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As Tarzan of the Apes hurtled through the trees the discordant
sounds of the battle between the Abyssinians and the lions smote
more and more distinctly upon his sensitive ears, redoubling his
assurance that the plight of the human element of the conflict was
critical indeed.
At last the glare of the camp fire shone plainly through the intervening
trees, and a moment later the giant figure of the ape-man paused
upon an overhanging bough to look down upon the bloody scene of
carnage below.
His quick eye took in the whole scene with a single comprehending
glance and stopped upon the figure of a woman standing facing a
great lion across the carcass of a horse.
The carnivore was crouching to spring as Tarzan discovered the
tragic tableau. Numa was almost beneath the branch upon which the
ape-man stood, naked and unarmed. There was not even an instant's
hesitation upon the part of the latter--it was as though he had not
even paused in his swift progress through the trees, so lightning-like
his survey and comprehension of the scene below him--so instantaneous
his consequent action.
So hopeless had seemed her situation to her that Jane Clayton but
stood in lethargic apathy awaiting the impact of the huge body that
would hurl her to the ground--awaiting the momentary agony that
cruel talons and grisly fangs may inflict before the coming of the
merciful oblivion which would end her sorrow and her suffering.
What use to attempt escape? As well face the hideous end as to be
dragged down from behind in futile flight. She did not even close
her eyes to shut out the frightful aspect of that snarling face,
and so it was that as she saw the lion preparing to charge she saw,
too, a bronzed and mighty figure leap from an overhanging tree at
the instant that Numa rose in his spring.
Wide went her eyes in wonder and incredulity, as she beheld this
seeming apparition risen from the dead. The lion was forgotten--her
own peril--everything save the wondrous miracle of this strange
recrudescence. With parted lips, with palms tight pressed against
her heaving bosom, the girl leaned forward, large-eyed, enthralled
by the vision of her dead mate.
She saw the sinewy form leap to the shoulder of the lion, hurtling
against the leaping beast like a huge, animate battering ram. She
saw the carnivore brushed aside as he was almost upon her, and in
the instant she realized that no substanceless wraith could thus
turn the charge of a maddened lion with brute force greater than
the brute's.
Tarzan, her Tarzan, lived! A cry of unspeakable gladness broke from
her lips, only to die in terror as she saw the utter defenselessness
of her mate, and realized that the lion had recovered himself and
was turning upon Tarzan in mad lust for vengeance.
At the ape-man's feet lay the discarded rifle of the dead Abyssinian
whose mutilated corpse sprawled where Numa had abandoned it. The
quick glance which had swept the ground for some weapon of defense
discovered it, and as the lion reared upon his hind legs to seize
the rash man-thing who had dared interpose its puny strength
between Numa and his prey, the heavy stock whirred through the air
and splintered upon the broad forehead.
Not as an ordinary mortal might strike a blow did Tarzan of the
Apes strike; but with the maddened frenzy of a wild beast backed
by the steel thews which his wild, arboreal boyhood had bequeathed
him. When the blow ended the splintered stock was driven through
the splintered skull into the savage brain, and the heavy iron
barrel was bent into a rude V.
In the instant that the lion sank, lifeless, to the ground, Jane
Clayton threw herself into the eager arms of her husband. For a
brief instant he strained her dear form to his breast, and then a
glance about him awakened the ape-man to the dangers which still
surrounded them.
Upon every hand the lions were still leaping upon new victims.
Fear-maddened horses still menaced them with their erratic bolting
from one side of the enclosure to the other. Bullets from the
guns of the defenders who remained alive but added to the perils
of their situation.
To remain was to court death. Tarzan seized Jane Clayton and lifted
her to a broad shoulder. The blacks who had witnessed his advent
looked on in amazement as they saw the naked giant leap easily into
the branches of the tree from whence he had dropped so uncannily upon
the scene, and vanish as he had come, bearing away their prisoner
with him.
They were too well occupied in self-defense to attempt to halt him,
nor could they have done so other than by the wasting of a precious
bullet which might be needed the next instant to turn the charge
of a savage foe.
And so, unmolested, Tarzan passed from the camp of the Abyssinians,
from which the din of conflict followed him deep into the jungle
until distance gradually obliterated it entirely.
Back to the spot where he had left Werper went the ape-man, joy in
his heart now, where fear and sorrow had so recently reigned; and
in his mind a determination to forgive the Belgian and aid him
in making good his escape. But when he came to the place, Werper
was gone, and though Tarzan called aloud many times he received no
reply. Convinced that the man had purposely eluded him for reasons
of his own, John Clayton felt that he was under no obligations to
expose his wife to further danger and discomfort in the prosecution
of a more thorough search for the missing Belgian.
"He has acknowledged his guilt by his flight, Jane," he said. "We
will let him go to lie in the bed that he has made for himself."
Straight as homing pigeons, the two made their way toward the ruin
and desolation that had once been the center of their happy lives,
and which was soon to be restored by the willing black hands of
laughing laborers, made happy again by the return of the master
and mistress whom they had mourned as dead.
