Tarzan and the Jewels of Opar

ian an

e Road

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scape f

eft of t

Zek Sees

Becomes a

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Flight

gain Leads

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Recovers

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H

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nstead of court-martialing him, as he had so justly deserved; but now six months of the monotony, the frightful isolation and the loneliness had wrought a change. The young man brooded continually over his fate. His days were fi

rom that gayest of capitals, and as the days passed he came to center his resentment upon the rep

le love in those directly beneath him, yet respected

ess hatred of the lieutenant grew at last into a form of mania. The captain's natural taciturnity he distorted into a studied attempt to insult him because of his past shortcomings. He imagined that his superior held h

to his feet. "I am an officer and a gentleman, and I shall put

is junior. He had seen men before with the jungle madness upon them-the m

to close with him. His revolver was on a level with the captain's heart, and the latter had taken but a step when Werper pulled the trigger. Without a moan the man sank to the rough planking of

on. They would seize him, and if they didn't kill him they would take him down the Congo to a point whe

ted his right to live. The men were nearing him. What was he to do? He glanced about as though searching for the tangibl

Werper did not pause to parley or to exert the influence of his commission-he merely raised his weapon and shot down the innocent black. A moment later the fugitive had

the voice of a lion brought him to a listening halt; but with cocked and ready rifle he pushe

red not pause to rest or eat until there was no further danger from pursuit, and so he staggered on until at last he fell and could rise no more. How long he had fled

the body of their hereditary enemy; but Achmet would have it otherwise. First he would question the Belgia

antities until at last the prisoner regained consciousness. As he opened his eyes he saw the faces of strange black

he open eyes of the prisoner

are you, and what were you doing in

r of all Europeans, especially those who wore the uniform of Belgium. For years the military forces of Belgian Congo had wa

ope for himself. He, too, was an outcast and an outlaw. So far, at least, they posses

now their soldiers are searching for me, to kill me. I knew that you would protect me from them, for you, too, hate

here was the chance that he did not lie, and if he told the truth then his proposition was one well worthy of consideration, since fighting

id not know Achmet Zek, who was quite apt to scowl where

I will kill you at any time. What return, other

ng." Werper's only desire at the moment was to preserve his life. And so the agreement was reached and L

ual to that of his fellow desperadoes. Achmet Zek watched his recruit with eagle eye, and with a growing satisfaction which

pet scheme which the Arab had long fostered, but which he never had found an opportunity to effec

the man men call

ve heard of him; but

of the country, harassing us, and arming the natives that they may repel us when we come to 'trade.' He is very rich. If we could find some way to make him pay

garet from a jeweled

plan to make him

utiful. She would bring a great price farther north, if we fou

ow, and he guessed that the other had sensed his antagonism to the plan. What would it mean to Werper to refuse? His life lay in the hands of this semi-barbarian, who esteemed the life of an unbeliever less highly than that of a dog. Werper loved life. What was

te," murmur

ropean I can gain admittance to their home and table. You have no other with you

f passed over th

on a soft rug beneath the faded silks of Achmet's once gorgeous tent, and talked together in low voices well into the night. Both were tall and bearded, and the exposure to sun and wind had given an almost Arab

urposes. From a heterogeneous collection of loot, Achmet Zek procured a pith helmet and a European saddle, and from his black slaves and followe

Road

f inspection of his vast African estate, glimpsed the head of a column of men cro

t the reflection of the sun upon the white helmet of a mounted man, and with the conviction that a wandering E

eading to the veranda of his bungalow, and in

ere to have accompanied me from the last village we passed knew even less of the country than we. They finally deserted us two days sinc

hey were thoroughly rested, when Lord Greystoke would furnish guides to lead them

ving his host and in ingratiating himself with both Tarzan and Jane Clayton; but the l

he ferocious Waziri warriors who formed a great part of Tarzan's followers seemed to preclude the po

judge, than upon the day of his arrival, but at that very moment something occurred which

himself and retired, Lady Greystoke following him very soon after. Werper, sitting upon the veranda, could hear their voices in earnest discussion, and having realized that something of unusual moment was afoot, he

first words he overheard filled him with excitement. La

g; "but it seems incredible that they should have failed for so e

cause, the fact remains that I have lost everything, and t

is there no other way? I cannot bear to think of you returning to that frightful city. I

tty well able to take care of myself, and were I not, the Wa

once, and left you to you

"They were very much ashamed of themselv

some other way,"

. "I shall be very careful, Jane, and the chances are that the inhabitants of Opar will never know that I have been there again and d

Lady Greystoke that further argument was

d overheard all that was necessary and fearing discovery, returned to the ve

an early departure, and asked Tarzan's permission to hunt big game in the W

announced his intention of remaining where he was until he had fully recovered. As they had gone but a short distance from the Greystoke bungalow, Werper dismissed the Waziri guide, telling the warrior that he would send for him when he was able

emissary returned with word that Tarzan and a party of fifty Wazi

er writing a long letter to Achmet Zek

from me. If any come from the bungalow of the Englishman, tell them that I am very ill within my tent and can see no one. Now, give me six p

ashion he best loved, led his loyal Waziri toward the dead city of Opar, Werper, the ren

ode with his entire following sou

e which kept Tarzan even to the semblance of civilization-a condition for which familiarity had bred contempt. He hated the shams and the hypocrisies of it and with the clear vision of an unspoiled mind he had penetrated to the rotten core of the heart of the thin

of arms, in the battle for survival, amid hunger and death and danger, in the face of God as manifested in t

sidious is the virus of hypocrisy that even the stalwart ape-man hesitated to give rein to his natural longings before them. He ate burnt flesh when he would have preferred it raw and unspoiled, and he brought down game with arrow or spear when he would far rather have leaped upon it from ambush and sunk his strong teeth in its j

l of th

fire that yellow eyes out of the darkness beyond the camp made imperative. The moans and the coughing of the big cats mingled with the myriad noises of the lesser denizens of the jungle to fan the savage flame in the breast of this savage English

g, lesser boughs of the upper terrace where the moon shone full upon him and the air was stirred by little breezes and death lurked ready in each frail branch. Here he paused and raised his face to Goro, the

and at last his nostrils were rewarded with the scent of the fresh spoor of Bara, the deer. Tarzan's mouth watered and a low growl escaped his patrician lips. Sloughed from him was the last vestige of artificial caste-once again he was the primeval hunter-the first man-the highest caste type of the human race. Up wind he followed

ht hand was the long hunting knife of his father and in his heart the blood lust of the carnivore. Just for an instant he poised above the unsuspecting Bara and then he launched himself downward upon the sleek back. The impact of his weight carried the deer to its knees and before the animal could regain its feet the knife had found its heart. As Tarzan rose upon the body of his kill to scream forth his hideous victory cry into the face of the moon the wind car

as much mystified. Here was the appearance and the scent of a man-thing and Numa had tasted of human flesh and learned that though not the most palatable it was certainly by far the easiest to secure, yet there was that in the bestial growls of the strange creature which reminded him of formidable antagonists and gave him pause, while his hunger and the odor of the hot flesh of Bara goaded him almost to madness. Always Tarzan watched him, guessing

h no equanimity that he looked down upon Numa rending the flesh of Tarzan's kill. The presumption of this strange Numa must be punished! And forthwith Tarzan set out to make life miserable for the big cat. Close by were many trees bearing large, hard fruits and to one of these the ape-man swung with the agility of a squirrel. Then commenced a bombardment which brought forth earthshaking roars from Numa. One after another as rapidly as he could gather and hurl them, Tarzan pelted th

in pursuit of Numa. A broad, well-beaten elephant path led into the forest from the clearing. Parallel to this slunk Numa, while above him Tarzan moved through the trees, the shadow of a wraith. The savage cat and the savage man saw Numa's quarry almost simultaneously, though both had known before it came within the vision of their eyes that it was a black man. Their sensitive nostrils had told them this much and Tarzan's had told him that the scent spoor was that of a stranger-old and a male, for race and sex and age each has its own distinctive scent. It was

e beast's torso. With a roar of pain and rage, Numa reared up and fell backward upon the ape-man; but still the mighty man-thing clung to his hold and repeatedly the long knife plunged rapidly into his side. Over and over rolled Numa, the lion, clawing and biting at the air, roaring and growling horribly in savage attempt to reach the thing upon its back. More than once was Tarzan almost brushed from his hold. He was battered and bruised and covered with blood from Numa and dirt from the trail, yet not for an instant did he lessen the ferocity of his mad attack nor hi

e was this that battled with Simba and held his own despite the mighty muscles of the king of beasts and slowly there dawned in those sunken eyes, gleaming so brightly from the scarred and wrinkled face, the light of a dawning recollection. Gropingly backward into the past reached the fingers of memory, until at last t

at the hands of the victor than he had been by the sure and sudden death which the triumphant lion would have meted out to him. He saw the lion weaken from loss of blood. He saw the mighty limbs tremble and stagger and at last he saw the beast sink

and Ful

pity touched his savage heart. In his youth he would have slain the witch-doctor without the slightest compunction; but civilization had had its softening effect upon him even as it does upon the nations and races whi

ed the old man in

n and not without a greater touch of pride than he w

gain there was in them a resignation to whatever horrible fate awaited him at

ou have not harmed me, and anyway you are al

se and incredulity were in the

ed Tarzan, "but that cannot be done.

I was already a witch-doctor when you slew Kulonga and the others, and when you robbed our huts and our poison pot. At first I did not remember you; but at last I did-the white-skinned ape that lived with the ha

ed. "I am a

is writ in my own blood which I have smeared upon my palm. A god greater even than you will rise up and strike you down. Turn back, Munango-Keewati! Turn back before it is too late. Danger lies ahead of yo

the old witch-doctor before he fell asleep and he thought of it again after he awoke; but he did not turn back for he was unafraid, though had he known what lay in store

his cowardly soul with terror-a sound such as he never before had heard in all his life, nor dreamed that such a frightful thing could emanate from the lungs of a God-created creature. He had heard the victory cry of the bull ape as Tarzan had screamed it forth into the face of Goro, the moo

Opar's ruined ramparts and behind him slunk Werper, jac

ar, Tarzan halted. By night he would go alone to the treasure vault, reconnoitering

gh boulders of the mountain top, slunk stealthily after him. The boulder-strewn plain between the valley's edge and the mighty granite kopje, outside t

fearfully during the perilous ascent, sweating in terror, almost palsied by fear, but spurr

rom his place of concealment to undertake a systematic search of his surroundings, in the hope that he might discover the location of the treasure in ample time to make his escape before Tarz

n, granite steps. He advanced quite to the dark mouth of the tunnel into which the ru

moment later he stood within the treasure chamber, where, ages since, long-dead hands had ranged the lofty rows of

re was no evidence that another had discovered the forgotte

d him pass up from the shadows of the stairway and advance toward the edge of the hill which faced the rim of the valley where the Waziri awaited t

ed the call, standing in attentive silence for several minutes after the echoes of the third call had died away. And then, from

be with him, ready to bear away another fortune in the strangely shaped, golden ingots of Opar. In

o the edge of the great boulder, carrying upon each trip a load which might well have staggered two ordinary men, yet his giant frame sh

came the ape-man, and this time there came with him fifty fighting men, turning porters for love of the only creature in the world who might command of their fierce

with him for the purpose, and the flickering light of which had cast the first alleviating rays into the impenetrable darkness of the buried chamber, that it had known for the countless ages since it had lain forgotten of man, Tar

dagger, stood above him, and the rows of priests and priestesses awaited, in the ecstatic hysteria of fanaticism, the firs

of the votaries before the insane blood lust of the hideous creature, the brutal attack upon La, and his own part of the grim

d city whose crumbling walls rose upon the very foundations about him. Had she finally been forced into a union with one of her grotesque priests? It seemed a hide

e had come, and now he could return at his leisure to his waiting followers, bring

toward the fresh air and the welcome starlight of the kopje's summit, before

er rose and stretched his cramped muscles. He stretched forth a hand and lovingly caressed a golden ingot on the nearest tier. H

rms about his neck, and a soft cheek pressed to his; but there rose to

The one forgot even his greed in the panic of terror-the other was plunged into total fo

of the F

d rocked, the tortured sides of the narrow passageway split and crumbled, great blocks of granite, dislodged from the ceiling, tumbled into the narrow way, choking it, and the walls bent inward

few ingots toppled from the higher tiers, a single piece of the rocky ceiling splintered

by the suddenness and violence of the disturbance, staggered to his feet when he found himself unhurt. Groping his way toward t

t later, the sickly rays relieved the Stygian darkness about him, he breathed a nervous

did so he saw the body of the naked giant lying stretched upon the floor just within the doorway. Werper drew back in sudden fear of detection; but

