 CHAPTER I Bernard Albert Werper had only the prestige of the name he had dishonored to thank for his narrow escape from being case-shared. At first he had been humbly thankful, too, that they had sent him to this cod-forsaken Congo post, instead 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 filled with morbid self-pity, which eventually engendered in his weak and vacillating mind a hatred for those who had sent him here. For the very men he had at first inwardly thanked for saving him from the ignominy of degradation. He regretted the gay life of Brussels, as he never had regretted the sins which had snatched him from that gayest of capitals, and as the days passed he came to center his resentment upon the representative in Kongoland of the authority which had exiled him, his captain and immediate superior. This officer was a cold, taciturn man, inspiring little love in those directly beneath him, yet respected and feared by the black soldiers of his little command. Werper was accustomed to sit for hours glaring at his superior, as the two sat upon the veranda of their common quarters, smoking their evening cigarettes in a silence which neither seemed desirous of breaking. The senseless 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 him in contempt, and so he chafed and fumed inwardly, until one evening his madness became suddenly homicidal. He fingered the butt of the revolver at his hip, his eyes narrowed and his brows contracted. At last he spoke, you have inserted me for the last time, he cried, springing to his feet. I am an officer and a gentleman, and I shall put up with thee no longer, without any accounting from you, you pig! The captain, an expression of surprise upon his features, turned toward his junior. He had seen men before with the jungle madness upon them, the madness of solitude and unrestrained brooding, and perhaps a touch of fever. He rose and extended his hand to lay it upon the other shoulder. Quiet words of counsel were upon his lips, but they were never spoken. Werper construed his superior's action into an attempt 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 the veranda, and as he fell the mist that had clouded Werper's brain lifted, so that he saw himself and the deed that he had done in the same light that those who must judge him would see them. He heard excited exclamations from the quarters of the soldiers, and he heard men running in his direction. They would seize him, and if they didn't kill him they would take him down the Congo to a point where a properly ordered military tribunal would do so just as effectively, though in a more regular manner. Werper had no desire to die. Never before had he so yearned for life as in this moment that he had so effectively forfeited his right to live. The men were nearing him. What was he to do? He glanced about as though searching for the tangible form of a legitimate excuse for his crime, but he could find only the body of the man he had so causelessly shot down. In despair he turned and fled from the oncoming soldiery. Across the compound he ran, his revolver still clutched tightly in his hand. At the gates a scent re-hauled him. 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 torn open the gates and vanished into the blackness of the jungle, but not before he had transferred the rifle and ammunition belts of the dead sentry to his own person. All that night Werper fled farther and farther into the heart of the wilderness. Now and again the voice of a lion brought him to a listening halt, but with cocked and ready rifle he pushed ahead again, more fearful of the human huntsman in his rear than of the wild carnivora ahead. Dawn came at last, but still the man plotted on. All scents of hunger and fatigue were lost in the terrors of contemplated capture. He could think only of escape. He dared 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 he did not know or try to know, when he could flee no longer the knowledge that he had reached his limit was hidden from him in the unconsciousness of utter exhaustion. And thus it was that Akhmet Dzak, the A-rab, found him. Akhmet's followers were for running a spear through the body of their hereditary enemy, but Akhmet would have it otherwise. First he would question the Belgian. It were easier to question a man first and kill him afterward than kill him first and then question him. So he had Lieutenant Albert Werper carried to his own tent, and there slaves administered wine and food in small quantities until at last the prisoner regained consciousness. As he opened his eyes he saw the faces of strange black men about him, and just outside the tent the figure of an A-rab. Nowhere was the uniform of his soldiers to be seen. The A-rab turned and seeing the open eyes of the prisoner upon him entered the tent. I am Akhmet Dzak, you know. Who are you, and what were you doing in my country? Where are your soldiers? Akhmet Dzak, Werper's eyes went wide, and his heart sank. He was in the clutches of the most notorious of cutthroats, a hater of all Europeans, especially those who wore the uniform of Belgium. For years the military forces of Belgian Congo had waged a fruitless war upon this man, and his followers, a war in which quarter had never been asked nor expected by either side. But presently, in the very hatred of the man for Belgians, Werper saw a faint ray of hope for himself. He too was an outcast and an outlaw. So far, at least, they possessed a common interest, and Werper decided to play upon it for all that it might yield. I have heard of you, he replied, and was searching for you. My people have turned against me. I hate them. Even now their soldiers are searching for me, to kill me. I knew that you would protect me from them, for you too hate them. In return I will take service with you. I am a trained soldier. I can fight, and your enemies are my enemies. Akhmet Zak eyed the European in silence. In his mind he revolved many thoughts, chief among which was that the unbeliever lied. Of course there 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 men were never over plentiful, especially white men with the training and knowledge of military matters that a European officer must possess. Akhmet Zak scowled, and Werper's heart sank. But Werper did not know Akhmet Zak, who was quite apt to scowl where another would smile, and smile where another would scowl. And if you have lied to me, said Akhmet Zak, I will kill you at any time. What return other than your life do you expect for your services? My keep only, at first, replied Werper, later if I am worth more we can easily reach an understanding. Werper's only desire at the moment was to preserve his life, and so the agreement was reached and Lieutenant Albert Werper became a member of the ivory and slave raiding band of the notorious Akhmet Zak. For months the renegade Belgian rode with the savage raider, he fought with a savage abandon, and a vicious cruelty fully equal to that of his fellow desperados. Akhmet Zak watched his recruit with eagle eye, and with a growing satisfaction which finally found expression in a greater confidence in the man, and resulted in an increased independence of action for Werper. Akhmet Zak took the Belgian into his confidence to a great extent, and at last unfolded to him a pet scheme which the Arab had long fostered, but which he never had found an opportunity to effect. With the aid of a European, however, the thing might be easily accomplished. He sounded, Werper, you have heard of the man men call Tarzan, he asked. Werper nodded, I have heard of him, but I do not know But for him we might carry on our trading in safety and with great profit, continued the Arab, for years he has fought us driving us from the richest part of the country, harassing us and arming the natives that they may repair us when we come to trade. He is very rich. If we could find some way to make him pay as many pieces of gold we should not only be avenged upon him, but repaid for much that he has prevented us from winning from the natives under his protection. Werper withdrew a cigarette from a jeweled case and lighted it. And you have a plan to make him pay, he asked. He has a wife, replied Akhmet Zak, who men say is very beautiful. She would bring a great price farther north, if we found it too difficult to collect ransom money from this Tarzan. Werper bent his head and thought, Akhmet Zak stood awaiting his reply. What good remained in Albert Werper revolted at the thought of selling a white woman into the slavery and degradation of a Muslim harem. He looked up at Akhmet Zak, he saw the Arab's eyes narrow 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 this woman to him anyway? She was a European, doubtless a member of organized society. He was an outcast. The hand of every white man was against him. She was his natural enemy, and if he refused to lend himself to her undoing, Akhmet Zak would have him killed. You hesitate, murmured the Arab. I was but weighing the chances of success, lied Werper, and my reward. As a European I can gain admittance to their home and table. You have no other with you who could do so much. The risk will be great. I should be well paid, Akhmet Zak. A smile of relief passed over the raider's face. Well, said Werper, and Akhmet Zak slapped his lieutenant upon the shoulder, you should be well paid and you shall. Now let us sit together and plan how best the thing may be done. And the two men squatted upon a soft rug beneath the faded silks of Akhmet'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 hue to the European's complexion. In every detail of Dress II he copied the fashions of his chief, so that outwardly he was as much an Arab as the other. It was late when he arose and retired to his own tent. The following day Werper spent in overhauling his Belgian uniform, removing from it every vestige of evidence that might indicate its military purposes. From a heterogeneous collection of loot Akhmet Zak procured a pith helmet and a European saddle, and from his black slaves and followers a party of porters, asquary and