Chapter 9 Taishan Zhongji

On the day Cander ben Heaton traveled south, the stagecoach brought Tarzan a letter from Dianot.This letter was transferred from the city of West Diberabah in Algeria, and it touched the wound in Taishan's heart that he hoped to forget completely.But he wasn't annoyed by D'Arnot's letter, because he mentioned at least one thing that Tarzan would always be interested in.Below is the letter. Dear John: Since I last wrote to you, I have been in London on business. I was there for three days, and on the first day I ran into an old friend of yours on Henrietta Avenue.You probably never dreamed who it was.

Listen to me, it's Mr. Samuel Philander.real.I seem to see the look of disbelief on your face.However, what surprises you is yet to come!He insisted that I go with him to the hotel where he was staying.There I met Professor Archimedes Potter, Miss Potter, and that tall fat black woman—Miss Potter's maid, Esmeralda, you will recall.While I was there, Clayton came.They were getting married, or were going to be married soon.I think we may get an announcement about this at any moment.Because the man's father passed away recently, they didn't plan to have a big wedding, and only invited their own relatives.

When it was just me and Mr. Philander, the old man had a heart-to-heart talk with me.Miss Porter had postponed the wedding three times, he said.He also confided to me that, in my opinion, Miss Potter was in no hurry to marry Clayton at all, but this time, she was likely to be married. Of course they all asked about you.Since I respect your wishes regarding your origin, I will only tell them about your present situation. Miss Potter took a special interest in what I said about you, and asked me many questions.I describe your desire and determination to eventually return to the African bush.Not only was there no sense of flattery during the conversation, but he was secretly happy about it.But I regretted it afterwards.

For she seems to be very sorry to think of your wish to return to the terrible old forest full of dangers.She said: "However, I know that life has given Mr. Tarzan far more unfortunate disasters than the cruel and terrible primeval forest. There, at least he can maintain peace of conscience. During the day, there will be ease and joy." When it is still and the scenery is extremely beautiful. You may wonder how someone like me who has seen so much danger in the terrible jungle can say such words. However, there are times when I wish I could go back to In the forest. For it was there that I spent the happiest moments of my life."

There was an indelible, sad look on her face as she spoke.I feel as if I know that I know her secret, that in this way she is passing through me to you her last tender message from the bottom of her heart.She still has you engraved deep in her heart, and that heart belongs to someone else. When it comes to you, Clayton looks tense, very restless, anxious, irritable.However, he is still very interested in you, and he is very friendly, and I think he may have begun to doubt your parentage. With Clayton came Lord Tennington.They were great friends, and he was going on a cruise on his yacht, trying to get everyone to go with him.He also repeatedly persuaded me to join in the fun.He appears to be sailing around Africa this time.I told him that if he still thought his precious "toy ship" was a big liner, or a big man-of-war, sooner or later it would take him and his friends to the bottom of the sea to meet God.

I was back in Paris the day before yesterday, and yesterday I met the Comte de Cauder and his wife at the races.They ask how you are. De Cauder is indeed very fond of you, and does not seem to have the slightest regard for you.Olga was as beautiful as ever, only a little more discreet.I think she must have learned a lesson from your association, which will serve her well for the rest of her life.No matter for her or Deqingde, they are lucky to meet you.Had other, more worldly and complicated people been involved in the affair, it would never have had such a happy ending. If you had really courted Olga, I am afraid that neither of you would have had any hope of falling out of love.

She told me to tell you that Nicolas has left France.She gave him 20,000 francs to send him away from her palace, and to see him no more.She is glad that she finally settled his grievances with you with money before he tried to harm you.Because Nicholas recently threatened her to kill you at the first chance.She also said that she did not want her brother to die by your hands, because she liked you very much.Even in the count's presence, she said so without hesitation.But she has always felt that when you and Nicholas meet, you can only fight to the death, there is no other possibility.The count also agreed with her.

But he added that if Rukov wanted to kill you, he would have to add a regiment of troops.He is overwhelmed with admiration for your valor. I have received orders to return to the ship.In two days we shall sail from Le Havre by order.If you write the letter to the army and indicate that it will be forwarded by my ship, it will be received properly.I'll write to you as soon as I get a chance. your most loyal friend Paul Diarnot After reading the letter, Qin Shan said to himself, "I'm afraid Olga threw away 20,000 francs for nothing." He read several times the passage that relayed the conversation between D'Arnot and Jeanne Potter, and took a poignant sense of happiness from it.In fact, there is no happiness or joy as well.

