“Of the day-snakes, we need have no fear. It is difficult to tell the two tribes apart, except for one major thing. If one of you come across a snake-man who lies inactive in his hiding place, do not harm him. He is one of Lyta’s people. He is on our side. And he can do no injury to us while Goro the moon is in the skies. There is but one hour when confusion might arise— that of the dawn. For it is then that the night men begin to lose their powers as the day snakes regain their own. During that hour, neither group has full use of his capacities. It is, however, my earnest hope that our fight will be over before another dawn arises.”

  The number one wife of Basuli interrupted the conference by her arrival on the scene with an assortment of odd clothing. These Tarzan handed to Kuchek and Tombak, advising them to select those which were least binding. When the two apes looked at him in rebellious questioning the ape-man explained, “It is best, should we encounter the night snakes, they do not realize the power of their enemies. If they think of you as tarmangani because you wear the clothes of my people, they will be less cautioUS,” Not thoroughly understanding, but with their childlike minds enjoying the play-acting, the two apes followed his instructions. To Basuli, Tarzan said: “I shall go ahead of your men. With me I take Tombak, the eldest of the great apes. Kuchek will follow and guard the rear ranks. Of one thing, be on the alert, Basuli.”

  “What is it?” the brave warrior questioned.

  “Watch out for the great silence of the jungle. Should it fall about you, gather your men together and prepare to fight in open battle. I shall cover every possible place of concealment, but still, I know not the ways of these snake-men when in the Jungles. It is conceivable, although not probable, that I may miss a few of them. The silence does not fall while they are immobile. It comes only when they move. So listen carefully for it, Basuli. The lives of your men are at stake!”

  The two men and their two strange companions moved out of the bungalow and into the compound where the weirdly garbed Waziris awaited them. As they walked, Tarzan gave his final orders to Basuli. “When we arrive at the Valley of the Volcanos, you are to place some of your men at strategic spots about the clearing before the lake of boiling oil. The others, led by you, will follow Tombak and me across the clearing and into the cliffs. I know a secret entrance into the fortress of Lyta, the priestess. Again, warn your men to use great stealth. I have been told the acoustics of the cliff dwellings hold no secrets to the ears of Narda, the warring priestess.”

  Basuli had listehed attentively, now nodded, and without another word, moved forward to lead his men across the compound and out into the dark jungle ahead. Tarzan and Tombak walked with them, as Kuchek loped grotesquely along behind. As they reached the jungle, Tarzan lifted his arm in agesture of encouragement to the gleaming warriors, then swung gracefully into the lower branches of a huge tree, followed immediately by the strangely garbed great ape. The assault upon Narda and her evil lover was underway. There would be no turning back!

  In a little moonlit glade, several miles into the jungle, Basuli and his men came to a halt as the bronzed body of Tarzan glided swiftly down from a tree, and dropped before the Waziri chieftain. From the concealment of a nearby bush, Numa, the lion, eyed the group hungrily, but wary of their numbers.

  “It is most strange, Basuli. Listen to the jungle.” The night sounds were busy about them. ”‘We have covered every swale for miles ahead. The snake-men are not about. Yet certainly the evil Belgian and the priestess Narda would have them out this night, awaiting my arrival. I do not like it. I go forward, Basuli, this time on foot. Follow me, but with ever-increasing care.” As he spoke, the ape-man moved silently and “swiftly down the narrow trail ahead. From the bush, Numa watched in hungry satisfaction. One of them waste be his meal then. He would not have to risk the spears and weapons of the many.

