The Return Of Tarzan

By

Edgar Rice Burroughs

CONTENTS

CHAPTER

 I The Affair on the Liner II Forging Bonds of Hate and ----? III What Happened in the Rue Maule IV The Countess Explains V The Plot That Failed VI A Duel VII The Dancing Girl of Sidi Aissa VIII The Fight in the Desert IX Numa "El Adrea" X Through the Valley of the Shadow XI John Caldwell, London XII Ships That Pass XIII The Wreck of the "Lady Alice" XIV Back to the Primitive XV From Ape to Savage XVI The Ivory Raiders XVII The White Chief of the Waziri XVIII The Lottery of Death XIX The City of Gold XX La XXI The Castaways XXII The Treasure Vaults of Opar XXIII The Fifty Frightful Men XXIV How Tarzan Came Again to Opar XXV Through the Forest Primeval XXVI The Passing of the Ape-Man

Chapter I

The Affair on the Liner

"Magnifique!" ejaculated the Countess de Coude, beneath her breath. 

"Eh?" questioned the count, turning toward his young wife. "What is itthat is magnificent?" and the count bent his eyes in various directionsin quest of the object of her admiration. 

"Oh, nothing at all, my dear, " replied the countess, a slight flushmomentarily coloring her already pink cheek. "I was but recalling withadmiration those stupendous skyscrapers, as they call them, of NewYork, " and the fair countess settled herself more comfortably in hersteamer chair, and resumed the magazine which "nothing at all" hadcaused her to let fall upon her lap. 

Her husband again buried himself in his book, but not without a mildwonderment that three days out from New York his countess shouldsuddenly have realized an admiration for the very buildings she had butrecently characterized as horrid. 

Presently the count put down his book. "It is very tiresome, Olga, " hesaid. "I think that I shall hunt up some others who may be equallybored, and see if we cannot find enough for a game of cards. "

"You are not very gallant, my husband, " replied the young woman, smiling, "but as I am equally bored I can forgive you. Go and play atyour tiresome old cards, then, if you will. "

When he had gone she let her eyes wander slyly to the figure of a tallyoung man stretched lazily in a chair not far distant. 

"MAGNIFIQUE!" she breathed once more. 

The Countess Olga de Coude was twenty. Her husband forty. She was avery faithful and loyal wife, but as she had had nothing whatever to dowith the selection of a husband, it is not at all unlikely that she wasnot wildly and passionately in love with the one that fate and hertitled Russian father had selected for her. However, simply becauseshe was surprised into a tiny exclamation of approval at sight of asplendid young stranger it must not be inferred therefrom that herthoughts were in any way disloyal to her spouse. She merely admired, as she might have admired a particularly fine specimen of any species. Furthermore, the young man was unquestionably good to look at. 

As her furtive glance rested upon his profile he rose to leave thedeck. The Countess de Coude beckoned to a passing steward. "Who isthat gentleman?" she asked. 

"He is booked, madam, as Monsieur Tarzan, of Africa, " replied thesteward. 

"Rather a large estate, " thought the girl, but now her interest wasstill further aroused. 

As Tarzan walked slowly toward the smoking-room he came unexpectedlyupon two men whispering excitedly just without. He would havevouchsafed them not even a passing thought but for the strangely guiltyglance that one of them shot in his direction. They reminded Tarzan ofmelodramatic villains he had seen at the theaters in Paris. Both werevery dark, and this, in connection with the shrugs and stealthy glancesthat accompanied their palpable intriguing, lent still greater force tothe similarity. 

Tarzan entered the smoking-room, and sought a chair a little apart fromthe others who were there. He felt in no mood for conversation, and ashe sipped his absinth he let his mind run rather sorrowfully over thepast few weeks of his life. Time and again he had wondered if he hadacted wisely in renouncing his birthright to a man to whom he owednothing. It is true that he liked Clayton, but--ah, but that was notthe question. It was not for William Cecil Clayton, Lord Greystoke, that he had denied his birth. It was for the woman whom both he andClayton had loved, and whom a strange freak of fate had given toClayton instead of to him. 

That she loved him made the thing doubly difficult to bear, yet he knewthat he could have done nothing less than he did do that night withinthe little railway station in the far Wisconsin woods. To him herhappiness was the first consideration of all, and his brief experiencewith civilization and civilized men had taught him that without moneyand position life to most of them was unendurable. 

Jane Porter had been born to both, and had Tarzan taken them away fromher future husband it would doubtless have plunged her into a life ofmisery and torture. That she would have spurned Clayton once he hadbeen stripped of both his title and his estates never for once occurredto Tarzan, for he credited to others the same honest loyalty that wasso inherent a quality in himself. Nor, in this instance, had he erred. Could any one thing have further bound Jane Porter to her promise toClayton it would have been in the nature of some such misfortune asthis overtaking him. 

Tarzan's thoughts drifted from the past to the future. He tried tolook forward with pleasurable sensations to his return to the jungle ofhis birth and boyhood; the cruel, fierce jungle in which he had spenttwenty of his twenty-two years. But who or what of all the myriadjungle life would there be to welcome his return? Not one. OnlyTantor, the elephant, could he call friend. The others would hunt himor flee from him as had been their way in the past. 

Not even the apes of his own tribe would extend the hand of fellowshipto him. 

If civilization had done nothing else for Tarzan of the Apes, it had tosome extent taught him to crave the society of his own kind, and tofeel with genuine pleasure the congenial warmth of companionship. Andin the same ratio had it made any other life distasteful to him. Itwas difficult to imagine a world without a friend--without a livingthing who spoke the new tongues which Tarzan had learned to love sowell. And so it was that Tarzan looked with little relish upon thefuture he had mapped out for himself. 

As he sat musing over his cigarette his eyes fell upon a mirror beforehim, and in it he saw reflected a table at which four men sat at cards. Presently one of them rose to leave, and then another approached, andTarzan could see that he courteously offered to fill the vacant chair, that the game might not be interrupted. He was the smaller of the twowhom Tarzan had seen whispering just outside the smoking-room. 

It was this fact that aroused a faint spark of interest in Tarzan, andso as he speculated upon the future he watched in the mirror thereflection of the players at the table behind him. Aside from the manwho had but just entered the game Tarzan knew the name of but one ofthe other players. It was he who sat opposite the new player, CountRaoul de Coude, whom at over-attentive steward had pointed out as oneof the celebrities of the passage, describing him as a man high in theofficial family of the French minister of war. 

Suddenly Tarzan's attention was riveted upon the picture in the glass. The other swarthy plotter had entered, and was standing behind thecount's chair. Tarzan saw him turn and glance furtively about theroom, but his eyes did not rest for a sufficient time upon the mirrorto note the reflection of Tarzan's watchful eyes. Stealthily the manwithdrew something from his pocket. Tarzan could not discern what theobject was, for the man's hand covered it. 

Slowly the hand approached the count, and then, very deftly, the thingthat was in it was transferred to the count's pocket. The man remainedstanding where he could watch the Frenchman's cards. Tarzan waspuzzled, but he was all attention now, nor did he permit another detailof the incident to escape him. 

The play went on for some ten minutes after this, until the count won aconsiderable wager from him who had last joined the game, and thenTarzan saw the fellow back of the count's chair nod his head to hisconfederate. Instantly the player arose and pointed a finger at thecount. 

"Had I known that monsieur was a professional card sharp I had not beenso ready to be drawn into the game, " he said. 

Instantly the count and the two other players were upon their feet. 

De Coude's face went white. 

"What do you mean, sir?" he cried. "Do you know to whom you speak?"

"I know that I speak, for the last time, to one who cheats at cards, "replied the fellow. 

The count leaned across the table, and struck the man full in the mouthwith his open palm, and then the others closed in between them. 

"There is some mistake, sir, " cried one of the other players. "Why, this is Count de Coude, of France. " "If I am mistaken, " said theaccuser, "I shall gladly apologize; but before I do so first letmonsieur le count explain the extra cards which I saw him drop into hisside pocket. "

And then the man whom Tarzan had seen drop them there turned to sneakfrom the room, but to his annoyance he found the exit barred by a tall, gray-eyed stranger. 

"Pardon, " said the man brusquely, attempting to pass to one side. 

"Wait, " said Tarzan. 

"But why, monsieur?" exclaimed the other petulantly. "Permit me topass, monsieur. "

"Wait, " said Tarzan. "I think that there is a matter in here that youmay doubtless be able to explain. "

The fellow had lost his temper by this time, and with a low oath seizedTarzan to push him to one side. The ape-man but smiled as he twistedthe big fellow about and, grasping him by the collar of his coat, escorted him back to the table, struggling, cursing, and striking infutile remonstrance. It was Nikolas Rokoff's first experience with themuscles that had brought their savage owner victorious throughencounters with Numa, the lion, and Terkoz, the great bull ape. 

The man who had accused De Coude, and the two others who had beenplaying, stood looking expectantly at the count. Several otherpassengers had drawn toward the scene of the altercation, and allawaited the denouement. 

"The fellow is crazy, " said the count. "Gentlemen, I implore that oneof you search me. "

"The accusation is ridiculous. " This from one of the players. 

"You have but to slip your hand in the count's coat pocket and you willsee that the accusation is quite serious, " insisted the accuser. Andthen, as the others still hesitated to do so: "Come, I shall do itmyself if no other will, " and he stepped forward toward the count. 

"No, monsieur, " said De Coude. "I will submit to a search only at thehands of a gentleman. "

"It is unnecessary to search the count. The cards are in his pocket. I myself saw them placed there. "

All turned in surprise toward this new speaker, to behold a verywell-built young man urging a resisting captive toward them by thescruff of his neck. 

"It is a conspiracy, " cried De Coude angrily. "There are no cards inmy coat, " and with that he ran his hand into his pocket. As he did sotense silence reigned in the little group. The count went dead white, and then very slowly he withdrew his hand, and in it were three cards. 

He looked at them in mute and horrified surprise, and slowly the red ofmortification suffused his face. Expressions of pity and contempttinged the features of those who looked on at the death of a man'shonor. 

"It is a conspiracy, monsieur. " It was the gray-eyed stranger whospoke. "Gentlemen, " he continued, "monsieur le count did not know thatthose cards were in his pocket. They were placed there without hisknowledge as he sat at play. From where I sat in that chair yonder Isaw the reflection of it all in the mirror before me. This person whomI just intercepted in an effort to escape placed the cards in thecount's pocket. "

De Coude had glanced from Tarzan to the man in his grasp. 

"MON DIEU, Nikolas!" he cried. "You?"

Then he turned to his accuser, and eyed him intently for a moment. 

"And you, monsieur, I did not recognize you without your beard. Itquite disguises you, Paulvitch. I see it all now. It is quite clear, gentlemen. "

"What shall we do with them, monsieur?" asked Tarzan. "Turn them overto the captain?"

"No, my friend, " said the count hastily. "It is a personal matter, andI beg that you will let it drop. It is sufficient that I have beenexonerated from the charge. The less we have to do with such fellows, the better. But, monsieur, how can I thank you for the great kindnessyou have done me? Permit me to offer you my card, and should the timecome when I may serve you, remember that I am yours to command. "

Tarzan had released Rokoff, who, with his confederate, Paulvitch, hadhastened from the smoking-room. Just as he was leaving, Rokoff turnedto Tarzan. "Monsieur will have ample opportunity to regret hisinterference in the affairs of others. "

Tarzan smiled, and then, bowing to the count, handed him his own card. 

The count read:

M. JEAN C. TARZAN

"Monsieur Tarzan, " he said, "may indeed wish that he had neverbefriended me, for I can assure him that he has won the enmity of twoof the most unmitigated scoundrels in all Europe. Avoid them, monsieur, by all means. "

"I have had more awe-inspiring enemies, my dear count, " replied Tarzanwith a quiet smile, "yet I am still alive and unworried. I think thatneither of these two will ever find the means to harm me. "

"Let us hope not, monsieur, " said De Coude; "but yet it will do no harmto be on the alert, and to know that you have made at least one enemytoday who never forgets and never forgives, and in whose malignantbrain there are always hatching new atrocities to perpetrate upon thosewho have thwarted or offended him. To say that Nikolas Rokoff is adevil would be to place a wanton affront upon his satanic majesty. "

That night as Tarzan entered his cabin he found a folded note upon thefloor that had evidently been pushed beneath the door. He opened itand read:

M. TARZAN:

Doubtless you did not realize the gravity of your offense, or you wouldnot have done the thing you did today. I am willing to believe thatyou acted in ignorance and without any intention to offend a stranger. For this reason I shall gladly permit you to offer an apology, and onreceiving your assurances that you will not again interfere in affairsthat do not concern you, I shall drop the matter. 

Otherwise--but I am sure that you will see the wisdom of adopting thecourse I suggest. 

 Very respectfully, NIKOLAS ROKOFF. 

Tarzan permitted a grim smile to play about his lips for a moment, thenhe promptly dropped the matter from his mind, and went to bed. 

In a nearby cabin the Countess de Coude was speaking to her husband. 

"Why so grave, my dear Raoul?" she asked. "You have been as glum ascould be all evening. What worries you?"

"Olga, Nikolas is on board. Did you know it?"

"Nikolas!" she exclaimed. "But it is impossible, Raoul. It cannot be. Nikolas is under arrest in Germany. "

"So I thought myself until I saw him today--him and that other archscoundrel, Paulvitch. Olga, I cannot endure his persecution muchlonger. No, not even for you. Sooner or later I shall turn him overto the authorities. In fact, I am half minded to explain all to thecaptain before we land. On a French liner it were an easy matter, Olga, permanently to settle this Nemesis of ours. "

"Oh, no, Raoul!" cried the countess, sinking to her knees before him ashe sat with bowed head upon a divan. "Do not do that. Remember yourpromise to me. Tell me, Raoul, that you will not do that. Do not eventhreaten him, Raoul. "

De Coude took his wife's hands in his, and gazed upon her pale andtroubled countenance for some time before he spoke, as though he wouldwrest from those beautiful eyes the real reason which prompted her toshield this man. 

"Let it be as you wish, Olga, " he said at length. "I cannotunderstand. He has forfeited all claim upon your love, loyalty, orrespect. He is a menace to your life and honor, and the life and honorof your husband. I trust you may never regret championing him. "

"I do not champion him, Raoul, " she interrupted vehemently. "I believethat I hate him as much as you do, but--Oh, Raoul, blood is thickerthan water. "

"I should today have liked to sample the consistency of his, " growledDe Coude grimly. "The two deliberately attempted to besmirch my honor, Olga, " and then he told her of all that had happened in thesmoking-room. "Had it not been for this utter stranger, they hadsucceeded, for who would have accepted my unsupported word against thedamning evidence of those cards hidden on my person? I had almostbegun to doubt myself when this Monsieur Tarzan dragged your preciousNikolas before us, and explained the whole cowardly transaction. "

"Monsieur Tarzan?" asked the countess, in evident surprise. 

"Yes. Do you know him, Olga?"

"I have seen him. A steward pointed him out to me. "

"I did not know that he was a celebrity, " said the count. 

Olga de Coude changed the subject. She discovered suddenly that shemight find it difficult to explain just why the steward had pointed outthe handsome Monsieur Tarzan to her. Perhaps she flushed the leastlittle bit, for was not the count, her husband, gazing at her with astrangely quizzical expression. "Ah, " she thought, "a guiltyconscience is a most suspicious thing. "

Chapter 2

Forging Bonds of Hate and ----?

It was not until late the following afternoon that Tarzan saw anythingmore of the fellow passengers into the midst of whose affairs his loveof fair play had thrust him. And then he came most unexpectedly uponRokoff and Paulvitch at a moment when of all others the two might leastappreciate his company. 

They were standing on deck at a point which was temporarily deserted, and as Tarzan came upon them they were in heated argument with a woman. Tarzan noted that she was richly appareled, and that her slender, well-modeled figure denoted youth; but as she was heavily veiled hecould not discern her features. 

The men were standing on either side of her, and the backs of all weretoward Tarzan, so that he was quite close to them without their beingaware of his presence. He noticed that Rokoff seemed to bethreatening, the woman pleading; but they spoke in a strange tongue, and he could only guess from appearances that the girl was afraid. 

Rokoff's attitude was so distinctly filled with the threat of physicalviolence that the ape-man paused for an instant just behind the trio, instinctively sensing an atmosphere of danger. Scarcely had hehesitated ere the man seized the woman roughly by the wrist, twistingit as though to wring a promise from her through torture. What wouldhave happened next had Rokoff had his way we may only conjecture, sincehe did not have his way at all. Instead, steel fingers gripped hisshoulder, and he was swung unceremoniously around, to meet the coldgray eyes of the stranger who had thwarted him on the previous day. 

"SAPRISTI!" screamed the infuriated Rokoff. "What do you mean? Areyou a fool that you thus again insult Nikolas Rokoff?"

"This is my answer to your note, monsieur, " said Tarzan, in a lowvoice. And then he hurled the fellow from him with such force thatRokoff lunged sprawling against the rail. 

"Name of a name!" shrieked Rokoff. "Pig, but you shall die for this, "and, springing to his feet, he rushed upon Tarzan, tugging themeanwhile to draw a revolver from his hip pocket. The girl shrank backin terror. 

"Nikolas!" she cried. "Do not--oh, do not do that. Quick, monsieur, fly, or he will surely kill you!" But instead of flying Tarzanadvanced to meet the fellow. "Do not make a fool of yourself, monsieur, " he said. 

Rokoff, who was in a perfect frenzy of rage at the humiliation thestranger had put upon him, had at last succeeded in drawing therevolver. He had stopped, and now he deliberately raised it toTarzan's breast and pulled the trigger. The hammer fell with a futileclick on an empty chamber--the ape-man's hand shot out like the head ofan angry python; there was a quick wrench, and the revolver sailed farout across the ship's rail, and dropped into the Atlantic. 

For a moment the two men stood there facing one another. Rokoff hadregained his self-possession. He was the first to speak. 

"Twice now has monsieur seen fit to interfere in matters which do notconcern him. Twice he has taken it upon himself to humiliate NikolasRokoff. The first offense was overlooked on the assumption thatmonsieur acted through ignorance, but this affair shall not beoverlooked. If monsieur does not know who Nikolas Rokoff is, this lastpiece of effrontery will insure that monsieur later has good reason toremember him. "

"That you are a coward and a scoundrel, monsieur, " replied Tarzan, "isall that I care to know of you, " and he turned to ask the girl if theman had hurt her, but she had disappeared. Then, without even a glancetoward Rokoff and his companion, he continued his stroll along the deck. 

Tarzan could not but wonder what manner of conspiracy was on foot, orwhat the scheme of the two men might be. There had been somethingrather familiar about the appearance of the veiled woman to whoserescue he had just come, but as he had not seen her face he could notbe sure that he had ever seen her before. The only thing about herthat he had particularly noticed was a ring of peculiar workmanshipupon a finger of the hand that Rokoff had seized, and he determined tonote the fingers of the women passengers he came upon thereafter, thathe might discover the identity of her whom Rokoff was persecuting, andlearn if the fellow had offered her further annoyance. 

Tarzan had sought his deck chair, where he sat speculating on thenumerous instances of human cruelty, selfishness, and spite that hadfallen to his lot to witness since that day in the jungle four yearssince that his eyes had first fallen upon a human being other thanhimself--the sleek, black Kulonga, whose swift spear had that day foundthe vitals of Kala, the great she-ape, and robbed the youth, Tarzan, ofthe only mother he had ever known. 

He recalled the murder of King by the rat-faced Snipes; the abandonmentof Professor Porter and his party by the mutineers of the ARROW; thecruelty of the black warriors and women of Mbonga to their captives;the petty jealousies of the civil and military officers of the WestCoast colony that had afforded him his first introduction to thecivilized world. 

"MON DIEU!" he soliloquized, "but they are all alike. Cheating, murdering, lying, fighting, and all for things that the beasts of thejungle would not deign to possess--money to purchase the effeminatepleasures of weaklings. And yet withal bound down by silly customsthat make them slaves to their unhappy lot while firm in the beliefthat they be the lords of creation enjoying the only real pleasures ofexistence. In the jungle one would scarcely stand supinely aside whileanother took his mate. It is a silly world, an idiotic world, andTarzan of the Apes was a fool to renounce the freedom and the happinessof his jungle to come into it. "

Presently, as he sat there, the sudden feeling came over him that eyeswere watching from behind, and the old instinct of the wild beast brokethrough the thin veneer of civilization, so that Tarzan wheeled aboutso quickly that the eyes of the young woman who had beensurreptitiously regarding him had not even time to drop before the grayeyes of the ape-man shot an inquiring look straight into them. Then, as they fell, Tarzan saw a faint wave of crimson creep swiftly over thenow half-averted face. 

He smiled to himself at the result of his very uncivilized andungallant action, for he had not lowered his own eyes when they metthose of the young woman. She was very young, and equally good to lookupon. Further, there was something rather familiar about her that setTarzan to wondering where he had seen her before. He resumed hisformer position, and presently he was aware that she had arisen and wasleaving the deck. As she passed, Tarzan turned to watch her, in thehope that he might discover a clew to satisfy his mild curiosity as toher identity. 

Nor was he disappointed entirely, for as she walked away she raised onehand to the black, waving mass at the nape of her neck--the peculiarlyfeminine gesture that admits cognizance of appraising eyes behindher--and Tarzan saw upon a finger of this hand the ring of strangeworkmanship that he had seen upon the finger of the veiled woman ashort time before. 

So it was this beautiful young woman Rokoff had been persecuting. Tarzan wondered in a lazy sort of way whom she might be, and whatrelations one so lovely could have with the surly, bearded Russian. 

After dinner that evening Tarzan strolled forward, where he remaineduntil after dark, in conversation with the second officer, and whenthat gentleman's duties called him elsewhere Tarzan lolled lazily bythe rail watching the play of the moonlight upon the gently rollingwaters. He was half hidden by a davit, so that two men who approachedalong the deck did not see him, and as they passed Tarzan caught enoughof their conversation to cause him to fall in behind them, to followand learn what deviltry they were up to. He had recognized the voiceas that of Rokoff, and had seen that his companion was Paulvitch. 

Tarzan had overheard but a few words: "And if she screams you maychoke her until--" But those had been enough to arouse the spirit ofadventure within him, and so he kept the two men in sight as theywalked, briskly now, along the deck. To the smoking-room he followedthem, but they merely halted at the doorway long enough, apparently, toassure themselves that one whose whereabouts they wished to establishwas within. 

Then they proceeded directly to the first-class cabins upon thepromenade deck. Here Tarzan found greater difficulty in escapingdetection, but he managed to do so successfully. As they halted beforeone of the polished hardwood doors, Tarzan slipped into the shadow of apassageway not a dozen feet from them. 

To their knock a woman's voice asked in French: "Who is it?"

"It is I, Olga--Nikolas, " was the answer, in Rokoff's now familiarguttural. "May I come in?"

"Why do you not cease persecuting me, Nikolas?" came the voice of thewoman from beyond the thin panel. "I have never harmed you. "

"Come, come, Olga, " urged the man, in propitiary tones; "I but ask ahalf dozen words with you. I shall not harm you, nor shall I enteryour cabin; but I cannot shout my message through the door. "

Tarzan heard the catch click as it was released from the inside. Hestepped out from his hiding-place far enough to see what transpiredwhen the door was opened, for he could not but recall the sinisterwords he had heard a few moments before upon the deck, "And if shescreams you may choke her. "

Rokoff was standing directly in front of the door. Paulvitch hadflattened himself against the paneled wall of the corridor beyond. Thedoor opened. Rokoff half entered the room, and stood with his backagainst the door, speaking in a low whisper to the woman, whom Tarzancould not see. Then Tarzan heard the woman's voice, level, but loudenough to distinguish her words. 

"No, Nikolas, " she was saying, "it is useless. Threaten as you will, Ishall never accede to your demands. Leave the room, please; you haveno right here. You promised not to enter. "

"Very well, Olga, I shall not enter; but before I am done with you, youshall wish a thousand times that you had done at once the favor I haveasked. In the end I shall win anyway, so you might as well savetrouble and time for me, and disgrace for yourself and your--"

"Never, Nikolas!" interrupted the woman, and then Tarzan saw Rokoffturn and nod to Paulvitch, who sprang quickly toward the doorway of thecabin, rushing in past Rokoff, who held the door open for him. Thenthe latter stepped quickly out. The door closed. Tarzan heard theclick of the lock as Paulvitch turned it from the inside. Rokoffremained standing before the door, with head bent, as though to catchthe words of the two within. A nasty smile curled his bearded lip. 

Tarzan could hear the woman's voice commanding the fellow to leave hercabin. "I shall send for my husband, " she cried. "He will show you nomercy. "

Paulvitch's sneering laugh came through the polished panels. 

"The purser will fetch your husband, madame, " said the man. "In fact, that officer has already been notified that you are entertaining a manother than your husband behind the locked door of your cabin. "

"Bah!" cried the woman. "My husband will know!"

"Most assuredly your husband will know, but the purser will not; norwill the newspaper men who shall in some mysterious way hear of it onour landing. But they will think it a fine story, and so will all yourfriends when they read of it at breakfast on--let me see, this isTuesday--yes, when they read of it at breakfast next Friday morning. Nor will it detract from the interest they will all feel when theylearn that the man whom madame entertained is a Russian servant--herbrother's valet, to be quite exact. "

"Alexis Paulvitch, " came the woman's voice, cold and fearless, "you area coward, and when I whisper a certain name in your ear you will thinkbetter of your demands upon me and your threats against me, and thenyou will leave my cabin quickly, nor do I think that ever again willyou, at least, annoy me, " and there came a moment's silence in whichTarzan could imagine the woman leaning toward the scoundrel andwhispering the thing she had hinted at into his ear. Only a moment ofsilence, and then a startled oath from the man--the scuffling offeet--a woman's scream--and silence. 

But scarcely had the cry ceased before the ape-man had leaped from hishiding-place. Rokoff started to run, but Tarzan grasped him by thecollar and dragged him back. Neither spoke, for both feltinstinctively that murder was being done in that room, and Tarzan wasconfident that Rokoff had had no intention that his confederate shouldgo that far--he felt that the man's aims were deeper than that--deeperand even more sinister than brutal, cold-blooded murder. Withouthesitating to question those within, the ape-man threw his giantshoulder against the frail panel, and in a shower of splintered wood heentered the cabin, dragging Rokoff after him. Before him, on a couch, the woman lay, and on top of her was Paulvitch, his fingers grippingthe fair throat, while his victim's hands beat futilely at his face, tearing desperately at the cruel fingers that were forcing the lifefrom her. 

The noise of his entrance brought Paulvitch to his feet, where he stoodglowering menacingly at Tarzan. The girl rose falteringly to a sittingposture upon the couch. One hand was at her throat, and her breathcame in little gasps. Although disheveled and very pale, Tarzanrecognized her as the young woman whom he had caught staring at him ondeck earlier in the day. 

"What is the meaning of this?" said Tarzan, turning to Rokoff, whom heintuitively singled out as the instigator of the outrage. The manremained silent, scowling. "Touch the button, please, " continued theape-man; "we will have one of the ship's officers here--this affair hasgone quite far enough. "

"No, no, " cried the girl, coming suddenly to her feet. "Please do notdo that. I am sure that there was no real intention to harm me. Iangered this person, and he lost control of himself, that is all. Iwould not care to have the matter go further, please, monsieur, " andthere was such a note of pleading in her voice that Tarzan could notpress the matter, though his better judgment warned him that there wassomething afoot here of which the proper authorities should be madecognizant. 

"You wish me to do nothing, then, in the matter?" he asked. 

"Nothing, please, " she replied. 

"You are content that these two scoundrels should continue persecutingyou?"

She did not seem to know what answer to make, and looked very troubledand unhappy. Tarzan saw a malicious grin of triumph curl Rokoff's lip. The girl evidently was in fear of these two--she dared not express herreal desires before them. 

"Then, " said Tarzan, "I shall act on my own responsibility. To you, "he continued, turning to Rokoff, "and this includes your accomplice, Imay say that from now on to the end of the voyage I shall take it uponmyself to keep an eye on you, and should there chance to come to mynotice any act of either one of you that might even remotely annoy thisyoung woman you shall be called to account for it directly to me, norshall the calling or the accounting be pleasant experiences for eitherof you. 

"Now get out of here, " and he grabbed Rokoff and Paulvitch each by thescruff of the neck and thrust them forcibly through the doorway, givingeach an added impetus down the corridor with the toe of his boot. Thenhe turned back to the stateroom and the girl. She was looking at himin wide-eyed astonishment. 

"And you, madame, will confer a great favor upon me if you will but letme know if either of those rascals troubles you further. "

"Ah, monsieur, " she answered, "I hope that you will not suffer for thekind deed you attempted. You have made a very wicked and resourcefulenemy, who will stop at nothing to satisfy his hatred. You must bevery careful indeed, Monsieur--"

"Pardon me, madame, my name is Tarzan. "

"Monsieur Tarzan. And because I would not consent to notify theofficers, do not think that I am not sincerely grateful to you for thebrave and chivalrous protection you rendered me. Good night, MonsieurTarzan. I shall never forget the debt I owe you, " and, with a mostwinsome smile that displayed a row of perfect teeth, the girl curtsiedto Tarzan, who bade her good night and made his way on deck. 

It puzzled the man considerably that there should be two on board--thisgirl and Count de Coude--who suffered indignities at the hands ofRokoff and his companion, and yet would not permit the offenders to bebrought to justice. Before he turned in that night his thoughtsreverted many times to the beautiful young woman into the evidentlytangled web of whose life fate had so strangely introduced him. Itoccurred to him that he had not learned her name. That she was marriedhad been evidenced by the narrow gold band that encircled the thirdfinger of her left hand. Involuntarily he wondered who the lucky manmight be. 

Tarzan saw nothing further of any of the actors in the little dramathat he had caught a fleeting glimpse of until late in the afternoon ofthe last day of the voyage. Then he came suddenly face to face withthe young woman as the two approached their deck chairs from oppositedirections. She greeted him with a pleasant smile, speaking almostimmediately of the affair he had witnessed in her cabin two nightsbefore. It was as though she had been perturbed by a conviction thathe might have construed her acquaintance with such men as Rokoff andPaulvitch as a personal reflection upon herself. 

"I trust monsieur has not judged me, " she said, "by the unfortunateoccurrence of Tuesday evening. I have suffered much on account ofit--this is the first time that I have ventured from my cabin since; Ihave been ashamed, " she concluded simply. 

"One does not judge the gazelle by the lions that attack it, " repliedTarzan. "I had seen those two work before--in the smoking-room the dayprior to their attack on you, if I recollect it correctly, and so, knowing their methods, I am convinced that their enmity is a sufficientguarantee of the integrity of its object. Men such as they must cleaveonly to the vile, hating all that is noblest and best. "

"It is very kind of you to put it that way, " she replied, smiling. "Ihave already heard of the matter of the card game. My husband told methe entire story. He spoke especially of the strength and bravery ofMonsieur Tarzan, to whom he feels that he owes an immense debt ofgratitude. "

"Your husband?" repeated Tarzan questioningly. 

"Yes. I am the Countess de Coude. "

"I am already amply repaid, madame, in knowing that I have rendered aservice to the wife of the Count de Coude. "

"Alas, monsieur, I already am so greatly indebted to you that I maynever hope to settle my own account, so pray do not add further to myobligations, " and she smiled so sweetly upon him that Tarzan felt thata man might easily attempt much greater things than he hadaccomplished, solely for the pleasure of receiving the benediction ofthat smile. 

He did not see her again that day, and in the rush of landing on thefollowing morning he missed her entirely, but there had been somethingin the expression of her eyes as they parted on deck the previous daythat haunted him. It had been almost wistful as they had spoken of thestrangeness of the swift friendships of an ocean crossing, and of theequal ease with which they are broken forever. 

Tarzan wondered if he should ever see her again. 

Chapter 3

What Happened in the Rue Maule

On his arrival in Paris, Tarzan had gone directly to the apartments ofhis old friend, D'Arnot, where the naval lieutenant had scored himroundly for his decision to renounce the title and estates that wererightly his from his father, John Clayton, the late Lord Greystoke. 

"You must be mad, my friend, " said D'Arnot, "thus lightly to give upnot alone wealth and position, but an opportunity to prove beyond doubtto all the world that in your veins flows the noble blood of two ofEngland's most honored houses--instead of the blood of a savageshe-ape. It is incredible that they could have believed you--MissPorter least of all. 

"Why, I never did believe it, even back in the wilds of your Africanjungle, when you tore the raw meat of your kills with mighty jaws, likesome wild beast, and wiped your greasy hands upon your thighs. Eventhen, before there was the slightest proof to the contrary, I knew thatyou were mistaken in the belief that Kala was your mother. 

"And now, with your father's diary of the terrible life led by him andyour mother on that wild African shore; with the account of your birth, and, final and most convincing proof of all, your own baby fingerprints upon the pages of it, it seems incredible to me that you arewilling to remain a nameless, penniless vagabond. "

"I do not need any better name than Tarzan, " replied the ape-man; "andas for remaining a penniless vagabond, I have no intention of so doing. In fact, the next, and let us hope the last, burden that I shall beforced to put upon your unselfish friendship will be the finding ofemployment for me. "

"Pooh, pooh!" scoffed D'Arnot. "You know that I did not mean that. Have I not told you a dozen times that I have enough for twenty men, and that half of what I have is yours? And if I gave it all to you, would it represent even the tenth part of the value I place upon yourfriendship, my Tarzan? Would it repay the services you did me inAfrica? I do not forget, my friend, that but for you and your wondrousbravery I had died at the stake in the village of Mbonga's cannibals. Nor do I forget that to your self-sacrificing devotion I owe the factthat I recovered from the terrible wounds I received at their hands--Idiscovered later something of what it meant to you to remain with me inthe amphitheater of apes while your heart was urging you on to thecoast. 

"When we finally came there, and found that Miss Porter and her partyhad left, I commenced to realize something of what you had done for anutter stranger. Nor am I trying to repay you with money, Tarzan. Itis that just at present you need money; were it sacrifice that I mightoffer you it were the same--my friendship must always be yours, becauseour tastes are similar, and I admire you. That I cannot command, butthe money I can and shall. "

"Well, " laughed Tarzan, "we shall not quarrel over the money. I mustlive, and so I must have it; but I shall be more contented withsomething to do. You cannot show me your friendship in a moreconvincing manner than to find employment for me--I shall die ofinactivity in a short while. As for my birthright--it is in goodhands. Clayton is not guilty of robbing me of it. He truly believesthat he is the real Lord Greystoke, and the chances are that he willmake a better English lord than a man who was born and raised in anAfrican jungle. You know that I am but half civilized even now. Letme see red in anger but for a moment, and all the instincts of thesavage beast that I really am, submerge what little I possess of themilder ways of culture and refinement. 

"And then again, had I declared myself I should have robbed the woman Ilove of the wealth and position that her marriage to Clayton will nowinsure to her. I could not have done that--could I, Paul?

"Nor is the matter of birth of great importance to me, " he went on, without waiting for a reply. "Raised as I have been, I see no worth inman or beast that is not theirs by virtue of their own mental orphysical prowess. And so I am as happy to think of Kala as my motheras I would be to try to picture the poor, unhappy little English girlwho passed away a year after she bore me. Kala was always kind to mein her fierce and savage way. I must have nursed at her hairy breastfrom the time that my own mother died. She fought for me against thewild denizens of the forest, and against the savage members of ourtribe, with the ferocity of real mother love. 

"And I, on my part, loved her, Paul. I did not realize how much untilafter the cruel spear and the poisoned arrow of Mbonga's black warriorhad stolen her away from me. I was still a child when that occurred, and I threw myself upon her dead body and wept out my anguish as achild might for his own mother. To you, my friend, she would haveappeared a hideous and ugly creature, but to me she was beautiful--sogloriously does love transfigure its object. And so I am perfectlycontent to remain forever the son of Kala, the she-ape. "

"I do not admire you the less for your loyalty, " said D'Arnot, "but thetime will come when you will be glad to claim your own. Remember whatI say, and let us hope that it will be as easy then as it is now. Youmust bear in mind that Professor Porter and Mr. Philander are the onlypeople in the world who can swear that the little skeleton found in thecabin with those of your father and mother was that of an infantanthropoid ape, and not the offspring of Lord and Lady Greystoke. Thatevidence is most important. They are both old men. They may not livemany years longer. And then, did it not occur to you that once MissPorter knew the truth she would break her engagement with Clayton? Youmight easily have your title, your estates, and the woman you love, Tarzan. Had you not thought of that?"

Tarzan shook his head. "You do not know her, " he said. "Nothing couldbind her closer to her bargain than some misfortune to Clayton. She isfrom an old southern family in America, and southerners pridethemselves upon their loyalty. "

Tarzan spent the two following weeks renewing his former briefacquaintance with Paris. In the daytime he haunted the libraries andpicture galleries. He had become an omnivorous reader, and the worldof possibilities that were opened to him in this seat of culture andlearning fairly appalled him when he contemplated the veryinfinitesimal crumb of the sum total of human knowledge that a singleindividual might hope to acquire even after a lifetime of study andresearch; but he learned what he could by day, and threw himself into asearch for relaxation and amusement at night. Nor did he find Paris awhit less fertile field for his nocturnal avocation. 

If he smoked too many cigarettes and drank too much absinth it wasbecause he took civilization as he found it, and did the things that hefound his civilized brothers doing. The life was a new and alluringone, and in addition he had a sorrow in his breast and a great longingwhich he knew could never be fulfilled, and so he sought in study andin dissipation--the two extremes--to forget the past and inhibitcontemplation of the future. 

He was sitting in a music hall one evening, sipping his absinth andadmiring the art of a certain famous Russian dancer, when he caught apassing glimpse of a pair of evil black eyes upon him. The man turnedand was lost in the crowd at the exit before Tarzan could catch a goodlook at him, but he was confident that he had seen those eyes beforeand that they had been fastened on him this evening through no passingaccident. He had had the uncanny feeling for some time that he wasbeing watched, and it was in response to this animal instinct that wasstrong within him that he had turned suddenly and surprised the eyes inthe very act of watching him. 

Before he left the music hall the matter had been forgotten, nor did henotice the swarthy individual who stepped deeper into the shadows of anopposite doorway as Tarzan emerged from the brilliantly lightedamusement hall. 

Had Tarzan but known it, he had been followed many times from this andother places of amusement, but seldom if ever had he been alone. Tonight D'Arnot had had another engagement, and Tarzan had come byhimself. 

As he turned in the direction he was accustomed to taking from thispart of Paris to his apartments, the watcher across the street ran fromhis hiding-place and hurried on ahead at a rapid pace. 

Tarzan had been wont to traverse the Rue Maule on his way home atnight. Because it was very quiet and very dark it reminded him more ofhis beloved African jungle than did the noisy and garish streetssurrounding it. If you are familiar with your Paris you will recallthe narrow, forbidding precincts of the Rue Maule. If you are not, youneed but ask the police about it to learn that in all Paris there is nostreet to which you should give a wider berth after dark. 

On this night Tarzan had proceeded some two squares through the denseshadows of the squalid old tenements which line this dismal way when hewas attracted by screams and cries for help from the third floor of anopposite building. The voice was a woman's. Before the echoes of herfirst cries had died Tarzan was bounding up the stairs and through thedark corridors to her rescue. 

At the end of the corridor on the third landing a door stood slightlyajar, and from within Tarzan heard again the same appeal that had luredhim from the street. Another instant found him in the center of adimly-lighted room. An oil lamp burned upon a high, old-fashionedmantel, casting its dim rays over a dozen repulsive figures. All butone were men. The other was a woman of about thirty. Her face, markedby low passions and dissipation, might once have been lovely. Shestood with one hand at her throat, crouching against the farther wall. 

"Help, monsieur, " she cried in a low voice as Tarzan entered the room;"they were killing me. "

As Tarzan turned toward the men about him he saw the crafty, evil facesof habitual criminals. He wondered that they had made no effort toescape. A movement behind him caused him to turn. Two things his eyessaw, and one of them caused him considerable wonderment. A man wassneaking stealthily from the room, and in the brief glance that Tarzanhad of him he saw that it was Rokoff. But the other thing that he sawwas of more immediate interest. It was a great brute of a fellowtiptoeing upon him from behind with a huge bludgeon in his hand, andthen, as the man and his confederates saw that he was discovered, therewas a concerted rush upon Tarzan from all sides. Some of the men drewknives. Others picked up chairs, while the fellow with the bludgeonraised it high above his head in a mighty swing that would have crushedTarzan's head had it ever descended upon it. 

But the brain, and the agility, and the muscles that had coped with themighty strength and cruel craftiness of Terkoz and Numa in the fastnessof their savage jungle were not to be so easily subdued as theseapaches of Paris had believed. 

Selecting his most formidable antagonist, the fellow with the bludgeon, Tarzan charged full upon him, dodging the falling weapon, and catchingthe man a terrific blow on the point of the chin that felled him in histracks. 

Then he turned upon the others. This was sport. He was reveling inthe joy of battle and the lust of blood. As though it had been but abrittle shell, to break at the least rough usage, the thin veneer ofhis civilization fell from him, and the ten burly villains foundthemselves penned in a small room with a wild and savage beast, againstwhose steel muscles their puny strength was less than futile. 

At the end of the corridor without stood Rokoff, waiting the outcome ofthe affair. He wished to be sure that Tarzan was dead before he left, but it was not a part of his plan to be one of those within the roomwhen the murder occurred. 

The woman still stood where she had when Tarzan entered, but her facehad undergone a number of changes with the few minutes which hadelapsed. From the semblance of distress which it had worn when Tarzanfirst saw it, it had changed to one of craftiness as he had wheeled tomeet the attack from behind; but the change Tarzan had not seen. 

Later an expression of surprise and then one of horror superseded theothers. And who may wonder. For the immaculate gentleman her crieshad lured to what was to have been his death had been suddenlymetamorphosed into a demon of revenge. Instead of soft muscles and aweak resistance, she was looking upon a veritable Hercules gone mad. 

"MON DIEU!" she cried; "he is a beast!" For the strong, white teeth ofthe ape-man had found the throat of one of his assailants, and Tarzanfought as he had learned to fight with the great bull apes of the tribeof Kerchak. 

He was in a dozen places at once, leaping hither and thither about theroom in sinuous bounds that reminded the woman of a panther she hadseen at the zoo. Now a wrist-bone snapped in his iron grip, now ashoulder was wrenched from its socket as he forced a victim's armbackward and upward. 

With shrieks of pain the men escaped into the hallway as quickly asthey could; but even before the first one staggered, bleeding andbroken, from the room, Rokoff had seen enough to convince him thatTarzan would not be the one to lie dead in that house this night, andso the Russian had hastened to a nearby den and telephoned the policethat a man was committing murder on the third floor of Rue Maule, 27. When the officers arrived they found three men groaning on the floor, afrightened woman lying upon a filthy bed, her face buried in her arms, and what appeared to be a well-dressed young gentleman standing in thecenter of the room awaiting the reenforcements which he had thought thefootsteps of the officers hurrying up the stairway had announced--butthey were mistaken in the last; it was a wild beast that looked uponthem through those narrowed lids and steel-gray eyes. With the smellof blood the last vestige of civilization had deserted Tarzan, and nowhe stood at bay, like a lion surrounded by hunters, awaiting the nextovert act, and crouching to charge its author. 

"What has happened here?" asked one of the policemen. 

Tarzan explained briefly, but when he turned to the woman forconfirmation of his statement he was appalled by her reply. 

"He lies!" she screamed shrilly, addressing the policeman. "He came tomy room while I was alone, and for no good purpose. When I repulsedhim he would have killed me had not my screams attracted thesegentlemen, who were passing the house at the time. He is a devil, monsieurs; alone he has all but killed ten men with his bare hands andhis teeth. "

So shocked was Tarzan by her ingratitude that for a moment he wasstruck dumb. The police were inclined to be a little skeptical, forthey had had other dealings with this same lady and her lovely coterieof gentlemen friends. However, they were policemen, not judges, sothey decided to place all the inmates of the room under arrest, and letanother, whose business it was, separate the innocent from the guilty. 

But they found that it was one thing to tell this well-dressed youngman that he was under arrest, but quite another to enforce it. 

"I am guilty of no offense, " he said quietly. "I have but sought todefend myself. I do not know why the woman has told you what she has. She can have no enmity against me, for never until I came to this roomin response to her cries for help had I seen her. "

"Come, come, " said one of the officers; "there are judges to listen toall that, " and he advanced to lay his hand upon Tarzan's shoulder. Aninstant later he lay crumpled in a corner of the room, and then, as hiscomrades rushed in upon the ape-man, they experienced a taste of whatthe apaches had but recently gone through. So quickly and so roughlydid he handle them that they had not even an opportunity to draw theirrevolvers. 

During the brief fight Tarzan had noted the open window and, beyond, the stem of a tree, or a telegraph pole--he could not tell which. Asthe last officer went down, one of his fellows succeeded in drawing hisrevolver and, from where he lay on the floor, fired at Tarzan. Theshot missed, and before the man could fire again Tarzan had swept thelamp from the mantel and plunged the room into darkness. 

The next they saw was a lithe form spring to the sill of the openwindow and leap, panther-like, onto the pole across the walk. When thepolice gathered themselves together and reached the street theirprisoner was nowhere to be seen. 

They did not handle the woman and the men who had not escaped any toogently when they took them to the station; they were a very sore andhumiliated detail of police. It galled them to think that it would benecessary to report that a single unarmed man had wiped the floor withthe whole lot of them, and then escaped them as easily as though theyhad not existed. 

The officer who had remained in the street swore that no one had leapedfrom the window or left the building from the time they entered untilthey had come out. His comrades thought that he lied, but they couldnot prove it. 

When Tarzan found himself clinging to the pole outside the window, hefollowed his jungle instinct and looked below for enemies before heventured down. It was well he did, for just beneath stood a policeman. Above, Tarzan saw no one, so he went up instead of down. 

The top of the pole was opposite the roof of the building, so it wasbut the work of an instant for the muscles that had for years sent himhurtling through the treetops of his primeval forest to carry himacross the little space between the pole and the roof. From onebuilding he went to another, and so on, with much climbing, until at across street he discovered another pole, down which he ran to theground. 

For a square or two he ran swiftly; then he turned into a littleall-night cafe and in the lavatory removed the evidences of hisover-roof promenade from hands and clothes. When he emerged a fewmoments later it was to saunter slowly on toward his apartments. 

Not far from them he came to a well-lighted boulevard which it wasnecessary to cross. As he stood directly beneath a brilliant arclight, waiting for a limousine that was approaching to pass him, heheard his name called in a sweet feminine voice. Looking up, he metthe smiling eyes of Olga de Coude as she leaned forward upon the backseat of the machine. He bowed very low in response to her friendlygreeting. When he straightened up the machine had borne her away. 

"Rokoff and the Countess de Coude both in the same evening, " hesoliloquized; "Paris is not so large, after all. "

Chapter 4

The Countess Explains

"Your Paris is more dangerous than my savage jungles, Paul, " concludedTarzan, after narrating his adventures to his friend the morningfollowing his encounter with the apaches and police in the Rue Maule. "Why did they lure me there? Were they hungry?"

D'Arnot feigned a horrified shudder, but he laughed at the quaintsuggestion. 

"It is difficult to rise above the jungle standards and reason by thelight of civilized ways, is it not, my friend?" he queried banteringly. 

"Civilized ways, forsooth, " scoffed Tarzan. "Jungle standards do notcountenance wanton atrocities. There we kill for food and forself-preservation, or in the winning of mates and the protection of theyoung. Always, you see, in accordance with the dictates of some greatnatural law. But here! Faugh, your civilized man is more brutal thanthe brutes. He kills wantonly, and, worse than that, he utilizes anoble sentiment, the brotherhood of man, as a lure to entice his unwaryvictim to his doom. It was in answer to an appeal from a fellow beingthat I hastened to that room where the assassins lay in wait for me. 

"I did not realize, I could not realize for a long time afterward, thatany woman could sink to such moral depravity as that one must have tocall a would-be rescuer to death. But it must have been so--the sightof Rokoff there and the woman's later repudiation of me to the policemake it impossible to place any other construction upon her acts. Rokoff must have known that I frequently passed through the Rue Maule. He lay in wait for me--his entire scheme worked out to the last detail, even to the woman's story in case a hitch should occur in the programsuch as really did happen. It is all perfectly plain to me. "

"Well, " said D'Arnot, "among other things, it has taught you what Ihave been unable to impress upon you--that the Rue Maule is a goodplace to avoid after dark. "

"On the contrary, " replied Tarzan, with a smile, "it has convinced methat it is the one worth-while street in all Paris. Never again shallI miss an opportunity to traverse it, for it has given me the firstreal entertainment I have had since I left Africa. "

"It may give you more than you will relish even without another visit, "said D'Arnot. "You are not through with the police yet, remember. Iknow the Paris police well enough to assure you that they will not soonforget what you did to them. Sooner or later they will get you, mydear Tarzan, and then they will lock the wild man of the woods upbehind iron bars. How will you like that?"

"They will never lock Tarzan of the Apes behind iron bars, " replied he, grimly. 

There was something in the man's voice as he said it that causedD'Arnot to look up sharply at his friend. What he saw in the set jawand the cold, gray eyes made the young Frenchman very apprehensive forthis great child, who could recognize no law mightier than his ownmighty physical prowess. He saw that something must be done to setTarzan right with the police before another encounter was possible. 

"You have much to learn, Tarzan, " he said gravely. "The law of manmust be respected, whether you relish it or no. Nothing but troublecan come to you and your friends should you persist in defying thepolice. I can explain it to them once for you, and that I shall dothis very day, but hereafter you must obey the law. If itsrepresentatives say 'Come, ' you must come; if they say 'Go, ' you mustgo. Now we shall go to my great friend in the department and fix upthis matter of the Rue Maule. Come!"

Together they entered the office of the police official a half hourlater. He was very cordial. He remembered Tarzan from the visit thetwo had made him several months prior in the matter of finger prints. 

When D'Arnot had concluded the narration of the events which hadtranspired the previous evening, a grim smile was playing about thelips of the policeman. He touched a button near his hand, and as hewaited for the clerk to respond to its summons he searched through thepapers on his desk for one which he finally located. 

"Here, Joubon, " he said as the clerk entered. "Summon theseofficers--have them come to me at once, " and he handed the man thepaper he had sought. Then he turned to Tarzan. 

"You have committed a very grave offense, monsieur, " he said, notunkindly, "and but for the explanation made by our good friend here Ishould be inclined to judge you harshly. I am, instead, about to do arather unheard-of-thing. I have summoned the officers whom youmaltreated last night. They shall hear Lieutenant D'Arnot's story, andthen I shall leave it to their discretion to say whether you shall beprosecuted or not. 