tent boys to make up a modest safari for a big game hunter. At the head of this party Werper set out from camp. End of chapter 1 Chapter 2 of Tarzan and the Jewels of Opar This LibriVox recording is in the public domain. Tarzan and the Jewels of Opar, by Edgar Rice Burroughs Chapter 2 On the Road to Opar It was two weeks later that John Clayton, Lord Greystoke, riding in from a tour of inspection of his vast African estate, glimpsed the head of a column of men crossing the plain that lay between his bungalow and the forest to the north and west. He reigned in his horse and watched the little party as it emerged from a concealing swale. His keen eyes caught the reflection of the sun upon the white helmet of a mounted man, and with the conviction that a wandering European hunter was seeking his hospitality he wheeled his mount and rode slowly forward to meet the newcomer. A half hour later he was mounting the steps leading to the veranda of his bungalow and introducing M. Jure Fécur to Lady Greystoke. I was completely lost, M. Fécur was explaining. My headman had never before been in this part of the country and the guides who were to have accompanied me from the last village we passed knew even less of the country than we. They finally deserted us two days since. I am very fortunate indeed to have stumbled so providentially upon succor. I do not know what I should have done had I not found you. It was decided that Fécur and his party should remain several days or until they were thoroughly rested, when Lord Greystoke would furnish guides to lead them safely back into country with which Fécur's headman was supposedly familiar. In his guise of a French gentleman of leisure, Fécur found little difficulty in deceiving his host, and in ingratiating himself with both Tarzan and Jane Clayton. But the longer he remained the less hopeful he became of an easy accomplishment of his designs. Lady Greystoke never rode alone at any great distance from the bungalow, and the savage loyalty of the ferocious Waziri warriors who formed a great part of Tarzan's followers seemed to preclude the possibility of a successful attempt at forcible abduction or of the bribery of the Waziri themselves. A week passed and Werper was no nearer the fulfillment of his plan insofar as he could judge than upon the day of his arrival, but at that very moment something occurred which gave him renewed hope and set his mind upon an even greater reward than a woman's ransom. A runner had arrived at the bungalow with the weekly mail, and Lord Greystoke had spent the afternoon in his study reading and answering letters. At dinner he seemed distraught, and early in the evening he excused himself and retired, Lady Greystoke following him very soon after. Werper, sitting upon the baranda, could hear their voices in earnest discussion, and having realized that something of unusual moment was afoot he quietly rose from his chair, and keeping well in the shadow of the shrubbery growing profusely about the bungalow, made his silent way to a point beneath the window of the room in which his host and hostess slept. Here he listened, and not without result, for almost the first words he overheard filled him with excitement. Lady Greystoke was speaking as Werper came within hearing. I always feared for the stability of the company, she was saying, but it seems incredible that they should have failed for so enormous a sum unless there has been some dishonest manipulation. That is what I suspect, replied Tarzan, but whatever the cause, the fact remains that I have lost everything, and there is nothing for it but to return to Opar and get more. John, cried Lady Greystoke, and Werper could feel the shudder through her voice. Is there no other way? I cannot bear to think of you returning to that frightful city. I would rather live in poverty always than to have you risk the hideous dangers of Opar. You need have no fear," replied Tarzan, laughing. I am pretty well able to take care of myself, and were I not, the Ziri who will accompany me will see that no harm befalls me. They ran away from Opar once and left you to your fate," she reminded him. They will not do it again, he answered. They were very much a shame of themselves, and were coming back when I met them. But there must be some other way," insisted the woman. There is no other way, half so easy, to obtain another fortune as to go to the treasure vaults of Opar and bring it away, he replied. 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 despoiled them of another portion of the treasure, the very existence of which they are as ignorant of as they would be of its value. The finality in his tone seemed to assure Lady Greystoke that further argument was futile, and so she abandoned this subject. Warper remained, listening for a short time, and then confident that he had overheard all that was necessary, and fearing discovery, returned to the veranda where he smoked numerous cigarettes in rapid succession before retiring. The following morning, at breakfast, Warper announced his intention of making an early departure, and asked Tarzan's permission to hunt big game in the Wissiri country on his way out, permission which Lord Greystoke readily granted. The Belgian consumed two days in completing his preparations, but finally got away with his safari accompanied by a single Wissiri guide whom Lord Greystoke had loaned him. The party made but a single short march when Warper simulated illness and 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, Warper dismissed the Wissiri guide, telling the warrior that he would send for him when he was able to proceed. The Wissiri gone, the Belgian summoned one of Ochmet Zex, trusted blacks to his tent, and dispatched him to watch for the departure of Tarzan, to return immediately to advise Warper of the event and the direction taken by the Englishman. The Belgian did not have long to wait, for the following day his emissary returned with word that Tarzan and a party of fifty Wissiri warriors had set out toward the southeast early in the morning. Warper called his headman to him after writing a long letter to Ochmet Zex. This letter he handed to the headman. "'Send a runner at once to Ochmet Zex with these,' he instructed the headman, "'remain here in camp awaiting further instructions from him or 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 porters and six escari, the strongest and bravest of the safari, and I will march after the Englishman and discover where his gold is hidden.' And so it was that as Tarzan stripped to the loincloth, and armed after the primitive fashion he best loved, led his loyal Wissiri toward the red city of Opar. Warper the renegade haunted his trail through the long hot days and camped close behind him by night. And as they marched Ochmet Zex rode with his entire following southward toward the Grey Stoke Farm. To Tarzan of the apes the expedition was in the nature of a holiday outing. His civilization was at best but an outward veneer which he gladly peeled off with his uncomfortable European clothes whenever any reasonable pretext presented itself. It was a woman's love 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 thing, the cowardly greed for peace and ease and the safeguarding of property rights. That the fine things of life, art, music, and literature had thriven upon such innervating ideals he strenuously denied, insisting rather that they had endured in spite of civilization. Show me the fat, opulent coward, he was wont to say, whoever originated a beautiful ideal. In the clash of arms, in the battle for survival, amid hunger and death and danger, in the face of God as manifested in the display of nature's most terrific forces, is born all that is finest and best in the human heart and mind. And so Tarzan always came back to nature in the spirit of a lover keeping a long deferred triss after a period behind prison walls. His wasiri at Merrill were more civilized than he. They cooked their meat before they ate it, and they shunned many articles of food as unclean that Tarzan had eaten with gusto all his life, and so insidious is the virus of hypocrisy that even the stalwart ape-man hesitated to give rain 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 jugular. But at last the call of the milk of the savage mother that had suckled him in infancy rose to an insistent demand. He craved the hot blood of a fresh kill, and his muscles yearned to pit themselves against the savage jungle in the battle for existence that had been his sole birthright for the first twenty years of his life. CHAPTER III. THE CALL OF THE JUNGLE. Moved by these vague yet all-powerful urgings, the ape-man lay awake one night in the little thorn-boma that protected in a way his party from the depredations of the great carnivora of the jungle. A single warrior stood sleepy-guard beside the fire that yellow eyes out of the darkness beyond the camp made him parody. 