making a spear and bow and arrows for him. Thereafter, as Valthor taught the Lord of the Jungle to speak his language, Tarzan instructed the former in the use of the bow, the spear being already a familiar weapon to the young warrior.
Thus the days and the weeks passed and the two seemed no nearer the country of Valthor than when they had started from the vicinity of the camp of the Shiftas. Tarzan found game of certain varieties plentiful in the mountains. He hunted, and enjoyed the beauties of unspoiled nature, practically oblivious of the passage of time.
But Valthor was less patient, and at last, late one day when they found themselves at the head of a blind canyon where stupendous cliffs barred further progress, he admitted defeat. 'I am lost,' he said simply.
'That,' remarked Tarzan, 'I could have told you many days ago.'
Valthor looked at him in surprise. 'How could you know that,' he demanded, 'when you yourself do not know in what direction my country lies?'
'I know,' replied the ape-man, 'because during the past week you have led the way toward the four points of the compass, and today we are within five miles of where we were a week ago. Across this ridge at our right, not more than five miles away, is the little stream where I killed the ibex, and the gnarled old tree in which we slept that night just seven suns ago.'
Valthor scratched his head in perplexity, and then he smiled. 'I cannot dispute you,' he admitted. 'Perhaps you are right, but what are we going to do?'
'Do you know in what direction your country lies from the camp in which I found you?' asked Tarzan.
'The valley of Thenar is due east of that point,' replied Valthor; 'of that I am positive.'
'Then we are directly southwest of it now, for we have travelled a considerable distance toward the south since we entered the higher mountains. If your country lies in these mountains, then it should not be difficult to find it if we can keep moving always in a northeasterly direction.'
'This jumble of mountains with their twisting canyons and gorges confuses me,' Valthor admitted. 'You see, in all my life before, I have never been farther from Ihenar than the valley of Onthar, and beth these valleys are urrounded by landmarks with which I am so familiar that I need no other guides. It has never been necessary for me to consult the positions of the sun, the moon, nor the stars before, and so they have been of no help to me since we set out in search of Thenar. Do you believe that you could hold a course toward the northeast in this maze of mountains? If you can, then you had better lead the way rather than I.'
'I can go toward the northeast,' Tarzan assured him 'but I cannot find your country unless it lies in my path.'
'If we reach a point within fifty or a hundred miles of it, from some high eminence we shall see Xarator,' explained Valthor, 'and then I shall know my way to Thenar, for Xarator is almost due west of Athne.'
'What are Xarator and Athne?' demanded Tarzan.
'Xarator is a great peak, the centre of which is filled with fire and molten rock. It lies at the north end of the valley of Onthar and belongs to the men of Cathne, the city of gold. Athne, the city of ivory, is the city from which I come. The men of Cathne, in the valley of Onthar , are the enemies of my people.'
'Tomorrow, then,' said Tarzan, 'we shall set out for the city of Athne in the valley of Thenar .'
As Tarzan and Valthor ate meat that they had cut from yesterday's kill and carried with them, many weary miles to the south a black-maned lion lashed his tail angrily and voiced a savage growl as he stood over the body of a buffalo calf he had killed, and faced an angry bull pawing the earth and bellowing a few yards away.
Rare is the beast that will face Gorgo the buffalo, when rage inflames his red-rimmed eyes, but the great lion showed no intention of leaving its prey even in the face of the bull's threatened charge. He stood his ground. The roars of the lion and the bull mingled in a savage, thunderous dissonance that shook the ground, stilling the voices of the lesser people of the jungle.
Gorgo gored the earth, working himself into a frenzy of rage. Behind him, bellowing, stood the mother of the slain calf. Perhaps she was urging her lord and master to avenge the murder. The other members of the herd had bolted into the thickest of the jungle, leaving these two to contest with Numa his right to his kill, leaving vengeance to those powerful horns backed by that massive neck.
With a celerity and agility that belied his great weight, the bull charged. That two such huge beasts could move so quickly and so lightly seemed incredible, as it seemed incredible that any creature could either withstand or avoid the menace of those mighty horns. But the lion was ready, and as the bull was almost upon him, he leaped to one side, reared upon his hind feet, and with one massive, taloned paw struck the bull a terrific blow on the side of its head that wheeled it half around and sent it stumbling to its knees, half-stunned and bleeding, its great jawbone crushed and splintered. And before Gorgo could regain his feet, Numa leaped full upon his back, buried his teeth in the bulging muscles of the great neck, and with one paw reached for the nose of the bellowing bull, jerking the head back with a mighty surge that snapped the vertebrae.
Instantly the lion was on his feet again, facing the cow, but she did not charge. Instead, bellowing, she crashed away into the jungle, leaving the king of beasts standing with his forefeet upon his latest kill.
That night Numa fed well, but when he had gorged himself he did not lie up as a lion should, but continued toward the north along the mysterious trail he had been following for many days.
CHAPTER FOUR DOWN THE FLOOD
The new day dawned cloudy and threatening. The season of rains was over, but it appeared that a belated storm was gathering above the lofty peaks through which Tarzan and Valthor were searching for the elusive valley of Thenar .
All day they moved toward the northeast. Sometimes it rained a little, and always it threatened to rain more. A great storm seemed always to be gathering, yet it never broke during the long day. Tarzan made a kill before noon, and they ate, but immediately afterward they started on again.
It was late in the afternoon when they ascended out of a deep gorge and stood upon a lofty plateau. In the near foreground were no mountains, but at a distance lofty peaks were visible dimly through a light drizzle of rain.
Suddenly Valthor voiced an exclamation of elation. 'We have found it!' he cried. 'There is Xarator!'
Tarzan looked in the direction that the other pointed and saw a mighty, flat-topped peak in the distance, directly above which low clouds were reflecting a dull red light. 'So that is Xarator!' he remarked. 'And Thenar is directly east of it?'
'Yes,' replied Valthor, 'which means that Onthar must be just below the edge of this plateau, almost directly in front of us. Come!'
The two walked quickly over the level, grassy ground for a mile or two to come at length to the edge of the plateau beyond which, and below them, stretched a wide valley.
'We are almost at the southern end of Onthar,' said Valthor. 'There is Cathne, the city of gold. It is a rich city, but its people are the enemies of my people.'
Through the rain, Tarzan saw a walled city between a forest and a river. The houses were nearly all white, and there were many domes of dull yellow. The river, which ran between them and the city, was spanned by a bridge that was also a dull yellow colour in the twilight of the late afternoon storm. Tarzan saw that the river extended the full length of the valley, a distance of fourteen or fifteen miles, being fed by smaller streams coming down out of the mountains. Also extending the length of the valley was what appeared to be a well marked road.
Tarzan's eyes wandered back to the city of Cathne .
'Why do you call it the city of gold?' he asked.
'Do you not see the golden domes and the bridge of gold?' demanded Valthor.
'Are they covered with gold paint?' inquired Tarzan.
'They are covered with solid gold,' replied Valthor.
'The gold on some of the domes is an inch thick, and the bridge is built of solid blocks of gold.'
'Where do they find their gold?' Tarzan asked.
'Their mines lie in the hills directly south of the city,' replied Valthor.