host, and without a thought of succor for the man in whom, for aught

far before he discovered another door in the opposite end of the room, a door which gave upon creaking hinges to the weight of his body. Beyond the door lay another narrow passageway. Along this Werper made his way, ascending a flight of stone steps to another corridor twenty feet above the level of the first

ght reflected back from the surface of a pool of water. He had come upon a well. He raised the candle above his head and peered

y upon his startled ears a piercing scream which diminished gradually until it ended in a series of dismal moans. The voice seemed p

m had seemed to come from above him. As he looked he saw an open

itants dwelt in the place above him. He cursed himself for a fool that he had ever embarked upon such a mission. He wished himself safely back in the camp of Achmet Zek, and would a

gathered himself for the leap across the chasm. Going back twenty paces, he took a running start

the rush of air extinguished it. In utter darkness he flew through spac

st hung half within and half without the opening; but he was safe. For several minutes he dared not move; but clung, weak and sweating, where he lay. At l

loor of the passageway, rather than back into the depths of the well, he rose upon all fours and commenced a diligent search for the

from his pocket, lighted the stump of the candle which remained to him. With the light he found it easier to regain control of his nerves, and presently he was again making his way along the tunnel in sear

one, at some time in the past, had had it blocked for an unknown purpose of his own. The man fell to examining the masonry by the light of his candle. To his delight he discovered that the thin blocks of hewn stone of which it was constructed were fitted in loosely without mortar or cement. He tugged upon one of them, and to his joy found that it was easily removable. One after another he pulled out the blocks until he h

ls and dangers lay ahead he could not guess; but that he was as far as ever from liberty he was q

before he could take a single forward step. How long he crept on thus he could not guess; but at last, feeling that the tunnel's length w

have slept a second or a day-he could not know; but that he had slept f

ance when he emerged into a room, which was lighted through an opening in the ceil

were twined about by clinging vines. He listened; but he heard no sound other than the soughin

a stone altar, stained with rusty-brown discolorations. At the time Werper gave no thought t

s a series of open balconies. Monkeys scampered about the deserted ruins, and gaily plumaged birds flitted in and out among the columns and the galleries far above; but no sign of human presence was discernible. Werper felt relieved. He sighed, as though a great

crificial altar at this very spot years before. Their long arms, their short and crooked legs, their close-set, evil eyes, and their

t emerged, but the frightful men anticipated his intentions. They blocked the way; they seized him, and though he fell, g

sed and laid across the altar. Cold sweat exuded from his every pore as La raised the cruel, sacrificial knife above him. The death chant fell upon his tort

t wide in horror. The priestesses, her votaresses, screamed and fled madly toward the exits. The priests roared out their rage and terror according to the temper of their courage. Werper strained his neck about to catch a sight of the

his baleful gaze upon the altar. La staggered f

Arab

earthquake, Basuli and his warriors hastened back into the passageway

erculean efforts, they had unearthed but a few yards of the choked passage, and discovered the mangled remains of one of their fellows they were forced

search. Tearfully they cast a last look at the shattered tomb of their master, shouldered the heavy burden of gold that would at least furnish comfort, if not happiness, to

fate was already drawing down

renegade Arabs, outlawed marauders, these, and equally degraded blacks, garnered from the more debased and ig

of his beloved Bwana, from Jungle Island, almost to the headwaters of th

braver or more loyal guardian have been found in any clime or upon any soil. A giant in stature, a savage,

Greystoke chose to canter across the broad plain, or relieve the monotony of her loneliness by a brief hu

a time he stood scrutinizing the advancing party in silence, then he turned and ran rapi

en seized upon their weapons and their shields. Some ran to call in the workers from the fields and

ime of savage life in savage Africa, and he had seen parties before come thus unheralded. Sometimes they had come in peace and sometimes

Waziri, its master had anticipated no possibility of an attack in force by any enemy. Heavy, wooden shutters there were to close th

d. "What has happened? Why a

to where a white-robed force of mou

come for no good purpose in t

glanced from the tips of their metal-shod spears, picked out the gorgeous colors in the feathers of their w

ings of pride and affection. What harm could

d down to join his warriors. He advanced a few yards before them and raising his vo

Mugambi. "What

ace," Achmet Z

gambi. "We do not want you here. There

ed into the tribe, which now contained no member mor

for charging the attackers; but Mugambi was a cautious as well as a brave leader. He knew the futility of charging mounted men armed with muskets. He withdrew his force behind the shrubbery of the garden. Some h

Achmet Zek led his followers at a gallop in a long, thin line, describ

as poured into the bushes behind which the black warriors had concealed themselve

ed from his saddle, pierced by a deadly arrow; but the contest was uneven. The Arabs outnumbered the Waziri; their bullets penetrated the shrubbery and found marks that the

pause to lower fences, instead, they drove their wild mounts str

d. Upon the veranda Lady Greystoke stood, rifle in hand. More than a single raider had accounted to her steady n

security of the interior, and with his depleted fo

ire into the kneeling Waziri who discharged their volley of arrows from behind their long, oval shields-shields well adap

en did effective service in greater security, and after the firs

range of the defenders' arrows. From their new position they fired at will at the windows. One by one the Waziri fell. Fewer

the defenders; but the majority reached the door. Heavy gun butts fell upon it. The crash of splintered

e far end stood Jane Clayton surrounded by the remnant of her devoted guardians. The floor was covered by the bodies of those who already had given up their lives in her defense. In the forefront of her prot

he cried. "Who harms her, d

llen death dooms. Mugambi launched his spear at the nearest of the enemy with a force that drove the heavy shaft completely through the

ught like demons; but one by one they fell, until only Mugamb

ds was a jeweled musket. Slowly he raised it to his shoulder, waiting until another move should p

the trigger. Without a sound the brave Mugamb

w. A giant Negro lifted her to the pommel of his saddle, and while the raiders searched the bungal

the fields. She saw her home plundered of all that represented intrinsic worth in the ey

ode away with her toward the north, she saw the smoke and the flames rising far into the h

ings had long since been stilled, moved again. It was a huge black who rolled over upon his side and opened blood-shot, suffering eyes. Mugambi, whom the Arabs h

t seemed to him an interminable time, during which the flames had become a veritable fiery furnace at the far side of the room,

hatred the lurid flames which still rose from burning crib and hay cock. A prowling lion roared close at hand; but

el-Room

ad; but he was not dead. At length he stirred. His eyes opened upon the utter darkness of the room. He raised his hand to his head and

et, and groped his way about among the tiers of ingots. What was he? Where was he? His head ached; but otherwise he felt no i

something missing. He crawled about upon the floor, feeling with his hands for the thing that instinct warned him was gone. At last he found it-the heavy war spear that in past years had formed so important a feature of

ounding him. He continued his search and at last found the doorway leading inward beneath the city and the temple. This he followed, m

ed on through the darkness as though he were traversing an open plain under the brilliance of a noonday

rd, and shot downward into the inky depths below. Still clutching his spea

ltering into the well from the orifice far above his head. It illumined the inner walls faintly. Tarzan gazed about him. On the level with th

e Apes was learning. The unexpected pit had taught him care in

s though at times the rising waters of the well overflowed and flooded it. This, in

the gloom of which was relieved by a faint light which found ingress through a tubular shaft several feet in diameter which rose from the center of the ro

chests constituted the sole furniture of the round room. Tarzan let his hands run over these. He fel

by his accident, had no conception of the fabulous value of his find. To him they were but pretty pebbles. He plunged his hands into them and let the priceless gems filter through his fingers. He went to others of t

buried beneath the temple of the Flaming God, midway of one of the many inky passages which the su

l-room by a steep incline. Winding and twisting, but always tending upward, the tunnel led him nearer and

red columns in mild wonderment. He puckered his brows in an attempt to recall some recollection of similar things. He was not sure of himself. Th

r came the cries and screams of men and women. Tarzan grasped his spear more firmly and ascended the steps. A st

te than the others. He was in the center of the temple. Directly before Tarzan, a woman stood beside a block of stone. Upon the top of the stone lay stretched a man, and as the ape-man watched the scene, he saw the lion

sinuous tail twitched nervously. He was upon the point of

is eyes wandered to something beyond the altar and out of the Belgian's view. He saw the formidable creature rise to a standing position. A

er of wonders, the naked giant who had hurled the missile charging upon the

ightfully, and then upon the startled ears of the Belgian, broke a s

. His arms encircled the maned neck, his teeth sank deep into the brute's flesh. Roaring, leaping, rolling and struggling, the giant cat att

the spectacle. It seemed incredible that a human being could best the king of beasts in pers

le floor, dead. Leaping to his feet the conqueror placed a foot upon the carcass of his kill, raised his face toward

r recognized him as the man he had

cape f

ously in his luxurious African home? Could this wild beast, with blazing eyes, and bloody countenance, be a

but there was no faintest tinge of recognition. It was as though he had d

n's features. Slowly her l

the Oparians: "You have come back to me! La has ignored the mandates of her religion, waiting, always waiting for Tarzan-for her Tarzan. She has taken no

n. Would the latter understand this strange tongue? To the Belgian's sur

musingly. "Tarzan. Th

me-you are Tar

o I will keep it; but I do not know you. I did not come hither for you. Why I ca

ad. "I never kn

me question to him; but in the language of

nd that language,"

the injury of which Tarzan was a victim. The man had lost his memory-no longer could he recollect past events. The Belgian was upon the point of enlightening him, when it sudd

all both be slain upon this bloody altar. The woman was about to plunge her knife into my heart when the lion interrupted the

ned again

d you have killed this

stess cried o

to kill you?"

n shook

o kill him?" Tarzan was determined

nder arm and poin

s soul as a gift to the

an ape, and apes do not understand s

to die?" he

with tears in his eyes, t

s SHE would kill you and keep me for herself. It is no place anyway

La. "We are goi

ard and seized the ap

iest. La loves you. All Opar shall be yours. Slaves shall wai

not desire you," he said, simply, and stepping to Werper's

vulsed with rage, La

e, she will have you dead," and raising her face to the sun she gave voice to

of voices broke from the surr

holiest of the holies. Come! Strike terror to their hearts; defend La

ed. Stepping quickly to La's side the ape-man seized her in his strong arms and though she fought wit

om each doorway a horde of the monstrous,

foe in proud disdain. Slowly he advanced toward the exit he had chosen to utilize in making his way from the temple. A burly priest barred his way. Be

tle with the giant ape-man, yet hesitate to rush upon him, who was relatively so weak. Had they done so he knew that he must have fallen at the first charge. Tarzan had reached the doorway over the corpses of all that had stood to dispute his way, before Werper guessed at the reason for his immunity. The priests feared the sacrificial knife!

before him, brandishing the jeweled and holy weapon. Like leaves before a gale, the Oparians scattered in all dir

ill-concealed avarice he looked upon the age-old, golden tablets set in the walls of nearly every room

f-ruined edifices and the inner wall of the city. Great apes jabbered at them and menaced them; but Tarzan

gged and bristling, toward the naked giant. The yellow fangs were bared, angr

hropoid. He saw him circle, stiff-legged about the circling ape. He heard the same bestial barkings and growlings issue from the human throat t

ters end-one of the boasters loses his nerve, and becomes suddenly inte

nt Tarzan seemed inclined to pursue the argument. He swaggered truculently, stuck out his chest, roared and advanced closer to the bull. It was

exit through the inner wall. From there the well-worn trail led t

e he came. He wandered aimlessly about, searching for food, which he discovered ben

ompanion. Beetles, rodents and caterpillars were devou

nt hills which mark the northwestern boundary of the valley, and t

y and greed back toward his former home it is difficult to guess, unles

e cooked a wild pig that had fallen to one of Tarzan's arrows, the latter sat lost in speculatio

ing gems. The firelight playing upon them conjured a multitude of scintillating rays, and as the wide eyes of the Belgian look

ft of t

rrier cliffs; but not until late in the afternoon of the second day did he find clew to i

er. Of the little party only these three had not been slaves. The others, evidently tempted to hope for freedom from their cruel Arab master, had taken ad

which chance had permitted him to escape, for had he been present whe

iolent death. The refinements of his recent civilization expunged by the force of the sad calamity which had befallen him

a mechanical knowledge of French and English speech. Werper had spoken to him in French, and Tarzan had replied in the same tongue without conscious re

t they were and where he had found them. The ape-man replied that they were gay-colored stones, with which he purposed

r for the Belgian to obtain possession of them. Possibly the man would give them to him for the asking. Werp

them," said

ying with the gems, and his conversation with Werper as though nothing unusual had occurred. He had but exhibited the beast's jealous protective instinct for a possession. W

had been wrought in Tarzan by the blow upon his head, other than to attribute it to a form of amnesia. That Tarzan had once been, in truth, a savage, jungle b

