Tarzan the Terrible
By Edgar Rice Burroughs
Closer and closer crept Numa, the lion, to his intended victim, and that the latter was not entirely unaware of his danger was evidenced by the increasing frequency with which he turned his ear and his sharp black eyes in the direction of the cat upon his trail. He did not significantly increase his speed, a long swinging walk where the open places permitted, but he loosened the knife in its sheath and at all times kept his club in readiness for instant action.
Forging at last through a narrow strip of dense jungle vegetation, the man-thing broke through into an almost treeless area of considerable extent. For an instant, he hesitated, glancing behind him and then up at the security of the branches of the great trees waving overhead. Still, some more incredible urge than fear or caution influenced his decision, for he moved off again across the little plain, leaving the trees’ safety behind him. At more significant or fewer intervals, leafy sanctuaries dotted the grassy expanse ahead of him, and the route he took, leading from one to another, indicated that he had not entirely cast discretion to the winds. But after the second tree had been left behind, the distance to the next was considerable, and it was then that Numa walked from the concealing cover of the jungle and, seeing his quarry helpless before him, raised his tail stiffly erect and charged.
Two months—two long, weary months filled with hunger, thirst, hardships, disappointment, and, more significant than all, gnawing pain—had passed since Tarzan of the Apes learned from the diary of the dead German captain that his wife still lived. A brief investigation in which he was enthusiastically aided by the Intelligence Department of the British East African Expedition revealed an attempt to keep Lady Jane in hiding in the interior for reasons which only the German High Command might be aware of.
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Edgar Rice Burroughs
Burroughs was born on September 1, 1875, in Chicago (he later lived for many years in the suburb of Oak Park), the fourth son of Major George Tyler Burroughs (1833–1913), a businessman and Civil War veteran, and his wife, Mary Evaline (Zieger) Burroughs (1840–1920).
Biography.
His middle name is from his paternal grandmother, Mary Coleman Rice Burroughs (1802–1889). Burroughs was almost entirely of English ancestry, with a family line in North America since the Colonial era. Through his Rice grandmother, Burroughs was descended from settler Edmund Rice, one of the English Puritans who moved to Massachusetts Bay Colony in the early 17th century. He remarked, “I can trace my ancestry back to Deacon Edmund Rice.” The Burroughs side of the family was also of English origin, having emigrated to Massachusetts around the same time. Many of his ancestors fought in the American Revolution.
Some of his ancestors settled in Virginia during the colonial period, and Burroughs often emphasized his connection with that side of his family, seeing it as romantic and warlike. As close cousins, he had seven signatories of the U.S. Declaration of Independence, including his third cousin, who was four times removed, and the 2nd President of the United States, John Adams.
Burroughs was educated at several local schools. He then attended Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts, and the Michigan Military Academy. Graduating in 1895 but failing the United States Military Academy entrance exam at West Point, he became an enlisted soldier with the 7th U.S. Cavalry in Fort Grant, Arizona Territory. After being diagnosed with a heart problem and thus ineligible to serve, he was discharged in 1897.
Edgar Rice Burroughs
