第52章

"Thank God, Professor," whispered Mr.Philander, fervently, "you are not dead, then?""Tut, tut, Mr.Philander, tut, tut," cautioned Professor Porter, "I do not know with accuracy as yet."With infinite solicitude Professor Porter wiggled his right arm--joy! It was intact.Breathlessly he waved his left arm above his prostrate body--it waved!

"Most remarkable, most remarkable," he said.

"To whom are you signaling, Professor?" asked Mr.Philander, in an excited tone.

Professor Porter deigned to make no response to this puerile inquiry.Instead he raised his head gently from the ground, nodding it back and forth a half dozen times.

"Most remarkable," he breathed."It remains intact."Mr.Philander had not moved from where he had fallen;he had not dared the attempt.How indeed could one move when one's arms and legs and back were broken?

One eye was buried in the soft loam; the other, rolling sidewise, was fixed in awe upon the strange gyrations of Professor Porter.

"How sad!" exclaimed Mr.Philander, half aloud."Concussion of the brain, superinducing total mental aberration.How very sad indeed! and for one still so young!"Professor Porter rolled over upon his stomach; gingerly he bowed his back until he resembled a huge tom cat in proximity to a yelping dog.Then he sat up and felt of various portions of his anatomy.

"They are all here," he exclaimed."Most remarkable!"Whereupon he arose, and, bending a scathing glance upon the still prostrate form of Mr.Samuel T.Philander, he said:

"Tut, tut, Mr.Philander; this is no time to indulge in slothful ease.We must be up and doing."Mr.Philander lifted his other eye out of the mud and gazed in speechless rage at Professor Porter.Then he attempted to rise; nor could there have been any more surprised than he when his efforts were immediately crowned with marked success.

He was still bursting with rage, however, at the cruel injustice of Professor Porter's insinuation, and was on the point of rendering a tart rejoinder when his eyes fell upon a strange figure standing a few paces away, scrutinizing them intently.

Professor Porter had recovered his shiny silk hat, which he had brushed carefully upon the sleeve of his coat and replaced upon his head.When he saw Mr.Philander pointing to something behind him he turned to behold a giant, naked but for a loin cloth and a few metal ornaments, standing motionless before him.

"Good evening, sir!" said the professor, lifting his hat.

For reply the giant motioned them to follow him, and set off up the beach in the direction from which they had recently come.

"I think it the better part of discretion to follow him," said Mr.Philander.

"Tut, tut, Mr.Philander," returned the professor."A short time since you were advancing a most logical argument in substantiation of your theory that camp lay directly south of us.

I was skeptical, but you finally convinced me; so now I am positive that toward the south we must travel to reach our friends.Therefore I shall continue south.""But, Professor Porter, this man may know better than either of us.He seems to be indigenous to this part of the world.Let us at least follow him for a short distance.""Tut, tut, Mr.Philander," repeated the professor."I am a difficult man to convince, but when once convinced my decision is unalterable.I shall continue in the proper direction, if I have to circumambulate the continent of Africa to reach my destination."Further argument was interrupted by Tarzan, who, seeing that these strange men were not following him, had returned to their side.

Again he beckoned to them; but still they stood in argument.

Presently the ape-man lost patience with their stupid ignorance.

He grasped the frightened Mr.Philander by the shoulder, and before that worthy gentleman knew whether he was being killed or merely maimed for life, Tarzan had tied one end of his rope securely about Mr.Philander's neck.

"Tut, tut, Mr.Philander," remonstrated Professor Porter;"it is most unbeseeming in you to submit to such indignities."But scarcely were the words out of his mouth ere he, too, had been seized and securely bound by the neck with the same rope.Then Tarzan set off toward the north, leading the now thoroughly frightened professor and his secretary.

In deathly silence they proceeded for what seemed hours to the two tired and hopeless old men; but presently as they topped a little rise of ground they were overjoyed to see the cabin lying before them, not a hundred yards distant.

Here Tarzan released them, and, pointing toward the little building, vanished into the jungle beside them.

"Most remarkable, most remarkable!" gasped the professor.

"But you see, Mr.Philander, that I was quite right, as usual; and but for your stubborn willfulness we should have escaped a series of most humiliating, not to say dangerous accidents.Pray allow yourself to be guided by a more mature and practical mind hereafter when in need of wise counsel."Mr.Samuel T.Philander was too much relieved at the happy outcome to their adventure to take umbrage at the professor's cruel fling.Instead he grasped his friend's arm and hastened him forward in the direction of the cabin.

It was a much-relieved party of castaways that found itself once more united.Dawn discovered them still recounting their various adventures and speculating upon the identity of the strange guardian and protector they had found on this savage shore.

Esmeralda was positive that it was none other than an angel of the Lord, sent down especially to watch over them.

"Had you seen him devour the raw meat of the lion, Esmeralda," laughed Clayton, "you would have thought him a very material angel.""There was nothing heavenly about his voice," said Jane Porter, with a little shudder at recollection of the awful roar which had followed the killing of the lioness.

"Nor did it precisely comport with my preconceived ideas of the dignity of divine messengers," remarked Professor Porter, "when the--ah--gentleman tied two highly respectable and erudite scholars neck to neck and dragged them through the jungle as though they had been cows."