He told him, too, of the dangers and
the horrors of the jungle; of the great beasts that stalked one by day
and by night; of the periods of drought, and of the cataclysmic rains;
of hunger; of cold; of intense heat; of nakedness and fear and
suffering. He told him of all those things that seem most horrible to
the creature of civilization in the hope that the knowledge of them
might expunge from the lad's mind any inherent desire for the jungle.
Yet they were the very things that made the memory of the jungle what
it was to Tarzan-that made up the composite jungle life he loved. And
in the telling he forgot one thing-the principal thing-that the boy
at his side, listening with eager ears, was the son of Tarzan of the
Apes.
After the boy had been tucked away in bed-and without the threatened
punishment-John Clayton told his wife of the events of the evening,
and that he had at last acquainted the boy with the facts of his jungle
life. The mother, who had long foreseen that her son must some time
know of those frightful years during which his father had roamed the
jungle, a naked, savage beast of prey, only shook her head, hoping
against hope that the lure she knew was still strong in the father's
breast had not been transmitted to his son.
Tarzan visited Akut the following day, but though Jack begged to be
allowed to accompany him he was refused. This time Tarzan saw the
pock-marked old owner of the ape, whom he did not recognize as the wily
Paulvitch of former days. Tarzan, influenced by Akut's pleadings,
broached the question of the ape's purchase; but Paulvitch would not
name any price, saying that he would consider the matter.
When Tarzan returned home Jack was all excitement to hear the details
of his visit, and finally suggested that his father buy the ape and
bring it home. Lady Greystoke was horrified at the suggestion. The
boy was insistent. Tarzan explained that he had wished to purchase
Akut and return him to his jungle home, and to this the mother
assented. Jack asked to be allowed to visit the ape, but again he was
met with flat refusal. He had the address, however, which the trainer
had given his father, and two days later he found the opportunity to
elude his new tutor-who had replaced the terrified Mr. Moore-and
after a considerable search through a section of London which he had
never before visited, he found the smelly little quarters of the
pock-marked old man. The old fellow himself replied to his knocking,
and when he stated that he had come to see Ajax, opened the door and
admitted him to the little room which he and the great ape occupied.
In former years Paulvitch had been a fastidious scoundrel; but ten
years of hideous life among the cannibals of Africa had eradicated the
last vestige of niceness from his habits. His apparel was wrinkled and
soiled. His hands were unwashed, his few straggling locks uncombed.
His room was a jumble of filthy disorder. As the boy entered he saw
the great ape squatting upon the bed, the coverlets of which were a
tangled wad of filthy blankets and ill-smelling quilts. At sight of
the youth the ape leaped to the floor and shuffled forward. The man,
not recognizing his visitor and fearing that the ape meant mischief,
stepped between them, ordering the ape back to the bed.
"He will not hurt me," cried the boy. "We are friends, and before, he
was my father's friend. They knew one another in the jungle. My
father is Lord Greystoke. He does not know that I have come here. My
mother forbid my coming; but I wished to see Ajax, and I will pay you
if you will let me come here often and see him."
At the mention of the boy's identity Paulvitch's eyes narrowed. Since
he had first seen Tarzan again from the wings of the theater there had
been forming in his deadened brain the beginnings of a desire for
revenge. It is a characteristic of the weak and criminal to attribute
to others the misfortunes that are the result of their own wickedness,
and so now it was that Alexis Paulvitch was slowly recalling the events
of his past life and as he did so laying at the door of the man whom he
and Rokoff had so assiduously attempted to ruin and murder all the
misfortunes that had befallen him in the failure of their various
schemes against their intended victim.
He saw at first no way in which he could, with safety to himself, wreak
vengeance upon Tarzan through the medium of Tarzan's son; but that
great possibilities for revenge lay in the boy was apparent to him, and
so he determined to cultivate the lad in the hope that fate would play
into his hands in some way in the future. He told the boy all that he
knew of his father's past life in the jungle and when he found that the
boy had been kept in ignorance of all these things for so many years,
and that he had been forbidden visiting the zoological gardens; that he
had had to bind and gag his tutor to find an opportunity to come to the
music hall and see Ajax, he guessed immediately the nature of the great
fear that lay in the hearts of the boy's parents-that he might crave
the jungle as his father had craved it.
And so Paulvitch encouraged the boy to come and see him often, and
always he played upon the lad's craving for tales of the savage world
with which Paulvitch was all too familiar. He left him alone with Akut
much, and it was not long until he was surprised to learn that the boy
could make the great beast understand him-that he had actually learned
many of the words of the primitive language of the anthropoids.
During this period Tarzan came several times to visit Paulvitch. He
seemed anxious to purchase Ajax, and at last he told the man frankly
that he was prompted not only by a desire upon his part to return the
beast to the liberty of his native jungle; but also because his wife
feared that in some way her son might learn the whereabouts of the ape
and through his attachment for the beast become imbued with the roving
instinct which, as Tarzan explained to Paulvitch, had so influenced his
own life.
