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Tarzan

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Golden Lion

Digitized by the Internet Archive
in 2019 with funding from
Brigham Young University

https://archive.org/details/tarzangoldenlionOOburr

Standing above him was Jad-bal-ja, the Golden Lion

[Page 253]

Tarzan and the
Golden Lion

BY

EDGAR RICE BURROUGHS

Author of The Chessmen of Mars;
At the Earth’s Core; The Mucker;
Tarson the Terrible, Etc.

Illustrated by
J. ALLEN ST. JOHN

CHICAGO

A. C. McCLURG & CO.

1923

Copyright

Edgar Rice Burroughs
1923

Published March. 1923

Copyrighted in Great Britain

Printed in the United States of America

M. A. DONOHUE & CO., PRINTERS AND BINDERS, CHICAGO

UPB

CONTENTS

CHAPTER PAGE

I The Golden Lion ..1

II The Training of Jad-bal-ja . . . . 16

III A Meeting of Mystery.25

IV What the Footprints Told .... 40

V The Fatal Drops.54

VI Death Steals Behind.70

VII “You Must Sacrifice Him” . . . . 86

VIII Mystery of the Past.99

IX The Shaft of Death.118

X Mad Treachery.131

XI Strange Incense Burns.151

XII The Golden Ingots.171

XIII A Strange, Flat Tower.185

XIV The Chamber of Horrors.201

XV The Map of Blood.219

XVI The Diamond Hoard.235

XVII The Torture of Fire.255

XVIII The Spoor of Revenge.270

XIX A Barbed Shaft Kills.285

XX The Dead Return.303

XXI An Escape and a Capture.321

t

ILLUSTRATIONS

PAGE

Standing above him was Jad-bal-ja, the Golden

Lion. Frontispiece

He caught the little lion by the scruff of its neck . 8

Before him was the body of a giant anthropoid . . 48

“Upon the third day Tarzan shall die beneath my

knife ”.100

Tarzan saw a white man, bald and old and shriveled

with a long white beard.186

The Golden Lion with two mighty bounds was upon

the High Priest.252

Hunting together, the man and the great lion trod
the paths toward home ........ 272

With a cry of terror the Spaniard dived into the

river

322

Tarzan and the
Golden Lion

CHAPTER I

THE GOLDEN LION

S ABOR, the lioness, suckled her young — a
single fuzzy ball, spotted like Sheeta, the
leopard. She lay in the warm sunshine before
the rocky cavern that was her lair, stretched out
upon her side with half closed eyes, yet Sabor
was alert. There had been three of these little,
fuzzy balls at first — two daughters and a son —
and Sabor and Numa, their sire, had been proud
of them; proud and happy. But kills had not
been plentiful, and Sabor, undernourished, had
been unable to produce sufficient milk to nourish
properly three lusty cubs, and then a cold rain
had come, and the little ones had sickened. Only
the strongest survived — the two daughters had
died. Sabor had mourned, pacing to and fro
beside the pitiful bits of bedraggled fur, whining
and moaning. Now and again she would nose
them with her muzzle as though she would awaken
them from the long sleep that knows no waking.

1

2

Tarzan and the Golden Lion

At last, however, she abandoned her efforts, and
now her whole savage heart was filled with
concern for the little male cub that remained to
her. That was why Sabor was more alert than
usual.

Numa, the lion, was away. Two nights before
he had made a kill and dragged it to their lair
and last night he had fared forth again, but he
had not returned. Sabor was thinking, as she
half dozed, of Wappi, the plump antelope, that
her splendid mate might this very minute be drag¬
ging through the tangled jungle to her. Or per¬
haps it would be Pacco, the zebra, whose flesh
was the best beloved of her kind—juicy, succulent
Pacco. Sabor’s mouth watered.

Ah, what was that? The shadow of a sound
had come to those keen ears. She raised her head,
cocking it first upon one side and then the other,
as with up-pricked ears she sought to catch the
faintest repetition of that which had disturbed her.
Her nose sniffed the air. There was but the sug¬
gestion of a breeze, but what there was moved
toward her from the direction of the sound she
had heard, and which she still heard in a slightly
increasing volume that told her that whatever was
making it was approaching her. As it drew closer
the beast’s nervousness increased and she rolled
over on her belly, shutting off the milk supply from
the cub, which vented its disapproval in minia¬
ture growls until a low, querulous whine from
the lioness silenced him, then He stood at her sfde,

The Golden Lion

3

looking first at her and then in the direction toward
which she looked, cocking his little head first on
one side and then on the other.

Evidently there was a disturbing quality in the
sound that Sabor heard — something that inspired
a certain restlessness, if not actual apprehension —
though she could not be sure as yet that it boded
ill. It might be her great lord returning, but it
did not sound like the movement of a lion, cer¬
tainly not like a lion dragging a heavy kill. She
glanced at her cub, breathing as she did so a
plaintive whine. There was always the fear that
some danger menaced him—this last of her little
family—but she, Sabor the lioness, was there to
defend him.

Presently the breeze brought to her nostrils the
scent-spoor of the thing that moved toward her
through the jungle. Instantly the troubled mother-
face was metamorphosed into a bare-fanged, glit¬
tering-eyed mask of savage rage, for the scent
that had come up to her through the jungle was
the hated man-scent. She rose to her feet, her
head flattened, her sinuous tail twitching nervously.
Through that strange medium by which animals
communicate with one another she cautioned her
cub to lie down and remain where he was until she
returned, then she moved rajydly and silently to
meet the intruder.

The cub had heard what its mother heard and
now he caught the smell of man—an unfamiliar
smell that had never impinged upon his nostrils

4

Tarzan arid the Golden Lion

before, yet a smell that he knew at once for that
of an enemy—a smell that brought a reaction as
typical as that which marked the attitude of the
grown lioness, bringing the hairs along his little
spine erect and baring his tiny fangs. As the adult
moved quickly and stealthily into the underbrush
the small cub, ignoring her injunction, followed
after her, his hind quarters wobbling from side
to side, after the manner of the very young of
his kind, the ridiculous gait comporting ill with
the dignified bearing of his fore quarters; but the
lioness, intent upon that which lay before her, did
not know that he followed hei*.

There was dense jungle before the two for a
hundred yards, but through it the lions had worn
a tunnel-like path to their lair; and then there
was a small clearing through which ran a well-
worn jungle trail, out of the jungle at one end
of the clearing and into the jungle again at the
other. As Sabor reached the clearing she saw
the object of her fear and hatred well within it.
What if the man-thing were not hunting her or
hers? What if he even dreamed not of their
presence? These facts were as nothing to Sabor,
the lioness, today. Ordinarily she would have let
him pass unmolested, so long as he did not come
close enough to threaten the safety of her cub;
or, cubless, she would have slunk away at the first
intimation of his approach. But today the lioness
was nervous and fearful—fearful because of the
single cub that remained to her—her maternal

The Golden Lion

5

instincts centered threefold, perhaps, upon this
lone and triply loved survivor—and so she did
not wait for the man to threaten the safety of her
little one; but instead she moved to meet him and
to stop him. From the soft mother she had be¬
come a terrifying creature of destruction, her brain
obsessed by a single thought—to kill.

She did not hesitate an instant at the edge of
the clearing, nor did she give the slightest warn¬
ing. The first intimation that the black warrior
had that there was a lion within twenty miles of
him, was the terrifying apparition of this devil¬
faced cat charging across the clearing toward him
with the speed of an arrow. The black was not
searching for lions. Had he known that there
was one near he would have given it a wide berth.
He would have fled now had there been anywhere
to flee. The nearest tree was farther from him
than was the lioness. She could overhaul him
before he would have covered a quarter of the
distance. There was no hope and there was only
one thing to do. The beast was almost upon him
and behind her he saw a tiny cub. The man bore
a heavy spear. He carried it far back with his
right hand and hurled it at the very instant that
Sabor rose to seize him. The spear passed through
the savage heart and almost simultaneously the
giant jaws closed upon the face and skull of the
warrior. The momentum of the lioness carried
the two heavily to the ground, dead except for a
few spasmodic twitchings of their muscles.

6

Tarzan and the Golden Lion

The orphaned cub stopped twenty feet away
and surveyed the first great catastrophe of his life
with questioning eyes. He wanted to approach
his dam but a natural fear of the man-scent held
him away. Presently he commenced to whine in
a tone that always brought his mother to him
hurriedly; but this time she did not come — she
did not even rise and look toward him. He was
puzzled — he could not understand it. He con¬
tinued to cry, feeling all the while more sad and
more lonely. Gradually he crept closer to his
mother. He saw that the strange creature she
had killed did not move and after a while he felt
less terror of it, so that at last he found the cour¬
age to come quite close to his mother and sniff
at her. He still whined to her, but she did not
answer. It dawned on him at last that there
was something wrong—that his great, beautiful
mother was not as she had been — a change had
come over her; yet still he clung to her, crying
much until at last he fell asleep, cuddled close to
her dead body.

It was thus that Tarzan found him—Tarzan
and Jane, his wife, and their son, Korak the Killer,
returning from the mysterious land of Pal-ul-don
from which the two men had rescued Jane Clay¬
ton. At the sound of their approach the cub
opened his eyes and rising, flattened his ears and
snarled at them, backing close against his dead
mother. At sight of him the ape-man smiled.

“ Plucky little devil,” he commented, taking in

The Golden Lion

7

the story of the tragedy at a single glance. He
approached the spitting cub, expecting it to turn
and run away; but it did nothing of the sort.
Instead it snarled more ferociously and struck at
his extended hand as he stooped and reached for it.

“What a brave little fellow,” cried Jane.
“ Poor little orphan! ”

“ He’s going to make a great lion, or he would
have if his dam had lived,” said Korak. “ Look
at that back—as straight and strong as a spear.
Too bad the rascal has got to die.”

“He doesn’t have to die,” returned Tarzan.

“There’s not much chance for him—he’ll need
milk for a couple of months more, and who’s
going to get it for him?”

“ I am,” replied Tarzan.

“You’re going to adopt him?”

Tarzan nodded.

Korak and Jane laughed. “That’ll be fine,”
commented the former.

“Lord Greystoke, foster mother to the son of
Numa,” laughed Jane.

Tarzan smiled with them, but he did not cease
his attentions toward the cub. Reaching out sud¬
denly he caught the little lion by the scruff of its
neck and then stroking it gently he talked to it
in a low, crooning tone. I do not know what he
said; but perhaps the cub did, for presently it
ceased its struggles and no longer sought to scratch
or bite the caressing hand. After that he picked
it up and held it against his breast. It did not

8

Tarzan and the Golden Lion

seem afraid now, nor did it even bare its fangs
against this close proximity to the erstwhile hated
man-scent.

“How do you do it?” exclaimed Jane Clayton.

Tarzan shrugged his broad shoulders. “Your
kind are not afraid of you — these are really my
kind, try to civilize me as you will, and perhaps
that is why they are not afraid of me when I give
them the signs of friendship. Even this little
rascal seems to know it, doesn’t he?”

“ I can never understand it,” commented Korak.
“ I think I am rather familiar with African ani¬
mals, yet I haven’t the power over them or the
understanding that you have. Why is it?”

“There is but one Tarzan,” said Lady Grey-
stoke, smiling at her son teasingly, and yet her
tone was not without a note of pride.

“ Remember that I was born among beasts and
raised by beasts,” Tarzan reminded him. “Per¬
haps after all my father was an ape — you know
Kala always insisted that he was.”

“John! How can you?” exclaimed Jane.
“You know perfectly well who your father and
mother were.”

Tarzan looked solemnly at his son and closed
one eye. “ Your mother never can learn to appre¬
ciate the fine qualities of the anthropoids. One
might almost think that she objected to the sug¬
gestion that she had mated with one of them.”

“John Clayton, I shall never speak to you again
if you don’t stop saying such hideous things. I am

He caught the little lion by the scruff of its neck

The Golden Lion

9

ashamed of you. It is bad enough that you are
an unregenerate wild-man, without trying to sug¬
gest that you may be an ape into the bargain.”

The long journey from Pal-ul-don was almost
completed—inside the week they should be again
at the site of their former home. Whether any¬
thing now remained of the ruins the Germans had
left was problematical. The barns and outhouses
had all been burned and the interior of the bunga¬
low partially wrecked. Those of the Waziri, the
faithful native retainers of the Greystokes, who
had not been killed by Hauptman Fritz Schneider’s
soldiers, had rallied to the beat of the war-drum
and gone to place themselves at the disposal of
the English in whatever capacity they might be
found useful to the great cause of humanity. This
much Tarzan had known before he set out in
search of Lady Jane; but how many of his war¬
like Waziri had survived the war and what further
had befallen his vast estates he did not know.
Wandering tribes of natives, or raiding bands of
Arab slavers might have completed the demolition
inaugurated by the Hun, and it was likely, too,
that the jungle had swept up and reclaimed its
own, covering his clearings and burying amidst its
riot of lush verdure every sign of man’s brief
trespass upon its world-old preserves.

Following the adoption of the tiny Numa, Tar¬
zan was compelled to an immediate consideration
of the needs of his protege in planning his marches

10

Tarzan and the Golden Lion

and his halts, for the cub must have sustenance
and that sustenance could be naught but milk.
Lion’s milk was out of the question, but fortu¬
nately they were now in a comparatively well
peopled country where villages were not infrequent
and where the great Lord of the Jungle was known,
feared, and respected, and so it was that upon the
afternoon of the day he had found the young
lion Tarzan approached a village for the purpose
of obtaining milk for the cub.

At first the natives appeared sullen and indif¬
ferent, looking with contempt upon whites who
traveled without a large safari — with contempt
and without fear. With no safari these strangers
could carry no presents for them, nor anything
wherewith to repay for the food they would doubt¬
less desire, and with no askari they could not
demand food, or rather they could not enforce an
order, nor could they protect themselves should
it seem worth while to molest them. Sullen and
indifferent the natives seemed, yet they were scarce
unconcerned, their curiosity being aroused by the
unusual apparel and ornamentation of these whites.
They saw them almost as naked as themselves and
armed similarly except that one, the younger man,
carried a rifle. All three wore the trappings of
Pal-ul-don, primitive and barbaric, and entirely
strange to the eyes of the simple blacks.

“Where is your chief?” asked Tarzan as he
strode into the village amongst the women, the
children, and the yapping dogs.

The Golden Lion

11

A few dozing warriors rose from the shadows
of the huts where they had been lying and ap¬
proached the newcomers.

“The chief sleeps,” replied one. “Who are
you to awaken him? What do you want?”

“ I wish to speak to your chief. Go and fetch
him!”

The warrior looked at him in wide-eyed amaze,
and then broke into a loud laugh.

“The chief must be brought to him,” he cried,
addressing his fellows, and then, laughing loudly,
he slapped his thigh and nudged those nearest him
with his elbows.

“Tell him,” continued the ape-man, “that Tar-
zan would speak with him.”

Instantly the attitude of his auditors underwent
a remarkable transformation — they fell back from
him and they ceased laughing—their eyes very
wide and round. He who had laughed loudest be¬
came suddenly solemn. “ Bring mats,” he cried,
“for Tarzan and his people to sit upon, while I
fetch Umanga the chief,” and off he ran as fast
as he could as though glad of the excuse to escape
the presence of the mighty one he feared he had
offended.

It made no difference now that they had no
safari, no askari, nor any presents. The villagers
were vying with one another to do them honor.
Even before the chief came many had already
brought presents of food and ornaments. Pres¬
ently Umanga appeared. He was an old man

12

Tarzan and the Golden Lion

who had been a chief even before Tarzan of the
Apes was born. His manner was patriarchal and
dignified and he greeted his guest as one great
man might greet another, yet he was undeniably
pleased that the Lord of the Jungle had honored
his village with a visit.

When Tarzan explained his wishes and exhibited
the lion cub Umanga assured him that there would
be milk a-plenty so long as Tarzan honored them
with his presence — warm milk, fresh from the
chief’s own goats. As they palavered the ape-
man’s keen eyes took in every detail of the village
and its people, and presently they alighted upon a
large bitch among the numerous curs that overran
the huts and the street. Her udder was swollen
with milk and the sight of it suggested a plan to
Tarzan. He jerked a thumb in the direction
of the animal. “ I would buy her,” he said to
Umanga.

“She is yours, Bwana, without payment,” re¬
plied the chief. “ She whelped two days since and
last night her pups were all stolen from her nest,
doubtless by a great snake; but if you will accept
them I will give you instead as many younger and
fatter dogs as you wish, for I am sure that this
one would prove poor eating.”

“ I do not wish to eat her,” replied Tarzan. “ I
will take her along with me to furnish milk for the
cub. Have her brought to me.”

Some boys then caught the animal and tying a
thong about its neck dragged it to the ape-man.

The Golden Lion

13

Like the lion, the dog was at first afraid, for the
scent of the Tarmangani was not as the scent of
the blacks, and it snarled and snapped at its new
master; but at length he won the animal’s con¬
fidence so that it lay quietly beside him while he
stroked its head. To get the lion close to it was,
however, another matter, for here both were ter¬
rified by the enemy scent of the other—the lion
snarling and spitting and the dog bare-fanged
and growling. It required patience — infinite
patience — but at last the thing was an accom¬
plished fact and the cur bitch suckled the son of
Numa. Hunger had succeeded in overcoming the
natural suspicion of the lion, while the firm yet
kindly attitude of the ape-man had won the con¬
fidence of the canine, which had been accustomed
through life to more of cuffs and kicks than kind¬
ness.

That night Tarzan had the dog tied in the hut
he occupied, and twice before morning he made
her lie while the cub fed. The next day they took
leave of Umanga and his people and with the dog
still upon a leash trotting beside them they set
off once more toward home, the young lion cuddled
in the hollow of one of Tarzan’s arms or carried
in a sack slung across his shoulder.

They named the lion Jad-bal-ja, which in the
language of the pithecanthropi of Pal-ul-don,
means the Golden Lion, because of his color.
Every day he became more accustomed to them
and to his foster mother, who finally came to

14

Tarzan and the Golden Lion

accept him as flesh of her flesh. The bitch they
called Za, meaning girl. The second day they
removed her leash and she followed them will¬
ingly through the jungle, nor ever after did she
seek to leave them, nor was happy unless she was
near one of the three.

As the moment approached when the trail
should break from the jungle onto the edge of
the rolling plain where their home had been, the
three were filled with suppressed excitement,
though none uttered a syllable of the hope and
fear that was in the heart of each. What would
they find? What could they find other than the
same tangled mass of vegetation that the ape-man
had cleared away to build his home when first he
had come there with his bride?

At last they stepped from the concealing ver¬
dure of the forest to look out across the plain
where, in the distance, the outlines of the bungalow
had once been clearly discernible nestled amidst
the trees and shrubs that had been retained or im¬
ported to beautify the grounds.

“Look!” cried Lady Jane. “It is there—it
is still there! ”

“ But what are those other things to the left,
beyond it?” asked Korak.

“ They are the huts of natives,” replied Tarzan.

“ The fields are being cultivated! ” exclaimed
the woman.

“And some of the outbuildings have been
rebuilt,” said Tarzan. “ It can mean but one

The Golden Lion

15

thing — the Waziri have come back from the
war — my faithful Waziri. They have restored
what the Hun destroyed and are watching over
our home until we return.”

CHAPTER II

THE TRAINING OF JAD-BAL-JA
ND so Tarzan of the Apes, and Jane Clayton,

,/jl.and Korak came home after a long absence
and with them came Jad-bal-ja, the golden lion,
and Za, the bitch. Among the first to meet them
and to welcome them home was old Muviro, father
of Wasimbu, who had given his life in defense of
the home and wife of the ape-man.

“Ah, Bwana,” cried the faithful black, “ my old
eyes are made young again by the sight of you.
It has been long that you have been gone, but
though many doubted that you would return, old
Muviro knew that the great world held nothing
that might overcome his master. And so he knew,
too, that his master would return to the home of
his love and the land where his faithful Waziri
awaited him; but that she, whom we have mourned
as dead, should have returned is beyond belief,
and great shall be the rejoicing in the huts of the
Waziri tonight. And the earth shall tremble to
the dancing feet of the warriors and the heavens
ring with the glad cries of their women, since the
three they love most on earth have come back to

them.”

16

The Training of Jad-bal-ja

17

And in truth, great indeed was the rejoicing in
the huts of the Waziri. And not for one night
alone, but for many nights did the dancing and
the rejoicing continue until Tarzan was compelled
to put a stop to the festivities that he and his
family might gain a few hours of unbroken slum¬
ber. The ape-man found that not only had his
faithful Waziri, under the equally faithful guid¬
ance of his English foreman, Jervis, completely
rehabilitated his stables, corrals, and outbuildings
as well as the native huts, but had restored the
interior of the bungalow, so that in all outward
appearances the place was precisely as it had been
before the raid of the Germans.

Jervis was at Nairobi on the business of the
estate, and it was some days after their arrival
that he returned to the ranch. His surprise and
happiness were no less genuine than those of the
Waziri. With the chief and warriors he sat for
hours at the feet of the Big Bwana, listening to
an account of the strange land of Pal-ul-don and
the adventures that had befallen the three during
Lady Greystoke’s captivity there, and with the
Waziri he marveled at the queer pets the ape-man
had brought back with him. That Tarzan might
have fancied a mongrel native cur was strange
enough, but that he should have adopted a cub
of his hereditary enemies, Numa and Sabor,
seemed beyond all belief. And equally surprising
to them all was the manner of Tarzan’s education
of the cub.

18

Tarzan and the Golden Lion

The golden lion and his foster mother occupied
a corner of the ape-man’s bedroom, and many was
the hour each day that he spent in training and
educating the little spotted, yellow ball — all play¬
fulness and affection now, but one day to grow
into a great, savage beast of prey.

As the days passed and the golden lion grew,
Tarzan taught it many tricks — to fetch and carry,
to lie motionless in hiding at his almost inaudible
word of command, to move from point to point
as he indicated, to hunt for hidden things by scent
and to retrieve them, and when meat was added
to its diet he fed it always in a way that brought
grim smiles to the savage lips of the Waziri
warriors, for Tarzan had built for him a dummy
in the semblance of a man and the meat that the
lion was to eat was fastened always at the throat
of the dummy. Never did the manner of feeding
vary. At a word from the ape-man the golden
lion would crouch, belly to the ground, and then
Tarzan would point at the dummy and whisper
the single word “ kill.” However hungry he might
be, the lion learned never to move toward his
meat until that single word had been uttered by
its master; and then with a rush and a savage
growl it drove straight for the flesh. While it
was little it had difficulty at first in clambering up
the dummy to the savory morsel fastened at the
figure’s throat, but as it grew older and larger it
gained the objective more easily, and finally a
single leap would carry it to its goal and down

The Training of JaJ-bal-ja

19

would go the dummy upon its back with the young
lion tearing at its throat.

There was one lesson that, of all the others,
was most difficult to learn and it is doubtful that
any other than Tarzan of the Apes, reared by
beasts, among beasts, could have overcome the
savage blood-lust of the carnivore and rendered
his natural instinct subservient to the will of his
master. It took weeks and months of patient
endeavor to accomplish this single item of the
lion’s education, which consisted in teaching him
that at the word “ fetch ” he must find any indi¬
cated object and return with it to his master, even
the dummy with raw meat tied at its throat, and
that he must not touch the meat nor harm the
dummy nor any other article that he was fetching,
but place them carefully at the ape-man’s feet.
Afterward he learned always to be sure of his
reward, which usually consisted in a double portion
of the meat that he loved best.

Lady Greystoke and Korak were often in¬
terested spectators of the education of the golden
lion, though the former expressed mystification as
to the purpose of such elaborate training of the
young cub and some misgivings as to the wisdom
of the ape-man’s program.

“What in the world can you do with such a
brute after he is grown?” she asked. “He bids
fair to be a mighty Numa. Being accustomed to
men he will be utterly fearless of them, and hav¬
ing fed always at the throat of a dummy he will

20

Tarzan and the Golden Lion

look there at the throat of living men for his
food hereafter.”

“He will feed only upon what I tell him to
feed,” replied the ape-man.

“ But you do not expect him to feed always
upon men?” she interrogated, laughingly.

“He will never feed upon men.”

“ But how can you prevent it, having taught
him from cubhood always to feed upon men?”

“ I am afraid, Jane, that you under-estimate the
intelligence of a lion, or else I very much over¬
estimate it. If your theory is correct the hardest
part of my work is yet before me, but if I am
right it is practically complete now. However,
we will experiment a bit and see which is right.
We shall take Jad-bal-ja out upon the plain with
us this afternoon. Game is plentiful and we shall
have no difficulty in ascertaining just how much
control I have over young Numa after all.”

“ I’ll wager a hundred pounds,” said Korak,
laughing, “ that he does just what he jolly well
pleases after he gets a taste of live blood.”

“ You’re on, my son,” said the ape-man. “ I
think I am going to show you and your mother
this afternoon what you or anyone else never
dreamed could be accomplished.”

“ Lord Greystoke, the world’s premier animal
trainer!” cried Lady Greystoke, and Tarzan
joined them in their laughter.

“ It is not animal training,” said the ape-man.
“ The plan upon which I work would be impossible

The Training of Jad-bal-ja

21

to anyone but Tarzan of the Apes. Let us take
a hypothetical case to illustrate what I mean.
There comes to you some creature whom you
hate, whom by instinct and heredity you consider
a deadly enemy. You are afraid of him. You
understand no word that he speaks. Finally, by
means sometimes brutal he impresses upon your
mind his wishes. You may do the thing he wants,
but do you do it with a spirit of unselfish loyalty?
You do not — you do it under compulsion, hating
the creature that forces his will upon you. At any
moment that you felt it was in your power to do
so, you would disobey him. You would even go
further — you would turn upon him and destroy
him. On the other hand, there comes to you one
with whom you are familiar; he is a friend, a
protector. He understands and speaks the lan¬
guage that you understand and speak. He has
fed you, he has gained your confidence by kind¬
ness and protection, he asks you to do something
for him. Do you refuse? No, you obey will¬
ingly. It is thus that the golden lion will obey me.”

“As long as it suits his purpose to do so,” com¬
mented Korak.

“ Let me go a step farther then,” said the ape-
man. “ Suppose that this creature, whom you
love and obey, has the power to punish, even to
kill you, if it is necessary so to do to enforce his
commands. How then about your obedience?”

“ We’ll see,” said Korak, “ how easily the golden
lion will make one hundred pounds for me.”

22

Tarzan and the Golden Lion

That afternoon they set out across the plain,
Jad-bal-ja following Tarzan’s horse’s heels. They
dismounted at a little clump of trees some distance
from the bungalow and from there proceeded
onward warily toward a swale in which antelopes
were usually to be found, moving up which they
came cautiously to the heavy brush that bordered
the swale upon their side. There was Tarzan,
Jane, and Korak, and close beside Tarzan the
golden lion—four jungle hunters — and of the
four Jad-bal-ja, the lion, was the least accom¬
plished. Stealthily they crawled through the
brush, scarce a leaf rustling to their passage, until
at last they looked down into the swale upon a
small herd of antelope grazing peacefully below.
Closest to them was an old buck, and him Tarzan
pointed out in some mysterious manner to Jad-
bal-ja.

“ Fetch him,” he whispered, and the golden lion
rumbled a scarce audible acknowledgment of the
command.

Stealthily he worked his way through the brush.
The antelopes fed on, unsuspecting. The distance
separating, the lion from his prey was over great
for a successful charge, and so Jad-bal-ja waited,
hiding in the brush, until the antelope should either
graze closer to him or turn its back toward him.
No sound came from the four watching the grazing
herbivora, nor did the latter give any indication of
a suspicion of the nearness of danger. The old
buck moved slowly closer to Jad-bal-ja. Almost

The Training of Jad-bal-ja

23

imperceptibly the lion was gathering for the charge.
The only noticeable movement was the twitching of
his tail’s tip, and then, as lightning from the sky,
as an arrow from a bow, he shot from immobility
to tremendous speed in an instant. He was almost
upon the buck before the latter realized the prox¬
imity of danger, and then it was too late, for
scarcely had the antelope wheeled than the lion
rose upon its hind legs and seized it, while the
balance of the herd broke into precipitate flight.

“Now,” said Korak, “we shall see.”

“He will bring the antelope to me,” said Tar-
zan confidently.

The golden lion hesitated a moment, growling
over the carcass of his kill. Then he seized it by
the back and with his head turned to one side
dragged it along the ground beside him, as he
made his way slowly back toward Tarzan.
Through the brush he dragged the slain antelope
until he had dropped it at the feet of his master,
where he stood, looking up at the face of the ape-
man with an expression that could not have been
construed into aught but pride in his achievement
and a plea for commendation.

Tarzan stroked his head and spoke to him in
a low voice, praising him, and then, drawing his
hunting knife, he cut the jugular of the antelope
and let the blood from the carcass. Jane and
Korak stood close, watching Jad-bal-ja — what
would the lion do with the smell of fresh, hot
blood in his nostrils ? He sniffed at it and growled,

24

Tarzan and the Golden Lion

and with bared fangs he eyed the three wickedly.
The ape-man pushed him away with his open palm
and the lion growled again angrily and snapped
at him.

Quick is Numa, quick is Bara, the deer, but
Tarzan of the Apes is lightning. So swiftly did
he strike, and so heavily, that Jad-bal-ja was fall¬
ing on his back almost in the very instant that he
had growled at his master. Swiftly he came to
his feet again and the two stood facing one
another.

“Down!” commanded the ape-man. “Lie
down, Jad-bal-ja!” His voice was low and firm.
The lion hesitated but for an instant, and then
lay down as Tarzan of the Apes had taught him
to do at the word of command. Tarzan turned
and lifted the carcass of the antelope to his
shoulder.

“Come,” he said to Jad-bal-ja. “Heel! ” and
without another glance at the carnivore he moved
off toward the horses.

“ I might have known it,” said Korak, with a
laugh, “ and saved my hundred pounds.”

“ Of course you might have known it,” said his
mother.

CHAPTER III

A MEETING OF MYSTERY

RATHER attractive-looking, though over-

l\. dressed, young woman was dining in a second-
rate chop-house in London. She was noticeable,
not so much for her fine figure and coarsely beau¬
tiful face as for the size and appearance of her
companion, a large, well-proportioned man in the
mid-twenties, with such a tremendous beard that
it gave him the appearance of hiding in ambush.
He stood fully three inches over six feet. His
shoulders were broad, his chest deep, and his hips
narrow. His physique, his carriage, everything
about him, suggested indubitably the trained ath¬

lete.

The two were in close conversation, a conversa¬
tion that occasionally gave every evidence of bor¬
dering upon heated argument.

“I tell you,” said the man, “that I do not see
what we need of the others. Why should they
share with us — why divide into six portions that
which you and I might have alone?”

“ It takes money to carry the plan through,”
she replied, “ and neither you nor I have any
money. They have it and they will back us with

25

26

Tarzan and the Golden Lion

it — me for my knowledge and you for your ap¬
pearance and your strength. They searched for
you, Esteban, for two years, and, now that they
have found you, I should not care to be in your
shoes if you betrayed them. They would just as
soon slit your throat as not, Esteban, if they no
more than thought they couldn’t use you, now that
you have all the details of their plan. But if you
should try to take all the profit from them — ”
She paused, shrugging her shoulders. “ No, my
dear, I love life too well to join you in any such
conspiracy as that.”

“ But I tell you, Flora, we ought to get more
out of it than they want to give. You furnish all
the knowledge and I take all the risk — why
shouldn’t we have more than a sixth apiece?”

“Talk to them yourself, then, Esteban,” said
the girl, with a shrug, “but if you will take my
advice you will be satisfied with what you are
offered. Not only have I the information, with¬
out which they can do nothing, but I found you
into the bargain, yet I do not ask it all — I shall
be perfectly satisfied with one-sixth, and I can
assure you that if you do not muddle the thing,
one-sixth of what you bring out will be enough
for any one of us for the rest of his natural life.”

The man did not seem convinced, and the young
woman had a feeling that he would bear watching.
Really, she knew very little about him, and had
seen him in person only a few times since her first
discovery of him some two months before, upon

A Meeting of Mystery

27

the screen of a London cinema house in a spec¬
tacular feature in which he had played the role
of a Roman soldier of the Pretorian Guard.

Here his heroic size and perfect physique had
alone entitled him to consideration, for his part
was a minor one, and doubtless of all the thou¬
sands who saw him upon the silver sheet Flora
Hawkes was the only one who took more than
a passing interest in him, and her interest was
aroused, not by his histrionic ability, but rather
because for some two years she and her con¬
federates had been searching for such a type as
Esteban Miranda so admirably represented. To
find him in the flesh bade fair to prove difficult
of accomplishment, but after a month of seem¬
ingly fruitless searching she finally discovered him
among a score of extra men at the studio of one
of London’s lesser producing companies. She
needed no other credentials than her good looks to
form his acquaintance, and while that was ripening
into intimacy she made no mention to him of the
real purpose of her association with him.

That he was a Spaniard and apparently of good
family was evident to her, and that he was un¬
scrupulous was to be guessed by the celerity with
w'hich he agreed to take part in the shady transac¬
tion that had been conceived in the mind of Flora
Hawkes, and the details of which had been per¬
fected by her and her four confederates. So,
therefore, knowing that he was unscrupulous, she
was aware that every precaution must be taken to

28

Tarzan and the Golden Lion

prevent him taking advantage of the knowledge
of their plan that he must one day have in detail,
the key to which she, up to the present moment,
had kept entirely to herself, not even confiding it
to any one of her four other confederates.

They sat for a moment in silence, toying with
the empty glasses from which they had been drink¬
ing. Presently she looked up to find his gaze fixed
upon her and an expression in his eyes that even
a less sophisticated woman than Flora Hawkes
might readily have interpreted.

“You can make me do anything you want,
Flora,” he said, “ for when I am with you I for¬
get the gold, and think only of that other reward
which you continually deny me, but which one day
I shall win.”

“ Love and business 'do not mix well,” replied
the girl. “Wait until you have succeeded in this
work, Esteban, and then we may talk of love.”

“You do not love me,” he whispered, hoarsely.
“ I know—I have seen — that each of the others
loves you. That is why I could hate them. And
if I thought that you loved one of them, I could
cut his heart out. Sometimes I have thought that
you did — first one of them and then another.
You are too familiar with them, Flora. I have
seen John Peebles squeeze your hand when he
thought no one was looking, and when you dance
with Dick Throck he holds you too close and you
dance cheek to cheek. I tell you I do not like it,
Flora, and one of these days I shall forget all

A Meeting of Mystery

29

about the gold and think only of you, and then
something will happen and there will not be so
many to divide the ingots that I shall bring back
from Africa. And Bluber and Kraski are almost
as bad; perhaps Kraski is the worst of all, for he
is a good-looking devil and I do not like the way
in which you cast sheep’s eyes at him.”

The fire of growing anger was leaping to the
girl’s eyes. With an angry gesture she silenced him.

“ What business is it of yours, Senor Miranda,
who I choose for my friends, or how I treat them
or how they treat me? I will have you under¬
stand that I have known these men for years, while
I have known you for but a few weeks, and if any
has a right to dictate my behavior, which, thank
God, none has, it would be one of them rather
than you.”

His eyes blazed angrily.

“ It is as I thought! ” he cried. “You love one
of them.” He half rose from the table and
leaned across it toward her, menacingly. “Just
let me find out which one it is and I will cut him
into pieces! ”

He ran his fingers through his long, black hair
until it stood up on end like the mane of an angry
lion. His eyes were blazing with a light that sent
a chill of dread through the girl’s heart. He ap¬
peared a man temporarily bereft of reason—if
he were not a maniac he most certainly looked
one, and the girl was afraid and realized that she
must placate him.

30

Tarzan and the Golden Lion

“ Come, come, Esteban,” she whispered softly,
“there is no need for working yourself into a
towering rage over nothing. I have not said that
I loved one of these, nor have I said that I do
not love you, but I am not used to being wooed
in such fashion. Perhaps your Spanish senoritas
like it, but I am an English girl and if you love
me treat me as an English lover would treat me.”

“You have not said that you loved one of these
others — no, but on the other hand you have not
said that you do not love one of them — tell me,
Flora, which one of them is it that you love?”

His eyes were still blazing, and his great frame
trembling with suppressed passion.

“ I do not love any of them, Esteban,” she re¬
plied, “nor, as yet, do I love you. But I could,
Esteban, that much I will tell you. I could love
you, Esteban, as I could never love another, but
I shall not permit myself to do so until after you
have returned and we are free to live where and
how we like. Then, maybe — but, even so, I do
not promise.”

“You had better promise,” he said, sullenly,
though evidently somewhat mollified. “You had
better promise, Flora, for I care nothing for the
gold if I may not have you also.”

“ Hush,” she cautioned, “ here they come now,
and it is about time; they are fully a half-hour
late.”

The man turned his eyes in the direction of her
gaze, and the two sat watching the approach of

A Meeting of Mystery

31

four men who had just entered the chop-house.
Two of them were evidently Englishmen — big,
meaty fellows of the middle class, who looked
what they really were, former pugilists; the third,
Adolph Bluber, was a short, fat German, with a
round, red face and a bull neck; the other, the
youngest of the four, was by far the best looking.
His smooth face, clear complexion, and large
dark eyes might of themselves have proven suffi¬
cient grounds for Miranda’s jealousy, but supple¬
menting these were a mop of wavy, brown hair,
the figure of a Greek god and the grace of a
Russian dancer, which, in truth, was what Carl
Kraski was when he chose to be other than a
rogue.

The girl greeted the four pleasantly, while the
Spaniard vouchsafed them but a single, surly nod,
as they found chairs and seated themselves at the
table.

“ Hale! ” cried Peebles, pounding the table to
attract the attention of a waiter, “let us ’ave
hale.”

The suggestion met with unanimous approval,
and as they waited for their drink they spoke
casually of unimportant things; the heat, the cir¬
cumstance that had delayed them, the trivial occur¬
rences since they had last met; throughout which
Esteban sat in sullen silence, but after the waiter
had returned and they drank to Flora, with which
ceremony it had long been their custom to signalize
each gathering, they got down to business.

32

Tarzan and the Golden Lion

“ Now,” cried Peebles, pounding the table with
his meaty fist, “’ere we are, and that’s that! We
’ave everything, Flora — the plans, the money,
Senor Miranda — and are jolly well ready, old
dear, for your part of it.”

“How much money have you?” asked Flora.
“ It is going to take a lot of money, and there is
no use starting unless you have plenty to carry on
with.”

Peebles turned to Bluber. “There,” he said,
pointing a pudgy finger at him, “ is the bloomin’
treasurer. ’E can tell you ’ow much we ’ave, the
fat rascal of a Dutchman.”

Bluber smiled an oily smile and rubbed his fat
palms together. “Veil,” he said, “how much you
t’ink, Miss Flora, ve should have?”

“Not less than two thousand pounds to be on
the safe side,” she replied quickly.

“Oil Oil” exclaimed Bluber. “But dot is a
lot of money—two t’ousand pounds. Oil Oil”

The girl made a gesture of disgust. “ I told
you in the first place that I wouldn’t have any¬
thing to do with a bunch of cheap screws, and that
until you had enough money to carry the thing out
properly I would not give you the maps and direc¬
tions, without which you cannot hope to reach the
vaults, where there is stored enough gold to buy
this whole, tight, little island if half that what I
have heard them say about it is true. You can
go along and spend your own money, but you’ve
got to show me that you have at least two thou-

4 Meeting of Mystery

33

sand pounds to spend before I give up the informa¬
tion that will make you the richest men in the
world.”

“The blighter’s got the money,” growled
Throck. “ Blime if I know what he’s beefin’
about.”

“ He can’t help it,” growled the Russian, “ it’s
a racial characteristic; Bluber would try to jew
down the marriage license clerk if he were going
to get married.”

“Oh, veil,” sighed Bluber, “for vy should we
spend more money than is necessary? If ve can
do it for vone t’ousand pounds so much the
better.”

“ Certainly,” snapped the girl, “ and if it don’t
take but one thousand, that is all that you will
have to spend, but you’ve got to have the two
thousand in case of emergencies, and from what
I have seen of that country you are likely to run
up against more emergencies than anything else.”
“0*7 0*7” cried Bluber.

“’E’s got the money all right,” said Peebles,
“ now let’s get busy.”

“He may have it, but I want to see it first,”
replied the girl.

“Vat you t’ink; I carry all dot money around
in my pocket?” cried Bluber.

“Can’t you take our word for it?” grumbled
Throck.

“You’re a nice bunch of crooks to ask me that,”
she replied, laughing in the face of the burly

34

Tarzan and the Golden Lion

ruffians. “I’ll take Carl’s word for it, though;
if he tells me that you have it, and that it is in
such shape that it can, and will, ,be used to pay
all the necessary expenses of our expedition, I will
believe him.”

Peebles and Throck scowled angrily, and
Miranda’s eyes closed to two narrow, nasty slits,
as he directed his gaze upon the Russian. Bluber,
on the contrary, was affected not at all; the more
he was insulted, the better, apparently, he liked it.
Toward one who treated him with consideration
or respect he would have become arrogant, while
he fawned upon the hand that struck him. Kraski,
alone, smiled a self-satisfied smile that set the
blood of the Spaniard boiling.

“ Bluber has the money, Flora,” he said; “ each
of us has contributed his share. We’ll make
Bluber treasurer, because we know that he will
squeeze the last farthing until it shrieks before he
will let it escape him. It is our plan now to set
out from London in pairs.”

He drew a map from his pocket, and unfold¬
ing it, spread it out upon the table before them.
With his finger he indicated a point marked X.
“Here we will meet and here we will equip our
expedition. Bluber and Miranda will go first;
then Peebles and Throck. By the time that you
and I arrive everything will be in shape for mov¬
ing immediately into the interior, where we shall
establish a permanent camp, off the beaten track
and as near our objective as possible. Miranda

A Meeting of Mystery

35

will disport himself behind his whiskers until he
is ready v to set out upon the final stage of his long
journey. I understand that he is well schooled in
the part that he is to play and that he can depict
the character to perfection. As he will have only
ignorant natives and wild beasts to deceive it
should not tax his histrionic ability too greatly.”
There was a veiled note of sarcasm in the soft,
drawling tone that caused the black eyes of the
Spaniard to gleam wickedly.

“ Do I understand,” asked Miranda, his soft
tone belying his angry scowl, “ that you and Miss
Hawkes travel alone to X ? ”

“You do, unless your understanding is poor,”
replied the Russian.

The Spaniard half rose from the table and
leaned across it menacingly toward Kraski. The
girl, who was sitting next to him, seized his coat.

“ None of that! ” she said, dragging him back
into his chair. “There has been too much of it
among you already, and if there is any more I
shall cut you all and seek more congenial com¬
panions for my expedition.”

“Yes, cut it out; ’ere we are, and that’s that! ”
exclaimed Peebles belligerently.

“John’s right,” rumbled Throck, in his deep
bass, “and I’m here to back him up. Flora’s
right, and I’m here to back her up. And if there
is any more of it, blime if I don’t bash a couple
of you pretty ’uns,” and he looked first at Miranda
and then at Kraski.

36

Tarzan and the Golden Lion

“ Now,” soothed Bluber, “ let’s all shake hands
and be good friends.”

“ Right-o,” cried Peebles, “that’s the talk.
Give ’im your ’and, Esteban. Come, Carl, bury
the ’atchet. We can’t start in on this thing with
no hanimosities, and ’ere we are, and that’s that.”

The Russian, feeling secure in his position with
Flora, and therefore in a magnanimous mood,
extended his hand across the table toward the
Spaniard. For a moment Esteban hesitated.

“Come, man, shake!” growled Throck, “or
you can go back to your job as an extra man,
blime, and we’ll find someone else to do your work
and divvy the swag with.”

Suddenly the dark countenance of the Spaniard
was lighted by a pleasant smile. He extended his
hand quickly and clasped Kraski’s. “ Forgive me,”
he said, “ I am hot-tempered, but I mean nothing.
Miss Hawkes is right, we must all be friends, and
here’s my hand on it, Kraski, as far as I am con¬
cerned.”

“ Good,” said Kraski, “ and I am sorry if I
offended you;” but he forgot that the other was
an actor, and if he could have seen into the depths
of that dark soul he would have shuddered.

“Und now, dot ve are all good friends,” said
Bluber, rubbing his hands together unctuously,
“ vy not arrange for vhen ve shall commence
starting to finish up everyt’ings? Miss Flora, she
gives me the map und der directions und we start
commencing immediately.”

A Meeting of Mystery

37

“Loan me a pencil, Carl,” said the girl, and
when the man had handed her one she searched
out a spot upon the map some distance into the
interior from X, where she drew a tiny circle.
“This is Q,” she said. “When we all reach here
you shall have the final directions and not before.”

Bluber threw up his hands. “ Oi! Miss Flora,
vhat you t’ink, ve spend two t’ousand pounds to
buy a pig in a poke? Oi! Oi! you vouldn’t ask us
to do dot? Ve must see everyt’ing, ve must know
everyt’ing, before ve spend vun farthing.”

“Yes, and ’ere we are, and that’s that! ” roared
John Peebles, striking the table with his fist.

The girl rose leisurely from her seat. “Oh,
very well,” she said with a shrug. “ If you feel
that way about it we might as well call it all off.”

“Oh, vait, vait, Miss Flora,” cried Bluber, ris¬
ing hurriedly. “ Don’t be ogcited. But can’t you
see vere ve are? Two t’ousand pounds is a lot
of money, and ve are good business men. Ve
shouldn’t be spending it all vit’out getting not’ings
for it.”

“ I am not asking you to spend it and get noth¬
ing for it,” replied the girl, tartly; “but if anyone
has got to trust anyone else in this outfit, it is you
who are going to trust me. If I give you all the
information I have, there is nothing in the world
that could prevent you from going ahead and leav¬
ing me out in the cold, and I don’t intend that that
shall happen.”

“ But we are not gonoffs, Miss Flora,” insisted

38

Tarzan and the Golden Lion

the Jew. “Ve vould not t’ink for vun minute of
cheating you.”

“You’re not angels, either, Bluber, any of you,”
retorted the girl. “ If you want to go ahead with
this you’ve got to do it in my way, and I am going
to be there at the finish to see that I get what is
coming to me. You’ve taken my word for it, up
to the present time, that I had the dope, and now
you’ve got to take it the rest of the way or all
bets are off. What good would it do me to go
over into a bally jungle and suffer all the hard¬
ships that we are bound to suffer, dragging you
along with me, if I were not going to be able to
deliver the goods when I got there? And I am
not such a softy as to think I could get away with
it with a bunch of bandits like you if I tried to
put anything of that kind over on you. And as
long as I do play straight I feel perfectly safe,
for I know that either Esteban or Carl will look
after me, and I don’t know but what the rest of
you would, too. Is it a go or isn’t it? ”

“Veil, John, vot do you und Dick t’ink? ” asked
Bluber, addressing the two ex-prize-fighters.
“ Carl, I know he vill t’ink v’hatever Flora t’inks.
Hey? V’at?”

“ Blime,” said Throck, “ I never was much of a
hand at trusting nobody unless I had to, but it
looks now as though we had to trust Flora.”

“ Same ’ere,” said John Peebles. “ If you try
any funny work, Flora—” He made a signifi¬
cant movement with his finger across his throat.

A Meeting of Mystery

39

“ I understand, John,” said the girl with a smile,
“ and I know that you would do it as quickly for
two pounds as you would for two thousand. But
you are all agreed, then, to carry on according to
my plans? You too, Carl?”

The Russian nodded. “Whatever the rest say
goes with me,” he remarked.

And so the gentle little coterie discussed their
plans in so far as they could — each minutest detail
that would be necessary to place them all at the O
which the girl had drawn upon the map.

CHAPTER IV

WHAT THE FOOTPRINTS TOLD

W HEN Jad-bal-ja, the golden lion, was two
years old, he was as magnificent a specimen
of his kind as the Greystokes had ever looked
upon. In size he was far above the average of that
attained by mature males; in conformation he was
superb, his noble head and his great black mane
giving him the appearance of a full-grown male,
while in intelligence he far outranked his savage
brothers of the forest.

Jad-bal-ja was a never-ending source of pride
and delight to the ape-man who had trained him
so carefully, and nourished him cunningly for the
purpose of developing to the full all the latent
powers within him. The lion no longer slept at
the foot of his master’s bed, but occupied a strong
cage that Tarzan had had constructed for him at
the rear of the bungalow, for who knew better
than the ape-man that a lion, wherever he may be
or however he may have been raised, is yet a lion
— a savage flesh-eater. For the first year he had
roamed at will about the house and grounds; after
that he went abroad only in the company of Tar¬
zan. Often the two roamed the plain and the

40

What the Footprints Told

41

jungle hunting together. In a way the lion was
almost equally as familiar with Jane and Korak,
and neither of them feared or mistrusted him, but
toward Tarzan of the Apes did he show the great¬
est affection. The blacks of Tarzan’s household
he tolerated, nor did he ever offer to molest any
of the domestic animals or fowl, after Tarzan had
impressed upon him in his early cubhood that
appropriate punishment followed immediately
upon any predatory excursion into the corrals or
henhouses. The fact that he was never permitted
to become ravenously hungry was doubtless the
deciding factor in safeguarding the live stock of
the farm.

The man and the beast seemed to understand
one another perfectly. It is doubtful that the lion
understood all that Tarzan said to him, but be that
as it may the ease with which he communicated his
wishes to the lion bordered upon the uncanny. The
obedience that a combination of sternness and affec¬
tion had elicited from the cub had become largely
habit in the grown lion. At Tarzan’s command he
would go to great distances and bring back ante¬
lope or zebra, laying his kill at his master’s feet
without offering to taste the flesh himself, and he
had even retrieved living animals without harming
them. Such, then, was the golden lion that roamed
the primeval forest with his godlike master.

