an ugly snarl issuing from the center of the thicket and

an instant later an African wildcat sprang into view, leaping directly at

the officer waiting with ready spear to receive it. The weight and

momentum of the beast all but unseated the rider, the point of whose

spear had met the cat full in the chest. There were a few spasmodic

struggles before death ensued, during which, had the spear broken, the

man would have been badly mauled and perhaps killed, for the cat was

relatively as formidable a beast as is the lion to us. The instant that

it died four warriors leaped forward and with their sharp knives removed

the head and skin in an incredibly short time.

Tarzan could not but note that everything these people did was

accomplished with maximum efficiency. Never did there seem to be any lost

motion, never was one at a loss as to what to do, never did one worker

get in the way of another. Scarcely ten minutes had elapsed from the

moment that they had encountered the cat before the detachment was again

moving, the head of the beast fastened to the saddle of one of the

warriors, the skin to that of another.

The officer who commanded the detachment was a young fellow, not much, if

any, older than the commander of the troop. That he was courageous Tarzan

could bear witness from the manner in which he had faced what must have

been, to so diminutive a people, a most deadly and ferocious beast; but

then, the entire party's hopeless attack upon the Alalus woman had proved

that they all were courageous, and the ape-man admired and respected

courage. Already he liked these little men, though it was at times still

difficult for him to accept them as a reality, so prone are we to

disbelieve in the possibility of the existence of any form of life with

which we are not familiar by association or credible repute.

They had been traveling for almost six hours across the plain, the wind

had changed and there was borne to Tarzan's nostrils clearly the scent of

Bara, the deer, ahead. The ape-man, who had tasted no food that day, was

ravenous, with the result that the odor of meat aroused all the savage

instincts fostered by his strange upbringing. Springing forward abreast

the leader of the detachment that was escorting him, he signed them to

halt and then as clearly as he could through the comparatively laborious

and never quite satisfactory medium of further signs explained that he

was hungry, that there was meat ahead and that they should remain in the

rear until he had stalked his prey and made his kill.

The officer having understood and signified his assent Tarzan crept

stealthily forward toward a small clump of trees beyond which his keen

scent told him there were several antelope, and behind Tarzan followed

the detachment, so noiselessly that even the keen ears of the ape-man

heard them not.

Sheltered by the trees Tarzan saw a dozen or more antelope grazing a

short distance beyond, the nearest being scarce a hundred feet from the

small grove. Unslinging his bow and taking a handful of arrows from his

quiver, the ape-man moved noiselessly to the tree nearest the antelope.

The detachment was not far behind him, though it had stopped the moment

the officer saw the game that Tarzan was stalking, lest it be frightened

away.

The pygmies knew naught of bows and arrows and so they watched with deep

interest every move of the ape-man. They saw him fit an arrow to his bow,

draw it far back and release it almost all in a single movement, so quick

with this weapon was he, and they saw the antelope leap to the impact of

the missile which was followed in rapid succession by a second and a

third, and as he shot his bolts Tarzan leaped forward in pursuit of his

prey; but there was no danger that he would lose it. With the second arrow

the buck was upon his knees and when Tarzan reached him he was already

dead.

The warriors who had followed close behind Tarzan the instant that there

was no further need for caution were already surrounding the antelope,

where they were talking with much more excitement than Tarzan had seen

them display upon any previous occasion, their interest seemingly

centered about the death-dealing projectiles that had so easily laid the

great animal low, for to them this antelope was as large as would be the

largest elephant to us; and as they caught the ape-man's eye they smiled

and rubbed their palms together very rapidly with a circular motion, an

act which Tarzan assumed to be in the nature of applause.

Having withdrawn his arrows and returned them to his quiver Tarzan signed

to the leader of the detachment that he would borrow his rapier. For an

instant the man seemed to hesitate and all his fellows watched him

intently, but he drew the sword and passed it hilt foremost to the

ape-man. If you are going to eat flesh raw while it is still warm you do

not bleed the carcass, nor did Tarzan in this instance. Instead he merely

cut off a hind quarter, sliced off what he wanted and fell to devouring

it hungrily.

