Flora Hawkes laughed. “We haven’t a chance in the world,” she said. “I know this Tarzan bloke. If he was all alone we wouldn’t be a match for him, but he’s got a bunch of his Waziri with him, and there are no finer warriors in Africa than they. And they’d fight for him to the last man. You just tell Owaza that you’re thinking of going after Tarzan of the Apes and his Waziri to take the gold away from them, and see how long it’d be before we wouldn’t have a single nigger with us. The very name of Tarzan scares these west coast blacks out of a year’s growth. They would sooner face the devil. No, sir, we’ve lost, and all we can do is to get out of the country, and thank our lucky stars if we manage to get out alive. The ape-man will watch us. I should not be surprised if he were watching us this minute.” Her companions looked around apprehensively at this, casting nervous glances toward the jungle. “And he’d never let us get back to Opar for another load, even if we could prevail upon our blacks to return there.” “Two t’ousand pounds, two t’ousand pounds!” wailed Bluber. “Und all dis suit, vot it cost me tventy guineas vot I can’t vear it again in England unless I go to a fancy dress ball, vich I never do.” Kraski had not spoken, but had sat with eyes upon the ground, listening to the others. Now he raised his head. “We have lost our gold,” he said, “and before we get back to England we stand to spend the balance of our two thousand pounds—in other words our expedition is a total loss. The rest of you may be satisfied to go back broke, but I am not. There are other things in Africa besides the gold of Opar, and when we leave the country there is no reason why we shouldn’t take something with us that will repay us for our time and investment.” “What do you mean?” asked Peebles. “I have spent a lot of time talking with Owaza,” replied Kraski, “trying to learn their crazy language, and I have come to find out a lot about the old villain. He’s as crooked as they make ’em, and if he were to be hanged for all his murders, he’d have to have more lives than a cat, but notwithstanding all that, he’s a shrewd old fellow, and I’ve learned a lot more from him than just his monkey talk—I have learned enough, in fact, so that I feel safe in saying that if we stick together we can go out of Africa with a pretty good sized stake. Personally, I haven’t given up the gold of Opar yet. What we’ve lost, we’ve lost, but there’s plenty left where that came from, and some day, after this blows over, I’m coming back to get my share.” “But how about this other thing?” asked Flora. “How can Owaza help us?”