It was at about this time that there commenced
to drift in to the ape-man rumors of a predatory
band to the west and south of his estate; ugly

42

Tarzan and the Golden Lion

stories of ivory-raiding, slave-running and torture,
such as had not disturbed the quiet of the ape-
man’s savage jungle since the days of Sheik Amor
Ben Khatour, and there came other tales, too, that
caused Tarzan of the Apes to pucker his brows in
puzzlement and thought, and then a month elapsed
during which Tarzan heard no more of the rumors
from the west.

The war had reduced the resources of the Grey-
stokes to but a meager income. They had given
practically all to the cause of the Allies, and now
what little had remained to them had been all but
exhausted in the rehabilitation of Tarzan’s Afri¬
can estate.

“ It looks very much, Jane,” he said to his wife
one night, “ as though another trip to Opar were
on the books.”

“ I dread to think of it. I do not want you to
go,” she said. “You have come away from that
awful city twice, but barely with your life. The
third time you may not be so fortunate. We have
enough, John, to permit us to live here in comfort
and in happiness. Why jeopardize those two
things which are greater than all wealth in another
attempt to raid the treasure vaults?”

“There is no danger, Jane,” he assured her.
“The last time Werper dogged my footsteps, and
between him and the earthquake I was nearly done
for. But there is no chance of any such combina¬
tion of circumstances thwarting me again.”

What the Footprints Told

43

“You will not go alone, John?” she asked.
“You will take Korak with you ? ”

“ No,” he said, “ I shall not take him. He must
remain here with you, for really my long absences
are more dangerous to you than to me. I shall take
fifty of the Waziri, as porters, to carry the gold,
and thus we should be able to bring out enough to
last us for a long time.”

“And Jad-bal-ja,” she asked, “shall you take
him? ”

“No, he had better remain here; Korak can
look after him and take him out for a hunt occa¬
sionally. I am going to travel light and fast and it
would be too hard a trip for him — lions don’t
care to move around much in the hot sun, and as
we shall travel mostly by day I doubt if Jad-bal-ja
would last long.”

And so it befell that Tarzan of the Apes set out
once more upon the long trail that leads to Opar.
Behind him marched fifty giant Waziri, the pick of
the warlike tribe that had adopted Tarzan as its
Chief. Upon the veranda of the bungalow stood
Jane and Korak waving their adieux, while from
the rear of the building there came to the ape-
man’s ears the rumbling roar of Jad-bal-ja, the
golden lion. And as they marched away the voice
of Numa accompanied them out upon the rolling
plain, until at last it trailed off to nothingness in
the distance.

His speed determined by that of the slowest of
the blacks, Tarzan made but comparatively rapid

44

Tarzan and the Golden Lion

progress. Opar lay a good twenty-five days’ trek
from the farm for men traveling light, as were
these, but upon the return journey, laden as they
would be with the ingots of gold, their progress
would be slower. And because of this the ape-
man had allotted two months for the venture.
His safari, consisting of seasoned warriors only,
permitted of really rapid progress. They carried
no supplies, for they were all hunters and were
moving through a country in which game was
abundant—no need then for burdening them¬
selves with the cumbersome impedimenta of white
huntsmen.

A thorn boma and a few leaves furnished their
shelter for the night, while spears and arrows and
the powers of their great white chief insured that
their bellies would never go empty. With the
picked men that he had brought with him Tarzan
expected to make the trip to Opar in twenty-one
days, though had he been traveling alone he would
have moved two or three times as fast, since, when
Tarzan elected to travel with speed, he fairly flew
through the jungle, equally at home in it by day or
by night and practically tireless.

It was a mid-afternoon the third week of the
march that Tarzan, ranging far ahead of his
blacks in search of game, came suddenly upon the
carcass of Bara, the deer, a feathered arrow pro¬
truding from its flank. It was evident that Bara
had been wounded at some little distance from
where it had lain down to die, for the location of

What the Footprints Told

45

the missile indicated that the wound could not have
caused immediate death. But what particularly
caught the attention of the ape-man, even before
he had come close enough to make a minute exami¬
nation, was the design of the arrow, and imme¬
diately he withdrew it from the body of the deer
he knew it for what it was, and was filled with such
wonderment as might come to you or to me were
we to see a native Swazi headdress upon Broadway
or the Strand, for the arrow was precisely such as
one may purchase in most any sporting-goods
house in any large city of the world — such an
arrow as is sold and used for archery practice in
the parks and suburbs. Nothing could have been
more incongruous than this silly toy in the heart of
savage Africa, and yet that it had done its work
effectively was evident by the dead body of Bara,
though the ape-man guessed that the shaft had
been sped by no practiced, savage hand.

Tarzan’s curiosity was aroused and also his in-
herent jungle caution. One must know his jungle
well to survive long the jungle, and if one would
know it well he must let no unusual occurrence or
circumstance go unexplained. And so it was that
Tarzan set out upon the back track of Bara for the
purpose of ascertaining, if possible, the nature of
Bara’s slayer. The bloody spoor was easily fol¬
lowed and the ape-man wondered why it was that
the hunter had not tracked and overtaken his
quarry, which had evidently been dead since the
previous day. He found that Bara had traveled

46

Tarzan and the Golden Lion

far, and the sun was already low in the west
before Tarzan came upon the first indications of
the slayer of the animal. These were in the nature
of footprints that filled him with quite as much sur¬
prise as had the arrow. He examined them care¬
fully, and, stooping low, even sniffed at them with
his sensitive nostrils. Improbable, nay impossible
though it seemed, the naked footprints were those
of a white man — a large man, probably as large
as Tarzan himself. As the foster-son of Kala
stood gazing upon the spoor of the mysterious
stranger he ran the fingers of one hand through
his thick, black hair in a characteristic gesture in¬
dicative of deep puzzlement.

What naked white man could there be in Tar-
zan’s jungle who slew Tarzan’s game with the
pretty arrow of an archery club? It was incredible
that there should be such a one, and yet there
recurred to the ape-man’s mind the vague rumors
that he had heard weeks before. Determined to
solve the mystery he set out now upon the trail
of the stranger—an erratic trail which wound
about through the jungle, apparently aimlessly,
prompted, Tarzan guessed, by the ignorance of an
inexperienced hunter. But night fell before he
had arrived at a solution of the riddle, and it was
pitch dark as the ape-man turned his steps toward
camp.

He knew that his Waziri would be expecting
meat and it was not Tarzan’s intention to disap¬
point them, though he then discovered that he was

What the Footprints Told

47

not the only carnivore hunting the district that
night. The coughing grunt of a lion close by ap¬
prised him of it first, and then, from the distance,
the deep roar of another. But of what moment
was it to the ape-man that others hunted? It would
not be the first time that he had pitted his cunning,
his strength, and his agility against the other hunt¬
ers of his savage world — both man and beast.

And so it was that Tarzan made his kill at last,
snatching it almost from under the nose of a disap¬
pointed and infuriated lion—a fat antelope that
the latter had marked as his own. Throwing his
kill to his shoulder almost in the path of the
charging Numa, the ape-man swung lightly to the
lower terraces and with a taunting laugh for the
infuriated cat, vanished noiselessly into the night.

He found the camp and his hungry Waziri with¬
out trouble, and so great was their faith in him
that they not for a moment doubted but that he
would return with meat for them.

Early the following morning Tarzan set out
again toward Opar, and directing his Waziri to
continue the march in the most direct way, he left
them that he might pursue further his investiga¬
tions of the mysterious presence in his jungle that
the arrow and the footsteps had apprised him of.
Coming again to the spot at which darkness had
forced him to abandon his investigations, he took
up the spoor of the stranger. Nor had he followed
it far before he came upon further evidence of the
presence of this new and malign personality—

48

Tarzan and the Golden Lion

stretched before him in the trail was the body of a
giant ape, one of the tribe of great anthropoids
among whom Tarzan had been raised. Protrud¬
ing from the hairy abdomen of the Mangani was
another of the machine-made arrows of civiliza¬
tion. The ape-man’s eyes narrowed and a scowl
darkened his brow. Who was this who dared in¬
vade his sacred preserves and slaughter thus ruth¬
lessly Tarzan’s people?

A low growl rumbled in the throat of the ape-
man. Sloughed with the habiliments of civilization
was the thin veneer of civilization that Tarzan
wore among white men. No English lord was this
who looked upon the corpse of his hairy cousin,
but another jungle beast in whose breast raged the
unquenchable fire of suspicion and hatred for the
man-thing that is the heritage of the jungle-bred.
A beast of prey viewed the bloody work of ruth¬
less man. Nor was there in the consciousness of
Tarzan any acknowledgment of his blood relation¬
ship to the killer.

Realizing that the trail had been made upon the
second day before, Tarzan hastened on in pursuit
of the slayer. There was no doubt in his mind but
that plain murder had been committed, for he was
sufficiently familiar with the traits of the Mangani
to know that none of them would provoke assault
unless driven to it.

Tarzan was traveling up wind, and some half-
hour after he had discovered the body of the ape
his keen nostrils caught the scent-spoor of others

Before him was the body of a giant anthropoid

What the Footprints Told

49

of its kind. Knowing the timidity of these fierce
denizens of the jungle he moved forward now with
great wariness, lest, warned of his approach, they
take flight before they were aware of his identity.
He did not see them often, yet he knew that there
were always those among them who recalled him,
and that through these he could always establish
amicable relations with the balance of the tribe.

Owing to the denseness of the undergrowth
Tarzan chose the middle terraces for his advance,
and here, swinging freely and swiftly among the
leafy boughs, he came presently upon the giant
anthropoids. There were about twenty of them in
the band, and they were engaged, in a little natural
clearing, in their never-ending search for caterpil¬
lars and beetles, which formed important items in
the diet of the Mangani.

A faint smile overspread the ape-man’s face as
he paused upon a great branch, himself hidden by
the leafy foliage about him, and watched the little;
band below him. Every action, every movement of
the great apes, recalled vividly to Tarzan’s mind
the long years of his childhood, when, protected by
the fierce mother-love of Kala, the she-ape, he had
ranged the jungle with the tribe of Kerchak. In'
the romping young, he saw again Neeta and his
other childhood playmates and in the adults all the
great, savage brutes he had feared in youth and
conquered in manhood. The ways of man may
change but the ways of the ape are the same, yes¬
terday, today and forever.

50

Tarzan and the Golden Lion

He watched them in silence for some minutes.
How glad they would be to see him when they dis¬
covered his identity! For Tarzan of the Apes was
known the length and the breadth of the great jun¬
gle as the friend and protector of the Mangani. At
first they would growl at him and threaten him, for
they would not depend solely on either their eyes
or their ears for confirmation of his identity. Not
until he had entered the clearing, and bristling bulls
with bared fighting fangs had circled him stiffly
until they had come close enough for their nostrils
to verify the evidence of their eyes and ears, would
they finally accept him. Then doubtless there
would be great excitement for a few minutes, until,
following the instincts of the ape mind, their atten¬
tion was weaned from him by a blowing leaf, a
caterpillar, or a bird’s egg, and then they would
move about their business, taking no further notice
of him more than of any other member of the
tribe. But this would not come until after each indi¬
vidual had smelled of him, and perhaps, pawed his
flesh with calloused hands.

Now it was that Tarzan made a friendly sound
of greeting, and as the apes looked up stepped
from his concealment into plain view of them. “ I
am Tarzan of the Apes,” he said, “ mighty fighter,
friend of the Mangani. Tarzan comes in friend¬
ship to his people,” and with these words he
propped lightly to the lush grass of the clearing.

Instantly pandemonium reigned. Screaming
warnings, the shes raced with the young for the

What the Footprints Told

51

opposite side of the clearing, while the bulls, bris¬
tling and growling, faced the intruder.

“ Come,” cried Tarzan, “ do you not know me?
I am Tarzan of the Apes, friend of the Mangani,
son of Kala, and king of the tribe of Kerchak.”

“We know you,” growled one of the old bulls;
“ yesterday we saw you when you killed Gobu. Go
away or we shall kill you.”

“ I did not kill Gobu,” replied the ape-man. “ I
found his dead body yesterday and I was following
the spoor of his slayer, when I came upon you.”

“We saw you,” repeated the old bull; “ go away
or we shall kill you. You are no longer the friend
of the Mangani.”

The ape-man stood with brows contracted in
thought. It was evident that these apes really
believed that they had seen him kill their fellow.
What was the explanation? How could it be ac¬
counted for? Did the naked footprints of the
great white man whom he had been following
mean more, then, than he had guessed? Tarzan
wondered. He raised his eyes and again addressed
the bulls.

“ It was not I who killed Gobu,” he insisted.
“ Many of you have known me all your lives. You
know that only in fair fight, as one bull fights
another, have I ever killed a Mangani. You
know that, of all the jungle people, the Mangani
are my best friends, and that Tarzan of the Apes
is the best friend the Mangani have. How, then,
could I slay one of my own people? ”

52

Tarzan and the Golden Lion

“ We only know,” replied the old bull, “ that we
saw you kill Gobu. With our own eyes we saw you
kill him. Go away quickly, therefore, or we shall
kill you. Mighty fighter is Tarzan of the Apes,
but mightier even than he are all the great bulls of
Pagth. I am Pagth, king of the tribe of Pagth. Go
away before we kill you.”

Tarzan tried to reason with them but they would
not listen, so confident were they that it was he who
had slain their fellow, the bull Gobu. Finally,
rather than chance a quarrel in which some of
them must inevitably be killed, he turned sorrow¬
fully away. But more than ever, now, was he de¬
termined to seek out the slayer of Gobu that he
might demand an accounting of one who dared
thus invade his life-long domain.

Tarzan trailed the spoor until it mingled with
the tracks of many men — barefooted blacks,
mostly, but among them the footprints of booted
white men, and once he saw the footprints of a
woman or a child, which, he could not tell. The
trail led apparently toward the rocky hills which
protected the barren valley of Opar.

Forgetful now of his original mission and
imbued only with a savage desire to wrest from
the interlopers a full accounting for their presence
in the jungle, and to mete out to the slayer of Gobu
his just deserts, Tarzan forged ahead upon the
now broad and well-marked trail of the considera¬
ble party which could not now be much more than
a half-day’s march ahead of him, which meant that

What the Footprints Told

53

they were doubtless now already upon the rim of
the valley of Opar, if this was their ultimate desti¬
nation. And what other they could have in view
Tarzan could not imagine.

He had always kept closely to himself the loca¬
tion of Opar. In so far as he knew no white person
other than Jane, and their son, Korak, knew of the
location of the forgotten city of the ancient Atlan-
tians. Yet what else could have drawn these white
men, with so large a party, into the savage, unex¬
plored wilderness which hemmed Opar upon all
sides?

Such were the thoughts that occupied Tarzan’s
mind as he followed swiftly the trail that led
toward Opar. Darkness fell, but so fresh was the
spoor that the ape-man could follow it by scent
even when he could not see the imprints upon the
ground, and presently, in the distance, he saw the
light of a camp ahead of him.

CHAPTER V

THE FATAL DROPS

HOME, the life in the bungalow and at

the farm followed its usual routine as it had

before the departure of Tarzan. Korak, some¬
times on foot and sometimes on horseback, fol¬
lowed the activities of the farm hands and the
herders, sometimes alone, but more often in com¬
pany with the white foreman, Jervis, and often,
especially when they rode, Jane accompanied them.

The golden lion Korak exercised upon a leash,
since he was not at all confident of his powers of
control over the beast, and feared lest, in the
absence of his master, Jad-bal-ja might take to the
forest and revert to his natural savage state. Such
a lion, abroad in the jungle, would be a distinct
menace to human life, for Jad-bal-ja, reared
among men, lacked that natural timidity of men
that is so marked a trait of all wild beasts. Trained
as he had been to make his kill at the throat of a
human effigy, it required no considerable powers
of imagination upon the part of Korak to visualize
what might occur should the golden lion, loosed
from all restraint, be thrown upon his own re¬
sources in the surrounding jungle.

54

The Fatal Drops

55

It was during the first week of Tarzan’s absence
that a runner from Nairobi brought a cable mes¬
sage to Lady Greystoke, announcing the serious
illness of her father in London. Mother and son
discussed the situation. It would be five or six
weeks before Tarzan could return, even if they sent
a runner after him, and, were Jane to await him,
there would be little likelihood of her reaching her
father in time. Even should she depart at once,
there seemed only a faint hope that she would
arrive early enough to see him alive. It was de¬
cided, therefore, that she should set out imme¬
diately, Korak accompanying her as far as Nairobi,
and then returning to the ranch and resuming its
general supervision until his father’s return.

It is a long trek from the Greystoke estate to
Nairobi, and Korak had not yet returned when,
about three weeks after Tarzan’s departure, a
black, whose duty it was to feed and care for Jad-
bal-ja, carelessly left the door of the cage un¬
fastened while he was cleaning it. The golden lion
paced back and forth while the black wielded his
broom within the cage. They were old friends,
and the Waziri felt no fear of the great lion, with
the result that his back was as often turned to him
as not. The black was working in the far corner of
the cage when Jad-bal-ja paused a moment at the
door at the opposite end. The beast saw that the
gate hung slightly ajar upon its hinges. Silently he
raised a great padded paw and inserted it in the
opening—a slight pull and the gate swung in.

56

Tarzan and the Golden Lion

Instantly the golden lion inserted his snout in the
widened aperture, and as he swung the barrier
aside the horrified black looked up to see his charge
drop softly to the ground outside.

“Stop, Jad-bal-ja! Stop!” screamed the
frightened black, leaping after him. But the golden
lion only increased his pace, and leaping the fence,
loped off in the direction of the forest.

The black pursued him with brandishing broom,
emitting loud yells that brought the inmates of the
Waziri huts into the open, where they joined their
fellow in pursuit of the lion. Across the rolling
plains they followed him, but as well have sought
to snare the elusive will-o’-the-wisp as this swift
and wary fugitive, who heeded neither their blan¬
dishments nor their threats. And so it was that
they saw the golden lion disappear into the
primeval forest and, though they searched dili¬
gently until almost dark, they were forced at
length to give up their quest and return crestfallen
to the farm.

“Ah,” cried the unhappy black, who had been
responsible for the escape of Jad-bal-ja, “what
will the Big Bwana say to me, what will he do to
me when he finds that I have permitted the golden
lion to get away! ”

“You will be banished from the bungalow for a
long time, Keewazi,” old Muviro assured him.
“And doubtless you will be sent to the grazing
ground far to the east to guard the herd there,
where you will have plenty of lions for company,

The Fatal Drops

57

though they will not be as friendly as was Jad-bai-
ja. It is not half what you deserve, and were the
heart of the Big Bwana not filled with love for his
black children — were he like other white Bwanas
old Muviro has seen — you would be lashed until
you could not stand, perhaps until you died.”

“ I am a man,” replied Keewazi. “ I am a war¬
rior and a Waziri. Whatever punishment the Big
Bwana inflicts I will accept as a man should.”

It was that same night that Tarzan approached
the camp-fires of the strange party he had been
tracking. Unseen by them, he halted in the foliage
of a tree directly in the center of their camp, which
was surrounded by an enormous thorn boma, and
brilliantly lighted by numerous fires which blacks
were diligently feeding with branches from an
enormous pile of firewood that they had evidently
gathered earlier in the day for this purpose. Near
the center of the camp were several tents, and be¬
fore one, in the light of a fire, sat four white men.
Two of them were great, bull-necked, red-faced
fellows, apparently Englishmen of the lower class,
the third appeared to be a short, fat, German Jew,
while the fourth was a tall, slender, handsome fel¬
low, with dark, wavy brown hair and regular fea¬
tures. He and the German were most meticulously
garbed for Central African traveling, after the
highly idealized standard of motion pictures, in
fact either one of them might have stepped directly
from a screening of the latest jungle thriller. The
young man was evidently not of English descent

58

Tarzan and the Golden Lion

and Tarzan mentally cataloged him, almost imme¬
diately, as a Slav. Shortly after Tarzan’s arrival
this one arose and entered one of the nearby tents,
from which Tarzan immediately heard the sound
of voices in low conversation. He could not distin¬
guish the words, but the tones of one seemed quite
distinctly feminine. The three remaining at the fire
were carrying on a desultory conversation, when
suddenly from near at hand beyond the boma wall,
a lion’s roar broke the silence of the jungle.

With a startled shriek the Jew leaped to his
feet, so suddenly that he cleared the ground a good
foot, and then, stepping backward, he lost his bal¬
ance, tripped over his camp-stool, and sprawled
upon his back.

“ My Gord, Adolph! ” roared one of his com¬
panions. “ If you do that again, damn me if I don’t
break your neck. ’Ere we are, and that’s that.”

“ Blime if ’e aint worse’n a bloomin’ lion,”
growled the other.

The Jew crawled to his feet. “Mein Gott!” he
cried, his voice quavering, “ I t’ought sure he vas
coming over the fence. S’elp me if I ever get out
of diss, neffer again — not for all der gold in
Africa vould I go t’rough vat I haf been t’rough
dese past t’ree mont’s. Oi! Oil ven I t’ink of it,
Oil Oil Lions, und leopards, und rhinoceroses und
hippopotamuses, Oil Oil”

His companions laughed. “ Dick and I tells you
right along from the beginning that you ’adn’t
oughter come into the interior,” said one of them.

The Fatal Drops

59

“But for vy I buy all dese clo’s?” wailed the
German. “ Mein Gott, dis suit, it stands me tventy
guineas, vot I stand in. Ach, had I know somet’ing,
vun guinea vould have bought me my whole ward¬
robe— tventy guineas for dis und no vun to see it
but niggers und lions.”

“And you look like ’ell in it, besides,” com¬
mented one of his friends.

“Und look at it, it’s all dirty and tom. How
should I know it I spoil dis suit? Mit mine own
;eyes I see it at der Princess Teayter, how der hero
spend t’ree mont’s in Africa hunting lions und
killing cannibals, und ven he comes ouid he hasn’t
even got a grease spot on his pants — how should
I know it Africa was so dirty und full of thorns?”

It was at this point that Tarzan of the Apes
elected to drop quietly into the circle of firelight
before them. The two Englishmen leaped to their
feet, quite evidently startled, and the Jew turned
and took a half step as though in flight, but imme¬
diately his eyes rested upon the ape-man he halted,
a look of relief supplanting that of terror which
had overspread his countenance, as Tarzan had
dropped upon them apparently from the heavens.

“Mein Gott, Esteban,” shrilled the German,
“ vy you come back so soon, and for vy you come
back like dot, sudden—don’t you suppose ve got
nerves?”

Tarzan was angry, angry at these raw intruders,
who dared enter without his permission, the wide
domain in which he kept peace and order. When

m

Tarzan and the Golden Lion

Tarzan was angry there flamed upon his forehead
the scar that Bolgani, the gorilla, had placed
there upon that long-gone day when the boy Tar¬
zan had met the great beast in mortal combat, and
first learned the true value of his father’s hunting
knife—the knife that had placed him, the com¬
paratively weak little Tarmangani, upon an even
footing with the great beasts of the jungle.

His gray eyes were narrowed, his voice came
cold and level as he addressed them. “Who are
you,” he demanded, “who dare thus invade the
country of the Waziri, the land of Tarzan, without
permission from the Lord of the Jungle?”

“Where do you get that stuff, Esteban,” de¬
manded one of the Englishmen, “ and wat in ’ell
are you doin’ back ’ere alone and so soon? Where
are your porters, where is the bloomin’ gold? ”

The ape-man eyed the speaker in silence for a
moment. “ I am Tarzan of the Apes,” he said. “I
do not know what you are talking about. I only
know that I come in search of him who slew Gobu,
the great ape; him who slew Bara, the deer, with¬
out my permission.”

“Oh, ’ell,” exploded the other Englishman,
“ stow the guff, Esteban — if you’re tryin’ for to be
funny we don’t see the joke, ’ere we are, and that’s
that.”

Inside the tent, which the fourth white man had
entered while Tarzan was watching the camp from
his hiding place in the tree above, a woman, evi¬
dently suddenly stirred by terror, touched the arm

The Fatal Drops

Cl

of her companion frantically, and pointed toward
the tall, almost naked figure of the ape-man as he
stood revealed in the full light of the beast fires.
“God, Carl,” she whispered, in trembling tones,
“look!”

“What’s wrong, Flora?” inquired her com¬
panion. “ I see only Esteban.”

“ It is not Esteban,” hissed the girl. “ It is Lord
Greystoke himself—it is Tarzan of the Apes! ”

“ You are mad, Flora,” replied the man, “ it
cannot be he.”

“ It is he, though,” she insisted. “ Do you sup¬
pose that I do not know him? Did I not work in
his town house for years ? Did I not see him nearly
every day? Do you suppose that I do not know
Tarzan of the Apes? Look at that red scar flam¬
ing on his forehead — I have heard the story of
that scar and I have seen it burn scarlet when he
was aroused to anger. It is scarlet now, and Tar¬
zan of the Apes is angry.”

“Well, suppose it is Tarzan of the Apes, what
can he do?”

“ You do not know him,” replied the girl. “ You
r do not guess the tremendous power he wields here
— the power of life and death over man and beast.
If he knew our mission here not one of us would
ever reach the coast alive. The very fact that he is
here now makes me believe that he may have dis¬
covered our purpose, and if he has, God help us —
unless — unless——”

“Unless what?” demanded the man.

62

Tarzan and the Golden Lion

The girl was silent in thought for a moment.
“There is only one way,” she said finally. “We
dare not kill him. His savage blacks would learn
of it, and no power on earth could save us then.
There is a way, though, if we act quickly.” She
turned and searched for a moment in one of her
bags, and presently she handed the man a small
bottle, containing liquid. “ Go out and talk to
him,” she said, “make friends with him. Lie to
him. Tell him anything. Promise anything. But
get on friendly enough terms with him so that you
can offer him coffee. He does not drink wine or
anything with alcohol in it, but I know that he likes
coffee. I have often served it to him in his room
late at night upon his return from the theater or a
ball. Get him to drink coffee and then you will
know what to do with this.” And she indicated the
bottle which the man still held in his hand.

Kraski nodded. “ I understand,” he said, and,
turning, left the tent.

He had taken but a step when the girl recalled
him. “ Do not let him see me. Do not let him
guess that I am here or that you know me.”

The man nodded and left her. Approaching the
tense figures before the fire he greeted Tarzan
with a pleasant smile and a cheery word.

“Welcome,” he said, “we are always glad to
see a stranger in our camp. Sit down. Hand the
gentleman a stool, John,” he said to Peebles.

The ape-man eyed Kraski as he had eyed the
others. There was no answering friendly light ini

The Fatal Drops

63

his eyes responding to the Russian’s greeting.

“ I have been trying to find out what your party
is doing here,” he said sharply to the Russian, “ but
they still insist that I am someone whom I am not.
They are either fools or knaves, and I intend to
find out which, and deal with them accordingly.”

“ Come, come,” cried Kraski, soothingly.
“ There must be some mistake, I am sure. But tell
me, who are you?”

“ I am Tarzan of the Apes,” replied the ape-
man. “ No hunters enter this part of Africa with¬
out my permission. That fact is so well known
that there is no chance of your having passed the
coast without having been so advised. I seek an
explanation, and that quickly.”

“Ah, you are Tarzan of the Apes,” exclaimed
Kraski. “ Fortunate indeed are we, for now may
we be set straight upon our way, and escape from
our frightful dilemma is assured. We are lost, sir,
inextricably lost, due to the ignorance or knavery
of our guide, who deserted us several weeks ago.
Surely we knew of you; who does not know of
Tarzan of the Apes? But it was not our intention
to cross the boundaries of your territory. We
were searching farther south for specimens of the
fauna of the district, which our good friend and
employer, here, Mr. Adolph Bluber, is collecting at
great expense for presentation to a museum in his
home city in America. Now I am sure that you
can tell us where we are and direct us upon our
proper course.”

64

Tarzan and the Golden Lion

Peebles, Throck, and Bluber stood fascinated
by Kraski’s glib lies, but it v/as the German Jew
who first rose to the occasion. Too thick were the
skulls of the English pugs to grasp quickly the
clever ruse of the Russian.

“Vy yes,” said the oily Bluber, rubbing his
palms together, “ dot iss it, yust vot I vas going to
tell you.”

Tarzan turned sharply upon him. “Then what
was all this talk about Esteban? ” he asked. “ Was
it not by that name that these others addressed
me?”

“Ah,” cried Bluber, “John will haf his leetle
joke. He iss ignorant of Africa; he has neffer
been here before. He t’ought perhaps dat you vere
a native. John he calls all der natives Esteban, und
he has great jokes by himself mit dem, because he
knows dey cannot onderstand vot he says. Hey
John, iss it not so, vot it iss I say? ” But the shrewd
Bluber did not wait for John to reply. “ You see,”
he went on, “ ve are lost, und you take us ouid mit
dis jungle, ve pay you anyt’ing—you name your
own price.”

The ape-man only half believed him, yet he was
somewhat mollified by their evidently friendly in¬
tentions. Perhaps after all they were telling him
a half-truth and had, really, wandered into his ter¬
ritory unwittingly. That, however, he would find
out definitely from their native carriers, from
whom his own Waziri would wean the truth. But
the matter of his having been mistaken for Esteban

The Fatal Drops

65

still piqued his curiosity, also he was still desirous
of learning the identity of the slayer of Gobu, the
great ape.

“Please sit down,” urged Kraski. “We were
about to have coffee and we should be delighted to
have you join us. We meant no wrong in coming
here, and I can assure you that we will gladly and
willingly make full amends to you, or to whomever
else we may have unintentionally wronged.”

To take coffee with these men would do no
harm. Perhaps he had wronged them, but how¬
ever that might be a cup of their coffee would place
no great obligation upon him. Flora had been
right in her assertion that if Tarzan of the Apes
had any weakness whatsoever it was for an occa¬
sional cup of black coffee late at night. He did
not accept the proffered camp stool, but squatted,
ape-fashion, before them, the flickering light of the
beast fires playing upon his bronzed hide and
bringing into relief the gracefully contoured mus¬
cles of his godlike frame. Not as the muscles of
the blacksmith or the professional strong man were
the muscles of Tarzan of the Apes, but rather
those of Mercury or Apollo, so symmetrically bal¬
anced were their proportions, suggesting only the
great strength that lay in them. Trained to speed
and agility were they as well as to strength, and
thus, clothing as they did his giant frame, they
imparted to him the appearance of a demi-god.

Throck, Peebles, and Bluber sat watching him
in spellbound fascination, while Kraski walked

66

Tarzan and the Golden Lion

over to the cook fire to arrange for the coffee. The
two Englishmen were as yet only half awakened to
the fact that they had mistaken this newcomer for
another, and as it was, Peebles still scratched his
head and grumbled to himself in inarticulate half¬
denial of Kraski’s assumption of the new identity
of Tarzan. Bluber was inwardly terror-stricken.
His keener intelligence had quickly grasped the
truth of Kraski’s recognition of the man for what
he was rather than for what Peebles and Throck
thought him to be, and, as Bluber knew nothing of
Flora’s plan, he was in quite a state of funk as he
tried to visualize the outcome of Tarzan’s discov¬
ery of them at the very threshold of Opar. He
did not realize, as did Flora, that their very lives
were in danger—that it was Tarzan of the Apes,
a beast of the jungle, with whom they had to deal,
and not John: Clayton, Lord Greystoke, an English
peer. Rather was Bluber considering the two thou¬
sand pounds that they stood to lose through this
deplorable termination of their expedition, for he
was sufficiently familiar with the reputation of the
ape-man to know that they would never be per¬
mitted to take with them the gold that Esteban
was very likely, at this moment, pilfering from the
vaults of Opar. Really Bluber was almost upon
the verge of tears when Kraski returned with the
coffee, which he brought himself.

From the dark shadows of the tent’s interior
Flora Hawkes looked nervously out upon the
scene before her. She was terrified at the possi-

The Fatal Drops

67

bility of discovery by her former employer, for
she had been a maid in the Greystokes’ London
town house as well as at the African bungalow and
knew that Lord Greystoke would recognize her
instantly should he chance to see her. She enter¬
tained for him, now, in his jungle haunts, a fear
that was possibly greater than Tarzan’s true char¬
acter warranted, but none the less real was it to the
girl whose guilty conscience conjured all sorts of
possible punishments for her disloyalty to those
who had always treated her with uniform kindli¬
ness and consideration.

Constant dreaming of the fabulous wealth of
the treasure vaults of Opar, concerning which she
had heard so much in detail from the conversations
of the Greystokes, had aroused within her natu¬
rally crafty and unscrupulous mind a desire for pos¬
session, and in consequence thereof she had slowly
visualized a scheme whereby she might loot the
treasure vaults of a sufficient number of the golden
ingots to make her independently wealthy for life.
The entire plan had been hers. She had at first in¬
terested Kraski, who had in turn enlisted the coop¬
eration of the two Englishmen and Bluber, and
these four had raised the necessary money to de¬
fray the cost of the expedition. It had been Flora
who had searched for a type of man who might
successfully impersonate Tarzan in his own jungle,
and she had found Esteban Miranda, a handsome,
powerful, and unscrupulous Spaniard, whose his¬
trionic ability aided by the art of make-up, of

68

Tarzan and the Golden Lion

which he was a past master, permitted him to al¬
most faultlessly impersonate the character they
desired him to portray, in so far, as least, as out¬
ward appearances were concerned.

The Spaniard was not only powerful and active,
but physically courageous as well, and since he had
shaved his beard and donned the jungle habili¬
ments of a Tarzan, he had lost no opportunity for
emulating the ape-man in every way that lay within
his ability. Of jungle craft he had none of course,
and personal combats with the more savage jungle
beasts caution prompted him to eschew, but he
hunted the lesser game with spear and with arrow
and practiced continually with the grass rope that
was a part of his make-up.

And now Flora Hawkes saw all her well-laid
plans upon the verge of destruction. She trembled
as she watched the men before the fire, for her fear
of Tarzan was very real, and then she became
tense with nervous anticipation as she saw Kraski
approaching the group with the coffee pot in one
hand and cups in the other. Kraski set the pot and
the cups upon the ground a little in the rear of
Tarzan, and, as he filled the latter, she saw him
pour a portion of the contents of the bottle she had
given him into one of the cups. A cold sweat broke
out upon her forehead as Kraski lifted this cup and
offered it to the ape-man. Would he take it?
Would he suspect? If he did suspect what horri¬
ble punishment would be meted to them all for
their temerity? She saw Kraski hand another cup

The Fatal Dro£s

69

to Peebles, Throck, and Bluber, then return to the
circle with the last one for himself. As the Russian
raised it before his face and bowed politely to the
ape-man, she saw the five men drink. The reaction
which ensued left her weak and spent. Turning,
she collapsed upon her cot, and lay there trem¬
bling, her face buried in her arm. And, outside,
Tarzan of the Apes drained his cup to the last
drop.

CHAPTER VI

DEATH STEALS BEHIND

D URING the afternoon of the day that Tar-
zan discovered the camp of the conspirators,
a watcher upon the crumbling outer wall of the
ruined city of Opar descried a party of men mov¬
ing downward into the valley from the summit of
the encircling cliff. Tarzan, Jane Clayton, and
their black Waziri were the only strangers that the
denizens of Opar had ever seen within their valley
during the lifetime of the oldest among them, and
only in half-forgotten legends of a by-gone past
was there any suggestion that strangers other than
these had ever visited Opar. Yet from time imme¬
morial a guard had always remained upon the sum¬
mit of the outer wall. Now a single knurled and
crippled man-like creature was all that recalled the
numerous, lithe warriors of lost Atlantis. For
down through the long ages the race had deterio¬
rated and finally, through occasional mating with
the great apes, the men had become the beast-like
things of modern Opar. Strange and inexplicable
had been the providence of nature that had con¬
fined this deterioration almost solely to the males,
leaving the females straight, well-formed, often of

70

Death Steals Behind

71

comely and even beautiful features, a condition’
that might be largely attributable to the fact that
female infants possessing ape-like characteristics
were immediately destroyed, while, on the other
hand, boy babies who possessed purely human at¬
tributes were also done away with.

Typical indeed of the male inhabitants of Opar
was the lone watcher upon the outer city wall, a
short, stocky man with matted hair and beard, his
tangled locks growing low upon a low, receding
forehead; small, close-set eyes and fang-like teeth
bore evidence of his simian ancestry, as did his
short, crooked legs and long, muscular ape-like
arms, all scantily hair-covered as was his torso.

As his wicked, blood-rimmed eyes watched the
progress of the party across the valley toward
Opar, evidences of his growing excitement were
manifested in the increased rapidity of his breath¬
ing, and low, almost inaudible growls that issued
from his throat. The strangers were too far dis¬
tant to be recognizable only as human beings, and
their number to be roughly approximated as be¬
tween two and three score. Having assured him¬
self of these two facts the watcher descended from
the outer wall, crossed the space between it and the
inner wall, through which he passed, and at a
rapid trot crossed the broad avenue beyond and
disappeared within the crumbling but still magnifi¬
cent temple beyond.

Cadj, the High Priest of Opar, squatted beneath
the shade of the giant trees which now overgrew

72

Tarzan and the Golden Lion

what had once been one of the gardens of the an¬
cient temple. With him were a dozen members of
the lesser priesthood, the intimate cronies of the
High Priest, who were startled by the sudden ad¬
vent of one of the inferior members of the clan of
Opar. The fellow hurried breathlessly to Cadj.

“ Cadj,” he cried, “ strange men descend upon
Opar! From the northwest they have come into
the valley from beyond the barrier cliffs — fifty of
them at least, perhaps half again that number. I
saw them as I watched from the summit of the
outer wall, but further than they are men I cannot
say, for they are still a great distance away. Not
since the great Tarmangani came among us last
have there been strangers within Opar.”

“ It has been many moons since the great Tar¬
mangani who called himself Tarzan of the Apes
was among us,” said Cadj. “He promised us to
return before the rain to see that no harm had
befallen La, but he did not come back and La has
always insisted that he is dead. Have you told any
other of what you have seen? ” he demanded, turn¬
ing suddenly upon the messenger.

“No,” replied the latter.

“ Good! ” exclaimed Cadj. “ Come, we will all
go to the outer wall and see who it is who dares
enter forbidden Opar, and let no one breathe a
word of what Blagh has told us until I give per¬
mission.”

“The word of Cadj is law until La speaks,”
murmured one of the priests.

Death Steals Behind

73

Cadj turned a scowling face upon the speaker.
“ I am High Priest of Opar,” he growled. “ Who
dares disobey me?”

“ But La is High Priestess,” said one, “ and the
High Priestess is the queen of Opar.”

“ But the High Priest can offer whom he will as
sacrifice in the Chamber of the Dead or to the
Flaming God,” Cadj reminded the other mean¬
ingly.

“We shall keep silence, Cadj,” replied the
priest, cringing.

“Good! ” growled the High Priest and led the
way from the garden through the corridors of the
temple back toward the outer wall of Opar. From
here they watched the approaching party that was
in plain view of them, far out across the valley.
The watchers conversed in low gutturals in the lan¬
guage of the great apes, interspersed with which
were occasional words and phrases of a strange
tongue that were doubtless corrupted forms of the
ancient language of Atlantis handed down through
countless generations from their human progeni¬
tors— that now extinct race whose cities and civili¬
zation lie buried deep beneath the tossing waves of
the Atlantic, and whose adventurous spirit had, in
remote ages, caused them to penetrate into the
heart of Africa in search of gold and to build
there, in duplication of their far home cities, the
magnificent city of Opar.

As Cadj and his followers watched from be¬
neath shaggy brows the strangers plodding labor-

74

Tarzan and the Golden Lion

iously beneath the now declining equatorial sun
across the rocky, barren valley, a gray little mon¬
key eyed them from amidst the foliage of one of
the giant trees that had forced its way through the
pavement of the ancient avenue behind them. A
solemn, sad-faced little monkey it was, but like all
his kind overcome by curiosity, and finally to such
an extent that his fear of the fierce males of Opar
was so considerably overcome that he at last swung
lightly from the tree to the pavement, made his
way through the inner wall and up the inside of
the outer wall to a position in their rear where he
could hide behind one of the massive granite blocks
of the crumbling wall in comparative safety from
detection, the while he might overhear the conver¬
sation of the Oparians, all of which that was car¬
ried on in the language of the great apes he could
understand perfectly.

The afternoon was drawing to a close before
the slowly moving company approaching Opar was
close enough for individuals to be recognizable in
any way, and then presently one of the younger
priests exclaimed excitedly:

“ It is he, Cadj. It is the great Tarmangani who
calls himself Tarzan of the Apes. I can see him
plainly; the others are all black men. He is urging
them on, prodding them with his spear. They act
as though they were afraid and very tired, but he
is forcing them forward.”

“You are sure,” demanded Cadj, “you are sure
that it is Tarzan of the Apes ? ”

Death Steals Behind

75

“ I am positive,” replied the speaker, and then
another of the priests joined his assurances to that
of his fellow. At last they were close enough so
that Cadj himself, whose eye-sight was not as good
as that of the younger members of the company,
realized that it was indeed Tarzan of the Apes who
was returning to Opar. The High Priest scowled
angrily in thought. Suddenly he turned upon the
others.

“He must not come,” he cried; “he must not
enter Opar. Hasten and fetch a hundred fighting
men. We will meet them as they come through
the outer wall and slay them one by one.”

“ But La,” cried he who had aroused Cadj’s an¬
ger in the garden, “ I distinctly recall that La
offered the friendship of Opar to Tarzan of the
Apes upon that time, many moons ago, that he
saved her from the tusks of infuriated Tantor.”

“Silence,” growled Cadj, “he shall not enter;
we shall slay them all, though we need not know
their identity until it is too late. Do you under¬
stand ? And know, too, that whosover attempts to
thwart my purpose shall die — and he die not as a
sacrifice, he shall die at my hands, but die he shall.
You hear me?” And he pointed an unclean finger
at the trembling priest.

Manu, the monkey, hearing all this, was almost
bursting with excitement. He knew Tarzan of the
Apes — as all the migratory monkeys the length
and breadth of Africa knew him — he knew him
for a friend and protector. To Manu the males of

76

Tarzan and the Golden Lion

Opar were neither beast, nor man, nor friend. He
knew them as cruel and surly creatures who ate the
flesh of his kind, and he hated them accordingly.
He was therefore greatly exercised at the plot that
he had heard discussed which was aimed at the life
of the great Tarmangani. He scratched his little
gray head, and the root of his tail, and his belly, as
he attempted to mentally digest what he had heard,
and bring forth from the dim recesses of his little
brain a plan to foil the priests and save Tarzan of
the Apes. He made grotesque grimaces that were
aimed at the unsuspecting Cadj and his followers,
but which failed to perturb them, possibly because
a huge granite block hid the little monkey from
them. This was quite the most momentous thing
that had occurred in the life of Manu. He wanted
to jump up and down and dance and screech and
jabber—to scold and threaten the hated Oparians,
but something told him that nothing would be
gained by this, other than, perhaps, to launch in his
direction a shower of granite missiles, which the
priests knew only too well how to throw with accu¬
racy. Now Manu is not a deep thinker, but upon
this occasion he quite outdid himself, and managed
to concentrate his mind upon the thing at hand
rather than permit its being distracted by each fall¬
ing leaf or buzzing insect. He even permitted a
succulent caterpillar to crawl within his reach and
out again with impunity.

Just before darkness fell, Cadj saw a little gray
monkey disappear over the summit of the outer

Death Steals Behind

77

wall fifty paces from where he crouched with his
fellows, waiting for the coming of the fighting
men. But so numerous were the monkeys about
the ruins of Opar that the occurrence left Cadj’s
mind almost as quickly as the monkey disappeared
from his view, and in the gathering gloom he did
not see the little gray figure scampering off across
the valley toward the band of intruders who now
appeared to have stopped to rest at the foot of a
large kopje that stood alone out in the valley,
about a mile from the city.

Little Manu was very much afraid out there
alone in the growing dusk, and he scampered very
fast with his tail bowed up and out behind him.
All the time he cast affrighted glances to the right
and left. The moment he reached the kopje he
scampered up its face as fast as he could. It was
really a huge, precipitous granite rock with almost
perpendicular sides, but sufficiently weather-worn
to make its ascent easy to little Manu. He paused
a moment at the summit to get his breath and still
the beatings of his frightened little heart, and then
he made his way around to a point where he could
look down upon the party beneath.

There, indeed, was the great Tarmangani Tar-
zan, and with him were some fifty Gomangani. The
latter were splicing together a number of long,
straight poles, which they had laid upon the
ground in two parallel lines. Across these two, at
intervals of a foot or more, they were lashing
smaller straight branches about eighteen inches in

78

Tarzan and the Golden Lion

length, the whole forming a crude but substantial
ladder. The purpose of all this Manu, of course,
did not understand, nor did he know that it had
been evolved from the fertile brain of Flora
Hawkes as a means of scaling the precipitous
kopje, at the summit of which lay the outer en¬
trance to the treasure vaults of Opar. Nor did
Manu know that the party had no intention of en¬
tering the city of Opar and were therefore in no
danger of becoming victims of Cadj’s hidden assas¬
sins. To him, the danger to Tarzan of the Apes
was very real, and so, having regained his breath,
he lost no time in delivering his warning to the
friend of his people.

“Tarzan,” he cried, in the language that was
common to both.

The white man and the blacks looked up at the
sound of his chattering voice.

“ It is Manu, Tarzan,” continued the little mon¬
key, “who has come to tell you not to go to Opar.
Cadj and his people await within the outer wall to
slay you.”

The blacks, having discovered that the author of
the disturbance was nothing but a little gray mon¬
key, returned immediately to their work, while the
white man similarly ignored his words of warning.
Manu was not surprised at the lack of interest
displayed by the blacks, for he knew that they did
not understand his language, but he could not com¬
prehend why Tarzan failed to pay any attention
whatsoever to him. Again and again he called

Death Steals Behind

79

Tarzan by name. Again and again he shrieked his
warning to the ape-man, but without eliciting any
reply or any information that the great Tarman-
gani had either heard or understood him. Manu
was mystified. What had occurred to render Tar¬
zan of the Apes so indifferent to the warnings of
his old friend?

At last the little monkey gave it up and looked
longingly back in the direction of the trees within
the walled city of Opar. It was now very dark
and he trembled at the thought of recrossing the
valley, where he knew enemies might prowl by
night. He scratched his head and he hugged his
knees, then sat there whimpering, a very forlorn
and unhappy little ball of a monkey. But how¬
ever uncomfortable he was upon the high kopje,
he was comparatively safe, and so he decided to
remain there during the night rather than venture
the terrifying return trip through the darkness.
Thus it was that he saw the ladder completed and
'erected against the side of the kopje; and when
the moon rose at last and lighted the scene, he
saw Tarzan of the Apes urging his men to mount
the ladder. He had never seen Tarzan thus rough
and cruel with the blacks who accompanied him.
Manu knew how ferocious the great Tarmangani
could be with an enemy, whether man or beast, but
he had never seen him accord such treatment to the
blacks who were his friends.

One by one and with evident reluctance the
blacks ascended the ladder, continually urged for-

80

Tarzan and the Golden Lion

ward to greater speed by the sharp spear of-the
white man; when they had all ascended Tarzan
followed, and Manu saw them disappear appar¬
ently into the heart of the great rock.

It was only a short time later that they com¬
menced to reappear, and now each was burdened
by two heavy objects which appeared to Manu to
be very similar to some of the smaller stone blocks
that had been used in the construction of the build¬
ings in Opar. He saw them take the blocks to the
edge of the kopje and cast them over to the ground
beneath, and when the last of the blacks had
emerged with his load and cast it to the valley be¬
low, one by one the party descended the ladder to
the foot of the kopje. But this time Tarzan of the
Apes went first. Then they lowered the ladder
and took it apart and laid its pieces close to the
foot of the cliff, after which they took up the blocks
which they had brought from the heart of the
kopje, and following Tarzan, who set out in the
lead, they commenced to retrace their steps toward
the rim of the valley.

Manu would have been very much mystified had
he been a man, but being only a monkey he saw
only what he saw without attempting to reason
very much about it. He knew that the ways of men
were peculiar, and oftentimes unaccountable. For
example, the Gomangani who could not travel
through the jungle and the forest with the ease of
any other of the animals which frequented them,
added to their difficulties by loading themselves

Death Steals Behind

81

down with additional weights in the form of metal
anklets and armlets, with necklaces and girdles,
and with skins of animals, which did nothing more
than impede their progress and render life much
more complicated than that which the untram¬
meled beasts enjoyed. Manu, whenever he gave
the matter a thought, congratulated himself that
he was not a man — he pitied the foolish, unrea¬
sonable creatures.

Manu must have slept. He thought that he had
only closed his eyes a moment, but when he opened
them the rosy light of dawn had overspread the
desolate valley. Just disappearing over the cliffs
to the northeast he could see the last of Tarzan’s
party commencing the descent of the barrier, then
Manu turned his face toward Opar and prepared
to descend from the kopje, and scamper back to
the safety of his trees within the walls of Opar.
But first he would reconnoiter—Sheeta, the pan¬
ther, might be still abroad, and so he scampered
around the edge of the kopje to a point where he
could see the entire valley floor between himself
and Opar. And there it was that he saw again that
which filled him with greatest excitement. For,
debouching from the ruined outer wall of Opar
was a large company of Opar’s frightful men —
fully a hundred of them Manu could have counted
had Manu been able to count.

They seemed to be coming toward the kopje,
and he sat and watched them as they approached,

82

Tarzan and the Golden Lion

deciding to defer his return to the city until after
the path was cleared of hated Oparians. It oc¬
curred to him that they were coming after him, for
the egotism of the lower animals is inordinate. Be¬
cause he was a monkey, the idea did not seem at all
ridiculous and so he hid behind a jutting rock, with
only one little, bright eye exposed to the enemy.
He saw them come closer and he grew very much
excited, though he was not at all afraid, for he
knew that if they ascended one side of the kopje
he could descend the other and be half-way to
Opar before they could possibly locate him again.

