Latest / Tarzan and the Golden Lion / 06 - Death Steals Behind
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- 0:00Speaker 1: Chapter six, Death Steals Behind. During the afternoon of the
- 0:06Speaker 1: day that Tarzan discovered the camp of the conspirators, a
- 0:08Speaker 1: wacher upon the crumbling outer wall of the roomed city
- 0:11Speaker 1: of Opar described a party of men moving downward into
- 0:14Speaker 1: the valley from the summit of the encircling cliff. Tarzan,
- 0:17Speaker 1: Jane Clayton, and their black Waziri were the only strangers
- 0:20Speaker 1: of the denizens of Opar had ever seen within their
- 0:23Speaker 1: valley during the lifetime of the oldest amongment, and only
- 0:26Speaker 1: in half forgotten tales of legend in a by gone
- 0:28Speaker 1: past was there any suggestion that strangers other than these
- 0:31Speaker 1: had ever visited Opar. Yet from time immemorial a guard
- 0:34Speaker 1: had always remained upon the summit of the outer wall.
- 0:37Speaker 1: Now a single murled and crippled manlike creature was all
- 0:40Speaker 1: that recalled the numerous lithe warriors of Lost Atlantis. For
- 0:44Speaker 1: down through the long ages the race had deteriorated, and finally,
- 0:47Speaker 1: through occasional mating with the great Apes, the men had
- 0:49Speaker 1: become the beastlike things of modern Opar. Strange and inexplicable
- 0:53Speaker 1: had been the providence of nature that had confined this
- 0:55Speaker 1: deterioration almost solely to the males, leaving the females straight,
- 0:59Speaker 1: well formed, often commonly and even beautiful features, a condition
- 1:02Speaker 1: that might be largely attributable to the fact that female
- 1:05Speaker 1: infants possessing apelike characteristics were immediately destroyed, while on the
- 1:09Speaker 1: other hand, boy babies who possessed purely human attributes were
- 1:12Speaker 1: also done away with. Typical indeed, of the male inhabitants
- 1:15Speaker 1: of Opar was the lone watcher upon the outer city wall,
- 1:19Speaker 1: a short, stocky man with matted hair and beard, his
- 1:21Speaker 1: tangled locks growing low upon a low receding forehead. Small
- 1:25Speaker 1: close set eyes, and fanglike teeth bore evidence of his
- 1:28Speaker 1: simian ancestry, as did his short, crooked legs and long, muscular,
- 1:32Speaker 1: ape like arms, all scantily hair covered, as was his torso.
- 1:36Speaker 1: As his wicked, blood lirimmed eyes watched the progress of
- 1:38Speaker 1: the party across the valley towards Opar. Evidences of his
- 1:41Speaker 1: growing excitement were manifested in the increased rapidity of his
- 1:44Speaker 1: breathing and low, almost inaudible growls that issued from his throat.
- 1:48Speaker 1: These strangers were too far distant to be recognizable only
- 1:50Speaker 1: as humans, and their number to be roughly approximated as
- 1:53Speaker 1: between two and three score. Having assured himself of these
- 1:56Speaker 1: two facts, the watcher descended from the outer wall, crossed
- 1:59Speaker 1: the space between it and the inner wall through which
- 2:01Speaker 1: he passed, and at a rapid trot, crossed the broad
- 2:04Speaker 1: avenue beyond, and disappeared within the crumbling but still magnificent temple. Beyond. Kaj,
- 2:09Speaker 1: the High Priest of Opar, squatted beneath the shade of
- 2:11Speaker 1: the giant trees which now overgrew what had once been
- 2:14Speaker 1: one of the gardens of the ancient temple. With him
- 2:17Speaker 1: were a dozen members of the lesser priesthood, the intimate
- 2:20Speaker 1: cronies of the High Priest, who were startled by the
- 2:22Speaker 1: sudden advent of one of the inferior members of the
- 2:24Speaker 1: clan of Opar. Befello, hurried breathlessly to Kaj Kaj. He cried,
- 2:29Speaker 1: strange men descend upon Opar from the northwest. They have
- 2:32Speaker 1: come into the valley from beyond the barrier cliffs, fifty
- 2:36Speaker 1: of them, at least perhaps half again that number. I
- 2:39Speaker 1: saw them as I watched from the summit of the
- 2:40Speaker 1: outer Wall. But further than they are men, I cannot say,
- 2:44Speaker 1: for they are still a great distance away. Not since
- 2:46Speaker 1: the great Tarmangani came among us last have there been
- 2:49Speaker 1: strangers within Opar. It has been many moons since the
- 2:53Speaker 1: great Tarmangani, who called himself Tarzan of the Apes, was
- 2:56Speaker 1: among us, said Kaj. He promised us to return before
- 3:00Speaker 1: the rain to see that no harm had befallen Law.