"You have much to learn about the ways of civilization. Things thatseem strange or unnecessary to you, you must learn to accept until youare able to judge the motives behind them. The officers whom youattacked were but doing their duty. They had no discretion in thematter. Every day they risk their lives in the protection of the livesor property of others. They would do the same for you. They are verybrave men, and they are deeply mortified that a single unarmed manbested and beat them. 

"Make it easy for them to overlook what you did. Unless I am gravelyin error you are yourself a very brave man, and brave men areproverbially magnanimous. "

Further conversation was interrupted by the appearance of the fourpolicemen. As their eyes fell on Tarzan, surprise was writ large oneach countenance. 

"My children, " said the official, "here is the gentleman whom you metin the Rue Maule last evening. He has come voluntarily to give himselfup. I wish you to listen attentively to Lieutenant D'Arnot, who willtell you a part of the story of monsieur's life. It may explain hisattitude toward you of last night. Proceed, my dear lieutenant. "

D'Arnot spoke to the policemen for half an hour. He told themsomething of Tarzan's wild jungle life. He explained the savagetraining that had taught him to battle like a wild beast inself-preservation. It became plain to them that the man had beenguided by instinct rather than reason in his attack upon them. He hadnot understood their intentions. To him they had been little differentfrom any of the various forms of life he had been accustomed to in hisnative jungle, where practically all were his enemies. 

"Your pride has been wounded, " said D'Arnot, in conclusion. "It is thefact that this man overcame you that hurts the most. But you need feelno shame. You would not make apologies for defeat had you been pennedin that small room with an African lion, or with the great Gorilla ofthe jungles. 

"And yet you were battling with muscles that have time and time againbeen pitted, and always victoriously, against these terrors of the darkcontinent. It is no disgrace to fall beneath the superhuman strengthof Tarzan of the Apes. "

And then, as the men stood looking first at Tarzan and then at theirsuperior the ape-man did the one thing which was needed to erase thelast remnant of animosity which they might have felt for him. Withoutstretched hand he advanced toward them. 

"I am sorry for the mistake I made, " he said simply. "Let us befriends. " And that was the end of the whole matter, except that Tarzanbecame a subject of much conversation in the barracks of the police, and increased the number of his friends by four brave men at least. 

On their return to D'Arnot's apartments the lieutenant found a letterawaiting him from an English friend, William Cecil Clayton, LordGreystoke. The two had maintained a correspondence since the birth oftheir friendship on that ill-fated expedition in search of Jane Porterafter her theft by Terkoz, the bull ape. 

"They are to be married in London in about two months, " said D'Arnot, as he completed his perusal of the letter. Tarzan did not need to betold who was meant by "they. " He made no reply, but he was very quietand thoughtful during the balance of the day. 

That evening they attended the opera. Tarzan's mind was still occupiedby his gloomy thoughts. He paid little or no attention to what wastranspiring upon the stage. Instead he saw only the lovely vision of abeautiful American girl, and heard naught but a sad, sweet voiceacknowledging that his love was returned. And she was to marry another!

He shook himself to be rid of his unwelcome thoughts, and at the sameinstant he felt eyes upon him. With the instinct that was his byvirtue of training he looked up squarely into the eyes that werelooking at him, to find that they were shining from the smiling face ofOlga, Countess de Coude. As Tarzan returned her bow he was positivethat there was an invitation in her look, almost a plea. The nextintermission found him beside her in her box. 

"I have so much wished to see you, " she was saying. "It has troubledme not a little to think that after the service you rendered to both myhusband and myself no adequate explanation was ever made you of whatmust have seemed ingratitude on our part in not taking the necessarysteps to prevent a repetition of the attacks upon us by those two men. "

"You wrong me, " replied Tarzan. "My thoughts of you have been only themost pleasant. You must not feel that any explanation is due me. Havethey annoyed you further?"

"They never cease, " she replied sadly. "I feel that I must tell someone, and I do not know another who so deserves an explanation as you. You must permit me to do so. It may be of service to you, for I knowNikolas Rokoff quite well enough to be positive that you have not seenthe last of him. He will find some means to be revenged upon you. What I wish to tell you may be of aid to you in combating any scheme ofrevenge he may harbor. I cannot tell you here, but tomorrow I shall beat home to Monsieur Tarzan at five. "

"It will be an eternity until tomorrow at five, " he said, as he badeher good night. From a corner of the theater Rokoff and Paulvitch sawMonsieur Tarzan in the box of the Countess de Coude, and both mensmiled. 

At four-thirty the following afternoon a swarthy, bearded man rang thebell at the servants' entrance of the palace of the Count de Coude. The footman who opened the door raised his eyebrows in recognition ashe saw who stood without. A low conversation passed between the two. 

At first the footman demurred from some proposition that the beardedone made, but an instant later something passed from the hand of thecaller to the hand of the servant. Then the latter turned and led thevisitor by a roundabout way to a little curtained alcove off theapartment in which the countess was wont to serve tea of an afternoon. 

A half hour later Tarzan was ushered into the room, and presently hishostess entered, smiling, and with outstretched hands. 

"I am so glad that you came, " she said. 

"Nothing could have prevented, " he replied. 

For a few moments they spoke of the opera, of the topics that were thenoccupying the attention of Paris, of the pleasure of renewing theirbrief acquaintance which had had its inception under such oddcircumstances, and this brought them to the subject that was uppermostin the minds of both. 

"You must have wondered, " said the countess finally, "what the objectof Rokoff's persecution could be. It is very simple. The count isintrusted with many of the vital secrets of the ministry of war. Heoften has in his possession papers that foreign powers would give afortune to possess--secrets of state that their agents would commitmurder and worse than murder to learn. 

"There is such a matter now in his possession that would make the fameand fortune of any Russian who could divulge it to his government. Rokoff and Paulvitch are Russian spies. They will stop at nothing toprocure this information. The affair on the liner--I mean the matterof the card game--was for the purpose of blackmailing the knowledgethey seek from my husband. 

"Had he been convicted of cheating at cards, his career would have beenblighted. He would have had to leave the war department. He wouldhave been socially ostracized. They intended to hold this club overhim--the price of an avowal on their part that the count was but thevictim of the plot of enemies who wished to besmirch his name was tohave been the papers they seek. 

"You thwarted them in this. Then they concocted the scheme whereby myreputation was to be the price, instead of the count's. When Paulvitchentered my cabin he explained it to me. If I would obtain theinformation for them he promised to go no farther, otherwise Rokoff, who stood without, was to notify the purser that I was entertaining aman other than my husband behind the locked doors of my cabin. He wasto tell every one he met on the boat, and when we landed he was to havegiven the whole story to the newspaper men. 

"Was it not too horrible? But I happened to know something of MonsieurPaulvitch that would send him to the gallows in Russia if it were knownby the police of St. Petersburg. I dared him to carry out his plan, and then I leaned toward him and whispered a name in his ear. Likethat"--and she snapped her fingers--"he flew at my throat as a madman. He would have killed me had you not interfered. "

"The brutes!" muttered Tarzan. 

"They are worse than that, my friend, " she said. 

"They are devils. I fear for you because you have gained their hatred. I wish you to be on your guard constantly. Tell me that you will, formy sake, for I should never forgive myself should you suffer throughthe kindness you did me. "

"I do not fear them, " he replied. "I have survived grimmer enemiesthan Rokoff and Paulvitch. " He saw that she knew nothing of theoccurrence in the Rue Maule, nor did he mention it, fearing that itmight distress her. 

"For your own safety, " he continued, "why do you not turn thescoundrels over to the authorities? They should make quick work ofthem. "

She hesitated for a moment before replying. 

"There are two reasons, " she said finally. "One of them it is thatkeeps the count from doing that very thing. The other, my real reasonfor fearing to expose them, I have never told--only Rokoff and I knowit. I wonder, " and then she paused, looking intently at him for a longtime. 

"And what do you wonder?" he asked, smiling. 

"I was wondering why it is that I want to tell you the thing that Ihave not dared tell even to my husband. I believe that you wouldunderstand, and that you could tell me the right course to follow. Ibelieve that you would not judge me too harshly. "

"I fear that I should prove a very poor judge, madame, " Tarzan replied, "for if you had been guilty of murder I should say that the victimshould be grateful to have met so sweet a fate. "

"Oh, dear, no, " she expostulated; "it is not so terrible as that. Butfirst let me tell you the reason the count has for not prosecutingthese men; then, if I can hold my courage, I shall tell you the realreason that I dare not. The first is that Nikolas Rokoff is mybrother. We are Russians. Nikolas has been a bad man since I canremember. He was cashiered from the Russian army, in which he held acaptaincy. There was a scandal for a time, but after a while it waspartially forgotten, and my father obtained a position for him in thesecret service. 

"There have been many terrible crimes laid at Nikolas' door, but he hasalways managed to escape punishment. Of late he has accomplished it bytrumped-up evidence convicting his victims of treason against the czar, and the Russian police, who are always only too ready to fasten guiltof this nature upon any and all, have accepted his version andexonerated him. "

"Have not his attempted crimes against you and your husband forfeitedwhatever rights the bonds of kinship might have accorded him?" askedTarzan. "The fact that you are his sister has not deterred him fromseeking to besmirch your honor. You owe him no loyalty, madame. "

"Ah, but there is that other reason. If I owe him no loyalty though hebe my brother, I cannot so easily disavow the fear I hold him inbecause of a certain episode in my life of which he is cognizant. 

"I might as well tell you all, " she resumed after a pause, "for I seethat it is in my heart to tell you sooner or later. I was educated ina convent. While there I met a man whom I supposed to be a gentleman. I knew little or nothing about men and less about love. I got it intomy foolish head that I loved this man, and at his urgent request I ranaway with him. We were to have been married. 

"I was with him just three hours. All in the daytime and in publicplaces--railroad stations and upon a train. When we reached ourdestination where we were to have been married, two officers stepped upto my escort as we descended from the train, and placed him underarrest. They took me also, but when I had told my story they did notdetain me, other than to send me back to the convent under the care ofa matron. It seemed that the man who had wooed me was no gentleman atall, but a deserter from the army as well as a fugitive from civiljustice. He had a police record in nearly every country in Europe. 

"The matter was hushed up by the authorities of the convent. Not evenmy parents knew of it. But Nikolas met the man afterward, and learnedthe whole story. Now he threatens to tell the count if I do not dojust as he wishes me to. "

Tarzan laughed. "You are still but a little girl. The story that youhave told me cannot reflect in any way upon your reputation, and wereyou not a little girl at heart you would know it. Go to your husbandtonight, and tell him the whole story, just as you have told it to me. Unless I am much mistaken he will laugh at you for your fears, and takeimmediate steps to put that precious brother of yours in prison wherehe belongs. "

"I only wish that I dared, " she said; "but I am afraid. I learnedearly to fear men. First my father, then Nikolas, then the fathers inthe convent. Nearly all my friends fear their husbands--why should Inot fear mine?"

"It does not seem right that women should fear men, " said Tarzan, anexpression of puzzlement on his face. "I am better acquainted with thejungle folk, and there it is more often the other way around, exceptamong the black men, and they to my mind are in most ways lower in thescale than the beasts. No, I cannot understand why civilized womenshould fear men, the beings that are created to protect them. I shouldhate to think that any woman feared me. "

"I do not think that any woman would fear you, my friend, " said Olga deCoude softly. "I have known you but a short while, yet though it mayseem foolish to say it, you are the only man I have ever known whom Ithink that I should never fear--it is strange, too, for you are verystrong. I wondered at the ease with which you handled Nikolas andPaulvitch that night in my cabin. It was marvellous. " As Tarzan wasleaving her a short time later he wondered a little at the clingingpressure of her hand at parting, and the firm insistence with which sheexacted a promise from him that he would call again on the morrow. 

The memory of her half-veiled eyes and perfect lips as she had stoodsmiling up into his face as he bade her good-by remained with him forthe balance of the day. Olga de Coude was a very beautiful woman, andTarzan of the Apes a very lonely young man, with a heart in him thatwas in need of the doctoring that only a woman may provide. 

As the countess turned back into the room after Tarzan's departure, shefound herself face to face with Nikolas Rokoff. 

"How long have you been here?" she cried, shrinking away from him. 

"Since before your lover came, " he answered, with a nasty leer. 

"Stop!" she commanded. "How dare you say such a thing to me--yoursister!"

"Well, my dear Olga, if he is not your lover, accept my apologies; butit is no fault of yours that he is not. Had he one-tenth the knowledgeof women that I have you would be in his arms this minute. He is astupid fool, Olga. Why, your every word and act was an open invitationto him, and he had not the sense to see it. "

The woman put her hands to her ears. 

"I will not listen. You are wicked to say such things as that. Nomatter what you may threaten me with, you know that I am a good woman. After tonight you will not dare to annoy me, for I shall tell Raoulall. He will understand, and then, Monsieur Nikolas, beware!"

"You shall tell him nothing, " said Rokoff. "I have this affair now, and with the help of one of your servants whom I may trust it will lacknothing in the telling when the time comes that the details of thesworn evidence shall be poured into your husband's ears. The otheraffair served its purpose well--we now have something tangible to workon, Olga. A real AFFAIR--and you a trusted wife. Shame, Olga, " andthe brute laughed. 

So the countess told her count nothing, and matters were worse thanthey had been. From a vague fear her mind was transferred to a verytangible one. It may be, too, that conscience helped to enlarge it outof all proportion. 

Chapter 5

The Plot That Failed

For a month Tarzan was a regular and very welcome devotee at the shrineof the beautiful Countess de Coude. Often he met other members of theselect little coterie that dropped in for tea of an afternoon. Moreoften Olga found devices that would give her an hour of Tarzan alone. 

For a time she had been frightened by what Nikolas had insinuated. Shehad not thought of this big, young man as anything more than friend, but with the suggestion implanted by the evil words of her brother shehad grown to speculate much upon the strange force which seemed toattract her toward the gray-eyed stranger. She did not wish to lovehim, nor did she wish his love. 

She was much younger than her husband, and without having realized itshe had been craving the haven of a friendship with one nearer her ownage. Twenty is shy in exchanging confidences with forty. Tarzan wasbut two years her senior. He could understand her, she felt. Then hewas clean and honorable and chivalrous. She was not afraid of him. That she could trust him she had felt instinctively from the first. 

From a distance Rokoff had watched this growing intimacy with maliciousglee. Ever since he had learned that Tarzan knew that he was a Russianspy there had been added to his hatred for the ape-man a great fearthat he would expose him. He was but waiting now until the moment waspropitious for a master stroke. He wanted to rid himself forever ofTarzan, and at the same time reap an ample revenge for the humiliationsand defeats that he had suffered at his hands. 

Tarzan was nearer to contentment than he had been since the peace andtranquility of his jungle had been broken in upon by the advent of themarooned Porter party. He enjoyed the pleasant social intercourse withOlga's friends, while the friendship which had sprung up between thefair countess and himself was a source of never-ending delight. Itbroke in upon and dispersed his gloomy thoughts, and served as a balmto his lacerated heart. 

Sometimes D'Arnot accompanied him on his visits to the De Coude home, for he had long known both Olga and the count. Occasionally De Coudedropped in, but the multitudinous affairs of his official position andthe never-ending demands of politics kept him from home usually untillate at night. 

Rokoff spied upon Tarzan almost constantly, waiting for the time thathe should call at the De Coude palace at night, but in this he wasdoomed to disappointment. On several occasions Tarzan accompanied thecountess to her home after the opera, but he invariably left her at theentrance--much to the disgust of the lady's devoted brother. 

Finding that it seemed impossible to trap Tarzan through any voluntaryact of his own, Rokoff and Paulvitch put their heads together to hatcha plan that would trap the ape-man in all the circumstantial evidenceof a compromising position. 

For days they watched the papers as well as the movements of De Coudeand Tarzan. At length they were rewarded. A morning paper made briefmention of a smoker that was to be given on the following evening bythe German minister. De Coude's name was among those of the invitedguests. If he attended this meant that he would be absent from hishome until after midnight. 

On the night of the banquet Paulvitch waited at the curb before theresidence of the German minister, where he could scan the face of eachguest that arrived. He had not long to wait before De Coude descendedfrom his car and passed him. That was enough. Paulvitch hastened backto his quarters, where Rokoff awaited him. There they waited untilafter eleven, then Paulvitch took down the receiver of their telephone. He called a number. 

"The apartments of Lieutenant D'Arnot?" he asked, when he had obtainedhis connection. 

"A message for Monsieur Tarzan, if he will be so kind as to step to thetelephone. "

For a minute there was silence. 

"Monsieur Tarzan?"

"Ah, yes, monsieur, this is Francois--in the service of the Countess deCoude. Possibly monsieur does poor Francois the honor to recallhim--yes?

"Yes, monsieur. I have a message, an urgent message from the countess. She asks that you hasten to her at once--she is in trouble, monsieur. 

"No, monsieur, poor Francois does not know. Shall I tell madame thatmonsieur will be here shortly?

"Thank you, monsieur. The good God will bless you. "

Paulvitch hung up the receiver and turned to grin at Rokoff. 

"It will take him thirty minutes to get there. If you reach the Germanminister's in fifteen, De Coude should arrive at his home in aboutforty-five minutes. It all depends upon whether the fool will remainfifteen minutes after he finds that a trick has been played upon him;but unless I am mistaken Olga will be loath to let him go in so short atime as that. Here is the note for De Coude. Hasten!"

Paulvitch lost no time in reaching the German minister's. At the doorhe handed the note to a footman. "This is for the Count de Coude. Itis very urgent. You must see that it is placed in his hands at once, "and he dropped a piece of silver into the willing hand of the servant. Then he returned to his quarters. 

A moment later De Coude was apologizing to his host as he tore open theenvelope. What he read left his face white and his hand trembling. 

MONSIEUR LE COUNT DE COUDE:

One who wishes to save the honor of your name takes this means to warnyou that the sanctity of your home is this minute in jeopardy. 

A certain man who for months has been a constant visitor there duringyour absence is now with your wife. If you go at once to yourcountess' boudoir you will find them together. 

 A FRIEND. 

Twenty minutes after Paulvitch had called Tarzan, Rokoff obtained aconnection with Olga's private line. Her maid answered the telephonewhich was in the countess' boudoir. 

"But madame has retired, " said the maid, in answer to Rokoff's requestto speak with her. 

"This is a very urgent message for the countess' ears alone, " repliedRokoff. "Tell her that she must arise and slip something about her andcome to the telephone. I shall call up again in five minutes. " Thenhe hung up his receiver. A moment later Paulvitch entered. 

"The count has the message?" asked Rokoff. 

"He should be on his way to his home by now, " replied Paulvitch. 

"Good! My lady will be sitting in her boudoir, very much in negligee, about now. In a minute the faithful Jacques will escort MonsieurTarzan into her presence without announcing him. It will take a fewminutes for explanations. Olga will look very alluring in the filmycreation that is her night-dress, and the clinging robe which but halfconceals the charms that the former does not conceal at all. Olga willbe surprised, but not displeased. 

"If there is a drop of red blood in the man the count will break inupon a very pretty love scene in about fifteen minutes from now. Ithink we have planned marvelously, my dear Alexis. Let us go out anddrink to the very good health of Monsieur Tarzan in some of oldPlancon's unparalleled absinth; not forgetting that the Count de Coudeis one of the best swordsmen in Paris, and by far the best shot in allFrance. "

When Tarzan reached Olga's, Jacques was awaiting him at the entrance. 

"This way, Monsieur, " he said, and led the way up the broad, marblestaircase. In another moment he had opened a door, and, drawing asidea heavy curtain, obsequiously bowed Tarzan into a dimly lightedapartment. Then Jacques vanished. 

Across the room from him Tarzan saw Olga seated before a little desk onwhich stood her telephone. She was tapping impatiently upon thepolished surface of the desk. She had not heard him enter. 

"Olga, " he said, "what is wrong?"

She turned toward him with a little cry of alarm. 

"Jean!" she cried. "What are you doing here? Who admitted you? Whatdoes it mean?"

Tarzan was thunderstruck, but in an instant he realized a part of thetruth. 

"Then you did not send for me, Olga?"

"Send for you at this time of night? MON DIEU! Jean, do you thinkthat I am quite mad?"

"Francois telephoned me to come at once; that you were in trouble andwanted me. "

"Francois? Who in the world is Francois?"

"He said that he was in your service. He spoke as though I shouldrecall the fact. "

"There is no one by that name in my employ. Some one has played a jokeupon you, Jean, " and Olga laughed. 

"I fear that it may be a most sinister 'joke, ' Olga, " he replied. "There is more back of it than humor. "

"What do you mean? You do not think that--"

"Where is the count?" he interrupted. 

"At the German ambassador's. "

"This is another move by your estimable brother. Tomorrow the countwill hear of it. He will question the servants. Everything will pointto--to what Rokoff wishes the count to think. "

"The scoundrel!" cried Olga. She had arisen, and come close to Tarzan, where she stood looking up into his face. She was very frightened. Inher eyes was an expression that the hunter sees in those of a poor, terrified doe--puzzled--questioning. She trembled, and to steadyherself raised her hands to his broad shoulders. "What shall we do, Jean?" she whispered. "It is terrible. Tomorrow all Paris will readof it--he will see to that. "

Her look, her attitude, her words were eloquent of the age-old appealof defenseless woman to her natural protector--man. Tarzan took one ofthe warm little hands that lay on his breast in his own strong one. The act was quite involuntary, and almost equally so was the instinctof protection that threw a sheltering arm around the girl's shoulders. 

The result was electrical. Never before had he been so close to her. In startled guilt they looked suddenly into each other's eyes, andwhere Olga de Coude should have been strong she was weak, for she creptcloser into the man's arms, and clasped her own about his neck. AndTarzan of the Apes? He took the panting figure into his mighty arms, and covered the hot lips with kisses. 

Raoul de Coude made hurried excuses to his host after he had read thenote handed him by the ambassador's butler. Never afterward could herecall the nature of the excuses he made. Everything was quite a blurto him up to the time that he stood on the threshold of his own home. Then he became very cool, moving quietly and with caution. For someinexplicable reason Jacques had the door open before he was halfway tothe steps. It did not strike him at the time as being unusual, thoughafterward he remarked it. 

Very softly he tiptoed up the stairs and along the gallery to the doorof his wife's boudoir. In his hand was a heavy walking stick--in hisheart, murder. 

Olga was the first to see him. With a horrified shriek she toreherself from Tarzan's arms, and the ape-man turned just in time to wardwith his arm a terrific blow that De Coude had aimed at his head. Once, twice, three times the heavy stick fell with lightning rapidity, and each blow aided in the transition of the ape-man back to theprimordial. 

With the low, guttural snarl of the bull ape he sprang for theFrenchman. The great stick was torn from his grasp and broken in twoas though it had been matchwood, to be flung aside as the nowinfuriated beast charged for his adversary's throat. Olga de Coudestood a horrified spectator of the terrible scene which ensued duringthe next brief moment, then she sprang to where Tarzan was murderingher husband--choking the life from him--shaking him as a terrier mightshake a rat. 

Frantically she tore at his great hands. "Mother of God!" she cried. "You are killing him, you are killing him! Oh, Jean, you are killingmy husband!"

Tarzan was deaf with rage. Suddenly he hurled the body to the floor, and, placing his foot upon the upturned breast, raised his head. Thenthrough the palace of the Count de Coude rang the awesome challenge ofthe bull ape that has made a kill. From cellar to attic the horridsound searched out the servants, and left them blanched and trembling. The woman in the room sank to her knees beside the body of her husband, and prayed. 

Slowly the red mist faded from before Tarzan's eyes. Things began totake form--he was regaining the perspective of civilized man. His eyesfell upon the figure of the kneeling woman. "Olga, " he whispered. Shelooked up, expecting to see the maniacal light of murder in the eyesabove her. Instead she saw sorrow and contrition. 

"Oh, Jean!" she cried. "See what you have done. He was my husband. Iloved him, and you have killed him. "

Very gently Tarzan raised the limp form of the Count de Coude and boreit to a couch. Then he put his ear to the man's breast. 

"Some brandy, Olga, " he said. 

She brought it, and together they forced it between his lips. Presently a faint gasp came from the white lips. The head turned, andDe Coude groaned. 

"He will not die, " said Tarzan. "Thank God!"

"Why did you do it, Jean?" she asked. 

"I do not know. He struck me, and I went mad. I have seen the apes ofmy tribe do the same thing. I have never told you my story, Olga. Itwould have been better had you known it--this might not have happened. I never saw my father. The only mother I knew was a ferocious she-ape. Until I was fifteen I had never seen a human being. I was twentybefore I saw a white man. A little more than a year ago I was a nakedbeast of prey in an African jungle. 

"Do not judge me too harshly. Two years is too short a time in whichto attempt to work the change in an individual that it has takencountless ages to accomplish in the white race. "

"I do not judge at all, Jean. The fault is mine. You must go now--hemust not find you here when he regains consciousness. Good-by. "

It was a sorrowful Tarzan who walked with bowed head from the palace ofthe Count de Coude. 

Once outside his thoughts took definite shape, to the end that twentyminutes later he entered a police station not far from the Rue Maule. Here he soon found one of the officers with whom he had had theencounter several weeks previous. The policeman was genuinely glad tosee again the man who had so roughly handled him. After a moment ofconversation Tarzan asked if he had ever heard of Nikolas Rokoff orAlexis Paulvitch. 

"Very often, indeed, monsieur. Each has a police record, and whilethere is nothing charged against them now, we make it a point to knowpretty well where they may be found should the occasion demand. It isonly the same precaution that we take with every known criminal. Whydoes monsieur ask?"

"They are known to me, " replied Tarzan. "I wish to see Monsieur Rokoffon a little matter of business. If you can direct me to his lodgings Ishall appreciate it. "

A few minutes later he bade the policeman adieu, and, with a slip ofpaper in his pocket bearing a certain address in a semirespectablequarter, he walked briskly toward the nearest taxi stand. 

Rokoff and Paulvitch had returned to their rooms, and were sittingtalking over the probable outcome of the evening's events. They hadtelephoned to the offices of two of the morning papers from which theymomentarily expected representatives to hear the first report of thescandal that was to stir social Paris on the morrow. 

A heavy step sounded on the stairway. "Ah, but these newspaper men areprompt, " exclaimed Rokoff, and as a knock fell upon the door of theirroom: "Enter, monsieur. "

The smile of welcome froze upon the Russian's face as he looked intothe hard, gray eyes of his visitor. 

"Name of a name!" he shouted, springing to his feet, "What brings youhere!"

"Sit down!" said Tarzan, so low that the men could barely catch thewords, but in a tone that brought Rokoff to his chair, and keptPaulvitch in his. 

"You know what has brought me here, " he continued, in the same lowtone. "It should be to kill you, but because you are Olga de Coude'sbrother I shall not do that--now. 

"I shall give you a chance for your lives. Paulvitch does not countmuch--he is merely a stupid, foolish little tool, and so I shall notkill him so long as I permit you to live. Before I leave you two alivein this room you will have done two things. The first will be to writea full confession of your connection with tonight's plot--and sign it. 

"The second will be to promise me upon pain of death that you willpermit no word of this affair to get into the newspapers. If you donot do both, neither of you will be alive when I pass next through thatdoorway. Do you understand?" And, without waiting for a reply: "Makehaste; there is ink before you, and paper and a pen. "

Rokoff assumed a truculent air, attempting by bravado to show howlittle he feared Tarzan's threats. An instant later he felt theape-man's steel fingers at his throat, and Paulvitch, who attempted tododge them and reach the door, was lifted completely off the floor, andhurled senseless into a corner. When Rokoff commenced to blacken aboutthe face Tarzan released his hold and shoved the fellow back into hischair. After a moment of coughing Rokoff sat sullenly glaring at theman standing opposite him. Presently Paulvitch came to himself, andlimped painfully back to his chair at Tarzan's command. 

"Now write, " said the ape-man. "If it is necessary to handle you againI shall not be so lenient. "

Rokoff picked up a pen and commenced to write. 

"See that you omit no detail, and that you mention every name, "cautioned Tarzan. 

Presently there was a knock at the door. "Enter, " said Tarzan. 

A dapper young man came in. "I am from the MATIN, " he announced. "Iunderstand that Monsieur Rokoff has a story for me. "

"Then you are mistaken, monsieur, " replied Tarzan. "You have no storyfor publication, have you, my dear Nikolas. "

Rokoff looked up from his writing with an ugly scowl upon his face. 

"No, " he growled, "I have no story for publication--now. "

"Nor ever, my dear Nikolas, " and the reporter did not see the nastylight in the ape-man's eye; but Nikolas Rokoff did. 

"Nor ever, " he repeated hastily. 

"It is too bad that monsieur has been troubled, " said Tarzan, turningto the newspaper man. "I bid monsieur good evening, " and he bowed thedapper young man out of the room, and closed the door in his face. 

An hour later Tarzan, with a rather bulky manuscript in his coatpocket, turned at the door leading from Rokoff's room. 

"Were I you I should leave France, " he said, "for sooner or later Ishall find an excuse to kill you that will not in any way compromiseyour sister. "

Chapter 6

A Duel

D'Arnot was asleep when Tarzan entered their apartments after leavingRokoff's. Tarzan did not disturb him, but the following morning henarrated the happenings of the previous evening, omitting not a singledetail. 

"What a fool I have been, " he concluded. "De Coude and his wife wereboth my friends. How have I returned their friendship? Barely did Iescape murdering the count. I have cast a stigma on the name of a goodwoman. It is very probable that I have broken up a happy home. "

"Do you love Olga de Coude?" asked D'Arnot. 

"Were I not positive that she does not love me I could not answer yourquestion, Paul; but without disloyalty to her I tell you that I do notlove her, nor does she love me. For an instant we were the victims ofa sudden madness--it was not love--and it would have left us, unharmed, as suddenly as it had come upon us even though De Coude had notreturned. As you know, I have had little experience of women. Olga deCoude is very beautiful; that, and the dim light and the seductivesurroundings, and the appeal of the defenseless for protection, mighthave been resisted by a more civilized man, but my civilization is noteven skin deep--it does not go deeper than my clothes. 

"Paris is no place for me. I will but continue to stumble into moreand more serious pitfalls. The man-made restrictions are irksome. Ifeel always that I am a prisoner. I cannot endure it, my friend, andso I think that I shall go back to my own jungle, and lead the lifethat God intended that I should lead when He put me there. "

"Do not take it so to heart, Jean, " responded D'Arnot. "You haveacquitted yourself much better than most 'civilized' men would haveunder similar circumstances. As to leaving Paris at this time, Irather think that Raoul de Coude may be expected to have something tosay on that subject before long. "

Nor was D'Arnot mistaken. A week later on Monsieur Flaubert wasannounced about eleven in the morning, as D'Arnot and Tarzan werebreakfasting. Monsieur Flaubert was an impressively polite gentleman. With many low bows he delivered Monsieur le Count de Coude's challengeto Monsieur Tarzan. Would monsieur be so very kind as to arrange tohave a friend meet Monsieur Flaubert at as early an hour as convenient, that the details might be arranged to the mutual satisfaction of allconcerned?

Certainly. Monsieur Tarzan would be delighted to place his interestsunreservedly in the hands of his friend, Lieutenant D'Arnot. And so itwas arranged that D'Arnot was to call on Monsieur Flaubert at two thatafternoon, and the polite Monsieur Flaubert, with many bows, left them. 

When they were again alone D'Arnot looked quizzically at Tarzan. 

"Well?" he said. 

"Now to my sins I must add murder, or else myself be killed, " saidTarzan. "I am progressing rapidly in the ways of my civilizedbrothers. "

"What weapons shall you select?" asked D'Arnot. "De Coude isaccredited with being a master with the sword, and a splendid shot. "

"I might then choose poisoned arrows at twenty paces, or spears at thesame distance, " laughed Tarzan. "Make it pistols, Paul. "

"He will kill you, Jean. "

"I have no doubt of it, " replied Tarzan. "I must die some day. "

"We had better make it swords, " said D'Arnot. "He will be satisfiedwith wounding you, and there is less danger of a mortal wound. ""Pistols, " said Tarzan, with finality. 

D'Arnot tried to argue him out of it, but without avail, so pistols itwas. 

D'Arnot returned from his conference with Monsieur Flaubert shortlyafter four. 

"It is all arranged, " he said. "Everything is satisfactory. Tomorrowmorning at daylight--there is a secluded spot on the road not far fromEtamps. For some personal reason Monsieur Flaubert preferred it. Idid not demur. "

"Good!" was Tarzan's only comment. He did not refer to the matteragain even indirectly. That night he wrote several letters before heretired. After sealing and addressing them he placed them all in anenvelope addressed to D'Arnot. As he undressed D'Arnot heard himhumming a music-hall ditty. 

The Frenchman swore under his breath. He was very unhappy, for he waspositive that when the sun rose the next morning it would look downupon a dead Tarzan. It grated upon him to see Tarzan so unconcerned. 

"This is a most uncivilized hour for people to kill each other, "remarked the ape-man when he had been routed out of a comfortable bedin the blackness of the early morning hours. He had slept well, and soit seemed that his head scarcely touched the pillow ere his mandeferentially aroused him. His remark was addressed to D'Arnot, whostood fully dressed in the doorway of Tarzan's bedroom. 

D'Arnot had scarcely slept at all during the night. He was nervous, and therefore inclined to be irritable. 

"I presume you slept like a baby all night, " he said. 

Tarzan laughed. "From your tone, Paul, I infer that you rather harborthe fact against me. I could not help it, really. "

"No, Jean; it is not that, " replied D'Arnot, himself smiling. "But youtake the entire matter with such infernal indifference--it isexasperating. One would think that you were going out to shoot at atarget, rather than to face one of the best shots in France. "

Tarzan shrugged his shoulders. "I am going out to expiate a greatwrong, Paul. A very necessary feature of the expiation is themarksmanship of my opponent. Wherefore, then, should I bedissatisfied? Have you not yourself told me that Count de Coude is asplendid marksman?"

"You mean that you hope to be killed?" exclaimed D'Arnot, in horror. 

"I cannot say that I hope to be; but you must admit that there islittle reason to believe that I shall not be killed. "

Had D'Arnot known the thing that was in the ape-man's mind--that hadbeen in his mind almost from the first intimation that De Coude wouldcall him to account on the field of honor--he would have been even morehorrified than he was. 

In silence they entered D'Arnot's great car, and in similar silencethey sped over the dim road that leads to Etamps. Each man wasoccupied with his own thoughts. D'Arnot's were very mournful, for hewas genuinely fond of Tarzan. The great friendship which had sprung upbetween these two men whose lives and training had been so widelydifferent had but been strengthened by association, for they were bothmen to whom the same high ideals of manhood, of personal courage, andof honor appealed with equal force. They could understand one another, and each could be proud of the friendship of the other. 

Tarzan of the Apes was wrapped in thoughts of the past; pleasantmemories of the happier occasions of his lost jungle life. He recalledthe countless boyhood hours that he had spent cross-legged upon thetable in his dead father's cabin, his little brown body bent over oneof the fascinating picture books from which, unaided, he had gleanedthe secret of the printed language long before the sounds of humanspeech fell upon his ears. A smile of contentment softened his strongface as he thought of that day of days that he had had alone with JanePorter in the heart of his primeval forest. 

Presently his reminiscences were broken in upon by the stopping of thecar--they were at their destination. Tarzan's mind returned to theaffairs of the moment. He knew that he was about to die, but there wasno fear of death in him. To a denizen of the cruel jungle death is acommonplace. The first law of nature compels them to cling tenaciouslyto life--to fight for it; but it does not teach them to fear death. 

D'Arnot and Tarzan were first upon the field of honor. A moment laterDe Coude, Monsieur Flaubert, and a third gentleman arrived. The lastwas introduced to D'Arnot and Tarzan; he was a physician. 

D'Arnot and Monsieur Flaubert spoke together in whispers for a brieftime. The Count de Coude and Tarzan stood apart at opposite sides ofthe field. Presently the seconds summoned them. D'Arnot and MonsieurFlaubert had examined both pistols. The two men who were to face eachother a moment later stood silently while Monsieur Flaubert recited theconditions they were to observe. 

They were to stand back to back. At a signal from Monsieur Flaubertthey were to walk in opposite directions, their pistols hanging bytheir sides. When each had proceeded ten paces D'Arnot was to give thefinal signal--then they were to turn and fire at will until one fell, or each had expended the three shots allowed. 

While Monsieur Flaubert spoke Tarzan selected a cigarette from hiscase, and lighted it. De Coude was the personification ofcoolness--was he not the best shot in France?

Presently Monsieur Flaubert nodded to D'Arnot, and each man placed hisprincipal in position. 

"Are you quite ready, gentlemen?" asked Monsieur Flaubert. 

"Quite, " replied De Coude. 

Tarzan nodded. Monsieur Flaubert gave the signal. He and D'Arnotstepped back a few paces to be out of the line of fire as the men pacedslowly apart. Six! Seven! Eight! There were tears in D'Arnot'seyes. He loved Tarzan very much. Nine! Another pace, and the poorlieutenant gave the signal he so hated to give. To him it sounded thedoom of his best friend. 

Quickly De Coude wheeled and fired. Tarzan gave a little start. Hispistol still dangled at his side. De Coude hesitated, as thoughwaiting to see his antagonist crumple to the ground. The Frenchman wastoo experienced a marksman not to know that he had scored a hit. StillTarzan made no move to raise his pistol. De Coude fired once more, butthe attitude of the ape-man--the utter indifference that was soapparent in every line of the nonchalant ease of his giant figure, andthe even unruffled puffing of his cigarette--had disconcerted the bestmarksman in France. This time Tarzan did not start, but again De Coudeknew that he had hit. 

Suddenly the explanation leaped to his mind--his antagonist was coollytaking these terrible chances in the hope that he would receive nostaggering wound from any of De Coude's three shots. Then he wouldtake his own time about shooting De Coude down deliberately, coolly, and in cold blood. A little shiver ran up the Frenchman's spine. Itwas fiendish--diabolical. What manner of creature was this that couldstand complacently with two bullets in him, waiting for the third?

And so De Coude took careful aim this time, but his nerve was gone, andhe made a clean miss. Not once had Tarzan raised his pistol hand fromwhere it hung beside his leg. 

For a moment the two stood looking straight into each other's eyes. OnTarzan's face was a pathetic expression of disappointment. On DeCoude's a rapidly growing expression of horror--yes, of terror. 

He could endure it no longer. 

"Mother of God! Monsieur--shoot!" he screamed. 

But Tarzan did not raise his pistol. Instead, he advanced toward DeCoude, and when D'Arnot and Monsieur Flaubert, misinterpreting hisintention, would have rushed between them, he raised his left hand in asign of remonstrance. 

"Do not fear, " he said to them, "I shall not harm him. "

It was most unusual, but they halted. Tarzan advanced until he wasquite close to De Coude. 

"There must have been something wrong with monsieur's pistol, " he said. "Or monsieur is unstrung. Take mine, monsieur, and try again, " andTarzan offered his pistol, butt foremost, to the astonished De Coude. 

"MON DIEU, monsieur!" cried the latter. "Are you mad?"

"No, my friend, " replied the ape-man; "but I deserve to die. It is theonly way in which I may atone for the wrong I have done a very goodwoman. Take my pistol and do as I bid. "

"It would be murder, " replied De Coude. "But what wrong did you do mywife? She swore to me that--"

"I do not mean that, " said Tarzan quickly. "You saw all the wrong thatpassed between us. But that was enough to cast a shadow upon her name, and to ruin the happiness of a man against whom I had no enmity. Thefault was all mine, and so I hoped to die for it this morning. I amdisappointed that monsieur is not so wonderful a marksman as I had beenled to believe. "

"You say that the fault was all yours?" asked De Coude eagerly. 

"All mine, monsieur. Your wife is a very pure woman. She loves onlyyou. The fault that you saw was all mine. The thing that brought methere was no fault of either the Countess de Coude or myself. Here isa paper which will quite positively demonstrate that, " and Tarzan drewfrom his pocket the statement Rokoff had written and signed. 

De Coude took it and read. D'Arnot and Monsieur Flaubert had drawnnear. They were interested spectators of this strange ending of astrange duel. None spoke until De Coude had quite finished, then helooked up at Tarzan. 

"You are a very brave and chivalrous gentleman, " he said. "I thank Godthat I did not kill you. "

De Coude was a Frenchman. Frenchmen are impulsive. He threw his armsabout Tarzan and embraced him. Monsieur Flaubert embraced D'Arnot. There was no one to embrace the doctor. So possibly it was pique whichprompted him to interfere, and demand that he be permitted to dressTarzan's wounds. 

"This gentleman was hit once at least, " he said. "Possibly thrice. "

"Twice, " said Tarzan. "Once in the left shoulder, and again in theleft side--both flesh wounds, I think. " But the doctor insisted uponstretching him upon the sward, and tinkering with him until the woundswere cleansed and the flow of blood checked. 

One result of the duel was that they all rode back to Paris together inD'Arnot's car, the best of friends. De Coude was so relieved to havehad this double assurance of his wife's loyalty that he felt no rancorat all toward Tarzan. It is true that the latter had assumed much moreof the fault than was rightly his, but if he lied a little he may beexcused, for he lied in the service of a woman, and he lied like agentleman. 

The ape-man was confined to his bed for several days. He felt that itwas foolish and unnecessary, but the doctor and D'Arnot took the matterso to heart that he gave in to please them, though it made him laugh tothink of it. 

"It is droll, " he said to D'Arnot. "To lie abed because of a pinprick! Why, when Bolgani, the king gorilla, tore me almost to pieces, while I was still but a little boy, did I have a nice soft bed to lieon? No, only the damp, rotting vegetation of the jungle. Hiddenbeneath some friendly bush I lay for days and weeks with only Kala tonurse me--poor, faithful Kala, who kept the insects from my wounds andwarned off the beasts of prey. 

"When I called for water she brought it to me in her own mouth--theonly way she knew to carry it. There was no sterilized gauze, therewas no antiseptic bandage--there was nothing that would not have drivenour dear doctor mad to have seen. Yet I recovered--recovered to lie inbed because of a tiny scratch that one of the jungle folk would scarcerealize unless it were upon the end of his nose. "

But the time was soon over, and before he realized it Tarzan foundhimself abroad again. Several times De Coude had called, and when hefound that Tarzan was anxious for employment of some nature he promisedto see what could be done to find a berth for him. 

It was the first day that Tarzan was permitted to go out that hereceived a message from De Coude requesting him to call at the count'soffice that afternoon. 

He found De Coude awaiting him with a very pleasant welcome, and asincere congratulation that he was once more upon his feet. Neitherhad ever mentioned the duel or the cause of it since that morning uponthe field of honor. 

"I think that I have found just the thing for you, Monsieur Tarzan, "said the count. "It is a position of much trust and responsibility, which also requires considerably physical courage and prowess. Icannot imagine a man better fitted than you, my dear Monsieur Tarzan, for this very position. It will necessitate travel, and later it maylead to a very much better post--possibly in the diplomatic service. 

"At first, for a short time only, you will be a special agent in theservice of the ministry of war. Come, I will take you to the gentlemanwho will be your chief. He can explain the duties better than I, andthen you will be in a position to judge if you wish to accept or no. "

De Coude himself escorted Tarzan to the office of General Rochere, thechief of the bureau to which Tarzan would be attached if he acceptedthe position. There the count left him, after a glowing description tothe general of the many attributes possessed by the ape-man whichshould fit him for the work of the service. 

A half hour later Tarzan walked out of the office the possessor of thefirst position he had ever held. On the morrow he was to return forfurther instructions, though General Rochere had made it quite plainthat Tarzan might prepare to leave Paris for an almost indefiniteperiod, possibly on the morrow. 

It was with feelings of the keenest elation that he hastened home tobear the good news to D'Arnot. At last he was to be of some value inthe world. He was to earn money, and, best of all, to travel and seethe world. 

He could scarcely wait to get well inside D'Arnot's sitting room beforehe burst out with the glad tidings. D'Arnot was not so pleased. 

"It seems to delight you to think that you are to leave Paris, and thatwe shall not see each other for months, perhaps. Tarzan, you are amost ungrateful beast!" and D'Arnot laughed. 

"No, Paul; I am a little child. I have a new toy, and I am tickled todeath. "

And so it came that on the following day Tarzan left Paris en route forMarseilles and Oran. 

Chapter 7

The Dancing Girl of Sidi Aissa

Tarzan's first mission did not bid fair to be either exciting or vastlyimportant. There was a certain lieutenant of SPAHIS whom thegovernment had reason to suspect of improper relations with a greatEuropean power. This Lieutenant Gernois, who was at present stationedat Sidibel-Abbes, had recently been attached to the general staff, where certain information of great military value had come into hispossession in the ordinary routine of his duties. It was thisinformation which the government suspected the great power wasbartering for with the officer. 

It was at most but a vague hint dropped by a certain notoriousParisienne in a jealous mood that had caused suspicion to rest upon thelieutenant. But general staffs are jealous of their secrets, andtreason so serious a thing that even a hint of it may not be safelyneglected. And so it was that Tarzan had come to Algeria in the guiseof an American hunter and traveler to keep a close eye upon LieutenantGernois. 

He had looked forward with keen delight to again seeing his belovedAfrica, but this northern aspect of it was so different from histropical jungle home that he might as well have been back in Paris forall the heart thrills of homecoming that he experienced. At Oran hespent a day wandering through the narrow, crooked alleys of the Arabquarter enjoying the strange, new sights. The next day found him atSidi-bel-Abbes, where he presented his letters of introduction to bothcivil and military authorities--letters which gave no clew to the realsignificance of his mission. 

Tarzan possessed a sufficient command of English to enable him to passamong Arabs and Frenchmen as an American, and that was all that wasrequired of it. When he met an Englishman he spoke French in orderthat he might not betray himself, but occasionally talked in English toforeigners who understood that tongue, but could not note the slightimperfections of accent and pronunciation that were his. 

Here he became acquainted with many of the French officers, and soonbecame a favorite among them. He met Gernois, whom he found to be ataciturn, dyspeptic-looking man of about forty, having little or nosocial intercourse with his fellows. 

For a month nothing of moment occurred. Gernois apparently had novisitors, nor did he on his occasional visits to the town holdcommunication with any who might even by the wildest flight ofimagination be construed into secret agents of a foreign power. Tarzanwas beginning to hope that, after all, the rumor might have been false, when suddenly Gernois was ordered to Bou Saada in the Petit Sahara farto the south. 

A company of SPAHIS and three officers were to relieve another companyalready stationed there. Fortunately one of the officers, CaptainGerard, had become an excellent friend of Tarzan's, and so when theape-man suggested that he should embrace the opportunity ofaccompanying him to Bou Saada, where he expected to find hunting, itcaused not the slightest suspicion. 

At Bouira the detachment detrained, and the balance of the journey wasmade in the saddle. As Tarzan was dickering at Bouira for a mount hecaught a brief glimpse of a man in European clothes eying him from thedoorway of a native coffeehouse, but as Tarzan looked the man turnedand entered the little, low-ceilinged mud hut, and but for a hauntingimpression that there had been something familiar about the face orfigure of the fellow, Tarzan gave the matter no further thought. 

The march to Aumale was fatiguing to Tarzan, whose equestrianexperiences hitherto had been confined to a course of riding lessons ina Parisian academy, and so it was that he quickly sought the comfortsof a bed in the Hotel Grossat, while the officers and troops took uptheir quarters at the military post. 

Although Tarzan was called early the following morning, the company ofSPAHIS was on the march before he had finished his breakfast. He washurrying through his meal that the soldiers might not get too far inadvance of him when he glanced through the door connecting the diningroom with the bar. 

To his surprise, he saw Gernois standing there in conversation with thevery stranger he had seen in the coffee-house at Bouira the dayprevious. He could not be mistaken, for there was the same strangelyfamiliar attitude and figure, though the man's back was toward him. 

As his eyes lingered on the two, Gernois looked up and caught theintent expression on Tarzan's face. The stranger was talking in a lowwhisper at the time, but the French officer immediately interruptedhim, and the two at once turned away and passed out of the range ofTarzan's vision. 

This was the first suspicious occurrence that Tarzan had ever witnessedin connection with Gernois' actions, but he was positive that the menhad left the barroom solely because Gernois had caught Tarzan's eyesupon them; then there was the persistent impression of familiarityabout the stranger to further augment the ape-man's belief that here atlength was something which would bear watching. 

A moment later Tarzan entered the barroom, but the men had left, nordid he see aught of them in the street beyond, though he found apretext to ride to various shops before he set out after the columnwhich had now considerable start of him. He did not overtake themuntil he reached Sidi Aissa shortly after noon, where the soldiers hadhalted for an hour's rest. Here he found Gernois with the column, butthere was no sign of the stranger. 

It was market day at Sidi Aissa, and the numberless caravans of camelscoming in from the desert, and the crowds of bickering Arabs in themarket place, filled Tarzan with a consuming desire to remain for a daythat he might see more of these sons of the desert. Thus it was thatthe company of SPAHIS marched on that afternoon toward Bou Saadawithout him. He spent the hours until dark wandering about the marketin company with a youthful Arab, one Abdul, who had been recommended tohim by the innkeeper as a trustworthy servant and interpreter. 

Here Tarzan purchased a better mount than the one he had selected atBouira, and, entering into conversation with the stately Arab to whomthe animal had belonged, learned that the seller was Kadour ben Saden, sheik of a desert tribe far south of Djelfa. Through Abdul, Tarzaninvited his new acquaintance to dine with him. As the three weremaking their way through the crowds of marketers, camels, donkeys, andhorses that filled the market place with a confusing babel of sounds, Abdul plucked at Tarzan's sleeve. 

"Look, master, behind us, " and he turned, pointing at a figure whichdisappeared behind a camel as Tarzan turned. "He has been following usabout all afternoon, " continued Abdul. 

"I caught only a glimpse of an Arab in a dark-blue burnoose and whiteturban, " replied Tarzan. "Is it he you mean?"

"Yes. I suspected him because he seems a stranger here, without otherbusiness than following us, which is not the way of the Arab who ishonest, and also because he keeps the lower part of his face hidden, only his eyes showing. He must be a bad man, or he would have honestbusiness of his own to occupy his time. "

"He is on the wrong scent then, Abdul, " replied Tarzan, "for no onehere can have any grievance against me. This is my first visit to yourcountry, and none knows me. He will soon discover his error, and ceaseto follow us. "

"Unless he be bent on robbery, " returned Abdul. 

"Then all we can do is wait until he is ready to try his hand upon us, "laughed Tarzan, "and I warrant that he will get his bellyful of robbingnow that we are prepared for him, " and so he dismissed the subject fromhis mind, though he was destined to recall it before many hours througha most unlooked-for occurrence. 

Kadour ben Saden, having dined well, prepared to take leave of hishost. With dignified protestations of friendship, he invited Tarzan tovisit him in his wild domain, where the antelope, the stag, the boar, the panther, and the lion might still be found in sufficient numbers totempt an ardent huntsman. 