On and on they came, but they did not stop at
the kopje — as a matter of fact they did not come
very close to it, but continued on beyond it. Then
it was that the truth of the matter flashed into the
little brain of the monkey — Cadj and his people
were pursuing Tarzan of the Apes to slay him. If
Manu had been offended by Tarzan’s indifference
to him upon the night before, he had evidently for¬
gotten it, for now he was quite as excited about the
danger which he saw menace the ape-man as he
had been upon the afternoon previous. At first he
thought of running ahead, and again warning Tar¬
zan, but he feared to venture so far from the trees
of Opar, even if the thought of having to pass the
hated Oparians had not been sufficient to deter him
from carrying out this plan. For a few minutes he
sat watching them, until they had all passed the
kopje, and then it became quite clear to him that
they were heading directly for the spot at which

Tjeath Steals Behind

83

the last of Tarzan’s party had disappeared from
the valley—there could be no doubt that they
were in pursuit of the ape-man.

Manu scanned the valley once more toward
Opar. There was nothing in sight to deter him
from an attempted return, and so, with the agility
of his kind, he scampered down the vertical face
of the kopje and was off at great speed toward the
city’s wall. Just when he formulated the plan that
he eventually followed it is difficult to say. Per¬
haps he thought it all out as he sat upon the kopje,
watching Cadj and his people upon the trail of the
ape-man, or perhaps it occurred to him while he
was scampering across the barren waste toward
Opar. It may just have popped into his mind from
a clear sky after he had regained the leafy sanc¬
tuary of his own trees. Be that, however as it may,
the fact remains, that as La, High Priestess and
princess of Opar, in company with several of her
priestesses, was bathing in a pool in one of the tem¬
ple gardens, she was startled by the screaming of a
monkey, swinging frantically by his tail from the
branch of a great tree which overspread the pool
— it was a little gray monkey with a face so wise
and serious that one might easily have imagined
that the fate of nations lay constantly upon the
shoulders of its owner.

“ La, La,” it screamed, “ they have gone to kill
Tarzan. They have gone to kill Tarzan.”

At the sound of that name La was instantly all
attention. Standing waist deep in the pool she

84

Tarzan and the Golden Lion

looked up at the little monkey questioningly.
“What do you mean, Manu?” she asked. “It
has been many moons since Tarzan was at Opar.
He is not here now. What are you talking about? ”

“ I saw him,” screamed Manu, “ I saw him last
night with many Gomangani. He came to the
great rock that lies in the valley before Opar;
with all his men he climbed to the top of it, went
into the heart of it, and came out with stones which
they threw down into the valley. Afterward they
descended from the rock, and picked up the stones
again and left the valley — there,” and Manu
pointed toward the northeast with one of his
hairy little fingers.

“How do you know it was Tarzan of the
Apes?” asked La.

“ Does Manu not know his cousin and his
friend? ” demanded the monkey. “ With my eyes I
saw him — it was Tarzan of the Apes.”

La of Opar puckered her brows in thought.
Deep in her heart smoldered the fires of her great
love for Tarzan. Fires that had been quenched by
the necessity that had compelled her marriage with
Cadj since last she had seen the ape-man. For it is
written among the laws of Opar that the High
Priestess of the Flaming God must take a mate
within a certain number of years after her conse¬
cration. For many moons had La longed to make
Tarzan that mate. The ape-man had not loved
her, and finally she had come to a realization that
he could never love her. Afterward she had

Death Steals Behind

85

bowed to the frightful fate that had placed her in
the arms of Cadj.

As month after month had passed and Tarzan
had not returned to Opar, as he had promised he
would do, to see that no harm befell La, she had
come to accept the opinion of Cadj that the ape-
man was dead, and though she hated the repulsive
Cadj none the less, her love for Tarzan had grad¬
ually become little more than a sorrowful memory.
Now to learn that he was alive and had been so
near was like re-opening an old wound. At first
she comprehended little else than that Tarzan had
been close to Opar, but presently the cries of Manu
aroused her to a realization that the ape-man was
in danger—just what the danger was, she did not
know.

“Who has gone to kill Tarzan of the Apes?”
she demanded suddenly.

“ Cadj, Cadj! ” shrieked Manu. “ He has gone
with many, many men, and is following upon the
spoor of Tarzan.”

La sprang quickly from the pool, seized her gir¬
dle and ornaments from her attendant and adjust¬
ing them hurriedly, sped through the garden and
into the temple.

CHAPTER VII

“YOU MUST SACRIFICE HIM”

W ARILY Cadj and his hundred frightful
followers, armed with their bludgeons and
knives, crept stealthily down the face of the barrier
into the valley below, upon the trail of the white
man and his black companions. They made no
haste, for they had noted from the summit of
Opar’s outer wall, that the party they were pur¬
suing moved very slowly, though why, they did not
know, for they had been at too great a distance to
see the burden that each of the blacks carried. Nor
was it Cadj’s desire to overtake his quarry by day¬
light, his plans contemplating a stealthy night at¬
tack, the suddenness of which, together with the
great number of his followers, might easily con¬
fuse and overwhelm a sleeping camp.

The spoor they followed was well marked.
There could be no mistaking it, and they moved
slowly down the now gentle declivity, toward the
bottom of the valley. It was close to noon that
they were brought to a sudden halt by the dis¬
covery of a thorn boma recently constructed in a
small clearing just ahead of them. From the cen¬
ter of the boma arose the thin smoke of a dying
fire. Here, then, was the camp of the ape-man.

86

“You Must Sacrifice Him ”

87

Cadj drew his followers into the concealment of
the thick bushes that bordered the trail, and from
there he sent ahead a single man to reconnoiter. It
was but a few moments later that the latter re¬
turned to say that the camp was deserted, and once
again Cadj moved forward with his men. Entering
the boma they examined it in an effort to estimate
the size of the party that accompanied Tarzan. As
they were thus occupied Cadj saw something lying
half concealed by bushes at the far end of the
boma. Very warily he approached it, for there was
that about it which not only aroused his curiosity
but prompted him to caution, for it resembled in¬
distinctly the figure of a man, lying huddled upon
the ground.

With ready bludgeons a dozen of them ap¬
proached the thing that had aroused Cadj’s curios¬
ity, and when they had come close to it they saw
lying before them the lifeless figure of Tarzan of
the Apes.

“The Flaming God has reached forth to avenge
his desecrated altar,” cried the High Priest, his
eyes glowing with the maniacal fires of fanaticism.
But another priest, more practical, perhaps, or at
least more cautious, kneeled beside the figure of the
ape-man and placed his ear against the latter’s
heart.

“He is not dead,” he whispered; “perhaps he
only sleeps.”

“ Seize him, then, quickly,” cried Cadj, and an
instant later Tarzan’s body was covered by the

88

Tarzan and the Golden Lion

hairy forms of as many of the frightful men as
could pile upon him. He offered no resistance —
he did not even open his eyes, and presently his
arms were securely bound behind him.

“Drag him forth where the eye of the Flaming
God may rest upon him,” cried Cadj. They dragged
Tarzan out into the center of the boma into
the full light of the sun, and Cadj, the High Priest,
drawing his knife from his loin cloth, raised it
above his head and stood over the prostrate form
of his intended victim. Cadj’s followers formed a
rough circle about the ape-man and some of them
pressed close behind their leader. They appeared
uneasy, looking alternately at Tarzan and their
High Priest, and then casting furtive glances at the
sun, riding high in a cloud-mottled sky. But what¬
ever the thoughts that troubled their half-savage
brains, there was only one who dared voice his,
and he was the same priest who, upon the preced¬
ing day, had questioned Cadj’s proposal to slay
the ape-man.

“ Cadj,” he said now, “ who are you to offer up
a sacrifice to the Flaming God? It is the privilege
alone of La, our High Priestess and our queen,
and indeed will she be angry when she learns what
you have done.”

“ Silence, Dooth! ” cried Cadj; “ I, Cadj, am the
High Priest of Opar. I, Cadj, am the mate of La,
the queen. My word, too, is law in Opar. And
you would remain a priest, and you would remain
alive, keep silence.”

“You Must Sacrifice Him ”

89

“ Your word is not law,” replied Booth, angrily,
“ and if you anger La, the High Priestess, or if
you anger the Flaming God, you may be punished
as another. If you make this sacrifice both will be
angry.”

“Enough,” cried Cadj; “the Flaming God has
spoken to me and has demanded that I offer up as
sacrifice this defiler of his temple.”

He knelt beside the ape-man and touched his
breast above the heart with the point of his sharp
blade, and then he raised the weapon high above
him, preparatory to the fatal plunge into the living
heart. At that instant a cloud passed before the
face of the sun and a shadow rested upon them. A
murmur rose from the surrounding priests.

“ Look,” cried Booth, “ the Flaming God is
angry. He has hidden his face from the people of
Opar.”

Cadj paused. He cast a half-defiant, half-
frightened look at the cloud obscuring the face of
the sun. Then he rose slowly to his feet, and ex¬
tending his arms upward toward the hidden god
of day, he remained for a moment silent in appar¬
ently attentive and listening attitude. Then, sud¬
denly, he turned upon his followers.

“ Priests of Opar,” he cried, “ the Flaming God
has spoken to his High Priest, Cadj. He is not
angered. He but wishes to speak to me alone, and
he directs that you go away into the jungle and
wait until he has come and spoken to Cadj, after
which I shall call you to return. Go! ”

90

Tarzan and the Golden Lion

For the most part they seemed to accept the
word of Cadj as law, but Dooth and a few others,
doubtless prompted by a certain skepticism, hesi¬
tated.

“Be gone!” commanded Cadj. And so power¬
ful is the habit of obedience that the doubters
finally turned away and melted into the jungle with
the others. A crafty smile lighted the cruel face
of the High Priest as the last of them disappeared
from sight, and then he once again turned his atten¬
tion to the ape-man. That, deep within his breast
however, lurked an inherent fear of his deity, was
evidenced by the fact that he turned questioning
glances toward the sky. He had determined to
slay the ape-man while Dooth and the others
were absent, yet the fear of his god restrained his
hand until the light of his deity should shine forth
upon him once more and assure him that the
thing he contemplated might meet with favor.

It was a large cloud that overcast the sun, and
while Cadj waited his nervousness increased. Six
times he raised his knife for the fatal blow, yet in
each instance his superstition prevented the con¬
summation of the act. Five, ten, fifteen minutes
passed, and still the sun remained obscured. But
now at last Cadj could see that it was nearing the
edge of the cloud, and once again he took his posi¬
tion kneeling beside the ape-man with his blade
ready for the moment that the sunlight should
flood again, for the last time, the living Tarzan.
He saw it sweeping slowly across the boma toward

“You Must Sacrifice Him ”

91

him, and as it came a look of demoniacal hatred
shone in his close-set, wicked eyes. Another instant
and the Flaming God would have set the seal of
his approval upon the sacrifice. Cadj trembled in
anticipation. He raised the knife a trifle higher,
his muscles tensed for the downward plunge, and
then the silence of the jungle was broken by a
woman’s voice, raised almost to a scream.

“ Cadj! ” came the single word, but with all the
suddenness and all the surprising effect of lightning
from a clear sky.

His knife still poised on high, the High Priest
turned in the direction of the interruption to see
at the clearing’s edge the figure of La, the High
Priestess, and behind her Dooth and a score of
the lesser priests.

“What means this, Cadj?” demanded La,
angrily, approaching rapidly toward him across
the clearing. Sullenly the High Priest rose.

“The Flaming God demanded the life of this
unbeliever,” he cried.

“ Speaker of lies,” retorted La, “ the Flaming
God communicates with men through the lips of
his High Priestess only. Too often already have
you attempted to thwart the will of your queen.
Know, then, Cadj, that the power of life and death
which your queen holds is as potent over you as
another. During the long ages that Opar has
endured, our legends tell us that more than one
High Priest has been offered upon the altar to the
Flaming God. And it is not unlikely that yet

92

Tarzan and the Golden Lion

another may go the way of the presumptuous.
Curb, therefore, your vanity and your lust for
power, lest they prove your undoing.”

Cadi sheathed his knife and turned sullenly
away, casting a venomous look at Dooth, to whom
he evidently attributed his undoing. That he was
temporarily abashed by the presence of his queen
was evident, but to those who knew Cadj there
was little doubt that he still harbored his intention
to despatch the ape-man, and if the opportunity
ever presented itself that he would do so, for
Cadj had a strong following among the people
and priests of Opar. There were many who
doubted that La would ever dare to incur the dis¬
pleasure and anger of so important a portion of
her followers as to cause the death or degradation
of their high priest, who occupied his office by
virtue of laws and customs so old that their origin
had been long lost in antiquity.

For years she had found first one excuse and
then another to delay the ceremonies that would
unite her in marriage to the High Priest. She had
further aroused the antagonism of her people by
palpable proofs of her infatuation for the ape-
man, and even though at last she had been com¬
pelled to mate with Cadj, she had made no effort
whatsoever to conceal her hatred and loathing for
the man. How much further she could go with
impunity was a question that often troubled those
whose position in Opar depended upon her favor,
and, knowing all these conditions as he did, it was

“ You Must Sacrifice Him ”

93

not strange that Cadj should entertain treasonable
thoughts toward his queen. Leagued with him
in his treachery was Oah, a priestess who aspired
to the power and offices of La. If La could be
done away with, then Cadj had the influence to
see that Oah became High Priestess. He also
had Oah’s promise to mate with him and permit
him to rule as king, but as yet both were bound
by the superstitious fear of their flaming deity,
and because of this fact was the life of La tem¬
porarily made safe. It required, however, but the
slightest spark to ignite the flames of treason that
were smoldering about her.

So far, she was well within her rights in for¬
bidding the sacrifice of Tarzan by the High Priest.
But her fate, her very life, perhaps, depended
upon her future treatment of the prisoner. Should
she spare him, should she evidence in any way a
return of the great love she had once almost
publicly avowed for him, it was likely that her
doom would be sealed. It was even questionable
whether or not she might with impunity spare his
life and set him at liberty.

Cadj and the others watched her closely now
as she crossed to the side of Tarzan. Standing
there silently for several moments she looked down
upon him.

“He is already dead?” she asked - .

“He was not dead when Cadj sent us away,”
volunteered Dooth. “ If he is dead now it is
because Cadj killed him while we were away.”

94

Tarzan and the Golden Lion

“I did not kill him,” said Cadj. “That re¬
mains, as La, our queen, has told you, for
her to do. The eye of the Flaming God looks
down upon you, High Priestess of Opar. The
knife is at your hip, the sacrifice lies before
you.”

La ignored the man’s words and turned toward
Dooth. “ If he still lives,” she said, “ construct a
litter and bear him back to Opar.”

Thus, once more, came Tarzan of the Apes into
the ancient colonial city of the Atlantians. The
effects of the narcotic that Kraski had administered
to him did not wear off for many hours. It was
night when he opened his eyes, and for a moment
he was bewildered by the darkness and the silence
that surrounded him. All that he could scent at
first was that he lay upon a pile of furs and that
he was uninjured; for he felt no pain. Slowly
there broke through the fog of his drugged brain
recollection of the last moment before unconscious¬
ness had overcome him, and presently he realized
the trick that had been played upon him. For
how long he had been unconscious and where he
then was he could not imagine. Slowly he arose
to his feet, finding that except for a slight dizziness
he was quite himself. Cautiously he felt around
in the darkness, moving with care, a hand out¬
stretched, and always feeling carefully with his
feet for a secure footing. Almost immediately a
stone wall stopped his progress, and this he fol¬
lowed around four sides of what he soon realized

“You Must Sacrifice Him ”

95

was a small room in which there were hut two
openings, a door upon each of the opposite sides.
Only his senses of touch and smell were of value
to him here. These told him only at first that he
was imprisoned in a subterranean chamber, but as
the effects of the narcotic diminished, the keenness
of the latter returned, and with its return there
was borne in upon Tarzan’s brain an insistent im¬
pression of familiarity in certain fragrant odors
that impinged upon his olfactory organs — a
haunting suggestion that he had known them be¬
fore under similar circumstances. Presently from
above, through earth and masonry, came the
shadow of an uncanny scream — just the faintest
suggestion of it reached the keen ears of the ape-
man, but it was sufficient to flood his mind with
vivid recollections, and, by association of ideas,
to fix the identity of the familiar odors about him.
He knew at last that he was in the dark pit beneath
Opar.

Above him, in her chamber in the temple, La,
the High Priestess, tossed upon a sleepless couch.
She knew all too well the temper of her people
and the treachery of the High Priest,.Cadj. She
knew the religious fanaticism which prompted the
ofttime maniacal actions of her bestial and igno¬
rant followers, and she guessed truly that Cadj
would inflame them against her should she fail this
time in sacrificing the ape-man to the Flaming God.
And it was the effort to find an escape from her
dilemma that left her sleepless, for it was not in

96

Tarzan and the Golden Lion

the heart of La to sacrifice Tarzan of the Apes.
High Priestess of a horrid cult, though she was,
and queen of a race of half-beasts, yet she was a
woman, too, a woman who had loved but once
and given that love to the godlike ape-man who
was again within her power. Twice before had he
escaped her sacrificial knife; in the final instance
love had at last triumphed over jealousy and fanat¬
icism, and La, the woman, had realized that never
again could she place in jeopardy the life of the
man she loved, however hopeless she knew that
love to be.

Tonight she was faced with a problem that she
felt almost beyond her powers of solution. The
fact that she was mated with Cadj removed the
last vestige of hope that she had ever had of be¬
coming the wife of the ape-man. Yet she was no
less determined to save Tarzan if it were pos¬
sible. Twice had he saved her life, once from a
mad priest, and once from Tantor in must. Then,
too, she had given her word that when Tarzan
came again to Opar he came in friendship and
would be received in friendship. But the influence
of Cadj was great, and she knew that that in¬
fluence had been directed unremittingly against the
ape-man — she had seen it in the attitude of her
followers from the very moment that they had
placed Tarzan upon a litter to bear him back to
Opar — she had seen it in the evil glances that
had been cast at her. Sooner or later they would
dare denounce her — all that they needed was some

“ You Must Sacrifice Him ”

97

slight, new excuse, that, she knew, they eagerly
awaited in her forthcoming attitude toward Tar-
zan. It was well after midnight when there came
to her one of the priestesses who remained always
upon guard outside her chamber door.

“ Dooth would speak with you,” whispered the
hand-maiden.

“ It is late,” replied La, “ and men are not per¬
mitted in this part of the temple. How came he
here, and why?”

“He says that he comes in the service of La,
yvho is in great danger,” replied the girl.

“ Fetch him here then,” said La, “ and as you
value your life see that you tell no one.”

“ I shall be as voiceless as the stones of the
altar,” replied the girl, as she turned and left the
chamber.

A moment later she returned, bringing Dooth,
who halted a few feet from the High Priestess and
saluted her. La signaled to the girl who had
brought him, to depart, and then she turned ques-
tioningly to the man.

“ Speak, Dooth! ” she commanded.

“We all know,” he said, “of La’s love for the
strange ape-man, and it is not for me, a lesser
priest, to question the thoughts or acts of my High
Priestess. It is only for me to serve, as those
would do better to serve who now plot against
you.”

“What do you mean, Dooth? Who plots
against me?”

98

Tarzan and the Golden Lion

“Even at this minute are Cadj and Oah and
several of the priests and priestesses carrying out
a plan for your undoing. They are setting spies
to watch you, knowing that you would liberate the
ape-man, because there will come to you one who
will tell you that to permit him to escape will be
the easiest solution of your problem. This one
will be sent by Cadj, and then those who watch
you will report to the people and to the priests
that they have seen you lead the sacrifice to liberty.
But even that will avail you nothing, for Cadj and
Oah and the others have placed upon the trail from
Opar many men in hiding, who will fall upon the
ape-man and slay him before the Flaming God
has descended twice into the western forest. In
but one way only may you save yourself, La of
Opar.”

“And what is that way?” she asked.

“You must, with your own hands, upon the
altar of our temple, sacrifice the ape-man to the
Flaming God.”

CHAPTER VIII

MYSTERY OF THE PAST

L A HAD breakfasted the following morning,
j and had sent Dooth with food for Tarzan,
when there came to her a young priestess, who
was the sister of Oah. Even before the girl had
spoken La knew that she was an emissary from
Cadj, and that the treachery of which Dooth had
warned her was already under way. The girl was
ill at ease and quite evidently frightened, for she
was young and held in high revere the queen whom
she had good reason to know was all-powerful,
and who might even inflict death upon her if she
so wished. La, who had already determined upon
a plan of action that she knew would be most
embarrassing to Cadj and his conspirators, waited
in silence for the girl to speak. But it was some
time before the girl could muster up her courage
or find a proper opening. Instead, she spoke of
many things that had no bearing whatsoever upon
her subject, and La, the High Priestess, was
amused at her discomfiture.

“ It is not often,” said La, “ that the sister of
Oah comes to the apartments of her queen unless
she is bidden. I am glad to see that she at last

99

100 Tarzan and the Golden Lion

realizes the service that she owes to the High
Priestess of the Flaming God.”

“ I come,” said the girl, at last, speaking almost
as one who has learned a part, “to tell you that
I have overheard that which may be of interest
to you, and which I am sure that you will be glad
to hear.”

“Yes?” interrogated La, raising her arched
eyebrows.

“ I overheard Cadj speaking with the lesser
priests,” the girl continued, “ and I distinctly heard
him say that he would be glad if the ape-man
escaped, as that would relieve you, and Cadj as
well, of much embarrassment. I thought that La,
the queen, would be glad to know this, for it is
known by all of us that La has promised friend¬
ship to the ape-man, and therefore does not wish
to sacrifice him upon the altar of the Flaming
God.”

“ My duty is plain to me,” replied La, in a
haughty voice, “ and I do not need Cadj nor any
hand-maiden to interpret it to me. I also know
the prerogatives of a High Priestess, and that the
right of sacrifice is one of them. For this reason
I prevented Cadj from sacrificing the stranger.
No other hand than mine may offer his heart’s
blood to the Flaming God, and upon the third
day he shall die beneath my knife upon the altar
of our temple.”

The effect of these words upon the girl were
precisely what La had anticipated. She saw dis-

""'T*

Mystery of the Past

101

appointment and chagrin written upon the face of
Cadj’s messenger, who now had no answer, for
her instructions had not foreseen this attitude upon
the part of La. Presently the girl found some
lame pretext upon which to withdraw, and when
she had left the presence of the High Priestess,
La could scarcely restrain a smile. She had no
intention of sacrificing Tarzan, but this, of course,
the sister of Oah did not know. So she returned
to Cadj and repeated as nearly as she could recall
it, all that La had said to her. The High Priest
was much chagrined, for his plan had been now,
not so much to encompass the destruction of Tar¬
zan as to lead La into the commission of an act
that would bring upon her the wrath of the priests
and people of Opar, who, properly instigated,
would demand her life in expiation. Oah, who
was present when her sister returned, bit her lips,
for great was her disappointment. Never before
had she seen so close at hand the longed-for pos¬
sibility of becoming High Priestess. For several
minutes she paced to and fro in deep thought, and
then, suddenly, she halted before Cadj.

“ La loves this ape-man,” she said, “ and even
though she may sacrifice him, it is only because
of fear of her people. She loves him still — loves
him better, Cadj, than she has ever loved you.
The ape-man knows it, and trusts her, and because
he knows it there is a way. Listen, Cadj, to Oah.
We will send one to the ape-man who shall tell
him that she conies from La, and that La has

102 Tarzan and the Golden Lion

instructed her to lead him out of Opar and set
him free. This one shall lead him into our ambush
and when he is killed we shall go, many of us,
before La, and accuse her of treachery. The one
who led the ape-man from Opar shall say that
La ordered her to do it, and the priests and the
people will be very angry, and then you shall de¬
mand the life of La. It will be very easy and we
shall be rid of both of them.”

“Good!” exclaimed Cadj. “We shall do this
thing at dawn upon the morrow, and before the
Flaming God goes to his rest at night he shall
look upon a new High Priestess in Opar.”

That night Tarzan was aroused from his sleep
by a sound at one of the doors of his prison cell.
He heard the bolt slipped back and the door creak
slowly open upon its ancient hinges. In the inky
darkness he could discern no presence, but he heard
the stealthy movement of sandaled feet upon the
concrete floor, and then, out of the darkness, his
name was whispered, in a woman’s voice.

“I am here,” he replied. “Who are you and
what do you want of Tarzan of the Apes?”

“Your life is in danger,” replied the voice.
“ Come, follow me.”

“Who sent you?” demanded the ape-man, his
sensitive nostrils searching for a clue to the iden¬
tity of the nocturnal visitor, but so heavily was
the air laden with the pungent odor of some heavy
perfume with which the body of the woman seemed
to have been anointed, that there was no distin-

Mystery of the Past

103

guishing clue by which he might judge as to
whether she was one of the priestesses he had
known upon the occasion of his former visits to
Opar, or an entire stranger to him.

“ La sent me,” she said, “ to lead you from the
pits of Opar to the freedom of the outside world
beyond the city’s walls.” Groping in the darkness
she finally found him. “ Here are your weapons,”
she said, handing them to him, and then she took
his hand, turned and led him from the dungeon,
through a long, winding, and equally black cor¬
ridor, down flights of age-old concrete steps,
through passages and corridors, opening and clos¬
ing door after door that creaked and groaned
upon rusty hinges. How far they traveled thus,
and in what direction, Tarzan could not guess.
He had gleaned enough from Dooth, when the
latter brought him his food, to believe that in
La he had a friend who would aid him, for Dooth
had told him that she had saved him from Cadj
when the latter had discovered him unconscious
in the deserted boma of the Europeans who had
drugged and left him. And so, the woman hav¬
ing said that she came from La, Tarzan followed
her willingly. He could not but recall Jane’s
prophecy of the evils that he might expect to be¬
fall him should he persist in undertaking this third
trip to Opar, and he wondered if, after all, his
wife was right, that he should never again escape
from the toils of the fanatical priests of the Flam¬
ing God. He had not, of course, expected to enter

104 Tarzan and the Golden Lion

Opar, but there seemed to hang over the accursed
city a guardian demon that threatened the life of
whosoever dared approach the forbidden spot or
wrest from the forgotten treasure vaults a portion
of their great hoard.

For more than an hour his guide led him
through the Stygian darkness of underground
passages, until, ascending a flight of steps they
emerged into the center of a clump of bushes,
through which the pale light of the moon was
barely discernible. The fresh air, however, told
him that they had reached the surface of the
ground, and now the woman, who had not spoken
a word since she had led him from his cell, con¬
tinued on in silence, following a devious trail that
wound hither and thither in an erratic fashion
through a heavy forest choked with undergrowth,
and always upward.

From the location of the stars and moon, and
from the upward trend of the trail, Tarzan knew
that he was being led into the mountains that lie
behind Opar — a place he had never thought of
visiting, since the country appeared rough and
uninviting, and not likely to harbor game such as
Tarzan cared most to hunt. He was already sur¬
prised by the nature of the vegetation, for he had
thought the hills barren except for stunted trees
and scraggy bush. As they continued upon their
way, climbing ever upward, the moon rose higher
in the heavens, until its soft light revealed more
clearly to the keen eyes of the ape-man the topog-

Mystery of the Past

105

raphy of the country they were traversing, and
then it was that he saw they were ascending a
narrow, thickly wooded gorge, and he understood
why the heavy vegetation had been invisible from
the plain before Opar. Himself naturally un¬
communicative, the woman’s silence made no par¬
ticular impression upon Tarzan. Had he had
anything to say he should have said it, and like¬
wise he assumed that there was no necessity for
her speaking unless there was some good reason
for speaking, for those who travel far and fast
have no breath to waste upon conversation.

The eastern stars were fading at the first hint
of coming dawn when the two scrambled up a
precipitous bank that formed the upper end of the
ravine, and came out upon comparatively level
ground. As they advanced the sky lightened, and
presently the woman halted at the edge of a de¬
clivity, and as the day broke Tarzan saw below
him a wooded basin in the heart of the mountain,
and, showing through the trees at what appeared
to be some two or three miles distant, the outlines
of a building that glistened and sparkled and
scintillated in the light of the new sun. Then he
turned and looked at his companion, and surprise
and consternation were writ upon his face, for
standing before him was La, the High Priestess
of Opar.

“ You ? ” he exclaimed. “ Now indeed will Cadj
have the excuse that Dooth said he sought to put
you out of the way.”

106 Tarzan and the Golden Lion

“He will never have the opportunity to put me
out of the way,” replied La, “ for I shall never
return to Opar.”

“Never return to Opar!” he exclaimed, “then
where are you going? Where can you go?”

“ I am going with you,” she replied. “ I do not
ask that you love me. I only ask that you take
me away from Opar and from the enemies who
would slay me. There was no other way. Manu,
the monkey, overheard them plotting, and he
came to me and told me all that they would do.
Whether I saved you or sacrificed you, it had all
been the same with me. They were determined
to do away with me, that Oah might be High
Priestess and Cadj king of Opar. But I should
not have sacrificed you, Tarzan, under any circum¬
stances, and this, then, seemed the only way in
which we might both he saved. We could not go
to the north or the west across the plain of Opar
for there Cadj has placed warriors in ambush to
waylay you, and though you be Tarzan and a
mighty fighter, they would overwhelm you by their
very numbers and slay you.”

“But where are you leading me?” asked Tar¬
zan.

“I have chosen the lesser of two evils; in this
direction lies an unknown country, filled for us
Oparians with legends of grim monsters and
strange people. Never has an Oparian ventured
here and returned again to Opar. But if there;
lives in all the world a creature who could win

Mystery of the Past

107

through this unknown valley, it be you, Tarzan of
the Apes.”

“But if you know nothing of this country, or
its inhabitants,” demanded Tarzan, “how is it
that you so well know the trail that leads to it?”

“ We well know the trail to the summit, but that
is as far as I have ever been before. The great
apes and the lions use this trail when they come
down into Opar. The lions, of course, cannot tell
us where it leads, and the great apes will not, for
usually we are at war with them. Along this trail
they come down into Opar to steal our people,
and upon this trail we await to capture them, for
often we offer a great ape in sacrifice to the Flam¬
ing God, or rather that was our former custom,
but for many years they have been too wary for
us, the toll being upon the other side, though we
do not know for what purpose they steal our peo¬
ple, unless it be that they eat them. They are a
very powerful race, standing higher than Bolgani,
the gorilla, and infinitely more cunning, for, as
there is ape blood in our veins, so is there human
blood in the veins of these great apes that dwell
in the valley above Opar.”

“Why is it, La, that we must pass through this
valley in order to escape from Opar? There must
be some other way.”

“There is no other way, Tarzan of the Apes,”
she replied. “The avenues across the valley are
guarded by Cadj’s people. Our only chance of
iescape lies in this direction, and I have brought

108 Tarzan and the Golden Lion

you along the only trail that pierces the precipitous
cliffs that guard Opar upon the south. Across or
around this valley we must go in an attempt to
find an avenue across the mountain and down upon
the other side.”

The ape-man stood gazing down into the
wooded basin below them, his mind occupied with
the problems of the moment. Had he been alone
he would not have come this way, for he was suffi¬
ciently confident of his own prowess to believe that
he might easily have crossed the valley of Opar in
comparative safety, regardless of Cadj’s plans to
the contrary. But he was not alone. He had now
to think of La, and he realized that in her efforts
to save him she had placed him under a moral
obligation which he might not disregard.

To skirt the basin, keeping as far as possible
from the building, which he could see in the dis¬
tance, seemed the wisest course to pursue, since,
of course, his sole purpose was to find a way across
the mountain and out of this inhospitable country.
But the glimpses he caught of the edifice, half con¬
cealed as it was amid the foliage of great trees,
piqued his curiosity to such an extent that he felt
an almost irresistible urge to investigate. He did
not believe that the basin was inhabited by other
than wild beasts, and he attributed the building
which he saw to the handiwork of an extinct or
departed people, either contemporaneous with the
ancient Atlantians who had built Opar or, perhaps,
built by the original Oparians themselves, but now

Mystery of the Past

109

forgotten by their descendants. The glimpses
which he caught of the building suggested such
size and magnificence as might belong to a palace.

The ape-man knew no fear, though he possessed
to a reasonable extent that caution which is in¬
herent in all wild beasts. He would not have hesi¬
tated to pit his cunning and his prowess against
the lower orders, however ferocious they might
be, for, unlike man, they could not band together
to his undoing. But should men elect to hunt him
in numbers he knew that a real danger would con¬
front him, and that, in the face of their combined
strength and intelligence, his own might not avail
him. There was little likelihood, however, he rea¬
soned, that the basin was inhabited by human
beings. Doubtless closer investigation of the build¬
ing he saw would reveal that it was but a deserted
ruin, and that the most formidable foes he would
encounter would be the great apes and the lions.
Of neither of these had he any fear; with the
former it was even reasonable to imagine that he
might establish amicable relations. Believing as
he did that he must look for egress from the basin
upon its opposite side, it was only natural that he
should wish to choose the most direct route across
the basin. Therefore his inclinations to explore
the valley were seconded by considerations of
speed and expediency.

“ Come,” he said to La, and started down the
declivity which led into the basin in the direction
of the building ahead of them.

110 Tarzan and the Golden Lion

“You are not going that way?” she cried in
astonishment.

“Why not?” he said. “ It is the shortest way
across the valley, and in so far as I can judge our
trail over the mountains is more likely to lie in
that direction than elsewhere.”

“But I am afraid,” she said. “The Flaming
God alone knows what hideous dangers lurk in the
depths of that forest below us.”

“ Only Numa and the Mangani,” he said. “ Of
these we need have no fear.”

“ You fear nothing,” she said, “ but I am only
a woman.”

“We can die but once,” replied Tarzan, “and
that once we must die. To be always fearing,
then, would not avert it, and would make life
miserable. We shall go the short way, then, and
perhaps we shall see enough to make the risk well
worth while.”

They followed a well-worn trail downward
among the brush, the trees increasing in both size
and number as they approached the floor of the
basin, until at last they were walking beneath the
foliage of a great forest. What wind there was was
at their back, and the ape-man, though he moved at
a swinging walk, was constantly on the alert.
Upon the hard-packed earth of the trail there
were few signs to indicate the nature of the ani¬
mals that had passed to and fro, but here and
there the spoor of a lion was in evidence. Several
times Tarzan stopped and listened, often he raised

Mystery of the Past

111

his head and his sensitive nostrils dilated as he
sought for whatever the surrounding air might
hold for him.

“ I think there are men in this valley,” he said
presently. “ For some time I have been almost
positive that we are being watched. But whoever
is stalking us is clever beyond words, for it is only
the barest suggestion of another presence that I
can scent.”

La looked about apprehensively and drew close
to his side. “ I see no one,” she said, in a low
voice.

“ Nor I,” he replied. “ Nor can I catch any
well-defined scent spoor, yet I am positive that
someone is following us. Someone or something
that trails by scent, and is clever enough to keep
its scent from us. It is more than likely that, what¬
ever it is, it is passing through the trees, at a suffi¬
cient height to keep its scent spoor always above
us. The air is right for that, and even if he were
up wind from us we might not catch his scent at all.
Wait here, I will make sure,” and he swung lightly
into the branches of a nearby tree and swarmed
upward with the agility of Manu, the monkey. A
moment later he descended to the girl’s side.

“ I was right,” he said, “ there is someone, or
something, not far off. But whether it is man or
Mangani I cannot say, for the odor is a strange
one to me, suggesting neither, yet both. But two
can play at that game. Come!” And he swung
the girl to his shoulder and a moment later had

112 Tarzan and the Golden Lion

carried her high into the trees. “Unless he is
close enough to watch us, which I doubt,” he said,
“our spoor will be carried over his head and it
will be some time before he can pick it up again,
unless he is wise enough to rise to a higher level.”

La marveled at the strength of the ape-man as
he carried her easily from tree to tree, and at the
speed with which he traversed the swaying, leafy
trail. For half an hour he continued onward, and
then quite suddenly he stopped, poised high upon
a swaying bough.

“Look!” he said, pointing ahead and below
them. Looking in the direction that he indicated
the girl saw through the leafy foliage a small,
heavily stockaded compound, in which were some
dozen huts that immediately riveted her surprised
attention, nor no less was the ape-man’s curiosity
piqued by what he glimpsed vaguely through the
foliage. Huts they evidently were, but they
seemed to be moving to and fro in the air, some
moving gently backward and forward, while others
jumped up and down in more or less violent agita¬
tion. Tarzan swung to a nearer tree and de¬
scended to a sturdy branch, to which he lowered
La from his shoulder. Then he crept forward
stealthily, the girl following, for she was, in com¬
mon with the other Oparians, slightly arboreal.
Presently they reached a point where they could
see plainly the village below them, and immediately
the seeming mystery of the dancing huts was ex¬
plained.

Mystery of the Past

113

They were of the bee-hive type, common to
many African tribes, and were about seven feet in
diameter by six or seven in height, but instead of
resting on the ground, each hut was suspended
by a heavy hawser-like grass rope to a branch of
one of the several giant trees that grew within
the stockade. From the center of the bottom of
each hut trailed another lighter rope. From his
position above them Tarzan saw no openings in
any of the huts large enough to admit the body
of a man, though there were several openings four
or five inches in diameter in the sides of each
hut about three feet above the floor. Upon the
ground, inside the compound, were several of the
inhabitants of the village, if the little collection
of swinging houses could be dignified by such a
name. Nor were the people any less strange to
Tarzan than their peculiar domiciles. That they
were negroes was evident, but of a type entirely
unfamiliar to the ape-man. All were naked, and
without any ornamentation whatsoever other than
a few daubs of color, placed apparently at random
upon their bodies. They were tall, and very mus¬
cular appearing, though their legs seemed much
too short and their arms too long for perfect
symmetry, while their faces were almost bestial
in contour, their jaws being exaggeratedly prog¬
nathous while above their beetling brows there was
no forehead, the skull running back in an almost
horizontal plane to a point.

As Tarzan stood looking at them he saw an-

114 Tarzan and the Golden Lion

other descend one of the ropes that dangled from
the bottom of a hut, and immediately he under¬
stood the purpose of the ropes and the location
of the entrances to the dwellings. The creatures
squatting about upon their haunches were engaged
in feeding. Several had bones from which they
were tearing the uncooked flesh with their great
teeth, while others ate fruit and tubers. There
were individuals of both sexes and of various ages,
from childhood to maturity, but there was none
that seemed very old. They were practically hair¬
less, except for scraggy, reddish brown locks upon
their heads. They spoke but seldom and then in
tones which resembled the growling of beasts, nor
once, while Tarzan watched them, did he see one
laugh or even smile, which, of all their traits,
rendered them most unlike the average native of
Africa. Though Tarzan’s eyes searched the com¬
pound carefully he saw no indication of cooking
utensils or of any fire. Upon the ground about
them lay their weapons, short javelin-like spears
and a sort of battle-ax with a sharpened, metal
blade. Tarzan of the Apes was glad that he had
come this way, for it had permitted him to see
such a type of native as he had not dreamed
existed — a type so low that it bordered closely
upon the brute. Even the Waz-dons and Ho-dons
of Pal-ul-don were far advanced in the scale of
evolution compared to these.

As he looked at them he could not but wonder
that they were sufficiently intelligent to manufac-

Mystery of the Past

115

ture the weapons they possessed, which he could
see, even at a distance, were of fine workmanship
and design. Their huts, too, seemed well and
ingeniously made, while the stockade which sur¬
rounded the little compound was tall, strong, and
well-built, evidently for the purpose of safeguard¬
ing them against the lions which infested the basin.

As Tarzan and La watched these people they
became presently aware of the approach of some
creature from their left, and a moment later they
saw a man similar to those of the compound swing
from a tree that overhung the stockade and drop
within. The others acknowledged his coming with
scarce more than indifferent glances. He came
forward and, squatting among them, appeared to
be telling them of something, and though Tarzan
could not hear his words he judged from his ges¬
tures and the sign language which he used to sup¬
plement his meager speech, that he was telling his
fellows of the strange creatures he had seen in
the forest a short time before, and the ape-man
immediately judged that this was the same whom
he had been aware was following them and whom
he had successfully put off the scent. The narra¬
tion evidently excited them, for some of them
arose, and leaping up and down with bent knees,
slapped their arms against their sides grotesquely.
The expressions upon their faces scarcely changed,
however, and after a moment each squatted down
again as he had been before.

It was while they were thus engaged that there

116 Tarzan and the Golden Lion

echoed through the forest a loud scream that
awakened in the mind of the ape-man many savage
memories.

“Bolgani,” he whispered to La.

“ It is one of the great apes,” she said, and
shuddered.

Presently they saw him, swinging down the
jungle trail toward the compound. A huge gorilla,
but such a gorilla as Tarzan of the Apes had never
looked on before. Of almost gigantic stature, the
creature was walking erect with the stride of a
man, not ever once touching his knuckles to the
ground. His head and face were almost those
of a gorilla, and yet there was a difference, as
Tarzan could note as the creature came nearer — it
was Bolgani, with the soul and brain of a man —
nor was this all that rendered the creature startling
and unique. Stranger perhaps than aught else was
the fact that it wore ornaments — and such orna¬
ments ! Gold and diamonds sparkled against its
shaggy coat, above its elbows were numerous arm-
lets and there were anklets upon its legs, while
from a girdle about its middle there depended
before and behind a long narrow strip that almost
touched the ground and which seemed to be en¬
tirely constructed of golden spangles set with
small diamonds. Never before had John Clay¬
ton, Lord Greystoke, seen such a display of bar¬
baric finery, nor even amidst the jewels of Opar
such a wealth of priceless stones.

Immediately after the hideous scream had first

Mystery of the Past

117

broken the comparative silence of the forest, Tar-
zan had noticed its effects upon the inmates of the
compound. Instantly they had arisen to their
feet. The women and children scurried behind
the boles of the trees or clambered up the ropes
into their swinging cages, while some of the men
advanced to what Tarzan now saw was the gate
of the compound. Outside this gate the gorilla
halted and again raised his voice, but this time in
speech rather than his hideous scream.

CHAPTER IX

THE SHAFT OF DEATH

THE huge, man-like gorilla entered the com-

jT\. pound the warriors closed the gate, and fell
back respectfully as he advanced to the center of
the village where he stood for a moment, looking

about.

“ Where are the shes and the balus? ” he asked,
tersely. “ Call them.”

The women and the children must have heard
the command, but they did not emerge from their
hiding places. The warriors moved about uneasily,
evidently torn by the conflicting emotions of fear
of the creature who had issued the order, and
reluctance to fulfil his commands.

“ Call them,” he repeated, “ or go and fetch
them.” But at last one of the warriors mustered
the courage to address him.

“ This village has already furnished one woman
within the moon,” he said. “ It is the turn of
another village.”

“ Silence! ” roared the gorilla-man, advancing
threateningly toward him. “You are a rash
Gomangani to threaten the will of a Bolgani — I
speak with the voice of Numa, the Emperor; obey

or die.”

118

The Shaft of Death

119

Trembling, the black turned and called the
women and children, but none responded to his
summons. The Bolgani gestured impatiently.

“Go and fetch them,” he demanded. And the
blacks, cringing, moved sullenly across the com¬
pound toward the hiding places of their women
and children. Presently they returned, dragging
them with them, by the arms sometimes, but usually
by the hair. Although they had seemed loath to
give them up, they showed no gentleness toward
them, nor any indication of affection. Their atti¬
tude toward them, however, was presently ex¬
plained to Tarzan by the next words of the warrior
who had spoken previously.

“ Great Bolgani,” he said, addressing the gorilla-
man, “ if Numa takes always from this village,
there will soon be not enough women for the
warriors here, and there will be too few children,
and in a little time there will be none of us left.”

“What of that?” growled the gorilla-man.
“There are already too many Gomangani in the
world. For what other purpose were you created
than to serve Numa, the Emperor, and his chosen
people, the Bolgani?” As he spoke he was
examining the women and children, pinching their
flesh and pounding upon their chests and backs.
Presently he returned to a comparatively young
woman, straddling whose hip was a small child.

“This one will do,” he said, snatching the child
from its mother and hurling it roughly across the
compound, where it lay against the face of the

120 Tarzan and the Golden Lion

palisade, moaning pitifully, and perchance broken
and dying. The poor, stupid mother, apparently
more beast than human, stood for a moment
trembling in dumb anguish, and then she started
to rush forward to her child. But the gorilla-
man seized her with one of his great hands and
hurled her to the ground. Simultaneously there
arose from the silent foliage above them the fierce
and terrible scream of the challenging bull ape.
In terror the simple blacks cast affrighted glances
upward, while the gorilla-man raised his hideous
face in snarling anger toward the author of the
bestial cry.

Swaying upon a leafy bough they beheld such
a creature as none of them had ever looked upon
before — a white man, a Tarmangani, with hide
as hairless as the body of Histah, the snake. In
the instant that they looked they saw the spear
hand of the stranger drive forward, and the shaft,
speeding with the swiftness of thought, bury itself
in the breast of the Bolgani. With a single scream
of rage and pain, the gorilla-man crumbled to the
earth, where he struggled spasmodically for a
moment and then lay still, in death.

The ape-man held no great love for the Goman-
gani as a race, but inherent in his English brain
and heart was the spirit of fair play, which
prompted him to spontaneous espousal of the
cause of the weak. On the other hand Bolgani
was his hereditary enemy. His first battle had
been with Bolgani, and his first kill.

The Shaft of Death

121

The poor blacks were still standing in stupefied
wonderment when he dropped from the tree to
the ground among them. They stepped back in
terror, and simultaneously they raised their spears
menacingly against him.

“I am a friend,” he said. “I am Tarzan of
the Apes. Lower your spears.” And then he
turned and withdrew his own weapon from the
carcass of Bolgani. “ Who is this creature, that
may come into your village and slay your balus
and steal your shes? Who is he, that you dare
not drive your spears through him?”

“He is one of the great Bolgani,” said the
warrior, who seemed to be spokesman, and the
leader in the village. “He is one of the chosen
people of Numa, the Emperor, and when Numa
learns that he has been killed in our village we
shall all die for what you have done.”

“Who is Numa?” demanded the ape-man, to
whom Numa, in the language of the great apes,
meant only lion.

“Numa is the Emperor,” replied the black,
“who lives with the Bolgani in the Palace of
Diamonds.”

He did not express himself in just these words,
for the meager language of the great apes, even
though amplified by the higher intelligence and
greater development of the Oparians, is still primi¬
tive in the extreme. What he had really said was
more nearly “ Numa, the king of kings, who lives
in the king’s hut of glittering stones,” which carried

122 Tarzan and the Golden Lion

to the ape-man’s mind the faithful impression of
the fact. Numa, evidently, was the name adopted
by the king of the Bolgani, and the title emperor,
indicated merely his preeminence among the chiefs.

The instant that Bolgani had fallen the bereaved
mother rushed forward and gathered her injured
infant into her arms. She squatted now against
the palisade, cuddling it to her breast, and croon¬
ing softly to pacify its cries, which Tarzan sud¬
denly discovered were more the result of fright
than injury. At first the mother had been
frightened when he had attempted to examine the
child, drawing away and baring her fighting fangs,
much after the manner of a wild beast. But
presently there had seemed to come to her dull
brain a realization that this creature had saved
her from Bolgani, that he had permitted her to
recover her infant and that he was making no
effort to harm either of them. Convinced at last
that the child was only bruised, Tarzan turned
again toward the warriors, who were talking to¬
gether in an excited little group a few paces away.
As they saw him advancing, they spread into a
semi-circle and stood facing him.

“The Bolgani will send and slay us all,” they
said, “ when they learn what has happened in our
village, unless we can take to them the creature
that cast the spear. Therefore, Tarmangani, you
shall go with us to the Palace of Diamonds, and
there we shall give you over to the Bolgani and
perhaps Numa will forgive us.”

The Shaft of Death

123

The ape-man smiled. What kind of creature
did the simple blacks think him, to believe that
he would permit himself to be easily led into the
avenging hands of Numa, the Emperor of the
Bolgani. Although he was fully aware of the
risk that he had taken in entering the village, he
knew too that because he was Tarzan of the Apes
there was a greater chance that he would be able
to escape than that they could hold him. He had
faced savage spearmen before and knew precisely
what to expect in the event of hostilities. He pre¬
ferred, however, to make peace with these people,
for it had been in his mind to find some means
of questioning them the moment that he had dis¬
covered their village hidden away in this wild
forest.

“Wait,” he said, therefore. “Would you be¬
tray a friend who enters your village to protect
you from an enemy?”

“We will not slay you, Tarmangani. We will
take you to the Bolgani for Numa, the Emperor.”

“ But that would amount to the same thing,”
returned Tarzan, “ for you well know that Numa,
the Emperor, will have me slain.”

“ That we cannot help,” replied the spokesman.
“If we could save you we would, but when the
Bolgani discover what has happened in our village,
it is we who must suffer, unless, perhaps, they are
satisfied to punish you instead.”

“ But why need they know that the Bolgani
has been slain in your village?” asked Tarzan.

124

Tarzan and the Golden Lion

“Will they not see his body next time they
come?” asked the spokesman.

“Not if you remove his body,” replied Tarzan.

The blacks scratched their heads. Into their
dull, ignorant minds had crept no such suggestion
of a solution of their problem. What the stranger
said was true. None but they and he knew that
Bolgani had been slain within their palisade. To
remove the body, then, would be to remove all
suspicion from their village. But where were they
to take it? They put the question to Tarzan.

“ I will dispose of him for you,” replied the
Tarmangani. “Answer my questions truthfully
and I will promise to take him away and dispose
of him in such a manner that no one will know
how he died, or where.”

“What are your questions?” asked the spokes¬
man.

“ I am a stranger in your country. I am lost
here,” replied the ape-man. “And I would find
a way out of the valley in that direction.” And
he pointed toward the southeast.

The black shook his head. “There may be a
way out of the valley in that direction,” he said,
“but what lies beyond no man knows, nor do I
know whether there be a way out or whether there
be anything beyond. It is said that all is fire
beyond the mountain, and no one dares to go and
see. As for myself, I have never been far from
my village — at most only a day’s march to hunt
for game for the Bolgani, and to gather fruit and

The Shaft of Death

125

nuts and plantains for them. If there is a way
out I do not know, nor would any man dare take
it if there were.”

