"And now," he concluded, "I shall lie down beneath this tree and
sleep. I am very tired. Permit no one to disturb me."
The chief offered him a hut, but Tarzan, from past experience
of native dwellings, preferred the open air, and, further, he had
plans of his own that could be better carried out if he remained
beneath the tree. He gave as his reason a desire to be close at
hand should Sheeta return, and after this explanation the chief
was very glad to permit him to sleep beneath the tree.
Tarzan had always found that it stood him in good stead to leave
with natives the impression that he was to some extent possessed
of more or less miraculous powers. He might easily have entered
their village without recourse to the gates, but he believed that
a sudden and unaccountable disappearance when he was ready to leave
them would result in a more lasting impression upon their childlike
minds, and so as soon as the village was quiet in sleep he rose,
and, leaping into the branches of the tree above him, faded silently
into the black mystery of the jungle night.
All the balance of that night the ape-man swung rapidly through the
upper and middle terraces of the forest. When the going was good
there he preferred the upper branches of the giant trees, for then
his way was better lighted by the moon; but so accustomed were
all his senses to the grim world of his birth that it was possible
for him, even in the dense, black shadows near the ground, to move
with ease and rapidity.
Pages:
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105