diff options
Diffstat (limited to '2020.txt')
| -rw-r--r-- | 2020.txt | 10335 |
1 files changed, 10335 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/2020.txt b/2020.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..5cb02f8 --- /dev/null +++ b/2020.txt @@ -0,0 +1,10335 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Tarzan the Terrible, by Edgar Rice Burroughs + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Tarzan the Terrible + +Author: Edgar Rice Burroughs + +Posting Date: November 19, 2008 [EBook #2020] +Release Date: January, 2000 +[Last updated: July 28, 2012] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK TARZAN THE TERRIBLE *** + + + + +Produced by Judy Boss. + + + + + + + + + +Tarzan the Terrible + + +By + +Edgar Rice Burroughs + + + + + +CHAPTER + + I The Pithecanthropus + II "To the Death!" + III Pan-at-lee + IV Tarzan-jad-guru + V In the Kor-ul-GRYF + VI The Tor-o-don + VII Jungle Craft + VIII A-lur + IX Blood-Stained Altars + X The Forbidden Garden + XI The Sentence of Death + XII The Giant Stranger + XIII The Masquerader + XIV The Temple of the Gryf + XV "The King Is Dead!" + XVI The Secret Way + XVII By Jad-bal-lul + XVIII The Lion Pit of Tu-lur + XIX Diana of the Jungle + XX Silently in the Night + XXI The Maniac + XXII A Journey on a Gryf + XXIII Taken Alive + XXIV The Messenger of Death + XXV Home + Glossary + + + + + +1 + +The Pithecanthropus + +Silent as the shadows through which he moved, the great beast slunk +through the midnight jungle, his yellow-green eyes round and staring, +his sinewy tail undulating behind him, his head lowered and flattened, +and every muscle vibrant to the thrill of the hunt. The jungle moon +dappled an occasional clearing which the great cat was always careful +to avoid. Though he moved through thick verdure across a carpet of +innumerable twigs, broken branches, and leaves, his passing gave forth +no sound that might have been apprehended by dull human ears. + +Apparently less cautious was the hunted thing moving even as silently +as the lion a hundred paces ahead of the tawny carnivore, for instead +of skirting the moon-splashed natural clearings it passed directly +across them, and by the tortuous record of its spoor it might indeed be +guessed that it sought these avenues of least resistance, as well it +might, since, unlike its grim stalker, it walked erect upon two +feet--it walked upon two feet and was hairless except for a black +thatch upon its head; its arms were well shaped and muscular; its hands +powerful and slender with long tapering fingers and thumbs reaching +almost to the first joint of the index fingers. Its legs too were +shapely but its feet departed from the standards of all races of men, +except possibly a few of the lowest races, in that the great toes +protruded at right angles from the foot. + +Pausing momentarily in the full light of the gorgeous African moon the +creature turned an attentive ear to the rear and then, his head lifted, +his features might readily have been discerned in the moonlight. They +were strong, clean cut, and regular--features that would have attracted +attention for their masculine beauty in any of the great capitals of +the world. But was this thing a man? It would have been hard for a +watcher in the trees to have decided as the lion's prey resumed its way +across the silver tapestry that Luna had laid upon the floor of the +dismal jungle, for from beneath the loin cloth of black fur that +girdled its thighs there depended a long hairless, white tail. + +In one hand the creature carried a stout club, and suspended at its +left side from a shoulder belt was a short, sheathed knife, while a +cross belt supported a pouch at its right hip. Confining these straps +to the body and also apparently supporting the loin cloth was a broad +girdle which glittered in the moonlight as though encrusted with virgin +gold, and was clasped in the center of the belly with a huge buckle of +ornate design that scintillated as with precious stones. + +Closer and closer crept Numa, the lion, to his intended victim, and +that the latter was not entirely unaware of his danger was evidenced by +the increasing frequency with which he turned his ear and his sharp +black eyes in the direction of the cat upon his trail. He did not +greatly increase his speed, a long swinging walk where the open places +permitted, but he loosened the knife in its scabbard and at all times +kept his club in readiness for instant action. + +Forging at last through a narrow strip of dense jungle vegetation the +man-thing broke through into an almost treeless area of considerable +extent. For an instant he hesitated, glancing quickly behind him and +then up at the security of the branches of the great trees waving +overhead, but some greater urge than fear or caution influenced his +decision apparently, for he moved off again across the little plain +leaving the safety of the trees behind him. At greater or less +intervals leafy sanctuaries dotted the grassy expanse ahead of him and +the route he took, leading from one to another, indicated that he had +not entirely cast discretion to the winds. But after the second tree +had been left behind the distance to the next was considerable, and it +was then that Numa walked from the concealing cover of the jungle and, +seeing his quarry apparently helpless before him, raised his tail +stiffly erect and charged. + +Two months--two long, weary months filled with hunger, with thirst, +with hardships, with disappointment, and, greater than all, with +gnawing pain--had passed since Tarzan of the Apes learned from the +diary of the dead German captain that his wife still lived. A brief +investigation in which he was enthusiastically aided by the +Intelligence Department of the British East African Expedition revealed +the fact that an attempt had been made to keep Lady Jane in hiding in +the interior, for reasons of which only the German High Command might +be cognizant. + +In charge of Lieutenant Obergatz and a detachment of native German +troops she had been sent across the border into the Congo Free State. + +Starting out alone in search of her, Tarzan had succeeded in finding +the village in which she had been incarcerated only to learn that she +had escaped months before, and that the German officer had disappeared +at the same time. From there on the stories of the chiefs and the +warriors whom he quizzed, were vague and often contradictory. Even the +direction that the fugitives had taken Tarzan could only guess at by +piecing together bits of fragmentary evidence gleaned from various +sources. + +Sinister conjectures were forced upon him by various observations which +he made in the village. One was incontrovertible proof that these +people were man-eaters; the other, the presence in the village of +various articles of native German uniforms and equipment. At great risk +and in the face of surly objection on the part of the chief, the +ape-man made a careful inspection of every hut in the village from +which at least a little ray of hope resulted from the fact that he +found no article that might have belonged to his wife. + +Leaving the village he had made his way toward the southwest, crossing, +after the most appalling hardships, a vast waterless steppe covered for +the most part with dense thorn, coming at last into a district that had +probably never been previously entered by any white man and which was +known only in the legends of the tribes whose country bordered it. Here +were precipitous mountains, well-watered plateaus, wide plains, and +vast swampy morasses, but neither the plains, nor the plateaus, nor the +mountains were accessible to him until after weeks of arduous effort he +succeeded in finding a spot where he might cross the morasses--a +hideous stretch infested by venomous snakes and other larger dangerous +reptiles. On several occasions he glimpsed at distances or by night +what might have been titanic reptilian monsters, but as there were +hippopotami, rhinoceri, and elephants in great numbers in and about the +marsh he was never positive that the forms he saw were not of these. + +When at last he stood upon firm ground after crossing the morasses he +realized why it was that for perhaps countless ages this territory had +defied the courage and hardihood of the heroic races of the outer world +that had, after innumerable reverses and unbelievable suffering +penetrated to practically every other region, from pole to pole. + +From the abundance and diversity of the game it might have appeared +that every known species of bird and beast and reptile had sought here +a refuge wherein they might take their last stand against the +encroaching multitudes of men that had steadily spread themselves over +the surface of the earth, wresting the hunting grounds from the lower +orders, from the moment that the first ape shed his hair and ceased to +walk upon his knuckles. Even the species with which Tarzan was +familiar showed here either the results of a divergent line of +evolution or an unaltered form that had been transmitted without +variation for countless ages. + +Too, there were many hybrid strains, not the least interesting of which +to Tarzan was a yellow and black striped lion. Smaller than the species +with which Tarzan was familiar, but still a most formidable beast, +since it possessed in addition to sharp saber-like canines the +disposition of a devil. To Tarzan it presented evidence that tigers had +once roamed the jungles of Africa, possibly giant saber-tooths of +another epoch, and these apparently had crossed with lions with the +resultant terrors that he occasionally encountered at the present day. + +The true lions of this new, Old World differed but little from those +with which he was familiar; in size and conformation they were almost +identical, but instead of shedding the leopard spots of cubhood, they +retained them through life as definitely marked as those of the leopard. + +Two months of effort had revealed no slightest evidence that she he +sought had entered this beautiful yet forbidding land. His +investigation, however, of the cannibal village and his questioning of +other tribes in the neighborhood had convinced him that if Lady Jane +still lived it must be in this direction that he seek her, since by a +process of elimination he had reduced the direction of her flight to +only this possibility. How she had crossed the morass he could not +guess and yet something within seemed to urge upon him belief that she +had crossed it, and that if she still lived it was here that she must +be sought. But this unknown, untraversed wild was of vast extent; grim, +forbidding mountains blocked his way, torrents tumbling from rocky +fastnesses impeded his progress, and at every turn he was forced to +match wits and muscles with the great carnivora that he might procure +sustenance. + +Time and again Tarzan and Numa stalked the same quarry and now one, now +the other bore off the prize. Seldom however did the ape-man go hungry +for the country was rich in game animals and birds and fish, in fruit +and the countless other forms of vegetable life upon which the +jungle-bred man may subsist. + +Tarzan often wondered why in so rich a country he found no evidences of +man and had at last come to the conclusion that the parched, +thorn-covered steppe and the hideous morasses had formed a sufficient +barrier to protect this country effectively from the inroads of mankind. + +After days of searching he had succeeded finally in discovering a pass +through the mountains and, coming down upon the opposite side, had +found himself in a country practically identical with that which he had +left. The hunting was good and at a water hole in the mouth of a canyon +where it debouched upon a tree-covered plain Bara, the deer, fell an +easy victim to the ape-man's cunning. + +It was just at dusk. The voices of great four-footed hunters rose now +and again from various directions, and as the canyon afforded among its +trees no comfortable retreat the ape-man shouldered the carcass of the +deer and started downward onto the plain. At its opposite side rose +lofty trees--a great forest which suggested to his practiced eye a +mighty jungle. Toward this the ape-man bent his step, but when midway +of the plain he discovered standing alone such a tree as best suited +him for a night's abode, swung lightly to its branches and, presently, +a comfortable resting place. + +Here he ate the flesh of Bara and when satisfied carried the balance of +the carcass to the opposite side of the tree where he deposited it far +above the ground in a secure place. Returning to his crotch he settled +himself for sleep and in another moment the roars of the lions and the +howlings of the lesser cats fell upon deaf ears. + +The usual noises of the jungle composed rather than disturbed the +ape-man but an unusual sound, however imperceptible to the awakened ear +of civilized man, seldom failed to impinge upon the consciousness of +Tarzan, however deep his slumber, and so it was that when the moon was +high a sudden rush of feet across the grassy carpet in the vicinity of +his tree brought him to alert and ready activity. Tarzan does not +awaken as you and I with the weight of slumber still upon his eyes and +brain, for did the creatures of the wild awaken thus, their awakenings +would be few. As his eyes snapped open, clear and bright, so, clear +and bright upon the nerve centers of his brain, were registered the +various perceptions of all his senses. + +Almost beneath him, racing toward his tree was what at first glance +appeared to be an almost naked white man, yet even at the first instant +of discovery the long, white tail projecting rearward did not escape +the ape-man. Behind the fleeing figure, escaping, came Numa, the lion, +in full charge. Voiceless the prey, voiceless the killer; as two +spirits in a dead world the two moved in silent swiftness toward the +culminating tragedy of this grim race. + +Even as his eyes opened and took in the scene beneath him--even in that +brief instant of perception, followed reason, judgment, and decision, +so rapidly one upon the heels of the other that almost simultaneously +the ape-man was in mid-air, for he had seen a white-skinned creature +cast in a mold similar to his own, pursued by Tarzan's hereditary +enemy. So close was the lion to the fleeing man-thing that Tarzan had +no time carefully to choose the method of his attack. As a diver leaps +from the springboard headforemost into the waters beneath, so Tarzan of +the Apes dove straight for Numa, the lion; naked in his right hand the +blade of his father that so many times before had tasted the blood of +lions. + +A raking talon caught Tarzan on the side, inflicting a long, deep wound +and then the ape-man was on Numa's back and the blade was sinking again +and again into the savage side. Nor was the man-thing either longer +fleeing, or idle. He too, creature of the wild, had sensed on the +instant the truth of the miracle of his saving, and turning in his +tracks, had leaped forward with raised bludgeon to Tarzan's assistance +and Numa's undoing. A single terrific blow upon the flattened skull of +the beast laid him insensible and then as Tarzan's knife found the wild +heart a few convulsive shudders and a sudden relaxation marked the +passing of the carnivore. + +Leaping to his feet the ape-man placed his foot upon the carcass of his +kill and, raising his face to Goro, the moon, voiced the savage victory +cry that had so often awakened the echoes of his native jungle. + +As the hideous scream burst from the ape-man's lips the man-thing +stepped quickly back as in sudden awe, but when Tarzan returned his +hunting knife to its sheath and turned toward him the other saw in the +quiet dignity of his demeanor no cause for apprehension. + +For a moment the two stood appraising each other, and then the +man-thing spoke. Tarzan realized that the creature before him was +uttering articulate sounds which expressed in speech, though in a +language with which Tarzan was unfamiliar, the thoughts of a man +possessing to a greater or less extent the same powers of reason that +he possessed. In other words, that though the creature before him had +the tail and thumbs and great toes of a monkey, it was, in all other +respects, quite evidently a man. + +The blood, which was now flowing down Tarzan's side, caught the +creature's attention. From the pocket-pouch at his side he took a small +bag and approaching Tarzan indicated by signs that he wished the +ape-man to lie down that he might treat the wound, whereupon, spreading +the edges of the cut apart, he sprinkled the raw flesh with powder from +the little bag. The pain of the wound was as nothing to the exquisite +torture of the remedy but, accustomed to physical suffering, the +ape-man withstood it stoically and in a few moments not only had the +bleeding ceased but the pain as well. + +In reply to the soft and far from unpleasant modulations of the other's +voice, Tarzan spoke in various tribal dialects of the interior as well +as in the language of the great apes, but it was evident that the man +understood none of these. Seeing that they could not make each other +understood, the pithecanthropus advanced toward Tarzan and placing his +left hand over his own heart laid the palm of his right hand over the +heart of the ape-man. To the latter the action appeared as a form of +friendly greeting and, being versed in the ways of uncivilized races, +he responded in kind as he realized it was doubtless intended that he +should. His action seemed to satisfy and please his new-found +acquaintance, who immediately fell to talking again and finally, with +his head tipped back, sniffed the air in the direction of the tree +above them and then suddenly pointing toward the carcass of Bara, the +deer, he touched his stomach in a sign language which even the densest +might interpret. With a wave of his hand Tarzan invited his guest to +partake of the remains of his savage repast, and the other, leaping +nimbly as a little monkey to the lower branches of the tree, made his +way quickly to the flesh, assisted always by his long, strong sinuous +tail. + +The pithecanthropus ate in silence, cutting small strips from the +deer's loin with his keen knife. From his crotch in the tree Tarzan +watched his companion, noting the preponderance of human attributes +which were doubtless accentuated by the paradoxical thumbs, great toes, +and tail. + +He wondered if this creature was representative of some strange race or +if, what seemed more likely, but an atavism. Either supposition would +have seemed preposterous enough did he not have before him the evidence +of the creature's existence. There he was, however, a tailed man with +distinctly arboreal hands and feet. His trappings, gold encrusted and +jewel studded, could have been wrought only by skilled artisans; but +whether they were the work of this individual or of others like him, or +of an entirely different race, Tarzan could not, of course, determine. + +His meal finished, the guest wiped his fingers and lips with leaves +broken from a nearby branch, looked up at Tarzan with a pleasant smile +that revealed a row of strong white teeth, the canines of which were no +longer than Tarzan's own, spoke a few words which Tarzan judged were a +polite expression of thanks and then sought a comfortable place in the +tree for the night. + +The earth was shadowed in the darkness which precedes the dawn when +Tarzan was awakened by a violent shaking of the tree in which he had +found shelter. As he opened his eyes he saw that his companion was also +astir, and glancing around quickly to apprehend the cause of the +disturbance, the ape-man was astounded at the sight which met his eyes. + +The dim shadow of a colossal form reared close beside the tree and he +saw that it was the scraping of the giant body against the branches +that had awakened him. That such a tremendous creature could have +approached so closely without disturbing him filled Tarzan with both +wonderment and chagrin. In the gloom the ape-man at first conceived the +intruder to be an elephant; yet, if so, one of greater proportions than +any he had ever before seen, but as the dim outlines became less +indistinct he saw on a line with his eyes and twenty feet above the +ground the dim silhouette of a grotesquely serrated back that gave the +impression of a creature whose each and every spinal vertebra grew a +thick, heavy horn. Only a portion of the back was visible to the +ape-man, the rest of the body being lost in the dense shadows beneath +the tree, from whence there now arose the sound of giant jaws +powerfully crunching flesh and bones. From the odors that rose to the +ape-man's sensitive nostrils he presently realized that beneath him was +some huge reptile feeding upon the carcass of the lion that had been +slain there earlier in the night. + +As Tarzan's eyes, straining with curiosity, bored futilely into the +dark shadows he felt a light touch upon his shoulder, and, turning, saw +that his companion was attempting to attract his attention. The +creature, pressing a forefinger to his own lips as to enjoin silence, +attempted by pulling on Tarzan's arm to indicate that they should leave +at once. + +Realizing that he was in a strange country, evidently infested by +creatures of titanic size, with the habits and powers of which he was +entirely unfamiliar, the ape-man permitted himself to be drawn away. +With the utmost caution the pithecanthropus descended the tree upon the +opposite side from the great nocturnal prowler, and, closely followed +by Tarzan, moved silently away through the night across the plain. + +The ape-man was rather loath thus to relinquish an opportunity to +inspect a creature which he realized was probably entirely different +from anything in his past experience; yet he was wise enough to know +when discretion was the better part of valor and now, as in the past, +he yielded to that law which dominates the kindred of the wild, +preventing them from courting danger uselessly, whose lives are +sufficiently filled with danger in their ordinary routine of feeding +and mating. + +As the rising sun dispelled the shadows of the night, Tarzan found +himself again upon the verge of a great forest into which his guide +plunged, taking nimbly to the branches of the trees through which he +made his way with the celerity of long habitude and hereditary +instinct, but though aided by a prehensile tail, fingers, and toes, the +man-thing moved through the forest with no greater ease or surety than +did the giant ape-man. + +It was during this journey that Tarzan recalled the wound in his side +inflicted upon him the previous night by the raking talons of Numa, the +lion, and examining it was surprised to discover that not only was it +painless but along its edges were no indications of inflammation, the +results doubtless of the antiseptic powder his strange companion had +sprinkled upon it. + +They had proceeded for a mile or two when Tarzan's companion came to +earth upon a grassy slope beneath a great tree whose branches overhung +a clear brook. Here they drank and Tarzan discovered the water to be +not only deliciously pure and fresh but of an icy temperature that +indicated its rapid descent from the lofty mountains of its origin. + +Casting aside his loin cloth and weapons Tarzan entered the little pool +beneath the tree and after a moment emerged, greatly refreshed and +filled with a keen desire to breakfast. As he came out of the pool he +noticed his companion examining him with a puzzled expression upon his +face. Taking the ape-man by the shoulder he turned him around so that +Tarzan's back was toward him and then, touching the end of Tarzan's +spine with his forefinger, he curled his own tail up over his shoulder +and, wheeling the ape-man about again, pointed first at Tarzan and then +at his own caudal appendage, a look of puzzlement upon his face, the +while he jabbered excitedly in his strange tongue. + +The ape-man realized that probably for the first time his companion had +discovered that he was tailless by nature rather than by accident, and +so he called attention to his own great toes and thumbs to further +impress upon the creature that they were of different species. + +The fellow shook his head dubiously as though entirely unable to +comprehend why Tarzan should differ so from him but at last, apparently +giving the problem up with a shrug, he laid aside his own harness, +skin, and weapons and entered the pool. + +His ablutions completed and his meager apparel redonned he seated +himself at the foot of the tree and motioning Tarzan to a place beside +him, opened the pouch that hung at his right side taking from it strips +of dried flesh and a couple of handfuls of thin-shelled nuts with which +Tarzan was unfamiliar. Seeing the other break them with his teeth and +eat the kernel, Tarzan followed the example thus set him, discovering +the meat to be rich and well flavored. The dried flesh also was far +from unpalatable, though it had evidently been jerked without salt, a +commodity which Tarzan imagined might be rather difficult to obtain in +this locality. + +As they ate Tarzan's companion pointed to the nuts, the dried meat, and +various other nearby objects, in each instance repeating what Tarzan +readily discovered must be the names of these things in the creature's +native language. The ape-man could but smile at this evident desire +upon the part of his new-found acquaintance to impart to him +instructions that eventually might lead to an exchange of thoughts +between them. Having already mastered several languages and a multitude +of dialects the ape-man felt that he could readily assimilate another +even though this appeared one entirely unrelated to any with which he +was familiar. + +So occupied were they with their breakfast and the lesson that neither +was aware of the beady eyes glittering down upon them from above; nor +was Tarzan cognizant of any impending danger until the instant that a +huge, hairy body leaped full upon his companion from the branches above +them. + + + +2 + +"To the Death!" + +In the moment of discovery Tarzan saw that the creature was almost a +counterpart of his companion in size and conformation, with the +exception that his body was entirely clothed with a coat of shaggy +black hair which almost concealed his features, while his harness and +weapons were similar to those of the creature he had attacked. Ere +Tarzan could prevent the creature had struck the ape-man's companion a +blow upon the head with his knotted club that felled him, unconscious, +to the earth; but before he could inflict further injury upon his +defenseless prey the ape-man had closed with him. + +Instantly Tarzan realized that he was locked with a creature of almost +superhuman strength. The sinewy fingers of a powerful hand sought his +throat while the other lifted the bludgeon above his head. But if the +strength of the hairy attacker was great, great too was that of his +smooth-skinned antagonist. Swinging a single terrific blow with +clenched fist to the point of the other's chin, Tarzan momentarily +staggered his assailant and then his own fingers closed upon the shaggy +throat, as with the other hand he seized the wrist of the arm that +swung the club. With equal celerity he shot his right leg behind the +shaggy brute and throwing his weight forward hurled the thing over his +hip heavily to the ground, at the same time precipitating his own body +upon the other's chest. + +With the shock of the impact the club fell from the brute's hand and +Tarzan's hold was wrenched from its throat. Instantly the two were +locked in a deathlike embrace. Though the creature bit at Tarzan the +latter was quickly aware that this was not a particularly formidable +method of offense or defense, since its canines were scarcely more +developed than his own. The thing that he had principally to guard +against was the sinuous tail which sought steadily to wrap itself about +his throat and against which experience had afforded him no defense. + +Struggling and snarling the two rolled growling about the sward at the +foot of the tree, first one on top and then the other but each more +occupied at present in defending his throat from the other's choking +grasp than in aggressive, offensive tactics. But presently the ape-man +saw his opportunity and as they rolled about he forced the creature +closer and closer to the pool, upon the banks of which the battle was +progressing. At last they lay upon the very verge of the water and now +it remained for Tarzan to precipitate them both beneath the surface but +in such a way that he might remain on top. + +At the same instant there came within range of Tarzan's vision, just +behind the prostrate form of his companion, the crouching, devil-faced +figure of the striped saber-tooth hybrid, eyeing him with snarling, +malevolent face. + +Almost simultaneously Tarzan's shaggy antagonist discovered the +menacing figure of the great cat. Immediately he ceased his belligerent +activities against Tarzan and, jabbering and chattering to the ape-man, +he tried to disengage himself from Tarzan's hold but in such a way that +indicated that as far as he was concerned their battle was over. +Appreciating the danger to his unconscious companion and being anxious +to protect him from the saber-tooth the ape-man relinquished his hold +upon his adversary and together the two rose to their feet. + +Drawing his knife Tarzan moved slowly toward the body of his companion, +expecting that his recent antagonist would grasp the opportunity for +escape. To his surprise, however, the beast, after regaining its club, +advanced at his side. + +The great cat, flattened upon its belly, remained motionless except for +twitching tail and snarling lips where it lay perhaps fifty feet beyond +the body of the pithecanthropus. As Tarzan stepped over the body of the +latter he saw the eyelids quiver and open, and in his heart he felt a +strange sense of relief that the creature was not dead and a +realization that without his suspecting it there had arisen within his +savage bosom a bond of attachment for this strange new friend. + +Tarzan continued to approach the saber-tooth, nor did the shaggy beast +at his right lag behind. Closer and closer they came until at a +distance of about twenty feet the hybrid charged. Its rush was directed +toward the shaggy manlike ape who halted in his tracks with upraised +bludgeon to meet the assault. Tarzan, on the contrary, leaped forward +and with a celerity second not even to that of the swift-moving cat, he +threw himself headlong upon him as might a Rugby tackler on an American +gridiron. His right arm circled the beast's neck in front of the right +shoulder, his left behind the left foreleg, and so great was the force +of the impact that the two rolled over and over several times upon the +ground, the cat screaming and clawing to liberate itself that it might +turn upon its attacker, the man clinging desperately to his hold. + +Seemingly the attack was one of mad, senseless ferocity unguided by +either reason or skill. Nothing, however, could have been farther from +the truth than such an assumption since every muscle in the ape-man's +giant frame obeyed the dictates of the cunning mind that long +experience had trained to meet every exigency of such an encounter. The +long, powerful legs, though seemingly inextricably entangled with the +hind feet of the clawing cat, ever as by a miracle, escaped the raking +talons and yet at just the proper instant in the midst of all the +rolling and tossing they were where they should be to carry out the +ape-man's plan of offense. So that on the instant that the cat believed +it had won the mastery of its antagonist it was jerked suddenly upward +as the ape-man rose to his feet, holding the striped back close against +his body as he rose and forcing it backward until it could but claw the +air helplessly. + +Instantly the shaggy black rushed in with drawn knife which it buried +in the beast's heart. For a few moments Tarzan retained his hold but +when the body had relaxed in final dissolution he pushed it from him +and the two who had formerly been locked in mortal combat stood facing +each other across the body of the common foe. + +Tarzan waited, ready either for peace or war. Presently two shaggy +black hands were raised; the left was laid upon its own heart and the +right extended until the palm touched Tarzan's breast. It was the same +form of friendly salutation with which the pithecanthropus had sealed +his alliance with the ape-man and Tarzan, glad of every ally he could +win in this strange and savage world, quickly accepted the proffered +friendship. + +At the conclusion of the brief ceremony Tarzan, glancing in the +direction of the hairless pithecanthropus, discovered that the latter +had recovered consciousness and was sitting erect watching them +intently. He now rose slowly and at the same time the shaggy black +turned in his direction and addressed him in what evidently was their +common language. The hairless one replied and the two approached each +other slowly. Tarzan watched interestedly the outcome of their meeting. +They halted a few paces apart, first one and then the other speaking +rapidly but without apparent excitement, each occasionally glancing or +nodding toward Tarzan, indicating that he was to some extent the +subject of their conversation. + +Presently they advanced again until they met, whereupon was repeated +the brief ceremony of alliance which had previously marked the +cessation of hostilities between Tarzan and the black. They then +advanced toward the ape-man addressing him earnestly as though +endeavoring to convey to him some important information. Presently, +however, they gave it up as an unprofitable job and, resorting to sign +language, conveyed to Tarzan that they were proceeding upon their way +together and were urging him to accompany them. + +As the direction they indicated was a route which Tarzan had not +previously traversed he was extremely willing to accede to their +request, as he had determined thoroughly to explore this unknown land +before definitely abandoning search for Lady Jane therein. + +For several days their way led through the foothills parallel to the +lofty range towering above. Often were they menaced by the savage +denizens of this remote fastness, and occasionally Tarzan glimpsed +weird forms of gigantic proportions amidst the shadows of the nights. + +On the third day they came upon a large natural cave in the face of a +low cliff at the foot of which tumbled one of the numerous mountain +brooks that watered the plain below and fed the morasses in the +lowlands at the country's edge. Here the three took up their temporary +abode where Tarzan's instruction in the language of his companions +progressed more rapidly than while on the march. + +The cave gave evidence of having harbored other manlike forms in the +past. Remnants of a crude, rock fireplace remained and the walls and +ceiling were blackened with the smoke of many fires. Scratched in the +soot, and sometimes deeply into the rock beneath, were strange +hieroglyphics and the outlines of beasts and birds and reptiles, some +of the latter of weird form suggesting the extinct creatures of +Jurassic times. Some of the more recently made hieroglyphics Tarzan's +companions read with interest and commented upon, and then with the +points of their knives they too added to the possibly age-old record of +the blackened walls. + +Tarzan's curiosity was aroused, but the only explanation at which he +could arrive was that he was looking upon possibly the world's most +primitive hotel register. At least it gave him a further insight into +the development of the strange creatures with which Fate had thrown +him. Here were men with the tails of monkeys, one of them as hair +covered as any fur-bearing brute of the lower orders, and yet it was +evident that they possessed not only a spoken, but a written language. +The former he was slowly mastering and at this new evidence of +unlooked-for civilization in creatures possessing so many of the +physical attributes of beasts, Tarzan's curiosity was still further +piqued and his desire quickly to master their tongue strengthened, with +the result that he fell to with even greater assiduity to the task he +had set himself. Already he knew the names of his companions and the +common names of the fauna and flora with which they had most often come +in contact. + +Ta-den, he of the hairless, white skin, having assumed the role of +tutor, prosecuted his task with a singleness of purpose that was +reflected in his pupil's rapid mastery of Ta-den's mother tongue. +Om-at, the hairy black, also seemed to feel that there rested upon his +broad shoulders a portion of the burden of responsibility for Tarzan's +education, with the result that either one or the other of them was +almost constantly coaching the ape-man during his waking hours. The +result was only what might have been expected--a rapid assimilation of +the teachings to the end that before any of them realized it, +communication by word of mouth became an accomplished fact. + +Tarzan explained to his companions the purpose of his mission but +neither could give him any slightest thread of hope to weave into the +fabric of his longing. Never had there been in their country a woman +such as he described, nor any tailless man other than himself that they +ever had seen. + +"I have been gone from A-lur while Bu, the moon, has eaten seven +times," said Ta-den. "Many things may happen in seven times +twenty-eight days; but I doubt that your woman could have entered our +country across the terrible morasses which even you found an almost +insurmountable obstacle, and if she had, could she have survived the +perils that you already have encountered beside those of which you have +yet to learn? Not even our own women venture into the savage lands +beyond the cities." + +"'A-lur,' Light-city, City of Light," mused Tarzan, translating the +word into his own tongue. "And where is A-lur?" he asked. "Is it your +city, Ta-den, and Om-at's?" + +"It is mine," replied the hairless one; "but not Om-at's. The Waz-don +have no cities--they live in the trees of the forests and the caves of +the hills--is it not so, black man?" he concluded, turning toward the +hairy giant beside him. + +"Yes," replied Om-at, "We Waz-don are free--only the Hodon imprison +themselves in cities. I would not be a white man!" + +Tarzan smiled. Even here was the racial distinction between white man +and black man--Ho-don and Waz-don. Not even the fact that they appeared +to be equals in the matter of intelligence made any difference--one was +white and one was black, and it was easy to see that the white +considered himself superior to the other--one could see it in his quiet +smile. + +"Where is A-lur?" Tarzan asked again. "You are returning to it?" + +"It is beyond the mountains," replied Ta-den. "I do not return to +it--not yet. Not until Ko-tan is no more." + +"Ko-tan?" queried Tarzan. + +"Ko-tan is king," explained the pithecanthropus. "He rules this land. I +was one of his warriors. I lived in the palace of Ko-tan and there I +met O-lo-a, his daughter. We loved, Likestar-light, and I; but Ko-tan +would have none of me. He sent me away to fight with the men of the +village of Dak-at, who had refused to pay his tribute to the king, +thinking that I would be killed, for Dak-at is famous for his many fine +warriors. And I was not killed. Instead I returned victorious with the +tribute and with Dak-at himself my prisoner; but Ko-tan was not pleased +because he saw that O-lo-a loved me even more than before, her love +being strengthened and fortified by pride in my achievement. + +"Powerful is my father, Ja-don, the Lion-man, chief of the largest +village outside of A-lur. Him Ko-tan hesitated to affront and so he +could not but praise me for my success, though he did it with half a +smile. But you do not understand! It is what we call a smile that moves +only the muscles of the face and affects not the light of the eyes--it +means hypocrisy and duplicity. I must be praised and rewarded. What +better than that he reward me with the hand of O-lo-a, his daughter? +But no, he saves O-lo-a for Bu-lot, son of Mo-sar, the chief whose +great-grandfather was king and who thinks that he should be king. Thus +would Ko-tan appease the wrath of Mo-sar and win the friendship of +those who think with Mo-sar that Mo-sar should be king. + +"But what reward shall repay the faithful Ta-den? Greatly do we honor +our priests. Within the temples even the chiefs and the king himself +bow down to them. No greater honor could Ko-tan confer upon a +subject--who wished to be a priest, but I did not so wish. Priests +other than the high priest must become eunuchs for they may never marry. + +"It was O-lo-a herself who brought word to me that her father had given +the commands that would set in motion the machinery of the temple. A +messenger was on his way in search of me to summon me to Ko-tan's +presence. To have refused the priesthood once it was offered me by the +king would have been to have affronted the temple and the gods--that +would have meant death; but if I did not appear before Ko-tan I would +not have to refuse anything. O-lo-a and I decided that I must not +appear. It was better to fly, carrying in my bosom a shred of hope, +than to remain and, with my priesthood, abandon hope forever. + +"Beneath the shadows of the great trees that grow within the palace +grounds I pressed her to me for, perhaps, the last time and then, lest +by ill-fate I meet the messenger, I scaled the great wall that guards +the palace and passed through the darkened city. My name and rank +carried me beyond the city gate. Since then I have wandered far from +the haunts of the Ho-don but strong within me is the urge to return if +even but to look from without her walls upon the city that holds her +most dear to me and again to visit the village of my birth, to see +again my father and my mother." + +"But the risk is too great?" asked Tarzan. + +"It is great, but not too great," replied Ta-den. "I shall go." + +"And I shall go with you, if I may," said the ape-man, "for I must see +this City of Light, this A-lur of yours, and search there for my lost +mate even though you believe that there is little chance that I find +her. And you, Om-at, do you come with us?" + +"Why not?" asked the hairy one. "The lairs of my tribe lie in the crags +above A-lur and though Es-sat, our chief, drove me out I should like to +return again, for there is a she there upon whom I should be glad to +look once more and who would be glad to look upon me. Yes, I will go +with you. Es-sat feared that I might become chief and who knows but +that Es-sat was right. But Pan-at-lee! it is she I seek first even +before a chieftainship." + +"We three, then, shall travel together," said Tarzan. + +"And fight together," added Ta-den; "the three as one," and as he spoke +he drew his knife and held it above his head. + +"The three as one," repeated Om-at, drawing his weapon and duplicating +Ta-den's act. "It is spoken!" + +"The three as one!" cried Tarzan of the Apes. "To the death!" and his +blade flashed in the sunlight. + +"Let us go, then," said Om-at; "my knife is dry and cries aloud for the +blood of Es-sat." + +The trail over which Ta-den and Om-at led and which scarcely could be +dignified even by the name of trail was suited more to mountain sheep, +monkeys, or birds than to man; but the three that followed it were +trained to ways which no ordinary man might essay. Now, upon the lower +slopes, it led through dense forests where the ground was so matted +with fallen trees and over-rioting vines and brush that the way held +always to the swaying branches high above the tangle; again it skirted +yawning gorges whose slippery-faced rocks gave but momentary foothold +even to the bare feet that lightly touched them as the three leaped +chamois-like from one precarious foothold to the next. Dizzy and +terrifying was the way that Om-at chose across the summit as he led +them around the shoulder of a towering crag that rose a sheer two +thousand feet of perpendicular rock above a tumbling river. And when at +last they stood upon comparatively level ground again Om-at turned and +looked at them both intently and especially at Tarzan of the Apes. + +"You will both do," he said. "You are fit companions for Om-at, the +Waz-don." + +"What do you mean?" asked Tarzan. + +"I brought you this way," replied the black, "to learn if either lacked +the courage to follow where Om-at led. It is here that the young +warriors of Es-sat come to prove their courage. And yet, though we are +born and raised upon cliff sides, it is considered no disgrace to admit +that Pastar-ul-ved, the Father of Mountains, has defeated us, for of +those who try it only a few succeed--the bones of the others lie at the +feet of Pastar-ul-ved." + +Ta-den laughed. "I would not care to come this way often," he said. + +"No," replied Om-at; "but it has shortened our journey by at least a +full day. So much the sooner shall Tarzan look upon the Valley of +Jad-ben-Otho. Come!" and he led the way upward along the shoulder of +Pastar-ul-ved until there lay spread below them a scene of mystery and +of beauty--a green valley girt by towering cliffs of marble +whiteness--a green valley dotted by deep blue lakes and crossed by the +blue trail of a winding river. In the center a city of the whiteness of +the marble cliffs--a city which even at so great a distance evidenced a +strange, yet artistic architecture. Outside the city there were visible +about the valley isolated groups of buildings--sometimes one, again two +and three and four in a cluster--but always of the same glaring +whiteness, and always in some fantastic form. + +About the valley the cliffs were occasionally cleft by deep gorges, +verdure filled, giving the appearance of green rivers rioting downward +toward a central sea of green. + +"Jad Pele ul Jad-ben-Otho," murmured Tarzan in the tongue of the +pithecanthropi; "The Valley of the Great God--it is beautiful!" + +"Here, in A-lur, lives Ko-tan, the king, ruler over all Pal-ul-don," +said Ta-den. + +"And here in these gorges live the Waz-don," exclaimed Om-at, "who do +not acknowledge that Ko-tan is the ruler over all the Land-of-man." + +Ta-den smiled and shrugged. "We will not quarrel, you and I," he said +to Om-at, "over that which all the ages have not proved sufficient time +in which to reconcile the Ho-don and Waz-don; but let me whisper to you +a secret, Om-at. The Ho-don live together in greater or less peace +under one ruler so that when danger threatens them they face the enemy +with many warriors, for every fighting Ho-don of Pal-ul-don is there. +But you Waz-don, how is it with you? You have a dozen kings who fight +not only with the Ho-don but with one another. When one of your tribes +goes forth upon the fighting trail, even against the Ho-don, it must +leave behind sufficient warriors to protect its women and its children +from the neighbors upon either hand. When we want eunuchs for the +temples or servants for the fields or the homes we march forth in great +numbers upon one of your villages. You cannot even flee, for upon +either side of you are enemies and though you fight bravely we come +back with those who will presently be eunuchs in the temples and +servants in our fields and homes. So long as the Waz-don are thus +foolish the Ho-don will dominate and their king will be king of +Pal-ul-don." + +"Perhaps you are right," admitted Om-at. "It is because our neighbors +are fools, each thinking that his tribe is the greatest and should rule +among the Waz-don. They will not admit that the warriors of my tribe +are the bravest and our shes the most beautiful." + +Ta-den grinned. "Each of the others presents precisely the same +arguments that you present, Om-at," he said, "which, my friend, is the +strongest bulwark of defense possessed by the Ho-don." + +"Come!" exclaimed Tarzan; "such discussions often lead to quarrels and +we three must have no quarrels. I, of course, am interested in learning +what I can of the political and economic conditions of your land; I +should like to know something of your religion; but not at the expense +of bitterness between my only friends in Pal-ul-don. Possibly, however, +you hold to the same god?" + +"There indeed we do differ," cried Om-at, somewhat bitterly and with a +trace of excitement in his voice. + +"Differ!" almost shouted Ta-den; "and why should we not differ? Who +could agree with the preposterous----" + +"Stop!" cried Tarzan. "Now, indeed, have I stirred up a hornets' nest. +Let us speak no more of matters political or religious." + +"That is wiser," agreed Om-at; "but I might mention, for your +information, that the one and only god has a long tail." + +"It is sacrilege," cried Ta-den, laying his hand upon his knife; +"Jad-ben-Otho has no tail!" + +"Stop!" shrieked Om-at, springing forward; but instantly Tarzan +interposed himself between them. + +"Enough!" he snapped. "Let us be true to our oaths of friendship that +we may be honorable in the sight of God in whatever form we conceive +Him." + +"You are right, Tailless One," said Ta-den. "Come, Om-at, let us look +after our friendship and ourselves, secure in the conviction that +Jad-ben-Otho is sufficiently powerful to look after himself." + +"Done!" agreed Om-at, "but----" + +"No 'buts,' Om-at," admonished Tarzan. + +The shaggy black shrugged his shoulders and smiled. "Shall we make our +way down toward the valley?" he asked. "The gorge below us is +uninhabited; that to the left contains the caves of my people. I would +see Pan-at-lee once more. Ta-den would visit his father in the valley +below and Tarzan seeks entrance to A-lur in search of the mate that +would be better dead than in the clutches of the Ho-don priests of +Jad-ben-Otho. How shall we proceed?" + +"Let us remain together as long as possible," urged Ta-den. "You, +Om-at, must seek Pan-at-lee by night and by stealth, for three, even we +three, may not hope to overcome Es-sat and all his warriors. At any +time may we go to the village where my father is chief, for Ja-don +always will welcome the friends of his son. But for Tarzan to enter +A-lur is another matter, though there is a way and he has the courage +to put it to the test--listen, come close for Jad-ben-Otho has keen +ears and this he must not hear," and with his lips close to the ears of +his companions Ta-den, the Tall-tree, son of Ja-don, the Lion-man, +unfolded his daring plan. + +And at the same moment, a hundred miles away, a lithe figure, naked but +for a loin cloth and weapons, moved silently across a thorn-covered, +waterless steppe, searching always along the ground before him with +keen eyes and sensitive nostrils. + + + +3 + +Pan-at-lee + +Night had fallen upon unchartered Pal-ul-don. A slender moon, low in +the west, bathed the white faces of the chalk cliffs presented to her, +in a mellow, unearthly glow. Black were the shadows in Kor-ul-JA, +Gorge-of-lions, where dwelt the tribe of the same name under Es-sat, +their chief. From an aperture near the summit of the lofty escarpment a +hairy figure emerged--the head and shoulders first--and fierce eyes +scanned the cliff side in every direction. + +It was Es-sat, the chief. To right and left and below he looked as +though to assure himself that he was unobserved, but no other figure +moved upon the cliff face, nor did another hairy body protrude from any +of the numerous cave mouths from the high-flung abode of the chief to +the habitations of the more lowly members of the tribe nearer the +cliff's base. Then he moved outward upon the sheer face of the white +chalk wall. In the half-light of the baby moon it appeared that the +heavy, shaggy black figure moved across the face of the perpendicular +wall in some miraculous manner, but closer examination would have +revealed stout pegs, as large around as a man's wrist protruding from +holes in the cliff into which they were driven. Es-sat's four handlike +members and his long, sinuous tail permitted him to move with +consummate ease whither he chose--a gigantic rat upon a mighty wall. As +he progressed upon his way he avoided the cave mouths, passing either +above or below those that lay in his path. + +The outward appearance of these caves was similar. An opening from +eight to as much as twenty feet long by eight high and four to six feet +deep was cut into the chalklike rock of the cliff, in the back of this +large opening, which formed what might be described as the front +veranda of the home, was an opening about three feet wide and six feet +high, evidently forming the doorway to the interior apartment or +apartments. On either side of this doorway were smaller openings which +it were easy to assume were windows through which light and air might +find their way to the inhabitants. Similar windows were also dotted +over the cliff face between the entrance porches, suggesting that the +entire face of the cliff was honeycombed with apartments. From many of +these smaller apertures small streams of water trickled down the +escarpment, and the walls above others was blackened as by smoke. +Where the water ran the wall was eroded to a depth of from a few inches +to as much as a foot, suggesting that some of the tiny streams had been +trickling downward to the green carpet of vegetation below for ages. + +In this primeval setting the great pithecanthropus aroused no jarring +discord for he was as much a part of it as the trees that grew upon the +summit of the cliff or those that hid their feet among the dank ferns +in the bottom of the gorge. + +Now he paused before an entrance-way and listened and then, noiselessly +as the moonlight upon the trickling waters, he merged with the shadows +of the outer porch. At the doorway leading into the interior he paused +again, listening, and then quietly pushing aside the heavy skin that +covered the aperture he passed within a large chamber hewn from the +living rock. From the far end, through another doorway, shone a light, +dimly. Toward this he crept with utmost stealth, his naked feet giving +forth no sound. The knotted club that had been hanging at his back +from a thong about his neck he now removed and carried in his left hand. + +Beyond the second doorway was a corridor running parallel with the +cliff face. In this corridor were three more doorways, one at each end +and a third almost opposite that in which Es-sat stood. The light was +coming from an apartment at the end of the corridor at his left. A +sputtering flame rose and fell in a small stone receptacle that stood +upon a table or bench of the same material, a monolithic bench +fashioned at the time the room was excavated, rising massively from the +floor, of which it was a part. + +In one corner of the room beyond the table had been left a dais of +stone about four feet wide and eight feet long. Upon this were piled a +foot or so of softly tanned pelts from which the fur had not been +removed. Upon the edge of this dais sat a young female Waz-don. In one +hand she held a thin piece of metal, apparently of hammered gold, with +serrated edges, and in the other a short, stiff brush. With these she +was occupied in going over her smooth, glossy coat which bore a +remarkable resemblance to plucked sealskin. Her loin cloth of yellow +and black striped JATO-skin lay on the couch beside her with the +circular breastplates of beaten gold, revealing the symmetrical lines +of her nude figure in all its beauty and harmony of contour, for even +though the creature was jet black and entirely covered with hair yet +she was undeniably beautiful. + +That she was beautiful in the eyes of Es-sat, the chief, was evidenced +by the gloating expression upon his fierce countenance and