For a long time James Parker, tall, grizzled Englishman who had lived for many years in Africa, had dreamed of finding the fortune of ivory which lay in the hidden Burial Ground. Finally Parker, with his daughter, Jane, and a young English adventurer, Harry Holt, decided to set forth on the long, dangerous search for the secret Graveyard. With the help of their faithful gun-bearer, Riano, they prepared a huge safari, the African name for a caravan of native burden-bearers carrying food and supplies on a trip through the jungles.

Early one morning they started on their journey. Day after day they hacked their way with sharp axes through the dense underbrush, following the dark waters of streams and faint animal trails, hunting always for the stone cliff which barred the way to the Burial Ground of the Elephants.

Finally, after along, weary weeks of travelling, they reached the Mutia Escarpment which they were seeking. The natives crouched in fear behind the white men, afraid of the unknown which lay beyond that wall of rock.

With his stinging whip Riano forced the black men to their feet. Slowly the safari stumbled upward along the faint thread of an elephant trail. After long hours of climbing they reached the top and threw themselves on the ground to rest.

Through the leaves above the safari came a troupe of apes, swinging lightly from branch to branch. In their midst was a tall, slim, tanned figure, dressed only in a leopard skin. The muscles of his legs and arms rippled as he stopped suddenly and swayed gracefully on a slender branch.

The apes went on their noisy way through the trees. But the man in the leopard skin stood silently, gazing down in startled wonder upon the safari beneath him. Tarzan was looking upon his first white man.

"He's white, Father," Jane whispered, "He's a man. Not an ape. Talk to him. Riano, please. Ask him to come down."

Riano spoke to him in the language of several jungle tribes. But Tarzan did not answer. He merely looked down with his wondering, blue eyes. Then, after a long time, he dropped lightly to the ground in front of Jane.

Parker and Holt gripped their guns as Tarzan stared at them.

Suddenly there was a faint rustling in the underbrush. Quickly Parker and Holt turned, just as a row of dark, ugly Pygmy heads disappeared among the leaves. When the two white men turned back, Tarzan and Jane were gone.

With one swift, silent movement Tarzan had gathered the girl under his strong, bare arm and had noiselessly slipped away into the dense underbrush which covered the cliff. Desperately the safari started in pursuit of the white King of the Apes and his prisoner. But they lost the trail. The jungle swallowed Tarzan and Jane in its mysterious darkness.

After a long time of silent staring, Tarzan made chewing noises with his mouth and pointed to the ground beneath, trying to tell Jane that he was hungry and that he would bring food. When the girl's smile told him that she understood, he swung rapidly through the treetops in search of food.

A short time later, when he was returning with fresh meat form his kill, a strange sight met Tarzan's eyes. He crouched unseen against a tree trunk. Beneath his house stood the white and black men with long shiny sticks in their hands. A huge ape was standing on the branch beside Jane, snarling down at the men, protecting the girl in Tarzan's absence. Suddenly fire and noise burned from one of the shiny sticks and the ape fell screaming to the ground.

Then Tarzan saw Jane slide into her father's waiting arms. He watched the safari rapidly push its way out of sight through the underbrush.

Quickly Tarzan ran to the side of the fallen ape. A look of cold fury came into his blue eyes when he saw that the animal was lifeless. Gripping his knife, he set out in pursuit of the white men. He was going to avenge his friend of the jungle.

Finally the safari reached its camp. Jane tried to explain to her father and Holt that Tarzan was not an animal, that he was a human being who had been kind to her. Startled by a faint noise, they looked up to see Tarzan and a huge ape poised in the branches above their heads.

Parker and Holt reached for their guns but Jane stopped them. Slowly she walked forward until she stood beneath the branch where Tarzan and the ape were whispering together. Softly she called to Tarzan, asking him to come down.