The Fight For the Treasure
It was morning before Tarzan could bring himself to a realization of
the possibility of failure of his quest, and even then he would only
admit that success was but delayed. He would eat and sleep, and then
set forth again. The jungle was wide; but wide too were the experience
and cunning of Tarzan. Taglat might travel far; but Tarzan would find
him in the end, though he had to search every tree in the mighty
forest.
Soliloquizing thus, the ape-man followed the spoor of Bara, the deer,
the unfortunate upon which he had decided to satisfy his hunger. For
half an hour the trail led the ape-man toward the east along a
well-marked game path, when suddenly, to the stalker’s astonishment,
the quarry broke into sight, racing madly back along the narrow way
straight toward the hunter.
Tarzan, who had been following along the trail, leaped so quickly to
the concealing verdure at the side that the deer was still unaware of
the presence of an enemy in this direction, and while the animal was
still some distance away, the ape-man swung into the lower branches of
the tree which overhung the trail. There he crouched, a savage beast of
prey, awaiting the coming of its victim.
What had frightened the deer into so frantic a retreat, Tarzan did not
know—Numa, the lion, perhaps, or Sheeta, the panther; but whatsoever it
was mattered little to Tarzan of the Apes—he was ready and willing to
defend his kill against any other denizen of the jungle. If he were
unable to do it by means of physical prowess, he had at his command
another and a greater power—his shrewd intelligence.
And so, on came the running deer, straight into the jaws of death. The
ape-man turned so that his back was toward the approaching animal. He
poised with bent knees upon the gently swaying limb above the trail,
timing with keen ears the nearing hoof beats of frightened Bara.
In a moment the victim flashed beneath the limb and at the same instant
the ape-man above sprang out and down upon its back. The weight of the
man’s body carried the deer to the ground. It stumbled forward once in
a futile effort to rise, and then mighty muscles dragged its head far
back, gave the neck a vicious wrench, and Bara was dead.
Quick had been the killing, and equally quick were the ape-man’s
subsequent actions, for who might know what manner of killer pursued
Bara, or how close at hand he might be? Scarce had the neck of the
victim snapped than the carcass was hanging over one of Tarzan’s broad
shoulders, and an instant later the ape-man was perched once more among
the lower branches of a tree above the trail, his keen, gray eyes
scanning the pathway down which the deer had fled.
Nor was it long before the cause of Bara’s fright became evident to
Tarzan, for presently came the unmistakable sounds of approaching
horsemen. Dragging his kill after him the ape-man ascended to the
middle terrace, and settling himself comfortably in the crotch of a
tree where he could still view the trail beneath, cut a juicy steak
from the deer’s loin, and burying his strong, white teeth in the hot
flesh proceeded to enjoy the fruits of his prowess and his cunning.
Nor did he neglect the trail beneath while he satisfied his hunger. His
sharp eyes saw the muzzle of the leading horse as it came into view
around a bend in the tortuous trail, and one by one they scrutinized
the riders as they passed beneath him in single file.
Among them came one whom Tarzan recognized, but so schooled was the
ape-man in the control of his emotions that no slightest change of
expression, much less any hysterical demonstration that might have
revealed his presence, betrayed the fact of his inward excitement.
Beneath him, as unconscious of his presence as were the Abyssinians
before and behind him, rode Albert Werper, while the ape-man
scrutinized the Belgian for some sign of the pouch which he had stolen.
As the Abyssinians rode toward the south, a giant figure hovered ever
upon their trail—a huge, almost naked white man, who carried the bloody
carcass of a deer upon his shoulders, for Tarzan knew that he might not
have another opportunity to hunt for some time if he were to follow the
Belgian.
To endeavor to snatch him from the midst of the armed horsemen, not
even Tarzan would attempt other than in the last extremity, for the way
of the wild is the way of caution and cunning, unless they be aroused
to rashness by pain or anger.
So the Abyssinians and the Belgian marched southward and Tarzan of the
Apes swung silently after them through the swaying branches of the
middle terrace.
