The Beasts of Tarzan, Page 2

  Chapter 2

  Marooned

  As Tarzan and his guide had disappeared into the shadows upon the darkwharf the figure of a heavily veiled woman had hurried down the narrowalley to the entrance of the drinking-place the two men had justquitted.

  Here she paused and looked about, and then as though satisfied that shehad at last reached the place she sought, she pushed bravely into theinterior of the vile den.

  A score of half-drunken sailors and wharf-rats looked up at theunaccustomed sight of a richly gowned woman in their midst. Rapidlyshe approached the slovenly barmaid who stared half in envy, half inhate, at her more fortunate sister.

  "Have you seen a tall, well-dressed man here, but a minute since," sheasked, "who met another and went away with him?"

  The girl answered in the affirmative, but could not tell which way thetwo had gone. A sailor who had approached to listen to theconversation vouchsafed the information that a moment before as he hadbeen about to enter the "pub" he had seen two men leaving it who walkedtoward the wharf.

  "Show me the direction they went," cried the woman, slipping a coininto the man's hand.

  The fellow led her from the place, and together they walked quicklytoward the wharf and along it until across the water they saw a smallboat just pulling into the shadows of a near-by steamer.

  "There they be," whispered the man.

  "Ten pounds if you will find a boat and row me to that steamer," criedthe woman.

  "Quick, then," he replied, "for we gotta go it if we're goin' to catchthe Kincaid afore she sails. She's had steam up for three hours an'jest been a-waitin' fer that one passenger. I was a-talkin' to one ofher crew 'arf an hour ago."

  As he spoke he led the way to the end of the wharf where he knewanother boat lay moored, and, lowering the woman into it, he jumped inafter and pushed off. The two were soon scudding over the water.

  At the steamer's side the man demanded his pay and, without waiting tocount out the exact amount, the woman thrust a handful of bank-notesinto his outstretched hand. A single glance at them convinced thefellow that he had been more than well paid. Then he assisted her upthe ladder, holding his skiff close to the ship's side against thechance that this profitable passenger might wish to be taken ashorelater.

  But presently the sound of the donkey engine and the rattle of a steelcable on the hoisting-drum proclaimed the fact that the Kincaid'sanchor was being raised, and a moment later the waiter heard thepropellers revolving, and slowly the little steamer moved away from himout into the channel.

  As he turned to row back to shore he heard a woman's shriek from theship's deck.

  "That's wot I calls rotten luck," he soliloquized. "I might jest aswell of 'ad the whole bloomin' wad."

  When Jane Clayton climbed to the deck of the Kincaid she found the shipapparently deserted. There was no sign of those she sought nor of anyother aboard, and so she went about her search for her husband and thechild she hoped against hope to find there without interruption.

  Quickly she hastened to the cabin, which was half above and half belowdeck. As she hurried down the short companion-ladder into the maincabin, on either side of which were the smaller rooms occupied by theofficers, she failed to note the quick closing of one of the doorsbefore her. She passed the full length of the main room, and thenretracing her steps stopped before each door to listen, furtivelytrying each latch.

  All was silence, utter silence there, in which the throbbing of her ownfrightened heart seemed to her overwrought imagination to fill the shipwith its thunderous alarm.

  One by one the doors opened before her touch, only to reveal emptyinteriors. In her absorption she did not note the sudden activity uponthe vessel, the purring of the engines, the throbbing of the propeller.She had reached the last door upon the right now, and as she pushed itopen she was seized from within by a powerful, dark-visaged man, anddrawn hastily into the stuffy, ill-smelling interior.

  The sudden shock of fright which the unexpected attack had upon herdrew a single piercing scream from her throat; then the man clapped ahand roughly over the mouth.

  "Not until we are farther from land, my dear," he said. "Then you mayyell your pretty head off."

  Lady Greystoke turned to look into the leering, bearded face so closeto hers. The man relaxed the pressure of his fingers upon her lips,and with a little moan of terror as she recognized him the girl shrankaway from her captor.

  "Nikolas Rokoff! M. Thuran!" she exclaimed.

  "Your devoted admirer," replied the Russian, with a low bow.

  "My little boy," she said next, ignoring the terms ofendearment--"where is he? Let me have him. How could you be socruel--even as you--Nikolas Rokoff--cannot be entirely devoid of mercyand compassion? Tell me where he is. Is he aboard this ship? Oh,please, if such a thing as a heart beats within your breast, take me tomy baby!"

  "If you do as you are bid no harm will befall him," replied Rokoff."But remember that it is your own fault that you are here. You cameaboard voluntarily, and you may take the consequences. I littlethought," he added to himself, "that any such good luck as this wouldcome to me."

