 From the heart of the jungle comes a savage cry of victory. This is Tarzan, Lord of the Jungle. From the black core of dark Africa, land of enchantment, mystery and violence comes one of the most colorful figures of all time. Transcribed from the immortal pen of Edgar Rice Burroughs, Tarzan, the bronzed white son of the jungle. And now in the very words of Mr. Burroughs, the story of jungle hijackers. Once the small plateau had been covered by a mass of heavy jungle growth, but now it was a rock strewn clearing that bore a variety of drab colored buildings. Here, near the native village of Elbode, halfway between Dakar and Suez, lay the headquarters of the Joint Transportation Command, West African Sector. Ordinarily a quiet, inactive post. Today it bristled with activity. The top brass had come unexpectedly. They had tumbled out of their desert soiled cars, stormed into Major Heybrook's office, remained there but a short time, and then departed in a cloud of gasoline fuel. But they had remained long enough to turn everything upside down. I say, pardon me, Private. Could you tell me if I'm in the right building? I'm looking for Major Heybrook. His office is right down the hall. If you'll state to your business... I'm Captain Lawrence of the governmental police. The Major just sent a native runner into the village for me. Yes, sir. He left word that if you came, we would have bring you right in. Will you follow me, sir? Certainly. I say, is it always so noisy around here? Not usually, sir. You don't have to sir me. My records captain in the governmental police is about the equivalent of a private fourth class in your army, according to Major Heybrook. He must have changed his opinion, sir. Major Heybrook never weighs ammunition on small targets, and from the sound of things in his office, he's got his heavy artillery all ready for use it. Oh, I see. This is his office right here. Oh, thank you. And thanks for the warning, sir. I'll have my guard up. Here's Captain Lawrence, sir. Thank you, Private. That'll be all. Yes, sir. Come in, Captain Lawrence. Sorry to have kept you waiting. You don't look sorry. For the love of my close the door and come over here. Just as soon as the native runner reached the village, I left... Now let's just do all the folder all, Lawrence. The fact of the matter is I'm on the spot. Sit down. Anything I can do to cooperate? You're doggone right you'll cooperate. You know the job my outfit has. Well, as I understand it, your mission is to transport food, ammunition, and other army supplies from the cart to Suez. Right. And we've taken every precaution to see that they're delivered in proper condition. The bales have twice as much padding as called for in specifications, and they're wrapped with special quality burlap. Good idea. It's a pretty rough jungle to go through. Right. And the things that come in crates have double thicknesses of wood to protect them. Well, then? After all these safeguards against the elements, we find it's not the heat or the rain or the rough terrain that's bothering us, but plain unadulterated robbery. Robbery? Well, from an army transport? For the love of Mike, yes. That's what I've been saying. Robbery, stealing, hijacking. Do you understand? Yes, sir. You could give me a few details to go on, though. I'll give you all the details before you leave. But get this straight. The top brass is after my scalp. They figure if the stuff doesn't get to Suez, it can invite trouble there. Suez has always been the fuse to like the dynamite. For the love of Mike, quit interrupting. Sorry, sir. And you're going to be a whole lot sorryer if this stealing isn't stopped. If it was some fault of my officers or enlisted men, it'd be up to me. But this is a civil matter. These hijackers are the subjects of your government. And I can promise you, Captain Lawrence, that unless your governmental police puts a halt to this robbery at once, I'll see to it personally that you'll ship back to jolly old England. Yes, Tarzan, he probably does have enough influence to have me sent back to England, in disgrace. It seems so unfair. You're supposed to comb thousands of miles with a few men at your disposal and he's unable to catch the thieves with his whole company. Oh, he's pretty short of manpower, too. When you spread a company from Dakarta to Suez, there aren't many men left to guard each safari. Perhaps that's true, but why should you have to save his neck? No, there's more than that involved, Tarzan. Perhaps the peace of the world. I'll have to ever go at saving his neck, as you put it. And I'm counting on you to save mine. Well, you have long been my friend, Captain Lawrence. If I can be of help in tracking down the hijackers, I should be more than happy. Thank you, Tarzan. You know