successfully against an attack by the ape-man. His one hope lay in eluding him, and making for the far distant camp of Achmet Zek as rapidly as he could; but armed only with the sacrificial knife, Werper shrank from attempting th

it was that burned most strongly in his breast, to the end that he dared the dangers and suffered the terrors of constant association with hi

conceal himself beneath the veil of a new identity and enjoy to some measure the fruits of his theft. He had it all planned out, did Lieutenant Albert Werper, living in anticipation the

an caught the sound of men behind them. Werper heard nothing above the humming o

sing breeze. Then he withdrew Werper into the concealment of thick brush, and waited. Presently, along the game

lashed upon his back. Werper recognized the party immediately as that which had accompanied Tarzan on his journey to Opar

concealment. He looked down the trail in the direc

ow and slay t

sked the

"It was a black who killed Kala. T

ziri country. Tarzan, he knew, had not the remotest idea of whither they were going. By keeping at a safe distance behind the laden warriors, they would have no difficulty in following them home. Once at the bungalow, Werper knew the way to the camp of Achmet Zek

blacks, and at last he prevailed upon Tarzan to follow them in peace, saying that he

nd the Belgian, following the trail of the warriors, topped the last rise, and saw before th

ng herds of zebra, hartebeest, and topi dotted the level landscape, while closer to the river a bull buffalo, his head and shoulders protrudi

tion of his bungalow. Werper, however, did. A puzzled expression entered the Belgian's eyes. He shaded them with his palms and gazed long and earnestly toward the spot where t

lanation of the havoc that had been wrought in that peaceful valle

sight of the farm. Now they hastened on toward it talking excitedly among th

the charred ruins of their master's bungalow, their greatest f

ion, lay rotting upon the ground, and among the corpses remained sufficient remnants of their clothing and

aid, as his men c

encountered only further evidence of the ruthlessness of the cruel enemy

th 'Lady'?" asked

s called Lady

taken with them," said Ba

voice to a savage cry of rage and hate. The others fol

ich things are done, not words. Let us save our breath-we shall need it all to follow up the Arabs and slay them

They saw them dig a trench with their knives and fingers. They saw them lay their y

as intensely interested. He would have given much had he had his own followers with him, that he might take away the treasu

n sat devouring some pieces of meat they had brought from their last camp. The Belgian was occupied with his plans for the immediate future. He was positive that the Waziri would pursue Achmet Zek, for he knew enough of sava

now do with Lady Greystoke, in view of the mental affliction of her husband, Werper neither knew nor cared. It was enough that the golden treasure buried upon the site of the burned bungalow was infinitel

he incalculably valuable treasure in the little leathern pouch at Tarza

d upon the rounded muscles of his arms. It was hopeless. What could he, Werper, hope to acc

were hidden from the ape-man, though one of them was fastened upon him from beneath the shadow of the Belgian's forearm. For a time he lay thus,

n saw that he was being watched, and lay very still. After a f

em away. This seemed to Tarzan a splendid plan for safeguarding valuables. Since Werper had evinced a desire to possess his glittering pebbles, Tarzan, wi

the blade he loosened up the earth, and with his hands he scooped it out until he had excavated a little cavity a few inches in diameter, and five or six inches in depth. Into this

s bored straight down upon the Belgian. Werper felt that he was lost-he must risk all on his ability to carry on the deception. He sighed, threw

time looking at him. Then, faintly, Werper heard the other's hands scraping

ing Tarzan and opened his eyes. The ape-man slept. By reaching ou

utiously the Belgian pushed the blade downward through the loose earth above the pouch. He felt the point touch the soft, tough fabric of the leather. Then he pried down upon the handle. Slowly the little mound of loose eart

uences for Werper. Already he could almost feel those strong, white fangs burying themselves in his neck. He shuddered

. With utmost caution the Belgian arose. Tarzan did not move. Werper took a few steps toward the plain and the distant forest t

used. "Then I s

hed tightly in his hand was the sacrificial k

ek Sees

ually savage desire for vengeance kept him to his task. As the days passed his wounds healed and his strength returned, until at last his giant frame had regained all o

is lieutenant, Albert Werper. During the long, rough journey, Jane Clayton had suff

no great harm would befall her at the hands of the Arabs; but there was the chance, the horrid chance, that another fate awaited her. She had heard of many women, among whom were wh

succor. No man nor beast who roamed the savage continent could boast the cunning and the powers of her lord and master. To her, he was little short of omnipotent in his native world-this world of savage beasts and savage men. Tarzan would come, and she would be rescued and avenged, of th

nt, could elude the keen vigilance of his senses. To him, the trail of t

he had escaped the claws and fangs of the giant carnivora only by what seemed a miracle to him. Armed with nothing more than the

e among the branches when sight or sound of some great cat warned him from danger. But

great tree, reconnoitering, he saw a man, ragged and disheveled, emerge from the jungle almost at his elbow. Inst

ing confidently across the clearing toward the village gate. No sane man thus approached a village in th

est of Lord and Lady Greystoke. A light broke upon the understanding of Mugambi. This white man had been a traitor and a spy. It was to him

of Achmet Zek. The Arab arose as his lieutenant entered. His fac

happened?"

ped about his waist, beneath his clothing. The Arab's eyes narrowed greedily as his henchman

he coming of the rash Waziri, and after we have slain them we may take our time to the treasur

oman?" ask

lied the raider. "It is the only way

he party which took Lady Greystoke north it would give him the opportunity he craved to make his escape

vice of Achmet Zek. Most of the few who deserted were recaptured. More than once had Werper listened to their agonized sc

while we are returning for the gold that the Wa

n was the most logical lieutenant to intrust with the command of one of the parties. An Arab, as familiar with the trails and tribes as Achmet Zek himself, might collect the woman's price and make good his escape into the far north. Werper, on the other hand, could scarce make

h the woman, carrying a letter to a friend of mine who is always in touch with the best markets for s

eyes of Achmet Zek is open to question. However, the decision reached, the Arab and his lieutenant discussed the details of their forthcoming ventu

r wall of his tent, placed a rude chair beside an equally rude table that sto

d, Albert Werper sprawled in his rickety chair to enjoy a final cigaret before retiring. His thumbs, tucked in his belt in lazy support of the weight of his arms, touched the belt which he

e a glimpse of those scintillating beauties! Werper had never yet had an opportunity to feast his eyes for

gian's tent. He fingered the pouch, feeling out the shapes and sizes of the precious, little nodules within. He hefted the bag, first in one palm, then in the

would open their portals to the possessor of the wealth which lay scattered upon this stained and dented table top. He dreamed of joys and luxuries and power which always had be

far beyond. And then a reflection moved within the polished surface of the tiny glass, the man's eyes shot back out of space to

pon the gems. Without haste, he replaced them in the pouch, tucked the latter into his shirt, selected a cigaret from his case, lighted it and rose. Yawn

ut his life as well. Achmet Zek would never permit the wealth that he had discovered to slip through his fingers, nor would he

the watcher saw no indication of the nervous excitement which the European strove to conceal

which passed noiselessly from the darkness without to the darkness within. Cautiously the prowler crossed the interior. In

nd descended. Again and again it rose and fell, and each time the long blade of the knife buried itself in the thing beneath the blankets. But there was an initial lifelessness in the silent bulk

ecause he had discovered beneath the blankets of his lieutenant only a pile of discarde

oice. But though they searched the village again and again they found no trace of the Belgian. Foaming with anger, Achmet Zek c

crowded about the entrance to watch the searchers depart, and as the last of them passed out of the village the blacks seized th

er, and as they returned from the gates to their respective t

there was which he was reasonably assured contained her, for it was the only hut before the door of which a sentry had been posted. Mugambi wa

safe within?" a

er, "for none has passed

oser to the corner of the building. In one powerful hand he gripped a heavy knob-stick. No sign of elation disturbed

orm which silently loomed behind him. The knob-stick swung upward in a curve, and downward again. There was the

slowly, calling, "Lady!" in a low whisper, and finally with almost fran

comes a B

uld fail to drive the point to his victim's heart? Werper shuddered in contemplation of the disastrous consequences to himself. Awakened, and even with a few m

tched the wide plain and escape. The jewels were in his possession. To remain longer was to risk death at the hands of Ta

had formerly rendered him immune from the dangers of surprise?

The rustling curtain of vegetation parted a few paces from where the sleeper lay, and the massive head of a lion appeared. The beast

. Jungle folk do not awaken slowly-instantly, full consciousness and full comm

spear grasped firmly in his hand and ready for attack. Ag

, fear or caution which prompted the lion crouching ready to spring upon the man, is immaterial-the fact remains that he did not carry out his

seen. At first Tarzan suspected that the man had been seized and dragged off by another lion, but upon

r. A sneer touched Tarzan's lips as he pondered the man's act-the desertion of a comrade in time of danger, and without warning. Well, if that was the sort

eedy jungle. Tarzan made his way to it, clambered into it, and finding a comfortabl

y any more serious obligations than those of providing sustenance, and safeguarding his life. Therefore, there was nothin

ds of John Clayton, Lord Greystoke, Tarzan of the Apes looked, as a stranger, upon the moving figures of Basuli and his braves as they prepared their morning mea

hat he saw, yet he could not connect any of the various forms of life, animate and inanimate, which had fallen within th

gnition. His mind had reverted to his childhood days-it was the figure of the giant she-ape, Kala, that he saw; but only half recognized. He saw, too, oth

ng themselves nicely to the various incidents of his life with which they had been intimately connected. His boyhood among the apes spread itself in a

gh the face of each of them had but recently been as familiar to h

at bunch of zebra he wormed his stealthy way. No intricate process of reasoning caused him to circle widely until he was down wind from his p

ards from the unsuspecting two. The ape-man reached its shelter. He gathered his spear firmly in his grasp. Cautiously he drew his feet beneath him. In a single swift move

Apes, for a distance of a few yards, could equal the speed of even these, and the first stride of the mare found her overhauled, with a savage beast at her shoulder. She turned, biting and kicking at her foe. Her mate

irst, been inevitable. The mare fought bravely, but hopelessly, and presently sank to the earth, her heart pierced. The ape-man placed a foot upon her ca

s been long since I have heard them in the country

d hidden his own near approach, and there he squatted upon it, cut a huge hunk of fl

growled. The hyenas returned the compliment, and withdrew a couple of paces. They made no move to attack; but continued to sit at a respectful distance until Tarzan had concluded his meal. After the ape-man had

y held their ground, bristling and defiant; but only for a moment, and then slunk away to one side while the i

ered the intruder; but the ape-man passed across their front as though ignorant of their existence. The bull's bellowing lessened to a low rumbling, he turned and scraped a horde of flies from his side with his muz

he plain toward the forest, and a longing for the pleasures of its mysterious depths possessed his thoughts for a considerable time. With the next sun he would cross the open an

retching his giant limbs, and luxuriating in the blessed peace of utter thoughtlessness, without an apprehension or a worry to sap his nervous

of lions approaching along the path from the direction of the river. The ape-man counted seven-a male and two lionesses, full grown, and four young lions as large and quite as formidable as their parents. Tarzan halted, growling, and the lions paused, the great male in the lead baring his fangs and rumbling forth a warning roar. In his hand the ape-man held his heavy spear; but he had no intention of pitting his puny weapon against seven lions; yet he stood there growling and roaring and the lions did likewise. It was purely an exhibition of jungle bluff. Each was trying to frighten off the

impossible; yet so perfectly were mind and muscles coordinated in this unspoiled, primitive man that almost simultaneously with the sense perception of the threatened danger he wheeled and hurled his spear at Buto's chest. It was a heavy spear shod with iron, and behind it were the giant muscles of the ape-man, while coming to meet it was the enormous weight of Buto and the momentum of his rapid rush. All that happened in the instant that Tarzan turned to meet the charge of the ir

orn and dying, and then the six remaining lions were upon the rhinoceros, rending and tearing the while they were being gored or trampled. From the safety of his perch Tarzan watched the royal battle with the keenest interest, for the more

hen in a momentary lull in the encounter he sank limply to his knees and rolled over upon his side. Tarzan's spear had done its work. It was the man-made weapon which killed the great beast

m the body of Buto, hacked off a steak and vanished into the jungle. The episode was over. It had been all in the day's work-someth

ks Ven

n, parklike places and across the wide meadows, where grazed the countless herbivora of the mysterious continent, a weird and terrible caravan in search of him. There were fifty frightful men with hairy bodies and gnarled and crooked legs. They were arme