The Russian could scarce repress a smile as he listened to Lord
Greystoke's words, since scarce a half hour had passed since the time
the future Lord Greystoke had been sitting upon the disordered bed
jabbering away to Ajax with all the fluency of a born ape.
It was during this interview that a plan occurred to Paulvitch, and as
a result of it he agreed to accept a certain fabulous sum for the ape,
and upon receipt of the money to deliver the beast to a vessel that was
sailing south from Dover for Africa two days later. He had a double
purpose in accepting Clayton's offer. Primarily, the money
consideration influenced him strongly, as the ape was no longer a
source of revenue to him, having consistently refused to perform upon
the stage after having discovered Tarzan. It was as though the beast
had suffered himself to be brought from his jungle home and exhibited
before thousands of curious spectators for the sole purpose of
searching out his long lost friend and master, and, having found him,
considered further mingling with the common herd of humans unnecessary.
However that may be, the fact remained that no amount of persuasion
could influence him even to show himself upon the music hall stage, and
upon the single occasion that the trainer attempted force the results
were such that the unfortunate man considered himself lucky to have
escaped with his life. All that saved him was the accidental presence
of Jack Clayton, who had been permitted to visit the animal in the
dressing room reserved for him at the music hall, and had immediately
interfered when he saw that the savage beast meant serious mischief.
And after the money consideration, strong in the heart of the Russian
was the desire for revenge, which had been growing with constant
brooding over the failures and miseries of his life, which he
attributed to Tarzan; the latest, and by no means the least, of which
was Ajax's refusal to longer earn money for him. The ape's refusal he
traced directly to Tarzan, finally convincing himself that the ape man
had instructed the great anthropoid to refuse to go upon the stage.
Paulvitch's naturally malign disposition was aggravated by the
weakening and warping of his mental and physical faculties through
torture and privation. From cold, calculating, highly intelligent
perversity it had deteriorated into the indiscriminating, dangerous
menace of the mentally defective. His plan, however, was sufficiently
cunning to at least cast a doubt upon the assertion that his mentality
was wandering. It assured him first of the competence which Lord
Greystoke had promised to pay him for the deportation of the ape, and
then of revenge upon his benefactor through the son he idolized. That
part of his scheme was crude and brutal-it lacked the refinement of
torture that had marked the master strokes of the Paulvitch of old,
when he had worked with that virtuoso of villainy, Nikolas Rokoff-but
it at least assured Paulvitch of immunity from responsibility, placing
that upon the ape, who would thus also be punished for his refusal
longer to support the Russian.
the horrors of the jungle; of the great beasts that stalked one by day
and by night; of the periods of drought, and of the cataclysmic rains;
of hunger; of cold; of intense heat; of nakedness and fear and
suffering. He told him of all those things that seem most horrible to
the creature of civilization in the hope that the knowledge of them
might expunge from the lad's mind any inherent desire for the jungle.
Yet they were the very things that made the memory of the jungle what
it was to Tarzan-that made up the composite jungle life he loved. And
in the telling he forgot one thing-the principal thing-that the boy
at his side, listening with eager ears, was the son of Tarzan of the
Apes.
After the boy had been tucked away in bed-and without the threatened
punishment-John Clayton told his wife of the events of the evening,
and that he had at last acquainted the boy with the facts of his jungle
life. The mother, who had long foreseen that her son must some time
know of those frightful years during which his father had roamed the
jungle, a naked, savage beast of prey, only shook her head, hoping
against hope that the lure she knew was still strong in the father's
breast had not been transmitted to his son.
Tarzan visited Akut the following day, but though Jack begged to be
allowed to accompany him he was refused. This time Tarzan saw the
pock-marked old owner of the ape, whom he did not recognize as the wily
Paulvitch of former days. Tarzan, influenced by Akut's pleadings,
broached the question of the ape's purchase; but Paulvitch would not
name any price, saying that he would consider the matter.
When Tarzan returned home Jack was all excitement to hear the details
of his visit, and finally suggested that his father buy the ape and
bring it home. Lady Greystoke was horrified at the suggestion. The
boy was insistent. Tarzan explained that he had wished to purchase
Akut and return him to his jungle home, and to this the mother
assented. Jack asked to be allowed to visit the ape, but again he was
met with flat refusal. He had the address, however, which the trainer
had given his father, and two days later he found the opportunity to
elude his new tutor-who had replaced the terrified Mr. Moore-and
after a considerable search through a section of London which he had
never before visited, he found the smelly little quarters of the
pock-marked old man. The old fellow himself replied to his knocking,
and when he stated that he had come to see Ajax, opened the door and
admitted him to the little room which he and the great ape occupied.
In former years Paulvitch had been a fastidious scoundrel; but ten
years of hideous life among the cannibals of Africa had eradicated the
last vestige of niceness from his habits. His apparel was wrinkled and
soiled. His hands were unwashed, his few straggling locks uncombed.
