In the German Lines

Tarzan the Untamed

by Edgar R. Burroughs

IN THE GERMAN LINES, TARZAN THE UNTAMED by Edgar R. Burroughs
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Tarzan was not yet fully revenged. There were many
millions of Germans yet alive -- enough to keep Tarzan
pleasantly occupied the balance of his life, and yet not
enough, should he kill them all, to recompense him for the
great loss he had suffered -- nor could the death of all those
million Germans bring back his loved one.

While in the German camp in the Pare Mountains, which
lie just east of the boundary line between German and British
East Africa, Tarzan had overheard enough to suggest that
the British were getting the worst of the fighting in Africa. At
first he had given the matter but little thought, since, after
the
death of his wife, the one strong tie that had held him to
civilization, he had renounced all mankind, considering him-
self no longer man, but ape.

After accounting for Schneider as satisfactorily as lay within
his power he circled Kilimanjaro and hunted in the foothills
to the north of that mightiest of mountains as he had dis-
covered that in the neighborhood of the armies there was no
hunting at all. Some pleasure he derived through conjuring
mental pictures from time to time of the German he had left
in the branches of the lone tree at the bottom of the high-
walled gulch in which was penned the starving lion. He
could imagine the man's mental anguish as he became weak-
ened from hunger and maddened by thirst, knowing that
sooner or later he must slip exhausted to the ground where
waited the gaunt man-eater. Tarzan wondered if Schneider
would have the courage to descend to the little rivulet for
water should Numa leave the gulch and enter the cave, and
then he pictured the mad race for the tree again when the
lion charged out to seize his prey as he was certain to do,
since the clumsy German could not descend to the rivulet
without making at least some slight noise that would attract
Numa's attention.

But even this pleasure palled, and more and more the ape-
man found himself thinking of the English soldiers fighting
against heavy odds and especially of the fact that it was Ger-
mans who were beating them. The thought made him lower
his head and growl and it worried him not a little -- a bit, per-
haps, because he was finding it difficult to forget that he was
an Englishman when he wanted only to be an ape. And at
last the time came when he could not longer endure the
thought of Germans killing Englishmen while he hunted in
safety a bare march away.

His decision made, he set out in the direction of the German
camp, no well-defined plan formulated; but with the general
idea that once near the field of operations he might find an
opportunity to harass the German command as he so well
knew how to do. His way took him along the gorge close to
the gulch in which he had left Schneider, and, yielding to a
natural curiosity, he scaled the cliffs and made his way to the
edge of the gulch. The tree was empty, nor was there sign of
Numa, the lion. Picking up a rock he hurled it into the gulch,
where it rolled to the very entrance to the cave. Instantly the
lion appeared in the aperture; but such a different-looking lion
from the great sleek brute that Tarzan had trapped there two
weeks before. Now he was gaunt and emaciated, and when he
walked he staggered.

"Where is the German?" shouted Tarzan. "Was he good
eating, or only a bag of bones when he slipped and fell from
the tree?"

Numa growled. "You look hungry, Numa," continued the
ape-man. "You must have been very hungry to eat all the
grass from your lair and even the bark from the tree as far up
as you can reach. Would you like another German?" and
smiling he turned away.

A few minutes later he came suddenly upon Bara, the deer,
asleep beneath a tree, and as Tarzan was hungry he made a
quick kill, and squatting beside his prey proceeded to eat his
fill. As he was gnawing the last morsel from a bone his quick
ears caught the padding of stealthy feet behind him, and
turning he confronted Dango, the hyena, sneaking upon him.
With a growl the ape-man picked up a fallen branch and
hurled it at the skulking brute. "Go away, eater of carrion!"
he cried; but Dango was hungry and being large and power-
ful he only snarled and circled slowly about as though watch-
ing for an opportunity to charge. Tarzan of the Apes knew
Dango even better than Dango knew himself. He knew that
the brute, made savage by hunger, was mustering its courage
for an attack, that it was probably accustomed to man and
therefore more or less fearless of him and so he unslung his
heavy spear and laid it ready at his side while he continued
his meal, all the time keeping a watchful eye upon the hyena.

