The Independent. (Cashion, Okla.), Vol. 6, No. 51, Ed. 1 Thursday, April 23, 1914 Page: 4 of 8
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arzari
1
Ldgar
Rice
Burroughs
Copyright, 1912, by the Frank A.
Munsey company.
'1
PROLOGUE.
Not tike any other story yon
ever read before is "Tarzan of
the Apes." White you are read-
ing it you would tike to pause to
ask yourself "is it possible?" hut
you can't, because the story is so
fascinating that pausing is im-
possible. It's a yarn of the you-
can't- stop - until - you - finish - it
kind.
It may have happened in the
wilds of Africa just as the author
relates it, or it may not—we do
not know whether or not he has
a basis of fact for his story—but
you are not a scientist while you
are reading it. You are just an
ordinary human being, with a
love for a story that is absorbing
in its interest and swiftness.
CHAPTER I.
In tha Wilds.
I HAD this story from one wlio had
no business to tell it to ine or to
uny otlier. I may credit the se-
ductive influence of an old vin-
tage upon the narrator for the begili-
ning of it and my own skeptical in-
credulity during the days that follow-
ed for the balance of the strange tale.
I do not say tlie story is true, for I
did not witness the happenings which
it portrays.
Tiie yellow, mildewed pages of the
diary of n man long dead and the rec-
ords of the colonial ottice dovetail per-
fectly with the narrative of my con-
vivial host, and so I give you the story
as I pieced it out from these several
various agencies.
If you do not find it credible, you
will at least be as one with me in ac-
knowledging that it is unique, remark-
able and interesting..
From the records of the colonial of-
fice and from the dead man's diary we
learn that a certain young English no
hletnan. whom we shall call John Clay-
ton, Lord Greystoke. was commission-
ed to undertake a peculiarly delicate
Investigation of conditions in a British
west coast African colony from whose
natives another European power was
known to be recruiting soldiers for its
army, which latter it used solely for
the forcible collection of rubber and
ivory from the savage tribes along the
Kongo and the Aruwiml.
We learn also that on n bright May
morning in 1888 John, Lord Greystoke,
and his bride. Lady Alice, sailed from
Dover on their way to Africa.
A month Inter they arrived at Free-
town. where they chartered n small
sailing vessel, the Fuwnlda, which was
to hear them to their final destination
And here John. Lord Greystoke. and
Lady Alice, his wife, vanished from
the eyes and from the knowledge of
men.
Two mouths after they weighed an-
chor and cleared from the port of
Freetown, a "half dozen "British war
vessels were scouring the south Atlan
tic for trace of them or their little ves-
sel. and it. was almost immediately that
the wreckage was found upon the
shores of St. Helena which convinced
the world that the Fuwalda had gone
down with all on board, and thus the
search was stopped ere It had scarce
begur..
We know now that the crew of the
Fuwalda mutinied, slew her officers
and spared John Clayton and his wife
because of a favor done to tlie leader
of the mutineers by Clayton. Later
the crew, fearing discovery, set John
Clayton and his wife ashore on the
wild west coast of Africa, giving them
sufficient arms and tools to enable
then, to maintain life with work
Near the shore Clayton built a little
cabin for himself and his wife. They
endured much hardship, seeing no lui
man creature, but watched often by
the giant apes which infest that region
One day Clayton imprudently left his
wife alone, and she was attacked anil
injured by one of tin great apes. Cla.v
ton slew the beast and bore his wife
back to the cabin.
That night a little son whs born in
the tlu.v cabin beside the primeval for-
est, while a great tiger screamed be
fore the door and he deep notes of
the lion's roar sour (led fronr beyond
the ridge.
Lady Greystoke never recovered
from the shock of the great ape's at-
tack. and. though she lived for a year
after her baby was born, she was nev-
er again outside the cabin, nor did she
ever fully realize that she was not In
Kngland.
In other ways she was quite rational,
and the Joy and happiness she took in
the possession of her little son and the
constant attentions of her husband
made that year a very happy one for
her. the happiest of her life.
Long since had Clayton given up any
hope of- rescue, except through acci-
dent With unremitting zeal he had
worked to beautify the interior of the
cabin.
Skins of Hon und tiger covered the
floor Cupboards and bookcases lined
the walls. Odd vases made by his own
hands from the clay of the region held
beautiful tropical flowers. Curtains of
grass and bamboo covered the win-
dows, and. most arduous task of all
with his meager assortment of tools,
i he had fashioned lumber to neatly seal
the walls and ceiling and lay a smooth
floor within the cabin.
During the year that followed Clay-
ton was several times attacked by the j
great apes, which now seemed to in- j
fest the vicinity of the cabin, but as j
the end the animals learned to ffear the
strange lair whence issued the terrify
big thunder of his rifle.
In his leisure Clayton read, often
aloud to his wife, from the store of
books he had brought for their new
home. Among these were many for
little children—picture books, primers
readers -for they had known that their
little child would be old enough for
such before they had hoped to return
to England.