A two days’ march brought them to a level plain beyond which lay
mountains—a plain which Tarzan remembered and which aroused within him
vague half memories and strange longings. Out upon the plain the
horsemen rode, and at a safe distance behind them crept the ape-man,
taking advantage of such cover as the ground afforded.
Beside a charred pile of timbers the Abyssinians halted, and Tarzan,
sneaking close and concealing himself in nearby shrubbery, watched them
in wonderment. He saw them digging up the earth, and he wondered if
they had hidden meat there in the past and now had come for it. Then he
recalled how he had buried his pretty pebbles, and the suggestion that
had caused him to do it. They were digging for the things the blacks
had buried here!
Presently he saw them uncover a dirty, yellow object, and he witnessed
the joy of Werper and of Abdul Mourak as the grimy object was exposed
to view. One by one they unearthed many similar pieces, all of the same
uniform, dirty yellow, until a pile of them lay upon the ground, a pile
which Abdul Mourak fondled and petted in an ecstasy of greed.
Something stirred in the ape-man’s mind as he looked long upon the
golden ingots. Where had he seen such before? What were they? Why did
these Tarmangani covet them so greatly? To whom did they belong?
He recalled the black men who had buried them. The things must be
theirs. Werper was stealing them as he had stolen Tarzan’s pouch of
pebbles. The ape-man’s eyes blazed in anger. He would like to find the
black men and lead them against these thieves. He wondered where their
village might be.
As all these things ran through the active mind, a party of men moved
out of the forest at the edge of the plain and advanced toward the
ruins of the burned bungalow.
Abdul Mourak, always watchful, was the first to see them, but already
they were halfway across the open. He called to his men to mount and
hold themselves in readiness, for in the heart of Africa who may know
whether a strange host be friend or foe?
Werper, swinging into his saddle, fastened his eyes upon the newcomers,
then, white and trembling he turned toward Abdul Mourak.
“It is Achmet Zek and his raiders,” he whispered. “They are come for
the gold.”
It must have been at about the same instant that Achmet Zek discovered
the pile of yellow ingots and realized the actuality of what he had
already feared since first his eyes had alighted upon the party beside
the ruins of the Englishman’s bungalow. Someone had forestalled
him—another had come for the treasure ahead of him.
The Arab was crazed by rage. Recently everything had gone against him.
He had lost the jewels, the Belgian, and for the second time he had
lost the Englishwoman. Now some one had come to rob him of this
treasure which he had thought as safe from disturbance here as though
it never had been mined.
He cared not whom the thieves might be. They would not give up the gold
without a battle, of that he was certain, and with a wild whoop and a
command to his followers, Achmet Zek put spurs to his horse and dashed
down upon the Abyssinians, and after him, waving their long guns above
their heads, yelling and cursing, came his motley horde of cut-throat
followers.
The men of Abdul Mourak met them with a volley which emptied a few
saddles, and then the raiders were among them, and sword, pistol and
musket, each was doing its most hideous and bloody work.
Achmet Zek, spying Werper at the first charge, bore down upon the
Belgian, and the latter, terrified by contemplation of the fate he
deserved, turned his horse’s head and dashed madly away in an effort to
escape. Shouting to a lieutenant to take command, and urging him upon
pain of death to dispatch the Abyssinians and bring the gold back to
his camp, Achmet Zek set off across the plain in pursuit of the
Belgian, his wicked nature unable to forego the pleasures of revenge,
even at the risk of sacrificing the treasure.
As the pursued and the pursuer raced madly toward the distant forest
the battle behind them raged with bloody savageness. No quarter was
asked or given by either the ferocious Abyssinians or the murderous
cut-throats of Achmet Zek.
From the concealment of the shrubbery Tarzan watched the sanguinary
conflict which so effectually surrounded him that he found no loop-hole
through which he might escape to follow Werper and the Arab chief.