this jungle better than any man alive, and I've been counting on your help. I'll gather my weapons and a few other things I might need and we'll leave it once. Where do we start? I haven't the foggiest notion. No, no, I mean, where did the hijackers make their last raid? What was the size of their ban? And are they thought to be natives or whites? Well, you see, that's really the big problem. Thousands and thousands of dollars of equipment and supplies are missing. But no one's seen any thief. There have been no raids, and for all major Habrooks men seem to know, the materials might just as well have been spirited away by ghosts. Our story of jungle hijackers will continue in just a moment. Tarzan and Captain Lawrence moved rapidly through the jungle night. Behind them was the great forest that was Tarzan's stronghold, and just ahead, winding its way through the dense jungle growth, was the old elephant trail used by the supply safari. A new shipment was on its way, and Tarzan and Captain Lawrence plan to intercept the caravan somewhere near El Boday. Although there were no clues to the past robberies, they might be able to prevent new thefts and perhaps learn something about the robbers who attacked with the stealth and invisibility of ghosts. There should be a long sundown tonight, unless they've run into trouble already. Apparently they've had no trouble, but they're ahead of that inflexible schedule major Habrooks had for them. Ahead of it? How do you make that up? I caught the scent of man some time ago. Now I can hear the sounds of the safari. I hope you're as quick catching the scent of the hijackers. How many soldiers are supposed to accompany the shipment? I can hear them now. Soldiers? Well, not many, I guess. One officer, I believe, and a handful of enlisted men. How can such a small number handle a large cargo? Native porters. Probably best anyway. White men aren't much good at that sort of thing. Drop to the ground. Someone's shooting at us. It's from the caravan. You must have spotted us. Who thought we were the hijackers? I'll find out what they're thinking. The rest of you, stay where you are. Captain Lawrence? Thank heavens. Who's the commander of this outfit? I am, sir. I'm Lieutenant Stevens. And who are you? I'm Captain Lawrence of the Governmental Police. You are my credentials. Yes. Well, they look to be in order. But you see, I didn't expect to meet you here. Major Heybrooke said you'd join us at El Bude. I thought that's what he said. That's hardly an excuse for firing at us, Lieutenant. Do you shoot at everyone you see in Africa? Well, after what I've been through, I'm not taking any chances. All you men get back to the wagon. It's customary to challenge someone you want a question. You might have killed Tarzan or me. I'm sorry. I saw you through the trees, and I say, who is this Tarzan? He's acting as my deputy. But Major Heybrooke didn't say anything about deputy. I thought it best not to mention Tarzan to the Major. He might not have understood about a deputy who refuses to be sworn in and will not wear a uniform. But you can take my word for it, Lieutenant. Tarzan will be of more help to us in stopping a robbery of this caravan than a regimen of regular police. I'm afraid it's too late to stop a robbery of this shipment. What? Last night, we stopped for the night at Yeagerstown. Soon as I called a halt, we took inventory. Almost a third of the shipment was gone. And you saw or heard no one at this time, I do? No, sir. Not a soul. Neither did my men or any of the natives. A third of the shipment? To take that amount of goods would require great wagons or many porters. It would be impossible not to hear either one. I swear there wasn't a sound. And there goes my promotion. I was counting on the pay raise. The Major will have my scalp with all this stuff missing. What is missing? Guns, ammunition, tin meats, powdered eggs, and milk, blankets, copper wire, a little of everything, I guess. It's hard to tell exactly with the stuff all wrapped up. 30 bales and 10 crates. That much, I'm sure of. All right. Any of your bearers missing? No, I thought of that, too. But we started with 100 bearers and we still have 100. Which is your headman? I don't know. How can I tell? They all look alike to me. Do you mind if I question them? No, go ahead. Do anything you want. But please, hurry. I've got to get this stuff rolling. This means my promotion for sure. One gazillion. One gazillion. One gazillion. One gazillion. One gazillion. One gazillion. Who, Manipara? Nadio, Me, me mañana. And what is your tribe? Mañendi. Mañendi? Are all of the porters of the same tribe? Nadio, or mañendi. What's he saying? I'm entitled to know. I'm in command, here. The headman says they're all members of the Mañendi tribe, and