Evening Republican, Volume 23, Number 121, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 19 May 1920 — TARZAN AND THE Jewels of Opar [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

TARZAN AND THE Jewels of Opar

By EDGAR RICE BURROUGHS

AAmti "Tmmm*y*+rn"

tfYNOPSIft. a£j£r*s)ixu£s hkowS? b/a ttot IrooSu las nMiim, Lieut Albert Warper, Belgian offloer, la captured by Achmet Zek, limb alave raider, who qparee his lire and will of Ivttii (Lora Greyttoici) iiw nu Mr into slavery. Warper aeeepta CHAFIPR TT in-Pft*nr ate Jules FteeoultT French traveler, warper la hoapltaMy received by the Oraratokee. He bane hla boat la m financial atralta and plana an expedition to the treasure vaults er Opar to prooure gold. Werper in forme Achmet Zek of the opportunity to setae Lady Oreyatoke, and follows Tbrsan to BSn the secret of Oner.

CHAPTER llL—Spying on Ttosa. Werper sees hhn load nls blacks with sold from the treasure chamber of the ■an Worshipers. A convulsion of Nature pause# the collapse of the vault laaprlaealng both man. CHAPTER IV.—Werper recovers frees the shock and finding Tar sen apparently dead he leaves him. Seeking a way to safety Werper te seised by priests or the Flaming God, a degenerate race. He le about to be offered up as a sacrifice when the ceremonies are Interrupted by the appearance of a hunger-maddened lien. CHAPTER ▼.—Believing Tarxan dead bis black followers return home with the gold. . Achmet Zek, acting on Warpers Information, has attacked the Greysteks borne, burned it, and carried off Lady Oreyatoke. Mugambl, Tarsan’a lieutenant, la severely wounded but recovers and follows the raiders. era consciousness, but tht acclden^Jbas seene "of°hls mlaforUme he finds h%)Wf (n the Jewel room of Opar. He ffls ms pouch with the "pretty pebbles." Reaching the sacrificial chamber he Is reoogUon and releases Werper. The latter seee the Jewels and covets them. gmmism buriSrthe Jewels, Which Werper dlgi Oft and escapes-whUe Taraan sleeps. gold but not ofuthb Jewels. Lady ChJP gSA&S* u«,«| Belgian, fearing tor Ms Me, escapes wttb the gems. •

lewela. Ha ra«umE*%* life of a ml bui. U m>4 the priests of the Flamlns S?jsyS?wir®«t &res tarried oft They capture Tpnan. CHAPTER X.—The priests make reate to offer Tarsan a* a sacrifice to ths naming Ood. La Offers him life ta s» thange for his lovb He refuses, and tt Ehe Jungle .language, calls Tantor, the s(e> thant, to hie rescue. Tantor comes bjrt B an Insane tags destroys all la his path. Ua frees Tarsan and be saves her from fee elephant Mped'TaStor’s'jrghTr ®turnjto"lthetofepje srlth La. Tarirtfirremembers the Jewels tnd finding them gone realises werper has stolen Them. He follows the soeat of the Belgian, determined on revenge. CHAPTER Xll.—Lady Oreystoke socapes from Achmet Zek and makes her way Into the Jungle. Warper, fleeing from the raider, is made prisoner by Abdul Kfourak. Abyssinian ofloer In command sf soldiers sent to wipe sot Achmet ZCk*i marauding band. Mugambi. seeking Life Oreystoke. Is also captfred by MouraE He sees the Jewels Wwrper has, «d raoognlstng the pouch as ths property of hit master, steals the gems, replacing them With worthless pebbles, had escapee CBtrm xm.—While pursuing Warier Achmet Zek recaptures Lady Greynoke. Tarsan has taken command of s band of apes, and with them attacks Achmet Zdfa camp, seeking Werper. His wife calls to Ua out he does not rao. ogntse her. The Arabs beat off the apes and carry away their prisoner. Tarsan, With Chulk and Taglat, two great apes, allows them and enters tbs village. CHAPTER XlV.—Werper agrees ft guide. Mourak to where Tarsan’a gold Is buried. While Targan is seeking Werpei [n Achmet Zek’s camp Taglat carries ofl Lady Oreystoke. Tar*an T s reoollectloo has been stirred by the sight of his wife, though he did not recognise her, and he •tarts in pursuit On the trail ths apeman discovers Werper with the party ol Abyssinian* on ths way to the Oreystoki home. Following them he sees them Mtacked by Achmet Zek’s band. In tIM fighting Werper escapes and Achmet let pursues him. Werper offers to give the Jewels to Achmet In exchange for hie Ufa CHAPTER XV.—While Mugambi ]■ asleep. Chulk, the ape, steals thljgwufi safe oner escapes Proceeding in the direction .KHSSffcßii two are taken prisoners iTsjSw m Belgian soldiers. Tirana sente Chulk ts bring the great fines to rescue him. [St'S? a§s SE-rjd , a , iaa trJF <*•**!& M* the ape-men hurries Is thdrrl^C im iintos. *

