noon
The next few minutes the young Englishman never forgot . High into bending and swaying branches he was borne with what seemed to him incredible swiftness , while Tarzan chafed at the slowness of his progress . From one lofty branch the agile creature swung with Clayton through a dizzy arc to a neighboring tree ; then for a hundred yards maybe the sure feet threaded a maze of interwoven limbs , balancing like a tightrope walker high above the black depths of verdure beneath . From the first sensation of chilling fear Clayton passed to one of keen admiration and envy of those giant muscles and that wondrous instinct or knowledge which guided this forest god through the inky blackness of the night as easily and safely as Clayton would have strolled a London street at high noon . Occasionally they would enter a spot where the foliage above was less dense , and the bright rays of the moon lit up before Clayton 's wondering eyes the strange path they were traversing . At such times the man fairly caught his breath at sight of the horrid depths below them , for Tarzan took the easiest way , which often led over a hundred feet above the earth . And yet with all his seeming speed , Tarzan was in reality feeling his way with comparative slowness , searching constantly for limbs of adequate strength for the maintenance of this double weight .