TARZAN AND THE LOST EMPIRE
place for Nkima. What are the strange Tarmangani going to do with Tarzan of the Apes?”
“I do not know, Nkima,” said the ape-man.
“Then Nkima will go back and fetch Muviro and the Waziri.”
“No,” said the ape-man. “Wait until I find the Tarmangani for whom we are searching. Then you may go back with a message for Muviro.”
That night Tarzan and the other prisoners slept upon the hard ground in the open and, after it was dark, little Nkima came down and snuggled in his master’s arms and there he lay all night, happy to be near the great Tarmangani he loved.
As morming dawned, Ogonyo, who had been captured with the other Bagegos, opened his eyes and looked about him. The camp of the soldiers was just stirring. Ogonyo saw some of the legionaries emerging from the huts that they had commandeered. He saw his fellow prisoners huddled close together for warmth and at a little distance from them lay the white man whom he had so recently guarded in the prison hut in the village of Nyuto, his chief. As his eyes rested upon the white man, he saw the head of a little monkey arise from the encircling arms of the sleeper. He saw it cast a glance in the direction of the legionaries emerging from the huts and then he saw it scamper quickly to a near-by tree and swing quickly into the branches above.
Ogonyo gave a cry of alarm that awakened the prisoners near him.
“What is the matter, Ogonyo?” cried one of them.
“The ghost of my grandfather!” he exclaimed. “I saw him again. He came out of the mouth of the white man who calls himself Tarzan. He has put a curse upon us because we kept the white man prisoner. Now. we are prisoners ourselves and soon we shall be killed and eaten.” The other nodded their heads solemnly in confirmation.
Food similar to that given to them the night before was given to the prisoners, and after they and the legionaries had eaten, the march was resumed in a southerly direction along the dusty road.
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