“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 others, “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.