Tarzan and the Jewels of Opar quotes

And thus it was that Achmet Zek, the Arab, found him. Achmet’s followers were for running a spear through the body of their hereditary enemy; but Achmet would have it otherwise. First he would question the Belgian.

It were easier to question a man first and kill him afterward, than kill him first and then question him.

So he had Lieutenant Albert Werper carried to his own tent, and there slaves administered wine and food in small quantities until at last the prisoner regained consciousness.

… the chance that he did not lie, and if he told the truth then his proposition was one well worthy of consideration, since fighting men were never over plentiful—especially white men with the training and knowledge of military matters that a European officer must possess.

Achmet Zek scowled and Werper’s heart sank; but Werper did not know Achmet Zek, who was quite apt to scowl where another would smile, and smile where another would scowl.

“And if you have lied to me,” said Achmet Zek, “I will kill you at any time. What return, other than your life, do you expect for your services?”

To Tarzan of the Apes the expedition was in the nature of a holiday outing.

His civilization was at best but an outward veneer which he gladly peeled off with his uncomfortable European clothes whenever any reasonable pretext presented itself.

It was a woman’s love which kept Tarzan even to the semblance of civilization—a condition for which familiarity had bred contempt.

Tarzan slept on. Where were those uncanny, guardian powers that had formerly rendered him immune from the dangers of surprise? Could this dull sleeper be the alert, sensitive Tarzan of old?

Perhaps the blow upon his head had numbed his senses, temporarily⁠—who may say?

Closer crept the stealthy creature through the reeds. The rustling curtain of vegetation parted a few paces from where the sleeper lay, and the massive head of a lion appeared.

It was the beating of the beast’s tail against the reeds which awakened Tarzan.

Jungle folk do not awaken slowly⁠—instantly, full consciousness and full command of their every faculty returns to them from the depth of profound slumber.

Even as Tarzan opened his eyes he was upon his feet, his spear grasped firmly in his hand and ready for attack. Again was he Tarzan of the Apes, sentient, vigilant, ready.

He could lie at full length along a swaying branch, stretching his giant limbs, and luxuriating in the blessed peace of utter thoughtlessness, without an apprehension or a worry to sap his nervous energy and rob him of his peace of mind.

Recalling only dimly any other existence, the ape-man was happy. Lord Greystoke had ceased to exist.

For several hours Tarzan lolled upon his swaying, leafy couch until once again hunger and thirst suggested an excursion. Stretching lazily he dropped to the ground and moved slowly toward the river.

Then Tarzan came down from his sanctuary and as the wounded lions, growling, dragged themselves away, the ape-man cut his spear from the body of Buto, hacked off a steak and vanished into the jungle.

The episode was over. It had been all in the day’s work⁠—something which you and I might talk about for a lifetime Tarzan dismissed from his mind the moment that the scene passed from his sight.

Tarzan closed his eyes and awaited the end. He knew that he would suffer, for he recalled the faint memories of past burns. He knew that he would suffer and die; but he did not flinch.

Death is no great adventure to the jungle bred who walk hand-in-hand with the grim specter by day and lie down at his side by night through all the years of their lives.

It is doubtful that the ape-man even speculated upon what came after death.

Once she raised her eyes to the burning sun and murmured a prayer of thanks to her pagan god that she had not been permitted to destroy this godlike man, and her long lashes were wet with tears.

A strange anomaly was La of Opar⁠—a creature of circumstance torn by conflicting emotions.

Now the cruel and bloodthirsty creature of a heartless god and again a melting woman filled with compassion and tenderness. Sometimes the incarnation of jealousy and revenge and sometimes a sobbing maiden, generous and forgiving; at once a virgin and a wanton; but always—woman.

A strange anomaly was La of Opar—a creature of circumstance torn by conflicting emotions. Now the cruel and bloodthirsty creature of a heartless god and again a melting woman filled with compassion and tenderness.

Sometimes the incarnation of jealousy and revenge and sometimes a sobbing maiden, generous and forgiving; at once a virgin and a wanton; but always⁠—woman.

Such was La.

but Tarzan of the Apes had been forced in childhood to develop senses that an ordinary mortal scarce ever uses.

We may note the garlic and whiskey on the breath of a fellow strap hanger, or the cheap perfume emanating from the person of the wondrous lady sitting in front of us, and deplore the fact of our sensitive noses; but, as a matter of fact, we cannot smell at all, our olfactory organs are practically atrophied, by comparison with the development of the sense among the beasts of the wild.

Where a foot is placed an effluvium remains for a considerable time. It is beyond the range of our sensibilities;

Shouldering his way through the crowd he approached the doorway, and had almost reached it when one of the Arabs laid a hand upon his shoulder, crying: “Who is this?” at the same time snatching back the hood from the ape-man’s face.

Tarzan of the Apes in all his savage life had never been accustomed to pause in argument with an antagonist.

The primitive instinct of self-preservation acknowledges many arts and wiles; but argument is not one of them, nor did he now waste precious time in an attempt to convince the raiders that he was not a wolf in sheep’s clothing.

Gathering herself stealthily for the effort, she leaped suddenly to her feet, but almost simultaneously the lion sprang up, wheeled and with wide-distended jaws and terrific roars, charged swiftly down upon her.

Those who have spent lifetimes hunting the big game of Africa will tell you that scarcely any other creature in the world attains the speed of a charging lion.

For the short distance that the great cat can maintain it, it resembles nothing more closely than the onrushing of a giant locomotive under full speed, and so, though the distance that Jane Clayton must cover was relatively small, the terrific speed of the lion …

But another and stronger force was exerting itself in the girl’s favor.

However low a man may sink, honor and chivalry, has he ever possessed them, are never entirely eradicated from his character

, and though Albert Werper had long since ceased to evidence the slightest claim to either the one or the other, the spontaneous acknowledgment of them which the girl’s speech had presumed had reawakened them both within him.

“I have a plan,” he cried. “It will require nerve and courage on your part; but you have already shown that you possess both. Can you endure still more?”

“I can endure anything,” she replied with a brave smile, “that may offer us even a slight chance for escape.”

“You must simulate death,” he explained, “while I carry you from the camp. I will explain to the sentries that Mohammed Beyd has ordered me to take your body into the jungle.

The fingers at his throat relaxed, a puzzled, faraway expression softened the gray eyes.

“Lord Greystoke!” repeated the ape-man. “Lord Greystoke! Who is Lord Greystoke? Where have I heard that name before?”

“Why man, you are Lord Greystoke,” cried the Belgian. “You were injured by a falling rock when the earthquake shattered the passage to the underground chamber to which you and your black Waziri had come to fetch golden ingots back to your bungalow.

“Oh, I thought it was Greek,” replied the officer; “but it has been so many years since I studied it that I was not sure. In future, however, I will thank you to speak in a language which I am more familiar with.”

Werper turned his head to hide a grin, whispering to Tarzan: “It was Greek to him all right⁠—and to me, too.”

But one of the black soldiers mumbled in a low voice to a companion: