Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1915-08-07

site side the low range which marked VI
. boundary OF their own country
But before him was the view that cen
: tired his attention. Here lay a desolat
vailey-a shallow. narrow valley dotte
with stunted trees and covered with man
great boulders. And on the far side o
the valley lay what appeared to be
mighty city, its great walls. its iOtt
spires, It's turrets minarets and dome
showing red and yellow In the sunlight
Tafzar wes yet too far away to note th'
marke OF ruin--to him it appeared a won
/ derful city Of magnificent beauty, and II
imagination he peopied It's broad avenues
and tie hugo temples with throng o
happy, active people.
For an hour the little expedition rested
upon the mountantop. and then Tarzar
led them down into the valley below.
There was no trail, but the way was less
arduous than the ascent Of the opposite
face of the mountain had been. Once In
the valley their progress was rapid, so
that II was still light when they halted
before the towering walls OF the ancient
city.
The outer wall was 50 feet in height
where II had not fallen into ruin, but no
| where as far as they could see had more
| than 70 or 20 feet OF the upper courses
fallen away. II was still formidable de-
| fense. On several occasions Tarzan had
| thought that he discerned things moving
| behind the ruined portions OF the wall
| near to them, as though creatures were
watching them from behind the bulwarks
| Of the ancient pile. And often he felt the
sensation of unseen eyes upon him, but
not once could he be sure that Il was more
than Imagination.
That night they camped outside the city.
Once. at midnight, they were awakened
by shrlll scream from beyond the great
wall. II was very high at first descend
ing gradually until II ended in a series of
dismal means. II had strange effect
upon the blacks, almost paralyzlng them
with terror while II lasted, and It was an
hour before the camp settled down TO
sleep once more. In the morning the ef-
fects Of It were still visible in the fearful.
sdelong glances that the WazirI contin-
ually cast at the massive and forbidding
structure which loomed before them.
It required considerable encouragement
and urging on Tarzans part to prevent
the blacks from abandoning the venture
on the spot and Fastening back across
the valley toward the cliffs they had
scaled the day before, But at length. by
dint OF commands. and threats that he
would enter the city alone, they agreed
to accompany him.
For Is minutes they marched along the
face OF the wall before they discovered
a means of ingress. Then they came to
narrow cleft about 20 inches wide. |
Within. fight OF concrete steps. worn
hollow by centuries OF use. rose before |
them. to disappear at a sharp turning !
of the passage few yards ahead
Into this narrow alley Tarzan made his |
way, turning his giant shoulders sideways
that they might enter at all. Behind him
trailed his black warriors. At the turn
in the cleft the stairs end9d. and the
path was level but It wound and twisted
in a serpentine fashion, until suddenly at
q sharp angle II debouched upon a mar
row court, across which loomed an inner
wall equally as high as the outer. This
inner wall was set with little round
towers alternating along It's entire sum-
NIT with pointed monoliths. In places
these had fallen, and the wall was ruined.
but II was in a much better state of
preservation than the outer wall.
Another narrow passage led through
this wall, and at its end Tarzan and his
warriors found themselves in a broad ave-
nue., on the opposite side of which
crumbling edifices of hewn granite
loomed dark and forbldding. Upon the
debris along the face of the
buildings trees had grown, and vines
wound in and out of the hollow, staring
but the building directly OPP
Dosite them seemed less overgrown than
ne otneIbt dnu IN u IluCn Detter state .
" preservation. 1t was a massive pile.
by an enormous dome. At
aither side of its great entrance stood
-nws of tall pillars each capped by a
nuRe grotesque bird carved from the
solid rock of the monollths.
= AS the ape-man and his companions
'tood gazing in varying degrees OF wor . {
ierment at this ancient city in the midst
& savage Africa, several OF them became
nf ,
It which they were looking. Dim, {
hadowy shapes appeared to be moving {
bout in the semidarlSness of the interior {
There was nothing tangible that the eve E
ould grasp-only an uncanny suggestion '
4 life wnere 1t seemed that there should I
ie no life. for living things seemed out q
" place IN this weird. dead city of the
ong-dead past J
Tarzan recalled something that he had |
cad in the library at Paris of lost race =,
4 white men that native legend described
IS living in the heart of Africa He
II he were not looking upon
he ruins of the civilization that this
trange people had wrought amid the :
avage surroundings OF their strange and :
avage home. Could It be possible that |,
ven now a remnant OF that lost race in :
abited the ruined grandeur that had 4
nee been their progenitors? Again he y
ecame conscious of a stealthy movement a
yithin the great temple before him
Come" lie said TO his Waziri. "I.et &
s have look at what lies behind those h
uined walls" b
His men were loath to follow him, but h
'hen they saw that he was bravely en- A
sring the frownlng portal they trailed a Il
ew PAGES behind In huddled group that Ii
eemed the personihcation of nervous ter d
or. single Shrek such as they had ci
card the night before would have been a
lthcient to have sent them all racing h
iadly for the narrow cleft that led Il
trough the great walls to the outer n
orld.
As Tarzan entered tine building he was N
stinctly aware of many eyes upon him ol