On his departure the ape-man, with Abdul, wandered again into thestreets of Sidi Aissa, where he was soon attracted by the wild din ofsound coming from the open doorway of one of the numerous CAFES MAURES. It was after eight, and the dancing was in full swing as Tarzanentered. The room was filled to repletion with Arabs. All weresmoking, and drinking their thick, hot coffee. 

Tarzan and Abdul found seats near the center of the room, though theterrific noise produced by the musicians upon their Arab drums andpipes would have rendered a seat farther from them more acceptable tothe quiet-loving ape-man. A rather good-looking Ouled-Nail wasdancing, and, perceiving Tarzan's European clothes, and scenting agenerous gratuity, she threw her silken handkerchief upon his shoulder, to be rewarded with a franc. 

When her place upon the floor had been taken by another the bright-eyedAbdul saw her in conversation with two Arabs at the far side of theroom, near a side door that let upon an inner court, around the galleryof which were the rooms occupied by the girls who danced in this cafe. 

At first he thought nothing of the matter, but presently he noticedfrom the corner of his eye one of the men nod in their direction, andthe girl turn and shoot a furtive glance at Tarzan. Then the Arabsmelted through the doorway into the darkness of the court. 

When it came again the girl's turn to dance she hovered close toTarzan, and for the ape-man alone were her sweetest smiles. Many anugly scowl was cast upon the tall European by swarthy, dark-eyed sonsof the desert, but neither smiles nor scowls produced any outwardlyvisible effect upon him. Again the girl cast her handkerchief upon hisshoulder, and again was she rewarded with a franc piece. As she wassticking it upon her forehead, after the custom of her kind, she bentlow toward Tarzan, whispering a quick word in his ear. 

"There are two without in the court, " she said quickly, in brokenFrench, "who would harm m'sieur. At first I promised to lure you tothem, but you have been kind, and I cannot do it. Go quickly, beforethey find that I have failed them. I think that they are very bad men. "

Tarzan thanked the girl, assuring her that he would be careful, and, having finished her dance, she crossed to the little doorway and wentout into the court. But Tarzan did not leave the cafe as she had urged. 

For another half hour nothing unusual occurred, then a surly-lookingArab entered the cafe from the street. He stood near Tarzan, where hedeliberately made insulting remarks about the European, but as theywere in his native tongue Tarzan was entirely innocent of their purportuntil Abdul took it upon himself to enlighten him. 

"This fellow is looking for trouble, " warned Abdul. "He is not alone. In fact, in case of a disturbance, nearly every man here would beagainst you. It would be better to leave quietly, master. "

"Ask the fellow what he wants, " commanded Tarzan. 

"He says that 'the dog of a Christian' insulted the Ouled-Nail, whobelongs to him. He means trouble, m'sieur. "

"Tell him that I did not insult his or any other Ouled-Nail, that Iwish him to go away and leave me alone. That I have no quarrel withhim, nor has he any with me. "

"He says, " replied Abdul, after delivering this message to the Arab, "that besides being a dog yourself that you are the son of one, andthat your grandmother was a hyena. Incidentally you are a liar. "

The attention of those near by had now been attracted by thealtercation, and the sneering laughs that followed this torrent ofinvective easily indicated the trend of the sympathies of the majorityof the audience. 

Tarzan did not like being laughed at, neither did he relish the termsapplied to him by the Arab, but he showed no sign of anger as he arosefrom his seat upon the bench. A half smile played about his lips, butof a sudden a mighty fist shot into the face of the scowling Arab, andback of it were the terrible muscles of the ape-man. 

At the instant that the man fell a half dozen fierce plainsmen spranginto the room from where they had apparently been waiting for their cuein the street before the cafe. With cries of "Kill the unbeliever!"and "Down with the dog of a Christian!" they made straight for Tarzan. A number of the younger Arabs in the audience sprang to their feet tojoin in the assault upon the unarmed white man. Tarzan and Abdul wererushed back toward the end of the room by the very force of numbersopposing them. The young Arab remained loyal to his master, and withdrawn knife fought at his side. 

With tremendous blows the ape-man felled all who came within reach ofhis powerful hands. He fought quietly and without a word, upon hislips the same half smile they had worn as he rose to strike down theman who had insulted him. It seemed impossible that either he or Abdulcould survive the sea of wicked-looking swords and knives thatsurrounded them, but the very numbers of their assailants proved thebest bulwark of their safety. So closely packed was the howling, cursing mob that no weapon could be wielded to advantage, and none ofthe Arabs dared use a firearm for fear of wounding one of hiscompatriots. 

Finally Tarzan succeeded in seizing one of the most persistent of hisattackers. With a quick wrench he disarmed the fellow, and then, holding him before them as a shield, he backed slowly beside Abdultoward the little door which led into the inner courtyard. At thethreshold he paused for an instant, and, lifting the struggling Arababove his head, hurled him, as though from a catapult, full in thefaces of his on-pressing fellows. 

Then Tarzan and Abdul stepped into the semidarkness of the court. Thefrightened Ouled-Nails were crouching at the tops of the stairs whichled to their respective rooms, the only light in the courtyard comingfrom the sickly candles which each girl had stuck with its own greaseto the woodwork of her door-frame, the better to display her charms tothose who might happen to traverse the dark inclosure. 

Scarcely had Tarzan and Abdul emerged from the room ere a revolverspoke close at their backs from the shadows beneath one of thestairways, and as they turned to meet this new antagonist, two muffledfigures sprang toward them, firing as they came. Tarzan leaped to meetthese two new assailants. The foremost lay, a second later, in thetrampled dirt of the court, disarmed and groaning from a broken wrist. Abdul's knife found the vitals of the second in the instant that thefellow's revolver missed fire as he held it to the faithful Arab'sforehead. 

The maddened horde within the cafe were now rushing out in pursuit oftheir quarry. The Ouled-Nails had extinguished their candles at a cryfrom one of their number, and the only light within the yard camefeebly from the open and half-blocked door of the cafe. Tarzan hadseized a sword from the man who had fallen before Abdul's knife, andnow he stood waiting for the rush of men that was coming in search ofthem through the darkness. 

Suddenly he felt a light hand upon his shoulder from behind, and awoman's voice whispering, "Quick, m'sieur; this way. Follow me. "

"Come, Abdul, " said Tarzan, in a low tone, to the youth; "we can be noworse off elsewhere than we are here. "

The woman turned and led them up the narrow stairway that ended at thedoor of her quarters. Tarzan was close beside her. He saw the goldand silver bracelets upon her bare arms, the strings of gold coin thatdepended from her hair ornaments, and the gorgeous colors of her dress. He saw that she was a Ouled-Nail, and instinctively he knew that shewas the same who had whispered the warning in his ear earlier in theevening. 

As they reached the top of the stairs they could hear the angry crowdsearching the yard beneath. 

"Soon they will search here, " whispered the girl. "They must not findyou, for, though you fight with the strength of many men, they willkill you in the end. Hasten; you can drop from the farther window ofmy room to the street beyond. Before they discover that you are nolonger in the court of the buildings you will be safe within the hotel. "

But even as she spoke, several men had started up the stairway at thehead of which they stood. There was a sudden cry from one of thesearchers. They had been discovered. Quickly the crowd rushed for thestairway. The foremost assailant leaped quickly upward, but at the tophe met the sudden sword that he had not expected--the quarry had beenunarmed before. 

With a cry, the man toppled back upon those behind him. Like tenpinsthey rolled down the stairs. The ancient and rickety structure couldnot withstand the strain of this unwonted weight and jarring. With acreaking and rending of breaking wood it collapsed beneath the Arabs, leaving Tarzan, Abdul, and the girl alone upon the frail platform atthe top. 

"Come!" cried the Ouled-Nail. "They will reach us from anotherstairway through the room next to mine. We have not a moment to spare. "

Just as they were entering the room Abdul heard and translated a cryfrom the yard below for several to hasten to the street and cut offescape from that side. 

"We are lost now, " said the girl simply. 

"We?" questioned Tarzan. 

"Yes, m'sieur, " she responded; "they will kill me as well. Have I notaided you?"

This put a different aspect on the matter. Tarzan had rather beenenjoying the excitement and danger of the encounter. He had not for aninstant supposed that either Abdul or the girl could suffer exceptthrough accident, and he had only retreated just enough to keep frombeing killed himself. He had had no intention of running away until hesaw that he was hopelessly lost were he to remain. 

Alone he could have sprung into the midst of that close-packed mob, and, laying about him after the fashion of Numa, the lion, have struckthe Arabs with such consternation that escape would have been easy. Now he must think entirely of these two faithful friends. 

He crossed to the window which overlooked the street. In a minutethere would be enemies below. Already he could hear the mob clamberingthe stairway to the next quarters--they would be at the door beside himin another instant. He put a foot upon the sill and leaned out, but hedid not look down. Above him, within arm's reach, was the low roof ofthe building. He called to the girl. She came and stood beside him. He put a great arm about her and lifted her across his shoulder. 

"Wait here until I reach down for you from above, " he said to Abdul. "In the meantime shove everything in the room against that door--it maydelay them long enough. " Then he stepped to the sill of the narrowwindow with the girl upon his shoulders. "Hold tight, " he cautionedher. A moment later he had clambered to the roof above with the easeand dexterity of an ape. Setting the girl down, he leaned far over theroof's edge, calling softly to Abdul. The youth ran to the window. 

"Your hand, " whispered Tarzan. The men in the room beyond werebattering at the door. With a sudden crash it fell splintering in, andat the same instant Abdul felt himself lifted like a feather onto theroof above. They were not a moment too soon, for as the men broke intothe room which they had just quitted a dozen more rounded the corner inthe street below and came running to a spot beneath the girl's window. 

Chapter 8

The Fight in the Desert

As the three squatted upon the roof above the quarters of theOuled-Nails they heard the angry cursing of the Arabs in the roombeneath. Abdul translated from time to time to Tarzan. 

"They are berating those in the street below now, " said Abdul, "forpermitting us to escape so easily. Those in the street say that we didnot come that way--that we are still within the building, and thatthose above, being too cowardly to attack us, are attempting to deceivethem into believing that we have escaped. In a moment they will havefighting of their own to attend to if they continue their brawling. "

Presently those in the building gave up the search, and returned to thecafe. A few remained in the street below, smoking and talking. 

Tarzan spoke to the girl, thanking her for the sacrifice she had madefor him, a total stranger. 

"I liked you, " she said simply. "You were unlike the others who cometo the cafe. You did not speak coarsely to me--the manner in which yougave me money was not an insult. "

"What shall you do after tonight?" he asked. "You cannot return to thecafe. Can you even remain with safety in Sidi Aissa?"

"Tomorrow it will be forgotten, " she replied. "But I should be glad ifit might be that I need never return to this or another cafe. I havenot remained because I wished to; I have been a prisoner. "

"A prisoner!" ejaculated Tarzan incredulously. 

"A slave would be the better word, " she answered. "I was stolen in thenight from my father's DOUAR by a band of marauders. They brought mehere and sold me to the Arab who keeps this cafe. It has been nearlytwo years now since I saw the last of mine own people. They are veryfar to the south. They never come to Sidi Aissa. "

"You would like to return to your people?" asked Tarzan. "Then I shallpromise to see you safely so far as Bou Saada at least. There we candoubtless arrange with the commandant to send you the rest of the way. "

"Oh, m'sieur, " she cried, "how can I ever repay you! You cannot reallymean that you will do so much for a poor Ouled-Nail. But my father canreward you, and he will, for is he not a great sheik? He is Kadour benSaden. "

"Kadour ben Saden!" ejaculated Tarzan. "Why, Kadour ben Saden is inSidi Aissa this very night. He dined with me but a few hours since. "

"My father in Sidi Aissa?" cried the amazed girl. "Allah be praisedthen, for I am indeed saved. "

"Hssh!" cautioned Abdul. "Listen. "

From below came the sound of voices, quite distinguishable upon thestill night air. Tarzan could not understand the words, but Abdul andthe girl translated. 

"They have gone now, " said the latter. "It is you they want, m'sieur. One of them said that the stranger who had offered money for yourslaying lay in the house of Akmed din Soulef with a broken wrist, butthat he had offered a still greater reward if some would lay in waitfor you upon the road to Bou Saada and kill you. "

"It is he who followed m'sieur about the market today, " exclaimedAbdul. "I saw him again within the cafe--him and another; and the twowent out into the inner court after talking with this girl here. Itwas they who attacked and fired upon us, as we came out of the cafe. Why do they wish to kill you, m'sieur?"

"I do not know, " replied Tarzan, and then, after a pause: "Unless--"But he did not finish, for the thought that had come to his mind, whileit seemed the only reasonable solution of the mystery, appeared at thesame time quite improbable. Presently the men in the street went away. The courtyard and the cafe were deserted. Cautiously Tarzan loweredhimself to the sill of the girl's window. The room was empty. Hereturned to the roof and let Abdul down, then he lowered the girl tothe arms of the waiting Arab. 

From the window Abdul dropped the short distance to the street below, while Tarzan took the girl in his arms and leaped down as he had doneon so many other occasions in his own forest with a burden in his arms. A little cry of alarm was startled from the girl's lips, but Tarzanlanded in the street with but an imperceptible jar, and lowered her insafety to her feet. 

She clung to him for a moment. 

"How strong m'sieur is, and how active, " she cried. "EL ADREA, theblack lion, himself is not more so. "

"I should like to meet this EL ADREA of yours, " he said. "I have heardmuch about him. "

"And you come to the DOUAR of my father you shall see him, " said thegirl. "He lives in a spur of the mountains north of us, and comes downfrom his lair at night to rob my father's DOUAR. With a single blow ofhis mighty paw he crushes the skull of a bull, and woe betide thebelated wayfarer who meets EL ADREA abroad at night. "

Without further mishap they reached the hotel. The sleepy landlordobjected strenuously to instituting a search for Kadour ben Saden untilthe following morning, but a piece of gold put a different aspect onthe matter, so that a few moments later a servant had started to makethe rounds of the lesser native hostelries where it might be expectedthat a desert sheik would find congenial associations. Tarzan had feltit necessary to find the girl's father that night, for fear he mightstart on his homeward journey too early in the morning to beintercepted. 

They had waited perhaps half an hour when the messenger returned withKadour ben Saden. The old sheik entered the room with a questioningexpression upon his proud face. 

"Monsieur has done me the honor to--" he commenced, and then his eyesfell upon the girl. With outstretched arms he crossed the room to meether. "My daughter!" he cried. "Allah is merciful!" and tears dimmedthe martial eyes of the old warrior. 

When the story of her abduction and her final rescue had been told toKadour ben Saden he extended his hand to Tarzan. 

"All that is Kadour ben Saden's is thine, my friend, even to his life, "he said very simply, but Tarzan knew that those were no idle words. 

It was decided that although three of them would have to ride afterpractically no sleep, it would be best to make an early start in themorning, and attempt to ride all the way to Bou Saada in one day. Itwould have been comparatively easy for the men, but for the girl it wassure to be a fatiguing journey. 

She, however, was the most anxious to undertake it, for it seemed toher that she could not quickly enough reach the family and friends fromwhom she had been separated for two years. 

It seemed to Tarzan that he had not closed his eyes before he wasawakened, and in another hour the party was on its way south toward BouSaada. For a few miles the road was good, and they made rapidprogress, but suddenly it became only a waste of sand, into which thehorses sank fetlock deep at nearly every step. In addition to Tarzan, Abdul, the sheik, and his daughter were four of the wild plainsmen ofthe sheik's tribe who had accompanied him upon the trip to Sidi Aissa. Thus, seven guns strong, they entertained little fear of attack by day, and if all went well they should reach Bou Saada before nightfall. 

A brisk wind enveloped them in the blowing sand of the desert, untilTarzan's lips were parched and cracked. What little he could see ofthe surrounding country was far from alluring--a vast expanse of roughcountry, rolling in little, barren hillocks, and tufted here and therewith clumps of dreary shrub. Far to the south rose the dim lines ofthe Saharan Atlas range. How different, thought Tarzan, from thegorgeous Africa of his boyhood!

Abdul, always on the alert, looked backward quite as often as he didahead. At the top of each hillock that they mounted he would draw inhis horse and, turning, scan the country to the rear with utmost care. At last his scrutiny was rewarded. 

"Look!" he cried. "There are six horsemen behind us. "

"Your friends of last evening, no doubt, monsieur, " remarked Kadour benSaden dryly to Tarzan. 

"No doubt, " replied the ape-man. "I am sorry that my society shouldendanger the safety of your journey. At the next village I shallremain and question these gentlemen, while you ride on. There is nonecessity for my being at Bou Saada tonight, and less still why youshould not ride in peace. "

"If you stop we shall stop, " said Kadour ben Saden. "Until you aresafe with your friends, or the enemy has left your trail, we shallremain with you. There is nothing more to say. "

Tarzan nodded his head. He was a man of few words, and possibly it wasfor this reason as much as any that Kadour ben Saden had taken to him, for if there be one thing that an Arab despises it is a talkative man. 

All the balance of the day Abdul caught glimpses of the horsemen intheir rear. They remained always at about the same distance. Duringthe occasional halts for rest, and at the longer halt at noon, theyapproached no closer. 

"They are waiting for darkness, " said Kadour ben Saden. 

And darkness came before they reached Bou Saada. The last glimpse thatAbdul had of the grim, white-robed figures that trailed them, justbefore dusk made it impossible to distinguish them, had made itapparent that they were rapidly closing up the distance that intervenedbetween them and their intended quarry. He whispered this fact toTarzan, for he did not wish to alarm the girl. The ape-man drew backbeside him. 

"You will ride ahead with the others, Abdul, " said Tarzan. "This is myquarrel. I shall wait at the next convenient spot, and interview thesefellows. "

"Then Abdul shall wait at thy side, " replied the young Arab, nor wouldany threats or commands move him from his decision. 

"Very well, then, " replied Tarzan. "Here is as good a place as wecould wish. Here are rocks at the top of this hillock. We shallremain hidden here and give an account of ourselves to these gentlemenwhen they appear. "

They drew in their horses and dismounted. The others riding ahead werealready out of sight in the darkness. Beyond them shone the lights ofBou Saada. Tarzan removed his rifle from its boot and loosened hisrevolver in its holster. He ordered Abdul to withdraw behind the rockswith the horses, so that they should be shielded from the enemies'bullets should they fire. The young Arab pretended to do as he wasbid, but when he had fastened the two animals securely to a low shrubhe crept back to lie on his belly a few paces behind Tarzan. 

The ape-man stood erect in the middle of the road, waiting. Nor did hehave long to wait. The sound of galloping horses came suddenly out ofthe darkness below him, and a moment later he discerned the movingblotches of lighter color against the solid background of the night. 

"Halt, " he cried, "or we fire!"

The white figures came to a sudden stop, and for a moment there wassilence. Then came the sound of a whispered council, and like ghoststhe phantom riders dispersed in all directions. Again the desert laystill about him, yet it was an ominous stillness that foreboded evil. 

Abdul raised himself to one knee. Tarzan cocked his jungle-trainedears, and presently there came to him the sound of horses walkingquietly through the sand to the east of him, to the west, to the north, and to the south. They had been surrounded. Then a shot came from thedirection in which he was looking, a bullet whirred through the airabove his head, and he fired at the flash of the enemy's gun. 

Instantly the soundless waste was torn with the quick staccato of gunsupon every hand. Abdul and Tarzan fired only at the flashes--theycould not yet see their foemen. Presently it became evident that theattackers were circling their position, drawing closer and closer in asthey began to realize the paltry numbers of the party which opposedthem. 

But one came too close, for Tarzan was accustomed to using his eyes inthe darkness of the jungle night, than which there is no more utterdarkness this side the grave, and with a cry of pain a saddle wasemptied. 

"The odds are evening, Abdul, " said Tarzan, with a low laugh. 

But they were still far too one-sided, and when the five remaininghorsemen whirled at a signal and charged full upon them it looked as ifthere would be a sudden ending of the battle. Both Tarzan and Abdulsprang to the shelter of the rocks, that they might keep the enemy infront of them. There was a mad clatter of galloping hoofs, a volley ofshots from both sides, and the Arabs withdrew to repeat the maneuver;but there were now only four against the two. 

For a few moments there came no sound from out of the surroundingblackness. Tarzan could not tell whether the Arabs, satisfied withtheir losses, had given up the fight, or were waiting farther along theroad to waylay them as they proceeded on toward Bou Saada. But he wasnot left long in doubt, for now all from one direction came the soundof a new charge. But scarcely had the first gun spoken ere a dozenshots rang out behind the Arabs. There came the wild shouts of a newparty to the controversy, and the pounding of the feet of many horsesfrom down the road to Bou Saada. 

The Arabs did not wait to learn the identity of the oncomers. With aparting volley as they dashed by the position which Tarzan and Abdulwere holding, they plunged off along the road toward Sidi Aissa. Amoment later Kadour ben Saden and his men dashed up. 

The old sheik was much relieved to find that neither Tarzan nor Abdulhad received a scratch. Not even had their horses been wounded. Theysought out the two men who had fallen before Tarzan's shots, and, finding that both were dead, left them where they lay. 

"Why did you not tell me that you contemplated ambushing thosefellows?" asked the sheik in a hurt tone. "We might have had them allif the seven of us had stopped to meet them. "

"Then it would have been useless to stop at all, " replied Tarzan, "forhad we simply ridden on toward Bou Saada they would have been upon uspresently, and all could have been engaged. It was to prevent thetransfer of my own quarrel to another's shoulders that Abdul and Istopped off to question them. Then there is your daughter--I could notbe the cause of exposing her needlessly to the marksmanship of six men. "

Kadour ben Saden shrugged his shoulders. He did not relish having beencheated out of a fight. 

The little battle so close to Bou Saada had drawn out a company ofsoldiers. Tarzan and his party met them just outside the town. Theofficer in charge halted them to learn the significance of the shots. 

"A handful of marauders, " replied Kadour ben Saden. "They attacked twoof our number who had dropped behind, but when we returned to them thefellows soon dispersed. They left two dead. None of my party wasinjured. "

This seemed to satisfy the officer, and after taking the names of theparty he marched his men on toward the scene of the skirmish to bringback the dead men for purposes of identification, if possible. 

Two days later, Kadour ben Saden, with his daughter and followers, rodesouth through the pass below Bou Saada, bound for their home in the farwilderness. The sheik had urged Tarzan to accompany him, and the girlhad added her entreaties to those of her father; but, though he couldnot explain it to them, Tarzan's duties loomed particularly large afterthe happenings of the past few days, so that he could not think ofleaving his post for an instant. But he promised to come later if itlay within his power to do so, and they had to content themselves withthat assurance. 

During these two days Tarzan had spent practically all his time withKadour ben Saden and his daughter. He was keenly interested in thisrace of stern and dignified warriors, and embraced the opportunitywhich their friendship offered to learn what he could of their livesand customs. He even commenced to acquire the rudiments of theirlanguage under the pleasant tutorage of the brown-eyed girl. It waswith real regret that he saw them depart, and he sat his horse at theopening to the pass, as far as which he had accompanied them, gazingafter the little party as long as he could catch a glimpse of them. 

Here were people after his own heart! Their wild, rough lives, filledwith danger and hardship, appealed to this half-savage man as nothinghad appealed to him in the midst of the effeminate civilization of thegreat cities he had visited. Here was a life that excelled even thatof the jungle, for here he might have the society of men--real men whomhe could honor and respect, and yet be near to the wild nature that heloved. In his head revolved an idea that when he had completed hismission he would resign and return to live for the remainder of hislife with the tribe of Kadour ben Saden. 

Then he turned his horse's head and rode slowly back to Bou Saada. 

The front of the Hotel du Petit Sahara, where Tarzan stopped in BouSaada, is taken up with the bar, two dining-rooms, and the kitchens. Both of the dining-rooms open directly off the bar, and one of them isreserved for the use of the officers of the garrison. As you stand inthe barroom you may look into either of the dining-rooms if you wish. 

It was to the bar that Tarzan repaired after speeding Kadour ben Sadenand his party on their way. It was yet early in the morning, forKadour ben Saden had elected to ride far that day, so that it happenedthat when Tarzan returned there were guests still at breakfast. 

As his casual glance wandered into the officers' dining-room, Tarzansaw something which brought a look of interest to his eyes. LieutenantGernois was sitting there, and as Tarzan looked a white-robed Arabapproached and, bending, whispered a few words into the lieutenant'sear. Then he passed on out of the building through another door. 

In itself the thing was nothing, but as the man had stooped to speak tothe officer, Tarzan had caught sight of something which the accidentalparting of the man's burnoose had revealed--he carried his left arm ina sling. 

Chapter 9

Numa "El Adrea"

On the same day that Kadour ben Saden rode south the diligence from thenorth brought Tarzan a letter from D'Arnot which had been forwardedfrom Sidi-bel-Abbes. It opened the old wound that Tarzan would havebeen glad to have forgotten; yet he was not sorry that D'Arnot hadwritten, for one at least of his subjects could never cease to interestthe ape-man. Here is the letter:

MY DEAR JEAN:

Since last I wrote you I have been across to London on a matter ofbusiness. I was there but three days. The very first day I came uponan old friend of yours--quite unexpectedly--in Henrietta Street. Nowyou never in the world would guess whom. None other than Mr. Samuel T. Philander. But it is true. I can see your look of incredulity. Noris this all. He insisted that I return to the hotel with him, andthere I found the others--Professor Archimedes Q. Porter, Miss Porter, and that enormous black woman, Miss Porter's maid--Esmeralda, you willrecall. While I was there Clayton came in. They are to be marriedsoon, or rather sooner, for I rather suspect that we shall receiveannouncements almost any day. On account of his father's death it isto be a very quiet affair--only blood relatives. 

While I was alone with Mr. Philander the old fellow became ratherconfidential. Said Miss Porter had already postponed the wedding onthree different occasions. He confided that it appeared to him thatshe was not particularly anxious to marry Clayton at all; but this timeit seems that it is quite likely to go through. 

Of course they all asked after you, but I respected your wishes in thematter of your true origin, and only spoke to them of your presentaffairs. 

Miss Porter was especially interested in everything I had to say aboutyou, and asked many questions. I am afraid I took a ratherunchivalrous delight in picturing your desire and resolve to go backeventually to your native jungle. I was sorry afterward, for it didseem to cause her real anguish to contemplate the awful dangers towhich you wished to return. "And yet, " she said, "I do not know. There are more unhappy fates than the grim and terrible jungle presentsto Monsieur Tarzan. At least his conscience will be free from remorse. And there are moments of quiet and restfulness by day, and vistas ofexquisite beauty. You may find it strange that I should say it, whoexperienced such terrifying experiences in that frightful forest, yetat times I long to return, for I cannot but feel that the happiestmoments of my life were spent there. "

There was an expression of ineffable sadness on her face as she spoke, and I could not but feel that she knew that I knew her secret, and thatthis was her way of transmitting to you a last tender message from aheart that might still enshrine your memory, though its possessorbelonged to another. 

Clayton appeared nervous and ill at ease while you were the subject ofconversation. He wore a worried and harassed expression. Yet he wasvery kindly in his expressions of interest in you. I wonder if hesuspects the truth about you?

Tennington came in with Clayton. They are great friends, you know. Heis about to set out upon one of his interminable cruises in that yachtof his, and was urging the entire party to accompany him. Tried toinveigle me into it, too. Is thinking of circumnavigating Africa thistime. I told him that his precious toy would take him and some of hisfriends to the bottom of the ocean one of these days if he didn't getit out of his head that she was a liner or a battleship. 

I returned to Paris day before yesterday, and yesterday I met the Countand Countess de Coude at the races. They inquired after you. De Coudereally seems quite fond of you. Doesn't appear to harbor the least illwill. Olga is as beautiful as ever, but a trifle subdued. I imaginethat she learned a lesson through her acquaintance with you that willserve her in good stead during the balance of her life. It isfortunate for her, and for De Coude as well, that it was you and notanother man more sophisticated. 

Had you really paid court to Olga's heart I am afraid that there wouldhave been no hope for either of you. 

She asked me to tell you that Nikolas had left France. She paid himtwenty thousand francs to go away, and stay. She is congratulatingherself that she got rid of him before he tried to carry out a threathe recently made her that he should kill you at the first opportunity. She said that she should hate to think that her brother's blood was onyour hands, for she is very fond of you, and made no bones in saying sobefore the count. It never for a moment seemed to occur to her thatthere might be any possibility of any other outcome of a meetingbetween you and Nikolas. The count quite agreed with her in that. Headded that it would take a regiment of Rokoffs to kill you. He has amost healthy respect for your prowess. 

Have been ordered back to my ship. She sails from Havre in two daysunder sealed orders. If you will address me in her care, the letterswill find me eventually. I shall write you as soon as anotheropportunity presents. 

 Your sincere friend, PAUL D'ARNOT. 

"I fear, " mused Tarzan, half aloud, "that Olga has thrown away hertwenty thousand francs. "

He read over that part of D'Arnot's letter several times in which hehad quoted from his conversation with Jane Porter. Tarzan derived arather pathetic happiness from it, but it was better than no happinessat all. 

The following three weeks were quite uneventful. On several occasionsTarzan saw the mysterious Arab, and once again he had been exchangingwords with Lieutenant Gernois; but no amount of espionage or shadowingby Tarzan revealed the Arab's lodgings, the location of which Tarzanwas anxious to ascertain. 

Gernois, never cordial, had kept more than ever aloof from Tarzan sincethe episode in the dining-room of the hotel at Aumale. His attitude onthe few occasions that they had been thrown together had beendistinctly hostile. 

That he might keep up the appearance of the character he was playing, Tarzan spent considerable time hunting in the vicinity of Bou Saada. He would spend entire days in the foothills, ostensibly searching forgazelle, but on the few occasions that he came close enough to any ofthe beautiful little animals to harm them he invariably allowed them toescape without so much as taking his rifle from its boot. The ape-mancould see no sport in slaughtering the most harmless and defenseless ofGod's creatures for the mere pleasure of killing. 

In fact, Tarzan had never killed for "pleasure, " nor to him was therepleasure in killing. It was the joy of righteous battle that heloved--the ecstasy of victory. And the keen and successful hunt forfood in which he pitted his skill and craftiness against the skill andcraftiness of another; but to come out of a town filled with food toshoot down a soft-eyed, pretty gazelle--ah, that was crueller than thedeliberate and cold-blooded murder of a fellow man. Tarzan would havenone of it, and so he hunted alone that none might discover the shamthat he was practicing. 

And once, probably because of the fact that he rode alone, he was liketo have lost his life. He was riding slowly through a little ravinewhen a shot sounded close behind him, and a bullet passed through thecork helmet he wore. Although he turned at once and galloped rapidlyto the top of the ravine, there was no sign of any enemy, nor did hesee aught of another human being until he reached Bou Saada. 

"Yes, " he soliloquized, in recalling the occurrence, "Olga has indeedthrown away her twenty thousand francs. "

That night he was Captain Gerard's guest at a little dinner. 

"Your hunting has not been very fortunate?" questioned the officer. 

"No, " replied Tarzan; "the game hereabout is timid, nor do I careparticularly about hunting game birds or antelope. I think I shallmove on farther south, and have a try at some of your Algerian lions. "

"Good!" exclaimed the captain. "We are marching toward Djelfa on themorrow. You shall have company that far at least. Lieutenant Gernoisand I, with a hundred men, are ordered south to patrol a district inwhich the marauders are giving considerable trouble. Possibly we mayhave the pleasure of hunting the lion together--what say you?"

Tarzan was more than pleased, nor did he hesitate to say so; but thecaptain would have been astonished had he known the real reason ofTarzan's pleasure. Gernois was sitting opposite the ape-man. He didnot seem so pleased with his captain's invitation. 

"You will find lion hunting more exciting than gazelle shooting, "remarked Captain Gerard, "and more dangerous. "

"Even gazelle shooting has its dangers, " replied Tarzan. "Especiallywhen one goes alone. I found it so today. I also found that while thegazelle is the most timid of animals, it is not the most cowardly. "

He let his glance rest only casually upon Gernois after he had spoken, for he did not wish the man to know that he was under suspicion, orsurveillance, no matter what he might think. The effect of his remarkupon him, however, might tend to prove his connection with, orknowledge of, certain recent happenings. Tarzan saw a dull red creepup from beneath Gernois' collar. He was satisfied, and quickly changedthe subject. 

When the column rode south from Bou Saada the next morning there werehalf a dozen Arabs bringing up the rear. 

"They are not attached to the command, " replied Gerard in response toTarzan's query. "They merely accompany us on the road forcompanionship. "

Tarzan had learned enough about Arab character since he had been inAlgeria to know that this was no real motive, for the Arab is neveroverfond of the companionship of strangers, and especially of Frenchsoldiers. So his suspicions were aroused, and he decided to keep asharp eye on the little party that trailed behind the column at adistance of about a quarter of a mile. But they did not come closeenough even during the halts to enable him to obtain a close scrutinyof them. 

He had long been convinced that there were hired assassins on histrail, nor was he in great doubt but that Rokoff was at the bottom ofthe plot. Whether it was to be revenge for the several occasions inthe past that Tarzan had defeated the Russian's purposes and humiliatedhim, or was in some way connected with his mission in the Gernoisaffair, he could not determine. If the latter, and it seemed probablesince the evidence he had had that Gernois suspected him, then he hadtwo rather powerful enemies to contend with, for there would be manyopportunities in the wilds of Algeria, for which they were bound, todispatch a suspected enemy quietly and without attracting suspicion. 

After camping at Djelfa for two days the column moved to the southwest, from whence word had come that the marauders were operating against thetribes whose DOUARS were situated at the foot of the mountains. 

The little band of Arabs who had accompanied them from Bou Saada haddisappeared suddenly the very night that orders had been given toprepare for the morrow's march from Djelfa. Tarzan made casualinquiries among the men, but none could tell him why they had left, orin what direction they had gone. He did not like the looks of it, especially in view of the fact that he had seen Gernois in conversationwith one of them some half hour after Captain Gerard had issued hisinstructions relative to the new move. Only Gernois and Tarzan knewthe direction of the proposed march. All the soldiers knew was thatthey were to be prepared to break camp early the next morning. Tarzanwondered if Gernois could have revealed their destination to the Arabs. 

Late that afternoon they went into camp at a little oasis in which wasthe DOUAR of a sheik whose flocks were being stolen, and whose herdsmenwere being killed. The Arabs came out of their goatskin tents, andsurrounded the soldiers, asking many questions in the native tongue, for the soldiers were themselves natives. Tarzan, who, by this time, with the assistance of Abdul, had picked up quite a smattering of Arab, questioned one of the younger men who had accompanied the sheik whilethe latter paid his respects to Captain Gerard. 

No, he had seen no party of six horsemen riding from the direction ofDjelfa. There were other oases scattered about--possibly they had beenjourneying to one of these. Then there were the marauders in themountains above--they often rode north to Bou Saada in small parties, and even as far as Aumale and Bouira. It might indeed have been a fewmarauders returning to the band from a pleasure trip to one of thesecities. 

Early the next morning Captain Gerard split his command in two, givingLieutenant Gernois command of one party, while he headed the other. They were to scour the mountains upon opposite sides of the plain. 

"And with which detachment will Monsieur Tarzan ride?" asked thecaptain. "Or maybe it is that monsieur does not care to huntmarauders?"

"Oh, I shall be delighted to go, " Tarzan hastened to explain. He waswondering what excuse he could make to accompany Gernois. Hisembarrassment was short-lived, and was relieved from a most unexpectedsource. It was Gernois himself who spoke. 

"If my captain will forego the pleasure of Monsieur Tarzan's companyfor this once, I shall esteem it an honor indeed to have monsieur ridewith me today, " he said, nor was his tone lacking in cordiality. Infact, Tarzan imagined that he had overdone it a trifle, but, even so, he was both astounded and pleased, hastening to express his delight atthe arrangement. 

And so it was that Lieutenant Gernois and Tarzan rode off side by sideat the head of the little detachment of SPAHIS. Gernois' cordialitywas short-lived. No sooner had they ridden out of sight of CaptainGerard and his men than he lapsed once more into his accustomedtaciturnity. As they advanced the ground became rougher. Steadily itascended toward the mountains, into which they filed through a narrowcanon close to noon. By the side of a little rivulet Gernois calledthe midday halt. Here the men prepared and ate their frugal meal, andrefilled their canteens. 

After an hour's rest they advanced again along the canon, until theypresently came to a little valley, from which several rocky gorgesdiverged. Here they halted, while Gernois minutely examined thesurrounding heights from the center of the depression. 

"We shall separate here, " he said, "several riding into each of thesegorges, " and then he commenced to detail his various squads and issueinstructions to the non-commissioned officers who were to command them. When he had done he turned to Tarzan. "Monsieur will be so good as toremain here until we return. "

Tarzan demurred, but the officer cut him short. "There may be fightingfor one of these sections, " he said, "and troops cannot be embarrassedby civilian noncombatants during action. "

"But, my dear lieutenant, " expostulated Tarzan, "I am most ready andwilling to place myself under command of yourself or any of yoursergeants or corporals, and to fight in the ranks as they direct. Itis what I came for. "

"I should be glad to think so, " retorted Gernois, with a sneer he madeno attempt to disguise. Then shortly: "You are under my orders, andthey are that you remain here until we return. Let that end thematter, " and he turned and spurred away at the head of his men. Amoment later Tarzan found himself alone in the midst of a desolatemountain fastness. 

The sun was hot, so he sought the shelter of a nearby tree, where hetethered his horse, and sat down upon the ground to smoke. Inwardly heswore at Gernois for the trick he had played upon him. A mean littlerevenge, thought Tarzan, and then suddenly it occurred to him that theman would not be such a fool as to antagonize him through a trivialannoyance of so petty a description. There must be something deeperthan this behind it. With the thought he arose and removed his riflefrom its boot. He looked to its loads and saw that the magazine wasfull. Then he inspected his revolver. After this preliminaryprecaution he scanned the surrounding heights and the mouths of theseveral gorges--he was determined that he should not be caught napping. 

The sun sank lower and lower, yet there was no sign of returningSPAHIS. At last the valley was submerged in shadow Tarzan was tooproud to go back to camp until he had given the detachment ample timeto return to the valley, which he thought was to have been theirrendezvous. With the closing in of night he felt safer from attack, for he was at home in the dark. He knew that none might approach himso cautiously as to elude those alert and sensitive ears of his; thenthere were his eyes, too, for he could see well at night; and his nose, if they came toward him from up-wind, would apprise him of the approachof an enemy while they were still a great way off. 

So he felt that he was in little danger, and thus lulled to a sense ofsecurity he fell asleep, with his back against the tree. 

He must have slept for several hours, for when he was suddenly awakenedby the frightened snorting and plunging of his horse the moon wasshining full upon the little valley, and there, not ten paces beforehim, stood the grim cause of the terror of his mount. 

Superb, majestic, his graceful tail extended and quivering, and his twoeyes of fire riveted full upon his prey, stood Numa EL ADREA, the blacklion. A little thrill of joy tingled through Tarzan's nerves. It waslike meeting an old friend after years of separation. For a moment hesat rigid to enjoy the magnificent spectacle of this lord of thewilderness. 

But now Numa was crouching for the spring. Very slowly Tarzan raisedhis gun to his shoulder. He had never killed a large animal with a gunin all his life--heretofore he had depended upon his spear, hispoisoned arrows, his rope, his knife, or his bare hands. Instinctivelyhe wished that he had his arrows and his knife--he would have feltsurer with them. 

Numa was lying quite flat upon the ground now, presenting only hishead. Tarzan would have preferred to fire a little from one side, forhe knew what terrific damage the lion could do if he lived two minutes, or even a minute after he was hit. The horse stood trembling in terrorat Tarzan's back. The ape-man took a cautious step to one side--Numabut followed him with his eyes. Another step he took, and thenanother. Numa had not moved. Now he could aim at a point between theeye and the ear. 

His finger tightened upon the trigger, and as he fired Numa sprang. Atthe same instant the terrified horse made a last frantic effort toescape--the tether parted, and he went careening down the canon towardthe desert. 

No ordinary man could have escaped those frightful claws when Numasprang from so short a distance, but Tarzan was no ordinary man. Fromearliest childhood his muscles had been trained by the fierceexigencies of his existence to act with the rapidity of thought. Asquick as was EL ADREA, Tarzan of the Apes was quicker, and so the greatbeast crashed against a tree where he had expected to feel the softflesh of man, while Tarzan, a couple of paces to the right, pumpedanother bullet into him that brought him clawing and roaring to hisside. 

Twice more Tarzan fired in quick succession, and then EL ADREA laystill and roared no more. It was no longer Monsieur Jean Tarzan; itwas Tarzan of the Apes that put a savage foot upon the body of hissavage kill, and, raising his face to the full moon, lifted his mightyvoice in the weird and terrible challenge of his kind--a bull ape hadmade his kill. And the wild things in the wild mountains stopped intheir hunting, and trembled at this new and awful voice, while down inthe desert the children of the wilderness came out of their goatskintents and looked toward the mountains, wondering what new and savagescourge had come to devastate their flocks. 

A half mile from the valley in which Tarzan stood, a score ofwhite-robed figures, bearing long, wicked-looking guns, halted at thesound, and looked at one another with questioning eyes. But presently, as it was not repeated, they took up their silent, stealthy way towardthe valley. 

Tarzan was now confident that Gernois had no intention of returning forhim, but he could not fathom the object that had prompted the officerto desert him, yet leave him free to return to camp. His horse gone, he decided that it would be foolish to remain longer in the mountains, so he set out toward the desert. 

He had scarcely entered the confines of the canon when the first of thewhite-robed figures emerged into the valley upon the opposite side. For a moment they scanned the little depression from behind shelteringbowlders, but when they had satisfied themselves that it was empty theyadvanced across it. Beneath the tree at one side they came upon thebody of EL ADREA. With muttered exclamations they crowded about it. Then, a moment later, they hurried down the canon which Tarzan wasthreading a brief distance in advance of them. They moved cautiouslyand in silence, taking advantage of shelter, as men do who are stalkingman. 

Chapter 10

Through the Valley of the Shadow

As Tarzan walked down the wild canon beneath the brilliant African moonthe call of the jungle was strong upon him. The solitude and thesavage freedom filled his heart with life and buoyancy. Again he wasTarzan of the Apes--every sense alert against the chance of surprise bysome jungle enemy--yet treading lightly and with head erect, in proudconsciousness of his might. 

The nocturnal sounds of the mountains were new to him, yet they fellupon his ears like the soft voice of a half-forgotten love. Many heintuitively sensed--ah, there was one that was familiar indeed; thedistant coughing of Sheeta, the leopard; but there was a strange notein the final wail which made him doubt. It was a panther he heard. 

Presently a new sound--a soft, stealthy sound--obtruded itself amongthe others. No human ears other than the ape-man's would have detectedit. At first he did not translate it, but finally he realized that itcame from the bare feet of a number of human beings. They were behindhim, and they were coming toward him quietly. He was being stalked. 

In a flash he knew why he had been left in that little valley byGernois; but there had been a hitch in the arrangements--the men hadcome too late. Closer and closer came the footsteps. Tarzan haltedand faced them, his rifle ready in his hand. Now he caught a fleetingglimpse of a white burnoose. He called aloud in French, asking whatthey would of him. His reply was the flash of a long gun, and with thesound of the shot Tarzan of the Apes plunged forward upon his face. 

The Arabs did not rush out immediately; instead, they waited to be surethat their victim did not rise. Then they came rapidly from theirconcealment, and bent over him. It was soon apparent that he was notdead. One of the men put the muzzle of his gun to the back of Tarzan'shead to finish him, but another waved him aside. "If we bring himalive the reward is to be greater, " explained the latter. So theybound his hands and feet, and, picking him up, placed him on theshoulders of four of their number. Then the march was resumed towardthe desert. When they had come out of the mountains they turned towardthe south, and about daylight came to the spot where their horses stoodin care of two of their number. 

From here on their progress was more rapid. Tarzan, who had regainedconsciousness, was tied to a spare horse, which they evidently hadbrought for the purpose. His wound was but a slight scratch, which hadfurrowed the flesh across his temple. It had stopped bleeding, but thedried and clotted blood smeared his face and clothing. He had said noword since he had fallen into the hands of these Arabs, nor had theyaddressed him other than to issue a few brief commands to him when thehorses had been reached. 

For six hours they rode rapidly across the burning desert, avoiding theoases near which their way led. About noon they came to a DOUAR ofabout twenty tents. Here they halted, and as one of the Arabs wasreleasing the alfa-grass ropes which bound him to his mount they weresurrounded by a mob of men, women, and children. Many of the tribe, and more especially the women, appeared to take delight in heapinginsults upon the prisoner, and some had even gone so far as to throwstones at him and strike him with sticks, when an old sheik appearedand drove them away. 

"Ali-ben-Ahmed tells me, " he said, "that this man sat alone in themountains and slew EL ADREA. What the business of the stranger whosent us after him may be, I know not, and what he may do with this manwhen we turn him over to him, I care not; but the prisoner is a braveman, and while he is in our hands he shall be treated with the respectthat be due one who hunts THE LORD WITH THE LARGE HEAD alone and bynight--and slays him. "

Tarzan had heard of the respect in which Arabs held a lion-killer, andhe was not sorry that chance had played into his hands thus favorablyto relieve him of the petty tortures of the tribe. Shortly after thishe was taken to a goat-skin tent upon the upper side of the DOUAR. There he was fed, and then, securely bound, was left lying on a pieceof native carpet, alone in the tent. 

He could see a guard sitting before the door of his frail prison, butwhen he attempted to force the stout bonds that held him he realizedthat any extra precaution on the part of his captors was quiteunnecessary; not even his giant muscles could part those numerousstrands. 

Just before dusk several men approached the tent where he lay, andentered it. All were in Arab dress, but presently one of the numberadvanced to Tarzan's side, and as he let the folds of cloth that hadhidden the lower half of his face fall away the ape-man saw themalevolent features of Nikolas Rokoff. There was a nasty smile on thebearded lips. "Ah, Monsieur Tarzan, " he said, "this is indeed apleasure. But why do you not rise and greet your guest?" Then, withan ugly oath, "Get up, you dog!" and, drawing back his booted foot, hekicked Tarzan heavily in the side. "And here is another, and another, and another, " he continued, as he kicked Tarzan about the face andside. "One for each of the injuries you have done me. "

The ape-man made no reply--he did not even deign to look upon theRussian again after the first glance of recognition. Finally thesheik, who had been standing a mute and frowning witness of thecowardly attack, intervened. 

"Stop!" he commanded. "Kill him if you will, but I will see no braveman subjected to such indignities in my presence. I have half a mindto turn him loose, that I may see how long you would kick him then. "

This threat put a sudden end to Rokoff's brutality, for he had nocraving to see Tarzan loosed from his bonds while he was within reachof those powerful hands. 

"Very well, " he replied to the Arab; "I shall kill him presently. "

"Not within the precincts of my DOUAR, " returned the sheik. "When heleaves here he leaves alive. What you do with him in the desert isnone of my concern, but I shall not have the blood of a Frenchman onthe hands of my tribe on account of another man's quarrel--they wouldsend soldiers here and kill many of my people, and burn our tents anddrive away our flocks. "

"As you say, " growled Rokoff. "I'll take him out into the desert belowthe DOUAR, and dispatch him. "

"You will take him a day's ride from my country, " said the sheik, firmly, "and some of my children shall follow you to see that you donot disobey me--otherwise there may be two dead Frenchmen in thedesert. "

Rokoff shrugged. "Then I shall have to wait until the morrow--it isalready dark. "

"As you will, " said the sheik. "But by an hour after dawn you must begone from my DOUAR. I have little liking for unbelievers, and none atall for a coward. "

Rokoff would have made some kind of retort, but he checked himself, forhe realized that it would require but little excuse for the old man toturn upon him. Together they left the tent. At the door Rokoff couldnot resist the temptation to turn and fling a parting taunt at Tarzan. "Sleep well, monsieur, " he said, "and do not forget to pray well, forwhen you die tomorrow it will be in such agony that you will be unableto pray for blaspheming. "

No one had bothered to bring Tarzan either food or water since noon, and consequently he suffered considerably from thirst. He wondered ifit would be worth while to ask his guard for water, but after makingtwo or three requests without receiving any response, he decided thatit would not. 

Far up in the mountains he heard a lion roar. How much safer one was, he soliloquized, in the haunts of wild beasts than in the haunts ofmen. Never in all his jungle life had he been more relentlesslytracked down than in the past few months of his experience amongcivilized men. Never had he been any nearer death. 

Again the lion roared. It sounded a little nearer. Tarzan felt theold, wild impulse to reply with the challenge of his kind. His kind?He had almost forgotten that he was a man and not an ape. He tugged athis bonds. God, if he could but get them near those strong teeth ofhis. He felt a wild wave of madness sweep over him as his efforts toregain his liberty met with failure. 

Numa was roaring almost continually now. It was quite evident that hewas coming down into the desert to hunt. It was the roar of a hungrylion. Tarzan envied him, for he was free. No one would tie him withropes and slaughter him like a sheep. It was that which galled theape-man. He did not fear to die, no--it was the humiliation of defeatbefore death, without even a chance to battle for his life. 

It must be near midnight, thought Tarzan. He had several hours tolive. Possibly he would yet find a way to take Rokoff with him on thelong journey. He could hear the savage lord of the desert quite closeby now. Possibly he sought his meat from among the penned animalswithin the DOUAR. 

For a long time silence reigned, then Tarzan's trained ears caught thesound of a stealthily moving body. It came from the side of the tentnearest the mountains--the back. Nearer and nearer it came. Hewaited, listening intently, for it to pass. For a time there wassilence without, such a terrible silence that Tarzan was surprised thathe did not hear the breathing of the animal he felt sure must becrouching close to the back wall of his tent. 

There! It is moving again. Closer it creeps. Tarzan turns his headin the direction of the sound. It is very dark within the tent. Slowly the back rises from the ground, forced up by the head andshoulders of a body that looks all black in the semi-darkness. Beyondis a faint glimpse of the dimly starlit desert. A grim smile playsabout Tarzan's lips. At least Rokoff will be cheated. How mad he willbe! And death will be more merciful than he could have hoped for atthe hands of the Russian. 

Now the back of the tent drops into place, and all is darknessagain--whatever it is is inside the tent with him. He hears itcreeping close to him--now it is beside him. He closes his eyes andwaits for the mighty paw. Upon his upturned face falls the gentletouch of a soft hand groping in the dark, and then a girl's voice in ascarcely audible whisper pronounces his name. 

"Yes, it is I, " he whispers in reply. "But in the name of Heaven whoare you?"

"The Ouled-Nail of Sisi Aissa, " came the answer. While she spokeTarzan could feel her working about his bonds. Occasionally the coldsteel of a knife touched his flesh. A moment later he was free. 

