17 - Tarzan the Untamed by Edgar Rice Burroughs: The Walled City

Episode Transcript

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Chapter seventeen of Tarzan the Untamed.This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox
recordings are in the public domain.For more information or to volunteer, please
visit LibriVox dot org. Recording byDan Mason, Tarzan the Untamed by Edgar
Burroughs, Chapter seventeen. The walledcity. Dropping to the ground once more,

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he picked up the trail the girland her captors, which he followed
easily along what appeared to be awell beaten trail. It was not long
before he came to a small stream, where he quenched his thirst, and
thereafter he saw the trail followed ina general direction of the stream, which
ran southwesterly. Here and there werecross trails and others which joined the main

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avenue, and always upon each ofthem were the tracks and scents of the
great cats of Numa the lion andShida the panther. But with the exception
of a few small rodents, thereappeared to be no other wild life on
the surface of the valley. Therewas no indication of Bara the deer,
or horte of the boar, orGorgo the buffalo, bhutto tantor orduro hista

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the snake was there. He sawhim in the trees in greater numbers than
he had ever seen Hista before,and once beside a reedy pool, he
caught a scent that could have belongedto none other than Gimla the crocodile.
But upon none of these did theTarmangani care to feed, and so as
he craved meat, he turned hisattention to the birds above. His assailants

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of the night before had not disarmedhim. Either in the darkness and the
rush of charging lions, the humanfoe had overlooked him, or else they
had considered him dead. But whateverthe reason, he still retained his weapon,
his spear and his long knife,his bow and arrows, and his
grass rope fitting a shaft to hisbow. Tarzan awaited in an opportunity to

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bring down one of the larger birds, and when the opportunity finally presented itself,
he drove the air straight to itsmark. As the gaily plumaged creature
fluttered to the earth, its companionsand the little monkey set up a most
terrific chorus of whales and screaming protests. The whole forest became suddenly a babel
of hoarse screams and shrill shrieks.Tarzan would not have been surprised had one

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or two birds in the immediate vicinitygiven voice to terror as they fled,
but that the whole life of thejungle should set up so weird a protest
filled him with disgust. It wasin angry face that he turned up towards
the monkeys and the birds, asthey were suddenly stirred within him a savage
inclination to voice his displeasure and hisanswer to what he considered their challenge.

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And so it was that there brokeupon the jungle for the first time,
Tarzan's hideous scream of victory and challenge. The effect upon the creatures above him
was instantaneous. Where before the airhad trembled to the din of their voices,
now utter silence reigned, and amoment later the ape man was alone

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with his puny kill. The silencefollowing so closely the previous tumult carried a
sinister impression to the ape man,which still further aroused his anger. Picking
the bird from where it had fallen, he withdrew his arrow from the body
and returned it to its quiver.Then, with his knife he quickly and
deftly removed the skin and feathers together. He ate angrily, growling as though

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actually menaced by a nearby foe,And perhaps too, his growls were partially
induced by the fact that he didnot care for the flesh of birds.
Better this, however, than nothing, And from what his senses had told
him, there was no flesh inthe vicinity such as he was accustomed to
and cared most for. How wouldhe have enjoyed a juicy haunt from Paco

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the zebra, or a steak fromthe loin of Gorgo the buffalo. The
very thought made his mouth water andincreased his resentment against this unnatural forest that
harbored no such delicious quarry. Hehad but partly consumed his kill when he
suddenly became aware of a movement inthe brush at no great distance from him,
in downwind, and a moment laterhis nostrils picked up the scent of

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numa from the opposite direction, andthen upon either side he caught the fall
of padded feet and the brushing ofbodies against leafy branches. The ape man
smiled, What stupid creatures did theythink him to be surprised by such clumsy
stalkers. Gradually, the sound andsense indicated that lions were moving upon him

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from all directions, that he wasin the center of a steadily converging circle
of beasts. Evidently they were sosure of their prey that they were making
no effort towards stealth. For heheard twigs crack beneath their feet, and
the brushing of their bodies against thevegetation through which they forced their way.
He wondered what could have brought them. It seemed unreasonable to believe that the

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cries of birds and the monkeys shouldhave summoned them, and yet if not,
it was indeed a remarkable coincidence.His judgment told him that the death
of a single bird in this forest, which teemed with birds, could scarce
be a sufficient moment to warrant thatwhich followed. Yet even in the face
of reason and past experience, hefound that the whole affair perplexed him.

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He stood in the center of thetrail, awaiting the coming of the lions,
and wondering what would be the methodof their attack, or if they
would indeed attack. Presently, amaned lion came into view along the trail
below him, at sight of him, the lion halted. The beast was
similar to those that had attacked himearlier in the day, a trifle larger
and a trifle darker than the lionsof his native Jungles, but neither so

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large nor so black as Numa ofthe pit. Presently he distinguished the outlines
of other lions in the surrounding brushand among the trees. Each of them
halted as it came within sight ofthe ape man, and there they stood,
regarding him in silence. Tarzan wonderedhow long it would be before they
charged, and while he waited,he resumed his feeding, though with every

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sense constantly alert. One by onethe lions lay down, but always their
faces were toward him, and theireyes upon him. There had been no
growling and no roaring, just thequiet drawing of the silent circle about him.
It was also entirely foreign to anythingthat Tarzan ever before had seen lions
do. That had irritated him sothat, presently, having finished his repast,

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he fell to making insulting remarks tofirst one and then another of the
lions. After the habit he hadlearned from the apes of his childhood dango
eater of carrion, he called them, and he compared them most unfavorably with
Hista, the snake, the mostloathed and repulsive creature of the jungle.
Finally, he threw handfuls of earthat them, and bits of broken twigs.

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And then the lions growled and baredtheir fangs, but none of them
advanced cowards. Tarzan taunted them Numawith a heart of bar the deer.
He told them who he was,and after the manner of the jungle folk,
he boasted as to the horrible thingshe would do to them. But
the lions only lay and watch him. It must have been half an hour

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after their coming that Tarzan caught inthe distance along the trail the sound of
footsteps approaching. They were the footstepsof creatures who walked upon two legs,
and though Tarzan could catch no scentspore from that direction, he knew that
a man was approaching. Nor hadhe long to wait before his judgment was
confirmed by the appearance of a manwho halted in the trail directly behind the

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first lion that Tarzan had seen.At sight of the newcomer, the ape
man realized that here was one similarto those who had given off the unfamiliar
scent spore that he had detected theprevious night, and he saw that not
only in a manner of scent didthe man differ from the other human beings
with whom Tarzan was familiar. Thefellow was strongly built, with the skin

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of a leathery appearance, like parchment, yellowed with age. His hair,
which was coal black and three orfour inches in length, grew stiffly at
right angles to his scalp. Hiseyes were closely set, and the irises
densely black and very small, sothat the white of his eyeball showed around
them. The man's face was smooth, except for a few straggly hairs on

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his chin and upper lip. Thenose was aquiline and fine, but the
hair grew so far down the foreheadas to suggest a very low and brutal
type. The upper lip was shortand fine, while the lower lip was
rather heavy and inclined to be pendulous, the chin being equally weak. Altogether,
the face carried the suggestion of oncestrong and handsome countenance entirely altered by

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physical violence or by degraded habits andthoughts. The man's arms were long,
though not abnormally so. While hislegs were short though straight, he was
clothed in tight fitting nether garments anda loose sleevelet tunic that fell just below
his hips, while his feet wereshot in soft soled sandals, the wrappings
of which extended half way to hisknees, closely resembling a modern spiral military