“Does no one ever leave the valley?” asked
Tarzan.

“ I know not what others do,” replied the
spokesman, “ but those of this village never leave
the valley.”

“What lies in that direction?” asked Tarzan,
pointing toward Opar.

“ I do not know,” replied the black, “only that
sometimes the Bolgani come from that way, bring¬
ing with them strange creatures; little men with
white skins and much hair, with short, crooked
legs and long arms, and sometimes white shes, who
do not look at all like the strange little Tarman-
gani. But where they get them I do not know, nor
do they ever tell us. Are these all the questions
that you wish to ask?”

“Yes, that is all,” replied Tarzan, seeing that
he could gain no information whatsoever from
these ignorant villagers. Realizing that he must
find his own way out of the valley, and knowing
that he could do so much more quickly and safely
if he was alone, he decided to sound the blacks
in relation to a plan that had entered his mind.

“ If I take the Bolgani away, so that the others
will not know that he was slain in your village,
will you treat me as a friend?” he asked.

“Yes,” replied the spokesman.

“Then,” said Tarzan, “will you keep here for

126 Tarzan and the Golden Lion

me my white she until I return again to your
village? You can hide her in one of your huts
if a Bolgani comes, and no one need ever know
that she is among you. What do you say?”

The blacks looked around. “We do not see
her,” said the spokesman. “Where is she?”

“ If you will promise to protect her and hide
her, I will bring her here,” replied the ape-man.

“ I will not harm her,” said the head man, “ but
I do not know about the others.”

Tarzan turned toward the others who were
clustered about, listening. “ I am going to bring
my mate into your village,” he said, “and you
are going to hide her, and feed her, and protect
her until I return. I shall take away the body of
Bolgani, so that no suspicion shall fall upon you,
and when I come back I shall expect to find my
mate safe and unharmed.”

He had thought it best to describe La as his
mate, since thus they might understand that she
was under his protection, and if they felt either
gratitude or fear toward him, La would be safer.
Raising his face toward the tree where she was
hidden, he called to La to descend, and a moment
later she clambered down to the lower branches
of one of the trees in the compound and dropped
into Tarzan’s arms.

“This is she,” he said to the assembled blacks,
“ guard her well and hide her from the Bolgani.
If, upon my return, I find that any harm has be¬
fallen her, I shall take word to the Bolgani that

The Shaft of Death

127

it was you who did this,” and he pointed to the
corpse of the gorilla-man.

La turned appealingly toward him, fear show¬
ing in her eyes. “ You are not going to leave me
here?” she asked.

“Temporarily only,” replied Tarzan. “These
poor people are afraid that if the death of this
creature is traced to their village they shall all
suffer the wrath of his fellows, and so I have
promised that I will remove the evidence in such
a way as to direct suspicion elsewhere. If they
are sufficiently high in the scale of evolution to
harbor sentiments of gratitude, which I doubt, they
will feel obligated to me for having slain this
beast, as well as for preventing suspicion falling
upon them. For these reasons they should protect
you, but to make assurance doubly sure I have
appealed also to their fear of the Bolgani — a
characteristic which I know they possess. I am
sure that you will be as safe here as with me
until I return, otherwise I would not leave you.
But alone I can travel much faster, and while I
am gone I intend to find a way out of this valley,
then I shall return for you and together we may
make our escape easily, or at least with greater
assurance of success than were we to blunder slowly
about together.”

“You will come back?” she asked, a note of
fear, longing, and appeal in her voice.

“ I will come back,” he replied, and then turning
to the blacks: “Clear out one of these huts for

128 Tarzan and the Golden Lion

my mate, and see that she is not molested, and
that she is furnished with food and water. And
remember what I said, upon her safety your lives
depend.”

Stooping, Tarzan lifted the dead gorilla-man
to his shoulder, and the simple blacks marveled
at his prowess. Of great physical strength them¬
selves, there was not one of them but would
have staggered under the weight of Bolgani, yet
this strange Tarmangani walked easily beneath his
burden, and when they had opened the gate in the
palisade he trotted down the jungle trail as though
he carried nothing but his own frame. A moment
later he disappeared at a turn and was swallowed
by the forest.

La turned to the blacks: “Prepare my hut,”
she said, for she was very tired and longed to rest.
They eyed her askance and whispered among them¬
selves. It was evident to her that there was a
difference of opinion among them, and presently
from snatches of conversation which she over¬
heard she realized that while some of the blacks
were in favor of obeying Tarzan’s injunctions im¬
plicitly, there were others who objected strenuously
and who wished to rid their village of her, lest she
be discovered there by the Bolgani, and the vil¬
lagers be punished accordingly.

“ It would be better,” she heard one of the
blacks say, “ to turn her over to the Bolgani at
once and tell them that we saw her mate slay
the messenger of Numa. We will say that we

The Shaft of Death

129

tried to capture the Tarmangani but that he
escaped, and that we were only able to seize his
mate. Thus will we win the favor of Numa, and
perhaps then he will not take so many of our
women and children.”

“But the Tarmangani is great,” replied one of
the others. “ He is more powerful even than
Bolgani. He would make a terrible enemy, and,
as the chances are that the Bolgani would not
believe us we should then have not only them
but the Tarmangani to fear.”

“You are right,” cried La, “the Tarmangani
is great. Far better will it be for you to have him
for friend than enemy. Single-handed he grapples
with Numa, the lion, and slays him. You saw
with what ease he lifted the body of the mighty
Bolgani to his shoulder. You saw him trot lightly
down the jungle trail beneath his burden. With
equal ease will he carry the corpse through the
trees of the forest, far above the ground. In all
the world there is no other like him, no other like
Tarzan of the Apes. If you are wise, Gomangani,
you will have Tarzan for a friend.”

The blacks listened to her, their dull faces re¬
vealing nothing of what was passing in their stupid
brains. For a few moments they stood thus in
silence, the hulking, ignorant blacks upon one side,
the slender, beautiful white woman upon the other.
Then La spoke.

“ Go,” she cried imperiously, “ and prepare my
hut.” It was the High Priestess of the Flaming

130 Tarzan and the Golden Lion

God; La, the queen of Opar, addressing slaves.
Her regal mien, her commanding tones, wrought
an instant change in the villagers, and La knew
then that Tarzan was right in his assumption that
they could be moved only through fear, for now
they turned quickly, cowering like whipped dogs,
and hastened to a nearby hut, which they quickly
prepared for her, fetching fresh leaves and grasses
for its floor, and fruit and nuts and plantains for
her meal.

When all was ready, La clambered up the rope
and through the circular opening in the floor of
the hanging hut, which she found large and airy,
and now reasonably clean. She drew the rope up
after her and threw herself upon the soft bed they
had prepared for her, and soon the gentle swaying
of the swinging hut, the soft murmur of the leaves
above her, the voices of the birds and insects com¬
bined with her own physical exhaustion to lull her
into deep slumber.

CHAPTER X

MAD TREACHERY

O THE northwest of the valley of Opar the

X smoke rose from the cook fires of a camp
in which some hundred blacks and six whites were
eating their evening meal. The negroes squatted
sullen and morose, mumbling together in low tones
over their meager fare, the whites, scowling and
apprehensive, kept their firearms close at hand.
One of them, a girl, and the only member of her
sex in the party, was addressing her fellows:

“We have Adolph’s stinginess and Esteban’s
braggadocio to thank for the condition in which
we are,” she said.

The fat Bluber shrugged his shoulder, the big
Spaniard scowled.

“ For vy,” asked Adolph, “ am I to blame? ”

“ You were too stingy to employ enough carriers.
I told you at the time that we ought to have had
two hundred blacks in our party, but you wanted
to save a little money, and now what is the result?
Fifty men carrying eighty pounds of gold apiece
and the other carriers are overburdened with camp
equipment, while there are scarce enough left for
askari to guard us properly. We have to drive

131

132 Tarzan and the Golden Lion

them like beasts to make any progress and to keep
them from throwing away their loads, and they
are fagged out and angry. They don’t require
much of an excuse to kill us all on the spot. On
top of all this they are underfed. If we could
keep their bellies filled we could probably keep
them happy and reasonably contented, but I have
learned enough about natives to know that if they
are hungry they are neither happy nor contented,
even in idleness. If Esteban had not bragged so
much about his prowess as a hunter we should have
brought enough provisions to last us through, but
now, though we are barely started upon our return
journey, we are upon less than half rations.”

“ I can’t kill game when there isn’t any game,”
growled the Spaniard.

“There is plenty of game,” said Kraski, the
Russian. “We see the tracks of it every day.”

The Spaniard eyed him venomously. “ If there
is so much game,” he said, “go out and get it
yourself.”

“ I never claimed to be a hunter,” replied
Kraski, “ though I could go out with a sling shot
and a pea shooter and do as well as you have.”

The Spaniard leaped to his feet menacingly, and
instantly the Russian covered him with a heavy
service revolver.

“ Cut that business,” cried the girl, sharply, leap¬
ing between them.

“ Let the blighters fight,” growled John Peebles.
“If one of ’em.kills the hother there’ll be fewer

Mad Treachery

133

to split the swag, and ’ere we are ’n that’s that”

“ For vy should ve quarrel? ” demanded Bluber.
“ Dere is enough for all — over forty-tree t’ousand
pounds apiece. Ven you get mad at me you call
me a dirty Jew und say dat I am stingy, but Mein
Gott! you Christians are vorser. You vould kill
vun of your friends to get more money. Oil Oi!
tank Gott dat I am not a Christian.”

“Shut up,” growled Throck, “or we’ll have
forty-three thousand pounds more to divide.”

Bluber eyed the big Englishman fearfully.
“ Come, come, Dick,” he oozed, in his oiliest tones,
“ you vouldn’t get mad at a leedle choke vould you,
und me your best friend? ”

“ I’m sick of all this grousin’,” said Throck. “ I
h’ain’t no high-brow, I h’ain’t nothin’ but a pug.
But I got sense enough to know that Flora’s the
only one in the bloomin’ bunch whose brains
wouldn’t rattle around in a peanut shell. John,
Bluber, Kraski and me, we’re here because we
could raise the money to carry out Flora’s plan.
The dago there”—and he indicated Esteban —
“ because his face and his figure filled the bill.
There don’t any of us need no brains for this work,
and there ain’t any of us got any more brains than
we need. Flora’s the brains of this outfit, and the
sooner everyone understands that and takes orders
from her, the better off we’ll all be. She’s been to
Africa with this Lord Greystoke feller before —
you wuz his wife’s maid, wasn’t you, Flora ? And
she knows somethin’ about the country and the

134 Tarzan and the Golden Lion

natives and the animals, and there don’t none of us
know nuttin’.”

“ Throck is right,” said Kraski, quickly, “ we’ve
been muddling long enough. We haven’t had a
boss, and the thing to do is to make Flora boss
from now on. If anyone can get us out of this, she
can, and from the way those fellows over there are
acting,” and he nodded toward the blacks, “we’ll
be lucky if we ever get out with our skins, let alone
taking any of the gold with us.”

“Oil Oil You don’t mean to leave the gold?”
almost shrieked Bluber.

“ I mean that we do whatever Flora thinks
best,” replied Kraski. “ If she says to leave the
gold, we’ll leave it.”

“ That we do,” seconded Throck.

“I’m for it,” said Peebles. “Whatever Flora
says goes.”

The Spaniard nodded his assent sullenly.

“The rest of us are all for it, Bluber. How
about you?” asked Kraski.

“O veil — sure — if you say so,” said Bluber,
“und as John says ‘und here ve ain’t und vat’s
dat.’”

“And now, Flora,” said Peebles, “you’re the
big ’un. What you say goes. What’ll we do
next? ”

“ Very well,” said the girl; “ we shall camp here
until these men are rested, and early tomorrow
we’ll start out intelligently and systematically, and
get meat for them. With their help we can do it.

Mad Treachery

135

When they are rested and well fed we will start on
again for the coast, moving very slowly, so as not
to tire them too much. This is my first plan, but it
all hinges upon our ability to get meat. If we do
not find it I shall bury the gold here, and we will
do our best to reach the coast as quickly as possi¬
ble. There we shall recruit new porters — twice as
many as we have now — and purchase enough pro¬
visions to carry us in and out again. As we come
back in, we will cache provisions at every camping
place for our return trip, thus saving the necessity
of carrying heavy loads all the way in and out
again. In this way we can come out light, with
twice as many porters as we actually need. And
by working them in shifts we will travel much
faster and there will be no grumbling. These are
my two plans. I am not asking you what you think
of them, because I do not care. You have made me
chief, and I am going to run this from now on as
I think best.”

“Bully for you,” roared Peebles; “that’s the
kind of talk I likes to hear.”

“Tell the head man I want to see him, Carl,”
said the girl, turning to Kraski, and a moment later
the Russian returned with a burly negro.

“ Owaza,” said the girl, as the black halted be¬
fore her, “ we are short of food and the men are
burdened with loads twice as heavy as they should
carry. Tell them that we shall wait here until they
are rested and that tomorrow we shall all go out
and hunt for meat. You will send your boys out

136 Tarzan and the Golden Lion

under three good men, and they will act as beaters
and drive the game in to us. In this way we should
get plenty of meat, and when the men are rested
and well fed we will move on slowly. Where game
is plentiful we will hunt and rest. Tell them that
if they do this and we reach the coast in safety and
with all our loads, I shall pay them twice what they
agreed to come for.”

“Oil Oil” spluttered Bluber, “twice vat dey
agreed to come for! Oh, Flora, vy not offer dem
ten per cent? Dot vould be fine interest on their
money.”

“ Shut up, you fool,” snapped Kraski, and Blu¬
ber subsided, though he rocked back and forth,
shaking his head in disapproval.

The black, who had presented himself for the
interview with sullen and scowling demeanor,
brightened visibly now. “ I will tell them,” he said,
“ and I think that you will have no more trouble.”

“ Good,” said Flora, “ go and tell them now,”
and the black turned and left.

“ There,” said the girl, with a sigh of relief, “ I
believe that we can see light ahead at last.”

“ Tvice vat ve promised to pay them! ” bawled
Bluber, “Oil Oi! >>

Early the following morning they prepared to
set out upon the hunt. The blacks were now smil¬
ing and happy in anticipation of plenty of meat,
and as they tramped off into the jungle they were
singing gayly. Flora had divided them into three
parties, each under a head man, with explicit direc-

Mad Treachery

137

tions for the position each party was to take in the
line of beaters. Others had been detailed to the
whites as gun-bearers, while a small party of the
askari were left behind to guard the camp. The
whites, with the exception of Esteban, were armed
with rifles. He alone seemed inclined to question
Flora’s authority, insisting that he preferred to
hunt with spear and arrows in keeping with the
part he was playing. The fact that, though he had
hunted assiduously for weeks, yet had never
brought in a single kill, was not sufficient to
dampen his egotism. So genuinely had he entered
his part that he really thought he was Tarzan of
the Apes, and with such fidelity had he equipped
himself in every detail, and such a master of the
art of make-up was he, that, in conjunction with his
splendid figure and his handsome face that were
almost a counterpart of Tarzan’s, it was scarcely
to be wondered at that he almost fooled himself as
successfully as he had fooled others, for there w’ere
men among the carriers who had known the great
ape-man, and even these were deceived, though
they wondered at the change in him, since in little
things he did not deport himself as Tarzan, and
in the matter of kills he was disappointing.

Flora Hawkes, who was endowed with more
than a fair share of intelligence, realized that it
would not be well to cross any of her companions
unnecessarily, and so she permitted Esteban to
hunt that morning in his own way, though some of
the others grumbled a little at her decision.

138 Tarzan and the Golden Lion

“What is the difference?” she asked them,
after the Spaniard had set out alone. “The
chances are that he could use a rifle no better than
he uses his spear and arrows. Carl and Dick are
really the only shots among us, and it is upon them
we depend principally for the success of our hunt
today. Esteban’s egotism has been so badly bumped
that it is possible that he will go to the last ex¬
tremity to make a kill today — let us hope that he
is successful.”

“ I hope he breaks his fool neck,” said Kraski.
“ He has served our purpose and we would be bet¬
ter off if we were rid of him.”

The girl shook her head negatively. “ No,” she
said, “we must not think or speak of anything of
that kind. We went into this thing together, let
us stick together until the end. If you are wishing
that one of us is dead, how do you know that
others are not wishing that you were dead?”

“ I haven’t any doubt but that Miranda wishes I
were dead,” replied Kraski. “ I never go to bed
at night without thinking that the damned greaser
may try to stick a knife into me before morning.
And it don’t make me feel any kinder toward him
to hear you defending him, Flora. You’ve been a
bit soft on him from the start.”

“ If I have, it’s none of your business,” retorted
the girl.

And so they started out upon their hunt, the
Russian scowling and angry, harboring thoughts of
vengeance or worse against Esteban, and Esteban,

Mad Treachery

139

hunting through the jungle, was occupied with his
hatred and his jealousy. His dark mind was open
to every chance suggestion of a means for putting
the other men of the party out of the way, and
taking the woman and the gold for himself. He
hated them all; in each he saw a possible rival for
the affections of Flora, and in the death of each he
saw not only one less suitor for the girl’s affec¬
tions, but forty-three thousand additional pounds to
be divided among fewer people. His mind was
thus occupied to the exclusion of the business of
hunting, which should have occupied him solely,
when he came through a patch of heavy under¬
brush, and stepped into the glaring sunlight of a
large clearing, face to face with a party of some
fifty magnificent ebon warriors. For just an in¬
stant Esteban stood frozen in a paralysis of terror,
forgetting momentarily the part he was playing —
thinking of himself only as a lone white man in the
heart of savage Africa facing a large band of war¬
like natives — cannibals, perhaps. It was that mo¬
ment of utter silence and inaction that saved him,
for, as he stood thus before them, the Waziri saw
in the silent, majestic figure their beloved lord in a
characteristic pose.

“O Bwana, Bwana,” cried one of the war¬
riors, rushing forward, “ it is indeed you, Tarzan
of the Apes, Lord of the Jungle, whom we had
given up as lost. We, your faithful Waziri, have
been searching for you, and even now we were
about to dare the dangers of Opar, fearing that

140 Tarzan and the Golden Lion

you might have ventured there without us and
had been captured.”

The black, who had at one time accompanied
Tarzan to London as a body servant, spoke broken
English, an accomplishment of which he was inor¬
dinately proud, losing no opportunity to air his at¬
tainment before his less fortunate fellows. The
fact that it had been he whom fate had chosen to
act as spokesman was indeed a fortunate circum¬
stance to Miranda. Although the latter had ap¬
plied himself assiduously to mastering the dialect
of the west coast carriers, he would have been hard
put to it to carry on a conversation with one of
them, while he understood nothing of the Waziri
tongue. Flora had schooled him carefully and
well in the lore of Tarzan, so that he realized now
that he was in the presence of a band of the ape-
man’s faithful Waziri. Never before had he seen
such magnificent blacks — clean-cut, powerful men,
with intelligent faces and well molded features,
appearing as much higher in the scale of evolution
as were the west coast blacks above the apes.
Lucky indeed was Esteban Miranda that he was
quick witted and a consummate actor. Otherwise
must he have betrayed his terror and his chagrin
upon learning that this band of Tarzan’s fierce
and faithful followers was in this part of the coun¬
try. For a moment longer he stood in silence
before them, gathering his wits, and then he spoke,
realizing that his very life depended upon his
plausibility. And as he thought a great light broke

Mad Treachery

141

upon the shrewd brain of the unscrupulous Span¬
iard.

“ Since I last saw you,” he said, “ I discovered
that a party of white men had entered the country
for the purpose of robbing the treasure vaults of
Opar. I followed them until I found their camp,
and then I came in search of you, for there are
many of them and they have many ingots of gold,
for they have already been to Opar. Follow me,
and we will raid their camp and take the gold from
them. Come! ” and he turned back toward the
camp that he had just quitted.

As they made their way along the jungle trail,
Usula, the Waziri who had spoken English to him,
walked at Esteban’s side. Behind them the Span¬
iard could hear the other warriors speaking in their
native tongue, no word of which he understood,
and it occurred to him that his position would
be most embarrassing should he be addressed in
the Waziri language, w T hich, of course, Tarzan
must have understood perfectly. As he listened to
the chatter of Usula his mind was working rapidly,
and presently, as though it were an inspiration,
there recurred to him the memory of an accident
that had befallen Tarzan, which had been narrated
to him by Flora — the story of the injury he had
received in the treasure vaults of Opar upon the
occasion that he had lost his memory because of
a blow upon the head. Esteban wondered if he
had committed himself too deeply at first to attrib¬
ute to amnesia any shortcomings in the portrayal

142 Tarzan and the Golden Lion

of the role he was acting. At its worst, however,
it seemed to him the best that he could do. He
turned suddenly upon Usula.

“ Do you remember,” he asked, “ the accident
that befell me in the treasure vaults of Opar, de¬
priving me of my memory?”

“Yes, Bwana, I remember it well,” replied the
black.

“A similar accident has befallen me,” said Este¬
ban. “A great tree fell in my path, and in falling
a branch struck me upon the head. It has not
caused me to lose my memory entirely, but since
then it is with difficulty that I recall many things,
and there are others which I must have forgotten
entirely, for I do not know your name, nor do I
understand the words that my other Waziri are
speaking about me.”

Usula looked at him compassionately. “Ah,
Bwana, sad indeed is the heart of Usula to hear
that this accident has befallen you. Doubtless it
will soon pass away as did the other, and in the
meantime I, Usula, will be your memory for you.”

“Good,” said Esteban, “tell the others that
they may understand, and tell them also that I
have lost the memory of other things besides. I
could not now find my way home without you, and
my other senses are dull as well. But as you say,
Usula, it will soon pass off, and I shall be myself
again.”

“Your faithful Waziri will rejoice indeed with
the coming of that moment,” said Usula.

Mad Treachery

143

As they approached the camp, Miranda cau¬
tioned Usula to warn his followers to silence, and
presently he halted them at the outskirts of the
clearing where they could attain a view of the
boma and the tents, guarding which was a little
band of a half-dozen askari.

“ When they see our greater numbers they will
make no resistance,” said Esteban. “ Let us sur¬
round the camp, therefore, and at a signal from
me we will advance together, when you shall ad¬
dress them, saying that Tarzan of the Apes comes
with his Waziri for the gold they have stolen, but
that he will spare them if they will leave the coun¬
try at once and never return.”

Had it fulfilled his purpose as well, the Spaniard
would have willingly ordered his Waziri to fall
upon the men guarding the camp and destroy them
all, but to his cunning brain had been born a clev¬
erer scheme. He wanted these men to see him
with the Waziri and to live to tell the others that
they had seen him, and to repeat to Flora and her
followers the thing that Esteban had in his mind
to tell one of the askari, while the Waziri were
gathering up the gold ingots from the camp.

In directing Usula to station his men about the
camp, Esteban had him warn them that they were
not to show themselves until he had crept out into
the clearing and attracted the attention of the
askari on guard. Fifteen minutes, perhaps, were
consumed in stationing his men, and then Usula
returned to Esteban to report that all was ready.

144 Tarzan and the Golden Lion

“ When I raise my hand then you will know that
they have recognized me and that you are to ad¬
vance,” Esteban cautioned him, and stepped for¬
ward slowly into the clearing. One of the askari
saw him and recognized him as Esteban. The
Spaniard took a few steps closer to the boma and
then halted.

“I am Tarzan of the Apes,” he said; “your
camp is entirely surrounded by my warriors. Make
no move against us and we shall not hurt you.”

He waved his hand. Fifty stalwart Waziri
stepped into view from the concealing verdure of
the surrounding jungle. The askari eyed them in
ill-concealed terror, fingering their rifles nervously.

“ Do not shoot,” cautioned Esteban, “ or we
shall slay you all.” He approached more closely
and his Waziri closed in about him, entirely sur¬
rounding the boma.

“Speak to them, Usula,” said Esteban. The
black stepped forward.

“We are the Waziri,” he cried, “and this is
Tarzan of the Apes, Lord of the Jungle, our mas¬
ter. We have come to recover the gold of Tarzan
that you have stolen from the treasure vaults of
Opar. This time we shall spare you on condition
that you leave the country and never return. Tell
this word to your masters; tell them that Tarzan
watches, and that his Waziri watch with him. Lay
down your rifles.”

The askari, glad to escape so easily, complied
with the demands of Usula, and a moment later

Mad Treachery

145

the Waziri had entered the boma, and at Esteban’s
direction were gathering up the golden ingots. As
they worked, Esteban approached one of the
askari, whom he knew spoke broken English.

“Tell your master,” he said, “to give thanks
for the mercy of Tarzan who has exacted a toll of
but one life for this invasion of his country and
theft of his treasure. The creature who presumes
to pose as Tarzan I have slain, and his body I
shall take away with me and feed to the lions. Tell
them that Tarzan forgives even their attempt to
poison him upon the occasion that he visited their
camp, but only upon the condition that they never
return to Africa, and that they divulge the secret
of Opar to no others. Tarzan watches and his
Waziri watch, and no man may enter Africa with¬
out Tarzan’s knowledge. Even before they left
London I knew that they were coming. Tell them
that.”

It took but a few minutes for the Waziri to
gather up the golden ingots, and before the askari
had recovered from the surprise of their appear¬
ance, they had gone again into the jungle, with
Tarzan, their master.

It was late in the afternoon before Flora and
the four white men returned from their hunt, sur¬
rounded by happy, laughing blacks, bearing the
fruits of a successful chase.

“Now that you are in charge, Flora,” Kraski
was saying, “ fortune is smiling upon us indeed.
We have enough meat here for several days, and

146 Tarzan and the Golden Lion

with plenty of meat in their bellies they ought to
make good progress.”

“ I vill say it myself dot t’ings look brighter,”
said Bluber.

“ Blime, they do that,” said Throck. “ I’m tell-
in’ yu Flora’s a bright one.”

“What the devil is this?” demanded Peebles,
“what’s wrong with them beggars.” And he
pointed toward the boma which was now in sight,
and from which the askari were issuing at a run,
jabbering excitedly as they raced toward them.

“Tarzan of the Apes has been here,” they cried
excitedly. “He has been here with all his Waziri
— a thousand great warriors — and though we
fought, they overcame us, and taking the gold they
went away. Tarzan of the Apes spoke strange
words to me before they left. He said that he had
killed one of your number who had dared to call
himself Tarzan of the Apes. We do not under¬
stand it. He went away alone to hunt when you
went in the morning, and he came back shortly
with a thousand warriors, and he took all the gold
and he threatened to kill us and you if you ever
return to this country again.”

“Vot, vot?” cried Bluber, “ der gold iss gone?
Oi! Oi!” And then they all commenced to ask
questions at once until Flora silenced them.

“ Come,” she said to the leader of the askari,
“we will return to the boma and then you shall
tell me slowly and carefully all that has happened
since we left.”

Mad Treachery

147

She listened intently to his narrative, and then
questioned him carefully upon various points sev¬
eral times. At last she dismissed him. Then she
turned to her confederates.

“It is all clear to me,” she said. “Tarzan re¬
covered from the effects of the drug we adminis¬
tered. Then he followed us with his Waziri,
caught Esteban and killed him and, finding the
camp, has taken the gold away. We shall be for¬
tunate indeed if we escape from Africa with our
lives.”

“ Oi! Oi!” almost shrieked Bluber, “ der dirty
crook. He steals all our gold, und ve lose our two
t’ousand pounds into the bargain. Oi! Oi!”

“ Shut up, you dirty Jew,” growled Throck. “ If
it hadn’t a’ been for you and the dago this ’ere
thing would never a ’appened. With ’im abraggin’
about ’is ’unting and not bein’ able to kill anything,
and you a-squeezin’ every bloomin’ hapenny, we’re
in a rotten mess — that we are. This ’ere Tarzan
bounder he bumped off Esteban, which is the best
work what ’e ever done. Too bloody bad you
weren’t ’ere to get it too, and what I got a good
mind to do is to slit your throat meself.”

“Stow the guff, Dick,” roared Peebles; “it
wasn’t nobody’s fault, as far as I can see. Instead
of talkin’ what we oughter do is to go after this
’ere Tarzan feller and take the bloomin’ gold away
from ’im.”

Flora Hawkes laughed. “ We haven’t a chance
in the world,” she said. “ I know this Tarzan

148 Tarzan and the Golden Lion

bloke. If he was all alone we wouldn’t be a match
for him, but he’s got a bunch of his Waziri with
him, and there are no finer warriors in Africa than
they. And they’d fight for him to the last man.
You just tell Owaza that you’re thinking of going
after Tarzan of the Apes and his Waziri to take
the gold away from them, and see how long it’d be
before we wouldn’t have a single nigger with us.
The very name of Tarzan scares these west coast
blacks out of a year’s growth. They would sooner
face the devil. No, sir, we’ve lost, and all we can
do is to get out of the country, and thank our lucky
stars if we manage to get out alive. The ape-man
will watch us. I should not be surprised if he were
watching us this minute.” Her companions looked
around apprehensively at this, casting nervous
glances toward the jungle. “ And he’d never let us
get back to Opar for another load, even if we could
prevail upon our blacks to return there.”

“ Two t’ousand pounds, two t’ousand pounds! ”
wailed Bluber. “Und all dis suit, vot it cost me
tventy guineas vot I can’t vear it again in England
unless I go to a fancy dress ball, vich I never do.”

Kraski had not spoken, but had sat with eyes
upon the ground, listening to the others. Now he
raised his head. “We have lost our gold,” he said,
“ and before we get back to England we stand to
spend the balance of our two thousand pounds —
in other words our expedition is a total loss. The
rest of you may be satisfied to go back broke, but I
am not. There are other things in Africa besides

Mad Treachery

149

the gold of Opar, and when we leave the country
there is no reason why we shouldn’t take something
with us that will repay us for our time and invest¬
ment.”

“What do you mean?” asked Peebles.

“ I have spent a lot of time talking with Owaza,”
replied Kraski, “trying to learn their crazy lan¬
guage, and I have come to find out a lot about the
old villain. He’s as crooked as they make ’em,
and if he were to be hanged for all his murders,
he’d have to have more lives than a cat, but not¬
withstanding all that, he’s a shrewd old fellow, and
I’ve learned a lot more from him than just his
monkey talk — I have learned enough, in fact, so
that I feel safe in saying that if we stick together
we can go out of Africa with a pretty good sized
stake. Personally, I haven’t given up the gold of
Opar yet. What we’ve lost, we’ve lost, but there’s
plenty left where that came from, and some day,
after this blows over, I’m coming back to get my
share.”

“ But how about this other thing? ” asked Flora.
“Flow can Owaza help us?”

“There’s a little bunch of Arabs down here,”
explained Kraski, “ stealing slaves and ivory.
Owaza knows where they are working and where
their main camp is. There are only a few of them,
and their blacks are nearly all slaves who would
turn on them in a minute. Now the idea is this:
we have a big enough party to overpower them
and take their ivory away from them if we can get

150 Tarzan and the Golden Lion

their slaves to take our side. We don’t want the
slaves; we couldn’t do anything with them if we
had them, so we can promise them their freedom
for their help, and give Owaza and his gang a
share in the ivory.”

“How do you know Owaza will help us?”
asked Flora.

“The idea is his; that’s the reason I know,” re¬
plied Kraski.

“ It sounds good to me,” said Peebles; “ I ain’t
fer goin’ ’ome empty ’anded.” And in turn the
others signified their approval of the scheme.

CHAPTER XI

STRANGE INCENSE BURNS

> TARZAN carried the dead Bolgani from

n the village of the Gomangani, he set his
steps in the direction of the building he had seen
from the rim of the valley, the curiosity of the man
overcoming the natural caution of the beast. He
was traveling up wind and the odors wafted down
to his nostrils told him that he was approaching
the habitat of the Bolgani. Intermingled with the
scent spoor of the gorilla-men was that of Goman¬
gani and the odor of cooked food, and the sugges¬
tion of a heavily sweet scent, which the ape-man
could connect only with burning incense, though it
seemed impossible that such a fragrance could
emanate from the dwellings of the Bolgani. Per¬
haps it came from the great edifice he had seen —
a building which must have been constructed by
human beings, and in which human beings might
still dwell, though never among the multitudinous
odors that assailed his nostrils did he once catch
the faintest suggestion of the man scent of whites.

When he perceived from the increasing strength
of their odor, that he was approaching close to the
Bolgani, Tarzan took to the trees with his burden,

151

152 Tarzan and the Golden Lion

that he might thus stand a better chance of avoid¬
ing discovery, and presently, through the foliage
ahead, he saw a lofty wall, and, beyond, the out¬
lines of the weird architecture of a strange and
mysterious pile — outlines that suggested a build¬
ing of another world, so unearthly were they, and
from beyond the wall came the odor of the Bol-
gani and the fragrance of the incense, intermingled
with the scent spoor of Numa, the lion. The jun¬
gle was cleared away for fifty feet outside the wall
surrounding the building, so that there was no tree
overhanging the wall, but Tarzan approached as
closely as he could, while still remaining reasonably
well concealed by the foliage. He had chosen a
point at a sufficient height above the ground to per¬
mit him to see over the top of the wall.

The building within the enclosure was of great
size, its different parts appearing to have been con¬
structed at various periods, and each with utter
disregard to uniformity, resulting in a conglomera¬
tion of connecting buildings and towers, no two of
which were alike, though the whole presented a
rather pleasing, if somewhat bizarre appearance.
The building stood upon an artificial elevation
about ten feet high, surrounded by a retaining wall
of granite, a wide staircase leading to the ground
level below. About the building were shrubbery
and trees, some of the latter appearing to be of
great antiquity, while one enormous tower was al¬
most entirely covered by ivy. By far the most
remarkable feature of the building, however, lay

Strange Incense Burns

153

in its rich and barbaric ornamentation. Set into
the polished granite of which it was composed was
an intricate mosaic of gold and diamonds; glitter¬
ing stones in countless thousands scintillated from
fagades, minarets, domes, and towers.

The enclosure, which comprised some fifteen or
twenty acres, was occupied for the most part by
the building. The terrace upon which it stood was
devoted to walks, flowers, shrubs, and ornamental
trees, while that part of the area below, which was
within the range of Tarzan’s vision, seemed to be
given over to the raising of garden truck. In the
garden and upon the terrace were naked blacks,
such as he had seen in the village where he had left
La. There were both men and women, and these
were occupied with the care of growing things
within the enclosure. Among them were several
of the gorilla-like creatures such as Tarzan had
slain in the village, but these performed no labor,
devoting themselves, rather, it seemed, to directing
the work of the blacks, toward whom their manner
was haughty and domineering, sometimes even
brutal. These gorilla-men were trapped in rich
ornaments, similar to those upon the body which
now rested in a crotch of the tree behind the ape-
man.

As Tarzan watched with interest the scene below
him, two Bolgani emerged from the main entrance,
a huge portal, some thirty feet in width, and per¬
haps fifteen feet high. The two wore head-bands,
supporting tall, white feathers. As they emerged

154 Tarzan and the Golden Lion

they took post on either side of the entrance, and
cupping their hands before their mouths gave voice
to a series of shrill cries that bore a marked re¬
semblance to trumpet calls. Immediately the blacks
ceased work and hastened to the foot of the stairs
descending from the terrace to the garden. Here
they formed lines on either side of the stairway,
and similarly the Bolgani formed two lines upon
the terrace from the main portal to the stairway,
forming a living aisle from one to the other. Pres¬
ently from the interior of the building came other
trumpet-like calls, and a moment later Tarzan saw
the head of a procession emerging. First came
four Bolgani abreast, each bedecked with an ornate
feather headdress, and each carrying a huge blud¬
geon erect before him. Behind these came two
trumpeters, and twenty feet behind the trumpeters
paced a huge, black-maned lion, held in leash by
four sturdy blacks, two upon either side, holding
what appeared to be golden chains that ran to a
scintillant diamond collar about the beast’s neck.
Behind the lion marched twenty more Bolgani,
four abreast. These carried spears, but whether
they were for the purpose of protecting the lion
from the people or the people from the lion Tar¬
zan was at a loss to know.

The attitude of the Bolgani lining either side of
the way between the portal and the stairway indi¬
cated extreme deference, for they bent their bodies
from their waists in a profound bow while Numa
was passing between their lines. When the beast

Strange Incense Burns

155

reached the top of the stairway the procession
halted, and immediately the Gomangani ranged
below prostrated themselves and placed their fore¬
heads on the ground. Numa, who was evidently
an old lion, stood with lordly mien surveying the
prostrate humans before him. His evil eyes glared
glassily, the while he bared his tusks in a savage
grimace, and from his deep lungs rumbled forth an
ominous roar, at the sound of which the Goman¬
gani trembled in unfeigned terror. The ape-man
knit his brows in thought. Never before had he
been called upon to witness so remarkable a scene
of the abasement of man before a beast. Presently
the procession continued upon its way descending
the staircase and turning to the right along a path
through the garden, and when it had passed them
the Gomangani and the Bolgani arose and resumed
their interrupted duties.

Tarzan remained in his concealment watching
them, trying to discover some explanation for the
strange, paradoxical conditions that he had wit¬
nessed. The lion, with his retinue, had turned the
far corner of the palace and disappeared from
sight. What was he to these people, to these
strange creatures? What did he represent? Why
this topsy-turvy arrangement of species? Here
man ranked lower than the half-beast, and above
all, from the deference that had been accorded
him, stood a true beast—a savage carnivore.

He had been occupied with his thoughts and his
, observations for some fifteen minutes following the

156 Tarzan and the Golden Lion

disappearance of Numa around the eastern end of
the palace, when his attention was attracted to the
opposite end of the structure by the sound of other
shrill trumpet calls. Turning his eyes in that di¬
rection, he saw the procession emerging again into
view, and proceeding toward the staircase down
which they had entered the garden. Immediately
the notes of the shrill call sounded upon their ears
the Gomangani and the Bolgani resumed their orig¬
inal positions from below the foot of the staircase
to the entrance to the palace, and once again was
homage paid to Numa as he made his triumphal
entry into the building.

Tarzan of the Apes ran his fingers through his
mass of tousled hair, but finally he was forced to
shake his head in defeat — he could find no expla¬
nation whatsoever for all that he had witnessed.
His curiosity, however, was so keenly piqued that
he determined to investigate the palace and sur¬
rounding grounds further before continuing on his
way in search of a trail out of the valley.

Leaving the body of Bolgani where he had
cached it, he started slowly to circle the building
that he might examine it from all sides from the
concealing foliage of the surrounding forest. He
found the architecture equally unique upon all
sides, and that the garden extended entirely around
the building, though a portion upon the south side
of the palace was given over to corrals and pens
in which were kept numerous goats and a consider¬
able flock of chickens. Upon this side, also, were

Strange Incense Burns

157

several hundred swinging, beehive huts, such as he
had' seen in the native village of the Gomangani.
These he took to be the quarters of the black
slaves, who performed all the arduous and menial
labor connected with the palace.

The lofty granite wall which surrounded the
entire enclosure was pierced by but a single gate
which opened opposite the east end of the palace.
This gate was large and of massive cdnstruction,
appearing to have been built to withstand the as¬
sault of numerous and well-armed forces. So
strong did it appear that the ape-man could not but
harbor the opinion that it had been constructed to
protect the interior against forces equipped with
heavy battering rams. That such a force had ever
existed within the vicinity in historic times seemed
most unlikely, and Tarzan conjectured, therefore,
that the wall and the gate were of almost unthink¬
able antiquity, dating, doubtless, from the forgot¬
ten age of the Atlantians, and constructed, per¬
haps, to protect the builders of the Palace of Dia¬
monds from the well-armed forces that had come
from Atlantis to work the gold mines of Opar and
to colonize central Africa.

While the wall, the gate, and the palace itself,
suggested in many ways almost unbelievable age,
yet they were in such an excellent state of repair
that it was evident that they were still inhabited
by rational and intelligent creatures; while upon
the south side Tarzan had seen a new tower in
process of construction, where a number of blacks

158 Tarzari and the Golden Lion

working under the direction of Bolgani were cut¬
ting and shaping granite blocks and putting them
in place.

Tarzan had halted in a tree near the east gate to
watch the life passing in and out of the palace
grounds beneath the ancient portal, and as he
watched, a long cavalcade of powerful Gomangani
emerged from the forest and entered the enclosure.
Swung in hides between two poles, this party was
carrying rough-hewn blocks of granite, four men
to a block. Two or three Bolgani accompanied
the long line of carriers, which was preceded and
followed by a detachment of black warriors,
armed with battle-axes and spears. The demeanor
and attitude of the black porters, as well as of the
Bolgani, suggested to the ape-man nothing more
nor less than a caravan of donkeys, plodding
their stupid way at the behest of their drivers. If
one lagged he was prodded with the point of a
spear or struck with its haft. There was no greater
brutality shown than in the ordinary handling of
beasts of burden the world around, nor in the de¬
meanor of the blacks was there any more indica¬
tion of objection or revolt than you see depicted
upon the faces of a long line of burden-bearing
mules; to all intents and purposes they were dumb,
driven cattle. Slowly they filed through the gate¬
way and disappeared from sight.

A few moments later another party came out of
the forest and passed into the palace grounds. This
consisted of fully fifty armed Bolgani and twice as

Strange Incense Burns

159

many black warriors with spears and axes. En¬
tirely surrounded by these armed creatures were
four brawny porters, carrying a small litter, upon
which was fastened an ornate chest about two feet
wide by four feet long, with a depth of approxi¬
mately two feet. The chest itself was of some
dark, weather-worn wood, and was reinforced by
bands and corners of what appeared to be virgin
gold in which were set many diamonds. What the
chest contained Tarzan could not, of course, con¬
ceive, but that it was considered of great value w r as
evidenced by the precautions for safety with which
it had been surrounded. The chest Was borne di¬
rectly into the huge, ivy-covered tower at the
northeast corner of the palace, the entrance to
which, Tarzan now first observed, was secured by
doors as large and heavy as the east gate itself.

At the first opportunity that he could seize to ac¬
complish it undiscovered, Tarzan swung across the
jungle trail and continued through the trees to that
one in which he had left the body of the Bolgani.
Throwing this across his shoulder he returned to a
point close above the trail near the east gate, and
seizing upon a moment when there was a lull in
the traffic he hurled the body as close to the portal
as possible.

“Now,” thought the ape-man, “let them guess
who slew their fellow if they can.”

Making his way toward the southeast, Tarzan
approached the mountains which lie back of the
Valley of the Palace of Diamonds. He had often

160 Tarzan and the Golden Lion

to make detours to avoid native villages and to
keep out of sight of the numerous parties of Bol-
gani that seemed to be moving in all directions
through the forest. Late in the afternoon he came
out of the hills into full view of the mountains be¬
yond— rough, granite hills they were, whose
precipitous peaks arose far above the timber line.
Directly before him a well-marked trail led into a
canyon, which he could see wound far upward
toward the summit. This, then, would be as good
a place to commence his investigations as another.
And so, seeing that the coast was clear, the ape-
man descended from the trees, and taking advan¬
tage of the underbrush bordering the trail, made
his way silently, yet swiftly, into the hills. For the
most part he was compelled to worm his way
through thickets, for the trail was in constant use
by Gomangani and Bolgani, parties passing up it
empty-handed and, returning, bearing blocks of
granite. As he advanced more deeply into the
hills the heavy underbrush gave way to a lighter
growth of scrub, through which he could pass with
far greater ease though with considerable more
risk of discovery. However, the instinct of the
beast that dominated Tarzan’s jungle craft per¬
mitted him to find cover where another would have
been in full view of every enemy. Half way up
the mountain the trail passed through a narrow
gorge, not more than twenty feet wide and eroded
from solid granite cliffs. Here there was no con¬
cealment whatsoever, and the ape-man realized

Strange Incense Burns

161

that to enter it would mean almost immediate dis¬
covery. Glancing about, he saw that by making a
slight detour he could reach the summit of the
gorge, where, amid tumbled, granite boulders and
stunted trees and shrubs, he knew that he could
find sufficient concealment, and perhaps a plainer
view of the trail beyond.

Nor was he mistaken, for, when he had reached
a vantage point far above the trail, he saw ahead
an open pocket in the mountain, the cliffs surround¬
ing which were honeycombed with numerous open¬
ings, which, it seemed to Tarzan, could be naught
else than the mouths of tunnels. Rough wooden
ladders reached to some of them, closer to the base
of the cliffs, while from others knotted ropes
dangled to the ground below. Out of these tunnels
emerged men carrying little sacks of earth, which
they dumped in a common pile beside a rivulet
which ran through the gorge. Here other blacks,
supervised by Bolgani, were engaged in washing
the dirt, but what they hoped to find or what they
did find, Tarzan could not guess.

Along one side of the rocky basin many other
blacks were engaged in quarrying the granite from
the cliffs, which had been cut away through similar
operations into a series of terraces running from
the floor of the basin to the summit of the cliff.
Here naked blacks toiled with primitive tools
under the supervision of savage Bolgani. The ac¬
tivities of the quarrymen were obvious enough, but
what the others were bringing from the mouths of

162 Tarzan and the Golden Lion

the tunnels Tarzan could not be positive, though
the natural assumption was that it was gold.
Where, then, did they obtain their diamonds? Cer¬
tainly not from these solid granite cliffs.

A few minutes’ observation convinced Tarzan
that the trail he had followed from the forest
ended in this little cul-de-sac, and so he sought a
way upward and around it, in search of a pass
across the range.

The balance of that day and nearly all the next
he devoted to his efforts in this direction, only in
the end to be forced to admit that there was no
egress from the valley upon this side. To points
far above the timber , line he made his way, but
there, always, he came face to face with sheer,
perpendicular cliffs of granite towering high above
him, upon the face of which not even the ape-man
could find foothold. Along the southern and east¬
ern sides of the basin he carried his investigation,
but with similar disappointing results, and then at
last he turned his steps back toward the forest with
the intention of seeking a way out through the val¬
ley of Opar with La, after darkness had fallen.

The sun had just risen when Tarzan arrived at
the native village in which he had left La, and no
sooner did his eyes rest upon it than he became ap¬
prehensive that something was amiss, for, not only
was the gate wide open but there was no sign of
life within the palisade, nor was there any move¬
ment of the swinging huts that would indicate that
they were occupied. Always wary of ambush, Tar-

Strange Incense Burns

163

zan reconnoitered carefully before descending into
the village. To his trained observation it became
evident that the village had been deserted for at
least twenty-four hours. Running to the hut in
which La had been hidden he hastily ascended the
rope and examined the interior — it was vacant,
nor was there any sign of the High Priestess. De¬
scending to the ground, the ape-man started to
make a thorough investigation of the village in
search of clews to the fate of its inhabitants and
of La. He had examined the interiors of several
huts when his keen eyes noted a slight movement
of one of the swinging, cage-like habitations some
distance from him. Quickly he crossed the inter¬
vening space, and as he approached the hut he saw
that no rope trailed from its doorway. Halting
beneath, Tarzan raised his face to the aperture,
through which nothing but the roof of the hut was
visible.

“Gomangani,” he cried, “it is I, Tarzan of
the Apes. Come to the opening and tell me what
has become of your fellows and of my mate, whom
I left here under the protection of your warriors.”

There was no answer, and again Tarzan called,
for he was positive that someone was hiding in the
hut.

“ Come down,” he called again, “ or I will come
up after you.”

Still there was no reply. A grim smile touched
the ape-man’s lips as he drew his hunting knife
from its sheath and placed it between his teeth,

164 Tarzan and the Golden Lion

and then, with a cat-like spring, leaped for the
opening, and catching its sides, drew his body up
into the interior of the hut.

If he had expected opposition, he met with none,
nor in the dimly lighted interior could he at first
distinguish any presence, though, when his eyes
became accustomed to the semi-darkness, he de¬
scried a bundle of leaves and grasses lying against
the opposite wall of the structure. Crossing to
these he tore them aside revealing the huddled
form of a terrified woman. Seizing her by a
shoulder he drew her to a sitting position.

“ What has happened ? ” he demanded. “ Where
are the villagers? Where is my mate?”

“ Do not kill me! Do not kill me! ” she cried.
“ It was not I. It was not my fault.”

“I do not intend to kill you,” replied Tarzan.
“Tell me the truth and you shall be safe.”

“ The Bolgani have taken them away,” cried
the woman. “They came when the sun was low
upon the day that you arrived, and they were very
angry, for they had found the body of their fellow
outside the gate of the Palace of Diamonds. They
knew that he had come here to our village, and no
one had seen him alive since he had departed from
the palace. They came, then, and threatened and
tortured our people, until at last the warriors told
them all. I hid. I do not know why they did not
find me. But at last they went away, taking all the
others with them; taking your mate, too. They
will never come back.”

Strange Incense Burns

165

“You think that the Bolgani will kill them?”
asked Tarzan.

“Yes,” she replied, “they kill all who displease
them.”

Alone, now, and relieved of the responsibility of
La, Tarzan might easily make his way by night
through the valley of Opar and to safety beyond
the barrier. But perhaps such a thought never
entered his head. Gratitude and loyalty were
marked characteristics of the ape-man. La had
saved him from the fanaticism and intrigue of her
people. She had saved him at a cost of all that
was most dear to her, power and position, peace
and safety. She had jeopardized her life for him,
and become an exile from her own country. The
mere fact then that the Bolgani had taken her with
the possible intention of slaying her, was not suffi¬
cient for the ape-man. He must know whether or
not she lived, and if she lived he must devote his
every energy to winning her release and her
eventual escape from the dangers of this valley.

