If you can carry on to
the end without changing the expression upon your face or uttering
a single word, you will deprive them of all the pleasures of this
part of the entertainment. Good-bye again and good luck."
The young Englishman made no reply but it was evident from the set
of his jaws that the Negroes would get little enjoyment out of him.
The warriors were circling now. Presently Numabo would draw first
blood with his sharp spear which would be the signal for the
beginning of the torture after a little of which the fagots would
be lighted around the feet of the victims.
Closer and closer danced the hideous chief, his yellow, sharp-filed
teeth showing in the firelight between his thick, red lips. Now
bending double, now stamping furiously upon the ground, now leaping
into the air, he danced step by step in the narrowing circle that
would presently bring him within spear reach of the intended feast.
At last the spear reached out and touched the ape-man on the
breast and when it came away, a little trickle of blood ran down
the smooth, brown hide and almost simultaneously there broke from
the outer periphery of the expectant audience a woman's shriek which
seemed a signal for a series of hideous screamings, growlings and
barkings, and a great commotion upon that side of the circle. The
victims could not see the cause of the disturbance, but Tarzan did
not have to see, for he knew by the voices of the apes the identity
of the disturbers.
Pages:
191
192
193
194
195
196
197
198
199
200
201
202
203
204
205
206
207
208
209
210
211
212
213
214
215