"Come!" she whispered. 

On hands and knees he followed her out of the tent by the way she hadcome. She continued crawling thus flat to the ground until she reacheda little patch of shrub. There she halted until he gained her side. For a moment he looked at her before he spoke. 

"I cannot understand, " he said at last. "Why are you here? How didyou know that I was a prisoner in that tent? How does it happen thatit is you who have saved me?"

She smiled. "I have come a long way tonight, " she said, "and we have along way to go before we shall be out of danger. Come; I shall tellyou all about as we go. "

Together they rose and set off across the desert in the direction ofthe mountains. 

"I was not quite sure that I should ever reach you, " she said at last. "EL ADREA is abroad tonight, and after I left the horses I think hewinded me and was following--I was terribly frightened. "

"What a brave girl, " he said. "And you ran all that risk for astranger--an alien--an unbeliever?"

She drew herself up very proudly. 

"I am the daughter of the Sheik Kabour ben Saden, " she answered. "Ishould be no fit daughter of his if I would not risk my life to savethat of the man who saved mine while he yet thought that I was but acommon Ouled-Nail. "

"Nevertheless, " he insisted, "you are a very brave girl. But how didyou know that I was a prisoner back there?"

"Achmet-din-Taieb, who is my cousin on my father's side, was visitingsome friends who belong to the tribe that captured you. He was at theDOUAR when you were brought in. When he reached home he was telling usabout the big Frenchman who had been captured by Ali-ben-Ahmed foranother Frenchman who wished to kill him. From the description I knewthat it must be you. My father was away. I tried to persuade some ofthe men to come and save you, but they would not do it, saying: 'Letthe unbelievers kill one another if they wish. It is none of ouraffair, and if we go and interfere with Ali-ben-Ahmed's plans we shallonly stir up a fight with our own people. '

"So when it was dark I came alone, riding one horse and leading anotherfor you. They are tethered not far from here. By morning we shall bewithin my father's DOUAR. He should be there himself by now--then letthem come and try to take Kadour ben Saden's friend. "

For a few moments they walked on in silence. 

"We should be near the horses, " she said. "It is strange that I do notsee them here. "

Then a moment later she stopped, with a little cry of consternation. 

"They are gone!" she exclaimed. "It is here that I tethered them. "

Tarzan stooped to examine the ground. He found that a large shrub hadbeen torn up by the roots. Then he found something else. There was awry smile on his face as he rose and turned toward the girl. 

"EL ADREA has been here. From the signs, though, I rather think thathis prey escaped him. With a little start they would be safe enoughfrom him in the open. "

There was nothing to do but continue on foot. The way led them acrossa low spur of the mountains, but the girl knew the trail as well as shedid her mother's face. They walked in easy, swinging strides, Tarzankeeping a hand's breadth behind the girl's shoulder, that she might setthe pace, and thus be less fatigued. As they walked they talked, occasionally stopping to listen for sounds of pursuit. 

It was now a beautiful, moonlit night. The air was crisp andinvigorating. Behind them lay the interminable vista of the desert, dotted here and there with an occasional oasis. The date palms of thelittle fertile spot they had just left, and the circle of goatskintents, stood out in sharp relief against the yellow sand--a phantomparadise upon a phantom sea. Before them rose the grim and silentmountains. Tarzan's blood leaped in his veins. This was life! Helooked down upon the girl beside him--a daughter of the desert walkingacross the face of a dead world with a son of the jungle. He smiled atthe thought. He wished that he had had a sister, and that she had beenlike this girl. What a bully chum she would have been!

They had entered the mountains now, and were progressing more slowly, for the trail was steeper and very rocky. 

For a few minutes they had been silent. The girl was wondering if theywould reach her father's DOUAR before the pursuit had overtaken them. Tarzan was wishing that they might walk on thus forever. If the girlwere only a man they might. He longed for a friend who loved the samewild life that he loved. He had learned to crave companionship, but itwas his misfortune that most of the men he knew preferred immaculatelinen and their clubs to nakedness and the jungle. It was, of course, difficult to understand, yet it was very evident that they did. 

The two had just turned a projecting rock around which the trail ranwhen they were brought to a sudden stop. There, before them, directlyin the middle of the path, stood Numa, EL ADREA, the black lion. Hisgreen eyes looked very wicked, and he bared his teeth, and lashed hisbay-black sides with his angry tail. Then he roared--the fearsome, terror-inspiring roar of the hungry lion which is also angry. 

"Your knife, " said Tarzan to the girl, extending his hand. She slippedthe hilt of the weapon into his waiting palm. As his fingers closedupon it he drew her back and pushed her behind him. "Walk back to thedesert as rapidly as you can. If you hear me call you will know thatall is well, and you may return. "

"It is useless, " she replied, resignedly. "This is the end. "

"Do as I tell you, " he commanded. "Quickly! He is about to charge. "The girl dropped back a few paces, where she stood watching for theterrible sight that she knew she should soon witness. 

The lion was advancing slowly toward Tarzan, his nose to the ground, like a challenging bull, his tail extended now and quivering as thoughwith intense excitement. 

The ape-man stood, half crouching, the long Arab knife glistening inthe moonlight. Behind him the tense figure of the girl, motionless asa carven statue. She leaned slightly forward, her lips parted, hereyes wide. Her only conscious thought was wonder at the bravery of theman who dared face with a puny knife the lord with the large head. Aman of her own blood would have knelt in prayer and gone down beneaththose awful fangs without resistance. In either case the result wouldbe the same--it was inevitable; but she could not repress a thrill ofadmiration as her eyes rested upon the heroic figure before her. Not atremor in the whole giant frame--his attitude as menacing and defiantas that of EL ADREA himself. 

The lion was quite close to him now--but a few paces intervened--hecrouched, and then, with a deafening roar, he sprang. 

Chapter 11

John Caldwell, London

As Numa EL ADREA launched himself with widespread paws and bared fangshe looked to find this puny man as easy prey as the score who had gonedown beneath him in the past. To him man was a clumsy, slow-moving, defenseless creature--he had little respect for him. 

But this time he found that he was pitted against a creature as agileand as quick as himself. When his mighty frame struck the spot wherethe man had been he was no longer there. 

The watching girl was transfixed by astonishment at the ease with whichthe crouching man eluded the great paws. And now, O Allah! He hadrushed in behind EL ADREA'S shoulder even before the beast could turn, and had grasped him by the mane. The lion reared upon his hind legslike a horse--Tarzan had known that he would do this, and he was ready. A giant arm encircled the black-maned throat, and once, twice, a dozentimes a sharp blade darted in and out of the bay-black side behind theleft shoulder. 

Frantic were the leaps of Numa--awful his roars of rage and pain; butthe giant upon his back could not be dislodged or brought within reachof fangs or talons in the brief interval of life that remained to thelord with the large head. He was quite dead when Tarzan of the Apesreleased his hold and arose. Then the daughter of the desert witnesseda thing that terrified her even more than had the presence of EL ADREA. The man placed a foot upon the carcass of his kill, and, with hishandsome face raised toward the full moon, gave voice to the mostfrightful cry that ever had smote upon her ears. 

With a little cry of fear she shrank away from him--she thought thatthe fearful strain of the encounter had driven him mad. As the lastnote of that fiendish challenge died out in the diminishing echoes ofthe distance the man dropped his eyes until they rested upon the girl. 

Instantly his face was lighted by the kindly smile that was ampleassurance of his sanity, and the girl breathed freely once again, smiling in response. 

"What manner of man are you?" she asked. "The thing you have done isunheard of. Even now I cannot believe that it is possible for a loneman armed only with a knife to have fought hand to hand with EL ADREAand conquered him, unscathed--to have conquered him at all. And thatcry--it was not human. Why did you do that?"

Tarzan flushed. "It is because I forget, " he said, "sometimes, that Iam a civilized man. When I kill it must be that I am anothercreature. " He did not try to explain further, for it always seemed tohim that a woman must look with loathing upon one who was yet so nearlya beast. 

Together they continued their journey. The sun was an hour high whenthey came out into the desert again beyond the mountains. Beside alittle rivulet they found the girl's horses grazing. They had comethis far on their way home, and with the cause of their fear no longerpresent had stopped to feed. 

With little trouble Tarzan and the girl caught them, and, mounting, rode out into the desert toward the DOUAR of Sheik Kadour ben Saden. 

No sign of pursuit developed, and they came in safety about nineo'clock to their destination. The sheik had but just returned. He wasfrantic with grief at the absence of his daughter, whom he thought hadbeen again abducted by the marauders. With fifty men he was alreadymounted to go in search of her when the two rode into the DOUAR. 

His joy at the safe return of his daughter was only equaled by hisgratitude to Tarzan for bringing her safely to him through the dangersof the night, and his thankfulness that she had been in time to savethe man who had once saved her. 

No honor that Kadour ben Saden could heap upon the ape-man inacknowledgment of his esteem and friendship was neglected. When thegirl had recited the story of the slaying of EL ADREA Tarzan wassurrounded by a mob of worshiping Arabs--it was a sure road to theiradmiration and respect. 

The old sheik insisted that Tarzan remain indefinitely as his guest. He even wished to adopt him as a member of the tribe, and there was forsome time a half-formed resolution in the ape-man's mind to accept andremain forever with these wild people, whom he understood and whoseemed to understand him. His friendship and liking for the girl werepotent factors in urging him toward an affirmative decision. 

Had she been a man, he argued, he should not have hesitated, for itwould have meant a friend after his own heart, with whom he could rideand hunt at will; but as it was they would be hedged by theconventionalities that are even more strictly observed by the wildnomads of the desert than by their more civilized brothers and sisters. And in a little while she would be married to one of these swarthywarriors, and there would be an end to their friendship. So he decidedagainst the sheik's proposal, though he remained a week as his guest. 

When he left, Kadour ben Saden and fifty white-robed warriors rode withhim to Bou Saada. While they were mounting in the DOUAR of Kadour benSaden the morning of their departure, the girl came to bid farewell toTarzan. 

"I have prayed that you would remain with us, " she said simply, as heleaned from his saddle to clasp her hand in farewell, "and now I shallpray that you will return. " There was an expression of wistfulness inher beautiful eyes, and a pathetic droop at the corners of her mouth. Tarzan was touched. 

"Who knows?" and then he turned and rode after the departing Arabs. 

Outside Bou Saada he bade Kadour ben Saden and his men good-by, forthere were reasons which made him wish to make his entry into the townas secret as possible, and when he had explained them to the sheik thelatter concurred in his decision. The Arabs were to enter Bou Saadaahead of him, saying nothing as to his presence with them. LaterTarzan would come in alone, and go directly to an obscure native inn. 

Thus, making his entrance after dark, as he did, he was not seen by anyone who knew him, and reached the inn unobserved. After dining withKadour ben Saden as his guest, he went to his former hotel by aroundabout way, and, coming in by a rear entrance, sought theproprietor, who seemed much surprised to see him alive. 

Yes, there was mail for monsieur; he would fetch it. No, he wouldmention monsieur's return to no one. Presently he returned with apacket of letters. One was an order from his superior to lay off onhis present work, and hasten to Cape Town by the first steamer he couldget. His further instructions would be awaiting him there in the handsof another agent whose name and address were given. That wasall--brief but explicit. Tarzan arranged to leave Bou Saada early thenext morning. Then he started for the garrison to see Captain Gerard, whom the hotel man had told him had returned with his detachment theprevious day. 

He found the officer in his quarters. He was filled with surprise andpleasure at seeing Tarzan alive and well. 

"When Lieutenant Gernois returned and reported that he had not foundyou at the spot that you had chosen to remain while the detachment wasscouting, I was filled with alarm. We searched the mountain for days. Then came word that you had been killed and eaten by a lion. As proofyour gun was brought to us. Your horse had returned to camp the secondday after your disappearance. We could not doubt. Lieutenant Gernoiswas grief-stricken--he took all the blame upon himself. It was he whoinsisted on carrying on the search himself. It was he who found theArab with your gun. He will be delighted to know that you are safe. "

"Doubtless, " said Tarzan, with a grim smile. 

"He is down in the town now, or I should send for him, " continuedCaptain Gerard. "I shall tell him as soon as he returns. "

Tarzan let the officer think that he had been lost, wandering finallyinto the DOUAR of Kadour ben Saden, who had escorted him back to BouSaada. As soon as possible he bade the good officer adieu, andhastened back into the town. At the native inn he had learned throughKadour ben Saden a piece of interesting information. It told of ablack-bearded white man who went always disguised as an Arab. For atime he had nursed a broken wrist. More recently he had been away fromBou Saada, but now he was back, and Tarzan knew his place ofconcealment. It was for there he headed. 

Through narrow, stinking alleys, black as Erebus, he groped, and thenup a rickety stairway, at the end of which was a closed door and atiny, unglazed window. The window was high under the low eaves of themud building. Tarzan could just reach the sill. He raised himselfslowly until his eyes topped it. The room within was lighted, and at atable sat Rokoff and Gernois. Gernois was speaking. 

"Rokoff, you are a devil!" he was saying. "You have hounded me until Ihave lost the last shred of my honor. You have driven me to murder, for the blood of that man Tarzan is on my hands. If it were not thatthat other devil's spawn, Paulvitch, still knew my secret, I shouldkill you here tonight with my bare hands. "

Rokoff laughed. "You would not do that, my dear lieutenant, " he said. "The moment I am reported dead by assassination that dear Alexis willforward to the minister of war full proof of the affair you so ardentlylong to conceal; and, further, will charge you with my murder. Come, be sensible. I am your best friend. Have I not protected your honoras though it were my own?"

Gernois sneered, and spat out an oath. 

"Just one more little payment, " continued Rokoff, "and the papers Iwish, and you have my word of honor that I shall never ask another centfrom you, or further information. "

"And a good reason why, " growled Gernois. "What you ask will take mylast cent, and the only valuable military secret I hold. You ought tobe paying me for the information, instead of taking both it and money, too. "

"I am paying you by keeping a still tongue in my head, " retortedRokoff. "But let's have done. Will you, or will you not? I give youthree minutes to decide. If you are not agreeable I shall send a noteto your commandant tonight that will end in the degradation thatDreyfus suffered--the only difference being that he did not deserve it. "

For a moment Gernois sat with bowed head. At length he arose. He drewtwo pieces of paper from his blouse. 

"Here, " he said hopelessly. "I had them ready, for I knew that therecould be but one outcome. " He held them toward the Russian. 

Rokoff's cruel face lighted in malignant gloating. He seized the bitsof paper. 

"You have done well, Gernois, " he said. "I shall not trouble youagain--unless you happen to accumulate some more money or information, "and he grinned. 

"You never shall again, you dog!" hissed Gernois. "The next time Ishall kill you. I came near doing it tonight. For an hour I sat withthese two pieces of paper on my table before me ere I came here--besidethem lay my loaded revolver. I was trying to decide which I shouldbring. Next time the choice shall be easier, for I already havedecided. You had a close call tonight, Rokoff; do not tempt fate asecond time. "

Then Gernois rose to leave. Tarzan barely had time to drop to thelanding and shrink back into the shadows on the far side of the door. Even then he scarcely hoped to elude detection. The landing was verysmall, and though he flattened himself against the wall at its far edgehe was scarcely more than a foot from the doorway. Almost immediatelyit opened, and Gernois stepped out. Rokoff was behind him. Neitherspoke. Gernois had taken perhaps three steps down the stairway when hehalted and half turned, as though to retrace his steps. 

Tarzan knew that discovery would be inevitable. Rokoff still stood onthe threshold a foot from him, but he was looking in the oppositedirection, toward Gernois. Then the officer evidently reconsidered hisdecision, and resumed his downward course. Tarzan could hear Rokoff'ssigh of relief. A moment later the Russian went back into the room andclosed the door. 

Tarzan waited until Gernois had had time to get well out of hearing, then he pushed open the door and stepped into the room. He was on topof Rokoff before the man could rise from the chair where he satscanning the paper Gernois had given him. As his eyes turned and fellupon the ape-man's face his own went livid. 

"You!" he gasped. 

"I, " replied Tarzan. 

"What do you want?" whispered Rokoff, for the look in the ape-man'seyes frightened him. "Have you come to kill me? You do not dare. They would guillotine you. You do not dare kill me. "

"I dare kill you, Rokoff, " replied Tarzan, "for no one knows that youare here or that I am here, and Paulvitch would tell them that it wasGernois. I heard you tell Gernois so. But that would not influenceme, Rokoff. I would not care who knew that I had killed you; thepleasure of killing you would more than compensate for any punishmentthey might inflict upon me. You are the most despicable cur of acoward, Rokoff, I have ever heard of. You should be killed. I shouldlove to kill you, " and Tarzan approached closer to the man. 

Rokoff's nerves were keyed to the breaking point. With a shriek hesprang toward an adjoining room, but the ape-man was upon his backwhile his leap was yet but half completed. Iron fingers sought histhroat--the great coward squealed like a stuck pig, until Tarzan hadshut off his wind. Then the ape-man dragged him to his feet, stillchoking him. The Russian struggled futilely--he was like a babe in themighty grasp of Tarzan of the Apes. 

Tarzan sat him in a chair, and long before there was danger of theman's dying he released his hold upon his throat. When the Russian'scoughing spell had abated Tarzan spoke to him again. 

"I have given you a taste of the suffering of death, " he said. "But Ishall not kill--this time. I am sparing you solely for the sake of avery good woman whose great misfortune it was to have been born of thesame woman who gave birth to you. But I shall spare you only this onceon her account. Should I ever learn that you have again annoyed her orher husband--should you ever annoy me again--should I hear that youhave returned to France or to any French possession, I shall make it mysole business to hunt you down and complete the choking I commencedtonight. " Then he turned to the table, on which the two pieces ofpaper still lay. As he picked them up Rokoff gasped in horror. 

Tarzan examined both the check and the other. He was amazed at theinformation the latter contained. Rokoff had partially read it, butTarzan knew that no one could remember the salient facts and figures itheld which made it of real value to an enemy of France. 

"These will interest the chief of staff, " he said, as he slipped theminto his pocket. Rokoff groaned. He did not dare curse aloud. 

The next morning Tarzan rode north on his way to Bouira and Algiers. As he had ridden past the hotel Lieutenant Gernois was standing on theveranda. As his eyes discovered Tarzan he went white as chalk. Theape-man would have been glad had the meeting not occurred, but he couldnot avoid it. He saluted the officer as he rode past. MechanicallyGernois returned the salute, but those terrible, wide eyes followed thehorseman, expressionless except for horror. It was as though a deadman looked upon a ghost. 

At Sidi Aissa Tarzan met a French officer with whom he had becomeacquainted on the occasion of his recent sojourn in the town. 

"You left Bou Saada early?" questioned the officer. "Then you have notheard about poor Gernois. "

"He was the last man I saw as I rode away, " replied Tarzan. "Whatabout him?"

"He is dead. He shot himself about eight o'clock this morning. "

Two days later Tarzan reached Algiers. There he found that he wouldhave a two days' wait before he could catch a ship bound for Cape Town. He occupied his time in writing out a full report of his mission. Thesecret papers he had taken from Rokoff he did not inclose, for he didnot dare trust them out of his own possession until he had beenauthorized to turn them over to another agent, or himself return toParis with them. 

As Tarzan boarded his ship after what seemed a most tedious wait tohim, two men watched him from an upper deck. Both were fashionablydressed and smooth shaven. The taller of the two had sandy hair, buthis eyebrows were very black. Later in the day they chanced to meetTarzan on deck, but as one hurriedly called his companion's attentionto something at sea their faces were turned from Tarzan as he passed, so that he did not notice their features. In fact, he had paid noattention to them at all. 

Following the instructions of his chief, Tarzan had booked his passageunder an assumed name--John Caldwell, London. He did not understandthe necessity of this, and it caused him considerable speculation. Hewondered what role he was to play in Cape Town. 

"Well, " he thought, "thank Heaven that I am rid of Rokoff. He wascommencing to annoy me. I wonder if I am really becoming so civilizedthat presently I shall develop a set of nerves. He would give them tome if any one could, for he does not fight fair. One never knowsthrough what new agency he is going to strike. It is as though Numa, the lion, had induced Tantor, the elephant, and Histah, the snake, tojoin him in attempting to kill me. I would then never have known whatminute, or by whom, I was to be attacked next. But the brutes are morechivalrous than man--they do not stoop to cowardly intrigue. "

At dinner that night Tarzan sat next to a young woman whose place wasat the captain's left. The officer introduced them. 

Miss Strong! Where had he heard the name before? It was veryfamiliar. And then the girl's mother gave him the clew, for when sheaddressed her daughter she called her Hazel. 

Hazel Strong! What memories the name inspired. It had been a letterto this girl, penned by the fair hand of Jane Porter, that had carriedto him the first message from the woman he loved. How vividly herecalled the night he had stolen it from the desk in the cabin of hislong-dead father, where Jane Porter had sat writing it late into thenight, while he crouched in the darkness without. How terror-strickenshe would have been that night had she known that the wild jungle beastsquatted outside her window, watching her every move. 

And this was Hazel Strong--Jane Porter's best friend!

Chapter 12

Ships That Pass

Let us go back a few months to the little, windswept platform of arailway station in northern Wisconsin. The smoke of forest fires hangslow over the surrounding landscape, its acrid fumes smarting the eyesof a little party of six who stand waiting the coming of the train thatis to bear them away toward the south. 

Professor Archimedes Q. Porter, his hands clasped beneath the tails ofhis long coat, paces back and forth under the ever-watchful eye of hisfaithful secretary, Mr. Samuel T. Philander. Twice within the past fewminutes he has started absent-mindedly across the tracks in thedirection of a near-by swamp, only to be rescued and dragged back bythe tireless Mr. Philander. 

Jane Porter, the professor's daughter, is in strained and lifelessconversation with William Cecil Clayton and Tarzan of the Apes. Withinthe little waiting room, but a bare moment before, a confession of loveand a renunciation had taken place that had blighted the lives andhappiness of two of the party, but William Cecil Clayton, LordGreystoke, was not one of them. 

Behind Miss Porter hovered the motherly Esmeralda. She, too, washappy, for was she not returning to her beloved Maryland? Already shecould see dimly through the fog of smoke the murky headlight of theoncoming engine. The men began to gather up the hand baggage. Suddenly Clayton exclaimed. 

"By Jove! I've left my ulster in the waiting-room, " and hastened offto fetch it. 

"Good-bye, Jane, " said Tarzan, extending his hand. "God bless you!"

"Good-bye, " replied the girl faintly. "Try to forget me--no, notthat--I could not bear to think that you had forgotten me. "

"There is no danger of that, dear, " he answered. "I wish to Heaventhat I might forget. It would be so much easier than to go throughlife always remembering what might have been. You will be happy, though; I am sure you shall--you must be. You may tell the others ofmy decision to drive my car on to New York--I don't feel equal tobidding Clayton good-bye. I want always to remember him kindly, but Ifear that I am too much of a wild beast yet to be trusted too long withthe man who stands between me and the one person in all the world Iwant. "

As Clayton stooped to pick up his coat in the waiting room his eyesfell on a telegraph blank lying face down upon the floor. He stoopedto pick it up, thinking it might be a message of importance which someone had dropped. He glanced at it hastily, and then suddenly he forgothis coat, the approaching train--everything but that terrible littlepiece of yellow paper in his hand. He read it twice before he couldfully grasp the terrific weight of meaning that it bore to him. 

When he had picked it up he had been an English nobleman, the proud andwealthy possessor of vast estates--a moment later he had read it, andhe knew that he was an untitled and penniless beggar. It was D'Arnot'scablegram to Tarzan, and it read:

Finger prints prove you Greystoke. Congratulations. D'ARNOT. 

He staggered as though he had received a mortal blow. Just then heheard the others calling to him to hurry--the train was coming to astop at the little platform. Like a man dazed he gathered up hisulster. He would tell them about the cablegram when they were all onboard the train. Then he ran out upon the platform just as the enginewhistled twice in the final warning that precedes the first rumblingjerk of coupling pins. The others were on board, leaning out from theplatform of a Pullman, crying to him to hurry. Quite five minuteselapsed before they were settled in their seats, nor was it until thenthat Clayton discovered that Tarzan was not with them. 

"Where is Tarzan?" he asked Jane Porter. "In another car?"

"No, " she replied; "at the last minute he determined to drive hismachine back to New York. He is anxious to see more of America than ispossible from a car window. He is returning to France, you know. "

Clayton did not reply. He was trying to find the right words toexplain to Jane Porter the calamity that had befallen him--and her. Hewondered just what the effect of his knowledge would be on her. Wouldshe still wish to marry him--to be plain Mrs. Clayton? Suddenly theawful sacrifice which one of them must make loomed large before hisimagination. Then came the question: Will Tarzan claim his own? Theape-man had known the contents of the message before he calmly deniedknowledge of his parentage! He had admitted that Kala, the ape, washis mother! Could it have been for love of Jane Porter?

There was no other explanation which seemed reasonable. Then, havingignored the evidence of the message, was it not reasonable to assumethat he meant never to claim his birthright? If this were so, whatright had he, William Cecil Clayton, to thwart the wishes, to balk theself-sacrifice of this strange man? If Tarzan of the Apes could dothis thing to save Jane Porter from unhappiness, why should he, towhose care she was intrusting her whole future, do aught to jeopardizeher interests?

And so he reasoned until the first generous impulse to proclaim thetruth and relinquish his titles and his estates to their rightful ownerwas forgotten beneath the mass of sophistries which self-interest hadadvanced. But during the balance of the trip, and for many daysthereafter, he was moody and distraught. Occasionally the thoughtobtruded itself that possibly at some later day Tarzan would regret hismagnanimity, and claim his rights. 

Several days after they reached Baltimore Clayton broached the subjectof an early marriage to Jane. 

"What do you mean by early?" she asked. 

"Within the next few days. I must return to England at once--I wantyou to return with me, dear. "

"I can't get ready so soon as that, " replied Jane. "It will take awhole month, at least. "

She was glad, for she hoped that whatever called him to England mightstill further delay the wedding. She had made a bad bargain, but sheintended carrying her part loyally to the bitter end--if she couldmanage to secure a temporary reprieve, though, she felt that she waswarranted in doing so. His reply disconcerted her. 

"Very well, Jane, " he said. "I am disappointed, but I shall let mytrip to England wait a month; then we can go back together. "

But when the month was drawing to a close she found still anotherexcuse upon which to hang a postponement, until at last, discouragedand doubting, Clayton was forced to go back to England alone. 

The several letters that passed between them brought Clayton no nearerto a consummation of his hopes than he had been before, and so it wasthat he wrote directly to Professor Porter, and enlisted his services. The old man had always favored the match. He liked Clayton, and, beingof an old southern family, he put rather an exaggerated value on theadvantages of a title, which meant little or nothing to his daughter. 

Clayton urged that the professor accept his invitation to be his guestin London, an invitation which included the professor's entire littlefamily--Mr. Philander, Esmeralda, and all. The Englishman argued thatonce Jane was there, and home ties had been broken, she would not sodread the step which she had so long hesitated to take. 

So the evening that he received Clayton's letter Professor Porterannounced that they would leave for London the following week. 

But once in London Jane Porter was no more tractable than she had beenin Baltimore. She found one excuse after another, and when, finally, Lord Tennington invited the party to cruise around Africa in his yacht, she expressed the greatest delight in the idea, but absolutely refusedto be married until they had returned to London. As the cruise was toconsume a year at least, for they were to stop for indefinite periodsat various points of interest, Clayton mentally anathematizedTennington for ever suggesting such a ridiculous trip. 

It was Lord Tennington's plan to cruise through the Mediterranean, andthe Red Sea to the Indian Ocean, and thus down the East Coast, puttingin at every port that was worth the seeing. 

And so it happened that on a certain day two vessels passed in theStrait of Gibraltar. The smaller, a trim white yacht, was speedingtoward the east, and on her deck sat a young woman who gazed with sadeyes upon a diamond-studded locket which she idly fingered. Herthoughts were far away, in the dim, leafy fastness of a tropicaljungle--and her heart was with her thoughts. 

She wondered if the man who had given her the beautiful bauble, thathad meant so much more to him than the intrinsic value which he had noteven known could ever have meant to him, was back in his savage forest. 

And upon the deck of the larger vessel, a passenger steamer passingtoward the east, the man sat with another young woman, and the two idlyspeculated upon the identity of the dainty craft gliding so gracefullythrough the gentle swell of the lazy sea. 

When the yacht had passed the man resumed the conversation that herappearance had broken off. 

"Yes, " he said, "I like America very much, and that means, of course, that I like Americans, for a country is only what its people make it. I met some very delightful people while I was there. I recall onefamily from your own city, Miss Strong, whom I likedparticularly--Professor Porter and his daughter. "

"Jane Porter!" exclaimed the girl. "Do you mean to tell me that youknow Jane Porter? Why, she is the very best friend I have in theworld. We were little children together--we have known each other forages. "

"Indeed!" he answered, smiling. "You would have difficulty inpersuading any one of the fact who had seen either of you. "

"I'll qualify the statement, then, " she answered, with a laugh. "Wehave known each other for two ages--hers and mine. But seriously weare as dear to each other as sisters, and now that I am going to loseher I am almost heartbroken. "

"Going to lose her?" exclaimed Tarzan. "Why, what do you mean? Oh, yes, I understand. You mean that now that she is married and living inEngland, you will seldom if ever see her. "

"Yes, " replied she; "and the saddest part of it all is that she is notmarrying the man she loves. Oh, it is terrible. Marrying from a senseof duty! I think it is perfectly wicked, and I told her so. I havefelt so strongly on the subject that although I was the only personoutside of blood relations who was to have been asked to the wedding Iwould not let her invite me, for I should not have gone to witness theterrible mockery. But Jane Porter is peculiarly positive. She hasconvinced herself that she is doing the only honorable thing that shecan do, and nothing in the world will ever prevent her from marryingLord Greystoke except Greystoke himself, or death. "

"I am sorry for her, " said Tarzan. 

"And I am sorry for the man she loves, " said the girl, "for he lovesher. I never met him, but from what Jane tells me he must be a verywonderful person. It seems that he was born in an African jungle, andbrought up by fierce, anthropoid apes. He had never seen a white manor woman until Professor Porter and his party were marooned on thecoast right at the threshold of his tiny cabin. He saved them from allmanner of terrible beasts, and accomplished the most wonderful featsimaginable, and then to cap the climax he fell in love with Jane andshe with him, though she never really knew it for sure until she hadpromised herself to Lord Greystoke. "

"Most remarkable, " murmured Tarzan, cudgeling his brain for somepretext upon which to turn the subject. He delighted in hearing HazelStrong talk of Jane, but when he was the subject of the conversation hewas bored and embarrassed. But he was soon given a respite, for thegirl's mother joined them, and the talk became general. 

The next few days passed uneventfully. The sea was quiet. The sky wasclear. The steamer plowed steadily on toward the south without pause. Tarzan spent quite a little time with Miss Strong and her mother. Theywhiled away their hours on deck reading, talking, or taking pictureswith Miss Strong's camera. When the sun had set they walked. 

One day Tarzan found Miss Strong in conversation with a stranger, a manhe had not seen on board before. As he approached the couple the manbowed to the girl and turned to walk away. 

"Wait, Monsieur Thuran, " said Miss Strong; "you must meet Mr. Caldwell. We are all fellow passengers, and should be acquainted. "

The two men shook hands. As Tarzan looked into the eyes of MonsieurThuran he was struck by the strange familiarity of their expression. 

"I have had the honor of monsieur's acquaintance in the past, I amsure, " said Tarzan, "though I cannot recall the circumstances. "

Monsieur Thuran appeared ill at ease. 

"I cannot say, monsieur, " he replied. "It may be so. I have had thatidentical sensation myself when meeting a stranger. "

"Monsieur Thuran has been explaining some of the mysteries ofnavigation to me, " explained the girl. 

Tarzan paid little heed to the conversation that ensued--he wasattempting to recall where he had met Monsieur Thuran before. That ithad been under peculiar circumstances he was positive. Presently thesun reached them, and the girl asked Monsieur Thuran to move her chairfarther back into the shade. Tarzan happened to be watching the man atthe time, and noticed the awkward manner in which he handled thechair--his left wrist was stiff. That clew was sufficient--a suddentrain of associated ideas did the rest. 

Monsieur Thuran had been trying to find an excuse to make a gracefuldeparture. The lull in the conversation following the moving of theirposition gave him an opportunity to make his excuses. Bowing low toMiss Strong, and inclining his head to Tarzan, he turned to leave them. 

"Just a moment, " said Tarzan. "If Miss Strong will pardon me I willaccompany you. I shall return in a moment, Miss Strong. "

Monsieur Thuran looked uncomfortable. When the two men had passed outof the girl's sight, Tarzan stopped, laying a heavy hand on the other'sshoulder. 

"What is your game now, Rokoff?" he asked. 

"I am leaving France as I promised you, " replied the other, in a surlyvoice. 

"I see you are, " said Tarzan; "but I know you so well that I canscarcely believe that your being on the same boat with me is purely acoincidence. If I could believe it the fact that you are in disguisewould immediately disabuse my mind of any such idea. "

"Well, " growled Rokoff, with a shrug, "I cannot see what you are goingto do about it. This vessel flies the English flag. I have as muchright on board her as you, and from the fact that you are booked underan assumed name I imagine that I have more right. "

"We will not discuss it, Rokoff. All I wanted to say to you is thatyou must keep away from Miss Strong--she is a decent woman. "

Rokoff turned scarlet. 

"If you don't I shall pitch you overboard, " continued Tarzan. "Do notforget that I am just waiting for some excuse. " Then he turned on hisheel, and left Rokoff standing there trembling with suppressed rage. 

He did not see the man again for days, but Rokoff was not idle. In hisstateroom with Paulvitch he fumed and swore, threatening the mostterrible of revenges. 

"I would throw him overboard tonight, " he cried, "were I sure thatthose papers were not on his person. I cannot chance pitching theminto the ocean with him. If you were not such a stupid coward, Alexis, you would find a way to enter his stateroom and search for thedocuments. "

Paulvitch smiled. "You are supposed to be the brains of thispartnership, my dear Nikolas, " he replied. "Why do you not find themeans to search Monsieur Caldwell's stateroom--eh?"

Two hours later fate was kind to them, for Paulvitch, who was ever onthe watch, saw Tarzan leave his room without locking the door. Fiveminutes later Rokoff was stationed where he could give the alarm incase Tarzan returned, and Paulvitch was deftly searching the contentsof the ape-man's luggage. 

He was about to give up in despair when he saw a coat which Tarzan hadjust removed. A moment later he grasped an official envelope in hishand. A quick glance at its contents brought a broad smile to theRussian's face. 

When he left the stateroom Tarzan himself could not have told that anarticle in it had been touched since he left it--Paulvitch was a pastmaster in his chosen field. When he handed the packet to Rokoff in theseclusion of their stateroom the larger man rang for a steward, andordered a pint of champagne. 

"We must celebrate, my dear Alexis, " he said. 

"It was luck, Nikolas, " explained Paulvitch. "It is evident that hecarries these papers always upon his person--just by chance heneglected to transfer them when he changed coats a few minutes since. But there will be the deuce to pay when he discovers his loss. I amafraid that he will immediately connect you with it. Now that he knowsthat you are on board he will suspect you at once. "

"It will make no difference whom he suspects--after to-night, " saidRokoff, with a nasty grin. 

After Miss Strong had gone below that night Tarzan stood leaning overthe rail looking far out to sea. Every night he had done this since hehad come on board--sometimes he stood thus for an hour. And the eyesthat had been watching his every movement since he had boarded the shipat Algiers knew that this was his habit. 

Even as he stood there this night those eyes were on him. Presentlythe last straggler had left the deck. It was a clear night, but therewas no moon--objects on deck were barely discernible. 

From the shadows of the cabin two figures crept stealthily upon theape-man from behind. The lapping of the waves against the ship'ssides, the whirring of the propeller, the throbbing of the engines, drowned the almost soundless approach of the two. 

They were quite close to him now, and crouching low, like tacklers on agridiron. One of them raised his hand and lowered it, as thoughcounting off seconds--one--two--three! As one man the two leaped fortheir victim. Each grasped a leg, and before Tarzan of the Apes, lightning though he was, could turn to save himself he had been pitchedover the low rail and was falling into the Atlantic. 

Hazel Strong was looking from her darkened port across the dark sea. Suddenly a body shot past her eyes from the deck above. It dropped soquickly into the dark waters below that she could not be sure of whatit was--it might have been a man, she could not say. She listened forsome outcry from above--for the always-fearsome call, "Man overboard!"but it did not come. All was silence on the ship above--all wassilence in the sea below. 

The girl decided that she had but seen a bundle of refuse thrownoverboard by one of the ship's crew, and a moment later sought herberth. 

Chapter 13

The Wreck of the "Lady Alice"

The next morning at breakfast Tarzan's place was vacant. Miss Strongwas mildly curious, for Mr. Caldwell had always made it a point to waitthat he might breakfast with her and her mother. As she was sitting ondeck later Monsieur Thuran paused to exchange a half dozen pleasantwords with her. He seemed in most excellent spirits--his manner wasthe extreme of affability. As he passed on Miss Strong thought what avery delightful man was Monsieur Thuran. 

The day dragged heavily. She missed the quiet companionship of Mr. Caldwell--there had been something about him that had made the girllike him from the first; he had talked so entertainingly of the placeshe had seen--the peoples and their customs--the wild beasts; and he hadalways had a droll way of drawing striking comparisons between savageanimals and civilized men that showed a considerable knowledge of theformer, and a keen, though somewhat cynical, estimate of the latter. 

When Monsieur Thuran stopped again to chat with her in the afternoonshe welcomed the break in the day's monotony. But she had begun tobecome seriously concerned in Mr. Caldwell's continued absence;somehow she constantly associated it with the start she had had thenight before, when the dark object fell past her port into the sea. Presently she broached the subject to Monsieur Thuran. Had he seen Mr. Caldwell today? He had not. Why?

"He was not at breakfast as usual, nor have I seen him once sinceyesterday, " explained the girl. 

Monsieur Thuran was extremely solicitous. 

"I did not have the pleasure of intimate acquaintance with Mr. Caldwell, " he said. "He seemed a most estimable gentleman, however. Can it be that he is indisposed, and has remained in his stateroom? Itwould not be strange. "

"No, " replied the girl, "it would not be strange, of course; but forsome inexplicable reason I have one of those foolish femininepresentiments that all is not right with Mr. Caldwell. It is thestrangest feeling--it is as though I knew that he was not on board theship. "

Monsieur Thuran laughed pleasantly. "Mercy, my dear Miss Strong, " hesaid; "where in the world could he be then? We have not been withinsight of land for days. "

"Of course, it is ridiculous of me, " she admitted. And then: "But I amnot going to worry about it any longer; I am going to find out whereMr. Caldwell is, " and she motioned to a passing steward. 

"That may be more difficult than you imagine, my dear girl, " thoughtMonsieur Thuran, but aloud he said: "By all means. "

"Find Mr. Caldwell, please, " she said to the steward, "and tell himthat his friends are much worried by his continued absence. "

"You are very fond of Mr. Caldwell?" suggested Monsieur Thuran. 

"I think he is splendid, " replied the girl. "And mamma is perfectlyinfatuated with him. He is the sort of man with whom one has a feelingof perfect security--no one could help but have confidence in Mr. Caldwell. "

A moment later the steward returned to say that Mr. Caldwell was not inhis stateroom. "I cannot find him, Miss Strong, and"--he hesitated--"Ihave learned that his berth was not occupied last night. I think thatI had better report the matter to the captain. "

"Most assuredly, " exclaimed Miss Strong. "I shall go with you to thecaptain myself. It is terrible! I know that something awful hashappened. My presentiments were not false, after all. "

It was a very frightened young woman and an excited steward whopresented themselves before the captain a few moments later. Helistened to their stories in silence--a look of concern marking hisexpression as the steward assured him that he had sought for themissing passenger in every part of the ship that a passenger might beexpected to frequent. 

"And are you sure, Miss Strong, that you saw a body fall overboard lastnight?" he asked. 

"There is not the slightest doubt about that, " she answered. "I cannotsay that it was a human body--there was no outcry. It might have beenonly what I thought it was--a bundle of refuse. But if Mr. Caldwell isnot found on board I shall always be positive that it was he whom I sawfall past my port. "

The captain ordered an immediate and thorough search of the entire shipfrom stem to stern--no nook or cranny was to be overlooked. MissStrong remained in his cabin, waiting the outcome of the quest. Thecaptain asked her many questions, but she could tell him nothing aboutthe missing man other than what she had herself seen during their briefacquaintance on shipboard. For the first time she suddenly realizedhow very little indeed Mr. Caldwell had told her about himself or hispast life. That he had been born in Africa and educated in Paris wasabout all she knew, and this meager information had been the result ofher surprise that an Englishman should speak English with such a markedFrench accent. 

"Did he ever speak of any enemies?" asked the captain. 

"Never. "

"Was he acquainted with any of the other passengers?"

"Only as he had been with me--through the circumstance of casualmeeting as fellow shipmates. "

"Er--was he, in your opinion, Miss Strong, a man who drank to excess?"

"I do not know that he drank at all--he certainly had not been drinkingup to half an hour before I saw that body fall overboard, " sheanswered, "for I was with him on deck up to that time. "

"It is very strange, " said the captain. "He did not look to me like aman who was subject to fainting spells, or anything of that sort. Andeven had he been it is scarcely credible that he should have fallencompletely over the rail had he been taken with an attack while leaningupon it--he would rather have fallen inside, upon the deck. If he isnot on board, Miss Strong, he was thrown overboard--and the fact thatyou heard no outcry would lead to the assumption that he was deadbefore he left the ship's deck--murdered. "

The girl shuddered. 

It was a full hour later that the first officer returned to report theoutcome of the search. 

"Mr. Caldwell is not on board, sir, " he said. 

"I fear that there is something more serious than accident here, Mr. Brently, " said the captain. "I wish that you would make a personal andvery careful examination of Mr. Caldwell's effects, to ascertain ifthere is any clew to a motive either for suicide or murder--sift thething to the bottom. "

"Aye, aye, sir!" responded Mr. Brently, and left to commence hisinvestigation. 

Hazel Strong was prostrated. For two days she did not leave her cabin, and when she finally ventured on deck she was very wan and white, withgreat, dark circles beneath her eyes. Waking or sleeping, it seemedthat she constantly saw that dark body dropping, swift and silent, intothe cold, grim sea. 

Shortly after her first appearance on deck following the tragedy, Monsieur Thuran joined her with many expressions of kindly solicitude. 

"Oh, but it is terrible, Miss Strong, " he said. "I cannot rid my mindof it. "

"Nor I, " said the girl wearily. "I feel that he might have been savedhad I but given the alarm. "

"You must not reproach yourself, my dear Miss Strong, " urged MonsieurThuran. "It was in no way your fault. Another would have done as youdid. Who would think that because something fell into the sea from aship that it must necessarily be a man? Nor would the outcome havebeen different had you given an alarm. For a while they would havedoubted your story, thinking it but the nervous hallucination of awoman--had you insisted it would have been too late to have rescued himby the time the ship could have been brought to a stop, and the boatslowered and rowed back miles in search of the unknown spot where thetragedy had occurred. No, you must not censure yourself. You havedone more than any other of us for poor Mr. Caldwell--you were the onlyone to miss him. It was you who instituted the search. "

The girl could not help but feel grateful to him for his kind andencouraging words. He was with her often--almost constantly for theremainder of the voyage--and she grew to like him very much indeed. Monsieur Thuran had learned that the beautiful Miss Strong, ofBaltimore, was an American heiress--a very wealthy girl in her ownright, and with future prospects that quite took his breath away whenhe contemplated them, and since he spent most of his time in thatdelectable pastime it is a wonder that he breathed at all. 

It had been Monsieur Thuran's intention to leave the ship at the firstport they touched after the disappearance of Tarzan. Did he not havein his coat pocket the thing he had taken passage upon this very boatto obtain? There was nothing more to detain him here. He could notreturn to the Continent fast enough, that he might board the firstexpress for St. Petersburg. 

But now another idea had obtruded itself, and was rapidly crowding hisoriginal intentions into the background. That American fortune was notto be sneezed at, nor was its possessor a whit less attractive. 

"SAPRISTI! but she would cause a sensation in St. Petersburg. " And hewould, too, with the assistance of her inheritance. 

After Monsieur Thuran had squandered a few million dollars, hediscovered that the vocation was so entirely to his liking that hewould continue on down to Cape Town, where he suddenly decided that hehad pressing engagements that might detain him there for some time. 

Miss Strong had told him that she and her mother were to visit thelatter's brother there--they had not decided upon the duration of theirstay, and it would probably run into months. 

She was delighted when she found that Monsieur Thuran was to be therealso. 

"I hope that we shall be able to continue our acquaintance, " she said. "You must call upon mamma and me as soon as we are settled. "

Monsieur Thuran was delighted at the prospect, and lost no time insaying so. Mrs. Strong was not quite so favorably impressed by him asher daughter. 

"I do not know why I should distrust him, " she said to Hazel one day asthey were discussing him. "He seems a perfect gentleman in everyrespect, but sometimes there is something about his eyes--a fleetingexpression which I cannot describe, but which when I see it gives me avery uncanny feeling. "

The girl laughed. "You are a silly dear, mamma, " she said. 

"I suppose so, but I am sorry that we have not poor Mr. Caldwell forcompany instead. "

"And I, too, " replied her daughter. 

Monsieur Thuran became a frequent visitor at the home of Hazel Strong'suncle in Cape Town. His attentions were very marked, but they were sopunctiliously arranged to meet the girl's every wish that she came todepend upon him more and more. Did she or her mother or a cousinrequire an escort--was there a little friendly service to be rendered, the genial and ubiquitous Monsieur Thuran was always available. Heruncle and his family grew to like him for his unfailing courtesy andwillingness to be of service. Monsieur Thuran was becomingindispensable. At length, feeling the moment propitious, he proposed. Miss Strong was startled. She did not know what to say. 

"I had never thought that you cared for me in any such way, " she toldhim. "I have looked upon you always as a very dear friend. I shallnot give you my answer now. Forget that you have asked me to be yourwife. Let us go on as we have been--then I can consider you from anentirely different angle for a time. It may be that I shall discoverthat my feeling for you is more than friendship. I certainly have notthought for a moment that I loved you. "

This arrangement was perfectly satisfactory to Monsieur Thuran. Hedeeply regretted that he had been hasty, but he had loved her for solong a time, and so devotedly, that he thought that every one must knowit. 

"From the first time I saw you, Hazel, " he said, "I have loved you. Iam willing to wait, for I am certain that so great and pure a love asmine will be rewarded. All that I care to know is that you do not loveanother. Will you tell me?"

"I have never been in love in my life, " she replied, and he was quitesatisfied. On the way home that night he purchased a steam yacht, andbuilt a million-dollar villa on the Black Sea. 

The next day Hazel Strong enjoyed one of the happiest surprises of herlife--she ran face to face upon Jane Porter as she was coming out of ajeweler's shop. 

"Why, Jane Porter!" she exclaimed. "Where in the world did you dropfrom? Why, I can't believe my own eyes. "

"Well, of all things!" cried the equally astonished Jane. "And here Ihave been wasting whole reams of perfectly good imagination picturingyou in Baltimore--the very idea!" And she threw her arms about herfriend once more, and kissed her a dozen times. 

By the time mutual explanations had been made Hazel knew that LordTennington's yacht had put in at Cape Town for at least a week's stay, and at the end of that time was to continue on her voyage--this time upthe West Coast--and so back to England. "Where, " concluded Jane, "I amto be married. "

"Then you are not married yet?" asked Hazel. 

"Not yet, " replied Jane, and then, quite irrelevantly, "I wish Englandwere a million miles from here. "

Visits were exchanged between the yacht and Hazel's relatives. Dinnerswere arranged, and trips into the surrounding country to entertain thevisitors. Monsieur Thuran was a welcome guest at every function. Hegave a dinner himself to the men of the party, and managed toingratiate himself in the good will of Lord Tennington by many littleacts of hospitality. 

Monsieur Thuran had heard dropped a hint of something which mightresult from this unexpected visit of Lord Tennington's yacht, and hewanted to be counted in on it. Once when he was alone with theEnglishman he took occasion to make it quite plain that his engagementto Miss Strong was to be announced immediately upon their return toAmerica. "But not a word of it, my dear Tennington--not a word of it. "

"Certainly, I quite understand, my dear fellow, " Tennington hadreplied. "But you are to be congratulated--ripping girl, don't youknow--really. "

The next day it came. Mrs. Strong, Hazel, and Monsieur Thuran wereLord Tennington's guests aboard his yacht. Mrs. Strong had beentelling them how much she had enjoyed her visit at Cape Town, and thatshe regretted that a letter just received from her attorneys inBaltimore had necessitated her cutting her visit shorter than they hadintended. 

"When do you sail?" asked Tennington. 

"The first of the week, I think, " she replied. "Indeed?" exclaimedMonsieur Thuran. "I am very fortunate. I, too, have found that I mustreturn at once, and now I shall have the honor of accompanying andserving you. "

"That is nice of you, Monsieur Thuran, " replied Mrs. Strong. "I amsure that we shall be glad to place ourselves under your protection. "But in the bottom of her heart was the wish that they might escape him. Why, she could not have told. 

"By Jove!" ejaculated Lord Tennington, a moment later. "Bully idea, byJove!"

"Yes, Tennington, of course, " ventured Clayton; "it must be a bullyidea if you had it, but what the deuce is it? Goin' to steam to Chinavia the south pole?"

"Oh, I say now, Clayton, " returned Tennington, "you needn't be so roughon a fellow just because you didn't happen to suggest this tripyourself--you've acted a regular bounder ever since we sailed. 

"No, sir, " he continued, "it's a bully idea, and you'll all say so. It's to take Mrs. Strong and Miss Strong, and Thuran, too, if he'llcome, as far as England with us on the yacht. Now, isn't that acorker?"

"Forgive me, Tenny, old boy, " cried Clayton. "It certainly IS acorking idea--I never should have suspected you of it. You're quitesure it's original, are you?"

"And we'll sail the first of the week, or any other time that suitsyour convenience, Mrs. Strong, " concluded the big-hearted Englishman, as though the thing were all arranged except the sailing date. 

"Mercy, Lord Tennington, you haven't even given us an opportunity tothank you, much less decide whether we shall be able to accept yourgenerous invitation, " said Mrs. Strong. 

"Why, of course you'll come, " responded Tennington. "We'll make asgood time as any passenger boat, and you'll be fully as comfortable;and, anyway, we all want you, and won't take no for an answer. "

And so it was settled that they should sail the following Monday. 