the +increased rapidity of his breathing. Moving quickly forward he entered +the room and as he did so the young she looked up. Instantly her eyes +filled with terror and as quickly she seized the loin cloth and with a +few deft movements adjusted it about her. As she gathered up her +breastplates Es-sat rounded the table and moved quickly toward her. + +"What do you want?" she whispered, though she knew full well. + +"Pan-at-lee," he said, "your chief has come for you." + +"It was for this that you sent away my father and my brothers to spy +upon the Kor-ul-lul? I will not have you. Leave the cave of my +ancestors!" + +Es-sat smiled. It was the smile of a strong and wicked man who knows +his power--not a pleasant smile at all. "I will leave, Pan-at-lee," he +said; "but you shall go with me--to the cave of Es-sat, the chief, to +be the envied of the shes of Kor-ul-JA. Come!" + +"Never!" cried Pan-at-lee. "I hate you. Sooner would I mate with a +Ho-don than with you, beater of women, murderer of babes." + +A frightful scowl distorted the features of the chief. "She-JATO!" he +cried. "I will tame you! I will break you! Es-sat, the chief, takes +what he will and who dares question his right, or combat his least +purpose, will first serve that purpose and then be broken as I break +this," and he picked a stone platter from the table and broke it in his +powerful hands. "You might have been first and most favored in the cave +of the ancestors of Es-sat; but now shall you be last and least and +when I am done with you you shall belong to all of the men of Es-sat's +cave. Thus for those who spurn the love of their chief!" + +He advanced quickly to seize her and as he laid a rough hand upon her +she struck him heavily upon the side of his head with her golden +breastplates. Without a sound Es-sat, the chief, sank to the floor of +the apartment. For a moment Pan-at-lee bent over him, her improvised +weapon raised to strike again should he show signs of returning +consciousness, her glossy breasts rising and falling with her quickened +breathing. Suddenly she stooped and removed Es-sat's knife with its +scabbard and shoulder belt. Slipping it over her own shoulder she +quickly adjusted her breastplates and keeping a watchful glance upon +the figure of the fallen chief, backed from the room. + +In a niche in the outer room, just beside the doorway leading to the +balcony, were neatly piled a number of rounded pegs from eighteen to +twenty inches in length. Selecting five of these she made them into a +little bundle about which she twined the lower extremity of her sinuous +tail and thus carrying them made her way to the outer edge of the +balcony. Assuring herself that there was none about to see, or hinder +her, she took quickly to the pegs already set in the face of the cliff +and with the celerity of a monkey clambered swiftly aloft to the +highest row of pegs which she followed in the direction of the lower +end of the gorge for a matter of some hundred yards. Here, above her +head, were a series of small round holes placed one above another in +three parallel rows. Clinging only with her toes she removed two of the +pegs from the bundle carried in her tail and taking one in either hand +she inserted them in two opposite holes of the outer rows as far above +her as she could reach. Hanging by these new holds she now took one of +the three remaining pegs in each of her feet, leaving the fifth grasped +securely in her tail. Reaching above her with this member she inserted +the fifth peg in one of the holes of the center row and then, +alternately hanging by her tail, her feet, or her hands, she moved the +pegs upward to new holes, thus carrying her stairway with her as she +ascended. + +At the summit of the cliff a gnarled tree exposed its time-worn roots +above the topmost holes forming the last step from the sheer face of +the precipice to level footing. This was the last avenue of escape for +members of the tribe hard pressed by enemies from below. There were +three such emergency exits from the village and it were death to use +them in other than an emergency. This Pan-at-lee well knew; but she +knew, too, that it were worse than death to remain where the angered +Es-sat might lay hands upon her. + +When she had gained the summit, the girl moved quickly through the +darkness in the direction of the next gorge which cut the mountain-side +a mile beyond Kor-ul-JA. It was the Gorge-of-water, Kor-ul-lul, to +which her father and two brothers had been sent by Es-sat ostensibly to +spy upon the neighboring tribe. There was a chance, a slender chance, +that she might find them; if not there was the deserted Kor-ul-GRYF +several miles beyond, where she might hide indefinitely from man if she +could elude the frightful monster from which the gorge derived its name +and whose presence there had rendered its caves uninhabitable for +generations. + +Pan-at-lee crept stealthily along the rim of the Kor-ul-lul. Just where +her father and brothers would watch she did not know. Sometimes their +spies remained upon the rim, sometimes they watched from the gorge's +bottom. Pan-at-lee was at a loss to know what to do or where to go. She +felt very small and helpless alone in the vast darkness of the night. +Strange noises fell upon her ears. They came from the lonely reaches of +the towering mountains above her, from far away in the invisible valley +and from the nearer foothills and once, in the distance, she heard what +she thought was the bellow of a bull GRYF. It came from the direction +of the Kor-ul-GRYF. She shuddered. + +Presently there came to her keen ears another sound. Something +approached her along the rim of the gorge. It was coming from above. +She halted, listening. Perhaps it was her father, or a brother. It was +coming closer. She strained her eyes through the darkness. She did not +move--she scarcely breathed. And then, of a sudden, quite close it +seemed, there blazed through the black night two yellow-green spots of +fire. + +Pan-at-lee was brave, but as always with the primitive, the darkness +held infinite terrors for her. Not alone the terrors of the known but +more frightful ones as well--those of the unknown. She had passed +through much this night and her nerves were keyed to the highest +pitch--raw, taut nerves, they were, ready to react in an exaggerated +form to the slightest shock. + +But this was no slight shock. To hope for a father and a brother and to +see death instead glaring out of the darkness! Yes, Pan-at-lee was +brave, but she was not of iron. With a shriek that reverberated among +the hills she turned and fled along the rim of Kor-ul-lul and behind +her, swiftly, came the devil-eyed lion of the mountains of Pal-ul-don. + +Pan-at-lee was lost. Death was inevitable. Of this there could be no +doubt, but to die beneath the rending fangs of the carnivore, +congenital terror of her kind--it was unthinkable. But there was an +alternative. The lion was almost upon her--another instant and he would +seize her. Pan-at-lee turned sharply to her left. Just a few steps she +took in the new direction before she disappeared over the rim of +Kor-ul-lul. The baffled lion, planting all four feet, barely stopped +upon the verge of the abyss. Glaring down into the black shadows +beneath he mounted an angry roar. + +Through the darkness at the bottom of Kor-ul-JA, Om-at led the way +toward the caves of his people. Behind him came Tarzan and Ta-den. +Presently they halted beneath a great tree that grew close to the cliff. + +"First," whispered Om-at, "I will go to the cave of Pan-at-lee. Then +will I seek the cave of my ancestors to have speech with my own blood. +It will not take long. Wait here--I shall return soon. Afterward shall +we go together to Ta-den's people." + +He moved silently toward the foot of the cliff up which Tarzan could +presently see him ascending like a great fly on a wall. In the dim +light the ape-man could not see the pegs set in the face of the cliff. +Om-at moved warily. In the lower tier of caves there should be a +sentry. His knowledge of his people and their customs told him, +however, that in all probability the sentry was asleep. In this he was +not mistaken, yet he did not in any way abate his wariness. Smoothly +and swiftly he ascended toward the cave of Pan-at-lee while from below +Tarzan and Ta-den watched him. + +"How does he do it?" asked Tarzan. "I can see no foothold upon that +vertical surface and yet he appears to be climbing with the utmost +ease." + +Ta-den explained the stairway of pegs. "You could ascend easily," he +said, "although a tail would be of great assistance." + +They watched until Om-at was about to enter the cave of Pan-at-lee +without seeing any indication that he had been observed and then, +simultaneously, both saw a head appear in the mouth of one of the lower +caves. It was quickly evident that its owner had discovered Om-at for +immediately he started upward in pursuit. Without a word Tarzan and +Ta-den sprang forward toward the foot of the cliff. The pithecanthropus +was the first to reach it and the ape-man saw him spring upward for a +handhold on the lowest peg above him. Now Tarzan saw other pegs roughly +paralleling each other in zigzag rows up the cliff face. He sprang and +caught one of these, pulled himself upward by one hand until he could +reach a second with his other hand; and when he had ascended far enough +to use his feet, discovered that he could make rapid progress. Ta-den +was outstripping him, however, for these precarious ladders were no +novelty to him and, further, he had an advantage in possessing a tail. + +Nevertheless, the ape-man gave a good account of himself, being +presently urged to redoubled efforts by the fact that the Waz-don above +Ta-den glanced down and discovered his pursuers just before the Ho-don +overtook him. Instantly a wild cry shattered the silence of the +gorge--a cry that was immediately answered by hundreds of savage +throats as warrior after warrior emerged from the entrance to his cave. + +The creature who had raised the alarm had now reached the recess before +Pan-at-lee's cave and here he halted and turned to give battle to +Ta-den. Unslinging his club which had hung down his back from a thong +about his neck he stood upon the level floor of the entrance-way +effectually blocking Ta-den's ascent. From all directions the warriors +of Kor-ul-JA were swarming toward the interlopers. Tarzan, who had +reached a point on the same level with Ta-den but a little to the +latter's left, saw that nothing short of a miracle could save them. +Just at the ape-man's left was the entrance to a cave that either was +deserted or whose occupants had not as yet been aroused, for the level +recess remained unoccupied. Resourceful was the alert mind of Tarzan of +the Apes and quick to respond were the trained muscles. In the time +that you or I might give to debating an action he would accomplish it +and now, though only seconds separated his nearest antagonist from him, +in the brief span of time at his disposal he had stepped into the +recess, unslung his long rope and leaning far out shot the sinuous +noose, with the precision of long habitude, toward the menacing figure +wielding its heavy club above Ta-den. There was a momentary pause of +the rope-hand as the noose sped toward its goal, a quick movement of +the right wrist that closed it upon its victim as it settled over his +head and then a surging tug as, seizing the rope in both hands, Tarzan +threw back upon it all the weight of his great frame. + +Voicing a terrified shriek, the Waz-don lunged headforemost from the +recess above Ta-den. Tarzan braced himself for the coming shock when +the creature's body should have fallen the full length of the rope and +as it did there was a snap of the vertebrae that rose sickeningly in +the momentary silence that had followed the doomed man's departing +scream. Unshaken by the stress of the suddenly arrested weight at the +end of the rope, Tarzan quickly pulled the body to his side that he +might remove the noose from about its neck, for he could not afford to +lose so priceless a weapon. + +During the several seconds that had elapsed since he cast the rope the +Waz-don warriors had remained inert as though paralyzed by wonder or by +terror. Now, again, one of them found his voice and his head and +straightway, shrieking invectives at the strange intruder, started +upward for the ape-man, urging his fellows to attack. This man was the +closest to Tarzan. But for him the ape-man could easily have reached +Ta-den's side as the latter was urging him to do. Tarzan raised the +body of the dead Waz-don above his head, held it poised there for a +moment as with face raised to the heavens he screamed forth the horrid +challenge of the bull apes of the tribe of Kerchak, and with all the +strength of his giant sinews he hurled the corpse heavily upon the +ascending warrior. So great was the force of the impact that not only +was the Waz-don torn from his hold but two of the pegs to which he +clung were broken short in their sockets. + +As the two bodies, the living and the dead, hurtled downward toward the +foot of the cliff a great cry arose from the Waz-don. "Jad-guru-don! +Jad-guru-don!" they screamed, and then: "Kill him! Kill him!" + +And now Tarzan stood in the recess beside Ta-den. "Jad-guru-don!" +repeated the latter, smiling--"The terrible man! Tarzan the Terrible! +They may kill you, but they will never forget you." + +"They shall not ki--What have we here?" Tarzan's statement as to what +"they" should not do was interrupted by a sudden ejaculation as two +figures, locked in deathlike embrace, stumbled through the doorway of +the cave to the outer porch. One was Om-at, the other a creature of his +own kind but with a rough coat, the hairs of which seemed to grow +straight outward from the skin, stiffly, unlike Om-at's sleek covering. +The two were quite evidently well matched and equally evident was the +fact that each was bent upon murder. They fought almost in silence +except for an occasional low growl as one or the other acknowledged +thus some new hurt. + +Tarzan, following a natural impulse to aid his ally, leaped forward to +enter the dispute only to be checked by a grunted admonition from +Om-at. "Back!" he said. "This fight is mine, alone." + +The ape-man understood and stepped aside. + +"It is a gund-bar," explained Ta-den, "a chief-battle. This fellow must +be Es-sat, the chief. If Om-at kills him without assistance Om-at may +become chief." + +Tarzan smiled. It was the law of his own jungle--the law of the tribe +of Kerchak, the bull ape--the ancient law of primitive man that needed +but the refining influences of civilization to introduce the hired +dagger and the poison cup. Then his attention was drawn to the outer +edge of the vestibule. Above it appeared the shaggy face of one of +Es-sat's warriors. Tarzan sprang to intercept the man; but Ta-den was +there ahead of him. "Back!" cried the Ho-don to the newcomer. "It is +gund-bar." The fellow looked scrutinizingly at the two fighters, then +turned his face downward toward his fellows. "Back!" he cried, "it is +gund-bar between Es-sat and Om-at." Then he looked back at Ta-den and +Tarzan. "Who are you?" he asked. + +"We are Om-at's friends," replied Ta-den. + +The fellow nodded. "We will attend to you later," he said and +disappeared below the edge of the recess. + +The battle upon the ledge continued with unabated ferocity, Tarzan and +Ta-den having difficulty in keeping out of the way of the contestants +who tore and beat at each other with hands and feet and lashing tails. +Es-sat was unarmed--Pan-at-lee had seen to that--but at Om-at's side +swung a sheathed knife which he made no effort to draw. That would have +been contrary to their savage and primitive code for the chief-battle +must be fought with nature's weapons. + +Sometimes they separated for an instant only to rush upon each other +again with all the ferocity and nearly the strength of mad bulls. +Presently one of them tripped the other but in that viselike embrace +one could not fall alone--Es-sat dragged Om-at with him, toppling upon +the brink of the niche. Even Tarzan held his breath. There they surged +to and fro perilously for a moment and then the inevitable +happened--the two, locked in murderous embrace, rolled over the edge +and disappeared from the ape-man's view. + +Tarzan voiced a suppressed sigh for he had liked Om-at and then, with +Ta-den, approached the edge and looked over. Far below, in the dim +light of the coming dawn, two inert forms should be lying stark in +death; but, to Tarzan's amazement, such was far from the sight that met +his eyes. Instead, there were the two figures still vibrant with life +and still battling only a few feet below him. Clinging always to the +pegs with two holds--a hand and a foot, or a foot and a tail, they +seemed as much at home upon the perpendicular wall as upon the level +surface of the vestibule; but now their tactics were slightly altered, +for each seemed particularly bent upon dislodging his antagonist from +his holds and precipitating him to certain death below. It was soon +evident that Om-at, younger and with greater powers of endurance than +Es-sat, was gaining an advantage. Now was the chief almost wholly on +the defensive. Holding him by the cross belt with one mighty hand Om-at +was forcing his foeman straight out from the cliff, and with the other +hand and one foot was rapidly breaking first one of Es-sat's holds and +then another, alternating his efforts, or rather punctuating them, with +vicious blows to the pit of his adversary's stomach. Rapidly was Es-sat +weakening and with the knowledge of impending death there came, as +there comes to every coward and bully under similar circumstances, a +crumbling of the veneer of bravado which had long masqueraded as +courage and with it crumbled his code of ethics. Now was Es-sat no +longer chief of Kor-ul-JA--instead he was a whimpering craven battling +for life. Clutching at Om-at, clutching at the nearest pegs he sought +any support that would save him from that awful fall, and as he strove +to push aside the hand of death, whose cold fingers he already felt +upon his heart, his tail sought Om-at's side and the handle of the +knife that hung there. + +Tarzan saw and even as Es-sat drew the blade from its sheath he dropped +catlike to the pegs beside the battling men. Es-sat's tail had drawn +back for the cowardly fatal thrust. Now many others saw the perfidious +act and a great cry of rage and disgust arose from savage throats; but +as the blade sped toward its goal, the ape-man seized the hairy member +that wielded it, and at the same instant Om-at thrust the body of +Es-sat from him with such force that its weakened holds were broken and +it hurtled downward, a brief meteor of screaming fear, to death. + + + +4 + +Tarzan-jad-guru + +As Tarzan and Om-at clambered back to the vestibule of Pan-at-lee's +cave and took their stand beside Ta-den in readiness for whatever +eventuality might follow the death of Es-sat, the sun that topped the +eastern hills touched also the figure of a sleeper upon a distant, +thorn-covered steppe awakening him to another day of tireless tracking +along a faint and rapidly disappearing spoor. + +For a time silence reigned in the Kor-ul-JA. The tribesmen waited, +looking now down upon the dead thing that had been their chief, now at +one another, and now at Om-at and the two who stood upon his either +side. Presently Om-at spoke. "I am Om-at," he cried. "Who will say that +Om-at is not gund of Kor-ul-JA?" + +He waited for a taker of his challenge. One or two of the larger young +bucks fidgeted restlessly and eyed him; but there was no reply. + +"Then Om-at is gund," he said with finality. "Now tell me, where are +Pan-at-lee, her father, and her brothers?" + +An old warrior spoke. "Pan-at-lee should be in her cave. Who should +know that better than you who are there now? Her father and her +brothers were sent to watch Kor-ul-lul; but neither of these questions +arouse any tumult in our breasts. There is one that does: Can Om-at be +chief of Kor-ul-JA and yet stand at bay against his own people with a +Ho-don and that terrible man at his side--that terrible man who has no +tail? Hand the strangers over to your people to be slain as is the way +of the Waz-don and then may Om-at be gund." + +Neither Tarzan nor Ta-den spoke then, they but stood watching Om-at and +waiting for his decision, the ghost of a smile upon the lips of the +ape-man. Ta-den, at least, knew that the old warrior had spoken the +truth--the Waz-don entertain no strangers and take no prisoners of an +alien race. + +Then spoke Om-at. "Always there is change," he said. "Even the old +hills of Pal-ul-don appear never twice alike--the brilliant sun, a +passing cloud, the moon, a mist, the changing seasons, the sharp +clearness following a storm; these things bring each a new change in +our hills. From birth to death, day by day, there is constant change in +each of us. Change, then, is one of Jad-ben-Otho's laws. + +"And now I, Om-at, your gund, bring another change. Strangers who are +brave men and good friends shall no longer be slain by the Waz-don of +Kor-ul-JA!" + +There were growls and murmurings and a restless moving among the +warriors as each eyed the others to see who would take the initiative +against Om-at, the iconoclast. + +"Cease your mutterings," admonished the new gund. "I am your chief. My +word is your law. You had no part in making me chief. Some of you +helped Es-sat to drive me from the cave of my ancestors; the rest of +you permitted it. I owe you nothing. Only these two, whom you would +have me kill, were loyal to me. I am gund and if there be any who +doubts it let him speak--he cannot die younger." + +Tarzan was pleased. Here was a man after his own heart. He admired the +fearlessness of Om-at's challenge and he was a sufficiently good judge +of men to know that he had listened to no idle bluff--Om-at would back +up his words to the death, if necessary, and the chances were that he +would not be the one to die. Evidently the majority of the +Kor-ul-jaians entertained the same conviction. + +"I will make you a good gund," said Om-at, seeing that no one appeared +inclined to dispute his rights. "Your wives and daughters will be +safe--they were not safe while Es-sat ruled. Go now to your crops and +your hunting. I leave to search for Pan-at-lee. Ab-on will be gund +while I am away--look to him for guidance and to me for an accounting +when I return--and may Jad-ben-Otho smile upon you." + +He turned toward Tarzan and the Ho-don. "And you, my friends," he said, +"are free to go among my people; the cave of my ancestors is yours, do +what you will." + +"I," said Tarzan, "will go with Om-at to search for Pan-at-lee." + +"And I," said Ta-den. + +Om-at smiled. "Good!" he exclaimed. "And when we have found her we +shall go together upon Tarzan's business and Ta-den's. Where first +shall we search?" He turned toward his warriors. "Who knows where she +may be?" + +None knew other than that Pan-at-lee had gone to her cave with the +others the previous evening--there was no clew, no suggestion as to her +whereabouts. + +"Show me where she sleeps," said Tarzan; "let me see something that +belongs to her--an article of her apparel--then, doubtless, I can help +you." + +Two young warriors climbed closer to the ledge upon which Om-at stood. +They were In-sad and O-dan. It was the latter who spoke. + +"Gund of Kor-ul-JA," he said, "we would go with you to search for +Pan-at-lee." + +It was the first acknowledgment of Om-at's chieftainship and +immediately following it the tenseness that had prevailed seemed to +relax--the warriors spoke aloud instead of in whispers, and the women +appeared from the mouths of caves as with the passing of a sudden +storm. In-sad and O-dan had taken the lead and now all seemed glad to +follow. Some came to talk with Om-at and to look more closely at +Tarzan; others, heads of caves, gathered their hunters and discussed +the business of the day. The women and children prepared to descend to +the fields with the youths and the old men, whose duty it was to guard +them. + +"O-dan and In-sad shall go with us," announced Om-at, "we shall not +need more. Tarzan, come with me and I shall show you where Pan-at-lee +sleeps, though why you should wish to know I cannot guess--she is not +there. I have looked for myself." + +The two entered the cave where Om-at led the way to the apartment in +which Es-sat had surprised Pan-at-lee the previous night. + +"All here are hers," said Om-at, "except the war club lying on the +floor--that was Es-sat's." + +The ape-man moved silently about the apartment, the quivering of his +sensitive nostrils scarcely apparent to his companion who only wondered +what good purpose could be served here and chafed at the delay. + +"Come!" said the ape-man, presently, and led the way toward the outer +recess. + +Here their three companions were awaiting them. Tarzan passed to the +left side of the niche and examined the pegs that lay within reach. He +looked at them but it was not his eyes that were examining them. Keener +than his keen eyes was that marvelously trained sense of scent that had +first been developed in him during infancy under the tutorage of his +foster mother, Kala, the she-ape, and further sharpened in the grim +jungles by that master teacher--the instinct of self-preservation. + +From the left side of the niche he turned to the right. Om-at was +becoming impatient. + +"Let us be off," he said. "We must search for Pan-at-lee if we would +ever find her." + +"Where shall we search?" asked Tarzan. + +Om-at scratched his head. "Where?" he repeated. "Why all Pal-ul-don, if +necessary." + +"A large job," said Tarzan. "Come," he added, "she went this way," and +he took to the pegs that led aloft toward the summit of the cliff. Here +he followed the scent easily since none had passed that way since +Pan-at-lee had fled. At the point at which she had left the permanent +pegs and resorted to those carried with her Tarzan came to an abrupt +halt. "She went this way to the summit," he called back to Om-at who +was directly behind him; "but there are no pegs here." + +"I do not know how you know that she went this way," said Om-at; "but +we will get pegs. In-sad, return and fetch climbing pegs for five." + +The young warrior was soon back and the pegs distributed. Om-at handed +five to Tarzan and explained their use. The ape-man returned one. "I +need but four," he said. + +Om-at smiled. "What a wonderful creature you would be if you were not +deformed," he said, glancing with pride at his own strong tail. + +"I admit that I am handicapped," replied Tarzan. "You others go ahead +and leave the pegs in place for me. I am afraid that otherwise it will +be slow work as I cannot hold the pegs in my toes as you do." + +"All right," agreed Om-at; "Ta-den, In-sad, and I will go first, you +follow and O-dan bring up the rear and collect the pegs--we cannot +leave them here for our enemies." + +"Can't your enemies bring their own pegs?" asked Tarzan. + +"Yes; but it delays them and makes easier our defense and--they do not +know which of all the holes you see are deep enough for pegs--the +others are made to confuse our enemies and are too shallow to hold a +peg." + +At the top of the cliff beside the gnarled tree Tarzan again took up +the trail. Here the scent was fully as strong as upon the pegs and the +ape-man moved rapidly across the ridge in the direction of the +Kor-ul-lul. + +Presently he paused and turned toward Om-at. "Here she moved swiftly, +running at top speed, and, Om-at, she was pursued by a lion." + +"You can read that in the grass?" asked O-dan as the others gathered +about the ape-man. + +Tarzan nodded. "I do not think the lion got her," he added; "but that +we shall determine quickly. No, he did not get her--look!" and he +pointed toward the southwest, down the ridge. + +Following the direction indicated by his finger, the others presently +detected a movement in some bushes a couple of hundred yards away. + +"What is it?" asked Om-at. "It is she?" and he started toward the spot. + +"Wait," advised Tarzan. "It is the lion which pursued her." + +"You can see him?" asked Ta-den. + +"No, I can smell him." + +The others looked their astonishment and incredulity; but of the fact +that it was indeed a lion they were not left long in doubt. Presently +the bushes parted and the creature stepped out in full view, facing +them. It was a magnificent beast, large and beautifully maned, with the +brilliant leopard spots of its kind well marked and symmetrical. For a +moment it eyed them and then, still chafing at the loss of its prey +earlier in the morning, it charged. + +The Pal-ul-donians unslung their clubs and stood waiting the onrushing +beast. Tarzan of the Apes drew his hunting knife and crouched in the +path of the fanged fury. It was almost upon him when it swerved to the +right and leaped for Om-at only to be sent to earth with a staggering +blow upon the head. Almost instantly it was up and though the men +rushed fearlessly in, it managed to sweep aside their weapons with its +mighty paws. A single blow wrenched O-dan's club from his hand and sent +it hurtling against Ta-den, knocking him from his feet. Taking +advantage of its opportunity the lion rose to throw itself upon O-dan +and at the same instant Tarzan flung himself upon its back. Strong, +white teeth buried themselves in the spotted neck, mighty arms +encircled the savage throat and the sinewy legs of the ape-man locked +themselves about the gaunt belly. + +The others, powerless to aid, stood breathlessly about as the great +lion lunged hither and thither, clawing and biting fearfully and +futilely at the savage creature that had fastened itself upon him. Over +and over they rolled and now the onlookers saw a brown hand raised +above the lion's side--a brown hand grasping a keen blade. They saw it +fall and rise and fall again--each time with terrific force and in its +wake they saw a crimson stream trickling down JA's gorgeous coat. + +Now from the lion's throat rose hideous screams of hate and rage and +pain as he redoubled his efforts to dislodge and punish his tormentor; +but always the tousled black head remained half buried in the dark +brown mane and the mighty arm rose and fell to plunge the knife again +and again into the dying beast. + +The Pal-ul-donians stood in mute wonder and admiration. Brave men and +mighty hunters they were and as such the first to accord honor to a +mightier. + +"And you would have had me slay him!" cried Om-at, glancing at In-sad +and O-dan. + +"Jad-ben-Otho reward you that you did not," breathed In-sad. + +And now the lion lunged suddenly to earth and with a few spasmodic +quiverings lay still. The ape-man rose and shook himself, even as might +JA, the leopard-coated lion of Pal-ul-don, had he been the one to +survive. + +O-dan advanced quickly toward Tarzan. Placing a palm upon his own +breast and the other on Tarzan's, "Tarzan the Terrible," he said, "I +ask no greater honor than your friendship." + +"And I no more than the friendship of Om-at's friends," replied the +ape-man simply, returning the other's salute. + +"Do you think," asked Om-at, coming close to Tarzan and laying a hand +upon the other's shoulder, "that he got her?" + +"No, my friend; it was a hungry lion that charged us." + +"You seem to know much of lions," said In-sad. + +"Had I a brother I could not know him better," replied Tarzan. + +"Then where can she be?" continued Om-at. + +"We can but follow while the spoor is fresh," answered the ape-man and +again taking up his interrupted tracking he led them down the ridge and +at a sharp turning of the trail to the left brought them to the verge +of the cliff that dropped into the Kor-ul-lul. For a moment Tarzan +examined the ground to the right and to the left, then he stood erect +and looking at Om-at pointed into the gorge. + +For a moment the Waz-don gazed down into the green rift at the bottom +of which a tumultuous river tumbled downward along its rocky bed, then +he closed his eyes as to a sudden spasm of pain and turned away. + +"You--mean--she jumped?" he asked. + +"To escape the lion," replied Tarzan. "He was right behind her--look, +you can see where his four paws left their impress in the turf as he +checked his charge upon the very verge of the abyss." + +"Is there any chance--" commenced Om-at, to be suddenly silenced by a +warning gesture from Tarzan. + +"Down!" whispered the ape-man, "many men are coming. They are +running--from down the ridge." He flattened himself upon his belly in +the grass, the others following his example. + +For some minutes they waited thus and then the others, too, heard the +sound of running feet and now a hoarse shout followed by many more. + +"It is the war cry of the Kor-ul-lul," whispered Om-at--"the hunting +cry of men who hunt men. Presently shall we see them and if +Jad-ben-Otho is pleased with us they shall not too greatly outnumber +us." + +"They are many," said Tarzan, "forty or fifty, I should say; but how +many are the pursued and how many the pursuers we cannot even guess, +except that the latter must greatly outnumber the former, else these +would not run so fast." + +"Here they come," said Ta-den. + +"It is An-un, father of Pan-at-lee, and his two sons," exclaimed O-dan. +"They will pass without seeing us if we do not hurry," he added looking +at Om-at, the chief, for a sign. + +"Come!" cried the latter, springing to his feet and running rapidly to +intercept the three fugitives. The others followed him. + +"Five friends!" shouted Om-at as An-un and his sons discovered them. + +"Adenen yo!" echoed O-dan and In-sad. + +The fugitives scarcely paused as these unexpected reinforcements joined +them but they eyed Ta-den and Tarzan with puzzled glances. + +"The Kor-ul-lul are many," shouted An-un. "Would that we might pause +and fight; but first we must warn Es-sat and our people." + +"Yes," said Om-at, "we must warn our people." + +"Es-sat is dead," said In-sad. + +"Who is chief?" asked one of An-un's sons. + +"Om-at," replied O-dan. + +"It is well," cried An-un. "Pan-at-lee said that you would come back +and slay Es-sat." + +Now the enemy broke into sight behind them. + +"Come!" cried Tarzan, "let us turn and charge them, raising a great +cry. They pursued but three and when they see eight charging upon them +they will think that many men have come to do battle. They will believe +that there are more even than they see and then one who is swift will +have time to reach the gorge and warn your people." + +"It is well," said Om-at. "Id-an, you are swift--carry word to the +warriors of Kor-ul-JA that we fight the Kor-ul-lul upon the ridge and +that Ab-on shall send a hundred men." + +Id-an, the son of An-un, sped swiftly toward the cliff-dwellings of the +Kor-ul-JA while the others charged the oncoming Kor-ul-lul, the war +cries of the two tribes rising and falling in a certain grim harmony. +The leaders of the Kor-ul-lul paused at sight of the reinforcements, +waiting apparently for those behind to catch up with them and, +possibly, also to learn how great a force confronted them. The leaders, +swifter runners than their fellows, perhaps, were far in advance while +the balance of their number had not yet emerged from the brush; and now +as Om-at and his companions fell upon them with a ferocity born of +necessity they fell back, so that when their companions at last came in +sight of them they appeared to be in full rout. The natural result was +that the others turned and fled. + +Encouraged by this first success Om-at followed them into the brush, +his little company charging valiantly upon his either side, and loud +and terrifying were the savage yells with which they pursued the +fleeing enemy. The brush, while not growing so closely together as to +impede progress, was of such height as to hide the members of the party +from one another when they became separated by even a few yards. The +result was that Tarzan, always swift and always keen for battle, was +soon pursuing the enemy far in the lead of the others--a lack of +prudence which was to prove his undoing. + +The warriors of Kor-ul-lul, doubtless as valorous as their foemen, +retreated only to a more strategic position in the brush, nor were they +long in guessing that the number of their pursuers was fewer than their +own. They made a stand then where the brush was densest--an ambush it +was, and into this ran Tarzan of the Apes. They tricked him neatly. +Yes, sad as is the narration of it, they tricked the wily jungle lord. +But then they were fighting on their own ground, every foot of which +they knew as you know your front parlor, and they were following their +own tactics, of which Tarzan knew nothing. + +A single black warrior appeared to Tarzan a laggard in the rear of the +retreating enemy and thus retreating he lured Tarzan on. At last he +turned at bay confronting the ape-man with bludgeon and drawn knife and +as Tarzan charged him a score of burly Waz-don leaped from the +surrounding brush. Instantly, but too late, the giant Tarmangani +realized his peril. There flashed before him a vision of his lost mate +and a great and sickening regret surged through him with the +realization that if she still lived she might no longer hope, for +though she might never know of the passing of her lord the fact of it +must inevitably seal her doom. + +And consequent to this thought there enveloped him a blind frenzy of +hatred for these creatures who dared thwart his purpose and menace the +welfare of his wife. With a savage growl he threw himself upon the +warrior before him twisting the heavy club from the creature's hand as +if he had been a little child, and with his left fist backed by the +weight and sinew of his giant frame, he crashed a shattering blow to +the center of the Waz-don's face--a blow that crushed the bones and +dropped the fellow in his tracks. Then he swung upon the others with +their fallen comrade's bludgeon striking to right and left mighty, +unmerciful blows that drove down their own weapons until that wielded +by the ape-man was splintered and shattered. On either hand they fell +before his cudgel; so rapid the delivery of his blows, so catlike his +recovery that in the first few moments of the battle he seemed +invulnerable to their attack; but it could not last--he was outnumbered +twenty to one and his undoing came from a thrown club. It struck him +upon the back of the head. For a moment he stood swaying and then like +a great pine beneath the woodsman's ax he crashed to earth. + +Others of the Kor-ul-lul had rushed to engage the balance of Om-at's +party. They could be heard fighting at a short distance and it was +evident that the Kor-ul-JA were falling slowly back and as they fell +Om-at called to the missing one: "Tarzan the Terrible! Tarzan the +Terrible!" + +"Jad-guru, indeed," repeated one of the Kor-ul-lul rising from where +Tarzan had dropped him. "Tarzan-jad-guru! He was worse than that." + + + +5 + +In the Kor-ul-GRYF + +As Tarzan fell among his enemies a man halted many miles away upon the +outer verge of the morass that encircles Pal-ul-don. Naked he was +except for a loin cloth and three belts of cartridges, two of which +passed over his shoulders, crossing upon his chest and back, while the +third encircled his waist. Slung to his back by its leathern +sling-strap was an Enfield, and he carried too a long knife, a bow and +a quiver of arrows. He had come far, through wild and savage lands, +menaced by fierce beasts and fiercer men, yet intact to the last +cartridge was the ammunition that had filled his belts the day that he +set out. + +The bow and the arrows and the long knife had brought him thus far +safely, yet often in the face of great risks that could have been +minimized by a single shot from the well-kept rifle at his back. What +purpose might he have for conserving this precious ammunition? in +risking his life to bring the last bright shining missile to his +unknown goal? For what, for whom were these death-dealing bits of metal +preserved? In all the world only he knew. + +When Pan-at-lee stepped over the edge of the cliff above Kor-ul-lul she +expected to be dashed to instant death upon the rocks below; but she +had chosen this in preference to the rending fangs of JA. Instead, +chance had ordained that she make the frightful plunge at a point where +the tumbling river swung close beneath the overhanging cliff to eddy +for a slow moment in a deep pool before plunging madly downward again +in a cataract of boiling foam, and water thundering against rocks. + +Into this icy pool the girl shot, and down and down beneath the watery +surface until, half choked, yet fighting bravely, she battled her way +once more to air. Swimming strongly she made the opposite shore and +there dragged herself out upon the bank to lie panting and spent until +the approaching dawn warned her to seek concealment, for she was in the +country of her people's enemies. + +Rising, she moved into the concealment of the rank vegetation that +grows so riotously in the well-watered kors[1] of Pal-ul-don. + +Hidden amidst the plant life from the sight of any who might chance to +pass along the well-beaten trail that skirted the river Pan-at-lee +sought rest and food, the latter growing in abundance all about her in +the form of fruits and berries and succulent tubers which she scooped +from the earth with the knife of the dead Es-sat. + +Ah! if she had but known that he was dead! What trials and risks and +terrors she might have been saved; but she thought that he still lived +and so she dared not return to Kor-ul-JA. At least not yet while his +rage was at white heat. Later, perhaps, her father and brothers +returned to their cave, she might risk it; but not now--not now. Nor +could she for long remain here in the neighborhood of the hostile +Kor-ul-lul and somewhere she must find safety from beasts before the +night set in. + +As she sat upon the bole of a fallen tree seeking some solution of the +problem of existence that confronted her, there broke upon her ears +from up the gorge the voices of shouting men--a sound that she +recognized all too well. It was the war cry of the Kor-ul-lul. Closer +and closer it approached her hiding place. Then, through the veil of +foliage she caught glimpses of three figures fleeing along the trail, +and behind them the shouting of the pursuers rose louder and louder as +they neared her. Again she caught sight of the fugitives crossing the +river below the cataract and again they were lost to sight. And now the +pursuers came into view--shouting Kor-ul-lul warriors, fierce and +implacable. Forty, perhaps fifty of them. She waited breathless; but +they did not swerve from the trail and passed her, unguessing that an +enemy she lay hid within a few yards of them. + +Once again she caught sight of the pursued--three Waz-don warriors +clambering the cliff face at a point where portions of the summit had +fallen away presenting a steep slope that might be ascended by such as +these. Suddenly her attention was riveted upon the three. Could it be? +O Jad-ben-Otho! had she but known a moment before. When they passed she +might have joined them, for they were her father and two brothers. Now +it was too late. With bated breath and tense muscles she watched the +race. Would they reach the summit? Would the Kor-ul-lul overhaul them? +They climbed well, but, oh, so slowly. Now one lost his footing in the +loose shale and slipped back! The Kor-ul-lul were ascending--one hurled +his club at the nearest fugitive. The Great God was pleased with the +brother of Pan-at-lee, for he caused the club to fall short of its +target, and to fall, rolling and bounding, back upon its owner carrying +him from his feet and precipitating him to the bottom of the gorge. + +Standing now, her hands pressed tight above her golden breastplates, +Pan-at-lee watched the race for life. Now one, her older brother, +reached the summit and clinging there to something that she could not +see he lowered his body and his long tail to the father beneath him. +The latter, seizing this support, extended his own tail to the son +below--the one who had slipped back--and thus, upon a living ladder of +their own making, the three reached the summit and disappeared from +view before the Kor-ul-lul overtook them. But the latter did not +abandon the chase. On they went until they too had disappeared from +sight and only a faint shouting came down to Pan-at-lee to tell her +that the pursuit continued. + +The girl knew that she must move on. At any moment now might come a +hunting party, combing the gorge for the smaller animals that fed or +bedded there. + +Behind her were Es-sat and the returning party of Kor-ul-lul that had +pursued her kin; before her, across the next ridge, was the +Kor-ul-GRYF, the lair of the terrifying monsters that brought the chill +of fear to every inhabitant of Pal-ul-don; below her, in the valley, +was the country of the Ho-don, where she could look for only slavery, +or death; here were the Kor-ul-lul, the ancient enemies of her people +and everywhere were the wild beasts that eat the flesh of man. + +For but a moment she debated and then turning her face toward the +southeast she set out across the gorge of water toward the +Kor-ul-GRYF--at least there were no men there. As it is now, so it was +in the beginning, back to the primitive progenitor of man which is +typified by Pan-at-lee and her kind today, of all the hunters that +woman fears, man is the most relentless, the most terrible. To the +dangers of man she preferred the dangers of the GRYF. + +Moving cautiously she reached the foot of the cliff at the far side of +Kor-ul-lul and here, toward noon, she found a comparatively easy +ascent. Crossing the ridge she stood at last upon the brink of +Kor-ul-GRYF--the horror place of the folklore of her race. Dank and +mysterious grew the vegetation below; giant trees waved their plumed +tops almost level with the summit of the cliff; and over all brooded an +ominous silence. + +Pan-at-lee lay upon her belly and stretching over the edge scanned the +cliff face below her. She could see caves there and the stone pegs +which the ancients had fashioned so laboriously by hand. She had heard +of these in the firelight tales of her childhood and of how the gryfs +had come from the morasses across the mountains and of how at last the +people had fled after many had been seized and devoured by the hideous +creatures, leaving their caves untenanted for no man living knew how +long. Some said that Jad-ben-Otho, who has lived forever, was still a +little boy. Pan-at-lee shuddered; but there were caves and in them she +would be safe even from the gryfs. + +She found a place where the stone pegs reached to the very summit of +the cliff, left there no doubt in the final exodus of the tribe when +there was no longer need of safeguarding the deserted caves against +invasion. Pan-at-lee clambered slowly down toward the uppermost cave. +She found the recess in front of the doorway almost identical with +those of her own tribe. The floor of it, though, was littered with +twigs and old nests and the droppings of birds, until it was half +choked. She moved along to another recess and still another, but all +were alike in the accumulated filth. Evidently there was no need in +looking further. This one seemed large and commodious. With her knife +she fell to work cleaning away the debris by the simple expedient of +pushing it over the edge, and always her eyes turned constantly toward +the silent gorge where lurked the fearsome creatures of Pal-ul-don. And +other eyes there were, eyes she did not see, but that saw her and +watched her every move--fierce eyes, greedy eyes, cunning and cruel. +They watched her, and a red tongue licked flabby, pendulous lips. They +watched her, and a half-human brain laboriously evolved a brutish +design. + +As in her own Kor-ul-JA, the natural springs in the cliff had been +developed by the long-dead builders of the caves so that fresh, pure +water trickled now, as it had for ages, within easy access to the cave +entrances. Her only difficulty would be in procuring food and for that +she must take the risk at least once in two days, for she was sure that +she could find fruits and tubers and perhaps small animals, birds, and +eggs near the foot of the cliff, the last two, possibly, in the caves +themselves. Thus might she live on here indefinitely. She felt now a +certain sense of security imparted doubtless by the impregnability of +her high-flung sanctuary that she knew to be safe from all the more +dangerous beasts, and this one from men, too, since it lay in the +abjured Kor-ul-GRYF. + +Now she determined to inspect the interior of her new home. The sun +still in the south, lighted the interior of the first apartment. It was +similar to those of her experience--the same beasts and men were +depicted in the same crude fashion in the carvings on the +walls--evidently there had been little progress in the race of Waz-don +during the generations that had come and departed since Kor-ul-GRYF had +been abandoned by men. Of course Pan-at-lee thought no such thoughts, +for evolution and progress existed not for her, or her kind. Things +were as they had always been and would always be as they were. + +That these strange creatures have existed thus for incalculable ages it +can scarce be doubted, so marked are the indications of antiquity about +their dwellings--deep furrows worn by naked feet in living rock; the +hollow in the jamb of a stone doorway where many arms have touched in +passing; the endless carvings that cover, ofttimes, the entire face of +a great cliff and all the walls and ceilings of every cave and each +carving wrought by a different hand, for each is the coat of arms, one +might say, of the adult male who traced it. + +And so Pan-at-lee found this ancient cave homelike and familiar. There +was less litter within than she had found without and what there was +was mostly an accumulation of dust. Beside the doorway was the niche in +which wood and tinder were kept, but there remained nothing now other +than mere dust. She had however saved a little pile of twigs from the +debris on the porch. In a short time she had made a light by firing a +bundle of twigs and lighting others from this fire she explored some of +the inner rooms. Nor here did she find aught that was new or strange +nor any relic of the departed owners other than a few broken stone +dishes. She had been looking for something soft to sleep upon, but was +doomed to disappointment as the former owners had evidently made a +leisurely departure, carrying all their belongings with them. Below, in +the gorge were leaves and grasses and fragrant branches, but Pan-at-lee +felt no stomach for descending into that horrid abyss for the +gratification of mere creature comfort--only the necessity for food +would drive her there. + +And so, as the shadows lengthened and night approached she prepared to +make as comfortable a bed as she could by gathering the dust of ages +into a little pile and spreading it between her soft body and the hard +floor--at best it was only better than nothing. But Pan-at-lee was very +tired. She had not slept since two nights before and in the interval +she had experienced many dangers and hardships. What wonder then that +despite the hard bed, she was asleep almost immediately she had +composed herself for rest. + +She slept and the moon rose, casting its silver light upon the cliff's +white face and lessening the gloom of the dark forest and the dismal +gorge. In the distance a lion roared. There was a long silence. From +the upper reaches of the gorge came a deep bellow. There was a movement +in the trees at the cliff's foot. Again the bellow, low and ominous. It +was answered from below the deserted village. Something dropped from +the foliage of a tree directly below the cave in which Pan-at-lee +slept--it dropped to the ground among the dense shadows. Now it moved, +cautiously. It moved toward the foot of the cliff, taking form and +shape in the moonlight. It moved like the creature of a bad +dream--slowly, sluggishly. It might have been a huge sloth--it might +have been a man, with so grotesque a brush does the moon paint--master +cubist. + +Slowly it moved up the face of the cliff--like a great grubworm it +moved, but now the moon-brush touched it again and it had hands and +feet and with them it clung to the stone pegs and raised itself +laboriously aloft toward the cave where Pan-at-lee slept. From the +lower reaches of the gorge came again the sound of bellowing, and it +was answered from above the village. + +Tarzan of the Apes opened his eyes. He was conscious of a pain in his +head, and at first that was about all. A moment later grotesque +shadows, rising and falling, focused his arousing perceptions. +Presently he saw that he was in a cave. A dozen Waz-don warriors +squatted about, talking. A rude stone cresset containing burning oil +lighted the interior and as the flame rose and fell the exaggerated +shadows of the warriors danced upon the walls behind them. + +"We brought him to you alive, Gund," he heard one of them saying, +"because never before was Ho-don like him seen. He has no tail--he was +born without one, for there is no scar to mark where a tail had been +cut off. The thumbs upon his hands and feet are unlike those of the +races of Pal-ul-don. He is more powerful than many men put together and +he attacks with the fearlessness of JA. We brought him alive, that you +might see him before he is slain." + +The chief rose and approached the ape-man, who closed his eyes and +feigned unconsciousness. He felt hairy hands upon him as he was turned +over, none too gently. The gund examined him from head to foot, making +comments, especially upon the shape and size of his thumbs and great +toes. + +"With these and with no tail," he said, "it cannot climb." + +"No," agreed one of the warriors, "it would surely fall even from the +cliff pegs." + +"I have never seen a thing like it," said the chief. "It is neither +Waz-don nor Ho-don. I wonder from whence it came and what it is called." + +"The Kor-ul-JA shouted aloud, 'Tarzan-jad-guru!' and we thought that +they might be calling this one," said a warrior. "Shall we kill it now?" + +"No," replied the chief, "we will wait until its life returns into its +head that I may question it. Remain here, In-tan, and watch it. When it +can again hear and speak call me." + +He turned and departed from the cave, the others, except In-tan, +following him. As they moved past him and out of the chamber Tarzan +caught snatches of their conversation which indicated that the +Kor-ul-JA reinforcements had fallen upon their little party in great +numbers and driven them away. Evidently the swift feet of Id-an had +saved the day for the warriors of Om-at. The ape-man smiled, then he +partially opened an eye and cast it upon In-tan. The warrior stood at +the entrance to the cave looking out--his back was toward his prisoner. +Tarzan tested the bonds that secured his wrists. They seemed none too +stout and they had tied his hands in front of him! Evidence indeed that +the Waz-don took few prisoners--if any. + +Cautiously he raised his wrists until he could examine the thongs that +confined them. A grim smile lighted his features. Instantly he was at +work upon the bonds with his strong teeth, but ever a wary eye was upon +In-tan, the warrior of Kor-ul-lul. The last knot had been loosened and +Tarzan's hands were free when In-tan turned to cast an appraising eye +upon his ward. He saw that the prisoner's position was changed--he no +longer lay upon his back as they had left him, but upon his side and +his hands were drawn up against his face. In-tan came closer and bent +down. The bonds seemed very loose upon the prisoner's