Part 7 (2/2)
Having bathed, the Belgian tied a small hand mirror to a cord sewn to the rear wall of his tent, placed a rude chair beside an equally rude table that stood beside the glass, and proceeded to re of masculine pleasures there is scarce one which ireater comfort and refreshment than follows a clean shave, and noeariness temporarily banished, Albert Werper sprawled in his rickety chair to enjoy a final cigaret before retiring His thuht of his arms, touched the belt which held the jewel pouch about his waist He tingled with excitement as he let his mind dwell upon the value of the treasure, which, unknown to all save hi
What would Achrinned How the old rascal's eyes would pop could he but have a gli beauties! Werper had never yet had an opportunity to feast his eyes for any great length of tihly had he guessed at their value
He unfastened the belt and drew the pouch fro place He was alone The balance of the caian's tent He fingered the pouch, feeling out the shapes and sizes of the precious, little nodules within He hefted the bag, first in one palm, then in the other, and at last he wheeled his chair slowly around before the table, and in the rays of his sh wood
The refulgent rays transformed the interior of the soiled and squalid canvas to the splendor of a palace in the eyes of the dreailded halls of pleasure that would open their portals to the possessor of the wealth which lay scattered upon this stained and dented table top He dreamed of joys and luxuries and pohich always had been beyond his grasp, and as he dreaaze of a dreaoal above the , his eyes rested upon the shavingupon the tent wall above the table; but his sight was focused far beyond And then a reflection lass, the man's eyes shot back out of space to the e of Achmet Zek, framed in the flaps of the tent doorway behind hiasp of disaze drop, without appearing to have halted upon the ems Without haste, he replaced them in the pouch, tucked the latter into his shi+rt, selected a cigaret fro his arms above his head, he turned slowly toward the opposite end of the tent The face of Ach
To say that Albert Werper was terrified would be putting it mildly He realized that he not only had sacrificed his treasure; but his life as well Achmet Zek would never perers, nor would he forgive the duplicity of a lieutenant who had gained possession of such a treasure without offering to share it with his chief
Slowly the Belgian prepared for bed If he were being watched, he could not know; but if so the watcher saw no indication of the nervous excitement which the European strove to conceal When ready for his blankets, the ht
It o hours later that the flaps at the front of the tent separated silently and gave entrance to a dark-robed figure, which passed noiselessly from the darkness without to the darkness within Cautiously the prowler crossed the interior In one hand was a long knife He cas close to one of the tent walls
Lightly, his fingers sought and found the bulk beneath the blankets-the bulk that should be Albert Werper They traced out the figure of a man, and then an arain and again it rose and fell, and each ti beneath the blankets But there was an initial lifelessness in the silent bulk that gave the assassin momentary wonder Feverishly he threw back the coverlets, and searched with nervous hands for the pouch of jehich he expected to find concealed upon his victim's body
An instant later he rose with a curse upon his lips It was Achmet Zek, and he cursed because he had discovered beneath the blankets of his lieutenant only a pile of discarded clothing arranged in the for e ran the chief, calling in angry tones to the sleepy Arabs, who tuh they searched the village again and again they found no trace of the Belgian Foaer, Achht was pitchy black they set out to scour the adjoining forest for their quarry
As they galloped fro in a nearby bush, slipped, unseen, within the palisade A score of blacks crowded about the entrance to watch the searchers depart, and as the last of thee the blacks seized the portals and drew theh the best of his life had been spent a the raiders
In the darkness he passed, unchallenged, as one of their nuates to their respective tents and huts, Mugambi melted into the shadows and disappeared
For an hour he crept about in the rear of the various huts and tents in an effort to locate that in which his master's mate was imprisoned One there hich he was reasonably assured contained her, for it was the only hut before the door of which a sentry had been posted Muga in the shadow of this structure, just around the corner frouard, when another approached to relieve his comrade
”The prisoner is safe within?” asked the newcomer
”She is,” replied the other, ”for none has passed this doorway since I came”
The new sentry squatted beside the door, while he whoa In one powerful hand he gripped a heavy knob-stick No sign of elation disturbed his phlegmatic calm, yet inwardly he was aroused to joy by the proof he had just heard that ”Lady” really ithin
The sentry's back was toward the corner of the hut which hid the giant black The fellow did not see the huge for upward in a curve, and doard again There was the sound of a dull thud, the crushi+ng of heavy bone, and the sentry slumped into a silent, inani the interior of the hut At first slowly, calling, ”Lady!” in a lohisper, and finally with almost frantic haste, until the truth presently dawned upon hiain
For aape-man, his murderous knife poised for the fatal thrust; but fear stayed his hand What if the first blow should fail to drive the point to his victim's heart? Werper shuddered in contemplation of the disastrous consequences to hi, the giant could literally tear his assailant to pieces should he choose, and the Belgian had no doubt but that Tarzan would so choose
Again came the soft sound of padded footsteps in the reeds-closer this tin Before him stretched the wide plain and escape The jeere in his possession To reer was to risk death at the hands of Tarzan, or the jaws of the hunter creeping ever nearer Turning, he slunk away through the night, toward the distant forest
Tarzan slept on Where were those uncanny, guardian powers that had forers of surprise? Could this dull sleeper be the alert, sensitive Tarzan of old?