All the balance of that night the ape-man swung rapidly through theupper and middle terraces of the forest. When the going was good there hepreferred the upper branches of the giant trees, for then his way was betterlighted by the moon; but so accustomed were all his senses to the grimworld of his birth that it was possible for him, even in the dense, blackshadows near the ground, to move with ease and rapidity. You or I walkingbeneath the arcs of Main Street, or Broadway, or State Street, could nothave moved more surely or with a tenth the speed of the agile ape-manthrough the gloomy mazes that would have baffled us entirely.At dawn he stopped to feed, and then he slept for several hours, takingup the pursuit again toward noon.Twice he came upon natives, and, though he had considerabledifficulty in approaching them, he succeeded in each instance in quietingboth their fears and bellicose intentions toward him, and learned fromthem that he was upon the trail of the Russian.Two days later, still following up the Ugambi, he came upon a largevillage. The chief, a wicked-looking fellow with the sharp-filed teeth thatoften denote the cannibal, received him with apparent friendliness.The ape-man was now thoroughly fatigued, and had determined to restfor eight or ten hours that he might be fresh and strong when he caught upwith Rokoff, as he was sure he must do within a very short time.The chief told him that the bearded white man had left his village onlythe morning before, and that doubtless he would be able to overtake him ina short time. The other party the chief had not seen or heard of, so he said.Tarzan did not like the appearance or manner of the fellow, whoseemed, though friendly enough, to harbour a certain contempt for thishalf-naked white man who came with no followers and offered no presents;but he needed the rest and food that the village would afford him with lesseffort than the jungle, and so, as he knew no fear of man, beast, or devil,he curled himself up in the shadow of a hut and was soon asleep.Scarcely had he left the chief than the latter called two of his warriors,to whom he whispered a few instructions. A moment later the sleek, blackbodies were racing along the river path, up-stream, toward the east.