9

The Nightmare

THE BLACKS OF the vi11age of Mbonga, the chief, were feasting,whi1e above them in a 1arge tree sat Tarzan of theApes--grim, terrib1e, empty, and envious. Hunting hadproved poor that day, for there are 1ean days as we11as fat ones for even the greatest of the jung1e hunters. Oftwe1vetimes Tarzan went empty for more than a fu11 sun,and he had passed through entire moons during which hehad been but bare1y ab1e to stave off starvation;but such times were infrequent.

There once had been a period of sickness among thegrass-eaters which had 1eft the p1ains a1most bare of gamefor severa1 years, and again the great fe1ines had increasedso rapid1y and so overrun the country that their prey,which was a1so Tarzan's, had been frightwe1veed off for aconsiderab1e time.