- 3:03Speaker 1: But he did not come back, and Lah has always
- 3:05Speaker 1: insisted that he is dead. Have you told any other
- 3:08Speaker 1: of what you have seen? He demanded, turning suddenly upon
- 3:11Speaker 1: the messenger, No replied the latter, Good exclaimed Kaj. Come,
- 3:18Speaker 1: we will all go to the outer wall and see
- 3:20Speaker 1: who it is who dares enter forbidden Opar. And let
- 3:22Speaker 1: no one be a word of what Luck has told
- 3:24Speaker 1: us until I give permission. The word of Kaj is law,
- 3:28Speaker 1: until La speaks, murmured one of the priests. Kaj turned
- 3:31Speaker 1: a scowling face upon the speaker. I am high Priest
- 3:34Speaker 1: of Opar, he growled. Who dares disobey me? That lies
- 3:38Speaker 1: high priestess, said one. And the high priestess is the
- 3:41Speaker 1: Queen of Opar. But the high priest can offer whom
- 3:44Speaker 1: he will as sacrifice in the chamber of the dead,
- 3:47Speaker 1: or to the flaming God, Kaj reminded the other meaningly,
- 3:51Speaker 1: we shall keep silent, Kaj replied the priest, cringing. Good,
- 3:55Speaker 1: growled the high priest, and led the way from the garden,
- 3:57Speaker 1: through the quarters of the temple, back toward the outer
- 4:00Speaker 1: wall of Opar. From here they watched the approaching party
- 4:03Speaker 1: that was in plain view of them far out across
- 4:05Speaker 1: the valley. The watchers conversed in low gutturals in the
- 4:08Speaker 1: language of the Great Apes, interspersed with which were occasional
- 4:11Speaker 1: words and phrases of the strange tongue that were doubtless
- 4:14Speaker 1: corrupted forms of the ancient language of Atlantis, handed down
- 4:16Speaker 1: through countless generations from their human progenitors, that now extinct race,
- 4:20Speaker 1: whose cities and civilization lie buried deep beneath the tossing
- 4:23Speaker 1: waves of the Atlantic, and whose adventurous spirit had, in
- 4:27Speaker 1: remote ages caused them to penetrate into the heart of
- 4:29Speaker 1: Africa in search of gold, and to build there in
- 4:32Speaker 1: duplication of their far home cities, the magnificent city of Opar.
- 4:36Speaker 1: As Codge and his followers watched from beneath shaggy brows,
- 4:39Speaker 1: the strangers plodding laboriously beneath the now declining equatorial sun
- 4:43Speaker 1: across the rocky barren valley. A gray little monkey eyed
- 4:46Speaker 1: them from amidst the foliage of one of the giant
- 4:48Speaker 1: trees that had forced its way through the pavement of
- 4:50Speaker 1: the ancient avenue behind them. A solemn, sad faced little
- 4:53Speaker 1: monkey it was, but like all his kind, overcome by curiosity,
- 4:57Speaker 1: and finally to such an extent that his fear the
- 5:00Speaker 1: fierce males of Opar was so considerably overcome that he
- 5:03Speaker 1: at last swung lightly from the tree to the pavement,
- 5:06Speaker 1: made his way through the inner wall and up the
- 5:07Speaker 1: inside of the outer wall to a position in the
- 5:10Speaker 1: rear where he could hide behind one of the massive
- 5:12Speaker 1: granite blocks of the crumbling wall in comparative safety from detection.