Tarzan spent the day reconnoitering outside the
palace grounds, seeking an opportunity of gaining
entrance without detection, but this he found im¬
possible inasmuch as there was never a moment
that there were not Gomangani or Bolgani in the
outer garden. But with the approach of darkness
the great east gate was closed, and the inmates of
the huts and palace withdrew within their walls,
leaving not even a single sentinel without — a fact
that indicated clearly that the Bolgani had no rea-

166 Tarzan and the Golden Lion

son to apprehend an attack. The subjugation of
the Gomangani, then, was apparently complete,
and so the towering wall surrounding their palace,
which was more than sufficient to protect them from
the inroads of lions, was but the reminder of an an¬
cient day when a once-powerful, but now vanished,
enemy threatened their peace and safety.

When darkness had finally settled Tarzan ap¬
proached the gate, and throwing the noose of his
grass rope over one of the carved lions that capped
the gate posts, ascended quickly to the summit of
the wall, from where he dropped lightly into the
garden below. To insure an avenue for quick
escape in the event that he found La, he unlatched
the heavy gates and swung them open. Then he
crept stealthily toward the ivy-covered east tower,
which he had chosen after a day of investigation
as offering easiest ingress to the palace. The suc¬
cess of his plan hinged largely upon the age and
strength of the ivy which grew almost to the sum¬
mit of the tower, and, to his immense relief, he
found that it would easily support his weight.

Far above the ground, near the summit of the
tow'er, he had seen from the trees surrounding the
palace an open window, which, unlike the balance
of those in this part of the palace, was without
bars. Dim lights shone from several of the tower
windows, as from those of other parts of the pal¬
ace. Avoiding these lighted apertures, Tarzan
ascended quickly, though carefully, toward the un¬
barred window above, and as he reached it and

Strange Incense Burns

167

cautiously raised his eyes above the level of the
sill, he was delighted to find that it opened into an
unlighted chamber, the interior of which, however,
was so shrouded in darkness that he could discern
nothing within. Drawing himself carefully to the
level of the sill he crept quietly into the apartment
beyond. Groping through the blackness, he cau¬
tiously made the rounds of the room, which he
found to contain a carved bedstead of peculiar
design, a table, and a couple of benches. Upon the
bedstead were stuffs of woven material, thrown
over the softly tanned pelts of antelopes and
leopards.

Opposite the window through which he had en¬
tered was a closed door. This he opened slowly
and silently, until, through a tiny aperture he could
look out upon a dimly lighted corridor or circular
hallway, in the center of which was an opening
about four feet in diameter, passing through which
and disappearing beyond a similar opening in the
ceiling directly above was a straight pole with short
crosspieces fastened to it at intervals of about a
foot — quite evidently the primitive staircase which
gave communication between the various floors
of the tower. Three upright columns, set at equal
intervals about the circumference of the circular
opening in the center of the floor helped to
support the ceiling above. Around the outside of
this circular hallway there were other doors, simi¬
lar to that opening into the apartment in which he
was.

168 Tarzan and the Golden Lion

Hearing no noise and seeing no evidence of an¬
other than himself, Tarzan opened the door and
stepped into the hallway. His nostrils were now
assailed strongly by the same heavy fragrance of
incense that had first greeted him upon his ap¬
proach to the palace several days before. In the
interior of the tower, however, it was much more
powerful, practically obliterating all other odors,
and placing upon the ape-man an almost prohibi¬
tive handicap in his search for La. In fact as he
viewed the doors upon this single stage of the
tower, he was filled with consternation at the pros¬
pect of the well-nigh impossible task that con¬
fronted him. To search this great tower alone,
without any assistance whatever from his keen
sense of scent, seemed impossible of accomplish¬
ment, if he were to take even the most ordinary
precautions against detection.

The ape-man’s self-confidence was in no measure
blundering egotism. Knowing his limitations, he
knew that he would have little or no chance against
even a few Bolgani were he to be discovered within
their palace, where all was familiar to them and
strange to him. Behind him was the open window,
and the silent jungle night, and freedom. Ahead
danger, predestined failure; and, quite likely,
death. Which should he choose? For a moment
he stood in silent thought, and then, raising his
head and squaring his great shoulders, he shook
his black locks defiantly and stepped boldly toward
the nearest door. Room after room he had inves-

Strange Incense Burns

169

tigated until he had made the entire circle of the
landing, but in so far as La or any clew to her were
concerned his search was fruitless. He found
quaint furniture and rugs and tapestries, and orna¬
ments of gold and diamonds, and in one dimly
lighted chamber he came upon a sleeping Bolgani,
but so silent were the movements of the ape-man
that the sleeper slept on undisturbed, even though
Tarzan passed entirely around his bed, which was
set in the center of the chamber, and investigated
a curtained alcove beyond.

Having completed the rounds of this floor, Tar¬
zan determined to work upward first and then,
returning, investigate the lower stages later. Pur¬
suant to this plan, therefore, he ascended the
strange stairway. Three landings he passed be¬
fore he reached the upper floor of the tower. Cir¬
cling each floor was a ring of doors, all of which
were closed, while dimly lighting each landing were
feebly burning cressets — shallow, golden bowls
— containing what appeared to be tallow, in which
floated a tow-like wick.

Upon the upper landing there were but three
doors, all of which were closed. The ceiling of
this hallway was the dome-like roof of the tower,
in the center of which was another circular open¬
ing, through which the stairway protruded into the
darkness of the night above.

As Tarzan opened the door nearest him it
creaked upon its hinges, giving forth the first au¬
dible sound that had resulted from his investiga-

170 Tarzan and the Golden Lion

tions up to this point. The interior of the apart¬
ment before him was unlighted, and as Tarzan
stood there in the entrance in statuesque silence for
a few seconds following the creaking of the hinge,
he was suddenly aware of movement — of the
faintest shadow of a sound — behind him. Wheel¬
ing quickly he saw the figure of a man standing in
an open doorway upon the opposite side of the
landing.

CHAPTER XII

THE GOLDEN INGOTS

E STEBAN MIRANDA had played the role of
Tarzan of the Apes with the Waziri as his
audience for less than twenty-four hours when he
began to realize that, even with the lee-way that
his supposedly injured brain gave him, it was going
to be a very difficult thing to carry on the decep¬
tion indefinitely. In the first place Usula did not
seem at all pleased at the idea of merely taking the
gold away from the intruders and then running
from them. Nor did his fellow warriors seem any
more enthusiastic over the plan than he. As a mat¬
ter of fact they could not conceive that any number
of bumps upon the head could render their Tarzan
of the Apes a coward, and to run away from these
west coast blacks and a handful of inexperienced
whites seemed nothing less than cowardly.

Following all this, there had occurred in the
afternoon that which finally decided the Spaniard
that he was building for himself anything other
than a bed of roses, and that the sooner he found
an excuse for quitting the company of the Waziri
the greater would be his life expectancy.

They were passing through rather open jungle
171

172 Tarzan and the Golden Lion

at the time. The brush was not particularly heavy,
and the trees were at considerable distances apart,
when suddenly, without warning, a rhinoceros
charged them. To the consternation of the Wa-
ziri, Tarzan of the Apes turned and fled for the
nearest tree the instant his eyes alighted upon
charging Buto. In his haste Esteban tripped and
fell, and when at last he reached the tree instead
of leaping agilely into the lower branches, he at¬
tempted to shin up the huge bole as a schoolboy
shins up a telegraph pole, only to slip and fall back
again to the ground.

In the meantime Buto, who charges either by
scent or hearing, rather than by eyesight, his pow¬
ers of which are extremely poor, had been dis¬
tracted from his original direction by one of the
Waziri, and after missing the fellow had gone
blundering on to disappear in the underbrush be¬
yond.

When Esteban finally arose and discovered that
the rhinoceros was gone, he saw surrounding him
a semi-circle of huge blacks, upon whose faces were
written expressions of pity and sorrow, not un¬
mingled, in some instances, with a tinge of con¬
tempt. The Spaniard saw that he had been terri¬
fied into a practically irreparable blunder, yet he
seized despairingly upon the only excuse he could
conjure up.

“ My poor head,” he cried, pressing both palms
to his temples.

“The blow was upon your head, Bwana,” said

The Golden Ingots

173

Usula, “and your faithful Waziri thought, that it
was the heart of their master that knew no fear.”

Esteban made no reply, and in silence they re¬
sumed their march. In silence they continued
until they made camp before dark upon the bank of
the river just above a waterfall. During the af¬
ternoon Esteban had evolved a plan of escape
from his dilemma, and no sooner had he made
camp than he ordered the Waziri to bury the
treasure.

“We shall leave it here,” he said, “and
tomorrow we shall set forth in search of the
thieves, for I have decided to punish them. They
must be taught that they may not come into the
jungle of Tarzan with impunity. It was only the
injury to my head that prevented me from slaying
them immediately I discovered their perfidy.”

This attitude pleased the Waziri better. They
commenced to see a ray of hope. Once again was
Tarzan of the Apes becoming Tarzan. And so it
was that with lighter hearts and a new cheerfulness
they set forth the next morning in search of the
camp of the Englishmen, and by shrewd guessing
on Usula’s part they cut across the jungle to inter¬
cept the probable line of march of the Europeans
to such advantage that they came upon them just
as they were making camp that night. Long be¬
fore they reached them they smelled the smoke of
their fires and heard the songs and chatter of the
west coast carriers.

Then it was that Esteban gathered the Waziri

174 Tarzan and the Golden Lion

about him. “ My children,” he said, addressing
Usula in English, “ these strangers have come here
to wrong Tarzan. To Tarzan, then, belongs the
vengeance. Go, therefore, and leave me to punish
my enemies alone and in my own way. Return
home, leave the gold where it is, for it will be a
long time before I shall need it.”

The Waziri were disappointed, for this new
plan did not at all accord with their desires, which
contemplated a cheerful massacre of the west coast
blacks. But as yet the man before them was Tar¬
zan, their big Bwana, to whom they had never
failed in implicit obedience. For a few moments
following Esteban’s declaration of his intention,
they stood in silence shifting uneasily, and then at
last they commenced to speak to one another in
Waziri. What they said the Spaniard did not
know, but evidently they were urging something
upon Usula, who presently turned toward him.

“Oh, Bwana,” cried the black. “How can we
return home to the Lady Jane and tell her that we
left you injured and alone to face the rifles of the
white men and their askari? Do not ask us to do
it, Bwana. If you were yourself we should not
fear for your safety, but since the injury to your
head you have not been the same, and we fear to
leave you alone in the jungle. Let us, then, your
faithful Waziri, punish these people, after which
we will take you home in safety, where you may
be cured of the evils that have fallen upon you.”

The Spaniard laughed. “ I am entirely recov-

The Golden Ingots

175

ered,” he said, “ and I am in no more danger alone
than I would be with you,” which he knew, even
better than they, was but a mild statement of the
facts. “You will obey my wishes,” he continued
sternly. “ Go back at once the way that we have
come. After you have gone at least two miles you
may make camp for the night, and in the morning
start out again for home. Make no noise, I do not
want them to know that I am here. Do not worry
about me. I am all right, and I shall probably
overtake you before you reach home. Go! ”

Sorrowfully the Waziri turned back upon the
trail they had just covered and a moment later the
last of them disappeared from the sight of the
Spaniard.

With a sigh of relief Esteban Miranda turned
toward the camp of his own people. Fearing that
to surprise them suddenly might invite a volley of
shots from the askari he whistled, and then called
aloud as he approached.

“ It is Tarzan! ” cried the first of the blacks who
saw him. “ Now indeed shall we all be killed.”

Esteban saw the growing excitement among the
carriers and askari — he saw the latter seize their
rifles and that they were fingering the triggers
nervously.

“ It is I, Esteban Miranda,” he called aloud.
“ Flora! Flora, tell those fools to lay aside their
rifles.”

The whites, too, were standing watching him,
and at the sound of his voice Flora turned toward

176 Tarzan and the Golden Lion

the blacks. “ It is all right,” she said, “ that is not
Tarzan. Lay aside your rifles.”

Esteban entered the camp, smiling. “Here I
am,” he said.

“ We thought that you were dead,” said Kraski.
“ Some of these fellows said that Tarzan said that
he had killed you.”

“He captured me,” said Esteban, “but as you
see he did not kill me. I thought that he was going
to, but he did not, and finally he turned me loose
in the jungle. He may have thought that I could
not survive and that he would accomplish his end
just as surely without having my blood upon his
hands.”

“ ’E must have knowed you,” said Peebles.
“ You’d die, all right, if you were left alone very
long in the jungle — you’d starve to death.”

Esteban made no reply to the sally but turned
toward Flora. “Are you not glad to see me,
Flora?” he asked.

The girl shrugged her shoulders. “What is the
difference? ” she asked. “ Our expedition is a fail¬
ure. Some of them think you were largely to
blame.” She nodded her head in the general direc¬
tion of the other whites.

The Spaniard scowled. None of them cared
very much to see him. He did not care about the
others, but he had hoped that Flora would show
some enthusiasm about his return. Well, if she
had known what he had in his mind, she might
have been happier to see him, and only too glad to

The Golden Ingots

177

show some kind of affection. But she did not
know. She did not know that Esteban Miranda
had hidden the golden ingots where he might go
another day and get them. It had been his inten¬
tion to persuade her to desert the others, and then,
later, the two would return and recover the
treasure, but now he was piqued and offended —
none of them should have a shilling of it—he
would wait until they left Africa and then he
would return and take it all for himself. The only
fly in the ointment was the thought that the Waziri
knew the location of the treasure, and that, sooner
or later, they would return with Tarzan and get it.
This weak spot in his calculations must be strength¬
ened, and to strengthen it he must have assistance
which would mean sharing his secret with another,
but whom?

Outwardly oblivious of the sullen glances of his
companions he took his place among them. It was
evident to him that they were far from being glad
to see him, but just why he did not know, for he
had not heard of the plan that Kraski and Owaza
had hatched to steal the loot of the ivory raiders,
and that their main objection to his presence was
the fear that they would be compelled to share the
loot with him. It was Kraski who first voiced the
thought that was in the minds of all but Esteban.

“Miranda,” he said, “ it is the consensus of
opinion that you and Bluber are largely responsible
for the failure of our venture. We are not find¬
ing fault. I just mention it as a fact. But since

178

Tarzan and the Golden Lion

you have been away we have struck upon a plan to
take something out of Africa that will partially
recompense us for the loss of the gold. We have
worked the thing all out carefully and made our
plans. We don’t need you to carry them out. We
have no objection to your coming along with us,
if you want to, for company, but we want to have it
understood from the beginning that you are not to
share in anything that we get out of this.”

The Spaniard smiled and waved a gesture of un¬
concern. “ It is perfectly all right,” he said. “ I
shall ask for nothing. I would not wish to take
anything from any of you.” And he grinned in¬
wardly as he thought of the more than quarter of
a million pounds in gold which he would one day
take out of Africa for himself, alone.

At this unexpected attitude of acquiescence upon
Esteban’s part the others were greatly relieved,
and immediately the entire atmosphere of con¬
straint was removed.

“You’re a good fellow, Esteban,” said Peebles.
“ I’ve been sayin’ right along that you’d want to do
the right thing, and I want to say that I’m mighty
glad to see you back here safe an’ sound. I felt
terrible when I ’eard you was croaked, that I did.”

“Yes,” said Bluber, “John he feel so bad he cry
himself to sleep every night, ain’t it, John?”

“ Don’t try to start nothin’, Bluber,” growled
Peebles, glaring at the Jew.

“ I vasn’t commencing to start nodding,” replied
Adolph, seeing that the big Englishman was angry;

The Golden Ingots

179

“ of course ve vere all sorry dat ve t’ought Esteban
was killed und ve is all glad dot he is back.”

“And that he don’t want any of the swag,”
added Throck.

“ Don’t worry,” said Esteban, “ If I get back to
London I’ll be happy enough — I’ve had enough
of Africa to last me all the rest of my life.”

Before he could get to sleep that night, the
Spaniard spent a wakeful hour or two trying to
evolve a plan whereby he might secure the gold
absolutely to himself, without fear of its being re¬
moved by the Waziri later. He knew that he
could easily find the spot where he had buried it
and remove it to another close by, provided that
he could return immediately over the trail along
which Usula had led them that day, and he could
do this alone, insuring that no one but himself
would know the new location of the hiding place of
the gold, but he was equally positive that he could
never again return later from the coast and find
where he had hidden it. This meant that he must
share his secret with another — one familiar with
the country who could find the spot again at any
time and from any direction. But who was there
whom he might trust! In his mind he went care¬
fully over the entire personnel of their safari, and
continually his mind reverted to a single individual
— Owaza. He had no confidence in the wily old
scoundrel’s integrity, but there was no other who
suited his purpose as well, and finally he was forced
to the conclusion that he must share his secret with

180 Tarzan and the Golden Lion

this black, and depend upon avarice rather than
honor for his protection. He could repay the fel¬
low well — make him rich beyond his wildest
dreams, and this the Spaniard could well afford to
do in view of the tremendous fortune at stake.
And so he fell asleep dreaming of what gold, to
the value of over a quarter of a million pounds
sterling, would accomplish in the gay capitals of
the world.

The following morning while they were break¬
fasting Esteban mentioned casually that he had
passed a large herd of antelope not far from their
camp the previous day, and suggested that he take
four or five men and do a little hunting, joining
the balance of the party at camp that night. No
one raised any objection, possibly for the reason
that they assumed that the more he hunted and the
further from the safari he went the greater the
chances of his being killed, a contingency that none
of them would have regretted, since at heart they
had neither liking nor trust for him.

“ I will take Owaza,” he said. “ He is the clev¬
erest hunter of them all, and five or six men of his
choosing.” But later, when he approached Owaza,
the black interposed objections to the hunt.

“We have plenty of meat for two days,” he
said. “ Let us go on as fast as we can, away from
the land of the Waziri and Tarzan. I can find
plenty of game anywhere between here and the
coast. March for two days, and then I will hunt
with you.”

The Golden Ingots

181

“Listen,” said Esteban, in a whisper. “It is
more than antelope that I would hunt. I cannot
tell you here in camp, but w r hen we have left the
others I will explain. It will pay you better to come
with me today than all the ivory you can hope to
get from the raiders.” Owaza cocked an atten¬
tive ear and scratched his woolly head.

“ It is a good day to hunt, Bwana,” he said. “ I
will come with you and bring five boys.”

After Owaza had planned the march for the
main party and arranged for the camping place
for the night, so that he and the Spaniard could
find them again, the hunting party set out upon the
trail that Usula had followed from the buried
treasure the preceding day. They had not gone
far before Owaza discovered the fresh spoor of
the Waziri.

“ Many men passed here late yesterday,” he
said to Esteban, eyeing the Spaniard quizzically.

“ I saw nothing of them,” replied the latter.
“They must have come this way after I passed.”

“ They came almost to our camp, and then they
turned about and went away again,” said Owaza.
“ Listen, Bwana, I carry a rifle and you shall march
ahead of me. If these tracks were made by your
people, and you are leading me into ambush, you
shall be the first to die.”

“Listen, Owaza,” said Esteban, “we are far
enough from camp now so that I may tell you all.
These tracks were made by the Waziri of Tarzan
of the Apes, who buried the gold for me a day’s

182 Tarzan and the Golden Lion

march from here. I have sent them home, and I
wish you to go back with me and move the gold to
another hiding place. After these others have got¬
ten their ivory and returned to England, you and I
will come back and get the gold, and then, indeed,
shall you be well rewarded.”

“Who are you, then?” asked Owaza. “Often
have I doubted that you are Tarzan of the Apes.
The day that we left the camp outside of Opar one
of my men told me that you had been poisoned
by your own people and left in the camp. He said
that he saw it with his own eyes — your body lying
hidden behind some bushes — and yet you were
with us upon the march that day. I thought that
he lied to me, but I saw the consternation in his
face when he saw you, and so I have often won¬
dered if there were two Tarzans of the Apes.”

“ I am not Tarzan of the Apes,” said Esteban.
“ It was Tarzan of the Apes who w r as poisoned in
our camp by the others. But they only gave him
something that would put him to sleep for a long
time, possibly with the hope that he would be killed
by wild animals before he awoke. Whether or
not he still lives we do not know. Therefore you
have nothing to fear from the Waziri or Tarzan
on my account, Owaza, for I want to keep out of
their way even more than you.”

The black nodded. “Perhaps you speak the
truth,” he said, but still he walked behind, with his
rifle always ready in his hand.

They went warily, for fear of overtaking the

The Golden Ingots

183

Waziri, but shortly after passing the spot where
the latter had camped they saw that they had taken
another route and that there was now no danger
of coming in contact with them.

When they had reached a point within about a
mile of the spot where the gold had been buried,
Esteban told Owaza to have his boys remain there
while they went ahead alone to effect the transfer
of the ingots.

“The fewer who know of this,” he said to the
black, “the safer we shall be.”

“The Bwana speaks words of wisdom,” replied
the wily black.

Esteban found the spot near the waterfall with¬
out difficulty, and upon questioning Owaza he dis¬
covered that the latter knew the location perfectly,
and would have no difficulty in coming directly to it
again from the coast. They transferred the gold
but a short distance, concealing it in a heavy thicket
near the edge of the river, knowing that it would
be as safe from discovery there as though they had
transported it a hundred miles, for the chances
were extremely slight that the Waziri or anyone
else who should learn of its original hiding place
would imagine that anyone would go to the trouble
of removing it but a matter of a hundred yards.

When they had finished Owaza looked at the
sun.

“We will never reach camp tonight,” he said,
“ and we will have to travel fast to overtake them
even tomorrow.”

184 Tarzan and the Golden Lion

“ I did not expect to,” replied Esteban, “ but I
could not tell them that. If we never find them
again I shall be satisfied. ” Owaza grinned. In
his crafty mind an idea was formed.

“ Why,” he thought, “ risk death in a battle with
the Arab ivory raiders on the chance of securing a
few tusks, when all this gold awaits only transpor¬
tation to the coast to be ours?”

i

CHAPTER XIII

A STRANGE, FLAT TOWER

ARZAN, turning, discovered the man stand-

X ing behind him on the top level of the ivy-
covered east tower of the Palace of Diamonds.
His knife leaped from its sheath at the touch of
his quick fingers. But almost simultaneously his
hand dropped to his side, and he stood contem¬
plating the other, with an expression of incredulity
upon his face that but reflected a similar emotion
registered upon the countenance of the stranger.
For what Tarzan saw was no Bolgani, nor a
Gomangani, but a white man, bald and old and
shriveled, with a long, white beard — a white man,
naked but for barbaric ornaments of gold spangles
and diamonds.

“ God! ” exclaimed the strange apparition.

Tarzan eyed the other quizzically. That single
English word opened up such tremendous possi¬
bilities for conjecture as baffled the mind of the
ape-man.

“What are you? Who are you?” continued
the old man, but this time in the dialect of the
great apes.

“You used an English word a moment ago,”

185

186 Tarzan and the Golden Lion

said Tarzan. “Do you speak that language?”
Tarzan himself spoke in English.

“Ah, dear God!” cried the old man, “that I
should have lived to hear that sweet tongue again.”
And he, too, now spoke in English, halting English,
as might one who was long unaccustomed to voic¬
ing the language.

“ Who are you? ” asked Tarzan, “ and what are:
you doing here?”

“ It is the same question that I asked you,” re¬
plied the old man. “ Do not be afraid to answer
me. You are evidently an Englishman, and you
have nothing to fear from me.”

“ I am here after a woman, captured by the
Bolgani,” replied Tarzan.

The other nodded. “Yes,” he said, “I know.
She is here.”

“Is she safe?” asked Tarzan.

“ She has not been harmed. She will be safe
until tomorrow or the next day,” replied the old
man. “ But who are you, and how did you find
your way here from the outer world?”

“ I am Tarzan of the Apes,” replied the ape-
man. “ I came into this valley looking for a way
out of the valley of Opar where the life of my
companion was in danger. And you?”

“ I am an old man,” replied the other, “ and I
have been here ever since I was a boy. I was a stow¬
away on the ship that brought Stanley to Africa
after the establishment of the station on Stanley
Pool, and I came into the interior with him. I went

Tarzan saw a white man, bald and old and shriveled
with a long white beard

A Strange, Flat Tower

187

out from camp to hunt, alone, one day. I lost my
way and later was captured by unfriendly natives.
They took me farther into the interior to their
village from which I finally escaped, but so utterly
confused and lost that I had no idea what direc¬
tion to take to find a trail to the coast. I wan¬
dered thus for months, until finally, upon an
accursed day I found an entrance to this valley.
I do not know why they did not put me to death
at once, but they did not, and later they discovered
that my knowledge could be turned to advantage
to them. Since then I have helped them in their
quarrying and mining and in their diamond cut¬
ting. I have given them iron drills with hardened
points and drills tipped with diamonds. Now I
am practically one of them, but always in my
heart has been the hope that some day I might
escape from the valley—a hopeless hope, though,
I may assure you.”

“There is no way out?” asked Tarzan.

“There is a way, but it is always guarded.”

“Where is it?” queried Tarzan.

“ It is a continuation of one of the mine tunnels,
passing entirely through the mountain to the valley
beyond. The mines have been worked by the
ancestors of this race for an almost incalculable
length of time. The mountains are honeycombed
with their shafts and tunnels. Back of the gold-
bearing quartz lies an enormous deposit of altered
peridotite, which contains diamonds, in the search
for which it evidently became necessary to extend

188 Tarzan and the Golden Lion

one of the shafts to the opposite side of the moun¬
tain, possibly for purposes of ventilation. This
tunnel and the trail leading down into Opar are
the only means of ingress to the valley. From
time immemorial they have kept the tunnel
guarded, more particularly, I imagine, to prevent
the escape of slaves than to thwart the inroads of
an enemy, since they believe that there is no fear
of the latter emergency. The trail to Opar they
do not guard, because they no longer fear the
Oparians, and know quite well that none of their
Gomangani slaves would dare enter the valley of
the sunworshipers. For the same reason, then,
that the slaves cannot escape, we, too, must remain
prisoners here forever.”

“How is the tunnel guarded?” asked Tarzan.

“ Two Bolgani and a dozen or more Gomangani
warriors are always upon duty there,” replied the
old man.

“The Gomangani would like to escape?”

“They have tried it many times in the past, I
am told,” replied the old man, “ though never
since I have lived here, and always they were
caught and tortured. And all their race was pun¬
ished and worked the harder because of these
attempts upon the part of a few.”

“They are numerous — the Gomangani?”

“There are probably five thousand of them in
the valley,” replied the old man.

“And how many Bolgani?” the ape-man asked.

“ Between ten and eleven hundred.”

A Strange, Flat Tower

18 ©

“ Five to one,” murmured Tarzan, “ and yet
they are afraid to attempt to escape.”

“ But you must remember,” said the old man,
“that the Bolgani are the dominant and intelli¬
gent race — the others are intellectually little above
the beasts of the forest.”

“Yet they are men,” Tarzan reminded him.

“ In figure only,” replied the old man. “ They
cannot band together as men do. They have not
as yet reached the community plane of evolution.
It is true that families reside in a single village,
but that idea, together with their weapons, was
given to them by the Bolgani that they might not
be entirely exterminated by the lions and panthers.
Formerly, I am told, each individual Gomangani,
when he became old enough to hunt for himself,
constructed a hut apart from others and took up
his solitary life, there being at that time no slightest
semblance of family life. Then the Bolgani taught
them how to build palisaded villages and compelled
the men and women to remain in them and rear
their children to maturity, after which the children
were required to remain in the village, so that now
some of the communities can claim as many as
forty or fifty people. But the death rate is high
among them, and they cannot multiply as rapidly
as people living under normal conditions of peace
and security. The brutalities of the Bolgani kill
many; the carnivora take a considerable toll.”

“ Five to one, and still they remain in slavery—-
what cowards they must be,” said the ape-man.

190 Tarzan and the Golden Lion

“ On the contrary, they are far from cowardly,”
replied the old man. “They will face a lion with
the utmost bravery. But for so many ages have
they been subservient to the will of the Bolgani,
that it has become a fixed habit in them — as the
fear of God is inherent in us, so is the fear of the
Bolgani inherent in the minds of the Gomangani
from birth.”

“ It is interesting,” said Tarzan. “ But tell me
now where the woman is of whom I have come in
search.”

“ She is your mate?” asked the old man.

“ No,” replied Tarzan. “ I told the Gomangani
that she was, so that they would protect her. She
is La, queen of Opar, High Priestess of the Flam¬
ing God.”

The old man looked his incredulity. “ Impos¬
sible!” he cried. “It cannot be that the queen
of Opar has risked her life by coming to the home
of her hereditary enemies.”

“She was forced to it,” replied Tarzan, “her
life being threatened by a part of her people be¬
cause she had refused to sacrifice me to their god.”

“ If the Bolgani knew this there would be great
rejoicing,” replied the old man.

“Tell me where she is,” demanded Tarzan.
“ She preserved me from her people, and I must
save her from whatever fate the Bolgani contem¬
plate for her.”

“ It is hopeless,” said the old man. “ I can tell
you where she is, but you cannot rescue her.”

A Strange, Flat Tower

191

“ I can try,” replied the ape-man.

“ But you will fail and die.”

“ If what you tell me is true, that there is abso¬
lutely no chance of my escaping from the valley,
I might as well die,” replied the ape-man. “ How¬
ever, I do not agree with you.”

The old man shrugged. “You do not know
the Bolgani,” he said.

“Tell me where the woman is,” said Tarzan.

“ Look” replied the old man, motioning Tarzan
to follow him into his apartment, and approaching
a window which faced toward the west, he pointed
towards a strange flat tower which rose above the
roof of the main building near the west end of the
palace. “She is probably somewhere in the in¬
terior of that tower,” said the old man to Tarzan,
“ but as far as you are concerned, she might as
well be at the north pole.”

Tarzan stood in silence for a moment, his keen
eyes taking in every salient detail of the prospect
before him. He saw the strange, flat-topped
tower, which it seemed to him might be reached
from the roof of the main building. He saw, too,
branches of the ancient trees that sometimes topped
the roof itself, and except for the dim light shining
through some of the palace windows he saw no
signs of life. He turned suddenly upon the old
man.

“I do not know you,” he said, “but I believe
that I may trust you, since after all blood ties are
strong, and we are the only men of our race in

192 Tarzan and the Golden Lion

this valley. You might gain something in favor
by betraying me, but I cannot believe that you will
doit.”

“ Do not fear,” said the old man, “ I hate them.
If I could help you I would, but I know that there
is no hope of success for whatever plan you may
have in mind — the woman will never be rescued;
you will never leave the Valley of the Palace of
Diamonds — you will never leave the palace itself
unless the Bolgani wish it.”

The ape-man grinned. “You have been here
so long,” he said, “that you are beginning to
assume the attitude of mind that keeps the Goman-
gani in perpetual slavery. If you want to escape,
come with me. We may not succeed, but at least
you will have a better chance if you try than as if
you remained forever in this tower.”

The old man shook his head. “ No,” he said,
“ it is hopeless. If escape had been possible I
should have been away from here long ago.”

“Good-bye then,” said Tarzan, and swinging
out of the window he clambered toward the roof
below, along the stout stem of the old ivy.

The old man watched him for a moment until
he saw him make his way carefully across the roof
toward the flat-topped tower where he hoped to
find and liberate La. Then the old fellow turned
and hurried rapidly down the crude stairway that
rose ladder-like to the center of the tower.

Tarzan made his way across the uneven roof
of the main building, clambering up the sides of its

A Strange, Flat Tower

193

higher elevations and dropping again to its
lower levels as he covered a considerable distance
between the east tower and that flat-topped struc¬
ture of peculiar design in which La was supposed
to be incarcerated. His progress was slow, for
he moved with the caution of a beast of prey,
stopping often in dense shadows to listen.

When at last he reached the tower, he found
that it had many openings letting upon the roof —
openings which were closed only with hangings of
the heavy tapestried stuff which he had seen in the
tower. Drawing one of these slightly aside he
looked within upon a large chamber, bare of
furnishings, from the center of which there pro¬
truded through a circular aperture the top of a
stairway similar to that he had ascended in the
east tower. There was no one in sight within
the chamber, and Tarzan crossed immediately to
the stairway. Peering cautiously into the opening
Tarzan saw that the stairway descended for a
great distance, passing many floors. How far it
went he could not judge, except it seemed likely
that it pierced subterranean chambers beneath the
palace. Sounds of life came up to him through
the shaft, and odors, too, but the latter largely
nullified, in so far as the scent impressions which
they offered Tarzan were concerned, by the heavy
incense which pervaded the entire palace.

It was this perfume that was to prove the ape-
man’s undoing, for otherwise his keen nostrils
would have detected the scent of a near-by Goman-

194

Tarzan and the Golden Lion

gani. The fellow lay behind one of the hangings
at an aperture in the tower wall. He had been
lying in such a position that he had seen Tarzan
enter the chamber, and he was watching him now
as the ape-man stood looking down the shaft of
the stairway. The eyes of the black had at first
gone wide in terror at sight of this strange appari¬
tion, the like of which he had never seen before.
Had the creature been of sufficient intelligence to
harbor superstition, he would have thought Tarzan
a god descended from above. But being of too
low an order to possess any imagination what¬
soever, he merely knew that he saw a strange
creature, and that all strange creatures must be
enemies, he was convinced. His duty was to
apprise his masters of this presence in the palace,
but he did not dare to move until the apparition
had reached a sufficient distance from him to in¬
sure that the movements of the Gomangani would
not be noticed by the intruder — he did not care
to call attention to himself, for he had found
that the more one effaced oneself in the presence
of the Bolgani, the less one was likely to suffer.
For a long time the stranger peered down the
shaft of the stairway, and for a long time the
Gomangani lay quietly watching him. But at last
the former descended the stairs and passed out of
sight of the watcher, who immediately leaped to
his feet and scurried away across the roof of the
palace toward a large tower arising at its western
end.

A Strange, Flat Tower

195

As Tarzan descended the ladder the fumes of
the incense became more and more annoying.
Where otherwise he might have investigated
quickly by scent he was now compelled to listen
for every sound, and in many cases to investigate
the chambers opening upon the central corridor
by entering them. Where the doors were locked,
he lay flat and listened close to the aperture at
their base. On several occasions he risked calling
La by name, but in no case did he receive any
reply.

He had investigated four landings and was
descending to the fifth when he saw standing in
one of the doorways upon this level an evidently
much excited and possibly terrified black. The
fellow was of giant proportions and entirely un¬
armed. He stood looking at the ape-man with
wide eyes as the latter jumped lightly from the
stairway and stood facing him upon the same level.

“What do you want?” finally stammered the
black. “Are you looking for the white she, your
mate, whom the Bolgani took?”

“Yes,” replied Tarzan. “What do you know
of her?”

“ I know where she is hidden,” replied the black,
“ and if you will follow me I will lead you to her.”

“Why do you offer to do this for me?” asked
Tarzan, immediately suspicious. “Why is it that
you do not go at once to your masters and tell
them that I am here that they may send men to
capture me?”

196 Tarzan and the Golden Lion

“ I do not know the reason that I was sent to
tell you this,” replied the black. “The Bolgani
sent me. I did not wish to come for I was afraid.”

“Where did they tell you to lead me?” asked
Tarzan.

“ I am to lead you into a chamber, the door of
which will be immediately bolted upon us. You
will then be a prisoner.”

“And you?” inquired Tarzan.

“ I, too, shall be a prisoner with you. The
Bolgani do not care what becomes of me. Per¬
haps you will kill me, but they do not care.”

“ If you lead me into a trap I shall kill you,”
replied Tarzan. “But if you lead me to the
woman perhaps we shall all escape. You would
like to escape, would you not?”

“ I should like to escape, but I cannot.”

“Have you ever tried?”

“ No, I have not. Why should I try to do some¬
thing that cannot be done?”

“ If you lead me into the trap I shall surely kill
you. If you lead me to the woman, you at least
have the chance that I do to live. Which will
you do?”

The black scratched his head in thought, the
idea slowly filtering through his stupid mind. At
last he spoke.

“ You are very wise,” he said. “ I will lead
you to the woman.”

“ Go ahead, then,” said Tarzan, “ and I will
follow you.”

A Strange, Flat Tower

197

The black descended to the next level and open¬
ing the door entered a long, straight corridor.
As the ape-man followed his guide he had leisure
to reflect upon the means through which the Bol-
gani had learned of his presence in the tower, and
the only conclusion he could arrive at was that
the old man had betrayed him, since in so far as
Tarzan was aware he alone knew that the ape-
man was in the palace. The corridor along which
the black was leading him was very dark, receiving
a dim and inadequate illumination from the dimly
lighted corridor they had just left, the door into
which remained open behind them. Presently the
black stopped, before a closed door.

“The woman is in there,” said the black, point¬
ing to the door.

“She is alone?” asked Tarzan.

“No,” replied the black. “Look,” and he
opened the door, revealing a heavy hanging, which
he gently separated, revealing to Tarzan the in¬
terior of the chamber beyond.

Seizing the black by the wrist, that he might
not escape, Tarzan stepped forward and put his
eyes to the aperture. Before him lay a large
chamber, at one end of which was a raised dais,
the base of which was of a dark, ornately carved
wood. The central figure upon this dais was a
huge, black-maned lion — the same that Tarzan
had seen escorted through the gardens of the
palace. His golden chains were now fastened to
rings in the floor, while the four blacks stood in

198 Tarzan and the Golden Lion

statuesque rigidity, two upon either side of the
beast. Upon golden thrones behind the lion sat
three magnificently ornamented Bolgani. At the
foot of the steps leading to the stair stood La,
between two Gomangani guards. Upon either side
of a central aisle were carved benches facing the
dais, and occupying the front section of these were
some fifty Bolgani, among whom Tarzan almost
immediately espied the little, old man that he had
met in the tower, the sight of whom instantly
crystallized the ape-man’s conviction of the source
of his betrayal.

The chamber was lighted by hundreds of cres¬
sets, burning a substance which gave forth both
light and the heavy incense that had assailed Tar-
zan’s nostrils since first he entered the domain of
the Bolgani. The long, cathedralesque windows
upon one side of the apartment were thrown wide,
admitting the soft air of the jungle summer night.
Through them Tarzan could see the palace grounds
and that this chamber was upon the same level as
the terrace upon which the palace stood. Beyond
those windows was an open gate-way to the jungle
and freedom, but interposed between him and the
windows were fifty armed gorilla-men. Perhaps,
then, strategy would be a better weapon than force
with which to carve his way to freedom with La.
Yet to the forefront of his mind was evidently a
belief in the probability that in the end it would
be force rather than strategy upon Avhich he must
depend. He turned to the black at his side.

A Strange, Flat Tower

199

“Would the Gomangani guarding the lion like
to escape from the Bolgani?” he asked.

“The Gomangani would all escape if they
could,” replied the black.

“ If it is necessary for me to enter the room,
then,” said Tarzan to the black, “will you accom¬
pany me and tell the other Gomangani that if they
will fight for me I will take them out of the
valley? ”

“ I will tell them, but they will not believe,”
replied the black.

“Tell them that they will die if they do not
help me, then,” said Tarzan.

“I will tell them.”

As Tarzan turned his attention again to the
chamber before him he saw that the Bolgani
occupying the central golden throne was speaking.

“Nobles of Numa, King of Beasts, Emperor
of All Created Things,” he said in deep, growling
tones, “ Numa has heard the words that this she
has spoken, and it is the will of Numa that she
die. The Great Emperor is hungry. He, him¬
self, will devour her here in the presence of his
Nobles and the Imperial Council of Three. It
is the will of Numa.”

A growl of approval arose from the beast-like
audience, while the great lion bared his hideous
fangs and roared until the palace trembled, his
wicked, yellow-green eyes fixed terribly upon the
woman before him, evidencing the fact that these
ceremonies were of sufficient frequency to have

200 Tarzan and the Golden Lion

accustomed the lion to what he might expect as
the logical termination of them.

“ Day after tomorrow,” continued the speaker,
“ the mate of this creature, who is by this time
safely imprisoned in the Tower of the Emperors,
will be brought before Numa for judgment.
Slaves,” he cried suddenly in a loud voice, rising
to his feet and glaring at the guards holding La,
“ drag the woman to your emperor.”

Instantly the lion became frantic, lashing its
tail and straining at its stout chains, roaring and
snarling as it reared upon its hind feet and sought
to leap upon La, who was now being forcibly con¬
ducted up the steps of the dais toward the be-
jeweled man-eater so impatiently awaiting her.

She did not cry out in terror, but she sought to
twist herself free from the detaining hands of the
powerful Gomangani — all futilely, however.

They had reached the last step, and were about
to push La into the claws of the lion, when they
were arrested by a loud cry from one side of the
chamber — a cry that halted the Gomangani and
brought the assembled Bolgani to their feet in
astonishment and anger, for the sight that met
their eyes w r as well qualified to arouse the latter
within them. Leaping into the room with raised
spear was the almost naked white man of whom
they had heard, but whom none of them had as
yet seen. And so quick was he that in the very
instant of entry — even before they could rise to
their feet—he had launched his spear.

CHAPTER XIV

THE CHAMBER OF HORRORS

A BLACK-MANED lion moved through the
jungle night. With majestic unconcern for
all other created things he took his lordly way
through the primeval forest. He was not hunt¬
ing, for he made no efforts toward stealth, nor, on
the other hand, did he utter any vocal sound. He
moved swiftly, though sometimes stopping with
uplifted nose to scent the air and to listen. And
thus at last he came to a high wall, along the
face of which he sniffed, until the wall was broken
by a half-opened gateway, through which he passed
into the enclosure.

Before him loomed a great building, and pres¬
ently as he stood watching it and listening, there
broke from the interior the thunderous roar of an
angry lion.

He of the black mane cocked his head upon
one side and moved stealthily forward.

At the very instant that La was about to be
thrust into the clutches of Numa, Tarzan of the
Apes leaped into the apartment with a loud cry
that brought to momentary pause the Gomangani
that were dragging her to her doom, and in that

201

202 Tarzan and the Golden Lion

brief instant of respite which the ape-man knew
would follow his interruption the swift spear was
launched. To the rage and consternation of the
Bolgani they saw it bury itself in the heart of their
Emperor—the great, black-maned lion.

At Tarzan’s side stood the Gomangani whom
he had terrified into service, and as Tarzan rushed
forward toward La the black accompanied him,
crying to his fellows that if they would help this
stranger they might be free and escape from the
Bolgani forever.

“ You have permitted the great Emperor to be
slain,” he cried to the poor Gomangani who
guarded Numa. “ For this the Bolgani will kill
you. Help to save the strange Tarmangani and
his mate and you have at least a chance for life
and freedom. And you,” he added, addressing the
two who had been guarding La, “ they will hold
you responsible also — your only hope lies with
us.”

Tarzan had reached La’s side and was dragging
her up the steps of the dais where he hoped that
he might make a momentary stand against the
fifty Bolgani who were now rushing forward from
their seats toward him.

“ Slay the three who sit upon the dais,” cried
Tarzan to the Gomangani, who were now evi¬
dently hesitating as to which side they would cast
their lot with. “ Slay them if you wish your free¬
dom! Slay them if you wish to live! ”

The authoritative tones of his voice, the mag-

The Chamber of Horrors

203

netic appeal of his personality, his natural leader¬
ship won them to him for the brief instant that
was necessary to turn them upon the hated authority
that the three Bolgani upon the dais represented,
and as they drove their spears into the shaggy
black bodies of their masters they became then and
forever the creatures of Tarzan of the Apes, for
there could be no future hope for them in the
land of the Bolgani.

With one arm around La’s waist the ape-man
carried her to the summit of the dais, where he
seized his spear and drew it from the body of
the dead lion. Then, turning about, and facing the
advancing Bolgani, he placed one foot upon the
carcass of his kill and raised his voice in the terrify¬
ing victory cry of the apes of Kerchak.

Before him the Bolgani paused, behind him the
Gomangani quailed in terror.

“Stop!” cried Tarzan, raising a palm toward
the Bolgani. “ Listen! I am Tarzan of the Apes.
I sought no quarrel with your people. I but look
for a passage through your country to my own.
Let me go my way in peace with this woman, tak¬
ing these Gomangani with me.”

For answer a chorus of savage growls arose
from the Bolgani as they started forward again
toward the dais. From their ranks there suddenly
leaped the old man of the east tower, who ran
swiftly toward Tarzan.

“Ah, traitor,” cried the ape-man, “you would
be the first, then, to taste the wrath of Tarzan?”

204 Tarzan and the Golden Lion

He spoke in English and the old man replied in
the same tongue.

“Traitor?” he exclaimed in surprise.

“Yes, traitor,” thundered Tarzan. “Did you
not hurry here to tell the Bolgani that I was in
the palace, that they might send the Gomangani
to lure me to a trap ? ”

“ I did nothing of the kind,” replied the other.
“ I came here to place myself near the white
woman, with the thought that I might be of service
to her or you if I were needed. I come now, Eng¬
lishman, to stand at your side and die at your side,
for die you shall, as sure as there is a God in
heaven. Nothing can save you now from the
wrath of the Bolgani whose Emperor you have
killed.”

“Come, then,” cried Tarzan, “and prove your
loyalty. It were better to die now than to live
in slavery forever,”

The six Gomangani had ranged themselves,
three upon either side of Tarzan and La, while
the seventh, who had entered the chamber with
Tarzan unarmed, was taking weapons from the
body of one of the three Bolgani who had been
slain upon the dais.

Before this array of force so new to them, the
Bolgani paused at the foot of the steps leading
to the dais. But only for a moment they paused,
for there were but nine against fifty, and as they
surged up the steps, Tarzan and his Gomangani
met them with battle ax, and spear, and bludgeon.

The Chamber of Horrors

205

For a moment they pressed them back, but the
numbers against them were too great, and once
again a wave swept up that seemed likely to over¬
whelm them, when there broke upon the ears of
the contestants a frightful roar, which, coming
from almost at their sides, brought a sudden,
momentary cessation of the battle.

Turning their eyes in the direction of the sound
they saw a huge, black-maned lion standing upon
the floor of the apartment, just within one of the
windows. For an instant he stood like a statue of
golden bronze, and then again the building trem¬
bled to the reverberations of his mighty roar.

Towering above them all Tarzan of the Apes
looked down from the dais upon the great beast
below him, and then in quick elation he raised his
voice above the growlings of the Bolgani.

“ Jad-bal-ja,” he cried, and pointing toward the
Bolgani, “Kill! Kill!”

Scarcely had the words been uttered ere the
huge monster, a veritable devil incarnate, was upon
the hairy gorilla-men. And simultaneously there
occurred to the mind of the ape-man a daring plan
of salvation for himself and the others who were
dependent upon him.

“ Quick,” he cried to the Gomangani, “ fall upon
the Bolgani. Here at last is the true Numa, King
of Beasts, and ruler of all creation. He slays his
enemies but he will protect Tarzan of the Apes
and the Gomangani, who are his friends.”

Seeing their hated masters falling back before

206 Tarzan and the Golden Lion

the terrific onslaughts of the lion, the Gomangani
rushed in with battle axes and clubs, while Tarzan,
casting aside his spear, took his place among them
with drawn knife, and, keeping close to Jad-bal-ja,
directed the lion from one victim to another, lest
he fall by mistake upon the Gomangani or the little,
old, white man, or even La, herself. Twenty of
the Bolgani lay dead upon the floor before the
balance managed to escape from the chamber, and
then Tarzan, turning to Jad-bal-ja, called him
to heel.

“ Go! ” he said, turning toward the Gomangani,
“ and drag the body of the false Numa from the
dais. Remove it from the room, for the true
Emperor has come to claim his throne.”

The old man and La were eyeing Tarzan and
the lion in amazement.

“Who are you,” asked the former, “that you
can work such miracles with a savage beast of the
jungle? Who are you, and what do you intend
to do?”

“ Wait and see,” said Tarzan with a grim smile.
“ I think that we shall all be safe now, and that
the Gomangani may live in comfort for a long
time hereafter.”

When the blacks had removed the carcass of
the lion from the dais and thrown it from one
of the windows of the chamber, Tarzan sent
Jad-bal-ja to sit in the place upon the dais that
had formerly been occupied by the lion, Numa.

“There,” he said, turning to the Gomangani,

The Chamber of Horrors

207

“you see the true Emperor, who does not have
to be chained to his throne. Three of you will
go to the huts of your people behind the palace
and summon them to the throne room, that they,
too, may see what has transpired. Hurry, that
we may have many warriors here before the Bol-
gani return in force.”

Filled with an excitement which almost shook
their dull minds into a semblance of intelligence
three of the Gomangani hastened to do Tarzan’s
bidding, while the others stood gazing at Tarzan
with expressions of such awe that might only be
engendered by the sight of deity. La came then
and stood beside Tarzan, looking up into his face
with eyes that reflected a reverence fully as deep
as that held by the blacks.

“ I have not thanked you, Tarzan of the Apes,”
she said, “ for what you have risked and done for
me. I know that you must have come here in
search of me, to save me from these creatures,
and I know that it was not love that impelled you
to this heroic and well-nigh hopeless act. That
you have succeeded thus far is little short of
miraculous, but I, in the legends of whose people
are recounted the exploits of the Bolgani, know
that there can be no hope of eventual escape for
us all, and so I beseech that you go at once and
make good your escape alone, if possible, for you
alone of us have any possible chance of escape.”

“ I do not agree with you that we have no
chance to escape, La,” replied the ape-man. “ It

208 Tarzan and the Golden Lion

seems to me that now we not only have every rea¬
son to believe that we are practically assured of
escape, but that we may insure also to these poor
Gomangani freedom from slavery and from the
tyranny of the Bolgani. But this is not all. With
this I shall not be satisfied. Not only must these
people who show no hospitality to strangers be
punished, but your own disloyal priests as well.
To this latter end I intend to march out of the
Valley of the Palace of Diamonds, down upon the
city of Opar with a force of Gomangani sufficient
to compel Cadj to relinquish the power he has
usurped and replace you upon the throne of Opar.
Nothing less than this shall satisfy me, and noth¬
ing less than this shall I accomplish before I leave.”