wrists. He +extended his hand to examine them with his fingers and instantly the +two hands leaped from their bonds--one to seize his own wrist, the +other his throat. So unexpected the catlike attack that In-tan had not +even time to cry out before steel fingers silenced him. The creature +pulled him suddenly forward so that he lost his balance and rolled over +upon the prisoner and to the floor beyond to stop with Tarzan upon his +breast. In-tan struggled to release himself--struggled to draw his +knife; but Tarzan found it before him. The Waz-don's tail leaped to the +other's throat, encircling it--he too could choke; but his own knife, +in the hands of his antagonist, severed the beloved member close to its +root. + +The Waz-don's struggles became weaker--a film was obscuring his vision. +He knew that he was dying and he was right. A moment later he was dead. +Tarzan rose to his feet and placed one foot upon the breast of his dead +foe. How the urge seized him to roar forth the victory cry of his kind! +But he dared not. He discovered that they had not removed his rope from +his shoulders and that they had replaced his knife in its sheath. It +had been in his hand when he was felled. Strange creatures! He did not +know that they held a superstitious fear of the weapons of a dead +enemy, believing that if buried without them he would forever haunt his +slayers in search of them and that when he found them he would kill the +man who killed him. Against the wall leaned his bow and quiver of +arrows. + +Tarzan stepped toward the doorway of the cave and looked out. Night had +just fallen. He could hear voices from the nearer caves and there +floated to his nostrils the odor of cooking food. He looked down and +experienced a sensation of relief. The cave in which he had been held +was in the lowest tier--scarce thirty feet from the base of the cliff. +He was about to chance an immediate descent when there occurred to him +a thought that brought a grin to his savage lips--a thought that was +born of the name the Waz-don had given him--Tarzan-jad-guru--Tarzan the +Terrible--and a recollection of the days when he had delighted in +baiting the blacks of the distant jungle of his birth. He turned back +into the cave where lay the dead body of In-tan. With his knife he +severed the warrior's head and carrying it to the outer edge of the +recess tossed it to the ground below, then he dropped swiftly and +silently down the ladder of pegs in a way that would have surprised the +Kor-ul-lul who had been so sure that he could not climb. + +At the bottom he picked up the head of In-tan and disappeared among the +shadows of the trees carrying the grisly trophy by its shock of shaggy +hair. Horrible? But you are judging a wild beast by the standards of +civilization. You may teach a lion tricks, but he is still a lion. +Tarzan looked well in a Tuxedo, but he was still a Tarmangani and +beneath his pleated shirt beat a wild and savage heart. + +Nor was his madness lacking in method. He knew that the hearts of the +Kor-ul-lul would be filled with rage when they discovered the thing +that he had done and he knew too, that mixed with the rage would be a +leaven of fear and it was fear of him that had made Tarzan master of +many jungles--one does not win the respect of the killers with bonbons. + +Below the village Tarzan returned to the foot of the cliff searching +for a point where he could make the ascent to the ridge and thus back +to the village of Om-at, the Kor-ul-JA. He came at last to a place +where the river ran so close to the rocky wall that he was forced to +swim it in search of a trail upon the opposite side and here it was +that his keen nostrils detected a familiar spoor. It was the scent of +Pan-at-lee at the spot where she had emerged from the pool and taken to +the safety of the jungle. + +Immediately the ape-man's plans were changed. Pan-at-lee lived, or at +least she had lived after the leap from the cliff's summit. He had +started in search of her for Om-at, his friend, and for Om-at he would +continue upon the trail he had picked up thus fortuitously by accident. +It led him into the jungle and across the gorge and then to the point +at which Pan-at-lee had commenced the ascent of the opposite cliffs. +Here Tarzan abandoned the head of In-tan, tying it to the lower branch +of a tree, for he knew that it would handicap him in his ascent of the +steep escarpment. Apelike he ascended, following easily the scent +spoor of Pan-at-lee. Over the summit and across the ridge the trail +lay, plain as a printed page to the delicate senses of the jungle-bred +tracker. + +Tarzan knew naught of the Kor-ul-GRYF. He had seen, dimly in the +shadows of the night, strange, monstrous forms and Ta-den and Om-at had +spoken of great creatures that all men feared; but always, everywhere, +by night and by day, there were dangers. From infancy death had +stalked, grim and terrible, at his heels. He knew little of any other +existence. To cope with danger was his life and he lived his life as +simply and as naturally as you live yours amidst the dangers of the +crowded city streets. The black man who goes abroad in the jungle by +night is afraid, for he has spent his life since infancy surrounded by +numbers of his own kind and safeguarded, especially at night, by such +crude means as lie within his powers. But Tarzan had lived as the lion +lives and the panther and the elephant and the ape--a true jungle +creature dependent solely upon his prowess and his wits, playing a lone +hand against creation. Therefore he was surprised at nothing and feared +nothing and so he walked through the strange night as undisturbed and +unapprehensive as the farmer to the cow lot in the darkness before the +dawn. + +Once more Pan-at-lee's trail ended at the verge of a cliff; but this +time there was no indication that she had leaped over the edge and a +moment's search revealed to Tarzan the stone pegs upon which she had +made her descent. As he lay upon his belly leaning over the top of the +cliff examining the pegs his attention was suddenly attracted by +something at the foot of the cliff. He could not distinguish its +identity, but he saw that it moved and presently that it was ascending +slowly, apparently by means of pegs similar to those directly below +him. He watched it intently as it rose higher and higher until he was +able to distinguish its form more clearly, with the result that he +became convinced that it more nearly resembled some form of great ape +than a lower order. It had a tail, though, and in other respects it did +not seem a true ape. + +Slowly it ascended to the upper tier of caves, into one of which it +disappeared. Then Tarzan took up again the trail of Pan-at-lee. He +followed it down the stone pegs to the nearest cave and then further +along the upper tier. The ape-man raised his eyebrows when he saw the +direction in which it led, and quickened his pace. He had almost +reached the third cave when the echoes of Kor-ul-GRYF were awakened by +a shrill scream of terror. + + +[1] I have used the Pal-ul-don word for gorge with the English plural, +which is not the correct native plural form. The latter, it seems to +me, is awkward for us and so I have generally ignored it throughout my +manuscript, permitting, for example, Kor-ul-JA to answer for both +singular and plural. However, for the benefit of those who may be +interested in such things I may say that the plurals are formed simply +for all words in the Pal-ul-don language by doubling the initial letter +of the word, as k'kor, gorges, pronounced as though written kakor, the +a having the sound of a in sofa. Lions, d' don. + + + +6 + +The Tor-o-don + +Pan-at-lee slept--the troubled sleep, of physical and nervous +exhaustion, filled with weird dreamings. She dreamed that she slept +beneath a great tree in the bottom of the Kor-ul-GRYF and that one of +the fearsome beasts was creeping upon her but she could not open her +eyes nor move. She tried to scream but no sound issued from her lips. +She felt the thing touch her throat, her breast, her arm, and there it +closed and seemed to be dragging her toward it. With a super-human +effort of will she opened her eyes. In the instant she knew that she +was dreaming and that quickly the hallucination of the dream would +fade--it had happened to her many times before. But it persisted. In +the dim light that filtered into the dark chamber she saw a form beside +her, she felt hairy fingers upon her and a hairy breast against which +she was being drawn. Jad-ben-Otho! this was no dream. And then she +screamed and tried to fight the thing from her; but her scream was +answered by a low growl and another hairy hand seized her by the hair +of the head. The beast rose now upon its hind legs and dragged her from +the cave to the moonlit recess without and at the same instant she saw +the figure of what she took to be a Ho-don rise above the outer edge of +the niche. + +The beast that held her saw it too and growled ominously but it did not +relinquish its hold upon her hair. It crouched as though waiting an +attack, and it increased the volume and frequency of its growls until +the horrid sounds reverberated through the gorge, drowning even the +deep bellowings of the beasts below, whose mighty thunderings had +broken out anew with the sudden commotion from the high-flung cave. The +beast that held her crouched and the creature that faced it crouched +also, and growled--as hideously as the other. Pan-at-lee trembled. This +was no Ho-don and though she feared the Ho-don she feared this thing +more, with its catlike crouch and its beastly growls. She was +lost--that Pan-at-lee knew. The two things might fight for her, but +whichever won she was lost. Perhaps, during the battle, if it came to +that, she might find the opportunity to throw herself over into the +Kor-ul-GRYF. + +The thing that held her she had recognized now as a Tor-o-don, but the +other thing she could not place, though in the moonlight she could see +it very distinctly. It had no tail. She could see its hands and its +feet, and they were not the hands and feet of the races of Pal-ul-don. +It was slowly closing upon the Tor-o-don and in one hand it held a +gleaming knife. Now it spoke and to Pan-at-lee's terror was added an +equal weight of consternation. + +"When it leaves go of you," it said, "as it will presently to defend +itself, run quickly behind me, Pan-at-lee, and go to the cave nearest +the pegs you descended from the cliff top. Watch from there. If I am +defeated you will have time to escape this slow thing; if I am not I +will come to you there. I am Om-at's friend and yours." + +The last words took the keen edge from Pan-at-lee's terror; but she did +not understand. How did this strange creature know her name? How did it +know that she had descended the pegs by a certain cave? It must, then, +have been here when she came. Pan-at-lee was puzzled. + +"Who are you?" she asked, "and from whence do you come?" + +"I am Tarzan," he replied, "and just now I came from Om-at, of +Kor-ul-JA, in search of you." + +Om-at, gund of Kor-ul-JA! What wild talk was this? She would have +questioned him further, but now he was approaching the Tor-o-don and +the latter was screaming and growling so loudly as to drown the sound +of her voice. And then it did what the strange creature had said that +it would do--it released its hold upon her hair as it prepared to +charge. Charge it did and in those close quarters there was no room to +fence for openings. Instantly the two beasts locked in deadly embrace, +each seeking the other's throat. Pan-at-lee watched, taking no +advantage of the opportunity to escape which their preoccupation gave +her. She watched and waited, for into her savage little brain had come +the resolve to pin her faith to this strange creature who had unlocked +her heart with those four words--"I am Om-at's friend!" And so she +waited, with drawn knife, the opportunity to do her bit in the +vanquishing of the Tor-o-don. That the newcomer could do it unaided she +well knew to be beyond the realms of possibility, for she knew well the +prowess of the beastlike man with whom it fought. There were not many +of them in Pal-ul-don, but what few there were were a terror to the +women of the Waz-don and the Ho-don, for the old Tor-o-don bulls roamed +the mountains and the valleys of Pal-ul-don between rutting seasons and +woe betide the women who fell in their paths. + +With his tail the Tor-o-don sought one of Tarzan's ankles, and finding +it, tripped him. The two fell heavily, but so agile was the ape-man and +so quick his powerful muscles that even in falling he twisted the beast +beneath him, so that Tarzan fell on top and now the tail that had +tripped him sought his throat as had the tail of In-tan, the +Kor-ul-lul. In the effort of turning his antagonist's body during the +fall Tarzan had had to relinquish his knife that he might seize the +shaggy body with both hands and now the weapon lay out of reach at the +very edge of the recess. Both hands were occupied for the moment in +fending off the clutching fingers that sought to seize him and drag his +throat within reach of his foe's formidable fangs and now the tail was +seeking its deadly hold with a formidable persistence that would not be +denied. + +Pan-at-lee hovered about, breathless, her dagger ready, but there was +no opening that did not also endanger Tarzan, so constantly were the +two duelists changing their positions. Tarzan felt the tail slowly but +surely insinuating itself about his neck though he had drawn his head +down between the muscles of his shoulders in an effort to protect this +vulnerable part. The battle seemed to be going against him for the +giant beast against which he strove would have been a fair match in +weight and strength for Bolgani, the gorilla. And knowing this he +suddenly exerted a single super-human effort, thrust far apart the +giant hands and with the swiftness of a striking snake buried his fangs +in the jugular of the Tor-o-don. At the same instant the creature's +tail coiled about his own throat and then commenced a battle royal of +turning and twisting bodies as each sought to dislodge the fatal hold +of the other, but the acts of the ape-man were guided by a human brain +and thus it was that the rolling bodies rolled in the direction that +Tarzan wished--toward the edge of the recess. + +The choking tail had shut the air from his lungs, he knew that his +gasping lips were parted and his tongue protruding; and now his brain +reeled and his sight grew dim; but not before he reached his goal and a +quick hand shot out to seize the knife that now lay within reach as the +two bodies tottered perilously upon the brink of the chasm. + +With all his remaining strength the ape-man drove home the blade--once, +twice, thrice, and then all went black before him as he felt himself, +still in the clutches of the Tor-o-don, topple from the recess. + +Fortunate it was for Tarzan that Pan-at-lee had not obeyed his +injunction to make good her escape while he engaged the Tor-o-don, for +it was to this fact that he owed his life. Close beside the struggling +forms during the brief moments of the terrific climax she had realized +every detail of the danger to Tarzan with which the emergency was +fraught and as she saw the two rolling over the outer edge of the niche +she seized the ape-man by an ankle at the same time throwing herself +prone upon the rocky floor. The muscles of the Tor-o-don relaxed in +death with the last thrust of Tarzan's knife and with its hold upon the +ape-man released it shot from sight into the gorge below. + +It was with infinite difficulty that Pan-at-lee retained her hold upon +the ankle of her protector, but she did so and then, slowly, she sought +to drag the dead weight back to the safety of the niche. This, however, +was beyond her strength and she could but hold on tightly, hoping that +some plan would suggest itself before her powers of endurance failed. +She wondered if, after all, the creature was already dead, but that she +could not bring herself to believe--and if not dead how long it would +be before he regained consciousness. If he did not regain it soon he +never would regain it, that she knew, for she felt her fingers numbing +to the strain upon them and slipping, slowly, slowly, from their hold. +It was then that Tarzan regained consciousness. He could not know what +power upheld him, but he felt that whatever it was it was slowly +releasing its hold upon his ankle. Within easy reach of his hands were +two pegs and these he seized upon just as Pan-at-lee's fingers slipped +from their hold. + +As it was he came near to being precipitated into the gorge--only his +great strength saved him. He was upright now and his feet found other +pegs. His first thought was of his foe. Where was he? Waiting above +there to finish him? Tarzan looked up just as the frightened face of +Pan-at-lee appeared over the threshold of the recess. + +"You live?" she cried. + +"Yes," replied Tarzan. "Where is the shaggy one?" + +Pan-at-lee pointed downward. "There," she said, "dead." + +"Good!" exclaimed the ape-man, clambering to her side. "You are +unharmed?" he asked. + +"You came just in time," replied Pan-at-lee; "but who are you and how +did you know that I was here and what do you know of Om-at and where +did you come from and what did you mean by calling Om-at, gund?" + +"Wait, wait," cried Tarzan; "one at a time. My, but you are all +alike--the shes of the tribe of Kerchak, the ladies of England, and +their sisters of Pal-ul-don. Have patience and I will try to tell you +all that you wish to know. Four of us set out with Om-at from Kor-ul-JA +to search for you. We were attacked by the Kor-ul-lul and separated. I +was taken prisoner, but escaped. Again I stumbled upon your trail and +followed it, reaching the summit of this cliff just as the hairy one +was climbing up after you. I was coming to investigate when I heard +your scream--the rest you know." + +"But you called Om-at, gund of Kor-ul-JA," she insisted. "Es-sat is +gund." + +"Es-sat is dead," explained the ape-man. "Om-at slew him and now Om-at +is gund. Om-at came back seeking you. He found Es-sat in your cave and +killed him." + +"Yes," said the girl, "Es-sat came to my cave and I struck him down +with my golden breastplates and escaped." + +"And a lion pursued you," continued Tarzan, "and you leaped from the +cliff into Kor-ul-lul, but why you were not killed is beyond me." + +"Is there anything beyond you?" exclaimed Pan-at-lee. "How could you +know that a lion pursued me and that I leaped from the cliff and not +know that it was the pool of deep water below that saved me?" + +"I would have known that, too, had not the Kor-ul-lul come then and +prevented me continuing upon your trail. But now I would ask you a +question--by what name do you call the thing with which I just fought?" + +"It was a Tor-o-don," she replied. "I have seen but one before. They +are terrible creatures with the cunning of man and the ferocity of a +beast. Great indeed must be the warrior who slays one single-handed." +She gazed at him in open admiration. + +"And now," said Tarzan, "you must sleep, for tomorrow we shall return +to Kor-ul-JA and Om-at, and I doubt that you have had much rest these +two nights." + +Pan-at-lee, lulled by a feeling of security, slept peacefully into the +morning while Tarzan stretched himself upon the hard floor of the +recess just outside her cave. + +The sun was high in the heavens when he awoke; for two hours it had +looked down upon another heroic figure miles away--the figure of a +godlike man fighting his way through the hideous morass that lies like +a filthy moat defending Pal-ul-don from the creatures of the outer +world. Now waist deep in the sucking ooze, now menaced by loathsome +reptiles, the man advanced only by virtue of Herculean efforts gaining +laboriously by inches along the devious way that he was forced to +choose in selecting the least precarious footing. Near the center of +the morass was open water--slimy, green-hued water. He reached it at +last after more than two hours of such effort as would have left an +ordinary man spent and dying in the sticky mud, yet he was less than +halfway across the marsh. Greasy with slime and mud was his smooth, +brown hide, and greasy with slime and mud was his beloved Enfield that +had shone so brightly in the first rays of the rising sun. + +He paused a moment upon the edge of the open water and then throwing +himself forward struck out to swim across. He swam with long, easy, +powerful strokes calculated less for speed than for endurance, for his +was, primarily, a test of the latter, since beyond the open water was +another two hours or more of gruelling effort between it and solid +ground. He was, perhaps, halfway across and congratulating himself upon +the ease of the achievement of this portion of his task when there +arose from the depths directly in his path a hideous reptile, which, +with wide-distended jaws, bore down upon him, hissing shrilly. + +Tarzan arose and stretched, expanded his great chest and drank in deep +draughts of the fresh morning air. His clear eyes scanned the wondrous +beauties of the landscape spread out before them. Directly below lay +Kor-ul-GRYF, a dense, somber green of gently moving tree tops. To +Tarzan it was neither grim, nor forbidding--it was jungle, beloved +jungle. To his right there spread a panorama of the lower reaches of +the Valley of Jad-ben-Otho, with its winding streams and its blue +lakes. Gleaming whitely in the sunlight were scattered groups of +dwellings--the feudal strongholds of the lesser chiefs of the Ho-don. +A-lur, the City of Light, he could not see as it was hidden by the +shoulder of the cliff in which the deserted village lay. + +For a moment Tarzan gave himself over to that spiritual enjoyment of +beauty that only the man-mind may attain and then Nature asserted +herself and the belly of the beast called aloud that it was hungry. +Again Tarzan looked down at Kor-ul-GRYF. There was the jungle! Grew +there a jungle that would not feed Tarzan? The ape-man smiled and +commenced the descent to the gorge. Was there danger there? Of course. +Who knew it better than Tarzan? In all jungles lies death, for life and +death go hand in hand and where life teems death reaps his fullest +harvest. Never had Tarzan met a creature of the jungle with which he +could not cope--sometimes by virtue of brute strength alone, again by a +combination of brute strength and the cunning of the man-mind; but +Tarzan had never met a GRYF. + +He had heard the bellowings in the gorge the night before after he had +lain down to sleep and he had meant to ask Pan-at-lee this morning what +manner of beast so disturbed the slumbers of its betters. He reached +the foot of the cliff and strode into the jungle and here he halted, +his keen eyes and ears watchful and alert, his sensitive nostrils +searching each shifting air current for the scent spoor of game. Again +he advanced deeper into the wood, his light step giving forth no sound, +his bow and arrows in readiness. A light morning breeze was blowing +from up the gorge and in this direction he bent his steps. Many odors +impinged upon his organs of scent. Some of these he classified without +effort, but others were strange--the odors of beasts and of birds, of +trees and shrubs and flowers with which he was unfamiliar. He sensed +faintly the reptilian odor that he had learned to connect with the +strange, nocturnal forms that had loomed dim and bulky on several +occasions since his introduction to Pal-ul-don. + +And then, suddenly he caught plainly the strong, sweet odor of Bara, +the deer. Were the belly vocal, Tarzan's would have given a little cry +of joy, for it loved the flesh of Bara. The ape-man moved rapidly, but +cautiously forward. The prey was not far distant and as the hunter +approached it, he took silently to the trees and still in his nostrils +was the faint reptilian odor that spoke of a great creature which he +had never yet seen except as a denser shadow among the dense shadows of +the night; but the odor was of such a faintness as suggests to the +jungle bred the distance of absolute safety. + +And now, moving noiselessly, Tarzan came within sight of Bara drinking +at a pool where the stream that waters Kor-ul-GRYF crosses an open +place in the jungle. The deer was too far from the nearest tree to risk +a charge, so the ape-man must depend upon the accuracy and force of his +first arrow, which must drop the deer in its tracks or forfeit both +deer and shaft. Far back came the right hand and the bow, that you or I +might not move, bent easily beneath the muscles of the forest god. +There was a singing twang and Bara, leaping high in air, collapsed upon +the ground, an arrow through his heart. Tarzan dropped to earth and ran +to his kill, lest the animal might even yet rise and escape; but Bara +was safely dead. As Tarzan stooped to lift it to his shoulder there +fell upon his ears a thunderous bellow that seemed almost at his right +elbow, and as his eyes shot in the direction of the sound, there broke +upon his vision such a creature as paleontologists have dreamed as +having possibly existed in the dimmest vistas of Earth's infancy--a +gigantic creature, vibrant with mad rage, that charged, bellowing, upon +him. + +When Pan-at-lee awoke she looked out upon the niche in search of +Tarzan. He was not there. She sprang to her feet and rushed out, +looking down into Kor-ul-GRYF guessing that he had gone down in search +of food and there she caught a glimpse of him disappearing into the +forest. For an instant she was panic-stricken. She knew that he was a +stranger in Pal-ul-don and that, so, he might not realize the dangers +that lay in that gorge of terror. Why did she not call to him to +return? You or I might have done so, but no Pal-ul-don, for they know +the ways of the GRYF--they know the weak eyes and the keen ears, and +that at the sound of a human voice they come. To have called to Tarzan, +then, would but have been to invite disaster and so she did not call. +Instead, afraid though she was, she descended into the gorge for the +purpose of overhauling Tarzan and warning him in whispers of his +danger. It was a brave act, since it was performed in the face of +countless ages of inherited fear of the creatures that she might be +called upon to face. Men have been decorated for less. + +Pan-at-lee, descended from a long line of hunters, assumed that Tarzan +would move up wind and in this direction she sought his tracks, which +she soon found well marked, since he had made no effort to conceal +them. She moved rapidly until she reached the point at which Tarzan had +taken to the trees. Of course she knew what had happened; since her own +people were semi-arboreal; but she could not track him through the +trees, having no such well-developed sense of scent as he. + +She could but hope that he had continued on up wind and in this +direction she moved, her heart pounding in terror against her ribs, her +eyes glancing first in one direction and then another. She had reached +the edge of a clearing when two things happened--she caught sight of +Tarzan bending over a dead deer and at the same instant a deafening +roar sounded almost beside her. It terrified her beyond description, +but it brought no paralysis of fear. Instead it galvanized her into +instant action with the result that Pan-at-lee swarmed up the nearest +tree to the very loftiest branch that would sustain her weight. Then +she looked down. + +The thing that Tarzan saw charging him when the warning bellow +attracted his surprised eyes loomed terrifically monstrous before +him--monstrous and awe-inspiring; but it did not terrify Tarzan, it +only angered him, for he saw that it was beyond even his powers to +combat and that meant that it might cause him to lose his kill, and +Tarzan was hungry. There was but a single alternative to remaining for +annihilation and that was flight--swift and immediate. And Tarzan fled, +but he carried the carcass of Bara, the deer, with him. He had not more +than a dozen paces start, but on the other hand the nearest tree was +almost as close. His greatest danger lay, he imagined, in the great, +towering height of the creature pursuing him, for even though he +reached the tree he would have to climb high in an incredibly short +time as, unless appearances were deceiving, the thing could reach up +and pluck him down from any branch under thirty feet above the ground, +and possibly from those up to fifty feet, if it reared up on its hind +legs. + +But Tarzan was no sluggard and though the GRYF was incredibly fast +despite its great bulk, it was no match for Tarzan, and when it comes +to climbing, the little monkeys gaze with envy upon the feats of the +ape-man. And so it was that the bellowing GRYF came to a baffled stop +at the foot of the tree and even though he reared up and sought to +seize his prey among the branches, as Tarzan had guessed he might, he +failed in this also. And then, well out of reach, Tarzan came to a stop +and there, just above him, he saw Pan-at-lee sitting, wide-eyed and +trembling. + +"How came you here?" he asked. + +She told him. "You came to warn me!" he said. "It was very brave and +unselfish of you. I am chagrined that I should have been thus +surprised. The creature was up wind from me and yet I did not sense its +near presence until it charged. I cannot understand it." + +"It is not strange," said Pan-at-lee. "That is one of the peculiarities +of the GRYF--it is said that man never knows of its presence until it +is upon him--so silently does it move despite its great size." + +"But I should have smelled it," cried Tarzan, disgustedly. + +"Smelled it!" ejaculated Pan-at-lee. "Smelled it?" + +"Certainly. How do you suppose I found this deer so quickly? And I +sensed the GRYF, too, but faintly as at a great distance." Tarzan +suddenly ceased speaking and looked down at the bellowing creature +below them--his nostrils quivered as though searching for a scent. +"Ah!" he exclaimed. "I have it!" + +"What?" asked Pan-at-lee. + +"I was deceived because the creature gives off practically no odor," +explained the ape-man. "What I smelled was the faint aroma that +doubtless permeates the entire jungle because of the long presence of +many of the creatures--it is the sort of odor that would remain for a +long time, faint as it is. + +"Pan-at-lee, did you ever hear of a triceratops? No? Well this thing +that you call a GRYF is a triceratops and it has been extinct for +hundreds of thousands of years. I have seen its skeleton in the museum +in London and a figure of one restored. I always thought that the +scientists who did such work depended principally upon an overwrought +imagination, but I see that I was wrong. This living thing is not an +exact counterpart of the restoration that I saw; but it is so similar +as to be easily recognizable, and then, too, we must remember that +during the ages that have elapsed since the paleontologist's specimen +lived many changes might have been wrought by evolution in the living +line that has quite evidently persisted in Pal-ul-don." + +"Triceratops, London, paleo--I don't know what you are talking about," +cried Pan-at-lee. + +Tarzan smiled and threw a piece of dead wood at the face of the angry +creature below them. Instantly the great bony hood over the neck was +erected and a mad bellow rolled upward from the gigantic body. Full +twenty feet at the shoulder the thing stood, a dirty slate-blue in +color except for its yellow face with the blue bands encircling the +eyes, the red hood with the yellow lining and the yellow belly. The +three parallel lines of bony protuberances down the back gave a further +touch of color to the body, those following the line of the spine being +red, while those on either side are yellow. The five- and three-toed +hoofs of the ancient horned dinosaurs had become talons in the GRYF, +but the three horns, two large ones above the eyes and a median horn on +the nose, had persisted through all the ages. Weird and terrible as was +its appearance Tarzan could not but admire the mighty creature looming +big below him, its seventy-five feet of length majestically typifying +those things which all his life the ape-man had admired--courage and +strength. In that massive tail alone was the strength of an elephant. + +The wicked little eyes looked up at him and the horny beak opened to +disclose a full set of powerful teeth. + +"Herbivorous!" murmured the ape-man. "Your ancestors may have been, but +not you," and then to Pan-at-lee: "Let us go now. At the cave we will +have deer meat and then--back to Kor-ul-JA and Om-at." + +The girl shuddered. "Go?" she repeated. "We will never go from here." + +"Why not?" asked Tarzan. + +For answer she but pointed to the GRYF. + +"Nonsense!" exclaimed the man. "It cannot climb. We can reach the cliff +through the trees and be back in the cave before it knows what has +become of us." + +"You do not know the GRYF," replied Pan-at-lee gloomily. + +"Wherever we go it will follow and always it will be ready at the foot +of each tree when we would descend. It will never give us up." + +"We can live in the trees for a long time if necessary," replied +Tarzan, "and sometime the thing will leave." + +The girl shook her head. "Never," she said, "and then there are the +Tor-o-don. They will come and kill us and after eating a little will +throw the balance to the GRYF--the GRYF and Tor-o-don are friends, +because the Tor-o-don shares his food with the GRYF." + +"You may be right," said Tarzan; "but even so I don't intend waiting +here for someone to come along and eat part of me and then feed the +balance to that beast below. If I don't get out of this place whole it +won't be my fault. Come along now and we'll make a try at it," and so +saying he moved off through the tree tops with Pan-at-lee close behind. +Below them, on the ground, moved the horned dinosaur and when they +reached the edge of the forest where there lay fifty yards of open +ground to cross to the foot of the cliff he was there with them, at the +bottom of the tree, waiting. + +Tarzan looked ruefully down and scratched his head. + + + +7 + +Jungle Craft + +Presently he looked up and at Pan-at-lee. "Can you cross the gorge +through the trees very rapidly?" he questioned. + +"Alone?" she asked. + +"No," replied Tarzan. + +"I can follow wherever you can lead," she said then. + +"Across and back again?" + +"Yes." + +"Then come, and do exactly as I bid." He started back again through the +trees, swiftly, swinging monkey-like from limb to limb, following a +zigzag course that he tried to select with an eye for the difficulties +of the trail beneath. Where the underbrush was heaviest, where fallen +trees blocked the way, he led the footsteps of the creature below them; +but all to no avail. When they reached the opposite side of the gorge +the GRYF was with them. + +"Back again," said Tarzan, and, turning, the two retraced their +high-flung way through the upper terraces of the ancient forest of +Kor-ul-GRYF. But the result was the same--no, not quite; it was worse, +for another GRYF had joined the first and now two waited beneath the +tree in which they stopped. + +The cliff looming high above them with its innumerable cave mouths +seemed to beckon and to taunt them. It was so near, yet eternity yawned +between. The body of the Tor-o-don lay at the cliff's foot where it had +fallen. It was in plain view of the two in the tree. One of the gryfs +walked over and sniffed about it, but did not offer to devour it. +Tarzan had examined it casually as he had passed earlier in the +morning. He guessed that it represented either a very high order of ape +or a very low order of man--something akin to the Java man, perhaps; a +truer example of the pithecanthropi than either the Ho-don or the +Waz-don; possibly the precursor of them both. As his eyes wandered idly +over the scene below his active brain was working out the details of +the plan that he had made to permit Pan-at-lee's escape from the gorge. +His thoughts were interrupted by a strange cry from above them in the +gorge. + +"Whee-oo! Whee-oo!" it sounded, coming closer. + +The gryfs below raised their heads and looked in the direction of the +interruption. One of them made a low, rumbling sound in its throat. It +was not a bellow and it did not indicate anger. Immediately the +"Whee-oo!" responded. The gryfs repeated the rumbling and at intervals +the "Whee-oo!" was repeated, coming ever closer. + +Tarzan looked at Pan-at-lee. "What is it?" he asked. + +"I do not know," she replied. "Perhaps a strange bird, or another +horrid beast that dwells in this frightful place." + +"Ah," exclaimed Tarzan; "there it is. Look!" + +Pan-at-lee voiced a cry of despair. "A Tor-o-don!" + +The creature, walking erect and carrying a stick in one hand, advanced +at a slow, lumbering gait. It walked directly toward the gryfs who +moved aside, as though afraid. Tarzan watched intently. The Tor-o-don +was now quite close to one of the triceratops. It swung its head and +snapped at him viciously. Instantly the Tor-o-don sprang in and +commenced to belabor the huge beast across the face with his stick. To +the ape-man's amazement the GRYF, that might have annihilated the +comparatively puny Tor-o-don instantly in any of a dozen ways, cringed +like a whipped cur. + +"Whee-oo! Whee-oo!" shouted the Tor-o-don and the GRYF came slowly +toward him. A whack on the median horn brought it to a stop. Then the +Tor-o-don walked around behind it, clambered up its tail and seated +himself astraddle of the huge back. "Whee-oo!" he shouted and prodded +the beast with a sharp point of his stick. The GRYF commenced to move +off. + +So rapt had Tarzan been in the scene below him that he had given no +thought to escape, for he realized that for him and Pan-at-lee time had +in these brief moments turned back countless ages to spread before +their eyes a page of the dim and distant past. They two had looked upon +the first man and his primitive beasts of burden. + +And now the ridden GRYF halted and looked up at them, bellowing. It was +sufficient. The creature had warned its master of their presence. +Instantly the Tor-o-don urged the beast close beneath the tree which +held them, at the same time leaping to his feet upon the horny back. +Tarzan saw the bestial face, the great fangs, the mighty muscles. From +the loins of such had sprung the human race--and only from such could +it have sprung, for only such as this might have survived the horrid +dangers of the age that was theirs. + +The Tor-o-don beat upon his breast and growled horribly--hideous, +uncouth, beastly. Tarzan rose to his full height upon a swaying +branch--straight and beautiful as a demigod--unspoiled by the taint of +civilization--a perfect specimen of what the human race might have been +had the laws of man not interfered with the laws of nature. + +The Present fitted an arrow to his bow and drew the shaft far back. The +Past basing its claims upon brute strength sought to reach the other +and drag him down; but the loosed arrow sank deep into the savage heart +and the Past sank back into the oblivion that had claimed his kind. + +"Tarzan-jad-guru!" murmured Pan-at-lee, unknowingly giving him out of +the fullness of her admiration the same title that the warriors of her +tribe had bestowed upon him. + +The ape-man turned to her. "Pan-at-lee," he said, "these beasts may +keep us treed here indefinitely. I doubt if we can escape together, but +I have a plan. You remain here, hiding yourself in the foliage, while I +start back across the gorge in sight of them and yelling to attract +their attention. Unless they have more brains than I suspect they will +follow me. When they are gone you make for the cliff. Wait for me in +the cave not longer than today. If I do not come by tomorrow's sun you +will have to start back for Kor-ul-JA alone. Here is a joint of deer +meat for you." He had severed one of the deer's hind legs and this he +passed up to her. + +"I cannot desert you," she said simply; "it is not the way of my people +to desert a friend and ally. Om-at would never forgive me." + +"Tell Om-at that I commanded you to go," replied Tarzan. + +"It is a command?" she asked. + +"It is! Good-bye, Pan-at-lee. Hasten back to Om-at--you are a fitting +mate for the chief of Kor-ul-JA." He moved off slowly through the trees. + +"Good-bye, Tarzan-jad-guru!" she called after him. "Fortunate are my +Om-at and his Pan-at-lee in owning such a friend." + +Tarzan, shouting aloud, continued upon his way and the great gryfs, +lured by his voice, followed beneath. His ruse was evidently proving +successful and he was filled with elation as he led the bellowing +beasts farther and farther from Pan-at-lee. He hoped that she would +take advantage of the opportunity afforded her for escape, yet at the +same time he was filled with concern as to her ability to survive the +dangers which lay between Kor-ul-GRYF and Kor-ul-JA. There were lions +and Tor-o-dons and the unfriendly tribe of Kor-ul-lul to hinder her +progress, though the distance in itself to the cliffs of her people was +not great. + +He realized her bravery and understood the resourcefulness that she +must share in common with all primitive people who, day by day, must +contend face to face with nature's law of the survival of the fittest, +unaided by any of the numerous artificial protections that civilization +has thrown around its brood of weaklings. + +Several times during this crossing of the gorge Tarzan endeavored to +outwit his keen pursuers, but all to no avail. Double as he would he +could not throw them off his track and ever as he changed his course +they changed theirs to conform. Along the verge of the forest upon the +southeastern side of the gorge he sought some point at which the trees +touched some negotiable portion of the cliff, but though he traveled +far both up and down the gorge he discovered no such easy avenue of +escape. The ape-man finally commenced to entertain an idea of the +hopelessness of his case and to realize to the full why the Kor-ul-GRYF +had been religiously abjured by the races of Pal-ul-don for all these +many ages. + +Night was falling and though since early morning he had sought +diligently a way out of this cul-de-sac he was no nearer to liberty +than at the moment the first bellowing GRYF had charged him as he +stooped over the carcass of his kill: but with the falling of night +came renewed hope for, in common with the great cats, Tarzan was, to a +greater or lesser extent, a nocturnal beast. It is true he could not +see by night as well as they, but that lack was largely recompensed for +by the keenness of his scent and the highly developed sensitiveness of +his other organs of perception. As the blind follow and interpret their +Braille characters with deft fingers, so Tarzan reads the book of the +jungle with feet and hands and eyes and ears and nose; each +contributing its share to the quick and accurate translation of the +text. + +But again he was doomed to be thwarted by one vital weakness--he did +not know the GRYF, and before the night was over he wondered if the +things never slept, for wheresoever he moved they moved also, and +always they barred his road to liberty. Finally, just before dawn, he +relinquished his immediate effort and sought rest in a friendly tree +crotch in the safety of the middle terrace. + +Once again was the sun high when Tarzan awoke, rested and refreshed. +Keen to the necessities of the moment he made no effort to locate his +jailers lest in the act he might apprise them of his movements. Instead +he sought cautiously and silently to melt away among the foliage of the +trees. His first move, however, was heralded by a deep bellow from +below. + +Among the numerous refinements of civilization that Tarzan had failed +to acquire was that of profanity, and possibly it is to be regretted +since there are circumstances under which it is at least a relief to +pent emotion. And it may be that in effect Tarzan resorted to profanity +if there can be physical as well as vocal swearing, since immediately +the bellow announced that his hopes had been again frustrated, he +turned quickly and seeing the hideous face of the GRYF below him seized +a large fruit from a nearby branch and hurled it viciously at the +horned snout. The missile struck full between the creature's eyes, +resulting in a reaction that surprised the ape-man; it did not arouse +the beast to a show of revengeful rage as Tarzan had expected and +hoped; instead the creature gave a single vicious side snap at the +fruit as it bounded from his skull and then turned sulkily away, +walking off a few steps. + +There was that in the act that recalled immediately to Tarzan's mind +similar action on the preceding day when the Tor-o-don had struck one +of the creatures across the face with his staff, and instantly there +sprung to the cunning and courageous brain a plan of escape from his +predicament that might have blanched the cheek of the most heroic. + +The gambling instinct is not strong among creatures of the wild; the +chances of their daily life are sufficient stimuli for the beneficial +excitement of their nerve centers. It has remained for civilized man, +protected in a measure from the natural dangers of existence, to invent +artificial stimulants in the form of cards and dice and roulette +wheels. Yet when necessity bids there are no greater gamblers than the +savage denizens of the jungle, the forest, and the hills, for as +lightly as you roll the ivory cubes upon the green cloth they will +gamble with death--their own lives the stake. + +And so Tarzan would gamble now, pitting the seemingly wild deductions +of his shrewd brain against all the proofs of the bestial ferocity of +his antagonists that his experience of them had adduced--against all +the age-old folklore and legend that had been handed down for countless +generations and passed on to him through the lips of Pan-at-lee. + +Yet as he worked in preparation for the greatest play that man can make +in the game of life, he smiled; nor was there any indication of haste +or excitement or nervousness in his demeanor. + +First he selected a long, straight branch about two inches in diameter +at its base. This he cut from the tree with his knife, removed the +smaller branches and twigs until he had fashioned a pole about ten feet +in length. This he sharpened at the smaller end. The staff finished to +his satisfaction he looked down upon the triceratops. + +"Whee-oo!" he cried. + +Instantly the beasts raised their heads and looked at him. From the +throat of one of them came faintly a low rumbling sound. + +"Whee-oo!" repeated Tarzan and hurled the balance of the carcass of the +deer to them. + +Instantly the gryfs fell upon it with much bellowing, one of them +attempting to seize it and keep it from the other: but finally the +second obtained a hold and an instant later it had been torn asunder +and greedily devoured. Once again they looked up at the ape-man and +this time they saw him descending to the ground. + +One of them started toward him. Again Tarzan repeated the weird cry of +the Tor-o-don. The GRYF halted in his track, apparently puzzled, while +Tarzan slipped lightly to the earth and advanced toward the nearer +beast, his staff raised menacingly and the call of the first-man upon +his lips. + +Would the cry be answered by the low rumbling of the beast of burden or +the horrid bellow of the man-eater? Upon the answer to this question +hung the fate of the ape-man. + +Pan-at-lee was listening intently to the sounds of the departing gryfs +as Tarzan led them cunningly from her, and when she was sure that they +were far enough away to insure her safe retreat she dropped swiftly +from the branches to the ground and sped like a frightened deer across +the open space to the foot of the cliff, stepped over the body of the +Tor-o-don who had attacked her the night before and was soon climbing +rapidly up the ancient stone pegs of the deserted cliff village. In the +mouth of the cave near that which she had occupied she kindled a fire +and cooked the haunch of venison that Tarzan had left her, and from one +of the trickling streams that ran down the face of the escarpment she +obtained water to satisfy her thirst. + +All day she waited, hearing in the distance, and sometimes close at +hand, the bellowing of the gryfs which pursued the strange creature +that had dropped so miraculously into her life. For him she felt the +same keen, almost fanatical loyalty that many another had experienced +for Tarzan of the Apes. Beast and human, he had held them to him with +bonds that were stronger than steel--those of them that were clean and +courageous, and the weak and the helpless; but never could Tarzan claim +among his admirers the coward, the ingrate or the scoundrel; from such, +both man and beast, he had won fear and hatred. + +To Pan-at-lee he was all that was brave and noble and heroic and, too, +he was Om-at's friend--the friend of the man she loved. For any one of +these reasons Pan-at-lee would have died for Tarzan, for such is the +loyalty of the simple-minded children of nature. It has remained for +civilization to teach us to weigh the relative rewards of loyalty and +its antithesis. The loyalty of the primitive is spontaneous, +unreasoning, unselfish and such was the loyalty of Pan-at-lee for the +Tarmangani. + +And so it was that she waited that day and night, hoping that he would +return that she might accompany him back to Om-at, for her experience +had taught her that in the face of danger two have a better chance than +one. But Tarzan-jad-guru had not come, and so upon the following +morning Pan-at-lee set out upon her return to Kor-ul-JA. + +She knew the dangers and yet she faced them with the stolid +indifference of her race. When they directly confronted and menaced her +would be time enough to experience fear or excitement or confidence. In +the meantime it was unnecessary to waste nerve energy by anticipating +them. She moved therefore through her savage land with no greater show +of concern than might mark your sauntering to a corner drug-store for a +sundae. But this is your life and that is Pan-at-lee's and even now as +you read this Pan-at-lee may be sitting upon the edge of the recess of +Om-at's cave while the JA and JATO roar from the gorge below and from +the ridge above, and the Kor-ul-lul threaten upon the south and the +Ho-don from the Valley of Jad-ben-Otho far below, for Pan-at-lee still +lives and preens her silky coat of jet beneath the tropical moonlight +of Pal-ul-don. + +But she was not to reach Kor-ul-JA this day, nor the next, nor for many +days after though the danger that threatened her was neither Waz-don +enemy nor savage beast. + +She came without misadventure to the Kor-ul-lul and after descending +its rocky southern wall without catching the slightest glimpse of the +hereditary enemies of her people, she experienced a renewal of +confidence that was little short of practical assurance that she would +successfully terminate her venture and be restored once more to her own +people and the lover she had not seen for so many long and weary moons. + +She was almost across the gorge now and moving with an extreme caution +abated no wit by her confidence, for wariness is an instinctive trait +of the primitive, something which cannot be laid aside even momentarily +if one would survive. And so she came to the trail that follows the +windings of Kor-ul-lul from its uppermost reaches down into the broad +and fertile Valley of Jad-ben-Otho. + +And as she stepped into the trail there arose on either side of her +from out of the bushes that border the path, as though materialized +from thin air, a score of tall, white warriors of the Ho-don. Like a +frightened deer Pan-at-lee cast a single startled look at these +menacers of her freedom and leaped quickly toward the bushes in an +effort to escape; but the warriors were too close at hand. They closed +upon her from every side and then, drawing her knife she turned at bay, +metamorphosed by the fires of fear and hate from a startled deer to a +raging tiger-cat. They did not try to kill her, but only to subdue and +capture her; and so it was that more than a single Ho-don warrior felt +the keen edge of her blade in his flesh before they had succeeded in +overpowering her by numbers. And still she fought and scratched and bit +after they had taken the knife from her until it was necessary to tie +her hands and fasten a piece of wood between her teeth by means of +thongs passed behind her head. + +At first she refused to walk when they started off in the direction of +the valley but after two of them had seized her by the hair and dragged +her for a number of yards she thought better of her original decision +and came along with them, though still as defiant as her bound wrists +and gagged mouth would permit. + +Near the entrance to Kor-ul-lul they came upon another body of their +warriors with which were several Waz-don prisoners from the tribe of +Kor-ul-lul. It was a raiding party come up from a Ho-don city of the +valley after slaves. This Pan-at-lee knew for the occurrence was by no +means unusual. During her lifetime the tribe to which she belonged had +been sufficiently fortunate, or powerful, to withstand successfully the +majority of such raids made upon them, but yet Pan-at-lee had known of +friends and relatives who had been carried into slavery by the Ho-don +and she knew, too, another thing which gave her hope, as doubtless it +did to each of the other captives--that occasionally the prisoners +escaped from the cities of the hairless whites. + +After they had joined the other party the entire band set forth into +the valley and presently, from the conversation of her captors, +Pan-at-lee knew that she was headed for A-lur, the City of Light; while +in the cave of his ancestors, Om-at, chief of the Kor-ul-JA, bemoaned +the loss of both his friend and she that was to have been his mate. + + + +8 + +A-lur + +As the hissing reptile bore down upon the stranger swimming in the open +water near the center of the morass on the frontier of Pal-ul-don it +seemed to the man that this indeed must be the futile termination of an +arduous and danger-filled journey. It seemed, too, equally futile to +pit his puny knife against this frightful creature. Had he been +attacked on land it is possible that he might as a last resort have +used his Enfield, though he had come thus far through all these weary, +danger-ridden miles without recourse to it, though again and again had +his life hung in the balance in the face of the savage denizens of +forest, jungle, and steppe. For whatever it may have been for which he +was preserving his precious ammunition he evidently held it more sacred +even than his life, for as yet he had not used a single round and now +the decision was not required of him, since it would have been +impossible for him to have unslung his Enfield, loaded and fired with +the necessary celerity while swimming. + +Though his chance for survival seemed slender, and hope at its lowest +ebb, he was not minded therefore to give up without a struggle. Instead +he drew his blade and awaited the oncoming reptile. The creature was +like no living thing he ever before had seen although possibly it +resembled a crocodile in some respects more than it did anything with +which he was familiar. + +As this frightful survivor of some extinct progenitor charged upon him +with distended jaws there came to the man quickly a full consciousness +of the futility of endeavoring to stay the mad rush or pierce the +armor-coated hide with his little knife. The thing was almost upon him +now and whatever form of defense he chose must be made quickly. There +seemed but a single alternative to instant death, and this he took at +almost the instant the great reptile towered directly above him. + +With the celerity of a seal he dove headforemost beneath the oncoming +body and at the same instant, turning upon his back, he plunged his +blade into the soft, cold surface of the slimy belly as the momentum of +the hurtling reptile carried it swiftly over him; and then with +powerful strokes he swam on beneath the surface for a dozen yards +before he rose. A glance showed him the stricken monster plunging madly +in pain and rage upon the surface of the water behind him. That it was +writhing in its death agonies was evidenced by the fact that it made no +effort to pursue him, and so, to the accompaniment of the shrill +screaming of the dying monster, the man won at last to the farther edge +of the open water to take up once more the almost superhuman effort of +crossing the last stretch of clinging mud which separated him from the +solid ground of Pal-ul-don. + +A good two hours it took him to drag his now weary body through the +clinging, stinking muck, but at last, mud covered and spent, he dragged +himself out upon the soft grasses of the bank. A hundred yards away a +stream, winding its way down from the distant mountains, emptied into +the morass, and, after a short rest, he made his way to this and +seeking a quiet pool, bathed himself and washed the mud and slime from +his weapons, accouterments, and loin cloth. Another hour was spent +beneath the rays of the hot sun in wiping, polishing, and oiling his +Enfield though the means at hand for drying it consisted principally of +dry grasses. It was afternoon before he had satisfied himself that his +precious weapon was safe from any harm by dirt, or dampness, and then +he arose and took up the search for the spoor he had followed to the +opposite side of the swamp. + +Would he find again the trail that had led into the opposite side of +the morass, to be lost there, even to his trained senses? If he found +it not again upon this side of the almost impassable barrier he might +assume that his long journey had ended in failure. And so he sought up +and down the verge of the stagnant water for traces of an old spoor +that would have been invisible to your eyes or mine, even had we +followed directly in the tracks of its maker. + +As Tarzan advanced upon the gryfs he imitated as closely as he could +recall them the methods and mannerisms of the Tor-o-don, but up to the +instant that he stood close beside one of the huge creatures he +realized that his fate still hung in the balance, for the thing gave +forth no sign, either menacing or otherwise. It only stood there, +watching him out of its cold, reptilian eyes and then Tarzan raised his +staff and with a menacing "Whee-oo!" struck the GRYF a vicious blow +across the face. + +The creature made a sudden side snap in his direction, a snap that did +not reach him, and then turned sullenly away, precisely as it had when +the Tor-o-don commanded it. Walking around to its rear as he had seen +the shaggy first-man do, Tarzan ran up the broad tail and seated +himself upon the creature's back, and then again imitating the acts of +the Tor-o-don he prodded it with the sharpened point of his staff, and +thus goading it forward and guiding it with blows, first upon one side +and then upon the other, he started it down the gorge in the direction +of the valley. + +At first it had been in his mind only to determine if he could +successfully assert any authority over the great monsters, realizing +that in this possibility lay his only hope of immediate escape from his +jailers. But once seated upon the back of his titanic mount the ape-man +experienced the sensation of a new thrill that recalled to him the day +in his boyhood that he had first clambered to the broad head of Tantor, +the elephant, and this, together with the sense of mastery that was +always meat and drink to the lord of the jungle, decided him to put his +newly acquired power to some utilitarian purpose. + +Pan-at-lee he judged must either have already reached safety or met +with death. At least, no longer could he be of service to her, while +below Kor-ul-GRYF, in the soft green valley, lay A-lur, the City of +Light, which, since he had gazed upon it from the shoulder of +Pastar-ul-ved, had been his ambition and his goal. + +Whether or not its gleaming walls held the secret of his lost mate he +could not even guess but if she lived at all within the precincts of +Pal-ul-don it must be among the Ho-don, since the hairy black men of +this forgotten world took no prisoners. And so to A-lur he would go, +and how more effectively than upon the back of this grim and terrible +creature that the races of Pal-ul-don held in such awe? + +A little mountain stream tumbles down from Kor-ul-GRYF to be joined in +the foothills with that which empties the waters of Kor-ul-lul into the +valley, forming a small river which runs southwest, eventually entering +the valley's largest lake at the City of A-lur, through the center of +which the stream passes. An ancient trail, well marked by countless +generations of naked feet of man and beast, leads down toward A-lur +beside the river, and along this Tarzan guided the GRYF. Once clear of +the forest which ran below the mouth of the gorge, Tarzan caught +occasional glimpses of the city gleaming in the distance far below him. + +The country through which he passed was resplendent with the riotous +beauties of tropical verdure. Thick, lush grasses grew waist high upon +either side of the trail and the way was broken now and again by +patches of open park-like forest, or perhaps a little patch of dense +jungle where the trees overarched the way and trailing creepers +depended in graceful loops from branch to branch. + +At times the ape-man had difficulty in commanding obedience upon the +part of his unruly beast, but always in the end its fear of the +relatively puny goad urged it on to obedience. Late in the afternoon as +they approached the confluence of the stream they were skirting and +another which appeared to come from the direction of Kor-ul-JA the +ape-man, emerging from one of the jungle patches, discovered a +considerable party of Ho-don upon the opposite bank. Simultaneously +they saw him and the mighty creature he bestrode. For a moment they +stood in wide-eyed amazement and then, in answer to the command of +their leader, they turned and bolted for the shelter of the nearby wood. + +The ape-man had but a brief glimpse of them but it was sufficient +indication that there were Waz-don with them, doubtless prisoners taken +in one of the raids upon the Waz-don villages of which Ta-den and Om-at +had told him. + +At the sound of their voices the GRYF had bellowed terrifically and +started in pursuit even though a river intervened, but by dint of much +prodding and beating, Tarzan had succeeded in heading the animal back +into the path though thereafter for a long time it was sullen and more +intractable than ever. + +As the sun dropped nearer the summit of the western hills Tarzan became +aware that his plan to enter A-lur upon the back of a GRYF was likely +doomed to failure, since the stubbornness of the great beast was +increasing momentarily, doubtless due to the fact that its huge belly +was crying out for food. The ape-man wondered if the Tor-o-dons had any +means of picketing their beasts for the night, but as he did not know +and as no plan suggested itself, he determined that he should have to +trust to the chance of finding it again in the morning. + +There now arose in his mind a question as to what would be their +relationship when Tarzan had dismounted. Would it again revert to that +of hunter and quarry or would fear of the goad continue to hold its +supremacy over the natural instinct of the hunting flesh-eater? Tarzan +wondered but as he could not remain upon the GRYF forever, and as he +preferred dismounting and putting the matter to a final test while it +was still light, he decided to act at once. + +How to stop the creature he did not know, as up to this time his sole +desire had been to urge it forward. By experimenting with his staff, +however, he found that he could bring it to a halt by reaching forward +and striking the thing upon its beaklike snout. Close by grew a number +of leafy trees, in any one of which the ape-man could have found +sanctuary, but it had occurred to him that should he immediately take +to the trees it might suggest to the mind of the GRYF that the creature +that had been commanding him all day feared him, with the result that +Tarzan would once again be held a prisoner by the triceratops. + +And so, when the GRYF halted, Tarzan slid to the ground, struck the +creature a careless blow across the flank as though in dismissal and +walked indifferently away. From the throat of the beast came a low +rumbling sound and without even a glance at Tarzan it turned and +entered the river where it stood drinking for a long time. + +Convinced that the GRYF no longer constituted a menace to him the +ape-man, spurred on himself by the gnawing of hunger, unslung his bow +and selecting a handful of arrows set forth cautiously in search of +food, evidence of the near presence of which was being borne up to him +by a breeze from down river. + +Ten minutes later he had made his kill, again one of the Pal-ul-don +specimens of antelope, all species of which Tarzan had known since +childhood as Bara, the deer, since in the little primer that had been +the basis of his education the picture of a deer had been the nearest +approach to the likeness of the antelope, from the giant eland to the +smaller bushbuck of the hunting grounds of his youth. + +Cutting off a haunch he cached it in a nearby tree, and throwing the +balance of the carcass across his shoulder trotted back toward the spot +at which he had left the GRYF. The great beast was just emerging from +the river when Tarzan, seeing it, issued the weird cry of the +Tor-o-don. The creature looked in the direction of the sound voicing at +the same time the low rumble with which it answered the call of its +master. Twice Tarzan repeated his cry before the beast moved slowly +toward him, and when it had come within a few paces he tossed the +carcass of the deer to it, upon which it fell with greedy jaws. + +"If anything will keep it within call," mused the ape-man as he +returned to the tree in which he had cached his own portion of his +kill, "it is the knowledge that I will feed it." But as he finished his +repast and settled himself comfortably for the night high among the +swaying branches of his eyrie he had little confidence that he would +ride into A-lur the following day upon his prehistoric steed. + +When Tarzan awoke early the following morning he dropped lightly to the +ground and made his way to the stream. Removing his weapons and loin +cloth he entered the cold waters of the little pool, and after his +refreshing bath returned to the tree to breakfast upon another portion +of Bara, the deer, adding to his repast some fruits and berries which +grew in abundance nearby. + +His meal over he sought the ground again and raising his voice in the +weird cry that he had learned, he called aloud on the chance of +attracting the GRYF, but though he waited for some time and continued +calling there was no response, and he was finally forced to the +conclusion that he had seen the last of his great mount of the +preceding day. + +And so he set his face toward A-lur, pinning his faith upon his +knowledge of the Ho-don tongue, his great strength and his native wit. + +Refreshed by food and rest, the journey toward A-lur, made in the cool +of the morning along the bank of the joyous river, he found delightful +in the extreme. Differentiating him from his fellows of the savage +jungle were many characteristics other than those physical and mental. +Not the least of these were in a measure spiritual, and one that had +doubtless been as strong as another in influencing Tarzan's love of the +jungle had been his appreciation of the beauties of nature. The apes +cared more for a grubworm in a rotten log than for all the majestic +grandeur of the forest giants waving above them. The only beauties that +Numa acknowledged were those of his own person as he paraded them +before the admiring eyes of his mate, but in all the manifestations of +the creative power of nature of which Tarzan was cognizant he +appreciated the beauties. + +As Tarzan neared the city his interest became centered upon the +architecture of the outlying buildings which were hewn from the +chalklike limestone of what had once been a group of low hills, similar +to the many grass-covered hillocks that dotted the valley in every +direction. Ta-den's explanation of the Ho-don methods of house +construction accounted for the ofttimes remarkable shapes and +proportions of the buildings which, during the ages that must have been +required for their construction, had been hewn from the limestone +hills, the exteriors chiseled to such architectural forms as appealed +to the eyes of the builders while at the same time following roughly +the original outlines of the hills in an evident desire to economize +both labor and space. The excavation of the apartments within had been +similarly governed by necessity. + +As he came nearer Tarzan saw that the waste material from these +building operations had been utilized in the construction of outer +walls about each building or group of buildings resulting from a single +hillock, and later he was to learn that it had also been used for the +filling of inequalities between the hills and the forming of paved +streets throughout the city, the result, possibly, more of the adoption +of an easy method of disposing of the quantities of broken limestone +than by any real necessity for pavements. + +There were people moving about within the city and upon the narrow +ledges and terraces that broke the lines of the buildings and which +seemed to be a peculiarity of Ho-don architecture, a concession, no +doubt, to some inherent instinct that might be traced back to their +early cliff-dwelling progenitors. + +Tarzan was not surprised that at a short distance he aroused no +suspicion or curiosity in the minds of those who saw him, since, until +closer scrutiny was possible, there was little to distinguish him from +a native either in his general conformation or his color. He had, of +course, formulated a plan of action and, having decided, he did not +hesitate in the carrying out his plan. + +With the same assurance that you might venture upon the main street of +a neighboring city Tarzan strode into the Ho-don city of A-lur. The +first person to detect his spuriousness was a little child playing in +the arched gateway of one of the walled buildings. "No tail! no tail!" +it shouted, throwing a stone at him, and then it suddenly grew dumb and +its eyes wide as it sensed that this creature was something other than +a mere Ho-don warrior who had lost his tail. With a gasp the child +turned and fled screaming into the courtyard of its home. + +Tarzan continued on his way, fully realizing that the moment was +imminent when the fate of his plan would be decided. Nor had he long to +wait since at the next turning of the winding street he came face to +face with a Ho-don warrior. He saw the sudden surprise in the latter's +eyes, followed instantly by one of suspicion, but before the fellow +could speak Tarzan addressed him. + +"I am a stranger from another land," he said; "I would speak with +Ko-tan, your king." + +The fellow stepped back, laying his hand upon his knife. "There are no +strangers that come to the gates of A-lur," he said, "other than as +enemies or slaves." + +"I come neither as a slave nor an enemy," replied Tarzan. "I come +directly from Jad-ben-Otho. Look!" and he held out his hands that the +Ho-don might see how greatly they differed from his own, and then +wheeled about that the other might see that he was tailless, for it was +upon this fact that his plan had been based, due to his recollection of +the quarrel between Ta-den and Om-at, in which the Waz-don had claimed +that Jad-ben-Otho had a long tail while the Ho-don had been equally +willing to fight for his faith in the taillessness of his god. + +The warrior's eyes widened and an expression of awe crept into them, +though it was still tinged with suspicion. "Jad-ben-Otho!" he murmured, +and then, "It is true that you are neither Ho-don nor Waz-don, and it +is also true that Jad-ben-Otho has no tail. Come," he said, "I will +take you to Ko-tan, for this is a matter in which no common warrior may +interfere. Follow me," and still clutching the handle of his knife and +keeping a wary side glance upon the ape-man he led the way through +A-lur. + +The city covered a large area. Sometimes there was a considerable +distance between groups of buildings, and again they were quite close +together. There were numerous imposing groups, evidently hewn from the +larger hills, often rising to a height of a hundred feet or more. As +they advanced they met numerous warriors and women, all of whom showed +great curiosity in the stranger, but there was no attempt to menace him +when it was found that he was being conducted to the palace of the king. + +They came at last to a great pile that sprawled over a considerable +area, its western front facing upon a large blue lake and evidently +hewn from what had once been a natural cliff. This group of buildings +was surrounded by a wall of considerably greater height than any that +Tarzan had before seen. His guide led him to a gateway before which +waited a dozen or more warriors who had risen to their feet and formed +a barrier across the entrance-way as Tarzan and his party appeared +around the corner of the palace wall, for by this time he had +accumulated such a following of the curious as presented to the guards +the appearance of a formidable mob. + +The guide's story told, Tarzan was conducted into the courtyard where +he was held while one of the warriors entered the palace, evidently +with the intention of notifying Ko-tan. Fifteen minutes later a large +warrior appeared, followed by several others, all of whom examined +Tarzan with every sign of curiosity as they approached. + +The leader of the party halted before the ape-man. "Who are you?" he +asked, "and what do you want of Ko-tan, the king?" + +"I am a friend," replied the ape-man, "and I have come from the country +of Jad-ben-Otho to visit Ko-tan of Pal-ul-don." + +The warrior and his followers seemed impressed. Tarzan could see the +latter whispering among themselves. + +"How come you here," asked the spokesman, "and what do you want of +Ko-tan?" + +Tarzan drew himself to his full height. "Enough!" he cried. "Must the +messenger of Jad-ben-Otho be subjected to the treatment that might be +accorded to a wandering Waz-don? Take me to the king at once lest the +wrath of Jad-ben-Otho fall upon you." + +There was some question in the mind of the ape-man as to how far he +might carry his unwarranted show of assurance, and he waited therefore +with amused interest the result of his demand. He did not, however, +have long to wait for almost immediately the attitude of his questioner +changed. He whitened, cast an apprehensive glance toward the eastern +sky and then extended his right palm toward Tarzan, placing his left +over his own heart in the sign of amity that was common among the +peoples of Pal-ul-don. + +Tarzan stepped quickly back as though from a profaning hand, a feigned +expression of horror and disgust upon his face. + +"Stop!" he cried, "who would dare touch the sacred person of the +messenger of Jad-ben-Otho? Only as a special mark of favor from +Jad-ben-Otho may even Ko-tan himself receive this honor from me. +Hasten! Already now have I waited too long! What manner of reception +the Ho-don of A-lur would extend to the son of my father!" + +At first Tarzan had been inclined to adopt the role of Jad-ben-Otho +himself but it occurred to him that it might prove embarrassing and +considerable of a bore to be compelled constantly to portray the +character of a god, but with the growing success of his scheme it had +suddenly occurred to him that the authority of the son of Jad-ben-Otho +would be far greater than that of an ordinary messenger of a god, while +at the same time giving him some leeway in the matter of his acts and +demeanor, the ape-man reasoning that a young god would not be held so +strictly accountable in the matter of his dignity and bearing as an +older and greater god. + +This time the effect of his words was immediately and painfully +noticeable upon all those near him. With one accord they shrank back, +the spokesman almost collapsing in evident terror. His apologies, when +finally the paralysis of his fear would permit him to voice them, were +so abject that the ape-man could scarce repress a smile of amused +contempt. + +"Have mercy, O Dor-ul-Otho," he pleaded, "on poor old Dak-lot. Precede +me and I will show you to where Ko-tan, the king, awaits you, +trembling. Aside, snakes and vermin," he cried pushing his warriors to +right and left for the purpose of forming an avenue for Tarzan. + +"Come!" cried the ape-man peremptorily, "lead the way, and let these +others follow." + +The now thoroughly frightened Dak-lot did as he was bid, and Tarzan of +the Apes was ushered into the palace of Kotan, King of Pal-ul-don. + + + +9 + +Blood-Stained Altars + +The entrance through which he caught his first glimpse of the interior +was rather beautifully carved in geometric designs, and within the +walls were similarly treated, though as he proceeded from one apartment +to another he found also the figures of animals, birds, and men taking +their places among the more formal figures of the mural decorator's +art. Stone vessels were much in evidence as well as ornaments of gold +and the skins of many animals, but nowhere did he see an indication of +any woven fabric, indicating that in that respect at least the Ho-don +were still low in the scale of evolution, and yet the proportions and +symmetry of the corridors and apartments bespoke a degree of +civilization. + +The way led through several apartments and long corridors, up at least +three flights of stone stairs and finally out upon a ledge upon the +western side of the building overlooking the blue lake. Along this +ledge, or arcade, his guide led him for a hundred yards, to stop at +last before a wide entrance-way leading into another apartment of the +palace. + +Here Tarzan beheld a considerable concourse of warriors in an enormous +apartment, the domed ceiling of which was fully fifty feet above the +floor. Almost filling the chamber was a great pyramid ascending in +broad steps well up under the dome in which were a number of round +apertures which let in the light. The steps of the pyramid were +occupied by warriors to the very pinnacle, upon which sat a large, +imposing figure of a man whose golden trappings shone brightly in the +light of the afternoon sun, a shaft of which poured through one of the +tiny apertures of the dome. + +"Ko-tan!" cried Dak-lot, addressing the resplendent figure at the +pinnacle of the pyramid. "Ko-tan and warriors of Pal-ul-don! Behold the +honor that Jad-ben-Otho has done you in sending as his messenger his +own son," and Dak-lot, stepping aside, indicated Tarzan with a dramatic +sweep of his hand. + +Ko-tan rose to his feet and every warrior within sight craned his neck +to have a better view of the newcomer. Those upon the opposite side of +the pyramid crowded to the front as the words of the old warrior +reached them. Skeptical were the expressions on most of the faces; but +theirs was a skepticism marked with caution. No matter which way +fortune jumped they wished to be upon the right side of the fence. For +a moment all eyes were centered upon Tarzan and then gradually they +drifted to Ko-tan, for from his attitude would they receive the cue +that would determine theirs. But Ko-tan was evidently in the same +quandary as they--the very attitude of his body indicated it--it was +one of indecision and of doubt. + +The ape-man stood erect, his arms folded upon his broad breast, an +expression of haughty disdain upon his handsome face; but to Dak-lot +there seemed to be indications also of growing anger. The situation was +becoming strained. Dak-lot fidgeted, casting apprehensive glances at +Tarzan and appealing ones at Ko-tan. The silence of the tomb wrapped +the great chamber of the throneroom of Pal-ul-don. + +At last Ko-tan spoke. "Who says that he is Dor-ul-Otho?" he asked, +casting a terrible look at Dak-lot. + +"He does!" almost shouted that terrified noble. + +"And so it must be true?" queried Ko-tan. + +Could it be that there was a trace of irony in the chief's tone? Otho +forbid! Dak-lot cast a side glance at Tarzan--a glance that he intended +should carry the assurance of his own faith; but that succeeded only in +impressing the ape-man with the other's pitiable terror. + +"O Ko-tan!" pleaded Dak-lot, "your own eyes must convince you that +indeed he is the son of Otho. Behold his godlike figure, his hands, and +his feet, that are not as ours, and that he is entirely tailless as is +his mighty father." + +Ko-tan appeared to be perceiving these facts for the first time and +there was an indication that his skepticism was faltering. At that +moment a young warrior who had pushed his way forward from the opposite +side of the pyramid to where he could obtain a good look at Tarzan +raised his voice. + +"Ko-tan," he cried, "it must be even as Dak-lot says, for I am sure now +that I have seen Dor-ul-Otho before. Yesterday as we were returning +with the Kor-ul-lul prisoners we beheld him seated upon the back of a +great GRYF. We hid in the woods before he came too near, but I saw +enough to make sure that he who rode upon the great beast was none +other than the messenger who stands here now." + +This evidence seemed to be quite enough to convince the majority of the +warriors that they indeed stood in the presence of deity--their faces +showed it only too plainly, and a sudden modesty that caused them to +shrink behind their neighbors. As their neighbors were attempting to do +the same thing, the result was a sudden melting away of those who stood +nearest the ape-man, until the steps of the pyramid directly before him +lay vacant to the very apex and to Ko-tan. The latter, possibly +influenced as much by the fearful attitude of his followers as by the +evidence adduced, now altered his tone and his manner in such a degree +as might comport with the requirements if the stranger was indeed the +Dor-ul-Otho while leaving his dignity a loophole of escape should it +appear that he had entertained an impostor. + +"If indeed you are the Dor-ul-Otho," he said, addressing Tarzan, "you +will know that our doubts were but natural since we have received no +sign from Jad-ben-Otho that he intended honoring us so greatly, nor how +could we know, even, that the Great God had a son? If you are he, all +Pal-ul-don rejoices to honor you; if you are not he, swift and terrible +shall be the punishment of your temerity. I, Ko-tan, King of +Pal-ul-don, have spoken." + +"And spoken well, as a king should speak," said Tarzan, breaking his +long silence, "who fears and honors the god of his people. It is well +that you insist that I indeed be the Dor-ul-Otho before you accord me +the homage that is my due. Jad-ben-Otho charged me specially to +ascertain if you were fit to rule his people. My first experience of +you indicates that Jad-ben-Otho chose well when he breathed the spirit +of a king into the babe at your mother's breast." + +The effect of this statement, made so casually, was marked in the +expressions and excited whispers of the now awe-struck assemblage. At +last they knew how kings were made! It was decided by Jad-ben-Otho +while the candidate was still a suckling babe! Wonderful! A miracle! +and this divine creature in whose presence they stood knew all about +it. Doubtless he even discussed such matters with their god daily. If +there had been an atheist among them before, or an agnostic, there was +none now, for had they not looked with their own eyes upon the son of +god? + +"It is well then," continued the ape-man, "that you should assure +yourself that I am no impostor. Come closer that you may see that I am +not as are men. Furthermore it is not meet that you stand upon a higher +level than the son of your god." There was a sudden scramble to reach +the floor of the throne-room, nor was Ko-tan far behind his warriors, +though he managed to maintain a certain majestic dignity as he +descended the broad stairs that countless naked feet had polished to a +gleaming smoothness through the ages. "And now," said Tarzan as the +king stood before him, "you can have no doubt that I am not of the same +race as you. Your priests have told you that Jad-ben-Otho is tailless. +Tailless, therefore, must be the race of gods that spring from his +loins. But enough of such proofs as these! You know the power of +Jad-ben-Otho; how his lightnings gleaming out of the sky carry death as +he wills it; how the rains come at his bidding, and the fruits and the +berries and the grains, the grasses, the trees and the flowers spring +to life at his divine direction; you have witnessed birth and death, +and those who honor their god honor him because he controls these +things. How would it fare then with an impostor who claimed to be the +son of this all-powerful god? This then is all the proof that you +require, for as he would strike you down should you deny me, so would +he strike down one who wrongfully claimed kinship with him." + +This line of argument being unanswerable must needs be convincing. +There could be no questioning of this creature's statements without the +tacit admission of lack of faith in the omnipotence of Jad-ben-Otho. +Ko-tan was satisfied that he was entertaining deity, but as to just +what form his entertainment should take he was rather at a loss to +know. His conception of god had been rather a vague and hazy affair, +though in common with all primitive people his god was a personal one +as were his devils and demons. The pleasures of Jad-ben-Otho he had +assumed to be the excesses which he himself enjoyed, but devoid of any +unpleasant reaction. It therefore occurred to him that the Dor-ul-Otho +would be greatly entertained by eating--eating large quantities of +everything that Ko-tan liked best and that he had found most injurious; +and there was also a drink that the women of the Ho-don made by +allowing corn to soak in the juices of succulent fruits, to which they +had added certain other ingredients best known to themselves. Ko-tan +knew by experience that a single draught of this potent liquor would +bring happiness and surcease from worry, while several would cause even +a king to do things and enjoy things that he would never even think of +doing or enjoying while not under the magical influence of the potion, +but unfortunately the next morning brought suffering in direct ratio to +the joy of the preceding day. A god, Ko-tan reasoned, could experience +all the pleasure without the headache, but for the immediate present he +must think of the necessary dignities and honors to be accorded his +immortal guest. + +No foot other than a king's had touched the surface of the apex of the +pyramid in the throneroom at A-lur during all the forgotten ages +through which the kings of Pal-ul-don had ruled from its high eminence. +So what higher honor could Ko-tan offer than to give place beside him +to the Dor-ul-Otho? And so he invited Tarzan to ascend the pyramid and +take his place upon the stone bench that topped it. As they reached the +step below the sacred pinnacle Ko-tan continued as though to mount to +his throne, but Tarzan laid a detaining hand upon his arm. + +"None may sit upon a level with the gods," he admonished, stepping +confidently up and seating himself upon the throne. The abashed Ko-tan +showed his embarrassment, an embarrassment he feared to voice lest he +incur the wrath of the king of kings. + +"But," added Tarzan, "a god may honor his faithful servant by inviting +him to a place at his side. Come, Ko-tan; thus would I honor you in the +name of Jad-ben-Otho." + +The ape-man's policy had for its basis an attempt not only to arouse +the fearful respect of Ko-tan but to do it without making of him an +enemy at heart, for he did not know how strong a hold the religion of +the Ho-don had upon them, for since the time that he had prevented +Ta-den and Om-at from quarreling over a religious difference the +subject had been utterly taboo among them. He was therefore quick to +note the evident though wordless resentment of Ko-tan at the suggestion +that he entirely relinquish his throne to his guest. On the whole, +however, the effect had been satisfactory as he could see from the +renewed evidence of awe upon the faces of the warriors. + +At Tarzan's direction the business of the court continued where it had +been interrupted by his advent. It consisted principally in the +settling of disputes between warriors. There was present one who stood +upon the step just below the throne and which Tarzan was to learn was +the place reserved for the higher chiefs of the allied tribes which +made up Ko-tan's kingdom. The one who attracted Tarzan's attention was +a stalwart warrior of powerful physique and massive, lion-like +features. He was addressing Ko-tan on a question that is as old as +government and that will continue in unabated importance until man +ceases to exist. It had to do with a boundary dispute with one of his +neighbors. + +The matter itself held little or no interest for Tarzan, but he was +impressed by the appearance of the speaker and when Ko-tan addressed +him as Ja-don the ape-man's interest was permanently crystallized, for +Ja-don was the father of Ta-den. That the knowledge would benefit him +in any way seemed rather a remote possibility since he could not reveal +to Ja-don his friendly relations with his son without admitting the +falsity of his claims to godship. + +When the affairs of the audience were concluded Ko-tan suggested that +the son of Jad-ben-Otho might wish to visit the temple in which were +performed the religious rites coincident to the worship of the Great +God. And so the ape-man was conducted by the king himself, followed by +the warriors of his court, through the corridors of the palace toward +the northern end of the group of buildings within the royal enclosure. + +The temple itself was really a part of the palace and similar in +architecture. There were several ceremonial places of varying sizes, +the purposes of which Tarzan could only conjecture. Each had an altar +in the west end and another in the east and were oval in shape, their +longest diameter lying due east and west. Each was excavated from the +summit of a small hillock and all were without roofs. The western +altars invariably were a single block of stone the top of which was +hollowed into an oblong basin. Those at the eastern ends were similar +blocks of stone with flat tops and these latter, unlike those at the +opposite ends of the ovals were invariably stained or painted a reddish +brown, nor did Tarzan need to examine them closely to be assured of +what his keen nostrils already had told him--that the brown stains were +dried and drying human blood. + +Below these temple courts were corridors and apartments reaching far +into the bowels of the hills, dim, gloomy passages that Tarzan glimpsed +as he was led from place to place on his tour of inspection of the +temple. A messenger had been dispatched by Ko-tan to announce the +coming visit of the son of Jad-ben-Otho with the result that they were +accompanied through the temple by a considerable procession of priests +whose distinguishing mark of profession seemed to consist in grotesque +headdresses; sometimes hideous faces carved from wood and entirely +concealing the countenances of their wearers, or again, the head of a +wild beast cunningly fitted over the head of a man. The high priest +alone wore no such head-dress. He was an old man with close-set, +cunning eyes and a cruel, thin-lipped mouth. + +At first sight of him Tarzan realized that here lay the greatest danger +to his ruse, for he saw at a glance that the man was antagonistic +toward him and his pretensions, and he knew too that doubtless of all +the people of Pal-ul-don the high priest was most likely to harbor the +truest estimate of Jad-ben-Otho, and, therefore, would look with +suspicion on one who claimed to be the son of a fabulous god. + +No matter what suspicion lurked within his crafty mind, Lu-don, the +high priest of A-lur, did not openly question Tarzan's right to the +title of Dor-ul-Otho, and it may be that he was restrained by the same +doubts which had originally restrained Ko-tan and his warriors--the +doubt that is at the bottom of the minds of all blasphemers even and +which is based upon the fear that after all there may be a god. So, for +the time being at least Lu-don played safe. Yet Tarzan knew as well as +though the man had spoken aloud his inmost thoughts that it was in the +heart of the high priest to tear the veil from his imposture. + +At the entrance to the temple Ko-tan had relinquished the guidance of +the guest to Lu-don and now the latter led Tarzan through those +portions of the temple that he wished him to see. He showed him the +great room where the votive offerings were kept, gifts from the +barbaric chiefs of Pal-ul-don and from their followers. These things +ranged in value from presents of dried fruits to massive vessels of +beaten gold, so that in the great main storeroom and its connecting +chambers and corridors was an accumulation of wealth that amazed even +the eyes of the owner of the secret of the treasure vaults of Opar. + +Moving to and fro throughout the temple were sleek black Waz-don +slaves, fruits of the Ho-don raids upon the villages of their less +civilized neighbors. As they passed the barred entrance to a dim +corridor, Tarzan saw within a great company of pithecanthropi of all +ages and of both sexes, Ho-don as well as Waz-don, the majority of them +squatted upon the stone floor in attitudes of utter dejection while +some paced back and forth, their features stamped with the despair of +utter hopelessness. + +"And who are these who lie here thus unhappily?" he asked of Lu-don. It +was the first question that he had put to the high priest since +entering the temple, and instantly he regretted that he had asked it, +for Lu-don turned upon him a face upon which the expression of +suspicion was but thinly veiled. + +"Who should know better than the son of Jad-ben-Otho?" he retorted. + +"The questions of Dor-ul-Otho are not with impunity answered with other +questions," said the ape-man quietly, "and it may interest Lu-don, the +high priest, to know that the blood of a false priest upon the altar of +his temple is not displeasing in the eyes of Jad-ben-Otho." + +Lu-don paled as he answered Tarzan's question. "They are the offerings +whose blood must refresh the eastern altars as the sun returns to your +father at the day's end." + +"And who told you," asked Tarzan, "that Jad-ben-Otho was pleased that +his people were slain upon his altars? What if you were mistaken?" + +"Then countless thousands have died in vain," replied Lu-don. + +Ko-tan and the surrounding warriors and priests were listening +attentively to the dialogue. Some of the poor victims behind the barred +gateway had heard and rising, pressed close to the barrier through +which one was conducted just before sunset each day, never to return. + +"Liberate them!" cried Tarzan with a wave of his hand toward the +imprisoned victims of a cruel superstition, "for I can tell you in the +name of Jad-ben-Otho that you are mistaken." + + + +10 + +The Forbidden Garden + +Lu-don paled. "It is sacrilege," he cried; "for countless ages have the +priests of the Great God offered each night a life to the spirit of +Jad-ben-Otho as it returned below the western horizon to its master, +and never has the Great God given sign that he was displeased." + +"Stop!" commanded Tarzan. "It is the blindness of the priesthood that +has failed to read the messages of their god. Your warriors die beneath +the knives and clubs of the Wazdon; your hunters are taken by JA and +JATO; no day goes by but witnesses the deaths of few or many in the +villages of the Ho-don, and one death each day of those that die are +the toll which Jad-ben-Otho has exacted for the lives you take upon the +eastern altar. What greater sign of his displeasure could you require, +O stupid priest?" + +Lu-don was silent. There was raging within him a great conflict between +his fear that this indeed might be the son of god and his hope that it +was not, but at last his fear won and he bowed his head. "The son of +Jad-ben-Otho has spoken," he said, and turning to one of the lesser +priests: "Remove the bars and return these people from whence they +came." + +He thus addressed did as he was bid and as the bars came down the +prisoners, now all fully aware of the miracle that had saved them, +crowded forward and throwing themselves upon their knees before Tarzan +raised their voices in thanksgiving. + +Ko-tan was almost as staggered as the high priest by this ruthless +overturning of an age-old religious rite. "But what," he cried, "may we +do that will be pleasing in the eyes of Jad-ben-Otho?" turning a look +of puzzled apprehension toward the ape-man. + +"If you seek to please your god," he replied, "place upon your altars +such gifts of food and apparel as are most welcome in the city of your +people. These things will Jad-ben-Otho bless, when you may distribute +them among those of the city who need them most. With such things are +your storerooms filled as I have seen with mine own eyes, and other +gifts will be brought when the priests tell the people that in this way +they find favor before their god," and Tarzan turned and signified that +he would leave the temple. + +As they were leaving the precincts devoted to the worship of their +deity, the ape-man noticed a small but rather ornate building that +stood entirely detached from the others as though it had been cut from +a little pinnacle of limestone which had stood out from its fellows. As +his interested glance passed over it he noticed that its door and +windows were barred. + +"To what purpose is that building dedicated?" he asked of Lu-don. "Who +do you keep imprisoned there?" + +"It is nothing," replied the high priest nervously, "there is no one +there. The place is vacant. Once it was used but not now for many +years," and he moved on toward the gateway which led back into the +palace. Here he and the priests halted while Tarzan with Ko-tan and his +warriors passed out from the sacred precincts of the temple grounds. + +The one question which Tarzan would have asked he had feared to ask for +he knew that in the hearts of many lay a suspicion as to his +genuineness, but he determined that before he slept he would put the +question to Ko-tan, either directly or indirectly--as to whether there +was, or had been recently within the city of A-lur a female of the same +race as his. + +As their evening meal was being served to them in the banquet hall of +Ko-tan's palace by a part of the army of black slaves upon whose +shoulders fell the burden of all the heavy and menial tasks of the +city, Tarzan noticed that there came to the eyes of one of the slaves +what was apparently an expression of startled recognition, as he looked +upon the ape-man for the first time in the banquet hall of Ko-tan. And +again later he saw the fellow whisper to another slave and nod his head +in his direction. The ape-man did not recall ever having seen this +Waz-don before and he was at a loss to account for an explanation of +the fellow's interest in him, and presently the incident was all but +forgotten. + +Ko-tan was surprised and inwardly disgusted to discover that his godly +guest had no desire to gorge himself upon rich foods and that he would +not even so much as taste the villainous brew of the Ho-don. To Tarzan +the banquet was a dismal and tiresome affair, since so great was the +interest of the guests in gorging themselves with food and drink that +they had no time for conversation, the only vocal sounds being confined +to a continuous grunting which, together with their table manners +reminded Tarzan of a visit he had once made to the famous Berkshire +herd of His Grace, the Duke of Westminster at Woodhouse, Chester. + +One by one the diners succumbed to the stupefying effects of the liquor +with the result that the grunting gave place to snores, so presently +Tarzan and the slaves were the only conscious creatures in the banquet +hall. + +Rising, the ape-man turned to a tall black who stood behind him. "I +would sleep," he said, "show me to my apartment." + +As the fellow conducted him from the chamber the slave who had shown +surprise earlier in the evening at sight of him, spoke again at length +to one of his fellows. The latter cast a half-frightened look in the +direction of the departing ape-man. "If you are right," he said, "they +should reward us with our liberty, but if you are wrong, O +Jad-ben-Otho, what will be our fate?" + +"But I am not wrong!" cried the other. + +"Then there is but one to tell this to, for I have heard that he looked +sour when this Dor-ul-Otho was brought to the temple and that while the +so-called son of Jad-ben-Otho was there he gave this one every cause to +fear and hate him. I mean Lu-don, the high priest." + +"You know him?" asked the other slave. + +"I have worked in the temple," replied his companion. + +"Then go to him at once and tell him, but be sure to exact the promise +of our freedom for the proof." + +And so a black Waz-don came to the temple gate and asked to see Lu-don, +the high priest, on a matter of great importance, and though the hour +was late Lu-don saw him, and when he had heard his story he promised +him and his friend not only their freedom but many gifts if they could +prove the correctness of their claims. + +And as the slave talked with the high priest in the temple at A-lur the +figure of a man groped its way around the shoulder of Pastar-ul-ved and +the moonlight glistened from the shiny barrel of an Enfield that was +strapped to the naked back, and brass cartridges shed tiny rays of +reflected light from their polished cases where they hung in the +bandoliers across the broad brown shoulders and the lean waist. + +Tarzan's guide conducted him to a chamber overlooking the blue lake +where he found a bed similar to that which he had seen in the villages +of the Waz-don, merely a raised dais of stone upon which was piled +great quantities of furry pelts. And so he lay down to sleep, the +question that he most wished to put still unasked and unanswered. + +With the coming of a new day he was awake and wandering about the +palace and the palace grounds before there was sign of any of the +inmates of the palace other than slaves, or at least he saw no others +at first, though presently he stumbled upon an enclosure which lay +almost within the center of the palace grounds surrounded by a wall +that piqued the ape-man's curiosity, since he had determined to +investigate as fully as possible every part of the palace and its +environs. + +This place, whatever it might be, was apparently without doors or +windows but that it was at least partially roofless was evidenced by +the sight of the waving branches of a tree which spread above the top +of the wall near him. Finding no other method of access, the ape-man +uncoiled his rope and throwing it over the branch of the tree where it +projected beyond the wall, was soon climbing with the ease of a monkey +to the summit. + +There he found that the wall surrounded an enclosed garden in which +grew trees and shrubs and flowers in riotous profusion. Without +waiting to ascertain whether the garden was empty or contained Ho-don, +Waz-don, or wild beasts, Tarzan dropped lightly to the sward on the +inside and without further loss of time commenced a systematic +investigation of the enclosure. + +His curiosity was aroused by the very evident fact that the place was +not for general use, even by those who had free access to other parts +of the palace grounds and so there was added to its natural beauties an +absence of mortals which rendered its exploration all the more alluring +to Tarzan since it suggested that in such a place might he hope to come +upon the object of his long and difficult search. + +In the garden were tiny artificial streams and little pools of water, +flanked by flowering bushes, as though it all had been designed by the +cunning hand of some master gardener, so faithfully did it carry out +the beauties and contours of nature upon a miniature scale. + +The interior surface of the wall was fashioned to represent the white +cliffs of Pal-ul-don, broken occasionally by small replicas of the +verdure-filled gorges of the original. + +Filled with admiration and thoroughly enjoying each new surprise which +the scene offered, Tarzan moved slowly around the garden, and as always +he moved silently. Passing through a miniature forest he came presently +upon a tiny area of flowerstudded sward and at the same time beheld +before him the first Ho-don female he had seen since entering the +palace. A young and beautiful woman stood in the center of the little +open space, stroking the head of a bird which she held against her +golden breastplate with one hand. Her profile was presented to the +ape-man and he saw that by the standards of any land she would have +been accounted more than lovely. + +Seated in the grass at her feet, with her back toward him, was a female +Waz-don slave. Seeing that she he sought was not there and apprehensive +that an alarm be raised were he discovered by the two women, Tarzan +moved back to hide himself in the foliage, but before he had succeeded +the Ho-don girl turned quickly toward him as though apprised of his +presence by that unnamed sense, the manifestations of which are more or +less familiar to us all. + +At sight of him her eyes registered only her surprise though there was +no expression of terror reflected in them, nor did she scream or even +raise her well-modulated voice as she addressed him. + +"Who are you," she asked, "who enters thus boldly the Forbidden Garden?" + +At sound of her mistress' voice the slave maiden turned quickly, rising +to her feet. "Tarzan-jad-guru!" she exclaimed in tones of mingled +astonishment and relief. + +"You know him?" cried her mistress turning toward the slave and +affording Tarzan an opportunity to raise a cautioning finger to his +lips lest Pan-at-lee further betray him, for it was Pan-at-lee indeed +who stood before him, no less a source of surprise to him than had his +presence been to her. + +Thus questioned by her mistress and simultaneously admonished to +silence by Tarzan, Pan-at-lee was momentarily silenced and then +haltingly she groped for a way to extricate herself from her dilemma. +"I thought--" she faltered, "but no, I am mistaken--I thought that he +was one whom I had seen before near the Kor-ul-GRYF." + +The Ho-don looked first at one and then at the other an expression of +doubt and questioning in her eyes. "But you have not answered me," she +continued presently; "who are you?" + +"You have not heard then," asked Tarzan, "of the visitor who arrived at +your king's court yesterday?" + +"You mean," she exclaimed, "that you are the Dor-ul-Otho?" And now the +erstwhile doubting eyes reflected naught but awe. + +"I am he," replied Tarzan; "and you?" + +"I am O-lo-a, daughter of Ko-tan, the king," she replied. + +So this was O-lo-a, for love of whom Ta-den had chosen exile rather +than priesthood. Tarzan had approached more closely the dainty +barbarian princess. "Daughter of Ko-tan," he said, "Jad-ben-Otho is +pleased with you and as a mark of his favor he has preserved for you +through many dangers him whom you love." + +"I do not understand," replied the girl but the flush that mounted to +her cheek belied her words. "Bu-lat is a guest in the palace of Ko-tan, +my father. I do not know that he has faced any danger. It is to Bu-lat +that I am betrothed." + +"But it is not Bu-lat whom you love," said Tarzan. + +Again the flush and the girl half turned her face away. "Have I then +displeased the Great God?" she asked. + +"No," replied Tarzan; "as I told you he is well satisfied and for your +sake he has saved Ta-den for you." + +"Jad-ben-Otho knows all," whispered the girl, "and his son shares his +great knowledge." + +"No," Tarzan hastened to correct her lest a reputation for omniscience +might prove embarrassing. "I know only what Jad-ben-Otho wishes me to +know." + +"But tell me," she said, "I shall be reunited with Ta-den? Surely the +son of god can read the future." + +The ape-man was glad that he had left himself an avenue of escape. "I +know nothing of the future," he replied, "other than what Jad-ben-Otho +tells me. But I think you need have no fear for the future if you +remain faithful to Ta-den and Ta-den's friends." + +"You have seen him?" asked O-lo-a. "Tell me, where is he?" + +"Yes," replied Tarzan, "I have seen him. He was with Om-at, the gund of +Kor-ul-JA." + +"A prisoner of the Waz-don?" interrupted the girl. + +"Not a prisoner but an honored guest," replied the ape-man. + +"Wait," he exclaimed, raising his face toward the heavens; "do not +speak. I am receiving a message from Jad-ben-Otho, my father." + +The two women dropped to their knees, covering their faces with their +hands, stricken with awe at the thought of the awful nearness of the +Great God. Presently Tarzan touched O-lo-a on the shoulder. + +"Rise," he said. "Jad-ben-Otho has spoken. He has told me that this +slave girl is from the tribe of Kor-ul-JA, where Ta-den is, and that +she is betrothed to Om-at, their chief. Her name is Pan-at-lee." + +O-lo-a turned questioningly toward Pan-at-lee. The latter nodded, her +simple mind unable to determine whether or not she and her mistress +were the victims of a colossal hoax. "It is even as he says," she +whispered. + +O-lo-a fell upon her knees and touched her forehead to Tarzan's feet. +"Great is the honor that Jad-ben-Otho has done his poor servant," she +cried. "Carry to him my poor thanks for the happiness that he has +brought to O-lo-a." + +"It would please my father," said Tarzan, "if you were to cause +Pan-at-lee to be returned in safety to the village of her people." + +"What cares Jad-ben-Otho for such as she?" asked O-lo-a, a slight trace +of hauteur in her tone. + +"There is but one god," replied Tarzan, "and he is the god of the +Waz-don as well as of the Ho-don; of the birds and the beasts and the +flowers and of everything that grows upon the earth or beneath the +waters. If Pan-at-lee does right she is greater in the eyes of +Jad-ben-Otho than would be the daughter of Ko-tan should she do wrong." + +It was evident that O-lo-a did not quite understand this interpretation +of divine favor, so contrary was it to the teachings of the priesthood +of her people. In one respect only did Tarzan's teachings coincide with +her belief--that there was but one god. For the rest she had always +been taught that he was solely the god of the Ho-don in every sense, +other than that other creatures were created by Jad-ben-Otho to serve +some useful purpose for the benefit of the Ho-don race. And now to be +told by the son of god that she stood no higher in divine esteem than +the black handmaiden at her side was indeed a shock to her pride, her +vanity, and her faith. But who could question the word of Dor-ul-Otho, +especially when she had with her own eyes seen him in actual communion +with god in heaven? + +"The will of Jad-ben-Otho be done," said O-lo-a meekly, "if it lies +within my power. But it would be best, O Dor-ul-Otho, to communicate +your father's wish directly to the