Chap­ter 14 — A Priest­ess But Yet a Woman fol­lows La as she nav­i­gates her feel­ings for Tarzan, torn between love and her desire for vengeance. Through­out their per­ilous jour­ney through the jun­gle, La finds her­self rely­ing more on Tarzan and grow­ing clos­er to him, despite the inter­nal con­flict she faces. Her emo­tions are a mix­ture of affec­tion for him and the burn­ing need to avenge her peo­ple, reflect­ing her dual nature as both a priest­ess and a pas­sion­ate woman. When the duo is con­front­ed by Tan­tor, Tarzan’s strength saves them, deep­en­ing La’s admi­ra­tion and respect for him. After reach­ing the safe­ty of the ground, La’s ear­li­er fears of being killed by her fol­low­ers are soothed by Tarzan, who reas­sures her that he will speak to them and resolve the sit­u­a­tion.

La’s encounter with her peo­ple high­lights the ten­sion between her respon­si­bil­i­ties as a leader and her rela­tion­ship with Tarzan. When sum­moned, her fol­low­ers show resis­tance, hes­i­tant to accept her back, and they express a desire to con­tin­ue pur­su­ing the sac­ri­fi­cial plan for Tarzan. How­ev­er, Tarzan steps in with author­i­ty, using his pres­ence and nego­ti­a­tion skills to cre­ate a com­pro­mise, ensur­ing La’s safe­ty among her peo­ple. Despite some reluc­tance, espe­cial­ly from Cadj, the High Priest, Tarzan’s ulti­ma­tum is ulti­mate­ly accept­ed, and a frag­ile peace is achieved. Before part­ing ways, La con­fess­es her hopes for Tarzan’s return, her words reveal­ing her deep­er affec­tion for him. As Tarzan departs, reflect­ing on the tran­sient nature of his encoun­ters and his pri­mal exis­tence, La returns to Opar, her heart heavy with long­ing for him. This chap­ter delves into the emo­tion­al com­plex­i­ties of La, por­tray­ing her as both a pow­er­ful priest­ess and a woman deeply moved by love.

In the lat­ter part of the chap­ter, Tarzan’s relent­less pur­suit of the thief who stole the jew­els of Opar takes cen­ter stage. His deter­mi­na­tion to recov­er the trea­sure is evi­dent as he uses his remark­able track­ing skills to fol­low the thief through the jun­gle. The obsta­cles that he faces only fuel his resolve, as Tarzan’s bond with the nat­ur­al world enhances his abil­i­ty to nav­i­gate and sur­vive in the jun­gle. Despite the pas­sage of time and the chal­lenges that arise, Tarzan’s ded­i­ca­tion to reclaim­ing the stolen jew­els remains unwa­ver­ing, show­cas­ing his com­mit­ment to jus­tice and his sense of duty. This pur­suit is not just about the trea­sure, but also about right­ing a wrong, fur­ther empha­siz­ing Tarzan’s hon­or and relent­less spir­it.

The nar­ra­tive shifts to Tarzan’s infil­tra­tion of the thief’s vil­lage, a task that demands both cun­ning and patience. As he moves stealth­ily through the vil­lage, Tarzan uses his knowl­edge of the jun­gle and his instincts to search for the stolen jew­els. Even though Tarzan is skilled in these types of encoun­ters, he faces sig­nif­i­cant chal­lenges with­in the vil­lage, test­ing his resource­ful­ness and adapt­abil­i­ty. This moment high­lights Tarzan’s abil­i­ty to over­come obsta­cles, whether they are phys­i­cal or men­tal, rein­forc­ing his sta­tus as a hero in the sto­ry. The chap­ter reach­es a turn­ing point when Tarzan dis­cov­ers the thief’s scent in a tent, indi­cat­ing that his quest is approach­ing its cli­max. The dis­cov­ery builds sus­pense and sets the stage for the res­o­lu­tion of his pur­suit, while also high­light­ing his pri­mal instincts and deter­mi­na­tion.

The jux­ta­po­si­tion of Tarzan’s sur­vival instincts with his emo­tion­al depth is a key ele­ment in this chap­ter. His pur­suit of the thief is dri­ven by a strong sense of jus­tice, yet it is also framed by his com­plex feel­ings and the rela­tion­ships he has formed. Tarzan is not just a hero bat­tling against exter­nal forces, but a mul­ti­fac­eted char­ac­ter grap­pling with the emo­tion­al and moral com­plex­i­ties of his world. His actions in the jun­gle, from res­cu­ing La to hunt­ing down the thief, reflect his unwa­ver­ing com­mit­ment to both his sense of duty and his own inter­nal code of ethics. As the chap­ter pro­gress­es, read­ers are giv­en a deep­er insight into Tarzan’s nature, show­cas­ing the bal­ance between his pri­mal instincts and his more noble inten­tions. The ongo­ing pur­suit and the res­o­lu­tion of the trea­sure hunt promise to con­tin­ue weav­ing togeth­er action, emo­tion, and moral chal­lenges as Tarzan’s jour­ney unfolds.