Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1915-06-04
CHAPTER XVIII.
THE JUNGLE TOLL.

THE JUNGLE TOLL.
Early the following morning Tarzan
aWoke, and the first thought OF the new
uay, as the last Of yesterday, was of
the wonderful writing which Law hidden
In his CULVER.
Hurrledly he brought II forth. hoping
AGAINST hope that he could read what the
Ueautliul white girl had written there
the preceding evening
AT the first glance he sueered tho bIt.
terest disappointment Of his whole life
never before had he so yearned for any
thlng as now he did for the ability to
interpret a message from that golden.
nalIed divinity who had cume SO sud
denly and SO Unexpectedly into his life.
Nnat II the message were not intended
ior him' 1t was an expression OF her
snouBhts' and that was all sufficient for
Tarzan Of the Apes.
And now to be baffled by strange, I'M
South characters the like of which he
nad never seen beforel Why. they even
tipped In the opposite direction from all
Ihat he had ever examined either I'm
printed books or the difficult script Of
the tew letters he had found.
even the little bugs Of the black book
were FAMILIAR friends. though their ar
Iangement meant nothing to him; but
these bugs were new and unheard of.
OF ~ minutes he pored over them.
When suddenly they commenced to take
FAMILIAR though distorted shapes An.
they We're his old friends, but badly
eriDDled. '''
Then he began TO make out n word
mere and a word there His heart LEANED
Ior JOY He could read it, and he would.
IN another half hour he was progress-
ing rapidly. and, but for an exceptionaI
Motu now and again, he found IT very
plain sailing
Here Is what he read:
West Coast of Africa.
ABOUT 10 Degrees South Latitude.
$50 Mr.. Clayton says)
Dearest Hazel;
Az, t seems foolish to write you letter
that you may never see. but I sIrnni,,
must tell somebody of our awful exne-
riences since we sailed from Europe on
the Inflated Arrow.
II we never return to civilization az
now seems only too likely, this will ot
least prove a brief record OF the events
Whlch led up to our final fate, whatever
1t may be- to'e'
AS you know, we were supposed 10
SET out upon scientific expedition
W .ue congo Papa was presumed to en-
SSiiiS "OluTOuS tnCOry of
thinkably ancient civilization. the ro-
mains of which lay buried somewhere IN
the Congo valley, But after we were
wei under sail the truth came out.
II seems that an old booKworm who
mas Dook and curio shop in Baltimore
discovered between the leaves of n very
oid spanish manuscript n letter written
y. IooV detailing the adventures of a. crew
Oh mutlneers of Spanish galleon bound
from 10
vast treasure of "doubloons" and pieces
ofSeight," 1 suppose, for thev certainiv
sound weird and plraty.
Inc writer had been one of the cray,,
and the letter was to his son. who was
at the very time the letter was written
master of Spanish merchantmen.
Many years had elapsed since the
events the letter narrated had transpired
ana the old man had become a respected
eltizen OF an obscure Spanish town. but
tle loVe OF gold was still so strong
t,i" SpoH MN that he risked all to acqualnt
MS son with the means of attaining
taDuIous wealth for them both.
Inc writer told how when but a week
out from Spain the crew had mutinied
and murdered every officer and man who
opposed them; but they defeated their
own ends by this very act, for there was |
none left competent to navigate a ship |
at sea.
They We're blown hither and thither for
TWO months until, sick and diving of |
scurVy' starvation and thirst. they had |
been wrecked on a small islet.
The galleon was washed high upon tba |
beach where she went to pieces; but NOT |
before the survivors, who numbered but |
ten souls, had rescued one of the great |
chests of treasure.
rms they buried well up on the island.
and FOR three years they lived there in
constant hope of being rescued
One by one they sickened and died.
until only one man was left the writer
of the letter
The men had built boat from the
wreckage of the galleon, but having no
Idea where the island was located thev
had not dared to put TO sea-
When all were dead except himself
however, the awful loneliness so weighed
upon the mind OF the sole survivor that
he could endure 1t no longer, and, choos-
Ing to risk death upon the open sea
rather than madness on the lonely isle.
he set sail in his little boat after nearly
a year OF solitude.
Fortunately he sailed due north. AMI
within a week was In the track OF the
Spanish merchantmen plying between the
West Indies and Spain, and was picked
lp by one of these vessels homeward
bound.
The story he told was merely one OF
In which all but a few had
'erlshed, the rest, except himself, dying
after they reached the island. He
lid not mention the mutiny or the chest
II buried treasure.
The master of the merchantman as
iured him that from the position at which
hey had picked him up, and the prevail
ng winds for the past week he could
nave been on no other island than one
II the Cape Verde group, which lie on
he West Coast Of Africa in about IS de-
srees or II degrees north latitude.
His letter described the island mInutely.
ls well as the location Of the treasure.