He felt no fear, for long familiarity with the dangers of his
wild world had so accustomed him to them that he took what-
ever came as a part of each day's existence as you accept the
homely though no less real dangers of the farm, the range, or
the crowded metropolis. Being jungle bred he was ready
to protect his kill from all comers within ordinary limitations
of caution. Under favorable conditions Tarzan would face
even Numa himself and, if forced to seek safety by flight, he
could do so without any feeling of shame. There was no
braver creature roamed those savage wilds and at the same
time there was none more wise -- the two factors that had
permitted him to survive.

Dango might have charged sooner but for the savage
growls of the ape-man -- growls which, coming from human
lips, raised a question and a fear in the hyena's heart. He
had attacked women and children in the native fields and he
had frightened their men about their fires at night; but he
never had seen a man-thing who made this sound that re-
minded him more of Numa angry than of a man afraid.

When Tarzan had completed his repast he was about to
rise and hurl a clean-picked bone at the beast before he went
his way, leaving the remains of his kill to Dango; but a sud-
den thought stayed him and instead he picked up the carcass
of the deer, threw it over his shoulder, and set off in the
direc-
tion of the gulch. For a few yards Dango followed, growling,
and then realizing that he was being robbed of even a taste
of the luscious flesh he cast discretion to the winds and
charged. Instantly, as though Nature had given him eyes in
the back of his head, Tarzan sensed the impending danger and,
dropping Bara to the ground, turned with raised spear. Far
back went the brown, right hand and then forward, lightning-
like, backed by the power of giant muscles and the weight of
his brawn and bone. The spear, released at the right instant,
drove straight for Dango, caught him in the neck where it
joined the shoulders and passed through the body.

When he had withdrawn the shaft from the hyena Tarzan
shouldered both carcasses and continued on toward the gulch.
Below lay Numa beneath the shade of the lone tree and at the
ape-man's call he staggered slowly to his feet, yet weak as he
was, he still growled savagely, even essaying a roar at the sight
of his enemy. Tarzan let the two bodies slide over the rim
of the cliff. "Eat, Numa!" he cried. "It may be that I shall
need you again." He saw the lion, quickened to new life at
the sight of food, spring upon the body of the deer and then
he left him rending and tearing the flesh as he bolted great
pieces into his empty maw.

The following day Tarzan came within sight of the German
lines. From a wooded spur of the hills he looked down upon
the enemy's left flank and beyond to the British lines. His
position gave him a bird's-eye view of the field of battle, and
his keen eyesight picked out many details that would not have
been apparent to a man whose every sense was not trained
to the highest point of perfection as were the ape-man's. He
noted machine-gun emplacements cunningly hidden from the
view of the British and listening posts placed well out in No
Man's Land.

As his interested gaze moved hither and thither from one
point of interest to another he heard from a point upon the
hillside below him, above the roar of cannon and the crack
of rifle fire, a single rifle spit. Immediately his attention was
centered upon the spot where he knew a sniper must be hid.
Patiently he awaited the next shot that would tell him more
surely the exact location of the rifleman, and when it came he
moved down the steep hillside with the stealth and quietness
of a panther. Apparently he took no cognizance of where he
stepped, yet never a loose stone was disturbed nor a twig
broken -- it was as though his feet saw.

Presently, as he passed through a clump of bushes, he came
to the edge of a low cliff and saw upon a ledge some fifteen
feet below him a German soldier prone behind an embank-
ment of loose rock and leafy boughs that hid him from the
view of the British lines. The man must have been an ex-
cellent shot, for he was well back of the German lines, firing
over the heads of his fellows. His high-powered rifle was
equipped with telescope sights and he also carried binoculars
which he was in the act of using as Tarzan discovered him,
either to note the effect of his last shot or to discover a new
target. Tarzan let his eye move quickly toward that part of
the British line the German seemed to be scanning, his keen
sight revealing many excellent targets for a rifle placed so high
above the trenches.

The Hun, evidently satisfied with his observations, laid aside
his binoculars and again took up his rifle, placed its butt in
the hollow of his shoulder and took careful aim. At the same
instant a brown body sprang outward from the cliff above him.
There was no sound and it is doubtful that the German ever
knew what manner of creature it was that alighted heavily
upon his back, for at the instant of impact the sinewy fingers
of the ape-man circled the hairy throat of the Boche. There
was a moment of futile struggling followed by the sudden
realization of dissolution -- the sniper was dead.

