Tarzan (book series)

===''The Return of Tarzan'' (1913)===
{{main article|The Return of Tarzan}}
''The Return of Tarzan'' picks up soon after the point at which ''Tarzan of the Apes'' concludes. The ape man, feeling rootless in the wake of his noble sacrifice of his prospects of wedding [[Jane Porter (Tarzan)|Jane Porter]], leaves America for Europe to visit his friend Paul d'Arnot. On the ship he becomes embroiled in the affairs of Countess Olga de Coude, her husband, Count Raoul de Coude, and two shady characters attempting to prey on them, Nikolas Rokoff and his henchman Alexis Paulvitch. Rokoff, it turns out, is also the countess's brother. Tarzan thwarts the villains' scheme, making them his deadly enemies.

Later, in France, Rokoff tries time and again to eliminate the ape man, finally engineering a duel between him and the count by making it appear that he is the countess's lover. Tarzan deliberately refuses to defend himself in the duel, even offering the count his own weapon after the latter fails to kill him with his own, a grand gesture that convinces his antagonist of his innocence. In return, Count Raoul finds him a job as a special agent in the [[Ministry of War (France)|French Ministry of War]]. Tarzan is assigned to service in [[Algeria]].

A sequence of adventures among the local Arabs ensues, including another brush with Rokoff. Afterward Tarzan sails for [[Cape Town]] and strikes up a shipboard acquaintance with Hazel Strong, a friend of Jane's. However, Rokoff and Paulovitch are also aboard, and manage to ambush him and throw him overboard.

Miraculously, Tarzan manages to reach shore in a lifeboat he finds from a derelict ship. He finds himself in the coastal jungle where he was brought up by the apes. He soon rescues and befriends a native warrior, Busuli of the [[Waziri (fictional tribe)|Waziri]], and is adopted into the Waziri tribe. After defeating a raid on their village by [[Ivory trade|ivory raiders]], Tarzan becomes their chief.

The Waziri know of a [[lost city]] deep in the jungle, from which they have obtained their golden ornaments. Tarzan has them take him there, but is captured by its inhabitants, a race of ape-like men, and is condemned to be sacrificed to their sun god. To Tarzan's surprise, the priestess to perform the sacrifice is a beautiful woman who speaks the ape language he learned as a child. She tells him she is [[La (Tarzan)|La]], high priestess of the lost city of [[Opar (fictional city)|Opar]]. When the sacrificial ceremony is fortuitously interrupted, she hides Tarzan and promises to lead him to freedom. But the ape man escapes on his own, locates a treasure chamber, and manages to rejoin the Waziri.

Meanwhile, Hazel Strong has reached Cape Town where she meets Jane and her father, Professor Porter, together with Jane's fiancé, Tarzan's cousin William Cecil Clayton. They are all invited on a cruise up the west coast of Africa aboard the ''Lady Alice'', the yacht of another friend, Lord Tennington. Rokoff, now using the alias of M. Thuran, ingratiates himself with the party and is also invited along. The ''Lady Alice'' crashes into the same derelict ship Tarzan found, and it sinks, forcing the passengers and crew into the lifeboats. The one containing Jane, Clayton and "Thuran" is separated from the others and suffers terrible privations. Coincidentally, the boat finally makes shore in the same general area that Tarzan did. Unknown to the three, it is but a few miles from the landing site of the other life boats.

The three construct a rude shelter and eke out an existence of near starvation. After some weeks, Jane and William Clayton are surprised in the forest by a lion. Clayton loses Jane's respect by cowering in fear before the beast instead of defending her. But, they are saved from attack when the lion is suddenly speared and killed by an unknown hand. Their hidden savior is in fact Tarzan, who leaves without revealing himself due to seeing Jane in the arms of Clayton. Jane breaks off her engagement to Clayton, finally gathering the courage to follow her heart and not marry a man she does not love.

Later Jane is kidnapped and taken to Opar by a party of the Oparian ape-men who were pursuing their escaped sacrifice, Tarzan. The ape man learns of her capture and tracks them, managing to save her from being sacrificed by La, who is crushed by Tarzan's spurning of her for Jane.

Tarzan and Jane make their way up the coast to the former's boyhood cabin, where they encounter the remainder of the castaways of the ''Lady Alice,'' except for Clayton. D'Arnot is there with his naval ship and is preparing to rescue and return the party to civilization. "Thuran" is exposed as Rokoff and arrested. The missing Clayton had been very ill and was abandoned by Rokoff at the location where he, Rokoff and Jane's boat had landed. Jane and Tarzan go to find him, but he dies in spite of Tarzan and Jane's efforts to help him.

Tarzan weds Jane and Tennington weds Hazel in a double ceremony performed by Professor Porter, who had been ordained a minister in his youth. Then they all set sail for civilization, taking along the treasure Tarzan had found in Opar.