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 lord. He tossed upon his bed of grasses, sleepless for an hour, and then he rose, noiseless as a wraith, and while the waziri's back was turned, vaulted the boma-wall in the face of the flaming eyes, swung silently into a great tree and was gone. For a time in sheer exuberance of animal spirit he raced swiftly through the middle terrace, swinging perilously across wide spans from one jungle giant to the next, and then he clambered upward to the swaying 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 goral the moon. With uplifted arm he stood, the cry of the bull-ape quivering upon his lips. Yet he remained silent, lest he arouse his faithful waziri who were all too familiar with the hideous challenge of their master. And then he went on more slowly and with greater stealth and caution, for now Tarzan of the apes was seeking a kill. Down to the ground he came in the utter blackness of the close-set bowls and the overhanging verger of the jungle. He stooped from time to time and put his nose close to earth. He sought and found a wide game-trail, and at last his nostrils were rewarded with the scent of the fresh spore of Barra the deer. Tarzan's mouth watered, and a low growl escaped his patrician lips. Slough from him was the last vestige of artificial cast. Once again he was the primeval hunter, the first man, the highest cast type of the human race. Upwind he followed the elusive spore with a sense of perception so transcending that of ordinary man as to inconceivable to us. Through counter-currents of the heavy stench of meat-eaters he traced the trail of Barra. The sweet and cloying stink of horta the boar could not drown his quarry scent, the permeating mellow musk of the deer's foot. Presently the body scent of the deer told Tarzan that his prey was close at hand. It sent him into the trees again, into the lower terrace, where he could watch the ground below, and catch with ears and nose the first intimation of actual contact with his quarry. Nor was it long before the eight-man came upon Barra, standing alert at the edge of a moon-bath clearing. Noiselessly Tarzan crept through the trees until he was directly over the deer. In the eight-man's right hand was the long hunting-knife of his father and in his heart the bloodlust of the carnivore. Just for an instant he poised above the unsuspecting Barra, 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 carried to his nostrils something which froze him to statuette immobility and silence. His eyes blazed into the direction from which the wind had borne down the warning to him, and a moment later the grasses at one side of the clearing parted and Numa the lion strode majestically into view. His yellow-green eyes were fastened upon Tarzan as he halted just within the clearing and glared enviously at the successful hunter, for Numa had had no luck this night. From the lips of the eight-man broke a rumbling growl of warning. Numa answered, but he did not advance. Instead he stood waving his tail gently to and fro, and presently Tarzan squatted upon his kill and cut a generous portion from a hind quarter. Numa eyed him with growing resentment and rage as between mouthfuls the eight-man growled out his savage warnings. Now this particular lion had never before come in contact with Tarzan of the apes, and he was 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 Barra goaded him almost to madness. All we'd Tarzan watched him, guessing what was passing in the little brain of the carnivore, and well it was that he did watch him, for at last Numa could stand it no longer. His tail shot suddenly erect, and at the same instant the wary eight-man, knowing all too well what the signal portended, grasped the remainder of the deer's hind quarter between his teeth and leaped into a nearby tree, as Numa charged him with all the speed and sufficient semblance of the weight of an express train. Tarzan's retreat was no indication that he felt fear. Jungle life is ordered along different lines than ours, and different standards prevail. Had Tarzan been famished he would doubtless have stood his ground and met the lion's charge. He had done the thing before upon more than one occasion, just as in the past he had charged lions himself. But tonight he was far from famished, and in the hind quarter he had carried off with him was more raw flesh than he could eat. Yet it was with 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 eight men swung with the agility of a squirrel. Then commenced a bombardment which brought forth earth-shaking roars from Numa, one after another as rapidly as he could gather and hurl them, Tarzan pelted the hard fruit down upon the lion. It was impossible for the tawny cat to eat under that hail of missiles. He could but roar and growl and dodge, and eventually he was driven away entirely from the carcass of Barra the deer. He went roaring and resentful, but in the very center of the clearing his voice was suddenly hushed, and Tarzan saw the great-head lore and flatten out, the body crouch and the long-tail quiver as the beast slunk cautiously toward the trees upon the opposite side. Immediately Tarzan was alert. He lifted his head and sniffed the slow jungle breeze. What was it that had attracted Numa's attention and taken him soft-footed and silent away from the scene of his discomfiture? Just as the lion disappeared among the trees beyond the clearing, Tarzan caught upon the down-coming wind the explanation of his new interest. The sense for a man was wafted strongly to the sensitive nostrils. Cashing the remainder of the deer's hind quarter in the crotch of a tree, the eight men wiped his greasy palms upon his naked thighs and swung off 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 wreath. The savage cat and the savage man saw Numa's query 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 sense for was that of a stranger, old and a male, for race and sex and age each has its own distinctive scent. It was an old man that made his way alone through the gloomy jungle, a wrinkled, dried-up little old man hideously scarred and tattooed and strangely scarred with the skin of a hyena about his shoulders and the dried head mounted upon his gray paint. Tarzan recognized the ear marks of the witch doctor and awaited Numa's charge with a feeling of pleasurable anticipation, for the eight man had no love for witch doctors, but in the instant that Numa did charge the white man suddenly recalled that the lion had stolen his kill a few minutes before and that revenge is sweet. The first intimation the black man had that he was in danger was the crash of twigs as Numa charged through the bushes into the game trail, not twenty yards behind him. Then he turned to see a huge black main lion racing toward him and even as he turned Numa seized him. At the same instant the eight man dropped from an overhanging limb full upon the lion's back and as he alighted he plunged his knife into the tawny side behind the left shoulder, tangled the fingers of his right hand in the long main, buried his teeth in Numa's neck and wound his powerful legs about the beast torso. With a roar of pain and rage Numa reared up and fell backward upon the eight 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 his grim hold upon the back of his antagonist. To have loosened for an instant his grip there would have been to bring him within reach of those tearing talons or rending fangs and have ended forever the grim career of this jungle-bred English lord. Where he had fallen beneath the spring of the lion, the witch doctor lay, torn and bleeding, unable to drag himself away and watched the terrific battle between these two lords of the jungle, his sunken eyes glittered and his wrinkled lips moved over his toothless gums as he mumbled weird incantations to the demons of his cult. For a time he felt no doubt as to the outcome. The strange white man must certainly succumb to terrible Simba, whoever heard of a lone man armed only with a knife, slaying so mighty a beast. Yet presently the old black man's eyes went wider and he commenced to have his doubts and misgivings. What wonderful sort of creature was this that battled with Simba and held his own despite the mighty muscles of the king of beasts, and slowly they are dawned in those sunken eyes gleaming so brightly from the scarred and wrinkled face the light of a dawning recollection. Groping backward into the past reached the fingers of memory, until at last they seized upon a faint picture, faded and yellow with the passing years. It was the picture of a lithe white-skinned youth swinging through the trees in company with a band of huge apes, and the old eyes blinked, and a great fear came into them, the superstitious fear of one who believes in ghosts and spirits and demons. And came the time once more when the witch doctor no longer doubted the outcome of the duel, yet his first judgment was reversed, for now he knew that the jungle god would slay Simba and the old black was even more terrified of his own impending fate at the hands of the victor than he had been by the shore 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 down to rise no more. He saw the forest god or demon rise from the vanquished foe, and placing a foot upon the still quivering carcass raise his face to the moon and bay out a hideous cry that froze the ebbing blood in the veins of the witch doctor. CHAPTER IV Then Tarzan turned his attention to the man. He had not slain Numa to save the Negro, he had merely done it in revenge upon the lion. But now that he saw the old man lying helpless and dying before him, something akin to pity touched his savage heart. In his youth he would have slain the witch doctor without the slightest compunction. But civilisation had had its softening effect upon him, even as it does upon the nations and races which it touches, though it had not yet gone far enough with Tarzan to render him either cowardly or effeminate. He saw an old man suffering and dying, and he stooped and felt of his wounds and staunched the flow of blood. Who are you? asked the old man in a trembling voice. I am Tarzan. Tarzan of the apes, replied the ape man, and not without a greater touch of pride than he would have had he said, I am John Clayton, Lord Grey Stoke. The witch doctor shook convulsively and closed his eyes. When he opened them again there was in them a resignation to whatever horrible fate awaited him at the hands of this feared demon of the woods. Why do you not kill me? he asked. Why should I kill you? inquired Tarzan. You have not harmed me, and anyway you are already dying. Numa the lion has killed you. You would not kill me? surprised and in credulity were in the tones of the quavering old voice. I would save you if I could, replied Tarzan, but that cannot be done. Why did you think I would kill you? For a moment the old man was silent. When he spoke it was evidently after some little effort to muster his courage. I knew you of old, he said, when you ranged the jungle in the country of Mabonga, the chief. I was already a witch doctor when you slew Cullonga 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 hairy apes and made life miserable in the village of Mabonga, the