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legging. He carried a short,heavy spear, and at his side swung
a weapon that at first so astonishedthe ape man that he could scarcely believe
the evidence of his senses, aheavy saber in a leather covered scabbard.
The man's tunic appeared to have beenfabricated upon loom. It was certainly not
made of skins, while the garmentshad covered his legs were quite as evidently

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made from the hides of rodents.Tarzan noted the utter unconcern with which the
man approached the lions, and theequal indifference of Numa to him. The
fellow paused for a moment as thoughappraising the ape man, and then pushed
on past the lions, brushing againstthe tawny hide as he passed him on
the trail. About twenty feet fromTarzan, the man stopped, addressing the

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former in a strange jargon, nosyllable of which was intelligible to the Tarmangani.
His gestures indicated numerous references to thelions surrounding them, and once he
touched his spear with the forefinger ofhis left hand, and twice he struck
the saber at his hip. Whilehe spoke, Tarzan studied the fellow closely,

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with the result that there fastened himselfupon his mind a strange conviction that
the man who addressed him was whatmight only be described as a rational maniac.
As the thought came to the apeman, he could not but smile.
So paradoxical the description seemed. Yet, a closer study of the man's
features, carriage, and the contourof his head carried almost incontrovertibly the assurance

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that he was insane, while thetones of his voice and his gestures resembled
those of a sane and intelligent mortal. Presently, the man had concluded his
speech and appeared to be waiting questioninglyTarzan's reply. The ape man spoke to
the other first in the language ofthe great apes, but he soon saw
that the words carried no conviction tohis listener. Then, with equal futility,

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he tried several native dialects, butto none of these did the man
respond. By this time, Tarzanbegan to loose patience. He had wasted
sufficient time by the road, andas he had never depended much upon speech
in the accomplishment of his ends,he now raised his spear and advanced towards
the other. This evidently was alanguage common to both, for instantly the

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fellow raised his own weapon, andat the same time a low call broke
from his lips, a call whichinstantly brought to action every lion in the
hitherto silent circle. A volley ofroars shattered the silence of the forest,
and simultaneously lions sprang into view uponall sides. As they closed in rapidly
upon their quarry, the man whohad called them stepped back, his teeth

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bared in a mirthless grin. Itwas then that Tarzan first noticed that the
fellow's upper canines were unusually long andexceedingly sharp. It was just a flashing
glimpse he got of them as heleapt agiley from the ground, and to
the consternation of both the lions andtheir master disappeared in the foliage of the
lower terrace, flinging back over hisshoe as he swung rapidly away. I

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am Tarzan of the Apes, mightyhunter, mighty fighter. None in the
jungle more powerful, none more cunningthan Tarzan. A short distance beyond the
point at which they had surrounded him, Tarzan came to the trail again and
sought for the spoor of Bareth theKircher and Lieutenant Smith Oldwick. He found
them quickly, and continued upon hissearch for the two. The spoor lay

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directly along the trail for another halfmile, when the way suddenly devouched from
the forest into open land, andthere broke, upon the astonished view of
the ape man, the domes andminarets of a walled city directly before him.
In the wall nearest him, Tarzansaw a low arched gateway to which
a well beaten trail led from thatwhich he had been following. In the

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open space between the forest and thecity walls, quantities of garden stuff was
growing, while before him at hisfeet, in an open man made ditch
ran a stream of water. Theplants in the garden were laid out in
well spaced symmetrical rose and appeared tohave been given excellent attention and cultivation.
Tiny streams were trickling between the rowsfrom the main ditch before him, and

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at some distance to his right hecould see people at work among the plants.
The city wall appeared to be aboutthirty five feet in height. Its
plastered expanse unbroken except by occasional embrasures. Beyond the wall rose the domes of
several structures and numerous minarets dotted theskyline of the city. The largest and
central dome appeared to be gilded,while others were red or blue or yellow.