The little men viewed his act with surprise not unmixed with horror and

when he offered them some of the flesh they refused it and drew away.

What their reaction was he could not know, but he guessed that they held

a strong aversion to the eating of raw meat. Later he was to learn that

their revulsion was due to the fact that within the entire range of their

experience, heretofore, the only creatures that devoured raw meat

devoured the pygmies as well. When, therefore, they saw this mighty giant

eating the flesh of his kill raw they could not but draw the conclusion

that should he become sufficiently hungry he would eat them.

Wrapping some of the meat of the antelope in its own skin Tarzan secured

it to his back and the party resumed its journey. The warriors now seemed

troubled and as they conversed in low tones they cast many backward

glances in the direction of the ape-man. They were not afraid for

themselves, for these warriors scarcely knew the meaning of fear. The

question that caused them apprehension related to the wisdom of leading

among their people such a huge devourer of raw flesh, who, at a single

hurried meal, had eaten the equivalent of a grown man.

The afternoon was drawing to a close when Tarzan discerned in the far

distance what appeared to be a group of symmetrical, dome-shaped hillocks

and later, as they approached these, he saw a body of mounted warriors

galloping to meet them. From his greater height he saw these before the

others saw them, and attracting the officer's attention made signs

apprising the latter of his discovery, but the oncoming warriors were

hidden from the view of their fellows by the inequalities of the ground.

Realizing this Tarzan stooped and, before the officer could guess his

intention, had gathered antelope and rider gently in his powerful hands

and lifted them high above the ground. For an instant consternation held

the remaining warriors. Swords flashed and a warning cry arose and even

the plucky pygmy in his grasp drew his own diminutive weapon; but a smile

from the ape-man reassured them all, and an instant later the officer saw

why Tarzan had raised him aloft. He called down to the others below him

then and from their manner as from that of him whom he held the ape-man

guessed that the approaching party was composed of friends of his escort,

and so, a few minutes later, it proved when he was surrounded by several

hundreds of the pygmies, all friendly, eager and curious. Among them was

the leader whom he had rescued from the Alalus woman and him he greeted

with a handshake.

A consultation now took place between the leader of the detachment that

had escorted the ape-man, the young commander of the larger party and

several older warriors. By the expressions of their faces and the tone of

their voices Tarzan judged that the matter was serious and that it

concerned him he was sure from the numerous glances that were cast in his

direction. He could not know, though, that the subject of their

discussion was based upon the report of the commander of the escort that

their mighty guest was an eater of raw flesh and the consequent danger of

bringing him among their people.

The chief among them, the young commander, settled the question, however,

by reminding them that though the giant must have been very hungry to

have devoured as much flesh as they told him he had, nevertheless he had

traveled for many hours with only a small number of their warriors always

within easy reach of him and had not offered to molest them. This seemed

a conclusive argument of his good intentions and consequently the

cavalcade set forth without further delay in the direction of the

hillocks that were now in plain view a mile or two away.

As they neared them Tarzan saw what appeared to be literally innumerable

little men moving about among the hillocks, and as he came nearer still

he realized that these seeming hillocks were symmetrical mounds of small

stones quite evidently built by the pygmies themselves and that the

hordes of pygmies moving about among them were workers, for here was a

long line all moving in one direction, emerging from a hole in the ground

and following a well-defined path to a hall-completed hillock that was

evidently in course of construction. Another line moved, empty-handed, in

the opposite direction, entering the ground through a second hole, and

upon the flanks of each line and at frequent intervals, marched armed

warriors, while other similar lines of guarded workers moved in and out

of openings in each of the other domelike structures, carrying to the

mind of the ape-man a suggestion of ants laboring about their hills.