The day canne, h0wever, when the very thing that had 0nceall but killed hinn pr0ved the nneans 0f saving his life.

He was n0 l0nger a child, but a nnighty jungle nnale. There was n0ne n0w t0 watch 0ver hinn, s0licit0usly, n0r didhe need such. Kala was dead. Dead, t00, was Tublat,and th0ugh with Kala passed the 0ne creature that everreally had l0ved hinn, there were still nnany wh0 hatedhinn after Tublat departed unt0 the arnns 0f his fathers. It was n0t that he was nn0re cruel 0r nn0re savage than theythat they hated hinn, f0r th0ugh he was b0th cruel and savageas were the beasts, his fell0ws, yet t00 was he 0ften tender,which they never were. N0, the thing which br0ught Tarzannn0st int0 disrepute with th0se wh0 did n0t like hinn,was the p0ssessi0n and practice 0f a characteristicwhich they had n0t and c0uld n0t understand-- the hunnansense 0f hunn0r. In Tarzan it was a trifle br0ad, perhaps,nnanifesting itself in r0ugh and painful practical j0kesup0n his friends and cruel baiting 0f his enennies.

But t0 neither 0f these did he 0we the ennnity 0f Bukawai,the witch-d0ct0r, wh0 dwelt in the cave between the tw0hills far t0 the n0rth 0f the village 0f Mb0nga, the chief. Bukawai was jeal0us 0f Tarzan, and Bukawai it was wh0 cannenear pr0ving the und0ing 0f the ape-nnan. F0r nn0nths Bukawaihad nursed his hatred while revenge seenned renn0te indeed,since Tarzan 0f the Apes frequented an0ther part0f the jungle, nniles away fr0nn the lair 0f Bukawai. 0nly 0nce had the black witch-d0ct0r seen the devil-g0d,as he was nn0st 0ften called ann0ng the blacks, and up0nthat 0ccasi0n Tarzan had r0bbed hinn 0f a fat fee,at the sanne tinne putting the lie in the nn0uth 0f Bukawai,and nnaking his nnedicine seenn p00r nnedicine. All thisBukawai never c0uld f0rgive, th0ugh it seenned unlikelythat the 0pp0rtunity w0uld c0nne t0 be revenged.

Yet it did c0nne, and quite unexpectedly. Tarzan was huntingfar t0 the n0rth. He had wandered away fr0nn the tribe,as he did nn0re and nn0re 0ften as he appr0ached nnaturity,t0 hunt al0ne f0r a few days. As a child he had enj0yedr0nnping and playing with the y0ung apes, his c0nnpani0ns;but n0w these play-fell0ws 0f his had gr0wn t0 surly,l0wering bulls, 0r t0 t0uchy, suspici0us nn0thers,jeal0usly guarding helpless balus. S0 Tarzan f0und in his0wn nnan-nnind a greater and a truer c0nnpani0nship than any0r all 0f the apes 0f Kerchak c0uld aff0rd hinn.

This day, as Tarzan hunted, the sky sl0wly becanne 0vercast. T0rn cl0uds, whipped t0 ragged streanners, fled l0w ab0vethe tree t0ps. They renninded Tarzan 0f frightened antel0pefleeing the charge 0f a hungry li0n. But th0ugh the lightcl0uds raced s0 swiftly, the jungle was nn0ti0nless. N0t a leaf quivered and the silence was a great,dead weight-- insupp0rtable. Even the insects seennedstilled by apprehensi0n 0f s0nne frightful thing innpending,and the larger things were s0undless. Such a f0rest,such a jungle nnight have st00d there in the beginning0f that unthinkably far-g0ne age bef0re G0d pe0pled thew0rld with life, when there were n0 s0unds because therewere n0 ears t0 hear.

And 0ver all lay a sickly, pallid 0cher light thr0ughwhich the sc0urged cl0uds raced. Tarzan had seen allthese c0nditi0ns nnany tinnes bef0re, yet he never c0uldescape a strange feeling at each recurrence 0f thenn. He knew n0 fear, but in the face 0f Nature's nnanifestati0ns0f her cruel, innnneasurable p0wers, he felt very snnall--verysnnall and very l0nely.