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The architecture of the wall itself wasof uncompromising simplicity. It was of
a cream shade and appeared to beplastered and painted. At its base was
a line of well tended shrubs,and at some distance towards the eastern extremity
it was vine covered to the top. As he stood in the shadow of
the trail, his keen eyes takingin every detail of the picture before him,

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he became aware of the approach ofa party in his room, and
there was borne to him the scentof the man and the lions whom he
had so readily escaped. Taking tothe trees, Tarzan moved a short distance
to the west, and finding acomfortable crotch at the edge of the forest
where he could watch the trail leadingthrough the gardens to the city gate.
He awaited the return of his wouldbe captors, and soon they came the

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strange man, followed by the packof great lions like dogs, They moved
along behind him down the trail amongthe gardens to the gate. Here the
man struck upon the panels of thedoor with the butt of his spear,
and when it opened in response tohis signal, he passed in with the
lions. Beyond the open door,Tarzan, from his distant perch caught but
a fleeting glimpse of life within thecity, just enough to indicate that there

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were other human creatures who abode there. And then the door closed. Through
that door, he knew that thegirl and the man whom he sought to
succor had been taken into the city. What fate lay ins store for them,
or whether it already had been metedout to them, he could not
even guess. Nor where within thatforbidding wall they were incarcerated he could not

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know. But of one thing.He was assured that if he were to
aid them, he could not doit from outside the wall. He must
gain entrance to the city first.Nor did he doubt that, once within,
his keen senses would eventually reveal thewhereabouts of those whom he sought.
The low sun was casting long shadowsacross the gardens when Tarzan saw the workers

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returning from the eastern field. Aman came first, and as he came
he lowered little gates along the largeditch of running water, shutting off the
streams that had run between the rowsof growing plants. And behind him came
other men carrying burdens of fresh vegetablesin great woven baskets upon their shoulders.
Tarzan had not realized that there hadbeen so many men working in the field,

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but now as he sat there atthe close of the day, he
saw a procession filling in from theeast, bearing the tools and the produce
back into the city. And then, to gain a better view, the
ape man ascended to the topmost branchesof a tall tree, where he overlooked
the near wall. From this pointof vantage, he saw that the city

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was long and narrow, and thatwhile the outer walls formed a perfect rectangle.
The street within were winding towards thecenter of the city. There appeared
to be a low, white buildingaround which the larger edifices of the city
had been built, And there,in the fast waning light, Tarzan thought
that between the two buildings he caughtthe glent of water, but of that

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he was not sure. His experienceof the centers of civilization naturally inclined him
to believe that this central area wasa plaza about which the larger buildings were
grouped, and that there would bethe most logical place to search first Forbear
the cucher and her companion. Andthen the sun went down and darkness quickly
enveloped the city, a darkness thatwas accentuated for the ape man rather than

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relieved by the artificial lights which immediatelyappeared in many of the windows visible to
him. Tarzan had noticed that theroasts of most of the buildings were flat,
the few exceptions being those of whathe imagined to be the more pretentious
public structures. How the city hadcome to exist in this foreign part of
unexplored Africa, the ape Man couldnot conceive better than another. He realized

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something of the unsolved secret of thegreat dark continent, enormous areas of which
have yet been untouched by the footof civilized man. Yet he could scarce
believe that a city of this sizeand apparently thus well constructed, could have
existed for the generations that it musthave been there without intercourse with the outer
world, even though it surrounded bya trackless desert waste as he knew it

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to be. He could not conceivethat generation after generation of men could be
born and die there without attempting tosolve the mysteries of the world beyond the
confines of their little valley. Andyet here was a city, surrounded by
tilde land and filled with people.With the coming of night, there rose
throughout the jungle the cries of thegreat cats, The voice of Numa blended

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with that of Sheidah, and thethunderous roars of the great males reverberated through
the forest until the earth trembled,and from within the city came the answering
roars of other lions. A simpleplan for gaining entrance to the city had
occurred to Tarzan, and now thatdarkness had fallen, he set about to
put it into effect. Its successhinged entirely upon the strength of the vines

