'I am Tarzan of the Apes,' said the prisoner, 'and I have no quarrel with the Bagegos.'
The guardsman who had last spoken laughed again derisively. 'That may be your name,' he said. 'You men of The Lost Tribe have strange names. Perhaps you have no quarrel with the Bagegos, but the Bagegos have a quarrel with you,' and still laughing he left the hut followed by his companion, but the youth Lukedi remained, apparently fascinated by the prisoner at whom he stood staring as he might have stared at a deity.
Tarzan reached for the gourd and drank the milk it contained, and never once did Lukedi take his eyes from him.
'What is your name?' asked Tarzan.
'Lukedi,' replied the youth.
'And you have never heard of Tarzan of the Apes?'
'No,' replied the youth.
'Who do you think I am?' demanded the ape-man.
'We know that you belong to The Lost Tribe.'
'But I thought the members of The Lost Tribe were supposed to be the spirits of the dead,' said Tarzan.
'That we do not know,' replied Lukedi. 'Some think one way, some another; but you know, for you are one of them.'
'I am not one of them,' said Tarzan. 'I come from a country farther south, but I have heard of the Bagegos and I have heard of The Lost Tribe.'
'I do not believe you,' said Lukedi.
'I speak the truth,' said Tarzan.
Lukedi scratched his head. 'Perhaps you do,' he said. 'You do not wear clothes like the members of The Lost Tribe, and the weapons that we found with you are different.'
'You have seen members of The Lost Tribe?' asked Tarzan.
'Many times,' replied Lukedi. 'Once a year they come out of the bowels of the Wiramwazi and trade with us. They bring dried fish, snails, and iron and take in exchange salt, goats, and cows.'
'If they come and trade with you peacefully, why do you make me a prisoner if you think I am one of them?' demanded Tarzan.
'Since the beginning we have been at war with the members of The Lost Tribe,' replied Lukedi. 'It is true that once a year we trade with them, but they are always our enemies.'
'Why is that?' demanded the ape-man.
'Because at other times we cannot tell when they will come with many warriors and capture men, women, and children whom they take away with them into the Wiramwazi. None ever returns. We do not know what becomes of them. Perhaps they are eaten.'
'What will your chief, Nyuto, do with me?' asked Tarzan.
'I do not know,' said Lukedi. 'They are discussing the question now. They all wish to put you to death, but there are some who believe that this would arouse the anger of the ghosts of all the dead Bagegos.'
'Why should the ghosts of your dead wish to protect me?' demanded Tarzan.
'There are many who think that you members of The Lost Tribe are the ghosts of our dead,' replied Lukedi.
'What do you think, Lukedi?' asked the ape-man.
'When I look at you I think that you are a man of flesh and blood the same as I, and so I think that perhaps you are telling me the truth when you say that you are not a member of The Lost Tribe, because I am sure that they are all ghosts.'
'But when they come to trade with you and when they come to fight with you, can you not tell whether they are flesh and blood or not?'
'They are very powerful,' said Lukedi. 'They might come in the form of men in the flesh or they might come as snakes or lions. That is why we are not sure.'
'And what do you think the council will decide to do with me?' asked Tarzan.
'I think that there is no doubt but that they will burn you alive, for thus both you and your spirit will be destroyed so that it cannot come back to haunt and annoy us.'
'Have you seen or heard of another white man recently?' asked Tarzan.
'No,' replied the youth. 'Many years ago, before I can remember, two white men came who said that they were not members of The Lost Tribe, but we did not believe them and they were killed. I must go now. I shall bring you more milk tomorrow.'
After Lukedi had left, Tarzan commenced examining the chain, padlock, and the center pole of the hut in an effort to discover some means of escape. The hut was cylindrical and surmounted by a conical roof of grass. The side walls were of stakes set upright a few inches in the ground and fastened together at their tops and bottoms by creepers. The center pole was much heavier and was secured in position by rafters radiating from it to the top of the wall. The interior of the hut was plastered with mud, which had been thrown on with force and then smoothed with the palm of the hand. It was a common type with which Tarzan was familiar. He knew that there was a possibility that he might be able to raise the center pole and withdraw the chain from beneath it.
It would, of course, be difficult to accomplish this without attracting the attention of the guards, and there was a possibility that the center pole might be set sufficiently far in the ground to render it impossible for him to raise it. If he were given time he could excavate around the base of it, but inasmuch as one or the other of the sentries was continually poking his head into the hut to see that all was well, Tarzan saw little likelihood of his being able to free himself without being discovered.
As darkness settled upon the village Tarzan stretched himself upon the hard dirt floor of the hut and sought to sleep. For some time the noises of the village kept him awake, but at last he slept. How long thereafter it was that he was awakened he did not know. From childhood he had shared with the beasts, among whom he had been raised, the ability to awaken quickly and in full command of all his faculties. He did so now, immediately conscious that the noise that had aroused him came from an animal upon the roof of the hut. Whatever it was, it was working quietly, but to what end the ape-man could not imagine.
The acrid fumes of the village cook fires so filled the air that Tarzan was unable to catch the scent of the creature upon the roof. He carefully reviewed all the possible purposes for which an animal might be upon the thatched, dry-grass roof of the Bagego hut and through a process of elimination he could reach but one conclusion. That was that the thing upon the outside wished to come in and either it did not have brains enough to know that there was a doorway, or else it was too cunning to risk detection by attempting to pass the sentries.
But why should any animal wish to enter the hut? Tarzan lay upon his back, gazing up through the darkness in the direction of the roof above him as he tried to find an answer to his question. Presently, directly above his head, he saw a little ray of moonlight. Whatever it was upon the roof had made an opening that grew larger and larger as the creature quietly tore away the thatching. The aperture was being made close to the wall where the radiating rafters were farthest apart, but whether this was through intent or accident Tarzan could not guess. As the hole grew larger and he caught occasional glimpses of the thing silhouetted against the moonlit sky, a broad smile illuminated the face of the ape-man. Now he saw strong little fingers working at the twigs that were fastened laterally across the rafters to support the thatch and presently, after several of these had been removed, the opening was entirely closed by a furry little body that wriggled through and dropped to the floor close beside the prisoner.
'How did you find me, Nkima?' whispered Tarzan.
'Nkima followed,' replied the little monkey. 'All day he has been sitting in a high tree above the village watching this place and waiting for darkness. Why do you stay here, Tarzan of the Apes? Why do you not come away with little Nkima?'
'I am fastened here with a chain,' said Tarzan. 'I cannot come away.'
'Nkima will go and bring Muviro and his warriors,' said Nkima.
Of course he did not use these words at all, but what he said in the language of the apes conveyed the same meaning to Tarzan. Black apes carrying sharp, long sticks was the expression that he used to describe the Waziri warriors, and the name for Muviro was one of his own coining, but he and Tarzan understood one another.
'No,' said Tarzan. 'If I am going to need Muviro, he could not get here in time now to be of any help to me. Go back into the forest, Nkima, and wait for me. Perhaps I shall join you very soon.'