king." + +"Then keep her with you," said Tarzan, "and see that no harm befalls +her." + +O-lo-a looked ruefully at Pan-at-lee. "She was brought to me but +yesterday," she said, "and never have I had slave woman who pleased me +better. I shall hate to part with her." + +"But there are others," said Tarzan. + +"Yes," replied O-lo-a, "there are others, but there is only one +Pan-at-lee." + +"Many slaves are brought to the city?" asked Tarzan. + +"Yes," she replied. + +"And many strangers come from other lands?" he asked. + +She shook her head negatively. "Only the Ho-don from the other side of +the Valley of Jad-ben-Otho," she replied, "and they are not strangers." + +"Am I then the first stranger to enter the gates of A-lur?" he asked. + +"Can it be," she parried, "that the son of Jad-ben-Otho need question a +poor ignorant mortal like O-lo-a?" + +"As I told you before," replied Tarzan, "Jad-ben-Otho alone is +all-knowing." + +"Then if he wished you to know this thing," retorted O-lo-a quickly, +"you would know it." + +Inwardly the ape-man smiled that this little heathen's astuteness +should beat him at his own game, yet in a measure her evasion of the +question might be an answer to it. "There have been other strangers +here then recently?" he persisted. + +"I cannot tell you what I do not know," she replied. "Always is the +palace of Ko-tan filled with rumors, but how much fact and how much +fancy how may a woman of the palace know?" + +"There has been such a rumor then?" he asked. + +"It was only rumor that reached the Forbidden Garden," she replied. + +"It described, perhaps, a woman of another race?" As he put the +question and awaited her answer he thought that his heart ceased to +beat, so grave to him was the issue at stake. + +The girl hesitated before replying, and then. "No," she said, "I cannot +speak of this thing, for if it be of sufficient importance to elicit +the interest of the gods then indeed would I be subject to the wrath of +my father should I discuss it." + +"In the name of Jad-ben-Otho I command you to speak," said Tarzan. "In +the name of Jad-ben-Otho in whose hands lies the fate of Ta-den!" + +The girl paled. "Have mercy!" she cried, "and for the sake of Ta-den I +will tell you all that I know." + +"Tell what?" demanded a stern voice from the shrubbery behind them. The +three turned to see the figure of Ko-tan emerging from the foliage. An +angry scowl distorted his kingly features but at sight of Tarzan it +gave place to an expression of surprise not unmixed with fear. +"Dor-ul-Otho!" he exclaimed, "I did not know that it was you," and +then, raising his head and squaring his shoulders he said, "but there +are places where even the son of the Great God may not walk and this, +the Forbidden Garden of Ko-tan, is one." + +It was a challenge but despite the king's bold front there was a note +of apology in it, indicating that in his superstitious mind there +flourished the inherent fear of man for his Maker. "Come, Dor-ul-Otho," +he continued, "I do not know all this foolish child has said to you but +whatever you would know Ko-tan, the king, will tell you. O-lo-a, go to +your quarters immediately," and he pointed with stern finger toward the +opposite end of the garden. + +The princess, followed by Pan-at-lee, turned at once and left them. + +"We will go this way," said Ko-tan and preceding, led Tarzan in another +direction. Close to that part of the wall which they approached Tarzan +perceived a grotto in the miniature cliff into the interior of which +Ko-tan led him, and down a rocky stairway to a gloomy corridor the +opposite end of which opened into the palace proper. Two armed warriors +stood at this entrance to the Forbidden Garden, evidencing how +jealously were the sacred precincts of the place guarded. + +In silence Ko-tan led the way back to his own quarters in the palace. A +large chamber just outside the room toward which Ko-tan was leading his +guest was filled with chiefs and warriors awaiting the pleasure of +their ruler. As the two entered, an aisle was formed for them the +length of the chamber, down which they passed in silence. + +Close to the farther door and half hidden by the warriors who stood +before him was Lu-don, the high priest. Tarzan glimpsed him but briefly +but in that short period he was aware of a cunning and malevolent +expression upon the cruel countenance that he was subconsciously aware +boded him no good, and then with Ko-tan he passed into the adjoining +room and the hangings dropped. + +At the same moment the hideous headdress of an under priest appeared in +the entrance of the outer chamber. Its owner, pausing for a moment, +glanced quickly around the interior and then having located him whom he +sought moved rapidly in the direction of Lu-don. There was a whispered +conversation which was terminated by the high priest. + +"Return immediately to the quarters of the princess," he said, "and see +that the slave is sent to me at the temple at once." The under priest +turned and departed upon his mission while Lu-don also left the +apartment and directed his footsteps toward the sacred enclosure over +which he ruled. + +A half-hour later a warrior was ushered into the presence of Ko-tan. +"Lu-don, the high priest, desires the presence of Ko-tan, the king, in +the temple," he announced, "and it is his wish that he come alone." + +Ko-tan nodded to indicate that he accepted the command which even the +king must obey. "I will return presently, Dor-ul-Otho," he said to +Tarzan, "and in the meantime my warriors and my slaves are yours to +command." + + + +11 + +The Sentence of Death + +But it was an hour before the king re-entered the apartment and in the +meantime the ape-man had occupied himself in examining the carvings +upon the walls and the numerous specimens of the handicraft of +Pal-ul-donian artisans which combined to impart an atmosphere of +richness and luxury to the apartment. + +The limestone of the country, close-grained and of marble whiteness yet +worked with comparative ease with crude implements, had been wrought by +cunning craftsmen into bowls and urns and vases of considerable grace +and beauty. Into the carved designs of many of these virgin gold had +been hammered, presenting the effect of a rich and magnificent +cloisonne. A barbarian himself the art of barbarians had always +appealed to the ape-man to whom they represented a natural expression +of man's love of the beautiful to even a greater extent than the +studied and artificial efforts of civilization. Here was the real art +of old masters, the other the cheap imitation of the chromo. + +It was while he was thus pleasurably engaged that Ko-tan returned. As +Tarzan, attracted by the movement of the hangings through which the +king entered, turned and faced him he was almost shocked by the +remarkable alteration of the king's appearance. His face was livid; his +hands trembled as with palsy, and his eyes were wide as with fright. +His appearance was one apparently of a combination of consuming anger +and withering fear. Tarzan looked at him questioningly. + +"You have had bad news, Ko-tan?" he asked. + +The king mumbled an unintelligible reply. Behind there thronged into +the apartment so great a number of warriors that they choked the +entrance-way. The king looked apprehensively to right and left. He cast +terrified glances at the ape-man and then raising his face and turning +his eyes upward he cried: "Jad-ben-Otho be my witness that I do not +this thing of my own accord." There was a moment's silence which was +again broken by Ko-tan. "Seize him," he cried to the warriors about +him, "for Lu-don, the high priest, swears that he is an impostor." + +To have offered armed resistance to this great concourse of warriors in +the very heart of the palace of their king would have been worse than +fatal. Already Tarzan had come far by his wits and now that within a +few hours he had had his hopes and his suspicions partially verified by +the vague admissions of O-lo-a he was impressed with the necessity of +inviting no mortal risk that he could avoid. + +"Stop!" he cried, raising his palm against them. "What is the meaning +of this?" + +"Lu-don claims he has proof that you are not the son of Jad-ben-Otho," +replied Ko-tan. "He demands that you be brought to the throneroom to +face your accusers. If you are what you claim to be none knows better +than you that you need have no fear in acquiescing to his demands, but +remember always that in such matters the high priest commands the king +and that I am only the bearer of these commands, not their author." + +Tarzan saw that Ko-tan was not entirely convinced of his duplicity as +was evidenced by his palpable design to play safe. + +"Let not your warriors seize me," he said to Ko-tan, "lest +Jad-ben-Otho, mistaking their intention, strike them dead." The effect +of his words was immediate upon the men in the front rank of those who +faced him, each seeming suddenly to acquire a new modesty that +compelled him to self-effacement behind those directly in his rear--a +modesty that became rapidly contagious. + +The ape-man smiled. "Fear not," he said, "I will go willingly to the +audience chamber to face the blasphemers who accuse me." + +Arrived at the great throneroom a new complication arose. Ko-tan would +not acknowledge the right of Lu-don to occupy the apex of the pyramid +and Lu-don would not consent to occupying an inferior position while +Tarzan, to remain consistent with his high claims, insisted that no one +should stand above him, but only to the ape-man was the humor of the +situation apparent. + +To relieve the situation Ja-don suggested that all three of them occupy +the throne, but this suggestion was repudiated by Ko-tan who argued +that no mortal other than a king of Pal-ul-don had ever sat upon the +high eminence, and that furthermore there was not room for three there. + +"But who," said Tarzan, "is my accuser and who is my judge?" + +"Lu-don is your accuser," explained Ko-tan. + +"And Lu-don is your judge," cried the high priest. + +"I am to be judged by him who accuses me then," said Tarzan. "It were +better to dispense then with any formalities and ask Lu-don to sentence +me." His tone was ironical and his sneering face, looking straight into +that of the high priest, but caused the latter's hatred to rise to +still greater proportions. + +It was evident that Ko-tan and his warriors saw the justice of Tarzan's +implied objection to this unfair method of dispensing justice. "Only +Ko-tan can judge in the throneroom of his palace," said Ja-don, "let +him hear Lu-don's charges and the testimony of his witnesses, and then +let Ko-tan's judgment be final." + +Ko-tan, however, was not particularly enthusiastic over the prospect of +sitting in trial upon one who might after all very possibly be the son +of his god, and so he temporized, seeking for an avenue of escape. "It +is purely a religious matter," he said, "and it is traditional that the +kings of Pal-ul-don interfere not in questions of the church." + +"Then let the trial be held in the temple," cried one of the chiefs, +for the warriors were as anxious as their king to be relieved of all +responsibility in the matter. This suggestion was more than +satisfactory to the high priest who inwardly condemned himself for not +having thought of it before. + +"It is true," he said, "this man's sin is against the temple. Let him +be dragged thither then for trial." + +"The son of Jad-ben-Otho will be dragged nowhere," cried Tarzan. "But +when this trial is over it is possible that the corpse of Lu-don, the +high priest, will be dragged from the temple of the god he would +desecrate. Think well, then, Lu-don before you commit this folly." + +His words, intended to frighten the high priest from his position +failed utterly in consummating their purpose. Lu-don showed no terror +at the suggestion the ape-man's words implied. + +"Here is one," thought Tarzan, "who, knowing more of his religion than +any of his fellows, realizes fully the falsity of my claims as he does +the falsity of the faith he preaches." + +He realized, however, that his only hope lay in seeming indifference to +the charges. Ko-tan and the warriors were still under the spell of +their belief in him and upon this fact must he depend in the final act +of the drama that Lu-don was staging for his rescue from the jealous +priest whom he knew had already passed sentence upon him in his own +heart. + +With a shrug he descended the steps of the pyramid. "It matters not to +Dor-ul-Otho," he said, "where Lu-don enrages his god, for Jad-ben-Otho +can reach as easily into the chambers of the temple as into the +throneroom of Ko-tan." + +Immeasurably relieved by this easy solution of their problem the king +and the warriors thronged from the throneroom toward the temple +grounds, their faith in Tarzan increased by his apparent indifference +to the charges against him. Lu-don led them to the largest of the altar +courts. + +Taking his place behind the western altar he motioned Ko-tan to a place +upon the platform at the left hand of the altar and directed Tarzan to +a similar place at the right. + +As Tarzan ascended the platform his eyes narrowed angrily at the sight +which met them. The basin hollowed in the top of the altar was filled +with water in which floated the naked corpse of a new-born babe. "What +means this?" he cried angrily, turning upon Lu-don. + +The latter smiled malevolently. "That you do not know," he replied, "is +but added evidence of the falsity of your claim. He who poses as the +son of god did not know that as the last rays of the setting sun flood +the eastern altar of the temple the lifeblood of an adult reddens the +white stone for the edification of Jad-ben-Otho, and that when the sun +rises again from the body of its maker it looks first upon this western +altar and rejoices in the death of a new-born babe each day, the ghost +of which accompanies it across the heavens by day as the ghost of the +adult returns with it to Jad-ben-Otho at night. + +"Even the little children of the Ho-don know these things, while he who +claims to be the son of Jad-ben-Otho knows them not; and if this proof +be not enough, there is more. Come, Waz-don," he cried, pointing to a +tall slave who stood with a group of other blacks and priests on the +temple floor at the left of the altar. + +The fellow came forward fearfully. "Tell us what you know of this +creature," cried Lu-don, pointing to Tarzan. + +"I have seen him before," said the Waz-don. "I am of the tribe of +Kor-ul-lul, and one day recently a party of which I was one encountered +a few of the warriors of the Kor-ul-JA upon the ridge which separates +our villages. Among the enemy was this strange creature whom they +called Tarzan-jad-guru; and terrible indeed was he for he fought with +the strength of many men so that it required twenty of us to subdue +him. But he did not fight as a god fights, and when a club struck him +upon the head he sank unconscious as might an ordinary mortal. + +"We carried him with us to our village as a prisoner but he escaped +after cutting off the head of the warrior we left to guard him and +carrying it down into the gorge and tying it to the branch of a tree +upon the opposite side." + +"The word of a slave against that of a god!" cried Ja-don, who had +shown previously a friendly interest in the pseudo godling. + +"It is only a step in the progress toward truth," interjected Lu-don. +"Possibly the evidence of the only princess of the house of Ko-tan will +have greater weight with the great chief from the north, though the +father of a son who fled the holy offer of the priesthood may not +receive with willing ears any testimony against another blasphemer." + +Ja-don's hand leaped to his knife, but the warriors next him laid +detaining fingers upon his arms. "You are in the temple of +Jad-ben-Otho, Ja-don," they cautioned and the great chief was forced to +swallow Lu-don's affront though it left in his heart bitter hatred of +the high priest. + +And now Ko-tan turned toward Lu-don. "What knoweth my daughter of this +matter?" he asked. "You would not bring a princess of my house to +testify thus publicly?" + +"No," replied Lu-don, "not in person, but I have here one who will +testify for her." He beckoned to an under priest. "Fetch the slave of +the princess," he said. + +His grotesque headdress adding a touch of the hideous to the scene, the +priest stepped forward dragging the reluctant Pan-at-lee by the wrist. + +"The Princess O-lo-a was alone in the Forbidden Garden with but this +one slave," explained the priest, "when there suddenly appeared from +the foliage nearby this creature who claims to be the Dor-ul-Otho. When +the slave saw him the princess says that she cried aloud in startled +recognition and called the creature by name--Tarzan-jad-guru--the same +name that the slave from Kor-ul-lul gave him. This woman is not from +Kor-ul-lul but from Kor-ul-JA, the very tribe with which the Kor-ul-lul +says the creature was associating when he first saw him. And further +the princess said that when this woman, whose name is Pan-at-lee, was +brought to her yesterday she told a strange story of having been +rescued from a Tor-o-don in the Kor-ul-GRYF by a creature such as this, +whom she spoke of then as Tarzan-jad-guru; and of how the two were +pursued in the bottom of the gorge by two monster gryfs, and of how the +man led them away while Pan-at-lee escaped, only to be taken prisoner +in the Kor-ul-lul as she was seeking to return to her own tribe. + +"Is it not plain now," cried Lu-don, "that this creature is no god. Did +he tell you that he was the son of god?" he almost shouted, turning +suddenly upon Pan-at-lee. + +The girl shrank back terrified. "Answer me, slave!" cried the high +priest. + +"He seemed more than mortal," parried Pan-at-lee. + +"Did he tell you that he was the son of god? Answer my question," +insisted Lu-don. + +"No," she admitted in a low voice, casting an appealing look of +forgiveness at Tarzan who returned a smile of encouragement and +friendship. + +"That is no proof that he is not the son of god," cried Ja-don. "Dost +think Jad-ben-Otho goes about crying 'I am god! I am god!' Hast ever +heard him Lu-don? No, you have not. Why should his son do that which +the father does not do?" + +"Enough," cried Lu-don. "The evidence is clear. The creature is an +impostor and I, the head priest of Jad-ben-Otho in the city of A-lur, +do condemn him to die." There was a moment's silence during which +Lu-don evidently paused for the dramatic effect of his climax. "And if +I am wrong may Jad-ben-Otho pierce my heart with his lightnings as I +stand here before you all." + +The lapping of the wavelets of the lake against the foot of the palace +wall was distinctly audible in the utter and almost breathless silence +which ensued. Lu-don stood with his face turned toward the heavens and +his arms outstretched in the attitude of one who bares his breast to +the dagger of an executioner. The warriors and the priests and the +slaves gathered in the sacred court awaited the consuming vengeance of +their god. + +It was Tarzan who broke the silence. "Your god ignores you Lu-don," he +taunted, with a sneer that he meant to still further anger the high +priest, "he ignores you and I can prove it before the eyes of your +priests and your people." + +"Prove it, blasphemer! How can you prove it?" + +"You have called me a blasphemer," replied Tarzan, "you have proved to +your own satisfaction that I am an impostor, that I, an ordinary +mortal, have posed as the son of god. Demand then that Jad-ben-Otho +uphold his godship and the dignity of his priesthood by directing his +consuming fires through my own bosom." + +Again there ensued a brief silence while the onlookers waited for +Lu-don to thus consummate the destruction of this presumptuous impostor. + +"You dare not," taunted Tarzan, "for you know that I would be struck +dead no quicker than were you." + +"You lie," cried Lu-don, "and I would do it had I not but just received +a message from Jad-ben-Otho directing that your fate be different." + +A chorus of admiring and reverential "Ahs" arose from the priesthood. +Ko-tan and his warriors were in a state of mental confusion. Secretly +they hated and feared Lu-don, but so ingrained was their sense of +reverence for the office of the high priest that none dared raise a +voice against him. + +None? Well, there was Ja-don, fearless old Lion-man of the north. "The +proposition was a fair one," he cried. "Invoke the lightnings of +Jad-ben-Otho upon this man if you would ever convince us of his guilt." + +"Enough of this," snapped Lu-don. "Since when was Ja-don created high +priest? Seize the prisoner," he cried to the priests and warriors, "and +on the morrow he shall die in the manner that Jad-ben-Otho has willed." + +There was no immediate movement on the part of any of the warriors to +obey the high priest's command, but the lesser priests on the other +hand, imbued with the courage of fanaticism leaped eagerly forward like +a flock of hideous harpies to seize upon their prey. + +The game was up. That Tarzan knew. No longer could cunning and +diplomacy usurp the functions of the weapons of defense he best loved. +And so the first hideous priest who leaped to the platform was +confronted by no suave ambassador from heaven, but rather a grim and +ferocious beast whose temper savored more of hell. + +The altar stood close to the western wall of the enclosure. There was +just room between the two for the high priest to stand during the +performance of the sacrificial ceremonies and only Lu-don stood there +now behind Tarzan, while before him were perhaps two hundred warriors +and priests. + +The presumptuous one who would have had the glory of first laying +arresting hands upon the blasphemous impersonator rushed forward with +outstretched hand to seize the ape-man. Instead it was he who was +seized; seized by steel fingers that snapped him up as though he had +been a dummy of straw, grasped him by one leg and the harness at his +back and raised him with giant arms high above the altar. Close at his +heels were others ready to seize the ape-man and drag him down, and +beyond the altar was Lu-don with drawn knife advancing toward him. + +There was no instant to waste, nor was it the way of the ape-man to +fritter away precious moments in the uncertainty of belated decision. +Before Lu-don or any other could guess what was in the mind of the +condemned, Tarzan with all the force of his great muscles dashed the +screaming hierophant in the face of the high priest, and, as though the +two actions were one, so quickly did he move, he had leaped to the top +of the altar and from there to a handhold upon the summit of the temple +wall. As he gained a footing there he turned and looked down upon those +beneath. For a moment he stood in silence and then he spoke. + +"Who dare believe," he cried, "that Jad-ben-Otho would forsake his +son?" and then he dropped from their sight upon the other side. + +There were two at least left within the enclosure whose hearts leaped +with involuntary elation at the success of the ape-man's maneuver, and +one of them smiled openly. This was Ja-don, and the other, Pan-at-lee. + +The brains of the priest that Tarzan had thrown at the head of Lu-don +had been dashed out against the temple wall while the high priest +himself had escaped with only a few bruises, sustained in his fall to +the hard pavement. Quickly scrambling to his feet he looked around in +fear, in terror and finally in bewilderment, for he had not been a +witness to the ape-man's escape. "Seize him," he cried; "seize the +blasphemer," and he continued to look around in search of his victim +with such a ridiculous expression of bewilderment that more than a +single warrior was compelled to hide his smiles beneath his palm. + +The priests were rushing around wildly, exhorting the warriors to +pursue the fugitive but these awaited now stolidly the command of their +king or high priest. Ko-tan, more or less secretly pleased by the +discomfiture of Lu-don, waited for that worthy to give the necessary +directions which he presently did when one of his acolytes excitedly +explained to him the manner of Tarzan's escape. + +Instantly the necessary orders were issued and priests and warriors +sought the temple exit in pursuit of the ape-man. His departing words, +hurled at them from the summit of the temple wall, had had little +effect in impressing the majority that his claims had not been +disproven by Lu-don, but in the hearts of the warriors was admiration +for a brave man and in many the same unholy gratification that had +risen in that of their ruler at the discomfiture of Lu-don. + +A careful search of the temple grounds revealed no trace of the quarry. +The secret recesses of the subterranean chambers, familiar only to the +priesthood, were examined by these while the warriors scattered through +the palace and the palace grounds without the temple. Swift runners +were dispatched to the city to arouse the people there that all might +be upon the lookout for Tarzan the Terrible. The story of his imposture +and of his escape, and the tales that the Waz-don slaves had brought +into the city concerning him were soon spread throughout A-lur, nor did +they lose aught in the spreading, so that before an hour had passed the +women and children were hiding behind barred doorways while the +warriors crept apprehensively through the streets expecting momentarily +to be pounced upon by a ferocious demon who, bare-handed, did +victorious battle with huge gryfs and whose lightest pastime consisted +in tearing strong men limb from limb. + + + +12 + +The Giant Stranger + +And while the warriors and the priests of A-lur searched the temple and +the palace and the city for the vanished ape-man there entered the head +of Kor-ul-JA down the precipitous trail from the mountains, a naked +stranger bearing an Enfield upon his back. Silently he moved downward +toward the bottom of the gorge and there where the ancient trail +unfolded more levelly before him he swung along with easy strides, +though always with the utmost alertness against possible dangers. A +gentle breeze came down from the mountains behind him so that only his +ears and his eyes were of value in detecting the presence of danger +ahead. Generally the trail followed along the banks of the winding +brooklet at the bottom of the gorge, but in some places where the +waters tumbled over a precipitous ledge the trail made a detour along +the side of the gorge, and again it wound in and out among rocky +outcroppings, and presently where it rounded sharply the projecting +shoulder of a cliff the stranger came suddenly face to face with one +who was ascending the gorge. + +Separated by a hundred paces the two halted simultaneously. Before him +the stranger saw a tall white warrior, naked but for a loin cloth, +cross belts, and a girdle. The man was armed with a heavy, knotted club +and a short knife, the latter hanging in its sheath at his left hip +from the end of one of his cross belts, the opposite belt supporting a +leathern pouch at his right side. It was Ta-den hunting alone in the +gorge of his friend, the chief of Kor-ul-JA. He contemplated the +stranger with surprise but no wonder, since he recognized in him a +member of the race with which his experience of Tarzan the Terrible had +made him familiar and also, thanks to his friendship for the ape-man, +he looked upon the newcomer without hostility. + +The latter was the first to make outward sign of his intentions, +raising his palm toward Ta-den in that gesture which has been a symbol +of peace from pole to pole since man ceased to walk upon his knuckles. +Simultaneously he advanced a few paces and halted. + +Ta-den, assuming that one so like Tarzan the Terrible must be a +fellow-tribesman of his lost friend, was more than glad to accept this +overture of peace, the sign of which he returned in kind as he ascended +the trail to where the other stood. "Who are you?" he asked, but the +newcomer only shook his head to indicate that he did not understand. + +By signs he tried to carry to the Ho-don the fact that he was following +a trail that had led him over a period of many days from some place +beyond the mountains and Ta-den was convinced that the newcomer sought +Tarzan-jad-guru. He wished, however, that he might discover whether as +friend or foe. + +The stranger perceived the Ho-don's prehensile thumbs and great toes +and his long tail with an astonishment which he sought to conceal, but +greater than all was the sense of relief that the first inhabitant of +this strange country whom he had met had proven friendly, so greatly +would he have been handicapped by the necessity for forcing his way +through a hostile land. + +Ta-den, who had been hunting for some of the smaller mammals, the meat +of which is especially relished by the Ho-don, forgot his intended +sport in the greater interest of his new discovery. He would take the +stranger to Om-at and possibly together the two would find some way of +discovering the true intentions of the newcomer. And so again through +signs he apprised the other that he would accompany him and together +they descended toward the cliffs of Om-at's people. + +As they approached these they came upon the women and children working +under guard of the old men and the youths--gathering the wild fruits +and herbs which constitute a part of their diet, as well as tending the +small acres of growing crops which they cultivate. The fields lay in +small level patches that had been cleared of trees and brush. Their +farm implements consisted of metal-shod poles which bore a closer +resemblance to spears than to tools of peaceful agriculture. +Supplementing these were others with flattened blades that were neither +hoes nor spades, but instead possessed the appearance of an unhappy +attempt to combine the two implements in one. + +At first sight of these people the stranger halted and unslung his bow +for these creatures were black as night, their bodies entirely covered +with hair. But Ta-den, interpreting the doubt in the other's mind, +reassured him with a gesture and a smile. The Waz-don, however, +gathered around excitedly jabbering questions in a language which the +stranger discovered his guide understood though it was entirely +unintelligible to the former. They made no attempt to molest him and he +was now sure that he had fallen among a peaceful and friendly people. + +It was but a short distance now to the caves and when they reached +these Ta-den led the way aloft upon the wooden pegs, assured that this +creature whom he had discovered would have no more difficulty in +following him than had Tarzan the Terrible. Nor was he mistaken for +the other mounted with ease until presently the two stood within the +recess before the cave of Om-at, the chief. + +The latter was not there and it was mid-afternoon before he returned, +but in the meantime many warriors came to look upon the visitor and in +each instance the latter was more thoroughly impressed with the +friendly and peaceable spirit of his hosts, little guessing that he was +being entertained by a ferocious and warlike tribe who never before the +coming of Ta-den and Tarzan had suffered a stranger among them. + +At last Om-at returned and the guest sensed intuitively that he was in +the presence of a great man among these people, possibly a chief or +king, for not only did the attitude of the other black warriors +indicate this but it was written also in the mien and bearing of the +splendid creature who stood looking at him while Ta-den explained the +circumstances of their meeting. "And I believe, Om-at," concluded the +Ho-don, "that he seeks Tarzan the Terrible." + +At the sound of that name, the first intelligible word that had fallen +upon the ears of the stranger since he had come among them, his face +lightened. "Tarzan!" he cried, "Tarzan of the Apes!" and by signs he +tried to tell them that it was he whom he sought. + +They understood, and also they guessed from the expression of his face +that he sought Tarzan from motives of affection rather than the +reverse, but of this Om-at wished to make sure. He pointed to the +stranger's knife, and repeating Tarzan's name, seized Ta-den and +pretended to stab him, immediately turning questioningly toward the +stranger. + +The latter shook his head vehemently and then first placing a hand +above his heart he raised his palm in the symbol of peace. + +"He is a friend of Tarzan-jad-guru," exclaimed Ta-den. + +"Either a friend or a great liar," replied Om-at. + +"Tarzan," continued the stranger, "you know him? He lives? O God, if I +could only speak your language." And again reverting to sign language +he sought to ascertain where Tarzan was. He would pronounce the name +and point in different directions, in the cave, down into the gorge, +back toward the mountains, or out upon the valley below, and each time +he would raise his brows questioningly and voice the universal "eh?" of +interrogation which they could not fail to understand. But always Om-at +shook his head and spread his palms in a gesture which indicated that +while he understood the question he was ignorant as to the whereabouts +of the ape-man, and then the black chief attempted as best he might to +explain to the stranger what he knew of the whereabouts of Tarzan. + +He called the newcomer Jar-don, which in the language of Pal-ul-don +means "stranger," and he pointed to the sun and said _as_. This he +repeated several times and then he held up one hand with the fingers +outspread and touching them one by one, including the thumb, repeated +the word adenen until the stranger understood that he meant five. Again +he pointed to the sun and describing an arc with his forefinger +starting at the eastern horizon and terminating at the western, he +repeated again the words as adenen. It was plain to the stranger that +the words meant that the sun had crossed the heavens five times. In +other words, five days had passed. Om-at then pointed to the cave where +they stood, pronouncing Tarzan's name and imitating a walking man with +the first and second fingers of his right hand upon the floor of the +recess, sought to show that Tarzan had walked out of the cave and +climbed upward on the pegs five days before, but this was as far as the +sign language would permit him to go. + +This far the stranger followed him and, indicating that he understood +he pointed to himself and then indicating the pegs leading above +announced that he would follow Tarzan. + +"Let us go with him," said Om-at, "for as yet we have not punished the +Kor-ul-lul for killing our friend and ally." + +"Persuade him to wait until morning," said Ta-den, "that you may take +with you many warriors and make a great raid upon the Kor-ul-lul, and +this time, Om-at, do not kill your prisoners. Take as many as you can +alive and from some of them we may learn the fate of Tarzan-jad-guru." + +"Great is the wisdom of the Ho-don," replied Om-at. "It shall be as you +say, and having made prisoners of all the Kor-ul-lul we shall make them +tell us what we wish to know. And then we shall march them to the rim +of Kor-ul-GRYF and push them over the edge of the cliff." + +Ta-den smiled. He knew that they would not take prisoner all the +Kor-ul-lul warriors--that they would be fortunate if they took one and +it was also possible that they might even be driven back in defeat, but +he knew too that Om-at would not hesitate to carry out his threat if he +had the opportunity, so implacable was the hatred of these neighbors +for each other. + +It was not difficult to explain Om-at's plan to the stranger or to win +his consent since he was aware, when the great black had made it plain +that they would be accompanied by many warriors, that their venture +would probably lead them into a hostile country and every safeguard +that he could employ he was glad to avail himself of, since the +furtherance of his quest was the paramount issue. + +He slept that night upon a pile of furs in one of the compartments of +Om-at's ancestral cave, and early the next day following the morning +meal they sallied forth, a hundred savage warriors swarming up the face +of the sheer cliff and out upon the summit of the ridge, the main body +preceded by two warriors whose duties coincided with those of the point +of modern military maneuvers, safeguarding the column against the +danger of too sudden contact with the enemy. + +Across the ridge they went and down into the Kor-ul-lul and there +almost immediately they came upon a lone and unarmed Waz-don who was +making his way fearfully up the gorge toward the village of his tribe. +Him they took prisoner which, strangely, only added to his terror since +from the moment that he had seen them and realized that escape was +impossible, he had expected to be slain immediately. + +"Take him back to Kor-ul-JA," said Om-at, to one of his warriors, "and +hold him there unharmed until I return." + +And so the puzzled Kor-ul-lul was led away while the savage company +moved stealthily from tree to tree in its closer advance upon the +village. Fortune smiled upon Om-at in that it gave him quickly what he +sought--a battle royal, for they had not yet come in sight of the caves +of the Kor-ul-lul when they encountered a considerable band of warriors +headed down the gorge upon some expedition. + +Like shadows the Kor-ul-JA melted into the concealment of the foliage +upon either side of the trail. Ignorant of impending danger, safe in +the knowledge that they trod their own domain where each rock and stone +was as familiar as the features of their mates, the Kor-ul-lul walked +innocently into the ambush. Suddenly the quiet of that seeming peace +was shattered by a savage cry and a hurled club felled a Kor-ul-lul. + +The cry was a signal for a savage chorus from a hundred Kor-ul-JA +throats with which were soon mingled the war cries of their enemies. +The air was filled with flying clubs and then as the two forces +mingled, the battle resolved itself into a number of individual +encounters as each warrior singled out a foe and closed upon him. +Knives gleamed and flashed in the mottling sunlight that filtered +through the foliage of the trees above. Sleek black coats were +streaked with crimson stains. + +In the thick of the fight the smooth brown skin of the stranger mingled +with the black bodies of friend and foe. Only his keen eyes and his +quick wit had shown him how to differentiate between Kor-ul-lul and +Kor-ul-JA since with the single exception of apparel they were +identical, but at the first rush of the enemy he had noticed that their +loin cloths were not of the leopard-matted hides such as were worn by +his allies. + +Om-at, after dispatching his first antagonist, glanced at Jar-don. "He +fights with the ferocity of JATO," mused the chief. "Powerful indeed +must be the tribe from which he and Tarzan-jad-guru come," and then his +whole attention was occupied by a new assailant. + +The fighters surged to and fro through the forest until those who +survived were spent with exhaustion. All but the stranger who seemed +not to know the sense of fatigue. He fought on when each new antagonist +would have gladly quit, and when there were no more Kor-ul-lul who were +not engaged, he leaped upon those who stood pantingly facing the +exhausted Kor-ul-JA. + +And always he carried upon his back the peculiar thing which Om-at had +thought was some manner of strange weapon but the purpose of which he +could not now account for in view of the fact that Jar-don never used +it, and that for the most part it seemed but a nuisance and needless +encumbrance since it banged and smashed against its owner as he leaped, +catlike, hither and thither in the course of his victorious duels. The +bow and arrows he had tossed aside at the beginning of the fight but +the Enfield he would not discard, for where he went he meant that it +should go until its mission had been fulfilled. + +Presently the Kor-ul-JA, seemingly shamed by the example of Jar-don +closed once more with the enemy, but the latter, moved no doubt to +terror by the presence of the stranger, a tireless demon who appeared +invulnerable to their attacks, lost heart and sought to flee. And then +it was that at Om-at's command his warriors surrounded a half-dozen of +the most exhausted and made them prisoners. + +It was a tired, bloody, and elated company that returned victorious to +the Kor-ul-JA. Twenty of their number were carried back and six of +these were dead men. It was the most glorious and successful raid that +the Kor-ul-JA had made upon the Kor-ul-lul in the memory of man, and it +marked Om-at as the greatest of chiefs, but that fierce warrior knew +that advantage had lain upon his side largely because of the presence +of his strange ally. Nor did he hesitate to give credit where credit +belonged, with the result that Jar-don and his exploits were upon the +tongue of every member of the tribe of Kor-ul-JA and great was the fame +of the race that could produce two such as he and Tarzan-jad-guru. + +And in the gorge of Kor-ul-lul beyond the ridge the survivors spoke in +bated breath of this second demon that had joined forces with their +ancient enemy. + +Returned to his cave Om-at caused the Kor-ul-lul prisoners to be +brought into his presence singly, and each he questioned as to the fate +of Tarzan. Without exception they told him the same story--that Tarzan +had been taken prisoner by them five days before but that he had slain +the warrior left to guard him and escaped, carrying the head of the +unfortunate sentry to the opposite side of Kor-ul-lul where he had left +it suspended by its hair from the branch of a tree. But what had become +of him after, they did not know; not one of them, until the last +prisoner was examined, he whom they had taken first--the unarmed +Kor-ul-lul making his way from the direction of the Valley of +Jad-ben-Otho toward the caves of his people. + +This one, when he discovered the purpose of their questioning, bartered +with them for the lives and liberty of himself and his fellows. "I can +tell you much of this terrible man of whom you ask, Kor-ul-JA," he +said. "I saw him yesterday and I know where he is, and if you will +promise to let me and my fellows return in safety to the caves of our +ancestors I will tell you all, and truthfully, that which I know." + +"You will tell us anyway," replied Om-at, "or we shall kill you." + +"You will kill me anyway," retorted the prisoner, "unless you make me +this promise; so if I am to be killed the thing I know shall go with +me." + +"He is right, Om-at," said Ta-den, "promise him that they shall have +their liberty." + +"Very well," said Om-at. "Speak Kor-ul-lul, and when you have told me +all, you and your fellows may return unharmed to your tribe." + +"It was thus," commenced the prisoner. "Three days since I was hunting +with a party of my fellows near the mouth of Kor-ul-lul not far from +where you captured me this morning, when we were surprised and set upon +by a large number of Ho-don who took us prisoners and carried us to +A-lur where a few were chosen to be slaves and the rest were cast into +a chamber beneath the temple where are held for sacrifice the victims +that are offered by the Ho-don to Jad-ben-Otho upon the sacrificial +altars of the temple at A-lur. + +"It seemed then that indeed was my fate sealed and that lucky were +those who had been selected for slaves among the Ho-don, for they at +least might hope to escape--those in the chamber with me must be +without hope. + +"But yesterday a strange thing happened. There came to the temple, +accompanied by all the priests and by the king and many of his +warriors, one whom all did great reverence, and when he came to the +barred gateway leading to the chamber in which we wretched ones awaited +our fate, I saw to my surprise that it was none other than that +terrible man who had so recently been a prisoner in the village of +Kor-ul-lul--he whom you call Tarzan-jad-guru but whom they addressed as +Dor-ul-Otho. And he looked upon us and questioned the high priest and +when he was told of the purpose for which we were imprisoned there he +grew angry and cried that it was not the will of Jad-ben-Otho that his +people be thus sacrificed, and he commanded the high priest to liberate +us, and this was done. + +"The Ho-don prisoners were permitted to return to their homes and we +were led beyond the City of A-lur and set upon our way toward +Kor-ul-lul. There were three of us, but many are the dangers that lie +between A-lur and Kor-ul-lul and we were only three and unarmed. +Therefore none of us reached the village of our people and only one of +us lives. I have spoken." + +"That is all you know concerning Tarzan-jad-guru?" asked Om-at. + +"That is all I know," replied the prisoner, "other than that he whom +they call Lu-don, the high priest at A-lur, was very angry, and that +one of the two priests who guided us out of the city said to the other +that the stranger was not Dor-ul-Otho at all; that Lu-don had said so +and that he had also said that he would expose him and that he should +be punished with death for his presumption. That is all they said +within my hearing. + +"And now, chief of Kor-ul-JA, let us depart." + +Om-at nodded. "Go your way," he said, "and Ab-on, send warriors to +guard them until they are safely within the Kor-ul-lul. + +"Jar-don," he said beckoning to the stranger, "come with me," and +rising he led the way toward the summit of the cliff, and when they +stood upon the ridge Om-at pointed down into the valley toward the City +of A-lur gleaming in the light of the western sun. + +"There is Tarzan-jad-guru," he said, and Jar-don understood. + + + +13 + +The Masquerader + +As Tarzan dropped to the ground beyond the temple wall there was in his +mind no intention to escape from the City of A-lur until he had +satisfied himself that his mate was not a prisoner there, but how, in +this strange city in which every man's hand must be now against him, he +was to live and prosecute his search was far from clear to him. + +There was only one place of which he knew that he might find even +temporary sanctuary and that was the Forbidden Garden of the king. +There was thick shrubbery in which a man might hide, and water and +fruits. A cunning jungle creature, if he could reach the spot +unsuspected, might remain concealed there for a considerable time, but +how he was to traverse the distance between the temple grounds and the +garden unseen was a question the seriousness of which he fully +appreciated. + +"Mighty is Tarzan," he soliloquized, "in his native jungle, but in the +cities of man he is little better than they." + +Depending upon his keen observation and sense of location he felt safe +in assuming that he could reach the palace grounds by means of the +subterranean corridors and chambers of the temple through which he had +been conducted the day before, nor any slightest detail of which had +escaped his keen eyes. That would be better, he reasoned, than crossing +the open grounds above where his pursuers would naturally immediately +follow him from the temple and quickly discover him. + +And so a dozen paces from the temple wall he disappeared from sight of +any chance observer above, down one of the stone stairways that led to +the apartments beneath. The way that he had been conducted the previous +day had followed the windings and turnings of numerous corridors and +apartments, but Tarzan, sure of himself in such matters, retraced the +route accurately without hesitation. + +He had little fear of immediate apprehension here since he believed +that all the priests of the temple had assembled in the court above to +witness his trial and his humiliation and his death, and with this idea +firmly implanted in his mind he rounded the turn of the corridor and +came face to face with an under priest, his grotesque headdress +concealing whatever emotion the sight of Tarzan may have aroused. + +However, Tarzan had one advantage over the masked votary of +Jad-ben-Otho in that the moment he saw the priest he knew his intention +concerning him, and therefore was not compelled to delay action. And so +it was that before the priest could determine on any suitable line of +conduct in the premises a long, keen knife had been slipped into his +heart. + +As the body lunged toward the floor Tarzan caught it and snatched the +headdress from its shoulders, for the first sight of the creature had +suggested to his ever-alert mind a bold scheme for deceiving his +enemies. + +The headdress saved from such possible damage as it must have sustained +had it fallen to the floor with the body of its owner, Tarzan +relinquished his hold upon the corpse, set the headdress carefully upon +the floor and stooping down severed the tail of the Ho-don close to its +root. Near by at his right was a small chamber from which the priest +had evidently just emerged and into this Tarzan dragged the corpse, the +headdress, and the tail. + +Quickly cutting a thin strip of hide from the loin cloth of the priest, +Tarzan tied it securely about the upper end of the severed member and +then tucking the tail under his loin cloth behind him, secured it in +place as best he could. Then he fitted the headdress over his shoulders +and stepped from the apartment, to all appearances a priest of the +temple of Jad-ben-Otho unless one examined too closely his thumbs and +his great toes. + +He had noticed that among both the Ho-don and the Waz-don it was not at +all unusual that the end of the tail be carried in one hand, and so he +caught his own tail up thus lest the lifeless appearance of it dragging +along behind him should arouse suspicion. + +Passing along the corridor and through the various chambers he emerged +at last into the palace grounds beyond the temple. The pursuit had not +yet reached this point though he was conscious of a commotion not far +behind him. He met now both warriors and slaves but none gave him more +than a passing glance, a priest being too common a sight about the +palace. + +And so, passing the guards unchallenged, he came at last to the inner +entrance to the Forbidden Garden and there he paused and scanned +quickly that portion of the beautiful spot that lay before his eyes. To +his relief it seemed unoccupied and congratulating himself upon the +ease with which he had so far outwitted the high powers of A-lur he +moved rapidly to the opposite end of the enclosure. Here he found a +patch of flowering shrubbery that might safely have concealed a dozen +men. + +Crawling well within he removed the uncomfortable headdress and sat +down to await whatever eventualities fate might have in store for him +the while he formulated plans for the future. The one night that he had +spent in A-lur had kept him up to a late hour, apprising him of the +fact that while there were few abroad in the temple grounds at night, +there were yet enough to make it possible for him to fare forth under +cover of his disguise without attracting the unpleasant attention of +the guards, and, too, he had noticed that the priesthood constituted a +privileged class that seemed to come and go at will and unchallenged +throughout the palace as well as the temple. Altogether then, he +decided, night furnished the most propitious hours for his +investigation--by day he could lie up in the shrubbery of the Forbidden +Garden, reasonably free from detection. From beyond the garden he heard +the voices of men calling to one another both far and near, and he +guessed that diligent was the search that was being prosecuted for him. + +The idle moments afforded him an opportunity to evolve a more +satisfactory scheme for attaching his stolen caudal appendage. He +arranged it in such a way that it might be quickly assumed or +discarded, and this done he fell to examining the weird mask that had +so effectively hidden his features. + +The thing had been very cunningly wrought from a single block of wood, +very probably a section of a tree, upon which the features had been +carved and afterward the interior hollowed out until only a +comparatively thin shell remained. Two-semicircular notches had been +rounded out from opposite sides of the lower edge. These fitted snugly +over his shoulders, aprons of wood extending downward a few inches upon +his chest and back. From these aprons hung long tassels or switches of +hair tapering from the outer edges toward the center which reached +below the bottom of his torso. It required but the most cursory +examination to indicate to the ape-man that these ornaments consisted +of human scalps, taken, doubtless, from the heads of the sacrifices +upon the eastern altars. The headdress itself had been carved to depict +in formal design a hideous face that suggested both man and GRYF. There +were the three white horns, the yellow face with the blue bands +encircling the eyes and the red hood which took the form of the +posterior and anterior aprons. + +As Tarzan sat within the concealing foliage of the shrubbery meditating +upon the hideous priest-mask which he held in his hands he became aware +that he was not alone in the garden. He sensed another presence and +presently his trained ears detected the slow approach of naked feet +across the sward. At first he suspected that it might be one stealthily +searching the Forbidden Garden for him but a little later the figure +came within the limited area of his vision which was circumscribed by +stems and foliage and flowers. He saw then that it was the princess +O-lo-a and that she was alone and walking with bowed head as though in +meditation--sorrowful meditation for there were traces of tears upon +her lids. + +Shortly after his ears warned him that others had entered the +garden--men they were and their footsteps proclaimed that they walked +neither slowly nor meditatively. They came directly toward the princess +and when Tarzan could see them he discovered that both were priests. + +"O-lo-a, Princess of Pal-ul-don," said one, addressing her, "the +stranger who told us that he was the son of Jad-ben-Otho has but just +fled from the wrath of Lu-don, the high priest, who exposed him and all +his wicked blasphemy. The temple, and the palace, and the city are +being searched and we have been sent to search the Forbidden Garden, +since Ko-tan, the king, said that only this morning he found him here, +though how he passed the guards he could not guess." + +"He is not here," said O-lo-a. "I have been in the garden for some time +and have seen nor heard no other than myself. However, search it if you +will." + +"No," said the priest who had before spoken, "it is not necessary since +he could not have entered without your knowledge and the connivance of +the guards, and even had he, the priest who preceded us must have seen +him." + +"What priest?" asked O-lo-a. + +"One passed the guards shortly before us," explained the man. + +"I did not see him," said O-lo-a. + +"Doubtless he left by another exit," remarked the second priest. + +"Yes, doubtless," acquiesced O-lo-a, "but it is strange that I did not +see him." The two priests made their obeisance and turned to depart. + +"Stupid as Buto, the rhinoceros," soliloquized Tarzan, who considered +Buto a very stupid creature indeed. "It should be easy to outwit such +as these." + +The priests had scarce departed when there came the sound of feet +running rapidly across the garden in the direction of the princess to +an accompaniment of rapid breathing as of one almost spent, either from +fatigue or excitement. + +"Pan-at-lee," exclaimed O-lo-a, "what has happened? You look as +terrified as the doe for which you were named!" + +"O Princess of Pal-ul-don," cried Pan-at-lee, "they would have killed +him in the temple. They would have killed the wondrous stranger who +claimed to be the Dor-ul-Otho." + +"But he escaped," said O-lo-a. "You were there. Tell