CHAPTER XVI
THE DIAMOND HOARD
The primitive smoke bombs filled the throne room of the Tower of the Emperors with their suffocating fumes, the Gomangani clustered about Tarzan begging him to save them, for they, too, had seen the massed Bolgani before every entrance and the great body of them that awaited in the gardens and upon the terrace without.
Wait a minute,' said Tarzan, 'until the smoke is thick enough to hide our movements from the Bolgani, and then we will rush the windows overlooking the terrace, for they are nearer the east gate than any other exit, and thus some of us will have a better chance for escape.'
'I have a better plan,' said the old man. 'When the smoke conceals us, follow me. There is one exit that is unguarded, probably because they do not dream that we would use it. When I passed over the dais behind the throne I took occasion to note that there were no Bolgani guarding it.'
'Where does it lead?' asked Tarzan.
'Into the basement of the Tower of Diamonds —the tower in which I discovered you. That portion of the palace is nearest to the east gate, and if we can reach it before they suspect our purpose there will be little doubt that we can reach the forest at least.'
'Splendid!' ejaculated the ape-man. 'It will not be long now before the smoke hides us from the Bolgani.'
In fact it was so thick by this time that the occupants of the throne room were finding difficulty in breathing. Many of them were coughing and choking and the eyes of all were watering from the effects of the acrid smoke. And yet they were not entirely hidden from the observation of the watchers all about them.
'I don't know how much more of this we can stand,' said Tarzan. 'I have about all I care for, now.'
'It is thickening up a bit,' said the old man. 'Just a moment more and I think we can make it unseen.'
'I can stand it no longer,' cried La. 'I am suffocating and I am half-blinded.'
'Very well,' said the old man; 'I doubt if they can see us now. It is pretty thick. Come, follow me;' and he led the way up the steps of the dais and through an aperture behind the thrones—a small opening hidden by hangings. The old man went first, and then La, followed by Tarzan and Jad-bal-ja, who had about reached the limit of his endurance and patience, so that it had been with difficulty that Tarzan had restrained him, and who now was voicing his anger in deep growls which might have apprised the Bolgani of their avenue of escape. Behind Tarzan and the lion crowded the coughing Gomangani; but because Jad-bal-ja was just in front of them they did not crowd as closely upon the party ahead of them as they probably would have done otherwise.
The aperture opened into a dark corridor which led down a flight of rough steps to a lower level, and then straight through utter darkness for the rather considerable distance which separated the Tower of Diamonds from the Tower of the Emperors. So great was their relief at escaping the dense smoke of the throne room that none of the party minded the darkness of the corridor, but followed patiently the lead of the old man who had explained that the first stairs down which they had passed were the only obstacles to be encountered in the tunnel.
At the corridor's end the old man halted before a heavy door, which after considerable difficulty he managed to open.
'Wait a moment,' he said, 'until I find a cresset and make a light.'
They heard him moving about beyond the doorway for a moment and then a dim light flared, and presently the wick in a cresset flickered. In the dim rays Tarzan saw before them a large rectangular chamber, the great size of which was only partially suggested in the wavering light of the cresset.
'Get them all in,' said the old man, 'and close the door;' and when that had been done he called to Tarzan. 'Come!' he said. 'Before we leave this chamber I want to show you such a sight as no other human eyes have ever rested upon.'
He led him to the far side of the chamber where, in the light of the cresset, Tarzan saw tier after tier of shelves, upon which were stacked small sacks made of skins. The old man set the cresset upon one of the shelves and taking a sack opened it and spilled a portion of the contents into the palm of his hand. 'Diamonds,' he said. 'Each of these packages weighs five pounds and each contains diamonds. They have been accumulating them for countless ages, for they mine far more than they can use themselves. In their legends is the belief that some day the Atlantians will return and they can sell the diamonds to them. And so they continue to mine them and store them as though there was a constant and ready market for them. Here, take one of the bags with you,' he said. He handed one to Tarzan and another to La.
'I do not believe that we shall ever leave the valley alive, but we might;' and he took a third bag for himself.
From the diamond vault the old man led them up a primitive ladder to the floor above, and quickly to the main entrance of the Tower. Only two heavy doors, bolted upon the inside, now lay between them and the terrace, a short distance beyond which the east gate swung open. The old man was about to open the doors when Tarzan stopped him.
'Wait a moment,' he said, 'until the rest of the Gomangani come. It takes them some time to ascend the ladder. When they are all here behind us, swing the doors open, and you and La, with this ten or a dozen Gomangani that are immediately around us, make a break for the gate. The rest of us will bring up the rear and hold the Bolgani off in case they attack us. Get ready,' he added a moment later, 'I think they are all up.'
Carefully Tarzan explained to the Gomangani the plan he had in mind, and then, turning to the old man, he commanded 'Now!' The bolt slipped, the doors swung open, and simultaneously the entire party started at a run toward the east gate.
The Bolgani, who were still massed about the throne room, were not aware that their victims had eluded them until Tarzan, bringing up the rear with Jad-bal-ja was passing through the east gate. Then the Bolgani discovered him, and immediately set up a hue and cry that brought several hundred of them on a mad run in pursuit.
'Here they come,' cried Tarzan to the other, 'make a run of it—straight down the valley toward Opar , La. '
'And you?' demanded the young woman.
'I shall remain a moment with the Gomangani, and attempt to punish these fellows.'
La stopped in her tracks. 'I shall not go a step without you, Tarzan of the Apes,' she said. 'Too great already are the risks you have taken for me. No; I shall not go without you.'
The ape-man shrugged. 'As you will,' he said. 'Here they come.'
With great difficulty he rallied a portion of the Gomangani who, once through the gate, seemed imbued but with a single purpose, and that to put as much distance between the Palace of Diamonds and themselves as possible. Perhaps fifty warriors rallied to his call, and with these he stood in the gateway toward which several hundred Bolgani were now charging.
The old man came and touched Tarzan on the arm. 'You had better fly,' he said. 'The Gomangani will break and run at the first assault.'
'We will gain nothing by flying,' said Tarzan, 'for we should only lose what we have gained with the Gomangani, and then we should have the whole valley about us like hornets.'
He had scarcely finished speaking when one of the Gomangani cried: 'Look! Look! They come;' and pointed along the trail into the forest.
'And just in time, too,' remarked Tarzan, as he saw the first of a swarm of Gomangani pouring out of the forest toward the east gate. 'Come!' he cried to the advancing blacks, 'the Bolgani are upon us. Come, and avenge your wrongs!' Then he turned, and calling to the blacks around him, leaped forward to meet the onrushing gorilla- men. Behind them wave after wave of Gomangani rolled through the east gate of the Palace of Diamonds, carrying everything before them to break at last like surf upon the wavering wall of Bolgani that was being relentlessly hurled back against the palace walls.
The shouting and the fighting and the blood worked Jad-bal-ja into such a frenzy of excitement that Tarzan with difficulty restrained him from springing upon friend and foe alike, with the result that it required so much of the ape-man's time to hold in leash his ferocious ally that he was able to take but little part in the battle, yet he saw that it was going his way, and that, but for the occurrence of some untoward event, the complete defeat of the Bolgani was assured.
