Tarzan of the Apes

to

t the seductive influence of an old vintage upon the narrator for the beginning of it, and m

ssumed the task the old vintage had commenced, and so he unearthed written evidence in the form of musty manuscript, and

the fact that in the telling of it to you I have taken fictitious names for the principal

lonial Office dovetail perfectly with the narrative of my convivial host, and so I gi

least be as one with me in acknowledging th

ons in a British West Coast African Colony from whose simple native inhabitants another European power was known to be recruiting soldiers for its native army, which it used solely for the forcible collection of rubber and ivory from the

rtual slavery, since after their terms of enlistment expired their ignorance was imposed

a thorough investigation of the unfair treatment of black British subjects by the officers of a friendly European power. Why he was

h the noblest monuments of historic achievement upon a thousand victori

ay, his features regular and strong; his carriage that of pe

to the Colonial Office and so we find him, still young, entrusted w

telligent service, and as a stepping stone to posts of greater importance and responsibility; but, on the other hand, he had been married to the Hon. Alice R

, but she would not have it so. Instead she insist

and cousins to express various opinions on the subject,

n 1888, John, Lord Greystoke, and Lady Alic

chartered a small sailing vessel, the Fuwalda, w

ady Alice, his wife, vanished from t

them or their little vessel, and it was almost immediately that the wreckage was found upon the shores of St. Helena which convinced the world that the

een in coastwise trade in the far southern Atlantic, their crews composed of the offs

a competent seaman, was a brute in his treatment of his men. He knew, or at least he used, but two arguments in his dealings w

oung wife witnessed scenes upon the deck of the Fuwalda such as they had be

n what was destined to form a chain of circumstances ending in a life fo

lda, the first mate was on duty, and the captain ha

s. Closer and closer they came, until one of them was directly behind the captain. In anoth

d, as he did so, tripped against the sailor and sprawled headlong upon the de

awful oaths, his face suffused with the scarlet of mortification and rage, the c

uated. The other seaman, however, was neither old nor small-a huge bear of a man,

ith a low snarl, sprang upon the captain crush

ver from his pocket, firing point blank at the great mountain of muscle towering before him; but, quick as he was, John Clayton was almost as quick, so that the bullet wh

was disgusted with the brutality displayed toward the crew, nor would he countena

ry reply, but, thinking better of it, turned

een's mighty arm wielded a punitive instrument which he could

se. The big fellow, who was known among his mates as Black Michael, tried his leg ginge

d scarce finished his little speech he had turned and was limping off toward the f

did the captain accord them more than the surli

unfortunate occurrence; but the captain was careful to see

rew they bullied, and were only too glad to avoid social intercourse with the polishe

ed them from the life of the little ship so that they were unable to keep in to

ly, to the knowledge of the Claytons, all went on as before upon the little vessel; but that there was an

e the limp body of one of the crew being carried below by four of his fellows while the first

grew out of the distant horizon, he half determined to demand that he and Lady Alice be put aboard her, for his

ptain to put them aboard her, the obvious ridiculousness of such a request became suddenly apparent. What reason could

dled by their officers? They would but laugh in their sleeves and attri

ow the far horizon, but not before he learned that which confirmed his greatest fears, and caused him to curse the false pride which had res

where Clayton and his wife stood by the ship's side watching the ever diminishing outlines of the great battleship

'ere craft, an' mark my wor

n, my good fello

rd that devil's spawn of a capting an' is mates

Michael's as good as new agin an' 'e's not the bully

the crew contemplates

w. "Mutiny! They means murder, si

he

h now, but ye was a good sort t'other day an' I thought it no more'n right to warn ye.

ween yer ribs, an' mark my word for it, sir," and the old fellow went on wit

l outlook, Alic

once, John. Possibly the troub

e in my 'ead.' Whatever they do now they will spare us in recognition of my stand for this fellow Bl

y. If you do not warn the captain you are as much a party to whatever follows

dition upon himself, so why then should I risk subjecting my wife to unthinkable horrors in a probably futile attempt to save him from

poor wife for an English lord were I to be responsible for his shirking a pl

like the looks of things on board this ship, they may not be so bad after all, for it is possible that th

n a hundred years ago, but in this good yea

ing to warn him I might as well get the beastly job over

of the companionway through which the captain had

the deep tones of

entered, and closed

el

ause I feel that, while there may be nothing to it, it is as well tha

ing in affairs that don't concern you you can take the consequences, and be damned. I don't care whether you are an

face, and he shrieked the last words at the top of his voice, emphasizing his remarks by

air, but stood eying the e

"if you will pardon my candor, I might r

e that was habitual with him, and which was more surely calculated to

n attempted to conciliate him, his temper was now irrevocably set in the mold in which Clayt

e, "I might have saved my breath. The fellow proved

rgies in looking after our own welfare. And I rather fancy the first step to that end should be to go to our cabin

othing from their open boxes and bags strewed the little

belongings than we," said Clayton. "Let's have

d been taken but Clayton's two revolvers and the sm

left us," said Clayton, "and the fact that they

"Perhaps you were right in that our best ch

to fear, while if the mutineers are victorious our one slim h

e. We'll keep in the

of paper protruding from beneath the door of their quarters. As Clayton stooped to reach for it he was amazed to

or, but, as he reached for the knob to throw

seen, and so we cannot afford to see them. Do not f

stood watching the little bit of white paper until it fin

roughly folded into a ragged square. Opening it they found a crude message

m reporting the loss of the revolvers, or from repeating wh

n with a rueful smile. "About all we can do i