Two days out the girls were sitting in Hazel's cabin, looking at someprints she had had finished in Cape Town. They represented all thepictures she had taken since she had left America, and the girls wereboth engrossed in them, Jane asking many questions, and Hazel keepingup a perfect torrent of comment and explanation of the various scenesand people. 

"And here, " she said suddenly, "here's a man you know. Poor fellow, Ihave so often intended asking you about him, but I never have been ableto think of it when we were together. " She was holding the little printso that Jane did not see the face of the man it portrayed. 

"His name was John Caldwell, " continued Hazel. "Do you recall him? Hesaid that he met you in America. He is an Englishman. "

"I do not recollect the name, " replied Jane. "Let me see the picture. ""The poor fellow was lost overboard on our trip down the coast, " shesaid, as she handed the print to Jane. 

"Lost over--Why, Hazel, Hazel--don't tell me that he is dead--drownedat sea! Hazel! Why don't you say that you are joking!" And before theastonished Miss Strong could catch her Jane Porter had slipped to thefloor in a swoon. 

After Hazel had restored her chum to consciousness she sat looking ather for a long time before either spoke. 

"I did not know, Jane, " said Hazel, in a constrained voice, "that youknew Mr. Caldwell so intimately that his death could prove such a shockto you. "

"John Caldwell?" questioned Miss Porter. "You do not mean to tell methat you do not know who this man was, Hazel?"

"Why, yes, Jane; I know perfectly well who he was--his name was JohnCaldwell; he was from London. "

"Oh, Hazel, I wish I could believe it, " moaned the girl. "I wish Icould believe it, but those features are burned so deep into my memoryand my heart that I should recognize them anywhere in the world fromamong a thousand others, who might appear identical to any one but me. "

"What do you mean, Jane?" cried Hazel, now thoroughly alarmed. "Who doyou think it is?"

"I don't think, Hazel. I know that that is a picture of Tarzan of theApes. "

"Jane!"

"I cannot be mistaken. Oh, Hazel, are you sure that he is dead? Canthere be no mistake?"

"I am afraid not, dear, " answered Hazel sadly. "I wish I could thinkthat you are mistaken, but now a hundred and one little pieces ofcorroborative evidence occur to me that meant nothing to me while Ithought that he was John Caldwell, of London. He said that he had beenborn in Africa, and educated in France. "

"Yes, that would be true, " murmured Jane Porter dully. 

"The first officer, who searched his luggage, found nothing to identifyJohn Caldwell, of London. Practically all his belongings had beenmade, or purchased, in Paris. Everything that bore an initial wasmarked either with a 'T' alone, or with 'J. C. T. ' We thought that hewas traveling incognito under his first two names--the J. C. Standingfor John Caldwell. "

"Tarzan of the Apes took the name Jean C. Tarzan, " said Jane, in thesame lifeless monotone. "And he is dead! Oh! Hazel, it is horrible!He died all alone in this terrible ocean! It is unbelievable that thatbrave heart should have ceased to beat--that those mighty muscles arequiet and cold forever! That he who was the personification of lifeand health and manly strength should be the prey of slimy, crawlingthings, that--" But she could go no further, and with a little moanshe buried her head in her arms, and sank sobbing to the floor. 

For days Miss Porter was ill, and would see no one except Hazel and thefaithful Esmeralda. When at last she came on deck all were struck bythe sad change that had taken place in her. She was no longer thealert, vivacious American beauty who had charmed and delighted all whocame in contact with her. Instead she was a very quiet and sad littlegirl--with an expression of hopeless wistfulness that none but HazelStrong could interpret. 

The entire party strove their utmost to cheer and amuse her, but all tono avail. Occasionally the jolly Lord Tennington would wring a wansmile from her, but for the most part she sat with wide eyes lookingout across the sea. 

With Jane Porter's illness one misfortune after another seemed toattack the yacht. First an engine broke down, and they drifted for twodays while temporary repairs were being made. Then a squall struckthem unaware, that carried overboard nearly everything above deck thatwas portable. Later two of the seamen fell to fighting in theforecastle, with the result that one of them was badly wounded with aknife, and the other had to be put in irons. Then, to cap the climax, the mate fell overboard at night, and was drowned before help couldreach him. The yacht cruised about the spot for ten hours, but no signof the man was seen after he disappeared from the deck into the sea. 

Every member of the crew and guests was gloomy and depressed afterthese series of misfortunes. All were apprehensive of worse to come, and this was especially true of the seamen who recalled all sorts ofterrible omens and warnings that had occurred during the early part ofthe voyage, and which they could now clearly translate into theprecursors of some grim and terrible tragedy to come. 

Nor did the croakers have long to wait. The second night after thedrowning of the mate the little yacht was suddenly wracked from stem tostern. About one o'clock in the morning there was a terrific impactthat threw the slumbering guests and crew from berth and bunk. Amighty shudder ran through the frail craft; she lay far over tostarboard; the engines stopped. For a moment she hung there with herdecks at an angle of forty-five degrees--then, with a sullen, rendingsound, she slipped back into the sea and righted. 

Instantly the men rushed upon deck, followed closely by the women. Though the night was cloudy, there was little wind or sea, nor was itso dark but that just off the port bow a black mass could be discernedfloating low in the water. 

"A derelict, " was the terse explanation of the officer of the watch. 

Presently the engineer hurried on deck in search of the captain. 

"That patch we put on the cylinder head's blown out, sir, " he reported, "and she's makin' water fast for'ard on the port bow. "

An instant later a seaman rushed up from below. 

"My Gawd!" he cried. "Her whole bleedin' bottom's ripped out. Shecan't float twenty minutes. "

"Shut up!" roared Tennington. "Ladies, go below and get some of yourthings together. It may not be so bad as that, but we may have to taketo the boats. It will be safer to be prepared. Go at once, please. And, Captain Jerrold, send some competent man below, please, toascertain the exact extent of the damage. In the meantime I mightsuggest that you have the boats provisioned. "

The calm, low voice of the owner did much to reassure the entire party, and a moment later all were occupied with the duties he had suggested. By the time the ladies had returned to the deck the rapid provisioningof the boats had been about completed, and a moment later the officerwho had gone below had returned to report. But his opinion wasscarcely needed to assure the huddled group of men and women that theend of the LADY ALICE was at hand. 

"Well, sir?" said the captain, as his officer hesitated. 

"I dislike to frighten the ladies, sir, " he said, "but she can't floata dozen minutes, in my opinion. There's a hole in her you could drivea bally cow through, sir. "

For five minutes the LADY ALICE had been settling rapidly by the bow. Already her stern loomed high in the air, and foothold on the deck wasof the most precarious nature. She carried four boats, and these wereall filled and lowered away in safety. As they pulled rapidly from thestricken little vessel Jane Porter turned to have one last look at her. Just then there came a loud crash and an ominous rumbling and poundingfrom the heart of the ship--her machinery had broken loose, and wasdashing its way toward the bow, tearing out partitions and bulkheads asit went--the stern rose rapidly high above them; for a moment sheseemed to pause there--a vertical shaft protruding from the bosom ofthe ocean, and then swiftly she dove headforemost beneath the waves. 

In one of the boats the brave Lord Tennington wiped a tear from hiseye--he had not seen a fortune in money go down forever into the sea, but a dear, beautiful friend whom he had loved. 

At last the long night broke, and a tropical sun smote down upon therolling water. Jane Porter had dropped into a fitful slumber--thefierce light of the sun upon her upturned face awoke her. She lookedabout her. In the boat with her were three sailors, Clayton, andMonsieur Thuran. Then she looked for the other boats, but as far asthe eye could reach there was nothing to break the fearful monotony ofthat waste of waters--they were alone in a small boat upon the broadAtlantic. 

Chapter 14

Back to the Primitive

As Tarzan struck the water, his first impulse was to swim clear of theship and possible danger from her propellers. He knew whom to thankfor his present predicament, and as he lay in the sea, just supportinghimself by a gentle movement of his hands, his chief emotion was one ofchagrin that he had been so easily bested by Rokoff. 

He lay thus for some time, watching the receding and rapidlydiminishing lights of the steamer without it ever once occurring to himto call for help. He never had called for help in his life, and so itis not strange that he did not think of it now. Always had he dependedupon his own prowess and resourcefulness, nor had there ever been sincethe days of Kala any to answer an appeal for succor. When it did occurto him it was too late. 

There was, thought Tarzan, a possible one chance in a hundred thousandthat he might be picked up, and an even smaller chance that he wouldreach land, so he determined that to combine what slight chances therewere, he would swim slowly in the direction of the coast--the shipmight have been closer in than he had known. 

His strokes were long and easy--it would be many hours before thosegiant muscles would commence to feel fatigue. As he swam, guidedtoward the east by the stars, he noticed that he felt the weight of hisshoes, and so he removed them. His trousers went next, and he wouldhave removed his coat at the same time but for the precious papers inits pocket. To assure himself that he still had them he slipped hishand in to feel, but to his consternation they were gone. 

Now he knew that something more than revenge had prompted Rokoff topitch him overboard--the Russian had managed to obtain possession ofthe papers Tarzan had wrested from him at Bou Saada. The ape-man sworesoftly, and let his coat and shirt sink into the Atlantic. Before manyhours he had divested himself of his remaining garments, and wasswimming easily and unencumbered toward the east. 

The first faint evidence of dawn was paling the stars ahead of him whenthe dim outlines of a low-lying black mass loomed up directly in histrack. A few strong strokes brought him to its side--it was the bottomof a wave-washed derelict. Tarzan clambered upon it--he would restthere until daylight at least. He had no intention to remain thereinactive--a prey to hunger and thirst. If he must die he preferreddying in action while making some semblance of an attempt to savehimself. 

The sea was quiet, so that the wreck had only a gently undulatingmotion, that was nothing to the swimmer who had had no sleep for twentyhours. Tarzan of the Apes curled up upon the slimy timbers, and wassoon asleep. 

The heat of the sun awoke him early in the forenoon. His firstconscious sensation was of thirst, which grew almost to the proportionsof suffering with full returning consciousness; but a moment later itwas forgotten in the joy of two almost simultaneous discoveries. Thefirst was a mass of wreckage floating beside the derelict in the midstof which, bottom up, rose and fell an overturned lifeboat; the otherwas the faint, dim line of a far-distant shore showing on the horizonin the east. 

Tarzan dove into the water, and swam around the wreck to the lifeboat. The cool ocean refreshed him almost as much as would a draft of water, so that it was with renewed vigor that he brought the smaller boatalongside the derelict, and, after many herculean efforts, succeeded indragging it onto the slimy ship's bottom. There he righted andexamined it--the boat was quite sound, and a moment later floatedupright alongside the wreck. Then Tarzan selected several pieces ofwreckage that might answer him as paddles, and presently was makinggood headway toward the far-off shore. 

It was late in the afternoon by the time he came close enough todistinguish objects on land, or to make out the contour of the shoreline. Before him lay what appeared to be the entrance to a little, landlocked harbor. The wooded point to the north was strangelyfamiliar. Could it be possible that fate had thrown him up at the verythreshold of his own beloved jungle! But as the bow of his boatentered the mouth of the harbor the last shred of doubt was clearedaway, for there before him upon the farther shore, under the shadows ofhis primeval forest, stood his own cabin--built before his birth by thehand of his long-dead father, John Clayton, Lord Greystoke. 

With long sweeps of his giant muscles Tarzan sent the little craftspeeding toward the beach. Its prow had scarcely touched when theape-man leaped to shore--his heart beat fast in joy and exultation aseach long-familiar object came beneath his roving eyes--the cabin, thebeach, the little brook, the dense jungle, the black, impenetrableforest. The myriad birds in their brilliant plumage--the gorgeoustropical blooms upon the festooned creepers falling in great loops fromthe giant trees. 

Tarzan of the Apes had come into his own again, and that all the worldmight know it he threw back his young head, and gave voice to thefierce, wild challenge of his tribe. For a moment silence reigned uponthe jungle, and then, low and weird, came an answering challenge--itwas the deep roar of Numa, the lion; and from a great distance, faintly, the fearsome answering bellow of a bull ape. 

Tarzan went to the brook first, and slaked his thirst. Then heapproached his cabin. The door was still closed and latched as he andD'Arnot had left it. He raised the latch and entered. Nothing hadbeen disturbed; there were the table, the bed, and the little cribbuilt by his father--the shelves and cupboards just as they had stoodfor ever twenty-three years--just as he had left them nearly two yearsbefore. 

His eyes satisfied, Tarzan's stomach began to call aloud forattention--the pangs of hunger suggested a search for food. There wasnothing in the cabin, nor had he any weapons; but upon a wall hung oneof his old grass ropes. It had been many times broken and spliced, sothat he had discarded it for a better one long before. Tarzan wishedthat he had a knife. Well, unless he was mistaken he should have thatand a spear and bows and arrows before another sun had set--the ropewould take care of that, and in the meantime it must be made to procurefood for him. He coiled it carefully, and, throwing it about hisshoulder, went out, closing the door behind him. 

Close to the cabin the jungle commenced, and into it Tarzan of the Apesplunged, wary and noiseless--once more a savage beast hunting its food. For a time he kept to the ground, but finally, discovering no spoorindicative of nearby meat, he took to the trees. With the first dizzyswing from tree to tree all the old joy of living swept over him. Vainregrets and dull heartache were forgotten. Now was he living. Now, indeed, was the true happiness of perfect freedom his. Who would goback to the stifling, wicked cities of civilized man when the mightyreaches of the great jungle offered peace and liberty? Not he. 

While it was yet light Tarzan came to a drinking place by the side of ajungle river. There was a ford there, and for countless ages thebeasts of the forest had come down to drink at this spot. Here of anight might always be found either Sabor or Numa crouching in the densefoliage of the surrounding jungle awaiting an antelope or a water buckfor their meal. Here came Horta, the boar, to water, and here cameTarzan of the Apes to make a kill, for he was very empty. 

On a low branch he squatted above the trail. For an hour he waited. It was growing dark. A little to one side of the ford in the densestthicket he heard the faint sound of padded feet, and the brushing of ahuge body against tall grasses and tangled creepers. None other thanTarzan might have heard it, but the ape-man heard and translated--itwas Numa, the lion, on the same errand as himself. Tarzan smiled. 

Presently he heard an animal approaching warily along the trail towardthe drinking place. A moment more and it came in view--it was Horta, the boar. Here was delicious meat--and Tarzan's mouth watered. Thegrasses where Numa lay were very still now--ominously still. Hortapassed beneath Tarzan--a few more steps and he would be within theradius of Numa's spring. Tarzan could imagine how old Numa's eyes wereshining--how he was already sucking in his breath for the awful roarwhich would freeze his prey for the brief instant between the moment ofthe spring and the sinking of terrible fangs into splintering bones. 

But as Numa gathered himself, a slender rope flew through the air fromthe low branches of a near-by tree. A noose settled about Horta'sneck. There was a frightened grunt, a squeal, and then Numa saw hisquarry dragged backward up the trail, and, as he sprang, Horta, theboar, soared upward beyond his clutches into the tree above, and amocking face looked down and laughed into his own. 

Then indeed did Numa roar. Angry, threatening, hungry, he paced backand forth beneath the taunting ape-man. Now he stopped, and, rising onhis hind legs against the stem of the tree that held his enemy, sharpened his huge claws upon the bark, tearing out great pieces thatlaid bare the white wood beneath. 

And in the meantime Tarzan had dragged the struggling Horta to the limbbeside him. Sinewy fingers completed the work the choking noose hadcommenced. The ape-man had no knife, but nature had equipped him withthe means of tearing his food from the quivering flank of his prey, andgleaming teeth sank into the succulent flesh while the raging lionlooked on from below as another enjoyed the dinner that he had thoughtalready his. 

It was quite dark by the time Tarzan had gorged himself. Ah, but ithad been delicious! Never had he quite accustomed himself to theruined flesh that civilized men had served him, and in the bottom ofhis savage heart there had constantly been the craving for the warmmeat of the fresh kill, and the rich, red blood. 

He wiped his bloody hands upon a bunch of leaves, slung the remains ofhis kill across his shoulder, and swung off through the middle terraceof the forest toward his cabin, and at the same instant Jane Porter andWilliam Cecil Clayton arose from a sumptuous dinner upon the LADYALICE, thousands of miles to the east, in the Indian Ocean. 

Beneath Tarzan walked Numa, the lion, and when the ape-man deigned toglance downward he caught occasional glimpses of the baleful green eyesfollowing through the darkness. Numa did not roar now--instead, hemoved stealthily, like the shadow of a great cat; but yet he took nostep that did not reach the sensitive ears of the ape-man. 

Tarzan wondered if he would stalk him to his cabin door. He hoped not, for that would mean a night's sleep curled in the crotch of a tree, andhe much preferred the bed of grasses within his own abode. But he knewjust the tree and the most comfortable crotch, if necessity demandedthat he sleep out. A hundred times in the past some great jungle cathad followed him home, and compelled him to seek shelter in this sametree, until another mood or the rising sun had sent his enemy away. 

But presently Numa gave up the chase and, with a series ofblood-curdling moans and roars, turned angrily back in search ofanother and an easier dinner. So Tarzan came to his cabin unattended, and a few moments later was curled up in the mildewed remnants of whathad once been a bed of grasses. Thus easily did Monsieur Jean C. Tarzan slough the thin skin of his artificial civilization, and sinkhappy and contented into the deep sleep of the wild beast that has fedto repletion. Yet a woman's "yes" would have bound him to that otherlife forever, and made the thought of this savage existence repulsive. 

Tarzan slept late into the following forenoon, for he had been verytired from the labors and exertion of the long night and day upon theocean, and the jungle jaunt that had brought into play muscles that hehad scarce used for nearly two years. When he awoke he ran to thebrook first to drink. Then he took a plunge into the sea, swimmingabout for a quarter of an hour. Afterward he returned to his cabin, and breakfasted off the flesh of Horta. This done, he buried thebalance of the carcass in the soft earth outside the cabin, for hisevening meal. 

Once more he took his rope and vanished into the jungle. This time hehunted nobler quarry--man; although had you asked him his own opinionhe could have named a dozen other denizens of the jungle which heconsidered far the superiors in nobility of the men he hunted. TodayTarzan was in quest of weapons. He wondered if the women and childrenhad remained in Mbonga's village after the punitive expedition from theFrench cruiser had massacred all the warriors in revenge for D'Arnot'ssupposed death. He hoped that he should find warriors there, for heknew not how long a quest he should have to make were the villagedeserted. 

The ape-man traveled swiftly through the forest, and about noon came tothe site of the village, but to his disappointment found that thejungle had overgrown the plantain fields and that the thatched huts hadfallen in decay. There was no sign of man. He clambered about amongthe ruins for half an hour, hoping that he might discover someforgotten weapon, but his search was without fruit, and so he took uphis quest once more, following up the stream, which flowed from asoutheasterly direction. He knew that near fresh water he would bemost likely to find another settlement. 

As he traveled he hunted as he had hunted with his ape people in thepast, as Kala had taught him to hunt, turning over rotted logs to findsome toothsome vermin, running high into the trees to rob a bird'snest, or pouncing upon a tiny rodent with the quickness of a cat. There were other things that he ate, too, but the less detailed theaccount of an ape's diet, the better--and Tarzan was again an ape, thesame fierce, brutal anthropoid that Kala had taught him to be, and thathe had been for the first twenty years of his life. 

Occasionally he smiled as he recalled some friend who might even at themoment be sitting placid and immaculate within the precincts of hisselect Parisian club--just as Tarzan had sat but a few months before;and then he would stop, as though turned suddenly to stone as thegentle breeze carried to his trained nostrils the scent of some newprey or a formidable enemy. 

That night he slept far inland from his cabin, securely wedged into thecrotch of a giant tree, swaying a hundred feet above the ground. Hehad eaten heartily again--this time from the flesh of Bara, the deer, who had fallen prey to his quick noose. 

Early the next morning he resumed his journey, always following thecourse of the stream. For three days he continued his quest, until hehad come to a part of the jungle in which he never before had been. Occasionally upon the higher ground the forest was much thinner, and inthe far distance through the trees he could see ranges of mightymountains, with wide plains in the foreground. Here, in the openspaces, were new game--countless antelope and vast herds of zebra. Tarzan was entranced--he would make a long visit to this new world. 

On the morning of the fourth day his nostrils were suddenly surprisedby a faint new scent. It was the scent of man, but yet a long way off. The ape-man thrilled with pleasure. Every sense was on the alert aswith crafty stealth he moved quickly through the trees, up-wind, in thedirection of his prey. Presently he came upon it--a lone warriortreading softly through the jungle. 

Tarzan followed close above his quarry, waiting for a clearer space inwhich to hurl his rope. As he stalked the unconscious man, newthoughts presented themselves to the ape-man--thoughts born of therefining influences of civilization, and of its cruelties. It came tohim that seldom if ever did civilized man kill a fellow being withoutsome pretext, however slight. It was true that Tarzan wished thisman's weapons and ornaments, but was it necessary to take his life toobtain them?

The longer he thought about it, the more repugnant became the thoughtof taking human life needlessly; and thus it happened that while he wastrying to decide just what to do, they had come to a little clearing, at the far side of which lay a palisaded village of beehive huts. 

As the warrior emerged from the forest, Tarzan caught a fleetingglimpse of a tawny hide worming its way through the matted junglegrasses in his wake--it was Numa, the lion. He, too, was stalking theblack man. With the instant that Tarzan realized the native's dangerhis attitude toward his erstwhile prey altered completely--now he was afellow man threatened by a common enemy. 

Numa was about to charge--there was little time in which to comparevarious methods or weigh the probable results of any. And then anumber of things happened, almost simultaneously--the lion sprang fromhis ambush toward the retreating black--Tarzan cried out inwarning--and the black turned just in time to see Numa halted inmid-flight by a slender strand of grass rope, the noosed end of whichhad fallen cleanly about his neck. 

The ape-man had acted so quickly that he had been unable to preparehimself to withstand the strain and shock of Numa's great weight uponthe rope, and so it was that though the rope stopped the beast beforehis mighty talons could fasten themselves in the flesh of the black, the strain overbalanced Tarzan, who came tumbling to the ground not sixpaces from the infuriated animal. Like lightning Numa turned upon thisnew enemy, and, defenseless as he was, Tarzan of the Apes was nearer todeath that instant than he ever before had been. It was the black whosaved him. The warrior realized in an instant that he owed his life tothis strange white man, and he also saw that only a miracle could savehis preserver from those fierce yellow fangs that had been so near tohis own flesh. 

With the quickness of thought his spear arm flew back, and then shotforward with all the force of the sinewy muscles that rolled beneaththe shimmering ebon hide. True to its mark the iron-shod weapon flew, transfixing Numa's sleek carcass from the right groin to beneath theleft shoulder. With a hideous scream of rage and pain the brute turnedagain upon the black. A dozen paces he had gone when Tarzan's ropebrought him to a stand once more--then he wheeled again upon theape-man, only to feel the painful prick of a barbed arrow as it sankhalf its length in his quivering flesh. Again he stopped, and by thistime Tarzan had run twice around the stem of a great tree with hisrope, and made the end fast. 

The black saw the trick, and grinned, but Tarzan knew that Numa must bequickly finished before those mighty teeth had found and parted theslender cord that held him. It was a matter of but an instant to reachthe black's side and drag his long knife from its scabbard. Then hesigned the warrior to continue to shoot arrows into the great beastwhile he attempted to close in upon him with the knife; so as onetantalized upon one side, the other sneaked cautiously in upon theother. Numa was furious. He raised his voice in a perfect frenzy ofshrieks, growls, and hideous moans, the while he reared upon his hindlegs in futile attempt to reach first one and then the other of histormentors. 

But at length the agile ape-man saw his chance, and rushed in upon thebeast's left side behind the mighty shoulder. A giant arm encircledthe tawny throat, and a long blade sank once, true as a die, into thefierce heart. Then Tarzan arose, and the black man and the whitelooked into each other's eyes across the body of their kill--and theblack made the sign of peace and friendship, and Tarzan of the Apesanswered in kind. 

Chapter 15

From Ape to Savage

The noise of their battle with Numa had drawn an excited horde ofsavages from the nearby village, and a moment after the lion's deaththe two men were surrounded by lithe, ebon warriors, gesticulating andjabbering--a thousand questions that drowned each ventured reply. 

And then the women came, and the children--eager, curious, and, atsight of Tarzan, more questioning than ever. The ape-man's new friendfinally succeeded in making himself heard, and when he had done talkingthe men and women of the village vied with one another in doing honorto the strange creature who had saved their fellow and battledsingle-handed with fierce Numa. 

At last they led him back to their village, where they brought himgifts of fowl, and goats, and cooked food. When he pointed to theirweapons the warriors hastened to fetch spear, shield, arrows, and abow. His friend of the encounter presented him with the knife withwhich he had killed Numa. There was nothing in all the village hecould not have had for the asking. 

How much easier this was, thought Tarzan, than murder and robbery tosupply his wants. How close he had been to killing this man whom henever had seen before, and who now was manifesting by every primitivemeans at his command friendship and affection for his would-be slayer. Tarzan of the Apes was ashamed. Hereafter he would at least wait untilhe knew men deserved it before he thought of killing them. 

The idea recalled Rokoff to his mind. He wished that he might have theRussian to himself in the dark jungle for a few minutes. There was aman who deserved killing if ever any one did. And if he could haveseen Rokoff at that moment as he assiduously bent every endeavor to thepleasant task of ingratiating himself into the affections of thebeautiful Miss Strong, he would have longed more than ever to mete outto the man the fate he deserved. 

Tarzan's first night with the savages was devoted to a wild orgy in hishonor. There was feasting, for the hunters had brought in an antelopeand a zebra as trophies of their skill, and gallons of the weak nativebeer were consumed. As the warriors danced in the firelight, Tarzanwas again impressed by the symmetry of their figures and the regularityof their features--the flat noses and thick lips of the typical WestCoast savage were entirely missing. In repose the faces of the menwere intelligent and dignified, those of the women ofttimesprepossessing. 

It was during this dance that the ape-man first noticed that some ofthe men and many of the women wore ornaments of gold--principallyanklets and armlets of great weight, apparently beaten out of the solidmetal. When he expressed a wish to examine one of these, the ownerremoved it from her person and insisted, through the medium of signs, that Tarzan accept it as a gift. A close scrutiny of the baubleconvinced the ape-man that the article was of virgin gold, and he wassurprised, for it was the first time that he had ever seen goldenornaments among the savages of Africa, other than the trifling baublesthose near the coast had purchased or stolen from Europeans. He triedto ask them from whence the metal came, but he could not make themunderstand. 

When the dance was done Tarzan signified his intention to leave them, but they almost implored him to accept the hospitality of a great hutwhich the chief set apart for his sole use. He tried to explain thathe would return in the morning, but they could not understand. When hefinally walked away from them toward the side of the village oppositethe gate, they were still further mystified as to his intentions. 

Tarzan, however, knew just what he was about. In the past he had hadexperience with the rodents and vermin that infest every nativevillage, and, while he was not overscrupulous about such matters, hemuch preferred the fresh air of the swaying trees to the fetidatmosphere of a hut. 

The natives followed him to where a great tree overhung the palisade, and as Tarzan leaped for a lower branch and disappeared into thefoliage above, precisely after the manner of Manu, the monkey, therewere loud exclamations of surprise and astonishment. For half an hourthey called to him to return, but as he did not answer them they atlast desisted, and sought the sleeping-mats within their huts. 

Tarzan went back into the forest a short distance until he had found atree suited to his primitive requirements, and then, curling himself ina great crotch, he fell immediately into a deep sleep. 

The following morning he dropped into the village street as suddenly ashe had disappeared the preceding night. For a moment the natives werestartled and afraid, but when they recognized their guest of the nightbefore they welcomed him with shouts and laughter. That day heaccompanied a party of warriors to the nearby plains on a great hunt, and so dexterous did they find this white man with their own crudeweapons that another bond of respect and admiration was thereby wrought. 

For weeks Tarzan lived with his savage friends, hunting buffalo, antelope, and zebra for meat, and elephant for ivory. Quickly helearned their simple speech, their native customs, and the ethics oftheir wild, primitive tribal life. He found that they were notcannibals--that they looked with loathing and contempt upon men who atemen. 

Busuli, the warrior whom he had stalked to the village, told him manyof the tribal legends--how, many years before, his people had come manylong marches from the north; how once they had been a great andpowerful tribe; and how the slave raiders had wrought such havoc amongthem with their death-dealing guns that they had been reduced to a mereremnant of their former numbers and power. 

"They hunted us down as one hunts a fierce beast, " said Busuli. "Therewas no mercy in them. When it was not slaves they sought it was ivory, but usually it was both. Our men were killed and our women driven awaylike sheep. We fought against them for many years, but our arrows andspears could not prevail against the sticks which spit fire and leadand death to many times the distance that our mightiest warrior couldplace an arrow. At last, when my father was a young man, the Arabscame again, but our warriors saw them a long way off, and Chowambi, whowas chief then, told his people to gather up their belongings and comeaway with him--that he would lead them far to the south until theyfound a spot to which the Arab raiders did not come. 

"And they did as he bid, carrying all their belongings, including manytusks of ivory. For months they wandered, suffering untold hardshipsand privations, for much of the way was through dense jungle, andacross mighty mountains, but finally they came to this spot, andalthough they sent parties farther on to search for an even betterlocation, none has ever been found. "

"And the raiders have never found you here?" asked Tarzan. 

"About a year ago a small party of Arabs and Manyuema stumbled upon us, but we drove them off, killing many. For days we followed them, stalking them for the wild beasts they are, picking them off one byone, until but a handful remained, but these escaped us. "

As Busuli talked he fingered a heavy gold armlet that encircled theglossy hide of his left arm. Tarzan's eyes had been upon the ornament, but his thoughts were elsewhere. Presently he recalled the question hehad tried to ask when he first came to the tribe--the question he couldnot at that time make them understand. For weeks he had forgotten sotrivial a thing as gold, for he had been for the time a truly primevalman with no thought beyond today. But of a sudden the sight of goldawakened the sleeping civilization that was in him, and with it camethe lust for wealth. That lesson Tarzan had learned well in his briefexperience of the ways of civilized man. He knew that gold meant powerand pleasure. He pointed to the bauble. 

"From whence came the yellow metal, Busuli?" he asked. 

The black pointed toward the southeast. 

"A moon's march away--maybe more, " he replied. 

"Have you been there?" asked Tarzan. 

"No, but some of our people were there years ago, when my father wasyet a young man. One of the parties that searched farther for alocation for the tribe when first they settled here came upon a strangepeople who wore many ornaments of yellow metal. Their spears weretipped with it, as were their arrows, and they cooked in vessels madeall of solid metal like my armlet. 

"They lived in a great village in huts that were built of stone andsurrounded by a great wall. They were very fierce, rushing out andfalling upon our warriors before ever they learned that their errandwas a peaceful one. Our men were few in number, but they held theirown at the top of a little rocky hill, until the fierce people wentback at sunset into their wicked city. Then our warriors came downfrom their hill, and, after taking many ornaments of yellow metal fromthe bodies of those they had slain, they marched back out of thevalley, nor have any of us ever returned. 

"They are wicked people--neither white like you nor black like me, butcovered with hair as is Bolgani, the gorilla. Yes, they are very badpeople indeed, and Chowambi was glad to get out of their country. "

"And are none of those alive who were with Chowambi, and saw thesestrange people and their wonderful city?" asked Tarzan. 

"Waziri, our chief, was there, " replied Busuli. "He was a very youngman then, but he accompanied Chowambi, who was his father. "

So that night Tarzan asked Waziri about it, and Waziri, who was now anold man, said that it was a long march, but that the way was notdifficult to follow. He remembered it well. 

"For ten days we followed this river which runs beside our village. Uptoward its source we traveled until on the tenth day we came to alittle spring far up upon the side of a lofty mountain range. In thislittle spring our river is born. The next day we crossed over the topof the mountain, and upon the other side we came to a tiny rivuletwhich we followed down into a great forest. For many days we traveledalong the winding banks of the rivulet that had now become a river, until we came to a greater river, into which it emptied, and which randown the center of a mighty valley. 

"Then we followed this large river toward its source, hoping to come tomore open land. After twenty days of marching from the time we hadcrossed the mountains and passed out of our own country we came againto another range of mountains. Up their side we followed the greatriver, that had now dwindled to a tiny rivulet, until we came to alittle cave near the mountain-top. In this cave was the mother of theriver. 

"I remember that we camped there that night, and that it was very cold, for the mountains were high. The next day we decided to ascend to thetop of the mountains, and see what the country upon the other sidelooked like, and if it seemed no better than that which we had so fartraversed we would return to our village and tell them that they hadalready found the best place in all the world to live. 

"And so we clambered up the face of the rocky cliffs until we reachedthe summit, and there from a flat mountain-top we saw, not far beneathus, a shallow valley, very narrow; and upon the far side of it was agreat village of stone, much of which had fallen and crumbled intodecay. "

The balance of Waziri's story was practically the same as that whichBusuli had told. 

"I should like to go there and see this strange city, " said Tarzan, "and get some of their yellow metal from its fierce inhabitants. "

"It is a long march, " replied Waziri, "and I am an old man, but if youwill wait until the rainy season is over and the rivers have gone downI will take some of my warriors and go with you. "

And Tarzan had to be contented with that arrangement, though he wouldhave liked it well enough to have set off the next morning--he was asimpatient as a child. Really Tarzan of the Apes was but a child, or aprimeval man, which is the same thing in a way. 

The next day but one a small party of hunters returned to the villagefrom the south to report a large herd of elephant some miles away. Byclimbing trees they had had a fairly good view of the herd, which theydescribed as numbering several large tuskers, a great many cows andcalves, and full-grown bulls whose ivory would be worth having. 

The balance of the day and evening was filled with preparation for agreat hunt--spears were overhauled, quivers were replenished, bows wererestrung; and all the while the village witch doctor passed through thebusy throngs disposing of various charms and amulets designed toprotect the possessor from hurt, or bring him good fortune in themorrow's hunt. 

At dawn the hunters were off. There were fifty sleek, black warriors, and in their midst, lithe and active as a young forest god, strodeTarzan of the Apes, his brown skin contrasting oddly with the ebony ofhis companions. Except for color he was one of them. His ornamentsand weapons were the same as theirs--he spoke their language--helaughed and joked with them, and leaped and shouted in the brief wilddance that preceded their departure from the village, to all intent andpurpose a savage among savages. Nor, had he questioned himself, is itto be doubted that he would have admitted that he was far more closelyallied to these people and their life than to the Parisian friendswhose ways, apelike, he had successfully mimicked for a few shortmonths. 

But he did think of D'Arnot, and a grin of amusement showed his strongwhite teeth as he pictured the immaculate Frenchman's expression couldhe by some means see Tarzan as he was that minute. Poor Paul, who hadprided himself on having eradicated from his friend the last traces ofwild savagery. "How quickly have I fallen!" thought Tarzan; but in hisheart he did not consider it a fall--rather, he pitied the poorcreatures of Paris, penned up like prisoners in their silly clothes, and watched by policemen all their poor lives, that they might donothing that was not entirely artificial and tiresome. 

A two hours' march brought them close to the vicinity in which theelephants had been seen the previous day. From there on they movedvery quietly indeed searching for the spoor of the great beasts. Atlength they found the well-marked trail along which the herd had passednot many hours before. In single file they followed it for about halfan hour. It was Tarzan who first raised his hand in signal that thequarry was at hand--his sensitive nose had warned him that theelephants were not far ahead of them. 

The blacks were skeptical when he told them how he knew. 

"Come with me, " said Tarzan, "and we shall see. "

With the agility of a squirrel he sprang into a tree and ran nimbly tothe top. One of the blacks followed more slowly and carefully. Whenhe had reached a lofty limb beside the ape-man the latter pointed tothe south, and there, some few hundred yards away, the black saw anumber of huge black backs swaying back and forth above the top of thelofty jungle grasses. He pointed the direction to the watchers below, indicating with his fingers the number of beasts he could count. 

Immediately the hunters started toward the elephants. The black in thetree hastened down, but Tarzan stalked, after his own fashion, alongthe leafy way of the middle terrace. 

It is no child's play to hunt wild elephants with the crude weapons ofprimitive man. Tarzan knew that few native tribes ever attempted it, and the fact that his tribe did so gave him no little pride--already hewas commencing to think of himself as a member of the little community. As Tarzan moved silently through the trees he saw the warriors belowcreeping in a half circle upon the still unsuspecting elephants. Finally they were within sight of the great beasts. Now they singledout two large tuskers, and at a signal the fifty men rose from theground where they had lain concealed, and hurled their heavy war spearsat the two marked beasts. There was not a single miss; twenty-fivespears were embedded in the sides of each of the giant animals. Onenever moved from the spot where it stood when the avalanche of spearsstruck it, for two, perfectly aimed, had penetrated its heart, and itlunged forward upon its knees, rolling to the ground without a struggle. 

The other, standing nearly head-on toward the hunters, had not provedso good a mark, and though every spear struck not one entered the greatheart. For a moment the huge bull stood trumpeting in rage and pain, casting about with its little eyes for the author of its hurt. Theblacks had faded into the jungle before the weak eyes of the monsterhad fallen upon any of them, but now he caught the sound of theirretreat, and, amid a terrific crashing of underbrush and branches, hecharged in the direction of the noise. 

It so happened that chance sent him in the direction of Busuli, whom hewas overtaking so rapidly that it was as though the black were standingstill instead of racing at full speed to escape the certain death whichpursued him. Tarzan had witnessed the entire performance from thebranches of a nearby tree, and now that he saw his friend's peril heraced toward the infuriated beast with loud cries, hoping to distracthim. 

But it had been as well had he saved his breath, for the brute was deafand blind to all else save the particular object of his rage that racedfutilely before him. And now Tarzan saw that only a miracle could saveBusuli, and with the same unconcern with which he had once hunted thisvery man he hurled himself into the path of the elephant to save theblack warrior's life. 

He still grasped his spear, and while Tantor was yet six or eight pacesbehind his prey, a sinewy white warrior dropped as from the heavens, almost directly in his path. With a vicious lunge the elephant swervedto the right to dispose of this temerarious foeman who dared intervenebetween himself and his intended victim; but he had not reckoned on thelightning quickness that could galvanize those steel muscles intoaction so marvelously swift as to baffle even a keener eyesight thanTantor's. 

And so it happened that before the elephant realized that his new enemyhad leaped from his path Tarzan had driven his iron-shod spear frombehind the massive shoulder straight into the fierce heart, and thecolossal pachyderm had toppled to his death at the feet of the ape-man. 

Busuli had not beheld the manner of his deliverance, but Waziri, theold chief, had seen, and several of the other warriors, and they hailedTarzan with delight as they swarmed about him and his great kill. Whenhe leaped upon the mighty carcass, and gave voice to the weirdchallenge with which he announced a great victory, the blacks shrankback in fear, for to them it marked the brutal Bolgani, whom theyfeared fully as much as they feared Numa, the lion; but with a fearwith which was mixed a certain uncanny awe of the manlike thing towhich they attributed supernatural powers. 

But when Tarzan lowered his raised head and smiled upon them they werereassured, though they did not understand. Nor did they ever fullyunderstand this strange creature who ran through the trees as quicklyas Manu, yet was even more at home upon the ground than themselves; whowas except as to color like unto themselves, yet as powerful as ten ofthem, and singlehanded a match for the fiercest denizens of the fiercejungle. 

When the remainder of the warriors had gathered, the hunt was againtaken up and the stalking of the retreating herd once more begun; butthey had covered a bare hundred yards when from behind them, at a greatdistance, sounded faintly a strange popping. 

For an instant they stood like a group of statuary, intently listening. Then Tarzan spoke. 

"Guns!" he said. "The village is being attacked. "

"Come!" cried Waziri. "The Arab raiders have returned with theircannibal slaves for our ivory and our women!"

Chapter 16

The Ivory Raiders

Waziri's warriors marched at a rapid trot through the jungle in thedirection of the village. For a few minutes, the sharp cracking ofguns ahead warned them to haste, but finally the reports dwindled to anoccasional shot, presently ceasing altogether. Nor was this lessominous than the rattle of musketry, for it suggested but a singlesolution to the little band of rescuers--that the illy garrisonedvillage had already succumbed to the onslaught of a superior force. 

The returning hunters had covered a little more than three miles of thefive that had separated them from the village when they met the firstof the fugitives who had escaped the bullets and clutches of the foe. There were a dozen women, youths, and girls in the party, and soexcited were they that they could scarce make themselves understood asthey tried to relate to Waziri the calamity that had befallen hispeople. 

"They are as many as the leaves of the forest, " cried one of the women, in attempting to explain the enemy's force. "There are many Arabs andcountless Manyuema, and they all have guns. They crept close to thevillage before we knew that they were about, and then, with manyshouts, they rushed in upon us, shooting down men, and women, andchildren. Those of us who could fled in all directions into thejungle, but more were killed. I do not know whether they took anyprisoners or not--they seemed only bent upon killing us all. TheManyuema called us many names, saying that they would eat us all beforethey left our country--that this was our punishment for killing theirfriends last year. I did not hear much, for I ran away quickly. "

The march toward the village was now resumed, more slowly and withgreater stealth, for Waziri knew that it was too late to rescue--theironly mission could be one of revenge. Inside the next mile a hundredmore fugitives were met. There were many men among these, and so thefighting strength of the party was augmented. 

Now a dozen warriors were sent creeping ahead to reconnoiter. Waziriremained with the main body, which advanced in a thin line that spreadin a great crescent through the forest. By the chief's side walkedTarzan. 

Presently one of the scouts returned. He had come within sight of thevillage. 

"They are all within the palisade, " he whispered. 

"Good!" said Waziri. "We shall rush in upon them and slay them all, "and he made ready to send word along the line that they were to halt atthe edge of the clearing until they saw him rush toward thevillage--then all were to follow. 

"Wait!" cautioned Tarzan. "If there are even fifty guns within thepalisade we shall be repulsed and slaughtered. Let me go alone throughthe trees, so that I may look down upon them from above, and see justhow many there be, and what chance we might have were we to charge. Itwere foolish to lose a single man needlessly if there be no hope ofsuccess. I have an idea that we can accomplish more by cunning than byforce. Will you wait, Waziri?"

"Yes, " said the old chief. "Go!"

So Tarzan sprang into the trees and disappeared in the direction of thevillage. He moved more cautiously than was his wont, for he knew thatmen with guns could reach him quite as easily in the treetops as on theground. And when Tarzan of the Apes elected to adopt stealth, nocreature in all the jungle could move so silently or so completelyefface himself from the sight of an enemy. 

In five minutes he had wormed his way to the great tree that overhungthe palisade at one end of the village, and from his point of vantagelooked down upon the savage horde beneath. He counted fifty Arabs andestimated that there were five times as many Manyuema. The latter weregorging themselves upon food and, under the very noses of their whitemasters, preparing the gruesome feast which is the PIECE DE RESISTANCEthat follows a victory in which the bodies of their slain enemies fallinto their horrid hands. 

The ape-man saw that to charge that wild horde, armed as they were withguns, and barricaded behind the locked gates of the village, would be afutile task, and so he returned to Waziri and advised him to wait; thathe, Tarzan, had a better plan. 

But a moment before one of the fugitives had related to Waziri thestory of the atrocious murder of the old chief's wife, and so crazedwith rage was the old man that he cast discretion to the winds. Calling his warriors about him, he commanded them to charge, and, withbrandishing spears and savage yells, the little force of scarcely morethan a hundred dashed madly toward the village gates. Before theclearing had been half crossed the Arabs opened up a withering firefrom behind the palisade. 

With the first volley Waziri fell. The speed of the chargersslackened. Another volley brought down a half dozen more. A fewreached the barred gates, only to be shot in their tracks, without theghost of a chance to gain the inside of the palisade, and then thewhole attack crumpled, and the remaining warriors scampered back intothe forest. As they ran the raiders opened the gates, rushing afterthem, to complete the day's work with the utter extermination of thetribe. Tarzan had been among the last to turn back toward the forest, and now, as he ran slowly, he turned from time to time to speed awell-aimed arrow into the body of a pursuer. 

Once within the jungle, he found a little knot of determined blackswaiting to give battle to the oncoming horde, but Tarzan cried to themto scatter, keeping out of harm's way until they could gather in forceafter dark. 

"Do as I tell you, " he urged, "and I will lead you to victory overthese enemies of yours. Scatter through the forest, picking up as manystragglers as you can find, and at night, if you think that you havebeen followed, come by roundabout ways to the spot where we killed theelephants today. Then I will explain my plan, and you will find thatit is good. You cannot hope to pit your puny strength and simpleweapons against the numbers and the guns of the Arabs and the Manyuema. "

They finally assented. "When you scatter, " explained Tarzan, inconclusion, "your foes will have to scatter to follow you, and so itmay happen that if you are watchful you can drop many a Manyuema withyour arrows from behind some great trees. "

They had barely time to hasten away farther into the forest before thefirst of the raiders had crossed the clearing and entered it in pursuitof them. 

Tarzan ran a short distance along the ground before he took to thetrees. Then he raced quickly to the upper terrace, there doubling onhis tracks and making his way rapidly back toward the village. Here hefound that every Arab and Manyuema had joined in the pursuit, leavingthe village deserted except for the chained prisoners and a singleguard. 

The sentry stood at the open gate, looking in the direction of theforest, so that he did not see the agile giant that dropped to theground at the far end of the village street. With drawn bow theape-man crept stealthily toward his unsuspecting victim. The prisonershad already discovered him, and with wide eyes filled with wonder andwith hope they watched their would-be rescuer. Now he halted not tenpaces from the unconscious Manyuema. The shaft was drawn back its fulllength at the height of the keen gray eye that sighted along itspolished surface. There was a sudden twang as the brown fingersreleased their hold, and without a sound the raider sank forward uponhis face, a wooden shaft transfixing his heart and protruding a footfrom his black chest. 

Then Tarzan turned his attention to the fifty women and youths chainedneck to neck on the long slave chain. There was no releasing of theancient padlocks in the time that was left him, so the ape-man calledto them to follow him as they were, and, snatching the gun andcartridge belt from the dead sentry, he led the now happy band outthrough the village gate and into the forest upon the far side of theclearing. 

It was a slow and arduous march, for the slave chain was new to thesepeople, and there were many delays as one of their number would stumbleand fall, dragging others down with her. Then, too, Tarzan had beenforced to make a wide detour to avoid any possibility of meeting withreturning raiders. He was partially guided by occasional shots whichindicated that the Arab horde was still in touch with the villagers;but he knew that if they would but follow his advice there would be butfew casualties other than on the side of the marauders. 

Toward dusk the firing ceased entirely, and Tarzan knew that the Arabshad all returned to the village. He could scarce repress a smile oftriumph as he thought of their rage on discovering that their guard hadbeen killed and their prisoners taken away. Tarzan had wished that hemight have taken some of the great store of ivory the villagecontained, solely for the purpose of still further augmenting the wrathof his enemies; but he knew that that was not necessary for itssalvation, since he already had a plan mapped out which wouldeffectually prevent the Arabs leaving the country with a single tusk. And it would have been cruel to have needlessly burdened these poor, overwrought women with the extra weight of the heavy ivory. 

It was after midnight when Tarzan, with his slow-moving caravan, approached the spot where the elephants lay. Long before they reachedit they had been guided by the huge fire the natives had built in thecenter of a hastily improvised BOMA, partially for warmth and partiallyto keep off chance lions. 

When they had come close to the encampment Tarzan called aloud to letthem know that friends were coming. It was a joyous reception thelittle party received when the blacks within the BOMA saw the long fileof fettered friends and relatives enter the firelight. These had allbeen given up as lost forever, as had Tarzan as well, so that the happyblacks would have remained awake all night to feast on elephant meatand celebrate the return of their fellows, had not Tarzan insisted thatthey take what sleep they could, against the work of the coming day. 

At that, sleep was no easy matter, for the women who had lost their menor their children in the day's massacre and battle made night hideouswith their continued wailing and howling. Finally, however, Tarzansucceeded in silencing them, on the plea that their noise would attractthe Arabs to their hiding-place, when all would be slaughtered. 

When dawn came Tarzan explained his plan of battle to the warriors, andwithout demur one and all agreed that it was the safest and surest wayin which to rid themselves of their unwelcome visitors and be revengedfor the murder of their fellows. 

First the women and children, with a guard of some twenty old warriorsand youths, were started southward, to be entirely out of the zone ofdanger. They had instructions to erect temporary shelter and constructa protecting BOMA of thorn bush; for the plan of campaign which Tarzanhad chosen was one which might stretch out over many days, or evenweeks, during which time the warriors would not return to the new camp. 

Two hours after daylight a thin circle of black warriors surrounded thevillage. At intervals one was perched high in the branches of a treewhich could overlook the palisade. Presently a Manyuema within thevillage fell, pierced by a single arrow. There had been no sound ofattack--none of the hideous war-cries or vainglorious waving ofmenacing spears that ordinarily marks the attack of savages--just asilent messenger of death from out of the silent forest. 

The Arabs and their followers were thrown into a fine rage at thisunprecedented occurrence. They ran for the gates, to wreak direvengeance upon the foolhardy perpetrator of the outrage; but theysuddenly realized that they did not know which way to turn to find thefoe. As they stood debating with many angry shouts and muchgesticulating, one of the Arabs sank silently to the ground in theirvery midst--a thin arrow protruding from his heart. 

Tarzan had placed the finest marksmen of the tribe in the surroundingtrees, with directions never to reveal themselves while the enemy wasfaced in their direction. As a black released his messenger of deathhe would slink behind the sheltering stem of the tree he had selected, nor would he again aim until a watchful eye told him that none waslooking toward his tree. 

Three times the Arabs started across the clearing in the direction fromwhich they thought the arrows came, but each time another arrow wouldcome from behind to take its toll from among their number. Then theywould turn and charge in a new direction. Finally they set out upon adetermined search of the forest, but the blacks melted before them, sothat they saw no sign of an enemy. 

But above them lurked a grim figure in the dense foliage of the mightytrees--it was Tarzan of the Apes, hovering over them as if he had beenthe shadow of death. Presently a Manyuema forged ahead of hiscompanions; there was none to see from what direction death came, andso it came quickly, and a moment later those behind stumbled over thedead body of their comrade--the inevitable arrow piercing the stillheart. 

It does not take a great deal of this manner of warfare to get upon thenerves of white men, and so it is little to be wondered at that theManyuema were soon panic-stricken. Did one forge ahead an arrow foundhis heart; did one lag behind he never again was seen alive; did onestumble to one side, even for a bare moment from the sight of hisfellows, he did not return--and always when they came upon the bodiesof their dead they found those terrible arrows driven with the accuracyof superhuman power straight through the victim's heart. But worsethan all else was the hideous fact that not once during the morning hadthey seen or heard the slightest sign of an enemy other than thepitiless arrows. 