CHAPTER XVIII. Home. As Tarzan of the Apes hurtled through the trees the discordant sound* of the battle between the Abyssiniaos. and the lions smote more and more disti nctly 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 tojook down upon the bloody scene of carnage below. Hie quick eye took In the whole aceoe with a single comprehending glance and stopped upon the figure of a woman standing facing a great Uon across the carcass of a horse. The carnivore was crouching to epriHg 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 latteiv-lt was as though he had not even paused In his swift progress through the trees, so ttghtnlng-llke hla survey and compreImanlon of the scene below him —se instantaneous his consequent action. Wide went Jane Clayton’s eyes- In wonder and Incredulity, as she .behold this seeming apparition risen from the dead. The lion was forgotten—her own peril—everything save the won-

drous miracle of this strange secrudesceace. She saw the sinewy form leap ts the shoulder of the Hon, 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 realised that no substanceless wraith could thus turn the charge of a maddened lion with brute force greater than the brute’s. Tarsan, her Tarsan, lived I A cry of unspeakable gladness broke from her lips, only to die In terror as she saw the utter defenseless of her mate and realised that the lion had recovered himself and was turning upon Tarsan In mad lost for vengeance. ▲t the ape-man’s feet lay the discarded rifle es the dead Abyssinian whose mutilated corpse sprawled where Numa had abandoned it. Hie quick glance which had swept the ground for some weapon of defense discovered it, and as the lion reared upon his hind legs to seise the rash man-thlng 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 Tarsan 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 aOrude V. In the Instant that the lion sank lifeless te the ground Jane Clayton threw herself Into the eager arms of her husbaivd. 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. The blacks who had witnessed his advent looked on in amazement ai

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. Unmolested, Tarsan passed from the camp of the Abyssinian*. from which the din of conflict followed Urn dqsp Into the- Jungle until distance gradually obliterated it entirely. Bade to the spot where. be had left Werper went the ape-man, Joy In his heart bow, where fear and sorrow bad so recently reigned, and In his mind a determination to forgive the Belgian andatthlm is maklng-goodhls escape. But when he caihe to the place Werper was gone, and though Tarsan called aloud many times he soectwcd no reply. Convinced that the man had purposely eluded him for reasons of his own, John Clayton felt that be wee under no obligations to expose hie jrlff to further danger and discomfort is 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 bad that be has made for himself.”-,.,/ Straight as homing pigeons the two made their way toward the rgln and desolation that had once been the center of their happy lives, and which was soqn ; 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 remalns of the palisade and the native huts, still smoking, as mute evidence of the wrath and vengeance of a powerful enemy. “The Wazlrl,” commented Tarzan with a-grim smile, \ “God bless them I" 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 Wazlrl—we have love and loyalty and friendship- And what are gold and Jewels to these?” “If only poor Mugambl .lived,” she replied, “and those other brave fel-