chief. The forest god, the manango kiewati, for whom we set food outside our streets, and who came and ate it. Tell me, before I die, are you man or devil?" Tarzan laughed. I am a man, he said. The old fellow sighed and shook his head. You have tried to save me from Simba, he said. For that I shall reward you. I am a great witch doctor. Listen to me, white man. I see bad days ahead of you. It is writt 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, manango kiewati. Turn back before it is too late. Danger lies ahead of you, and danger lurks behind. But greater is the danger before. I see... He paused and drew a long and gasping breath. Then he crumpled into a little wrinkled heap and died. Tarzan wondered what else he had seen. It was very late when the ape-man re-entered the Boma and lay down among his black warriors. None had seen him go, and none saw him him. He thought about the warning of 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 for one he loved most in all the world, he would have flown through the trees to her side and allowed the gold of Opar to remain forever hidden in its forgotten store-house. Behind him that morning another white man pondered something he had heard during the night, and very nearly did he give up his project and turn back upon his trail. It was Werper, the murderer, who in the still of the night had heard far away upon the trail ahead of him a sound that had filled 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 moon, and he had trembled down and hidden his face, and now in the broad light of a new day he trembled again as he recalled it, and would have turned back from the nameless danger the echo of that frightful sound seemed to portend had he not stood in even greater fear of Akmet Zek, his master. And so Tarzan of the apes forward steadily ahead toward Opar's ruined ramparts, and behind him slunk Werper, Jaggle-like, and only God knew what lay in store for each. At the edge of the desolate valley, overlooking the golden domes and minarets of Opar, Tarzan halted. By night he would go alone to the treasure vault, reconnoitering, for he had determined that caution should mark his every move upon this expedition. With the coming of night he set forth, and Werper, who had scaled the cliffs alone behind the eight man's party, and hidden through the day among the rough boulders of the mountaintop, slunked stealthily after him. The boulder-strung plain between the valley's edge and the mighty granite copy outside the city's walls, where lay the entrance to the passageway leading to the treasure vault, gave the Belgian ample cover as he followed Tarzan toward Opar. He saw the giant eight man swing himself nimbly up the face of the great rock, Werper clawing fearfully during the perilous ascent, sweating in terror, almost palsied by fear, but spurred on by avarice, following upward until at last he stood upon the summit of the rocky hill. Tarzan was nowhere in sight, for a time Werper hid behind one of the lesser boulders that were scattered over the top of the hill, but seeing or hearing nothing of the Englishman he crept from 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 Tarzan returned, for it was the Belgians' desire merely to locate the gold, that after Tarzan had departed he might come in safety with his followers and carry away as much as he could transport. He found the narrow cleft leading downward into the heart of the copy along well-worn granite steps. He advanced quite to the dark mouth of the tunnel into which the runway disappeared, but here he halted, fearing to enter lest he meet Tarzan returning. The ape-man, far ahead of him, groped his way along the rocky passage until he came to the ancient wooden door. A moment later he stood within the treasure chamber where ages since long dead hands had ranged the lofty rows of precious ingots for the rulers of that great continent which now lies submerged beneath the waters of the Atlantic. No sound broke the stillness of the subterranean vault, there was no evidence that another had discovered the forgotten wealth since last the ape-man had visited its hiding place. Satisfied Tarzan turned and retraced his steps toward the summit of the copy. Werper from the concealment of a jutting granite shoulder watched him pass up from the shadows of the stairway and advanced toward the edge of the hill which faced the rim of the valley where the Waziri awaited the signal of their master. Then Werper, slipping stealthily from his hiding place, dropped into the somber darkness of the entrance and disappeared. Tarzan, halting upon the copy's edge, raised his voice in the thunderous roar of a lion. Twice at regular intervals he repeated the call, standing in attentive silence for several minutes after the echoes of the third call had died away, and then from far across the valley faintly came an answering roar. Once, twice, thrice, Basuli the Waziri chieftain had heard and replied. Tarzan again made his way toward the treasure vault, knowing that in a few hours his blacks would be with him, ready to bear away another fortune in the strangely shaped golden ingots of Opar. In the meantime he would carry as much of the precious metal to the summit of the copy as he could. Six trips he made in the five hours before Basuli reached the copy, and at the end of that time he had transported forty-eight ingots to the edge of the great boulder, carrying upon each trip a load which might well have staggered two ordinary men, yet his giant frame showed no evidence of fatigue as he helped to raise his ebb and warriors to the hilltop with the rope that had been brought for the purpose. Six times he had returned to the treasure chamber, and six times Werper the Belgian had cowered in the black shadows at the far end of the long vault. Once again came the eight man, and this time there came with him fifty fighting men, turning porters for the love of the only creature in the world who might command of their fierce and haughty nature such menial service. Fifty-two mooring gets passed out of the vaults, making the total of one hundred, which Tarzan intended taking away with him. As the last of the wasiri filed from the chamber, Tarzan turned back for a last glimpse of the fabulous wealth upon which his two inroads had made no appreciable impression. Before he extinguished the single candle he had brought 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, Tarzan's mind reverted to that first occasion upon which he had entered the treasure vault, coming upon it by chance as he fled from the pits beneath the temple where he had been hidden by law the high priestess of the sun-worshippers. He recalled the scene within the temple when he had lain stretched upon the sacrificial altar while law with high-raised dagger stood above him and the rows of priests and priestesses awaited in the ecstatic hysteria of fanaticism the first gush of their victim's warm blood that they might fill their golden goblets and drink to the glory of their flaming god. The brutal and bloody interruption by Thaw, the mad priest, passed vividly before the eight-man's recollectivize, the flight of the votaries before the insane bloodlust of the hideous creature, the brutal attack upon law, and his own part of the grim tragedy when he had battled with the infuriated oparion and left him dead at the feet of the priestess he would have profaned. This and much more passed through Tarzan's memory as he stood gazing at the long tears of dull yellow metal. He wondered if law still ruled the temples of the ruined 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 hideous fate indeed for one so beautiful. With a shake of his head Tarzan stepped to the flickering candle, extinguished its feeble rays, and turned toward the exit. Behind him the spy waited for him to be gone. He had learned the secret for which he had come, and now he could return at his leisure to his waiting followers, bring them to the treasure vault and carry away all the gold that they could stagger under. The Waziri had reached the outer end of the tunnel and were winding upward toward the fresh air and the welcome starlight of the copy's summit before Tarzan shook off the detaining hand of reverie and started slowly after them. Once again, and he thought for the last time, he closed the massive door of the treasure room. In the darkness behind him, Werper rose and stretched his cramped muscles. He stretched forth a hand and lovingly caressed a golden ingot on the nearest tear. He raised it from its immemorial resting place and weighed it in his hands. He clutched it to his bosom in an ecstasy of avarice. Tarzan dreamed of the happy homecoming which lay before him of dear arms about his neck and a soft cheek pressed to his. But there rose to dispel that dream the memory of the doctor and his warning, and then, in the span of a few brief seconds the hopes of both these men were shattered. The one forgot even in his greed in the panic of terror, the other was plunged into total forgetfulness of the past by a jagged fragment of rock which gassed a deep cut upon his head. Tarzan and the Jewels of Opar by Edgar Rice Burles Chapter 5 The Alter of the Flaming God It was at the moment that Tarzan turned from the closed door to pursue his way to the outer world. The thing came without warning. One instant all was quiet and stability. The next and the world 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 upon the wreckage. Beneath the blow of a fragment of the roof Tarzan staggered back against the door to the treasure room. His weight pushed it open and his body rolled inward upon the floor. In the great apartment where the treasure lay less damage was wrought by the earthquake. A few ingots toppled from the higher tiers. A single piece of the rocky ceiling splintered off and crashed downward to the floor, and the walls cracked, though they did not collapse. There was but the single shock, no other followed, to complete the damage undertaken by the first. Warp earth, thrown to his length by the suddenness and violence of the disturbance, staggered to his