Book-bot.com - read famous books online for free

Tarzan and the Jewels of Opar by Edgar Rice Burroughs
page 88 of 252 (34%)
Slowly, very slowly, as these visions of the past animated his
lethargic memory, he came to recognize them. They took definite
shape and form, adjusting themselves nicely to the various incidents
of his life with which they had been intimately connected. His
boyhood among the apes spread itself in a slow panorama before him,
and as it unfolded it induced within him a mighty longing for the
companionship of the shaggy, low-browed brutes of his past.

He watched the blacks scatter their cook fire and depart; but though
the face of each of them had but recently been as familiar to him
as his own, they awakened within him no recollections whatsoever.

When they had gone, he descended from the tree and sought food. Out
upon the plain grazed numerous herds of wild ruminants. Toward a
sleek, fat bunch of zebra he wormed his stealthy way. No intricate
process of reasoning caused him to circle widely until he was down
wind from his prey--he acted instinctively. He took advantage of
every form of cover as he crawled upon all fours and often flat
upon his stomach toward them.

A plump young mare and a fat stallion grazed nearest to him as he
neared the herd. Again it was instinct which selected the former
for his meat. A low bush grew but a few yards from the unsuspecting
two. The ape-man reached its shelter. He gathered his spear
firmly in his grasp. Cautiously he drew his feet beneath him. In
a single swift move he rose and cast his heavy weapon at the mare's
side. Nor did he wait to note the effect of his assault, but leaped
cat-like after his spear, his hunting knife in his hand.

For an instant the two animals stood motionless. The tearing of
DigitalOcean Referral Badge