24

Tarzan, the Jewels of Opar

by Edgar R. Burroughs

24, TARZAN, THE JEWELS OF OPAR by Edgar R. Burroughs
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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."