feet when he found himself unhurt. Groping his way toward the far end of the chamber he sought the candle which Tarzan had left stuck in its own wax upon the protruding end of an ingot. By striking numerous matches the Belgian at last found what he sought, and when, a moment later, this sickly rays relieved the Stygian darkness about him, he breathed a nervous sigh of relief for the impenetrable gloom had accentuated the terrors of his situation. As they became accustomed to the light the man turned his eyes toward the door. His one thought now was of escape from this frightful tomb, and as he did so he saw the body of the naked giant lying stretched upon the floor just within the doorway. Warp earth drew back in sudden fear of detection, but a second glance convinced him that the Englishman was dead. From a great gash in the man's head a pool of blood had collected upon the concrete floor. Quickly the Belgian leaped over the prostrate form of his erstwhile host, and without a thought of sucker for the man in whom for ought he knew life still remained, he bolted for the passageway and safety. But his renewed hopes were soon dashed. Just beyond the doorway he found the passage completely clogged and choked by impenetrable masses of shattered rock. Once more he turned and re-entered the treasure vault. Taking the candle from its place he commenced a systematic search of the apartment, nor had he gone 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 warper made his way, ascending a flight of stone steps to another corridor twenty feet above the level of the first. The flickering candle lighted the way before him, and a moment later he was thankful for the possession of this crude and antiquated lumenant which a few hours before he might have looked upon with contempt, for it showed him just in time a yawning pit, apparently terminating the tunnel he was traversing. Before him was a circular shaft. He held the candle above it and peered downward. Below him, at a great distance, he saw the light 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 across the black void, and there upon the opposite side he saw the continuation of the tunnel. But how was he to span the gulf? As he stood there measuring the distance to the opposite side and wondering if he dared venture so great a leap, there broke suddenly upon his startled ears a piercing scream which diminished gradually until it ended in a series of dismal moans, the voice sing partly human, yet so hideous that it might well have emanated from the tortured throat of a lost soul writhing in the fires of hell. The Belgians shuddered and looked fearfully upward, for the scream had seemed to come from above him. As he looked he saw an opening far overhead, and a patch of sky pinked with brilliant stars. His half-formed intention to call for help was expunged by the terrifying cry where such a voice lived no human creatures could dwell. He dared not reveal himself to whatever inhabitants 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 Ochmet Zek, and would almost have embraced an opportunity to give himself up to the military authorities of the Congo if by so doing he might be rescued from the frightful predicament in which he now was. He listened fearfully, but the cry was not repeated, and at last spurred to desperate means he gathered himself for the leap across the chasm. Going back twenty paces he took a running start and, at the edge of the wall, leaped upward and outward in an attempt to gain the opposite side. In his hand he clutched the sputtering candle, and as he took the leap the rush of air extinguished it. In utter darkness he flew through space, clutching outward for a hold should his feet miss the invisible ledge. He struck the edge of the door of the opposite terminus of the rocky tunnel with his knees, slipped backward, clutched desperately for a moment, and at last 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 last cautiously he drew himself well within the tunnel, and again he lay at full length upon the floor, fighting to regain control of his shattered nerves. When his knees struck the edge of the tunnel he had dropped the candle, presently hoping against hope that it had fallen upon the floor of the passageway rather than back into the depths of the well, he rose upon all fours and commenced a diligent search for the little tall cylinder which now seemed infinitely more precious to him than all the fabulous wealth of the hoarded ingots of opar, and when at last he found it he clasped it to him and sank back, sobbing and exhausted. For many minutes he lay trembling and broken, but finally he drew himself to a sitting posture, and taking a match 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 search of an avenue of escape. The horrid cry that had come down to him from above through the ancient well shaft still haunted him so that he trembled in terror at even the sounds of his own cautious advance. He had gone forward but a short distance when, to his chagrin, a wall of masonry barred his farther progress, closing the tunnel completely from top to bottom and from side to side. What could it mean? Warper was an educated and intelligent man. His military training had taught him to use his mind for the purpose for which it was intended. A blind tunnel such as this was senseless. It must continue beyond the wall. Someone, 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 had opened an aperture large enough to admit his body, then he crawled through into a large, low chamber. Across this another door barred his way, but this too gave before his efforts, for it was not barred. A long dark corridor showed before him, but before he had followed it far his candle burned down until it scorched his fingers. With an oath he dropped it to the floor where it sputtered for a moment and went out. Now he was in total darkness and again terror rode heavily astride his neck. What further pitfalls and dangers lay ahead he could not guess, but that he was as far as ever from liberty he was quite willing to believe, so depressing his utter absence of light to one in unfamiliar surroundings. Slowly he groped his way along, feeling with his hands upon the tunnel's walls and cautiously with his feet ahead of him upon the floor 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 was interminable and exhausted by his efforts, by terror and loss of sleep he determined to lie down and rest before seating farther. When he awoke there was no change in the surrounding blackness. He might have slept a second or a day he could not know, but that he had slept for some time was attested by the fact that he felt refreshed and hungry. Again he commenced his groping advance, but this time he had gone but a short distance when he emerged into a room which was lighted through an opening in the ceiling from which the light of concrete steps led downward to the floor of the chamber. Above him, through the aperture, Werper could see sunlight glancing from massive columns which were twined about by clinging binds. He listened, but he heard no sound other than the sowing of the wind through leafy branches, the horse cries of birds, and the chattering of monkeys. Boldly he ascended the stairway to find himself in a circular court just before him stood a stone altar stained with rusty brown discolorations. At the time Werper gave no thought to an explanation of these stains. Later their origin became all too hideously apparent to him. Beside the opening in the floor, just behind the altar through which he had entered the court from the subterranean chamber below, the Belgian discovered several doors leading from the enclosure upon the level of the floor. Above and circling the courtyard was 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 discernable. Werper felt relieved. He sighed as though a great weight had been lifted from his shoulders. He took a step toward one of the exits and then he halted, wide-eyed in astonishment and terror. For almost at the same instant a dozen doors opened in the courtyard wall and a horde of frightful men rushed in upon him. They were the priests of the flaming god of Opar, the same shaggy, knotted, hideous little men who had dragged Jane Clayton to the sacrificial altar at this very spot years before. Their long arms, their short and legs, their close-set evil eyes, and their low receding foreheads gave them a bestial appearance that sent a qualm of paralyzing fright through the shaken nerves of the Belgian. With a scream he turned flea back into the lesser terrors of the gloomy corridors and apartments from which he had just emerged. But the frightful men anticipated his intentions. They blocked the way. They seized him and though he fell, groveling upon his knees before them, begging for his life, they bound him and hurled him to the floor of the inner temple. The rest was but a repetition of what Tarzan and Jane Clayton had passed through. The priestesses came and with them Law, the High Priestess. Werper was raised and laid across the altar. Cold sweat exuded from his every pore as Law raised the cruel sacrificial knife above him. The death-chant fell upon his tortured ears. His staring eyes wandered to the golden goblets from which the hideous voteries would soon quench their inhuman thirst in his own warm life-blood. He wished that he might be granted the brief respite of unconsciousness before the final plunge of the keen blade. And then there was a frightful roar that sounded almost in his ears. The High Priestess lowered her dagger. Her eyes went wide in horror. The voteresses 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 cause of their panic. And when at last he saw it, he too went cold in dread. For what his eyes beheld was the figure of a huge lion standing in the center of the temple, and already a single victim lay mangled beneath his cruel paws. Again the Lord of the Wilderness roared, turning his baleful gaze upon the altar. Law staggered forward, reeled, and fell across Werper in a swoon. The Arab Raid After their first terror had subsided subsequent to the shock