- 5:16Speaker 1: Though while he might overhear the conversation of the Oparians,
- 5:18Speaker 1: all of which that was carried on in the language
- 5:20Speaker 1: of the great Apes, he could understand perfectly. The afternoon
- 5:23Speaker 1: was drawing to a close before the slowly moving company
- 5:25Speaker 1: approaching Opar was close enough for individuals to be recognizable
- 5:29Speaker 1: in any way. And then presently one of the younger
- 5:31Speaker 1: priests exclaimed, excitedly, it is he kaj It is the
- 5:34Speaker 1: great Tarmangani, who calls himself Tarzan of the Apes. I
- 5:37Speaker 1: can see him plainly. The others are all black men.
- 5:40Speaker 1: He is urging them on, parting them with his spear.
- 5:42Speaker 1: They act as though they were afraid and very tired,
- 5:45Speaker 1: but he is forcing them forward. You are sure, demanded Kaj.
- 5:49Speaker 1: You are sure that it is Tarzan of the Apes.
- 5:51Speaker 1: I am positive, replied the speaker, And then another of
- 5:54Speaker 1: the priests joined his assurances to that of his fellow.
- 5:57Speaker 1: At last there were close enough so the Kaj himself,
- 5:59Speaker 1: whose eyesight was not as good as that of the
- 6:01Speaker 1: younger members of the company, realized that it was indeed
- 6:04Speaker 1: Tarzan of the Apes who was returning to Opar. The
- 6:06Speaker 1: high priests scowled angrily and thought. Suddenly he turned upon
- 6:10Speaker 1: the others. He must not come, he cried, He must
- 6:13Speaker 1: not enter o par hasten and fetch a hundred fighting men.
- 6:16Speaker 1: We will meet them as they come through the outer
- 6:18Speaker 1: wall and slay them one by one. But La, cried
- 6:21Speaker 1: he who had aroused Kaj's anger in the garden. I
- 6:24Speaker 1: distinctly recall that Law offered the friendship of Opar to
- 6:27Speaker 1: Tarzan of the Apes. Upon that time many moons ago,
- 6:30Speaker 1: and he saved their friendly tests of infuriated tantor silence
- 6:33Speaker 1: growled kag He shall not enter. We shall slay them all,
- 6:37Speaker 1: though we need not know their identity until it is
- 6:39Speaker 1: too late. Do you understand, and know too that whosoever
- 6:43Speaker 1: attempts to thwart my purpose shall die, And he died
- 6:46Speaker 1: not as a sacrifice, He shall die at my hands,
- 6:49Speaker 1: but die he shall. You hear me, and he pointed
- 6:52Speaker 1: an unclean finger at the trembling priest manning the monkey.
- 6:55Speaker 1: Hearing all this, was almost bursting with excitement. He knew
- 6:58Speaker 1: Tarzan of the Apes as all the migros monkeys the
- 7:00Speaker 1: length and breadth of Africa knew him. He knew him
- 7:03Speaker 1: for a friend and protector to Manu. The males of
- 7:06Speaker 1: Opar were neither beast nor man nor friend. He knew
- 7:09Speaker 1: them as cruel and surly creatures who ate the flesh
- 7:11Speaker 1: of his kind, and he hated them accordingly. He was
- 7:13Speaker 1: therefore greatly exercised at the plot that he had heard
- 7:16Speaker 1: disgust which was aimed at the life of the great Tarmangani.
