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and made the blood on then shine like rich berry juice.
Gerooma's pipe fell from his mouth. He started to run toward
Meredonleni; but he had taken but one step when the air whistled again and
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r r
an arrow caught him in his slightly open mouth and punched out the back of
his neck.
He kept running forward, his teeth clenched around the arrow. He ran
until he reached the hut. Then he stumbled. He grabbed at a post, held
himself upright. He lifted his head, took hold of the arrow in his mouth, tried
to pull it loose, but it hurt severely. When he tugged, he felt as if his whole
head would come off.
Striding toward him in the moonlight was a giant of man The moonlight
made his bronze skin look white. Hi had a bow in one hand, a spear in the
other. A quiver of arrows hung on his back. He wore a knife at his waist and a
crude rope was draped over its hilt. The man was walking purposefully
toward him. He was neither slow nor fast. Just determined. Gerooma knew
then, this man was what Meredonleni had seen moving through the grass.
Gerooma tried to say something, to plead for his life. But Tarzan did not
understand his language, and besides, the arrow made it impossible for
Gerooma to speak clearly.
Besides, it wouldn't have mattered.
Gerooma slid down the pole, his mouth filling with blood. He lifted his
head as Tarzan took hold of his hair.
The ape-man had dropped the spear and drawn his knife. With one
quick motion of the blade he cut Gerooma's throat.
Finished with this task. Tarzan saw that the grass was starting to blaze,
due to Gerooma's dropped pipe. He put his foot on the pipe and crushed it.
The calluses on his bare foot were so hard he did not even feel the heat. He
could have walked across broken glass on those feet.
Next he stepped on the blaze the pipe had started, then he looked in all
directions. He sniffed the air. Listened. It was his conclusion that he had
killed both men almost soundlessly.
So far, so good.
Tarzan moved at a crouch through the grasses, onward to the moat.
When he reached the moat, he squatted on his haunches in the high
grass, parted it with his hands and looked at the water. It was foul water, he
could smell that, but in the moonlight it looked like a silver-paved street.
Tarzan studied the width of the moat, examined the city wall. It was
made up of all manner of debris, and was actually quite easy to climb. Not for
an ordinary man, but Tarzan knew that for him it would be effortless.
He decided to leave his spear, bow, and arrows. He would carry his
knife and rope. He coiled the rope around his waist, crawled on his belly to
the moat, and slid into the water, silent as a python.
He had not swum far when he felt movement in the water. He turned
his head. Gliding toward him, long and white and deadly in the moonlight,
was the largest crocodile he had ever seen.
The croc began swimming faster and Tarzan thought at first he might
try to outswim it. But he could see yet another white croc in front of him. Like
his cousin, he had also noticed Tarzan.
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r r
The first crocodile snapped at Tarzan, but the ape-mar was no longer
there. He dove beneath the water and came up under the crocodile's belly and
cut a vicious gash in it with his knife.
The crocodile practically leapt from the water, came down with a
tremendous splash. It twisted toward Tarzan, and Tarzan pushed his palm
against the side of the raging crocodile's head, got out of the way. Tarzan went
beneath the reptile again, and used the knife again on the soft underbelly.
The crocodile's stomach and intestines exploded from the wound. The
water went thick with blood. The other croc arrived on the scene. Driven wild
by the smell of intestines and blood, the crocodile began attacking its
wounded cousin with a blind ferocity.
Tarzan swam down and out toward the city. When he came up, he was
against the wall. He could hear shouting above him. He pushed himself tight
against the stones. The natives were speaking a tongue he could not
understand, but he realized quickly from their tone, they were talking about
the crocodiles, not him. He had managed to escape before being noticed.
Perhaps they were placing bets on which beast would win.
Tarzan watched the water boil. The two crocodiles were locked in a
vicious struggle. The wounded crocodile was rapidly losing ground. They
rolled and twisted and splashed. The water foamed with blood.
Tarzan watched as the eyes of other crocodiles bobbed out of the water.
Two. Three. A half dozen. The crocodiles were swimming toward the fighters,
ready to take their share of the loser.
Tarzan returned his knife to its sheath, very carefully took hold of a
stone, and, pulling himself from the water, began scaling the wall.
Tarzan's strong fingers held the stones where there was very little to
grab. Even an ape would have had trouble scaling the stones, but Tarzan
moved up the wall like a lizard.
When he was near its summit, he listened carefully, then slipped over
the top of the wall and landed in a crouch on the sentry walkway. He looked to
his right.
A sentry was moving away from him.
To his left, two sentries were talking. The shadows were thick here, and
Tarzan went unnoticed.
Tarzan dropped from the walkway to the ground. It was a long drop, but
his splendid muscles and great skill would have allowed him to take the fall
without injury. But, at that moment, an off-duty sentry had stopped to relieve
himself against the city wall, and as he finished and stepped from beneath the [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]