we should not fear for your safety, but since the injury to your head you have not been the same, and we fear to leave you alone in the jungle. Let us, then, your faithful Waziri, punish these people, after which we will take you home in safety, where you may be cured of the evils that have fallen upon you.'
The Spaniard laughed. 'I am entirely recovered,' he said, 'and I am in no more danger alone than I would be with you,' which he knew, even better than they, was but a mild statement of the facts. 'You will obey my wishes,' he continued sternly. 'Go back at once the way that we have come. After you have gone at least two miles you may make camp for the night, and in the morning start out again for home. Make no noise, I do not want them to know that I am here. Do not worry about me. I am all right, and I shall probably overtake you before you reach home. Go!'
Sorrowfully the Waziri turned back upon the trail they had just covered and a moment later the last of them disappeared from the sight of the Spaniard.
With a sigh of relief Esteban Miranda turned toward the camp of his own people. Fearing that to surprise them suddenly might invite a volley of shots from the askari he whistled, and then called aloud as he approached.
'It is Tarzan!' cried the first of the blacks who saw him. 'Now indeed shall we all be killed.'
Esteban saw the growing excitement among the carriers and askari—he saw the latter seize their rifles and that they were fingering the triggers nervously.
'It is I, Esteban Miranda,' he called aloud. 'Flora! Flora, tell those fools to lay aside their rifles.'
The whites, too, were standing watching him, and at the sound of his voice Flora turned toward the blacks. 'It is all right,' she said, 'that is not Tarzan. Lay aside your rifles.'
Esteban entered the camp, smiling. 'Here I am,' he said.
'We thought that you were dead,' said Kraski. 'Some of these fellows said that Tarzan said that he had killed you.'
'He captured me,' said Esteban, 'but as you see he did not kill me. I thought that he was going to, but he did not, and finally he turned me loose in the jungle. He may have thought that I could not survive and that he would accomplish his end just as surely without having my blood upon his hands.'
''E must have knowed you,' said Peebles. 'You'd die, all right, if you were left alone very long in the jungle— you'd starve to death.'
Esteban made no reply to the sally but turned toward Flora. 'Are you not glad to see me, Flora?' he asked.
The girl shrugged her shoulders. 'What is the difference?' she asked. 'Our expedition is a failure. Some of them think you were largely to blame.' She nodded her head in the general direction of the other whites.
The Spaniard scowled. None of them cared very much to see him. He did not care about the others, but he had hoped that Flora would show some enthusiasm about his return. Well, if she had known what he had in his mind, she might have been happier to see him, and only too glad to show some kind of affection. But she did not know. She did not know that Esteban Miranda had hidden the golden ingots where he might go another day and get them. It had been his intention to persuade her to desert the others, and then, later, the two would return and recover the treasure, but now he was piqued and offended—none of them should have a shilling of it— he would wait until they left Africa and then he would return and take it all for himself. The only fly in the ointment was the thought that the Waziri knew the location of the treasure, and that, sooner or later, they would return with Tarzan and get it. This weak spot in his calculations must be strengthened, and to strengthen it he must have assistance which would mean sharing his secret with another, but whom?
Outwardly oblivious of the sullen glances of his companions he took his place among them. It was evident to him that they were far from being glad to see him, but just why he did not know, for he had not heard of the plan that Kraski and Owaza had hatched to steal the loot of the ivory raiders, and that their main objection to his presence was the fear that they would be compelled to share the loot with him. It was Kraski who first voiced the thought that was in the minds of all but Esteban.
'Miranda,' he said, 'it is the consensus of opinion that you and Bluber are largely responsible for the failure of our venture. We are not finding fault. I just mention it as a fact. But since you have been away we have struck upon a plan to take something out of Africa that will partially recompense us for the loss of the gold. We have worked the thing all out carefully and made our plans. We don't need you to carry them out. We have no objection to your coming along with us, if you want to, for company, but we want to have it understood from the beginning that you are not to share in anything that we get out of this.'
The Spaniard smiled and waved a gesture of unconcern. 'It is perfectly all right,' he said. 'I shall ask for nothing. I would not wish to take anything from any of you.' And he grinned inwardly as he thought of the more than quarter of a million pounds in gold which he would one day take out of Africa for himself, alone. At this unexpected attitude of acquiescence upon Esteban's part the others were greatly relieved, and immediately the entire atmosphere of constraint was removed.
'You're a good fellow, Esteban,' said Peebles. 'I've been sayin' right along that you'd want to do the right thing, and I want to say that I'm mighty glad to see you back here safe an' sound. I felt terrible when I 'eard you was croaked, that I did.'
'Yes,' said Bluber, 'John he feel so bad he cry himself to sleep every night, ain't it, John?'
'Don't try to start nothin', Bluber,' growled Peebles, glaring at the Jew.
'I vasn't commencing to start nodding,' replied Adolph, seeing that the big Englishman was angry; 'of course ve vere all sorry dat ve t'ought Esteban was killed und ve is all glad dot he is back.'
'And that he don't want any of the swag,' added Throck.
'Don't worry,' said Esteban, 'If I get back to London I'll be happy enough—I've had enough of Africa to last me all the rest of my life.'
Before he could get to sleep that night, the Spaniard spent a wakeful hour or two trying to evolve a plan whereby he might secure the gold absolutely to himself, without fear of its being removed by the Waziri later. He knew that he could easily find the spot where he had buried it and remove it to another close by, provided that he could return immediately over the trail along which Usula had led them that day, and he could do this alone, ensuring that no one but himself would know the new location of the hiding place of the gold, but he was equally positive that he could never again return later from the coast and find where he had hidden it. This meant that he must share his secret with another—one familiar with the country who could find the spot again at any time and from any direction. But who was there whom he might trust! In his mind he went carefully over the entire personnel of their safari, and continually his mind reverted to a single individual—Owaza. He had no confidence in the wily old scoundrel's integrity, but there was no other who suited his purpose as well, and finally he was forced to the conclusion that he must share his secret with this black, and depend upon avarice rather than honor for his protection. He could repay the fellow well—make him rich beyond his wildest dreams, and this the Spaniard could well afford to do in view of the tremendous fortune at stake. And so he fell asleep dreaming of what gold, to the value of over a quarter of a million pounds sterling, would accomplish in the gay capitals of the world.
The following morning while they were breakfasting, Esteban mentioned casually that he had passed a large herd of antelope not far from their camp the previous day, and suggested that he take four or five men and do a little hunting, joining the balance of the party at camp that night. No one raised any objection, possibly for the reason that they assumed that the more he hunted and the further from the safari he went the greater the chances of his being killed, a contingency that none of them would have regretted, since at heart they had neither liking nor trust for him.
'I will take Owaza,' he said. 'He is the cleverest hunter of them all, and five or six men of his choosing.' But later, when he approached Owaza, the black interposed objections to the hunt.
'We have plenty of meat for two days,' he said. 'Let us go on as fast as we can, away from the land of the Waziri and Tarzan. I can find plenty of game anywhere between here and the coast. March for two days, and then I will hunt with you.'
'Listen,' said Esteban, in a whisper. 'It is more than antelope that I would hunt. I cannot tell you here in camp, but when we have left the others I will explain. It will pay you better to come with me today than all the ivory you can hope to get from the raiders.' Owaza cocked an attentive ear and scratched his woolly head.
'It is a good day to hunt, Bwana,' he said. 'I will come with you and bring five boys.'
After Owaza had planned the march for the main party and arranged for the camping place for the night, so that he and the Spaniard could find them again, the hunting party set out upon the trail that Usula had followed
