Chapter 24 Tarzan Returns to Opa City

When Clayton returned to the shack and there was no sign of Jenny Potter, he was driven almost mad with terror and grief.Mr. Thrane was quite lucid, and the high fever suddenly subsided, which is also one of the characteristics of "jungle fever".The Russian, weak and exhausted, was still lying on the grass in the hut. "I didn't hear any strange noises," he said. "I was unconscious at that time." If Thrane's body was not really very weak, Clayton might suspect that he knew the whereabouts of Miss Jenny.But it could be seen that Thrane would not even have the strength to climb down from the hut without someone helping him.The current physical condition does not allow him to harm Jenny. If he did something bad, he would not have the strength to step on the rough ladder and climb back to the shack.

Clayton turned around in the nearby jungle, hoping to find the traces left by Jenny, or to find clues to the hijackers, but he found nothing until it was dark.In fact, those 50 terrible people left many traces in the jungle because of their lack of forest knowledge.These traces are as obvious to even the most foolish "bushlinger" as the Broad High Street is to Clayton. However, he walked back and forth twenty times, and he did not see that many people had passed by here only a few hours ago. Clayton called out the girl's name while searching, but the only result was to attract a lion.Happily, he spotted the gigantic creature stalking towards him in time, and before the lion could pounce, he climbed up a tall tree and hid himself among the thick leaves.This afternoon's search was over.Because the lion had been walking back and forth under the big tree, it got dark and left.

It was dark all around, and after the lion left, Clayton didn't dare to get down from the tree, so he had to lie down among the branches of the big tree and spend a frightening night.He returned to the beach the next morning, giving up his last hope of finding Jenny. During the next week, Mr. Thrane quickly regained his strength.He lay in the shack to rest, and Clayton went out to find food.Neither of the two men spoke unless absolutely necessary.Clayton is now living where Jenny Potter used to live, and only goes to see him when he delivers food and water to Thrane, or fulfills other humanitarian obligations.

By the time Thrane was able to get down to the ground to find food, Clayton had "bush fever." He was delirious for several days, lying in the shack tossing and turning, feeling terribly uncomfortable.But the Russian didn't even look at him once.The hunger is bearable, but the lack of water is the greatest torture for him.Clayton, in spite of his frail health, had to manage once a day, between periods of stupor, to climb to the edge of the creek and fetch water from a small canister—one of the "equipment" on the lifeboat. At such times, Thrane looked at him gloatingly, with an evil, vicious, and happy expression on his face.He seemed indeed to take pleasure in Clayton's misery, quite forgetting that the Englishman, who had every reason to despise him, had served him to the best of his ability while he was suffering likewise.

At last Clayton was too weak to crawl out of the shed to fetch water.He was dying of thirst, but he gritted his teeth and endured it all day without begging the Russian Lun.Afterwards it was unbearable, so he asked Thrane to bring him some water to drink. The Russian crawled to the entrance on Clayton's side, holding a small bowl of water in his hand, and a smirk distorted his face. "Water is plentiful," he said, "but first let me remind you that you once slandered me in front of that girl. You left her to yourself and not to share with me..." Clayton interrupted him. "Shut up!" he yelled, "Shut up! What a wicked dog you are! To slander a nice girl we all thought was dead. Good God, I was foolish enough to let you live. You don't deserve to live. You don't deserve to live on this land, evil though it is."

"Look, here's the water!" said the Russian. "You'll gulp it down." He lifted up his little bowl and gurgled it himself, pouring the rest on the floor. Then turning his head, walk away. Clayton rolled over and buried his face in his arms, not wanting to argue with him any further. The next day, Thrane decided to go north along the coast. He reckoned that he would find a place where civilized people lived, and even if he couldn't find it, no matter where he went, it would be no worse than staying here.Besides, the dying, delirious Englishman talked nonsense all the time and kept him restless.

So he stole Clayton's spear and set out on a journey.He originally wanted to end the patient before leaving, but he thought that he would do good by doing so, so he gave up. He saw a small wooden house standing tall on the beach that day.Seeing that the civilized world was approaching, Thrane was full of hope.He thought it must be the edge of a residential area.If he had known whose house it was, if he had known that the owner of the house was at this moment in the jungle a few miles from the beach, Nicholas Zhukov would have run away like the plague. But being ignorant of this, he lived safely in the cabin for a few days, enjoying the comforts of the cabin, and then continued northward.

At Lord Tennington's camp, they were building a long-term house before sending a few men north to find help. Days passed, and the expected "savior" never came, and everyone's hope that Jenny Potter, Clayton, and Thrane had been saved was completely dashed.No one brought up the subject with Professor Porter, and the professor was so engrossed in that scientific dream that he did not feel the passage of time. Sometimes, he said, within a few days, he would definitely see a steamer break down in the harbor ahead of them, and then he and his daughter would be happily reunited.Sometimes it is said that it is a train that will come to pick them up, and now it may be blocked by a snowstorm.