r consternation to a British king than did the pilfering of the sacred knife bring to La, the Oparian, Queen and High Priestess of the degraded remnants of the oldest civilization upon earth. When Atlantis, with all her mighty cities and her cultivated fields and her great commerce and culture and riches sank into the sea long ages since, she took with her all but a handful of her colonists working the vast gold mi

re Tarzan came that first time to Opar, La had never seen a human male other than the grotesque and knotted men of her clan. With one of these she must mate sooner or later that the direct line of high priestesses might not be broken, unless Fate should bring other men to Opar. Before Tarzan came upon his first visit, La had had no thought that such men as he existed, for she knew only her hideous little priests and the bulls of the tribe of great anthropoids that had dwelt from time immemorial in and about Opar, un

s La could never have felt love for any of the repulsive priests of Opar. Custom, duty and religious zeal might have commanded the union; but there could have been no love on La's part. She had grown to young womanhood a cold and heartless creature, daughter of a thousand other cold, heartless, beautiful women who

ght down no thoughts of vengeance upon his head. Of course, he should be slain when captured; but his death would give La no pleasure-she looked for that in the contemplated death agonies of Tarzan. He should be tortured. His should be a slow and frightful death. His punishment should be adequate to the immen

mps, she set the hour for halting and the hour for resuming and though she was inexperienced in such matters, her native intelligence was so far above that of the men or the apes that she did better than they could have done. She was a hard taskmaster, too, for she looked down with loathing and contempt upon the misshapen creatures amongst which cruel Fate had thrown her and to some extent vented upon them her dissatisfaction and her thwarted love. She made them build her a strong protection and s

nday halt while all were lying resting after a tiresome march that one of the apes rose suddenly and sniffed the breeze. In a low guttural he cautioned the others to silence and a moment later was

t and approach them. Straight to La he came and in the language of the g

said, pointing in the direction from which

rmangani to me alive and unhurt. The vengeance is La's. Go; but ma

bough and even in sleep one hand grasped a stout limb and one strong, brown leg reached out and overlapped another. At ease lay Tarzan of the Apes, sleeping heavily upon a full stomach and dreaming of Numa, the lion, and Horta, the b

weight and was immediately set upon by the fifty hairy men or as many of them as could swarm upon his person. Instantly the ape-man became the center of a whirling, striking, biting maelstrom of hor

To Torture

autioned them not to kill him. She saw that he was weakening and that soon the greater numbers would preva

e commanded and they carried Tarzan back to the

row in the face of the Flaming God, La will offer up the heart of this

upon Tarzan's person when they captured him. The ape-man looked upon the menacing creatures which surro

he knife?"

look for him and get it back for you, did you not hold me prisoner; but now that I am to die I cannot get it back. Of what good was your knife, a

yet as she looked at him lying bound and helpless before her, tears rose to her eyes so that she had to turn away to hide them; but she

reak of dawn you may prepare the flaming altar upon which his heart shall be offered up to the Flaming God. Gather wood well filled with pitch, la

tongue of that lost continent that lies at the bottom of the Atlantic. They knew not the meanings of the words they mouthed; they but repeated the ritual that had been h

ntence hanging over him. He knew that his giant muscles could not part the many strands that bound his wrists and ankles, for he had strained often, but ineffectually for rel

e and then she steeled her heart again by thoughts of her love spurned; by religious thoughts that damned the infidel who had desecrated the holy of holies; who had taken from the blood-stained altar of Opar the offering to the Flaming God-and not once but thric

e camp. The flames played upon the new altar erected in the center of the clearing, arousing in the mind of the High Priestess of the Flaming God a picture of the event of the coming dawn. She saw this giant and perfect form writhing amid the flames of the burning pyre. She saw those smiling lips, burned and blac

hirst and from the cutting of the tight strands about his wrists and ankles; but he made no complaint. A jungle beast was Tarzan with the stoicism of the beast and the intelligence of man. He knew that his doom

s face was close to his when a sudden burst of flame from new branches thrown upon the fire without, lighted up the interior of the shelter. Close beneath her lips La saw the perfect features of

should be instant death. No longer should the defiler of the temple pollute the sight of the lord god almighty. A single stroke of the heavy blade and then the cor

she had ordained for him, and in trembling, piteous tones she begged him for his love. For hours the frenzy of her passion possessed the burning hand-maiden of the Flaming God, until at last s

ose in volume to the open diapason of barbaric blood lust. La stirred. Her perfect arm pressed Tarzan closer to her-a smile parted her lips and t

e cried. "Love me, an

wl he rolled over with his back toward La. That was her answer! The High Priestess leaped to her feet. A

ing God!" she cried, "and

hite and drawn with unrequited love and hideous terror of the moments to come. Yet stern in her resolve was La. The infidel should die! The scorner of her love should pay the price upon the fiery altar. She saw them lay the perfect body there upon the rough branches. She saw the High Priest, he to whom custom would unite her-bent, crooked, gnarled, stunted,

waited the end. He knew that he would suffer, for he recalled the faint memories of past burns. He knew that he would suffer and die; but he did not flinch. Death is no great adventure to the jungle bred who walk hand-in-hand with the grim specter by day and lie down at his side by night

"Tarzan, my Tarzan!" she moaned, "tell me that you love me-that you will return to Opar with me-and you shall li

breast; she saw the beast-faced fanatic who would one day be her mate, unless she found another less repulsive, standing with the burning torch ready to ignite the pyre; yet with all her

He raised his voice in a weird scream that sent La back from him a step or two. The impatient priest grumbled and sw

a. "What is your answer t

read her fate for happiness or heartbreak, she saw an expression of concern shadow his features. Now, for the first time, she guessed the meaning of Tarzan's shrill scream-he had

ow now from his voice that he will slay me and you and all that fall in his path, searching out with the

new that the devil in the cunning, cruel brain of the great beast might send it hither and thither hunting through th

live in Opar-I who have the whole broad jungle for my range. No, I cannot love you but I cannot see you die beneath the gor

at the spreading flames. In a moment they would reach out and grasp him. From the tangled forest came the sound of cracking limbs and crashing trunks-Tantor was coming down

aising his bludgeon he rushed upon the High Priestess; but Tarzan was there before her. Leaping in to close quarters the ape-man seized the upraised weapon and wrenched it from the hands of the frenzied fanatic and then the priest closed upon him with tooth and nail. Seizing the stocky, stunted body in his mighty hands Tarzan raised th

in his arms raced for the nearest tree. Tantor bore down upon him trumpeting shrilly. La clung with both white arms about the ape-man's neck. She felt him leap into the air and marveled at hi

pulp to charge, trumpeting, after another. Two he trampled beneath his huge feet and by then the others had disappeared into the jungle. Now Tantor turned his attention once more to Tarzan for one of the symptoms of madness is a revulsion of affection-objects of sane love become the objects of insane ha

; but Tarzan had foreseen this and clambered beyond the bull's longest reach. Failure but tended to further enrage the mad creature. He bellowed and trumpeted and screa

ed them, reviling in the jungle Billingsgate he knew so well; but now he sat silent out of Tantor's reach and upon his handsome face was an expression of deep sorrow and pity, for of all the jungle folk Tarzan loved Tantor the best. Could he have slain him he wou

the bole of the tree, spread his giant feet wide apart and tugged to uproot the jungle giant. A huge creature was Tantor, an enormous bull in the full prime of all his stupendous strength. Mightily he strove until

. It was a long and perilous leap. La closed her eyes and shuddered; but when she opened them again she found herself safe and Tarzan whirling onward through the forest. Behind them the uprooted tree crashed hea

ss But Ye

ence in the perfect physical creature in whose strength and nerve and agility her fate lay. Once she raised her eyes to the burning sun and murmured a prayer of thanks to her pagan god that she had not been permitted to destroy this godlike man, and her long lashes were wet with tears. A strange anomaly was La of Opar-a creature of c

were pressed against his flesh. She loved him and would gladly have died for him; yet within an

rned to one side, bore down upon the crooked, little man, snuffed him out and then, diverted from his course

lipped to her feet from his back. "Ca

kill me,"

an. "No one will kill you while Tarzan of the Ap

he Oparian priests: "We come! We come!" Again and again, La repeated her summons until singly and in pairs the greater portion of her following approached and h

of you; but she spared me that I might save her. Go your way with her back to Opar, and Tarzan will

ey were not favorably inclined toward the proposition. They did not wish to take La back and they d

have served you better alive than I could have dead. If you are not all fools you will let me go my way in peace and you will return to Opar with La. I know not where the sacred knife is; but you can fashion another. Had

until it became evident to Tarzan that one of their number was preventing the acceptance of his proposal. This was the High Priest whose heart was filled with jealous rage because La openly acknowledged her love f

fice you both to the Flaming God; but all of us exc

hy should you not have your will? Go your way w

iration. The influence of ages of unquestioning obedience to high priests had made it seem impossible to them to question

is ear. They threatened him with bludgeon and knife until at last he acquiesce

e threat of Tarzan of the Apes that whoever harms her shall die. Tarzan will go again to

romised not to

rians. "Protect her so that when Tarzan come

riestess, "and La will wait, longing, always longing,

s he swung quickly into the tree

head drooped, a sigh escaped her lips and like an

ttled upon the jungle, then he lay down and slept, with no thought beyond the

Achmet Zek, and be speeding to rescue and avenge, and even as she pictured the coming of John Clayton, the object of her thoughts s

his mind, he conceived a desire to play with them again, and, having nothing better to do than satisfy the first wh

n unbroken stretch several miles in length, where the reeds terminated at the edge of the meadowland

inal hole there was no sign of pouch or jewels. Tarzan's brow clouded as he discovered that he had been despoiled. Little or no reasoning was required to convin

ite man could not have followed it twenty paces twelve hours after it had been made, a black man would have lost it within th

wondrous lady sitting in front of us, and deplore the fact of our sensitive noses; but, as a matter of fact, we cannot smell at

nge of our sensibilities; but to a creature of the lower orders, especially to the hunte

arvelous state of development by the necessities of his early life, where survival itself depended

d was two days ahead of him when Tarzan took up the pursuit, and each day he gained upon the ape-man. The latter, however, felt not the slightest doubt as to the outcome. Some day he would ove

he gave a wide berth, for he was hunting with a purpose that

s broadcast to summon. They were marching to a common rendezvous in preparation for an assault upon the stronghold

s place had the spoor led him. His quarry must be within; but how was he to find him among so many huts? Tarzan, although cognizant of his mighty powers, realized also his li

d at the bulging, round ends of the large bone, splintering off small pieces between his strong jaws, and sucking at the delicious marrow within; but all the tim

sentries at the gates, then he dropped lightly to the ground, circ

his childhood. Loosening this, he spread the noose upon the ground behind him, and with a quick movem

e clutched in both hands. Once at the top it required but a moment to gather the dangling rope once more into its coils, make it fast again a

would be fraught with danger; but danger was only a natural factor of each day's life-it never appalled Tarzan. The chances

or some time he found one disappointment following upon the heels of another in quick succession. No spoor of the Belgian was discernible. But at las

rior. All was quiet and dark. Tarzan crawled cautiously within-the scent of the Belgian was strong; but it

t revealed nothing more, at least nothing to indicate the presence of the jewels; but at the side where the blankets and clothing lay, the ape-man disc

s and tents of the village-it was quite evident to Tarzan that the Belgian had gone alone and secretly upon his mission. Evide

all aperture. Within the hut his nostrils were assailed by many odors; but clear and distinct among them was one that half aroused a latent memory of the past-it was the faint and delicate odor of a woman. With th

the ape-man, mingling one with the other, a jealous rage leaped and burned within him, though his me

fter satisfying himself that his stolen pouch was secreted nowher

ollowed it across the clearing, over the pa

ight o

o the darkness of the village beneath the rear wall of his tent, he

words in his ear, handed him a package of tobacco, and passed into the hut. The blac

lly go where he wished within or without the village, and so the sentry ha

ult. Where are you?" But there was no response. Hastily the man felt around the interior

se of the rear wall of the hut. Examination revealed the fact that the blotch was an opening cut in the wall. It was large enough to permit the passage of his body, and assured as he was that Lady Greys

plan had contemplated connivance in the escape of Lady Greystoke for two very good and sufficient reasons. The first was that by saving her he would win the

e Belgian possessions which lay between him and the Atlantic. The south was closed to him by the feared presence of the savage ape-man he had rob

for by her as that of a Frenchman by the name of Frecoult, he had looked forward, and not without reason,

had first laid eyes upon Jane Clayton he had nursed within his breast a secret passion for the beautiful American wife of the English lord, and when Achmet Zek's discovery of the jewels had nec

es, taken from a nearby pile which had been collected for the construction of huts, had been lean

ns to scale the wall, nor did he lose even a moment in followin

ng among the branches of a tree in which she had

d used to cut her way through the brush wall of the hut to freedom she had found sticking in the

but a few moments, and the fortunate circumstance of the discovery of the hut poles ly

e stealthy padding of a stalking beast behind her. The nearest tree gave her instant sanctuary, for she was to

discovered a mounted Arab upon his trail. It was one of Achmet Zek's minions, many of who

o had seen the Belgian after his departure from his tent was the black sentry before the doorway of Lady Greystoke's prison hut,

as chance directed that he should be the one to discover the body of the sentry when the first alarm had been given following Achmet Zek's discovery that Werper had outwitted him,

ush. Here the trail ran straight for a considerable distance, and down the shady forest aisl

oved. Werper's eyes instantly centered upon the spot. There was no wind to stir the foliage in the depths of the jungle. Again t

he trail. Gradually a form took shape beyond them-a tawny form, grim and terrible,

re and no less terrible. He remained silent, almost paralyzed by fear. The Arab approached. Across the trail

he awaited the result of this interruption. At a walk the horseman approached. Would the nervous animal he rode