of the earthquake, Basouli and his warriors hastened back into the passageway in search of Tarzan and two of their own number who were also missing. They found the way blocked by jammed and distorted rock. For two days they labored to tear away through to their imprisoned friends. But when, after herculean 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 to the conclusion that Tarzan and the second Waziri also lay dead beneath the rock mass farther in, beyond human aid, and no longer susceptible of it. Again and again as they labored they called aloud the names of their master and their comrade, but no answering call rewarded their listening ears. At last they gave up the 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 their bereaved and beloved mistress, and made their mournful way back across the desolate valley of Opar and downward through the forest beyond toward the distant bungalow. And as they marched what sorry fate was already drawing down upon that peaceful happy home. From the north came Akmet Zek, writing to the summons of his lieutenants' letter. With him came his horde of verenigate evrabs, outlawed marauders these and equally degraded blacks garnered from the more debased and ignorant tribes of savage cannibals through whose countries the raider passed to and fro with perfect impunity. Mugambi, the ebb and Hercules who had shared the dangers and vicissitudes of his beloved Buana from jungle-island almost to the headwaters of the Ugambi, was the first to note the bold approach of the sinister caravan. He it was whom Tarzan had left in charge of the warriors who remained to guard Lady Greystoke, nor could a braver or more loyal guardian have been found in any climb or upon any soil, a giant in stature, a savage fearless warrior, the huge black possessed also soul and judgment in proportion to his bulk and his ferocity. Not once since his master had departed had he been beyond sight or sound of the bungalow, except when Lady Greystoke chose to canter across the broad plain or relieve the monotony of her loneliness by a brief hunting excursion. On such occasions Mugambi, mounted upon a wiry Arab, had ridden close at her horse's heels. The raiders were still a long way off when the warriors keen eyes discovered them. For a time he stood scrutinizing the advancing party in silence. Then he turned and ran rapidly in the direction of the native huts which lay a few hundred yards below the bungalow. Here he called out to the lawling warriors. He issued orders rapidly. In compliance with them the men seized upon their weapons and their shields. Some ran to call in the workers from the fields and to warn the tenders of the flocks and herds. The majority followed Mugambi back toward the bungalow. The dust of the raiders was still a long distance away. Mugambi could not know positively that it hit an enemy, but he had spent a lifetime of savage life in savage Africa, and he had seen parties before come thus unheralded. Sometimes they had come in peace and sometimes they had come in war. One could never tell. It was well to be prepared. Mugambi did not like the haste with which the strangers advanced. The gray-soaked bungalow was not well adapted for defense. No palisade surrounded it, for situated as it was in the heart of Loyal Waziri its master had anticipated no possibility of an attack enforced by an enemy. Heavy wooden shutters there were, to close the wooden apertures against hostile arrows, and these Mugambi was engaged in luring when Lady Graystall appeared upon the veranda. Why, Mugambi, she exclaimed, what has happened? Why are you luring the shutters? Mugambi pointed out across the plain to where a white-robed force of mounted men was now distinctly visible. A-Rabs, he explained, they come for no good purpose in the absence of the great buana. Beyond the neat lawn and the flowering shrubs Jane Clayton saw the glistening bodies of her Waziri. The sun glanced from the tips of their metal-shod spears, picked out the gorgeous colors in the feathers of their war-bonnets, and reflected the highlights from the glossy skins of their broad shoulders and high cheekbones. Jane Clayton surveyed them with unmixed feelings of pride and affection. What harm could befall her with such as these to protect her? The raiders had halted now a hundred yards out upon the plain. Mugambi had hastened down to join his warriors. He advanced a few yards before them, and raising his voice hailed the strangers. Akhmet Zeg sat straight in his saddle before his henchmen. A-Rab! cried Mugambi. What do you hear? We come in peace, Akhmet Zeg called back. Then turn and go in peace, replied Mugambi. We do not want you here. There can be no peace between A-Rab and Waziri. Mugambi, although not born in Waziri, had been adopted into the tribe, which now contained no member more jealous of its traditions and its prowess than he. Akhmet Zeg drew to one side of his horde, speaking to his men in a low voice. A moment later, without warning, a ragged volley was poured into the ranks of the Waziri. A couple of warriors fell. The others were forcharging 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 he dispatched to various other parts of the grounds surrounding the bungalow. Half a dozen he sent to the bungalow itself with instructions to keep their mistress within doors and to protect her with their lives. Adopting the tactics of the desert fighters from which he had sprung, Akhmet Zeg led his followers at a gallop in a long, thin line, describing a great circle which drew closer and closer in toward the defenders. At that part of the circle, closest to the Waziri, a constant fuselade of shots was poured into the bushes behind which the Black Warriors had concealed themselves. The latter, on their part, loosed their slim shafts at the nearest of the enemy. The Waziri, justly famed for their archery, found no cause to blush for their performance that day. Time and again some swarthy horseman threw hands above his head and toppled from his saddle, pierced by a deadly arrow. But the contest was uneven. The A-Rabs outnumbered the Waziri. Their bullets penetrated the shrubbery and found marks that the A-Rab rifleman had not even seen. And then Akhmet Zeg circled inward, a half-mile above the bungalow, tore down a section of the fence, and led his marauders within the grounds. Across the fields they charged at a mad run. Not again did they pause to lure fences. Instead they drove their wild mounts straight for them, clearing the obstacles as lightly as winged hills. Mugambi saw them coming, and calling those of his warriors who remained, ran for the bungalow and the last stand. Upon the veranda Lady Greystoke stood, rifle in hand, more than a single raider had accounted to her steady nerves and cool aim for his outlawry, more than a single pony raced riderless in the wake of the charging horde. Mugambi pushed his mistress back into the greater security of the interior, and with his depleted force prepared to make a last stand against the foe. On came the A-Rabs, shouting and waving their long guns above their heads. Past the veranda they raced, pouring a deadly fire into the kneeling Waziri, who discharged their volley of arrows from behind their long oval shields. Shields well adapted perhaps to stop a hostile arrow or deflect a spear, but futile quite before the leaden missiles of the rifleman. From beneath the half-raised shutters of the bungalow other bowmen did effective service in greater security, and after the first assault Mugambi withdrew his entire force within the building. Again and again the A-Rabs charged, at last forming a stationary circle about the little fortress, and outside the effective range of the defender's arrows. From their new position they fired at will at the windows. One by one the Waziri fell. Fewer and fewer were the arrows that replied to the guns of the raiders, and at last A-Rabs felt safe in ordering an assault. Firing as they ran the bloodthirsty horde raced for the veranda. A dozen of them fell to the arrows of the defenders, but the majority reached the door. Heavy gun-bots fell upon it. The crash of splittered wood mingled with the report of a rifle as Jane Clayton fired through the panels upon the relentless foe. Upon both sides of the door men fell, but at last the frail barrier gave to the vicious assaults of the maddened attackers. It crumpled inward, and a dozen swar the murderers leaped into the living-room. At the far ends 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 protector stood the giant Lugambi. The A-Rabs raised their rifles to pour in the last volley that would effectively end all resistance. But Ackmet Zek roared out a warning order that stayed their trigger-fingers. Fire not upon the woman, he cried. Who harms her dies. Take the woman alive! The A-Rabs rushed across the room. The Waziri met them with their heavy spears. Swords flashed. Long-barreled pistols roared out their sullen death dooms. Lugambi launched his spear at the nearest of the enemy with a force that drove the heavy shaft completely through the A-Rabs body. Then he seized a pistol from another, and grasping it by the barrel of brained all who forced their way too near his mistress. Emulating his example, the few warriors who remained to him fought like demons, but one by one they fell, until only Lugambi remained to defend the life and honour of the eight man's mate. From across the room Ackmet Zek watched the unequal struggle and urged on his minions. In his hands was a jeweled musket. Slowly he raised it to his shoulder, waiting until another move should place Lugambi at his mercy without endangering the lives of the woman or any of his own followers. At last the moment came, and Ackmet Zek pulled the trigger. Without a sound the brave Lugambi sank to the floor at the feet of Jane Clayton. An instant later she was surrounded and disarmed. Without a word they dragged her from the bungalow. A giant negro lifted her to the pommel of his saddle, and while the raider searched the bungalow and outhouses for plunder, he rode with her beyond the gates and waited