Past the village of Achmet Zek their way led them, and there they
found but the charred remains of the palisade and the native huts,
still smoking, as mute evidence of the wrath and vengeance of a
powerful enemy.
"The Waziri," commented Tarzan with a grim smile.
"God bless them!" cried Jane Clayton.
"They cannot be far ahead of us," said Tarzan, "Basuli and the
others. The gold is gone and the jewels of Opar, Jane; but we
have each other and the Waziri--and we have love and loyalty and
friendship. And what are gold and jewels to these?"
"If only poor Mugambi lived," she replied, "and those other brave
fellows who sacrificed their lives in vain endeavor to protect me!"
In the silence of mingled joy and sorrow they passed along through
the familiar jungle, and as the afternoon was waning there came
faintly to the ears of the ape-man the murmuring cadence of distant
voices.
"We are nearing the Waziri, Jane," he said. "I can hear them ahead
of us. They are going into camp for the night, I imagine."
A half hour later the two came upon a horde of ebon warriors which
Basuli had collected for his war of vengeance upon the raiders.
With them were the captured women of the tribe whom they had found
in the village of Achmet Zek, and tall, even among the giant Waziri,
loomed a familiar black form at the side of Basuli. It was Mugambi,
whom Jane had thought dead amidst the charred ruins of the bungalow.
Ah, such a reunion! Long into the night the dancing and the singing
and the laughter awoke the echoes of the somber wood. Again and
again were the stories of their various adventures retold. Again
and once again they fought their battles with savage beast and savage
man, and dawn was already breaking when Basuli, for the fortieth
time, narrated how he and a handful of his warriors had watched the
battle for the golden ingots which the Abyssinians of Abdul Mourak
had waged against the Arab raiders of Achmet Zek, and how, when the
victors had ridden away they had sneaked out of the river reeds and
stolen away with the precious ingots to hide them where no robber
eye ever could discover them.
Pieced out from the fragments of their various experiences with
the Belgian the truth concerning the malign activities of Albert
Werper became apparent. Only Lady Greystoke found aught to praise
in the conduct of the man, and it was difficult even for her to
reconcile his many heinous acts with this one evidence of chivalry
and honor.
"Deep in the soul of every man," said Tarzan, "must lurk the germ
of righteousness. It was your own virtue, Jane, rather even than
your helplessness which awakened for an instant the latent decency
of this degraded man. In that one act he retrieved himself, and
when he is called to face his Maker may it outweigh in the balance,
all the sins he has committed."
And Jane Clayton breathed a fervent, "Amen!"
Months had passed. The labor of the Waziri and the gold of Opar
had rebuilt and refurnished the wasted homestead of the Greystokes.
Once more the simple life of the great African farm went on as it
had before the coming of the Belgian and the Arab. Forgotten were
the sorrows and dangers of yesterday.
For the first time in months Lord Greystoke felt that he might
indulge in a holiday, and so a great hunt was organized that the
faithful laborers might feast in celebration of the completion of
their work.
In itself the hunt was a success, and ten days after its
inauguration, a well-laden safari took up its return march toward
the Waziri plain. Lord and Lady Greystoke with Basuli and Mugambi
rode together at the head of the column, laughing and talking
together in that easy familiarity which common interests and mutual
respect breed between honest and intelligent men of any races.
Jane Clayton's horse shied suddenly at an object half hidden in the
long grasses of an open space in the jungle. Tarzan's keen eyes
sought quickly for an explanation of the animal's action.
"What have we here?" he cried, swinging from his saddle, and a
moment later the four were grouped about a human skull and a little
litter of whitened human bones.
Tarzan stooped and lifted a leathern pouch from the grisly relics
of a man. The hard outlines of the contents brought an exclamation
of surprise to his lips.
"The jewels of Opar!" he cried, holding the pouch aloft, "and,"
pointing to the bones at his feet, "all that remains of Werper,
the Belgian."
Mugambi laughed. "Look within, Bwana," he cried, "and you will
see what are the jewels of Opar--you will see what the Belgian gave
his life for," and the black laughed aloud.
"Why do you laugh?" asked Tarzan.
"Because," replied Mugambi, "I filled the Belgian's pouch with
river gravel before I escaped the camp of the Abyssinians whose
prisoners we were. I left the Belgian only worthless stones, while
I brought away with me the jewels he had stolen from you. That
they were afterward stolen from me while I slept in the jungle is
my shame and my disgrace; but at least the Belgian lost them--open
his pouch and you will see."
Tarzan untied the thong which held the mouth of the leathern bag
closed, and permitted the contents to trickle slowly forth into his
open palm. Mugambi's eyes went wide at the sight, and the others
uttered exclamations of surprise and incredulity, for from the
rusty and weatherworn pouch ran a stream of brilliant, scintillating
gems.
"The jewels of Opar!" cried Tarzan. "But how did Werper come by
them again?"
None could answer, for both Chulk and Werper were dead, and no
other knew.
"Poor devil!" said the ape-man, as he swung back into his saddle.
"Even in death he has made restitution--let his sins lie with his bones."