"If I hadn't gotten to know this strange old man very well now," said Tannington to Miss Strong, "I must think he's out of his mind." "It would be ridiculous, if not tragic." The girl said sadly, "I have known him since I was a child, and I know how much he loves Jenny. In the eyes of others, he must feel that he is indifferent to the fate of his daughter. In fact, he is not. It is only because he has devoted himself to those illusory scientific researches that he has the current performance.He would never have believed that his daughter was dead if he hadn't had solid evidence in front of him. "

"You'd never imagine what he looked like yesterday," continued Tennington. "I came back from hunting and saw him hurrying down the path I took back to camp, his hands in the 'swallowtails' of his frock coat. ’ He was cut backwards, with the top hat on his head, and his eyes were fixed on the ground. If he hadn’t met me, he might have been eaten by some wild beast all of a sudden. "'Where are you going, Professor?' I asked. "Go into town, Lord Tennington!" he said gravely. "I'm going to sue the postmaster. They do a terrible job of delivering. You see, sir, I haven't had a piece of mail for weeks." No! But in fact, Jenny has written me several letters.

This matter must be reported to Washington immediately. ' "Can you believe it, Miss Strong?" said Lord Tennington. "It took me a long time to convince the old man that not only is there no courier here, but there is no city. And we not only It belongs to two continents with Washington, and it is not in the same hemisphere. "That's when the old man began to worry about his daughter. I think it must be the first time he really realizes the difficulty of our situation, and realizes that Miss Potter may not be saved at all." "I don't want to think about it," said the girl, "but actually I can't think of anything but missing friends from our gang." "Let's look for the best," Tannington replied. "You set a fine example for us all by being so brave. Because, in a sense, you have the most to lose." "Yes," she answered, "I'm closer to Jenny than to my own sister." Tennington showed no surprise that he felt.What he just said didn't really mean Jenny.Since the wreck of the "Alice", he has often stayed with this lovely Maryland girl. Recently, he felt that he liked Miss Strong more and more, and his heart was getting more and more restless.He thought now and then of Mr. Thrane's confidence in telling him that Miss Strong was going to be engaged to him.He wondered if Mr. Thrane could have said it with any certainty. As far as the girl was concerned, he never seemed to see any sign of more than ordinary friendship with him. "Then if something happens to Mr. Thrane--if something happens to them all--you'll suffer even more," he ventured. She raised her head quickly. "As a friend, Selan Enguangsheng is very good." She said, "Although the time I spent with him was short, I liked him very much." "So you don't intend to marry him?" he blurted out. "My God! No!" she exclaimed. "He's not the man for me." Lord Tennington seemed to have something more to say to Miss Hazel Strong, and would have liked to say it very much, at once.But I don't know why, what I want to say is always stuck in my throat and I can't say it.He cleared his throat, flushed, and tried twice without success.In the end, I had no choice but to end the conversation with "I hope the house will be built before the rainy season". However, although he didn't know it himself, he had actually conveyed exactly what he wanted to express to the girl.The girl was very happy, happier than she had ever been in her life. At this moment, a very strange and terrifying figure appeared in the jungle south of the camp.Both Tennington and Miss Strong saw the monster. The Lord hastily drew out his revolver.But the bearded, almost naked savage ran past, calling his name loudly.Tennington put down his gun-raising hand and went up to him. No one would have thought that this dirty, haggard monster wearing only a waistcoat made of animal skins was the well-dressed and spotless Mr. Thrane they had seen on the deck of the "Alice". Before telling anyone about Thrane's return, Tennington and Miss Strong eagerly asked him about the whereabouts of the others in the boat. "They're all dead," Thrane replied. "The three crew members died before the boat floated to the beach. Miss Potter was snatched away by wild animals in the woods when I was delirious with a high fever. Leighton also had 'bush fever' and died a few days earlier. Ah, how bad it is that we are only a few miles apart, less than a day's journey, these days! " How long Jenny Potter lay lying in the basement beneath the great temple in the ancient city of Opa.For a few days she had a high fever and was unconscious. After the fever subsided, she slowly began to regain her strength.The woman who brought her meals gestured to her every day to stand up.But for many days, the girl could only shake her head to show that she was too weak to stand up. Slowly she was finally able to stand up, leaning on the wall with one hand, and staggered up a few steps.The monsters who had captured her now showed increasing interest in her.Jenny's physical strength is recovering day by day, and that terrible day is approaching day by day. That day has finally arrived.A young woman whom Jenny Potter had never seen before entered the dungeon with several other women.They began to perform some kind of ritual here.Jenny judged the ritual to be religious, and a new hope arose in her heart.She thought she had fallen into the hands of a group of civilized people who were obviously under the influence of religion, and she was convinced that they would treat her with humanism. They led her out of the dungeon, down several long, dark corridors, up a flight of concrete steps, and into a bright courtyard.Jenny followed, even a little happy, because didn't she stay with God's servant?Of course, their beliefs may not be the same as her own, but believing in God is enough to convince her that they are kind and friendly. But when she saw the stone altar in the middle of the yard, and the dark brown blood stains on the altar and the cement floor under the