me about it." + +"The head priest would have had him seized and slain, but when they +rushed upon him he hurled one in the face of Lu-don with the same ease +that you might cast your breastplates at me, and then he leaped upon +the altar and from there to the top of the temple wall and disappeared +below. They are searching for him, but, O Princess, I pray that they do +not find him." + +"And why do you pray that?" asked O-lo-a. "Has not one who has so +blasphemed earned death?" + +"Ah, but you do not know him," replied Pan-at-lee. + +"And you do, then?" retorted O-lo-a quickly. "This morning you betrayed +yourself and then attempted to deceive me. The slaves of O-lo-a do not +such things with impunity. He is then the same Tarzan-jad-guru of whom +you told me? Speak woman and speak only the truth." + +Pan-at-lee drew herself up very erect, her little chin held high, for +was not she too among her own people already as good as a princess? +"Pan-at-lee, the Kor-ul-JA does not lie," she said, "to protect +herself." + +"Then tell me what you know of this Tarzan-jad-guru," insisted O-lo-a. + +"I know that he is a wondrous man and very brave," said Pan-at-lee, +"and that he saved me from the Tor-o-don and the GRYF as I told you, +and that he is indeed the same who came into the garden this morning; +and even now I do not know that he is not the son of Jad-ben-Otho for +his courage and his strength are more than those of mortal man, as are +also his kindness and his honor: for when he might have harmed me he +protected me, and when he might have saved himself he thought only of +me. And all this he did because of his friendship for Om-at, who is +gund of Kor-ul-JA and with whom I should have mated had the Ho-don not +captured me." + +"He was indeed a wonderful man to look upon," mused O-lo-a, "and he was +not as are other men, not alone in the conformation of his hands and +feet or the fact that he was tailless, but there was that about him +which made him seem different in ways more important than these." + +"And," supplemented Pan-at-lee, her savage little heart loyal to the +man who had befriended her and hoping to win for him the consideration +of the princess even though it might not avail him; "and," she said, +"did he not know all about Ta-den and even his whereabouts. Tell me, O +Princess, could mortal know such things as these?" + +"Perhaps he saw Ta-den," suggested O-lo-a. + +"But how would he know that you loved Ta-den," parried Pan-at-lee. "I +tell you, my Princess, that if he is not a god he is at least more than +Ho-don or Waz-don. He followed me from the cave of Es-sat in Kor-ul-JA +across Kor-ul-lul and two wide ridges to the very cave in Kor-ul-GRYF +where I hid, though many hours had passed since I had come that way and +my bare feet left no impress upon the ground. What mortal man could do +such things as these? And where in all Pal-ul-don would virgin maid +find friend and protector in a strange male other than he?" + +"Perhaps Lu-don may be mistaken--perhaps he is a god," said O-lo-a, +influenced by her slave's enthusiastic championing of the stranger. + +"But whether god or man he is too wonderful to die," cried Pan-at-lee. +"Would that I might save him. If he lived he might even find a way to +give you your Ta-den, Princess." + +"Ah, if he only could," sighed O-lo-a, "but alas it is too late for +tomorrow I am to be given to Bu-lot." + +"He who came to your quarters yesterday with your father?" asked +Pan-at-lee. + +"Yes; the one with the awful round face and the big belly," exclaimed +the Princess disgustedly. "He is so lazy he will neither hunt nor +fight. To eat and to drink is all that Bu-lot is fit for, and he thinks +of naught else except these things and his slave women. But come, +Pan-at-lee, gather for me some of these beautiful blossoms. I would +have them spread around my couch tonight that I may carry away with me +in the morning the memory of the fragrance that I love best and which I +know that I shall not find in the village of Mo-sar, the father of +Bu-lot. I will help you, Pan-at-lee, and we will gather armfuls of +them, for I love to gather them as I love nothing else--they were +Ta-den's favorite flowers." + +The two approached the flowering shrubbery where Tarzan hid, but as the +blooms grew plentifully upon every bush the ape-man guessed there would +be no necessity for them to enter the patch far enough to discover him. +With little exclamations of pleasure as they found particularly large +or perfect blooms the two moved from place to place upon the outskirts +of Tarzan's retreat. + +"Oh, look, Pan-at-lee," cried O-lo-a presently; "there is the king of +them all. Never did I see so wonderful a flower--No! I will get it +myself--it is so large and wonderful no other hand shall touch it," and +the princess wound in among the bushes toward the point where the great +flower bloomed upon a bush above the ape-man's head. + +So sudden and unexpected her approach that there was no opportunity to +escape and Tarzan sat silently trusting that fate might be kind to him +and lead Ko-tan's daughter away before her eyes dropped from the +high-growing bloom to him. But as the girl cut the long stem with her +knife she looked down straight into the smiling face of Tarzan-jad-guru. + +With a stifled scream she drew back and the ape-man rose and faced her. + +"Have no fear, Princess," he assured her. "It is the friend of Ta-den +who salutes you," raising her fingers to his lips. + +Pan-at-lee came now excitedly forward. "O Jad-ben-Otho, it is he!" + +"And now that you have found me," queried Tarzan, "will you give me up +to Lu-don, the high priest?" + +Pan-at-lee threw herself upon her knees at O-lo-a's feet. "Princess! +Princess!" she beseeched, "do not discover him to his enemies." + +"But Ko-tan, my father," whispered O-lo-a fearfully, "if he knew of my +perfidy his rage would be beyond naming. Even though I am a princess +Lu-don might demand that I be sacrificed to appease the wrath of +Jad-ben-Otho, and between the two of them I should be lost." + +"But they need never know," cried Pan-at-lee, "that you have seen him +unless you tell them yourself for as Jad-ben-Otho is my witness I will +never betray you." + +"Oh, tell me, stranger," implored O-lo-a, "are you indeed a god?" + +"Jad-ben-Otho is not more so," replied Tarzan truthfully. + +"But why do you seek to escape then from the hands of mortals if you +are a god?" she asked. + +"When gods mingle with mortals," replied Tarzan, "they are no less +vulnerable than mortals. Even Jad-ben-Otho, should he appear before you +in the flesh, might be slain." + +"You have seen Ta-den and spoken with him?" she asked with apparent +irrelevancy. + +"Yes, I have seen him and spoken with him," replied the ape-man. "For +the duration of a moon I was with him constantly." + +"And--" she hesitated--"he--" she cast her eyes toward the ground and a +flush mantled her cheek--"he still loves me?" and Tarzan knew that she +had been won over. + +"Yes," he said, "Ta-den speaks only of O-lo-a and he waits and hopes +for the day when he can claim her." + +"But tomorrow they give me to Bu-lot," she said sadly. + +"May it be always tomorrow," replied Tarzan, "for tomorrow never comes." + +"Ah, but this unhappiness will come, and for all the tomorrows of my +life I must pine in misery for the Ta-den who will never be mine." + +"But for Lu-don I might have helped you," said the ape-man. "And who +knows that I may not help you yet?" + +"Ah, if you only could, Dor-ul-Otho," cried the girl, "and I know that +you would if it were possible for Pan-at-lee has told me how brave you +are, and at the same time how kind." + +"Only Jad-ben-Otho knows what the future may bring," said Tarzan. "And +now you two go your way lest someone should discover you and become +suspicious." + +"We will go," said O-lo-a, "but Pan-at-lee will return with food. I +hope that you escape and that Jad-ben-Otho is pleased with what I have +done." She turned and walked away and Pan-at-lee followed while the +ape-man again resumed his hiding. + +At dusk Pan-at-lee came with food and having her alone Tarzan put the +question that he had been anxious to put since his conversation earlier +in the day with O-lo-a. + +"Tell me," he said, "what you know of the rumors of which O-lo-a spoke +of the mysterious stranger which is supposed to be hidden in A-lur. +Have you too heard of this during the short time that you have been +here?" + +"Yes," said Pan-at-lee, "I have heard it spoken of among the other +slaves. It is something of which all whisper among themselves but of +which none dares to speak aloud. They say that there is a strange she +hidden in the temple and that Lu-don wants her for a priestess and that +Ko-tan wants her for a wife and that neither as yet dares take her for +fear of the other." + +"Do you know where she is hidden in the temple?" asked Tarzan. + +"No," said Pan-at-lee. "How should I know? I do not even know that it +is more than a story and I but tell you that which I have heard others +say." + +"There was only one," asked Tarzan, "whom they spoke of?" + +"No, they speak of another who came with her but none seems to know +what became of this one." + +Tarzan nodded. "Thank you Pan-at-lee," he said. "You may have helped me +more than either of us guess." + +"I hope that I have helped you," said the girl as she turned back +toward the palace. + +"And I hope so too," exclaimed Tarzan emphatically. + + + +14 + +The Temple of the Gryf + +When night had fallen Tarzan donned the mask and the dead tail of the +priest he had slain in the vaults beneath the temple. He judged that it +would not do to attempt again to pass the guard, especially so late at +night as it would be likely to arouse comment and suspicion, and so he +swung into the tree that overhung the garden wall and from its branches +dropped to the ground beyond. + +Avoiding too grave risk of apprehension the ape-man passed through the +grounds to the court of the palace, approaching the temple from the +side opposite to that at which he had left it at the time of his +escape. He came thus it is true through a portion of the grounds with +which he was unfamiliar but he preferred this to the danger of +following the beaten track between the palace apartments and those of +the temple. Having a definite goal in mind and endowed as he was with +an almost miraculous sense of location he moved with great assurance +through the shadows of the temple yard. + +Taking advantage of the denser shadows close to the walls and of what +shrubs and trees there were he came without mishap at last to the +ornate building concerning the purpose of which he had asked Lu-don +only to be put off with the assertion that it was forgotten--nothing +strange in itself but given possible importance by the apparent +hesitancy of the priest to discuss its use and the impression the +ape-man had gained at the time that Lu-don lied. + +And now he stood at last alone before the structure which was three +stories in height and detached from all the other temple buildings. It +had a single barred entrance which was carved from the living rock in +representation of the head of a GRYF, whose wide-open mouth constituted +the doorway. The head, hood, and front paws of the creature were +depicted as though it lay crouching with its lower jaw on the ground +between its outspread paws. Small oval windows, which were likewise +barred, flanked the doorway. + +Seeing that the coast was clear, Tarzan stepped into the darkened +entrance where he tried the bars only to discover that they were +ingeniously locked in place by some device with which he was unfamiliar +and that they also were probably too strong to be broken even if he +could have risked the noise which would have resulted. Nothing was +visible within the darkened interior and so, momentarily baffled, he +sought the windows. Here also the bars refused to yield up their +secret, but again Tarzan was not dismayed since he had counted upon +nothing different. + +If the bars would not yield to his cunning they would yield to his +giant strength if there proved no other means of ingress, but first he +would assure himself that this latter was the case. Moving entirely +around the building he examined it carefully. There were other windows +but they were similarly barred. He stopped often to look and listen but +he saw no one and the sounds that he heard were too far away to cause +him any apprehension. + +He glanced above him at the wall of the building. Like so many of the +other walls of the city, palace, and temple, it was ornately carved and +there were too the peculiar ledges that ran sometimes in a horizontal +plane and again were tilted at an angle, giving ofttimes an impression +of irregularity and even crookedness to the buildings. It was not a +difficult wall to climb, at least not difficult for the ape-man. + +But he found the bulky and awkward headdress a considerable handicap +and so he laid it aside upon the ground at the foot of the wall. Nimbly +he ascended to find the windows of the second floor not only barred but +curtained within. He did not delay long at the second floor since he +had in mind an idea that he would find the easiest entrance through the +roof which he had noticed was roughly dome shaped like the throneroom +of Ko-tan. Here there were apertures. He had seen them from the ground, +and if the construction of the interior resembled even slightly that of +the throneroom, bars would not be necessary upon these apertures, since +no one could reach them from the floor of the room. + +There was but a single question: would they be large enough to admit +the broad shoulders of the ape-man. + +He paused again at the third floor, and here, in spite of the hangings, +he saw that the interior was lighted and simultaneously there came to +his nostrils from within a scent that stripped from him temporarily any +remnant of civilization that might have remained and left him a fierce +and terrible bull of the jungles of Kerchak. So sudden and complete was +the metamorphosis that there almost broke from the savage lips the +hideous challenge of his kind, but the cunning brute-mind saved him +this blunder. + +And now he heard voices within--the voice of Lu-don he could have +sworn, demanding. And haughty and disdainful came the answering words +though utter hopelessness spoke in the tones of this other voice which +brought Tarzan to the pinnacle of frenzy. + +The dome with its possible apertures was forgotten. Every consideration +of stealth and quiet was cast aside as the ape-man drew back his mighty +fist and struck a single terrific blow upon the bars of the small +window before him, a blow that sent the bars and the casing that held +them clattering to the floor of the apartment within. + +Instantly Tarzan dove headforemost through the aperture carrying the +hangings of antelope hide with him to the floor below. Leaping to his +feet he tore the entangling pelt from about his head only to find +himself in utter darkness and in silence. He called aloud a name that +had not passed his lips for many weary months. "Jane, Jane," he cried, +"where are you?" But there was only silence in reply. + +Again and again he called, groping with outstretched hands through the +Stygian blackness of the room, his nostrils assailed and his brain +tantalized by the delicate effluvia that had first assured him that his +mate had been within this very room. And he had heard her dear voice +combatting the base demands of the vile priest. Ah, if he had but acted +with greater caution! If he had but continued to move with quiet and +stealth he might even at this moment be holding her in his arms while +the body of Lu-don, beneath his foot, spoke eloquently of vengeance +achieved. But there was no time now for idle self-reproaches. + +He stumbled blindly forward, groping for he knew not what till suddenly +the floor beneath him tilted and he shot downward into a darkness even +more utter than that above. He felt his body strike a smooth surface +and he realized that he was hurtling downward as through a polished +chute while from above there came the mocking tones of a taunting laugh +and the voice of Lu-don screamed after him: "Return to thy father, O +Dor-ul-Otho!" + +The ape-man came to a sudden and painful stop upon a rocky floor. +Directly before him was an oval window crossed by many bars, and beyond +he saw the moonlight playing on the waters of the blue lake below. +Simultaneously he was conscious of a familiar odor in the air of the +chamber, which a quick glance revealed in the semidarkness as of +considerable proportion. + +It was the faint, but unmistakable odor of the GRYF, and now Tarzan +stood silently listening. At first he detected no sounds other than +those of the city that came to him through the window overlooking the +lake; but presently, faintly, as though from a distance he heard the +shuffling of padded feet along a stone pavement, and as he listened he +was aware that the sound approached. + +Nearer and nearer it came, and now even the breathing of the beast was +audible. Evidently attracted by the noise of his descent into its +cavernous retreat it was approaching to investigate. He could not see +it but he knew that it was not far distant, and then, deafeningly there +reverberated through those gloomy corridors the mad bellow of the GRYF. + +Aware of the poor eyesight of the beast, and his own eyes now grown +accustomed to the darkness of the cavern, the ape-man sought to elude +the infuriated charge which he well knew no living creature could +withstand. Neither did he dare risk the chance of experimenting upon +this strange GRYF with the tactics of the Tor-o-don that he had found +so efficacious upon that other occasion when his life and liberty had +been the stakes for which he cast. In many respects the conditions were +dissimilar. Before, in broad daylight, he had been able to approach the +GRYF under normal conditions in its natural state, and the GRYF itself +was one that he had seen subjected to the authority of man, or at least +of a manlike creature; but here he was confronted by an imprisoned +beast in the full swing of a furious charge and he had every reason to +suspect that this GRYF might never have felt the restraining influence +of authority, confined as it was in this gloomy pit to serve likely but +the single purpose that Tarzan had already seen so graphically +portrayed in his own experience of the past few moments. + +To elude the creature, then, upon the possibility of discovering some +loophole of escape from his predicament seemed to the ape-man the +wisest course to pursue. Too much was at stake to risk an encounter +that might be avoided--an encounter the outcome of which there was +every reason to apprehend would seal the fate of the mate that he had +just found, only to lose again so harrowingly. Yet high as his +disappointment and chagrin ran, hopeless as his present estate now +appeared, there tingled in the veins of the savage lord a warm glow of +thanksgiving and elation. She lived! After all these weary months of +hopelessness and fear he had found her. She lived! + +To the opposite side of the chamber, silently as the wraith of a +disembodied soul, the swift jungle creature moved from the path of the +charging Titan that, guided solely in the semi-darkness by its keen +ears, bore down upon the spot toward which Tarzan's noisy entrance into +its lair had attracted it. Along the further wall the ape-man hurried. +Before him now appeared the black opening of the corridor from which +the beast had emerged into the larger chamber. Without hesitation +Tarzan plunged into it. Even here his eyes, long accustomed to darkness +that would have seemed total to you or to me, saw dimly the floor and +the walls within a radius of a few feet--enough at least to prevent him +plunging into any unguessed abyss, or dashing himself upon solid rock +at a sudden turning. + +The corridor was both wide and lofty, which indeed it must be to +accommodate the colossal proportions of the creature whose habitat it +was, and so Tarzan encountered no difficulty in moving with reasonable +speed along its winding trail. He was aware as he proceeded that the +trend of the passage was downward, though not steeply, but it seemed +interminable and he wondered to what distant subterranean lair it might +lead. There was a feeling that perhaps after all he might better have +remained in the larger chamber and risked all on the chance of subduing +the GRYF where there was at least sufficient room and light to lend to +the experiment some slight chance of success. To be overtaken here in +the narrow confines of the black corridor where he was assured the GRYF +could not see him at all would spell almost certain death and now he +heard the thing approaching from behind. Its thunderous bellows fairly +shook the cliff from which the cavernous chambers were excavated. To +halt and meet this monstrous incarnation of fury with a futile whee-oo! +seemed to Tarzan the height of insanity and so he continued along the +corridor, increasing his pace as he realized that the GRYF was +overhauling him. + +Presently the darkness lessened and at the final turning of the passage +he saw before him an area of moonlight. With renewed hope he sprang +rapidly forward and emerged from the mouth of the corridor to find +himself in a large circular enclosure the towering white walls of which +rose high upon every side--smooth perpendicular walls upon the sheer +face of which was no slightest foothold. To his left lay a pool of +water, one side of which lapped the foot of the wall at this point. It +was, doubtless, the wallow and the drinking pool of the GRYF. + +And now the creature emerged from the corridor and Tarzan retreated to +the edge of the pool to make his last stand. There was no staff with +which to enforce the authority of his voice, but yet he made his stand +for there seemed naught else to do. Just beyond the entrance to the +corridor the GRYF paused, turning its weak eyes in all directions as +though searching for its prey. This then seemed the psychological +moment for his attempt and raising his voice in peremptory command the +ape-man voiced the weird whee-oo! of the Tor-o-don. Its effect upon the +GRYF was instantaneous and complete--with a terrific bellow it lowered +its three horns and dashed madly in the direction of the sound. + +To right nor to left was any avenue of escape, for behind him lay the +placid waters of the pool, while down upon him from before thundered +annihilation. The mighty body seemed already to tower above him as the +ape-man turned and dove into the dark waters. + +Dead in her breast lay hope. Battling for life during harrowing months +of imprisonment and danger and hardship it had fitfully flickered and +flamed only to sink after each renewal to smaller proportions than +before and now it had died out entirely leaving only cold, charred +embers that Jane Clayton knew would never again be rekindled. Hope was +dead as she faced Lu-don, the high priest, in her prison quarters in +the Temple of the Gryf at A-lur. Both time and hardship had failed to +leave their impress upon her physical beauty--the contours of her +perfect form, the glory of her radiant loveliness had defied them, yet +to these very attributes she owed the danger which now confronted her, +for Lu-don desired her. From the lesser priests she had been safe, but +from Lu-don, she was not safe, for Lu-don was not as they, since the +high priestship of Pal-ul-don may descend from father to son. + +Ko-tan, the king, had wanted her and all that had so far saved her from +either was the fear of each for the other, but at last Lu-don had cast +aside discretion and had come in the silent watches of the night to +claim her. Haughtily had she repulsed him, seeking ever to gain time, +though what time might bring her of relief or renewed hope she could +not even remotely conjecture. A leer of lust and greed shone hungrily +upon his cruel countenance as he advanced across the room to seize her. +She did not shrink nor cower, but stood there very erect, her chin up, +her level gaze freighted with the loathing and contempt she felt for +him. He read her expression and while it angered him, it but increased +his desire for possession. Here indeed was a queen, perhaps a goddess; +fit mate for the high priest. + +"You shall not!" she said as he would have touched her. "One of us +shall die before ever your purpose is accomplished." + +He was close beside her now. His laugh grated upon her ears. "Love +does not kill," he replied mockingly. + +He reached for her arm and at the same instant something clashed +against the bars of one of the windows, crashing them inward to the +floor, to be followed almost simultaneously by a human figure which +dove headforemost into the room, its head enveloped in the skin window +hangings which it carried with it in its impetuous entry. + +Jane Clayton saw surprise and something of terror too leap to the +countenance of the high priest and then she saw him spring forward and +jerk upon a leather thong that depended from the ceiling of the +apartment. Instantly there dropped from above a cunningly contrived +partition that fell between them and the intruder, effectively barring +him from them and at the same time leaving him to grope upon its +opposite side in darkness, since the only cresset the room contained +was upon their side of the partition. + +Faintly from beyond the wall Jane heard a voice calling, but whose it +was and what the words she could not distinguish. Then she saw Lu-don +jerk upon another thong and wait in evident expectancy of some +consequent happening. He did not have long to wait. She saw the thong +move suddenly as though jerked from above and then Lu-don smiled and +with another signal put in motion whatever machinery it was that raised +the partition again to its place in the ceiling. + +Advancing into that portion of the room that the partition had shut off +from them, the high priest knelt upon the floor, and down tilting a +section of it, revealed the dark mouth of a shaft leading below. +Laughing loudly he shouted into the hole: "Return to thy father, O +Dor-ul-Otho!" + +Making fast the catch that prevented the trapdoor from opening beneath +the feet of the unwary until such time as Lu-don chose the high priest +rose again to his feet. + +"Now, Beautiful One!" he cried, and then, "Ja-don! what do you here?" + +Jane Clayton turned to follow the direction of Lu-don's eyes and there +she saw framed in the entrance-way to the apartment the mighty figure +of a warrior, upon whose massive features sat an expression of stern +and uncompromising authority. + +"I come from Ko-tan, the king," replied Ja-don, "to remove the +beautiful stranger to the Forbidden Garden." + +"The king defies me, the high priest of Jad-ben-Otho?" cried Lu-don. + +"It is the king's command--I have spoken," snapped Ja-don, in whose +manner was no sign of either fear or respect for the priest. + +Lu-don well knew why the king had chosen this messenger whose heresy +was notorious, but whose power had as yet protected him from the +machinations of the priest. Lu-don cast a surreptitious glance at the +thongs hanging from the ceiling. Why not? If he could but maneuver to +entice Ja-don to the opposite side of the chamber! + +"Come," he said in a conciliatory tone, "let us discuss the matter," +and moved toward the spot where he would have Ja-don follow him. + +"There is nothing to discuss," replied Ja-don, yet he followed the +priest, fearing treachery. + +Jane watched them. In the face and figure of the warrior she found +reflected those admirable traits of courage and honor that the +profession of arms best develops. In the hypocritical priest there was +no redeeming quality. Of the two then she might best choose the +warrior. With him there was a chance--with Lu-don, none. Even the very +process of exchange from one prison to another might offer some +possibility of escape. She weighed all these things and decided, for +Lu-don's quick glance at the thongs had not gone unnoticed nor +uninterpreted by her. + +"Warrior," she said, addressing Ja-don, "if you would live enter not +that portion of the room." + +Lu-don cast an angry glance upon her. "Silence, slave!" he cried. + +"And where lies the danger?" Ja-don asked of Jane, ignoring Lu-don. + +The woman pointed to the thongs. "Look," she said, and before the high +priest could prevent she had seized that which controlled the partition +which shot downward separating Lu-don from the warrior and herself. + +Ja-don looked inquiringly at her. "He would have tricked me neatly but +for you," he said; "kept me imprisoned there while he secreted you +elsewhere in the mazes of his temple." + +"He would have done more than that," replied Jane, as she pulled upon +the other thong. "This releases the fastenings of a trapdoor in the +floor beyond the partition. When you stepped on that you would have +been precipitated into a pit beneath the temple. Lu-don has threatened +me with this fate often. I do not know that he speaks the truth, but he +says that a demon of the temple is imprisoned there--a huge GRYF." + +"There is a GRYF within the temple," said Ja-don. "What with it and the +sacrifices, the priests keep us busy supplying them with prisoners, +though the victims are sometimes those for whom Lu-don has conceived +hatred among our own people. He has had his eyes upon me for a long +time. This would have been his chance but for you. Tell me, woman, why +you warned me. Are we not all equally your jailers and your enemies?" + +"None could be more horrible than Lu-don," she replied; "and you have +the appearance of a brave and honorable warrior. I could not hope, for +hope has died and yet there is the possibility that among so many +fighting men, even though they be of another race than mine, there is +one who would accord honorable treatment to a stranger within his +gates--even though she be a woman." + +Ja-don looked at her for a long minute. "Ko-tan would make you his +queen," he said. "That he told me himself and surely that were +honorable treatment from one who might make you a slave." + +"Why, then, would he make me queen?" she asked. + +Ja-don came closer as though in fear his words might be overheard. "He +believes, although he did not tell me so in fact, that you are of the +race of gods. And why not? Jad-ben-Otho is tailless, therefore it is +not strange that Ko-tan should suspect that only the gods are thus. His +queen is dead leaving only a single daughter. He craves a son and what +more desirable than that he should found a line of rulers for +Pal-ul-don descended from the gods?" + +"But I am already wed," cried Jane. "I cannot wed another. I do not +want him or his throne." + +"Ko-tan is king," replied Ja-don simply as though that explained and +simplified everything. + +"You will not save me then?" she asked. + +"If you were in Ja-lur," he replied, "I might protect you, even against +the king." + +"What and where is Ja-lur?" she asked, grasping at any straw. + +"It is the city where I rule," he answered. "I am chief there and of +all the valley beyond." + +"Where is it?" she insisted, and "is it far?" + +"No," he replied, smiling, "it is not far, but do not think of +that--you could never reach it. There are too many to pursue and +capture you. If you wish to know, however, it lies up the river that +empties into Jad-ben-lul whose waters kiss the walls of A-lur--up the +western fork it lies with water upon three sides. Impregnable city of +Pal-ul-don--alone of all the cities it has never been entered by a +foeman since it was built there while Jad-ben-Otho was a boy." + +"And there I would be safe?" she asked. + +"Perhaps," he replied. + +Ah, dead Hope; upon what slender provocation would you seek to glow +again! She sighed and shook her head, realizing the inutility of +Hope--yet the tempting bait dangled before her mind's eye--Ja-lur! + +"You are wise," commented Ja-don interpreting her sigh. "Come now, we +will go to the quarters of the princess beside the Forbidden Garden. +There you will remain with O-lo-a, the king's daughter. It will be +better than this prison you have occupied." + +"And Ko-tan?" she asked, a shudder passing through her slender frame. + +"There are ceremonies," explained Ja-don, "that may occupy several days +before you become queen, and one of them may be difficult of +arrangement." He laughed, then. + +"What?" she asked. + +"Only the high priest may perform the marriage ceremony for a king," he +explained. + +"Delay!" she murmured; "blessed delay!" Tenacious indeed of life is +Hope even though it be reduced to cold and lifeless char--a veritable +phoenix. + + + +15 + +"The King Is Dead!" + +As they conversed Ja-don had led her down the stone stairway that leads +from the upper floors of the Temple of the Gryf to the chambers and the +corridors that honeycomb the rocky hills from which the temple and the +palace are hewn and now they passed from one to the other through a +doorway upon one side of which two priests stood guard and upon the +other two warriors. The former would have halted Ja-don when they saw +who it was that accompanied him for well known throughout the temple +was the quarrel between king and high priest for possession of this +beautiful stranger. + +"Only by order of Lu-don may she pass," said one, placing himself +directly in front of Jane Clayton, barring her progress. Through the +hollow eyes of the hideous mask the woman could see those of the priest +beneath gleaming with the fires of fanaticism. Ja-don placed an arm +about her shoulders and laid his hand upon his knife. + +"She passes by order of Ko-tan, the king," he said, "and by virtue of +the fact that Ja-don, the chief, is her guide. Stand aside!" + +The two warriors upon the palace side pressed forward. "We are here, +gund of Ja-lur," said one, addressing Ja-don, "to receive and obey your +commands." + +The second priest now interposed. "Let them pass," he admonished his +companion. "We have received no direct commands from Lu-don to the +contrary and it is a law of the temple and the palace that chiefs and +priests may come and go without interference." + +"But I know Lu-don's wishes," insisted the other. + +"He told you then that Ja-don must not pass with the stranger?" + +"No--but--" + +"Then let them pass, for they are three to two and will pass anyway--we +have done our best." + +Grumbling, the priest stepped aside. "Lu-don will exact an accounting," +he cried angrily. + +Ja-don turned upon him. "And get it when and where he will," he snapped. + +They came at last to the quarters of the Princess O-lo-a where, in the +main entrance-way, loitered a small guard of palace warriors and +several stalwart black eunuchs belonging to the princess, or her women. +To one of the latter Ja-don relinquished his charge. + +"Take her to the princess," he commanded, "and see that she does not +escape." + +Through a number of corridors and apartments lighted by stone cressets +the eunuch led Lady Greystoke halting at last before a doorway +concealed by hangings of JATO skin, where the guide beat with his staff +upon the wall beside the door. + +"O-lo-a, Princess of Pal-ul-don," he called, "here is the stranger +woman, the prisoner from the temple." + +"Bid her enter," Jane heard a sweet voice from within command. + +The eunuch drew aside the hangings and Lady Greystoke stepped within. +Before her was a low-ceiled room of moderate size. In each of the four +corners a kneeling figure of stone seemed to be bearing its portion of +the weight of the ceiling upon its shoulders. These figures were +evidently intended to represent Waz-don slaves and were not without +bold artistic beauty. The ceiling itself was slightly arched to a +central dome which was pierced to admit light by day, and air. Upon one +side of the room were many windows, the other three walls being blank +except for a doorway in each. The princess lay upon a pile of furs +which were arranged over a low stone dais in one corner of the +apartment and was alone except for a single Waz-don slave girl who sat +upon the edge of the dais near her feet. + +As Jane entered O-lo-a beckoned her to approach and when she stood +beside the couch the girl half rose upon an elbow and surveyed her +critically. + +"How beautiful you are," she said simply. + +Jane smiled, sadly; for she had found that beauty may be a curse. + +"That is indeed a compliment," she replied quickly, "from one so +radiant as the Princess O-lo-a." + +"Ah!" exclaimed the princess delightedly; "you speak my language! I was +told that you were of another race and from some far land of which we +of Pal-ul-don have never heard." + +"Lu-don saw to it that the priests instructed me," explained Jane; "but +I am from a far country, Princess; one to which I long to return--and I +am very unhappy." + +"But Ko-tan, my father, would make you his queen," cried the girl; +"that should make you very happy." + +"But it does not," replied the prisoner; "I love another to whom I am +already wed. Ah, Princess, if you had known what it was to love and to +be forced into marriage with another you would sympathize with me." + +The Princess O-lo-a was silent for a long moment. "I know," she said at +last, "and I am very sorry for you; but if the king's daughter cannot +save herself from such a fate who may save a slave woman? for such in +fact you are." + +The drinking in the great banquet hall of the palace of Ko-tan, king of +Pal-ul-don had commenced earlier this night than was usual, for the +king was celebrating the morrow's betrothal of his only daughter to +Bu-lot, son of Mo-sar, the chief, whose great-grandfather had been king +of Pal-ul-don and who thought that he should be king, and Mo-sar was +drunk and so was Bu-lot, his son. For that matter nearly all of the +warriors, including the king himself, were drunk. In the heart of +Ko-tan was no love either for Mo-sar, or Bu-lot, nor did either of +these love the king. Ko-tan was giving his daughter to Bu-lot in the +hope that the alliance would prevent Mo-sar from insisting upon his +claims to the throne, for, next to Ja-don, Mo-sar was the most powerful +of the chiefs and while Ko-tan looked with fear upon Ja-don, too, he +had no fear that the old Lion-man would attempt to seize the throne, +though which way he would throw his influence and his warriors in the +event that Mo-sar declare war upon Ko-tan, the king could not guess. + +Primitive people who are also warlike are seldom inclined toward either +tact or diplomacy even when sober; but drunk they know not the words, +if aroused. It was really Bu-lot who started it. + +"This," he said, "I drink to O-lo-a," and he emptied his tankard at a +single gulp. "And this," seizing a full one from a neighbor, "to her +son and mine who will bring back the throne of Pal-ul-don to its +rightful owners!" + +"The king is not yet dead!" cried Ko-tan, rising to his feet; "nor is +Bu-lot yet married to his daughter--and there is yet time to save +Pal-ul-don from the spawn of the rabbit breed." + +The king's angry tone and his insulting reference to Bu-lot's +well-known cowardice brought a sudden, sobering silence upon the +roistering company. Every eye turned upon Bu-lot and Mo-sar, who sat +together directly opposite the king. The first was very drunk though +suddenly he seemed quite sober. He was so drunk that for an instant he +forgot to be a coward, since his reasoning powers were so effectually +paralyzed by the fumes of liquor that he could not intelligently weigh +the consequences of his acts. It is reasonably conceivable that a drunk +and angry rabbit might commit a rash deed. Upon no other hypothesis is +the thing that Bu-lot now did explicable. He rose suddenly from the +seat to which he had sunk after delivering his toast and seizing the +knife from the sheath of the warrior upon his right hurled it with +terrific force at Ko-tan. Skilled in the art of throwing both their +knives and their clubs are the warriors of Pal-ul-don and at this short +distance and coming as it did without warning there was no defense and +but one possible result--Ko-tan, the king, lunged forward across the +table, the blade buried in his heart. + +A brief silence followed the assassin's cowardly act. White with +terror, now, Bu-lot fell slowly back toward the doorway at his rear, +when suddenly angry warriors leaped with drawn knives to prevent his +escape and to avenge their king. But Mo-sar now took his stand beside +his son. + +"Ko-tan is dead!" he cried. "Mo-sar is king! Let the loyal warriors of +Pal-ul-don protect their ruler!" + +Mo-sar commanded a goodly following and these quickly surrounded him +and Bu-lot, but there were many knives against them and now Ja-don +pressed forward through those who confronted the pretender. + +"Take them both!" he shouted. "The warriors of Pal-ul-don will choose +their own king after the assassin of Ko-tan has paid the penalty of his +treachery." + +Directed now by a leader whom they both respected and admired those who +had been loyal to Ko-tan rushed forward upon the faction that had +surrounded Mo-sar. Fierce and terrible was the fighting, devoid, +apparently, of all else than the ferocious lust to kill and while it +was at its height Mo-sar and Bu-lot slipped unnoticed from the banquet +hall. + +To that part of the palace assigned to them during their visit to A-lur +they hastened. Here were their servants and the lesser warriors of +their party who had not been bidden to the feast of Ko-tan. These were +directed quickly to gather together their belongings for immediate +departure. When all was ready, and it did not take long, since the +warriors of Pal-ul-don require but little impedimenta on the march, +they moved toward the palace gate. + +Suddenly Mo-sar approached his son. "The princess," he whispered. "We +must not leave the city without her--she is half the battle for the +throne." + +Bu-lot, now entirely sober, demurred. He had had enough of fighting and +of risk. "Let us get out of A-lur quickly," he urged, "or we shall have +the whole city upon us. She would not come without a struggle and that +would delay us too long." + +"There is plenty of time," insisted Mo-sar. "They are still fighting in +the pal-e-don-so. It will be long before they miss us and, with Ko-tan +dead, long before any will think to look to the safety of the princess. +Our time is now--it was made for us by Jad-ben-Otho. Come!" + +Reluctantly Bu-lot followed his father, who first instructed the +warriors to await them just inside the gateway of the palace. Rapidly +the two approached the quarters of the princess. Within the +entrance-way only a handful of warriors were on guard. The eunuchs had +retired. + +"There is fighting in the pal-e-don-so," Mo-sar announced in feigned +excitement as they entered the presence of the guards. "The king +desires you to come at once and has sent us to guard the apartments of +the princess. Make haste!" he commanded as the men hesitated. + +The warriors knew him and that on the morrow the princess was to be +betrothed to Bu-lot, his son. If there was trouble what more natural +than that Mo-sar and Bu-lot should be intrusted with the safety of the +princess. And then, too, was not Mo-sar a powerful chief to whose +orders disobedience might prove a dangerous thing? They were but common +fighting men disciplined in the rough school of tribal warfare, but +they had learned to obey a superior and so they departed for the +banquet hall--the place-where-men-eat. + +Barely waiting until they had disappeared Mo-sar crossed to the +hangings at the opposite end of the entrance-hall and followed by +Bu-lot made his way toward the sleeping apartment of O-lo-a and a +moment later, without warning, the two men burst in upon the three +occupants of the room. At sight of them O-lo-a sprang to her feet. + +"What is the meaning of this?" she demanded angrily. + +Mo-sar advanced and halted before her. Into his cunning mind had +entered a plan to trick her. If it succeeded it would prove easier than +taking her by force, and then his eyes fell upon Jane Clayton and he +almost gasped in astonishment and admiration, but he caught himself and +returned to the business of the moment. + +"O-lo-a," he cried, "when you know the urgency of our mission you will +forgive us. We have sad news for you. There has been an uprising in the +palace and Ko-tan, the king, has been slain. The rebels are drunk with +liquor and now on their way here. We must get you out of A-lur at +once--there is not a moment to lose. Come, and quickly!" + +"My father dead?" cried O-lo-a, and suddenly her eyes went wide. "Then +my place is here with my people," she cried. "If Ko-tan is dead I am +queen until the warriors choose a new ruler--that is the law of +Pal-ul-don. And if I am queen none can make me wed whom I do not wish +to wed--and Jad-ben-Otho knows I never wished to wed thy cowardly son. +Go!" She pointed a slim forefinger imperiously toward the doorway. + +Mo-sar saw that neither trickery nor persuasion would avail now and +every precious minute counted. He looked again at the beautiful woman +who stood beside O-lo-a. He had never before seen her but he well knew +from palace gossip that she could be no other than the godlike stranger +whom Ko-tan had planned to make his queen. + +"Bu-lot," he cried to his son, "take you your own woman and I will +take--mine!" and with that he sprang suddenly forward and seizing Jane +about the waist lifted her in his arms, so that before O-lo-a or +Pan-at-lee might even guess his purpose he had disappeared through the +hangings near the foot of the dais and was gone with the stranger woman +struggling and fighting in his grasp. + +And then Bu-lot sought to seize O-lo-a, but O-lo-a had her +Pan-at-lee--fierce little tiger-girl of the savage +Kor-ul-JA--Pan-at-lee whose name belied her--and Bu-lot found that with +the two of them his hands were full. When he would have lifted O-lo-a +and borne her away Pan-at-lee seized him around the legs and strove to +drag him down. Viciously he kicked her, but she would not desist, and +finally, realizing that he might not only lose his princess but be so +delayed as to invite capture if he did not rid himself of this clawing, +scratching she-JATO, he hurled O-lo-a to the floor and seizing +Pan-at-lee by the hair drew his knife and-- + +The curtains behind him suddenly parted. In two swift bounds a lithe +figure crossed the room and before ever the knife of Bu-lot reached its +goal his wrist was seized from behind and a terrific blow crashing to +the base of his brain dropped him, lifeless, to the floor. Bu-lot, +coward, traitor, and assassin, died without knowing who struck him down. + +As Tarzan of the Apes leaped into the pool in the GRYF pit of the +temple at A-lur one might have accounted for his act on the hypothesis +that it was the last blind urge of self-preservation to delay, even for +a moment, the inevitable tragedy in which each some day must play the +leading role upon his little stage; but no--those cool, gray eyes had +caught the sole possibility for escape that the surroundings and the +circumstances offered--a tiny, moonlit patch of water glimmering +through a small aperture in the cliff at the surface of the pool upon +its farther side. With swift, bold strokes he swam for speed alone +knowing that the water would in no way deter his pursuer. Nor did it. +Tarzan heard the great splash as the huge creature plunged into the +pool behind him; he heard the churning waters as it forged rapidly +onward in his wake. He was nearing the opening--would it be large +enough to permit the passage of his body? That portion of it which +showed above the surface of the water most certainly would not. His +life, then, depended upon how much of the aperture was submerged. And +now it was directly before him and the GRYF directly behind. There was +no alternative--there was no other hope. The ape-man threw all the +resources of his great strength into the last few strokes, extended his +hands before him as a cutwater, submerged to the water's level and shot +forward toward the hole. + +Frothing with rage was the baffled Lu-don as he realized how neatly the +stranger she had turned his own tables upon him. He could of course +escape the Temple of the Gryf in which her quick wit had temporarily +imprisoned him; but during the delay, however brief, Ja-don would find +time to steal her from the temple and deliver her to Ko-tan. But he +would have her yet--that the high priest swore in the names of +Jad-ben-Otho and all the demons of his faith. He hated Ko-tan. Secretly +he had espoused the cause of Mo-sar, in whom he would have a willing +tool. Perhaps, then, this would give him the opportunity he had long +awaited--a pretext for inciting the revolt that would dethrone Ko-tan +and place Mo-sar in power--with Lu-don the real ruler of Pal-ul-don. He +licked his thin lips as he sought the window through which Tarzan had +entered and now Lu-don's only avenue of escape. Cautiously he made his +way across the floor, feeling before him with his hands, and when they +discovered that the trap was set for him an ugly snarl broke from the +priest's lips. "The she-devil!" he muttered; "but she shall pay, she +shall pay--ah, Jad-ben-Otho; how she shall pay for the trick she has +played upon Lu-don!" + +He crawled through the window and climbed easily downward to the +ground. Should he pursue Ja-don and the woman, chancing an encounter +with the fierce chief, or bide his time until treachery and intrigue +should accomplish his design? He chose the latter solution, as might +have been expected of such as he. + +Going to his quarters he summoned several of his priests--those who +were most in his confidence and who shared his ambitions for absolute +power of the temple over the palace--all men who hated Ko-tan. + +"The time has come," he told them, "when the authority of the temple +must be placed definitely above that of the palace. Ko-tan must make +way for Mo-sar, for Ko-tan has defied your high priest. Go then, +Pan-sat, and summon Mo-sar secretly to the temple, and you others go to +the city and prepare the faithful warriors that they may be in +readiness when the time comes." + +For another hour they discussed the details of the coup d'etat that was +to overthrow the government of Pal-ul-don. One knew a slave who, as +the signal sounded from the temple gong, would thrust a knife into the +heart of Ko-tan, for the price of liberty. Another held personal +knowledge of an officer of the palace that he could use to compel the +latter to admit a number of Lu-don's warriors to various parts of the +palace. With Mo-sar as the cat's paw, the plan seemed scarce possible +of failure and so they separated, going upon their immediate errands to +palace and to city. + +As Pan-sat entered the palace grounds he was aware of a sudden +commotion in the direction of the pal-e-don-so and a few minutes later +Lu-don was surprised to see him return to the apartments of the high +priest, breathless and excited. + +"What now, Pan-sat?" cried Lu-don. "Are you pursued by demons?" + +"O master, our time has come and gone while we sat here planning. +Ko-tan is already dead and Mo-sar fled. His friends are fighting with +the warriors of the palace but they have no head, while Ja-don leads +the others. I could learn but little from frightened slaves who had +fled at the outburst of the quarrel. One told me that Bu-lot had slain +the king and that he had seen Mo-sar and the assassin hurrying from the +palace." + +"Ja-don," muttered the high priest. "The fools will make him king if we +do not act and act quickly. Get into the city, Pan-sat--let your feet +fly and raise the cry that Ja-don has killed the king and is seeking to +wrest the throne from O-lo-a. Spread the word as you know best how to +spread it that Ja-don has threatened to destroy the priests and hurl +the altars of the temple into Jad-ben-lul. Rouse the warriors of the +city and urge them to attack at once. Lead them into the temple by the +secret way that only the priests know and from here we may spew them +out upon the palace before they learn the truth. Go, Pan-sat, +immediately--delay not an instant." + +"But stay," he called as the under priest turned to leave the +apartment; "saw or heard you anything of the strange white woman that +Ja-don stole from the Temple of the Gryf where we have had her +imprisoned?" + +"Only that Ja-don took her into the palace where he threatened the +priests with violence if they did not permit him to pass," replied +Pan-sat. "This they told me, but where within the palace she is hidden +I know not." + +"Ko-tan ordered her to the Forbidden Garden," said Lu-don, "doubtless +we shall find her there. And now, Pan-sat, be upon your errand." + +In a corridor by Lu-don's chamber a hideously masked priest leaned +close to the curtained aperture that led within. Were he listening he +must have heard all that passed between Pan-sat and the high priest, +and that he had listened was evidenced by his hasty withdrawal to the +shadows of a nearby passage as the lesser priest moved across the +chamber toward the doorway. Pan-sat went his way in ignorance of the +near presence that he almost brushed against as he hurried toward the +secret passage that leads from the temple of Jad-ben-Otho, far beneath +the palace, to the city beyond, nor did he sense the silent creature +following in his footsteps. + + + +16 + +The Secret Way + +It was a baffled GRYF that bellowed in angry rage as Tarzan's sleek +brown body cutting the moonlit waters shot through the aperture in the +wall of the GRYF pool and out into the lake beyond. The ape-man smiled +as he thought of the comparative ease with which he had defeated the +purpose of the high priest but his face clouded again at the ensuing +remembrance of the grave danger that threatened his mate. His sole +object now must be to return as quickly as he might to the chamber +where he had last seen her on the third floor of the Temple of the +Gryf, but how he was to find his way again into the temple grounds was +a question not easy of solution. + +In the moonlight he could see the sheer cliff rising from the water for +a great distance along the shore--far beyond the precincts of the +temple and the palace--towering high above him, a seemingly impregnable +barrier against his return. Swimming close in, he skirted the wall +searching diligently for some foothold, however slight, upon its +smooth, forbidding surface. Above him and quite out of reach were +numerous apertures, but there were no means at hand by which he could +reach them. Presently, however, his hopes were raised by the sight of +an opening level with the surface of the water. It lay just ahead and a +few strokes brought him to it--cautious strokes that brought forth no +sound from the yielding waters. At the nearer side of the opening he +stopped and reconnoitered. There was no one in sight. Carefully he +raised his body to the threshold of the entrance-way, his smooth brown +hide glistening in the moonlight as it shed the water in tiny sparkling +rivulets. + +Before him stretched a gloomy corridor, unlighted save for the faint +illumination of the diffused moonlight that penetrated it for but a +short distance from the opening. Moving as rapidly as reasonable +caution warranted, Tarzan followed the corridor into the bowels of the +cave. There was an abrupt turn and then a flight of steps at the top of +which lay another corridor running parallel with the face of the cliff. +This passage was dimly lighted by flickering cressets set in niches in +the walls at considerable distances apart. A quick survey showed the +ape-man numerous openings upon each side of the corridor and his quick +ears caught sounds that indicated that there were other beings not far +distant--priests, he concluded, in some of the apartments letting upon +the passageway. + +To pass