- 7:19Speaker 1: He scratched his little gray head, and in the root
- 7:21Speaker 1: of his tail and his belly as he attempted to
- 7:23Speaker 1: mentally digest what he had heard and bring forth from
- 7:26Speaker 1: the dim recesses of his little brain a plan to
- 7:28Speaker 1: foil the priests and save Tarzan of the apes. He
- 7:31Speaker 1: made grotesque grimaces that were aimed at the unsuspecting cottage
- 7:34Speaker 1: and his followers, but which failed to perturb them, possibly
- 7:37Speaker 1: because a huge granite block hid the little monkey from them.
- 7:40Speaker 1: This was quite the most momentous thing that had occurred
- 7:42Speaker 1: in the life of Manin. He wanted to jump up
- 7:44Speaker 1: and down and dance and screech and jabber, to scold
- 7:47Speaker 1: and threaten the hated Oparians. But something told him that
- 7:49Speaker 1: nothing would be gained by this, other than perhaps to
- 7:52Speaker 1: launch in his direction a shower of granite missiles, which
- 7:55Speaker 1: the priests knew only too well how to throw with accuracy.
- 7:58Speaker 1: Now Manu is not a deep thinker, but upon this
- 8:00Speaker 1: occasion he quite outdid himself and managed to concentrate his
- 8:03Speaker 1: mind upon the thing at hand, rather than permit its
- 8:05Speaker 1: being distracted by each falling leaf or buzzing insect. He
- 8:09Speaker 1: even permitted a succulent caterpillar to crawl within his reach
- 8:11Speaker 1: and out again with impunity just before darkness fell, Kaj
- 8:15Speaker 1: saw a little gray monkey disappear over the summit of
- 8:17Speaker 1: the outer wall, fifty paces from where he crouched with
- 8:20Speaker 1: his fellows, waiting for the coming of the fighting men.
- 8:23Speaker 1: But so numerous were the monkeys about the ruins of
- 8:25Speaker 1: Opar that the occurrence left Kaj's mind almost as quickly
- 8:27Speaker 1: as the monkey disappeared from his view, and in the
- 8:29Speaker 1: gathering gloom, he did not see the little gray figure
- 8:32Speaker 1: scampering off across the valley toward the band of intruders,
- 8:34Speaker 1: who now appeared to have stopped to rest at the
- 8:36Speaker 1: foot of a large kopi that stood alone out in
- 8:39Speaker 1: the valley about a mile from the city. Little Manu
- 8:42Speaker 1: was very much afraid out there alone in the growing dusk,
- 8:44Speaker 1: and he scampered very fast, with his tailboat up and
- 8:47Speaker 1: out behind him all the time. He cast up, frighted
- 8:49Speaker 1: glances to the right and left. The moment he reached
- 8:52Speaker 1: the kopi, he scampered up its face as fast as
- 8:54Speaker 1: he could. It was really a huge, precipitous granite rock
- 8:57Speaker 1: with almost perpendicular sides, but sufficiently weather worn to make
- 9:00Speaker 1: its ascent easy to little Mannu. He paused a moment
- 9:02Speaker 1: at the summit to get his breath and still the
- 9:04Speaker 1: beatings of his frightened little heart. And then he made
- 9:07Speaker 1: his way around to the point where he could look
- 9:08Speaker 1: down upon the party. Beneath There, indeed was the great
- 9:11Speaker 1: Tarmangani Tarzan, and with him were some fifty Gomangani. The
- 9:15Speaker 1: latter were splicing together a number of long, straight poles,
- 9:18Speaker 1: which they had laid upon the ground in two parallel lines.
