 Tarzan and the Diamond of Arshere Leaving the jungle, Tarzan and his little party enter the volcanic region of Tuanbaka on their way to the forbidden city of Arshere A livid gleaming death's head appears mysteriously to Magra and Darno and evaporates into thin air after speaking to them in a strange tongue On the trail, Tarzan comes upon evidence of Helen Gregory whom he believes has been captured by the Hesseherians Then the ape man is attacked by a dinosaur, which he kills During the early morning hours wolves watch over their camp, he falls asleep, gleaming of the carved death's head masks In the midst of his nightmare he is awakened and stares up directly into two great gleaming eyes Silence. Arise and answer. Whence come ye and what seek ye here? I'll answer that wolf I'll answer only to one who has the authority to question That authority is vested in me I am Hakeru, chief of the warriors of Hesseheria Who art thou? I am Tarzan of the apes Whence come ye and what seek ye in the country of the Hesseher? Tarzan of the apes I am from the jungle I come to find a man and woman whom we believe are in Arshere Hey ye Tarzan, what's the matter? Shut up Larson, you're in trouble Tarzan, who are they? Quiet Magra, let Tarzan handle this Darno! You see Tarzan, what are these phantoms surrounding us? These people with thee Tarzan of the apes, who are they? My friends, they must not be harmed No harm shall come to them or to thee But ye must come with me Ye are awaited in Arshere Arshere, then these are... The Hesseherians, and in Arshere we are expected I wonder who been waiting for us I don't like this If only I could see their faces You will have that opportunity very soon, my friend It is getting gray over there in the east Follow thy guide Tarzan of the apes Ye are under the hand of Suten Atef of Hesseheria Take thy weapons and follow Come Magra, Tom, the rest of you These people apparently don't intend us any harm But stay close together Deep Tarzan, you are taking this thing cruelly enough I have seen you act very differently under similar circumstances No harm has been offered to us, Arno Not one of our party has been so much as touched And we are going to Arshere Tarzan is right, Luten and Arno This is the quickest and simplest way to reach our destination As prisoners We can hardly be called prisoners, Magra Let us say that we are under escort We have not been deprived of our weapons, my child Well, even so, I... I don't like the smell of things Have you noticed our absolute silently disfellows move? Not a sound Not a whisper Just like shuttles Kremewe, now that you speak of it, Wolf They move us silently as... As Tarzan, Luten and Arno Thank the lord at pin-getting light Pretty soon we see but... Magie! Look, Wolf! Hey, Tarzan, look at what? Oh, Himmelia! Oh, dear, but human, Tarzan Those things that have captured us are skeletons Look, Steady, Wolf What, Tarzan? I'm afraid There's nothing to be afraid of, Magra Don't let your nerves get jumpy By Wotan, these fellow scuff faces Just like the mass carved on the rocks in the tunnel My Yemeni wish I was back in Bunga Yeah, Nelson, so do I Did you notice, Tarno, the leader of our escort Speaks very good English? Meritom, AOC He uses the old familiar form of address I wonder what language they speak The leader has not given a single word of command Or addressed any one of his followers We shall no doubt learn that soon enough And I hope, Wolf, that you are no longer worried About our getting into our share No, but what I'm worried about now is How are we going to get out? The time to say about that is when we try it We ain't in yet From a dull gray, the heavens and the east Begin to show crimson and yellow pettance Streaking the blue-black sky with the forerunners of sunrise Tarno stares at the forms and features of their escort Beginning now to become visible Thirty men, all with the faces of death Their grinning, awesome features are surmounted By a mop of long, coarse black hair Falling to their shoulders Long voluminous white robes Completely cover their silently moving figures With an odd feeling of relief The Frenchman realizes that what he had at first assumed To be the true features of this ghost-like company Are merely cleverly constructed masks Effectually concealing the faces of the wearers Tarzan, do you see? Those faces are masks I know it. Tom has already made the discovery Akeiro, yes, Tarzan of the Apes Has a woman been brought to our share lately Known as Helen Gregory Strangers from the outer world Be unwelcome in the city of our share Then, then, Elaine and her brother are not Tarzan, where