dared not or cared not to explore.

Tiring at last of this diversion, Tarzan took up his way along the
corridor which led upward from the jewel-room by a steep incline.
Winding and twisting, but always tending upward, the tunnel led him
nearer and nearer to the surface, ending finally in a low-ceiled
room, lighter than any that he had as yet discovered.

Above him an opening in the ceiling at the upper end of a flight
of concrete steps revealed a brilliant sunlit scene. Tarzan viewed
the vine-covered columns in mild wonderment. He puckered his brows
in an attempt to recall some recollection of similar things. He
was not sure of himself. There was a tantalizing suggestion always
present in his mind that something was eluding him--that he should
know many things which he did not know.

His earnest cogitation was rudely interrupted by a thunderous roar
from the opening above him. Following the roar came the cries and
screams of men and women. Tarzan grasped his spear more firmly
and ascended the steps. A strange sight met his eyes as he emerged
from the semi-darkness of the cellar to the brilliant light of the
temple.

The creatures he saw before him he recognized for what they were--men
and women, and a huge lion. The men and women were scuttling for
the safety of the exits. The lion stood upon the body of one who
had been less fortunate than the others. He was in the center of
the temple. Directly before Tarzan, a woman stood beside a block
of stone. Upon the top of the stone lay stretched a man, and as
the ape-man watched the scene, he saw the lion glare terribly at