Tarzan: Back to Mars (The Wild Adventures of Tarzan Book 2) by Will Murray & Jason Eckhardt

Author:Will Murray & Jason Eckhardt [Murray, Will]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: Action and Adventure
Publisher: Altus Press
Published: 2023-12-02T05:00:00+00:00

Chapter 19

Explorations

When Tarzan regained consciousness, he could see but little.

At first, the ape-man was not certain that this was due to the darkness of the place in which he had been consigned, or because his optic nerves were still paralyzed as a consequence of the blinding flash of Fal Sivas’ welding tool.

Gradually, he knew, his eyes would become adjusted to the darkness. And he would know.

While Tarzan waited for that development, he felt about him and discovered that he lay on a mass of dried vegetation. Standing up, he extended his arms in both directions, discovered nothing, and then moved forward. He soon encountered a rough wall that appeared to be hewn from stone. It was cool to the touch.

With his hand, he followed this until he came to a wall that was composed of metal bars. This is when the ape-man realized he had been placed in a cell somewhere in the confines of the mountain.

There was nothing to the cell except the straw on the floor and the iron-barred door. His nostrils told him that the air was stagnant. The only other odor was that of human perspiration.

Tarzan spoke up. “I am awake.”

He expected this to bring a guard. But no guard showed. The sound of sandals slapping the floor of the passage beyond the bars failed to materialize.

Once again, it occurred to Tarzan that there was little need for guards in the fastness of this volcano that no one suspected contained the remnants of an ancient people.

By the time Tarzan understood that his vision was not soon returning, he decided that he would not await further developments.

Taking the cell door in hand, he felt of the bars, seeking to understand their construction, locating the hinges, and feeling for weak points.

There did not seem to be any such spots. So the bronzed giant took firm hold of two adjacent bars and began exerting his tremendous strength. He could feel the bars give under the enormous pressure of his powerful muscles, a might that was greatly amplified on Barsoom.

The iron bars did not surrender so easily as he would have liked, for they were quite thick. But gradually, the ape-man forced them apart. Fortunately, the door-mounted bars consisted of vertical rounds with no intermediate bracing.

By shifting about and exerting pressure from different directions, Tarzan was able to push the bars apart sufficiently to form a narrow gap. This gap would not permit him to step through easily. But by turning his body and expelling all of the air in his lungs in order to flatten his mighty chest, and inserting himself sideways, he was able to work his way through to the other side.

The fact that his lack of vision made him more vulnerable than he would like appeared not to bother the ape-man. He sniffed the air, felt the slightest current of air coming from one direction over the other, and proceeded to walk into the flowing air.

He had lost his short-sword, of course. But his ape-skin harness and borrowed cloak still comprised his raiment.

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