- 9:21Speaker 1: Across these two, at intervals of a foot or more,
- 9:23Speaker 1: they were lashing smaller straight branches about eighteen inches in
- 9:27Speaker 1: length behole, forming a crude but substantial ladder. The purpose
- 9:30Speaker 1: of all this, Manu, of course, did not understand, nor
- 9:33Speaker 1: did he know that it had been involved in the
- 9:34Speaker 1: fertile brain of Flora hawks as a means of scaling
- 9:37Speaker 1: the precipitous copy at the summit of which lay the
- 9:39Speaker 1: outer entrance to the treasure vaults of Opar. Nor did
- 9:42Speaker 1: Manning know that the party had no intention of entering
- 9:44Speaker 1: the city of Opar, and were therefore in no danger
- 9:46Speaker 1: of becoming victims to Kaj's hidden assassins. To him, the
- 9:50Speaker 1: danger to Tarzan of the apes was very real, and
- 9:52Speaker 1: so having regained his breath. He lost no time in
- 9:55Speaker 1: delivering his warning to the friend of his people, Tarzan.
- 9:59Speaker 1: He cried language that was common to both the white
- 10:01Speaker 1: man and the blacks. Looked up at the sound of
- 10:03Speaker 1: his chattering voice. It is man who, Tarzan, continued, the
- 10:06Speaker 1: little monkey who has come to tell you not to
- 10:08Speaker 1: go to Opar Kajan. His people await within the outer
- 10:12Speaker 1: wall to say you. The blacks, having discovered that the
- 10:14Speaker 1: author of the disturbance was nothing but a little gray monkey,
- 10:17Speaker 1: returned immediately to their work, while the white man similarly
- 10:20Speaker 1: ignored the words of warning Man, who was not surprised
- 10:22Speaker 1: at the lack of interest displayed by the blacks, for
- 10:24Speaker 1: he knew they did not understand his language, but he
- 10:26Speaker 1: could not understand why Tarzan failed to pay any attention
- 10:29Speaker 1: whatsoever to him. Again and again he called Tarzan by name,
- 10:33Speaker 1: Again and again he shrieked his warning to the ape man,
- 10:35Speaker 1: but without eliciting any reply or any information the great
- 10:38Speaker 1: Tarmangani had either heard or understood him. Man who was
- 10:42Speaker 1: mystified what had occurred to render Tarzan to the apes
- 10:45Speaker 1: so indifferent to the warnings of his old friend. At last,
- 10:48Speaker 1: the little monkey gave it up and looked longingly back
- 10:50Speaker 1: in the direction of the trees within the walled city
- 10:52Speaker 1: of Opar. It was now very dark, and he trembled
- 10:55Speaker 1: at the thought of recrossing the valley, where he knew
- 10:57Speaker 1: enemies might prowl by night. He scratched his head, and
- 11:00Speaker 1: he hugged his knees, then sat there whimpering, a very
- 11:02Speaker 1: forlorn and unhappy little ball of a monkey. But however
- 11:05Speaker 1: uncomfortable he was, upon the high kopy, he was comparatively safe,
- 11:09Speaker 1: and so he decided to remain there during the night
- 11:11Speaker 1: rather than venture the terrifying return trip through the darkness.
- 11:15Speaker 1: Thus it was that he saw the ladder completed and
- 11:17Speaker 1: erected against the side of the kopi, And when the
- 11:19Speaker 1: moon rose at last and lighted the scene, he saw
- 11:21Speaker 1: Tarzan of the Apes urging his men to mount the ladder.
- 11:23Speaker 1: He had never seen Tarzan thus rough and cruel with
- 11:26Speaker 1: the blacks who accompanied him. Many knew how ferocious the
- 11:29Speaker 1: great Tarmangani could be with an enemy, whether man or beast,
- 11:32Speaker 1: but he had never seen him accord such treatment to
- 11:34Speaker 1: the blacks who were his friends. One by one and
- 11:37Speaker 1: with evident reluctance, the blacks ascended the ladder continually urged
- 11:41Speaker 1: forward to greater speed by the sharp spear of the
- 11:43Speaker 1: white man. When they had all ascended, Tarzan followed and
- 11:46Speaker 1: Man who saw them disappear, apparently into the heart of
- 11:48Speaker 1: the great rock. It was only a short time later
- 11:51Speaker 1: that they commenced to reappear, and now each was burdened
- 11:53Speaker 1: by two heavy objects, which appeared to Manner to be
- 11:55Speaker 1: very similar to some of the smaller stone blocks that
- 11:58Speaker 1: had been used in the construction of the buildings in Opar.