At other times Clayton wrote In his
diary, which he had always been ac-
customed to keep in French aud in
which he recorded the details of their
strange life. This book he kept locked
in a little metal box.
A year from the day her little son
was born Lady Alice passed quietly
away In the night. So peaceful was
her end that it was hours before Clay
ton could realize that his wife was
dead.
The last entry in bis diary was made
the mornipg following her death. In
it he recites the sad details in a matter
of fact way that adds to the pathos of
it. for it breathes an apathy born of
long sorrow and hopelessness, which
even this cruel blow could scarcely
awake to further sulTeriug:
"My little son is crying for nourishment
Oh, Alice, Alice, what shall 1 do''"
And as John Clayton wrote the last
words his hand was ever destined to
pen be dropped his head wearily upon
bis outstretched arms, where they rest
ed upon the table he had built for her
who lay still and cold in the bed beside
him.
For a long time no sound broke the
deathlike stillness of the jungle midday
save the wailing of the tiny man-child
* ♦ * * * •
In the forest of the tableland a mile
back from the ocean old Kerchak. the
ape. was on a rampage of rage among
his people.
The younger and lightei members
of his tribe scampered to the higher
branches of the great trees to escape
his wrath, risking their lives upon
branches that scaVce supported their
weight rather than face old KerchnTt in
oue of his (its of uncontrolled anger.
The other males scattered in all di
reetions, but not before the infuriated
brute had felt the vertebrae of oue snap
between his foaming jaws.
Then he spied Kala. who. returning
from a search for food with her young
babe, was ignorant of the state of the
mighty male's temper until the shrill
warnings of her fellows caused her to
scamper madly for safety.
But Kerchak was close upon her. so
close that he had almost grasped her
iiTnever ventured^ out except with both I ankle had she not made a furious leap
rifle and revolvers he had little fear
of the huge beasts.
He had strengthened the window
protections and fitted a unique wooden
tne ground Thirty teet imMow.
With a low cry of dismay Kala rush
ed headlong to Its side, thoughtless
now of the danger from Kerchak. but
when she gathered the wee mangled
form to her bosom life had left It.
With low moans she sat cuddling the
body to her. nor did Kerchak attempt
to molest her With the death of the
babe his tit of demoniacal rage passed
hs suddenly as it had seized him.
Kerchak was a huge king ape. weigh
ing perhaps 350 pounds Ills forehead
was extremely low and receding, his
eyes bloodshot, small and close set to
his coarse, flat nose; his ears large and
thin, but smaller than most of his
kind.
His awful temper and bis mighty
strength made him supreme among the
little tribe Into which be had beeu born
some twenty years before.
Nbw that be was in his prime, there
was no simian in all the mighty forest
through which he roved that dared
contest his right to rule, nor rlid the
other and larger animals molest him.
Old Tantor. the elephant, alone of all
the wild, savage life, feared him not—
and him alone did Kerchak fear. When
Tantor trumpeted the great ape sour
ried with his fellows high among the
trees of the second terrace.
The tribe of anthropoids, over which
Kerchak ruled with an iron hand aud
bared fangs, numbered some six or
eight families, each family consisting
of an adult male with his wives and
children -some sixty or seventy apes,
all told
Kala was the youngest wife of a
male called Tublat, meaning "Broken
Nose." and the child she had seen dash-
ed to death was her lirst., for she was
but nine or ten years old
Notwithstanding her youth, she was
largo and powerful—a splendid, clean
limbed animal, with a round, high fore-
head. which denoted more intelligence
than most of/her kind possessed So
also she had a greater capacity for
mother love and mother sorrow
But she was still an ape, a huge,
fierce, terrible beast of a species close-
ly allied to the gorilla, yet with more
Intelligence, which, with the strength
of their cousins, made her kind the
most fearsome of those awe inspiring
progenitors of man
When the tribe saw that Kerchak s
rage had ceased they came slowly
down from their arboreal retreats and
pursued again the various occupations
which he had interrupted. The young
played and frolicked about among the
trees and bushes
They had passed an hour or so thus
when Kerchak, called them together
lock to the cabin door, so that when he ;
hunted for game and fruits he had no ,
fear that any animal could break Into ;
the little home.
At first much of the game he shot |
from the cabin windows, but toward,
far into space from one tree to another
- a perilous chance which apes seldom
take, unless so closely pursued by dan
ger that there is no other alternative.
She made the leap successfully, bin
us she grasped the limb of the furthei
tree the sudden Jar loosened the hold
of the tiny babe where it clung franti
cully to her neck, and she saw the little
ihlng hur|ed, turning and twisting, to
The Sight That Met His Eyea Mua*
Have Fr<^en Him With Horror.
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Barnard, W. F. The Independent. (Cashion, Okla.), Vol. 6, No. 51, Ed. 1 Thursday, April 23, 1914, newspaper, April 23, 1914; (https://gateway.okhistory.org/ark:/67531/metadc107185/m1/4/: accessed May 5, 2024), The Gateway to Oklahoma History, https://gateway.okhistory.org; crediting Oklahoma Historical Society.