Quick was Sabor, the lioness, and quick were Numa and
Sheeta, but Tarzan of the Apes was lightning.
With Tantor, the elephant, he made friends. How? Ask not.
But this is known to the denizens of the jungle, that on
many moonlight nights Tarzan of the Apes and Tantor, the
elephant, walked together, and where the way was clear Tarzan
rode, perched high upon Tantor's mighty back.
Many days during these years he spent in the cabin of his
father, where still lay, untouched, the bones of his parents
and the skeleton of Kala's baby. At eighteen he read
fluently and understood nearly all he read in the many and
varied volumes on the shelves.
Also could he write, with printed letters, rapidly and plainly,
but script he had not mastered, for though there were several
copy books among his treasure, there was so little written
English in the cabin that he saw no use for bothering with this
other form of writing, though he could read it, laboriously.
Thus, at eighteen, we find him, an English lordling, who
could speak no English, and yet who could read and write his
native language. Never had he seen a human being other
than himself, for the little area traversed by his tribe was
watered by no greater river to bring down the savage natives of
the interior.
High hills shut it off on three sides, the ocean on the
fourth. It was alive with lions and leopards and poisonous
snakes.
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