Nothing happened for the next three weeks, it was pretty quiet.Tarzan saw the mysterious Arab a few more times, and once saw him and Genoes cooing something.However, although a series of reconnaissance methods were adopted, it was never clear where the Arab lived.And it was this that Tarzan was eager to ascertain. Gnoes has never been a person who is good at socializing. Since the episode in the restaurant of the Omer Hotel, he has become more and more distant from Tarzan.several times ① Le Havre (Le Havre): French port city. When they met by chance, he was always marked with hostility.

In order to play his role well, Taishan spent a lot of time hunting in the outskirts of Bousada. He often stayed down the mountain all day long, pretending to be looking for gazelles.A few times, he actually encountered these cute little animals, and he was close enough to kill them, but he was puzzled and let them escape from his eyes.Tarzan wondered what pleasure it would be to kill the most harmless and defenseless creature of God's creation. In fact, Tarzan never killed for fun.He really didn't understand the joy of killing.He only likes to fight for justice, and only wants to enjoy the joy of victory.In the primeval forest, in order to hunt for food, he developed his own agility and vigilance in the competition with other animals' agility and wit.

But running from a city where there is food and drink, to shoot a soft-eyed, lovely gazelle, ah!That is even crueler than murdering one's own compatriots insanely!Taishan will never do this kind of thing.Therefore, he always went out hunting alone, so as not to be seen as an affectation. Once, he almost lost his life because he walked so alone.He was riding slowly across a ditch when a shot fired far behind him, and a bullet pierced the cork helmet on his head.He galloped his horse up the edge of the ditch, looked around, but didn't even see a single person.And until entering the city of Busada, I didn't see another person along the way. "Yes," he said to himself, remembering the incident, "Olga did throw away twenty thousand francs for nothing." That evening Captain Gerald gave him a light dinner. "Look, your hunting is not going well?" the officer asked. "Isn't it?" replied Tarzan, "the beasts here are too timid, and besides, I don't like to shoot birds and antelopes very much. I think it's better to go further south and try to shoot some Algerian lions." "Great!" the captain shouted happily. "Tomorrow we will set off for Jalfa. You can at least walk there with us. The superior ordered me and Lieutenant Genoes to lead a hundred soldiers to that area." Patrol because there's a lot of banditry there. Maybe we'll have the good fortune to hunt lions together! What do you think?" For Taishan, this opportunity is of course a dream.He didn't pretend to be hesitant.However, if the captain knew the real reason for Tarzan's joy, he would be surprised.Gnoes sat across from Tarzan, and he was not very satisfied with the captain's invitation. "You'll find that hunting lions is a lot more fun and a lot more thrilling than hunting gazelles." said Captain Gerald. "But even shooting a gazelle has its own dangers," said Tarzan, "especially when one is on the job alone. I know that very well today. I have also found that, though the gazelle is the most fearless animal, But it is not the most cowardly coward." After saying this, he casually glanced at Gnoes.Because he didn't want this person to know, he was suspected and watched.But the reaction of his words to the lieutenant seemed to prove that he had something to do with, or knew about, something that had happened recently.Tarzan was very satisfied to see that Genoyce's neck was flushed, and he changed the subject at once. When the troops set out from Bousada the next morning, they were followed by six Arabs. Tarzan asked Captain Gerald what was the matter, and Gerald replied, "They are following orders, and they are only with us for the safety of the road." Since arriving in Algeria, Tarzan had gained a certain understanding of the character of the Arabs.He believed that this was not their real motive, since the Arabs do not like to go with strangers, especially French soldiers, and he was suddenly suspicious, and made up his mind to keep a close watch on the rear of the troops about a quarter of a mile away. The few people walking in the place.However, they refused to come over even when they were resting, so he couldn't watch them carefully. Taishan believed that there must be hired assassins among the few people following. He also had no doubt that Zhukov was the main backer of this conspiracy.But whether this Russian guy wants to avenge his past defeats and humiliations by Tarzan, or whether it has something to do with his secret mission to spy on Gnoes, he doesn't know.If it was the latter--probably, judging from Gnoes' suspicion of him--he would have two rather formidable enemies to contend with.In the remote mountains of Algeria, it is too easy to quietly kill an opponent without being suspected.In fact, they must do this kind of