When they had gone, he descended from the tree and sought food.Out upon the plain grazed numerous herds of wild ruminants.Toward a sleek, fat bunch of zebra he wormed his stealthy way.No intricate process of reasoning caused him to circle widely until he was down wind from his prey--he acted instinctively.He took advantage of every form of cover as he crawled upon all fours and often flat upon his stomach toward them.
A plump young mare and a fat stallion grazed nearest to him as he neared the herd.Again it was instinct which selected the former for his meat.A low bush grew but a few yards from the unsuspecting two.The ape-man reached its shelter.He gathered his spear firmly in his grasp.Cautiously he drew his feet beneath him.
In a single swift move he rose and cast his heavy weapon at the mare's side.Nor did he wait to note the effect of his assault, but leaped cat-like after his spear, his hunting knife in his hand.
For an instant the two animals stood motionless.
The tearing of the cruel barb into her side brought a sudden scream of pain and fright from the mare, and then they both wheeled and broke for safety; but Tarzan of the Apes, for a distance of a few yards, could equal the speed of even these, and the first stride of the mare found her overhauled, with a savage beast at her shoulder.She turned, biting and kicking at her foe.
Her mate hesitated for an instant, as though about to rush to her assistance; but a backward glance revealed to him the flying heels of the balance of the herd, and with a snort and a shake of his head he wheeled and dashed away.
Clinging with one hand to the short mane of his quarry, Tarzan struck again and again with his knife at the unprotected heart.The result had, from the first, been inevitable.The mare fought bravely, but hopelessly, and presently sank to the earth, her heart pierced.The ape-man placed a foot upon her carcass and raised his voice in the victory call of the Mangani.In the distance, Basuli halted as the faint notes of the hideous scream broke upon his ears.
"The great apes," he said to his companion."It has been long since I have heard them in the country of the Waziri.What could have brought them back?"
Tarzan grasped his kill and dragged it to the partial seclusion of the bush which had hidden his own near approach, and there he squatted upon it, cut a huge hunk of flesh from the loin and proceeded to satisfy his hunger with the warm and dripping meat.
Attracted by the shrill screams of the mare, a pair of hyenas slunk presently into view.They trotted to a point a few yards from the gorging ape-man, and halted.
Tarzan looked up, bared his fighting fangs and growled.
The hyenas returned the compliment, and withdrew a couple of paces.They made no move to attack; but continued to sit at a respectful distance until Tarzan had concluded his meal.After the ape-man had cut a few strips from the carcass to carry with him, he walked slowly off in the direction of the river to quench his thirst.His way lay directly toward the hyenas, nor did he alter his course because of them.
With all the lordly majesty of Numa, the lion, he strode straight toward the growling beasts.For a moment they held their ground, bristling and defiant;
but only for a moment, and then slunk away to one side while the indifferent ape-man passed them on his lordly way.A moment later they were tearing at the remains of the zebra.
Back to the reeds went Tarzan, and through them toward the river.A herd of buffalo, startled by his approach, rose ready to charge or to fly.A great bull pawed the ground and bellowed as his bloodshot eyes discovered the intruder; but the ape-man passed across their front as though ignorant of their existence.
The bull's bellowing lessened to a low rumbling, he turned and scraped a horde of flies from his side with his muzzle, cast a final glance at the ape-man and resumed his feeding.His numerous family either followed his example or stood gazing after Tarzan in mild-eyed curiosity, until the opposite reeds swallowed him from view.
At the river, Tarzan drank his fill and bathed.During the heat of the day he lay up under the shade of a tree near the ruins of his burned barns.His eyes wandered out across the plain toward the forest, and a longing for the pleasures of its mysterious depths possessed his thoughts for a considerable time.With the next sun he would cross the open and enter the forest! There was no hurry--there lay before him an endless vista of tomorrows with naught to fill them but the satisfying of the appetites and caprices of the moment.