The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1914-05-08
1conttnuada
copyrisht. 1918.

H11S now sue cO1LlQu0Q-
 Nothing he replied, tbut you can do something with me-you can lead me out of this place to freedom" He made the suggestion without the slight est thought that she would accede He felt quite sure that the sacrifice would go on from the point where it had been interrupted if the high priestess had her way. though he was equally posi- tive that they would find Tarzan of the Apes. unbound and with a long dagger in his hand much less tractabIe vic tim than Tarzan disarmed and bound
 The girl stood looking at him for long moment before she spoke. < ''You are a yeryf wonderful man. she said. NYou are such man as have seen in my day dreams ever since was little girl. You are such a man as imagine the forbears of my people must have been-the great race of people who built this mighty city in the heart of q savage world that they might wrest from the bowels of the earth the fabulous wealth for which they had sacrificed their far distant civilization
 T cannot understand why you came to my rescue in tue first place, and now I cannot understand wky, having me within your power, you do not wish to be revenged upon me for having sentenced you to death-for having al- most put you to death with my own hand 7
 q presume, " replied the man, s-that you but followed the teachings of your religion. cannot blame you for that. no matter what may think of your creed But who are you-what people have fallen amougT'
 T am La, high priestess of the Tem pie of the Sun, in the city of Opar We are descendants of a people who came to this savage world more than 1O,- 900 years ago fu search of gold. Their cities stretched from great sea under the rising sun to a great sea into which the sun descends at night to cool his flaming brow. They were very rich and very powerful, but they lived only 3 few months of the year in their mag niflcent palaces here, the rest of the time they spent in their native land, far, far to the north
 Many ships went back and forth be- tween this new world and the old During the rainy season fhere were but few of the inhabitants who remained here, only those who superIntended the working of the mines by the black slaves and the merchants who had to stay to supply their wants and the sol diers who guarded the cities and the mines.
 It was at one of these times that the great calamity occurred. When the time came for the teemfng thousands to return none came For weeks the people waited Then they sent out a great galley to learn why no one came from the mother country, but though they sailed about for many months they were unable to find any trace of the mighty land that had for countless nges borne their ancient civiiization-- il had sunk into the sea. Y
 From that day dated the downfall of my people Disheartened and u1a- happy, tfaey soon became a prey to the black hordes of the north and the black hordes of the south One by one the cities were deserted or overcome. The last remnant was finally forced to take shelter within this mighty mountain fortress. Slowly we have dwindled in power, ia civilization, in intellect. in numbers, untn now we are no more than small tribe of savage apes.
 Tn fact. the apes live with us, and have for many ages We call them the
  quite as much ms we do our own; only in the rituals of the temple do we make any attempt to retain our mother tongue. Tn time it will be forgotten. and we will speak only the language of the apes; in time we will no longer banish those of our people who mate with apes, and so in hne we shall de- scend to the very beasts from which ages ago our progenitors may have sprung"
 ssBut why are you more human than the others ?n asked the man.
 3sFor some reason the women have not reverted to savagery so rapidly as the men It may be because only the lower types of men remained here at the lime of the great catastrophe, while the temples were filled with the mo- bIest daughters of the race. My strain has remained clearer than the rest be- cause for countless ages my forenoth- CTS were high priestesses. The sacred office descends from mother to daugh- ter. Our husbands are chosen for us from the noblest in the land. The most perfect man mentally and phys ically is selected to be the husband of the high priestess.'
 From what I saw of the gentlemen above" said Tarzan, with a grin, .ethere should be little trouble in choos- ing from among them"
 The girl looked at him quizzically for moment
 sDo not be sacrilegions," she said. ssThey are very holy men. They are priests
 'sThen there are others who are bet ter to look upon?'' he asked '.The others are all more ugly than the priests she replied
 Tarzan shuddered at her fate, for even in the dim light of the vault he 1 was impressed by her beauty. "But how about myself?'' he asked l suddenly. Are you going to lead me | to Hberty?n
 | .sYou have been chosen by the fam