Part 1 (1/2)

Tarzan and the Jewels of Opar

by Edgar Rice Burroughs

1

Belgian and Arab

Lieutenant Albert Werper had only the prestige of the na cashi+ered At first he had been humbly thankful, too, that they had sent hi him, as he had so justly deserved; but now six htful isolation and the loneliness had wrought a change The young man brooded continually over his fate His days were filled with endered in his weak and vacillating mind a hatred for those who had sent him here-for the veryhiay life of Brussels as he never had regretted the sins which had snatched hiayest of capitals, and as the days passed he cao land of the authority which had exiled him-his captain and immediate superior

This officer was a cold, taciturnlittle love in those directly beneath him, yet respected and feared by the black soldiers of his little co at his superior as the two sat upon the veranda of their coarets in a silence which neither see The senseless hatred of the lieutenant grew at last into a form of mania The captain's natural taciturnity he distorted into a studied atteined that his superior held him in conte his ered the butt of the revolver at his hip, his eyes narrowed and his brows contracted At last he spoke

”You have insultedto his feet ”I aentleer without an accounting fro”

The captain, an expression of surprise upon his features, turned toward his junior He had seen le madness upon the, and perhaps a touch of fever

He rose and extended his hand to lay it upon the other's shoulder Quiet words of counsel were upon his lips; but they were never spoken Werper construed his superior's action into an attempt to close with him His revolver was on a level with the captain's heart, and the latter had taken but a step when Werper pulled the trigger Without aof the veranda, and as he fell the mists that had clouded Werper's brain lifted, so that he saw hiht that those who e him would see them

He heard excited exclamations fro in his direction They would seize him, and if they didn't kill hio to a point where a properly ordered h in a ular manner

Werper had no desire to die Never before had he so yearned for life as in this ht to live The lanced about as though searching for the tangible foritimate excuse for his crime; but he could find only the body of the man he had so causelessly shot down

In despair, he turned and fled fro soldiery Across the cohtly in his hand At the gates a sentry halted him Werper did not pause to parley or to exert the influence of his commission-he merely raised his weapon and shot down the innocent black A ates and vanished into the blackness of the jungle, but not before he had transferred the rifle and ammunition belts of the dead sentry to his own person

All that night Werper fled farther and farther into the heart of the wilderness Now and again the voice of a lion brought hi halt; but with cocked and ready rifle he pushed ahead again, more fearful of the human huntsmen in his rear than of the wild carnivora ahead

Dawn caer and fatigue were lost in the terrors of contemplated capture He could think only of escape He dared not pause to rest or eat until there was no further danger froered on until at last he fell and could rise nohe had fled he did not know, or try to know When he could flee no longer the knowledge that he had reached his limit was hidden from him in the unconsciousness of utter exhaustion

And thus it was that Achmet Zek, the Arab, found hih the body of their hereditary enemy; but Achian It were easier to question a man first and kill him afterward, than kill him first and then question him

So he had Lieutenant Albert Werper carried to his own tent, and there slaves administered wine and food in sained consciousness As he opened his eyes he saw the faces of strange black ure of an Arab Nowhere was the unifor the open eyes of the prisoner upon him, entered the tent

”I am Ach in my country? Where are your soldiers?”

Achmet Zek! Werper's eyes ide, and his heart sank He was in the clutches of the most notorious of cut-throats-a hater of all Europeans, especially those ore the uniforo had waged a fruitless war upon this man and his followers-a war in which quarter had never been asked nor expected by either side

But presently in the very hatred of the ians, Werper saw a faint ray of hope for himself He, too, was an outcast and an outlaw So far, at least, they possessed a common interest, and Werper decided to play upon it for all that it ht yield

”I have heard of you,” he replied, ”and was searching for you My people have turned againstfor me, to kill me I knew that you would protect me from them, for you, too, hate them In return I will take service with you I aht, and your enemies are my enemies”