Lying behind the rampart of rocks and boughs, Tarzan
looked down upon the scene below. Near at hand were the
trenches of the Germans. He could see officers and men mov-
ing about in them and almost in front of him a well-hidden
machine gun was traversing No Man's Land in an oblique di-
rection, striking the British at such an angle as to make it dif-
ficult for them to locate it.

Tarzan watched, toying idly with the rifle of the dead Ger-
man. Presently he fell to examining the mechanism of the
piece. He glanced again toward the German trenches and
changed the adjustment of the sights, then he placed the rifle to
his shoulder and took aim. Tarzan was an excellent shot. With
his civilized friends he had hunted big game with the weapons
of civilization and though he never had killed except for food
or in self-defense he had amused himself firing at inanimate
targets thrown into the air and had perfected himself in the
use of firearms without realizing that he had done so. Now
indeed would he hunt big game. A slow smile touched his lips
as his finger closed gradually upon the trigger. The rifle
spoke and a German machine gunner collapsed behind his
weapon. In three minutes Tarzan picked off the crew of that
gun. Then he spotted a German officer emerging from a dug-
out and the three men in the bay with him. Tarzan was care-
ful to leave no one in the immediate vicinity to question how
Germans could be shot in German trenches when they were
entirely concealed from enemy view.

Again adjusting his sights he took a long-range shot at a
distant machine-gun crew to his right. With calm deliberation
he wiped them out to a man. Two guns were silenced. He
saw men running through the trenches and he picked off
several of them. By this time the Germans were aware that
something was amiss -- that an uncanny sniper had discovered
a point of vantage from which this sector of the trenches was
plainly visible to him. At first they sought to discover his
location in No Man's Land; but when an officer looking over
the parapet through a periscope was struck full in the back
of the head with a rifle bullet which passed through his skull
and fell to the bottom of the trench they realized that it was
beyond the parados rather than the parapet that they should
search.

One of the soldiers picked up the bullet that had killed his
officer, and then it was that real excitement prevailed in that
particular bay, for the bullet was obviously of German make.
Hugging the parados, messengers carried the word in both
directions and presently periscopes were leveled above the
parados and keen eyes were searching out the traitor. It did
not take them long to locate the position of the hidden sniper
and then Tarzan saw a machine gun being trained upon him.
Before it had gotten into action its crew lay dead about it; but
there were other men to take their places, reluctantly perhaps;
but driven on by their officers they were forced to it and at
the same time two other machine guns were swung around to-
ward the ape-man and put into operation.

Realizing that the game was about up Tarzan with a fare-
well shot laid aside the rifle and melted into the hills behind
him. For many minutes he could hear the sputter of machine-
gun fire concentrated upon the spot he had just quit and
smiled as he contemplated the waste of German ammunition.

"They have paid heavily for Wasimbu, the Waziri, whom
they crucified, and for his slain fellows," he mused; "but for
Jane they can never pay -- no, not if I killed them all."

After dark that night he circled the flanks of both armies
and passed through the British out-guards and into the British
lines. No man saw him come. No man knew that he was there.

Headquarters of the Second Rhodesians occupied a shel-
tered position far enough back of the lines to be compara-
tively safe from enemy observation. Even lights were per-
mitted, and Colonel Capell sat before a field table, on which
was spread a military map, talking with several of his officers.
A large tree spread above them, a lantern sputtered dimly
upon the table, while a small fire burned upon the ground
close at hand. The enemy had no planes and no other ob-
servers could have seen the lights from the German lines.

The officers were discussing the advantage in numbers pos-
sessed by the enemy and the inability of the British to more
than hold their present position. They could not advance. Al-
ready they had sustained severe losses in every attack and had
always been driven back by overwhelming numbers. There
were hidden machine guns, too, that bothered the colonel con-
siderably. It was evidenced by the fact that he often reverted
to them during the conversation.

"Something silenced them for a while this afternoon," said
one of the younger officers. "I was observing at the time and
I couldn't make out what the fuss was about; but they seemed
to be having a devil of a time in a section of trench on their
left. At one time I could have sworn they were attacked in
the rear -- I reported it to you at the time, sir, you'll recall
--
for the blighters were pepperin' away at the side of that bluff
behind them. I could see the dirt fly. I don't know what it
could have been."