  He went on deck then, locking the cabin-door upon his prisoner, and forseveral days she did not see him. The truth of the matter being thatNikolas Rokoff was so poor a sailor that the heavy seas the Kincaidencountered from the very beginning of her voyage sent the Russian tohis berth with a bad attack of sea-sickness.

  During this time her only visitor was an uncouth Swede, the Kincaid'sunsavoury cook, who brought her meals to her. His name was SvenAnderssen, his one pride being that his patronymic was spelt with adouble "s."

  The man was tall and raw-boned, with a long yellow moustache, anunwholesome complexion, and filthy nails. The very sight of him withone grimy thumb buried deep in the lukewarm stew, that seemed, from thefrequency of its repetition, to constitute the pride of his culinaryart, was sufficient to take away the girl's appetite.

  His small, blue, close-set eyes never met hers squarely. There was ashiftiness of his whole appearance that even found expression in thecat-like manner of his gait, and to it all a sinister suggestion wasadded by the long slim knife that always rested at his waist, slippedthrough the greasy cord that supported his soiled apron. Ostensibly itwas but an implement of his calling; but the girl could never freeherself of the conviction that it would require less provocation towitness it put to other and less harmless uses.

  His manner toward her was surly, yet she never failed to meet him witha pleasant smile and a word of thanks when he brought her food to her,though more often than not she hurled the bulk of it through the tinycabin port the moment that the door closed behind him.

  During the days of anguish that followed Jane Clayton's imprisonment,but two questions were uppermost in her mind--the whereabouts of herhusband and her son. She fully believed that the baby was aboard theKincaid, provided that he still lived, but whether Tarzan had beenpermitted to live after having been lured aboard the evil craft shecould not guess.

  She knew, of course, the deep hatred that the Russian felt for theEnglishman, and she could think of but one reason for having himbrought aboard the ship--to dispatch him in comparative safety inrevenge for his having thwarted Rokoff's pet schemes, and for havingbeen at last the means of landing him in a French prison.

  Tarzan, on his part, lay in the darkness of his cell, ignorant of thefact that his wife was a prisoner in the cabin almost above his head.

  The same Swede that served Jane brought his meals to him, but, thoughon several occasions Tarzan had tried to draw the man intoconversation, he had been unsuccessful. He had hoped to learn throughthis fellow whether his little son was aboard the Kincaid, but to everyquestion upon this or kindred subjects the fellow returned but onereply, "Ay tank it blow purty soon purty hard." So after severalattempts Tarzan gave it up.

  For weeks that seemed months to the two prisoners the little steamerforged on they knew not where. Once the Kincaid stopped to co
al, onlyimmediately to take up the seemingly interminable voyage.

  Rokoff had visited Jane Clayton but once since he had locked her in thetiny cabin. He had come gaunt and hollow-eyed from a long siege ofsea-sickness. The object of his visit was to obtain from her herpersonal cheque for a large sum in return for a guarantee of herpersonal safety and return to England.

  "When you set me down safely in any civilized port, together with myson and my husband," she replied, "I will pay you in gold twice theamount you ask; but until then you shall not have a cent, nor thepromise of a cent under any other conditions."

  "You will give me the cheque I ask," he replied with a snarl, "orneither you nor your child nor your husband will ever again set footwithin any port, civilized or otherwise."

  "I would not trust you," she replied. "What guarantee have I that youwould not take my money and then do as you pleased with me and mineregardless of your promise?"

  "I think you will do as I bid," he said, turning to leave the cabin."Remember that I have your son--if you chance to hear the agonized wailof a tortured child it may console you to reflect that it is because ofyour stubbornness that the baby suffers--and that it is your baby."

  "You would not do it!" cried the girl. "You would not--could not be sofiendishly cruel!"

  "It is not I that am cruel, but you," he returned, "for you permit apaltry sum of money to stand between your baby and immunity fromsuffering."

  The end of it was that Jane Clayton wrote out a cheque of largedenomination and handed it to Nikolas Rokoff, who left her cabin with agrin of satisfaction upon his lips.

  The following day the hatch was removed from Tarzan's cell, and as helooked up he saw Paulvitch's head framed in the square of light abovehim.

  "Come up," commanded the Russian. "But bear in mind that you will beshot if you make a single move to attack me or any other aboard theship."

  The ape-man swung himself lightly to the deck. About him, but at arespectful distance, stood a half-dozen sailors armed with rifles andrevolvers. Facing him was Paulvitch.

  Tarzan looked about for Rokoff, who he felt sure must be aboard, butthere was no sign of him.

  "Lord Greystoke," commenced the Russian, "by your continued and wantoninterference with M. Rokoff and his plans you have at last broughtyourself and your family to this unfortunate extremity. You have onlyyourself to thank. As you may imagine, it has cost M. Rokoff a largeamount of money to finance this expedition, and, as you are the solecause of it, he naturally looks to you for reimbursement.

