He was a most eager student, and in two more days had
mastered so much French that he could speak little sentences
such as: "That is a tree," "this is grass," "I am hungry," and
the like, but D'Arnot found that it was difficult to teach him
the French construction upon a foundation of English.
The Frenchman wrote little lessons for him in English and
had Tarzan repeat them in French, but as a literal translation
was usually very poor French Tarzan was often confused.
D'Arnot realized now that he had made a mistake, but it
seemed too late to go back and do it all over again and force
Tarzan to unlearn all that he had learned, especially as they
were rapidly approaching a point where they would be able
to converse.
On the third day after the fever broke Tarzan wrote a message
asking D'Arnot if he felt strong enough to be carried
back to the cabin. Tarzan was as anxious to go as D'Arnot,
for he longed to see Jane again.
It had been hard for him to remain with the Frenchman
all these days for that very reason, and that he had
unselfishly done so spoke more glowingly of his nobility
of character than even did his rescuing the French officer
from Mbonga's clutches.
D'Arnot, only too willing to attempt the journey, wrote:
But you cannot carry me all the distance through this tangled forest.
Tarzan laughed.
"MAIS OUI," he said, and D'Arnot laughed aloud to hear
the phrase that he used so often glide from Tarzan's tongue.
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