ef, were feasting, while
above them in a large tree sat Tarzan of the Apes--grim, terrible,
empty, and envious. Hunting had proved poor that day, for there are
lean days as well as fat ones for even the greatest of the jungle
hunters. Oftentimes Tarzan went empty for more than a full sun, and he
had passed through entire moons during which he had been but barely
able to stave off starvation; but such times were infrequent.

There once had been a period of sickness among the grass-eaters which
had left the plains almost bare of game for several years, and again
the great cats had increased so rapidly and so overrun the country that
their prey, which was also Tarzan's, had been frightened off for a
considerable time.

But for the most part Tarzan had fed well always. Today, though, he
had gone empty, one misfortune following another as rapidly as he
raised new quarry, so that now, as he sat perched in the tree above the
feasting blacks, he experienced all the pangs of famine and his hatred
for his lifelong enemies waxed strong in his breast. It was
tantalizing, indeed, to sit there hungry while these Gomangani filled
themselves so full of food that their stomachs seemed almost upon the
point of bursting, and with elephant steaks at that!

It was true that Tarzan and Tantor were the best of friends, and that
Tarzan never yet had tasted of the flesh of the elephant; but the
Gomangani evidently had slain one, and as they were eating of the flesh
of their kill, Tarzan was assailed by no doubts as to the ethics of his
doing likewise, should he have the opportunity. Had he known that the
elephant had died of sickness several days before the blacks discovered
the carcass, he might not have been so keen to partake of the feast,
for Tarzan of the Apes was no carrion-eater. Hunger, however, may blunt
the most epicurean taste, and Tarzan was not exactly an epicure.

What he was at this moment was a very hungry wild beast whom caution
was holding in leash, for the great cooking pot in the center of the
village was surrounded by black warriors, through whom not even Tarzan
of the Apes might hope to pass unharmed. It would be necessary,
therefore, for the watcher to remain there hungry until the blacks had
gorged themselves to stupor, and then, if they had left any scraps, to
make the best meal he could from such; but to the impatient Tarzan it
seemed that the greedy Gomangani would rather burst than leave the
feast before th