their tribe are well sure that he speaks the truth. But what differences does that make? Yes, nurse, what possible difference can it make what tribe they belong to? I thought for a moment they might be responsible for the thefts, but the Mannyendi are all members of an ancient religious cult that forbids bearing arms or engaging in trade. So they couldn't possibly have any use for the guns and ammunition being forbidden to use them or to sell them. How about the foodstuffs? That's what eliminates suspicion entirely. They're an agricultural people. Their religion forces them to be strict vegetarians. I suppose you suspect me. That's what you've been getting at? Your nervousness is the only thing that makes me at all suspicious of you. But there are some things I should like to discuss with your Major Heybrook. There are a few things I can tell him too. You'll be sorry you met him in this. You'll be sorry, you'll be sorry. How much longer must we remain in this anti-room waiting to see the important Major Heybrook? I don't know why he's holding us up. First we were told to be here yesterday morning, then the afternoon. Now we're told we may not be able to see him even today. I can't figure it. There could be one, Hansi. What's that? He could be mixed up in these robberies himself. Perhaps between the Major and the nervous Lieutenant, there's a little marketing of army goods going on. I never thought of that. No, it's ridiculous. If the materials were never shipped at all, the stories of the robberies might be a very good cover-up. But in that case, why was the Lieutenant so nervous, so worried about getting him bad with the Major? He might have been worried because he missed us when he took that pot-shot. The Major may have given instructions to see that your investigation ended in murder. We've been waiting a long time to see you, Major Heybrook. Yes, I daresay. There were a few things I wanted to learn first. Lieutenant Stevens was just in my office. He tells me you weren't very successful in stopping a robbery of this shipment. The robbery took place before we joined the safari. So I'm told. I'm also told that you and this deputy managed to sneak up on the caravan as quietly as thieves. Major Heybrook, is this accusation a cover-up for your own activities? For my activities? For the love of Mike, what are you talking about? I doubt that the missing shipments were ever sent. What? It would be easy enough to trace. A large quantity of Army materials could not reach the black markets of our African cities without leaving a trail. I should have thought of that sooner. I thought of it, and I put a man on the job who spent most of his life in Africa. If there's anything being offered on the black market, he can track it down. Well, perhaps I was wrong in jumping to conclusions. Maybe I can cooperate with this man you've engaged to, is he? A former Diamond Mine owner in Yagestown. A gentleman by the name of Martin Vincent. Martin Vincent? You know him, Tarzan? Why, he's one of the greatest scoundrels on the continent, a vicious, unscrupulous man. Major Heybrook, this man knows the schedule of your shipment. Yes, of course. He's the one who secured all the native bearers for me. He's been very useful. More than likely, the information about valuable shipments has been useful to him. Where can we find this man? He maintains offices in Yagestown. Oh, he maintains more than offices. He owns the police of the city, the magistrates and the courts. To question any of his activities is to make yourself a criminal in Yagestown. And we'd best take a troop with us, and we go there. For the love of Mike, of course. No, no, no. To march into the town with a troop would be to ruin any chances we might have of catching Martin Vincent Red-Handed. Captain Lawrence, if you're game, we will go to Yagestown alone. In just a moment, the exciting conclusion of Jungle Hijackers. Well, we should be in Yagestown by this afternoon. Yes, Martin Vincent's Yagestown. He wanted to brand you, did he? Yes, he has a custom of burning a D in the back of those he judges guilty of stealing a diamond from his mind. I had come to Yagestown to persuade the son of a chief to return to his people. Oh, yes, I do recall the story. But let it still in a diamond. From Vincent's mind, yes. We went to the mine together to put it back, but when we were caught in the act, Vincent refused to believe we were not making off with a diamond. We were lucky to escape without his trademark. I guess such inhumane treatment of the natives must have led to his downfall. I got a report just before we left. The mine has been closed. Orders of the government. Has Vincent lost his stranglehold in the city? No, I'm afraid not. He's lost the mine, but according to the report, he's