altar, she suddenly became suspicious.And her doubts turned to fear as they bent down and tied her ankles and tied her hands behind her back.After a while, she was laid across the altar, and her hope disappeared immediately, and her whole body was trembling with pain and fear. Those "good men and believers" danced very strangely. No need to look at the sharp steel knife slowly raised in the hand of the high priestess, she already understood what a terrible fate awaited her. The hand holding the steel knife began to fall, and Jenny Potter silently prayed to the Creator who was about to meet.Later, she finally passed out due to excessive nervous tension. The orangutan Taishan traveled day and night, passing through virgin forests, and galloping towards the ruins of the ancient city.He concluded that the woman he loved had either been imprisoned in a dungeon, or a ghost under the knife, and had died. Tarzan the ape climbed very fast in the "middle passage" of the big forest, so he was much faster than the fifty monsters walking on the tangled vines and obstacles in the forest path.He walked in a day and a night what they had walked in a week. The story told by the ape told him clearly that the girl who had been taken by the wildlings was Jenny Potter.Because there is no second "white-skinned, short female ape" in the jungle.Based on the ape's rough description, he also decided that the wild men who had taken Jenny must be those ugly, poor human "imitations" that lived in Opa City.As for Miss Jenny's fate, he could picture it in his mind as if he saw it with his own eyes.When they put her on that terrible altar, he couldn't predict, but it was certain that her beautiful and delicate body would eventually find its old home on this altar. After what seemed like a long century, the impatient Tarzan finally climbed the cliffs that towered above the desolate valley, and the eerie ruins of the city of Opa lay at his feet.He trotted all the way, stepping on the flying dust and gravel everywhere, and went straight to the destination of this trip. Can he get to the hall in time to rescue Jenny?He still holds out a glimmer of hope.And at least get revenge anyway.In a fit of rage, he felt he could literally raze this terrible city to the ground.About noon, he came to the boulder.The top of the stone is the secret passage leading to the "hell" below the ruins.Like a cat, he climbed this huge piece of granite very deftly, and soon got into the dark, straight tunnel that communicated with the treasure house.After coming out of the treasure house, go further to the ancient well, and opposite the ancient well is the dungeon with a false wall. He stopped by the well for a while, and heard a faint voice coming from above the wellhead.Tarzan's sensitive ears immediately heard that the ceremony of sacrifice to the god of fire had begun. The male priests were dancing the "death dance" and the high priestess was singing that monotonous song.He could even make out the girl's voice. Could this be the ritual he had rushed to prevent?A wave of fear ran through him.Is he a step late?Like a frightened deer, he strode across the ancient well and got into the opposite passage.In the blink of an eye, he had come to the false wall.He frantically removed the obstacles that stood in his way.When the small hole was just big enough to accommodate the head and shoulders, he plunged into it and struggled forward with all his strength. The dismantled masonry clattered behind him onto the concrete floor of the basement. He jumped out of the secret room in one step, but was blocked by a long-standing door.The other side of the gate is supported by a strong top bar. Although Taishan is extremely powerful, he cannot compete with it.As long as he tries a little bit, he will understand that it is absolutely impossible to break into the door.There was but one way out now, and that was to go back the way we had come, and retreat to the gigantic block of granite a mile from the wall.After climbing down from there, like the last time I came with the warriors of the Wanqirui tribe, I walked in through the narrow passage of the city wall. Taishan knew in his heart that he would not be able to save her life in time if he went back the same way and entered the city by the ground—if it was indeed Jenny Potter who was put on the altar to worship the Vulcan.But there was really no other way, so he had no choice but to turn around, break through the wall, and run quickly along the dark passage.Running to the ancient well, he heard the monotonous singing of the high priestess again. He glanced up, and the mouth of the well was still 20 feet away from him.But in distress, he seemed to feel that the mouth of the well was very close, and he really wanted to jump up and rush into the hall that was very close at hand. The round mouth of the well above the head makes people look anxious.If only he could tie the rope he carried with him to some protrusion at the head of the well!As he thought about it, he stopped for a moment, and an idea flashed through his mind.He decided to put all his eggs in one basket.So he hurried back and picked up a large stone slab from under the wall with a hole open.Hastily fastening the rope securely to the granite rock, he returned to the ancient well and coiled the remaining rope on the floor at his feet.The ape Tarzan lifted the heavy stone slab with both hands, and shook it back and forth several times in order to throw it out of the wellhead accurately.He kept the stone at an angle when it flew out, so that it would not fall back into the well, but could pass by the well and roll into the yard. Taishan slowly pulled the rope, and gradually felt that the stone slab was firmly stuck at the mouth of the well, and then he swung out under the black bottomless abyss.When the weight of his whole body fell on the rope, Tarzan felt the rope slip from above, and he hung in mid-air, waiting anxiously.The rope loosened and tightened, sliding down inch by inch.The flagstones creaked and creaked around the mouth of the well.Can it get stuck at the well?Or would the weight of his body pull the slab down on his head, and fall with him into the unfathomable abyss beneath his feet?