TRANSCRIBERS NOTE: This etext was produced from Amazing Stories October,November and December 1948. Extensive research did not uncover anyevidence that the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.
Maddened and in pain from the flames, the lion sprangover the burning stockade
The RETURN of THARN
By HOWARD BROWNE
When Tharn set out to rescue his beloved Dylara, he did not dreamthe whole Cro-Magnon world opposed him
Trakor, youthful member of the tribe of Gerdak, moved at a swinging trotalong a winding game trail that led to the caves of his people. Throughoccasional rifts in the matted mazes of branches, leafs, creepers andvines of the semi-tropical forest and jungle, rays of the late afternoonsun dappled the dusty elephant path under his naked feet.
His slim young body, clothed only by the pelt of Jalok, the panther,twisted about his loins, was bathed in perspiration, for both heat and[Pg 42]humidity were intense here in the heart of primeval jungle. From timeto time he transferred the flint-tipped spear to his left hand while herubbed dry the sweating palm of his right against his loin cloth; for aslippery spear shaft could mean the difference between life and death ina battle with some savage denizen of this untamed world.
Trakor was beginning to worry. There was less than an hour of daylightremaining and he was still a long way from home. The thought of spendingeven a small portion of a night alone in a territory that abounded inlions, panthers, leopards and the other fearsome creatures of forest andplain, sent shivers of dread coursing along his spine.
And there was no one but himself to blame for this predicament! A boy ofseventeen had no business attempting a task that would have given anolder, more experienced warrior pause. Only a fool, he told himselfbitterly, would have gone forth alone to hunt without having firstgained experience by many trips in the company of seasoned hunters, thuslearning the habits of the wild creatures.
It was all Lanoa's fault! In the soft fragrance of midnight hair curlingabout the tanned oval of her lovely face, in the smoothly roundedperfection of her slender body, in the golden depths of her clear,glowing eyes, were the seeds of madness that had sent him forth on afool's errand! Before coming under her spell he was content to spend hisdays learning from old Wokard the art of painting scenes of tribal lifeand the hunt on the walls of the caves of his people.
Not until he watched Lanoa's other suitors displaying the trophies ofthe hunt did young Trakor make his decision to lay aside his paints andventure out in search of game. For it was easy to see how greatly Lanoawas impressed by the boastful tales of the other young men.
But where they hunted in groups, for safety's sake, Trakor would go outalone after Neela, the zebra, or Bana, the deer. And when Lanoa saw himreturn to the caves of Gerdak with the carcass of Neela across hisshoulders, his heavy spear trailing from a casual hand, then would sherealize that of all the young men of the tribe it was Trakor who wasbest suited to be her mate!
Thus the stuff of dreams ... and how different the reality! Since earlymorning of this day he had wandered through the forest and across widestr