age
pleasures of the wild his conscience was at the same time clear, for he
knew that he was doing all that lay in his power to return to his
parents. He rather looked forward, too, to meeting white men
again--creatures of his own kind--for there had been many occasions
upon which he had longed for other companionship than that of the old
ape. The affair with the blacks still rankled in his heart. He had
approached them in such innocent good fellowship and with such
childlike assurance of a hospitable welcome that the reception which
had been accorded him had proved a shock to his boyish ideals. He no
longer looked upon the black man as his brother; but rather as only
another of the innumerable foes of the bloodthirsty jungle--a beast of
prey which walked upon two feet instead of four.

But if the blacks were his enemies there were those in the world who
were not. There were those who always would welcome him with open
arms; who would accept him as a friend and brother, and with whom he
might find sanctuary from every enemy. Yes, there were always white
men. Somewhere along the coast or even in the depths of the jungle
itself there were white men. To them he would be a welcome visitor.
They would befriend him. And there were also the great apes--the
friends of his father and of Akut. How glad they would be to receive
the son of Tarzan of the Apes! He hoped that he could come upon them
before he found a trading post upon the coast. He wanted to be able to
tell his father that he had known his old friends of the jungle, that
he had hunted with them, that he had joined with them in their savage
life, and their fierce, primeval ceremonies--the strange ceremonies of
which Akut had tried to tell him. It cheered him immensely to dwell
upon these happy meetings. Often he rehearsed the long speech which he
would make to the apes, in which he would tell them of the life of
their former king since he had left them.

At other times he would play at meeting with white men. Then he would
enjoy their consternation at sight of a naked white boy trapped in the
war togs of a black warrior and roaming the jungle with only a great
ape as his companion.

And so the days passed, and with the traveling and the hunting and the
climbing the boy's muscles developed and his agility increased until
even phlegmatic Akut marvelled at the prowess of his pupil. And the
boy, realizing his great strength and revelling in it, became ca