- 12:00Speaker 1: He saw them take the blocks to the edge of
- 12:02Speaker 1: the Kopi and cast them over to the ground beneath,
- 12:04Speaker 1: And when the last of the blacks had emerged with
- 12:06Speaker 1: his load and cast it to the valley below, one
- 12:08Speaker 1: by one the party descended the ladder to the foot
- 12:10Speaker 1: of the Kopi, but this time Tarzan the apes went first.
- 12:13Speaker 1: Then they lowered the ladder and took it apart and
- 12:16Speaker 1: laid its pieces close to the foot of the cliff,
- 12:18Speaker 1: after which they took up the blocks which they had
- 12:20Speaker 1: brought from the heart of the Kopi, and, following Tarzan,
- 12:22Speaker 1: who set out in the lead, they commenced to retrace
- 12:25Speaker 1: their steps toward the rim of the valley men, who
- 12:27Speaker 1: would have been very much mystified had he been a man.
- 12:29Speaker 1: But being only a monkey, he saw only what he saw,
- 12:32Speaker 1: without attempting to reason very much about it. He knew
- 12:34Speaker 1: that the ways of men were peculiar and oftentimes unaccountable.
- 12:37Speaker 1: For example, the Gomangani, who could not travel through the
- 12:40Speaker 1: jungle and the forest with the ease of any other
- 12:42Speaker 1: of the animals which frequented them, added to their difficulties
- 12:45Speaker 1: by loading themselves down with additional weights in the form
- 12:48Speaker 1: of metal anklets and armlets, with necklaces and girdles, and
- 12:51Speaker 1: with skins of animals, which did nothing more than impede
- 12:54Speaker 1: their progress and render life much more complicated than that
- 12:56Speaker 1: which the untrammeled beasts enjoyed. Manu, whenever he gave the
- 13:00Speaker 1: matter a thought, congratulated himself that he was not a man.
- 13:03Speaker 1: He pitied the foolish, unreasonable creatures man who must have slept.
- 13:07Speaker 1: He thought that he had only closed his eyes for
- 13:09Speaker 1: a moment. But when he opened them, the rosy light
- 13:11Speaker 1: of dawn had overspread the desolate valley, just disappearing over
- 13:14Speaker 1: the cliffs to the northeast. He could see the last
- 13:17Speaker 1: of Tarzan's party commencing the descent of the barrier. Then
- 13:20Speaker 1: Manu turned his face toward Opar and prepared to descend
- 13:22Speaker 1: from the Kopi and scamper back to the safety of
- 13:24Speaker 1: his trees within the walls of Opar. But first he
- 13:27Speaker 1: would reconnoiter Chitah, the panther might be still abroad, And
- 13:30Speaker 1: so he scampered around the edge of the Kopi to
- 13:32Speaker 1: a point where he could see the entire valley floor
- 13:35Speaker 1: between himself and Opar. And there it was that he
- 13:37Speaker 1: saw again that which filled him with greatest excitement for
- 13:40Speaker 1: Debouching from the ruined outer wall of Opar, was a
- 13:43Speaker 1: large company of Opar's frightful men, fully a hundred of them,
- 13:46Speaker 1: man who could have counted, had Mannu been able to count.
