could speak no English, and yet who could read and write his

native language. Never had he seen a human being other

than himself, for the little area traversed by his tribe was

watered by no greater river to bring down the savage natives of

the interior.

High hills shut it off on three sides, the ocean on the

fourth. It was alive with lions and leopards and poisonous

snakes. Its untouched mazes of matted jungle had as yet

invited no hardy pioneer from the human beasts beyond its

frontier.

But as Tarzan of the Apes sat one day in the cabin of his

father delving into the mysteries of a new book, the ancient

security of his jungle was broken forever.

At the far eastern confine a strange cavalcade strung, in

single file, over the brow of a low hill.

In advance were fifty black warriors armed with slender

wooden spears with ends hard baked over slow fires, and long

bows and poisoned arrows. On their backs were oval shields,

in their noses huge rings, while from the kinky wool of their

heads protruded tufts of gay feathers.

Across their foreheads were tattooed three parallel lines of

color, and on each breast three concentric circles. Their

yellow teeth were filed to sharp points, and their great

protruding lips added still further to the low and bestial

brutishness of their appearance.

Following them were several hundred women and children,

the former bearing upon their heads great burdens of cooking

pots, household utensils and ivory. In the rear were a

hundred warriors, similar in all respects to the advance guard.

That they more greatly feared an attack from the rear than

whatever unknown enemies lurked in their advance was

evidenced by the formation of the column; and such was the

fact, for they were fleeing from the white man's soldiers who

had so harassed them for rubber and ivory that they had

turned upon their conquerors one day and massacred a white

officer and a small detachment of his black troops.