“ You are a brave man,” said the old man, “ and
you have succeeded beyond what I thought could
be possible, but La is right, you do not know the
ferocity or the resources of the Bolgani, or the
power which they wield over the Gomangani.
Could you raise from the stupid minds of the
blacks the incubus of fear that rests so heavily
upon them you might win over a sufficient number
to make good your escape from the valley, but
that, I fear, is beyond even you. Our only hope,
therefore, is to escape from the palace while they
are momentarily disorganized, and trust to fleet¬
ness and to luck to carry us beyond the limits of
the valley before we are apprehended.”

“See,” cried La, pointing; “even now it is too
late — they return.”

The Chamber of Horrors

209

Tarzan looked in the direction that she in¬
dicated and saw through the open doorway at
the far end of the chamber a large number of
gorilla-men approaching. His eyes moved swiftly
to the windows in the other wall. “ But wait,”
he said, “ behold another factor in the equation! ”

The others looked toward the windows which
opened upon the terrace, and they saw beyond
them what appeared to be a crowd of several hun¬
dred blacks running rapidly toward the windows.
The other blacks upon the dais cried out excitedly:
“They come! They come! We shall be free,
and no longer shall the Bolgani be able to make
us work until we drop from exhaustion, or beat us,
or torture us, or feed us to Numa.”

As the first of the Bolgani reached the door¬
way leading into the chamber, the Gomangani
commenced to pour through the several windows
in the opposite wall. They were led by the three
who had been sent to fetch them, and to such good
effect had these carried their message that the
blacks already seemed like a new people, so trans¬
figured were they by the thought of immediate
freedom. At sight of them the leader of the
Bolgani cried aloud for them to seize the intruders
upon the dais, but his answer was a spear hurled
by the nearest black, and as he lunged forward,
dead, the battle was on.

The Bolgani in the palace greatly outnumbered
the blacks, but the latter had the advantage of
holding the interior of the throne room in suffi-

210 Tarzan and the Golden Lion

cient numbers to prevent the entry of many Bolgani
simultaneously. Tarzan, immediately he recog¬
nized the temper of the blacks, called Jad-bal-ja
to follow him, and, descending from the dais, he
took command of the Gomangani. At each open¬
ing he placed sufficient men to guard it, and at the
center of the room he held the balance in reserve.
Then he called the old man into consultation.

“The gate in the east wall is open,” he said.
“ I left it so when I entered. Would it be possible
for twenty or thirty blacks to reach it in safety
and, entering the forest, carry word to the villagers
of what is transpiring here in the palace, and pre¬
vail upon them to send all of their warriors im¬
mediately to complete the work of emancipation
that we have begun? ”

“ It is an excellent plan,” replied the old man.
“The Bolgani are not upon that side of the palace
between us and the gate, and if it may ever be
accomplished, now is the time. I will pick your
men for you. They must be head-men, whose
words will carry some weight with the villagers
outside the palace walls.”

“Good!” exclaimed Tarzan. “Select them
immediately; tell them what we want and urge
upon them the necessity for haste.”

One by one the old man chose thirty warriors,
whose duty he carefully explained to each. They
were delighted with the plan and assured Tarzan
that in less than an hour the first of the reinforce¬
ments would come.

The Chamber of Horrors

211

“As you leave the enclosure,” said the ape-man,
“ destroy the lock if you can, so that the Bolgani
may not lock it again and bar out our reinforce¬
ments. Carry also the word that the first who
come are to remain outside the wall until a suffi¬
cient number have arrived to make entry into the
palace grounds reasonably safe — at least as many
as are within this room now.”

The blacks signified their understanding, and a
moment later passed out of the room through one
of the windows and disappeared into the darkness
of the night beyond.

Shortly after the blacks had left the Bolgani
made a determined rush upon the Gomangani
guarding the main entrance to the throne room,
with the result that a score or more of the gorilla-
men succeeded in cutting their way into the room.
At this first indication of reversal the blacks
showed signs of faltering, the fear of the Bolgani
that was inherent in them showing in their waver¬
ing attitude and seeming reluctance to force a
counter attack. As Tarzan leaped forward to
assist in checking the rush of the Bolgani into the
throne room he called to Jad-bal-ja, and as the
great lion leaped from the dais the ape-man, point¬
ing to the nearest Bolgani, cried: “ Kill! Kill! ”

Straight for the throat of the nearest leaped
Jad-bal-ja. The great jaws closed upon the snarl¬
ing face of the frightened gorilla-man but once,
and then, at the command of his master the golden
lion dropped the carcass after a single shake and

212 Tarzan and the Golden Lion

leaped upon another. Three had died thus in quick
succession when the balance of the Bolgani turned
to flee this chamber of horrors; but the Gomangani,
their confidence restored by the ease with which
this fierce ally brought death and terror to the
tyrants, interposed themselves between the Bolgani
and the doorway, shutting off their retreat.

“Hold them! Hold them!” cried Tarzan.
“ Do not kill them! ” And then to the Bolgani:
“ Surrender and you will not be harmed! ”

Jad-bal-ja clung close to the side of his master,
glaring and growling at the Bolgani, and casting
an occasional beseeching look at the ape-man which
said plainer than words, “ Send me among them.”

Fifteen of the Bolgani who had entered the
room survived. For a moment they hesitated, and
then one of them threw his weapons upon the
floor. Immediately the others followed suit.

Tarzan turned toward Jad-bal-ja. “ Back! ” he
said, pointing toward the dais, and as the lion
wheeled and slunk away toward the platform,
Tarzan turned again toward the Bolgani.

“ Let one of your number go,” he said, “ and
announce to your fellows that I demand their
immediate surrender.”

The Bolgani whispered among themselves for
a few moments and finally one of them announced
that he would go and see the others. After he
had left the room the old man approached Tarzan.

“ They will never surrender,” he said. “ Look
out for treachery.”

The Chamber of Horrors

213

“ It is all right,” said Tarzan. “ I am expecting
that, but I am gaining time, and that is what we
need most. If there were a place near where I
might confine these others I should feel better, for
it would cut down our antagonists by at least that
many.”

“There is a room there,” said the old man,
pointing toward one of the doorways in the throne
room, “where you can confine them — there are
many such rooms in the Tower of the Emperors.”

“ Good,” said Tarzan, and a moment later, fol¬
lowing his instructions the Bolgani were safely
locked in a room adjoining the throne room. In
the corridors without they could hear the main
body of the gorilla-men in argument. It was evi¬
dent that they were discussing the message sent
to them by Tarzan. Fifteen minutes passed, and
finally thirty, with no word from the Bolgani and
no resumption of hostilities, and then there came
to the main entrance of the throne room the fellow
whom Tarzan had despatched with his demand for
surrender.

“Well,” asked the ape-man, “what is their
answer? ”

“They will not surrender,” replied the Bolgani,
“ but they will permit you to leave the valley pro¬
vided that you will release those whom you have
taken prisoner and harm no others.”

The ape-man shook his head. “That will not
do,” he replied. “ I hold the power to crush the
Bolgani of the Valley of Diamonds. Look,” and

214 Tarzan and the Golden Lion

he pointed toward Jad-bal-ja, “here is the true
Numa. The creature you had upon your throne
was but a wild beast, but this is Numa, King of
Beasts, Emperor of All Created Things. Look
at him. Must he be held in leash by golden chains
like some prisoner or slave? No! He is indeed
an Emperor. But there is one yet greater than
he, one from whom he takes commands. And
that one is I, Tarzan of the Apes. Anger me
and you shall feel not only the wrath of Numa L
but the wrath of Tarzan, as well. The Gomangani
are my people, the Bolgani shall be my slaves.
Go and tell your fellows that, and that if they
would live at all they had best come soon and sue
for mercy. Go!”

When the messenger had again departed Tarzan
looked at the old man, who was eyeing him with
an expression which might have denoted either
awe or reverence, were it not for the vaguest hint
of a twinkle in the corners of the eyes. The ape-
man breathed a deep sigh of relief. “That will
give us at least another half hour,” he said.

“We shall need it, and more, too,” replied the
old man, “though, at that, you have accomplished
more than I had thought possible, for at least you
have put a doubt in the minds of the Bolgani, who
never before have had cause to question their own
power.”

Presently from the outer corridors the sounds
of argument and discussion gave place to that of
movement among the Bolgani. A company, com-

The Chamber of Horrors

215

prising some fifty of the gorilla-men, took post
directly outside the main entrance of the throne
room where they stood in silence, their weapons
ready, as though for the purpose of disputing any
effort upon the part of the inmates of the room
to escape. Beyond them the balance of the gorilla-
men could be seen moving away and disappearing
through doorways and corridors leading from the
main hallway of the palace. The Gomangani,
together with La and the old man, watched im¬
patiently for the coming of the black reinforce¬
ments, while Tarzan sat upon the edge of the dais
half-reclining, with an arm about the neck of Jad-
bal-ja.

“They are up to something,” said the old man.
“We must watch carefully against a surprise. If
the blacks would but come now, while the doorway
is held by only fifty, we should overcome them
easily, and have, I do verily believe, some slight
chance of escaping from the palace grounds.”

“Your long residence here,” said Tarzan, “has
filled you with the same senseless fear of the Bol-
gani that the Gomangani hold. From the attitude
of mind which you hold toward them one would
think them some manner of supermen — they are
only beasts, my friend, and if we remain loyal to
our cause we shall overcome them.”

“ Beasts they may be,” replied the old man,
“but they are beasts with the brains of men —
their cunning and their cruelty are diabolical.”

A long silence ensued, broken only by the ner-

216 Tarzan and the Golden Lion

vous whisperings of the Gomangani, whose morale,
it was evident, was slowly disintegrating under the
nervous strain of the enforced wait, and the failure
of their fellows of the forest to come quickly to
their aid. To this was added the demoralizing
effect of speculation upon what the Bolgani were
planning or what plan they already were putting
into effept. The very silence of the gorilla-men
was more terrible than the din of actual assault.
La was the first of the whites to break the silence.

“ If thirty of the Gomangani could leave the
palace so easily, why might not we leave also?”
she asked.

“There were two reasons,” replied Tarzan.
“ One was that should we have left simultaneously
the Bolgani, greatly outnumbering us as they did,
could have harassed us and detained us for a suffi¬
cient length of time to have permitted their mes¬
sengers f o reach the villagers ahead of us, with
the result that in a short time we should have been
surrounded by thousands of hostile warriors. The
second reason is that I desire to punish the crea¬
tures, so that in future a stranger may be safe in
the Valley of the Palace of Diamonds.” He
paused. “And now I shall give you a third reason
why we may not seek to escape at this moment.”
He pointed toward the windows overlooking the
terrace. “Look,” he said, “the terrace and the
gardens are filled with Bolgani. Whatever their
plan I think its success depends upon our attempt
to escape from this room through the windows,

The Chamber of Horrors

217

for, unless I am mistaken, the Bolgani upon the
terrace and in the gardens are making an attempt
to hide themselves from us.”

The old man walked to a part of the room from
which he could see the greater part of the terrace
and gardens upon which the windows of the throne
room looked.

“You are right,” he said when he returned to
the ape-man’s side; “the Bolgani are all massed
outside these windows with the exception of those
who guard the entrance, and possibly some others
at the doorways at other portions of the throne
room. That, however, we must determine.” He
walked quickly to the opposite side of the chamber
and drew back the hangings before one of the
apertures, disclosing beyond a small band of Bol¬
gani. They stood there motionless, not making
any effort to seize or harm him. To another exit,
and another, he went, and beyond each discovered
to the occupants of the chamber the same silent
gorilla guardians. He made the circle of the room,
passing over the dais behind the three thrones, and
then he came back to Tarzan and La.

“ It is as I suspected,” he said, “we are entirely
surrounded. Unless help comes soon we are lost.”

“ But their force is divided,” Tarzan reminded
him.

“Even so, it is sufficient to account for us,”
replied the old man.

“Perhaps you are right,” said Tarzan, “but at
least we shall have a bully fight.”

218 Tarzan and the Golden Lion

“What is that!” exclaimed La, and simul¬
taneously, attracted by the same noise, the inmates
of the throne room raised their eyes to the ceiling
above them, where they saw that traps had been
lifted from a dozen openings, revealing the scowl¬
ing faces of several score of gorilla-men.

“ What are they up to now! ” exclaimed Tarzan,
and as though in answer to the query the Bolgani
above began hurling bundles of burning, oil-soaked
rags, tied in goat skins, into the throne room, which
immediately commenced to fill it with a thick, suf¬
focating smoke, accompanied by the stench of
burning hide and hair.

CHAPTER XV

THE MAP OF BLOOD

'TER Esteban and Owaza had buried the gold

A they returned to the spot where they had
left their five boys, and proceeding with them to
the river made camp for the night. Here they
discussed their plans, deciding to abandon the
balance of the party to reach the coast as best they
might, while they returned to another section of
the coast where they could recruit sufficient porters
to carry out the gold.

“ Instead of going way back to the coast for
porters,” asked Esteban, “why could we not just
as well recruit them from the nearest village?”

“ Such men would not go with us way to the
coast,” replied Owaza. “They are not porters.
At best they would but carry our gold to the next
village.”

“Why not that, then?” inquired the Spaniard.
“And at the next village we could employ porters
to carry us on still farther, until we could employ
other men to continue on with us.”

Owaza shook his head. “ It is a good plan,
Bwana, but we cannot do it, because we have noth¬
ing with which to pay our porters.”

Esteban scratched his head. “You are right,”
he said, “ but it would save us that damnable trip

219

220 Tarzan and the Golden Lion

to the coast and return.” They sat for some
moments in silence, thinking. “ I have it! ” at last
exclaimed the Spaniard. “Even if we had the
porters now we could not go directly to the coast
for fear of meeting Flora Hawkes’s party — we
must let them get out of Africa before we take the
gold to the coast. Two months will be none too
long to wait, for they are going to have a devil of
a time getting to the coast at all with that bunch
of mutinous porters. While we are waiting, there¬
fore, let us take one of the ingots of gold to the
nearest point at which we can dispose of it for
trade goods. Then we can return and hire porters
to carry it from village to village.”

“ The Bwana speaks words of wisdom,” replied
Owaza. “ It is not as far to the nearest trading post
as it is back to the coast, and thus we shall not only
save time, but also many long, hard marches.”

“ In the morning, then, we shall return and
unearth one of the ingots, but we must be sure
that none of your men accompanies us, for no one
must know until it is absolutely necessary where
the gold is buried. When we return for it, of
course, then others must know, too, but inasmuch
as we shall be with it constantly thereafter there
will be little danger of its being taken from us.”

And so upon the following morning the Spaniard
and Owaza returned to the buried treasure, where
they unearthed a single ingot.

Before he left the spot the Spaniard drew upon
the inner surface of the leopard skin that he wore

The Map of Blood

221

across his shoulder an accurate map of the location
of the treasure, making the drawing with a sharp¬
ened stick, dipped in the blood of a small rodent
he had killed for the purpose. From Owaza he
obtained the native names of the river and of such
landmarks as were visible from the spot at which
the treasure was buried, together with as explicit
directions as possible for reaching the place from
the coast. This information, too, he wrote below
the map, and when he had finished he felt much
relieved from the fear that should aught befall
Owaza he might never be able to locate the gold.

When Jane Clayton reached the coast to take
passage for London she found awaiting her a wire
stating that her father was entirely out of danger,
and that there was no necessity for her coming to
him. She, therefore, after a few days of rest,
turned her face again toward home, and com¬
menced to retrace the steps of the long, hot, weary
journey that she had just completed. When,
finally, she arrived at the bungalow she learned,
to her consternation, that Tarzan of the Apes
had not yet returned from his expedition to the
city of Opar after the gold from the treasure
vaults. She found Korak, evidently much exer¬
cised, but unwilling to voice a doubt as to the
ability of his father to care for himself. She
learned of the escape of the golden lion with regret,
for she knew that Tarzan had become much
attached to the noble beast.

222

Tarzan and the Golden Lion

It was the second day after her return that the
Waziri who had accompanied Tarzan returned
without him. Then, indeed, was her heart filled
with fear for her lord and master. She questioned
the men carefully, and when she learned from them
that Tarzan had suffered another accident that had
again affected his memory, she immediately an¬
nounced that she would set out on the following
day in search of him, commanding the Waziri
who had just returned to accompany her.

Korak attempted to dissuade her, but failing
in that insisted upon accompanying her.

“We must not all be away at once,” she said.
“You remain here, my son. If I fail I shall re¬
turn and let you go.”

“ I cannot let you go alone, Mother,” replied
Korak.

“ I am not alone when the Waziri are with me,”
she laughed. “And you know perfectly well, boy,
that I am as safe anywhere in the heart of Africa
with them as I am here at the ranch.”

“Yes, yes, I suppose so,” he replied, “but I wish
I might go, or that Meriem were here.”

“Yes, I, too, wish that Meriem were here,”
replied Lady Greystoke. “ However, do not
worry. You know that my jungle-craft, while not
equal to that of Tarzan or Korak, is by no means
a poor asset, and that, surrounded by the loyalty
and bravery of the Waziri, I shall be safe.”

“ I suppose you are right,” replied Korak, “ but
I do not like to see you go without me.”

The Map of Blood

223

And so, notwithstanding his objections, Jane
Clayton set out the next morning with fifty Waziri
warriors in search of her savage mate.

When Esteban and Owaza had not returned to
camp as they had promised, the other members of
the party were at first inclined to anger, which was
later replaced by concern, not so much for the
safety of the Spaniard but for fear that Owaza
might have met with an accident and would not
return to take them in safety to the coast, for of
all the blacks he alone seemed competent to handle
the surly and mutinous carriers. The negroes
scouted the idea that Owaza had become lost and
were more inclined to the opinion that he and
Esteban had deliberately deserted them. Luvini,
who acted as head-man in Owaza’s absence, had
a theory of his own.

“ Owaza and the Bwana have gone after the
ivory raiders alone. By trickery they may accom¬
plish as much as we could have accomplished by
force, and there will only be two among whom to
divide the ivory.”

“ But how may two men overcome a band of
raiders?” inquired Flora, skeptically.

“ You do not know Owaza,” answered Luvini.
“ If he can gain the ears of their slaves he will
win them over, and when the Arabs see that he
who accompanies Owaza and who fights at the
head of the mutinous slaves is Tarzan of the Apes,
they will flee in terror.”

224 Tarzan and the Golden Lion

“ I believe he is right,” muttered Kraski, “ it
sounds just like the Spaniard,” and then suddenly
he turned upon Luvini. “ Can you lead us to the
raiders’ camp?” he demanded.

“Yes,” replied the negro.

“Good,” exclaimed Kraski; “and now, Flora,
what do you think of this plan? Let us send a
swift runner to the raiders, warning them against
Owaza and the Spaniard, and telling them that the
latter is not Tarzan of the Apes, but an impostor.
We can ask them to capture and hold the two
until we come, and after we arrive we can make
such further plans as the circumstances permit.
Very possibly we can carry out our original design
after we have once entered their camp as friends.”

“Yes, that sounds good,” replied Flora, “and
it is certainly crooked enough—just like you, your¬
self.”

The Russian blushed. “ ‘Birds of a feather ’— n
he quoted.

The girl shrugged her shoulders indifferently,
but Bluber, who, with Peebles and Throck, had
been silent listeners to the conversation, blustered.

“ Vot do you mean birds vit fedders?” he de¬
manded. “ Who vas a crook? I tell you, Mister
Carl Kraski, I am an honest man, dot is von
t’ing dot no man don’t say about Adolph Bluber,
he is a crook.”

“ O shut up,” snapped Kraski, “ if there’s any¬
thing in it you’ll be for it — if there’s no risk.
These fellows stole the ivory themselves, and killed

The Map of Blood

225

a lot of people, probably, to do it. In addition
they have taken slaves, which we will free.”

“ O veil,” said Bluber, “ if it is fair und eqvit-
able, vy, all right, but just remember, Mister
Kraski, dot / am an honest man.”

“ Blime! ” exclaimed Throck, “ we’re all honest;
I’ve never seen such a downy bunch of parsons in
all me life.”

“ Sure we’re honest,” roared John Peebles, “ and
anyone ’at says we ain’t gets ’is bally ’ead knocked
off, and ’ere we are, ’n that’s that.”

The girl smiled wearily. “You can always tell
honest men,” she said. “ They go around telling
the world how honest they are. But never mind
that; the thing now is to decide whether we want
to follow Kraski’s suggestion or not. It’s some¬
thing we’ve got all pretty well to agree upon before
we undertake it. There are fiye of us. Let’s
leave it to a vote. Do we, or don’t we?”

“Will the men accompany us?” asked Kraski,
turning to Luvini.

“ If they are promised a share of the ivory they
will,” replied the black.

“ How many are in favor of Carl’s plan ? ” asked
Flora.

They were unanimously for it, and so it was de¬
cided that they would undertake the venture, and
a half hour later a runner was despatched on the
trail to the raiders’ camp with a message for the
raider chief. Shortly after, the party broke camp
and took up its march in the same direction.

226

Tarzan and the Golden Lion

A week later, when they reached the camp of the
raiders they found that their messenger had arrived
safely and that they were expected. Esteban and
Owaza had not put in an appearance noi* had
anything been seen or heard of them in the vicinity.
The result was that the Arabs were inclined to be
suspicious and surly, fearing that the message
brought to them had been but a ruse to permit this
considerable body of whites and armed blacks to
enter their stockade in safety.

Jane Clayton and her Waziri moving rapidly,
picked up the spoor of Flora Hawkes’s safari at
the camp where the Waziri had last seen Esteban,
whom they still thought to have been Tarzan of
the Apes. Following the plainly marked trail,
and moving much more rapidly than the Hawkes
safari, Jane and the Waziri made camp within
a mile of the ivory raiders only about a week after
the Hawkes party had arrived and where they still
remained, waiting either for the coming of Owaza
and Esteban, or for a propitious moment in which
they could launch their traitorous assault upon the
Arabs. In the meantime, Luvini and some of the
other blacks had succeeded in secretly spreading
the propaganda of revolt among the slaves of the
Arabs. Though he reported his progress daily
to Flora Hawkes, he did not report the steady
growth and development of a little private plan
of his own, which contemplated, in addition to the
revolt of the slaves, and the slaying of the Arabs,
the murder of all the whites in the camp, with the

The Map of Blood

227

exception of Flora Hawkes, whom Luvini wished
to preserve either for himself or for sale to some
black sultan of the north. It was Luvini’s shrewd
plan to first slay the Arabs, with the assistance
of the whites, and then to fall upon the whites
and slay them, after their body servants had stolen
their weapons from them.

That Luvini would have been able to carry out
his plan with ease there is little doubt, had it not
been for the loyalty and affection of a young black
boy attached to Flora Hawkes for her personal
service.

The young white woman, notwithstanding the
length to which she would go in the satisfaction
of her greed and avarice, was a kind and indul¬
gent mistress. The kindnesses she had shown this
ignorant little black boy were presently to return
her dividends far beyond her investment.

Luvini had been to her upon a certain afternoon
to advise her that all was ready, and that the revolt
of the slaves and the murder of the Arabs should
take place that evening, immediately after dark.
The cupidity of the whites had long been aroused
by the store of ivory possessed by the raiders, with
the result that all were more than eager for the
final step in the conspiracy that would put them in
possession of considerable wealth.

It was just before the evening meal that the
little negro boy crept into Flora Hawkes’s tent.
He was very wide-eyed, and terribly frightened.

“What is the matter?” she demanded.

228 Tarzan and the Golden Lion

“ S-sh! ” he cautioned. “ Do not let them hear
you speak to me, but put your ear close to me while
I tell you in a low voice what Luvini is planning.”

The girl bent her head close to the lips of the
little black. “You have been kind to me,” he
whispered, “ and now that Luvini would harm you
I have come to tell you.”

“What do you mean?” exclaimed Flora, in a
low voice.

“ I mean that Luvini, after the Arabs are killed,
has given orders that the black boys kill all the
white men and take you prisoner. He intends to
either keep you for himself or to sell you in the
north for a great sum of money.”

“ But how do you know all this ? ” demanded the
girl.

“All the blacks in camp know it,” replied the
boy. “ I was to have stolen your rifle and your
pistol, as each of the boys will steal thejweapons of
his white master.”

The girl sprang to her feet. “ I’ll teach that
nigger a lesson,” she cried, seizing her pistol and
striding toward the flap of the tent.

The boy seized her about the knees and held
her. “ No! no ! ” he cried. “ Do not do it. Do
not say anything. It will only mean that they will
kill the white men sooner and take you prisoner
just the same. Every black boy in the camp is
against you. Luvini has promised that the ivory
shall be divided equally among them all. They are
ready now, and if you should threaten Luvini, or if

The Map of Blood

229

in any other way they should learn that you were
aware of the plot, they would fall upon you imme¬
diately.’ 5

“What do you expect me to do then?” she
asked.

“There is but one hope, and that is in flight.
You and the white men must escape into the jun¬
gle. Not even I may accompany you.”

The girl stood looking at the little boy in silence
for a moment, and then finally she said, “Very
well, I will do as you say. You have saved my life.
Perhaps I may never be able to repay you, and per¬
haps, again, I may. Go, now, before suspicion
alights upon you.”

The black withdrew from the tent, crawling be¬
neath the back wall to avoid being seen by any of
his fellows who were in the center of the camp
from which the front of the tent was in plain view.
Immediately he was gone Flora walked casually
into the open and went to Kraski’s tent, which the
Russian occupied in common with Bluber. She
found the two men and in low whispers apprised
them of what the black had told her. Kraski then
called Peebles and Throck, it being decided that
they should give no outward sign of holding any
suspicion that aught was wrong. The Englishmen
were for jumping in upon the blacks and annihi¬
lating them, but Flora Hawkes dissuaded them
from any such rash act by pointing out how greatly
they were outnumbered by the natives, and how
hopeless it would be to attempt to overpower them.

230

Tarzan and the Golden Lion

Bluber, with his usual cunning and shrewdness
which inclined always to double dealing where
there was the slightest possibility for it, suggested
that they secretly advise the Arabs of what they
had learned, and joining forces with them take up
as strong a position in the camp as possible and
commence to fire into the blacks without waiting
for their attack.

Again Flora Hawkes vetoed the suggestion.
“ It will not do,” she said, “ for the Arabs are at
heart as much our enemies as the blacks. If we
were successful in subduing the niggers it would be
but a question of minutes before the Arabs knew
every detail of the plot that we had laid against
them, after which our lives would not be worth
that and she snapped her fingers.

“ I guess Flora is right, as usual,” growled Pee¬
bles, “but what in ’ell are we goin’ to do wanderin’
around in this ’ere jungle without no niggers to
hunt for us, or cook for us, or carry things for us,
or find our way for us, that’s wot I’d like to know,
and ’ere we are, ’n that’s that.”

“ No, I guess there ain’t nothin’ else to do,” said
Throck; “but blime if I likes to run away, says I,
leastwise not for no dirty niggers.”

There came then to the ears of the whites,
rumbling from the far distance in the jungle, the
roar of a lion.

“Oil Oil” cried Bluber. “ Ve go out all alone
in dot jungle? Mein Gott! I just as soon stay
here und get killed like a vite man.”

The Map of Blood 231

“They won’t kill you like a white man,” said
Kraski. “ They’ll torture you if you stay.”

Bluber wrung his hands, and the sweat of fear
rolled down his oily face. “Oil vy did I done it?
vy did I done it?” he wailed. “ Vy didn’t I stay
home in London vere I belong? ”

“ Shut up ! ” snapped Flora. “ Don’t you know
that if you do anything to arouse the suspicion of
these fellows they will be on us at once? There is
only one thing for us to do and that is to wait until
they precipitate the attack upon the Arabs. We
will still have our weapons, for they do not plan
to steal them from us until after the Arabs are
killed. In the confusion of the fight, we must make
our escape into the jungle, and after that — God
knows — and God help us.”

“Yes,” blubbered Bluber, who was in a blue
funk, “Gott help us! ”

A moment later Luvini came to them. “All is
ready, Bwanas,” he said. “As soon as the evening
meal has been eaten, be in readiness. You will
hear a shot, that will be the signal. Then open fire
upon the Arabs.”

“Good,” said Kraski; “we have just been talk¬
ing about it and we have decided that we will take
our stand near the gate to prevent their escape.”

“ It is well,” said Luvini, “but you must remain
here.” He was addressing Flora. “ It would not
be safe for you to be where there is to be fighting.
Remain here in your tent, and we will confine the
fighting to the other side of the village and possibly

232 Tarzan and the Golden Lion

to the gate, if any of them makes a break for
escape.”

“All right,” said Flora, “I will remain here
where it is safe.”

Satisfied that things could not have worked into
his hands to better advantage the black left them,
and presently the entire camp was occupied with
the evening meal. There was an atmosphere of
restraint, and high, nervous tension throughout the
entire camp that must have been noticeable, even to
the Arabs, though they, alone of the entire com¬
pany, were ignorant as to its cause. Bluber was so
terrified that he could not eat, but sat white and
trembling with his eyes roving wildly about the
camp — first to the blacks, then to the Arabs, and
then to the gate, the distance to which he must
have measured a hundred times as he sat there
waiting for the shot that was to be the signal for
the massacre that was to send him out into the
jungle to be, he surely thought, the immediate'prey
of the first hunting lion that passed.

Peebles and Throck ate their meal stolidly,
much to Bluber’s disgust. Kraski, being of a
highly nervous temperament, ate but little, but he
showed no signs of fear. Nor did Flora Hawkes,
though at heart she realized the hopelessness of
their situation.

Darkness had fallen. Some of the blacks and
Arabs were still eating, when suddenly the silence
was shattered by the sharp staccato report of a
rifle. An Arab sank silently to the earth. Kraski

The Map of Blood

233

rose and grasped Flora by the arm. “ Come! ” he
cried.

Followed by Peebles and Throck, and preceded
by Bluber, to whose feet fright had lent wings,
they hurried toward the gate of the palisade.

By now the air was filled with the hoarse cries
of fighting men and the report of rifles. The
Arabs, who had numbered but about a dozen, were
putting up a game fight, and being far better
marksmen than the blacks, the issue of the battle
was still in doubt when Kraski opened the gate and
the five whites fled into the darkness of the jungle.

The outcome of the fight within the camp could
not have been other than it was, for so greatly did
the blacks outnumber the Arabs, that eventually,
notwithstanding their poor marksmanship, they
succeeded in shooting down the last of the nomads
of the north. Then it was that Luvini turned his
attention to the other whites only to discover that
they had fled the village. The black realized two
things instantly. One was that someone had be¬
trayed him, and the other, that the whites could
not have gone far in the short time since they had
left the camp.

Calling his warriors about him he explained to
them what had happened, and impressing upon
them that the whites, if permitted to escape, would
eventually return with reinforcements to punish
the blacks, he aroused his followers, who now
numbered over two hundred warriors, to the neces¬
sity of setting out immediately upon the trail of the

234

Tarzan and the Golden Lion

fugitives and overtaking them before they could
carry word even to a neighboring village, the near¬
est of which was not more than a day’s march
distant.

CHAPTER XVI

THE DIAMOND HOARD

5 THE primitive smoke bombs filled the

n throne room of the Tower of the Emperors
with their suffocating fumes, the Gomangani clus¬
tered about Tarzan begging him to save them, for
they, too, had seen the massed Bolgani before
every entrance and the great body of them that
awaited in the gardens and upon the terrace
without.

“Wait a minute,” said Tarzan, “ until the smoke
is thick enough to hide our movements from the
Bolgani, and then we will rush the windows over¬
looking the terrace, for they are nearer the east
gate than any other exit, and thus some of us will
have a better chance for escape.”

“ I have a better plan,” said the old man.
“When the smoke conceals us, follow me. There
is one exit that is unguarded, probably because they
do not dream that we would use it. When I passed
over the dais behind the throne I took occasion to
note that there were no Bolgani guarding it.”

“Where does it lead?” asked Tarzan.

“ Into the basement of the Tower of Diamonds
— the tower in which I discovered you. That por-

235

236 Tarzan and the Golden Lion

tion of the palace is nearest to the east gate, and if
we can reach it before they suspect our purpose
there will be little doubt that we can reach the
forest at least.”

“ Splendid! ” ejaculated the ape-man. “ It will
not be long now before the smoke hides us from
the Bolgani.”

In fact it was so thick by this time that the occu¬
pants of the throne room were finding difficulty in
breathing. Many of them were coughing and
choking and the eyes of all were watering from the
effects of the acrid smoke. And yet they were not
entirely hidden from the observation of the watch¬
ers all about them.

“ I don’t know how much more of this we can
stand,” said Tarzan. “ I have about all I care for,
now.”

“ It is thickening up a bit,” said the old man.
“ Just a moment more and I think we can make it
unseen.”

“ I can stand it no longer,” cried La. “ I am
suffocating and I am half-blinded.”

“Very well,” said the old man; “ I doubt if they
can see us now. It is pretty thick. Come, follow
me;” and he led the way up the steps of the dais
and through an aperture behind the thrones — a
small opening hidden by hangings. The old man
went first, and then La, followed by Tarzan and
Jad-bal-ja, who had about reached the limit of his
endurance and patience, so that it had been with
•difficulty that Tarzan had restrained him, and who

The Diamond Hoard

237

now was voicing his anger in deep growls which
might have apprised the Bolgani of their avenue of
escape. Behind Tarzan and the lion crowded the
coughing Gomangani; but because Jad-bal-ja was
just in front of them they did not crowd as closely
upon the party ahead of them as they probably
would have done otherwise.

The aperture opened into a dark corridor which
led down a flight of rough steps to a lower level,
and then straight through utter darkness for the
rather considerable distance which separated the
Tower of Diamonds from the Tower of the Em¬
perors. So great was their relief at escaping the
dense smoke of the throne room that none of the
party minded the darkness of the corridor, but fol¬
lowed patiently the lead of the old man who had
explained that the first stairs down which they
had passed were the only obstacles to be en¬
countered in the tunnel.

At the corridor’s end the old man halted before
a heavy door, which after considerable difficulty he
managed to open.

“Wait a moment,” he said, “until I find a
cresset and make a light.”

They heard him moving about beyond the door¬
way for a moment and then a dim light flared, and
presently the wick in a cresset flickered. In the
dim rays Tarzan saw before them a large rec¬
tangular chamber, the great size of which was only
partially suggested in the wavering light of the
cresset.

238 Tarzan and the Golden Lion

“ Get them all in,” said the old man, “ and close
the door;” and when that had been done he called
to Tarzan. “ Come!” he said. “ Before we leave
this chamber I want to show you such a sight as no
other human eyes have ever rested upon.”

He led him to the far side of the chamber where,
in the light of the cresset, Tarzan saw tier after
tier of shelves, upon which were stacked small
sacks made of skins. The old man set the cresset
upon one of the shelves and taking a sack opened
it and spilled a portion of the contents into the
palm of his hand. “ Diamonds,” he said. “ Each
of these packages weighs five pounds and each con¬
tains diamonds. They have been accumulating
them for countless ages, for they mine far more
than they can use themselves. In their legends is
the belief that some day the Atlantians will return
and they can sell the diamonds to them. And so
they continue to mine them and store them as
though there was a constant and ready market for
them. Here, take one of the bags with you,” he
said. He handed one to Tarzan and another to
La.

“ I do not believe that we shall ever leave the
valley alive, but we might;” and he took a third
bag for himself.

From the diamond vault the old man led them
up a primitive ladder to the floor above, and
quickly to the main entrance of the Tower. Only
two heavy doors, bolted upon the inside, now lay
between them and the terrace, a short distance be-

The Diamond Hodrd

239

yond which the east gate swung open. The old
man was about to open the doors when Tarzan
stopped him.

“Wait a moment,” he said, “until the rest of
the Gomangani come. It takes them some time to
ascend the ladder. When they are all here behind
us, swing the doors open, and you and La, with
this ten or a dozen Gomangani that are immedi¬
ately around us, make a break for the gate. The
rest of us will bring up the rear and hold the Bol-
gani off in case they attack us. Get ready,” he
added a moment later, “ I think they are all up.”

Carefully Tarzan explained to the Gomangani
the plan he had in mind, and then, turning to the
old man, he commanded “Now!” The bolt
slipped, the doors swung open, and simultaneously
the entire party started at a run toward the east
gate.

The Bolgani, who were still massed about the
throne room, were not aware that their victims had
eluded them until Tarzan, bringing up the rear
with Jad-bal-ja was passing through the east gate.
Then the Bolgani discovered him, and immediately
set up a hue and cry that brought several hundred
of them on a mad run in pursuit.

“Here they come,” cried Tarzan to the others,
“make a run of it — straight down the valley
toward Opar, La.”

“And you?” demanded the young woman.

“ I shall remain a moment with the Gomangani,
and attempt to punish these fellows.”

240 Tarzan and the Golden Lion

La stopped in her tracks. “ I shall not go a step
without you, Tarzan of the Apes,” she said. “ Too
great already are the risks you have taken for me.
No; I shall not go without you.”

The ape-man shrugged. “ As you will,” he said.
“Here they come.”

With great difficulty he rallied a portion of the
Gomangani who, once through the gate, seemed
imbued but with a single purpose, and that to put
as much distance between the Palace of Diamonds
and themselves as possible. Perhaps fifty warriors
rallied to his call, and with these he stood in the
gateway toward which several hundred Bolgani
were now charging.

The old man came and touched Tarzan on the
arm. “You had better fly,” he said. “The Go¬
mangani will break and run at the first assault.”

“We will gain nothing by flying,” said Tarzan,
“ for we should only lose what we have gained with
the Gomangani, and then we should have the whole
valley about us like hornets.”

He had scarcely finished speaking when one of
the Gomangani cried: “Look! Look! They
come;” and pointed along the trail into the forest.

“And just in time, too,” remarked Tarzan, as
he saw the first of a swarm of Gomangani pouring
out of the forest toward the east gate. “ Come! ”
he cried to the advancing blacks, “ the Bolgani are
upon us. Come, and avenge your wrongs! ” Then
he turned, and calling to the blacks around him,
leaped forward to meet the onrushing gorilla-men.

The Diamond Hoard

241

Behind them wave after wave of Gomangani rolled
through the east gate of the Palace of Diamonds,
carrying everything before them to break at last
like surf upon the wavering wall of Bolgani that
was being relentlessly hurled back against the
palace walls.

The shouting and the fighting and the blood
worked Jad-bal-ja into such a frenzy of excitement
that Tarzan with difficulty restrained him from
springing upon friend and foe alike, with the re¬
sult that it required so much of the ape-man’s time
to hold in leash his ferocious ally that he was able
to take but little part in the battle, yet he saw that
it was going his way, and that, but for the occur¬
rence of some untoward event, the complete defeat
of the Bolgani was assured.

Nor were his deductions erroneous. So frantic
were the Gomangani with the blood-lust of revenge
and so enthused by the first fruits of victory, that
they went fully as mad as Jad-bal-ja himself. They
neither gave nor asked quarter, and the fighting
ended only when they could find no more Bolgani
to slay.

The fighting over, Tarzan, with La and the old
man, returned to the throne room, from which the
fumes of the smoke bombs had now disappeared.
To them they summoned the head-man of each vil¬
lage, and when they had assembled before the dais,
above which stood the three whites, with the great,
black-maned lion Jad-bal-ja, Tarzan addressed
them.

242

Tarzan and the Golden Lion

“Gomangani of the Valley of the Palace of
Diamonds,” he said, “you have this night won
your freedom from the tyrannical masters that
have oppressed you since far beyond the time the
oldest of you may remember. For so many count¬
less ages have you been oppressed that there has
never developed among you a leader capable of
ruling you wisely and justly. Therefore you must
select a ruler from another race than your own.”

“You! You!” cried voice after voice as the
head-men clamored to make Tarzan of the Apes
their king.

“ No,” cried the ape-man, holding up his hand
for silence, “but there is one here who has lived
long among you, and who knows your habits and
your customs, your hopes and your needs better
than any other. If he will stay with you and rule
you he will, I am sure, make you a good king,”
and Tarzan pointed to the old man.

The old man looked at Tarzan in bewilderment.
“ But I want to go away from here,” he said; “ I
want to get back into the world of civilization,
from which I have been buried all these years.”

“ You do not know what you are talking about,”
replied the ape-man. “You have been gone very
long. You will find no friends left back there from
whence you came. You will find deceit, and hy¬
pocrisy, and greed, and avarice, and cruelty. You
will find that no one will be interested in you and
that you will be interested in no one there. I, Tar¬
zan of the Apes, have left my jungle and gone to

The Diamond Hoard

243

the cities built by men, but always I have been dis¬
gusted and been glad to return to my jungle — to
the noble beasts that are honest in their loves and
in their hates — to the freedom and genuineness of
nature.

“ If you return you will be disappointed, and you
will realize that you have thrown away an oppor¬
tunity of accomplishing a work well worth your
while. These poor creatures need you. I cannot
remain to guide them out of darkness, but you
may, and you may so mold them that they will be
an industrious, virtuous, and kindly people, not
untrained, however, in the arts of warfare, for
when we have that which is good, there will always
be those who are envious and who, if they are
more powerful than we, will attempt to come and
take what we have by force. Therefore, you must
train your people to protect their country and their
rights, and to protect them they must have the
ability and the knowledge to fight successfully, and
the weapons wherewith to wage their wars.”

“You speak the truth, Tarzan of the Apes,”
replied the old man. “ There is nothing for me in
that other world, so, if the Gomangani wish me to
be their chief I will remain here.”

The head-men, when he questioned them, as¬
sured Tarzan that if they could not have him for
chief they would be very glad to have the old man,
whom they all knew, either by sight or reputation,
as one who had never perpetrated any cruelties
upon the Gomangani.

244 Tarzan and the Golden Lion

The few surviving Bolgani who had taken
refuge in various parts of the palace were sought
out and brought to the throne room. Here they
were given the option of remaining in the valley as
slaves, or leaving the country entirely. The Go-
mangani would have fallen upon them and slain
them, but that their new king would not permit.

“ But where shall we go if we leave the Valley of
the Palace of Diamonds?” asked one of the Bol¬
gani. “Beyond the city of Opar we know not
what exists, and in Opar may we find only ene¬
mies.”

Tarzan sat eyeing them quizzically, and in si¬
lence. For a long time he did not speak, while
several of the Gomangani head-men, and others of
the Bolgani, made suggestions for the future of the
gorilla-men. Finally the ape-man arose and nodded
toward the Bolgani.

“There are about a hundred of you,” he said.
“You are powerful creatures and should be fero¬
cious fighters. Beside me sits La, the High
Priestess and queen of Opar. A wicked priest,
usurping her power, has driven her from her
throne, but tomorrow we march upon Opar with
the bravest Gomangani of the Valley of the Palace
of Diamonds, and there we punish Cadj, the High
Priest, who has proven a traitor to his queen; and
La, once more, ascends the throne of Opar. But
where the seeds of treason have once been broad¬
cast the plant may spring up at any time and where
least expected. It will be long, therefore, before

The Diamond Hoard

245

La of Opar may have full confidence in the loyalty
of her people — a fact which offers you an oppor¬
tunity and a country. Accompany us, therefore, to
Opar, and fight with us to replace La upon her
throne, and then, when the fighting is over, remain
there as La’s bodyguard to protect her, not only
from enemies without, but from enemies within.”

The Bolgani discussed the matter for several
minutes, and then one of them came to Tarzan.
“We will do as you suggest,” he said.

“And you will be loyal to La?” asked the ape-
man.

“A Bolgani is never a traitor,” replied the go¬
rilla-man.

“Good!” exclaimed Tarzan, “and you, La, are
you satisfied with this arrangement?”

“ I accept them in my service,” replied she.

Early the next morning Tarzan and La set out
with three thousand Gomangani and a hundred
Bolgani to punish the traitorous Cadj. There was
little or no attempt at strategy or deception. They
simply marched down through the Valley of the
Palace of Diamonds, descended the rocky ravine
into the valley of Opar, and made straight for the
rear of the palace of La.

A little gray monkey, sitting among the vines
and creepers upon the top of the temple walls, saw
them coming. He cocked his head, first upon one
side and then upon the other, and became so inter¬
ested and excited that for a moment he forgot to
scratch his belly—an occupation he had been as-

246 Tarzan and the Golden Lion

siduously pursuing for some time. The closer the
column approached the more excited became
Manu, the monkey, and when he realized vaguely
the great numbers of the Gomangani he was fairly
beside himself, but the last straw that sent him
scampering madly back to the palace of Opar was
the sight of the Bolgani — the ogres of his little
world.

Cadj was in the courtyard of the inner temple,
where at sunrise he had performed a sacrifice to
the Flaming God. With Cadj were a number of
the lesser priests, and Oah and her priestesses.
That there was dissension among them was evident
by the scowling faces fully as much as by the words
which Oah directed at Cadj.

“ Once again have you gone too far, Cadj,” she
cried bitterly. “Only may the High Priestess of
the Flaming God perform the act of sacrifice. Yet
again and again do you persist in defiling the
sacred knife with your unworthy hand.”

“ Silence, woman,” growled the High Priest. “ I
am Cadj, King of Opar, High Priest of the Flam¬
ing God. You are what you are only because of
the favor of Cadj. Try not my patience too far or
you shall indeed know the feel of the sacred knife.”
There could be no mistaking the sinister menace in
his words. Several of those about him could ill
conceal the shocked surprise they felt at his sacri¬
legious attitude toward their High Priestess. How¬
ever little they thought of Oah, the fact remained
that she had been elevated to the highest place

The Diamond Hoard

247

among them, and those that believed that La was
dead, as Cadj had taken great pains to lead them
all to believe, gave in full to Oah the reverence
which her high office entitled her to.

“ Have a care, Cadj,” warned one of the older
priests. “There is a limit beyond which not even
you may pass.”

“You dare threaten me?” cried Cadj, the
maniacal fury of fanaticism gleaming in his eyes.
“ You dare threaten me, Cadj, the High Priest of
the Flaming God?” And as he spoke he leaped
toward the offending man, the sacrificial knife
raised menacingly above his head, and just at that
moment a little gray monkey came chattering and
screaming through an embrasure in the wall over¬
looking the court of the temple.

“The Bolgani! The Bolgani!” he shrieked.
“ They come! They come! ”

Cadj stopped and wheeled toward Manu, the
hand that held the knife dropping at his side.
“You saw them, Manu?” he asked. “You are
speaking the truth? If this is another of your
tricks you will not live to play another joke upon
Cadj.”

“ I speak the truth,” chattered the little monkey.
“ I saw them with my own eyes.”

“How many of them are there?” asked Cadj.
“And how near to Opar have they come? ”

“They are as many as the leaves upon the
trees,” replied Manu, “ and they are already close
to the temple wall — the Bolgani and the Goman-

248 Tarzan and the Golden Lion

gani, they come as the grasses that grow in the
ravines where it is cool and damp.”

Cadj turned and raised his face toward the sun,
and throwing back his head gave voice to a long-
drawn scream that ended in a piercing shriek.
Three times he voiced the hideous cry, and then
with a command to the others in the court to follow
him he started at a brisk trot toward the palace
proper. As Cadj directed his steps toward the
ancient avenue, upon which the palace of Opar
faced, there issued from every corridor and door¬
way groups of the knurled and hairy men of Opar,
armed with their heavy bludgeons and their knives.
Screaming and chattering in the trees above them
were a score or more of little gray monkeys.

“Not here,” they cried, “not here,” and
pointed toward the south side of the city.

Like an undisciplined mob the horde of priests
and warriors reentered the palace at Cadj’s heels,
and retraced their steps toward the opposite side
of the edifice. Here they scrambled to the summit
of the lofty wall which guards the palace, just as
Tarzan’s forces came to a halt outside.

“ Rocks! Rocks! ” screamed Cadj, and in an¬
swer to his commands the women in the courtyard
below commenced to gather the loose fragments of
stone that had crumbled from the wall and from
the palace, and to toss them up to the warriors
above.

“Go away!” screamed Cadj to the army out¬
side his gates. “Go away! I am Cadj, High Priest

The Diamond Hoard

249

of the Flaming God, and this is his temple. Defile
not the temple of the Flaming God or you shall
know his wrath.”

Tarzan stepped forward a little ahead of the
others, and raised his hand for silence.

“ La, your High Priestess and your queen, is
here,” he cried to the Oparians upon the wall.
“ Cadj is a traitor and an impostor. Open your
gates and receive your queen. Give up the traitors
to justice, and no harm will befall you; but refuse
La entry to her city and we shall take by force and
with bloodshed that which belongs to La right¬
fully.”

As he ceased speaking La stepped to his side
that all her people might see her, and immediately
there were scattering cries for La and a voice or
two raised against Cadj. Evidently realizing that
it would not take much to turn the scale against
him, Cadj shrieked to his men to attack, and sim¬
ultaneously launched a stone at Tarzan. Only the
wondrous agility that he possessed saved the ape-
man, and the missile passed by, and striking a Go-
mangani over the heart, felled him. Instantly a
shower of missiles fell upon them, and then Tar¬
zan called to his followers to charge. Roaring and
growling, the Bolgani and the Gomangani leaped
forward to the attack. Cat-like they ran up the
rough wall in the face of the menacing bludgeons
above. Tarzan, who had chosen Cadj as his objec¬
tive, was among the first to reach the summit. A
hairy, crooked warrior struck at him with a blud-

250 Tarzan and the Golden Lion

geon, and hanging to the summit of the wall with
one hand, Tarzan caught the weapon in the other
and wrested it from his assailant. At the same
time he saw Cadj turn and disappear into the court¬
yard beyond. Then Tarzan drew himself to the
top where he was immediately engaged by two
other warriors of Opar. With the weapon he had
wrested from their fellow he knocked them to
right and left, so great an advantage his great
height and strength gave him over them, and then,
remembering only that Cadj, who was the ring¬
leader of the revolt against La, must not be per¬
mitted to escape Tarzan leaped to the pavement
below just as the High Priest disappeared through
an archway at the opposite end of the courtyard.

Some priests and priestesses sought to impede
his progress. Seizing one of the former by the
ankles he swung the body in circles about him,
clearing his own pathway as he ran for the opposite
end of the courtyard, and there he halted and
wheeled and putting all the strength of his great
muscles into the effort, he swung the body of the
priest once more and hurled it back into the faces
of his pursuers.