The Abyssinians were formed in a circle which included Tarzan’s
position, and around and into them galloped the yelling raiders, now
darting away, now charging in to deliver thrusts and cuts with their
curved swords.
Numerically the men of Achmet Zek were superior, and slowly but surely
the soldiers of Menelek were being exterminated. To Tarzan the result
was immaterial. He watched with but a single purpose—to escape the ring
of blood-mad fighters and be away after the Belgian and his pouch.
When he had first discovered Werper upon the trail where he had slain
Bara, he had thought that his eyes must be playing him false, so
certain had he been that the thief had been slain and devoured by Numa;
but after following the detachment for two days, with his keen eyes
always upon the Belgian, he no longer doubted the identity of the man,
though he was put to it to explain the identity of the mutilated corpse
he had supposed was the man he sought.
As he crouched in hiding among the unkempt shrubbery which so short a
while since had been the delight and pride of the wife he no longer
recalled, an Arab and an Abyssinian wheeled their mounts close to his
position as they slashed at each other with their swords.
Step by step the Arab beat back his adversary until the latter’s horse
all but trod upon the ape-man, and then a vicious cut clove the black
warrior’s skull, and the corpse toppled backward almost upon Tarzan.
As the Abyssinian tumbled from his saddle the possibility of escape
which was represented by the riderless horse electrified the ape-man to
instant action. Before the frightened beast could gather himself for
flight a naked giant was astride his back. A strong hand had grasped
his bridle rein, and the surprised Arab discovered a new foe in the
saddle of him, whom he had slain.
But this enemy wielded no sword, and his spear and bow remained upon
his back. The Arab, recovered from his first surprise, dashed in with
raised sword to annihilate this presumptuous stranger. He aimed a
mighty blow at the ape-man’s head, a blow which swung harmlessly
through thin air as Tarzan ducked from its path, and then the Arab felt
the other’s horse brushing his leg, a great arm shot out and encircled
his waist, and before he could recover himself he was dragged from his
saddle, and forming a shield for his antagonist was borne at a mad run
straight through the encircling ranks of his fellows.
Just beyond them he was tossed aside upon the ground, and the last he
saw of his strange foeman the latter was galloping off across the plain
in the direction of the forest at its farther edge.
For another hour the battle raged nor did it cease until the last of
the Abyssinians lay dead upon the ground, or had galloped off toward
the north in flight. But a handful of men escaped, among them Abdul
Mourak.
The victorious raiders collected about the pile of golden ingots which
the Abyssinians had uncovered, and there awaited the return of their
leader. Their exultation was slightly tempered by the glimpse they had
had of the strange apparition of the naked white man galloping away
upon the horse of one of their foemen and carrying a companion who was
now among them expatiating upon the superhuman strength of the ape-man.
None of them there but was familiar with the name and fame of Tarzan of
the Apes, and the fact that they had recognized the white giant as the
ferocious enemy of the wrongdoers of the jungle, added to their terror,
for they had been assured that Tarzan was dead.
Naturally superstitious, they fully believed that they had seen the
disembodied spirit of the dead man, and now they cast fearful glances
about them in expectation of the ghost’s early return to the scene of
the ruin they had inflicted upon him during their recent raid upon his
home, and discussed in affrighted whispers the probable nature of the
vengeance which the spirit would inflict upon them should he return to
find them in possession of his gold.
As they conversed their terror grew, while from the concealment of the
reeds along the river below them a small party of naked, black warriors
watched their every move. From the heights beyond the river these black
men had heard the noise of the conflict, and creeping warily down to
the stream had forded it and advanced through the reeds until they were
in a position to watch every move of the combatants.
For a half hour the raiders awaited Achmet Zek’s return, their fear of
the earlier return of the ghost of Tarzan constantly undermining their
loyalty to and fear of their chief. Finally one among them voiced the
desires of all when he announced that he intended riding forth toward
the forest in search of Achmet Zek. Instantly every man of them sprang
to his mount.
