The foot of a stairway ended the passage. Up this he made his
way. It turned back and forth many times, leading, at last, into
a small, circular chamber, the gloom of which was relieved by
a faint light which found ingress through a tubular shaft several
feet in diameter which rose from the center of the room's ceiling,
upward to a distance of a hundred feet or more, where it terminated
in a stone grating through which Tarzan could see a blue and sun-lit
sky.

Curiosity prompted the ape-man to investigate his surroundings.
Several metal-bound, copper-studded chests constituted the sole
furniture of the round room. Tarzan let his hands run over these.
He felt of the copper studs, he pulled upon the hinges, and at
last, by chance, he raised the cover of one.

An exclamation of delight broke from his lips at sight of the
pretty contents. Gleaming and glistening in the subdued light of
the chamber, lay a great tray full of brilliant stones. Tarzan,
reverted to the primitive by his accident, had no conception of the
fabulous value of his find. To him they were but pretty pebbles.
He plunged his hands into them and let the priceless gems filter
through his fingers. He went to others of the chests, only to find
still further stores of precious stones. Nearly all were cut, and
from these he gathered a handful and filled the pouch which dangled
at his side--the uncut stones he tossed back into the chests.

Unwittingly, the ape-man had stumbled upon the forgotten jewel-room
of Opar. For ages it had lain buried beneath the temple of the
Flaming God, midway of one of the many inky passages which the
superstitious descendants of the ancient Sun Worshipers had either