They were abreast the lion now, and still the brute did not spring. Could he be but waiting for them to pass before returning his attention to the original prey? Werper shuddered and half rose. At the same instant the lion sprang from his place o

ickly emptied saddle and the opportunity it presented. Scarcely had the lion dragged the Arab down from one side, t

raised head, and dilating nostrils sniffed the morning air. The smell of blood fell strong upon his senses,

eedy feeding of a lion. The crunching of bones, the gulping of great piec

effort to conceal his approach, and presently he had evidence that Numa had heard

thing be the man he had been trailing? The ape-man wondered. From time to time he had descended to the trail and

no scent spoor here of the man he had been trailing. Tarzan returned to the tree. With keen eyes he searched the

is efforts. He tore small branches from a nearby limb and hurled them at his ancient enem

is feet with a roar of mingled rage and pain. He leaped futilely at the grinning ape-man, tore at the protruding end of the shaft, and then, springing into the trail, paced back and forth beneath his torm

pear deep into the fierce heart, then after recovering his arrows turned his

again, where he might easily have acquired the apparel. So sure was Tarzan that the body was that of he who had robbed him that he m

as any sign of the missing article or its contents. The ape-man was disappointed-possibly not so muc

an to enter and search the Arab camp, after darkness had again fallen. Taking to the trees, he moved directly south in search of prey, that he might satisfy his hunger b

he trail, halting to examine the body of the dead lion. An expression of puzzlement crossed his features as he bent to search for the wounds which had caused the death of the

he reasoned that the killer was close at hand, yet no sign of living man appeared.

gle word, "Lady," in the hope that at last she might hear and re

ad been assiduously searching for the Arab raider, Achmet Zek, who, six months previously, had affronted t

ort rest at noon upon this very day and along the same tr

ed mount almost into their midst, before he had discovered them. Instantly he was surrounded, and a volley

he was a Frenchman, hunting in Africa, and that he had been attacked by stran

e expedition, and when he realized that these men were the enemies of Achme

ak in the further prosecution of his pursuit, assuring the Abyssinian that Achmet Zek comm

extremely questionable, Mourak, none too unwillingly, abandoned his plan and gave the necessary orders for his comm

attracted toward the west by the sound of a powerful voice cal

nians, acting under orders from Abdul Mourak, advanced st

to the presence of the Abyssinian officer, was M. Jules Frecoult, the Frenchman who had been the guest of his master and whom he l

e Frenchman, Mugambi saw a sinister relationship, which kept him from recalling t

ed to take him back to Adis Abeba and present him to Menelek. A few moments later Mugambi and Werper were marched away under guard, and the Belgian learned for the first time, that he t

. With this idea always uppermost in his mind, he courted the good opinion of the Abyssinians, asked them many questions about their emperor and their country, and evinced a growing desire to reach their desti

id upon the bungalow, as well as the fate of Lady Greystoke; but as he was confined to the accidents of conversation for this information, not daring to acquaint Werper with his t

n he learned a very surpr

er was gravelly, there was no indication of crocodiles, those menaces to promiscuous bathing in the rivers of certain portions of

lack noted the care with which he unfastened something which circled his waist, and which he took off w

he warrior's mind, and so it chanced that when the Belgian, in the nervousness of overcaution, fumbled the hidden

rel proclaimed him. He had mingled with the cosmopolitan hordes of the greatest city in the world;

ly than the value of the stones. A thousand times he had seen the leathern pouch which dangled at his master's side, when Tarzan of the Apes had, in a spirit of play and adventure, elected to return

red up the precious gems and returned them to their container, while Mugamb

d escaped during the night, while Werper was terrified for the same reason, until his trembling fingers d

in Leads t

is deserting lieutenant, Werper. Others had spread out in various directions, so that a vast c

earing. The chief of the raiders was in ill humor. To have been outwitted by an unbeliever was bad enough; but to have, at the same

price in the north, and there was, too, the buried

ntion. He gathered his rifle in readiness for instant use, at the same time motioning his followers to silence and

rom side to side. A moment later, evidently satisfied that no immediate danger

ion of incredulity and an imprecation. The woman was

ady since she had quitted the village of the raiders had she barely escaped the fangs of carnivora, and once she had almost stumbled into the path of one of

ed with satisfaction that she was walking directly into his clutches, another pai

lint, for their owner was struggling with an intangible suggestio

d emerged into the clearing brought her to a sudden stop and attracted

reat, anthropoid ape waddled into view. Behind him came another and another; but Lady Greysto

ushes there, Achmet Zek and his two henchmen rose up and seized her. At the same instan

volley of low gutturals, and without waiting to note the eff

stily unfastening all three mounts. The woman, struggling to escape the Arab, turne

"Thank God that you

and make their escape before the beasts and the man were upon them. Achmet Zek recognized the latter as the redoubtable enemy of

followers, acting with no less alacrity than himself, fired almost simultaneously, and with the reports

, taking advantage of their momentary distraction, Achmet Zek and his fellows leaped t

ated in the filthy, little hut from which she had thought to have escaped for good.

until he was in such a transport of ferocious anger that none dared approach him. Threatening and cursing, Achmet Zek paced up and down the floor of his silken tent; but his temper serv

omrades. One was dead, but another and the great white ape still breathed. The hairy mon

oulder. The shock had thrown him down and dazed him; but he was far from dead. Rising slowly to his feet he let his eye

s she?"

ied one of the apes. "Who are you wh

. When I roar, the jungle is silent and trembles with terror. I am Tarza

n. I know him. It is well that he has co

muscles tense and ready for action; but there was none there to question his right to be with them, and pres

his skull, having stunned him, so that when he rega

march; but Tarzan preferred to follow the Arabs and take the woman from them. After a considerable argument it was decided that they should first hunt toward the east for a few days and then r

as the painfulness of his wound. It would be better to wait until that ha

amed off toward the east in company with a score of hairy monsters, with whom he rubbed shoulders as familiarly as a f

son, elsewhere and among another sort of creature. Also, there was the compelling urge to be upon the scent of the Arabs, undertaking the rescue of the woman who had appe

in the clearing where the Arabs had seized her, the subtle aroma which had first aroused his desires in the hut that had imprisoned her

obtain possession of both his pretty pebbles and the she. Then he would return to the great apes with his new mate and his baubles, and leading his hairy compan

greater intelligence than his fellows, and therefore the possessor of better developed powers of imagination. To him the expedition savored of adventure, and so appealed, strongly.

e of his greater experience, crafty and cunning. Too, he was of giant proportions, the very weight of

r than the exception, and, though Tarzan did not guess it, he hated the ape-man with a ferocity that he was able to hide only because th

lage of Achmet Zek. As they set off, the balance of the tribe vouchsafed t

r of long-sustained concentration. To set out upon a long journey, with a definite destination in view, is one thing, to remember that pur

fallen tree attracted his attention with its suggestion of rich and succulent forage beneath, and when Tarzan, missing him, returned in search, he found Chulk squatting bes

ontemplating the sufferings of an injured rodent he had pounced upon. He would sit in apparent indifference, gazing in another direction, while the crippled creature wriggled slowly and painfully away from him, and then, just as h

he village of Achmet Zek; but the ape-man was patient, for in his mind was a plan which ne

ing of the continued marching and the infrequency and short duration of the rests. He would gladly have abandoned this search for adventure ha

have been expected of an ape, yet there were times when he, too,

d them of the proximity of the Arab camp. Stealthily they approached, keeping to the d

eat of exertion in the close, hot confines of the jungle. Behind him crept

isade, and here they clambered into the lower branches of a large tree overlookin

at to remain where they were, swung, monkey-like, through the trees in the direction of the trail the Arab was

he horseman. Here he halted upon a leafy bough which overhung the narrow, jungle trail. On came the victim, humming a wild air of the great desert land of the north. Above him poised the savage brute that

above, the horse snorted and plunged as a brown-skinned creature dropped upon its rump.

companions. He exhibited his trophies to them, explaining in low gutturals the details of his exploit. Chul

s and waited. Nor had they long to wait before two of Achmet Zek's blacks, clothed in ha

hty engines of destruction bending over them. Tarzan removed their outer garments as he had removed those of his

himself, until, at a distance, it might have appeared that three wh

the position of the hut in which he had first discovered the scent spoor of the she he sought. He saw the two sentries standing before i

ded each other intently with every mark of satisfaction and pride. Chulk, a humorist in his way, stretched forth a long and hairy

o things-to search for fleas and to attack. The pulling of the Tarmangani-scented thing about his head and eyes could

on. Tarzan leaped upon the two, and swaying and toppling upon their insecure perch the three great beasts t

ercation to a consideration of their plans for the immediate future. Accustomed to frequent arguments in which more hair than blood is wasted, the apes speedily forget such trivial encounters,

companions from their hiding place in the tree to the gro

crambled to the top of the barrier. Fearing lest the apes should rend their garments to shreds in a similar attempt, he had directed them

l with one paw he grasped the top of the wall. To scramble then to Tarzan's side was the work of but an instant. In

ined, where, through the roughly repaired aperture in the wall, he sought w

ian, sniffed with him. Each caught the scent spoor of the woman within,

his snout in the foodstuffs of the Tarmangani. He had come to eat his fill witho

ng the several days that had elapsed since they had set out upon their expedition it had been difficult for Taglat to hold his idea uppermost in his min

a sickening, sucking noise with his

was dark and the white burnooses hid the hairy limbs of the apes and the giant figure of their leader, so that the three, by squatting down as though in conversatio

Peril of

beba, cast about for some scheme of escape, but after the black Mugambi had eluded their vigilan

contents of the pouch; but fearing that the man would demand all the gems as the price

hich would still leave him in possession of the jewels, while at the same time satisfying the

resence of his captor the scowl upon the features of the latter boded ill for any hope which Werper might entertain, still he fortified hi

frowningly. "What do

ty," repl

disturbed me thus to tell me wh

for it,"

e upon your back? Or, perhaps you are concealing beneath your coat a thousand pounds

iberty and perhaps his life

ld as ten men may carry will you promise that I shall be

repeated Abdul Mourak. "You are crazy

rper. "Promise, and I will lead y

ently. The fellow seemed sane enough-yet ten loads of gold! It

mise," he said. "Ho

rch to the south,

e you say it is, do you realiz

buried with my own eyes. And more-there are not only ten loads, but as many as fifty men may carry

e against the finding of

sented wi

there be but five loads you shall have your freedom; but

said Werper. "To

eive an order which turned their faces from the northeast to the south. And so it happened that upon the very night that Tar

ds of gold which lay but a few days farther to the south of him, Achmet Zek gave orders to his lieutenants that they should prepare a force of fighting men and carr

ithout his tent, waiting for the time when he might enter in safety and prosecute

mber, leaving his own silken habitation unguarded. Scarcely had they left the interior when a knife blade was thrust through the

s brutish interest lay securely bound. Before the doorway the sentries sat upon their haunches, conversing in monotones. Within, the young woman lay upon a filthy sleeping mat, resigned, through utter hopelessnes

he meager intellect of the creature denied it the advantage it might have taken of its disguise. Where it could

the ape did not dare expose himself, even for an instant, to those feared and hated thunder-stic

irth to a plan. The eaves of the hut were just above the heads of the sentries-from them he could leap upon the Tarmangani, unseen. A quick snap of those mighty jaws would d

struck the roof directly above the rear wall of the hut, and the structure, reinforced by the wall beneath, held his enormous weight for

rushed into the hut. Jane Clayton tried to roll aside as the great form lit u

The burnoose covered the hairy body so that Jane Clayton believed that a human arm supported her, and from the

he cause of the disturbance. Their eyes, not yet accustomed to the darkness of the interior, to