When finally they returned to the village it was no better. Every nowand then, at varying intervals that were maddening in the terriblesuspense they caused, a man would plunge forward dead. The blacksbesought their masters to leave this terrible place, but the Arabsfeared to take up the march through the grim and hostile forest besetby this new and terrible enemy while laden with the great store ofivory they had found within the village; but, worse yet, they hated toleave the ivory behind. 

Finally the entire expedition took refuge within the thatchedhuts--here, at least, they would be free from the arrows. Tarzan, fromthe tree above the village, had marked the hut into which the chiefArabs had gone, and, balancing himself upon an overhanging limb, hedrove his heavy spear with all the force of his giant muscles throughthe thatched roof. A howl of pain told him that it had found a mark. With this parting salute to convince them that there was no safety forthem anywhere within the country, Tarzan returned to the forest, collected his warriors, and withdrew a mile to the south to rest andeat. He kept sentries in several trees that commanded a view of thetrail toward the village, but there was no pursuit. 

An inspection of his force showed not a single casualty--not even aminor wound; while rough estimates of the enemies' loss convinced theblacks that no fewer than twenty had fallen before their arrows. Theywere wild with elation, and were for finishing the day in one gloriousrush upon the village, during which they would slaughter the last oftheir foemen. They were even picturing the various tortures they wouldinflict, and gloating over the suffering of the Manyuema, for whom theyentertained a peculiar hatred, when Tarzan put his foot down flatlyupon the plan. 

"You are crazy!" he cried. "I have shown you the only way to fightthese people. Already you have killed twenty of them without the lossof a single warrior, whereas, yesterday, following your own tactics, which you would now renew, you lost at least a dozen, and killed not asingle Arab or Manyuema. You will fight just as I tell you to fight, or I shall leave you and go back to my own country. "

They were frightened when he threatened this, and promised to obey himscrupulously if he would but promise not to desert them. 

"Very well, " he said. "We shall return to the elephant BOMA for thenight. I have a plan to give the Arabs a little taste of what they mayexpect if they remain in our country, but I shall need no help. Come!If they suffer no more for the balance of the day they will feelreassured, and the relapse into fear will be even more nerve-rackingthan as though we continued to frighten them all afternoon. "

So they marched back to their camp of the previous night, and, lightinggreat fires, ate and recounted the adventures of the day until longafter dark. Tarzan slept until midnight, then he arose and crept intothe Cimmerian blackness of the forest. An hour later he came to theedge of the clearing before the village. There was a camp-fire burningwithin the palisade. The ape-man crept across the clearing until hestood before the barred gates. Through the interstices he saw a lonesentry sitting before the fire. 

Quietly Tarzan went to the tree at the end of the village street. Heclimbed softly to his place, and fitted an arrow to his bow. Forseveral minutes he tried to sight fairly upon the sentry, but thewaving branches and flickering firelight convinced him that the dangerof a miss was too great--he must touch the heart full in the center tobring the quiet and sudden death his plan required. 

He had brought, besides, his bow, arrows, and rope, the gun he hadtaken the previous day from the other sentry he had killed. Cachingall these in a convenient crotch of the tree, he dropped lightly to theground within the palisade, armed only with his long knife. Thesentry's back was toward him. Like a cat Tarzan crept upon the dozingman. He was within two paces of him now--another instant and the knifewould slide silently into the fellow's heart. 

Tarzan crouched for a spring, for that is ever the quickest and surestattack of the jungle beast--when the man, warned, by some subtle sense, sprang to his feet and faced the ape-man. 

Chapter 17

The White Chief of the Waziri

When the eyes of the black Manyuema savage fell upon the strangeapparition that confronted him with menacing knife they went wide inhorror. He forgot the gun within his hands; he even forgot to cryout--his one thought was to escape this fearsome-looking white savage, this giant of a man upon whose massive rolling muscles and mighty chestthe flickering firelight played. 

But before he could turn Tarzan was upon him, and then the sentrythought to scream for aid, but it was too late. A great hand was uponhis windpipe, and he was being borne to the earth. He battledfuriously but futilely--with the grim tenacity of a bulldog those awfulfingers were clinging to his throat. Swiftly and surely life was beingchoked from him. His eyes bulged, his tongue protruded, his faceturned to a ghastly purplish hue--there was a convulsive tremor of thestiffening muscles, and the Manyuema sentry lay quite still. 

The ape-man threw the body across one of his broad shoulders and, gathering up the fellow's gun, trotted silently up the sleeping villagestreet toward the tree that gave him such easy ingress to the palisadedvillage. He bore the dead sentry into the midst of the leafy mazeabove. 

First he stripped the body of cartridge belt and such ornaments as hecraved, wedging it into a convenient crotch while his nimble fingersran over it in search of the loot he could not plainly see in the dark. When he had finished he took the gun that had belonged to the man, andwalked far out upon a limb, from the end of which he could obtain abetter view of the huts. Drawing a careful bead on the beehivestructure in which he knew the chief Arabs to be, he pulled thetrigger. Almost instantly there was an answering groan. Tarzansmiled. He had made another lucky hit. 

Following the shot there was a moment's silence in the camp, and thenManyuema and Arab came pouring from the huts like a swarm of angryhornets; but if the truth were known they were even more frightenedthan they were angry. The strain of the preceding day had wrought uponthe fears of both black and white, and now this single shot in thenight conjured all manner of terrible conjectures in their terrifiedminds. 

When they discovered that their sentry had disappeared, their fearswere in no way allayed, and as though to bolster their courage bywarlike actions, they began to fire rapidly at the barred gates of thevillage, although no enemy was in sight. Tarzan took advantage of thedeafening roar of this fusillade to fire into the mob beneath him. 

No one heard his shot above the din of rattling musketry in the street, but some who were standing close saw one of their number crumplesuddenly to the earth. When they leaned over him he was dead. Theywere panic-stricken, and it took all the brutal authority of the Arabsto keep the Manyuema from rushing helter-skelter into thejungle--anywhere to escape from this terrible village. 

After a time they commenced to quiet down, and as no further mysteriousdeaths occurred among them they took heart again. But it was ashort-lived respite, for just as they had concluded that they would notbe disturbed again Tarzan gave voice to a weird moan, and as theraiders looked up in the direction from which the sound seemed to come, the ape-man, who stood swinging the dead body of the sentry gently toand fro, suddenly shot the corpse far out above their heads. 

With howls of alarm the throng broke in all directions to escape thisnew and terrible creature who seemed to be springing upon them. Totheir fear-distorted imaginations the body of the sentry, falling withwide-sprawled arms and legs, assumed the likeness of a great beast ofprey. In their anxiety to escape, many of the blacks scaled thepalisade, while others tore down the bars from the gates and rushedmadly across the clearing toward the jungle. 

For a time no one turned back toward the thing that had frightenedthem, but Tarzan knew that they would in a moment, and when theydiscovered that it was but the dead body of their sentry, while theywould doubtless be still further terrified, he had a rather definiteidea as to what they would do, and so he faded silently away toward thesouth, taking the moonlit upper terrace back toward the camp of theWaziri. 

Presently one of the Arabs turned and saw that the thing that hadleaped from the tree upon them lay still and quiet where it had fallenin the center of the village street. Cautiously he crept back towardit until he saw that it was but a man. A moment later he was besidethe figure, and in another had recognized it as the corpse of theManyuema who had stood on guard at the village gate. 

His companions rapidly gathered around at his call, and after amoment's excited conversation they did precisely what Tarzan hadreasoned they would. Raising their guns to their shoulders, theypoured volley after volley into the tree from which the corpse had beenthrown--had Tarzan remained there he would have been riddled by ahundred bullets. 

When the Arabs and Manyuema discovered that the only marks of violenceupon the body of their dead comrade were giant finger prints upon hisswollen throat they were again thrown into deeper apprehension anddespair. That they were not even safe within a palisaded village atnight came as a distinct shock to them. That an enemy could enter intothe midst of their camp and kill their sentry with bare hands seemedoutside the bounds of reason, and so the superstitious Manyuemacommenced to attribute their ill luck to supernatural causes; nor werethe Arabs able to offer any better explanation. 

With at least fifty of their number flying through the black jungle, and without the slightest knowledge of when their uncanny foemen mightresume the cold-blooded slaughter they had commenced, it was adesperate band of cut-throats that waited sleeplessly for the dawn. Only on the promise of the Arabs that they would leave the village atdaybreak, and hasten onward toward their own land, would the remainingManyuema consent to stay at the village a moment longer. Not even fearof their cruel masters was sufficient to overcome this new terror. 

And so it was that when Tarzan and his warriors returned to the attackthe next morning they found the raiders prepared to march out of thevillage. The Manyuema were laden with stolen ivory. As Tarzan saw ithe grinned, for he knew that they would not carry it far. Then he sawsomething which caused him anxiety--a number of the Manyuema werelighting torches in the remnant of the camp-fire. They were about tofire the village. 

Tarzan was perched in a tall tree some hundred yards from the palisade. Making a trumpet of his hands, he called loudly in the Arab tongue:"Do not fire the huts, or we shall kill you all! Do not fire the huts, or we shall kill you all!"

A dozen times he repeated it. The Manyuema hesitated, then one of themflung his torch into the campfire. The others were about to do thesame when an Arab sprung upon them with a stick, beating them towardthe huts. Tarzan could see that he was commanding them to fire thelittle thatched dwellings. Then he stood erect upon the swaying brancha hundred feet above the ground, and, raising one of the Arab guns tohis shoulder, took careful aim and fired. With the report the Arab whowas urging on his men to burn the village fell in his tracks, and theManyuema threw away their torches and fled from the village. The lastTarzan saw of them they were racing toward the jungle, while theirformer masters knelt upon the ground and fired at them. 

But however angry the Arabs might have been at the insubordination oftheir slaves, they were at least convinced that it would be the betterpart of wisdom to forego the pleasure of firing the village that hadgiven them two such nasty receptions. In their hearts, however, theyswore to return again with such force as would enable them to sweep theentire country for miles around, until no vestige of human liferemained. 

They had looked in vain for the owner of the voice which had frightenedoff the men who had been detailed to put the torch to the huts, but noteven the keenest eye among them had been able to locate him. They hadseen the puff of smoke from the tree following the shot that broughtdown the Arab, but, though a volley had immediately been loosed intoits foliage, there had been no indication that it had been effective. 

Tarzan was too intelligent to be caught in any such trap, and so thereport of his shot had scarcely died away before the ape-man was on theground and racing for another tree a hundred yards away. Here he againfound a suitable perch from which he could watch the preparations ofthe raiders. It occurred to him that he might have considerable morefun with them, so again he called to them through his improvisedtrumpet. 

"Leave the ivory!" he cried. "Leave the ivory! Dead men have no usefor ivory!"

Some of the Manyuema started to lay down their loads, but this wasaltogether too much for the avaricious Arabs. With loud shouts andcurses they aimed their guns full upon the bearers, threatening instantdeath to any who might lay down his load. They could give up firingthe village, but the thought of abandoning this enormous fortune inivory was quite beyond their conception--better death than that. 

And so they marched out of the village of the Waziri, and on theshoulders of their slaves was the ivory ransom of a score of kings. Toward the north they marched, back toward their savage settlement inthe wild and unknown country which lies back from the Kongo in theuttermost depths of The Great Forest, and on either side of themtraveled an invisible and relentless foe. 

Under Tarzan's guidance the black Waziri warriors stationed themselvesalong the trail on either side in the densest underbrush. They stoodat far intervals, and, as the column passed, a single arrow or a heavyspear, well aimed, would pierce a Manyuema or an Arab. Then the Waziriwould melt into the distance and run ahead to take his stand fartheron. They did not strike unless success were sure and the danger ofdetection almost nothing, and so the arrows and the spears were few andfar between, but so persistent and inevitable that the slow-movingcolumn of heavy-laden raiders was in a constant state of panic--panicat the uncertainty of who the next would be to fall, and when. 

It was with the greatest difficulty that the Arabs prevented their mena dozen times from throwing away their burdens and fleeing likefrightened rabbits up the trail toward the north. And so the day woreon--a frightful nightmare of a day for the raiders--a day of weary butwell-repaid work for the Waziri. At night the Arabs constructed a rudeBOMA in a little clearing by a river, and went into camp. 

At intervals during the night a rifle would bark close above theirheads, and one of the dozen sentries which they now had posted wouldtumble to the ground. Such a condition was insupportable, for they sawthat by means of these hideous tactics they would be completely wipedout, one by one, without inflicting a single death upon their enemy. But yet, with the persistent avariciousness of the white man, the Arabsclung to their loot, and when morning came forced the demoralizedManyuema to take up their burdens of death and stagger on into thejungle. 

For three days the withering column kept up its frightful march. Eachhour was marked by its deadly arrow or cruel spear. The nights weremade hideous by the barking of the invisible gun that made sentry dutyequivalent to a death sentence. 

On the morning of the fourth day the Arabs were compelled to shoot twoof their blacks before they could compel the balance to take up thehated ivory, and as they did so a voice rang out, clear and strong, from the jungle: "Today you die, oh, Manyuema, unless you lay down theivory. Fall upon your cruel masters and kill them! You have guns, whydo you not use them? Kill the Arabs, and we will not harm you. Wewill take you back to our village and feed you, and lead you out of ourcountry in safety and in peace. Lay down the ivory, and fall upon yourmasters--we will help you. Else you die!"

As the voice died down the raiders stood as though turned to stone. The Arabs eyed their Manyuema slaves; the slaves looked first at one oftheir fellows, and then at another--they were but waiting for some oneto take the initiative. There were some thirty Arabs left, and aboutone hundred and fifty blacks. All were armed--even those who wereacting as porters had their rifles slung across their backs. 

The Arabs drew together. The sheik ordered the Manyuema to take up themarch, and as he spoke he cocked his rifle and raised it. But at thesame instant one of the blacks threw down his load, and, snatching hisrifle from his back, fired point-black at the group of Arabs. In aninstant the camp was a cursing, howling mass of demons, fighting withguns and knives and pistols. The Arabs stood together, and defendedtheir lives valiantly, but with the rain of lead that poured upon themfrom their own slaves, and the shower of arrows and spears which nowleaped from the surrounding jungle aimed solely at them, there waslittle question from the first what the outcome would be. In tenminutes from the time the first porter had thrown down his load thelast of the Arabs lay dead. 

When the firing had ceased Tarzan spoke again to the Manyuema:

"Take up our ivory, and return it to our village, from whence you stoleit. We shall not harm you. "

For a moment the Manyuema hesitated. They had no stomach to retracethat difficult three days' trail. They talked together in lowwhispers, and one turned toward the jungle, calling aloud to the voicethat had spoken to them from out of the foliage. 

"How do we know that when you have us in your village you will not killus all?" he asked. 

"You do not know, " replied Tarzan, "other than that we have promisednot to harm you if you will return our ivory to us. But this you doknow, that it lies within our power to kill you all if you do notreturn as we direct, and are we not more likely to do so if you angerus than if you do as we bid?"

"Who are you that speaks the tongue of our Arab masters?" cried theManyuema spokesman. "Let us see you, and then we shall give you ouranswer. "

Tarzan stepped out of the jungle a dozen paces from them. 

"Look!" he said. When they saw that he was white they were filled withawe, for never had they seen a white savage before, and at his greatmuscles and giant frame they were struck with wonder and admiration. 

"You may trust me, " said Tarzan. "So long as you do as I tell you, andharm none of my people, we shall do you no hurt. Will you take up ourivory and return in peace to our village, or shall we follow along yourtrail toward the north as we have followed for the past three days?"

The recollection of the horrid days that had just passed was the thingthat finally decided the Manyuema, and so, after a short conference, they took up their burdens and set off to retrace their steps towardthe village of the Waziri. At the end of the third day they marchedinto the village gate, and were greeted by the survivors of the recentmassacre, to whom Tarzan had sent a messenger in their temporary campto the south on the day that the raiders had quitted the village, telling them that they might return in safety. 

It took all the mastery and persuasion that Tarzan possessed to preventthe Waziri falling on the Manyuema tooth and nail, and tearing them topieces, but when he had explained that he had given his word that theywould not be molested if they carried the ivory back to the spot fromwhich they had stolen it, and had further impressed upon his peoplethat they owed their entire victory to him, they finally acceded to hisdemands, and allowed the cannibals to rest in peace within theirpalisade. 

That night the village warriors held a big palaver to celebrate theirvictories, and to choose a new chief. Since old Waziri's death Tarzanhad been directing the warriors in battle, and the temporary commandhad been tacitly conceded to him. There had been no time to choose anew chief from among their own number, and, in fact, so remarkablysuccessful had they been under the ape-man's generalship that they hadhad no wish to delegate the supreme authority to another for fear thatwhat they already had gained might be lost. They had so recently seenthe results of running counter to this savage white man's advice in thedisastrous charge ordered by Waziri, in which he himself had died, thatit had not been difficult for them to accept Tarzan's authority asfinal. 

The principal warriors sat in a circle about a small fire to discussthe relative merits of whomever might be suggested as old Waziri'ssuccessor. It was Busuli who spoke first:

"Since Waziri is dead, leaving no son, there is but one among us whomwe know from experience is fitted to make us a good king. There isonly one who has proved that he can successfully lead us against theguns of the white man, and bring us easy victory without the loss of asingle life. There is only one, and that is the white man who has ledus for the past few days, " and Busuli sprang to his feet, and withuplifted spear and half-bent, crouching body commenced to dance slowlyabout Tarzan, chanting in time to his steps: "Waziri, king of theWaziri; Waziri, killer of Arabs; Waziri, king of the Waziri. "

One by one the other warriors signified their acceptance of Tarzan astheir king by joining in the solemn dance. The women came and squattedabout the rim of the circle, beating upon tom-toms, clapping theirhands in time to the steps of the dancers, and joining in the chant ofthe warriors. In the center of the circle sat Tarzan of theApes--Waziri, king of the Waziri, for, like his predecessor, he was totake the name of his tribe as his own. 

Faster and faster grew the pace of the dancers, louder and louder theirwild and savage shouts. The women rose and fell in unison, shriekingnow at the tops of their voices. The spears were brandishing fiercely, and as the dancers stooped down and beat their shields upon thehard-tramped earth of the village street the whole sight was asterribly primeval and savage as though it were being staged in the dimdawn of humanity, countless ages in the past. 

As the excitement waxed the ape-man sprang to his feet and joined inthe wild ceremony. In the center of the circle of glittering blackbodies he leaped and roared and shook his heavy spear in the same madabandon that enthralled his fellow savages. The last remnant of hiscivilization was forgotten--he was a primitive man to the fullest now;reveling in the freedom of the fierce, wild life he loved, gloating inhis kingship among these wild blacks. 

Ah, if Olga de Coude had but seen him then--could she have recognizedthe well-dressed, quiet young man whose well-bred face andirreproachable manners had so captivated her but a few short monthsago? And Jane Porter! Would she have still loved this savage warriorchieftain, dancing naked among his naked savage subjects? And D'Arnot!Could D'Arnot have believed that this was the same man he hadintroduced into half a dozen of the most select clubs of Paris? Whatwould his fellow peers in the House of Lords have said had one pointedto this dancing giant, with his barbaric headdress and his metalornaments, and said: "There, my lords, is John Clayton, Lord Greystoke. "

And so Tarzan of the Apes came into a real kingship among men--slowlybut surely was he following the evolution of his ancestors, for had henot started at the very bottom?

Chapter 18

The Lottery of Death

Jane Porter had been the first of those in the lifeboat to awaken themorning after the wreck of the LADY ALICE. The other members of theparty were asleep upon the thwarts or huddled in cramped positions inthe bottom of the boat. 

When the girl realized that they had become separated from the otherboats she was filled with alarm. The sense of utter loneliness andhelplessness which the vast expanse of deserted ocean aroused in herwas so depressing that, from the first, contemplation of the futureheld not the slightest ray of promise for her. She was confident thatthey were lost--lost beyond possibility of succor. 

Presently Clayton awoke. It was several minutes before he could gatherhis senses sufficiently to realize where he was, or recall the disasterof the previous night. Finally his bewildered eyes fell upon the girl. 

"Jane!" he cried. "Thank God that we are together!"

"Look, " said the girl dully, indicating the horizon with an apatheticgesture. "We are all alone. "

Clayton scanned the water in every direction. 

"Where can they be?" he cried. "They cannot have gone down, for therehas been no sea, and they were afloat after the yacht sank--I saw themall. "

He awoke the other members of the party, and explained their plight. 

"It is just as well that the boats are scattered, sir, " said one of thesailors. "They are all provisioned, so that they do not need eachother on that score, and should a storm blow up they could be of noservice to one another even if they were together, but scattered aboutthe ocean there is a much better chance that one at least will bepicked up, and then a search will be at once started for the others. Were we together there would be but one chance of rescue, where nowthere may be four. "

They saw the wisdom of his philosophy, and were cheered by it, buttheir joy was short-lived, for when it was decided that they should rowsteadily toward the east and the continent, it was discovered that thesailors who had been at the only two oars with which the boat had beenprovided had fallen asleep at their work, and allowed both to slip intothe sea, nor were they in sight anywhere upon the water. 

During the angry words and recriminations which followed the sailorsnearly came to blows, but Clayton succeeded in quieting them; though amoment later Monsieur Thuran almost precipitated another row by makinga nasty remark about the stupidity of all Englishmen, and especiallyEnglish sailors. 

"Come, come, mates, " spoke up one of the men, Tompkins, who had takenno part in the altercation, "shootin' off our bloomin' mugs won't getus nothin'. As Spider 'ere said afore, we'll all bloody well be pickedup, anyway, sez 'e, so wot's the use o' squabblin'? Let's eat, sez I. "

"That's not a bad idea, " said Monsieur Thuran, and then, turning to thethird sailor, Wilson, he said: "Pass one of those tins aft, my goodman. "

"Fetch it yerself, " retorted Wilson sullenly. "I ain't a-takin' noorders from no--furriner--you ain't captain o' this ship yet. "

The result was that Clayton himself had to get the tin, and thenanother angry altercation ensued when one of the sailors accusedClayton and Monsieur Thuran of conspiring to control the provisions sothat they could have the lion's share. 

"Some one should take command of this boat, " spoke up Jane Porter, thoroughly disgusted with the disgraceful wrangling that had marked thevery opening of a forced companionship that might last for many days. "It is terrible enough to be alone in a frail boat on the Atlantic, without having the added misery and danger of constant bickering andbrawling among the members of our party. You men should elect aleader, and then abide by his decisions in all matters. There isgreater need for strict discipline here than there is upon awell-ordered ship. "

She had hoped before she voiced her sentiments that it would not benecessary for her to enter into the transaction at all, for shebelieved that Clayton was amply able to cope with every emergency, butshe had to admit that so far at least he had shown no greater promiseof successfully handling the situation than any of the others, thoughhe had at least refrained from adding in any way to the unpleasantness, even going so far as to give up the tin to the sailors when theyobjected to its being opened by him. 

The girl's words temporarily quieted the men, and finally it wasdecided that the two kegs of water and the four tins of food should bedivided into two parts, one-half going forward to the three sailors todo with as they saw best, and the balance aft to the three passengers. 

Thus was the little company divided into two camps, and when theprovisions had been apportioned each immediately set to work to openand distribute food and water. The sailors were the first to get oneof the tins of "food" open, and their curses of rage and disappointmentcaused Clayton to ask what the trouble might be. 

"Trouble!" shrieked Spider. "Trouble! It's worse than trouble--it'sdeath! This---tin is full of coal oil!"

Hastily now Clayton and Monsieur Thuran tore open one of theirs, onlyto learn the hideous truth that it also contained, not food, but coaloil. One after another the four tins on board were opened. And as thecontents of each became known howls of anger announced the grimtruth--there was not an ounce of food upon the boat. 

"Well, thank Gawd it wasn't the water, " cried Thompkins. "It's easierto get along without food than it is without water. We can eat ourshoes if worse comes to worst, but we couldn't drink 'em. "

As he spoke Wilson had been boring a hole in one of the water kegs, andas Spider held a tin cup he tilted the keg to pour a draft of theprecious fluid. A thin stream of blackish, dry particles filteredslowly through the tiny aperture into the bottom of the cup. With agroan Wilson dropped the keg, and sat staring at the dry stuff in thecup, speechless with horror. 

"The kegs are filled with gunpowder, " said Spider, in a low tone, turning to those aft. And so it proved when the last had been opened. 

"Coal oil and gunpowder!" cried Monsieur Thuran. "SAPRISTI! What adiet for shipwrecked mariners!"

With the full knowledge that there was neither food nor water on board, the pangs of hunger and thirst became immediately aggravated, and so onthe first day of their tragic adventure real suffering commenced ingrim earnest, and the full horrors of shipwreck were upon them. 

As the days passed conditions became horrible. Aching eyes scanned thehorizon day and night until the weak and weary watchers would sinkexhausted to the bottom of the boat, and there wrest in dream-disturbedslumber a moment's respite from the horrors of the waking reality. 

The sailors, goaded by the remorseless pangs of hunger, had eaten theirleather belts, their shoes, the sweatbands from their caps, althoughboth Clayton and Monsieur Thuran had done their best to convince themthat these would only add to the suffering they were enduring. 

Weak and hopeless, the entire party lay beneath the pitiless tropicsun, with parched lips and swollen tongues, waiting for the death theywere beginning to crave. The intense suffering of the first few dayshad become deadened for the three passengers who had eaten nothing, butthe agony of the sailors was pitiful, as their weak and impoverishedstomachs attempted to cope with the bits of leather with which they hadfilled them. Tompkins was the first to succumb. Just a week from theday the LADY ALICE went down the sailor died horribly in frightfulconvulsions. 

For hours his contorted and hideous features lay grinning back at thosein the stern of the little boat, until Jane Porter could endure thesight no longer. "Can you not drop his body overboard, William?" sheasked. 

Clayton rose and staggered toward the corpse. The two remainingsailors eyed him with a strange, baleful light in their sunken orbs. Futilely the Englishman tried to lift the corpse over the side of theboat, but his strength was not equal to the task. 

"Lend me a hand here, please, " he said to Wilson, who lay nearest him. 

"Wot do you want to throw 'im over for?" questioned the sailor, in aquerulous voice. 

"We've got to before we're too weak to do it, " replied Clayton. "He'dbe awful by tomorrow, after a day under that broiling sun. "

"Better leave well enough alone, " grumbled Wilson. "We may need himbefore tomorrow. "

Slowly the meaning of the man's words percolated into Clayton'sunderstanding. At last he realized the fellow's reason for objectingto the disposal of the dead man. 

"God!" whispered Clayton, in a horrified tone. "You don't mean--"

"W'y not?" growled Wilson. "Ain't we gotta live? He's dead, " headded, jerking his thumb in the direction of the corpse. "He won'tcare. "

"Come here, Thuran, " said Clayton, turning toward the Russian. "We'llhave something worse than death aboard us if we don't get rid of thisbody before dark. "

Wilson staggered up menacingly to prevent the contemplated act, butwhen his comrade, Spider, took sides with Clayton and Monsieur Thuranhe gave up, and sat eying the corpse hungrily as the three men, bycombining their efforts, succeeded in rolling it overboard. 

All the balance of the day Wilson sat glaring at Clayton, in his eyesthe gleam of insanity. Toward evening, as the sun was sinking into thesea, he commenced to chuckle and mumble to himself, but his eyes neverleft Clayton. 

After it became quite dark Clayton could still feel those terrible eyesupon him. He dared not sleep, and yet so exhausted was he that it wasa constant fight to retain consciousness. After what seemed aneternity of suffering his head dropped upon a thwart, and he slept. How long he was unconscious he did not know--he was awakened by ashuffling noise quite close to him. The moon had risen, and as heopened his startled eyes he saw Wilson creeping stealthily toward him, his mouth open and his swollen tongue hanging out. 

The slight noise had awakened Jane Porter at the same time, and as shesaw the hideous tableau she gave a shrill cry of alarm, and at the sameinstant the sailor lurched forward and fell upon Clayton. Like a wildbeast his teeth sought the throat of his intended prey, but Clayton, weak though he was, still found sufficient strength to hold themaniac's mouth from him. 

At Jane Porter's scream Monsieur Thuran and Spider awoke. On seeingthe cause of her alarm, both men crawled to Clayton's rescue, andbetween the three of them were able to subdue Wilson and hurl him tothe bottom of the boat. For a few minutes he lay there chattering andlaughing, and then, with an awful scream, and before any of hiscompanions could prevent, he staggered to his feet and leaped overboard. 

The reaction from the terrific strain of excitement left the weaksurvivors trembling and prostrated. Spider broke down and wept; JanePorter prayed; Clayton swore softly to himself; Monsieur Thuran satwith his head in his hands, thinking. The result of his cogitationdeveloped the following morning in a proposition he made to Spider andClayton. 

"Gentlemen, " said Monsieur Thuran, "you see the fate that awaits us allunless we are picked up within a day or two. That there is little hopeof that is evidenced by the fact that during all the days we havedrifted we have seen no sail, nor the faintest smudge of smoke upon thehorizon. 

"There might be a chance if we had food, but without food there isnone. There remains for us, then, but one of two alternatives, and wemust choose at once. Either we must all die together within a fewdays, or one must be sacrificed that the others may live. Do you quiteclearly grasp my meaning?"

Jane Porter, who had overheard, was horrified. If the proposition hadcome from the poor, ignorant sailor, she might possibly have not beenso surprised; but that it should come from one who posed as a man ofculture and refinement, from a gentleman, she could scarcely credit. 

"It is better that we die together, then, " said Clayton. 

"That is for the majority to decide, " replied Monsieur Thuran. "Asonly one of us three will be the object of sacrifice, we shall decide. Miss Porter is not interested, since she will be in no danger. "

"How shall we know who is to be first?" asked Spider. 

"It may be fairly fixed by lot, " replied Monsieur Thuran. "I have anumber of franc pieces in my pocket. We can choose a certain date fromamong them--the one to draw this date first from beneath a piece ofcloth will be the first. "

"I shall have nothing to do with any such diabolical plan, " mutteredClayton; "even yet land may be sighted or a ship appear--in time. "

"You will do as the majority decide, or you will be 'the first' withoutthe formality of drawing lots, " said Monsieur Thuran threateningly. "Come, let us vote on the plan; I for one am in favor of it. How aboutyou, Spider?" "And I, " replied the sailor. 

"It is the will of the majority, " announced Monsieur Thuran, "and nowlet us lose no time in drawing lots. It is as fair for one as foranother. That three may live, one of us must die perhaps a few hourssooner than otherwise. "

Then he began his preparation for the lottery of death, while JanePorter sat wide-eyed and horrified at thought of the thing that she wasabout to witness. Monsieur Thuran spread his coat upon the bottom ofthe boat, and then from a handful of money he selected six francpieces. The other two men bent close above him as he inspected them. Finally he handed them all to Clayton. 

"Look at them carefully, " he said. "The oldest date iseighteen-seventy-five, and there is only one of that year. "

Clayton and the sailor inspected each coin. To them there seemed notthe slightest difference that could be detected other than the dates. They were quite satisfied. Had they known that Monsieur Thuran's pastexperience as a card sharp had trained his sense of touch to so fine apoint that he could almost differentiate between cards by the mere feelof them, they would scarcely have felt that the plan was so entirelyfair. The 1875 piece was a hair thinner than the other coins, butneither Clayton nor Spider could have detected it without the aid of amicrometer. 

"In what order shall we draw?" asked Monsieur Thuran, knowing from pastexperience that the majority of men always prefer last chance in alottery where the single prize is some distasteful thing--there isalways the chance and the hope that another will draw it first. Monsieur Thuran, for reasons of his own, preferred to draw first if thedrawing should happen to require a second adventure beneath the coat. 

And so when Spider elected to draw last he graciously offered to takethe first chance himself. His hand was under the coat for but amoment, yet those quick, deft fingers had felt of each coin, and foundand discarded the fatal piece. When he brought forth his hand itcontained an 1888 franc piece. Then Clayton drew. Jane Porter leanedforward with a tense and horrified expression on her face as the handof the man she was to marry groped about beneath the coat. Presently hewithdrew it, a franc piece lying in the palm. For an instant he darednot look, but Monsieur Thuran, who had leaned nearer to see the date, exclaimed that he was safe. 

Jane Porter sank weak and trembling against the side of the boat. Shefelt sick and dizzy. And now, if Spider should not draw the 1875 pieceshe must endure the whole horrid thing again. 

The sailor already had his hand beneath the coat. Great beads of sweatwere standing upon his brow. He trembled as though with a fit of ague. Aloud he cursed himself for having taken the last draw, for now hischances for escape were but three to one, whereas Monsieur Thuran's hadbeen five to one, and Clayton's four to one. 

The Russian was very patient, and did not hurry the man, for he knewthat he himself was quite safe whether the 1875 piece came out thistime or not. When the sailor withdrew his hand and looked at the pieceof money within, he dropped fainting to the bottom of the boat. BothClayton and Monsieur Thuran hastened weakly to examine the coin, whichhad rolled from the man's hand and lay beside him. It was not dated1875. The reaction from the state of fear he had been in had overcomeSpider quite as effectually as though he had drawn the fated piece. 

But now the whole proceeding must be gone through again. Once more theRussian drew forth a harmless coin. Jane Porter closed her eyes asClayton reached beneath the coat. Spider bent, wide-eyed, toward thehand that was to decide his fate, for whatever luck was Clayton's onthis last draw, the opposite would be Spider's. Then William CecilClayton, Lord Greystoke, removed his hand from beneath the coat, andwith a coin tight pressed within his palm where none might see it, helooked at Jane Porter. He did not dare open his hand. 

"Quick!" hissed Spider. "My Gawd, let's see it. "

Clayton opened his fingers. Spider was the first to see the date, andere any knew what his intention was he raised himself to his feet, andlunged over the side of the boat, to disappear forever into the greendepths beneath--the coin had not been the 1875 piece. 

The strain had exhausted those who remained to such an extent that theylay half unconscious for the balance of the day, nor was the subjectreferred to again for several days. Horrible days of increasingweakness and hopelessness. At length Monsieur Thuran crawled to whereClayton lay. 

"We must draw once more before we are too weak even to eat, " hewhispered. 

Clayton was in such a state that he was scarcely master of his ownwill. Jane Porter had not spoken for three days. He knew that she wasdying. Horrible as the thought was, he hoped that the sacrifice ofeither Thuran or himself might be the means of giving her renewedstrength, and so he immediately agreed to the Russian's proposal. 

They drew under the same plan as before, but there could be but oneresult--Clayton drew the 1875 piece. 

"When shall it be?" he asked Thuran. 

The Russian had already drawn a pocketknife from his trousers, and wasweakly attempting to open it. 

"Now, " he muttered, and his greedy eyes gloated upon the Englishman. 

"Can't you wait until dark?" asked Clayton. "Miss Porter must not seethis thing done. We were to have been married, you know. "

A look of disappointment came over Monsieur Thuran's face. 

"Very well, " he replied hesitatingly. "It will not be long untilnight. I have waited for many days--I can wait a few hours longer. "

"Thank you, my friend, " murmured Clayton. "Now I shall go to her sideand remain with her until it is time. I would like to have an hour ortwo with her before I die. "

When Clayton reached the girl's side she was unconscious--he knew thatshe was dying, and he was glad that she should not have to see or knowthe awful tragedy that was shortly to be enacted. He took her hand andraised it to his cracked and swollen lips. For a long time he laycaressing the emaciated, clawlike thing that had once been thebeautiful, shapely white hand of the young Baltimore belle. 

It was quite dark before he knew it, but he was recalled to himself bya voice out of the night. It was the Russian calling him to his doom. 

"I am coming, Monsieur Thuran, " he hastened to reply. 

Thrice he attempted to turn himself upon his hands and knees, that hemight crawl back to his death, but in the few hours that he had lainthere he had become too weak to return to Thuran's side. 

"You will have to come to me, monsieur, " he called weakly. "I have notsufficient strength to gain my hands and knees. "

"SAPRISTI!" muttered Monsieur Thuran. "You are attempting to cheat meout of my winnings. "

Clayton heard the man shuffling about in the bottom of the boat. Finally there was a despairing groan. "I cannot crawl, " he heard theRussian wail. "It is too late. You have tricked me, you dirty Englishdog. "

"I have not tricked you, monsieur, " replied Clayton. "I have done mybest to rise, but I shall try again, and if you will try possibly eachof us can crawl halfway, and then you shall have your 'winnings. '"

Again Clayton exerted his remaining strength to the utmost, and heheard Thuran apparently doing the same. Nearly an hour later theEnglishman succeeded in raising himself to his hands and knees, but atthe first forward movement he pitched upon his face. 

A moment later he heard an exclamation of relief from Monsieur Thuran. 

"I am coming, " whispered the Russian. 

Again Clayton essayed to stagger on to meet his fate, but once more hepitched headlong to the boat's bottom, nor, try as he would, could heagain rise. His last effort caused him to roll over on his back, andthere he lay looking up at the stars, while behind him, coming evernearer and nearer, he could hear the laborious shuffling, and thestertorous breathing of the Russian. 

It seemed that he must have lain thus an hour waiting for the thing tocrawl out of the dark and end his misery. It was quite close now, butthere were longer and longer pauses between its efforts to advance, andeach forward movement seemed to the waiting Englishman to be almostimperceptible. 

Finally he knew that Thuran was quite close beside him. He heard acackling laugh, something touched his face, and he lost consciousness. 

Chapter 19

The City of Gold

The very night that Tarzan of the Apes became chief of the Waziri thewoman he loved lay dying in a tiny boat two hundred miles west of himupon the Atlantic. As he danced among his naked fellow savages, thefirelight gleaming against his great, rolling muscles, thepersonification of physical perfection and strength, the woman wholoved him lay thin and emaciated in the last coma that precedes deathby thirst and starvation. 

The week following the induction of Tarzan into the kingship of theWaziri was occupied in escorting the Manyuema of the Arab raiders tothe northern boundary of Waziri in accordance with the promise whichTarzan had made them. Before he left them he exacted a pledge fromthem that they would not lead any expeditions against the Waziri in thefuture, nor was it a difficult promise to obtain. They had hadsufficient experience with the fighting tactics of the new Waziri chiefnot to have the slightest desire to accompany another predatory forcewithin the boundaries of his domain. 

Almost immediately upon his return to the village Tarzan commencedmaking preparations for leading an expedition in search of the ruinedcity of gold which old Waziri had described to him. He selected fiftyof the sturdiest warriors of his tribe, choosing only men who seemedanxious to accompany him on the arduous march, and share the dangers ofa new and hostile country. 

The fabulous wealth of the fabled city had been almost constantly inhis mind since Waziri had recounted the strange adventures of theformer expedition which had stumbled upon the vast ruins by chance. The lure of adventure may have been quite as powerful a factor inurging Tarzan of the Apes to undertake the journey as the lure of gold, but the lure of gold was there, too, for he had learned among civilizedmen something of the miracles that may be wrought by the possessor ofthe magic yellow metal. What he would do with a golden fortune in theheart of savage Africa it had not occurred to him to consider--it wouldbe enough to possess the power to work wonders, even though he neverhad an opportunity to employ it. 

So one glorious tropical morning Waziri, chief of the Waziri, set outat the head of fifty clean-limbed ebon warriors in quest of adventureand of riches. They followed the course which old Waziri had describedto Tarzan. For days they marched--up one river, across a low divide;down another river; up a third, until at the end of the twenty-fifthday they camped upon a mountainside, from the summit of which theyhoped to catch their first view of the marvelous city of treasure. 

Early the next morning they were climbing the almost perpendicularcrags which formed the last, but greatest, natural barrier between themand their destination. It was nearly noon before Tarzan, who headedthe thin line of climbing warriors, scrambled over the top of the lastcliff and stood upon the little flat table-land of the mountaintop. 

On either hand towered mighty peaks thousands of feet higher than thepass through which they were entering the forbidden valley. Behind himstretched the wooded valley across which they had marched for manydays, and at the opposite side the low range which marked the boundaryof their own country. 

But before him was the view that centered his attention. Here lay adesolate valley--a shallow, narrow valley dotted with stunted trees andcovered with many great bowlders. And on the far side of the valleylay what appeared to be a mighty city, its great walls, its loftyspires, its turrets, minarets, and domes showing red and yellow in thesunlight. Tarzan was yet too far away to note the marks of ruin--tohim it appeared a wonderful city of magnificent beauty, and inimagination he peopled its broad avenues and its huge temples with athrong of happy, active people. 

For an hour the little expedition rested upon the mountain-top, andthen Tarzan led them down into the valley below. There was no trail, but the way was less arduous than the ascent of the opposite face ofthe mountain had been. Once in the valley their progress was rapid, sothat it was still light when they halted before the towering walls ofthe ancient city. 

The outer wall was fifty feet in height where it had not fallen intoruin, but nowhere as far as they could see had more than ten or twentyfeet of the upper courses fallen away. It was still a formidabledefense. On several occasions Tarzan had thought that he discernedthings moving behind the ruined portions of the wall near to them, asthough creatures were watching them from behind the bulwarks of theancient pile. And often he felt the sensation of unseen eyes upon him, but not once could he be sure that it was more than imagination. 

That night they camped outside the city. Once, at midnight, they wereawakened by a shrill scream from beyond the great wall. It was veryhigh at first, descending gradually until it ended in a series ofdismal moans. It had a strange effect upon the blacks, almostparalyzing them with terror while it lasted, and it was an hour beforethe camp settled down to sleep once more. In the morning the effectsof it were still visible in the fearful, sidelong glances that theWaziri continually cast at the massive and forbidding structure whichloomed above them. 

It required considerable encouragement and urging on Tarzan's part toprevent the blacks from abandoning the venture on the spot andhastening back across the valley toward the cliffs they had scaled theday before. But at length, by dint of commands, and threats that hewould enter the city alone, they agreed to accompany him. 

For fifteen minutes they marched along the face of the wall before theydiscovered a means of ingress. Then they came to a narrow cleft abouttwenty inches wide. Within, a flight of concrete steps, worn hollow bycenturies of use, rose before them, to disappear at a sharp turning ofthe passage a few yards ahead. 

Into this narrow alley Tarzan made his way, turning his giant shoulderssideways that they might enter at all. Behind him trailed his blackwarriors. At the turn in the cleft the stairs ended, and the path waslevel; but it wound and twisted in a serpentine fashion, until suddenlyat a sharp angle it debouched upon a narrow court, across which loomedan inner wall equally as high as the outer. This inner wall was setwith little round towers alternating along its entire summit withpointed monoliths. In places these had fallen, and the wall wasruined, but it was in a much better state of preservation than theouter wall. 

Another narrow passage led through this wall, and at its end Tarzan andhis warriors found themselves in a broad avenue, on the opposite sideof which crumbling edifices of hewn granite loomed dark and forbidding. Upon the crumbling debris along the face of the buildings trees hadgrown, and vines wound in and out of the hollow, staring windows; butthe building directly opposite them seemed less overgrown than theothers, and in a much better state of preservation. It was a massivepile, surmounted by an enormous dome. At either side of its greatentrance stood rows of tall pillars, each capped by a huge, grotesquebird carved from the solid rock of the monoliths. 

As the ape-man and his companions stood gazing in varying degrees ofwonderment at this ancient city in the midst of savage Africa, severalof them became aware of movement within the structure at which theywere looking. Dim, shadowy shapes appeared to be moving about in thesemi-darkness of the interior. There was nothing tangible that the eyecould grasp--only an uncanny suggestion of life where it seemed thatthere should be no life, for living things seemed out of place in thisweird, dead city of the long-dead past. 

Tarzan recalled something that he had read in the library at Paris of alost race of white men that native legend described as living in theheart of Africa. He wondered if he were not looking upon the ruins ofthe civilization that this strange people had wrought amid the savagesurroundings of their strange and savage home. Could it be possiblethat even now a remnant of that lost race inhabited the ruined grandeurthat had once been their progenitor? Again he became conscious of astealthy movement within the great temple before him. "Come!" he said, to his Waziri. "Let us have a look at what lies behind those ruinedwalls. "

His men were loath to follow him, but when they saw that he was bravelyentering the frowning portal they trailed a few paces behind in ahuddled group that seemed the personification of nervous terror. Asingle shriek such as they had heard the night before would have beensufficient to have sent them all racing madly for the narrow cleft thatled through the great walls to the outer world. 

As Tarzan entered the building he was distinctly aware of many eyesupon him. There was a rustling in the shadows of a near-by corridor, and he could have sworn that he saw a human hand withdrawn from anembrasure that opened above him into the domelike rotunda in which hefound himself. 

The floor of the chamber was of concrete, the walls of smooth granite, upon which strange figures of men and beasts were carved. In placestablets of yellow metal had been set in the solid masonry of the walls. 

When he approached closer to one of these tablets he saw that it was ofgold, and bore many hieroglyphics. Beyond this first chamber therewere others, and back of them the building branched out into enormouswings. Tarzan passed through several of these chambers, finding manyevidences of the fabulous wealth of the original builders. In one roomwere seven pillars of solid gold, and in another the floor itself wasof the precious metal. And all the while that he explored, his blackshuddled close together at his back, and strange shapes hovered uponeither hand and before them and behind, yet never close enough that anymight say that they were not alone. 

The strain, however, was telling upon the nerves of the Waziri. Theybegged Tarzan to return to the sunlight. They said that no good couldcome of such an expedition, for the ruins were haunted by the spiritsof the dead who had once inhabited them. 

"They are watching us, O king, " whispered Busuli. "They are waitinguntil they have led us into the innermost recesses of their stronghold, and then they will fall upon us and tear us to pieces with their teeth. That is the way with spirits. My mother's uncle, who is a great witchdoctor, has told me all about it many times. "

Tarzan laughed. "Run back into the sunlight, my children, " he said. "I will join you when I have searched this old ruin from top to bottom, and found the gold, or found that there is none. At least we may takethe tablets from the walls, though the pillars are too heavy for us tohandle; but there should be great storerooms filled with gold--goldthat we can carry away upon our backs with ease. Run on now, out intothe fresh air where you may breathe easier. "

Some of the warriors started to obey their chief with alacrity, butBusuli and several others hesitated to leave him--hesitated betweenlove and loyalty for their king, and superstitious fear of the unknown. And then, quite unexpectedly, that occurred which decided the questionwithout the necessity for further discussion. Out of the silence ofthe ruined temple there rang, close to their ears, the same hideousshriek they had heard the previous night, and with horrified cries theblack warriors turned and fled through the empty halls of the age-oldedifice. 

Behind them stood Tarzan of the Apes where they had left him, a grimsmile upon his lips--waiting for the enemy he fully expected was aboutto pounce upon him. But again silence reigned, except for the faintsuggestion of the sound of naked feet moving stealthily in near-byplaces. 

Then Tarzan wheeled and passed on into the depths of the temple. Fromroom to room he went, until he came to one at which a rude, barred doorstill stood, and as he put his shoulder against it to push it in, againthe shriek of warning rang out almost beside him. It was evident thathe was being warned to refrain from desecrating this particular room. Or could it be that within lay the secret to the treasure stores?

At any rate, the very fact that the strange, invisible guardians ofthis weird place had some reason for wishing him not to enter thisparticular chamber was sufficient to treble Tarzan's desire to do so, and though the shrieking was repeated continuously, he kept hisshoulder to the door until it gave before his giant strength to swingopen upon creaking wooden hinges. 

Within all was black as the tomb. There was no window to let in thefaintest ray of light, and as the corridor upon which it opened wasitself in semi-darkness, even the open door shed no relieving rayswithin. Feeling before him upon the floor with the butt of his spear, Tarzan entered the Stygian gloom. Suddenly the door behind him closed, and at the same time hands clutched him from every direction out of thedarkness. 

The ape-man fought with all the savage fury of self-preservation backedby the herculean strength that was his. But though he felt his blowsland, and his teeth sink into soft flesh, there seemed always two newhands to take the place of those that he fought off. At last theydragged him down, and slowly, very slowly, they overcame him by themere weight of their numbers. And then they bound him--his handsbehind his back and his feet trussed up to meet them. He had heard nosound except the heavy breathing of his antagonists, and the noise ofthe battle. He knew not what manner of creatures had captured him, butthat they were human seemed evident from the fact that they had boundhim. 

Presently they lifted him from the floor, and half dragging, halfpushing him, they brought him out of the black chamber through anotherdoorway into an inner courtyard of the temple. Here he saw hiscaptors. There must have been a hundred of them--short, stocky men, with great beards that covered their faces and fell upon their hairybreasts. 

The thick, matted hair upon their heads grew low over their recedingbrows, and hung about their shoulders and their backs. Their crookedlegs were short and heavy, their arms long and muscular. About theirloins they wore the skins of leopards and lions, and great necklaces ofthe claws of these same animals depended upon their breasts. Massivecirclets of virgin gold adorned their arms and legs. For weapons theycarried heavy, knotted bludgeons, and in the belts that confined theirsingle garments each had a long, wicked-looking knife. 

But the feature of them that made the most startling impression upontheir prisoner was their white skins--neither in color nor feature wasthere a trace of the negroid about them. Yet, with their recedingforeheads, wicked little close-set eyes, and yellow fangs, they werefar from prepossessing in appearance. 

During the fight within the dark chamber, and while they had beendragging Tarzan to the inner court, no word had been spoken, but nowseveral of them exchanged grunting, monosyllabic conversation in alanguage unfamiliar to the ape-man, and presently they left him lyingupon the concrete floor while they trooped off on their short legs intoanother part of the temple beyond the court. 

As Tarzan lay there upon his back he saw that the temple entirelysurrounded the little inclosure, and that on all sides its lofty wallsrose high above him. At the top a little patch of blue sky wasvisible, and, in one direction, through an embrasure, he could seefoliage, but whether it was beyond or within the temple he did not know. 

About the court, from the ground to the top of the temple, were seriesof open galleries, and now and then the captive caught glimpses ofbright eyes gleaming from beneath masses of tumbling hair, peering downupon him from above. 

The ape-man gently tested the strength of the bonds that held him, andwhile he could not be sure it seemed that they were of insufficientstrength to withstand the strain of his mighty muscles when the timecame to make a break for freedom; but he did not dare to put them tothe crucial test until darkness had fallen, or he felt that no spyingeyes were upon him. 

He had lain within the court for several hours before the first rays ofsunlight penetrated the vertical shaft; almost simultaneously he heardthe pattering of bare feet in the corridors about him, and a momentlater saw the galleries above fill with crafty faces as a score or moreentered the courtyard. 

For a moment every eye was bent upon the noonday sun, and then inunison the people in the galleries and those in the court below took upthe refrain of a low, weird chant. Presently those about Tarzan beganto dance to the cadence of their solemn song. They circled him slowly, resembling in their manner of dancing a number of clumsy, shufflingbears; but as yet they did not look at him, keeping their little eyesfixed upon the sun. 

