Tahara Among African Tribes Read online

  Produced by Al Haines

  [Transcriber's note: Extensive research found no evidence that the U.S.copyright on this publication was renewed.]

  TAHARA

  Among African Tribes

  By

  HAROLD M. SHERMAN

  THE GOLDSMITH PUBLISHING COMPANY

  CHICAGO

  COPYRIGHT, 1933 BY

  HAROLD M. SHERMAN

  MADE IN U.S.A.

  CONTENTS

  CHAPTER

  I THE EYES OF DREAD II KING OF TWO TRIBES III ARAB RAIDERS IV THE BATTLE RAGES V CIMBULA WEAVES A PLOT VI HOT WORK VII THE WAR TRAIL VIII BLACK WARRIORS IX THE BAD NEWS BREAKS X WAR CANOES XI KING SOLOMON'S CROWN XII STAMPEDE XIII JUNGLE DANCERS XIV TO THE RESCUE XV READY FOR NEW ADVENTURES

  Tahara--Among African Tribes

  CHAPTER I

  THE EYES OF DREAD

  "What's the matter, Raal? You seem to be worried about something."Dick Oakwood, blue eyed and smiling and resembling a blond savage inhis garb of soft zebra skin, glanced down at his chief warrior whoprostrated himself at the feet of the boy king.

  "Tahara, hal! Come quickly, O Master!" replied Raal, his whole bodyexpressing fear.

  "What is it, Raal? What new danger threatens us now?" asked Dick,dropping the work he was doing and facing the stocky figure of thewarrior.

  "Tahara is great! I do not fear," replied Raal still bowing low beforethe boy, but his trembling shoulders and terror-stricken eyes told Dickthat something unusual had happened.

  Dick Oakwood cast a glance about the royal enclosure, a springsurrounded by date palms, then strained his eyes toward the vastexpanse of the Sahara. Everything was quiet. It was mid-afternoon andthe savages went about their work in drowsy fashion still only halfawakened from their siesta, the resting time while the blazing sun wasat its height. The women were in their caves, busy with the weavingand spinning. The tribesmen of the kingdom of Tahara were in thefields, cultivating the ground while others were chipping flintarrowheads and making bows and spears. There was no sign of troubleanywhere.

  Dick turned to Raal. "Speak, Raal, what bothers you?"

  "O Master," gasped the chief warrior, nervously gripping his stonehatchet. "Near the spot where the great bird-demon rested a few sunsago, a strange object with terrible staring eyes, is lying in the sand.It is an evil spirit, I am sure."

  "Bring it here, Raal. I would see what it is."

  Raal started violently as if struck, his tanned face turned pale. "Idare not, O Tahara! It is perhaps black magic! It may work evil. Ibeg of you, Tahara, take your bow and drive an arrow through thisdemon's heart before it slays us."

  "Come with me, Raal!" commanded Dick. "Show me this strange creature!How big is it? As big as a leopard?"

  "No master it is very small, but terrible, and its skin is black andshiny. In truth it is a wicked demon."

  "Fear not, Raal, for I, Tahara have chased away all evil spirits."

  "But the strange creature, O Master, is not good to look at. Itwatches you with great shining eyes that stare and never blink."

  Dick looked amused and puzzled. As the pair walked together over thesandy waste, Dick's tall, slender body stood out in striking contrastto that of his thick-set companion. Raal was heavily muscled and hisblond hair hung about his shoulders while his face was covered with alight beard. Though he was an African, Raal was a white savage of theStone-Age, for the Taharans were a survival of ancient times.

  Dick's blue eyes were glowing with interest as he neared the spot wherethe strange creature was said to be hiding. What could it be? Whatnew menace was he about to face?

  Suddenly Raal slowed his steps, gripping his stone hatchet in readinessto strike. "Not so fast, O Master. The demon may be asleep and we canslip up on him unawares," cautioned the warrior.

  But Dick had caught sight of the object half hidden in the sand, andwith an exclamation of joy he sprang forward and picked it up.

  "Ah-woe, Tahara!" moaned Raal. "Have a care, Master."

  But Dick did not hear him. "Good!" he exclaimed. "Just what I need.Binoculars! I bet Rex Carter will be mad when he finds that he lefthis field glasses behind. It's my lucky day!"

  Raal looked on in fear as Dick put the glasses to his eyes and gazedout over the desert.

  "Good!" said Dick smiling at Raal. "These are binoculars."

  "Binoculars!" muttered Raal. "What a terrible word. It must be afierce creature to have such a name." He watched Dick holding theglasses to his eyes and added with admiration, "How brave is Tahara!My Master has great courage to handle such a terrifying demon withoutfear!"

  Dick offered the glasses to his warrior but Raal backed away hastily.

  "The evil eye! Ah-woe, Tahara!"

  Dick laughed. "Take a look, Raal. They are, in truth, magic glasses.But you can see that they do not harm me."

  Raal shook his head vigorously. Tahara was all-powerful, that he knew.Tahara could cast out evil. But he, Raal, was not a god and could notafford to take chances.

  Dick Oakwood looked at his chief warrior with a tolerant smile. Herewas a man, brave in battle, a great fighter, a courageous hunter,taking chances with his life a thousand times in combat with hisenemies or a hand-to-hand struggle with wild animals, yet the sight ofthe binoculars with their glass lenses that looked to his savage mindas great unwinking eyes, had sent him into a panic.--And Raal was oneof the bravest of his subjects. The others were far less intelligent.