still an all-powerful dictator in Yagestown. I wonder... What? ...whether I'm still a wanted man there. I have an extra uniform in my pack. It'll be pretty snug on you, but it might serve as an effective disguise. All right. I hope I'm not arrested for impersonating an officer. I'm afraid that is in our greatest danger. So this is the headquarters of Yagestown's black market. It's the marketplace. You can buy anything from a jewel worth a rajah's fortune to a pickled elephant's tail, guaranteed to cure rheumatism and chase away horned demons. What I'd like to buy is a supply of powdered milk and eggs, perhaps some tinned meat bearing the army insignia. Yes, it'll be our first real clue. Let's stop here. This looks like a likely place. Yes, for a murder. Can I pass as a soldier? It's all I can do to keep from saluting every time I glance at you. Carry on, Captain Clayton. Righto, old chap. You'd best let me do the bargaining. I'm an old hand at this sort of thing. I said that, shopkeeper. We're about to leave on a safari. We'd like to buy some supplies now. We need some foodstuffs that can stand the desert heat and the hardships of the jungle, tinned meats and perhaps some powdered eggs and milk, things like that. Alas, I have nothing of that kind, but perhaps you could secure them at the shop of the three crescents. Oh, they have such provisions there? They speak not of it in the marketplace, but I think a gold piece discreetly placed in the hand of the proprietor might loosen his tongue. Now, thank you for your advice. The shop of the three crescents. You will see the symbol upon the doorpost. It is but a few shops away over your left shoulder. I can see it from here. Thank you. Come on, Captain Lawrence. Right you are, Captain Clayton. Nice work. Sounds like I do, all right. The shop of the three crescents. It's a very shabby place. It's not much worse than the rest of them. It seems fairly large. Yes. You've got a great many bales and creeks in the back. The front of the store isn't much. You'd better keep your voice down. That bearded Arab who sits in the doorway may have sharp ears. He's looking at us intently enough. All shopkeepers say to you, if they think you have one penny to rub against another. Good evening. You desire to purchase some small article from my humble shop? A gift to send home, perhaps. Some spices, a pound of fine imported tea. Yes, we could do with a spot of tea, but we're leaving on a trip. We'll need more than just tea. Here's a gold piece for you. We have more of them, too. Ah-ha. Perhaps you'd be interested in some tin meat, some powdered milk and eggs, some dehydrated soup. Yes, we would. May we see them? Of course. But follow me into my storeroom. Just lead the way. We'll follow. I'd best close the front of my shop first. Lest anyone witness a transaction, just go ahead. I'll be with you in a moment. Come on, Captain Lawrence. I don't. Just throw that back door there. I shall join you directly, offender. It's better this way. I'll get a chance to look around before he gets here. Hmm. Softly dark in here. There must be a light somewhere. I'll try to find it. Gentlemen, I see my men properly subdued you, and I trust you're finding your little cell comfortable. If you were not on the other side of these bars, Mr. Vincent, we would do a great deal to lessen your comfort. It's life, isn't it? But then you see, this is my reward for giving a better performance than yours. I knew you in a second, Tarzan, despite that police uniform, but my disguise as a storekeeper was perfect. All right, so you took us in. You can't hold us here. There's such a thing as international law. I'm a great respecter of it, but you see, I am really a hero now. I captured a former diamond thief returning to Yeagerstown, disguised as a policeman impersonating an officer. Oh, so that's your angle. Captain Lawrence is of the governmental police. How can you hold him? Oh, we'll check his credentials, but it may take a long time. Ha, ha, ha, ha! A very long time! Ha, ha, ha, ha! You're a swine. Well, if it's any satisfaction it proves we were on the right track. Vincent is mixed up in the hijacking. We didn't actually see the tin goods. No, they may not be in that shop, but his desire to hold us prisoners proves he has a great deal to hide. Fancy he will check my credentials eventually. Then you'll be in trouble for having helped impersonate a police officer. But you are my deputy. I've never been sworn in. All right. Raise your right hand. All right. Repeat after me. I, Tarzan, I, Tarzan, swear that I will enforce the law of the colonies. Swear that I will enforce the law of the colonies. And otherwise pursue the duties of a police officer. And otherwise pursue the duties of a police officer. Despite hardships, danger, or