Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1915-08-11

yes" he answered. with bowed hea
his face mantllng with the flush OF sham
And u was the next day that u
great calamity befell
CHA PIER XXI
THE TREASURE VAULTS OF oPAR
TT WAS quite dark before La, the his
i priestess. returned to the Chamber o
the Dead with food and drink for Tarzar
She bore no Hight. feeling with her hand
along the orumbling walls until she gain
cd the chamber Through the ston
grating above. a tropIc moon served diml!
70 illuminate the interior
Tarzan, crouching in the shadows at tn,
far side Of the room as the flrst sound o.
approaching footsteps reached him, cam,
forth to meet the girl as he recognized
It was she
They are furious" were her first
words. Never before has a human sac
rihce escaped the altar. Already hfty
havo gone forth to track you down.
They have searched the temple-all save
this single room"
why do they fear to come here7" he
asked.
1T is the Chamber OF the Dead. Here
the dead return 10 worship See this
ancient altar? IL is here that the dead
sacriiice the llvlng-if they find victim
here. That is the reason our people
Bhun this chamber. Were one to enter
ne knows that the waiting dead would
seize him for their sacrifice"
But your he asked
am high prestess-G alone am safe
from the dead. 1t ls l who at rare
intervals bring them a human sacrifice
from the world above. I alone may
enter here in safety"
Why have they not seized me?" he
asked humoring her grotesque belief.
She looked at him quizzically for a mo-
ment. Then she replied:
ut is the duty Of the high prlestess IN
Instruct, to nterpret-according to the
creed that others, wiser than herself,
nave laid down: but there is nothing In
th9 creed which says that she must be-
neVe. The more one knows OF ones re-
igion the less one belleves-on one living
knows moro of mine than L."
Then your only fear In aiding me to
escape is that your fellow mortala mnv
discover your duplicity?"
That Is all-the dend are dead. tbev
cannot harmon help. We must there
-ore depend entirely upon ourselves. ana
ne sooner we act the better A. will ha
had difficulty In eludng their vigilance
'ut now In bringing you this inorseI of
ood' TO attempt to repeat the thing
laily would be the height of folly. Come
us see now we may go toward liberty
'efore 1 must return"
one Ied him back to the chamber be- |
,va'h the altar room. Here she turned |
~ ~eo one OF the several corridors leading |
rom IL. In the darkness Tarzan could !,
lot see which one. For ten minutes thev |
roped slowly along a winding passare
htil at length they came to a closed door
iere ne heard her fumbling with n kew
hu presently came the sound of n metal
OFT grating against metal. The door
Wung In on the scraplng hinges and they
ntered. A ''iey
You will be safe here until tomorrow
light, she said ~"
Ihen she went out, and closing the door.
'cked II behind her.
Where Tarzan stood II was az d,rb
' lepus' NOT even his trained eyes could
enetrate the utter blackness. CautIousiv
moved forward until his outstreched
amos touched a wall, then yerv slowIv
travelled around the four walls of the
1amber. u 'ho
Apparently it was about twenty fee,
luare. The floor was of concrete. Inc
ais OF dry masonry that marked the
ethod of construction above ground
nan pieces of granite of various sizes ,
ere ingeniously laid together without
ortar TO construct these ancient founda-
ons. ''''- :
The first time around the wallis Tarzan
ought he detected strange pbenomal .
IN for room with no windows and b,,t
single door. Again he crept carefully
ound close to the wall No. he couId
Il be mistakenl He paused before tbe Il
ntre of the wall opposite the door. For '
moment he stood quite motionless. then l
moved few feet to one side. Again c
returned, only to move a few feet to =
g other side. \
)nce more he made the entire circuit NJ =
room, feeling carefully every foot os
walls. Finally he stopped again be-
% the particular section that had
oused his curiosity. There was mo :,
lbt of II! A distinct draft of fresh air n
IS blowing into the chamber through
interstices OF the masonry at that
rtcular point-and nowhere else =.
arzan tested several pieces of the b
inite wnieh made up the wall at this T
IT. and finally was rewarded by finding :,
which lifted out readily. 1t was about n
inches Wide. with face some three y
six Inches showing within the chamber :,
e by one the ape-man lifted out sim U
ny shaped stones. The wall at this
mt was constructed entirely, Il seemed, =,
these perfect slabs. In a short time he '
removed some dozen. when he
ehed in TO test the masonry To his
prise he felt nothing behind the ma =
ny he had removed as far as his long I
a could reach.
was matter OF but few minutes
remove enough OF the wall to permit
body TO pass through the aperture. W
ectly ahead of him he thought he dis N
ned a faint glow-scareely more than a tc
impenetrable darkness. Cautiously In
moved forward on hands and knees, ID
Il al about fifteen feet, or the average "
'kness OF the foundation walls, the II
r ended abruptly in a sudden drop. hi
far out as he could reach he felt moth is
nor could he ind the bottom OF the M
TX abyss that yawned before him, X,
lgh. elinging TO the edge OF the floor,
lowered his body into the darkness to al
full length. a,
CONTINUED ToMoRRoW) st