Show i AND THE JEWELS OF OPAR OPAR 1 EDGAR AA RICE BICE BURROUGHS I Al G TARZAN OF THE APES APES' BON OF or TARZAN COPYRIGHT CO n TOTAL FORGETFULNESS OF THE PAST Synopsis Hiding In tho Jungle after atter killing his captain In a fit of ot brooding madness L Albert Belgian officer Is captured by Achmet Zek Arab slave raider who spares his Ute life and proposes to him a n. scheme to kidnap Jane wife wire of ot Tarzan Lord Greystoke and sell her Into slavery ac ac- Posing as Jules French traveler Verper Is hospitably re received received ro- ro by the lIe He learns his host Is In financial straits and Is planning an expedition to tho the treasure vaults of ot Opar to procure gold Wert er Informs Achmet Zek of ot the opportunity to seize Lady Greystoke and follows Tarzan to learn the secret of ot O Opar ar gJ CHAPTER III Continued 3 Behind him that morning another white man pondered something he had heard during the night and very nearly nearly nearly near near- ly did he lie give up his project and turn turnback turnback turnback back upon his trail It was who In the still of the night had heard far away upon the trail trait ahead of him hima a R sound that had filled his cowardly soul with terror terror terror-a a sound such as he never before had heard in all his life nor dreamed that such a frightful thing could emanate from the lungs of a n God-created God creature He had bad heard the victory cry of ot the bull ape as Tarzan had screamed It forth Into the face of Goro the moon and he had trembled then and hidden his face and now in the broad light of a new day lay he trembled again as he be recalled it and would have turned back from the nameless danger the echo of that frightful sound sO seemed to portend had he not stood in even greater fear of Achmet Zek his master And so Tarzan of ot the Apes forged steadily ahead toward Opar's ruined ramparts and behind him slunk per like Jackal-like and only God knew what lay in store for each aeb At the edge of the desolate valley overlooking the golden domes and minarets of Opar Tarzan halted By night he be would go alone to the treasure treasure treasure treas treas- ure vault reconnoitering for he be had bad determined that that caution should mark his every move upon this expedition With the coming of ot night he set forth and who had scaled the cliffs alone behind the mans man's party and hidden through the day among the rough boulders of the mountain top I slunk stealthily after him He saw the giant man ape man ape swing himself nimbly up the face of the great rock Verper clawing fearfully during the perilous ascent sweating In terror al almost almost almost al- al most palsied by fear but spurred on onby onby onby by avarice followed upward until at last he stood upon the summit of the rocky hill hlll Tarzan was nowhere In sight For a time hid behind one of the lesser boulders that were scattered over the top of ot the hill bill but seeing or hearing nothing of the Englishman he crept from his place of concealment to undertake a systematic search of ot his Ills surroundings In the hope that he might discover the location of the treasure In ample time to mal make e his escape before Tarzan returned for it was the Belgians Belgian's desire merely to locate locate lo lo- i cate the gold so that after Tarzan had I departed he might come In safety with his followers and carry away as much muchas as he could transport He found the narrow cleft leading downward Into the heart of the kopje along worn well-worn granite steps He advanced quite to the dark mouth of the tunnel into which the runway dIsappeared disappeared dis dIs- appeared but here he halted baited fearing to enter lest he meet Tarzan return return- ing I The man ape far tar ahead of him groped his way along the rocky passage passage pas pas- sage until he carne came to the ancient wooden door A moment later he be stood within the treasure chamber where ages since long-dead long hands had ranged the lofty rows of ot precious ingots for forthe forthe the rulers of that great continent which nor nor- lies submerged beneath the waters waters waters wa wa- of the Atlantic There was no evidence that another had hind discovered the forgotten wealth since last the man ape-man had visited its Hiding platt plat Satisfied Tarzan turned and retraced his steps toward the summit summit summit sum sum- mit of t tl kopje from the concealment of ot a jutting granite shoulder shoulder shoulder der derVa Va washed hed him pass up from the shadow rf 1 f the stairway and advance toward e edge of the hill hIlI which faced the rim f the valley where the awaited u waite the signal of ot their master Then slipping stealthily from his hiding place dropped Into the somber somber somber som som- ber darkness of the entrance and dis dis- appeared Tarzan upon the kop kopjes kopes es e's edgy edgo raised his voice in the thunderous thunder thunder- ous roar of a lion Twice at regular Int intervals he repeated the tho call standing stand stand- ing In attentive silence for tor several mi utes mr-utes utes after the echoes of the thit d cad col had died away And then from fa across the valley faintly came an answering roar roar once once twice thrice the chieftain had bud heard and replied Tarzan again made his way toward the treasure vault knowing that in a af afew afew f