the coming of his master. Jane Clayton saw the raiders lead the horses from the corral and drive the herds in from the fields. She saw her home plundered of all that represented intrinsic worth in the eyes of the Arabs, and then she saw the torch applied and the flames lick up what remained. At last when the raiders assembled after glutting their fury on their avarice and rode away with her toward the north, she saw the smoke and the flames rising far into the heavens until the winding of the trail into the thick forest hid the sad view from her eyes. As the flames ate their way into the living room reaching out fort tongues to lick up the bodies of the dead, one of that gruesome company whose bloody welterings had long since been stilled moved again. It was a huge black who rolled over upon his side and opened bloodshot, suffering eyes. Mugambi, whom the Arabs had left for dead, still lived. The hot flames were almost upon him as he raised himself painfully upon his hands and knees and crawled slowly toward the doorway. Again and again he sank weakly to the floor, but each time he rose again and continued his pitiful way toward safety. After what seemed to him an interminable time during which the flames had become a veritable fiery furnace at the far side of the room, the great black managed to reach the veranda, roll down the steps, and crawl off into the cool safety of some nearby shrubbery. All night he lay there, alternately unconscious and painfully sentient, and in the latter state watching with savage hatred the lurid flames which still rose from burning crib and acock. A prowling lion roared close at hand, but the giant black was unafraid. There was place for but a single thought in his savage mind. Revenge, revenge, revenge. CHAPTER 7 This LibriVox recording is in the public domain. Tarsen and the Jewels of Opar, by Edgar Rice Burroughs. CHAPTER 7 For some time Tarsen lay where he had fallen upon the floor of the treasure chamber beneath the ruined walls of Opar. He lay as one dead, 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 brought it away sticky with clotted blood. He sniffed at his fingers as a wild beast might sniff at the life blood upon a wounded paw. Slowly he rose to a sitting posture, listening. No sound reached to the buried depths of his sepulcher. He staggered to his feet and groped his way about among the tears of ingots. What was he? Where was he? His head ached, but otherwise he felt no ill effects from the blow that had felled him. The accident he did not recall, nor did he recall what had led up to it. He let his hands grope unfamiliarly over his limbs, his torso, and his head. He felt of the quiver at his back, the knife in his loincloth. Something struggled for recognition within his brain. Ah! he had it! There was 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 his daily life, almost of his very existence so inseparably had it been connected with his every action since the long gone day that he had rested his first spear from the body of a black victim of his savage training. Tarzan was sure that there was another and more lovely world than that which was confined to the darkness of the four stone walls surrounding him. He continued his search, and at last found the doorway leading inward beneath the city and the temple. This he followed most in cautiously. He came to the stone steps leading upward to the higher level. He ascended them and continued onward toward the well. Nothing spurred his hurt memory to a recollection of past familiarity with his surroundings. He blundered on through the darkness as though he were traversing an open plain under the brilliance of a noonday sun, and suddenly there happened that which had to happen under the circumstances of his rash advance. He reached the brink of the well, stepped outward into space, lunged forward and shot downward into the inky depths below. Still clutching his spear, he struck the water and sank beneath its surface, plumbing the depths. The fall had not injured him, and when he rose to the surface he shook the water from his eyes and found that he could see. Daylight was filtering into the well from the orifice far above his head. It illumined the inner walls faintly. Tarzan gazed about him. On the level with the surface of the water he saw a large opening in the dark and slimy wall. He swam to it and drew himself out upon the wet floor of a tunnel. Along this he passed, but now he went warily, for Tarzan of the apes was learning. The unexpected pit had taught him care in the traversing of dark passageways he needed no second lesson. For a long distance the passage went straight as an arrow. The floor was slippery, as though at times the rising waters of the well overflowed and flooded it, this in itself retarded Tarzan's pace, for it was with difficulty that he kept his footing. The foot stairway ended the passage. Up this he made his way. It turned back and forth many times, leading at last into a small circular chamber, 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 room's ceiling upward to a distance of a hundred feet or more where it terminated in a stone grating through which Tarzan could see a blue and sunlit sky. Curiosity prompted the ape-man to investigate his surroundings. Several metal-bound copper-studded chests constituted the sole furniture of the round room. Tarzan let his hands run over these. He felt of the copper studs. He pulled upon the hinges, and at last, by chance, he raised the cover of one. An exclamation of delight broke from his lips at the sight of the pretty contents. Gleaming and glistening in the subdued light of the chamber lay a great trayful of brilliant stones. Tarzan reverted to the primitive by his accident had no conception of the fabulous value of his fine. 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 the chests, only to find still further stores of precious stones. Nearly all were cut, and from these he gathered a handful and filled the pouch which dangled at his side, the uncut stones he tossed back into the chests. Unwittingly the ape-man had stumbled upon the forgotten jewel room of Opar. For ages it had lain buried beneath the temple of the flaming god, midway of one of the many inky passages which the superstitious descendants of the ancient sun-worshipers had either dared not or cared not to explore. Tiring at last of this diversion, Tarzan took up his way along the corridor which led upward from the jewel room by a steep incline. Winding and twisting but always tending upward, the tunnel led him nearer and nearer to the surface, ending finally in a low-sealed room, lighter than any that he had yet discovered. Above him an opening in the ceiling, at the upper end of a flight of concrete steps, revealed a brilliant sunlit scene. Tarzan viewed the vine-covered columns in mild wonderment. He puckered his brows in an attempt to recall some recollection of similar things. He was not sure of himself. There was a tantalizing suggestion always present in his mind that something was eluding him, that he should know many things which he did not know. His earnest cogitation was rudely interrupted by a thunderous roar from the opening above him. Following the roar came the cries and screams of men and women. Tarzan grasped his spear more firmly and ascended the steps. A strange sight met his eyes as he emerged from the semi-darkness of the cellar to the brilliant light of the temple. The creatures he saw before him he recognized for what they were, men and women, and a huge lion. The men and women were scuttling for the safety of the exits. The lion stood upon the body of one who had been less fortunate 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 glare terribly at the two who remained within the temple. Another thunderous roar broke from the savage throat. The woman screamed and swooned across the body of the man stretched prostrate upon the stone altar before her. The lion advanced a few steps and crouched. The tip of his sinuous tail twitched nervously. He was upon the point of charging when his eyes were headed toward the ape-man. Werper, helpless upon the altar, saw the great carnivore preparing to leap upon him. He saw the sudden change in the beast's expression as his 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 figure darted past Werper. He saw a mighty arm upraised and a stout spear shoot forward toward the lion to bury itself in the broad chest. He saw the lion snapping and tearing at the weapon's shaft, and he saw, wonder of wonders, the naked giant who had hurled the missile charging upon the great beast only a long knife ready to meet those ferocious fangs and talons. The lion reared up to meet this new enemy. The beast was growling frightfully, and then upon the startled ears of the Belgian broke a similar savage growl from the lips of the man rushing upon the beast by a quick side-step Tarzan eluded the first swinging clutch of the lion's paws. Daring to the beast's side he leaped upon the tawny back, his arms encircled the main neck, his teeth sank deep into the brute's flesh, roaring, leaping, rolling, and struggling. The giant cat attempted to dislodge this savage enemy, and all the while one great brown fist was driving along King Blade repeatedly into the beast's side. During the battle law regained consciousness. Spellbound she stood above her victim, watching the spectacle. It seemed incredible that a human being could best the king of beasts in personal encounter, and yet before her very eyes there was taking place just such an improbability. At last Tarzan's knife found the great heart, and with a final spasmodic struggle the lion rolled over upon the marble floor, dead. Leaping to his feet the conqueror placed a foot upon the carcass of his kill, raised his face toward the heavens, and gave voice to so hideous a cry that both law and worker trembled as it reverberated through the temple. Then the eight man turned, and worker recognized him as the man he had left for dead in the treasure-room. CHAPTER VIII. THE ESCAPE FROM OPAR. Worker was astounded. Could this creature be the