The First and Only Online Fanzine Devoted to the Life and Works of Edgar Rice Burroughs Master of Imaginative Fantasy Adventure  Creator of Tarzan  and "Grandfather of American Science Fiction"

CHAPTER 19

Atan Thome joins the Tarzan-Gregory safari and agrees to proceed with them to their common goal, Tuen Baka and the Forbidden City of Ashair, under the leadership of the apeman. Tarzan and his friends are searching for Helen Gregory’s brother, Brian, while Thome is after the legendary gem of the Hesiharians, the Father of Diamonds. Helen vanishes mysteriously and Tarzan, leaving the expedition to proceed under Thome and D’Arnot, goes in search of her.  On the trail, Larson stumbles into what appears to be a man-built causeway and D’Arnot finds, scratched on the wall, words printed in English.

The party is surprised to discover the words, “Helen Captive” written upside down on the wall of the underground causeway. The party decide to follow the causeway but the natives refuse to go further,  believing that the area is taboo and is full of devils. Atan Thome, Magra, D’Arnot, Wolf and Larson sort through the supplies and pick out the bare necessities. They then continue on through the causeway without the bearers.  They determine that the walls of the causeway are constructed of huge stone blocks and that the structure must have been a water route for beasts in ancient times. Further on, the walls display grotesque warnings – death skulls carved into the rock. They sense that they are being watched. As they approach the moonlight at the end of the causeway, they hear Tarzan’s blood-curdling victory cry in the distance.

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CHAPTER 20

Atan Thome, seeking a legendary gem known as the Father of Diamonds and said to be hidden in the Forbidden City of Ashair, has joined the Gregory safari. Helen Gregory is searching for her brother Brian whom she believes is in Ashair. Encamped in the jungle, Helen mysteriously vanishes from the safari and Tarzan goes in search of her. D’Arnot discovers scratched on the wall of an ancient causeway, a clue to Helen’s whereabouts and the party proceeds along the age-old riverbed without their bearers who have refused to accompany them farther because of a taboo in the region – and desert. Arriving near the end of the causeway, the party hears Tarzan’s kill cry in the distance. Atan Thome warns that the victory cry they have heard may have come from the great talking apes of Ashair. D’Arnot is sure he recognizes Tarzan’s voice and rushes on to greet Tarzan at the edge of the moonlit jungle.

D’Arnot is disappointed to learn that Tarzan has found no trace of Helen. Tarzan believes that she has been taken to Ashair. Atan Thome explains that Tuen Baka is an extinct volcano and Ashair lies within its crater. Tarzan leads them toward the carcass of Aorta, the boar, which he has killed for meat. He points out Tuen Baka volcano in the distance and informs them that a well-travelled road leads back right to the mountain. He also warns them that the area is filled with dangerous prehistoric animals. After feasting on boar meat, Wolf and Thome walk from the camp to stretch their legs – and to converse. Wolf expresses his dislike for Tarzan and his desire for Magra. They argue about who will claim Magra and the treasure – Wolf threatens Thome and a shot is fires.

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Chapter 21

Helen Gregory vanishes from Tarzan’s party as if swallowed by the earth. After searching vainly for days, Tarzan joins the remainder of the group at themouth of an ancient causeway, wherein positive trace of Helen has been found. Before Tarzan and his friends lies a vast stretch of volcanic rock rising in the distance to form the gleaming cone of Tuen Baka, the Mountain of Sunrise. Because they regard this strange land as taboo, the natives leave and the little party goes on without them. Thome and Wolf wander away from camp to look over the forbidding prospect they must face on the morrow. An argument ensues, bitter words follow, until enraged, Wolf whips out his gun. Bang! Thome has seen the German reaching for his pistol. Like a flash he stoops to grasp Wolf’s leg – the shot goes wide. A vicious twist and the German falls to the ground – his gun flying through the moonlit night. Before Wolf can move Tarzan is upon him, knife in hand.

Alarmed by the sound of the shot, Tarzan and his party race in to pull the combatants apart and to demand an explanation. Thome replies that the fight was over Magra, who actually is Thome’s ward. He had given his word to Magra’s dead father that he would look after her, in fact he loves her and hopes to marry her.Wolf is ordered to back off and to cooperate because they have a long hard journey ahead of them. Thome tells all he knows about the Father of Diamonds, information from an old witch doctor which Brian Gregory had recorded in his diary. All he knows is that the diamond is kept in a temple under the guard of talking apes. He believes that both Brian and Helen Gregory are prisoners of the city of Ashair.

D’Arnot takes the first watch and Magra joins him to offer consolation over his loss of Helen. Magra confesses that she loves Tarzan. D’Arnot explains that Tarzan loves a beautiful American girl and explains why she did not marry him. Suddenly Magra screams. She has seen a glowing death mask coming toward her in the trees. Tarzan stops D’Arnot from firing at the apparition as it opens its ghostly lips and speaks.
 

DIAMOND OF ASHER ~ SERIAL SUMMARIES