k a sudden break for liberty. Lowering his head, he charged straight for the two sentries who blocked the doorway. The impact of his mighty shoulders bowled them over

vived the bullet of the Arab? Who else in all the jungle could bear the weight of a grown woman as lig

dropping to the ground upon the opposite side. Now the girl was almost positive that she was safe in the arms of her husband, and when

ut still she had no doubts. Again she called him by name, and at the same instant the ape, fretting under the restraints of the unaccustomed garments

while, from the concealment of a nearby bush, Numa, t

contents of box and bag about the floor. He investigated whatever his eyes discovered, nor did those keen organs overlo

k, unless they were on the person of the chief himself, Tarzan decided to sec

same way that he had entered it, and walking boldly through the vill

k; but, accustomed as he was to the unreliability of apes, he gave no serious attention to the present defection of h

mposed it were much excited, and fearing lest Chulk's disguise should prove inadequate to the concealment of his true identit

t. He mingled with the blacks and the Arabs in an endeavor to learn the cause of the commotion, in his interest forgetting

st reached it when one of the Arabs laid a hand upon his shoulder, crying: "W

arts and wiles; but argument is not one of them, nor did he now waste precious time in an attempt to convince the raiders that he was not a wolf in sheep's clothing. Inste

glat, the ape. Tarzan uttered a low, ominous growl. Those who were pressing forward at the doorway to seize him, fell back as the savage notes of the bestial challenge smote upon their ears. They looked at one another in surprise a

either come or gone by way of the break, and while the Arabs hesitated without, he sprang, catlike, for the opening,

eys through the walls, they found the interior deserted. At the same time Tarzan, a

s ever as to the whereabouts of his pouch and pebbles, it was an angry Ta

it would be paramount to self-destruction to enter the Arab ca

e spoor of the fleeing Taglat, and now he circled widel

bove all things the ape folk fear the thunder-sticks of the Tarmangani; then he had clambered nimbly over the palis

onlit glade ahead of him the great ape was bending over the prostrate form of the woman Tarzan sought. Th

the right of them, and though he could not have seen them the wind was bea

, already all too cruel, now outdid herself-the wind veered suddenly for a few moments, the scent spoor that would have led the ape-man to the girl's side was w

t For th

mit that success was but delayed. He would eat and sleep, and then set forth again. The jungle was wide; but wide too were the experience an

his hunger. For half an hour the trail led the ape-man toward the east along a well-marked game path, when suddenly, to t

aware of the presence of an enemy in this direction, and while the animal was still some distance away, the ape-man swung into the

soever it was mattered little to Tarzan of the Apes-he was ready and willing to defend his kill against any other denizen of the jung

at his back was toward the approaching animal. He poised with bent knees upon the gently sw

n its back. The weight of the man's body carried the deer to the ground. It stumbled forward once in a futile eff

at hand he might be? Scarce had the neck of the victim snapped than the carcass was hanging over one of Tarzan's broad shoulders, and an instant later th

kill after him the ape-man ascended to the middle terrace, and settling himself comfortably in the crotch of a tree where he could still view the trail benea

the muzzle of the leading horse as it came into view around a bend in the tortuous trai

l of his emotions that no slightest change of expression, much less any hysterical demons

s before and behind him, rode Albert Werper, while the ape-man scr

ost naked white man, who carried the bloody carcass of a deer upon his shoulders, for Tarzan knew

would attempt other than in the last extremity, for the way of the wild is the

d and Tarzan of the Apes swung silently after them

nd which aroused within him vague half memories and strange longings. Out upon the plain the horsemen rode,

onderment. He saw them digging up the earth, and he wondered if they had hidden meat there in the past and now had come for it. Then he recalled

grimy object was exposed to view. One by one they unearthed many similar pieces, all of the same uniform, dirty ye

golden ingots. Where had he seen such before? What were they? Why d

m as he had stolen Tarzan's pouch of pebbles. The ape-man's eyes blazed in anger. He would like t

y of men moved out of the forest at the edge of the pla

fway across the open. He called to his men to mount and hold themselves in readines

his eyes upon the newcomers, then, white

raiders," he whispered. "T

d the actuality of what he had already feared since first his eyes had alighted upon the party beside the ru

Belgian, and for the second time he had lost the Englishwoman. Now some one had come to rob him of

h a wild whoop and a command to his followers, Achmet Zek put spurs to his horse and dashed down upon the Abyssinians, an

ew saddles, and then the raiders were among them, and sword, pis

hed madly away in an effort to escape. Shouting to a lieutenant to take command, and urging him upon pain of death to dispatch the Abyssinians and bring the gold back to his

le behind them raged with bloody savageness. No quarter was asked or given by

conflict which so effectually surrounded him that he found no loop-h

, and around and into them galloped the yelling raiders, now darting awa

k were being exterminated. To Tarzan the result was immaterial. He watched with but a single

en that the thief had been slain and devoured by Numa; but after following the detachment for two days, with his keen eyes always upon the Belgian, he n

en the delight and pride of the wife he no longer recalled, an Arab and an Abyssinian wh

e all but trod upon the ape-man, and then a vicious cut clove the bla

he ape-man to instant action. Before the frightened beast could gather himself for flight a naked giant was astride his back.

a mighty blow at the ape-man's head, a blow which swung harmlessly through thin air as Tarzan ducked from its path, and then the Arab felt the other's horse brushing his leg, a great arm shot out and e

st he saw of his strange foeman the latter was galloping off acr

e Abyssinians lay dead upon the ground, or had galloped off toward the

e apparition of the naked white man galloping away upon the horse of one of their foemen and carrying a companion who was now among them expatiating upon the superhuman strength of the ape-man. None of them there but was familia

expectation of the ghost's early return to the scene of the ruin they had inflicted upon him during their recent raid upon his home, and discussed in af

rriors watched their every move. From the heights beyond the river these black men had heard the noise of the conflict, and creeping war

y undermining their loyalty to and fear of their chief. Finally one among them voiced the desires of all when he announced

killed the Abyssinians and there are no others to

e plain, and out from the concealment of the reeds along the river, crept a party of b

ed, was gaining upon him. Riding with the reckless courage of desperation the Belgian urged his mount t

n the forest a broken branch lay across the trail. It was a small thing that a horse might ordinarily take in his natural stride without noticing its presence; but Werper's horse

back. Seizing the reins he tugged to drag the beast to his feet; but the animal would not

ying animal at his feet, and seizing his rifle, dro

n the breast, bringing him down a hundred yards fr

him, and seeing the Belgian's strategic position behind his fal

ached to the edge of the forest. Here he heard the occasional shots of the duelists, and choosing the safer and swifter a

y upon the fighters. First one and then the other would partially raise himself above his breastwork of horseflesh, f

st of the Abyssinians who had fallen in the fight about the pile of ingots, and now he realized that soon h

some plan of escape, and the only one that appealed to him as containing eve

ridge, when, during a lull in the figh

st, and I wish my life and my liberty even more than I do the jewels. Let us each, then, take that which he most desires and go our separate ways in peace. I will lay the pouch upon the carcass of my horse, whe

hen he spoke. His reply was influenced by t

e pouch in plain sight behind you. See, I la

the hard outlines of the contents. Ah, if he could extract a little handful of the precious stones! B

body of his horse, rose, and taking his rifle with him, backed slowly

cions groundless, for the Belgian, no sooner had he passed out of the range of the Arab's vision, halted behind the bole of a tree, where he still commanded an uno

h him, he left the trail, entering the rank and tangled vegetation which walled it, and crawling slowly forward on han

ch lay there in full view, while a short distance along the trail, Werper waited in grow

e the cunning trick that the Arab had played upon him the sight of the weapon was adroitly hooked into the rawhide thong which f

his body, and Werper dared not fire his one remaining sho

that Werper was waiting nearby for a chance to pot him as though his eyes had penetrated the jungle

to depart, and so he stood there, his rifle ready in his hands

nt and as sure as death itself, and as the Arab, finding a little spot less overgrown with bushes than he had yet encountere

e strings which closed the mouth of the pouch, and cupping one cl

, disdainfully. Quickly he emptied the balance of the contents until he had scanned each separate stone, and as he dumped them all upon the ground and

see what the Arab would do after the other had gone away, leaving the pouch behind him, and, having satisfied his curiosity, he wo

g his long gun by the barrel, clublike, sneak stealthily thr

nt that he obtained his first near view of the scattered pebbles he understood the rage of the Arab, for instead of the glittering and scinti

and the Beast

ry with which he was unfamiliar, a jungle country in which he could find no water, and but little food, so that

er by night wherein he might be reasonably safe from the large carnivora, and by day he

finally he stumbled by accident upon a large river in a country where fruit was abundant, and small game which he mig

isely decided to remain where he was until he had recuperated his strength and health. A few days' rest would accomplish wonder

r within it, where he might sleep by night in security, and from which he sallied forth

cealment of the branches of a great tree beneath which the black warrior

and they followed him as he returned to his hut, their owner

ich Tarzan had placed upon his person had aroused in the mind of the anthropoid a desire for similar mimicry of the Tarmangani. The bur

nts and a feather headdress. These were more in line with Chulk's desires than a flowing robe which w

ok his fancy, for it was ornamented with feathers and a fringe, and so the ape hung about Mugambi's

was wont to stretch himself in the shade of his shelter during the heat of the day, and sleep i

Creeping out upon an overhanging branch the anthropoid dropped to the ground within the boma. He approached the slee

n the back of his little brain a something which deterred him from arousing the man to combat-a sense that is inheren

ible, and the only detachable things were the knob-stick and the pou

pped, and, still haunted by that indefinable terror which the close proximity of man awakened in his breast, fled precipitately through the jungle. Aroused by attack, or supp

ad been at his side when he lay down to sleep-of that he was certain, for had he not pushed it from beneath him when its bulging b

ibute the disappearance of his pouch and knob-stick in the first excitement of the discovery of their loss; but later and more careful investigation, such as hi

ions about the enclosure for some further sign of the tell-tale spoor. He climbed trees and sought for evidence of the direction of the thief's flight; but the faint signs left by a

set out again for Waziri, and finding himself another knob-stick, tur

wrists of his captive, the great lion that eyed the two from beh

He could not know that the powerful hind paws were gathering close beneath the tawny belly preparatory to a sudden spring, and

he horrid sound which had broken in so unexpected and terrifying a manner upon his startled ears; but the warning had

obey the mightiest of the fundamental laws of nature, the law of self-preservation, and turning upon his back he closed with the c

gh the muffled gag of blood and hair. Mixed with the ape's voice the lion's roars of rage and pain reverberated throu

ath his belly sank his talons deep into Taglat's chest, then, ripping downward with all his strength, Numa accomplished his design, a

of other foes; but only the still and unconscious form of the girl, lying a few paces from him met his gaze, and with

they halted for a second time upon the girl. A low growl rumbled from the lion's throat. Hi

ayton. The erect and majestic pose of the great frame shrank suddenly into a sinister crouch as,

when the lion paused at her side. She did not hear the sniffing of his nostrils as he smelled about her. She did not feel the

as extinct or not. Some noise or odor from the nearby jungle attracted his attention for a moment. His eyes did not again return to Jane Clayton, and p

ssion in the face of the startling surprise which her new-found consciousness revealed to her. She neither cried

and feet were bound. She must wait then, in what patience she could command, until Numa had eaten and digested the ape, when, without doubt, he would r

onds at her wrists and ankles no longer hurt her, and then of the fact that her hands were

other limbs, only to discover that she was free. She could not know how the thing had happened, that Taglat, gnawing upon

rty in the face of the frightful beast crouching so close beside her? If she could have had this chance under different cond

anches would be but to invite instant destruction, for Numa would doubtless be too jealous of this future meal to permit it to esca

ford to chance so improbable a contingency? She doubted it. Upon the other hand she was no more minded to allow

e would attempt a ruse. Silently she rolled over in the direction of the nearest tree, and away from the

at he had heard aught to arouse his suspicions. Again she rolled over, gaining

she would be close enough to chance springing to her feet, throwing caution aside and making a sudden, bold dash for safety. She was halfway over in her turn, her face away from the lion, when he suddenly turned his great head and fastened his

d upon his shoulders and his glaring eyes fixed upon the rigid victim, now nearly fifty yards

growing desire to scream, when Numa deliberately turned back to the business of feeding;

ate and perhaps fatal attention, Jane Clayton resolved to risk all in

r feet, but almost simultaneously the lion sprang up, wheeled and with

on. For the short distance that the great cat can maintain it, it resembles nothing more closely than the onrushing of a giant locomotive under full speed,

was scrambling brought his talons in contact with her boots she eluded his raking grasp, and as he hurtle

ction from the frightful ordeal through which she had so recently passed, and in her overwrought state it seemed that never again should she dare descend to the g

pack of hyenas, Jane Clayton would scarcely have dared venture from her refuge in the face of impending night, and so she composed herself as best she could

a comparatively safe, though rather uncomfortable, position against the bole of the tree, and

f Numa or the hyenas. Only the clean-picked bones of the ape, scattered about the ground, at

ust descend or die of starvation, she at last summoned courage to

t only ruin and desolation marked the spot where once her happy home had stood, she hoped that by coming to the broad plain she might eventually reac

another and another and another. What could it mean? The first explanation which sprung to her mind attributed the firing to an encounter between the Arab raiders and a party of Waz

roximating the sound of a volley reached her ears; but still she hesitated to approach, and at last, determining to take no chance, she cli

two men calling to each other in loud tones. Then there was a long silence which was finally broken by the stealthy padding of footfalls on the trail ahead of her, and

ling to him in glad relief when she saw him leap quickly to one side and hide himself in the thick verdure at the trail's side. It was evident tha

en plainly. She recognized Achmet Zek as the leader of the band of ruffians who had raided her home and made her a prisoner, and as she saw Frecoult, the supposed friend