  Dick looked forward to the time when he could teach this tribe thefolly of superstition. These strange fancies of demons and witchcraft,learned from Cimbula, the wily medicine-man, had more than once stoodhim in good stead, for Dick had used their fears to bend their wills tohis, but now that he had brought peace to his kingdom, he wanted tobreak down these superstitious ideas that kept the tribe from advancingin the arts of peace.

  Dick Oakwood had joined an expedition to Africa undertaken by hisfather, Professor Hector Oakwood, a famous scientist, who had come tothe desert to find and study a tribe of white savages living in anobscure mountain fastness and said to be of a Stone-Age race.Professor Mason and Dr. Jarvis had their own projects, the study of thejungle plants and reptiles, while Rex Carter, the millionaire, whofinanced the expedition, was interested in the eclipse of the sun whichhe wanted to study from a temporary observatory put up on an oasis inthe desert. His other interest was in seeing that his son anddaughter, Dan and Ray Carter, had a good time on the trip. Dan'scarefree disposition, his ability to find fun under all circumstances,kept the party from taking the dangers and inconveniences tooseriously. Dan always brought a laugh with him.

  All went well until Jess Slythe, an unscrupulous adventurer, managed toattach himself to the expedition, foreseeing an opportunity to get alarge sum of money from the wealthy Rex Carter. After helping toestablish the camp at the Pomegranate Oasis, Jess Slythe found thatDick Oakwood was watching his movements with suspicion. The boy wasalert to everything that went on in the camp.

  The treacherous Slythe, aided by Suli, his Arab servant, persuaded Dickto take them in his plane, the _Meteorite_, on a trip of explorationinto a mountainous country said to be rich in gold. Dick was pleasedat this plan, the desert seemed to call to him with a promise ofthrilling adventures. But when they were far away from the PomegranateOasis, Slythe started a fight with Dick, who was forced to take aparachute jump in order to save his life. He landed in a mountainousdistrict among a white tribe of savages, known as the Taharans. By aclever trick the boy made these savages believe that he was Tahara,their god of the sun.

  Only Cimbula, the witch-doctor, refused to accept him as a god, andcontinued to stir up suspi
cion against him, urging his followers tokill the boy. It took courage, quick thinking and prompt action tosave Dick from the dangers in which he found himself, for the tribewould worship him one moment and in the next would be preparing aceremony of execution in which Dick was to be the chief sacrifice.

  He won the respect of the Taharans by helping them conquer theirenemies, the Gorols, a black, hairy tribe of savages not much above theapes. In ancient times the two tribes, the Gorols and Taharans hadbeen under one ruler, but that was long ago, before the golden crown ofthe king had been stolen. Since then, frequent attacks and raids fromboth sides kept the district in a constant state of war.

  Dick Oakwood showed the Stone-Age men how to make and use bows andarrows and once in a battle with the Gorols when defeat and death forhis warriors seemed certain, the boy arranged a catapult to shoot rocksto the top of a cliff. Then his warriors hailed him as "Tahara, hal!"only to turn against him when Jess Slythe took a hand in the battle bythrowing hand grenades from the _Meteorite_ among the Taharan warriors.The Stone-Age men had scattered quickly to find any refuge from thisdeadly fire from the sky, and Dick was taken prisoner by Cimbula andkept in his cave until such time as he decided to kill him. Dickmanaged to escape and rescued Ray and Dan whom Slythe had left with theGorols. Dan was about to be sacrificed by the jealous Cimbula whenDick came upon the scene and saved his friend.

  Dick found himself in many tight places and in the end it appeared tothe boy that there was no way out. He and his friends, Dan and Ray,were to be executed by the Taharans whom Cimbula had set against them.But Dick did not give up hope and his alert mind found a way out of thedifficulty. He found the golden crown, which he wore, uniting oncemore the two savage tribes.

  When Rex Carter arrived in his plane to find his family, Dick had beencrowned King of the Taharans. After hearing the whole story from Rayand Dan, he refused to believe that the young people were safe amongthis strange race.

  "Get ready and let's be off!" he said to Dick as he looked anxiouslyaround at the suspicious warriors, who gazed in horror at the greatairplane that rested on the sands before the oasis.

  "Nothing doing, I'm staying here," replied Dick. "I wouldn't miss thisfor anything!"

  "You're fooling, Dick! You wouldn't want to stay here! Let's go!"urged Rex Carter.

  "I'm not fooling, Mr. Carter. This will be my one and only chance tobe a real king. I've earned this job and I'm not going to give it up.Tell Dad I've found that Stone-Age tribe!"

  Rex Carter looked at Dan and Ray, with a question in his eyes.

  Ray took her father's hand and snuggled up to him as if for protection,but Dan turned to his friend.

  "Say Dick are you positive that there'll always be plenty of eats?" heasked.

  "I promise," replied Dick with a smile.

  "Then I'm staying as chief adviser to the king!" Dan said with a smileas he turned to his father.

  Rex Carter looked troubled, but Dick's confident manner assured himthat he could trust his son to him.

  "It's all right, Mr. Carter," said Dick seriously. "We couldn't leavethese people without a king and an adviser. They are depending on us!We have to stay!"

  Thus had Dick Oakwood become Tahara, the Boy King of the Desert.

  His ambition was to develop the Stone-Age tribesmen in the ways ofpeace and progress, without allowing them to be robbed or reduced toslavery by greedy fortune-seekers from the outside world.

  But in planning this happy future of his people, the Boy King did notforesee that he would have to fight off raiders and bandits who wantedto enslave them.

  Dick Oakwood's exciting adventures had only just begun and before theyended he was to go through many fierce battles and hair-breadth escapes.