Part 2 (2/2)

5

The Altar of the Fla God

It was at the moment that Tarzan turned from the closed door to pursue his way to the outer world The thing ca One instant all was quiet and stability-the next, and the world rocked, the tortured sides of the narrow passageway split and cru, tu it, and the walls bent inward upon the wreckage Beneath the blow of a fragainst the door to the treasure rooht pushed it open and his body rolled inward upon the floor

In the great apartht by the earthquake A few ingots toppled fro splintered off and crashed doard to the floor, and the walls cracked, though they did not collapse

There was but the single shock, no other followed to coe undertaken by the first Werper, thrown to his length by the suddenness and violence of the disturbance, staggered to his feet when he found hi his way toward the far end of the chaht the candle which Tarzan had left stuck in its oax upon the protruding end of an ingot

By striking nuht, and when, a ian darkness about hih of relief, for the iloom had accentuated the terrors of his situation

As they becaht the ht noas of escape frohtful to stretched upon the floor just within the doorway Werper drew back in sudden fear of detection; but a second glance convinced hiash in the man's head a pool of blood had collected upon the concrete floor

Quickly, the Belgian leaped over the prostrate forht of succor for the ht he knew, life still reeway and safety

But his renewed hopes were soon dashed Just beyond the doorway he found the passage coed and choked by impenetrable masses of shattered rock Oncethe candle from its place he coone far before he discovered another door in the opposite end of the rooht of his body Beyond the door lay another narrow passageway Along this Werper ht of stone steps to another corridor twenty feet above the level of the first The flickering candle lighted the way before him, and a moment later he was thankful for the possession of this crude and antiquated luht have looked upon with conte pit, apparently ter

Before him was a circular shaft He held the candle above it and peered doard Below hiht reflected back from the surface of a pool of water He had come upon a well He raised the candle above his head and peered across the black void, and there upon the opposite side he saw the continuation of the tunnel; but hoas he to span the gulf?

As he stood thereif he dared venture so great a leap, there broke suddenly upon his startled ears a piercing screaradually until it ended in a series of dismal moans The voice seeht well have e in the fires of hell

The Belgian shuddered and looked fearfully upward, for the scream had see far overhead, and a patch of sky pinked with brilliant stars

His half-for cry-where such a voice lived, no human creatures could dwell He dared not reveal himself to whatever inhabitants dwelt in the place above him He cursed himself for a fool that he had ever embarked upon such a mission He wished himself safely back in the camp of Achive hio if by so doing he htful predicament in which he noas

He listened fearfully, but the cry was not repeated, and at last spurred to desperate athered hi back twenty paces, he took a running start, and at the edge of the well, leaped upward and outward in an atteain the opposite side

In his hand he clutched the sputtering candle, and as he took the leap the rush of air extinguished it In utter darkness he flew through space, clutching outward for a hold should his feet e of the door of the opposite terminus of the rocky tunnel with his knees, slipped backward, clutched desperately for ahalf within and half without the opening; but he was safe For several , where he lay At last, cautiously, he drew hith upon the floor, fighting to regain control of his shattered nerves

When his knees struck the edge of the tunnel he had dropped the candle Presently, hoping against hope that it had fallen upon the floor of the passageway, rather than back into the depths of the well, he rose upon all fours and coent search for the little tallow cylinder, which now seemed infinitely more precious to hiots of Opar

And when, at last, he found it, he clasped it to hi and exhausted Forand broken; but finally he drew hi a hted the stuht he found it easier to regain control of his nerves, and presently he was againthe tunnel in search of an avenue of escape The horrid cry that had coh the ancient well-shaft still haunted him, so that he trembled in terror at even the sounds of his own cautious advance

He had gone forward but a short distance, when, to his chagrin, a wall ofthe tunnel completely from top to bottom and from side to side What could it ent ht him to use his mind for the purpose for which it was intended A blind tunnel such as this was senseless It must continue beyond the wall Someone, at some time in the past, had had it blocked for an unknown purpose of his own The ht of his candle To his delight he discovered that the thin blocks of hewn stone of which it was constructed were fitted in loosely without ed upon one of them, and to his joy found that it was easily removable One after another he pulled out the blocks until he had opened an aperture large enough to ade, low chamber Across this another door barred his way; but this, too, gave before his efforts, for it was not barred A long, dark corridor showed before him, but before he had followed it far, his candle burned down until it scorched his fingers With an oath he dropped it to the floor, where it sputtered for a moain terror rode heavily astride his neck What further pitfalls and dangers lay ahead he could not guess; but that he was as far as ever fro is utter absence of light to one in unfa, feeling with his hands upon the tunnel's walls, and cautiously with his feet ahead of hile forward step How long he crept on thus he could not guess; but at last, feeling that the tunnel's length was interminable, and exhausted by his efforts, by terror, and loss of sleep, he deter farther

When he awoke there was no change in the surrounding blackness He ht have slept a second or a day-he could not know; but that he had slept for some tiry

Again he coone but a short distance when he e in the ceiling, froht of concrete steps led doard to the floor of the chamber