. His tall figure presented a perfect target to the perfidious assassin. There was a sharp report, and a little puff of

as he wheeled about to discover the author of this unexpected interruption, he saw Jane Clayton drop l

ton Again

looked upon such a vision of loveliness as that which Lady Greystoke presented in the relief and joy

it was quickly dissipated by the genuine friendliness of her greeting. She told him quickly of all that had befallen her since he ha

ated, or have been driven out of their country, far to the south. The men of Achmet Zek occupy the plain about your former home-there is neither sanctuary nor escape in that direction. Our only hope lies in traveli

raider's before I knew the nature of the man, and those at the camp

rom the Arab's body the wallet that he stole from me," and Werper stepped quickly to the dead man's side, and, kneeling, sought with quick fingers the pouch of jewels. To his consternation, there was no sign of them in the garments of Achmet Zek. Rising, he walked back along the trail, searching for some trace of the missing pouch or its contents;

of his former friendship for the raider, and so she grasped with alacrity the seeming hope for safety which he proffered

they paused upon the edge of the clearing before the gates of the walled village, Werper ca

engaged in a stubborn battle with the Waziri, he directed me to return to camp with you, to obtain here a sufficient guard, and to ride

ons required desperate handling, and though she trembled inwardly at the thought of again entering the vi

the gates to him permitted their surprise to show clearly in their expressions. That the discredited and hunted lieutenant should be thus

utations, and viewed with astonishment the pri

nce of his false explanation of his return. The fact that he had brought back with him the woman prisoner who had escaped, added strength to his claims, and Mohammed Beyd

f the deception which she and Frecoult were playing upon the credulous raiders, it was with quite a different sensation tha

and made his way back to the tent of Mohammed Beyd. He had been wondering how long it would be before the raiders who had ridden out with Achmet Zek would ret

at value would this advantage be other than to protract for a few days his mental torture and his life? These

nt where Mohammed Beyd sat cross-legged upon a rug, smoking

, O Brothe

s!" repli

further. The Arab was the

Zek, was well when last

e sins and dangers of morta

d, blowing a little puff of blu

s silence for

etermined to lead up to the truth, and atte

aned forward, his gaze boring stra

d, and who sought you with death in his heart. I have been with Achmet Zek for many years-his own mother never kne

s camp, unless you be either a braver man or a bigger fool than I have imagined. And, if this evidence of my judgment is not sufficient, I have but just no

you have come back here. Tell me what you want, and, Werper, if you still possess the jewels of which Achmet Zek told me, there is no reason why

ile tortured the villainous face, as Mohammed Bey

ted a considerable burden of apprehension from the shoulders of Achmet Zek's assassin; but his demand for a share of the jewels

would jeopardize his new-found chances of escape. His one hope seemed, then, to lie in fostering Mohammed Beyd's belie

opportunity in plenty to remove this menace to his life and liberty-it was

ek's men live, and the gold they sought is in the possession of the Abyssinians. Even now they are doubtless marching on this camp, for they were sent by Menelek to punish Ach

believe he did not know; but as it afforded him an excuse for deserting the village an

asked, "half the jewels and half th

replied

e the order for the breaking of camp early o

detaining hand

s. It would be far better to select a small guard of your bravest men, and leave word behind that we are riding WEST. Then, when the Abyssinians come they will be put upon the wrong

d with a smile. "It shall be done as you say. Twenty men shall

e Belgian, and s

r prison, and a moment later, M. Frecoult, and two Arabs entered. The latter unbound her ankles and lifted her to h

rection the man leaned toward her and whispered that all was working out as he had planned. Thus assured, t

through the gateway of the village and off into the jungle toward the west. Half an hour l

maintain the semblance of her captor, rather than protector, and so she suspected nothing though she

ughts. A hundred times a day he found his eyes wandering in her direction and feasting themselves upon her charms of face a

n the mind of the man which each thought a friend and ally, the appa

revolved many plans for the assassination of the Arab that would have been g

It was, apparently, the first notice which the Arab had taken of the girl; but many times during these two days had

wife of the Englishman had fallen into the hands of Achmet Zek; but while that austere ch

and take unto himself both the woman and the jewels! With the latter in his possession, the ransom which might be obtained for the captive would form no great i

iful she was! His fingers opened and closed-skinny, brown talons itc

eaning toward her, "where

n nodded af

to become the playthi

ply. She feared lest her knowledge of the ruse that M. Frecoult was playing upon the Arab

nd seized the fingers of her right hand in a grasp so sudden and so fierce that his brutal passion was revealed

d. "Leave me or I sha

l. His thin, upper lip curled upwar

o the plunder of your home. He followed your husband, and planned to steal his gold from him. He has told me that you think him your protector, and he has played upon this to win your confidence that it might be easier to

least it had the effect of dampening her hopes and causing her to review with suspicion every past act of

vening following her interview with Mohammed Beyd, Jane Clayton sat for some time at the opening of her tent watching the rough activities of the camp. She had eaten the meal that had been brought her by Mohammed Beyd's Negro slave-a meal of cassava cakes and a nondescript stew in which a new

to center itself upon a distant bungalow and scenes of happy security which brought to her eyes tears of mingled joy and sorrow. She saw a tall, broad-shouldered man riding in from distant fields; she saw herself waiting to greet him with an armful of fresh-cut roses from the bushes which flanked the little rustic gate before her. All this was gone, vanished int

ed a few words in the man's ear. The latter nodded, and strode off through the darkness in the direction of his own blankets. The figure

the tent flap and untying the fastenings entere

ht to th

he nearby tent. He had noted Mohammed Beyd's sudden interest in the girl, and judging the man by his

igns upon the defenseless girl. By a strange process of reasoning, Werper, whose designs were identical with the Arab's, pictured himself as Jane Clayton's pro

een vacated by the act of the grim reaper. He could offer Jane Clayton marriage-a thing which Mohammed Beyd

aptive not only had every reason for having conceived sentiments of love for him;

and buckling his cartridge belt and revolver about his hips he stepped to the flap of his tent and looked out. There

tent. There was no sentry there, either! And now, b

nother figure rose from the blankets to a sitting position. Slowly Albert Werper's eyes were becoming accustomed to the half darkness of

a frightened cry break from the girl's lips as she recognized the features of the man above

Belgian. No! The man should not have her. She was for h

r his throat, but the Arab tore them away, and rising wheeled upon his adversary. As they faced each other Werper struck the Arab a heavy blow in the face, sending him staggering backward. If he had followed up his advantage h

n the face, and the Arab returned the blow. Striking at each other and ceaselessly attempting to clinch, the two battled ab

ch opposition to his base desires, had come to the tent unarmed, except for a long kni

st thing in life that you shall see or feel. With it Mohammed Beyd will cut out your black heart. If you have a God pray to him

ation the European waited until Mohammed Beyd was all but against him, then he threw hims

ing obstacle and crashed to the ground. Instantly he was up again and wheeling to renew the battle; but

eam of flame in the darkness, and Mohammed Beyd rolled over and over upon the flo

camp without. Men were calling back and forth to one another asking the meanin

the Arab died, and now she came forwar

which this beast told me of your perfidy and of your past. Forgive me, M. Frecoult. I might have known that a white man

at the girl; but he could find no words to reply to her. He

lieved and sent to their blankets by Mohammed Beyd were the first to suggest going to the tent of the pri

sentence of immediate death. The fierce and brutal raiders would tear to pieces a Christian who had dared

s he stepped out and confronted the men, who were rapidly approaching. Somehow he found within him the

ded. You may go back to your blankets. Mohammed Beyd and I will look after the prisoner;" then he turned and

efore. The excitement of his encounter with Mohammed Beyd, as well as the dangers which he now faced at the hands of the raiders when morning must inevitably re

d them, are never entirely eradicated from his character, and though Albert Werper had long since ceased to evidence the slightest claim to

s of ignominy to which he had sunk, that had made it possible for him, a well-born, European gentleman, to h

imself; but in the first, sudden burst of contrition the man conceived an honest intention to undo, in so far

ing to the retreating footste

discovery of this," and she pointed to the still body of

t reply, then he turned

nd courage on your part; but you have already shown

with a brave smile, "that may offer

ake your body into the jungle. This seemingly unnecessary act I shall explain upon the grounds that Mohammed Beyd had conceived a violent passio

hand to stop. A smi

o you imagine that the sentries wi

here exists in each a well-defined strain of romantic emotionalism-you will find it among such as these throughout

ed. "We can but try

inued the Belgian, "coming for you alo

th?" she asked. "It will be discovered before

ammed Beyd shall explain it himself-we must le

es

apon and ammunition," and Werp

n extra revolver and ammunition

ready?"

dy," repli

imply across my left shoulder,"

"Now, let your arms, your legs and your he

out into the camp, the body of

arnivora. A couple of sentries paced to and fro in the light of a fire which they kept b

he cried. "What

f his burnoose that the

or he cannot bear to look upon the face of her whom he loved, and whom necessity compelled him to slay.

hat she was sure. In an instant he would unmask the deception that M. Frecoult was attempting to practice upon him, and they would both b

ce of the Arab as he r

ou?" he asked, and his tone denoted not the least surprise that Mohammed

passed on and out through the narrow open

s burden, and when safely hidden from the sentry's view lowered th

ge tree with spreading branches, buckled a cartridge belt and revolver

an elude them, I will return for you. Be

a low tone. "You have been

turned and made his way back to camp. The sentry, from his post, saw him enter his own tent; but he did not see him crawl under th

and dragged the body upon its back to the point where he had just entered. On hands and knees he backed out as he had come in, drawing the corps

he narrow opening which separated the prisoner's tent from that of the dead man. Behind the silken wall he

rew the corpse, then he fumbled about in the darkness until he had found Mohammed Beyd's revolver. With the weapon in his hand he returned to the side of the dead man, kneeled beside the bedding, and inserted his

as satisfied. A grim smile touched his lips as he withdrew the weapon from the rugs and placed it carefully in the r

, and then he left as he had entered, fastening down the re

meone might have come or gone beneath the rear wall. Then he returned to his

he excited voice of Mohammed Beyd's slave

ightened tone. "Come! Mohammed Beyd is

ion upon his countenance; but at the last words of the black a sigh of relie

ve, and drawing on his boots,

rd the silken tent of Mohammed Beyd, and when Werper entered he found

he dead body of the raider. He looked down in silence for a

His tone was both menacing and accusi

voices arose in t

by his own hand. This, and Allah, are our witnesses,"

e convinced that Mohammed Beyd had indeed killed himself in remorse for the dea

weapon he had fired the night before. Then six husky blacks carried the body out into the clearing where the camp stood, and deposited it in a shallow grave. As the loo

visits to the various tribes to which they belonged. Werper, after learning the direction they intended taking, announced that for his part, he was go

g watching them disappear one by one into the jungle, and thank

into the forest toward the tree where he had hidden Lady Greystoke, and drawing

f the girl. Dismounting, he quickly climbed into the tree, where he could obtain a view of all its b

ecovers

fingers, his thoughts returned to the pile of yellow ingots about w

What was the metal? From whence had it come? What was that tantalizing half-conviction which seemed to demand the recognition of his

ly in review-then came a strangely tangled mass of faces, figures and events which seemed to hav

rt brain was mending, as the cause of its recent failure to function was bei

call them by name. One was a fair she, and it was her face which most often moved through the tangled recollections of his convalescing brain. Who was she? What had she been to Tarzan of t

of the wonderful problem. For an instant he seemed to grasp the whole of a true explanation, and then, just as success was within his

way the pile of gold, the place where it lay, the subtle aroma of the elusive she he had been pursuing, the

s broken recollections seemed to assign to her? It was worth trying. Tarzan slipped the thong of