few w hours his blacks would be with him ready to bear away another forI fortune fortune for for- I tune tunc in the strangely shaped golden Ingots Inot cf O spar nr In the meantime he be would carry as much of the precious metal to the summit of the kopje as ashe ashe ashe he could Six trips he be made in the five hours hour before reached the kopje and at the end of ot that time he had transported transported trans trans- ported 48 98 ingots to the edge of ot the great boulder carrying upon each trip tripa a load which might well weft have staggered staggered stag stag- pred two ordinary men yet his giant frame showed no evidence of fatigue as he helped to raise his ebon warriors to the hill hIlI top with the rope that h had d been brought for the purpose SIx Sis times he had returned to the treasure chamber and six times Verper Ver per the Belgian had cowered in the black shadows at the far end of the thelong thelong thelong long vault Once again came the ape- ape man and this time there came with him fifty fighting men turned porters for love of the only creature In the world who might command of ot their fierce and haughty natures such menial service two Fifty-two more ingots passed out of the vaults making the total of one hundred which Tarzan intended intend Intend- ed taking away with him As the last of ot the filed from the chamber Tarzan turned back for a alast alast alast last glimpse of the fabulous wealth upon which his two Inroads had made madeno no appreciable impression His mind reverted to that first lion upon which he had entered the treasure vault coming upon It by chance as he fled from the pits beneath the t temple mple wh where re he had bad been hidden by La the high priestess of ot the Sun Worshipers He lIe recalled the scene within the temple when he had lain stretched upon the sacrificial altar while white La c I I II I fY P A Second Glance Convinced Him That the Englishman Was Dead with raised high-raised dagger stood above him and the rows of priests and priestesses awaited In the ecstatic hysteria of fanaticism the first gush of their victims victim's warm blood that they might fill their golden goblets and drink to the glory of ot their Flaming God The brutal and bloody Interruption by Tha Thin the mad priest passed vividly before the mans man's eye ee the flight of the votaries before the Insane Insane insane In In- sane blood lust of the tho hideous creature creature creature crea crea- ture the brutal attack upon La and his own part Jn iii p the grim tragedy when he had battled with the infuriated and left him dead at the feet of the tho priestess he be would have pro pro- fatted This and und much more passed through Tarzan's memory as he stood g gl ung ng ngat at the tho long tiers of yellow dull-yellow metal Ho lIc wondered if La still sUIl ruled In the temples of the tho ruined city whose I crumbling walls rose upon the very foundations about him Had she finally finally finally final final- ly been forced into a union with one of her grotesque priests It seemed a hideous fate indeed for one so beau beau- With a shake of ot his head Tarzan Tarzan Tar Tar- zan stepped to the candle extinguished Its feeble rays and turned toward the exit Behind him the spy waited for him to be gone Ho ne had learned the secret for which he had hull come and now he could return at his leisure to his waitIng waiting waltIng wait wait- Ing followers bring them to the treasure treas treas- lire are vault and carr carry away all nIl the gold hat they could coul stagger under The rind fiad reached the oute 1 end of the tunnel and were winding upward toward the the fresh air and the welcome starlight of the kopjes kopje's summit sum mit before Tarzan shook off oft the detaining detaIning de do- taming hand band of reverie re and und started slowly after them Once One again and und he thought for th the thelast thelast last time he closed the massive door of the treasure room In the darkness behind him rose roso and stretched his cramped muscles He stretched I forth a hand and lovingly caressed a golden ingot on the nearest tier He raised it from its Immemorial resting place and und weighed It In his hands He TIe clutched it to his bosom In an ecstasy of avarice Tarzan dreamed of ot the happy homecoming homecoming homecoming home home- coming which lay before him of dear arms arms arms' about his neck and a soft cheek pressed to his lils but there rose to dispel that dream the memory of ot the old witch-doctor witch and his warning And th n in fn the tho span of a n few brief seconds the hopes of both these men were shattered The one forgot even his greed in the panic of terror the terror the theother other was wag plunged Into total forgetfulness forgetful- forgetful ness of the past by a Jagged fragment of rock which gashed a deep cut upon his head CHAPTER IV The Altar of the Flaming God It was at the moment that Tarzan turne turned from the closed door to pursue his way to the outer world The thing came without warning One instant all was quiet and stability the stability the next the world rocked the tortured sides of the narrow passageway split and crumbled crumbled crum crum- bled great blocks of ot granite dislodged from the tho ceiling tumbled into the narrow narrow narrow nar nar- row wa way choking It and the walls bent inward