Produced by Sankar Viswanathan, Greg Weeks, and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net Transcriber's Note: This etext was produced from Amazing Stories January, February, March 1957. Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed. The Table of Contents is not part of the original magazines [Illustration: They were bent upon rapine and slaughter--and what greater prize than the Queen herself?] QUEST OF THE GOLDEN APE By IVAR JORGENSEN and ADAM CHASE _How could this man awaken with no past--no childhood--no recollection except of a vague world of terror from which his mother cried out for vengeance and the slaughter of his own people stood as a monument of infamy?_ * * * * * CONTENTS CHAPTER I Mansion of Mystery II The Great Clock of Tarth III The Man in the Cavern IV John Pride's Story V Question Upon Question VI On the Plains of Ofrid VII The White God VIII The Brown Virgin IX In Custody X The Road to Nadia XI On the Ice Fields of Nadia XII Volna the Beautiful XIII The Journey of No Return XIV Land Beyond the Stars XV The Golden Ape XVI The Raging Beast XVII The Prison Without Bars * * * * * CHAPTER I _Mansion of Mystery_ In a secluded section of a certain eastern state which must remain nameless, one may leave the main highway and travel up a winding road around tortuous bends and under huge scowling trees, into wooded country. Upon a certain night--the date of which must remain vague--there came a man who faced and was not turned back by a series of psychological barriers along this road which made it more impregnable than a steel wall. These barriers, which had kept out a hundred years of curiosity-seekers until that certain night, were forged by the scientific magic of a genius on a planet far beyond the sun.... The man who boldly followed his headlights up the road was of middle age with calm, honest eyes and a firm mouth indicating bargains made in his name would be kept. He pushed on, feeling the subtle force of the psychological powers against him but resisting because he vaguely understood them. He left his car presently and raised his hand to touch the hard outline of a small book he carried in his breast pocket and with the gesture his determination hardened. He set his jaw firmly, snapped on the flashlight he had taken from the dash of his convertible and moved on up the road.