Zek. Hiding, he let them pass, and then resumed his way toward the charred r

well combined to make stalking easy. A fat yearling rewarded a half hour of stealthy creeping and a sudden, savage rush, and it was late in t

, and when he had drunk, night already had fallen and he was some half mile or more down stream from the point where he had se

rage, or by hunger, is distasteful. Today was gone. Therefore tomorrow, of which there was an infinite proce

appointed bedchamber, and to the chorus of the hunters and the hu

his head, and turning his gaze backward across his maned shoulders glared at the intruder. A low growl of warning rumbled from his throat; but Tarzan, guessing that the beast had but just quitted his kill and was well filled, merely made a slight detour and continued to the river, where he sto

fixity of attention which is a characteristic of his kind. But for the ruffling of his black mane to the tou

eyes rested upon the man. The bristled lip curved upward, exposing yellow fangs. Another warning growl vibrated th

watched the great brute's every move until he had disappeared from v

e discovered to him, and then he set off up river toward the ruins of the b

the yellow metal had disappeared. The earth, trampled by the feet of horses an

h might denote that the she had been here. The metal was gone, and if there was any connection between

k into the jungle and look for Chulk, and so he turned his steps once more toward the forest. He moved rapidly, swinging across

le, the joy of unfettered action his principal urge, with the hope o

ed simultaneously. It was upon the morning of the third day that the scent spoor of horse and man were wafted faintly to his

ose had previously suspected-the rider was he who had stolen his pretty pebbles. The light of rage flared suddenly in t

e horse, snorting, leaped forward. Giant arms encircled the rider, and in the twinkling of an eye he was dragge

read his features. Strong fingers were at his throat, fingers of steel. He tried to cry out, to pl

his breast. "What did you with the pret

some time Werper could only choke and cou

from me," he cried; "he made me

pebbles as fill the bottoms of the rivers, and the shelving banks beside them. Even the Arab would not have them,

ter he followed me along the trail to slay me, although he had promised to molest me no further, and I shot and kille

ay in disgust. They were not Tarzan's pebbles. You have hidden them! Tell me where they are or I will

ord Greystoke," he managed to scream, "would

axed, a puzzled, far-away exp

"Lord Greystoke! Who is Lord Greystoke

attered the passage to the underground chamber to which you and your black Waziri had come to fetch golden ingot

n expression of wonderment filled his eyes-of wonderment and sudden understanding. The forgotten name had reawakened the returning memor

her? The farm is in ruins. You know. You have had something to do with all this. You followed me to Opar, you

rook," said a quiet v

ding in the trail a few paces from him. Back of the man were a

I have followed him for a long time to take him back t

aken him even in the fastness of the labyrinthine jungle. Instinctively he turned to f

an wishes you, and so do I. When I am through with you

French which the man spoke. The former denoted the lowest, the latter the highest type of culture. He could not quite determine the social status of this st

ng his hand on Werper's other shoulder; "but thi

with him," replie

il behind him. A company of uniformed blacks stepped quickly forwar

icer. "Let us have no trouble. If you have a grievance against this man you ma

presumed to enter British territory with an armed force. Where is your authority for this invasion? Where are the extradition papers which warrant t

with a naked savage," he cried. "Unless you wish to be hurt

and I can show you the very spot where I saw your wife last night,

ne a sack of flour, leaped forward in an attempt to break through the cordon. His right fist caught the nearest soldier upon the jaw and sent him hurtling backward upon his fellow

n number, and Tarzan was already through them and upon the point of dodging into the concealing mazes of t

aving crowned his efforts, was in good humor, and inclined to chaff his prisoners about the ease with which they had been captured; but from Tarzan of the Apes he elicited no response. Werper, how

s not seriously injured, the prisoners were hastened into line an

the nearby jungle a pair of fierce eyes watched the activities of the uniformed blacks with silent intensity and cu

mpany had halted; but with the preparation of the meal completed, their guard ordered them to ris

e jungle, and a low guttural broke from the savage lips. Instantly Tarzan was alert, but the answerin

ion came to him. He

d. Appear to listen intently to what I say, and occasionally mumble something as thoug

lips of his companion a strange jargon which might have been compared with equ

cer approached the prisoners while Tarzan was still jabbering, and halted behind them, listening in perplexed interest. When Werper mumbled

ture and quality of his conversation during the march, and he

" he ex

many years since I studied it that I was not sure. In future, however,

n, whispering to Tarzan: "It was Gre

eard the hairy men of the trees talking among themselves, and their words were like the words of this white man. I wish that we had not found him. He i

aggerations, to others of the black soldiery, so that it was not long before a frightful tale of bl

ows of the falling night a hairy, manlike creature swun

ht of

ight would never end, yet end it did at last, and within an hour of the coming of dawn her

f the rider; but that it was M. Frecoult the girl well knew, since he had bee

face beneath the white hood, nor the file of ebon horsemen beyond the trail's bend riding slowly in the wake of their leader. The

e man had seen her, and now he called to her to descend. At first she refused; but when a dozen black cavalrymen drew up behind their leader, and at Abdul Mourak's command one of them started t

l Mourak was in no mood to be influenced by any appeal to those softer sentiments to which

have returned to his native land and made his report to Menelek; but an acceptable gift might temper the wrat

emperor. The girl did not need ask him why, and once again hope died within her breast. Resignedly she permitted herself to be lifted to a sea

he should have followed, and as a result had made but little progress toward the north since the beginning of his flight. Today he was beating toward the we

added the shrill neighs of the terror-stricken beasts they hunted. There was little sleep for man or beast, and the sentries were doubled that there might be enough on duty bot

ke a black pall over the camp. The veteran troopers of the black emperor were nervous and ill at ease. Abdul Mourak left his blankets a dozen times to pace restlessly back and forth between the tethe

eavors to break loose. A trooper, braver than his fellows, leaped among the kicking, plunging, fear-maddened beasts in a futile attempt to quiet them. A lion, large, and fierce, and courageous,

side, arousing all the bestial fury of the little brain; b

e pain and the rage wiped caution from his mind, and with a loud, and ang

error and its agony. Several about it broke their tethers and plunged madly about the camp. Men leaped from their blankets and with guns ready ran tow

ttle enclosure was filled with cursing men and screaming horses

of savage slaughter that swirled and eddied about her. Once a bolting horse knocked her down, and a moment later a lio

n or ignored by her black captors. A score of times was her life menaced by charging lions, by plunging horses, or by the wildly fired bullets of the frightened troopers, yet there was no chance of escape, for now with the fiendish cunning of their kind, the tawny hunters commenced to circle about their prey, hemming them within a ring of mighty, y

g beast full upon the breast of a black trooper just beyond. The man clubbed his rifle and st

e grinning jaws. The lion lowered his head, the gaping fangs closed with a single sickening crunch upon the fear-dis

, stumblingly, as the grisly thing swung between its forepaws, and her eyes r

it and raised his head to look about in search of some living victim upon which to wreak his ill temper. His yellow eyes fastened themselves balefully upon the figure of the girl

eir beats, their eyes rolling often toward the impenetrable shadows of the gloomy jungle. The others slept or

his exertions-a strand parted, another and another, and one hand was free. Then from the jungle came a low guttural, and the ape-ma

ry halted abruptly, straining his eyes into the gloom. The kinky wool upon

hear it?"

ame closer,

r wh

similar and answering sound from the camp. The sentries drew close

d not approach. Their terror even prevented them from arousing their fellows-they could only stand in f

At sight of it one of the sentries recovered command of his muscles and his voice. Screaming loudly to

igh upon the rejuvenated fire, lighting the entire camp, and the awakened men shrank bac

re. The white giant, one hand freed, had struggled to his knees and was calling to the fri

age faces of the approaching anthropoids and scarc

fire upon the intruders; but the Negroes held back, filled as they were with superstitious terror of the hairy treemen, a

earing the effect of the noise upon his really timid fr

and a half dozen others waddled rapidly forward, and, following the ape-man'

a volley after the retreating apes. A ragged, straggling volley it was, but at least one of its bullets found a mark, f

hind the others, and it was several minutes after they had halted at Tarzan's command before he came slowly up to th

ape lying half across him. In this position the Belgian felt something resting against his hand

soft pouch, filled with small, hard particles. Werper gasped in wonderment as recogniti

but the restricted radius to which his bonds held his hands prevented this, though he did s

ords which bound him. Presently he flung aside the last of them and rose to his

he was a splendid creature," and then he tu

, and then commenced upo

ucceeded in ridding himself of the ape-man's attentions that he might find and open his little knife and cut the thong which fastened

had undone. How it had come upon the person of the great ape, Werper could not imagine, unless it had been that the anthropoid had witnessed his fight with Achmet Zek, s

ur promise to me. Lead me to the

The ape-man chafed at the delay, but the European could not swing through the trees as could hi

There they sat peering from beneath their shaggy brows at the figures of the two men forging steadily ahead, until the latter disappeared in the leafy trail beyond the clearing. Then an ape so

aid no attention to the familiar sounds until the crack of a rifle came faintly from the same direction, and when this was followed by the shrill neighing of

he said, turning toward Werper. "I'll

n of the pouch he had become fearful and suspicious of the ape-man, and in his mind had constantly

rzan started as thou

es-and there! that was the cry of a man in his death agonies. Stay here man-I will come back for you. I must go first to them,

self. "Stay here and wait until you return to find and take these jewels from me? Not I, my friend, not I," and turning ab

o

the Abyssinians and the lions smote more and more distinctly upon his sensitive ears, redoub

trees, and a moment later the giant figure of the ape-man paused upon a

ehending glance and stopped upon the figure of a woman st

d, naked and unarmed. There was not even an instant's hesitation upon the part of the latter-it was as though he had not even paused in his s

ct of the huge body that would hurl her to the ground-awaiting the momentary agony that cruel talons and gris

n close her eyes to shut out the frightful aspect of that snarling face, and so it was that as she saw the lion preparing to

orgotten-her own peril-everything save the wondrous miracle of this strange recrudescence. With parted lips, with palms

battering ram. She saw the carnivore brushed aside as he was almost upon her, and in the instant she realized th

o die in terror as she saw the utter defenselessness of her mate, and realized that

ce which had swept the ground for some weapon of defense discovered it, and as the lion reared upon his hind legs to seize the rash man-thing wh

ast backed by the steel thews which his wild, arboreal boyhood had bequeathed him. When the blow ended the splintered

the eager arms of her husband. For a brief instant he strained her dear form to his breast,

naced them with their erratic bolting from one side of the enclosure to the other. Bullets f

nessed his advent looked on in amazement as they saw the naked giant leap easily into the branches of the tree from

could they have done so other than by the wasting of a precious bullet w

inians, from which the din of conflict followed him deep int

im in making good his escape. But when he came to the place, Werper was gone, and though Tarzan called aloud many times he received no reply. Convinced that the man had purposely eluded him for

t, Jane," he said. "We will let him go to l

the center of their happy lives, and which was soon to be restored by the willing black hands of laug

d but the charred remains of the palisade and the native huts, still s

mmented Tarzan w

hem!" cried

is gone and the jewels of Opar, Jane; but we have each other and the Waziri-and

and those other brave fellows who sacrificed

he familiar jungle, and as the afternoon was waning there came faint

d. "I can hear them ahead of us. They are

h them were the captured women of the tribe whom they had found in the village of Achmet Zek, and tall, even among the giant Waziri, l

ttles with savage beast and savage man, and dawn was already breaking when Basuli, for the fortieth time, narrated how he and a handful of his warriors had watched the battle for the golden ingots which the Abyssinians of Abdul Mour

vities of Albert Werper became apparent. Only Lady Greystoke found aught to praise in the conduct of the man, an

even than your helplessness which awakened for an instant the latent decency of this degraded man. In that one act he r

on breathed a

ed homestead of the Greystokes. Once more the simple life of the great African farm went on as it ha

ge in a holiday, and so a great hunt was organized that the faithful

Waziri plain. Lord and Lady Greystoke with Basuli and Mugambi rode together at the head of the column, laughing and talking tog

the long grasses of an open space in the jungle. Tarzan's keen

e, and a moment later the four were grouped about a hu

grisly relics of a man. The hard outlines of the con

ch aloft, "and," pointing to the bones at his f

will see what are the jewels of Opar-you will see what t

laugh?" as

were. I left the Belgian only worthless stones, while I brought away with me the jewels he had stolen from you. That they were afterward s

slowly forth into his open palm. Mugambi's eyes went wide at the sight, and the others uttered exclamations of

ed Tarzan. "But how did W

oth Chulk and Werper wer

ck into his saddle. "Even in death he has made