His brain
told him that the chest contained something valuable, or the
men would not have hidden it. His training had taught him to
imitate whatever was new and unusual, and now the natural
curiosity, which is as common to men as to apes, prompted
him to open the chest and examine its contents.
But the heavy lock and massive iron bands baffled both his
cunning and his immense strength, so that he was compelled
to bury the chest without having his curiosity satisfied.
By the time Tarzan had hunted his way back to the vicinity
of the cabin, feeding as he went, it was quite dark.
Within the little building a light was burning, for Clayton
had found an unopened tin of oil which had stood intact for
twenty years, a part of the supplies left with the Claytons by
Black Michael. The lamps also were still useable, and thus
the interior of the cabin appeared as bright as day to the
astonished Tarzan.
He had often wondered at the exact purpose of the lamps.
His reading and the pictures had told him what they were,
but he had no idea of how they could be made to produce
the wondrous sunlight that some of his pictures had
portrayed them as diffusing upon all surrounding objects.
As he approached the window nearest the door he saw that
the cabin had been divided into two rooms by a rough
partition of boughs and sailcloth.
In the front room were the three men; the two older deep
in argument, while the younger, tilted back against the wall
on an improvised stool, was deeply engrossed in reading one
of Tarzan's books.
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