“The gold will be safe here,” cried one. “We have killed the
Abyssinians and there are no others to carry it away. Let us ride in
search of Achmet Zek!”
And a moment later, amidst a cloud of dust, the raiders were galloping
madly across the plain, and out from the concealment of the reeds along
the river, crept a party of black warriors toward the spot where the
golden ingots of Opar lay piled on the ground.
Werper had still been in advance of Achmet Zek when he reached the
forest; but the latter, better mounted, was gaining upon him. Riding
with the reckless courage of desperation the Belgian urged his mount to
greater speed even within the narrow confines of the winding, game
trail that the beast was following.
Behind him he could hear the voice of Achmet Zek crying to him to halt;
but Werper only dug the spurs deeper into the bleeding sides of his
panting mount. Two hundred yards within the forest a broken branch lay
across the trail. It was a small thing that a horse might ordinarily
take in his natural stride without noticing its presence; but Werper’s
horse was jaded, his feet were heavy with weariness, and as the branch
caught between his front legs he stumbled, was unable to recover
himself, and went down, sprawling in the trail.
Werper, going over his head, rolled a few yards farther on, scrambled
to his feet and ran back. Seizing the reins he tugged to drag the beast
to his feet; but the animal would not or could not rise, and as the
Belgian cursed and struck at him, Achmet Zek appeared in view.
Instantly the Belgian ceased his efforts with the dying animal at his
feet, and seizing his rifle, dropped behind the horse and fired at the
oncoming Arab.
His bullet, going low, struck Achmet Zek’s horse in the breast,
bringing him down a hundred yards from where Werper lay preparing to
fire a second shot.
The Arab, who had gone down with his mount, was standing astride him,
and seeing the Belgian’s strategic position behind his fallen horse,
lost no time in taking up a similar one behind his own.
And there the two lay, alternately firing at and cursing each other,
while from behind the Arab, Tarzan of the Apes approached to the edge
of the forest. Here he heard the occasional shots of the duelists, and
choosing the safer and swifter avenue of the forest branches to the
uncertain transportation afforded by a half-broken Abyssinian pony,
took to the trees.
Keeping to one side of the trail, the ape-man came presently to a point
where he could look down in comparative safety upon the fighters. First
one and then the other would partially raise himself above his
breastwork of horseflesh, fire his weapon and immediately drop flat
behind his shelter, where he would reload and repeat the act a moment
later.
Werper had but little ammunition, having been hastily armed by Abdul
Mourak from the body of one of the first of the Abyssinians who had
fallen in the fight about the pile of ingots, and now he realized that
soon he would have used his last bullet, and be at the mercy of the
Arab—a mercy with which he was well acquainted.
Facing both death and despoilment of his treasure, the Belgian cast
about for some plan of escape, and the only one that appealed to him as
containing even a remote possibility of success hinged upon the chance
of bribing Achmet Zek.
Werper had fired all but a single cartridge, when, during a lull in the
fighting, he called aloud to his opponent.
“Achmet Zek,” he cried, “Allah alone knows which one of us may leave
our bones to rot where he lies upon this trail today if we keep up our
foolish battle. You wish the contents of the pouch I wear about my
waist, and I wish my life and my liberty even more than I do the
jewels. Let us each, then, take that which he most desires and go our
separate ways in peace. I will lay the pouch upon the carcass of my
horse, where you may see it, and you, in turn, will lay your gun upon
your horse, with butt toward me. Then I will go away, leaving the pouch
to you, and you will let me go in safety. I want only my life, and my
freedom.”
The Arab thought in silence for a moment. Then he spoke. His reply was
influenced by the fact that he had expended his last shot.
“Go your way, then,” he growled, “leaving the pouch in plain sight
behind you. See, I lay my gun thus, with the butt toward you. Go.”
Werper removed the pouch from about his waist. Sorrowfully and
affectionately he let his fingers press the hard outlines of the
contents. Ah, if he could extract a little handful of the precious
stones! But Achmet Zek was standing now, his eagle eyes commanding a
plain view of the Belgian and his every act.