Without waiting to note the effect of his act he
turned again and continued in pursuit of Cadj. The
fellow kept always just ahead of him, because Cadj
knew his way through the labyrinthian mazes of
the palace and temple and courtyards better than
Tarzan. That the trail was leading toward the
inner courts of the temple Tarzan was convinced.

The Diamond Hoard

251

There Cadj would find easy Ingress to the pits be¬
neath the palace and a hiding place from which it
would be difficult to dislodge him, so numerous and
winding were the dark subterranean tunnels. And
so Tarzan put forth every effort to reach the sac¬
rificial court in time to prevent Cadj from gaining
the comparative safety of the underground pas¬
sages; but as he finally leaped through the door¬
way into the court, a noose, cunningly laid, closed
about one of his ankles and he was hurled heavily
to the ground. Almost instantly a number of the
crooked little men of Opar leaped upon him, where
he lay, half-stunned by the fall, and before he had
fully regained his faculties they had trussed him
securely.

Only about half conscious, he felt them raise
him from the ground and carry him, and presently
he was deposited upon a cold stone surface. Then
it was that full consciousness returned to him, and
he realized that he lay outstretched once more
upon the sacrificial altar of the inner court of the
Temple of the Flaming God and above him stood
Cadj, the High Priest, his cruel face contorted in a
grimace of hate and the anticipation of revenge
long deferred.

“ At last! ” gloated the creature of hate. “ This
time, Tarzan of the Apes, you shall know the fury
not of the Flaming God, but of Cadj, the man; nor
shall there be any wait nor any interference.”

He swung the sacrificial knife high above his
Head. Beyond the point of the knife Tarzan of

252 Tarzan and the Golden Lion

the Apes saw the summit of the courtyard wall,
and just surmounting it the head and shoulders of
a mighty, black-maned lion.

“ Jad-bal-ja! ” he cried. “ Kill! Kill! ”

Cadj hesitated, his knife poised on high. He
saw the direction of the ape-man’s eyes and fol¬
lowed them, and in that instant the golden lion
leaped to the pavement, and with two mighty
bounds was upon the High Priest of Opar. The
knife clattered to the floor and the great jaws
closed upon the horrid face.

The lesser priests who had seized Tarzan, and
who had remained to witness his death at the hands
of Cadj, had fled screaming from the court the in¬
stant that the golden lion had leaped upon their
master, and now Tarzan and Jad-bal-ja and the
corpse of Cadj were the sole occupants of the sac¬
rificial courtyard of the temple.

“Come, Jad-bal-ja,” commanded Tarzan; “let
no one harm Tarzan of the Apes.”

An hour later the victorious forces of La were
overrunning the ancient palace and temples of
Opar. The priests and warriors who had not been
killed had quickly surrendered and acknowledged
La as their queen and High Priestess, and now at
La’s command the city was being searched for Tar¬
zan and Cadj. It was thus that La, herself, lead¬
ing a searching party, entered the sacrificial court¬
yard.

The sight that met her eyes brought her to a
sudden halt, for there, bound upon the altar, lay

The Golden Lion with two mighty bounds was upon the
High Priest

r

The Diamond Hoard

253

Tarzan of the Apes, and standing above him, his
snarling face and gleaming eyes glaring directly at
her was Jad-bal-ja, the golden lion.

“Tarzan!” shrieked La, taking a step toward
the altar. “ Cadj has had his way at last. God of
my fathers have pity on me—Tarzan is dead.”

“No,” cried the ape-man; “far from dead.
Come and release me. I am only bound, but had it
not been for Jad-bal-ja I had been dead beneath
your sacrificial knife.”

“Thank God,” cried La, and started to ap¬
proach the altar, but paused before the menacing
attitude of the growling lion.

“Down!” cried Tarzan, “let her approach;”
and Jad-bal-ja lay down beside his master and
stretched his whiskered chin across the ape-man’s
breast.

La came then, and picking up the sacrificial
knife, cut the bonds that held the lord of the jungle
captive, and then she saw beyond the altar the
corpse of Cadj.

“Your worst enemy is dead,” said Tarzan,
“ and for his death you may thank Jad-bal-ja, as I
thank him for my life. You should rule now in
peace and happiness and in friendship with the
people of the Valley of the Palace of Diamonds.”

That night Tarzan and the Bolgani and the
head-men of the Gomangani, and the priests and
priestesses of Opar, sat in the great banquet hall of
the Palace of Opar, as the guests of La, the queen,
and ate from the golden platters of the ancient

254 Tarzan and the Golden Lion

Atlantians — platters that had been fashioned on a
continent that exists today only in the legends of
antiquity. And the following morning Tarzan and
Jad-bal-ja set forth upon their return journey to
the land of the Waziri and home.

CHAPTER XVII

THE TORTURE OF FIRE

F LORA HAWKES and her four confederates,
pursued by Luvini and his two hundred war¬
riors, stumbled through the darkness of the jungle
night. They had no objective, for, guided entirely
as they had been by the blacks, they knew not
where they were and were completely lost. The
sole idea dominating the mind of each was to put'
as much distance between themselves and the camp
of the ivory raiders as possible, for no matter
what the outcome of the battle there might have
been, their fate would be the same should the vic¬
torious party capture them. They had stumbled
on for perhaps half an hour when, during a mo¬
mentary rest, they heard plainly behind them the
sound of pursuit, and again they plunged on in
their aimless flight of terror.

Presently, to their surprise, they discerned the
glow of a light ahead. What could it be? Had
they made a complete circle, and was this again the
camp they had been fleeing? They pushed on to
reconnoiter, until at last they saw before them the
outlines of a camp surrounded by a thorn boma, in
the center of which was burning a small camp-fire.

255

256 Tarzan and the Golden Lion

About the fire were congregated half-a-hundred
black warriors, and as the fugitives crept closer
they saw among the blacks a figure standing out
clearly in the light of the camp-fire — a white
woman — and behind them rose louder and louder
the sound of pursuit.

From the gestures and gesticulations of the
blacks around the camp-fire it was evident that they
were discussing the-sounds of the battle they had
recently heard in the direction of the raiders’
camp, for they often pointed in that direction, and
now the woman raised her hand for silence and
they all listened, and it was evident that they, too,
heard the coming of the warriors who were pur¬
suing Flora Hawkes and her confederates.

“ There is a white woman there,” said Flora to
the others. “We do not know who she is, but she
is our only hope, for those who are pursuing us
will overtake us quickly. Perhaps this woman will
protect us. Come, I am going to find out;” and
without waiting for an answer she walked boldly
toward the boma.

They had come but a short distance when the
keen eyes of the Waziri discovered them, and in¬
stantly the boma wall was ringed with bristling
spears.

“Stop!” cried one of the warriors. “We are
the Waziri of Tarzan. Who are you?”

“ I am an Englishwoman,” called Flora in reply.
“ I and my companions are lost in the jungle. We
have been betrayed by our safari — our head-man

The Torture of Fire

257

is pursuing us now with warriors. There are but
five of us and we ask your protection.”

“ Let them come,” said Jane to the Waziri.

As Flora Hawkes and the four men entered the
boma beneath the scrutiny of Jane Clayton and the
Waziri, another pair of eyes watched from the
foliage of the great tree that overhung the camp
upon the opposite side — gray eyes to which a
strange light came as they recognized the girl and
her companions.

As the newcomers approached Lady Greystoke
the latter gave an exclamation of surprise.
“ Flora ! ” she exclaimed, in astonishment. “ Flora
Hawkes, what in the world are you doing here? ”

The girl, startled too, came to a full stop.
“ Lady Greystoke ! ” she ejaculated.

“ I do not understand,” continued Lady Grey¬
stoke. “ I did not know that you were in Africa.”

For a moment the glib Flora was overcome by
consternation, but presently her native wit came to
her assistance. “ I am here with Mr. Bluber and
his friends,” she said, “who came to make scien¬
tific researches, and brought me along because I
had been to Africa with you and Lord Greystoke,
and knew something of the manners and customs
o'f the country, and now our boys have turned
against us and unless you can help us we are lost.”

“Are they west coast boys?” asked Jane.

“Yes,” replied Flox*a.

“I think my Waziri can handle them. Flow
many of them are there? ”

258 Tarzan and the Golden Lion

“About two hundred,” said Kraski.

Lady Greystoke shook her head. “The odds
are pretty heavy,” she commented, and then she
called to Usula, who was in charge. “ There are
two hundred west coast boys coming after these
people,” she said; “we shall have to fight to de¬
fend them.”

“We are Waziri,” replied Usula, simply, and a
moment later the van of Luvini’s forces broke into
view at the outer rim of the camp-fire’s reach.

At sight of the glistening warriors ready to re¬
ceive them the west coast boys halted. Luvini, tak¬
ing in the inferior numbers of the enemy at a
glance, stepped forward a few paces ahead of his
men and commenced to shout taunts and insults,
demanding the return of the whites to him. He
accompanied his words with fantastic and gro¬
tesque steps, at the same time waving his rifle and
shaking his fist. Presently his followers took up
the refrain until the whole band of two hundred
was shrieking and yelling and threatening, the
while they leaped up and down as they worked
themselves into a frenzy of excitement that would
impart to them the courage necessary for the ini¬
tiating of a charge.

The Waziri, behind the boma wall, schooled
and disciplined by Tarzan of the Apes, had long
since discarded the fantastic overture to battle so
dear to the hearts of other warlike tribes and, in¬
stead, stood stolid and grim awaiting the coming
of the foe.

The Torture of Fire

259

“They have a number of rifles,” commented
Lady Greystoke; “that looks rather bad for us.”

“There are not over half-a-dozen who can hit
anything with their rifles,” said Kraski.

“You men are all armed. Take your places
among my Waziri. Warn your men to go away
and leave us alone. Do not fire until they attack,
but at the first overt act, commence firing, and
keep it up — there is nothing that so discourages a
west coast black as the rifle fire of white men. Flora
and I will remain at the back of the camp, near that
large tree.” She spoke authoritatively, as one who
is accustomed to command and knows whereof she
speaks. The men obeyed her; even Bluber, though
he trembled pitiably as he moved forward to take
his place in the front ranks among the Waziri.

Their movements, in the light of the camp-fire,
were all plainly discernible to Luvini, and also to
that other who watched from the foliage of the
tree beneath which Jane Clayton and Flora
Hawkes took refuge. Luvini had not come to
fight. He had come to capture Flora Hawkes. He
turned to his men. “ There are only fifty of them,”
he said. “ We can kill them easily, but we did not
come to make war. We came to get the white girl
back again. Stay here and make a great show
against those sons of jackals. Keep them always
looking at you. Advance a little and then fall back
again, and while you are thus keeping their atten¬
tion attracted in this direction I will take fifty men
and go to the rear of their camp and get the white

260 Tarzan and the Golden Lion

girl, and when I have her I will send word to you
and immediately you can return to the village,
where, behind the palisade, we shall be safe against
attack.”

Now this plan well suited the west coast blacks,
who had no stomach for the battle looming so im¬
minent, and so they danced and yelled and menaced
more vociferously than before, for they felt they
were doing it all with perfect impunity, since pres¬
ently they should retire, after a bloodless victory,
to the safety of their palisade.

As Luvini, making a detour, crept through the
concealment of the dense jungles to the rear of the
camp while the din of the west coast blacks arose
to almost deafening proportions, there dropped
suddenly to the ground before the two white
women from the tree above them, the figure of a
white giant, naked except for loin cloth and leop¬
ard skin — his godlike contour picked out by the
flickering light of the beast fire.

“John!” exclaimed Lady Greystoke. “Thank
God it is you.”

“S-s-sh!” cautioned the white giant, placing a
forefinger to his lips, and then suddenly he wheeled
upon Flora Hawkes. “ It is you I want,” he cried,
and seizing the girl he threw her lightly across his
shoulders, and before Lady Greystoke could inter¬
fere— before she half-realized what had occurred
— he had lightly leaped the protecting boma in the
rear of the camp and disappeared into the jungle
beyond.

The Torture of Fire

261

For a moment Jane Clayton stood reeling as one
stunned by an unexpected blow, and then, with a
stifled moan, she sank sobbing to the ground, her
face buried in her arms.

It was thus that Luvini and his warriors found
her as they crept stealthily over the boma and into
the camp in the rear of the defenders upon the op*
posite side of the beast fire. They had come for a
white woman and they had found one, and roughly
dragging her to her feet, smothering her cries
with rough and filthy palms, they bore her out into
the jungle toward the palisaded village of the ivory
raiders.

Ten minutes later the white men and the Waziri
saw the west coast blacks retire slowly into the jun¬
gle, still yelling and threatening, as though bent on
the total annihilation of their enemies — the battle
was over without a shot fired or a spear hurled.

“Blime,” said Throck, “what was all the
bloomin’ fuss about anyhow?”

“ Hi thought they was goin’ to heat hus hup, an’
the blighters never done nothin’ but yell, an’ ’ere
we are, ’n that’s that.”

The Jew swelled out his chest. “ It takes more
as a bunch of niggers to bluff Adolph Bluber,” he
said pompously.

Kraski looked after the departing blacks, and
then, scratching his head, turned back toward the
camp-fire. “ I can’t understand it,” he said, and
then, suddenly, “Where are Flora and Lady Grey-
stoke?”

262

Tarzan and the Golden Lion

It was then that they discovered that the two
women were missing.

The Wazirl were frantic. They called the name
of their mistress aloud, but there was no reply.
“Come!” cried Usula, “we, the Waziri, shall
fight, after all,” and running to the boma he leaped
it, and, followed by his fifty blacks, set out in pur¬
suit of the west coast boys.

It was but a moment or two before they over¬
took them, and that which ensued resembled more
a rout than a battle. Fleeing in terror toward their
palisade with the Waziri at their heels the west
coast blacks threw away their rifles that they might
run the faster, but Luvini and his party had had
sufficient start so that they were able to reach the
village and gain the safety of the palisade before
pursued and pursuers reached it. Once inside the
gate the defenders made a stand for they realized
that if the Waziri entered they should all be mas¬
sacred, and so they fought as a cornered rat will
fight, with the result that they managed to hold off
the attackers until they could close and bar the
gate. Built as it had been as a defense against far
greater numbers the village was easy to defend,
for there were less than fifty Waziri now, and
nearly two hundred fighting men within the village
to defend it against them.

Realizing the futility of blind attack Usula with¬
drew his forces a short distance from the palisade,
and there they squatted, their fierce, scowling faces
glaring at the gateway while Usula pondered

The Torture of Fire

263

schemes for outwitting the enemy, which he real¬
ized he could not overcome by force alone.

“ It is only Lady Greystoke that we want,” he
said; “vengeance can wait until another day.”

“ But we do not even know that she is within the
village,” reminded one of his men.

“ Where else could she be, then? ” asked Usula.
“ It is true that you may be right—she may not be
within the village, but that I intend to find out. I
have a plan. See; the wind is from the opposite
side of the village. Ten of you will accompany
me, the others will advance again before the gate
and make much noise, and pretend that you are
about to attack. After awhile the gate will open
and they will come out. That I promise you. I
will try to be here before that happens, but if I am
not, divide into two parties and stand upon either
side of the gateway and let the west coast blacks
escape; we do not care for them. Watch only for
Lady Greystoke, and when you see her take her
away from those who guard her. Do you under¬
stand ? ” His companions nodded. “ Then come,”
he said, and selecting ten men disappeared into the
jungle.

Luvini had carried Jane Clayton to a hut not far
from the gateway to the village. Here he had
bound her securely and tied her to a stake, still be¬
lieving that she was Flora Hawkes, and then he
had left her to hurry back toward the gate that he
might take command of his forces in defense of
the village.

264 Tarzan and the Golden Lion

So rapidly had the events of the past hour tran¬
spired that Jane Clayton was still half dazed from
the series of shocks that she had been called upon
to endure. Dwarfing to nothingness the menace of
her present position was the remembrance that her
Tarzan had deserted her in her hour of need, and
carried off into the jungle another woman. Not
even the remembrance of what Usula had told her
concerning the accident that Tarzan had sustained,
and which had supposedly again affected his mem¬
ory, could reconcile her to the brutality of his de¬
sertion, and now she lay, face down, in the filth of
the Arab hut, sobbing as she had not for many
years.

As she lay there torn by grief, Usula and his ten
crept stealthily and silently around the outside of
the palisade to the rear of the village. Here they
found great quantities of dead brush left from the
clearing which the Arabs had made when con¬
structing their village. This they brought and
piled along the palisade, close against it, until
nearly three-quarters of the palisade upon that side
of the village was banked high with it. Finding
that it was difficult to prosecute their work in si¬
lence, Usula despatched one of his men to the main
body upon the opposite side of the village, with in¬
structions that they were to keep up a continuous
din of shouting to drown the sound of the opera¬
tions of their fellows. The plan worked to perfec¬
tion, yet even though it permitted Usula and his
companions to labor with redoubled efforts, it was

The Torture of Fire

265

more than an hour before the brush pile was dis¬
posed to his satisfaction.

Luvini, from an aperture in the palisade,
watched the main body of the Waziri who were
now revealed by the rising of the moon, and finally
he came to the conclusion that they did not intend
to attack that night, and therefore he might relax
his watchfulness and utilize the time in another
and more agreeable manner. Instructing the bulk
of his warriors to remain near the gate and ever
upon the alert, with orders that he be summoned
the moment that the Waziri showed any change in
attitude, Luvini repaired to the hut in which he
had left Lady Greystoke.

The black was a huge fellow, with low, receding
forehead and prognathous jaw — a type of the
lowest form of African negro. As he entered the
hut with a lighted torch which he stuck in the floor,
his bloodshot eyes gazed greedily at the still form
of the woman lying prone before him. He licked
his thick lips and, coming closer, reached out and
touched her. Jane Clayton looked up, and recoil¬
ing in revulsion shrunk away. At sight of the
woman’s face the black looked his surprise.

“Who are you?” he demanded in the pigdin
English of the coast.

“ I am Lady Greystoke, wife of Tarzan of the
Apes,” replied Jane Clayton. “If you are wise
you will release me at once.”

Surprise and terror showed in the eyes of Lu¬
vini, and another emotion as well, but which would

266 Tarzan and the Golden Lion

dominate the muddy brain it was difficult, then, to
tell. For a long time he sat gazing at her, and
slowly the greedy, gloating expression upon his
face dominated and expunged the fear that had at
first been written there, and in the change Jane
Clayton read her doom.

With fumbling fingers Luvini untied the knots
of the bonds that held Jane Clayton’s wrists and
ankles. She felt his hot breath upon her and saw
his bloodshot eyes and the red tongue that momen¬
tarily licked the thick lips. The instant that she
felt the last thong with which she was tied fall
away she leaped to her feet and sprang for the en¬
trance to the hut, but a great hand reached forth
and seized her, and as Luvini dragged her back
toward him, she wheeled like a mad tigress and
struck repeatedly at his grinning, ugly face. By
brute force, ruthless and indomitable, he beat down
her weak resistance and slowly and surely dragged
her closer to him. Oblivious to aught else, deaf to
the cries of the Waziri before the gate and to the
sudden new commotion that arose in the village,
the two struggled on, the woman, from the first,
foredoomed to defeat.

Against the rear palisade Usula had already put
burning torches to his brush pile at half-a-dozen
different places. The flames, fanned by a gentle
jungle breeze, had leaped almost immediately into
a roaring conflagration, before which the dry wood
of the palisade crumbled in a shower of ruddy
sparks which the wind carried to the thatched roofs

The Torture of Fire

267

of the huts beyond, until in an incredibly short
period of time the village was a roaring inferno of
flames. And even as Usula had predicted the gate
swung open and the west coast blacks swarmed
forth in terror toward the jungle. Upon either
side of the gateway the Waziri stood, looking for
their mistress, but though they waited and watched
in silence until no more came from the gateway of
the village, and until the interior of the palisade
was a seething hell of fire, they saw nothing of her.

Long after they were convinced that no human
being could remain alive in the village they still
waited and hoped; but at last Usula gave up the
useless vigil.

“ She was never there,” he said, “ and now we
must pursue the blacks and capture some of them,
from whom we may learn the whereabouts of Lady
Greystoke.”

It was daylight before they came upon a small
band of stragglers, who were in camp a few miles
toward the west. These they quickly surrounded,
winning their immediate surrender by promises of
immunity in the event that they would answer
truthfully the questions that Usula should pro¬
pound.

“Where is Luvini?” demanded Usula, who had
learned the name of the leader of the west coast
boys from the Europeans the evening before.

“We do not know; we have not seen him since
we left the village,” replied one of the blacks. “ We
Were some of the slaves of the Arabs, and when

268 Tarzan and the Golden Lion

we escaped the palisade last night we ran away
from the others, for we thought that we should
be safer alone than with Luvini, who is even cruel¬
ler than the Arabs.”

“ Did you see the white women that he brought
to the camp last night?” demanded Usula.

“He brought but one white woman,” replied
the other.

“What did he do with her? Where is she
now?” asked Usula.

“ I do not know. When he brought her he
bound her hand and foot and put her in the hut
which he occupied near the village gate. We have
not seen her since.”

Usula turned and looked at his companions. A
great fear was in his eyes, a fear that was re¬
flected in the countenances of the others.

“Come!” he said, “we shall return to the vil¬
lage. And you will go with us,” he added, ad¬
dressing the west coast blacks, “ and if you have
lied to us—” he made a significant movement with
his forefinger across his throat.

“We have not lied to you,” replied the others.

Quickly they retraced their steps toward the
ruins of the Arab village, nothing of which was left
save a few piles of smoldering embers.

“ Where was the hut in which the white woman
was confined?” demanded Usula, as they entered
the smoking ruins.

“Here,” said one of the blacks, and walked
quickly a few paces beyond what had been the vil-

The Torture of Fire

269

lage gateway. Suddenly he halted and pointed at
something which lay upon the ground.

“ There,” he said, “ is the white woman you
seek.”

Usula and the others pressed forward. Rage
and grief contended for mastery of them as they
beheld, lying before them, the charred remnants of
a human body.

“ It is she,” said Usula, turning away to hide his
grief as the tears rolled down his ebon cheeks. The
other Waziri were equally affected, for they all
had loved the mate of the big Bwana.

“ Perhaps it is not she,” suggested one of them;
“perhaps it is another.”

“We can tell quickly,” cried a third. “If her
rings are among the ashes it is indeed she,” and
he knelt and searched for the rings which Lady
Greystoke habitually wore.

Usula shook his head despairingly. “ It is she,”
he said, “there is the very stake to which she was
fastened” — he pointed to the blackened stub of a
stake close beside the body—“ and as for the rings,
even if they are not there it will mean nothing, for
Luvini would have taken them away from her as
soon as he captured her. There was time for
everyone else to leave the village except she, who
was bound and could not leave — no, it cannot be
another.”

The Waziri scooped a shallow grave and rev¬
erently deposited the ashes there, marking the
spot with a little cairn of stones.

CHAPTER XVIII

THE SPOOR OF REVENGE

A S TARZAN of the Apes, adapting his speed
XX. to that of Jad-bal-ja, made his compara¬
tively slow way toward home, he reviewed with
varying emotions the experiences of the past week.
While he had been unsuccessful in raiding the
treasure vaults of Opar, the sack of diamonds
which he carried compensated several-fold for this
miscarriage of his plans. His only concern now
was for the safety of his Waziri, and, perhaps, a
troublesome desire to seek out the whites who had
drugged him and mete out to them the punishment
they deserved. In view, however, of his greater
desire to return home he decided to make no ef¬
fort at apprehending them for the time being at
least.

Hunting together, feeding together, and sleep¬
ing together, the man and the great lion trod the
savage jungle trails toward home. Yesterday they
shared the meat of Bara, the deer, today they
feasted upon the carcass of Horta, the boar, and
between them there was little chance that either
would go hungry.

They had come within a day’s march of the bun-
270

The Spoor of Revenge

271

galow when Tarzan discovered the spoor of a con¬
siderable body of warriors. As some men devour
the latest stock-market quotations as though their
very existence depended upon an accurate knowl¬
edge of them, so Tarzan of the Apes devoured
every scrap of information that the jungle held for
him, for, in truth, an accurate knowledge of all
that this information could impart to him had been
during his lifetime a sine qua non to his existence.
So now he carefully examined the spoor that lay
before him, several days old though it was and
partially obliterated by the passage of beasts since
it had been made, but yet legible enough to the
keen eyes and nostrils of the ape-man. His partial
indifference suddenly gave way to keen interest, for
among the footprints of the great warriors he saw
now and again the smaller one of a white woman
— a loved footprint that he knew as well as you
know your mother’s face.

“The Waziri returned and told her that I was
missing,” he soliloquized, “ and now she has set
out with them to search for me.” He turned to the
lion. “Well, Jad-bal-ja, once again we turn away
from home — but no, where she is is home.”

The direction that the trail led rather mysti¬
fied Tarzan of the Apes, as it was not along the
direct route toward Gpar, but in a rather more
southerly direction. On the sixth day his keen ears
caught the sound of approaching men, and pres¬
ently there was wafted to his nostrils the spoor of
blacks. Sending Jad-bal-ja into a thicket to hide,

272 Tarzan and the Golden Lion

Tarzan took to the trees and moved rapidly in the
direction of the approaching negroes. As the dis¬
tance between them lessened the scent became
stronger, until, even before he saw them, Tarzan
knew that they were Waziri, but the one effluvium
that would have filled his soul with happiness was
lacking.

It was a surprised Usula who, at the head of the
sad and dejected Waziri, came at the turning of
the trail suddenly face to face with his master.

“Tarzan of the Apes! ” cried Usula. “ Is it in¬
deed you?”

“It is none other,” replied the ape-man, “but
where is Lady Greystoke?”

“Ah, master, how can we tell you!” cried
Usula.

“You do not mean—” cried Tarzan. “ It can¬
not be. Nothing could happen to her while she was
guarded by my Waziri! ”

The warriors hung their heads in shame and
sorrow. “We offer our lives for hers,” said
Usula, simply. He threw down his spear and
shield and, stretching his arms wide apart, bared
his great breast to Tarzan. “Strike, Bwana,” he
said.

The ape-man turned away with bowed head.
Presently he looked at Usula again. “Tell me
how it happened,” he said, “ and forget your
foolish speech as I have forgotten the suggestion
which prompted it.”

Briefly Usula narrated the events which had led

Hunting together, the man and the great lion trod the paths
toward home

The Spoor of Revenge

273

up to the death of Jane, and when he was done
Tarzan of the Apes spoke but three words, voic¬
ing a question which was typical of him.

“Where is Luvini?” he asked.

“Ah, that we do not know,” replied Usula.

“But I shall know,” said Tarzan of the Apes.
“Go upon your way, my children, back to your
huts, and your women and your children, and when
next you see Tarzan of the Apes you will know
that Luvini is dead.”

They begged permission to accompany him, but
he would not listen to them.

“You are needed at home at this time of year,”
he said. “Already have you been gone too long
from the herds and fields. Return, then, and carry
word to Korak, but tell him that it is my wish that
he, too, remains at home — if I fail, then may
he come and take up my unfinished work if he
wishes to do so.” As he ceased speaking he turned
back in the direction from which he had come, and
whistled once a single, low, long-drawn note, and
a moment later Jad-bal-ja, the golden lion, bounded
into view along the jungle trail.

“The golden lion!” cried Usula. “When he
escaped from Keewazi it was to search for his
beloved Bwana.”

Tarzan nodded. “He followed many marches
to a strange country until he found me,” he said,
and then he bid the Waziri good-bye and bent his
steps once more away from home in search of
Luvini and revenge.

274 Tarzan and the Golden Lion

John Peebles, wedged in the crotch of a large
tree, greeted the coming dawn with weary eyes.
Near him was Dick Throck, similarly braced in
another crotch, while Kraski, more intelligent and
therefore possessing more inventive genius, had
rigged a small platform of branches across two
parallel boughs, upon which he lay in comparative
comfort. Ten feet above him Bluber swung, half
exhausted and wholly terrified, to a smaller branch,
supported in something that approximated safety
by a fork of the branch to which he clung.

“ Gord,” groaned Peebles, “ hi’ll let the bloody
lions ’ave me before hi’ll spend another such a
night as this, an’ ’ere we are, ’n that’s that! ”

“And blime, too,” said Throck, “ hi sleeps on
the ground hafter this, lions or no lions.”

“ If the combined intelligence of the three of
you was equal to that of a walrus,” remarked
Kraski, “we might have slept in comparative
safety and comfort last night on the ground.”

“ Hey there, Bluber, Mister Kraski is spikin’ to
yer,” called Peebles in fine sarcasm, accenting the
Mister.

“0/7 Oi! I don’t care vot nobody says,”
moaned Bluber.

“’E wants us to build a ’ouse for ’im hevery
night,” continued Peebles, “while ’e stands abaht
and tells us bloomin’ well ’ow to do it, and ’im,
bein’ a fine gentleman, don’t do no work.”

“Why should I do any work with my hands
when you two big beasts haven’t got anything else

The Spoor of Revenge

275

to work with?” asked Kraski. “You would all
have starved by this time if I hadn’t found food
for you. And you’ll be lion meat in the end, or
die of exhaustion if you don’t listen to me — not
that it would be much loss.”

The others paid no attention to his last sally.
As a matter of fact they had all been quarreling
so much for such a long time that they really paid
little attention to one another. With the excep¬
tion of Peebles and Throck they all hated one an¬
other cordially, and only clung together because
they were afraid to separate. Slowly Peebles
lowered his bulk to the ground. Throck followed
him, and then came Kraski, and then, finally,
Bluber, who stood for a moment in silence, look¬
ing down at his disreputable clothing.

“Mein Gott!” he exclaimed at last. “Look at
me! Dis suit, vot it cost me tventy guineas, look
at it. Ruined. Ruined. It vouldn’t bring vun
penny in der pound.”

“ The hell with your clothes! ” exclaimed Kraski.
“Here we are, lost, half starved, constantly
menaced by wild animals, and maybe, for all we
know, by cannibals, with Flora missing in the jun¬
gle, and you can stand there and talk about your
‘ tventy guinea ’ suit. You make me tired, Bluber.
But come on, we might as well be moving.”

“ Which way? ” asked Throck.

“ Why, to the west, of course,” replied Kraski.
“The coast is there, and there is nothing else for
us to do but try to reach it.”

276 Tarzan and the Golden Lion

“We can’t reach it by goin’ east,” roared Pee¬
bles, “ an’ ’ere we are, ’n that’s that.”

“Who said we could?” demanded Kraski.

“Well, we was travelin’ east all day yesterday,”
said Peebles. “ I knew all the time that there was
somethin’ wrong, and I just got it figured out.”

Throck looked at his partner in stupid surprise.
“What do you mean?” he growled. “What
makes you think we was travelin’ east?”

“ It’s easy enough,” replied Peebles, “ and I
can prove it to you. Because this party here
knows so much more than the rest of us we’ve
been travelin’ straight toward the interior ever
since the niggers deserted us.” He nodded toward
the Russian, who stood with his hands on his hips,
eyeing the other quizzically.

“ If you think I’m taking you in the wrong
direction, Peebles,” said Kraski, “ you just turn
around and go the other way; but I’m going to
keep on the way we’ve been going, which is the
right way.”

“ It ain’t the right way,” retorted Peebles, “ and
I’ll show yer. Listen here. When you travel
west the sun is at your left side, isn’t it — that is,
all durin’ the middle of the day. Well, ever since
we’ve been travelin’ without the niggers the sun
has been on our right. I thought all the time there
was somethin’ wrong, but I could never figure it
out until just now. It’s plain as the face on your
nose. We’ve been travelin’ due east right along.”

“ Blime,” cried Throck, “ that we have, due

The Spoor of Revenge

277

east, and this blighter thinks as ’ow ’e knows it all.”

“Oi!” groaned Bluber, “und ve got to valk it
all back again yet, once more?”

Kraski laughed and turned away to resume the
march in the direction he had chosen. “ You
fellows go on your own way if you want to,” he
said, “ and while you’re traveling, just ponder the
fact that you’re south of the equator and that
therefore the sun is always in the north, which,
however, doesn’t change its old-fashioned habit of
setting in the west.”

Bluber was the first to grasp the truth of
Kraski’s statement. “ Come on, boys,” he said,
“ Carl vas right,” and he turned and followed the
Russian.

Peebles stood scratching his head, entirely
baffled by the puzzling problem, which Throck,
also, was pondering deeply. Presently the latter
turned after Bluber and Kraski. “ Come on,
John,” he said to Peebles, “ hi don’t hunderstand
it, but hi guess they’re right. They are headin’
right toward where the sun set last night, and that
sure must be west.”

His theory tottering, Peebles followed Throck,
though he remained unconvinced.

The four men, hungry and footsore, had
dragged their weary way along the jungle trail
toward the west for several hours in vain search
for game. Unschooled in jungle craft they blun¬
dered on. There might have been on every hand
fierce carnivore or savage warriors, but so dull are

278 Tarzan and the Golden Lion

the perceptive faculties of civilized man, the most
blatant foe might have stalked them unperceived.

And so it was that shortly after noon, as they
were crossing a small clearing, the zip of an arrow
that barely missed Bluber’s head, brought them
to a sudden, terrified halt. With a shrill scream
of terror the Jew crumpled to the ground. Kraski
threw his rifle to his shoulder and fired.

“There! ” he cried, “behind those bushes,” and
then another arrow, from another direction,
pierced his forearm. Peebles and Throck, beefy
and cumbersome, got into action with less celerity
than the Russian, but, like him, they showed no
indication of fear.

“ Down,” cried Kraski, suiting the action to the
word. “ Lie down and let them have it.”

Scarcely had the three men dropped among the
long grass when a score of pigmy hunters came
into the open, and a volley of arrows whizzed
above the prone men, while from a nearby tree
two steel-gray eyes looked down upon the ambush.

Bluber lay upon his belly with his face buried
in his arms, his useless rifle lying at his side, but
Kraski, Peebles, and Throck, fighting for their
lives, pumped lead into the band of yelling pigmies.

Kraski and Peebles each dropped a native with
his rifle and then the foe withdrew into the con¬
cealing safety of the surrounding jungle. For a
moment there was a cessation of hostilities. Utter
silence reigned, and then a voice broke the quiet
from the verdure of a nearby forest giant.

The Spoor of Revenge

279

“ Do not fire until I tell you to,” it said, in Eng¬
lish, “ and I will save you.”

Bluber raised his head. “Comeqvick! Come
qvick! ” he cried, “ ve vill not shoot. Safe me,
safe me, und I gift you five pounds.”

From the tree from which the voice had issued
there came a single, low, long-drawn, whistled note,
and then silence for a time.

The pigmies, momentarily surprised by the
mysterious voice emanating from the foliage of
a tree, ceased their activities, but presently, hearing
nothing to arouse their fear, they emerged from
the cover of the bushes and launched another
volley of arrows toward the four men lying among
the grasses in the clearing. Simultaneously the
figure of a giant white leaped from the lower
branches of a patriarch of the jungle, as a great
black-maned lion sprang from the thicket below.

“Oil” shrieked Bluber, and again buried his
face in his arms.

For an instant the pigmies stood terrified, and
then their leader cxfied: “It is Tarzan!” and
turned and fled into the jungle.

“Yes, it is Tarzan — Tarzan of the Apes,”
cried Lord Greystoke. “ It is Tarzan and the
golden lion,” but he spoke in the dialect of the
pigmies, and the whites understood no word of
what he said. Then he turned to them. “The
Gomangani have gone,” he said; “get up.”

The four men crawled to their feet. “ Who are
you, and what are you doing here?” demanded

280 Tarzan and the Golden Lion

Tarzan of the Apes. “ But I do not need to ask
who you are. You are the men who drugged me,
and left me helpless in your camp, a prey to the
first passing lion or savage native.”

Bluber stumbled forward, rubbing his palms
together and cringing and smiling. “Oil Oil
Mr. Tarzan, ve did not know you. Neffer vould
ve did vat ve done, had ve known it vas Tarzan
of the Apes. Safe me! Ten pounds — tventy
pounds — anyt’ing. Name your own price. Safe
me, und it is yours.”

Tarzan ignored the Jew and turned toward the
others. “ I am looking for one of your men,”
he said; “ a black named Luvini. He killed my
wife. Where is he?”

“We know nothing of that,” said Kraski.
“ Luvini betrayed us and deserted us. Your wife
and another white woman were in our camp at
the time. None of us knows what became of
them. They were behind us when we took our
post to defend the camp from our men and the
slaves of the Arabs. Your Waziri were there.
After the enemy had withdrawn we found that the
two women had disappeared. We do not know
what became of them. We are looking for them
now.”

“My Waziri told me as much,” said Tarzan,
“but have you seen aught of Luvini since?”

“ No, we have not,” replied Kraski.

“What are you doing here?” demanded Tar¬

zan.

The Spoor of Revenge

281

“We came with Mr. Bluber on a scientific ex¬
pedition,” replied the Russian. “We have had
a great deal of trouble. Our head-men, askari,
and porters have mutinied and deserted. We are
absolutely alone and helpless.”

“Oil Oil” cried Bluber. “ Safe us! Safe us!
But keep dot lion avay. He makes me nerfous.”

“He will not hurt you — unless I tell him to,”
said Tarzan.

“ Den please don’t tell him to,” cried Bluber.

“Where do you want to go?” asked Tarzan.

“We are trying to get back to the coast,” re¬
plied Kraski, “ and from there to London.”

“Come with me,” said Tarzan, “possibly I
can help you. You do not deserve it, but I can¬
not see white men perish here in the jungle.”

They followed him toward the west, and that
night they made camp beside a small jungle stream.

It was difficult for the four Londoners to accus¬
tom themselves to the presence of the great lion,
and Bluber was in a state of palpable terror.

As they squatted around the fire after the eve¬
ning meal, which Tarzan had provided, Kraski
suggested that they set to and build some sort of
a shelter against the wild beasts.

“ It will not be necessary,” said Tarzan. “ Jad-
bal-ja will guard you. He will sleep here beside
Tarzan of the Apes, and what one of us does not
hear the other will.”

Bluber sighed. “Mein Gott!” he cried. “I
should giff ten pounds for vun night’s sleep.”

282 Tarzan and the Golden Lion

“You may have it tonight for less than that,”
replied Tarzan, “for nothing shall befall you
while Jad-bal-ja and I are here.”

“Veil, den I t’ink I say good night,” said the
Jew, and moving a few paces away from the fire
he curled up and was soon asleep. Throck and
Peebles followed suit, and shortly after Kraski,
too.

As the Russian lay, half dozing, his eyes par¬
tially open, he saw the ape-man rise from the
squatting position he had maintained before the
fire, and turn toward a nearby tree. As he did so
something fell from beneath his loin cloth — a
little sack made of hides — a little sack, bulging
with its contents.

Kraski, thoroughly awakened now, watched it
as the ape-man moved off a short distance, accom¬
panied by Jad-bal-ja, and lay down to sleep.

The great lion curled beside the prostrate man,
and presently the Russian was assured that both
slept. Immediately he commenced crawling,
stealthily and slowly toward the little package
lying beside the fire. With each forward move
that he made he paused and looked at the recum¬
bent figures of the two ferocious beasts before
him, but both slept on peacefully. At last the
Russian could reach out and grasp the sack, and
drawing it toward him he stuffed it quickly inside
his shirt. Then he turned and crawled slowly and
carefully back to his place beyond the fire. There,
lying with his head upon one arm as though in

The Spoor of Revenge

283

profound slumber, he felt carefully of the sack
with the fingers of his left hand.

“They feel like pebbles,” he muttered to him¬
self, “ and doubtless that is what they are, for the
barbaric ornamentation of this savage barbarian
who is a peer of England. It does not seem pos¬
sible that this wild beast has sat in the House of
Lords.”

Noiselessly Kraski undid the knot which held
the mouth of the sack closed, and a moment later
he let a portion of the contents trickle forth into
his open palm.

“ My God! ” he cried, “ diamonds! ”

Greedily he poured them all out and gloated
over them —great scintillating stones of the first
water — five pounds of pure, white diamonds, rep¬
resenting so fabulous a fortune that the very con¬
templation of it staggered the Russian.

“ My God! ” he repeated, “ the wealth of
Croesus in my own hand.”

Quickly he gathered up the stones and replaced
them in the sack, always with one eye upon Tarzan
and Jad-bal-ja; but neither stirred, and presently
he had returned them all to the pouch and slipped
the package inside his shirt.

“Tomorrow,” he muttered, “tomorrow —
would to God that I had the nerve to attempt
it tonight.”

In the middle of the following morning Tarzan,
with the four Londoners, approached a good sized,
stockaded village, containing many huts. He was

284 Tarzan and the Golden Lion

received not only graciously, but with the deference
due an emperor.

The whites were awed by the attitude of the
black chief and his warriors as Tarzan was con¬
ducted into their presence.

After the usual ceremony had been gone
through, Tarzan turned and waved his hand
toward the four Europeans. “These are my
friends,” he said to the black chief, “ and they
wish to reach the coast in safety. Send with them,
then, sufficient warriors to feed and guard them
during the journey. It is I, Tarzan of the Apes,
who requests this favor.”

“Tarzan of the Apes, the great chief, Lord of
the Jungle, has but to command,” replied the black.

“Good!” exclaimed Tarzan, “feed them well
and treat them well. I have other business to
attend to and may not remain.”

“Their bellies shall be filled, and they shall
reach the coast unscathed,” replied the chief.

Without a word of farewell, without even a
sign that he realized their existence, Tarzan of
the Apes passed from the sight of the four Euro¬
peans, while at his heels paced Jad-bal-ja, the
golden lion.

CHAPTER XIX

A BARBED SHAFT KILLS

K RASKI spent a sleepless night. He could
not help but realize that sooner or later
Tarzan would discover the loss of his pouch of
diamonds, and that he would return and demand
an accounting of the four Londoners he had be¬
friended. And so it was that as the first streak of
dawn lighted the eastern horizon, the Russian arose
from his pallet of dried grasses within the hut
that had been assigned him and Bluber by the
chief, and crept stealthily out into the village
street.

“ God! ” he muttered to himself. “ There is
only one chance in a thousand that I can reach
the coast alone, but this,” and he pressed his hand
over the bag of diamonds that lay within his
shirt—“but this, this is worth every effort, even
to the sacrifice of life — the fortune of a thousand
kings — my God, what could I not do with it in
London, and Paris, and New York! ”

Stealthily he slunk from the village, and pres¬
ently the verdure of the jungle beyond closed about
Carl Kraski, the Russian, as he disappeared for¬
ever from the lives of his companions.

286 Tarzan and the Golden Lion

Bluber was the first to discover the absence of
Kraski, for, although there was no love between
the two, they had been thrown together owing to
the friendship of Peebles and Throck.

“Have you seen Carl this morning?” he asked
Peebles as the three men gathered around the pot
containing the unsavory stew that had been brought
to them for their breakfast.

“ No,” said Peebles. “ He must be asleep yet.”

“He is not in the hut,” replied Bluber. “He
vas not dere ven I woke up.”

“ He can take care of himself,” growled Throck,
resuming his breakfast. “You’ll likely find him
with some of the ladies,” and he grinned in appre¬
ciation of his little joke on Kraski’s well-known
weakness.

They had finished their breakfast and were
attempting to communicate with some of the
warriors, in an effort to learn when the chief pro¬
posed that they should set forth for the coast,
and still Kraski had not made an appearance. By
this time Bluber was considerably concerned, not
at all for Kraski’s safety, but for his own, since,
if something could happen to Kraski in this
friendly village in the still watches of the night,
a similar fate might overtake him, and when he
made this suggestion to the others it gave them
food for thought, too, so that there were three
rather apprehensive men w r ho sought an audience
with the chief.

By means of signs and pidgin English, and dis-

A Barbed Shaft Kills

287

torted native dialect, a word or two of which each
of the three understood, they managed to convey
to the chief the information that Kraski had dis¬
appeared, and that they wanted to know what
had become of him.

The chief was, of course, as much puzzled as
they, and immediately instituted a thorough search
of the village, with the result that it was soon
found that Kraski was not within the palisade,
and shortly afterward footprints were discovered
leading through the village gateway into the jungle.

“Mein Gott!” exclaimed Bluber, “he vent out
dere, und he vent alone, in der middle of der
night. He must have been crazy.”

“Gord!” cried Trock, “what did he want to
do that for?”

“You ain’t missed nothin’, have you?” asked
Peebles of the other two. “ ’E might ’ave stolen
somethin’.”

“Oil Oil Vot have ve got to steal?” cried
Bluber. “Our guns, our ammunition — dey are
here beside us. He did not take them. Beside
dose ve have nothing of value except my tventy
guinea suit.”

“ But what did ’e do it for ? ” demanded Peebles.

“ ’E must ’ave been walkin’ in ’is bloomin’ sleep,”
said Throck. And that was as near to an explana¬
tion of Kraski’s mysterious disappearance as the
three could reach. An hour later they set out
toward the coast under the protection of a com¬
pany of the chief’s warriors.

288 Tarzan and the Golden Lion

Kraski, his rifle slung over his shoulder, moved
doggedly along the jungle trail, a heavy automatic
pistol grasped in his right hand. His ears were
constantly strained for the first intimation of pur¬
suit as well as for whatever other dangers might
lurk before or upon either side. Alone in the
mysterious jungle he was experiencing a nightmare
of terror, and with each mile that he traveled the
value of the diamonds became less and less by
comparison with the frightful ordeal that he
realized he must pass through before he could
hope to reach the coast.

Once Histah, the snake, swinging from a low-
hung branch across the trail, barred his way, and
the man dared not fire at him for fear of attract¬
ing the attention of possible pursuers to his posi¬
tion. He was forced, therefore, to make a detour
through the tangled mass of underbrush which
grew closely upon either side of the narrow trail.
When he reached it again, beyond the snake, his
clothing was more torn and tattered than before,
and his flesh was scratched and cut and bleeding
from the innumerable thorns past which he had
been compelled to force his way. He was soaked
with perspiration and panting from exhaustion,
and his clothing was filled with ants whose vicious
attacks upon his flesh rendered him half mad with
pain.

Once again in the clear he tore his clothing
from him and sought frantically to rid himself
of the torturing pests.

A Barbed Shaft Kills

289

So thick were the myriad ants upon his cloth¬
ing that he dared not attempt to reclaim it. Only
the sack of diamonds, his ammunition and his
weapons did he snatch from the ravening horde
whose numbers were rapidly increasing, apparently
by millions, as they sought to again lay hold upon
him and devour him.

Shaking the bulk of the ants from the articles
he had retrieved, Kraski dashed madly along the
trail as naked as the day he was born, and when,
a half hour later, stumbling and at last falling
exhausted, he lay panting upon the damp jungle
earth, he realized the utter futility of his mad
attempt to reach the coast alone, even more fully
than he ever could have under any other circum¬
stances, since there is nothing that so paralyzes
the courage and self-confidence of a civilized man
as to be deprived of his clothing.

However scant the protection that might have
been afforded by the torn and tattered garments he
had discarded, he could not have felt more helpless
had he lost his weapons and ammunition instead,
for, to such an extent are we the creatures of
habit and environment. It was, therefore, a ter¬
rified Kraski, already foredoomed to failure, who
crawled fearfully along the jungle trail.

That night, hungry and cold, he slept in the
crotch of a great tree while the hunting carnivore
roared, and coughed, and growled through the
blackness of the jungle about him. Shivering with
terror he started momentarily to fearful wakeful-

290 Tarzan and the Golden Lion

ness, and when, from exhaustion, he would doze
again it was not to rest but to dream of horrors
that a sudden roar would merge into reality. Thus
the long hours of a frightful night dragged out
their tedious length, until it seemed that dawn
would never come. But come it did, and once
again he took up his stumbling way toward the
west.

Reduced by fear and fatigue and pain to a
state bordering upon half consciousness, he blun¬
dered on, with each passing hour becoming per¬
ceptibly weaker, for he had been without food or
water since he had deserted his companions more
than thirty hours before.

Noon was approaching. Kraski was moving
but slowly now with frequent rests, and it was
during one of these that there came to his numbed
sensibilities an insistent suggestion of the voices
of human beings not far distant. Quickly he shook
himself and attempted to concentrate his waning
faculties. He listened intently, and presently with
a renewal of strength he arose to his feet.

There was no doubt about it. He heard voices
but a short distance away and they sounded not
like the tones of natives, but rather those of
Europeans. Yet he was still careful, and so he
crawled cautiously forward, until at a turning of
the trail he saw before him a clearing dotted with
trees which bordered the banks of a muddy stream.
Near the edge of the river was a small hut
thatched with grasses and surrounded by a rude

A Barbed Shaft Kills

291

palisade and further protected by an outer boma
of thorn bushes.

It was from the direction of the hut that the
voices were coming, and now he clearly discerned
a woman’s voice raised in protest and in anger,
and replying to it the deep voice of a man.

Slowly the eyes of Carl Kraski went wide in
incredulity, not unmixed with terror, for the tones
of the voice of the man he heard were the tones
of the dead Esteban Miranda, and the voice of
the woman was that of the missing Flora Hawkes,
whom he had long since given up as dead also.
But Carl Kraski was no great believer in the super¬
natural. Disembodied spirits need no huts or
palisades, or bomas of thorns. The owners of
those voices were as live — as material — as he.

He started forward toward the hut, his hatred
of Esteban and his jealousy almost forgotten in
the relief he felt in the realization that he was
to again have the companionship of creatures of
his own kind. He had moved, however, but a
few steps from the edge of the jungle when the
woman’s voice came again to his ear, and with it
the sudden realization of his nakedness. He
paused in thought, looking about him, and pres¬
ently he was busily engaged gathering the long,
broad-leaved jungle grasses, from which he fab¬
ricated a rude but serviceable skirt, which he
fastened about his waist with a twisted rope of
the same material. Then with a feeling of re¬
newed confidence he moved forward toward the

292 Tarzan and the Golden Lion

hut. Fearing that they might not recognize him
at first, and, taking him for an enemy, attack him,
Kraski, before he reached the entrance to the
palisade, called Esteban by name. Immediately
the Spaniard came from the hut, followed by the
girl. Had Kraski not heard his voice and recog¬
nized him by it, he would have thought him Tarzan
of the Apes, so close was the remarkable resem¬
blance.