  Along the trail, the ape-man was at the keenest peak of his jungle alertness. The jungle was wide; the snake-men were new to his knowledge, but’ wide too was the cunning of Tarzan—and he had not lived through his amazing childhood and fantastic manhood by failing to meet the challenge of the new. As he progressed, rapidly, but with great caution, the tawny beast, Numa, followed the same way. The wind was with Numa this night, as it veered constantly away from Tarzan, thus keeping the scent of Numa from his nostrils. Only because of this was the huge lion able to approach so closely to the ape-man. Some sixth, inner sense, however, came to Tarzan as Numa crouched for his kill. Although his back was to the lion, and he could not see the broad head fringed in its mane, the powerful hind paws gathering close beneath the empty belly readying for its lunge, still Tarzan hesitated. He was just wheeling about as the lion alighted full upon his broad shoulders. There was within Tarzan, immediately, all of the cunning, all of the ferocity, all of the physical prowess and saving instincts his jungle life had taught him so well. He closed with the beast in a death struggle so fearless and abandoned that the great Numa would have done well to move toward a hasty retreat. Seizing the lion by his mane, Tarzan buried his teeth deep into his throat, at the same time reaching his hunting knife and plunging it over and over again into the body of the great lion. As they fought, Tarzan growled the hideous ape sounds he had learned as a ,child, and the lion roared in rage and pain. Over and over the two battled with demonic fury, until finally the knife of Tarzan hit the heart of the great cat. As Tarzan removed himself from the bloody carcass, he raised a foot, placed it upon the bloody mane, and lifting his face to Goro, the moon, gave forth the hideous victory cry of the bull apes.

  On the trail behind him, Basuli and his warriors shuddered at the wild sound. Before him, Tombak smiled knowingly, cunning ape-eyes bloodshot and pleased. One of his kind had made a kill. Another enemy of the mangani was no longer alive in the Jungle.

  Tarzan pulled the bloody carcass to the shrubs alongside the game trail, and now, emitting a soft, low sound from his mouth, signaled to Basuli that he was once again taking to the trees. The huge native returned the signal, and the Waziri moved forward more swiftly than before.

  The moon was low in the night sky as Tarzan and his group of invaders arrived at the Valley of the Volcanos. No other incidents had marred their travel, much to the surprise and increasing unease of the ape-man. He moved forward quietly, followed by Basuli and his chosen men; the other of the Waziri, together with Kuchek and Tombak remained across the clearing. To the naked eye, the clearing was empty, but it was a place of great danger to any who might venture therein.

  Through the dark and wet caverns, Tarzan and his men moved, ever forward, as silent as the quiet of death. From time to time they would come to a complete halt, fearing even to breathe, as a slithery, rustling sound in a nearby cavern would indicate the presence of a snake-man. Finally, they arrived at the cavern of Lyta. Tarzan bade Basuli and his men remain still and silent in the tunnel, as he made his presence known to the lovely priestess. She, however, cried out in amazement at his sudden appearance, and the ears of Narda, her sister, heard the sound.

  Hastening to her secret point of vantage, curipus as to the meaning of Lyta’s exclamation, Narda could hear the sound of soft whispering. Even from this spot, she could not make out the words, but she was wise enough to realize that if Lyta had someone with whom to speak during the hours of Goro, the moon, it could only be Tarzan of the Apes. Narda glided softly back to her chambers and sent Nerag, her leader, to fetch the Belgian and his friend Pierre Sortie.

  Back in Lyta’s chambers, her first amazement had turned into surprised delight. “I had not expected you to return until the hours of the sun, Tarzan. How come you here now? Surely the jungle is filled with her people!”

  “Not only I have come here, Lyta, but I have brought with me a small army of my Waziri warriors and two of my brothers, the great mangani. Narda’s men are not in my jungle tonight. There was none of the great silence. We met no harm. I wonder at this strange development.”

  “It is indeed strange. I had believed all of her forces to be outside tonight, for they have not come into our fortress in search of our lairs as they have done so often in the past.”

  “Then we must invade them now. I and my men. It is near the dawn. Should we experience too much difficulty, we can retreat and await the dawn.”

  “But, Tarzan! I can offer you no help during the hours of Goro. My people are immobile.”

  “Something is planned in that evil fortress. We cannot wait to find out. We must move at once!” With these words, Tarzan once again gave the soft, cooing signal which called Basuli into the chambers.

  Across the valley, in her chambers, Narda was pacing back and forth in ferocious anger. Keinin and Sortie listened fearfully as the lushly beautiful priestess excoriated them. Gone was all of her passion for the evil Belgian. Her kingdom was at stake, and this man was the person who had put it there! Still, Keinin had an advantage over Narda which was all but impossible to remove. He was the only human she had truly known. He was the only person now to whom she could turn. He alone would know what Tarzan of the Apes might do, and he alone could save her people. As she reached the end of the diatribe, Keinin sensed her realization of these facts, and sealed her fate with his next words.