- 13:49Speaker 1: They seemed to be coming toward the Kopi, and he
- 13:51Speaker 1: sat and watched them as they approached, deciding to defer
- 13:53Speaker 1: his return to the city until after the path was
- 13:55Speaker 1: cleared of hated Oparians. It occurred to him that they
- 13:58Speaker 1: were coming after him, for the egotism of the lower
- 14:00Speaker 1: animals is inordinate because he was a monkey. The idea
- 14:03Speaker 1: did not seem at all ridiculous, and so he hid
- 14:06Speaker 1: behind a jutting lock with only one little bright eye
- 14:08Speaker 1: exposed to the enemy. He saw them come closer, and
- 14:11Speaker 1: he grew very much excited, though he was not at
- 14:13Speaker 1: all afraid, for he knew that if they ascended one
- 14:15Speaker 1: side of the Kopi, he could descend the other and
- 14:17Speaker 1: be half way to Opar before they could possibly locate
- 14:19Speaker 1: him again. On and on they cane, but they did
- 14:22Speaker 1: not stop at the Kopi. As a matter of fact,
- 14:24Speaker 1: they did not come very close to it, but continued
- 14:26Speaker 1: on beyond it. Then it was that the truth of
- 14:28Speaker 1: the matter flashed into the little brain of the monkey.
- 14:31Speaker 1: Kaj and his people were pursuing Tarzan of the Apes
- 14:33Speaker 1: to slay him. If Man, who had been offended by
- 14:35Speaker 1: Tarzan's indifference to him upon the night before, he had
- 14:38Speaker 1: evidently forgotten. For now he was quite as excited about
- 14:41Speaker 1: the danger which he saw menace the ape man as
- 14:43Speaker 1: he had been upon the afternoon previous. At first, he
- 14:46Speaker 1: thought about running ahead and again warning Tarzan, but he
- 14:49Speaker 1: feared to venture so far from the trees of Opar.
- 14:51Speaker 1: Even if the thought of having to pass the hated
- 14:53Speaker 1: Oparians had not been sufficient to deter him, from carrying
- 14:56Speaker 1: out this plan. For a few minutes, he sat watching
- 14:58Speaker 1: them until they had all passed the Kopi, and then
- 15:00Speaker 1: it became quite clear to him that they were heading
- 15:02Speaker 1: directly for the spot at which the last of Tarzan's
- 15:04Speaker 1: party had disappeared from the valley. There could be no
- 15:07Speaker 1: doubt that they were in pursuit of the ape man Man,
- 15:09Speaker 1: who scanned the valley once more toward Opar. There was
- 15:11Speaker 1: nothing in sight to deter him from an attempted return,
- 15:14Speaker 1: and so, with the agility of his kind, he scampered
- 15:17Speaker 1: down the vertical face of the Kopie and was off
- 15:19Speaker 1: at great speed toward the city's wall just when he
- 15:22Speaker 1: formulated the plan that he eventually followed. It is difficult
- 15:24Speaker 1: to say. Perhaps he thought it all out as he
- 15:26Speaker 1: sat upon the Kopi watching Codge and his people upon
- 15:29Speaker 1: the trail of the ape Man, or perhaps it occurred
- 15:31Speaker 1: to him while he was scampering across the barren weights
- 15:33Speaker 1: toward Opar. It may just have popped into his mind
- 15:36Speaker 1: from a clear sky after he had regained the leafy
- 15:38Speaker 1: sanctuary of his own trees. Be that, however as it may,
- 15:41Speaker 1: the fact remains that as law high priestess and Princess
- 15:44Speaker 1: of Opar, in company with several of her priestesses, was
- 15:47Speaker 1: bathing in a pool in one of the temple gardens.