thing. After two days in Jalfa, the troops moved southwest again.Because there is news that bandits are robbing the tribes living at the foot of the mountain. The Arabs who had come with the troops from Bousada disappeared without a trace that night after the order to march from Jalfa was announced early the next morning. Taishan pretended to be completely accidental, and asked people about the whereabouts of those people, but no one knew why they left Jalfa suddenly, let alone their whereabouts. Half an hour after Captain Ladd had issued his instructions concerning the operation, he saw Gnoes having a surreptitious exchange with one of the Arabs. Only Genoes and Tarzan knew the direction of this transfer.The soldiers only knew that they would set off early the next morning, but the details were not clear.Tarzan suspected that Gnoes might have told the Arabs the purpose of the troops' actions. Later that afternoon, they pitched camp in a small desert oasis.Here is a tribe led by a chief.His livestock were driven away by bandits, and the shepherd was killed by bandits.These Arabs came out of their sheepskin tents, surrounded the soldiers, and asked questions in the local dialect.Because the soldiers are all locals.With the help of Abu Dar, Tarzan can already speak a little Arabic.While the chief was thanking Gerald, Tarzan struck up a conversation with a young man who had accompanied the chief. The boy said he hadn't seen six men on horseback coming from Jalfa.But there are still a few "oases" around, maybe they have gone to a "paradise" in the "oasis".He also said that there were many bandits on the mountain, and they often broke up and ran to Bousada in the north, and even as far as Omer and Buela.Therefore, it is entirely possible that these six people were bandits who went to a certain town to play and then came back to their old den. In the early morning of the second day, Captain Gerald divided the troops into two, commanded by Lieutenant Gnoes and him respectively, to search the mountains on both sides of the desert. "Who would Mr. Tarzan want to go with?" asked the captain, "or would he not want to go after bandits with us at all?" "Oh, I really want to go." He quickly explained, but couldn't think of any excuse to go with Lieutenant Gnoes.But he wasn't too embarrassed, it was Gnoes who rescued him. "If the captain is willing to give up the pleasure of traveling with Mr., so that I am as expert as Mr. today, I will be very honored." He said, his tone was very sincere.Taishan felt that it was a bit too artificial, but even so, he was both surprised and happy, and quickly expressed his satisfaction with this arrangement. So Gnoes and Tarzan rode side by side at the head of the little Algerian cavalry.Gnoes's enthusiasm and kindness did not last long.As soon as he was out of sight of Captain Gerald and his men he fell into his usual moody mood.The further you go, the rougher the road becomes.They climbed up the mountain step by step.At noon, through a narrow river valley.Gnoes ordered to rest where he was by a stream. The soldiers sat down and ate dry food and filled the water bottles. After resting for an hour, they moved forward along the valley until they entered another canyon.This canyon is divided into several ravines with strange rocks.Here they stopped, and Gnoes stood at the bottom of the valley, carefully observing the height of the surrounding cliffs. "We split up here," he said, "and search a ditch each way." After speaking, he divided the troops into several groups, and assigned tasks to the temporarily designated person in charge, then turned to Tai Shan and said, "Until we come back, sir, you'd better stay here." Taishan objected, and Gnoes interrupted and said: "We may fight. During the battle, the troops cannot put themselves in trouble just because they take care of an ordinary people." "But, dear Lieutenant," Tarzan persuaded patiently, "I would very much like to go to war under your command or your sergeant, or even a corporal. You know, that is why I came with you." "That's true," retorted Gnoes, with an undisguised sneer of contempt.Then he said impatiently: "You must obey my order. And my order is, until we come back, stay here honestly. That's it." Then he turned around and took his men and horses away.After a while, Taishan found that he was alone in the desolate mountains. It was hot, and he found shade under a nearby tree, hung up the horse, sat down to light a cigarette, and cursed Gnoes for daring to play him like this. Taishan thought that this kind of revenge would be too despicable.But it suddenly occurred to him that the lieutenant was no fool, and he would never offend him with such a trivial, meaningless prank.There must be a more vicious conspiracy behind this incident.Thinking of this, he immediately stood up, untied his gun jacket, and took out his rifle.The chamber is full of bullets!Checked the pistol again.After completing the most basic preparations, Taishan glanced at the surrounding mountains and several ravines, making up his mind that he would never fall into the