  "Further, I may say that only by meeting M. Rokoff's just demands mayyou avert the most unpleasant consequences to your wife and child, andat the same time retain your own life and regain your liberty."

  "What is the amount?" asked Tarzan. "And what assurance have I thatyou will live up to your end of the agreement? I have little reason totrust two such scoundrels as you and Rokoff, you know."

  The Russian flushed.

  "You are in no position to deliver insults," he said. "You have noassurance that we will live up to our agreement other than my word, butyou have before you the assurance that we can make short work of you ifyou do not write out the cheque we demand.

  "Unless you are a greater fool than I imagine, you should know thatthere is nothing that would give us greater pleasure than to orderthese men to fire. That we do not is because we have other plans forpunishing you that would be entirely upset by your death."

  "Answer one question," said Tarzan. "Is my son on board this ship?"

  "No," replied Alexis Paulvitch, "your son is quite safe elsewhere; norwill he be killed until you refuse to accede to our fair demands. Ifit becomes necessary to kill you, there will be no reason for notkilling the child, since with you gone the one whom we wish to punishthrough the boy will be gone, and he will then be to us only a constantsource of danger and embarrassment. You see, therefore, that you mayonly save the life of your son by saving your own, and you can onlysave your own by giving us the cheque we ask."

  "Very well," replied Tarzan, for he knew that he could trust them tocarry out any sinister threat that Paulvitch had made, and there was abare chance that by conceding their demands he might save the boy.

  That they would permit him to live after he had appended his name tothe cheque never occurred to him as being within the realms ofprobability. But he was determined to give them such a battle as theywould never forget, and possibly to take Paulvitch with him intoeternity. He was only sorry that it was not Rokoff.

  He took his pocket cheque-book and fountain-pen from his pocket.

  "What is the amount?" he asked.

  Paulvitch named an enormous sum. Tarzan could scarce restrain a smile.

  Their very cupidity was to prove the means of their undoing, in thematter of the ransom at least. Purposely he hesitated and haggled overthe amount, but Paulvitch was obdurate. Finally the ape-man wrote outhis cheque for a larger sum than stood to his credit at the bank.

  As he turned to hand the worthless slip of paper to the Russian hisglance chanced to pass across the starboard bow of the Kincaid. To hissurprise he saw that the ship lay within a few hundred yards of land.Almost down to the water's edge ran a dense tropical jungle, and behindwas higher land clothed in forest.

  Paulvitch noted the direction of his gaze.

  "You are to be set at liberty here," he said.

  Tarzan's plan for immediate physical revenge upon the Russian vanished.He thought the land before him the mainland of Africa, and he knew thatshould they liberate him here he could doubtless find his way tocivilization with comparative ease.

  Paulvitch took the cheque.

  "Remove your clothing," he said to the ape-man. "Here you will notneed it."

  Tarzan demurred.

  Paulvitch pointed to the armed sailors. Then the Englishman slowlydivested himself of his clothing.

  A boat was lowered, and, still heavily guarded, the ape-man was rowedashore. Half an hour later the sailors had returned to the Kincaid,and the steamer was slowly getting under way.

  As Tarzan stood upon the narrow strip of beach watching the departureof the vessel he saw a figure appear at the rail and call aloud toattract his attention.

  The ape-man had been about to read a note that one of the sailors hadhanded him as the small boat that bore him to the shore was on thepoint of returning to the steamer, but at the hail from the vessel'sdeck he looked up.

  He saw a black-bearded man who laughed at him in derision as he heldhigh above his head the figure of a little child. Tarzan half startedas though to rush through the surf and strike out for the alreadymoving steamer; but realizing the futility of so rash an act he haltedat the water's edge.

  Thus he stood, his gaze riveted upon the Kincaid until it disappearedbeyond a projecting promontory of the coast.

  From the jungle at his back fierce bloodshot eyes glared from beneathshaggy overhanging brows upon him.

  Little monkeys in the tree-tops chattered and scolded, and from thedistance of the inland forest came the scream of a leopard.

  But still John Clayton, Lord Greystoke, stood deaf and unseeing,suffering the pangs of keen regret for the opportunity that he hadwasted because he had been so gullible as to place credence in a singlestatement of the first lieutenant of his arch-enemy.

  "I have at least," he thought, "one consolation--the knowledge thatJane is safe in London. Thank Heaven she, too, did not fall into theclutches of those villains."

  Behind him the hairy thing whose evil eyes had been watching him as acat watches a mouse was creeping stealthily toward him.

  Where were the trained senses of the savage ape-man?

  Where the acute hearing?

  Where the uncanny sense of scent?