upon the wreckage Be Be- neath the blow of a n fragment of ot the roof Tarzan staggered back against the door to the treasure room his weight pushed It open and his body tolled rolled inward upon the floor There was but the single shock no other followed to complete the damage damage damage dam dam- age undertaken by the first thrown to his length by the suddenness suddenness suddenness sudden sudden- ness and violence of the disturbance staggered to his feet when he found himself unhurt Groping his way toward toward toward to to- ward the far end of the chamber besought he be sought the tho candle which Tarzan had left stuck In Its own wax wa upon uvon the protruding end of an on Ingot By striking numerous matches the Belgian at last found what he be sought and when a moment later the sickly rays relieved the Stygian darkness about him he ho breathed a nervous sigh of relief for the tile Impenetrable gloom had accentuated the tho terrors of his situation As they became accustomed to the light the man turned his e eyes es toward to the door his door his one thought now was of escape from this frightful tomb tomb and and andas as he be did so he saw the tho body of the naked giant lying stretched upon the floor Just within the doorway drew ba back k in sudden fear of detection but but a n second glan glance e convinced him that the Englishman was dead From Froma a great gash In the mans man's head a pool of ot blood had collected upon the concrete concrete concrete con con- crete floor Quickly the Belgian leaped over the prostrate form of his erstwhile host and without a thought of ot succor for forthe forthe forthe the man In whom for aught he knew life still remained he lie bolted for the passageway and safety But hl his renewed hopes were soon dashed lashed Just beyond the doorway he ho found the passage completely clogged and choked by Impenetrable masses of shattered rocK Once more he lie turned and re-entered re the treasure vault TakIng TakIng Taking Tak Tak- ing the candle from Its place he be commenced commenced commenced com com- a n systematic search of the apartment nor had he gone far before he discovered another door In the opposite opposite opposite op op- end of the room a door which gave upon creaking hinges to the weight of his body Beyond the door doorlay doorlay doorlay lay another narrow passageway Along this his way ascending a flight of stone steps to another corridor corridor corridor corri corri- dor twenty feet teet above the level of the first Before him was a circular shaft Ho lIe held the candle above It and peered downward Below him at a great distance distance distance dis dis- tance he saw the light reflected back from the surface of a pool of water He lie had come upon a well He raised the candle above his head and peered across the blac black void and there upon the opposite side he be saw the contInuation continuation continuation of ot the tunnel but how bow was he to span the gulf It As he lie stood thane thore th e measuring the tho distance distance distance dis dis- dis- dis tance to the the- opposite side and wondering wonderIng wonderIng wonder- wonder Ing If It he dared venture so great a leap heap there broke suddenly upon startled startle cars ears a n. piercing scream am which diminIshed diminIshed diminished dimin dimin- gradually until It ended in do a series of dismal moans The shuddered and looked Belgian u fearfully upward for the scream Lad Dau seemed to come from above him As Ashe Ashe he hc looked he ho saw an opening far overhead overhead overhead over over- head and a patch of sky pinked with brilliant stars Ho lie listened fearfully but the cry cr was not repeated and at last spurred to desperate means he ho gathered himself himself him him- self for the leap across the chasm GoIng GoIng Going Go- Go Ing back twenty paces he ho took a running run ning start and at the edge of the tho well leaped upward and outward In an un attempt attempt attempt at at- tempt to gain the opposite side In his hand he ho clutched the tho sputtering sputtering sputtering candle candie and as he took the leap the tho rush of air extinguished It In utter darkness he lie flew through space clutching outward for a hold should his feet miss the tho invisible ledge Tie lie struck the edge of the tho floor of the opposite terminus of the rocky tunnel tunnel tun tun- nel with his knees slipped backward clutched desperately for a moment and at last hung half balf within and half without the tho opening but he was safe Cautiously he drew rew himself well within with with- in the tunnel and again he lie lay at nt full length h upon the floor fighting to re- re rain aln control of ot his shattered nerves When his knees struck the edge edgo of i the tunnel he ho had bad dropped the candle canale Presently hoping against hope that It had fallen upon the floor of the passageway passageway pas pas- rather than back Into the depths of the well he rose upon all aU fours and commenced t. t diligent search for the little cylinder which now seemed Infinitely more precious to him than all the fabulous wealth of ot the hoarded Ingots of Opal I And when at last he found It he be clasped It to him and sank back buck sobbing sobbing sob sob- bing and exhausted For many minutes minutes 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