undetected through this hive of enemies appeared quite beyond +the range of possibility. He must again seek disguise and knowing from +experience how best to secure such he crept stealthily along the +corridor toward the nearest doorway. Like Numa, the lion, stalking a +wary prey he crept with quivering nostrils to the hangings that shut +off his view from the interior of the apartment beyond. A moment later +his head disappeared within; then his shoulders, and his lithe body, +and the hangings dropped quietly into place again. A moment later there +filtered to the vacant corridor without a brief, gasping gurgle and +again silence. A minute passed; a second, and a third, and then the +hangings were thrust aside and a grimly masked priest of the temple of +Jad-ben-Otho strode into the passageway. + +With bold steps he moved along and was about to turn into a diverging +gallery when his attention was aroused by voices coming from a room +upon his left. Instantly the figure halted and crossing the corridor +stood with an ear close to the skins that concealed the occupants of +the room from him, and him from them. Presently he leaped back into +the concealing shadows of the diverging gallery and immediately +thereafter the hangings by which he had been listening parted and a +priest emerged to turn quickly down the main corridor. The eavesdropper +waited until the other had gained a little distance and then stepping +from his place of concealment followed silently behind. + +The way led along the corridor which ran parallel with the face of the +cliff for some little distance and then Pan-sat, taking a cresset from +one of the wall niches, turned abruptly into a small apartment at his +left. The tracker followed cautiously in time to see the rays of the +flickering light dimly visible from an aperture in the floor before +him. Here he found a series of steps, similar to those used by the +Waz-don in scaling the cliff to their caves, leading to a lower level. + +First satisfying himself that his guide was continuing upon his way +unsuspecting, the other descended after him and continued his stealthy +stalking. The passageway was now both narrow and low, giving but bare +headroom to a tall man, and it was broken often by flights of steps +leading always downward. The steps in each unit seldom numbered more +than six and sometimes there was only one or two but in the aggregate +the tracker imagined that they had descended between fifty and +seventy-five feet from the level of the upper corridor when the +passageway terminated in a small apartment at one side of which was a +little pile of rubble. + +Setting his cresset upon the ground, Pan-sat commenced hurriedly to +toss the bits of broken stone aside, presently revealing a small +aperture at the base of the wall upon the opposite side of which there +appeared to be a further accumulation of rubble. This he also removed +until he had a hole of sufficient size to permit the passage of his +body, and leaving the cresset still burning upon the floor the priest +crawled through the opening he had made and disappeared from the sight +of the watcher hiding in the shadows of the narrow passageway behind +him. + +No sooner, however, was he safely gone than the other followed, finding +himself, after passing through the hole, on a little ledge about +halfway between the surface of the lake and the top of the cliff above. +The ledge inclined steeply upward, ending at the rear of a building +which stood upon the edge of the cliff and which the second priest +entered just in time to see Pan-sat pass out into the city beyond. + +As the latter turned a nearby corner the other emerged from the doorway +and quickly surveyed his surroundings. He was satisfied the priest who +had led him hither had served his purpose in so far as the tracker was +concerned. Above him, and perhaps a hundred yards away, the white walls +of the palace gleamed against the northern sky. The time that it had +taken him to acquire definite knowledge concerning the secret +passageway between the temple and the city he did not count as lost, +though he begrudged every instant that kept him from the prosecution of +his main objective. It had seemed to him, however, necessary to the +success of a bold plan that he had formulated upon overhearing the +conversation between Lu-don and Pan-sat as he stood without the +hangings of the apartment of the high priest. + +Alone against a nation of suspicious and half-savage enemies he could +scarce hope for a successful outcome to the one great issue upon which +hung the life and happiness of the creature he loved best. For her sake +he must win allies and it was for this purpose that he had sacrificed +these precious moments, but now he lost no further time in seeking to +regain entrance to the palace grounds that he might search out whatever +new prison they had found in which to incarcerate his lost love. + +He found no difficulty in passing the guards at the entrance to the +palace for, as he had guessed, his priestly disguise disarmed all +suspicion. As he approached the warriors he kept his hands behind him +and trusted to fate that the sickly light of the single torch which +stood beside the doorway would not reveal his un-Pal-ul-donian feet. As +a matter of fact so accustomed were they to the comings and goings of +the priesthood that they paid scant attention to him and he passed on +into the palace grounds without even a moment's delay. + +His goal now was the Forbidden Garden and this he had little difficulty +in reaching though he elected to enter it over the wall rather than to +chance arousing any suspicion on the part of the guards at the inner +entrance, since he could imagine no reason why a priest should seek +entrance there thus late at night. + +He found the garden deserted, nor any sign of her he sought. That she +had been brought hither he had learned from the conversation he had +overheard between Lu-don and Pan-sat, and he was sure that there had +been no time or opportunity for the high priest to remove her from the +palace grounds. The garden he knew to be devoted exclusively to the +uses of the princess and her women and it was only reasonable to assume +therefore that if Jane had been brought to the garden it could only +have been upon an order from Ko-tan. This being the case the natural +assumption would follow that he would find her in some other portion of +O-lo-a's quarters. + +Just where these lay he could only conjecture, but it seemed reasonable +to believe that they must be adjacent to the garden, so once more he +scaled the wall and passing around its end directed his steps toward an +entrance-way which he judged must lead to that portion of the palace +nearest the Forbidden Garden. + +To his surprise he found the place unguarded and then there fell upon +his ear from an interior apartment the sound of voices raised in anger +and excitement. Guided by the sound he quickly traversed several +corridors and chambers until he stood before the hangings which +separated him from the chamber from which issued the sounds of +altercation. Raising the skins slightly he looked within. There were +two women battling with a Ho-don warrior. One was the daughter of +Ko-tan and the other Pan-at-lee, the Kor-ul-JA. + +At the moment that Tarzan lifted the hangings, the warrior threw O-lo-a +viciously to the ground and seizing Pan-at-lee by the hair drew his +knife and raised it above her head. Casting the encumbering headdress +of the dead priest from his shoulders the ape-man leaped across the +intervening space and seizing the brute from behind struck him a single +terrible blow. + +As the man fell forward dead, the two women recognized Tarzan +simultaneously. Pan-at-lee fell upon her knees and would have bowed her +head upon his feet had he not, with an impatient gesture, commanded her +to rise. He had no time to listen to their protestations of gratitude +or answer the numerous questions which he knew would soon be flowing +from those two feminine tongues. + +"Tell me," he cried, "where is the woman of my own race whom Ja-don +brought here from the temple?" + +"She is but this moment gone," cried O-lo-a. "Mo-sar, the father of +this thing here," and she indicated the body of Bu-lot with a scornful +finger, "seized her and carried her away." + +"Which way?" he cried. "Tell me quickly, in what direction he took her." + +"That way," cried Pan-at-lee, pointing to the doorway through which +Mo-sar had passed. "They would have taken the princess and the stranger +woman to Tu-lur, Mo-sar's city by the Dark Lake." + +"I go to find her," he said to Pan-at-lee, "she is my mate. And if I +survive I shall find means to liberate you too and return you to Om-at." + +Before the girl could reply he had disappeared behind the hangings of +the door near the foot of the dais. The corridor through which he ran +was illy lighted and like nearly all its kind in the Ho-don city wound +in and out and up and down, but at last it terminated at a sudden turn +which brought him into a courtyard filled with warriors, a portion of +the palace guard that had just been summoned by one of the lesser +palace chiefs to join the warriors of Ko-tan in the battle that was +raging in the banquet hall. + +At sight of Tarzan, who in his haste had forgotten to recover his +disguising headdress, a great shout arose. "Blasphemer!" "Defiler of +the temple!" burst hoarsely from savage throats, and mingling with +these were a few who cried, "Dor-ul-Otho!" evidencing the fact that +there were among them still some who clung to their belief in his +divinity. + +To cross the courtyard armed only with a knife, in the face of this +great throng of savage fighting men seemed even to the giant ape-man a +thing impossible of achievement. He must use his wits now and quickly +too, for they were closing upon him. He might have turned and fled back +through the corridor but flight now even in the face of dire necessity +would but delay him in his pursuit of Mo-sar and his mate. + +"Stop!" he cried, raising his palm against them. "I am the Dor-ul-Otho +and I come to you with a word from Ja-don, who it is my father's will +shall be your king now that Ko-tan is slain. Lu-don, the high priest, +has planned to seize the palace and destroy the loyal warriors that +Mo-sar may be made king--Mo-sar who will be the tool and creature of +Lu-don. Follow me. There is no time to lose if you would prevent the +traitors whom Lu-don has organized in the city from entering the palace +by a secret way and overpowering Ja-don and the faithful band within." + +For a moment they hesitated. At last one spoke. "What guarantee have +we," he demanded, "that it is not you who would betray us and by +leading us now away from the fighting in the banquet hall cause those +who fight at Ja-don's side to be defeated?" + +"My life will be your guarantee," replied Tarzan. "If you find that I +have not spoken the truth you are sufficient in numbers to execute +whatever penalty you choose. But come, there is not time to lose. +Already are the lesser priests gathering their warriors in the city +below," and without waiting for any further parley he strode directly +toward them in the direction of the gate upon the opposite side of the +courtyard which led toward the principal entrance to the palace ground. + +Slower in wit than he, they were swept away by his greater initiative +and that compelling power which is inherent to all natural leaders. And +so they followed him, the giant ape-man with a dead tail dragging the +ground behind him--a demi-god where another would have been ridiculous. +Out into the city he led them and down toward the unpretentious +building that hid Lu-don's secret passageway from the city to the +temple, and as they rounded the last turn they saw before them a +gathering of warriors which was being rapidly augmented from all +directions as the traitors of A-lur mobilized at the call of the +priesthood. + +"You spoke the truth, stranger," said the chief who marched at Tarzan's +side, "for there are the warriors with the priests among them, even as +you told us." + +"And now," replied the ape-man, "that I have fulfilled my promise I +will go my way after Mo-sar, who has done me a great wrong. Tell +Ja-don that Jad-ben-Otho is upon his side, nor do you forget to tell +him also that it was the Dor-ul-Otho who thwarted Lu-don's plan to +seize the palace." + +"I will not forget," replied the chief. "Go your way. We are enough to +overpower the traitors." + +"Tell me," asked Tarzan, "how I may know this city of Tu-lur?" + +"It lies upon the south shore of the second lake below A-lur," replied +the chief, "the lake that is called Jad-in-lul." + +They were now approaching the band of traitors, who evidently thought +that this was another contingent of their own party since they made no +effort either toward defense or retreat. Suddenly the chief raised his +voice in a savage war cry that was immediately taken up by his +followers, and simultaneously, as though the cry were a command, the +entire party broke into a mad charge upon the surprised rebels. + +Satisfied with the outcome of his suddenly conceived plan and sure that +it would work to the disadvantage of Lu-don, Tarzan turned into a side +street and pointed his steps toward the outskirts of the city in search +of the trail that led southward toward Tu-lur. + + + +17 + +By Jad-bal-lul + +As Mo-sar carried Jane Clayton from the palace of Ko-tan, the king, the +woman struggled incessantly to regain her freedom. He tried to compel +her to walk, but despite his threats and his abuse she would not +voluntarily take a single step in the direction in which he wished her +to go. Instead she threw herself to the ground each time he sought to +place her upon her feet, and so of necessity he was compelled to carry +her though at last he tied her hands and gagged her to save himself +from further lacerations, for the beauty and slenderness of the woman +belied her strength and courage. When he came at last to where his men +had gathered he was glad indeed to turn her over to a couple of +stalwart warriors, but these too were forced to carry her since +Mo-sar's fear of the vengeance of Ko-tan's retainers would brook no +delays. + +And thus they came down out of the hills from which A-lur is carved, to +the meadows that skirt the lower end of Jad-ben-lul, with Jane Clayton +carried between two of Mo-sar's men. At the edge of the lake lay a +fleet of strong canoes, hollowed from the trunks of trees, their bows +and sterns carved in the semblance of grotesque beasts or birds and +vividly colored by some master in that primitive school of art, which +fortunately is not without its devotees today. + +Into the stern of one of these canoes the warriors tossed their captive +at a sign from Mo-sar, who came and stood beside her as the warriors +were finding their places in the canoes and selecting their paddles. + +"Come, Beautiful One," he said, "let us be friends and you shall not be +harmed. You will find Mo-sar a kind master if you do his bidding," and +thinking to make a good impression on her he removed the gag from her +mouth and the thongs from her wrists, knowing well that she could not +escape surrounded as she was by his warriors, and presently, when they +were out on the lake, she would be as safely imprisoned as though he +held her behind bars. + +And so the fleet moved off to the accompaniment of the gentle splashing +of a hundred paddles, to follow the windings of the rivers and lakes +through which the waters of the Valley of Jad-ben-Otho empty into the +great morass to the south. The warriors, resting upon one knee, faced +the bow and in the last canoe Mo-sar tiring of his fruitless attempts +to win responses from his sullen captive, squatted in the bottom of the +canoe with his back toward her and resting his head upon the gunwale +sought sleep. + +Thus they moved in silence between the verdure-clad banks of the little +river through which the waters of Jad-ben-lul emptied--now in the +moonlight, now in dense shadow where great trees overhung the stream, +and at last out upon the waters of another lake, the black shores of +which seemed far away under the weird influence of a moonlight night. + +Jane Clayton sat alert in the stern of the last canoe. For months she +had been under constant surveillance, the prisoner first of one +ruthless race and now the prisoner of another. Since the long-gone day +that Hauptmann Fritz Schneider and his band of native German troops had +treacherously wrought the Kaiser's work of rapine and destruction on +the Greystoke bungalow and carried her away to captivity she had not +drawn a free breath. That she had survived unharmed the countless +dangers through which she had passed she attributed solely to the +beneficence of a kind and watchful Providence. + +At first she had been held on the orders of the German High Command +with a view of her ultimate value as a hostage and during these months +she had been subjected to neither hardship nor oppression, but when the +Germans had become hard pressed toward the close of their unsuccessful +campaign in East Africa it had been determined to take her further into +the interior and now there was an element of revenge in their motives, +since it must have been apparent that she could no longer be of any +possible military value. + +Bitter indeed were the Germans against that half-savage mate of hers +who had cunningly annoyed and harassed them with a fiendishness of +persistence and ingenuity that had resulted in a noticeable loss in +morale in the sector he had chosen for his operations. They had to +charge against him the lives of certain officers that he had +deliberately taken with his own hands, and one entire section of trench +that had made possible a disastrous turning movement by the British. +Tarzan had out-generaled them at every point. He had met cunning with +cunning and cruelty with cruelties until they feared and loathed his +very name. The cunning trick that they had played upon him in +destroying his home, murdering his retainers, and covering the +abduction of his wife in such a way as to lead him to believe that she +had been killed, they had regretted a thousand times, for a +thousandfold had they paid the price for their senseless ruthlessness, +and now, unable to wreak their vengeance directly upon him, they had +conceived the idea of inflicting further suffering upon his mate. + +In sending her into the interior to avoid the path of the victorious +British, they had chosen as her escort Lieutenant Erich Obergatz who +had been second in command of Schneider's company, and who alone of its +officers had escaped the consuming vengeance of the ape-man. For a long +time Obergatz had held her in a native village, the chief of which was +still under the domination of his fear of the ruthless German +oppressors. While here only hardships and discomforts assailed her, +Obergatz himself being held in leash by the orders of his distant +superior but as time went on the life in the village grew to be a +veritable hell of cruelties and oppressions practiced by the arrogant +Prussian upon the villagers and the members of his native command--for +time hung heavily upon the hands of the lieutenant and with idleness +combining with the personal discomforts he was compelled to endure, his +none too agreeable temper found an outlet first in petty interference +with the chiefs and later in the practice of absolute cruelties upon +them. + +What the self-sufficient German could not see was plain to Jane +Clayton--that the sympathies of Obergatz' native soldiers lay with the +villagers and that all were so heartily sickened by his abuse that it +needed now but the slightest spark to detonate the mine of revenge and +hatred that the pig-headed Hun had been assiduously fabricating beneath +his own person. + +And at last it came, but from an unexpected source in the form of a +German native deserter from the theater of war. Footsore, weary, and +spent, he dragged himself into the village late one afternoon, and +before Obergatz was even aware of his presence the whole village knew +that the power of Germany in Africa was at an end. It did not take long +for the lieutenant's native soldiers to realize that the authority that +held them in service no longer existed and that with it had gone the +power to pay them their miserable wage. Or at least, so they reasoned. +To them Obergatz no longer represented aught else than a powerless and +hated foreigner, and short indeed would have been his shrift had not a +native woman who had conceived a doglike affection for Jane Clayton +hurried to her with word of the murderous plan, for the fate of the +innocent white woman lay in the balance beside that of the guilty +Teuton. + +"Already they are quarreling as to which one shall possess you," she +told Jane. + +"When will they come for us?" asked Jane. "Did you hear them say?" + +"Tonight," replied the woman, "for even now that he has none to fight +for him they still fear the white man. And so they will come at night +and kill him while he sleeps." + +Jane thanked the woman and sent her away lest the suspicion of her +fellows be aroused against her when they discovered that the two whites +had learned of their intentions. The woman went at once to the hut +occupied by Obergatz. She had never gone there before and the German +looked up in surprise as he saw who his visitor was. + +Briefly she told him what she had heard. At first he was inclined to +bluster arrogantly, with a great display of bravado but she silenced +him peremptorily. + +"Such talk is useless," she said shortly. "You have brought upon +yourself the just hatred of these people. Regardless of the truth or +falsity of the report which has been brought to them, they believe in +it and there is nothing now between you and your Maker other than +flight. We shall both be dead before morning if we are unable to escape +from the village unseen. If you go to them now with your silly +protestations of authority you will be dead a little sooner, that is +all." + +"You think it is as bad as that?" he said, a noticeable alteration in +his tone and manner. + +"It is precisely as I have told you," she replied. "They will come +tonight and kill you while you sleep. Find me pistols and a rifle and +ammunition and we will pretend that we go into the jungle to hunt. That +you have done often. Perhaps it will arouse suspicion that I accompany +you but that we must chance. And be sure my dear Herr Lieutenant to +bluster and curse and abuse your servants unless they note a change in +your manner and realizing your fear know that you suspect their +intention. If all goes well then we can go out into the jungle to hunt +and we need not return. + +"But first and now you must swear never to harm me, or otherwise it +would be better that I called the chief and turned you over to him and +then put a bullet into my own head, for unless you swear as I have +asked I were no better alone in the jungle with you than here at the +mercies of these degraded blacks." + +"I swear," he replied solemnly, "in the names of my God and my Kaiser +that no harm shall befall you at my hands, Lady Greystoke." + +"Very well," she said, "we will make this pact to assist each other to +return to civilization, but let it be understood that there is and +never can be any semblance even of respect for you upon my part. I am +drowning and you are the straw. Carry that always in your mind, German." + +If Obergatz had held any doubt as to the sincerity of her word it would +have been wholly dissipated by the scathing contempt of her tone. And +so Obergatz, without further parley, got pistols and an extra rifle for +Jane, as well as bandoleers of cartridges. In his usual arrogant and +disagreeable manner he called his servants, telling them that he and +the white kali were going out into the brush to hunt. The beaters would +go north as far as the little hill and then circle back to the east and +in toward the village. The gun carriers he directed to take the extra +pieces and precede himself and Jane slowly toward the east, waiting for +them at the ford about half a mile distant. The blacks responded with +greater alacrity than usual and it was noticeable to both Jane and +Obergatz that they left the village whispering and laughing. + +"The swine think it is a great joke," growled Obergatz, "that the +afternoon before I die I go out and hunt meat for them." + +As soon as the gun bearers disappeared in the jungle beyond the village +the two Europeans followed along the same trail, nor was there any +attempt upon the part of Obergatz' native soldiers, or the warriors of +the chief to detain them, for they too doubtless were more than willing +that the whites should bring them in one more mess of meat before they +killed them. + +A quarter of a mile from the village, Obergatz turned toward the south +from the trail that led to the ford and hurrying onward the two put as +great a distance as possible between them and the village before night +fell. They knew from the habits of their erstwhile hosts that there was +little danger of pursuit by night since the villagers held Numa, the +lion, in too great respect to venture needlessly beyond their stockade +during the hours that the king of beasts was prone to choose for +hunting. + +And thus began a seemingly endless sequence of frightful days and +horror-laden nights as the two fought their way toward the south in the +face of almost inconceivable hardships, privations, and dangers. The +east coast was nearer but Obergatz positively refused to chance +throwing himself into the hands of the British by returning to the +territory which they now controlled, insisting instead upon attempting +to make his way through an unknown wilderness to South Africa where, +among the Boers, he was convinced he would find willing sympathizers +who would find some way to return him in safety to Germany, and the +woman was perforce compelled to accompany him. + +And so they had crossed the great thorny, waterless steppe and come at +last to the edge of the morass before Pal-ul-don. They had reached this +point just before the rainy season when the waters of the morass were +at their lowest ebb. At this time a hard crust is baked upon the dried +surface of the marsh and there is only the open water at the center to +materially impede progress. It is a condition that exists perhaps not +more than a few weeks, or even days at the termination of long periods +of drought, and so the two crossed the otherwise almost impassable +barrier without realizing its latent terrors. Even the open water in +the center chanced to be deserted at the time by its frightful denizens +which the drought and the receding waters had driven southward toward +the mouth of Pal-ul-don's largest river which carries the waters out of +the Valley of Jad-ben-Otho. + +Their wanderings carried them across the mountains and into the Valley +of Jad-ben-Otho at the source of one of the larger streams which bears +the mountain waters down into the valley to empty them into the main +river just below The Great Lake on whose northern shore lies A-lur. As +they had come down out of the mountains they had been surprised by a +party of Ho-don hunters. Obergatz had escaped while Jane had been +taken prisoner and brought to A-lur. She had neither seen nor heard +aught of the German since that time and she did not know whether he had +perished in this strange land, or succeeded in successfully eluding its +savage denizens and making his way at last into South Africa. + +For her part, she had been incarcerated alternately in the palace and +the temple as either Ko-tan or Lu-don succeeded in wresting her +temporarily from the other by various strokes of cunning and intrigue. +And now at last she was in the power of a new captor, one whom she knew +from the gossip of the temple and the palace to be cruel and degraded. +And she was in the stern of the last canoe, and every enemy back was +toward her, while almost at her feet Mo-sar's loud snores gave ample +evidence of his unconsciousness to his immediate surroundings. + +The dark shore loomed closer to the south as Jane Clayton, Lady +Greystoke, slid quietly over the stern of the canoe into the chill +waters of the lake. She scarcely moved other than to keep her nostrils +above the surface while the canoe was yet discernible in the last rays +of the declining moon. Then she struck out toward the southern shore. + +Alone, unarmed, all but naked, in a country overrun by savage beasts +and hostile men, she yet felt for the first time in many months a +sensation of elation and relief. She was free! What if the next moment +brought death, she knew again, at least a brief instant of absolute +freedom. Her blood tingled to the almost forgotten sensation and it was +with difficulty that she restrained a glad triumphant cry as she +clambered from the quiet waters and stood upon the silent beach. + +Before her loomed a forest, darkly, and from its depths came those +nameless sounds that are a part of the night life of the jungle--the +rustling of leaves in the wind, the rubbing together of contiguous +branches, the scurrying of a rodent, all magnified by the darkness to +sinister and awe-inspiring proportions; the hoot of an owl, the distant +scream of a great cat, the barking of wild dogs, attested the presence +of the myriad life she could not see--the savage life, the free life of +which she was now a part. And then there came to her, possibly for the +first time since the giant ape-man had come into her life, a fuller +realization of what the jungle meant to him, for though alone and +unprotected from its hideous dangers she yet felt its lure upon her and +an exaltation that she had not dared hope to feel again. + +Ah, if that mighty mate of hers were but by her side! What utter joy +and bliss would be hers! She longed for no more than this. The parade +of cities, the comforts and luxuries of civilization held forth no +allure half as insistent as the glorious freedom of the jungle. + +A lion moaned in the blackness to her right, eliciting delicious +thrills that crept along her spine. The hair at the back of her head +seemed to stand erect--yet she was unafraid. The muscles bequeathed her +by some primordial ancestor reacted instinctively to the presence of an +ancient enemy--that was all. The woman moved slowly and deliberately +toward the wood. Again the lion moaned; this time nearer. She sought a +low-hanging branch and finding it swung easily into the friendly +shelter of the tree. The long and perilous journey with Obergatz had +trained her muscles and her nerves to such unaccustomed habits. She +found a safe resting place such as Tarzan had taught her was best and +there she curled herself, thirty feet above the ground, for a night's +rest. She was cold and uncomfortable and yet she slept, for her heart +was warm with renewed hope and her tired brain had found temporary +surcease from worry. + +She slept until the heat of the sun, high in the heavens, awakened her. +She was rested and now her body was well as her heart was warm. A +sensation of ease and comfort and happiness pervaded her being. She +rose upon her gently swaying couch and stretched luxuriously, her naked +limbs and lithe body mottled by the sunlight filtering through the +foliage above combined with the lazy gesture to impart to her +appearance something of the leopard. With careful eye she scrutinized +the ground below and with attentive ear she listened for any warning +sound that might suggest the near presence of enemies, either man or +beast. Satisfied at last that there was nothing close of which she +need have fear she clambered to the ground. She wished to bathe but the +lake was too exposed and just a bit too far from the safety of the +trees for her to risk it until she became more familiar with her +surroundings. She wandered aimlessly through the forest searching for +food which she found in abundance. She ate and rested, for she had no +objective as yet. Her freedom was too new to be spoiled by plannings +for the future. The haunts of civilized man seemed to her now as vague +and unattainable as the half-forgotten substance of a dream. If she +could but live on here in peace, waiting, waiting for--HIM. It was the +old hope revived. She knew that he would come some day, if he lived. +She had always known that, though recently she had believed that he +would come too late. If he lived! Yes, he would come if he lived, and +if he did not live she were as well off here as elsewhere, for then +nothing mattered, only to wait for the end as patiently as might be. + +Her wanderings brought her to a crystal brook and there she drank and +bathed beneath an overhanging tree that offered her quick asylum in the +event of danger. It was a quiet and beautiful spot and she loved it +from the first. The bottom of the brook was paved with pretty stones +and bits of glassy obsidian. As she gathered a handful of the pebbles +and held them up to look at them she noticed that one of her fingers +was bleeding from a clean, straight cut. She fell to searching for the +cause and presently discovered it in one of the fragments of volcanic +glass which revealed an edge that was almost razor-like. Jane Clayton +was elated. Here, God-given to her hands, was the first beginning with +which she might eventually arrive at both weapons and tools--a cutting +edge. Everything was possible to him who possessed it--nothing without. + +She sought until she had collected many of the precious bits of +stone--until the pouch that hung at her right side was almost filled. +Then she climbed into the great tree to examine them at leisure. There +were some that looked like knife blades, and some that could easily be +fashioned into spear heads, and many smaller ones that nature seemed to +have intended for the tips of savage arrows. + +The spear she would essay first--that would be easiest. There was a +hollow in the bole of the tree in a great crotch high above the ground. +Here she cached all of her treasure except a single knifelike sliver. +With this she descended to the ground and searching out a slender +sapling that grew arrow-straight she hacked and sawed until she could +break it off without splitting the wood. It was just the right diameter +for the shaft of a spear--a hunting spear such as her beloved Waziri +had liked best. How often had she watched them fashioning them, and +they had taught her how to use them, too--them and the heavy war +spears--laughing and clapping their hands as her proficiency increased. + +She knew the arborescent grasses that yielded the longest and toughest +fibers and these she sought and carried to her tree with the spear +shaft that was to be. Clambering to her crotch she bent to her work, +humming softly a little tune. She caught herself and smiled--it was the +first time in all these bitter months that song had passed her lips or +such a smile. + +"I feel," she sighed, "I almost feel that John is near--my John--my +Tarzan!" + +She cut the spear shaft to the proper length and removed the twigs and +branches and the bark, whittling and scraping at the nubs until the +surface was all smooth and straight. Then she split one end and +inserted a spear point, shaping the wood until it fitted perfectly. +This done she laid the shaft aside and fell to splitting the thick +grass stems and pounding and twisting them until she had separated and +partially cleaned the fibers. These she took down to the brook and +washed and brought back again and wound tightly around the cleft end of +the shaft, which she had notched to receive them, and the upper part of +the spear head which she had also notched slightly with a bit of stone. +It was a crude spear but the best that she could attain in so short a +time. Later, she promised herself, she should have others--many of +them--and they would be spears of which even the greatest of the Waziri +spear-men might be proud. + + + +18 + +The Lion Pit of Tu-lur + +Though Tarzan searched the outskirts of the city until nearly dawn he +discovered nowhere the spoor of his mate. The breeze coming down from +the mountains brought to his nostrils a diversity of scents but there +was not among them the slightest suggestion of her whom he sought. The +natural deduction was therefore that she had been taken in some other +direction. In his search he had many times crossed the fresh tracks of +many men leading toward the lake and these he concluded had probably +been made by Jane Clayton's abductors. It had only been to minimize the +chance of error by the process of elimination that he had carefully +reconnoitered every other avenue leading from A-lur toward the +southeast where lay Mo-sar's city of Tu-lur, and now he followed the +trail to the shores of Jad-ben-lul where the party had embarked upon +the quiet waters in their sturdy canoes. + +He found many other craft of the same description moored along the +shore and one of these he commandeered for the purpose of pursuit. It +was daylight when he passed through the lake which lies next below +Jad-ben-lul and paddling strongly passed within sight of the very tree +in which his lost mate lay sleeping. + +Had the gentle wind that caressed the bosom of the lake been blowing +from a southerly direction the giant ape-man and Jane Clayton would +have been reunited then, but an unkind fate had willed otherwise and +the opportunity passed with the passing of his canoe which presently +his powerful strokes carried out of sight into the stream at the lower +end of the lake. + +Following the winding river which bore a considerable distance to the +north before doubling back to empty into the Jad-in-lul, the ape-man +missed a portage that would have saved him hours of paddling. + +It was at the upper end of this portage where Mo-sar and his warriors +had debarked that the chief discovered the absence of his captive. As +Mo-sar had been asleep since shortly after their departure from A-lur, +and as none of the warriors recalled when she had last been seen, it +was impossible to conjecture with any degree of accuracy the place +where she had escaped. The consensus of opinion was, however, that it +had been in the narrow river connecting Jad-ben-lul with the lake next +below it, which is called Jad-bal-lul, which freely translated means +the lake of gold. Mo-sar had been very wroth and having himself been +the only one at fault he naturally sought with great diligence to fix +the blame upon another. + +He would have returned in search of her had he not feared to meet a +pursuing company dispatched either by Ja-don or the high priest, both +of whom, he knew, had just grievances against him. He would not even +spare a boatload of his warriors from his own protection to return in +quest of the fugitive but hastened onward with as little delay as +possible across the portage and out upon the waters of Jad-in-lul. + +The morning sun was just touching the white domes of Tu-lur when +Mo-sar's paddlers brought their canoes against the shore at the city's +edge. Safe once more behind his own walls and protected by many +warriors, the courage of the chief returned sufficiently at least to +permit him to dispatch three canoes in search of Jane Clayton, and also +to go as far as A-lur if possible to learn what had delayed Bu-lot, +whose failure to reach the canoes with the balance of the party at the +time of the flight from the northern city had in no way delayed +Mo-sar's departure, his own safety being of far greater moment than +that of his son. + +As the three canoes reached the portage on their return journey the +warriors who were dragging them from the water were suddenly startled +by the appearance of two priests, carrying a light canoe in the +direction of Jad-in-lul. At first they thought them the advance guard +of a larger force of Lu-don's followers, although the correctness of +such a theory was belied by their knowledge that priests never accepted +the risks or perils of a warrior's vocation, nor even fought until +driven into a corner and forced to do so. Secretly the warriors of +Pal-ul-don held the emasculated priesthood in contempt and so instead +of immediately taking up the offensive as they would have had the two +men been warriors from A-lur instead of priests, they waited to +question them. + +At sight of the warriors the priests made the sign of peace and upon +being asked if they were alone they answered in the affirmative. + +The leader of Mo-sar's warriors permitted them to approach. "What do +you here," he asked, "in the country of Mo-sar, so far from your own +city?" + +"We carry a message from Lu-don, the high priest, to Mo-sar," explained +one. + +"Is it a message of peace or of war?" asked the warrior. + +"It is an offer of peace," replied the priest. + +"And Lu-don is sending no warriors behind you?" queried the fighting +man. + +"We are alone," the priest assured him. "None in A-lur save Lu-don +knows that we have come upon this errand." + +"Then go your way," said the warrior. + +"Who is that?" asked one of the priests suddenly, pointing toward the +upper end of the lake at the point where the river from Jad-bal-lul +entered it. + +All eyes turned in the direction that he had indicated to see a lone +warrior paddling rapidly into Jad-in-lul, the prow of his canoe +pointing toward Tu-lur. The warriors and the priests drew into the +concealment of the bushes on either side of the portage. + +"It is the terrible man who called himself the Dor-ul-Otho," whispered +one of the priests. "I would know that figure among a great multitude +as far as I could see it." + +"You are right, priest," cried one of the warriors who had seen Tarzan +the day that he had first entered Ko-tan's palace. "It is indeed he who +has been rightly called Tarzan-jad-guru." + +"Hasten priests," cried the leader of the party. "You are two paddles +in a light canoe. Easily can you reach Tu-lur ahead of him and warn +Mo-sar of his coming, for he has but only entered the lake." + +For a moment the priests demurred for they had no stomach for an +encounter with this terrible man, but the warrior insisted and even +went so far as to threaten them. Their canoe was taken from them and +pushed into the lake and they were all but lifted bodily from their +feet and put aboard it. Still protesting they were shoved out upon the +water where they were immediately in full view of the lone paddler +above them. Now there was no alternative. The city of Tu-lur offered +the only safety and bending to their paddles the two priests sent their +craft swiftly in the direction of the city. + +The warriors withdrew again to the concealment of the foliage. If +Tarzan had seen them and should come hither to investigate there were +thirty of them against one and naturally they had no fear of the +outcome, but they did not consider it necessary to go out upon the lake +to meet him since they had been sent to look for the escaped prisoner +and not to intercept the strange warrior, the stories of whose ferocity +and prowess doubtless helped them to arrive at their decision to +provoke no uncalled-for quarrel with him. + +If he had seen them he gave no sign, but continued paddling steadily +and strongly toward the city, nor did he increase his speed as the two +priests shot out in full view. The moment the priests' canoe touched +the shore by the city its occupants leaped out and hurried swiftly +toward the palace gate, casting affrighted glances behind them. They +sought immediate audience with Mo-sar, after warning the warriors on +guard that Tarzan was approaching. + +They were conducted at once to the chief, whose court was a smaller +replica of that of the king of A-lur. "We come from Lu-don, the high +priest," explained the spokesman. "He wishes the friendship of Mo-sar, +who has always been his friend. Ja-don is gathering warriors to make +himself king. Throughout the villages of the Ho-don are thousands who +will obey the commands of Lu-don, the high priest. Only with Lu-don's +assistance can Mo-sar become king, and the message from Lu-don is that +if Mo-sar would retain the friendship of Lu-don he must return +immediately the woman he took from the quarters of the Princess O-lo-a." + +At this juncture a warrior entered. His excitement was evident. "The +Dor-ul-Otho has come to Tu-lur and demands to see Mo-sar at once," he +said. + +"The Dor-ul-Otho!" exclaimed Mo-sar. + +"That is the message he sent," replied the warrior, "and indeed he is +not as are the people of Pal-ul-don. He is, we think, the same of whom +the warriors that returned from A-lur today told us and whom some call +Tarzan-jad-guru and some Dor-ul-Otho. But indeed only the son of god +would dare come thus alone to a strange city, so it must be that he +speaks the truth." + +Mo-sar, his heart filled with terror and indecision, turned +questioningly toward the priests. + +"Receive him graciously, Mo-sar," counseled he who had spoken before, +his advice prompted by the petty shrewdness of his defective brain +which, under the added influence of Lu-don's tutorage leaned always +toward duplicity. "Receive him graciously and when he is quite +convinced of your friendship he will be off his guard, and then you may +do with him as you will. But if possible, Mo-sar, and you would win the +undying gratitude of Lu-don, the high-priest, save him alive for my +master." + +Mo-sar nodded understandingly and turning to the warrior commanded that +he conduct the visitor to him. + +"We must not be seen by the creature," said one of the priests. "Give +us your answer to Lu-don, Mo-sar, and we will go our way." + +"Tell Lu-don," replied the chief, "that the woman would have been lost +to him entirely had it not been for me. I sought to bring her to Tu-lur +that I might save her for him from the clutches of Ja-don, but during +the night she escaped. Tell Lu-don that I have sent thirty warriors to +search for her. It is strange you did not see them as you came." + +"We did," replied the priests, "but they told us nothing of the purpose +of their journey." + +"It is as I have told you," said Mo-sar, "and if they find her, assure +your master that she will be kept unharmed in Tu-lur for him. Also tell +him that I will send my warriors to join with his against Ja-don +whenever he sends word that he wants them. Now go, for Tarzan-jad-guru +will soon be here." + +He signaled to a slave. "Lead the priests to the temple," he commanded, +"and ask the high priest of Tu-lur to see that they are fed and +permitted to return to A-lur when they will." + +The two priests were conducted from the apartment by the slave through +a doorway other than that at which they had entered, and a moment later +Tarzan-jad-guru strode into the presence of Mo-sar, ahead of the +warrior whose duty it had been to conduct and announce him. The ape-man +made no sign of greeting or of peace but strode directly toward the +chief who, only by the exertion of his utmost powers of will, hid the +terror that was in his heart at sight of the giant figure and the +scowling face. + +"I am the Dor-ul-Otho," said the ape-man in level tones that carried to +the mind of Mo-sar a suggestion of cold steel; "I am Dor-ul-Otho, and I +come to Tu-lur for the woman you stole from the apartments of O-lo-a, +the princess." + +The very boldness of Tarzan's entry into this hostile city had had the +effect of giving him a great moral advantage over Mo-sar and the savage +warriors who stood upon either side of the chief. Truly it seemed to +them that no other than the son of Jad-ben-Otho would dare so heroic an +act. Would any mortal warrior act thus boldly, and alone enter the +presence of a powerful chief and, in the midst of a score of warriors, +arrogantly demand an accounting? No, it was beyond reason. Mo-sar was +faltering in his decision to betray the stranger by seeming +friendliness. He even paled to a sudden thought--Jad-ben-Otho knew +everything, even our inmost thoughts. Was it not therefore possible +that this creature, if after all it should prove true that he was the +Dor-ul-Otho, might even now be reading the wicked design that the +priests had implanted in the brain of Mo-sar and which he had +entertained so favorably? The chief squirmed and fidgeted upon the +bench of hewn rock that was his throne. + +"Quick," snapped the ape-man, "Where is she?" + +"She is not here," cried Mo-sar. + +"You lie," replied Tarzan. + +"As Jad-ben-Otho is my witness, she is not in Tu-lur," insisted the +chief. "You may search the palace and the temple and the entire city +but you will not find her, for she is not here." + +"Where is she, then?" demanded the ape-man. "You took her from the +palace at A-lur. If she is not here, where is she? Tell me not that +harm has befallen her," and he took a sudden threatening step toward +Mo-sar, that sent the chief shrinking back in terror. + +"Wait," he cried, "if you are indeed the Dor-ul-Otho you will know that +I speak the truth. I took her from the palace of Ko-tan to save her for +Lu-don, the high priest, lest with Ko-tan dead Ja-don seize her. But +during the night she escaped from me between here and A-lur, and I have +but just sent three canoes full-manned in search of her." + +Something in the chief's tone and manner assured the ape-man that he +spoke in part the truth, and that once again he had braved incalculable +dangers and suffered loss of time futilely. + +"What wanted the priests of Lu-don that preceded me here?" demanded +Tarzan chancing a shrewd guess that the two he had seen paddling so +frantically to avoid a meeting with him had indeed come from the high +priest at A-lur. + +"They came upon an errand similar to yours," replied Mo-sar; "to demand +the return of the woman whom Lu-don thought I had stolen from him, thus +wronging me as deeply, O Dor-ul-Otho, as have you." + +"I would question the priests," said Tarzan. "Bring them hither." His +peremptory and arrogant manner left Mo-sar in doubt as to whether to be +more incensed, or terrified, but ever as is the way with such as he, he +concluded that the first consideration was his own safety. If he could +transfer the attention and the wrath of this terrible man from himself +to Lu-don's priests it would more than satisfy him and if they should +conspire to harm him, then Mo-sar would be safe in the eyes of +Jad-ben-Otho if it finally developed that the stranger was in reality +the son of god. He felt uncomfortable in Tarzan's presence and this +fact rather accentuated his doubt, for thus indeed would mortal feel in +the presence of a god. Now he saw a way to escape, at least temporarily. + +"I will fetch them myself, Dor-ul-Otho," he said, and turning, left the +apartment. His hurried steps brought him quickly to the temple, for the +palace grounds of Tu-lur, which also included the temple as in all of +the Ho-don cities, covered a much smaller area than those of the larger +city of A-lur. He found Lu-don's messengers with the high priest of his +own temple and quickly transmitted to them the commands of the ape-man. + +"What do you intend to do with him?" asked one of the priests. + +"I have no quarrel with him," replied Mo-sar. "He came in peace and he +may depart in peace, for who knows but that he is indeed the +Dor-ul-Otho?" + +"We know that he is not," replied Lu-don's emissary. "We have every +proof that he is only mortal, a strange creature from another country. +Already has Lu-don offered his life to Jad-ben-Otho if he is wrong in +his belief that this creature is not the son of god. If the high priest +of A-lur, who is the highest priest of all the high priests of +Pal-ul-don is thus so sure that the creature is an impostor as to stake +his life upon his judgment then who are we to give credence to the +claims of this stranger? No, Mo-sar, you need not fear him. He is only +a warrior who may be overcome with the same weapons that subdue your +own fighting men. Were it not for Lu-don's command that he be taken +alive I would urge you to set your warriors upon him and slay him, but +the commands of Lu-don are the commands of Jad-ben-Otho himself, and +those we may not disobey." + +But still the remnant of a doubt stirred within the cowardly breast of +Mo-sar, urging him to let another take the initiative against the +stranger. + +"He is yours then," he replied, "to do with as you will. I have no +quarrel with him. What you may command shall be the command of Lu-don, +the high priest, and further than that I shall have nothing to do in +the matter." + +The priests turned to him who guided the destinies of the temple at +Tu-lur. "Have you no plan?" they asked. "High indeed will he stand in +the counsels of Lu-don and in the eyes of Jad-ben-Otho who finds the +means to capture this impostor alive." + +"There is the lion pit," whispered the high priest. "It is now vacant +and what will hold JA and JATO will hold this stranger if he is not the +Dor-ul-Otho." + +"It will hold him," said Mo-sar; "doubtless too it would hold a GRYF, +but first you would have to get the GRYF into it." + +The priests pondered this bit of wisdom thoughtfully and then one of +those from A-lur spoke. "It should not be difficult," he said, "if we +use the wits that Jad-ben-Otho gave us instead of the worldly muscles +which were handed down to us from our fathers and our mothers and which +have not even the power possessed by those of the beasts that run about +on four feet." + +"Lu-don matched his wits with the stranger and lost," suggested Mo-sar. +"But this is your own affair. Carry it out as you see best." + +"At A-lur, Ko-tan made much of this Dor-ul-Otho and the priests +conducted him through the temple. It would arouse in his mind no +suspicion were you to do the same, and let the high priest of Tu-lur +invite him to the temple and gathering all the priests make a great +show of belief in his kinship to Jad-ben-Otho. And what more natural +then than that the high priest should wish to show him through the +temple as did Lu-don at A-lur when Ko-tan commanded it, and if by +chance he should be led through the lion pit it would be a simple +matter for those who bear the torches to extinguish them suddenly and +before the stranger was aware of what had happened, the stone gates +could be dropped, thus safely securing him." + +"But there are windows in the pit that let in light," interposed the +high priest, "and even though the torches were extinguished he could +still see and might escape before the stone door could be lowered." + +"Send one who will cover the windows tightly with hides," said the +priest from A-lur. + +"The plan is a good one," said Mo-sar, seeing an opportunity for +entirely eliminating himself from any suspicion of complicity, "for it +will require the presence of no warriors, and thus with only priests +about him his mind will entertain no suspicion of harm." + +They were interrupted at this point by a messenger from the palace who +brought word that the Dor-ul-Otho was becoming impatient and if the +priests from A-lur were not brought to him at once he would come +himself to the temple and get them. Mo-sar shook his head. He could not +conceive of such brazen courage in mortal breast and glad he was that +the plan evolved for Tarzan's undoing did not necessitate his active +participation. + +And so, while Mo-sar left for a secret corner of the palace by a +roundabout way, three priests were dispatched to Tarzan and with +whining words that did not entirely deceive him, they acknowledged his +kinship to Jad-ben-Otho and begged him in the name of the high priest +to honor the temple with a visit, when the priests from A-lur would be +brought to him and would answer any questions that he put to them. + +Confident that a continuation of his bravado would best serve his +purpose, and also that if suspicion against him should crystallize into +conviction on the part of Mo-sar and his followers that he would be no +worse off in the temple than in the palace, the ape-man haughtily +accepted