The great beast hesitated a moment, and then came slowly toward the man. It stopped in front of him and the trunk reached out and moved over his body. Corrie clutched the tree branch to keep from falling. She could understand how, involuntarily, some women scream or faint in moments of high excitement.
Tarzan stroked the trunk for a moment, whispering quietly to the huge mass towering above him. 'Abu tand-nala!' he said presently. Slowly, the elephant knelt. Tarzan wrapped the trunk about his body and said, 'Nala b'yat!' and Tantor lifted him and placed him upon his head.
'Unk!' commanded Tarzan. The elephant moved off down the trail, passing beneath the trees where the astonished four sat, scarcely breathing.
Shrimp was the first to break the long silence. 'I've saw everyt'ing now. Geeze! wot a guy!'
'Are you forgetting Goige de Toid?' demanded Bubono-vitch.
Shrimp muttered something under his breath that was not fit for Corrie's ears.
Presently Tarzan returned on foot and alone. 'We'd better be moving along,' he said, and the others dropped down from the trees.
Jerry was not a little irritated by what he thought had been an egotistical display of courage and prowess, and his voice revealed his irritation when he asked, 'What was the use of taking such a risk, Colonel?'
'In the haunts of wild beasts one must know many things if one is to survive,' Tarzan explained. 'This is strange country to me. In my country the elephants are my friends. On more than one occasion they have saved my life. I wanted to know the temper of the elephants here and if I could impose my will on them as I do at home. It is possible that some day you may be glad that I did so. The chances are that I shall never see that bull again; but if we should meet, he will know me and I shall know him. Tantor and I have long memories both for friends and enemies.'
'Sorry I spoke as I did,' said Jerry; 'but we were all frightened to see you take such a risk.'
'I took no risk,' said Tarzan; 'but don't you do it.'
'What would he have done to one of us?' asked Bubono-vitch.
'Gored you probably, knelt on you, and then tossed the pulp that had been you high into the forest.'
Corrie shuddered. Shrimp shook his head. 'An' I uset to feed 'em peanuts at de coicus.'
'The wild beasts I've seen here in the open look larger and more menacing than those I used to see in menageries and zoos,' said Bubonovitch.
'Or in a museum, stuffed,' said Jerry.
'Mounted,' corrected Bubonovitch.
'Purist,' said Jerry.
Presently they entered a forest of enormous straight trunked trees, enveloped by giant creepers, vines, and huge air plants that formed a thick canopy overhead. The dim light, the cathedral vistas, the sounds of unseen things depressed the spirits of all but Tarzan. They plodded on in silence, longing for the light of the sun. And then, at a turning in the trail, they came suddenly into its full glare as the forest ended abruptly at the edge of a gorge.
Below them lay a narrow valley cut through the ages into the tuff and limestone formation of the terrain by the little river that raced riotously along its bottom. It was a pleasant valley, green and tree dotted.
Tarzan scrutinized its face carefully. There was no sign of human life; but some deer fed there, and his keen eyes recognized a black blob, almost indistinguishable in the dense shade of a tree. He pointed it out to the others. 'Beware of him,' he cautioned. 'He is infinitely more dangerous than Tantor, and sometimes even than Stripes.'
'What is it, a water buffalo?' asked Jerry.
'No. It is Buto the rhinoceros. His sight is very poor, but his hearing and scent are extremely acute. He has an ugly and unpredictable disposition. Ordinarily, he will run away from you. But you can never tell. Without any provocation he may come thundering down on you as fast as a good horse; and if he gets you, he'll gore and toss you.'
'Not ours,' said Corrie. 'They have lower tusks, and they use those instead of their horns.'
'I remember now,' said Tarzan, 'hearing that. I was thinking of the African rhino.'
The trail turned abruptly to the right at the edge of the escarpment and hurled itself over the rim, angling steeply downward, narrow and precarious. They were all glad when they reached the bottom.
'Stay here,' said Tarzan, 'and don't make any noise. I am going to try to get one of those deer. Buto won't get your scent from here; and if you don't make any noise, he won't hear you. I'll circle around to the left. Those bushes there will hide me until I get within range of the deer. If I get one, I'll go right on down to the river where the trail crosses it. You can come on then and meet me there. The trail passes Buto at about a hundred yards. If he gets your scent, or hears you, and stands up, don't move unless he starts toward you; then find a tree.'
Tarzan crouched and moved silently among the tall grasses. The wind, blowing from the direction of the deer toward the rhinoceros, carried no scent of the intruders to either. It would to the latter when Tarzan reached the deer and when the others crossed the wind to reach the river.
Tarzan disappeared from the sight of those who waited at the foot of the cliff. They wondered how he could find cover where there seemed to be none. Everything seemed to be moving according to plan when there was a sudden interruption. They saw a deer suddenly raise its head and look back; then it and the little herd of which it was a part were oft like a flash, coming almost directly toward them.
They saw Tarzan rise from the grasses and leap upon a young buck. 'His knife flashed in the sun, and both fell, disappearing in the grass. The four watchers were engrossed by this primitive drama—the primordial hunter stalking and killing his quarry. Thus it must have been ages and ages ago.
Finally Jerry said, 'Well, let's get going.'
'Geeze!' Shrimp exclaimed, pointing. 'Lookut!'
They looked. Buto had arisen and was peering this way and that with his dull little eyes. But he was listening and scenting the wind, too.
'Don't move,' whispered Jerry.
'An' they ain't no trees,' breathed Shrimp. He was right. In their immediate vicinity there were no trees.
'Don't move,' cautioned Jerry again. 'If he's going to charge, he'll charge anything that moves.'
'Here he comes,' said Bubonovitch. The rhino was walking toward them. He seemed more puzzled than angry. His dim vision had, perhaps, discovered something foreign to the scene. Something he could neither hear nor smell. And curiosity prompted him to investigate.
The three men, by one accord, moved cautiously between Corrie and the slowly oncoming beast. It was a tense moment. If Buto charged, someone would be hurt, probably killed. They watched the creature with straining eyes. They saw the little tail go up and the head down as the rhino broke into a trot. He had seen them and was coming straight for them. Suddenly he was galloping. 'This is it,' said Jerry.
At the same instant, Shrimp leaped away from them and ran diagonally across the path of the charging brute. And the rhino swerved and went for him. Shrimp ran as he had never run before; but he couldn't run as fast as a horse, and the rhino could.
Horror-stricken, the others watched. Horror-stricken and helpless. Then they saw Tarzan. He was running to meet the man and the beast, who were headed directly toward him. But what could he do? the watchers asked themselves. What could two relatively puny men do against those tons of savage flesh and bone?
The beast was close behind Shrimp now and Tarzan was only a few yards away. Then Shrimp stumbled and fell. Come covered her eyes with her hands. Jerry and Bubono-vitch, released as though from a momentary paralysis, started running toward the scene of certain tragedy.
Corrie, impelled against her will, removed her hands from her eyes. She saw the rhino's head go down as though to gore the prostrate man now practically beneath its front feet.
Then Tarzan leaped, turning in air, and alighted astride the beast's shoulders. The diversion was enough to distract the animal's attention from Shrimp. It galloped over him, bucking to dislodge the man-thing on its back.
Tarzan held his seat long enough to plunge his knife through the thick hide directly behind the head and sever the brute's spinal cord. Paralyzed, it stumbled to the ground. A moment later it was dead.
Soon the entire party was gathered around the kill. A relieved and, perhaps, a slightly trembling party. Tarzan turned to Shrimp. 'That was one of the bravest things I ever saw done, sergeant,' he said.
'Shrimp didn't rate medals for nothing, Colonel,' said Bubonovitch.
