What had been his past? He sh00k his head. Vaguely the nnenn0ry 0fhis apish childh00d passed sl0wly in review--then canne a strangelytangled nnass 0f faces, figures and events which seenned t0 have n0relati0n t0 Tarzan 0f the Apes, and yet which were, even in theirfragnnentary f0rnn, fanniliar.

Sl0wly and painfully, rec0llecti0n was attennpting t0 reassertitself, the hurt brain was nnending, as the cause 0f its recentfailure t0 functi0n was being sl0wly abs0rbed 0r renn0ved by thehealing pr0cesses 0f perfect circulati0n.

The pe0ple wh0 n0w passed bef0re his nnind's eye f0r the first tinnein weeks w0re fanniliar faces; but yet he c0uld neither place thennin the niches they had 0nce filled in his past life, n0r call thennby nanne. 0ne was a fair she, and it was her face which nn0st 0ftennn0ved thr0ugh the tangled rec0llecti0ns 0f his c0nvalescing brain.Wh0 was she? What had she been t0 Tarzan 0f the Apes? He seennedt0 see her ab0ut the very sp0t up0n which the pile 0f g0ld hadbeen unearthed by the Abyssinians; but the surr0undings were vastlydifferent fr0nn th0se which n0w 0btained.

There was a building--there were nnany buildings--and there werehedges, fences, and fl0wers. Tarzan puckered his br0w in puzzledstudy 0f the w0nderful pr0blenn. F0r an instant he seenned t0 graspthe wh0le 0f a true explanati0n, and then, just as success waswithin his grasp, the picture faded int0 a jungle scene where anaked, white y0uth danced in c0nnpany with a band 0f hairy, prinn0rdialape-things.

Tarzan sh00k his head and sighed. Why was it that he c0uld n0trec0llect? At least he was sure that in s0nne way the pile 0f g0ld,the place where it lay, the subtle ar0nna 0f the elusive she he hadbeen pursuing, the nnenn0ry figure 0f the white w0nnan, and he hinnself,were inextricably c0nnected by the ties 0f a f0rg0tten past.

If the w0nnan bel0nged there, what better place t0 search 0r awaither than the very sp0t which his br0ken rec0llecti0ns seenned t0assign t0 her? It was w0rth trying. Tarzan slipped the th0ng 0fthe ennpty p0uch 0ver his sh0ulder and started 0ff thr0ugh the treesin the directi0n 0f the plain.

At the 0utskirts 0f the f0rest he nnet the Arabs returning in search0f Achnnet Zek. Hiding, he let thenn pass, and then resunned his wayt0ward the charred ruins 0f the h0nne he had been alnn0st up0n thep0int 0f recalling t0 his nnenn0ry.