For ten minutes or more they kept up their monotonous chant and steps, and then suddenly, and in perfect unison, they turned toward theirvictim with upraised bludgeons and emitting fearful howls, the whilethey contorted their features into the most diabolical expressions, they rushed upon him. 

At the same instant a female figure dashed into the midst of thebloodthirsty horde, and, with a bludgeon similar to their own, exceptthat it was wrought from gold, beat back the advancing men. 

Chapter 20

La

For a moment Tarzan thought that by some strange freak of fate amiracle had saved him, but when he realized the ease with which thegirl had, single-handed, beaten off twenty gorilla-like males, and aninstant later, as he saw them again take up their dance about him whileshe addressed them in a singsong monotone, which bore every evidence ofrote, he came to the conclusion that it was all but a part of theceremony of which he was the central figure. 

After a moment or two the girl drew a knife from her girdle, and, leaning over Tarzan, cut the bonds from his legs. Then, as the menstopped their dance, and approached, she motioned to him to rise. Placing the rope that had been about his legs around his neck, she ledhim across the courtyard, the men following in twos. 

Through winding corridors she led, farther and farther into the remoterprecincts of the temple, until they came to a great chamber in thecenter of which stood an altar. Then it was that Tarzan translated thestrange ceremony that had preceded his introduction into this holy ofholies. 

He had fallen into the hands of descendants of the ancient sunworshippers. His seeming rescue by a votaress of the high priestess ofthe sun had been but a part of the mimicry of their heathenceremony--the sun looking down upon him through the opening at the topof the court had claimed him as his own, and the priestess had comefrom the inner temple to save him from the polluting hands ofworldlings--to save him as a human offering to their flaming deity. 

And had he needed further assurance as to the correctness of his theoryhe had only to cast his eyes upon the brownish-red stains that cakedthe stone altar and covered the floor in its immediate vicinity, or tothe human skulls which grinned from countless niches in the toweringwalls. 

The priestess led the victim to the altar steps. Again the galleriesabove filled with watchers, while from an arched doorway at the eastend of the chamber a procession of females filed slowly into the room. They wore, like the men, only skins of wild animals caught about theirwaists with rawhide belts or chains of gold; but the black masses oftheir hair were incrusted with golden headgear composed of manycircular and oval pieces of gold ingeniously held together to form ametal cap from which depended at each side of the head, long strings ofoval pieces falling to the waist. 

The females were more symmetrically proportioned than the males, theirfeatures were much more perfect, the shapes of their heads and theirlarge, soft, black eyes denoting far greater intelligence and humanitythan was possessed by their lords and masters. 

Each priestess bore two golden cups, and as they formed in line alongone side of the altar the men formed opposite them, advancing andtaking each a cup from the female opposite. Then the chant began oncemore, and presently from a dark passageway beyond the altar anotherfemale emerged from the cavernous depths beneath the chamber. 

The high priestess, thought Tarzan. She was a young woman with arather intelligent and shapely face. Her ornaments were similar tothose worn by her votaries, but much more elaborate, many being setwith diamonds. Her bare arms and legs were almost concealed by themassive, bejeweled ornaments which covered them, while her singleleopard skin was supported by a close-fitting girdle of golden ringsset in strange designs with innumerable small diamonds. In the girdleshe carried a long, jeweled knife, and in her hand a slender wand inlieu of a bludgeon. 

As she advanced to the opposite side of the altar she halted, and thechanting ceased. The priests and priestesses knelt before her, whilewith wand extended above them she recited a long and tiresome prayer. Her voice was soft and musical--Tarzan could scarce realize that itspossessor in a moment more would be transformed by the fanaticalecstasy of religious zeal into a wild-eyed and bloodthirstyexecutioner, who, with dripping knife, would be the first to drink hervictim's red, warm blood from the little golden cup that stood upon thealtar. 

As she finished her prayer she let her eyes rest for the first timeupon Tarzan. With every indication of considerable curiosity sheexamined him from head to foot. Then she addressed him, and when shehad finished stood waiting, as though she expected a reply. 

"I do not understand your language, " said Tarzan. "Possibly we mayspeak together in another tongue?" But she could not understand him, though he tried French, English, Arab, Waziri, and, as a last resort, the mongrel tongue of the West Coast. 

She shook her head, and it seemed that there was a note of weariness inher voice as she motioned to the priests to continue with the rites. These now circled in a repetition of their idiotic dance, which wasterminated finally at a command from the priestess, who had stoodthroughout, still looking intently upon Tarzan. 

At her signal the priests rushed upon the ape-man, and, lifting himbodily, laid him upon his back across the altar, his head hanging overone edge, his legs over the opposite. Then they and the priestessesformed in two lines, with their little golden cups in readiness tocapture a share of the victim's lifeblood after the sacrificial knifehad accomplished its work. 

In the line of priests an altercation arose as to who should have firstplace. A burly brute with all the refined intelligence of a gorillastamped upon his bestial face was attempting to push a smaller man tosecond place, but the smaller one appealed to the high priestess, whoin a cold peremptory voice sent the larger to the extreme end of theline. Tarzan could hear him growling and rumbling as he went slowly tothe inferior station. 

Then the priestess, standing above him, began reciting what Tarzan tookto be an invocation, the while she slowly raised her thin, sharp knifealoft. It seemed ages to the ape-man before her arm ceased its upwardprogress and the knife halted high above his unprotected breast. 

Then it started downward, slowly at first, but as the incantationincreased in rapidity, with greater speed. At the end of the lineTarzan could still hear the grumbling of the disgruntled priest. Theman's voice rose louder and louder. A priestess near him spoke insharp tones of rebuke. The knife was quite near to Tarzan's breastnow, but it halted for an instant as the high priestess raised her eyesto shoot her swift displeasure at the instigator of this sacrilegiousinterruption. 

There was a sudden commotion in the direction of the disputants, andTarzan rolled his head in their direction in time to see the burlybrute of a priest leap upon the woman opposite him, dashing out herbrains with a single blow of his heavy cudgel. Then that happenedwhich Tarzan had witnessed a hundred times before among the wilddenizens of his own savage jungle. He had seen the thing fall uponKerchak, and Tublat, and Terkoz; upon a dozen of the other mighty bullapes of his tribe; and upon Tantor, the elephant; there was scarce anyof the males of the forest that did not at times fall prey to it. Thepriest went mad, and with his heavy bludgeon ran amuck among hisfellows. 

His screams of rage were frightful as he dashed hither and thither, dealing terrific blows with his giant weapon, or sinking his yellowfangs into the flesh of some luckless victim. And during it thepriestess stood with poised knife above Tarzan, her eyes fixed inhorror upon the maniacal thing that was dealing out death anddestruction to her votaries. 

Presently the room was emptied except for the dead and dying on thefloor, the victim upon the altar, the high priestess, and the madman. As the cunning eyes of the latter fell upon the woman they lighted witha new and sudden lust. Slowly he crept toward her, and now he spoke;but this time there fell upon Tarzan's surprised ears a language hecould understand; the last one that he would ever have thought ofemploying in attempting to converse with human beings--the low gutturalbarking of the tribe of great anthropoids--his own mother tongue. Andthe woman answered the man in the same language. 

He was threatening--she attempting to reason with him, for it was quiteevident that she saw that he was past her authority. The brute wasquite close now--creeping with clawlike hands extended toward heraround the end of the altar. Tarzan strained at the bonds which heldhis arms pinioned behind him. The woman did not see--she had forgottenher prey in the horror of the danger that threatened herself. As thebrute leaped past Tarzan to clutch his victim, the ape-man gave onesuperhuman wrench at the thongs that held him. The effort sent himrolling from the altar to the stone floor on the opposite side fromthat on which the priestess stood; but as he sprang to his feet thethongs dropped from his freed arms, and at the same time he realizedthat he was alone in the inner temple--the high priestess and the madpriest had disappeared. 

And then a muffled scream came from the cavernous mouth of the darkhole beyond the sacrificial altar through which the priestess hadentered the temple. Without even a thought for his own safety, or thepossibility for escape which this rapid series of fortuitouscircumstances had thrust upon him, Tarzan of the Apes answered the callof the woman in danger. With a little bound he was at the gapingentrance to the subterranean chamber, and a moment later was runningdown a flight of age-old concrete steps that led he knew not where. 

The faint light that filtered in from above showed him a large, low-ceiled vault from which several doorways led off into inkydarkness, but there was no need to thread an unknown way, for therebefore him lay the objects of his search--the mad brute had the girlupon the floor, and gorilla-like fingers were clutching frantically ather throat as she struggled to escape the fury of the awful thing uponher. 

As Tarzan's heavy hand fell upon his shoulder the priest dropped hisvictim, and turned upon her would-be rescuer. With foam-flecked lipsand bared fangs the mad sun-worshiper battled with the tenfold power ofthe maniac. In the blood lust of his fury the creature had undergone asudden reversion to type, which left him a wild beast, forgetful of thedagger that projected from his belt--thinking only of nature's weaponswith which his brute prototype had battled. 

But if he could use his teeth and hands to advantage, he found one evenbetter versed in the school of savage warfare to which he had reverted, for Tarzan of the Apes closed with him, and they fell to the floortearing and rending at one another like two bull apes; while theprimitive priestess stood flattened against the wall, watching withwide, fear-fascinated eyes the growing, snapping beasts at her feet. 

At last she saw the stranger close one mighty hand upon the throat ofhis antagonist, and as he forced the bruteman's head far back rain blowafter blow upon the upturned face. A moment later he threw the stillthing from him, and, arising, shook himself like a lion. He placed afoot upon the carcass before him, and raised his head to give thevictory cry of his kind, but as his eyes fell upon the opening abovehim leading into the temple of human sacrifice he thought better of hisintended act. 

The girl, who had been half paralyzed by fear as the two men fought, had just commenced to give thought to her probable fate now that, though released from the clutches of a madman, she had fallen into thehands of one whom but a moment before she had been upon the point ofkilling. She looked about for some means of escape. The black mouthof a diverging corridor was near at hand, but as she turned to dartinto it the ape-man's eyes fell upon her, and with a quick leap he wasat her side, and a restraining hand was laid upon her arm. 

"Wait!" said Tarzan of the Apes, in the language of the tribe ofKerchak. 

The girl looked at him in astonishment. 

"Who are you, " she whispered, "who speaks the language of the firstman?"

"I am Tarzan of the Apes, " he answered in the vernacular of theanthropoids. 

"What do you want of me?" she continued. "For what purpose did yousave me from Tha?"

"I could not see a woman murdered?" It was a half question thatanswered her. 

"But what do you intend to do with me now?" she continued. 

"Nothing, " he replied, "but you can do something for me--you can leadme out of this place to freedom. " He made the suggestion without theslightest thought that she would accede. He felt quite sure that thesacrifice would go on from the point where it had been interrupted ifthe high priestess had her way, though he was equally positive thatthey would find Tarzan of the Apes unbound and with a long dagger inhis hand a much less tractable victim than Tarzan disarmed and bound. 

The girl stood looking at him for a long moment before she spoke. 

"You are a very wonderful man, " she said. "You are such a man as Ihave seen in my daydreams ever since I was a little girl. You are sucha man as I imagine the forbears of my people must have been--the greatrace of people who built this mighty city in the heart of a savageworld that they might wrest from the bowels of the earth the fabulouswealth for which they had sacrificed their far-distant civilization. 

"I cannot understand why you came to my rescue in the first place, andnow I cannot understand why, having me within your power, you do notwish to be revenged upon me for having sentenced you to death--forhaving almost put you to death with my own hand. "

"I presume, " replied the ape-man, "that you but followed the teachingsof your religion. I cannot blame YOU for that, no matter what I maythink of your creed. But who are you--what people have I fallen among?"

"I am La, high priestess of the Temple of the Sun, in the city of Opar. We are descendants of a people who came to this savage world more thanten thousand years ago in search of gold. Their cities stretched froma great sea under the rising sun to a great sea into which the sundescends at night to cool his flaming brow. They were very rich andvery powerful, but they lived only a few months of the year in theirmagnificent palaces here; the rest of the time they spent in theirnative land, far, far to the north. 

"Many ships went back and forth between this new world and the old. During the rainy season there were but few of the inhabitants remainedhere, only those who superintended the working of the mines by theblack slaves, and the merchants who had to stay to supply their wants, and the soldiers who guarded the cities and the mines. 

"It was at one of these times that the great calamity occurred. Whenthe time came for the teeming thousands to return none came. For weeksthe people waited. Then they sent out a great galley to learn why noone came from the mother country, but though they sailed about for manymonths, they were unable to find any trace of the mighty land that hadfor countless ages borne their ancient civilization--it had sunk intothe sea. 

"From that day dated the downfall of my people. Disheartened andunhappy, they soon became a prey to the black hordes of the north andthe black hordes of the south. One by one the cities were deserted orovercome. The last remnant was finally forced to take shelter withinthis mighty mountain fortress. Slowly we have dwindled in power, incivilization, in intellect, in numbers, until now we are no more than asmall tribe of savage apes. 

"In fact, the apes live with us, and have for many ages. We call themthe first men--we speak their language quite as much as we do our own;only in the rituals of the temple do we make any attempt to retain ourmother tongue. In time it will be forgotten, and we will speak onlythe language of the apes; in time we will no longer banish those of ourpeople who mate with apes, and so in time we shall descend to the verybeasts from which ages ago our progenitors may have sprung. "

"But why are you more human than the others?" asked the man. 

"For some reason the women have not reverted to savagery so rapidly asthe men. It may be because only the lower types of men remained hereat the time of the great catastrophe, while the temples were filledwith the noblest daughters of the race. My strain has remained clearerthan the rest because for countless ages my foremothers were highpriestesses--the sacred office descends from mother to daughter. Ourhusbands are chosen for us from the noblest in the land. The mostperfect man, mentally and physically, is selected to be the husband ofthe high priestess. "

"From what I saw of the gentlemen above, " said Tarzan, with a grin, "there should be little trouble in choosing from among them. "

The girl looked at him quizzically for a moment. 

"Do not be sacrilegious, " she said. "They are very holy men--they arepriests. "

"Then there are others who are better to look upon?" he asked. 

"The others are all more ugly than the priests, " she replied. 

Tarzan shuddered at her fate, for even in the dim light of the vault hewas impressed by her beauty. 

"But how about myself?" he asked suddenly. "Are you going to lead meto liberty?"

"You have been chosen by The Flaming God as his own, " she answeredsolemnly. "Not even I have the power to save you--should they find youagain. But I do not intend that they shall find you. You risked yourlife to save mine. I may do no less for you. It will be no easymatter--it may require days; but in the end I think that I can lead youbeyond the walls. Come, they will look here for me presently, and ifthey find us together we shall both be lost--they would kill me didthey think that I had proved false to my god. "

"You must not take the risk, then, " he said quickly. "I will return tothe temple, and if I can fight my way to freedom there will be nosuspicion thrown upon you. "

But she would not have it so, and finally persuaded him to follow her, saying that they had already remained in the vault too long to preventsuspicion from falling upon her even if they returned to the temple. 

"I will hide you, and then return alone, " she said, "telling them thatI was long unconscious after you killed Tha, and that I do not knowwhither you escaped. "

And so she led him through winding corridors of gloom, until finallythey came to a small chamber into which a little light filtered througha stone grating in the ceiling. 

"This is the Chamber of the Dead, " she said. "None will think ofsearching here for you--they would not dare. I will return after it isdark. By that time I may have found a plan to effect your escape. "

She was gone, and Tarzan of the Apes was left alone in the Chamber ofthe Dead, beneath the long-dead city of Opar. 

Chapter 21

The Castaways

Clayton dreamed that he was drinking his fill of water, pure, delightful drafts of fresh water. With a start he gained consciousnessto find himself wet through by torrents of rain that were falling uponhis body and his upturned face. A heavy tropical shower was beatingdown upon them. He opened his mouth and drank. Presently he was sorevived and strengthened that he was enabled to raise himself upon hishands. Across his legs lay Monsieur Thuran. A few feet aft JanePorter was huddled in a pitiful little heap in the bottom of theboat--she was quite still. Clayton knew that she was dead. 

After infinite labor he released himself from Thuran's pinioning body, and with renewed strength crawled toward the girl. He raised her headfrom the rough boards of the boat's bottom. There might be life inthat poor, starved frame even yet. He could not quite abandon allhope, and so he seized a water-soaked rag and squeezed the preciousdrops between the swollen lips of the hideous thing that had but a fewshort days before glowed with the resplendent life of happy youth andglorious beauty. 

For some time there was no sign of returning animation, but at last hisefforts were rewarded by a slight tremor of the half-closed lids. Hechafed the thin hands, and forced a few more drops of water into theparched throat. The girl opened her eyes, looking up at him for a longtime before she could recall her surroundings. 

"Water?" she whispered. "Are we saved?"

"It is raining, " he explained. "We may at least drink. Already it hasrevived us both. "

"Monsieur Thuran?" she asked. "He did not kill you. Is he dead?"

"I do not know, " replied Clayton. "If he lives and this rain reviveshim--" But he stopped there, remembering too late that he must not addfurther to the horrors which the girl already had endured. 

But she guessed what he would have said. 

"Where is he?" she asked. 

Clayton nodded his head toward the prostrate form of the Russian. Fora time neither spoke. 

"I will see if I can revive him, " said Clayton at length. 

"No, " she whispered, extending a detaining hand toward him. "Do not dothat--he will kill you when the water has given him strength. If he isdying, let him die. Do not leave me alone in this boat with thatbeast. "

Clayton hesitated. His honor demanded that he attempt to reviveThuran, and there was the possibility, too, that the Russian was beyondhuman aid. It was not dishonorable to hope so. As he sat fighting outhis battle he presently raised his eyes from the body of the man, andas they passed above the gunwale of the boat he staggered weakly to hisfeet with a little cry of joy. 

"Land, Jane!" he almost shouted through his cracked lips. "Thank God, land!"

The girl looked, too, and there, not a hundred yards away, she saw ayellow beach, and, beyond, the luxurious foliage of a tropical jungle. 

"Now you may revive him, " said Jane Porter, for she, too, had beenhaunted with the pangs of conscience which had resulted from herdecision to prevent Clayton from offering succor to their companion. 

It required the better part of half an hour before the Russian evincedsufficient symptoms of returning consciousness to open his eyes, and itwas some time later before they could bring him to a realization oftheir good fortune. By this time the boat was scraping gently upon thesandy bottom. 

Between the refreshing water that he had drunk and the stimulus ofrenewed hope, Clayton found strength to stagger through the shallowwater to the shore with a line made fast to the boat's bow. This hefastened to a small tree which grew at the top of a low bank, for thetide was at flood, and he feared that the boat might carry them all outto sea again with the ebb, since it was quite likely that it would bebeyond his strength to get Jane Porter to the shore for several hours. Next he managed to stagger and crawl toward the near-by jungle, wherehe had seen evidences of profusion of tropical fruit. His formerexperience in the jungle of Tarzan of the Apes had taught him which ofthe many growing things were edible, and after nearly an hour ofabsence he returned to the beach with a little armful of food. 

The rain had ceased, and the hot sun was beating down so mercilesslyupon her that Jane Porter insisted on making an immediate attempt togain the land. Still further invigorated by the food Clayton hadbrought, the three were able to reach the half shade of the small treeto which their boat was moored. Here, thoroughly exhausted, they threwthemselves down to rest, sleeping until dark. 

For a month they lived upon the beach in comparative safety. As theirstrength returned the two men constructed a rude shelter in thebranches of a tree, high enough from the ground to insure safety fromthe larger beasts of prey. By day they gathered fruits and trappedsmall rodents; at night they lay cowering within their frail shelterwhile savage denizens of the jungle made hideous the hours of darkness. 

They slept upon litters of jungle grasses, and for covering at nightJane Porter had only an old ulster that belonged to Clayton, the samegarment that he had worn upon that memorable trip to the Wisconsinwoods. Clayton had erected a frail partition of boughs to divide theirarboreal shelter into two rooms--one for the girl and the other forMonsieur Thuran and himself. 

From the first the Russian had exhibited every trait of his truecharacter--selfishness, boorishness, arrogance, cowardice, and lust. Twice had he and Clayton come to blows because of Thuran's attitudetoward the girl. Clayton dared not leave her alone with him for aninstant. The existence of the Englishman and his fiancee was onecontinual nightmare of horror, and yet they lived on in hope ofultimate rescue. 

Jane Porter's thoughts often reverted to her other experience on thissavage shore. Ah, if the invincible forest god of that dead past werebut with them now. No longer would there be aught to fear fromprowling beasts, or from the bestial Russian. She could not wellrefrain from comparing the scant protection afforded her by Claytonwith what she might have expected had Tarzan of the Apes been for asingle instant confronted by the sinister and menacing attitude ofMonsieur Thuran. Once, when Clayton had gone to the little stream forwater, and Thuran had spoken coarsely to her, she voiced her thoughts. 

"It is well for you, Monsieur Thuran, " she said, "that the poorMonsieur Tarzan who was lost from the ship that brought you and MissStrong to Cape Town is not here now. "

"You knew the pig?" asked Thuran, with a sneer. 

"I knew the man, " she replied. "The only real man, I think, that Ihave ever known. "

There was something in her tone of voice that led the Russian toattribute to her a deeper feeling for his enemy than friendship, and hegrasped at the suggestion to be further revenged upon the man whom hesupposed dead by besmirching his memory to the girl. 

"He was worse than a pig, " he cried. "He was a poltroon and a coward. To save himself from the righteous wrath of the husband of a woman hehad wronged, he perjured his soul in an attempt to place the blameentirely upon her. Not succeeding in this, he ran away from France toescape meeting the husband upon the field of honor. That is why he wason board the ship that bore Miss Strong and myself to Cape Town. Iknow whereof I speak, for the woman in the case is my sister. Something more I know that I have never told another--your braveMonsieur Tarzan leaped overboard in an agony of fear because Irecognized him, and insisted that he make reparation to me thefollowing morning--we could have fought with knives in my stateroom. "

Jane Porter laughed. "You do not for a moment imagine that one who hasknown both Monsieur Tarzan and you could ever believe such animpossible tale?"

"Then why did he travel under an assumed name?" asked Monsieur Thuran. 

"I do not believe you, " she cried, but nevertheless the seed ofsuspicion was sown, for she knew that Hazel Strong had known her forestgod only as John Caldwell, of London. 

A scant five miles north of their rude shelter, all unknown to them, and practically as remote as though separated by thousands of miles ofimpenetrable jungle, lay the snug little cabin of Tarzan of the Apes. While farther up the coast, a few miles beyond the cabin, in crude butwell-built shelters, lived a little party of eighteen souls--theoccupants of the three boats from the LADY ALICE from which Clayton'sboat had become separated. 

Over a smooth sea they had rowed to the mainland in less than threedays. None of the horrors of shipwreck had been theirs, and thoughdepressed by sorrow, and suffering from the shock of the catastropheand the unaccustomed hardships of their new existence there was nonemuch the worse for the experience. 

All were buoyed by the hope that the fourth boat had been picked up, and that a thorough search of the coast would be quickly made. As allthe firearms and ammunition on the yacht had been placed in LordTennington's boat, the party was well equipped for defense, and forhunting the larger game for food. 

Professor Archimedes Q. Porter was their only immediate anxiety. Fullyassured in his own mind that his daughter had been picked up by apassing steamer, he gave over the last vestige of apprehensionconcerning her welfare, and devoted his giant intellect solely to theconsideration of those momentous and abstruse scientific problems whichhe considered the only proper food for thought in one of his erudition. His mind appeared blank to the influence of all extraneous matters. 

"Never, " said the exhausted Mr. Samuel T. Philander, to LordTennington, "never has Professor Porter been more difficult--er--Imight say, impossible. Why, only this morning, after I had been forcedto relinquish my surveillance for a brief half hour he was entirelymissing upon my return. And, bless me, sir, where do you imagine Idiscovered him? A half mile out in the ocean, sir, in one of thelifeboats, rowing away for dear life. I do not know how he attainedeven that magnificent distance from shore, for he had but a single oar, with which he was blissfully rowing about in circles. 

"When one of the sailors had taken me out to him in another boat theprofessor became quite indignant at my suggestion that we return atonce to land. 'Why, Mr. Philander, ' he said, 'I am surprised that you, sir, a man of letters yourself, should have the temerity so tointerrupt the progress of science. I had about deduced from certainastronomic phenomena I have had under minute observation during thepast several tropic nights an entirely new nebular hypothesis whichwill unquestionably startle the scientific world. I wish to consult avery excellent monograph on Laplace's hypothesis, which I understand isin a certain private collection in New York City. Your interference, Mr. Philander, will result in an irreparable delay, for I was justrowing over to obtain this pamphlet. ' And it was with the greatestdifficulty that I persuaded him to return to shore, without resortingto force, " concluded Mr. Philander. 

Miss Strong and her mother were very brave under the strain of almostconstant apprehension of the attacks of savage beasts. Nor were theyquite able to accept so readily as the others the theory that Jane, Clayton, and Monsieur Thuran had been picked up safely. 

Jane Porter's Esmeralda was in a constant state of tears at the cruelfate which had separated her from her "po, li'le honey. "

Lord Tennington's great-hearted good nature never deserted him for amoment. He was still the jovial host, seeking always for the comfortand pleasure of his guests. With the men of his yacht he remained thejust but firm commander--there was never any more question in thejungle than there had been on board the LADY ALICE as to who was thefinal authority in all questions of importance, and in all emergenciesrequiring cool and intelligent leadership. 

Could this well-organized and comparatively secure party of castawayshave seen the ragged, fear-haunted trio a few miles south of them theywould scarcely have recognized in them the formerly immaculate membersof the little company that had laughed and played upon the LADY ALICE. Clayton and Monsieur Thuran were almost naked, so torn had theirclothes been by the thorn bushes and tangled vegetation of the mattedjungle through which they had been compelled to force their way insearch of their ever more difficult food supply. 

Jane Porter had of course not been subjected to these strenuousexpeditions, but her apparel was, nevertheless, in a sad state ofdisrepair. 

Clayton, for lack of any better occupation, had carefully saved theskin of every animal they had killed. By stretching them upon thestems of trees, and diligently scraping them, he had managed to savethem in a fair condition, and now that his clothes were threatening tocover his nakedness no longer, he commenced to fashion a rude garmentof them, using a sharp thorn for a needle, and bits of tough grass andanimal tendons in lieu of thread. 

The result when completed was a sleeveless garment which fell nearly tohis knees. As it was made up of numerous small pelts of differentspecies of rodents, it presented a rather strange and wonderfulappearance, which, together with the vile stench which permeated it, rendered it anything other than a desirable addition to a wardrobe. But the time came when for the sake of decency he was compelled to donit, and even the misery of their condition could not prevent JanePorter from laughing heartily at sight of him. 

Later, Thuran also found it necessary to construct a similar primitivegarment, so that, with their bare legs and heavily bearded faces, theylooked not unlike reincarnations of two prehistoric progenitors of thehuman race. Thuran acted like one. 

Nearly two months of this existence had passed when the first greatcalamity befell them. It was prefaced by an adventure which came nearterminating abruptly the sufferings of two of them--terminating them inthe grim and horrible manner of the jungle, forever. 

Thuran, down with an attack of jungle fever, lay in the shelter amongthe branches of their tree of refuge. Clayton had been into the junglea few hundred yards in search of food. As he returned Jane Porterwalked to meet him. Behind the man, cunning and crafty, crept an oldand mangy lion. For three days his ancient thews and sinews had provedinsufficient for the task of providing his cavernous belly with meat. For months he had eaten less and less frequently, and farther andfarther had he roamed from his accustomed haunts in search of easierprey. At last he had found nature's weakest and most defenselesscreature--in a moment more Numa would dine. 

Clayton, all unconscious of the lurking death behind him, strode outinto the open toward Jane. He had reached her side, a hundred feetfrom the tangled edge of jungle when past his shoulder the girl saw thetawny head and the wicked yellow eyes as the grasses parted, and thehuge beast, nose to ground, stepped softly into view. 

So frozen with horror was she that she could utter no sound, but thefixed and terrified gaze of her fear-widened eyes spoke as plainly toClayton as words. A quick glance behind him revealed the hopelessnessof their situation. The lion was scarce thirty paces from them, andthey were equally as far from the shelter. The man was armed with astout stick--as efficacious against a hungry lion, he realized, as atoy pop-gun charged with a tethered cork. 

Numa, ravenous with hunger, had long since learned the futility ofroaring and moaning as he searched for prey, but now that it was assurely his as though already he had felt the soft flesh beneath hisstill mighty paw, he opened his huge jaws, and gave vent to hislong-pent rage in a series of deafening roars that made the air tremble. 

"Run, Jane!" cried Clayton. "Quick! Run for the shelter!" But herparalyzed muscles refused to respond, and she stood mute and rigid, staring with ghastly countenance at the living death creeping towardthem. 

Thuran, at the sound of that awful roar, had come to the opening of theshelter, and as he saw the tableau below him he hopped up and down, shrieking to them in Russian. 

"Run! Run!" he cried. "Run, or I shall be left all alone in thishorrible place, " and then he broke down and commenced to weep. For amoment this new voice distracted the attention of the lion, who haltedto cast an inquiring glance in the direction of the tree. Claytoncould endure the strain no longer. Turning his back upon the beast, heburied his head in his arms and waited. 

The girl looked at him in horror. Why did he not do something? If hemust die, why not die like a man--bravely; beating at that terribleface with his puny stick, no matter how futile it might be. WouldTarzan of the Apes have done thus? Would he not at least have gonedown to his death fighting heroically to the last?

Now the lion was crouching for the spring that would end their younglives beneath cruel, rending, yellow fangs. Jane Porter sank to herknees in prayer, closing her eyes to shut out the last hideous instant. Thuran, weak from fever, fainted. 

Seconds dragged into minutes, long minutes into an eternity, and yetthe beast did not spring. Clayton was almost unconscious from theprolonged agony of fright--his knees trembled--a moment more and hewould collapse. 

Jane Porter could endure it no longer. She opened her eyes. Could shebe dreaming?

"William, " she whispered; "look!"

Clayton mastered himself sufficiently to raise his head and turn towardthe lion. An ejaculation of surprise burst from his lips. At theirvery feet the beast lay crumpled in death. A heavy war spear protrudedfrom the tawny hide. It had entered the great back above the rightshoulder, and, passing entirely through the body, had pierced thesavage heart. 

Jane Porter had risen to her feet; as Clayton turned back to her shestaggered in weakness. He put out his arms to save her from falling, and then drew her close to him--pressing her head against his shoulder, he stooped to kiss her in thanksgiving. 

Gently the girl pushed him away. 

"Please do not do that, William, " she said. "I have lived a thousandyears in the past brief moments. I have learned in the face of deathhow to live. I do not wish to hurt you more than is necessary; but Ican no longer bear to live out the impossible position I have attemptedbecause of a false sense of loyalty to an impulsive promise I made you. 

"The last few seconds of my life have taught me that it would behideous to attempt further to deceive myself and you, or to entertainfor an instant longer the possibility of ever becoming your wife, should we regain civilization. "

"Why, Jane, " he cried, "what do you mean? What has our providentialrescue to do with altering your feelings toward me? You are butunstrung--tomorrow you will be yourself again. "

"I am more nearly myself this minute than I have been for over a year, "she replied. "The thing that has just happened has again forced to mymemory the fact that the bravest man that ever lived honored me withhis love. Until it was too late I did not realize that I returned it, and so I sent him away. He is dead now, and I shall never marry. Icertainly could not wed another less brave than he without harboringconstantly a feeling of contempt for the relative cowardice of myhusband. Do you understand me?"

"Yes, " he answered, with bowed head, his face mantling with the flushof shame. 

And it was the next day that the great calamity befell. 

Chapter 22

The Treasure Vaults of Opar

It was quite dark before La, the high priestess, returned to theChamber of the Dead with food and drink for Tarzan. She bore no light, feeling with her hands along the crumbling walls until she gained thechamber. Through the stone grating above, a tropic moon served dimlyto illuminate the interior. 

Tarzan, crouching in the shadows at the far side of the room as thefirst sound of approaching footsteps reached him, came forth to meetthe girl as he recognized that it was she. 

"They are furious, " were her first words. "Never before has a humansacrifice escaped the altar. Already fifty have gone forth to trackyou down. They have searched the temple--all save this single room. "

"Why do they fear to come here?" he asked. 

"It is the Chamber of the Dead. Here the dead return to worship. Seethis ancient altar? It is here that the dead sacrifice the living--ifthey find a victim here. That is the reason our people shun thischamber. Were one to enter he knows that the waiting dead would seizehim for their sacrifice. "

"But you?" he asked. 

"I am high priestess--I alone am safe from the dead. It is I who atrare intervals bring them a human sacrifice from the world above. Ialone may enter here in safety. "

"Why have they not seized me?" he asked, humoring her grotesque belief. 

She looked at him quizzically for a moment. Then she replied:

"It is the duty of a high priestess to instruct, tointerpret--according to the creed that others, wiser than herself, havelaid down; but there is nothing in the creed which says that she mustbelieve. The more one knows of one's religion the less onebelieves--no one living knows more of mine than I. "

"Then your only fear in aiding me to escape is that your fellow mortalsmay discover your duplicity?"

"That is all--the dead are dead; they cannot harm--or help. We musttherefore depend entirely upon ourselves, and the sooner we act thebetter it will be. I had difficulty in eluding their vigilance but nowin bringing you this morsel of food. To attempt to repeat the thingdaily would be the height of folly. Come, let us see how far we may gotoward liberty before I must return. "

She led him back to the chamber beneath the altar room. Here sheturned into one of the several corridors leading from it. In thedarkness Tarzan could not see which one. For ten minutes they gropedslowly along a winding passage, until at length they came to a closeddoor. Here he heard her fumbling with a key, and presently came thesound of a metal bolt grating against metal. The door swung in onscraping hinges, and they entered. 

"You will be safe here until tomorrow night, " she said. 

Then she went out, and, closing the door, locked it behind her. 

Where Tarzan stood it was dark as Erebus. Not even his trained eyescould penetrate the utter blackness. Cautiously he moved forward untilhis out-stretched hand touched a wall, then very slowly he traveledaround the four walls of the chamber. 

Apparently it was about twenty feet square. The floor was of concrete, the walls of the dry masonry that marked the method of constructionabove ground. Small pieces of granite of various sizes wereingeniously laid together without mortar to construct these ancientfoundations. 

The first time around the walls Tarzan thought he detected a strangephenomenon for a room with no windows but a single door. Again hecrept carefully around close to the wall. No, he could not bemistaken! He paused before the center of the wall opposite the door. For a moment he stood quite motionless, then he moved a few feet to oneside. Again he returned, only to move a few feet to the other side. 

Once more he made the entire circuit of the room, feeling carefullyevery foot of the walls. Finally he stopped again before theparticular section that had aroused his curiosity. There was no doubtof it! A distinct draft of fresh air was blowing into the chamberthrough the intersection of the masonry at that particular point--andnowhere else. 

Tarzan tested several pieces of the granite which made up the wall atthis spot, and finally was rewarded by finding one which lifted outreadily. It was about ten inches wide, with a face some three by sixinches showing within the chamber. One by one the ape-man lifted outsimilarly shaped stones. The wall at this point was constructedentirely, it seemed, of these almost perfect slabs. In a short time hehad removed some dozen, when he reached in to test the next layer ofmasonry. To his surprise, he felt nothing behind the masonry he hadremoved as far as his long arm could reach. 

It was a matter of but a few minutes to remove enough of the wall topermit his body to pass through the aperture. Directly ahead of him hethought he discerned a faint glow--scarcely more than a lessimpenetrable darkness. Cautiously he moved forward on hands and knees, until at about fifteen feet, or the average thickness of the foundationwalls, the floor ended abruptly in a sudden drop. As far out as hecould reach he felt nothing, nor could he find the bottom of the blackabyss that yawned before him, though, clinging to the edge of thefloor, he lowered his body into the darkness to its full length. 

Finally it occurred to him to look up, and there above him he sawthrough a round opening a tiny circular patch of starry sky. Feelingup along the sides of the shaft as far as he could reach, the ape-mandiscovered that so much of the wall as he could feel converged towardthe center of the shaft as it rose. This fact precluded possibility ofescape in that direction. 

As he sat speculating on the nature and uses of this strange passageand its terminal shaft, the moon topped the opening above, letting aflood of soft, silvery light into the shadowy place. Instantly thenature of the shaft became apparent to Tarzan, for far below him he sawthe shimmering surface of water. He had come upon an ancient well--butwhat was the purpose of the connection between the well and the dungeonin which he had been hidden?

As the moon crossed the opening of the shaft its light flooded thewhole interior, and then Tarzan saw directly across from him anotheropening in the opposite wall. He wondered if this might not be themouth of a passage leading to possible escape. It would be worthinvestigating, at least, and this he determined to do. 

Quickly returning to the wall he had demolished to explore what laybeyond it, he carried the stones into the passageway and replaced themfrom that side. The deep deposit of dust which he had noticed upon theblocks as he had first removed them from the wall had convinced himthat even if the present occupants of the ancient pile had knowledge ofthis hidden passage they had made no use of it for perhaps generations. 

The wall replaced, Tarzan turned to the shaft, which was some fifteenfeet wide at this point. To leap across the intervening space was asmall matter to the ape-man, and a moment later he was proceeding alonga narrow tunnel, moving cautiously for fear of being precipitated intoanother shaft such as he had just crossed. 

He had advanced some hundred feet when he came to a flight of stepsleading downward into Stygian gloom. Some twenty feet below, the levelfloor of the tunnel recommenced, and shortly afterward his progress wasstopped by a heavy wooden door which was secured by massive wooden barsupon the side of Tarzan's approach. This fact suggested to the ape-manthat he might surely be in a passageway leading to the outer world, forthe bolts, barring progress from the opposite side, tended tosubstantiate this hypothesis, unless it were merely a prison to whichit led. 

Along the tops of the bars were deep layers of dust--a furtherindication that the passage had lain long unused. As he pushed themassive obstacle aside, its great hinges shrieked out in weird protestagainst this unaccustomed disturbance. For a moment Tarzan paused tolisten for any responsive note which might indicate that the unusualnight noise had alarmed the inmates of the temple; but as he heardnothing he advanced beyond the doorway. 

Carefully feeling about, he found himself within a large chamber, alongthe walls of which, and down the length of the floor, were piled manytiers of metal ingots of an odd though uniform shape. To his gropinghands they felt not unlike double-headed bootjacks. The ingots werequite heavy, and but for the enormous number of them he would have beenpositive that they were gold; but the thought of the fabulous wealththese thousands of pounds of metal would have represented were they inreality gold, almost convinced him that they must be of some basermetal. 

At the far end of the chamber he discovered another barred door, andagain the bars upon the inside renewed the hope that he was traversingan ancient and forgotten passageway to liberty. Beyond the door thepassage ran straight as a war spear, and it soon became evident to theape-man that it had already led him beyond the outer walls of thetemple. If he but knew the direction it was leading him! If towardthe west, then he must also be beyond the city's outer walls. 

With increasing hopes he forged ahead as rapidly as he dared, until atthe end of half an hour he came to another flight of steps leadingupward. At the bottom this flight was of concrete, but as he ascendedhis naked feet felt a sudden change in the substance they weretreading. The steps of concrete had given place to steps of granite. Feeling with his hands, the ape-man discovered that these latter wereevidently hewed from rock, for there was no crack to indicate a joint. 

For a hundred feet the steps wound spirally up, until at a suddenturning Tarzan came into a narrow cleft between two rocky walls. Abovehim shone the starry sky, and before him a steep incline replaced thesteps that had terminated at its foot. Up this pathway Tarzanhastened, and at its upper end came out upon the rough top of a hugegranite bowlder. 

A mile away lay the ruined city of Opar, its domes and turrets bathedin the soft light of the equatorial moon. Tarzan dropped his eyes tothe ingot he had brought away with him. For a moment he examined it bythe moon's bright rays, then he raised his head to look out upon theancient piles of crumbling grandeur in the distance. 

"Opar, " he mused, "Opar, the enchanted city of a dead and forgottenpast. The city of the beauties and the beasts. City of horrors anddeath; but--city of fabulous riches. " The ingot was of virgin gold. 

The bowlder on which Tarzan found himself lay well out in the plainbetween the city and the distant cliffs he and his black warriors hadscaled the morning previous. To descend its rough and precipitous facewas a task of infinite labor and considerable peril even to theape-man; but at last he felt the soft soil of the valley beneath hisfeet, and without a backward glance at Opar he turned his face towardthe guardian cliffs, and at a rapid trot set off across the valley. 

The sun was just rising as he gained the summit of the flat mountain atthe valley's western boundary. Far beneath him he saw smoke arisingabove the tree-tops of the forest at the base of the foothills. 

"Man, " he murmured. "And there were fifty who went forth to track medown. Can it be they?"

Swiftly he descended the face of the cliff, and, dropping into a narrowravine which led down to the far forest, he hastened onward in thedirection of the smoke. Striking the forest's edge about a quarter ofa mile from the point at which the slender column arose into the stillair, he took to the trees. Cautiously he approached until theresuddenly burst upon his view a rude BOMA, in the center of which, squatted about their tiny fires, sat his fifty black Waziri. He calledto them in their own tongue:

"Arise, my children, and greet thy king!"

With exclamations of surprise and fear the warriors leaped to theirfeet, scarcely knowing whether to flee or not. Then Tarzan droppedlightly from an overhanging branch into their midst. When theyrealized that it was indeed their chief in the flesh, and nomaterialized spirit, they went mad with joy. 

"We were cowards, oh, Waziri, " cried Busuli. "We ran away and left youto your fate; but when our panic was over we swore to return and saveyou, or at least take revenge upon your murderers. We were but nowpreparing to scale the heights once more and cross the desolate valleyto the terrible city. "

"Have you seen fifty frightful men pass down from the cliffs into thisforest, my children?" asked Tarzan. 

"Yes, Waziri, " replied Busuli. "They passed us late yesterday, as wewere about to turn back after you. They had no woodcraft. We heardthem coming for a mile before we saw them, and as we had other businessin hand we withdrew into the forest and let them pass. They werewaddling rapidly along upon short legs, and now and then one would goupon all fours like Bolgani, the gorilla. They were indeed fiftyfrightful men, Waziri. "

When Tarzan had related his adventures and told them of the yellowmetal he had found, not one demurred when he outlined a plan to returnby night and bring away what they could carry of the vast treasure; andso it was that as dusk fell across the desolate valley of Opar fiftyebon warriors trailed at a smart trot over the dry and dusty groundtoward the giant bowlder that loomed before the city. 

If it had seemed a difficult task to descend the face of the bowlder, Tarzan soon found that it would be next to impossible to get his fiftywarriors to the summit. Finally the feat was accomplished by dint ofherculean efforts upon the part of the ape-man. Ten spears werefastened end to end, and with one end of this remarkable chain attachedto his waist, Tarzan at last succeeded in reaching the summit. 

Once there, he drew up one of his blacks, and in this way the entireparty was finally landed in safety upon the bowlder's top. ImmediatelyTarzan led them to the treasure chamber, where to each was allotted aload of two ingots, for each about eighty pounds. 

By midnight the entire party stood once more at the foot of thebowlder, but with their heavy loads it was mid-forenoon ere theyreached the summit of the cliffs. From there on the homeward journeywas slow, as these proud fighting men were unaccustomed to the dutiesof porters. But they bore their burdens uncomplainingly, and at theend of thirty days entered their own country. 

Here, instead of continuing on toward the northwest and their village, Tarzan guided them almost directly west, until on the morning of thethirty-third day he bade them break camp and return to their ownvillage, leaving the gold where they had stacked it the previous night. 

"And you, Waziri?" they asked. 

"I shall remain here for a few days, my children, " he replied. "Nowhasten back to thy wives and children. "

When they had gone Tarzan gathered up two of the ingots and, springinginto a tree, ran lightly above the tangled and impenetrable mass ofundergrowth for a couple of hundred yards, to emerge suddenly upon acircular clearing about which the giants of the jungle forest toweredlike a guardian host. In the center of this natural amphitheater, wasa little flat-topped mound of hard earth. 

Hundreds of times before had Tarzan been to this secluded spot, whichwas so densely surrounded by thorn bushes and tangled vines andcreepers of huge girth that not even Sheeta, the leopard, could wormhis sinuous way within, nor Tantor, with his giant strength, force thebarriers which protected the council chamber of the great apes from allbut the harmless denizens of the savage jungle. 

Fifty trips Tarzan made before he had deposited all the ingots withinthe precincts of the amphitheater. Then from the hollow of an ancient, lightning-blasted tree he produced the very spade with which he haduncovered the chest of Professor Archimedes Q. Porter which he hadonce, apelike, buried in this selfsame spot. With this he dug a longtrench, into which he laid the fortune that his blacks had carried fromthe forgotten treasure vaults of the city of Opar. 

That night he slept within the amphitheater, and early the next morningset out to revisit his cabin before returning to his Waziri. Findingthings as he had left them, he went forth into the jungle to hunt, intending to bring his prey to the cabin where he might feast incomfort, spending the night upon a comfortable couch. 

For five miles toward the south he roamed, toward the banks of afair-sized river that flowed into the sea about six miles from hiscabin. He had gone inland about half a mile when there came suddenlyto his trained nostrils the one scent that sets the whole savage jungleaquiver--Tarzan smelled man. 

The wind was blowing off the ocean, so Tarzan knew that the authors ofthe scent were west of him. Mixed with the man scent was the scent ofNuma. Man and lion. "I had better hasten, " thought the ape-man, forhe had recognized the scent of whites. "Numa may be a-hunting. "

When he came through the trees to the edge of the jungle he saw a womankneeling in prayer, and before her stood a wild, primitive-lookingwhite man, his face buried in his arms. Behind the man a mangy lionwas advancing slowly toward this easy prey. The man's face wasaverted; the woman's bowed in prayer. He could not see the features ofeither. 

Already Numa was about to spring. There was not a second to spare. Tarzan could not even unsling his bow and fit an arrow in time to sendone of his deadly poisoned shafts into the yellow hide. He was too faraway to reach the beast in time with his knife. There was but a singlehope--a lone alternative. And with the quickness of thought theape-man acted. 

A brawny arm flew back--for the briefest fraction of an instant a hugespear poised above the giant's shoulder--and then the mighty arm shotout, and swift death tore through the intervening leaves to bury itselfin the heart of the leaping lion. Without a sound he rolled over atthe very feet of his intended victims--dead. 

For a moment neither the man nor the woman moved. Then the latteropened her eyes to look with wonder upon the dead beast behind hercompanion. As that beautiful head went up Tarzan of the Apes gave agasp of incredulous astonishment. Was he mad? It could not be thewoman he loved! But, indeed, it was none other. 

And the woman rose, and the man took her in his arms to kiss her, andof a sudden the ape-man saw red through a bloody mist of murder, andthe old scar upon his forehead burned scarlet against his brown hide. 

There was a terrible expression upon his savage face as he fitted apoisoned shaft to his bow. An ugly light gleamed in those gray eyes ashe sighted full at the back of the unsuspecting man beneath him. 

For an instant he glanced along the polished shaft, drawing thebowstring far back, that the arrow might pierce through the heart forwhich it was aimed. 

But he did not release the fatal messenger. Slowly the point of thearrow drooped; the scar upon the brown forehead faded; the bowstringrelaxed; and Tarzan of the Apes, with bowed head, turned sadly into thejungle toward the village of the Waziri. 

Chapter 23

The Fifty Frightful Men

For several long minutes Jane Porter and William Cecil Clayton stoodsilently looking at the dead body of the beast whose prey they had sonarrowly escaped becoming. 

The girl was the first to speak again after her outbreak of impulsiveavowal. 

"Who could it have been?" she whispered. 

"God knows!" was the man's only reply. 

"If it is a friend, why does he not show himself?" continued Jane. "Wouldn't it be well to call out to him, and at least thank him?"

Mechanically Clayton did her bidding, but there was no response. 

Jane Porter shuddered. "The mysterious jungle, " she murmured. "Theterrible jungle. It renders even the manifestations of friendshipterrifying. "

"We had best return to the shelter, " said Clayton. "You will be atleast a little safer there. I am no protection whatever, " he addedbitterly. 

"Do not say that, William, " she hastened to urge, acutely sorry for thewound her words had caused. "You have done the best you could. Youhave been noble, and self-sacrificing, and brave. It is no fault ofyours that you are not a superman. There is only one other man I haveever known who could have done more than you. My words were ill chosenin the excitement of the reaction--I did not wish to wound you. Allthat I wish is that we may both understand once and for all that I cannever marry you--that such a marriage would be wicked. "

"I think I understand, " he replied. "Let us not speak of it again--atleast until we are back in civilization. "

The next day Thuran was worse. Almost constantly he was in a state ofdelirium. They could do nothing to relieve him, nor was Claytonover-anxious to attempt anything. On the girl's account he feared theRussian--in the bottom of his heart he hoped the man would die. Thethought that something might befall him that would leave her entirelyat the mercy of this beast caused him greater anxiety than theprobability that almost certain death awaited her should she be leftentirely alone upon the outskirts of the cruel forest. 

The Englishman had extracted the heavy spear from the body of the lion, so that when he went into the forest to hunt that morning he had afeeling of much greater security than at any time since they had beencast upon the savage shore. The result was that he penetrated fartherfrom the shelter than ever before. 

To escape as far as possible from the mad ravings of the fever-strickenRussian, Jane Porter had descended from the shelter to the foot of thetree--she dared not venture farther. Here, beside the crude ladderClayton had constructed for her, she sat looking out to sea, in thealways surviving hope that a vessel might be sighted. 

Her back was toward the jungle, and so she did not see the grassespart, or the savage face that peered from between. Little, bloodshot, close-set eyes scanned her intently, roving from time to time about theopen beach for indications of the presence of others than herself. Presently another head appeared, and then another and another. The manin the shelter commenced to rave again, and the heads disappeared assilently and as suddenly as they had come. But soon they were thrustforth once more, as the girl gave no sign of perturbation at thecontinued wailing of the man above. 

One by one grotesque forms emerged from the jungle to creep stealthilyupon the unsuspecting woman. A faint rustling of the grasses attractedher attention. She turned, and at the sight that confronted herstaggered to her feet with a little shriek of fear. Then they closedupon her with a rush. Lifting her bodily in his long, gorilla-likearms, one of the creatures turned and bore her into the jungle. Afilthy paw covered her mouth to stifle her screams. Added to the weeksof torture she had already undergone, the shock was more than she couldwithstand. Shattered nerves collapsed, and she lost consciousness. When she regained her senses she found herself in the thick of theprimeval forest. It was night. A huge fire burned brightly in thelittle clearing in which she lay. About it squatted fifty frightfulmen. Their heads and faces were covered with matted hair. Their longarms rested upon the bent knees of their short, crooked legs. Theywere gnawing, like beasts, upon unclean food. A pot boiled upon theedge of the fire, and out of it one of the creatures would occasionallydrag a hunk of meat with a sharpened stick. 

