And so it was that there broke upon
this 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 air had trembled to the din of their voices, now utter
silence reigned and a moment later the ape-man was alone with his
puny kill.
The silence following 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 his quiver. Then with
his knife he quickly and deftly removed the skin and feathers
together. He ate angrily, growling as though actually menaced by
a near-by foe, and perhaps, too, his growls were partially induced
by the fact that he did not care for the flesh of birds. Better
this, however, than nothing and from what his senses had told him
there was no flesh in the vicinity such as he was accustomed to
and cared most for. How he would have enjoyed a juicy haunch from
Pacco, the zebra, or a steak from the loin of Gorgo, the buffalo!
The very thought made his mouth water and increased his resentment
against this unnatural forest that harbored no such delicious
quarry.
He had but partially consumed his kill when he suddenly became
aware of a movement in the brush at no great distance from him
and downwind, and a moment later his nostrils picked up the scent
of Numa from the opposite direction, and then upon either side he
caught the fall of padded feet and the brushing of bodies against
leafy branches.
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