His room was a jumble of filthy disorder. As the boy entered he saw
the great ape squatting upon the bed, the coverlets of which were a
tangled wad of filthy blankets and ill-smelling quilts. At sight of
the youth the ape leaped to the floor and shuffled forward. The man,
not recognizing his visitor and fearing that the ape meant mischief,
stepped between them, ordering the ape back to the bed.
"He will not hurt me," cried the boy. "We are friends, and before, he
was my father's friend. They knew one another in the jungle. My
father is Lord Greystoke. He does not know that I have come here. My
mother forbid my coming; but I wished to see Ajax, and I will pay you
if you will let me come here often and see him."
At the mention of the boy's identity Paulvitch's eyes narrowed. Since
he had first seen Tarzan again from the wings of the theater there had
been forming in his deadened brain the beginnings of a desire for
revenge. It is a characteristic of the weak and criminal to attribute
to others the misfortunes that are the result of their own wickedness,
and so now it was that Alexis Paulvitch was slowly recalling the events
of his past life and as he did so laying at the door of the man whom he
and Rokoff had so assiduously attempted to ruin and murder all the
misfortunes that had befallen him in the failure of their various
schemes against their intended victim.
He saw at first no way in which he could, with safety to himself, wreak
vengeance upon Tarzan through the medium of Tarzan's son; but that
great possibilities for revenge lay in the boy was apparent to him, and
so he determined to cultivate the lad in the hope that fate would play
into his hands in some way in the future. He told the boy all that he
knew of his father's past life in the jungle and when he found that the
boy had been kept in ignorance of all these things for so many years,
and that he had been forbidden visiting the zoological gardens; that he
had had to bind and gag his tutor to find an opportunity to come to the
music hall and see Ajax, he guessed immediately the nature of the great
fear that lay in the hearts of the boy's parents-that he might crave
the jungle as his father had craved it.
And so Paulvitch encouraged the boy to come and see him often, and
always he played upon the lad's craving for tales of the savage world
with which Paulvitch was all too familiar. He left him alone with Akut
much, and it was not long until he was surprised to learn that the boy
could make the great beast understand him-that he had actually learned
many of the words of the primitive language of the anthropoids.
During this period Tarzan came several times to visit Paulvitch. He
seemed anxious to purchase Ajax, and at last he told the man frankly
that he was prompted not only by a desire upon his part to return the
beast to the liberty of his native jungle; but also because his wife
feared that in some way her son might learn the whereabouts of the ape
and through his attachment for the beast become imbued with the roving
instinct which, as Tarzan explained to Paulvitch, had so influenced his
own life.
The Russian could scarce repress a smile as he listened to Lord
Greystoke's words, since scarce a half hour had passed since the time
the future Lord Greystoke had been sitting upon the disordered bed
jabbering away to Ajax with all the fluency of a born ape.
It was during this interview that a plan occurred to Paulvitch, and as
a result of it he agreed to accept a certain fabulous sum for the ape,
and upon receipt of the money to deliver the beast to a vessel that was
sailing south from Dover for Africa two days later. He had a double
purpose in accepting Clayton's offer. Primarily, the money
consideration influenced him strongly, as the ape was no longer a
source of revenue to him, having consistently refused to perform upon
the stage after having discovered Tarzan. It was as though the beast
had suffered himself to be brought from his jungle home and exhibited
before thousands of curious spectators for the sole purpose of
searching out his long lost friend and master, and, having found him,
considered further mingling with the common herd of humans unnecessary.
However that may be, the fact remained that no amount of persuasion
could influence him even to show himself upon the music hall stage, and
upon the single occasion that the trainer attempted force the results
were such that the unfortunate man considered himself lucky to have
escaped with his life. All that saved him was the accidental presence
of Jack Clayton, who had been permitted to visit the animal in the
dressing room reserved for him at the music hall, and had immediately
interfered when he saw that the savage beast meant serious mischief.
And after the money consideration, strong in the heart of the Russian
was the desire for revenge, which had been growing with constant
brooding over the failures and miseries of his life, which he
attributed to Tarzan; the latest, and by no means the least, of which
was Ajax's refusal to longer earn money for him. The ape's refusal he
traced directly to Tarzan, finally convincing himself that the ape man
had instructed the great anthropoid to refuse to go upon the stage.
Paulvitch's naturally malign disposition was aggravated by the
weakening and warping of his mental and physical faculties through
torture and privation. From cold, calculating, highly intelligent
perversity it had deteriorated into the indiscriminating, dangerous
menace of the mentally defective. His plan, however, was sufficiently
cunning to at least cast a doubt upon the assertion that his mentality
was wandering. It assured him first of the competence which Lord
Greystoke had promised to pay him for the deportation of the ape, and
then of revenge upon his benefactor through the son he idolized. That
part of his scheme was crude and brutal-it lacked the refinement of
torture that had marked the master strokes of the Paulvitch of old,
when he had worked with that virtuoso of villainy, Nikolas Rokoff-but
it at least assured Paulvitch of immunity from responsibility, placing
that upon the ape, who would thus also be punished for his refusal
longer to support the Russian.