same dignified Englishman who had entertained him so graciously in his luxurious African home? Could this wild beast with blazing eyes and bloody countenance be at the same time a man? Could the horrid victory cry he had but just heard have been formed in human throat? Tarzan was eyeing the man and the woman, a puzzled expression in his eyes, but there was no faintest tinge of recognition. It was as though he had discovered some new species of living creature and was marvelling at his find. Law was studying the eight man's features. Slowly her large eyes opened very wide. Tarzan! She exclaimed, and then in the vernacular of the great apes, which constant association with the anthropoids had rendered the common language of the oparians, You have come back to me. Law has ignored the mandates of her religion, waiting, always waiting for Tarzan, for her Tarzan. She has taken no mate, for in all the world there was but one with whom law would mate. And now you have come back. Tell me, O Tarzan, that it is for me you have returned. Worker listened to the unintelligible jargon. He looked from law to Tarzan. Would the latter understand this strange tongue? To the Belgian surprise the Englishman answered in a language evidently identical to hers. Tarzan! he repeated musingly. Tarzan! The name sounds familiar. It is your name. You are Tarzan! cried Law. I am Tarzan, the eight man shrugged. Well, it is a good name. I know no other, so I will keep it. But I do not know you. I did not come hither for you. Why I came, I do not know at all. Neither do I know from whence I came. Can you tell me?" Law shook her head. I never knew, she replied. Tarzan turned toward Worker and put the same question to him, but in the language of the great apes. The Belgians shook his head. I do not understand that language, he said in French. Without effort and apparently without realizing that he made the change, Tarzan repeated his question in French. Worker suddenly came to a full realization of the magnitude of 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 suddenly occurred to him that by keeping Tarzan in ignorance, for a time at least, of his true identity, it might be possible to turn the eight man's misfortune to his own advantage. I cannot tell you from whence you came," he said. But this I can tell you. If we do not get out of this horrible place, we shall both be slain upon this bloody altar. The woman was about to plunge her knife into my heart when the lion interrupted the fiendish ritual. Come, before they recover from their fright and reassemble, let us find a way out of their damnable temple. Tarzan turned again toward Law. Why, he asked, would you have killed this man? Are you hungry? The High Priestess cried out in disgust. Did he attempt to kill you? continued Tarzan. The woman shook her head. Then why should you have wished to kill him? Tarzan was determined to get to the bottom of the thing. Law raised her slender arm and pointed toward the sun. We were offering up his soul as a gift to the flaming God, she said. Tarzan looked puzzled. He was again an ape, and apes do not understand such matters as souls and flaming gods. Do you wish to die? he asked, warper. The Belgian assured him with tears in his eyes that he did not wish to die. Very well then, you shall not, said Tarzan. Come, we will go. This she would kill you and keep me for herself. It is no place anyway for a mangany. I should soon die shut up behind these stone walls." He turned toward Law. We are going now, he said. The woman rushed forward and seized the eight man's hands in hers. Do not leave me, she cried. Stay, and you shall be High Priest. Law loves you. All opars shall be yours. Slaves shall wait upon you. Stay, Tarzan of the apes, and let love reward you. The eight man pushed the kneeling woman aside. Tarzan does not desire you, he said simply, and stepping to work her side he cut the Belgian's bonds and motioned him to follow. Panting, her face convulsed with rage, Law sprang to her feet. Stay, you shall." She screamed. Law will have you. If she cannot have you alive she will have you dead. And raising her face to the sun she gave voice to the same hideous shriek that Werper had heard once before, and Tarzan many times. In answer to her cry a babble of voices broke from the surrounding chambers and corridors. Come, guardian priests! She cried. Infidels have profaned the holiest of the holies. Come, strike terror to their hearts, defend Law and her altar, wash clean the temple with the blood of the polluters. Tarzan understood, though Werper did not. The former glanced at the Belgian and saw that he was unarmed. Stepping quickly to Law's side, the eight man seized her in his strong arms, and though she fought with all the mad savagery of a demon he soon disarmed handing her long sacrificial night to Werper. You will need this, he said, and then from each doorway a horde of the monstrous little men of Opa are streamed into the temple. They were armed with bludgeons and knives and fortified in their courage by fanatical hate and frenzy. Werper was terrified. Tarzan stood, eyeing the 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. Behind the first was a score of others. Tarzan swung his heavy spear, club-like, down upon the skull of the priest. The fellow collapsed, his head crushed. Again and again the weapon fell as Tarzan made his way slowly toward the doorway. Werper pressed close behind, casting backward glances toward the shrieking, dancing mob menacing their rear. He held the sacrificial knife ready to strike whoever might come within its reach. But none came. For a time he wondered that they should so bravely battle 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 their 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 priest feared the sacrificial knife. Willingly would they face death and welcome it if it came while they defended their high priestess and her altar. But evidently there were deaths and deaths. Some strange superstition must surround that polished blade that no oparian cared to chance a death thrust from it, yet gladly rushed to the slaughter of the ape-man's flaying spear. Once outside the temple court Werper communicated his discovery to Tarzan. The ape-man grinned and let Werper go before him, brandishing the jeweled and holy weapon. Like leaves before a gale the oparians scattered in all directions, and Tarzan and the Belgian found a clear passage through the corridors and chambers of the ancient temple. The Belgian's eyes went wide as they passed through the room of the seven pillars of solid gold. With ill-concealed avarice he looked upon the age-old golden tablets set in the walls of nearly every room and down the sides of many of the corridors. To the ape-man all this wealth appeared to mean nothing. On the two went, chance leading them toward the broad avenue which lay between the recently piles of the half-ruined edifices and the inner wall of the city. Great apes jabbered at them and menaced them, but Tarzan answered them after their own kind, giving back taunt for taunt, insult for insult, challenge for challenge. Werper saw a hairy bull swing down from a broken column and advance stiff-legged and bristling toward the naked giant. The yellow fangs were bared, angry apples and barkings rumbled threateningly through the thick and hanging lips. The Belgian watched his companion. To his horror he saw the man stoop until his closed knuckles rested upon the ground as did those of the anthropoid. He saw him circle stiff-legged about the circling ape. He heard the same bestial barkings and growlings issue from the human throat that were coming from the mouth of the brute. Had his eyes been closed he could not have known but that two giant apes were bridling for combat. But there was no battle. It ended as the majority of such jungle encounters end. One of the boasters loses his nerve and becomes suddenly interested in a blowing leaf, a beetle, or the lice upon his hairy stomach. In this instance it was the anthropoid that retired in stiff dignity to inspect an unhappy caterpillar which he presently devoured. For a moment Tarzan seemed inclined to pursue the argument. He swaggered truculently, stuck out his chest, roared, and advanced closer to the bull. It was with difficulty that Werper finally persuaded him to leave well enough alone and continue his way from the ancient city of the sun-worshipers. The two searched for nearly an hour before they found the narrow exit through the inner wall. From there the well-worn trail led them beyond the outer fortification to the desolate valley of Opar. Tarzan had no idea, in so far as Werper could discover, as to where he was or whence he came. He wandered aimlessly about, searching for food, which he discovered beneath small rocks or hiding in the shade of the scant brush which dotted the ground. The Belgian was horrified by the hideous menu of his companion. Beatles, rodents, and caterpillars were devoured with seeming relish. Tarzan was indeed an ape again. At last Werper succeeded in leading his companion toward the distant hills which marked the northwestern boundary of the valley, and together the two set out in the direction of the grey-stoke bungalow. What purpose prompted the Belgian in leading the victim of his treachery and greed back toward his former home it is difficult to guess, unless it was that without Tarzan there could be no ransom for Tarzan's wife. That night they camped in the valley beyond the hills, and as they sat before a little fire where cooked a wild pig that had fallen to one of Tarzan's arrows the latter sat lost in speculation. He seemed continually to be trying to grasp some mental image which has constantly eluded him. At last he opened the leathern pouch which hung at his side. From it he poured into the palm of his hand a quantity of glittering gems. The firelight playing upon them conjured a multitude of scintillating rays, and as the wide eyes of the Belgian looked on in rapt fascination the man's expression at last acknowledged a tangible purpose in courting the society of the ape man.