And then, suddenly he caught plainly the strong, sweet odor of Bara,
the deer. Were the belly vocal, Tarzan's would have given a little
cry of joy, for it loved the flesh of Bara. The ape-man moved
rapidly, but cautiously forward. The prey was not far distant and
as the hunter approached it, he took silently to the trees and
still in his nostrils was the faint reptilian odor that spoke of
a great creature which he had never yet seen except as a denser
shadow among the dense shadows of the night; but the odor was of
such a faintness as suggests to the jungle bred the distance of
absolute safety.
And now, moving noiselessly, Tarzan came within sight of Bara
drinking at a pool where the stream that waters Kor-ul-gryf crosses
an open place in the jungle. The deer was too far from the nearest
tree to risk a charge, so the ape-man must depend upon the accuracy
and force of his first arrow, which must drop the deer in its tracks
or forfeit both deer and shaft. Far back came the right hand and
the bow, that you or I might not move, bent easily beneath the
muscles of the forest god. There was a singing twang and Bara,
leaping high in air, collapsed upon the ground, an arrow through
his heart. Tarzan dropped to earth and ran to his kill, lest the
animal might even yet rise and escape; but Bara was safely dead.
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