threat of death. Despite hardships, danger, or the threat of death. The air seems better here on the outside. There's something unhealthy about the air inside of a cell. I'm glad my prisoners haven't your strength, Tarzan. Or they would all be on the outside. The bars of the cell were not as imposing as the steel of Bolgani's muscles. Bolgani? Oh. The gorilla you killed when you were only a boy. And perhaps Vincent will improve as imposing an enemy as I thought. Oh. Is this his house here? Yes, yes. That's his bedroom. Directly over the doorway. I think the vine that grows up to the window will hold my weight. Well, I'm lighter than you. No, no, no. You wait here. If someone comes, just whistle to me. I do. Who's there? Is it time to get up? Who? It's Tarzan and my knife is at your throat. Tarzan? Please. Please don't kill me. I was going to... I shall not kill you if you speak truthfully and quickly. Where are the things you stole from the army caravans? I... I didn't steal a thing. I swear. You knew of their theft? Yes. Haybrook told me, but I wouldn't steal stuff like that. It's too tough to get rid of. I see. And why were you so afraid of the investigation, Captain Lawrence, and I had started? No. No reason. There is a reason. Speak now or be silenced forever. I tell. Major Haybrook engaged me to hire the porters. I get them on Yandis because they were the least civilized, knew the least about the white man and their weight. How much did the army pay you for each man? A dollar a day per man. And how much did you pay them? Twenty cents a day. But that isn't bad. They're happy with the wages. And the army's happy with the men I provided. I said I'd supply enough men to do the job and two hundred natives are more than enough. Two hundred? Yes, two hundred natives who've never had so much money in their lives. I haven't done anything so wrong. Not according to your likes. Oh, someone's coming. I shall leave now, Vincent. You have accidentally given me the solution to our mystery. What? But your petty robbery of the natives is at an end. And I have a feeling they will see to it that justice is done. Pretty rough country here. Few men have ever come to the land of the Manyende, Major Haybrook. Well, for the love of Mike, I wish you'd tell me why we're coming. Well, it's only a little further, Major Haybrook. You can see the boomer of their village just ahead. But you yourself told me that they wouldn't steal the stuff that the religion kept them from using arms, eating the food or selling it. That's right. And I verified it when I left you last night and went ahead to their village. I spoke with their chief at some length. Well, I wish that... Oh, we're being received by a welcoming committee here. Jumbo! Jumbo, people of Manyende. Major, do you see anything unusual about these natives? No, except that maybe they're a little cleaner, a little better clothed. In burlap. Burlap that once covered army bales. Those braceless they wear about their arms and legs. Much heavy copper wire. And for the love of Mike, look at the new hut made out of our crate. Tarzan, I thought you told me... Oh, they made off with supplies, all right. A hundred of their men were always with the caravan, acting as porters guiding the wagons, cutting through the jungle growth. But another hundred were constantly taking their places as they darted into the brush at the side of the path with the bales and the crates. But you said... For the love of Mike Tarzan... But they committed no crime according to their concept. For they put to their own use only the fruits of the earth, which are sent from heaven. Wood, which comes from trees, burlap from jute. They've tried to grow themselves. And a small amount of copper that comes from the bowels of the earth. Well, the burlap from the bales and the wooden crates don't amount too much. The wire they will return and the other materials are all safe. I had to talk with them. They will begin transporting it to Suez in the morning. Africa, anything can happen here. Look, look beyond the huts. All of the missing supplies and all in touch. And nothing is damaged or missing. Well, for the love of Mike. In just a moment a preview of our next exciting story of Tarzan. It has walked in many lands, and wherever it casts its shadow, death and fear and wild panic is the rule of the day. Bread and poverty and filth, it is nurtured by ignorance. And all men flee before its onslaught. It is known by many names, black pestilence, black death, bubonic plague. Listen to our next story, Tarzan and the Stranger. Tarzan, the transcribed creation of the famous Edgar Rice Burroughs, is produced by Walter White Jr. Prepared for radio by Bud Lesser, with original music by Albert Blasser. This is a Commodore production.