midnight before
What he was at this moment was a very hungry wild beast whom caution was holding in leash , for the great cooking pot in the center of the village was surrounded by black warriors , through whom not even Tarzan of the Apes might hope to pass unharmed . It would be necessary , therefore , for the watcher to remain there hungry until the blacks had gorged themselves to stupor , and then , if they had left any scraps , to make the best meal he could from such ; but to the impatient Tarzan it seemed that the greedy Gomangani would rather burst than leave the feast before the last morsel had been devoured . For a time they broke the monotony of eating by executing portions of a hunting dance , a maneuver which sufficiently stimulated digestion to permit them to fall to once more with renewed vigor ; but with the consumption of appalling quantities of elephant meat and native beer they presently became too loggy for physical exertion of any sort , some reaching a stage where they no longer could rise from the ground , but lay conveniently close to the great cooking pot , stuffing themselves into unconsciousness . It was well past midnight before Tarzan even could begin to see the end of the orgy . The blacks were now falling asleep rapidly ; but a few still persisted . From before their condition Tarzan had no doubt but that he easily could enter the village and snatch a handful of meat from before their noses ; but a handful was not what he wanted . Nothing less than a stomachful would allay the gnawing craving of that great emptiness .