  “You must attack them tonight, Narda. You will lose some of your men, that is true. But if you do not stop Lyta before the dawn, you will lose everything. Call out your people. Send them into the fortress of Narda. Warn them against the ape-man, but he is not, after all, infallible. You captured him once. You can do so again!”

  “You are right, of course. You will go with us?”

  Keinin smiled evilly. “No, Narda. I shall stay here and guard your quarters, and our prisoners. Remember, she is his mate, and she is in our possession. We cannot risk his rescuing her while our fortress remains unprotected.”

  “But my guards can . .”

  “You will need all of your people for the invasion, Narda. Your forces have been vastly depleted. Now, you must wipe out Lyta’s people. And you must hurry. There are few hours remaining for you.”

  So confused was the lithe young priestess that she failed to wonder why Keinin would want to remain alone with the prisoners, and why he wanted her to take all of her people into the enemy camp. She agreed, and within minutes, the entire cliffside was covered with the gleaming bodies of the snake-men moving en-masse toward the massacre of Lyta and her snake-men. The first sign of the attack was received by Tarzan and the priestess when the high, pitiable screams of her immobilized forces rose upechoing about them.

  CHAPTER XV

  The Rescue

  Tarzan, Lyta and the Waziri troops sped rapidly down into the catacombs which riddled the cliffside fortress. Lyta led them as she went first to one lair, then another, still another. At the first one they reached, she wept at the sight of so many of her people, dead and dying before her. Tarzan felt great pity for the priestess, but the urgency of the situation did not allow for his expression of it. “We must reach the others. They cannot have found all of them as yet.”

  The brave priestess recovered her composure immediately, and ran ahead of Tarzan and his men to a second lair. Here, thankfully, the night people had not yet arrived. Stationing five of his Waziri before the entrance to the lair, iron-spiked collars glistening, weird face coverings in protection, Tarzan left them, as Lyta hastened toward another lair. Here, they came face to face with five of Narda’s snake-men. Tarzan, they had been expecting; the sight of the glistening warriors, so wildly armored, and of Lyta, sister of their priestess, stunned the murderers. Before they had time to recover, Tarzan of the Apes had moved into their midst, knife flailing about, each blow a blow of death. Singlehanded, the great ape-man disposed of four of the foul creatures. The fifth had seen the tide of the battle before Tarzan had time to reach him, and had slithered frantically away in search of Narda. Leaving the bodies of the snake-men before the lair, and leaving another group of his Waziri on guard, Tarzan, Lyta and his depleted Waziri army ran hastily through the tunnels in search of more enemies.

  Twice more they met and defeated a group of the night snakes. Twice more, they met the heartbreak of Lyta as they reached a lair to find her people destroyed. Now, the tide of the battle was indeed in their favor. Terror had overcome the snake-men of Narda. The news that Tarzan was not alone, and that his men had strange protection from their venom and aerial attacks all but demoralized the remaining members of Marda’s tribe. Rallying them about her, she encouraged them: “We shall leave the fortress. They cannot follow us. We shall seek new hiding places, and remain in them, quiet and untouchable until the next full moon. Come, we’ll claim our hostage and go out into the valley. He will not harm us while we hold her!”

  The silence which filled the vast tunnels told Tarzan his enemy was temporarily defeated. Now, the small group moved more slowly as they went from lair to lair. No new invaders, no new deaths. Lyta’s forces had come through the attack with less loss of life than had her once beloved sister.

  “Lyta,” Tarzan spoke with an air of urgency, “You must show me how to get into Narda’s chambers,”

  “Please, Tarzan, wait until the sunlit hours. We have won thus far, but over there it may well be s different situation.”

  “Don’t you realize, Lyta, they have my wife. Now that they know I am against them, they will surely do her harm. There is no time to lose!”