There was a slight rustling among the branches of the tree
above them and simultaneously a lithe, brown body dropped
in their midst. Hands moved quickly to the butts of pistols;
but otherwise there was no movement among the officers.
First they looked wonderingly at the almost naked white man
standing there with the firelight playing upon rounded muscles,
took in the primitive attire and the equally primitive arma-
ment and then all eyes turned toward the colonel.

"Who the devil are you, sir?" snapped that officer.

"Tarzan of the Apes," replied the newcomer.

"Oh, Greystoke!" cried a major, and stepped forward with
outstretched hand.

"Preswick," acknowledged Tarzan as he took the proffered
hand.

"I didn't recognize you at first," apologized the major. "The
last time I saw you you were in London in evening dress.
Quite a difference -- 'pon my word, man, you'll have to admit
it.

Tarzan smiled and turned toward the colonel. "I overheard
your conversation," he said. "I have just come from behind
the German lines. Possibly I can help you."

The colonel looked questioningly toward Major Preswick
who quickly rose to the occasion and presented the ape-man
to his commanding officer and fellows. Briefly Tarzan told
them what it was that brought him out alone in pursuit of the
Germans.

"And now you have come to join us?" asked the colonel.

Tarzan shook his head. "Not regularly," he replied. "I
must fight in my own way; but I can help you. Whenever I
wish I can enter the German lines."

Capell smiled and shook his head. "It's not so easy as you
think," he said; "I've lost two good officers in the last week
trying it -- and they were experienced men; none better in the
Intelligence Department."

"Is it more difficult than entering the British lines?" asked
Tarzan.

The colonel was about to reply when a new thought ap-
peared to occur to him and he looked quizzically at the ape-
man. "Who brought you here?" he asked. "Who passed you
through our out-guards?"

"I have just come through the German lines and yours and
passed through your camp," he replied. "Send word to as-
certain if anyone saw me."

"But who accompanied you?" insisted Capell.

"I came alone," replied Tarzan and then, drawing himself to
his full height, "You men of civilization, when you come into
the jungle, are as dead among the quick. Manu, the monkey,
is a sage by comparison. I marvel that you exist at all -- only
your numbers, your weapons, and your power of reason-
ing save you. Had I a few hundred great apes with your reason-
ing power I could drive the Germans into the ocean as quickly
as the remnant of them could reach the coast. Fortunate it is
for you that the dumb brutes cannot combine. Could they,
Africa would remain forever free of men. But come, can I
help you? Would you like to know where several machine-
gun emplacements are hidden?"

The colonel assured him that they would, and a moment
later Tarzan had traced upon the map the location of three
that had been bothering the English. "There is a weak spot
here," he said, placing a finger upon the map. "It is held by
blacks; but the machine guns out in front are manned by
whites. If -- wait! I have a plan. You can fill that trench
with your own men and enfilade the trenches to its right with
their own machine guns."

Colonel Capell smiled and shook his head. "It sounds very
easy," he said.

"It IS easy -- for me," replied the ape-man. "I can empty
that section of trench without a shot. I was raised in the
jungle -- I know the jungle folk -- the Gomangani as well as
the others. Look for me again on the second night," and he
turned to leave.

"Wait," said the colonel. "I will send an officer to pass you
through the lines."

Tarzan smiled and moved away. As he was leaving the
little group about headquarters he passed a small figure
wrapped in an officer's heavy overcoat. The collar was turned
up and the visor of the military cap pulled well down over the
eyes; but, as the ape-man passed, the light from the fire illumi-
nated the features of the newcomer for an instant, revealing
to Tarzan a vaguely familiar face. Some officer he had known
in London, doubtless, he surmised, and went his way through
the British camp and the British lines all unknown to the
watchful sentinels of the out-guard.

Nearly all night he moved across Kilimanjaro's foothills,
tracking by instinct an unknown way, for he guessed that what
he sought would be found on some wooded slope higher up
than he had come upon his other recent journeys in this, to
him, little known country. Three hours before dawn his keen
nostrils apprised him that somewhere in the vicinity he would
find what he wanted, and so he climbed into a tall tree and
settled himself for a few hours' sleep.