The Theft of the Jewels




For two days Werper sought for the party that had accompanied him
from the camp to the barrier cliffs; but not until late in the
afternoon of the second day did he find clew to its whereabouts,
and then in such gruesome form that he was totally unnerved by the
sight.

In an open glade he came upon the bodies of three of the blacks,
terribly mutilated, nor did it require considerable deductive power
to explain their murder. Of the little party only these three had
not been slaves. The others, evidently tempted to hope for freedom
from their cruel Arab master, had taken advantage of their separation
from the main camp, to slay the three representatives of the hated
power which held them in slavery, and vanish into the jungle.

Cold sweat exuded from Werper's forehead as he contemplated the fate
which chance had permitted him to escape, for had he been present
when the conspiracy bore fruit, he, too, must have been of the
garnered.

Tarzan showed not the slightest surprise or interest in the discovery.
Inherent in him was a calloused familiarity with violent death.
The refinements of his recent civilization expunged by the force
of the sad calamity which had befallen him, left only the primitive
sensibilities which his childhood's training had imprinted indelibly