Regretfully Werper laid the pouch, its contents undisturbed, upon the
body of his horse, rose, and taking his rifle with him, backed slowly
down the trail until a turn hid him from the view of the watchful Arab.
Even then Achmet Zek did not advance, fearful as he was of some such
treachery as he himself might have been guilty of under like
circumstances; nor were his suspicions groundless, for the Belgian, no
sooner had he passed out of the range of the Arab’s vision, halted
behind the bole of a tree, where he still commanded an unobstructed
view of his dead horse and the pouch, and raising his rifle covered the
spot where the other’s body must appear when he came forward to seize
the treasure.
But Achmet Zek was no fool to expose himself to the blackened honor of
a thief and a murderer. Taking his long gun with him, he left the
trail, entering the rank and tangled vegetation which walled it, and
crawling slowly forward on hands and knees he paralleled the trail; but
never for an instant was his body exposed to the rifle of the hidden
assassin.
Thus Achmet Zek advanced until he had come opposite the dead horse of
his enemy. The pouch lay there in full view, while a short distance
along the trail, Werper waited in growing impatience and nervousness,
wondering why the Arab did not come to claim his reward.
Presently he saw the muzzle of a rifle appear suddenly and mysteriously
a few inches above the pouch, and before he could realize the cunning
trick that the Arab had played upon him the sight of the weapon was
adroitly hooked into the rawhide thong which formed the carrying strap
of the pouch, and the latter was drawn quickly from his view into the
dense foliage at the trail’s side.
Not for an instant had the raider exposed a square inch of his body,
and Werper dared not fire his one remaining shot unless every chance of
a successful hit was in his favor.
Chuckling to himself, Achmet Zek withdrew a few paces farther into the
jungle, for he was as positive that Werper was waiting nearby for a
chance to pot him as though his eyes had penetrated the jungle trees to
the figure of the hiding Belgian, fingering his rifle behind the bole
of the buttressed giant.
Werper did not dare advance—his cupidity would not permit him to
depart, and so he stood there, his rifle ready in his hands, his eyes
watching the trail before him with catlike intensity.
But there was another who had seen the pouch and recognized it, who did
advance with Achmet Zek, hovering above him, as silent and as sure as
death itself, and as the Arab, finding a little spot less overgrown
with bushes than he had yet encountered, prepared to gloat his eyes
upon the contents of the pouch, Tarzan paused directly above him,
intent upon the same object.
Wetting his thin lips with his tongue, Achmet Zek loosened the tie
strings which closed the mouth of the pouch, and cupping one claw-like
hand poured forth a portion of the contents into his palm.
A single look he took at the stones lying in his hand. His eyes
narrowed, a curse broke from his lips, and he hurled the small objects
upon the ground, disdainfully. Quickly he emptied the balance of the
contents until he had scanned each separate stone, and as he dumped
them all upon the ground and stamped upon them his rage grew until the
muscles of his face worked in demon-like fury, and his fingers clenched
until his nails bit into the flesh.
Above, Tarzan watched in wonderment. He had been curious to discover
what all the pow-wow about his pouch had meant. He wanted to see what
the Arab would do after the other had gone away, leaving the pouch
behind him, and, having satisfied his curiosity, he would then have
pounced upon Achmet Zek and taken the pouch and his pretty pebbles away
from him, for did they not belong to Tarzan?
He saw the Arab now throw aside the empty pouch, and grasping his long
gun by the barrel, clublike, sneak stealthily through the jungle beside
the trail along which Werper had gone.
As the man disappeared from his view, Tarzan dropped to the ground and
commenced gathering up the spilled contents of the pouch, and the
moment that he obtained his first near view of the scattered pebbles he
understood the rage of the Arab, for instead of the glittering and
scintillating gems which had first caught and held the attention of the
ape-man, the pouch now contained but a collection of ordinary river
pebbles.