  When Narda and her few remaining snake-men arrived at the prison of Jane Clayton and Bill Harvey, it was with horror thev found the girl gone, and Harvey, dead upon the floor, stabbed by the knife Narda had lovingly given Leopold Keinin. Her fury knew no bounds. She should have realized! She should never have trusted the fiend! With a sharp, sibilant word, she ordered her men to follow her, down into the tunnels, and out into .the danger-filled world.

  Once Lyta and Tarzan, together with Basuli and three other Waziri arrived at the chambers of Narda the night priestess, it was but a matter of moments before Tarzan himself was leading the way to the cave of Jane’s imprisonment. Her beloved scent was still in the air, and it led him swiftly toward the lower levels of the cliff. As he entered the cave, he glanced about in dismay. Basuli, just behind him, looked down upon the broken body of Bill Harvey, and spoke to Tarzan: “He was the good one—the one who fought so valiantly at the kidnapping. Now, he seems to have died in her defense!”

  An ugly growl reached the lips of Tarzan, as he spun about and ran out into the tunnel, nose raised in the air, sniffing once again for the scent of his mate. Jane, almost overcome with terror after the fight between the two men who would destroy her and her brave American friend, did not fight as the men led her rapidly through a maze of tunnels, ever downward, then out into the dimly lit clearing beside the lake of boiling waters. Glancing swiftly about, Keinin whispered to Sortie: “We’ll cut across that way. You go first. We’ll keep the woman between us.” Himself too terrified to reason well, the selfish German brute obeyed. He had not taken twenty steps when his scream of anguish raised itself keeningly upon the jungle night. Tombak, the eldest of the great apes had seen the movement beside the lake, and moved silently and swiftly toward the source. Sortie’s back was broken by his first assault, then the maddened ape lifted the man and threw him spiraling across the clearing into the bubbling lake. .No further sound was heard. When Tombak looked about for the other two strangers, they were not to be seen. Keinin had withdrawn into the cave entrance, dragging the terrified Jane with him.

  From another entranceway issued a strange stream of creatures. It was Narda and her snake-men. From his vantage point in a tree at the far side of the clearing, Kuchek, the younger of the mangani, spied the priestess. This, he gloated, would be his captive. The snake-men behind her did not look too vicious to Kuchek, and his desire to capture a great prize clouded his tiny brain. Waiting until the group reached the edge of the clearing, where the frightened Waziri had also watched them approach, Kuchek’s impatience was his downfall. As he leaped down from the tree and stepped before the beautiful snake-woman, her followers saw not his size, only the danger to their priestess. As Kuchek reached one great hairy arm toward Narda, a stream of poisonous venom issued from each snake-man behind her, and as the great ape went down with screams of pain emanating from his loosely huge lips, the snake-men coiled themselves about him, and, together, crushed life from his huge body.

  Before they were uncoiled, Tombak and the Waziri were upon them. Spears pierced their necks, blood flowed about, and once again their venom failed to meet its marks. Across the clearing, the evil Belgian who had started this entire brutal war in his lust for the untold wealth Narda held in her hands watched the grim fight in a paroxysm of terror. The screams and vile sounds which forced their way into his cave, the unbelievably hideous warriors and creatures the first dim light of dawn showed his frightened eyes, were but enough to drive the villain out of his evil mind. Jane had swooned at her first sight of the great who’d killed Sortie. So engrossed was Keinin that failed to hear the approach of Tarzan of the Apes, who had followed scent of his beloved through the treacherous caverns to this final meeting place.

  Suddenly, a cry of the utmost rage filled the cave, and turning, in mortal terror, Keinin had one look at this Tarzan of the Apes, about whom he had heard so many legends. One look, because by that time, Leopold Keinin was dead.

  Leaning down tenderly to lift the unconscious body of his wife into his arms, the maddened ape-man of just a moment before became the gentlest of all creatures. Lyta, the priestess, coming into the cavern from behind, looked upon the scene in amazement, tears of a strange, almost envious emotion coming into her slanted, pale-blue eyes. This love of a man for his woman was to be something Lyta would never know. Her sister had known one kind of human, and had destroyed her kingdom because of him. But even the unsophisticated eyes of Lyta knew full well that Tarzan of the Apes was more of a man than any other in the world.