The Deadly Peril of Jane Clayton
Lieutenant Albert Werper, terrified by contemplation of the fate which might await him at Adis Abeba, cast about for some scheme of escape, but after the black Mugambi had eluded their vigilance the Abyssinians redoubled their precautions to prevent Werper following the lead of the Negro.
For some time Werper entertained the idea of bribing Abdul Mourak with a portion of the contents of the pouch; but fearing that the man would demand all the gems as the price of liberty, the Belgian, influenced by avarice, sought another avenue from his dilemma.
It was then that there dawned upon him the possibility of the success of a different course which would still leave him in possession of the jewels, while at the same time satisfying the greed of the Abyssinian with the conviction that he had obtained all that Werper had to offer.
And so it was that a day or so after Mugambi had disappeared, Werper asked for an audience with Abdul Mourak.As the Belgian entered the presence of his captor the scowl upon the features of the latter boded ill for any hope which Werper might entertain, still he fortified himself by recalling the common weakness of mankind, which permits the most inflexible of natures to bend to the consuming desire for wealth.
Abdul Mourak eyed him, frowningly."What do you want now?" he asked.
"My liberty," replied Werper.
The Abyssinian sneered."And you disturbed me thus to tell me what any fool might know," he said.
"I can pay for it," said Werper.
Abdul Mourak laughed loudly."Pay for it?" he cried.
"What with--the rags that you have upon your back?
Or, perhaps you are concealing beneath your coat a thousand pounds of ivory.Get out! You are a fool.Do not bother me again or I shall have you whipped."
But Werper persisted.His liberty and perhaps his life depended upon his success.
"Listen to me," he pleaded."If I can give you as much gold as ten men may carry will you promise that I shall be conducted in safety to the nearest English commissioner?"
"As much gold as ten men may carry!" repeated Abdul Mourak."You are crazy.Where have you so much gold as that?"
"I know where it is hid," said Werper."Promise, and I will lead you to it--if ten loads is enough?"
Abdul Mourak had ceased to laugh.He was eyeing the Belgian intently.The fellow seemed sane enough--yet ten loads of gold! It was preposterous.The Abyssinian thought in silence for a moment.
"Well, and if I promise," he said."How far is this gold?"
"A long week's march to the south," replied Werper.
"And if we do not find it where you say it is, do you realize what your punishment will be?"
"If it is not there I will forfeit my life," replied the Belgian."I know it is there, for I saw it buried with my own eyes.And more--there are not only ten loads, but as many as fifty men may carry.It is all yours if you will promise to see me safely delivered into the protection of the English."
"You will stake your life against the finding of the gold?" asked Abdul.
Werper assented with a nod.
"Very well," said the Abyssinian, "I promise, and even if there be but five loads you shall have your freedom;
but until the gold is in my possession you remain a prisoner."
"I am satisfied," said Werper."Tomorrow we start?"
Abdul Mourak nodded, and the Belgian returned to his guards.The following day the Abyssinian soldiers were surprised to receive an order which turned their faces from the northeast to the south.And so it happened that upon the very night that Tarzan and the two apes entered the village of the raiders, the Abyssinians camped but a few miles to the east of the same spot.
While Werper dreamed of freedom and the unmolested enjoyment of the fortune in his stolen pouch, and Abdul Mourak lay awake in greedy contemplation of the fifty loads of gold which lay but a few days farther to the south of him, Achmet Zek gave orders to his lieutenants that they should prepare a force of fighting men and carriers to proceed to the ruins of the Englishman's DOUAR on the morrow and bring back the fabulous fortune which his renegade lieutenant had told him was buried there.
And as he delivered his instructions to those within, a silent listener crouched without his tent, waiting for the time when he might enter in safety and prosecute his search for the missing pouch and the pretty pebbles that had caught his fancy.
At last the swarthy companions of Achmet Zek quitted his tent, and the leader went with them to smoke a pipe with one of their number, leaving his own silken habitation unguarded.Scarcely had they left the interior when a knife blade was thrust through the fabric of the rear wall, some six feet above the ground, and a swift downward stroke opened an entrance to those who waited beyond.
Through the opening stepped the ape-man, and close behind him came the huge Chulk; but Taglat did not follow them.Instead he turned and slunk through the darkness toward the hut where the she who had arrested his brutish interest lay securely bound.Before the doorway the sentries sat upon their haunches, conversing in monotones.Within, the young woman lay upon a filthy sleeping mat, resigned, through utter hopelessness to whatever fate lay in store for her until the opportunity arrived which would permit her to free herself by the only means which now seemed even remotely possible--the hitherto detested act of self-destruction.
Creeping silently toward the sentries, a white-burnoosed figure approached the shadows at one end of the hut.
The meager intellect of the creature denied it the advantage it might have taken of its disguise.
Where it could have walked boldly to the very sides of the sentries, it chose rather to sneak upon them, unseen, from the rear.
It came to the corner of the hut and peered around.
The sentries were but a few paces away; but the ape did not dare expose himself, even for an instant, to those feared and hated thunder-sticks which the Tarmangani knew so well how to use, if there were another and safer method of attack.
