vancing as rapidly as man, who has more time to give to
thought upon other matters.

However, these questions troubled Tarzan but little, and Tantor not at
all. What the former knew was that he was happy in the companionship
of the elephant. He did not know why. He did not know that because he
was a human being--a normal, healthy human being--he craved some living
thing upon which to lavish his affection. His childhood playmates
among the apes of Kerchak were now great, sullen brutes. They felt nor
inspired but little affection. The younger apes Tarzan still played
with occasionally. In his savage way he loved them; but they were far
from satisfying or restful companions. Tantor was a great mountain of
calm, of poise, of stability. It was restful and satisfying to sprawl
upon his rough pate and pour one's vague hopes and aspirations into the
great ears which flapped ponderously to and fro in apparent
understanding. Of all the jungle folk, Tantor commanded Tarzan's
greatest love since Kala had been taken from him. Sometimes Tarzan
wondered if Tantor reciprocated his affection. It was difficult to
know.

It was the call of the stomach--the most compelling and insistent call
which the jungle knows--that took Tarzan finally back to the trees and
off in search of food, while Tantor continued his interrupted journey
in the opposite direction.

For an hour the ape-man foraged. A lofty nest yielded its fresh, warm
harvest. Fruits, berries, and tender plantain found a place upon his
menu in the order that he happened upon them, for he did not seek such
foods. Meat, meat, meat! It was always meat that Tarzan of the Apes
hunted; but sometimes meat eluded him, as today.

And as he roamed the jungle his active mind busied itself not alone
with his hunting, but with many other subjects. He had a habit of
recalling often the events of the preceding days and hours. He lived
over his visit with Tantor; he cogitated upon the digging blacks and
the strange, covered pit they had left behind them. He wondered again
and again what its purpose might be. He compared perceptions and
arrived at judgments. He compared judgments, reaching conclusions--not
always correct ones, it is true, but at least he used his brain for the
purpose God intended it, which was the less difficult because he was
not handicapped by the second-hand, and usually erroneous, judgment of
others.

And as he puzzled over the covered pit, there loom