midnight
Many moons ago , when he had been much smaller , he had desired the skin of Sabor , the lioness , or Numa , the lion , or Sheeta , the leopard to cover his hairless body that he might no longer resemble hideous Histah , the snake ; but now he was proud of his sleek skin for it betokened his descent from a mighty race , and the conflicting desires to go naked in prideful proof of his ancestry , or to conform to the customs of his own kind and wear hideous and uncomfortable apparel found first one and then the other in the ascendency . As the tribe continued their slow way through the forest after the passing of Sabor , Tarzan 's head was filled with his great scheme for slaying his enemy , and for many days thereafter he thought of little else . On this day , however , he presently had other and more immediate interests to attract his attention . Suddenly it became as midnight ; the noises of the jungle ceased ; the trees stood motionless as though in paralyzed expectancy of some great and imminent disaster . All nature waited -- but not for long . Faintly , from a distance , came a low , sad moaning . Nearer and nearer it approached , mounting louder and louder in volume .