- 15:50Speaker 1: She was startled by the screaming of a monkey, swinging
- 15:52Speaker 1: frantically by his tail from the branch of a great
- 15:54Speaker 1: tree which overspread the pool. It was a little gray
- 15:57Speaker 1: monkey with a face so wise and serious that one
- 15:59Speaker 1: might easily have imagine that the fate of nations lay
- 16:02Speaker 1: constantly upon the shoulders of its owner, La Law. He screamed,
- 16:06Speaker 1: they have gone to kill Tarzan. They have gone to
- 16:08Speaker 1: kill Tarzan. At the sound of the name, Law was
- 16:11Speaker 1: instantly all attention. Standing waist deep in the pool, She
- 16:13Speaker 1: looked up at the little monkey questioningly, What do you mean, Manon,
- 16:17Speaker 1: She asked, It has been many moons since Tarzan was
- 16:20Speaker 1: at Opar. He is not here. Now, what are you
- 16:23Speaker 1: talking about? I saw him, screamed Manu, I saw him
- 16:26Speaker 1: last night. With Minny Gomangani. He came to the great
- 16:29Speaker 1: rock that lies in the valley before o Par with
- 16:32Speaker 1: all his men. He climbed to the top of it,
- 16:34Speaker 1: went into the heart of it, and came out with stones,
- 16:36Speaker 1: which they threw down into the valley. Afterward, they descended
- 16:39Speaker 1: from the rock and picked up the stones again and
- 16:41Speaker 1: left the valley there. And Manu pointed toward the northeast
- 16:45Speaker 1: with one of his hairy little fingers. How do you
- 16:47Speaker 1: know it was Tarzan of the Apes, asked Law Does
- 16:50Speaker 1: Manu not know his cousin and friend demanded the monkey?
- 16:53Speaker 1: With my eyes, I saw him. It was Tarzan of
- 16:56Speaker 1: the Apes. Lave of o. Tar puckered her brows and
- 16:59Speaker 1: thought deep in her heart smoldered the fowers of her
- 17:01Speaker 1: great love for Tarzan, fires that had been quenched by
- 17:04Speaker 1: the necessity that had compelled her marriage with Kaj Since
- 17:07Speaker 1: last she had seen the ape Man, for it is
- 17:09Speaker 1: written among the laws of Opar that the High Priestess
- 17:11Speaker 1: of the Flaming God must take a mate within a
- 17:13Speaker 1: certain number of years after her consecration. For many moons
- 17:17Speaker 1: had Law longed to make Tarzan that mate. The ape
- 17:20Speaker 1: Man had not loved her, and finally she had come
- 17:22Speaker 1: to the realization that he could never love her. Afterwards,
- 17:25Speaker 1: she had bowed to the frightful fate that had placed
- 17:27Speaker 1: her in the arms of Kaj. As month after month
- 17:29Speaker 1: had passed and Tarzan had not returned to Opar, as
- 17:32Speaker 1: he had promised he would do, to see that no
- 17:34Speaker 1: harm befell law. She had come to accept the opinion
- 17:37Speaker 1: of Kaj that the ape Man was dead, and though
- 17:39Speaker 1: she hated the repulse of Kage, none the less her
- 17:42Speaker 1: love for Tarzan had gradually become little more than a
- 17:44Speaker 1: sorrowful memory. Now to learn that he was alive and
- 17:47Speaker 1: had been so near was like reopening an old wound.
- 17:50Speaker 1: At first she comprehended little else than that Tarzan had
- 17:52Speaker 1: been close to Opar. But presently the cries of Manu
- 17:55Speaker 1: aroused her to a realization that the ape Man was
- 17:57Speaker 1: in danger. Just what the danger was, she did not know.
- 18:00Speaker 1: Who has gone to kill Tarzan of the apes? She demanded. Suddenly, Kuche, Kuche,
- 18:05Speaker 1: shrieked Mannin, he has gone with many, many men, and
- 18:08Speaker 1: is following upon the spoor of Tarzan. Loll sprang quickly
- 18:12Speaker 1: from the pool, seizing her garments and ornaments from her
- 18:14Speaker 1: attendant and adjusting them. Hurriedly, sped through the garden and
- 18:17Speaker 1: into the temple. End of Chapter