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he had seen surrounding the wall towardsthe east. In this direction he had
made his way while out of theforest. About him, the cries of
flesh eaters increased in volume and ferocity. A quarter of a mile intervened between
the forest and the city wall,a quarter of a mile of cultivated land
unrelieved by a single tree. Tarzanthe Apes realized his limitations, and so

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he knew that it would undoubtedly spelldeath for him to be caught in the
open space by one of the greatblack lines of the forest. Iff.
As he had already surmised, Numathe pit was a specimen of the forest
lion of the valley. He musttherefore depend entirely upon his cunning and his
speed, and upon the chance thatthe vine would sustain his weight. He

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moved through the middle terrace with away as always easiest, until he reached
a point opposite the vine clad portionof the wall, and there he waited,
listening and scenting, until he mightassure himself that there was no Numa
within his immediate vicinity, or atleast none that sought him. And when
he was quite sure that there wasno lying close by in the forest,

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and none in the clearing between himselfand the wall. He dropped lightly to
the ground and moved stealthily out intothe open. The rising moon, just
topping the eastern cliffs, cast itsbright rays upon the long stretch of open
garden beneath the wall, and tooit picked out, in clear relief for
any curious eyes that chanced to becast in that direction, the figure of

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the giant ape man moving across theclearing. It was only chance, of
course, that a great lion huntingat the edge of the forest saw the
figure of the man half way betweenthe forest and the wall. Suddenly,
there broke upon the Tarzan's ears amenacing sound. It was not the roar
of a hungry lion, but theroar of a lion in rage. And
as he glanced back in the directionfrom which the sound came, he saw

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a huge beast moving out from theshadow of the forest towards him. Even
in the moonlight and at a distance, Tarzan saw that the lion was huge,
that it was indeed another of theblack Maine monster, similar to Numa
the pit. For an instant hewas impelled to turn in flight, but
at the same time he thought ofthe helpless girl imprisoned in the city flashed

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through his brain, and without aninstant's hesitation, Tarzan niaves wheeled and ran
for the wall. Then it wasthat Numa charged. Numa the lion can
run swiftly for a short distance,but he lacks endurance for the period of
an ordinary charge. He can coverthe ground with greater rapidity, possibly than
any other creature in the world.Tarzan, on the other hand, could

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run at great speed for long distances, though never as rapidly as Numa.
When the latter charged. The questionof his fate then rested upon whether,
with his start he could elude Numahfor a few seconds, and if so,
if the line would then have sufficientstamina remaining to pursue him at a
reduced gait for the balance of thedistance to the wall. Never before,

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perhaps, was staged a more thrillingrace, And yet it was run with
only the moon and stars to see. Alone and in silence. The two
beasts sped across the moonlight clearing.Numa gained with appalling rapidity upon the fleeting
man, yet at every bound Tarzanwas nearer to the vine clad wall.

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Once the a man glanced back,Numa was so close upon him that he
seemed inevitable that at the next boundhe should drag him down. So close
was he that the ape man drewhis knife as he ran, that he
might at least give a good accountof himself in the last moments of his
life. But Numa had reached thelimit of his speed and endurance. Gradually

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he dropped behind, but he didnot give out the pursuit. And now
Tarzan realized how much hinged upon thestrength of the untested vines. If at
the inception of the race, onlyGoro and the stars had looked down upon
the contestants, such was not thecase at the finish, since from the
embrasure near the summit of the wall, two close set black eyes peered down

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upon the two. Tarzan was adozen yards ahead of Numa when he reached
the wall. There was no timeto stop and institute a search for sturdy
stems and safe hand holds. Hisfate was in the hands of chance.
With the realization, he gave afinal spurt, and, running cat like
up the side of the wall amongthe vines, sought with his hands for
something that would sustain his weight belowhim. Numa leapt also end of Chapter

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seventeen. Recording by Dan Mason ofMidland, Michigan.