can she be? We must... Tarzan did not ask if Strangers were welcome in our share, Akeiro He asked if Helen Gregory is there I know not of such a woman How art thou named? I am called Atan Tom Thou art then a chief in thy country? A chief? In the language of the heavy hair Atan has the meaning of chief I am the Atan Akeiro Then your language is that of Egypt? I know nothing of Egypt I speak the language of the heavy hair But, Helen Gregory, she must be in our share I have told ye I know not of it And her brother, Brian Gregory Ask thy questions of suten, a theft of the heavy hair But where can she be then? And brand... Enough, Magra The man cannot or will not answer How do we enter your city, Akeiro Over the rim of the Tanbaka And you say we are expected in our share? Ye are awaited By whom? Suten, a theft of the heavy hair And his queen, Tira, daughter of the son But how did they know we were coming? Suten sees and knows all One more question, Atan Akeiro Where did you learn English? From my father, the Atan Smith Who is chief of our warriors before me Peace now I may answer no more of thy questions Akeiro, Atan Tom Strange Tom that you should be called Atan But I called your attention to that Tarzan After your first meeting with Mr. Tom In the hotel at Loango Yes, and it means chief in the Hesseherian tongue And so you told me, Darno, in Egyptian And so it does, I believe The name or title, if you will Was handed down from my ancestor My forefathers were all named Atan They were chiefs of my native land Then you are an Arab, Mr. Tom? I am an Egyptian lieutenant, Darno Oh, I see, at the pace that fellow Akeiro is setting We will arrive at the foot of that black mountain Before nightfall I'm still wondering how we are going to get over the rim From here it looks almost made up I hope we don't have to climb You expressed a wish to know What sort of people we would find here, Lasson A lot You have found out For sure, eh? Been satisfied It's the Dutchman who been wondering how Oh, Mr. Anything you can find out About that diamond from Akeiro It were wiser, my friend To leave the question of the father of diamonds Until we are in our share I have been thinking of something else What? Listen, Akeiro Atan Tom? In the outer country there is a tale Of great talking apes who live in our share Is the story true? The great hairy men of A'au Who speak are the guardians of Ma'atshu Ma'atshu? Who is that? In thy language, it is the eye of the sun The father of diamonds Are you here, Tom? He's a great man of A'au, as you call them What language do they speak? None but the priests of Ma'atshu And the Atef, Suten Understand the language of A'au These are guardians of the father of diamonds I suppose they are big fathers, yeah? You may perhaps in due time Judge that for yourselves And so, if your questions are answered Look, Talon, what is this straight line Running up this side of the mountain? It is so far I cannot see Two parallel lines of metal Brass, I believe But it's there for I don't know It is the track of the Senute With the sinking of the sun behind the distant horizon Tarzan and his friends and their strange phantom-like escort Arrive abruptly at the end of the roadway Beyond, towering several thousands of feet Above the surrounding rocky plain The almost perpendicular walls of the mountain of sunrise Thrust their formidable black ramparts Hot into the darkening sky That box-like thing with the wheels of a juggernaut And the metal prowl like a vessel Are we to be carried up in that? Yeah, Hunt, I don't like the feel of this business Everything's going too smooth to suit me I would like better if we had to fight our way through Oh, to my Libre Himmel! Look! Look what's coming down from that cliff! My Buddha, a serpent Never have I seen such a monster as that It's a gray, and it is going to attack Hakeru Hakeru! Above you! Look out! From the cliff wall directly above and behind Hakeru Who is well in advance of the party in their escort A huge python-like vessel Drops down upon great wide-spread wings To land on the rocky floor within a few feet of the Hesseharyan Its cold black body is over 20 feet long 12 to 18 inches through the middle Between the web-like wings It flashes toward Hakeru Great black coils unfold him in a crushing embrace The long narrow head with its dead black eyes Moves back, the mouth opens Disclosing dagger-like fangs inwardly curved Kissing loudly, the loathsome monster begins to tighten Its gigantic coils about the body of the helpless man The head stops swaying In preparation to strike By the gods of hair It is a winged arbat! I am doomed!