For a moment the two stood looking at the
strange apparition before them.

“Don’t you know me?” asked Kraski. “ I am
Carl — Carl Kraski. You know me, Flora.”

“ Carl! ” exclaimed the girl, and started to leap
forward, but Esteban grasped her by the wrist
and held her back.

“ What are you doing here, Kraski ? ” asked the
Spaniard in a surly tone.

“ I am trying to make my way to the coast,”
replied the Russian. “ I am nearly dead from
starvation and exposure.”

“The way to the coast is there,” said the Span¬
iard, and pointed down the trail toward the west.
“ Keep moving, Kraski, it is not healthy for you
here.”

“You mean to say that you will send me on
without food or water?” demanded the Russian.

“ There is water,” said Esteban, pointing at the
river, “ and the jungle is full of food for one
with sufficient courage and intelligence to gather

A Barbed Shaft Kills

293

“You cannot send him away,” cried the girl.
“ I did not think it possible that even you could
be so cruel,” and then, turning to the Russian,
“ O Carl,” she cried “ do not go. Save me! Save
me from this beast!”

“Then stand aside,” cried Kraski, and as the
girl wrenched herself free from the grasp of
Miranda the Russian leveled his automatic and
fired point-blank at the Spaniard. The bullet
missed its target; the empty shell jammed in the
breach and as Kraski pulled the trigger again with
no result he glanced at his weapon and, discovering
its uselessness, hurled it from him with an oath.
As he strove frantically to bring his rifle into action
Esteban threw back his spear hand with the short,
heavy spear that he had learned by now so well
to use, and before the other could press the trigger
of his rifle the barbed shaft tore through his chest
and heart. Without a sound Carl Kraski sank
dead at the foot of his enemy and his rival, while
the woman both had loved, each in his own selfish
or brutal way, sank sobbing to the ground in the
last and deepest depths of despair.

Seeing that the other was dead, Esteban stepped
forward and wrenched his spear from Kraski’s
body and also relieved his dead enemy of his
ammunition and weapons. As he did so his eyes
fell upon a little bag made of skins which Kraski
had fastened to his waist by the grass rope he had
recently fashioned to uphold his primitive skirt.

The Spaniard felt of the bag and tried to figure

294 Tarzan and the Golden Lion

out the nature of its contents, coming to the con¬
clusion that it was ammunition, but he did not
examine it closely until he had carried the dead
man’s weapons into his hut, where he had also
taken the girl, who crouched in a corner, sobbing.

“Poor Carl! Poor Carl!” she moaned, and
then to the man facing her: “You beast!”

“Yes,” he cried, with a laugh, “I am a beast.
I am Tarzan of the Apes, and that dirty Russian
dared to call me Esteban. I am Tarzan! I am
Tarzan of the Apes!” he repeated in a loud
scream. “Who dares call me otherwise dies. I
will show them. I will show them,” he mumbled.

The girl looked at him with wide and flaming
eyes and shuddered.

“Mad,” she muttered. “Mad! My God —
alone in the jungle with a maniac! ” And, in truth,
in one respect was Esteban Miranda mad — mad
with the madness of the artist who lives the part he
plays. And for so long, now, had Esteban Miranda
played the part, and so really proficient had he
become in his interpretation of the noble character,
that he believed himself Tarzan, and in outward
appearance he might have deceived the ape-man’s
best friend. But within that godlike form was
the heart of a cur and the soul of a craven.

“He would have stolen Tarzan’s mate,” mut¬
tered Esteban. “Tarzan, Lord of the Jungle!
Did you see how I slew him, with a single shaft?
You could love a weakling, could you, when you
could have the love of the great Tarzan! ”

A Barbed Shaft Kills

295

“ I loathe you,” said the girl. “ You are indeed
a beast. You are lower than the beasts.”

“You are mine, though,” said the Spaniard,
“and you shall never be another’s — first I would
kill you — but let us see what the Russian had in
his little bag of hides, it feels like ammunition
enough to kill a regiment,” and he untied the
thongs that held the mouth of the bag closed and
let some of the contents spill out upon the floor
of the hut. As the sparkling stones rolled scin-
tillant before their astonished eyes, the girl gasped
in incredulity.

“Holy Mary!” exclaimed the Spaniard, “they
are diamonds.”

“Hundreds of them,” murmured the girl.
“Where could he have gotten them?”

“ I do not know and I do not care,” said Este¬
ban. “They are mine. They are all mine — I
am rich, Flora. I am rich, and if you are a good
girl you shall share my wealth with me.”

Flora Hawkes’s eyes narrowed. Awakened
within her breast was the always-present greed
that dominated her being, and beside it, and equally
as powerful now to dominate her, her hatred for
the Spaniard. Could he have known it, possession
of those gleaming baubles had crystallized at last
in the mind of the woman a determination she had
long fostered to slay the Spaniard while he slept.
Heretofore she had been afraid of being left alone
in the jungle, but now the desire to possess this
great wealth overcome her terror.

296 Tarzan and the Golden Lion

Tarzan, ranging the jungle, picked up the trail
of the various bands of west coast boys and the
fleeing slaves of the dead Arabs, and overhauling
each in turn he prosecuted his search for Luvini,
awing the blacks into truthfulness and leaving them
in a state of terror when he departed. Each and
every one, they told him the same story. There
was none who had seen Luvini since the night of
the battle and the fire, and each was positive that
he must have escaped with some other band.

So thoroughly occupied had the ape-man’s mind
been during the past few days with his sorrow
and his search that lesser considerations had gone
neglected, with the result that he had not noted
that the bag containing the diamonds was missing.
In fact, he had practically forgotten the diamonds
when, by the merest vagary of chance his mind
happened to revert to them, and then it was that
he suddenly realized that they were missing, but
when he had lost them, or the circumstances sur¬
rounding the loss, he could not recall.

“Those rascally Europeans,” he muttered to
Jad-bal-ja, “they must have taken them,” and
suddenly with the thought the scarlet scar flamed
brilliantly upon his forehead, as just anger welled
within him against the perfidy and ingratitude of
the men he had succored. “ Come,” he said to
Jad-bal-ja, “as we search for Luvini we shall
search for these others also.” And so it was that
Peebles and Throck and Bluber had traveled but a
short distance toward the coast when, during a

A Barbed Shaft Kills

297

noon-day halt, they were surprised to see the figure
of the ape-man moving majestically toward them
while, at his side, paced the great, black-maned lion.

Tarzan made no acknowledgment of their exu¬
berant greeting, but came forward in silence to
stand at last with folded arms before them. There
was a grim, accusing expression upon his counte¬
nance that brought the chill of fear to Bluber’s
cowardly heart, and blanched the faces of the two
hardened English pugs.

“What is it?” they chorused. “What is
wrong? What has happened?”

“ I have come for the bag of stones you took
from me,” said Tarzan simply.

Each of the three eyed his companion sus¬
piciously.

“ I do not understand vot you mean, Mr. Tar¬
zan,” purred Bluber, rubbing his palms together.
“I am sure dere is some mistake, unless—” he
cast a furtive and suspicious glance in the direction
of Peebles and Throck.

“ I don’t know nothin’ about no bag of stones,”
said Peebles, “ but I will say as ’ow you can’t trust
no Jew.”

“ I don’t trust any of you,” said Tarzan. “ I
will give you five seconds to hand over the bag of
stones, and if you don’t produce it in that time
I shall have you thoroughly searched.”

“ Sure,” cried Bluber, “ search me, search me,
by all means. Vy, Mr. Tarzan, I vouldn’t take
notting from you for notting.”

298 Tarzan and the Golden Lion

“There’s something wrong here,” growled
Throck. “ I ain’t got nothin’ of yours and I’m
sure these two haven’t neither.”

“Where is the other?” asked Tarzan.

“Oh, Kraski? He disappeared the same night
you brought us to that village. We hain’t seen
him since — that’s it; I got it now—we wondered
why he left, and now I see it as plain as the face
on me nose. It was him that stole that bag of
stones. That’s what he done. We’ve been tryin’
to figure out ever since he left what he stole, and
now I see it plain enough.”

“ Sure,” exclaimed Peebles. “ That’s it, and ’ere
we are, ’n that’s that.”

“Ve might have knowed it, ve might have
knowed it,” agreed Bluber.

“But nevertheless I’m going to have you all
searched,” said Tarzan, and when the head-man
came and Tarzan had explained what he de¬
sired, the three whites were quickly stripped and
searched. Even their few belongings were thor¬
oughly gone through, but no bag of stones was
revealed.

Without a word Tarzan turned back toward
the jungle, and in another moment the blacks and
the three Europeans saw the leafy sea of foliage
swallow the ape-man and the golden lion.

“ Gord help Kraski! ” exclaimed Peebles.

“Wot do yer suppose he wants with a bag o’
stones?” inquired Throck. “’E must be a bit
balmy, I’ll say.”

A Barbed Shaft Kills

299

“ Balmy nudding,” exclaimed Bluber. “ Dere
is but vun kind of stones in Africa vot Kraski
would steal and run off into der jungle alone mit —
diamonds.”

Peebles and Throck opened their eyes in sur¬
prise. “ The damned Russian! ” exclaimed the
former. “ He double-crossed us, that’s what e’ did.”

“ He likely as not saved our lives, says hi,” said
Throck. “ If this ape feller had found Kraski
and the diamonds with us we’d of all suffered
alike — you couldn’t ’a’ made ’im believe we didn’t
’ave a ’and in it. And Kraski wouldn’t ’a’ done
nothin’ to help us out.”

“I ’opes ’e catches the beggar!” exclaimed
Peebles, fervently.

They were startled into silence a moment later
by the sight of Tarzan returning to the camp,
but he paid no attention to the whites, going instead
directly to the head-man, with whom he conferred
for several minutes. Then, once more, he turned
and left.

Acting on information gained from the head¬
man, Tarzan struck off through the jungle in the
general direction of the village where he had left
the four whites in charge of the chief, and from
which Kraski had later escaped alone. He moved
rapidly, leaving Jad-bal-ja to follow behind, cover¬
ing the distance to the village in a comparatively
short time, since he moved almost in an air line
through the trees, where there was no matted
undergrowth to impede his progress.

300 Tarzan and the Golden Lion

Outside the village gate he took up Kraski’s
spoor, now almost obliterated, it is true, but still
legible to the keen perceptive faculties of the ape-
man. This he followed swiftly, since Kraski had
clung tenaciously to the open trail that wound in a
general westward direction.

The sun had dropped almost to the western
tree-tops, when Tarzan came suddenly upon a
clearing beside a sluggish stream, near the banks
of which stood a small, rude hut, surrounded by
a palisade and a thorn boma.

The ape-man paused and listened, sniffing the
air with his sensitive nostrils, and then on noise¬
less feet he crossed the clearing toward the hut.
In the grass outside the palisade lay the dead
body of a white man, and a single glance told the
ape-man that it was the fugitive whom he sought.
Instantly he realized the futility of searching the
corpse for the bag of diamonds, since it was a
foregone conclusion that they were now in the
possession of whoever had slain the Russian. A
perfunctory examination revealed the fact that he
was right in so far as the absence of the diamonds
was concerned.

Both inside the hut and outside the palisade were
indications of the recent presence of a man and
woman, the spoor of the former tallying with
that of the creature who had killed Gobu, the great
ape, and hunted Bara, the deer, upon the preserves
of the ape-man. But the woman — who was she?
It was evident that she had been walking upon

A Barbed Shaft Kills

301 -

sore, tired feet, and that in lieu of shoes she wore
bandages of cloth.

Tarzan followed the spoor of the man and the
woman where it led from the hut into the jungle.
As it progressed it became apparent that the
woman had been lagging behind, and that she had
commenced to limp more and more painfully. Her
progress was very slow, and Tarzan could see that
the man had not waited for her, but that he had
been, in some places, a considerable distance ahead
of her.

And so it was that Esteban had forged far
ahead of Flora Hawkes, whose bruised and bleed¬
ing feet would scarce support her.

“Wait for me, Esteban,” she had pleaded.
“ Do not desert me. Do not leave me alone here
in this terrible jungle.”

“ Then keep up with me,” growled the Spaniard.
“ Do you think that with this fortune in my pos¬
session I am going to wait here forever in the
middle of the jungle for someone to come and
take it away from me? No, I am going on to the
coast as fast as I can. If you can keep up, well
and good. If you cannot, that is your own look¬
out.”

“ But you could not desert me. Even you, Este¬
ban, could not be such a beast after all that you
have forced me to do for you.”

The Spaniard laughed. “You are nothing
more to me,” he said, “ than an old glove. With
this,” and he held the sack of diamonds before

302 Tarzan and the Golden Lion

him, “ I can purchase the finest gloves in the
capitals of the world—new gloves,” and he
laughed grimly at his little joke.

“Esteban, Esteban,” she cried, “come back,
come back. I can go no farther. Do not leave
me. Please come back and save me.” But he only
laughed at her, and as a turn of the trail shut
him from her sight, she sank helpless and ex¬
hausted to the ground.

CHAPTER XX

THE DEAD RETURN

HAT night Esteban made his lonely camp

X beside a jungle trail that wound through the
dry wash of an old river bed, along which a tiny
rivulet still trickled, according the Spaniard the
water which he craved.

The obsession which possessed him that he was
in truth Tarzan of the Apes, imparted to him a
false courage, so that he could camp alone upon
the ground without recourse to artificial protec¬
tion of any kind, and fortune had favored him in
this respect in that it had sent no prowling beasts
of prey to find him upon those occasions that he
had dared too much. During the period that
Flora Hawkes had been with him he had built
shelters for her, but now that he had deserted
her and was again alone, he could not, in the role
that he had assumed, consider so effeminate an
act as the building of even a thorn boma for pro¬
tection during the darkness of the night.

He did, however, build a fire, for he had made
a kill and had not yet reached a point of primitive
savagery which permitted him even to imagine that
he enjoyed raw meat.

Having devoured what meat he wanted and

303

304 Tarzan and the Golden Lion

filled himself at the little rivulet, Esteban came
back and squatted before his fire, where he drew
the pouch of diamonds from his loin cloth and,
opening it, spilled a handful of the precious gems
into his palm. The flickering firelight playing
upon them sent scintillant gleams shooting into the
dark of the surrounding jungle night as the Span¬
iard let a tiny stream of the sparkling stones trickle
from one hand to the other, and in the pretty play
of light the Spaniard saw visions of the future —
power, luxury, beautiful women — all that great
wealth might purchase for a man. With half
closed eyes he dreamed of the ideal that he should
search the world over to obtain — the dream-
woman for whom he had always searched—the
dream-woman he had never found, the fit com¬
panion for such as Esteban Miranda imagined him¬
self to be. Presently through the dark lashes that
veiled his narrowed lids the Spaniard seemed to
see before him in the flickering light of his camp¬
fire a vague materialization of the figure of his
dream — a woman’s figure, clothed in flowing
diaphanous white which appeared to hover just
above him at the outer rim of his firelight at the
summit of the ancient river bank.

It was strange how the vision persisted. Este¬
ban closed his eyes tighdy, and then opened them
ever so little, and there, as it had been before he
closed them, the vision remained. And then he
opened his eyes wide, and still the figure of the
woman in white floated above him.

The Dead Return

305

Esteban Miranda went suddenly pale. “ Mother
of God!” he cried. “It is Flora. She is dead
and has come back to haunt me.”

With staring eyes he slowly rose to his feet to
confront the apparition, when in soft and gentle
tones it spoke.

“Heart of my heart,” it cried, “it is really
you! ”

Instantly Esteban realized that this was no dis¬
embodied spirit, nor was it Flora — but who was
it? Who was this vision of beauty, alone in the
savage African wilderness?

Very slowly now it was descending the embank¬
ment and coming toward him. Esteban returned
the diamonds to the pouch and replaced it inside
his loin cloth.

With outstretched arms the girl came toward
him. “ My love, my love,” she cried, “ do not tell
me that you do not know me.” She was close
enough now for the Spaniard to see her rapidly
rising and falling breasts and her lips trembling
with love and passion. A sudden wave of hot
desire swept over him, so with outstretched arms
he sprang forward to meet her and crush her to
his breast.

Tarzan, following the spoor of the man and the
woman, moved in a leisurely manner along the
jungle trail, for he realized that no haste was
essential to overtake these two. Nor was he at
all surprised when he came suddenly upon the
huddled figure of a woman, lying in the center of

306 Tarzan and the Golden Lion

the pathway. He knelt beside her and laid a hand
upon her shoulder, eliciting a startled scream.

“God!” she cried, “this is the end!”

“You are in no danger,” said the ape-man. “ I
will not harm you.”

She turned her eyes and looked up at him. At
first she thought he was Esteban. “You have
come back to save me, Esteban?” she asked.

“ Esteban! ” he exclaimed. “ I am not Esteban.
That is not my name.” And then she recognized
him.

“ Lord Greystoke! ” she cried. “ It is really
you?”

“Yes,” he said, “and who are you?”

“ I am Flora Hawkes. I was Lady Greystoke’s
maid.”

“I remember you,” he said. “What are you
doing here?”

“ I am afraid to tell you,” she said. “ I am
afraid of your anger.”

“Tell me,” he commanded. “You should
know, Flora, that I do not harm women.”

“ We came to get gold from the vaults of Opar,”
she said. “ But that you know.”

“ I know nothing of it,” he replied. “ Do you
mean that you were with those Europeans who
drugged me and left me in their camp?”

“Yes,” she said, “ we got the gold, but you came
with your Waziri and took it from us.”

“ I came with no Waziri and took nothing from
you,” said Tarzan. “ I do not understand you.”

The Dead Return

307

She raised her eyebrows in surprise, for she
knew that Tarzan of the Apes did not lie.

“We became separated,” she said, “after our
men turned against us. Esteban stole me from
the others, and then, after a while Kraski found
us. He was the Russian. He came with a bagful
of diamonds and then Esteban killed him and took
the diamonds.”

It was now Tarzan's turn to experience surprise.

“And Esteban is the man who is with you ? ” he
asked.

“Yes,” she said, “but he has deserted me. I
could not walk farther on my sore feet. He has
gone and left me here to die and he has taken the
diamonds with him.”

“We shall find him,” said the ape-man.
“ Come.”

“But I cannot walk,” said the girl.

“ That is a small matter,” he said, and stooping
lifted her to his shoulder.

Easily the ape-man bore the exhausted girl along
the trail. “ It is not far to water,” he said, “ and
water is what you need. It will help to revive you
and give you strength, and perhaps I shall be able
to find food for you soon.”

“Why are you so good to me?” asked the girl.

“ You are a woman. I could not leave you alone
in the jungle to die, no matter what you may have
done,” replied the ape-man. And Flora Hawkes
could only sob a broken plea for forgiveness for
the wrong she had done him.

308 Tarzan and the Golden Lion

It grew quite dark, but still they moved along
the silent trail until presently Tarzan caught in
the distance the reflection of firelight.

“ I think we shall soon find your friend,” he
whispered. “ Make no noise.”

A moment later his keen ears caught the sound
of voices. He halted and lowered the girl to
her feet.

“If you cannot follow,” he said, “wait here.
I do not wish him to escape. I will return for
you. If you can follow on slowly, do so.” And
then he left her and made his way cautiously for¬
ward toward the light and the voices. He heard
Flora Hawkes moving directly behind him. It
was evident that she could not bear the thought
of being left alone again in the dark jungle.
Almost simultaneously Tarzan heard a low whine
a few paces to his right. “ Jad-bal-ja,” he whis¬
pered in a low voice, “ heel,” and the great black¬
maned lion crept close to him, and Flora Hawkes,
stifling a scream, rushed to his side and grasped
his arms.

“Silence,” he whispered; “Jad-bal-ja will not
harm you.”

An instant later the three came to the edge of
the ancient river bank, and through the tall grasses
growing there looked down upon the little camp
beneath.

Tarzan, to his consternation, saw a counterpart
of himself standing before a little fire, while slowly
approaching the man, with outstretched arms, was

The Dead Return

309

a woman, draped in flowing white. He heard her
words; soft words of love and endearment, and
at the sound of the voice and the scent spoor that
a vagrant wind carried suddenly to his nostrils, a
strange complex of emotion overwhelmed him —
happiness, despair, rage, love, and hate.

He saw the man at the fire step forward with
open arms to take the woman to his breast, and
then Tarzan separated the grasses and stepped to
the very edge of the embankment, his voice shat¬
tering the jungle with a single word.

“Jane!” he cried, and instantly the man and
woman turned and looked up at him, where his
figure was dimly revealed in the light of the camp¬
fire. At sight of him the man wheeled and raced
for the jungle on the opposite side of the river,
and then Tarzan leaped to the bottom of the
wash below and ran toward the woman.

“ Jane,” he cried, “ it is you, it is you! ”

The woman showed her bewilderment. She
looked first at the retreating figure of the man
she had been about to embrace and then turned
her eyes toward Tarzan. She drew her fingers
across her brow and looked back toward Esteban,
but Esteban was no longer in sight. Then she took
a faltering step toward the ape-man.

“My God,” she cried, “what does it mean?
Who are you, and if you are Tarzan who was he? ”
“ I am Tarzan, Jane,” said the ape-man.

She looked back and saw Flora Hawkes ap¬
proaching. “Yes,” she said, “you are Tarzan.

310 Tarzan and the Golden Lion

I saw you when you ran off into the jungle with
Flora Hawkes. I cannot understand, John. I
could not believe that you, even had you suffered
an accident to your head, could have done such
a thing.”

“ I, run off into the jungle with Flora Hawkes? ”
he asked, in unfeigned surprise.

“ I saw you,” said Jane.

The ape-man turned toward Flora. “ I do not
understand it,” he said.

“ It was Esteban who ran off into the jungle
with me, Lady Greystoke,” said the girl. “ It was
Esteban who was about to deceive you again. This
is indeed Lord Greystoke. The other was an
impostor, who only just deserted me and left me
to die in the jungle. Had not Lord Greystoke
come when he did I should be dead by now.”

Lady Greystoke took a faltering step toward
her husband. “Ah, John,” she said, “ I knew it
could not have been you. My heart told me, but
my eyes deceived me. Quick,” she cried, “that
impostor must be captured. Hurry, John, before
he escapes.”

“Let him go,” said the ape-man. “As much as
I want him, as much as I want that which he has
stolen from me, I will not leave you alone again
in the jungle, Jane, even to catch him.”

“ But Jad-bal-ja,” she cried. “ What of him ? ”

“Ah,” cried the ape-man, “ I had forgotten,”
and turning to the lion he pointed toward the
direction that the Spaniard had escaped. “Fetch

The Dead Return

311

him, Jad-bal-ja,” he cried; and, with a bound, the
tawny beast was off upon the spoor of his quarry.

“ He will kill him ? ” asked Flora Hawkes, shud¬
dering. And yet at heart she was glad of the just
fate that was overtaking the Spaniard.

“No, he will not kill him,” said Tarzan of the
Apes. “ He may maul him a bit, but he will bring
him back alive if it is possible.” And then, as
though the fate of the fugitive was already for¬
gotten, he turned toward his mate.

“Jane,” He said, “Usula told me that you were
dead. He said that they found your burned body
in the Arab village and that they buried it there.
How is it, then, that you are here alive and un¬
harmed? I have been searching the jungles for
Luvini to avenge your death. Perhaps it is well
that I did not find him.”

“You would never have found him,” replied
Jane Clayton, “but I cannot understand why
Usula should have told you that he had found
my body and buried it.”

“Some prisoners that he took,” replied Tarzan,
“told him that Luvini had taken you bound hand
and foot into one of the Arab huts near the village
gateway, and that there he had further secured
you to a stake driven into the floor of the hut.
After the village had been destroyed by fire Usula
and the other Waziri returned to search for you
with some of the prisoners they had taken who
pointed out the location of the hut, where the
charred remains of a human body were found

312 Tarzan and the Golden Lion

beside a burned stake to which it had apparently
been tied.”

“Ah! ” exclaimed the girl, “ I see. Luvini did
bind me hand and foot and tie me to the stake,
but later he came back into the hut and removed
the bonds. He attempted to attack me — how
long we fought I do not know, but so engrossed
were we in our struggle that neither one of us
was aware of the burning of the village about us.
As I persistently fought him off I caught a glimpse
of a knife in his belt, and then I let him seize me
and as his arms encircled me I grasped the knife
and, drawing it from its sheath, plunged it into his
back, below his left shoulder — that was the end.
Luvini sank lifeless to the floor of the hut. Almost
simultaneously the rear and roof of the structure
burst into flames.

“ I was almost naked, for he had torn nearly
all my clothing from me in our struggles. Hang¬
ing upon the wall of the hut was this white
burnoose, the property, doubtless, of one of the
murdered Arabs. I seized it, and throwing it
about me ran into the village street. The huts
were now all aflame, and the last of the natives
was disappearing through the gateway. To my
right was a section of palisade that had not yet
been attacked by the flames. To escape into the
jungle by the gateway would have meant running
into the arms of my enemies, and so, somehow, I
managed to scale the palisade and drop into the
jungle unseen by any.

The Dead Return

313

“ I have had considerable difficulty eluding the
various bands of blacks who escaped the village.
A part of the time I have been hunting for the
Waziri and the balance I have had to remain in
hiding. I was resting in the crotch of a tree, about
half a mile from here, when I saw the light of this
man’s fire, and when I came to investigate I was
almost stunned by joy to discover that I had, as
I imagined, stumbled upon my Tarzan.”

“ It was Luvini’s body, then, and not yours that
they buried,” said Tarzan.

“Yes,” said Jane, “and it was this man who
just escaped whom I saw run off into the jungle
with Flora, and not you, as I believed.”

Flora Hawkes looked up suddenly. “And it
must have been Esteban who came with the Waziri
and stole the gold from us. He fooled our men
and he must have fooled the Waziri, too.”

“He might have fooled anyone if he could
deceive me,” said Jane Clayton. “I should have
discovered the deception in a few minutes I have
no doubt, but in the flickering light of the camp¬
fire, and influenced as I was by the great joy of
seeing Lord Greystoke again, I believed quickly
that which I wanted to believe.”

The ape-man ran his fingers through his thick
shock of hair in a characteristic gesture of medita¬
tion. “ I cannot understand how he fooled Usula
in broad daylight,” he said with a shake of his
head.

“ I can,” said Jane. “ He told him that he had

314 Tarzan and the Golden Lion

suffered an injury to his head which had caused
him to lose his memory partially—an explanation
which accounted for many lapses in the man’s inter¬
pretation of your personality.”

“He was a clever devil,” commented the ape-
man.

“ He was a devil, all right,” said Flora.

It was more than an hour later that the grasses
at the river bank suddenly parted and Jad-bal-ja
emerged silently into their presence. Grasped in
his jaws was a torn and bloody leopard skin which
he brought and laid at the feet of his master.

The ape-man picked the thing up and examined
it, and then he scowled. “ I believe Jad-bal-ja
killed him after all,” he said.

“He probably resisted,” said Jane Clayton, “in
which event Jad-bal-ja could do nothing else in
self-defense but slay him.”

“Do you suppose he ate him?” cried Flora
Hawkes, drawing fearfully away from the beast.

“No,” said Tarzan, “he has not had time.
In the morning we will follow the spoor and find
his body. I should like to have the diamonds
again.” And then he told Jane the strange story
connected with his acquisition of the great wealth
represented by the little bag of stones.

The following morning they set out in search
of Esteban’s corpse. The trail led through dense
brush and thorns to the edge of the river farther
down stream, and there it disappeared, and though
the ape-man searched both sides of the river for

The Dead Return

315

a couple of miles above and below the point at
which he had lost the spoor, he found no further
sign of the Spaniard. There was blood along the
tracks that Esteban had made and blood upon the
grasses at the river’s brim.

At last the ape-man returned to the two women.
“That is the end of the man who would be Tar-
zan,” he said.

“Do you think he is dead?” asked Jane.

“Yes, I am sure of it,” said the ape-man.
“From the blood I imagine that Jad-bal-ja mauled
him, but that he managed to break away and get
into the river. The fact that I can find no
indication of his having reached the bank within
a reasonable distance of this spot leads me to
believe that he has been devoured by crocodiles.”

Again Flora Hawkes shuddered. “He was a
wicked man,” she said, “but I would not wish
even the wickedest such a fate as that.”

The ape-man shrugged. “ He brought it upon
himself, and, doubtless, the world is better off
without him.”

“ It was my fault,” said Flora. “ It was my
wickedness that brought him and the others here.
I told them of what I had heard of the gold in
the treasure vaults of Opar — it was my idea to
come here and steal it and to find a man who could
impersonate Lord Greystoke. Because of my
wickedness many men have died, and you, Lord
Greystoke, and your lady, have almost met your
death—I do not dare to ask for forgiveness.”

316 Tarzan and the Golden Lion

Jane Clayton put her arm about the girl’s shoul¬
der. “Avarice has been the cause of many crimes
since the world began,” she said, “ and when crime
is invoked in its aid it assumes its most repulsive
aspect and brings most often its own punishment,
as you, Flora, may well testify. For my part I
forgive you. I imagine that you have learned your
lesson.”

“You have paid a heavy price for your folly,”
said the ape-man. “You have been punished
enough. We will take you to your friends who
are on their way to the coast under escort of a
friendly tribe. They cannot be far distant, for,
from the condition of the men when I saw them,
long marches are beyond their physical powers.”

The girl dropped to her knees at his feet.
“How can I thank you for your kindness?” she
said. “ But I would rather remain here in Africa
with you and Lady Greystoke, and work for you
and show by my loyalty that I can redeem the
wrong I did you.”

Tarzan glanced at his wife questioningly, and
Jane Clayton signified her assent to the girl’s
request.

“Very well, then,” said the ape-man, “you may
remain with us, Flora.”

“ You will never regret it,” said the girl. “ I
will work my fingers off for you.”

The three, and Jad-bal-ja, had been three days
upon the march toward home when Tarzan, who
was in the lead, paused, and, raising his head.

The Dead Return

317

sniffed the jungle air. Then he turned to them
with a smile. “ My Waziri are disobedient,” he
said. “ I sent them home and yet here they are,
coming toward us, directly away from hotne.”

A few minutes later they met the van of the
Waziri, and great was the rejoicing of the blacks
when they found both their master and mistress
alive and unscathed.

“And now that we have found you,” said Tar-
zan, after the greetings were over, and innumerable
questions had been asked and answered, “ tell me
what you did with the gold that you took from
the camp of the Europeans.”

“We hid it, O Bwana, where you told us to
hide it,” replied Usula.

“ I was not with you, Usula,” said the ape-man.
“ It was another, who deceived Lady Greystoke
even as he deceived you — a bad man — who im¬
personated Tarzan of the Apes so cleverly that
it is no wonder that you were imposed upon.”

“Then it was not you who told us that your
head had been injured and that you could not re¬
member the language of the Waziri?” demanded
Usula.

“ It was not I,” said Tarzan, “ for my head has
not been injured, and I remember well the language
of my children.”

“Ah,” cried Usula, “then it was not our Big
Bwana who ran from Buto, the rhinoceros?”

Tarzan laughed. “ Did the other run from
Buto?”

318 Tarzan and the Golden Lion

“That he did,” cried Usula; “he ran in great
terror.”

“ I do not know that I blame him,” said Tarzan,
“ for Buto is no pleasant playfellow.”

“ But our Big Bwana would not run from him,”
said Usula, proudly.

“Even if another than I hid the gold it was
you who dug the hole. Lead me to the spot then,
Usula.”

The Waziri constructed rude yet comfortable
litters for the two white women, though Jane Clay¬
ton laughed at the idea that it was necessary that
she be carried and insisted upon walking beside
her bearers more often than she rode. Flora
Hawkes, however, weak and exhausted as she was,
could not have proceeded far without being carried,
and was glad of the presence of the brawny Waziri
who bore her along the jungle trail so easily.

It was a happy company that marched in buoyant
spirits toward the spot where the Waziri had
cached the gold for Esteban. The blacks were
overflowing with good nature because they had
found their master and their mistress, while the
relief and joy of Tarzan and Jane were too deep
for expression.

When at last they came to the place beside the
river where they had buried the gold the Waziri,
singing and laughing, commenced to dig for the
treasure, but presently their singing ceased and
their laughter was replaced by expressions of
puzzled concern.

The Dead Return

319

For a while Tarzan watched them in silence
and then a slow smile overspread his countenance.
“You must have buried it deep, Usula,” he said.

The black scratched his head. “No, not so
deep as this, Bwana,” he cried. “ I cannot under¬
stand it. We should have found the gold before
this.”

“Are you sure you are looking in the right
place?” asked Tarzan.

“This is the exact spot, Bwana,” the black
assured him, “ but the gold is not here. Someone
has removed it since we buried it.”

“The Spaniard again,” commented Tarzan.
“He was a slick customer.”

“ But he could not have taken it alone,” said
Usula. “There were many ingots of it.”

“No,” said Tarzan, “he could not, and yet it
is not here.”

The Waziri and Tarzan searched carefully
about the spot where the gold had been buried,
but so clever had been the woodcraft of Owaza
that he had obliterated even from the keen senses
of the ape-man every vestige of the spoor that he
and the Spaniard had made in carrying the gold
from the old hiding place to the new.

“ It is gone,” said the ape-man, “but I shall see
that it does not get out of Africa,” and he des¬
patched runners in various directions to notify the
chiefs of the friendly tribes surrounding his domain
to watch carefully every safari crossing their terri¬
tory, and to let none pass who carried gold.

320

Tarzan and the Golden Lion

“ That will stop them,” he said after the runners,
had departed.

That night as they made their camp upon the
trail toward home, the three whites were seated
about a small fire with Jad-bal-ja lying just behind
the ape-man, who was examining the leopard skin
that the golden lion had retrieved in his pursuit
of the Spaniard, when Tarzan turned toward his
wife.

“You were right, Jane,” he said. “The treasure
vaults of Opar are not for me. This time I have
lost not only the gold but a fabulous fortune in
diamonds as well, beside risking that greatest of
all treasures — yourself.”

“ Let the gold and the diamonds go, John,” she
said; “we have one another, and Korak.”

“And a bloody leopard skin,” he supplemented,
“with a mystery map painted upon it in blood.”

Jad-bal-ja sniffed the hide and licked his chops
in—anticipation or retrospection—which?

CHAPTER XXI

AN ESCAPE AND A CAPTURE

SIGHT of the true Tarzan, Esteban Mi-

r\ randa turned and fled blindly into the jungle.
His heart was cold with terror as he rushed on
in blind fear. He had no objective in mind. He
did not know in what direction he was going. His
only thought — the thought which dominated
him — was based solely upon a desire to put as
much distance as possible between himself and the
ape-man, and so he blundered on, forcing his Way
through dense thickets of thorns that tore and
lacerated his flesh until, at every step he left a
trail of blood behind him.

At the river’s edge the thorns reached out and
seized again, as they had several times before, the
precious leopard skin to which he clung with almost
the same tenacity as he clung to life itself. But
this time the thorns would not leave go their hold,
and as he struggled to tear it away from them his
eyes turned back in the direction from which he
had come. He heard the sound of a great body
moving rapidly through the thicket toward him,
and an instant later saw the baleful glare of two
gleaming, yellow-green spots of flame. With a

321

322 Tarzan and the Golden Lion

stifled cry of terror the Spaniard relinquished his
hold upon the leopard skin and, wheeling, dived
into the river.

As the black waters closed above his head Jad-
bal-ja came to the edge of the bank and looked
down upon the widening circles which marked the
spot of his quarry’s disappearance, for Esteban,
who was a strong swimmer, struck boldly for the
opposite side of the stream, keeping himself well
submerged.

For a moment the golden lion scanned the sur¬
face of the river, and then he turned and sniffed
at the hide the Spaniard had been forced to leave
behind, and grasping it in his jaws tore it from the
thorns that held it and carried it back to lay it
at the feet of his master.

Forced at last to come to the surface for air
the Spaniard arose amid a mass of tangled foliage
and branches. For a moment he thought that he
was lost, so tightly held was he by the entangling
boughs, but presently he forced his way upward,
and as his head appeared above the surface of the
water amidst the foliage he discovered that he had
arisen directly beneath a fallen tree that was float¬
ing down the center of the stream. After con¬
siderable effort he managed to draw himself up
to the boughs and find a place astride the great
bole, and thus he floated down stream in com¬
parative safety.

He breathed a deep sigh of relief as he realized
with what comparative ease he had escaped the just

With a cry of terror the Spaniard dived into the river

An Escape and a Capture

323

vengeance of the ape-man. It is true that he
bemoaned the loss of the hide which carried the
map to the location of the hidden gold, but he
still retained in his possession a far greater treas¬
ure, and as he thought of it his hands gloatingly
fondled the bag of diamonds fastened to his loin
cloth. Yet, even though he possessed this great
fortune in diamonds, his avaricious mind constantly
returned to the golden ingots by the waterfall.

“Owaza will get it,” he muttered to himself.
“ I never trusted the black dog, and when he de¬
serted me I knew well enough what his plans
were.”

All night long Esteban Miranda floated down
stream upon the fallen tree, seeing no sign of
life, until shortly after daybreak, he passed a native
village upon the shore.

It was the village of Obebe, the cannibal, and
at sight of the strange figure of the white giant
floating down the stream upon the bole of a tree,
the young woman who espied him raised a great
hue and cry until the population of the village lined
the shore watching him pass.

“ It is a strange god,” cried one.

“ It is the river devil,” said the witch doctor.
“ He is a friend of mine. Now, indeed, shall we
catch many fish if for each ten that you catch you
give one to me.”

“ It is not the river devil,” rumbled the deep
voice of Obebe, the cannibal. “You are getting
old,” he said to the witch doctor, “ and of late

324 Tarzan and the Golden Lion

your medicine has been poor medicine, and now you
tell me that Obebe’s greatest enemy is the river
devil. That is Tarzan of the Apes. Obebe knows
him well.” And in truth every cannibal chief in
the vicinity knew Tarzan of the Apes well and
feared and hated him, for relentless had been the
ape-man’s war against them.

“ It is Tarzan of the Apes,” repeated Obebe,
“and he is in trouble. Perhaps it is our chance
to capture him.”

He called his warriors about him, and presently
half a hundred brawny young bucks started at a
jog trot down the trail that paralleled the river.
For miles they followed the slowly moving tree
which carried Esteban Miranda until at last at
a bend in the river the tree was caught in the outer
circle of a slow-moving eddy, which carried it
beneath the overhanging limbs of trees growing
close to the river’s edge.

Cramped and chilled and hungry as he was,
Esteban was glad of the opportunity to desert his
craft and gain the shore. And so, laboriously,
he drew himself up among the branches of the
tree that momentarily offered him a haven of
retreat from the river, and crawling to its stem
lowered himself to the ground beneath, uncon¬
scious of the fact that in the grasses around him
squatted half a hundred cannibal warriors.

Leaning against the bole of the tree the Spaniard
rested for a moment. He felt for the diamonds
and found that they were safe.

An Escape and a Capture 325

“I am a lucky devil, after all,” he said aloud,
and almost simultaneously the fifty blacks arose
about him and leaped upon him. So sudden was
the attack, so overwhelming the force, that the
Spaniard had no opportunity to defend himself
against them, with the result that he was down and
securely bound almost before he could realize what
was happening to him.

“Ah, Tarzan of the Apes, I have you at last,”
gloated Obebe, the cannibal, but Esteban did not
understand a word the man said, and so he could
make no reply. He talked to Obebe in English,
but that language the latter did not understand.

Of only one thing was Esteban certain; that he
was a prisoner and that he was being taken back
toward the interior. When they reached Obebe’s
village there was great rejoicing on the part of
the women and the children and the warriors who
had remained behind. But the witch doctor shook
his head and made wry faces and dire prophecies.

“You have seized the river devil,” he said.
“We shall catch no more fish, and presently a
great sickness will fall upon Obebe’s people and
they will all die like flies.” But Obebe only
laughed at the witch doctor for, being an old man
and a great king, he had accumulated much wisdom
and, with the acquisition of wisdom man is more
inclined to be skeptical in matters of religion.

“You may laugh now, Obebe,” said the witch
doctor, “but later you will not laugh. Wait and
see.”

326 Tarzan and the Golden Lion

“When, with my own hands, I kill Tarzan of
the Apes, then indeed shall I laugh,” replied the
chief, “ and when I and my warriors have eaten
his heart and his flesh, then, indeed, shall we no
longer fear any of your devils.”

“Wait,” cried the witch doctor angrily, “and
you shall see.”

They took the Spaniard, securely bound, and
threw him into a filthy hut, through the doorway
of which he could see the women of the village
preparing cooking fires and pots for the feast of
the coming night. A cold sweat stood out upon
the brow of Esteban Miranda as he watched these
grewsome preparations, the significance of which
he could not misinterpret, when coupled with the
gestures and the glances that were directed toward
the hut where he lay, by the inhabitants of the
village.

The afternoon was almost spent and the Span¬
iard felt that he could count the hours of life
remaining to him upon possibly two fingers of one
hand, when there came from the direction of the
river a series of piercing screams which shattered
the quiet of the jungle, and brought the inhabitants
of the village to startled attention, and an instant
later sent them in a mad rush in the direction of
the fear-laden shrieks. But they were too late and
reached the river only just in time to see a woman
dragged beneath the surface by a huge crocodile.

“Ah, Obebe, what did I tell you?” demanded
the witch doctor, exultantly. “Already has the

An Escape and a Capture 327

devil god commenced his revenge upon your peo¬
ple.”

The ignorant villagers, steeped in superstition,
looked fearfully from their witch doctor to their
chief. Obebe scowled. “He is Tarzan of the
Apes,” he insisted.

“ He is the river devil who has taken the shape
of Tarzan of the Apes,” insisted the witch doctor.

“We shall see,” replied Obebe. “If he is the
river devil he can escape our bonds. If he is
Tarzan of the Apes he cannot. If he is the river
devil he will not die a natural death, like men die,
but will live on forever. If he is Tarzan of the
Apes some day he will die. We will keep him,
then, and see, and that will prove whether or not
he is Tarzan of the Apes or the river devil.”

“How?” asked the witch doctor.

“ It is very simple,” replied Obebe. “ If some
morning we find that he has escaped we will know
that he is the river devil, and because we have not
harmed him but have fed him well while he has
been here in our village, he will befriend us and
no harm will come of it. But if he does not escape
we will know that he is Tarzan of the Apes, pro¬
vided he dies a natural death. And so, if he does
not escape, we shall keep him until he dies and
then we shall know that he was, indeed, Tarzan
of the Apes.”

“ But suppose he does not die? ” asked the witch
doctor, scratching his woolly head.

“Then,” exclaimed Obebe triumphantly, “we

328 Tarzan and the Golden Lion

will know that you are right, and that he was,
indeed, the river devil.”

Obebe went and ordered women to take food
to the Spaniard while the witch doctor stood, where
Obebe had left him, in the middle of the street,
still scratching his head in thought.

And thus was Esteban Miranda, possessor of
the most fabulous fortune in diamonds that the
world had ever known, condemned to life imprison¬
ment in the village of Obebe, the cannibal.

While he had been lying in the hut his traitorous
confederate, Owaza, from the opposite bank of the
river from the spot where he and Esteban had
hidden the golden ingots, saw Tarzan and his
Waziri come and search for the gold and go away
again, and the following morning Owaza came with
fifty men whom he had recruited from a neighbor¬
ing village and dug up the gold and started with
it toward the coast.

That night Owaza made camp just outside a
tiny village of a minor chief, who was weak in
warriors. The old fellow invited Owaza into his
compound, and there he fed him and gave him
native beer, while the chief’s people circulated
among Owaza’s boys plying them with innumerable
questions until at last the truth leaked out and the
chief knew that Owaza’s porters were carrying a
great store of yellow gold.

When the chief learned this for certain he was
much perturbed, but finally a smile crossed his
face as he talked with the half-drunken Owaza.

An Escape and a Capture

329

“You have much gold with you,” said the old
chief, “ and it is very heavy. It will be hard to
get your boys to carry it all the way back to the
coast.”

“Yes,” said Owaza, “ but I shall pay them well.”

“ If they did not have to carry it so far from
home you would not have to pay them so much,
would you?” asked the chief.

“No,” said Owaza, “but I cannot dispose of
it this side of the coast.”

“ I know where you can dispose of it within two
days’ march,” replied the old chief.

“ Where ? ” demanded Owaza. “And who here
in the interior will buy it?”

“There is a white man who will give you a little
piece of paper for it and you can take that paper
to the coast and get the full value of your gold.”

“Who is this white man?” demanded Owaza,
“and where is he?”

“He is a friend of mine,” said the chief, “and
if you wish I will take you to him on the morrow,
and you can bring with you all your gold and get
the little piece of paper.”

“ Good,” said Owaza, “ and then I shall not
have to pay the carriers but a very small amount.”

The carriers were glad, indeed, to learn the
next day that they were not to go all the way to
the coast, for even the lure of payment was not
sufficient to overcome their dislike to so long a
journey, and their fear of being at so great a dis¬
tance from home. They were very happy, there-

330 Tarzan and the Golden Lion

fore, as they set forth on a two days’ march toward
the northeast. And Owaza was happy and so was
the old chief, who accompanied them himself,
though why he was happy about it Owaza could
not guess.

They had marched for almost two days when
the chief sent one of his own men forward with
a message.

“ It is to my friend,” he said, “ to tell him to
come and meet us and lead us to his village.”
And a few hours later, as the little caravan
emerged from the jungle onto a broad, grassy
plain, they saw not far from them, and approach¬
ing rapidly, a large band of warriors. Owaza
halted.

“Who are those?” he demanded.

“Those are the warriors of my friend,” replied
the chief, “and he is with them. See?” and he
pointed toward a figure at the head of the blacks,
who were approaching at a trot, their spears and
white plumes gleaming in the sunshine.

“They come for war and not for peace,” said
Owaza fearfully.

“That depends upon you, Owaza,” replied the
chief.

“ I do not understand you,” said Owaza.

“ But you will in a few minutes after my friend
has come.”

As the advancing warriors approached more
closely Owaza saw a giant white at their head — a
white whom he mistook for Esteban — the con-

An Escape and a Capture 331

federate he had so traitorously deserted. He
turned upon the chief. “ You have betrayed me,”
he cried.

“Wait,” said the old chief; “nothing that
belongs to you shall be taken from you.”

“ The gold is not his,” cried Owaza. “ He stole
it,” and he pointed at Tarzan who had approached
and halted before him, but who ignored him en¬
tirely and turned to the chief.

“Your runner came,” he said to the old man,
“ and brought your message, and Tarzan and his
Waziri have come to see what they could do for
their old friend.”

The chief smiled. “ Your runner came to me,
O Tarzan, four days since, and two days later
came this man with his carriers, bearing golden
ingots toward the coast. I told him that I had a
friend who would buy them, giving him a little
piece of paper for them, but that, of course, only
in case the gold belonged to Owaza.”

The ape-man smiled. “ You have done well, my
friend,” he said. “The gold does not belong to
Owaza.”

“It does not belong to you, either,” cried
Owaza. “You are not Tarzan of the Apes. I
know you. You came with the four white men
and the white woman to steal the gold from Tar-
zan’s country, and then you stole it from your
own friends.”

The chief and the Waziri laughed. The ape-
man smiled one of his slow smiles.

332 Tarzan and the Golden Lion

“The other was an impostor, Owaza,” he said,
“but I am Tarzan of the Apes, and I thank you
for bringing my gold to me. Come,” he said, “ it
is but a few more miles to my home,” and the ape-
man compelled Owaza to direct his carriers to
bear the golden ingots to the Greystoke bungalow.
There Tarzan fed the carriers and paid them, and
the next morning sent them back toward their own
country, and he sent Owaza with them, but not
without a gift of value, accompanied with an
admonition that the black never again return to
Tarzan’s country.

When they had all departed, and Tarzan and
Jane and Korak were standing upon the veranda
of the bungalow with Jad-bal-ja lying at their
feet, the ape-man threw an arm about his mate’s
shoulders.

“ I shall have to retract what I said about the
gold of Opar not being for me, for you see before
you a new fortune that has come all the way from
the treasure vaults of Opar without any effort on
my part.”

“ Now, if someone would only bring your dia¬
monds back,” laughed Jane.

“ No chance of that,” said Tarzan. “ They are
unquestionably at the bottom of the Ugogo River,”
and far away, upon the banks of the Ugogo, in the
village of Obebe, the cannibal, Esteban Miranda*
lay in the filth of the hut that had been assigned
to him, gloating over the fortune that he could
never utilize as he entered upon a life of captivity

An Escape and a Capture

333

that the stubbornness and superstition of Obebe
had doomed him to undergo.

THE “MARTIAN”

TALES

By

EDGAR RICE BURROUGHS

An ahsorbinq series of Adventures and
Romance forty-three million miles from
Earth. It is hardly too much to say it is
the boldest piece of imaginative fiction in
this generation.

Only the man who created TARZAN, the
Ape-man, could have written these amazing
stories.

A Princess of Mars
The Gods of Mars

The Warlord of Mars

Thuvia, Maid of Mars

THE “TARZAN”
STORIES

By

EDGAR RICE BURROUGHS

Never has such a character come to you
from the pages of a hook; never has the
human brain conceived so strange a creation
as Tarzan, the Ape-man.

Everybody is reading and talking of the
wonderful “TARZAN” Novels.

Tarzan of the Apes

The Return of Tarzan

The Beasts of Tarzan

The Son of Tarzan

Tarzan and the Jewels of Opar
Jungle Tales of Tarzan

Tarzan the Untamed

Tarzan the Terrible