lows who sacrljjced 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 Wazlrl, Jane,” he said. “I can hear them ahead of us. They are going Into camp for the night, I imagine.”^ A hall 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 tb6 giant Wazlrl, loomed a familiar black form at the side of Basuli. It was Mugambl, tfbom Jane had thought dead himldst the charred ruins of ths bungalow. Ah, such a reunion! Long Into the night the dancing apd. singing and 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 battlea with savage beast and savage man, and dawn was already breaking when Basuli, for the fortieth time, narrated how he and,a handful of warriors had watched : the battle for the golden Ingota which the Abysslnlans of Abdul Monrak had waged against the Arab raiders of Achmet Zek, and how, wbeb the victors had ridden away, they had sneaked out of the river reeds and stolen away with the precious Ingots to hide them where do robber eye ever ceuld discover them. T

Pieced out from the fragments of their various experiences with the Belglen the truth concerning the malign activities es Albert Werpertbecam©apparent Only Lady Oreystoke found aught to praise,, la the conduct of -the man, and it was difficult even for her to reconcile his many heinous .acts with this one evidence of cfalvalrytend honor. . *> "Deep In the soul of every man,” said Tarzan, “must lurk the germ ot righteousness. It was your own-,vir-tue, Jane, rather even than your helplefsnees, which awakened for an Instant the latent decency of this r 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 Tabor -of the Wazirl 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 tbe coming of tbe Belgian and the Arab, forgotten were the sorrows and dangers of yesterday. For the first time in months Lord Oreystoke felt that he might Indulge in a holiday, and so a great hunt was organised 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 wellladen safari took up Its return march toward the Wazlri plain. Lord , and Lady Greystoks with Basull and Mugambl rode together at the Head at the column, laughing and talking together in that easy familiarity which common interests and mutual respect breeA-be-tween honest and Intelligent men of any races. - Jane dayton’e horse shied suddenly at an object half bidden In the, tong grasses of an open space In the Jungle. Tarsan’s keen eyes sought quickly, for an explanation of the animal’s action. "What have we here 7" be aged, swinging from bis saddle, and a moment later the four were grouped about a human skull and a little litter of whitened human bones. Tarsan stooped and,lifted a leathern pouch from the grisly relics of a,man. The hard outlines at the contents brought an exclamation of surprise to hU lips. "The Jewels of Opar,” he evied, bolding the pouch aloft, “and,” pointing to the bones at his' feet, that remains of Werper, tbe Belgian.” Mugambi laughed. “Look within, Bwanm,” he cried, “and you will see what are the Jewels at Opai"—you will see what the Belgian gave his life for,” and the black laughed albud. "Why do you laugh r asked Tanya,

"Because, replied Mugambl, V I filled the Belgian’s pouch with river gravel before I escaped -the camp of the Abysslnlans whose prisoners we were. I left the Belgian only-worthless stones, while I brought r-away with me the Jewels he had stolen from you. That they were afterward stolenfcom me while I slept In the Juggle dp my shame aha Ay dlsgrace ; but rnt least the Belgian lost themt-nopen his pouch and you will see.” i Tarzan untied ithe thong - which! held the mouth of the leatbem bag closed, and permitted the contents to:trickle slewly forth Into his open palm. Mugambl’s eyes went wide at the sight, and the others uttered exclamatioos tof surprise and -Incredulity, for from the rusty and weatherworn pouch ran a stream of brilliant, scintillating gams. “The Jewels of Opart” cried Taraan. “But how did Weeper come by mem again f None could answer, for both Ohulk and Werper were dead, and no other knew. “Poor devil I” said the ape-man as he swung back into his saddle. “Even fat death, he has made reotttutkur-Ttot bis sins die with-Ms bone*? [THE END.]

Hurtling Against the Leaping Beast Like a Huge Animated Battering Ram.