trap set by Gnoesb. The sun had already set, and the cavalry had not yet returned, and the valley finally fell into darkness.Taishan's self-esteem was too strong, he thought that this valley must be the gathering place for the cavalry, he must wait for them to come back, and he would never go back to the camp alone.As the night grew darker, Taishan felt safer.He was always at home in the dark.He knew that no one who wanted to approach the ground could escape his extremely sensitive ears; nor could he escape his eyes—because he could see things clearly in the dark.And his nose, so he could smell enemies if they came with the wind. He felt that there would not be much danger, so he fell asleep with his back against the tree trunk with a sense of security. He must have slept for hours, for when he was awakened by the sound of the horse snorting in terror, struggling and galloping, the moon was in the middle of the sky, illuminating the narrow valley.Less than ten feet away, stood a beast that frightened his mount. It turned out to be El Ari the Black Lion.It is majestic and very beautiful, with a graceful tail stretched out and gently shaking, its eyes are like two burning fires, staring straight at Mount Tai.A kind of happiness stimulated Taishan's nerves, he seemed to meet an old friend whom he had not seen for many years, and for a moment, he stood there upright, admiring this majestic king of beasts. The black lion El Ari had already knelt down and was about to pounce on him.Tarzan slowly raised his gun.He had never killed a larger animal with a gun in his life.So far, he has fought lions with spears, lassoes, hunting knives, or with his bare hands.Instinctively, he hoped to use poisoned arrows and a hunting knife against El Ari, which seemed more certain. The black lion's belly was on the ground, with only one head exposed.Tarzan wanted to fire at it from the side.He knew that after the lion was hit, even if it could live for two minutes, or even one minute, it would cause extremely heavy casualties to people.If a horse stands behind Mount Tai for a minute, it will cause extremely heavy casualties to people.The horse stood behind Taishan and trembled all over.Tarzan took a cautious step aside.The eyes of the black lion followed Taishan.He took another step, and a third. El Arduan didn't move, and now he could aim between its eyes and ears. He pulled the trigger, and with the sound of the gun, the black lion jumped up, and at the same time, the frightened horse struggled desperately, broke the rein, and galloped down the valley to the desert. The black lion opened its sharp claws and swooped forward. No ordinary person would escape the catastrophe at such a short distance.But Taishan is not an ordinary person. Since childhood, the sinister environment has tempered his muscles to be as responsive as his brain.Although El Ari is like the wind in the mountains, Tarzan is like the lightning in the sky. With a flash of his body, the giant beast slammed into a big tree.Taishan fired another shot two steps away from the side of the street, and the black lion bared its teeth and claws, and fell to the ground with a long howl. Tarzan fired two more shots, and El Ari's roar stopped abruptly, and he lay motionless on the ground.At this time, Mr. John Tarzan restored the "true face" of Tarzan the ape.He stepped on El Ari's body, turned his back to the sky, and uttered the words from the bottom of his heart after the great ape killed the prey facing the round full moon. A creepy roar.The wild animals hunting for food on the mountain trembled with fear and stopped to listen to the terrible cry that had never been heard before.The children in the wilderness at the foot of the mountain got out of the sheepskin tents and looked up the mountain, wondering what kind of pests they had never seen before came to ruin their livestock again. Half a mile away from the canyon where Tarzan killed the black lion, 20 figures in white clothes and spears on their shoulders stopped when they heard the cry.But after a while, I didn't hear the terrible cry again, so I went to the canyon quietly again. Until now, Tarzan was convinced that Gnoes never thought of going back to this canyon to find him.But he still could not see what motive the officer had for abandoning him to the wilderness and at the same time giving him complete freedom to return to camp.His horse ran away, and he felt foolish to stay in the mountains any longer.So, leave the canyon and go to the desert. As soon as Mount Tai entered that valley, the first person in a white robe appeared in the opposite valley.They hid behind a boulder lying on the cow, looked at the bottom of the valley for a while, and saw that there was no one there, so they felt relieved and walked over gropingly.They found El Ari's body under the tree, and they all gathered around, screaming in low voices.After a while, he hurried to the valley that Mount Tai had just walked through.They sneaked up and followed without making a sound, hiding behind rocks and trees from time to time, moving forward cautiously.