When they discovered that their captive had regained consciousness, apiece of this repulsive stew was tossed to her from the foul hand of anearby feaster. It rolled close to her side, but she only closed hereyes as a qualm of nausea surged through her. 

For many days they traveled through the dense forest. The girl, footsore and exhausted, was half dragged, half pushed through the long, hot, tedious days. Occasionally, when she would stumble and fall, shewas cuffed and kicked by the nearest of the frightful men. Long beforethey reached their journey's end her shoes had been discarded--thesoles entirely gone. Her clothes were torn to mere shreds and tatters, and through the pitiful rags her once white and tender skin showed rawand bleeding from contact with the thousand pitiless thorns andbrambles through which she had been dragged. 

The last two days of the journey found her in such utter exhaustionthat no amount of kicking and abuse could force her to her poor, bleeding feet. Outraged nature had reached the limit of endurance, andthe girl was physically powerless to raise herself even to her knees. 

As the beasts surrounded her, chattering threateningly the while theygoaded her with their cudgels and beat and kicked her with their fistsand feet, she lay with closed eyes, praying for the merciful death thatshe knew alone could give her surcease from suffering; but it did notcome, and presently the fifty frightful men realized that their victimwas no longer able to walk, and so they picked her up and carried herthe balance of the journey. 

Late one afternoon she saw the ruined walls of a mighty city loomingbefore them, but so weak and sick was she that it inspired not thefaintest shadow of interest. Wherever they were bearing her, therecould be but one end to her captivity among these fierce half brutes. 

At last they passed through two great walls and came to the ruined citywithin. Into a crumbling pile they bore her, and here she wassurrounded by hundreds more of the same creatures that had brought her;but among them were females who looked less horrible. At sight of themthe first faint hope that she had entertained came to mitigate hermisery. But it was short-lived, for the women offered her no sympathy, though, on the other hand, neither did they abuse her. 

After she had been inspected to the entire satisfaction of the inmatesof the building she was borne to a dark chamber in the vaults beneath, and here upon the bare floor she was left, with a metal bowl of waterand another of food. 

For a week she saw only some of the women whose duty it was to bringher food and water. Slowly her strength was returning--soon she wouldbe in fit condition to offer as a sacrifice to The Flaming God. Fortunate indeed it was that she could not know the fate for which shewas destined. 

As Tarzan of the Apes moved slowly through the jungle after casting thespear that saved Clayton and Jane Porter from the fangs of Numa, hismind was filled with all the sorrow that belongs to a freshly openedheart wound. 

He was glad that he had stayed his hand in time to prevent theconsummation of the thing that in the first mad wave of jealous wrathhe had contemplated. Only the fraction of a second had stood betweenClayton and death at the hands of the ape-man. In the short momentthat had elapsed after he had recognized the girl and her companion andthe relaxing of the taut muscles that held the poisoned shaft directedat the Englishman's heart, Tarzan had been swayed by the swift andsavage impulses of brute life. 

He had seen the woman he craved--his woman--his mate--in the arms ofanother. There had been but one course open to him, according to thefierce jungle code that guided him in this other existence; but justbefore it had become too late the softer sentiments of his inherentchivalry had risen above the flaming fires of his passion and savedhim. A thousand times he gave thanks that they had triumphed beforehis fingers had released that polished arrow. 

As he contemplated his return to the Waziri the idea became repugnant. He did not wish to see a human being again. At least he would rangealone through the jungle for a time, until the sharp edge of his sorrowhad become blunted. Like his fellow beasts, he preferred to suffer insilence and alone. 

That night he slept again in the amphitheater of the apes, and forseveral days he hunted from there, returning at night. On theafternoon of the third day he returned early. He had lain stretchedupon the soft grass of the circular clearing for but a few moments whenhe heard far to the south a familiar sound. It was the passing throughthe jungle of a band of great apes--he could not mistake that. Forseveral minutes he lay listening. They were coming in the direction ofthe amphitheater. 

Tarzan arose lazily and stretched himself. His keen ears followedevery movement of the advancing tribe. They were upwind, and presentlyhe caught their scent, though he had not needed this added evidence toassure him that he was right. 

As they came closer to the amphitheater Tarzan of the Apes melted intothe branches upon the other side of the arena. There he waited toinspect the newcomers. Nor had he long to wait. 

Presently a fierce, hairy face appeared among the lower branchesopposite him. The cruel little eyes took in the clearing at a glance, then there was a chattered report returned to those behind. Tarzancould hear the words. The scout was telling the other members of thetribe that the coast was clear and that they might enter theamphitheater in safety. 

First the leader dropped lightly upon the soft carpet of the grassyfloor, and then, one by one, nearly a hundred anthropoids followed him. There were the huge adults and several young. A few nursing babesclung close to the shaggy necks of their savage mothers. 

Tarzan recognized many members of the tribe. It was the same intowhich he had come as a tiny babe. Many of the adults had been littleapes during his boyhood. He had frolicked and played about this veryjungle with them during their brief childhood. He wondered if theywould remember him--the memory of some apes is not overlong, and twoyears may be an eternity to them. 

From the talk which he overheard he learned that they had come tochoose a new king--their late chief had fallen a hundred feet beneath abroken limb to an untimely end. 

Tarzan walked to the end of an overhanging limb in plain view of them. The quick eyes of a female caught sight of him first. With a barkingguttural she called the attention of the others. Several huge bullsstood erect to get a better view of the intruder. With bared fangs andbristling necks they advanced slowly toward him, with deep-throated, ominous growls. 

"Karnath, I am Tarzan of the Apes, " said the ape-man in the vernacularof the tribe. "You remember me. Together we teased Numa when we werestill little apes, throwing sticks and nuts at him from the safety ofhigh branches. "

The brute he had addressed stopped with a look of half-comprehending, dull wonderment upon his savage face. 

"And Magor, " continued Tarzan, addressing another, "do you not recallyour former king--he who slew the mighty Kerchak? Look at me! Am Inot the same Tarzan--mighty hunter--invincible fighter--that you allknew for many seasons?"

The apes all crowded forward now, but more in curiosity thanthreatening. They muttered among themselves for a few moments. 

"What do you want among us now?" asked Karnath. 

"Only peace, " answered the ape-man. 

Again the apes conferred. At length Karnath spoke again. 

"Come in peace, then, Tarzan of the Apes, " he said. 

And so Tarzan of the Apes dropped lightly to the turf into the midst ofthe fierce and hideous horde--he had completed the cycle of evolution, and had returned to be once again a brute among brutes. 

There were no greetings such as would have taken place among men aftera separation of two years. The majority of the apes went on about thelittle activities that the advent of the ape-man had interrupted, paying no further attention to him than as though he had not been gonefrom the tribe at all. 

One or two young bulls who had not been old enough to remember himsidled up on all fours to sniff at him, and one bared his fangs andgrowled threateningly--he wished to put Tarzan immediately into hisproper place. Had Tarzan backed off, growling, the young bull wouldquite probably have been satisfied, but always after Tarzan's stationamong his fellow apes would have been beneath that of the bull whichhad made him step aside. 

But Tarzan of the Apes did not back off. Instead, he swung his giantpalm with all the force of his mighty muscles, and, catching the youngbull alongside the head, sent him sprawling across the turf. The apewas up and at him again in a second, and this time they closed withtearing fingers and rending fangs--or at least that had been theintention of the young bull; but scarcely had they gone down, growlingand snapping, than the ape-man's fingers found the throat of hisantagonist. 

Presently the young bull ceased to struggle, and lay quite still. ThenTarzan released his hold and arose--he did not wish to kill, only toteach the young ape, and others who might be watching, that Tarzan ofthe Apes was still master. 

The lesson served its purpose--the young apes kept out of his way, asyoung apes should when their betters were about, and the old bulls madeno attempt to encroach upon his prerogatives. For several days theshe-apes with young remained suspicious of him, and when he venturedtoo near rushed upon him with wide mouths and hideous roars. ThenTarzan discreetly skipped out of harm's way, for that also is a customamong the apes--only mad bulls will attack a mother. But after a whileeven they became accustomed to him. 

He hunted with them as in days gone by, and when they found that hissuperior reason guided him to the best food sources, and that hiscunning rope ensnared toothsome game that they seldom if ever tasted, they came again to look up to him as they had in the past after he hadbecome their king. And so it was that before they left theamphitheater to return to their wanderings they had once more chosenhim as their leader. 

The ape-man felt quite contented with his new lot. He was nothappy--that he never could be again, but he was at least as far fromeverything that might remind him of his past misery as he could be. Long since he had given up every intention of returning tocivilization, and now he had decided to see no more his black friendsof the Waziri. He had foresworn humanity forever. He had started lifean ape--as an ape he would die. 

He could not, however, erase from his memory the fact that the woman heloved was within a short journey of the stamping-ground of his tribe;nor could he banish the haunting fear that she might be constantly indanger. That she was illy protected he had seen in the brief instantthat had witnessed Clayton's inefficiency. The more Tarzan thought ofit, the more keenly his conscience pricked him. 

Finally he came to loathe himself for permitting his own selfish sorrowand jealousy to stand between Jane Porter and safety. As the dayspassed the thing preyed more and more upon his mind, and he had aboutdetermined to return to the coast and place himself on guard over JanePorter and Clayton, when news reached him that altered all his plansand sent him dashing madly toward the east in reckless disregard ofaccident and death. 

Before Tarzan had returned to the tribe, a certain young bull, notbeing able to secure a mate from among his own people, had, accordingto custom, fared forth through the wild jungle, like some knight-errantof old, to win a fair lady from some neighboring community. 

He had but just returned with his bride, and was narrating hisadventures quickly before he should forget them. Among other things hetold of seeing a great tribe of strange-looking apes. 

"They were all hairy-faced bulls but one, " he said, "and that one was ashe, lighter in color even than this stranger, " and he chucked a thumbat Tarzan. 

The ape-man was all attention in an instant. He asked questions asrapidly as the slow-witted anthropoid could answer them. 

"Were the bulls short, with crooked legs?"

"They were. "

"Did they wear the skins of Numa and Sheeta about their loins, andcarry sticks and knives?"

"They did. "

"And were there many yellow rings about their arms and legs?"

"Yes. "

"And the she one--was she small and slender, and very white?"

"Yes. "

"Did she seem to be one of the tribe, or was she a prisoner?"

"They dragged her along--sometimes by an arm--sometimes by the longhair that grew upon her head; and always they kicked and beat her. Oh, but it was great fun to watch them. "

"God!" muttered Tarzan. 

"Where were they when you saw them, and which way were they going?"continued the ape-man. 

"They were beside the second water back there, " and he pointed to thesouth. "When they passed me they were going toward the morning, upwardalong the edge of the water. "

"When was this?" asked Tarzan. 

"Half a moon since. "

Without another word the ape-man sprang into the trees and fled like adisembodied spirit eastward in the direction of the forgotten city ofOpar. 

Chapter 24

How Tarzan Came Again to Opar

When Clayton returned to the shelter and found Jane Porter was missing, he became frantic with fear and grief. He found Monsieur Thuran quiterational, the fever having left him with the surprising suddennesswhich is one of its peculiarities. The Russian, weak and exhausted, still lay upon his bed of grasses within the shelter. 

When Clayton asked him about the girl he seemed surprised to know thatshe was not there. 

"I have heard nothing unusual, " he said. "But then I have beenunconscious much of the time. "

Had it not been for the man's very evident weakness, Clayton shouldhave suspected him of having sinister knowledge of the girl'swhereabouts; but he could see that Thuran lacked sufficient vitalityeven to descend, unaided, from the shelter. He could not, in hispresent physical condition, have harmed the girl, nor could he haveclimbed the rude ladder back to the shelter. 

Until dark the Englishman searched the nearby jungle for a trace of themissing one or a sign of the trail of her abductor. But though thespoor left by the fifty frightful men, unversed in woodcraft as theywere, would have been as plain to the densest denizen of the jungle asa city street to the Englishman, yet he crossed and recrossed it twentytimes without observing the slightest indication that many men hadpassed that way but a few short hours since. 

As he searched, Clayton continued to call the girl's name aloud, butthe only result of this was to attract Numa, the lion. Fortunately theman saw the shadowy form worming its way toward him in time to climbinto the branches of a tree before the beast was close enough to reachhim. This put an end to his search for the balance of the afternoon, as the lion paced back and forth beneath him until dark. 

Even after the beast had left, Clayton dared not descend into the awfulblackness beneath him, and so he spent a terrifying and hideous nightin the tree. The next morning he returned to the beach, relinquishingthe last hope of succoring Jane Porter. 

During the week that followed, Monsieur Thuran rapidly regained hisstrength, lying in the shelter while Clayton hunted food for both. Themen never spoke except as necessity demanded. Clayton now occupied thesection of the shelter which had been reserved for Jane Porter, andonly saw the Russian when he took food or water to him, or performedthe other kindly offices which common humanity required. 

When Thuran was again able to descend in search of food, Clayton wasstricken with fever. For days he lay tossing in delirium andsuffering, but not once did the Russian come near him. Food theEnglishman could not have eaten, but his craving for water amountedpractically to torture. Between the recurrent attacks of delirium, weak though he was, he managed to reach the brook once a day and fill atiny can that had been among the few appointments of the lifeboat. 

Thuran watched him on these occasions with an expression of malignantpleasure--he seemed really to enjoy the suffering of the man who, despite the just contempt in which he held him, had ministered to himto the best of his ability while he lay suffering the same agonies. Atlast Clayton became so weak that he was no longer able to descend fromthe shelter. For a day he suffered for water without appealing to theRussian, but finally, unable to endure it longer, he asked Thuran tofetch him a drink. The Russian came to the entrance to Clayton's room, a dish of water in his hand. A nasty grin contorted his features. 

"Here is water, " he said. "But first let me remind you that youmaligned me before the girl--that you kept her to yourself, and wouldnot share her with me--"

Clayton interrupted him. "Stop!" he cried. "Stop! What manner of curare you that you traduce the character of a good woman whom we believedead! God! I was a fool ever to let you live--you are not fit to liveeven in this vile land. "

"Here is your water, " said the Russian. "All you will get, " and heraised the basin to his lips and drank; what was left he threw out uponthe ground below. Then he turned and left the sick man. 

Clayton rolled over, and, burying his face in his arms, gave up thebattle. 

The next day Thuran determined to set out toward the north along thecoast, for he knew that eventually he must come to the habitations ofcivilized men--at least he could be no worse off than he was here, and, furthermore, the ravings of the dying Englishman were getting on hisnerves. So he stole Clayton's spear and set off upon his journey. Hewould have killed the sick man before he left had it not occurred tohim that it would really have been a kindness to do so. 

That same day he came to a little cabin by the beach, and his heartfilled with renewed hope as he saw this evidence of the proximity ofcivilization, for he thought it but the outpost of a nearby settlement. Had he known to whom it belonged, and that its owner was at that verymoment but a few miles inland, Nikolas Rokoff would have fled the placeas he would a pestilence. But he did not know, and so he remained fora few days to enjoy the security and comparative comforts of the cabin. Then he took up his northward journey once more. 

In Lord Tennington's camp preparations were going forward to buildpermanent quarters, and then to send out an expedition of a few men tothe north in search of relief. 

As the days had passed without bringing the longed-for succor, hopethat Jane Porter, Clayton, and Monsieur Thuran had been rescued beganto die. No one spoke of the matter longer to Professor Porter, and hewas so immersed in his scientific dreaming that he was not aware of theelapse of time. 

Occasionally he would remark that within a few days they shouldcertainly see a steamer drop anchor off their shore, and that then theyshould all be reunited happily. Sometimes he spoke of it as a train, and wondered if it were being delayed by snowstorms. 

"If I didn't know the dear old fellow so well by now, " Tenningtonremarked to Miss Strong, "I should be quite certain that hewas--er--not quite right, don't you know. " "If it were not so patheticit would be ridiculous, " said the girl, sadly. "I, who have known himall my life, know how he worships Jane; but to others it must seem thathe is perfectly callous to her fate. It is only that he is soabsolutely impractical that he cannot conceive of so real a thing asdeath unless nearly certain proof of it is thrust upon him. "

"You'd never guess what he was about yesterday, " continued Tennington. "I was coming in alone from a little hunt when I met him walkingrapidly along the game trail that I was following back to camp. Hishands were clasped beneath the tails of his long black coat, and histop hat was set firmly down upon his head, as with eyes bent upon theground he hastened on, probably to some sudden death had I notintercepted him. 

"'Why, where in the world are you bound, professor?' I asked him. 'Iam going into town, Lord Tennington, ' he said, as seriously aspossible, 'to complain to the postmaster about the rural free deliveryservice we are suffering from here. Why, sir, I haven't had a piece ofmail in weeks. There should be several letters for me from Jane. Thematter must be reported to Washington at once. '

"And would you believe it, Miss Strong, " continued Tennington, "I hadthe very deuce of a job to convince the old fellow that there was notonly no rural free delivery, but no town, and that he was not even onthe same continent as Washington, nor in the same hemisphere. 

"When he did realize he commenced to worry about his daughter--I thinkit is the first time that he really has appreciated our position here, or the fact that Miss Porter may not have been rescued. "

"I hate to think about it, " said the girl, "and yet I can think ofnothing else than the absent members of our party. "

"Let us hope for the best, " replied Tennington. "You yourself have setus each a splendid example of bravery, for in a way your loss has beenthe greatest. "

"Yes, " she replied; "I could have loved Jane Porter no more had shebeen my own sister. "

Tennington did not show the surprise he felt. That was not at all whathe meant. He had been much with this fair daughter of Maryland sincethe wreck of the LADY ALICE, and it had recently come to him that hehad grown much more fond of her than would prove good for the peace ofhis mind, for he recalled almost constantly now the confidence whichMonsieur Thuran had imparted to him that he and Miss Strong wereengaged. He wondered if, after all, Thuran had been quite accurate inhis statement. He had never seen the slightest indication on thegirl's part of more than ordinary friendship. 

"And then in Monsieur Thuran's loss, if they are lost, you would suffera severe bereavement, " he ventured. 

She looked up at him quickly. "Monsieur Thuran had become a very dearfriend, " she said. "I liked him very much, though I have known him buta short time. "

"Then you were not engaged to marry him?" he blurted out. "Heavens, no!" she cried. "I did not care for him at all in that way. "

There was something that Lord Tennington wanted to say to HazelStrong--he wanted very badly to say it, and to say it at once; butsomehow the words stuck in his throat. He started lamely a couple oftimes, cleared his throat, became red in the face, and finally ended byremarking that he hoped the cabins would be finished before the rainyseason commenced. 

But, though he did not know it, he had conveyed to the girl the verymessage he intended, and it left her happy--happier than she had everbefore been in all her life. 

Just then further conversation was interrupted by the sight of astrange and terrible-looking figure which emerged from the jungle justsouth of the camp. Tennington and the girl saw it at the same time. The Englishman reached for his revolver, but when the half-naked, bearded creature called his name aloud and came running toward them hedropped his hand and advanced to meet it. 

None would have recognized in the filthy, emaciated creature, coveredby a single garment of small skins, the immaculate Monsieur Thuran theparty had last seen upon the deck of the LADY ALICE. 

Before the other members of the little community were apprised of hispresence Tennington and Miss Strong questioned him regarding the otheroccupants of the missing boat. 

"They are all dead, " replied Thuran. "The three sailors died before wemade land. Miss Porter was carried off into the jungle by some wildanimal while I was lying delirious with fever. Clayton died of thesame fever but a few days since. And to think that all this time wehave been separated by but a few miles--scarcely a day's march. It isterrible!"

How long Jane Porter lay in the darkness of the vault beneath thetemple in the ancient city of Opar she did not know. For a time shewas delirious with fever, but after this passed she commenced slowly toregain her strength. Every day the woman who brought her food beckonedto her to arise, but for many days the girl could only shake her headto indicate that she was too weak. 

But eventually she was able to gain her feet, and then to stagger a fewsteps by supporting herself with one hand upon the wall. Her captorsnow watched her with increasing interest. The day was approaching, andthe victim was gaining in strength. 

Presently the day came, and a young woman whom Jane Porter had not seenbefore came with several others to her dungeon. Here some sort ofceremony was performed--that it was of a religious nature the girl wassure, and so she took new heart, and rejoiced that she had fallen amongpeople upon whom the refining and softening influences of religionevidently had fallen. They would treat her humanely--of that she wasnow quite sure. 

And so when they led her from her dungeon, through long, darkcorridors, and up a flight of concrete steps to a brilliant courtyard, she went willingly, even gladly--for was she not among the servants ofGod? It might be, of course, that their interpretation of the supremebeing differed from her own, but that they owned a god was sufficientevidence to her that they were kind and good. 

But when she saw a stone altar in the center of the courtyard, anddark-brown stains upon it and the nearby concrete of the floor, shebegan to wonder and to doubt. And as they stooped and bound herankles, and secured her wrists behind her, her doubts were turned tofear. A moment later, as she was lifted and placed supine across thealtar's top, hope left her entirely, and she trembled in an agony offright. 

During the grotesque dance of the votaries which followed, she layfrozen in horror, nor did she require the sight of the thin blade inthe hands of the high priestess as it rose slowly above her toenlighten her further as to her doom. 

As the hand began its descent, Jane Porter closed her eyes and sent upa silent prayer to the Maker she was so soon to face--then shesuccumbed to the strain upon her tired nerves, and swooned. 

Day and night Tarzan of the Apes raced through the primeval foresttoward the ruined city in which he was positive the woman he loved layeither a prisoner or dead. 

In a day and a night he covered the same distance that the fiftyfrightful men had taken the better part of a week to traverse, forTarzan of the Apes traveled along the middle terrace high above thetangled obstacles that impede progress upon the ground. 

The story the young bull ape had told made it clear to him that thegirl captive had been Jane Porter, for there was not another smallwhite "she" in all the jungle. The "bulls" he had recognized from theape's crude description as the grotesque parodies upon humanity whoinhabit the ruins of Opar. And the girl's fate he could picture asplainly as though he were an eyewitness to it. When they would lay heracross that trim altar he could not guess, but that her dear, frailbody would eventually find its way there he was confident. 

But, finally, after what seemed long ages to the impatient ape-man, hetopped the barrier cliffs that hemmed the desolate valley, and belowhim lay the grim and awful ruins of the now hideous city of Opar. At arapid trot he started across the dry and dusty, bowlder-strewn groundtoward the goal of his desires. 

Would he be in time to rescue? He hoped against hope. At least hecould be revenged, and in his wrath it seemed to him that he was equalto the task of wiping out the entire population of that terrible city. It was nearly noon when he reached the great bowlder at the top ofwhich terminated the secret passage to the pits beneath the city. Likea cat he scaled the precipitous sides of the frowning granite KOPJE. Amoment later he was running through the darkness of the long, straighttunnel that led to the treasure vault. Through this he passed, then onand on until at last he came to the well-like shaft upon the oppositeside of which lay the dungeon with the false wall. 

As he paused a moment upon the brink of the well a faint sound came tohim through the opening above. His quick ears caught and translatedit--it was the dance of death that preceded a sacrifice, and thesingsong ritual of the high priestess. He could even recognize thewoman's voice. Could it be that the ceremony marked the very thing hehad so hastened to prevent? A wave of horror swept over him. Was he, after all, to be just a moment too late? Like a frightened deer heleaped across the narrow chasm to the continuation of the passagebeyond. At the false wall he tore like one possessed to demolish thebarrier that confronted him--with giant muscles he forced the opening, thrusting his head and shoulders through the first small hole he made, and carrying the balance of the wall with him, to clatter resoundinglyupon the cement floor of the dungeon. 

With a single leap he cleared the length of the chamber and threwhimself against the ancient door. But here he stopped. The mightybars upon the other side were proof even against such muscles as his. It needed but a moment's effort to convince him of the futility ofendeavoring to force that impregnable barrier. There was but one otherway, and that led back through the long tunnels to the bowlder a milebeyond the city's walls, and then back across the open as he had cometo the city first with his Waziri. 

He realized that to retrace his steps and enter the city from aboveground would mean that he would be too late to save the girl, if itwere indeed she who lay upon the sacrificial altar above him. Butthere seemed no other way, and so he turned and ran swiftly back intothe passageway beyond the broken wall. At the well he heard again themonotonous voice of the high priestess, and, as he glanced aloft, theopening, twenty feet above, seemed so near that he was tempted to leapfor it in a mad endeavor to reach the inner courtyard that lay so near. 

If he could but get one end of his grass rope caught upon someprojection at the top of that tantalizing aperture! In the instant'spause and thought an idea occurred to him. He would attempt it. Turning back to the tumbled wall, he seized one of the large, flatslabs that had composed it. Hastily making one end of his rope fast tothe piece of granite, he returned to the shaft, and, coiling thebalance of the rope on the floor beside him, the ape-man took the heavyslab in both hands, and, swinging it several times to get the distanceand the direction fixed, he let the weight fly up at a slight angle, sothat, instead of falling straight back into the shaft again, it grazedthe far edge, tumbling over into the court beyond. 

Tarzan dragged for a moment upon the slack end of the rope until hefelt that the stone was lodged with fair security at the shaft's top, then he swung out over the black depths beneath. The moment his fullweight came upon the rope he felt it slip from above. He waited therein awful suspense as it dropped in little jerks, inch by inch. Thestone was being dragged up the outside of the masonry surrounding thetop of the shaft--would it catch at the very edge, or would his weightdrag it over to fall upon him as he hurtled into the unknown depthsbelow?

Chapter 25

Through the Forest Primeval

For a brief, sickening moment Tarzan felt the slipping of the rope towhich he clung, and heard the scraping of the block of stone againstthe masonry above. 

Then of a sudden the rope was still--the stone had caught at the veryedge. Gingerly the ape-man clambered up the frail rope. In a momenthis head was above the edge of the shaft. The court was empty. Theinhabitants of Opar were viewing the sacrifice. Tarzan could hear thevoice of La from the nearby sacrificial court. The dance had ceased. It must be almost time for the knife to fall; but even as he thoughtthese things he was running rapidly toward the sound of the highpriestess' voice. 

Fate guided him to the very doorway of the great roofless chamber. Between him and the altar was the long row of priests and priestesses, awaiting with their golden cups the spilling of the warm blood of theirvictim. La's hand was descending slowly toward the bosom of the frail, quiet figure that lay stretched upon the hard stone. Tarzan gave agasp that was almost a sob as he recognized the features of the girl heloved. And then the scar upon his forehead turned to a flaming band ofscarlet, a red mist floated before his eyes, and, with the awful roarof the bull ape gone mad, he sprang like a huge lion into the midst ofthe votaries. 

Seizing a cudgel from the nearest priest, he laid about him like averitable demon as he forged his rapid way toward the altar. The handof La had paused at the first noise of interruption. When she saw whothe author of it was she went white. She had never been able to fathomthe secret of the strange white man's escape from the dungeon in whichshe had locked him. She had not intended that he should ever leaveOpar, for she had looked upon his giant frame and handsome face withthe eyes of a woman and not those of a priestess. 

In her clever mind she had concocted a story of wonderful revelationfrom the lips of the flaming god himself, in which she had been orderedto receive this white stranger as a messenger from him to his people onearth. That would satisfy the people of Opar, she knew. The man wouldbe satisfied, she felt quite sure, to remain and be her husband ratherthan to return to the sacrificial altar. 

But when she had gone to explain her plan to him he had disappeared, though the door had been tightly locked as she had left it. And now hehad returned--materialized from thin air--and was killing her priestsas though they had been sheep. For the moment she forgot her victim, and before she could gather her wits together again the huge white manwas standing before her, the woman who had lain upon the altar in hisarms. 

"One side, La, " he cried. "You saved me once, and so I would not harmyou; but do not interfere or attempt to follow, or I shall have to killyou also. "

As he spoke he stepped past her toward the entrance to the subterraneanvaults. 

"Who is she?" asked the high priestess, pointing at the unconsciouswoman. 

"She is mine, " said Tarzan of the Apes. 

For a moment the girl of Opar stood wide-eyed and staring. Then a lookof hopeless misery suffused her eyes--tears welled into them, and witha little cry she sank to the cold floor, just as a swarm of frightfulmen dashed past her to leap upon the ape-man. 

But Tarzan of the Apes was not there when they reached out to seizehim. With a light bound he had disappeared into the passage leading tothe pits below, and when his pursuers came more cautiously after theyfound the chamber empty, they but laughed and jabbered to one another, for they knew that there was no exit from the pits other than the onethrough which he had entered. If he came out at all he must come thisway, and they would wait and watch for him above. 

And so Tarzan of the Apes, carrying the unconscious Jane Porter, camethrough the pits of Opar beneath the temple of The Flaming God withoutpursuit. But when the men of Opar had talked further about the matter, they recalled to mind that this very man had escaped once before intothe pits, and, though they had watched the entrance he had not comeforth; and yet today he had come upon them from the outside. Theywould again send fifty men out into the valley to find and capture thisdesecrater of their temple. 

After Tarzan reached the shaft beyond the broken wall, he felt sopositive of the successful issue of his flight that he stopped toreplace the tumbled stones, for he was not anxious that any of theinmates should discover this forgotten passage, and through it comeupon the treasure chamber. It was in his mind to return again to Oparand bear away a still greater fortune than he had already buried in theamphitheater of the apes. 

On through the passageways he trotted, past the first door and throughthe treasure vault; past the second door and into the long, straighttunnel that led to the lofty hidden exit beyond the city. Jane Porterwas still unconscious. 

At the crest of the great bowlder he halted to cast a backward glancetoward the city. Coming across the plain he saw a band of the hideousmen of Opar. For a moment he hesitated. Should he descend and make arace for the distant cliffs, or should he hide here until night? Andthen a glance at the girl's white face determined him. He could notkeep her here and permit her enemies to get between them and liberty. For aught he knew they might have been followed through the tunnels, and to have foes before and behind would result in almost certaincapture, since he could not fight his way through the enemy burdened ashe was with the unconscious girl. 

To descend the steep face of the bowlder with Jane Porter was no easytask, but by binding her across his shoulders with the grass rope hesucceeded in reaching the ground in safety before the Oparians arrivedat the great rock. As the descent had been made upon the side awayfrom the city, the searching party saw nothing of it, nor did theydream that their prey was so close before them. 

By keeping the KOPJE between them and their pursuers, Tarzan of theApes managed to cover nearly a mile before the men of Opar rounded thegranite sentinel and saw the fugitive before them. With loud cries ofsavage delight, they broke into a mad run, thinking doubtless that theywould soon overhaul the burdened runner; but they both underestimatedthe powers of the ape-man and overestimated the possibilities of theirown short, crooked legs. 

By maintaining an easy trot, Tarzan kept the distance between themalways the same. Occasionally he would glance at the face so near hisown. Had it not been for the faint beating of the heart pressed soclose against his own, he would not have known that she was alive, sowhite and drawn was the poor, tired face. 

And thus they came to the flat-topped mountain and the barrier cliffs. During the last mile Tarzan had let himself out, running like a deerthat he might have ample time to descend the face of the cliffs beforethe Oparians could reach the summit and hurl rocks down upon them. Andso it was that he was half a mile down the mountainside ere the fiercelittle men came panting to the edge. 

With cries of rage and disappointment they ranged along the cliff topshaking their cudgels, and dancing up and down in a perfect passion ofanger. But this time they did not pursue beyond the boundary of theirown country. Whether it was because they recalled the futility oftheir former long and irksome search, or after witnessing the ease withwhich the ape-man swung along before them, and the last burst of speed, they realized the utter hopelessness of further pursuit, it isdifficult to say; but as Tarzan reached the woods that began at thebase of the foothills which skirted the barrier cliffs they turnedtheir faces once more toward Opar. 

Just within the forest's edge, where he could yet watch the cliff tops, Tarzan laid his burden upon the grass, and going to the near-by rivuletbrought water with which he bathed her face and hands; but even thisdid not revive her, and, greatly worried, he gathered the girl into hisstrong arms once more and hurried on toward the west. 

Late in the afternoon Jane Porter regained consciousness. She did notopen her eyes at once--she was trying to recall the scenes that she hadlast witnessed. Ah, she remembered now. The altar, the terriblepriestess, the descending knife. She gave a little shudder, for shethought that either this was death or that the knife had buried itselfin her heart and she was experiencing the brief delirium precedingdeath. And when finally she mustered courage to open her eyes, thesight that met them confirmed her fears, for she saw that she was beingborne through a leafy paradise in the arms of her dead love. "If thisbe death, " she murmured, "thank God that I am dead. "

"You spoke, Jane!" cried Tarzan. "You are regaining consciousness!"

"Yes, Tarzan of the Apes, " she replied, and for the first time inmonths a smile of peace and happiness lighted her face. 

"Thank God!" cried the ape-man, coming to the ground in a little grassyclearing beside the stream. "I was in time, after all. "

"In time? What do you mean?" she questioned. 

"In time to save you from death upon the altar, dear, " he replied. "Doyou not remember?" "Save me from death?" she asked, in a puzzled tone. "Are we not both dead, my Tarzan?"

He had placed her upon the grass by now, her back resting against thestem of a huge tree. At her question he stepped back where he couldthe better see her face. 

"Dead!" he repeated, and then he laughed. "You are not, Jane; and ifyou will return to the city of Opar and ask them who dwell there theywill tell you that I was not dead a few short hours ago. No, dear, weare both very much alive. "

"But both Hazel and Monsieur Thuran told me that you had fallen intothe ocean many miles from land, " she urged, as though trying toconvince him that he must indeed be dead. "They said that there was noquestion but that it must have been you, and less that you could havesurvived or been picked up. "

"How can I convince you that I am no spirit?" he asked, with a laugh. "It was I whom the delightful Monsieur Thuran pushed overboard, but Idid not drown--I will tell you all about it after a while--and here Iam very much the same wild man you first knew, Jane Porter. "

The girl rose slowly to her feet and came toward him. 

"I cannot even yet believe it, " she murmured. "It cannot be that suchhappiness can be true after all the hideous things that I have passedthrough these awful months since the LADY ALICE went down. "

She came close to him and laid a hand, soft and trembling, upon his arm. 

"It must be that I am dreaming, and that I shall awaken in a moment tosee that awful knife descending toward my heart--kiss me, dear, justonce before I lose my dream forever. "

Tarzan of the Apes needed no second invitation. He took the girl heloved in his strong arms, and kissed her not once, but a hundred times, until she lay there panting for breath; yet when he stopped she put herarms about his neck and drew his lips down to hers once more. 

"Am I alive and a reality, or am I but a dream?" he asked. 

"If you are not alive, my man, " she answered, "I pray that I may diethus before I awaken to the terrible realities of my last wakingmoments. "

For a while both were silent--gazing into each others' eyes as thougheach still questioned the reality of the wonderful happiness that hadcome to them. The past, with all its hideous disappointments andhorrors, was forgotten--the future did not belong to them; but thepresent--ah, it was theirs; none could take it from them. It was thegirl who first broke the sweet silence. 

"Where are we going, dear?" she asked. "What are we going to do?"

"Where would you like best to go?" he asked. "What would you like bestto do?"

"To go where you go, my man; to do whatever seems best to you, " sheanswered. 

"But Clayton?" he asked. For a moment he had forgotten that thereexisted upon the earth other than they two. "We have forgotten yourhusband. "

"I am not married, Tarzan of the Apes, " she cried. "Nor am I longerpromised in marriage. The day before those awful creatures captured meI spoke to Mr. Clayton of my love for you, and he understood then thatI could not keep the wicked promise that I had made. It was after wehad been miraculously saved from an attacking lion. " She pausedsuddenly and looked up at him, a questioning light in her eyes. "Tarzan of the Apes, " she cried, "it was you who did that thing? Itcould have been no other. "

He dropped his eyes, for he was ashamed. 

"How could you have gone away and left me?" she cried reproachfully. 

"Don't, Jane!" he pleaded. "Please don't! You cannot know how I havesuffered since for the cruelty of that act, or how I suffered then, first in jealous rage, and then in bitter resentment against the fatethat I had not deserved. I went back to the apes after that, Jane, intending never again to see a human being. " He told her then of hislife since he had returned to the jungle--of how he had dropped like aplummet from a civilized Parisian to a savage Waziri warrior, and fromthere back to the brute that he had been raised. 

She asked him many questions, and at last fearfully of the things thatMonsieur Thuran had told her--of the woman in Paris. He narrated everydetail of his civilized life to her, omitting nothing, for he felt noshame, since his heart always had been true to her. When he hadfinished he sat looking at her, as though waiting for her judgment, andhis sentence. 

"I knew that he was not speaking the truth, " she said. "Oh, what ahorrible creature he is!"

"You are not angry with me, then?" he asked. 

And her reply, though apparently most irrelevant, was truly feminine. 

"Is Olga de Coude very beautiful?" she asked. 

And Tarzan laughed and kissed her again. "Not one-tenth so beautifulas you, dear, " he said. 

She gave a contented little sigh, and let her head rest against hisshoulder. He knew that he was forgiven. 

That night Tarzan built a snug little bower high among the swayingbranches of a giant tree, and there the tired girl slept, while in acrotch beneath her the ape-man curled, ready, even in sleep, to protecther. 

It took them many days to make the long journey to the coast. Wherethe way was easy they walked hand in hand beneath the arching boughs ofthe mighty forest, as might in a far-gone past have walked theirprimeval forbears. When the underbrush was tangled he took her in hisgreat arms, and bore her lightly through the trees, and the days wereall too short, for they were very happy. Had it not been for theiranxiety to reach and succor Clayton they would have drawn out the sweetpleasure of that wonderful journey indefinitely. 

On the last day before they reached the coast Tarzan caught the scentof men ahead of them--the scent of black men. He told the girl, andcautioned her to maintain silence. "There are few friends in thejungle, " he remarked dryly. 

In half an hour they came stealthily upon a small party of blackwarriors filing toward the west. As Tarzan saw them he gave a cry ofdelight--it was a band of his own Waziri. Busuli was there, and otherswho had accompanied him to Opar. At sight of him they danced and criedout in exuberant joy. For weeks they had been searching for him, theytold him. 

The blacks exhibited considerable wonderment at the presence of thewhite girl with him, and when they found that she was to be his womanthey vied with one another to do her honor. With the happy Wazirilaughing and dancing about them they came to the rude shelter by theshore. 

There was no sign of life, and no response to their calls. Tarzanclambered quickly to the interior of the little tree hut, only toemerge a moment later with an empty tin. Throwing it down to Busuli, he told him to fetch water, and then he beckoned Jane Porter to come up. 

Together they leaned over the emaciated thing that once had been anEnglish nobleman. Tears came to the girl's eyes as she saw the poor, sunken cheeks and hollow eyes, and the lines of suffering upon the onceyoung and handsome face. 

"He still lives, " said Tarzan. "We will do all that can be done forhim, but I fear that we are too late. "

When Busuli had brought the water Tarzan forced a few drops between thecracked and swollen lips. He wetted the hot forehead and bathed thepitiful limbs. 

Presently Clayton opened his eyes. A faint, shadowy smile lighted hiscountenance as he saw the girl leaning over him. At sight of Tarzanthe expression changed to one of wonderment. 

"It's all right, old fellow, " said the ape-man. "We've found you intime. Everything will be all right now, and we'll have you on yourfeet again before you know it. "

The Englishman shook his head weakly. "It's too late, " he whispered. "But it's just as well. I'd rather die. "

"Where is Monsieur Thuran?" asked the girl. 

"He left me after the fever got bad. He is a devil. When I begged forthe water that I was too weak to get he drank before me, threw the restout, and laughed in my face. " At the thought of it the man was suddenlyanimated by a spark of vitality. He raised himself upon one elbow. "Yes, " he almost shouted; "I will live. I will live long enough tofind and kill that beast!" But the brief effort left him weaker thanbefore, and he sank back again upon the rotting grasses that, with hisold ulster, had been the bed of Jane Porter. 

"Don't worry about Thuran, " said Tarzan of the Apes, laying areassuring hand on Clayton's forehead. "He belongs to me, and I shallget him in the end, never fear. "

For a long time Clayton lay very still. Several times Tarzan had toput his ear quite close to the sunken chest to catch the faint beatingof the worn-out heart. Toward evening he aroused again for a briefmoment. 

"Jane, " he whispered. The girl bent her head closer to catch the faintmessage. "I have wronged you--and him, " he nodded weakly toward theape-man. "I loved you so--it is a poor excuse to offer for injuringyou; but I could not bear to think of giving you up. I do not ask yourforgiveness. I only wish to do now the thing I should have done over ayear ago. " He fumbled in the pocket of the ulster beneath him forsomething that he had discovered there while he lay between theparoxysms of fever. Presently he found it--a crumpled bit of yellowpaper. He handed it to the girl, and as she took it his arm felllimply across his chest, his head dropped back, and with a little gasphe stiffened and was still. Then Tarzan of the Apes drew a fold of theulster across the upturned face. 

For a moment they remained kneeling there, the girl's lips moving insilent prayer, and as they rose and stood on either side of the nowpeaceful form, tears came to the ape-man's eyes, for through theanguish that his own heart had suffered he had learned compassion forthe suffering of others. 

Through her own tears the girl read the message upon the bit of fadedyellow paper, and as she read her eyes went very wide. Twice she readthose startling words before she could fully comprehend their meaning. 

Finger prints prove you Greystoke. Congratulations. 

 D'ARNOT. 

She handed the paper to Tarzan. "And he has known it all this time, "she said, "and did not tell you?"

"I knew it first, Jane, " replied the man. "I did not know that he knewit at all. I must have dropped this message that night in the waitingroom. It was there that I received it. "

"And afterward you told us that your mother was a she-ape, and that youhad never known your father?" she asked incredulously. 

"The title and the estates meant nothing to me without you, dear, " hereplied. "And if I had taken them away from him I should have beenrobbing the woman I love--don't you understand, Jane?" It was asthough he attempted to excuse a fault. 

She extended her arms toward him across the body of the dead man, andtook his hands in hers. 

"And I would have thrown away a love like that!" she said. 

Chapter 26

The Passing of the Ape-Man

The next morning they set out upon the short journey to Tarzan's cabin. Four Waziri bore the body of the dead Englishman. It had been theape-man's suggestion that Clayton be buried beside the former LordGreystoke near the edge of the jungle against the cabin that the olderman had built. 

Jane Porter was glad that it was to be so, and in her heart of heartsshe wondered at the marvelous fineness of character of this wondrousman, who, though raised by brutes and among brutes, had the truechivalry and tenderness which only associates with the refinements ofthe highest civilization. 

They had proceeded some three miles of the five that had separated themfrom Tarzan's own beach when the Waziri who were ahead stoppedsuddenly, pointing in amazement at a strange figure approaching themalong the beach. It was a man with a shiny silk hat, who walked slowlywith bent head, and hands clasped behind him underneath the tails ofhis long, black coat. 

At sight of him Jane Porter uttered a little cry of surprise and joy, and ran quickly ahead to meet him. At the sound of her voice the oldman looked up, and when he saw who it was confronting him he, too, cried out in relief and happiness. As Professor Archimedes Q. Porterfolded his daughter in his arms tears streamed down his seamed oldface, and it was several minutes before he could control himselfsufficiently to speak. 

When a moment later he recognized Tarzan it was with difficulty thatthey could convince him that his sorrow had not unbalanced his mind, for with the other members of the party he had been so thoroughlyconvinced that the ape-man was dead it was a problem to reconcile theconviction with the very lifelike appearance of Jane's "forest god. "The old man was deeply touched at the news of Clayton's death. 

"I cannot understand it, " he said. "Monsieur Thuran assured us thatClayton passed away many days ago. "

"Thuran is with you?" asked Tarzan. 

"Yes; he but recently found us and led us to your cabin. We werecamped but a short distance north of it. Bless me, but he will bedelighted to see you both. "

"And surprised, " commented Tarzan. 

A short time later the strange party came to the clearing in whichstood the ape-man's cabin. It was filled with people coming and going, and almost the first whom Tarzan saw was D'Arnot. 

"Paul!" he cried. "In the name of sanity what are you doing here? Orare we all insane?"

It was quickly explained, however, as were many other seemingly strangethings. D'Arnot's ship had been cruising along the coast, on patrolduty, when at the lieutenant's suggestion they had anchored off thelittle landlocked harbor to have another look at the cabin and thejungle in which many of the officers and men had taken part in excitingadventures two years before. On landing they had found LordTennington's party, and arrangements were being made to take them allon board the following morning, and carry them back to civilization. 

Hazel Strong and her mother, Esmeralda, and Mr. Samuel T. Philanderwere almost overcome by happiness at Jane Porter's safe return. Herescape seemed to them little short of miraculous, and it was theconsensus of opinion that it could have been achieved by no other manthan Tarzan of the Apes. They loaded the uncomfortable ape-man witheulogies and attentions until he wished himself back in theamphitheater of the apes. 

All were interested in his savage Waziri, and many were the gifts theblack men received from these friends of their king, but when theylearned that he might sail away from them upon the great canoe that layat anchor a mile off shore they became very sad. 

As yet the newcomers had seen nothing of Lord Tennington and MonsieurThuran. They had gone out for fresh meat early in the day, and had notyet returned. 

"How surprised this man, whose name you say is Rokoff, will be to seeyou, " said Jane Porter to Tarzan. 

"His surprise will be short-lived, " replied the ape-man grimly, andthere was that in his tone that made her look up into his face inalarm. What she read there evidently confirmed her fears, for she puther hand upon his arm, and pleaded with him to leave the Russian to thelaws of France. 

"In the heart of the jungle, dear, " she said, "with no other form ofright or justice to appeal to other than your own mighty muscles, youwould be warranted in executing upon this man the sentence he deserves;but with the strong arm of a civilized government at your disposal itwould be murder to kill him now. Even your friends would have tosubmit to your arrest, or if you resisted it would plunge us all intomisery and unhappiness again. I cannot bear to lose you again, myTarzan. Promise me that you will but turn him over to CaptainDufranne, and let the law take its course--the beast is not worthrisking our happiness for. "

He saw the wisdom of her appeal, and promised. A half hour laterRokoff and Tennington emerged from the jungle. They were walking sideby side. Tennington was the first to note the presence of strangers inthe camp. He saw the black warriors palavering with the sailors fromthe cruiser, and then he saw a lithe, brown giant talking withLieutenant D'Arnot and Captain Dufranne. 

"Who is that, I wonder, " said Tennington to Rokoff, and as the Russianraised his eyes and met those of the ape-man full upon him, hestaggered and went white. 

"SAPRISTI!" he cried, and before Tennington realized what he intendedhe had thrown his gun to his shoulder, and aiming point-blank at Tarzanpulled the trigger. But the Englishman was close to him--so close thathis hand reached the leveled barrel a fraction of a second before thehammer fell upon the cartridge, and the bullet that was intended forTarzan's heart whirred harmlessly above his head. 

Before the Russian could fire again the ape-man was upon him and hadwrested the firearm from his grasp. Captain Dufranne, LieutenantD'Arnot, and a dozen sailors had rushed up at the sound of the shot, and now Tarzan turned the Russian over to them without a word. He hadexplained the matter to the French commander before Rokoff arrived, andthe officer gave immediate orders to place the Russian in irons andconfine him on board the cruiser. 

Just before the guard escorted the prisoner into the small boat thatwas to transport him to his temporary prison Tarzan asked permission tosearch him, and to his delight found the stolen papers concealed uponhis person. 

The shot had brought Jane Porter and the others from the cabin, and amoment after the excitement had died down she greeted the surprisedLord Tennington. Tarzan joined them after he had taken the papers fromRokoff, and, as he approached, Jane Porter introduced him to Tennington. 

"John Clayton, Lord Greystoke, my lord, " she said. 

The Englishman looked his astonishment in spite of his most herculeanefforts to appear courteous, and it required many repetitions of thestrange story of the ape-man as told by himself, Jane Porter, andLieutenant D'Arnot to convince Lord Tennington that they were not allquite mad. 

At sunset they buried William Cecil Clayton beside the jungle graves ofhis uncle and his aunt, the former Lord and Lady Greystoke. And it wasat Tarzan's request that three volleys were fired over the last restingplace of "a brave man, who met his death bravely. "

Professor Porter, who in his younger days had been ordained a minister, conducted the simple services for the dead. About the grave, withbowed heads, stood as strange a company of mourners as the sun everlooked down upon. There were French officers and sailors, two Englishlords, Americans, and a score of savage African braves. 

Following the funeral Tarzan asked Captain Dufranne to delay thesailing of the cruiser a couple of days while he went inland a fewmiles to fetch his "belongings, " and the officer gladly granted thefavor. 

Late the next afternoon Tarzan and his Waziri returned with the firstload of "belongings, " and when the party saw the ancient ingots ofvirgin gold they swarmed upon the ape-man with a thousand questions;but he was smilingly obdurate to their appeals--he declined to givethem the slightest clew as to the source of his immense treasure. "There are a thousand that I left behind, " he explained, "for every onethat I brought away, and when these are spent I may wish to return formore. "

The next day he returned to camp with the balance of his ingots, andwhen they were stored on board the cruiser Captain Dufranne said hefelt like the commander of an old-time Spanish galleon returning fromthe treasure cities of the Aztecs. "I don't know what minute my crewwill cut my throat, and take over the ship, " he added. 

The next morning, as they were preparing to embark upon the cruiser, Tarzan ventured a suggestion to Jane Porter. 

"Wild beasts are supposed to be devoid of sentiment, " he said, "butnevertheless I should like to be married in the cabin where I was born, beside the graves of my mother and my father, and surrounded by thesavage jungle that always has been my home. "

"Would it be quite regular, dear?" she asked. "For if it would I knowof no other place in which I should rather be married to my forest godthan beneath the shade of his primeval forest. "

And when they spoke of it to the others they were assured that it wouldbe quite regular, and a most splendid termination of a remarkableromance. So the entire party assembled within the little cabin andabout the door to witness the second ceremony that Professor Porter wasto solemnize within three days. 

D'Arnot was to be best man, and Hazel Strong bridesmaid, untilTennington upset all the arrangements by another of his marvelous"ideas. "

"If Mrs. Strong is agreeable, " he said, taking the bridesmaid's hand inhis, "Hazel and I think it would be ripping to make it a doublewedding. "

The next day they sailed, and as the cruiser steamed slowly out to seaa tall man, immaculate in white flannel, and a graceful girl leanedagainst her rail to watch the receding shore line upon which dancedtwenty naked, black warriors of the Waziri, waving their war spearsabove their savage heads, and shouting farewells to their departingking. 

"I should hate to think that I am looking upon the jungle for the lasttime, dear, " he said, "were it not that I know that I am going to a newworld of happiness with you forever, " and, bending down, Tarzan of theApes kissed his mate upon her lips.