'Comrade Drinov is right,' said Ivitch.
Zveri dropped his hand from his gun and turned sulkily away; and for the rest of the night peace, if not happiness, held sway in the disorganized camp of the conspirators.
When morning came the whites saw that the blacks had all discarded their French uniforms, and from the concealing foliage of a nearby tree other eyes had noted this same fact –gray eyes that were touched by the shadow of a grim smile. There were no black boys now to serve the whites, as even their personal servants had deserted them to foregather with the men of their own blood, and so the five prepared their own breakfast, after Zveri's attempt to command the services of some of their boys had met with surly refusal.
While they were eating, Kitembo approached them, accompanied by the headmen of the different tribes that were represented in the personnel of the expedition. 'We are leaving with our people for our own countries,' said the Basembo chief. 'We leave food for your journey to your own camp. Many of our warriors wish to kill you, and that we cannot prevent if you attempt to accompany us, for they fear the vengeance of the ghosts that have followed you for many moons. Remain here until tomorrow. After that you are free to go where you will.'
'But,' expostulated Zveri, 'you can't leave us like this without porters or askaris.'
'No longer can you tell us what we can do, white man,' said Kitembo, 'for you are few and we are many, and your power over us is broken. In everything you have failed. We do not follow such a leader.'
'You can't do it,' growled Zveri. 'You will all be punished for this, Kitembo.'
'Who will punish us?' demanded the black. 'The English? The French? The Italians? You do not dare go to them. They would punish you, not us. Perhaps you will go to Ras Tafari. He would have your heart cut out and your body thrown to the dogs, if he knew what you were planning.'
'But you can't leave this white woman alone here in the jungle without servants, or porters, or adequate protection,' insisted Zveri, realizing that his first argument had made no impression upon the black chief, who now held their fate in his hands.
'I do not intend to leave the white woman,' said Kitembo. 'She is going with me,' and then it was that, for the first time, the whites realized that the headmen had surrounded them and that they were covered by many rifles.
As he had talked, Kitembo had come closer to Zveri, at whose side stood Zora Drinov, and now the black chief reached out quickly and grasped her by the wrist. 'Come!' he said, and as he uttered the word something hummed above their heads, and Kitembo, chief of the Basembos, clutched at an arrow in his chest.
'Do not look up,' cried a voice from above. 'Keep your eyes upon the ground, for whosoever looks up dies. Listen well to what I have to say, black men. Go your way to your own countries, leaving behind you all of the white people. Do not harm them. They belong to me. I have spoken.'
Wide-eyed and trembling, the black headmen fell back from the whites, leaving Kitembo writhing upon the ground. They hastened to cross the camp to their fellows, all of whom were now thoroughly terrified; and before the chief of the Basembos ceased his death struggle, the black tribesmen had seized the loads which they had previously divided amongst them and were pushing and elbowing for precedence along the game trail that led out of camp toward the west.
Watching them depart, the whites sat in stupefied silence, which was not broken until after the last black had gone and they were alone.
'What do you suppose that thing meant by saying we belong to him?' asked Ivitch in a slightly thickened voice.
'How could I know?' growled Zveri.
'Perhaps it is a man-eating ghost,' suggested Romero with a smile.
'It has done about all the harm it can do now,' said Zveri. 'It ought to leave us alone for awhile.'
'It is not such a malign spirit,' said Zora. 'It can't be, for it certainly saved me from Kitembo.'
'Saved you for itself,' said Ivitch.
'Nonsense!' said Romero. 'The purpose of that mysterious voice from the air is just as obvious as is the fact that it is the voice of a man. It is the voice of someone who wanted to defeat the purposes of this expedition, and I imagine Zveri guessed close to the truth yesterday when he attributed it to English or Italian sources that were endeavoring to delay us until they could mobilize a sufficient force against us.'
'Which proves,' declared Zveri, 'what I have suspected for a long time; that there is more than one traitor among us,' and he looked meaningly at Romero.
'What it means,' said Romero, 'is that crazy, harebrained theories always fail when they are put to the test. You thought that all the blacks in Africa would rush to your standard and drive all the foreigners into the ocean. In theory, perhaps, you were right, but in practice one man, with a knowledge of native psychology which you did not have, burst your entire dream like a bubble, and for every other hare-brained theory in the world there is always a stumbling block of fact.'
'You talk like a traitor to the cause,' said Ivitch threateningly.
'And what are you going to do about it?' demanded the Mexican. 'I am fed up with all of you and your whole rotten, selfish plan. There isn't an honest hair in your head nor in Zveri's. I can accord Tony and Senorita Drinov the benefit of a doubt, for I cannot conceive either of them as knaves. As I was deluded, so may they have been deluded, as you and your kind have striven for years to delude countless millions of others.'
'You are not the first traitor to the cause,' cried Zveri, 'nor will you be the first traitor to pay the penalty of his treason.'
'That is not a good way to talk now,' said Mori. 'We are not already too many. If we fight and kill one another, perhaps none of us will come out of Africa alive. But if you kill Miguel, you will have to kill me, too, and perhaps you will not be successful. Perhaps it is you who will be killed.'
'Tony is right,' said the girl. 'Let us call a truce until we reach civilization.' And so it was that under something of the nature of an armed truce, the five set forth the following morning on the back trail toward their base camp; while upon another trail, a full day ahead of them, Tarzan and his Waziri warriors took a short cut for Opar.
'La may not be there,' Tarzan explained to Muviro, 'but I intend to punish Oah and Dooth for their treachery and thus make it possible for the high priestess to return in safety, if she still lives.'
'But how about the white enemies in the jungle back of us, Bwana?' asked Muviro.
'They shall not escape us,' said Tarzan. 'They are weak and inexperienced to the jungle. They move slowly. We may always overtake them when we will. It is La who concerns me most, for she is a friend, while they are only enemies.'
Many miles away, the object of his friendly solicitude approached a clearing in the jungle, a man-made clearing that was evidently intended for a camp site for a large body of men, though now only a few rude shelters were occupied by a handful of blacks.
At the woman's side walked Wayne Colt, his strength now fully regained, and at their heels paced Jad-bal-ja, the golden lion.
'We have found it at last,' said the man; 'thanks to you.'
'Yes, but it is deserted,' replied La. 'They have all left.'
'No,' said Colt, 'I see some blacks over by those shelters at the right.'
'It is well,' said La, 'and now I must leave you.' There was a note of regret in her voice.
'I hate to say good-bye,' said the man, 'but I know where your heart is and that all your kindness to me has only delayed your return to Opar. It is futile for me to attempt to express my gratitude, but I think that you know what is in my heart.'
'Yes,' said the woman, 'and it is enough for me to know that I have made a friend, I who have so few loyal friends.'
'I wish that you would let me go with you to Opar,' he said. 'You are going back to face enemies, and you may need whatever little help I should be able to give you.'
She shook her head. 'No, that cannot be,' she replied. 'All the suspicion and hatred of me that was engendered in the hearts of some of my people was caused by my friendship for a man of another world. Were you to return with me and assist me in regaining my throne, it would but arouse their suspicions still further. If Jad-bal- ja and I cannot succeed alone, three of us could accomplish no more.'
'Won't you at least be my guest for the rest of the day?' he asked. 'I can't offer you much hospitality,' he added with a rueful smile.