the invitation of the high priest. + +And so he came into the temple and was received in a manner befitting +his high claims. He questioned the two priests of A-lur from whom he +obtained only a repetition of the story that Mo-sar had told him, and +then the high priest invited him to inspect the temple. + +They took him first to the altar court, of which there was only one in +Tu-lur. It was almost identical in every respect with those at A-lur. +There was a bloody altar at the east end and the drowning basin at the +west, and the grizzly fringes upon the headdresses of the priests +attested the fact that the eastern altar was an active force in the +rites of the temple. Through the chambers and corridors beneath they +led him, and finally, with torch bearers to light their steps, into a +damp and gloomy labyrinth at a low level and here in a large chamber, +the air of which was still heavy with the odor of lions, the crafty +priests of Tu-lur encompassed their shrewd design. + +The torches were suddenly extinguished. There was a hurried confusion +of bare feet moving rapidly across the stone floor. There was a loud +crash as of a heavy weight of stone falling upon stone, and then +surrounding the ape-man naught but the darkness and the silence of the +tomb. + + + +19 + +Diana of the Jungle + +Jane had made her first kill and she was very proud of it. It was not a +very formidable animal--only a hare; but it marked an epoch in her +existence. Just as in the dim past the first hunter had shaped the +destinies of mankind so it seemed that this event might shape hers in +some new mold. No longer was she dependent upon the wild fruits and +vegetables for sustenance. Now she might command meat, the giver of the +strength and endurance she would require successfully to cope with the +necessities of her primitive existence. + +The next step was fire. She might learn to eat raw flesh as had her +lord and master; but she shrank from that. The thought even was +repulsive. She had, however, a plan for fire. She had given the matter +thought, but had been too busy to put it into execution so long as fire +could be of no immediate use to her. Now it was different--she had +something to cook and her mouth watered for the flesh of her kill. She +would grill it above glowing embers. Jane hastened to her tree. Among +the treasures she had gathered in the bed of the stream were several +pieces of volcanic glass, clear as crystal. She sought until she had +found the one in mind, which was convex. Then she hurried to the ground +and gathered a little pile of powdered bark that was very dry, and some +dead leaves and grasses that had lain long in the hot sun. Near at hand +she arranged a supply of dead twigs and branches--small and large. + +Vibrant with suppressed excitement she held the bit of glass above the +tinder, moving it slowly until she had focused the sun's rays upon a +tiny spot. She waited breathlessly. How slow it was! Were her high +hopes to be dashed in spite of all her clever planning? No! A thin +thread of smoke rose gracefully into the quiet air. Presently the +tinder glowed and broke suddenly into flame. Jane clasped her hands +beneath her chin with a little gurgling exclamation of delight. She had +achieved fire! + +She piled on twigs and then larger branches and at last dragged a small +log to the flames and pushed an end of it into the fire which was +crackling merrily. It was the sweetest sound that she had heard for +many a month. But she could not wait for the mass of embers that would +be required to cook her hare. As quickly as might be she skinned and +cleaned her kill, burying the hide and entrails. That she had learned +from Tarzan. It served two purposes. One was the necessity for keeping +a sanitary camp and the other the obliteration of the scent that most +quickly attracts the man-eaters. + +Then she ran a stick through the carcass and held it above the flames. +By turning it often she prevented burning and at the same time +permitted the meat to cook thoroughly all the way through. When it was +done she scampered high into the safety of her tree to enjoy her meal +in quiet and peace. Never, thought Lady Greystoke, had aught more +delicious passed her lips. She patted her spear affectionately. It had +brought her this toothsome dainty and with it a feeling of greater +confidence and safety than she had enjoyed since that frightful day +that she and Obergatz had spent their last cartridge. She would never +forget that day--it had seemed one hideous succession of frightful +beast after frightful beast. They had not been long in this strange +country, yet they thought that they were hardened to dangers, for daily +they had had encounters with ferocious creatures; but this day--she +shuddered when she thought of it. And with her last cartridge she had +killed a black and yellow striped lion-thing with great saber teeth +just as it was about to spring upon Obergatz who had futilely emptied +his rifle into it--the last shot--his final cartridge. For another day +they had carried the now useless rifles; but at last they had discarded +them and thrown away the cumbersome bandoleers, as well. How they had +managed to survive during the ensuing week she could never quite +understand, and then the Ho-don had come upon them and captured her. +Obergatz had escaped--she was living it all over again. Doubtless he +was dead unless he had been able to reach this side of the valley which +was quite evidently less overrun with savage beasts. + +Jane's days were very full ones now, and the daylight hours seemed all +too short in which to accomplish the many things she had determined +upon, since she had concluded that this spot presented as ideal a place +as she could find to live until she could fashion the weapons she +considered necessary for the obtaining of meat and for self-defense. + +She felt that she must have, in addition to a good spear, a knife, and +bow and arrows. Possibly when these had been achieved she might +seriously consider an attempt to fight her way to one of civilization's +nearest outposts. In the meantime it was necessary to construct some +sort of protective shelter in which she might feel a greater sense of +security by night, for she knew that there was a possibility that any +night she might receive a visit from a prowling panther, although she +had as yet seen none upon this side of the valley. Aside from this +danger she felt comparatively safe in her aerial retreat. + +The cutting of the long poles for her home occupied all of the daylight +hours that were not engaged in the search for food. These poles she +carried high into her tree and with them constructed a flooring across +two stout branches binding the poles together and also to the branches +with fibers from the tough arboraceous grasses that grew in profusion +near the stream. Similarly she built walls and a roof, the latter +thatched with many layers of great leaves. The fashioning of the barred +windows and the door were matters of great importance and consuming +interest. The windows, there were two of them, were large and the bars +permanently fixed; but the door was small, the opening just large +enough to permit her to pass through easily on hands and knees, which +made it easier to barricade. She lost count of the days that the house +cost her; but time was a cheap commodity--she had more of it than of +anything else. It meant so little to her that she had not even any +desire to keep account of it. How long since she and Obergatz had fled +from the wrath of the Negro villagers she did not know and she could +only roughly guess at the seasons. She worked hard for two reasons; one +was to hasten the completion of her little place of refuge, and the +other a desire for such physical exhaustion at night that she would +sleep through those dreaded hours to a new day. As a matter of fact the +house was finished in less than a week--that is, it was made as safe as +it ever would be, though regardless of how long she might occupy it she +would keep on adding touches and refinements here and there. + +Her daily life was filled with her house building and her hunting, to +which was added an occasional spice of excitement contributed by roving +lions. To the woodcraft that she had learned from Tarzan, that master +of the art, was added a considerable store of practical experience +derived from her own past adventures in the jungle and the long months +with Obergatz, nor was any day now lacking in some added store of +useful knowledge. To these facts was attributable her apparent immunity +from harm, since they told her when JA was approaching before he crept +close enough for a successful charge and, too, they kept her close to +those never-failing havens of retreat--the trees. + +The nights, filled with their weird noises, were lonely and depressing. +Only her ability to sleep quickly and soundly made them endurable. The +first night that she spent in her completed house behind barred windows +and barricaded door was one of almost undiluted peace and happiness. +The night noises seemed far removed and impersonal and the soughing of +the wind in the trees was gently soothing. Before, it had carried a +mournful note and was sinister in that it might hide the approach of +some real danger. That night she slept indeed. + +She went further afield now in search of food. So far nothing but +rodents had fallen to her spear--her ambition was an antelope, since +beside the flesh it would give her, and the gut for her bow, the hide +would prove invaluable during the colder weather that she knew would +accompany the rainy season. She had caught glimpses of these wary +animals and was sure that they always crossed the stream at a certain +spot above her camp. It was to this place that she went to hunt them. +With the stealth and cunning of a panther she crept through the forest, +circling about to get up wind from the ford, pausing often to look and +listen for aught that might menace her--herself the personification of +a hunted deer. Now she moved silently down upon the chosen spot. What +luck! A beautiful buck stood drinking in the stream. The woman wormed +her way closer. Now she lay upon her belly behind a small bush within +throwing distance of the quarry. She must rise to her full height and +throw her spear almost in the same instant and she must throw it with +great force and perfect accuracy. She thrilled with the excitement of +the minute, yet cool and steady were her swift muscles as she rose and +cast her missile. Scarce by the width of a finger did the point strike +from the spot at which it had been directed. The buck leaped high, +landed upon the bank of the stream, and fell dead. Jane Clayton sprang +quickly forward toward her kill. + +"Bravo!" A man's voice spoke in English from the shrubbery upon the +opposite side of the stream. Jane Clayton halted in her +tracks--stunned, almost, by surprise. And then a strange, unkempt +figure of a man stepped into view. At first she did not recognize him, +but when she did, instinctively she stepped back. + +"Lieutenant Obergatz!" she cried. "Can it be you?" + +"It can. It is," replied the German. "I am a strange sight, no doubt; +but still it is I, Erich Obergatz. And you? You have changed too, is it +not?" + +He was looking at her naked limbs and her golden breastplates, the loin +cloth of JATO-hide, the harness and ornaments that constitute the +apparel of a Ho-don woman--the things that Lu-don had dressed her in as +his passion for her grew. Not Ko-tan's daughter, even, had finer +trappings. + +"But why are you here?" Jane insisted. "I had thought you safely among +civilized men by this time, if you still lived." + +"Gott!" he exclaimed. "I do not know why I continue to live. I have +prayed to die and yet I cling to life. There is no hope. We are doomed +to remain in this horrible land until we die. The bog! The frightful +bog! I have searched its shores for a place to cross until I have +entirely circled the hideous country. Easily enough we entered; but the +rains have come since and now no living man could pass that slough of +slimy mud and hungry reptiles. Have I not tried it! And the beasts that +roam this accursed land. They hunt me by day and by night." + +"But how have you escaped them?" she asked. + +"I do not know," he replied gloomily. "I have fled and fled and fled. I +have remained hungry and thirsty in tree tops for days at a time. I +have fashioned weapons--clubs and spears--and I have learned to use +them. I have slain a lion with my club. So even will a cornered rat +fight. And we are no better than rats in this land of stupendous +dangers, you and I. But tell me about yourself. If it is surprising +that I live, how much more so that you still survive." + +Briefly she told him and all the while she was wondering what she might +do to rid herself of him. She could not conceive of a prolonged +existence with him as her sole companion. Better, a thousand times +better, to be alone. Never had her hatred and contempt for him lessened +through the long weeks and months of their constant companionship, and +now that he could be of no service in returning her to civilization, +she shrank from the thought of seeing him daily. And, too, she feared +him. Never had she trusted him; but now there was a strange light in +his eye that had not been there when last she saw him. She could not +interpret it--all she knew was that it gave her a feeling of +apprehension--a nameless dread. + +"You lived long then in the city of A-lur?" he said, speaking in the +language of Pal-ul-don. + +"You have learned this tongue?" she asked. "How?" + +"I fell in with a band of half-breeds," he replied, "members of a +proscribed race that dwells in the rock-bound gut through which the +principal river of the valley empties into the morass. They are called +Waz-ho-don and their village is partly made up of cave dwellings and +partly of houses carved from the soft rock at the foot of the cliff. +They are very ignorant and superstitious and when they first saw me and +realized that I had no tail and that my hands and feet were not like +theirs they were afraid of me. They thought that I was either god or +demon. Being in a position where I could neither escape them nor defend +myself, I made a bold front and succeeded in impressing them to such an +extent that they conducted me to their city, which they call Bu-lur, +and there they fed me and treated me with kindness. As I learned their +language I sought to impress them more and more with the idea that I +was a god, and I succeeded, too, until an old fellow who was something +of a priest among them, or medicine-man, became jealous of my growing +power. That was the beginning of the end and came near to being the end +in fact. He told them that if I was a god I would not bleed if a knife +was stuck into me--if I did bleed it would prove conclusively that I +was not a god. Without my knowledge he arranged to stage the ordeal +before the whole village upon a certain night--it was upon one of those +numerous occasions when they eat and drink to Jad-ben-Otho, their pagan +deity. Under the influence of their vile liquor they would be ripe for +any bloodthirsty scheme the medicine-man might evolve. One of the women +told me about the plan--not with any intent to warn me of danger, but +prompted merely by feminine curiosity as to whether or not I would +bleed if stuck with a dagger. She could not wait, it seemed, for the +orderly procedure of the ordeal--she wanted to know at once, and when I +caught her trying to slip a knife into my side and questioned her she +explained the whole thing with the utmost naivete. The warriors +already had commenced drinking--it would have been futile to make any +sort of appeal either to their intellects or their superstitions. There +was but one alternative to death and that was flight. I told the woman +that I was very much outraged and offended at this reflection upon my +godhood and that as a mark of my disfavor I should abandon them to +their fate. + +"'I shall return to heaven at once!' I exclaimed. + +"She wanted to hang around and see me go, but I told her that her eyes +would be blasted by the fire surrounding my departure and that she must +leave at once and not return to the spot for at least an hour. I also +impressed upon her the fact that should any other approach this part of +the village within that time not only they, but she as well, would +burst into flames and be consumed. + +"She was very much impressed and lost no time in leaving, calling back +as she departed that if I were indeed gone in an hour she and all the +village would know that I was no less than Jad-ben-Otho himself, and so +they must think me, for I can assure you that I was gone in much less +than an hour, nor have I ventured close to the neighborhood of the city +of Bu-lur since," and he fell to laughing in harsh, cackling notes that +sent a shiver through the woman's frame. + +As Obergatz talked Jane had recovered her spear from the carcass of the +antelope and commenced busying herself with the removal of the hide. +The man made no attempt to assist her, but stood by talking and +watching her, the while he continually ran his filthy fingers through +his matted hair and beard. His face and body were caked with dirt and +he was naked except for a torn greasy hide about his loins. His weapons +consisted of a club and knife of Waz-don pattern, that he had stolen +from the city of Bu-lur; but what more greatly concerned the woman than +his filth or his armament were his cackling laughter and the strange +expression in his eyes. + +She went on with her work, however, removing those parts of the buck +she wanted, taking only as much meat as she might consume before it +spoiled, as she was not sufficiently a true jungle creature to relish +it beyond that stage, and then she straightened up and faced the man. + +"Lieutenant Obergatz," she said, "by a chance of accident we have met +again. Certainly you would not have sought the meeting any more than I. +We have nothing in common other than those sentiments which may have +been engendered by my natural dislike and suspicion of you, one of the +authors of all the misery and sorrow that I have endured for endless +months. This little corner of the world is mine by right of discovery +and occupation. Go away and leave me to enjoy here what peace I may. It +is the least that you can do to amend the wrong that you have done me +and mine." + +The man stared at her through his fishy eyes for a moment in silence, +then there broke from his lips a peal of mirthless, uncanny laughter. + +"Go away! Leave you alone!" he cried. "I have found you. We are going +to be good friends. There is no one else in the world but us. No one +will ever know what we do or what becomes of us and now you ask me to +go away and live alone in this hellish solitude." Again he laughed, +though neither the muscles of his eyes or his mouth reflected any +mirth--it was just a hollow sound that imitated laughter. + +"Remember your promise," she said. + +"Promise! Promise! What are promises? They are made to be broken--we +taught the world that at Liege and Louvain. No, no! I will not go +away. I shall stay and protect you." + +"I do not need your protection," she insisted. "You have already seen +that I can use a spear." + +"Yes," he said; "but it would not be right to leave you here alone--you +are but a woman. No, no; I am an officer of the Kaiser and I cannot +abandon you." + +Once more he laughed. "We could be very happy here together," he added. + +The woman could not repress a shudder, nor, in fact, did she attempt to +hide her aversion. + +"You do not like me?" he asked. "Ah, well; it is too sad. But some day +you will love me," and again the hideous laughter. + +The woman had wrapped the pieces of the buck in the hide and this she +now raised and threw across her shoulder. In her other hand she held +her spear and faced the German. + +"Go!" she commanded. "We have wasted enough words. This is my country +and I shall defend it. If I see you about again I shall kill you. Do +you understand?" + +An expression of rage contorted Obergatz' features. He raised his club +and started toward her. + +"Stop!" she commanded, throwing her spear-hand backward for a cast. +"You saw me kill this buck and you have said truthfully that no one +will ever know what we do here. Put these two facts together, German, +and draw your own conclusions before you take another step in my +direction." + +The man halted and his club-hand dropped to his side. "Come," he begged +in what he intended as a conciliatory tone. "Let us be friends, Lady +Greystoke. We can be of great assistance to each other and I promise +not to harm you." + +"Remember Liege and Louvain," she reminded him with a sneer. "I am +going now--be sure that you do not follow me. As far as you can walk in +a day from this spot in any direction you may consider the limits of my +domain. If ever again I see you within these limits I shall kill you." + +There could be no question that she meant what she said and the man +seemed convinced for he but stood sullenly eyeing her as she backed +from sight beyond a turn in the game trail that crossed the ford where +they had met, and disappeared in the forest. + + + +20 + +Silently in the Night + +In A-lur the fortunes of the city had been tossed from hand to hand. +The party of Ko-tan's loyal warriors that Tarzan had led to the +rendezvous at the entrance to the secret passage below the palace gates +had met with disaster. Their first rush had been met with soft words +from the priests. They had been exhorted to defend the faith of their +fathers from blasphemers. Ja-don was painted to them as a defiler of +temples, and the wrath of Jad-ben-Otho was prophesied for those who +embraced his cause. The priests insisted that Lu-don's only wish was to +prevent the seizure of the throne by Ja-don until a new king could be +chosen according to the laws of the Ho-don. + +The result was that many of the palace warriors joined their fellows of +the city, and when the priests saw that those whom they could influence +outnumbered those who remained loyal to the palace, they caused the +former to fall upon the latter with the result that many were killed +and only a handful succeeded in reaching the safety of the palace +gates, which they quickly barred. + +The priests led their own forces through the secret passageway into the +temple, while some of the loyal ones sought out Ja-don and told him all +that had happened. The fight in the banquet hall had spread over a +considerable portion of the palace grounds and had at last resulted in +the temporary defeat of those who had opposed Ja-don. This force, +counseled by under priests sent for the purpose by Lu-don, had +withdrawn within the temple grounds so that now the issue was plainly +marked as between Ja-don on the one side and Lu-don on the other. + +The former had been told of all that had occurred in the apartments of +O-lo-a to whose safety he had attended at the first opportunity and he +had also learned of Tarzan's part in leading his men to the gathering +of Lu-don's warriors. + +These things had naturally increased the old warrior's former +inclinations of friendliness toward the ape-man, and now he regretted +that the other had departed from the city. + +The testimony of O-lo-a and Pan-at-lee was such as to strengthen +whatever belief in the godliness of the stranger Ja-don and others of +the warriors had previously entertained, until presently there appeared +a strong tendency upon the part of this palace faction to make the +Dor-ul-otho an issue of their original quarrel with Lu-don. Whether +this occurred as the natural sequence to repeated narrations of the +ape-man's exploits, which lost nothing by repetition, in conjunction +with Lu-don's enmity toward him, or whether it was the shrewd design of +some wily old warrior such as Ja-don, who realized the value of adding +a religious cause to their temporal one, it were difficult to +determine; but the fact remained that Ja-don's followers developed +bitter hatred for the followers of Lu-don because of the high priest's +antagonism to Tarzan. + +Unfortunately however Tarzan was not there to inspire the followers of +Ja-don with the holy zeal that might have quickly settled the dispute +in the old chieftain's favor. Instead, he was miles away and because +their repeated prayers for his presence were unanswered, the weaker +spirits among them commenced to suspect that their cause did not have +divine favor. There was also another and a potent cause for defection +from the ranks of Ja-don. It emanated from the city where the friends +and relatives of the palace warriors, who were largely also the friends +and relatives of Lu-don's forces, found the means, urged on by the +priesthood, to circulate throughout the palace pernicious propaganda +aimed at Ja-don's cause. + +The result was that Lu-don's power increased while that of Ja-don +waned. Then followed a sortie from the temple which resulted in the +defeat of the palace forces, and though they were able to withdraw in +decent order withdraw they did, leaving the palace to Lu-don, who was +now virtually ruler of Pal-ul-don. + +Ja-don, taking with him the princess, her women, and their slaves, +including Pan-at-lee, as well as the women and children of his faithful +followers, retreated not only from the palace but from the city of +A-lur as well and fell back upon his own city of Ja-lur. Here he +remained, recruiting his forces from the surrounding villages of the +north which, being far removed from the influence of the priesthood of +A-lur, were enthusiastic partisans in any cause that the old chieftain +espoused, since for years he had been revered as their friend and +protector. + +And while these events were transpiring in the north, Tarzan-jad-guru +lay in the lion pit at Tu-lur while messengers passed back and forth +between Mo-sar and Lu-don as the two dickered for the throne of +Pal-ul-don. Mo-sar was cunning enough to guess that should an open +breach occur between himself and the high priest he might use his +prisoner to his own advantage, for he had heard whisperings among even +his own people that suggested that there were those who were more than +a trifle inclined to belief in the divinity of the stranger and that he +might indeed be the Dor-ul-Otho. Lu-don wanted Tarzan himself. He +wanted to sacrifice him upon the eastern altar with his own hands +before a multitude of people, since he was not without evidence that +his own standing and authority had been lessened by the claims of the +bold and heroic figure of the stranger. + +The method that the high priest of Tu-lur had employed to trap Tarzan +had left the ape-man in possession of his weapons though there seemed +little likelihood of their being of any service to him. He also had his +pouch, in which were the various odds and ends which are the natural +accumulation of all receptacles from a gold meshbag to an attic. There +were bits of obsidian and choice feathers for arrows, some pieces of +flint and a couple of steel, an old knife, a heavy bone needle, and +strips of dried gut. Nothing very useful to you or me, perhaps; but +nothing useless to the savage life of the ape-man. + +When Tarzan realized the trick that had been so neatly played upon him +he had awaited expectantly the coming of the lion, for though the scent +of JA was old he was sure that sooner or later they would let one of +the beasts in upon him. His first consideration was a thorough +exploration of his prison. He had noticed the hide-covered windows and +these he immediately uncovered, letting in the light, and revealing the +fact that though the chamber was far below the level of the temple +courts it was yet many feet above the base of the hill from which the +temple was hewn. The windows were so closely barred that he could not +see over the edge of the thick wall in which they were cut to determine +what lay close in below him. At a little distance were the blue waters +of Jad-in-lul and beyond, the verdure-clad farther shore, and beyond +that the mountains. It was a beautiful picture upon which he looked--a +picture of peace and harmony and quiet. Nor anywhere a slightest +suggestion of the savage men and beasts that claimed this lovely +landscape as their own. What a paradise! And some day civilized man +would come and--spoil it! Ruthless axes would raze that age-old wood; +black, sticky smoke would rise from ugly chimneys against that azure +sky; grimy little boats with wheels behind or upon either side would +churn the mud from the bottom of Jad-in-lul, turning its blue waters to +a dirty brown; hideous piers would project into the lake from squalid +buildings of corrugated iron, doubtless, for of such are the pioneer +cities of the world. + +But would civilized man come? Tarzan hoped not. For countless +generations civilization had ramped about the globe; it had dispatched +its emissaries to the North Pole and the South; it had circled +Pal-ul-don once, perhaps many times, but it had never touched her. God +grant that it never would. Perhaps He was saving this little spot to be +always just as He had made it, for the scratching of the Ho-don and the +Waz-don upon His rocks had not altered the fair face of Nature. + +Through the windows came sufficient light to reveal the whole interior +to Tarzan. The room was fairly large and there was a door at each +end--a large door for men and a smaller one for lions. Both were closed +with heavy masses of stone that had been lowered in grooves running to +the floor. The two windows were small and closely barred with the first +iron that Tarzan had seen in Pal-ul-don. The bars were let into holes +in the casing, and the whole so strongly and neatly contrived that +escape seemed impossible. Yet within a few minutes of his incarceration +Tarzan had commenced to undertake his escape. The old knife in his +pouch was brought into requisition and slowly the ape-man began to +scrape and chip away the stone from about the bars of one of the +windows. It was slow work but Tarzan had the patience of absolute +health. + +Each day food and water were brought him and slipped quickly beneath +the smaller door which was raised just sufficiently to allow the stone +receptacles to pass in. The prisoner began to believe that he was being +preserved for something beside lions. However that was immaterial. If +they would but hold off for a few more days they might select what fate +they would--he would not be there when they arrived to announce it. + +And then one day came Pan-sat, Lu-don's chief tool, to the city of +Tu-lur. He came ostensibly with a fair message for Mo-sar from the high +priest at A-lur. Lu-don had decided that Mo-sar should be king and he +invited Mo-sar to come at once to A-lur and then Pan-sat, having +delivered the message, asked that he might go to the temple of Tu-lur +and pray, and there he sought the high priest of Tu-lur to whom was the +true message that Lu-don had sent. The two were closeted alone in a +little chamber and Pan-sat whispered into the ear of the high priest. + +"Mo-sar wishes to be king," he said, "and Lu-don wishes to be king. +Mo-sar wishes to retain the stranger who claims to be the Dor-ul-Otho +and Lu-don wishes to kill him, and now," he leaned even closer to the +ear of the high priest of Tu-lur, "if you would be high priest at A-lur +it is within your power." + +Pan-sat ceased speaking and waited for the other's reply. The high +priest was visibly affected. To be high priest at A-lur! That was +almost as good as being king of all Pal-ul-don, for great were the +powers of him who conducted the sacrifices upon the altars of A-lur. + +"How?" whispered the high priest. "How may I become high priest at +A-lur?" + +Again Pan-sat leaned close: "By killing the one and bringing the other +to A-lur," replied he. Then he rose and departed knowing that the other +had swallowed the bait and could be depended upon to do whatever was +required to win him the great prize. + +Nor was Pan-sat mistaken other than in one trivial consideration. This +high priest would indeed commit murder and treason to attain the high +office at A-lur; but he had misunderstood which of his victims was to +be killed and which to be delivered to Lu-don. Pan-sat, knowing himself +all the details of the plannings of Lu-don, had made the quite natural +error of assuming that the other was perfectly aware that only by +publicly sacrificing the false Dor-ul-Otho could the high priest at +A-lur bolster his waning power and that the assassination of Mo-sar, +the pretender, would remove from Lu-don's camp the only obstacle to his +combining the offices of high priest and king. The high priest at +Tu-lur thought that he had been commissioned to kill Tarzan and bring +Mo-sar to A-lur. He also thought that when he had done these things he +would be made high priest at A-lur; but he did not know that already +the priest had been selected who was to murder him within the hour that +he arrived at A-lur, nor did he know that a secret grave had been +prepared for him in the floor of a subterranean chamber in the very +temple he dreamed of controlling. + +And so when he should have been arranging the assassination of his +chief he was leading a dozen heavily bribed warriors through the dark +corridors beneath the temple to slay Tarzan in the lion pit. Night had +fallen. A single torch guided the footsteps of the murderers as they +crept stealthily upon their evil way, for they knew that they were +doing the thing that their chief did not want done and their guilty +consciences warned them to stealth. + +In the dark of his cell the ape-man worked at his seemingly endless +chipping and scraping. His keen ears detected the coming of footsteps +along the corridor without--footsteps that approached the larger door. +Always before had they come to the smaller door--the footsteps of a +single slave who brought his food. This time there were many more than +one and their coming at this time of night carried a sinister +suggestion. Tarzan continued to work at his scraping and chipping. He +heard them stop beyond the door. All was silence broken only by the +scrape, scrape, scrape of the ape-man's tireless blade. + +Those without heard it and listening sought to explain it. They +whispered in low tones making their plans. Two would raise the door +quickly and the others would rush in and hurl their clubs at the +prisoner. They would take no chances, for the stories that had +circulated in A-lur had been brought to Tu-lur--stories of the great +strength and wonderful prowess of Tarzan-jad-guru that caused the sweat +to stand upon the brows of the warriors, though it was cool in the damp +corridor and they were twelve to one. + +And then the high priest gave the signal--the door shot upward and ten +warriors leaped into the chamber with poised clubs. Three of the heavy +weapons flew across the room toward a darker shadow that lay in the +shadow of the opposite wall, then the flare of the torch in the +priest's hand lighted the interior and they saw that the thing at which +they had flung their clubs was a pile of skins torn from the windows +and that except for themselves the chamber was vacant. + +One of them hastened to a window. All but a single bar was gone and to +this was tied one end of a braided rope fashioned from strips cut from +the leather window hangings. + +To the ordinary dangers of Jane Clayton's existence was now added the +menace of Obergatz' knowledge of her whereabouts. The lion and the +panther had given her less cause for anxiety than did the return of the +unscrupulous Hun, whom she had always distrusted and feared, and whose +repulsiveness was now immeasurably augmented by his unkempt and filthy +appearance, his strange and mirthless laughter, and his unnatural +demeanor. She feared him now with a new fear as though he had suddenly +become the personification of some nameless horror. The wholesome, +outdoor life that she had been leading had strengthened and rebuilt her +nervous system yet it seemed to her as she thought of him that if this +man should ever touch her she should scream, and, possibly, even faint. +Again and again during the day following their unexpected meeting the +woman reproached herself for not having killed him as she would JA or +JATO or any other predatory beast that menaced her existence or her +safety. There was no attempt at self-justification for these sinister +reflections--they needed no justification. The standards by which the +acts of such as you or I may be judged could not apply to hers. We have +recourse to the protection of friends and relatives and the civil +soldiery that upholds the majesty of the law and which may be invoked +to protect the righteous weak against the unrighteous strong; but Jane +Clayton comprised within herself not only the righteous weak but all +the various agencies for the protection of the weak. To her, then, +Lieutenant Erich Obergatz presented no different problem than did JA, +the lion, other than that she considered the former the more dangerous +animal. And so she determined that should he ignore her warning there +would be no temporizing upon the occasion of their next meeting--the +same swift spear that would meet JA's advances would meet his. + +That night her snug little nest perched high in the great tree seemed +less the sanctuary that it had before. What might resist the sanguinary +intentions of a prowling panther would prove no great barrier to man, +and influenced by this thought she slept less well than before. The +slightest noise that broke the monotonous hum of the nocturnal jungle +startled her into alert wakefulness to lie with straining ears in an +attempt to classify the origin of the disturbance, and once she was +awakened thus by a sound that seemed to come from something moving in +her own tree. She listened intently--scarce breathing. Yes, there it +was again. A scuffing of something soft against the hard bark of the +tree. The woman reached out in the darkness and grasped her spear. Now +she felt a slight sagging of one of the limbs that supported her +shelter as though the thing, whatever it was, was slowly raising its +weight to the branch. It came nearer. Now she thought that she could +detect its breathing. It was at the door. She could hear it fumbling +with the frail barrier. What could it be? It made no sound by which she +might identify it. She raised herself upon her hands and knees and +crept stealthily the little distance to the doorway, her spear clutched +tightly in her hand. Whatever the thing was, it was evidently +attempting to gain entrance without awakening her. It was just beyond +the pitiful little contraption of slender boughs that she had bound +together with grasses and called a door--only a few inches lay between +the thing and her. Rising to her knees she reached out with her left +hand and felt until she found a place where a crooked branch had left +an opening a couple of inches wide near the center of the barrier. Into +this she inserted the point of her spear. The thing must have heard her +move within for suddenly it abandoned its efforts for stealth and tore +angrily at the obstacle. At the same moment Jane thrust her spear +forward with all her strength. She felt it enter flesh. There was a +scream and a curse from without, followed by the crashing of a body +through limbs and foliage. Her spear was almost dragged from her grasp, +but she held to it until it broke free from the thing it had pierced. + +It was Obergatz; the curse had told her that. From below came no +further sound. Had she, then, killed him? She prayed so--with all her +heart she prayed it. To be freed from the menace of this loathsome +creature were relief indeed. During all the balance of the night she +lay there awake, listening. Below her, she imagined, she could see the +dead man with his hideous face bathed in the cold light of the +moon--lying there upon his back staring up at her. + +She prayed that JA might come and drag it away, but all during the +remainder of the night she heard never another sound above the drowsy +hum of the jungle. She was glad that he was dead, but she dreaded the +gruesome ordeal that awaited her on the morrow, for she must bury the +thing that had been Erich Obergatz and live on there above the shallow +grave of the man she had slain. + +She reproached herself for her weakness, repeating over and over that +she had killed in self-defense, that her act was justified; but she was +still a woman of today, and strong upon her were the iron mandates of +the social order from which she had sprung, its interdictions and its +superstitions. + +At last came the tardy dawn. Slowly the sun topped the distant +mountains beyond Jad-in-lul. And yet she hesitated to loosen the +fastenings of her door and look out upon the thing below. But it must +be done. She steeled herself and untied the rawhide thong that secured +the barrier. She looked down and only the grass and the flowers looked +up at her. She came from her shelter and examined the ground upon the +opposite side of the tree--there was no dead man there, nor anywhere as +far as she could see. Slowly she descended, keeping a wary eye and an +alert ear ready for the first intimation of danger. + +At the foot of the tree was a pool of blood and a little trail of +crimson drops upon the grass, leading away parallel with the shore of +Jad-ben-lul. Then she had not slain him! She was vaguely aware of a +peculiar, double sensation of relief and regret. Now she would be +always in doubt. He might return; but at least she would not have to +live above his grave. + +She thought some of following the bloody spoor on the chance that he +might have crawled away to die later, but she gave up the idea for fear +that she might find him dead nearby, or, worse yet badly wounded. What +then could she do? She could not finish him with her spear--no, she +knew that she could not do that, nor could she bring him back and nurse +him, nor could she leave him there to die of hunger or of thirst, or to +become the prey of some prowling beast. It were better then not to +search for him for fear that she might find him. + +That day was one of nervous starting to every sudden sound. The day +before she would have said that her nerves were of iron; but not today. +She knew now the shock that she had suffered and that this was the +reaction. Tomorrow it might be different, but something told her that +never again would her little shelter and the patch of forest and jungle +that she called her own be the same. There would hang over them always +the menace of this man. No longer would she pass restful nights of +deep slumber. The peace of her little world was shattered forever. + +That night she made her door doubly secure with additional thongs of +rawhide cut from the pelt of the buck she had slain the day that she +met Obergatz. She was very tired for she had lost much sleep the night +before; but for a long time she lay with wide-open eyes staring into +the darkness. What saw she there? Visions that brought tears to those +brave and beautiful eyes--visions of a rambling bungalow that had been +home to her and that was no more, destroyed by the same cruel force +that haunted her even now in this remote, uncharted corner of the +earth; visions of a strong man whose protecting arm would never press +her close again; visions of a tall, straight son who looked at her +adoringly out of brave, smiling eyes that were like his father's. +Always the vision of the crude simple bungalow rather than of the +stately halls that had been as much a part of her life as the other. +But he had loved the bungalow and the broad, free acres best and so she +had come to love them best, too. + +At last she slept, the sleep of utter exhaustion. How long it lasted +she did not know; but suddenly she was wide awake and once again she +heard the scuffing of a body against the bark of her tree and again the +limb bent to a heavy weight. He had returned! She went cold, trembling +as with ague. Was it he, or, O God! had she killed him then and was +this--? She tried to drive the horrid thought from her mind, for this +way, she knew, lay madness. + +And once again she crept to the door, for the thing was outside just as +it had been last night. Her hands trembled as she placed the point of +her weapon to the opening. She wondered if it would scream as it fell. + + + +21 + +The Maniac + +The last bar that would make the opening large enough to permit his +body to pass had been removed as Tarzan heard the warriors whispering +beyond the stone door of his prison. Long since had the rope of hide +been braided. To secure one end to the remaining bar that he had left +for this purpose was the work of but a moment, and while the warriors +whispered without, the brown body of the ape-man slipped through the +small aperture and disappeared below the sill. + +Tarzan's escape from the cell left him still within the walled area +that comprised the palace and temple grounds and buildings. He had +reconnoitered as best he might from the window after he had removed +enough bars to permit him to pass his head through the opening, so that +he knew what lay immediately before him--a winding and usually deserted +alleyway leading in the direction of the outer gate that opened from +the palace grounds into the city. + +The darkness would facilitate his escape. He might even pass out of the +palace and the city without detection. If he could elude the guard at +the palace gate the rest would be easy. He strode along confidently, +exhibiting no fear of detection, for he reasoned that thus would he +disarm suspicion. In the darkness he easily could pass for a Ho-don and +in truth, though he passed several after leaving the deserted alley, no +one accosted or detained him, and thus he came at last to the guard of +a half-dozen warriors before the palace gate. These he attempted to +pass in the same unconcerned fashion and he might have succeeded had it +not been for one who came running rapidly from the direction of the +temple shouting: "Let no one pass the gates! The prisoner has escaped +from the pal-ul-JA!" + +Instantly a warrior barred his way and simultaneously the fellow +recognized him. "Xot tor!" he exclaimed: "Here he is now. Fall upon +him! Fall upon him! Back! Back before I kill you." + +The others came forward. It cannot be said that they rushed forward. If +it was their wish to fall upon him there was a noticeable lack of +enthusiasm other than that which directed their efforts to persuade +someone else to fall upon him. His fame as a fighter had been too long +a topic of conversation for the good of the morale of Mo-sar's +warriors. It were safer to stand at a distance and hurl their clubs and +this they did, but the ape-man had learned something of the use of this +weapon since he had arrived in Pal-ul-don. And as he learned great had +grown his respect for this most primitive of arms. He had come to +realize that the black savages he had known had never appreciated the +possibilities of their knob sticks, nor had he, and he had discovered, +too, why the Pal-ul-donians had turned their ancient spears into +plowshares and pinned their faith to the heavy-ended club alone. In +deadly execution it was far more effective than a spear and it +answered, too, every purpose of a shield, combining the two in one and +thus reducing the burden of the warrior. Thrown as they throw it, +after the manner of the hammer-throwers of the Olympian games, an +ordinary shield would prove more a weakness than a strength while one +that would be strong enough to prove a protection would be too heavy to +carry. Only another club, deftly wielded to deflect the course of an +enemy missile, is in any way effective against these formidable weapons +and, too, the war club of Pal-ul-don can be thrown with accuracy a far +greater distance than any spear. + +And now was put to the test that which Tarzan had learned from Om-at +and Ta-den. His eyes and his muscles trained by a lifetime of necessity +moved with the rapidity of light and his brain functioned with an +uncanny celerity that suggested nothing less than prescience, and these +things more than compensated for his lack of experience with the war +club he handled so dexterously. Weapon after weapon he warded off and +always he moved with a single idea in mind--to place himself within +reach of one of his antagonists. But they were wary for they feared +this strange creature to whom the superstitious fears of many of them +attributed the miraculous powers of deity. They managed to keep between +Tarzan and the gateway and all the time they bawled lustily for +reinforcements. Should these come before he had made his escape the +ape-man realized that the odds against him would be unsurmountable, and +so he redoubled his efforts to carry out his design. + +Following their usual tactics two or three of the warriors were always +circling behind him collecting the thrown clubs when Tarzan's attention +was directed elsewhere. He himself retrieved several of them which he +hurled with such deadly effect as to dispose of two of his antagonists, +but now he heard the approach of hurrying warriors, the patter of their +bare feet upon the stone pavement and then the savage cries which were +to bolster the courage of their fellows and fill the enemy with fear. + +There was no time to lose. Tarzan held a club in either hand and, +swinging one he hurled it at a warrior before him and as the man dodged +he rushed in and seized him, at the same time casting his second club +at another of his opponents. The Ho-don with whom he grappled reached +instantly for his knife but the ape-man grasped his wrist. There was a +sudden twist, the snapping of a bone and an agonized scream, then the +warrior was lifted bodily from his feet and held as a shield between +his fellows and the fugitive as the latter backed through the gateway. +Beside Tarzan stood the single torch that lighted the entrance to the +palace grounds. The warriors were advancing to the succor of their +fellow when the ape-man raised his captive high above his head and +flung him full in the face of the foremost attacker. The fellow went +down and two directly behind him sprawled headlong over their companion +as the ape-man seized the torch and cast it back into the palace +grounds to be extinguished as it struck the bodies of those who led the +charging reinforcements. + +In the ensuing darkness Tarzan disappeared in the streets of Tu-lur +beyond the palace gate. For a time he was aware of sounds of pursuit +but the fact that they trailed away and died in the direction of +Jad-in-lul informed him that they were searching in the wrong +direction, for he had turned south out of Tu-lur purposely to throw +them off his track. Beyond the outskirts of the city he turned directly +toward the northwest, in which direction lay A-lur. + +In his path he knew lay Jad-bal-lul, the shore of which he was +compelled to skirt, and there would be a river to cross at the lower +end of the great lake upon the shores of which lay A-lur. What other +obstacles lay in his way he did not know but he believed that he could +make better time on foot than by attempting to steal a canoe and force +his way up stream with a single paddle. It was his intention to put as +much distance as possible between himself and Tu-lur before he slept +for he was sure that Mo-sar would not lightly accept his loss, but that +with the coming of day, or possibly even before, he would dispatch +warriors in search of him. + +A mile or two from the city he entered a forest and here at last he +felt such a measure of safety as he never knew in open spaces or in +cities. The forest and the jungle were his birthright. No creature that +went upon the ground upon four feet, or climbed among the trees, or +crawled upon its belly had any advantage over the ape-man in his native +heath. As myrrh and frankincense were the dank odors of rotting +vegetation in the nostrils of the great Tarmangani. He squared his +broad shoulders and lifting his head filled his lungs with the air that +he loved best. The heavy fragrance of tropical blooms, the commingled +odors of the myriad-scented life of the jungle went to his head with a +pleasurable intoxication far more potent than aught contained in the +oldest vintages of civilization. + +He took to the trees now, not from necessity but from pure love of the +wild freedom that had been denied him so long. Though it was dark and +the forest strange yet he moved with a surety and ease that bespoke +more a strange uncanny sense than wondrous skill. He heard JA moaning +somewhere ahead and an owl hooted mournfully to the right of him--long +familiar sounds that imparted to him no sense of loneliness as they +might to you or to me, but on the contrary one of companionship for +they betokened the presence of his fellows of the jungle, and whether +friend or foe it was all the same to the ape-man. + +He came at last to a little stream at a spot where the trees did not +meet above it so he was forced to descend to the ground and wade +through the water and upon the opposite shore he stopped as though +suddenly his godlike figure had been transmuted from flesh to marble. +Only his dilating nostrils bespoke his pulsing vitality. For a long +moment he stood there thus and then swiftly, but with a caution and +silence that were inherent in him he moved forward again, but now his +whole attitude bespoke a new urge. There was a definite and masterful +purpose in every movement of those steel muscles rolling softly beneath +the smooth brown hide. He moved now toward a certain goal that quite +evidently filled him with far greater enthusiasm than had the possible +event of his return to A-lur. + +And so he came at last to the foot of a great tree and there he stopped +and looked up above him among the foliage where the dim outlines of a +roughly rectangular bulk loomed darkly. There was a choking sensation +in Tarzan's throat as he raised himself gently into the branches. It +was as though his heart were swelling either to a great happiness or a +great fear. + +Before the rude shelter built among the branches he paused listening. +From within there came to his sensitive nostrils the same delicate +aroma that had arrested his eager attention at the little stream a mile +away. He crouched upon the branch close to the little door. + +"Jane," he called, "heart of my heart, it is I." + +The only answer from within was as the sudden indrawing of a breath +that was half gasp and half sigh, and the sound of a body falling to +the floor. Hurriedly Tarzan sought to release the thongs which held the +door but they were fastened from the inside, and at last, impatient +with further delay, he seized the frail barrier in one giant hand and +with a single effort tore it completely away. And then he entered to +find the seemingly lifeless body of his mate stretched upon the floor. + +He gathered her in his arms; her heart beat; she still breathed, and +presently he realized that she had but swooned. + +When Jane Clayton regained consciousness it was to find herself held +tightly in two strong arms, her head pillowed upon the broad shoulder +where so often before her fears had been soothed and her sorrows +comforted. At first she was not sure but that it was all a dream. +Timidly her hand stole to his cheek. + +"John," she murmured, "tell me, is it really you?" + +In reply he drew her more closely to him. "It is I," he replied. "But +there is something in my throat," he said haltingly, "that makes it +hard for me to speak." + +She smiled and snuggled closer to him. "God has been good to us, Tarzan +of the Apes," she said. + +For some time neither spoke. It was enough that they were reunited and +that each knew that the other was alive and safe. But at last they +found their voices and when the sun rose they were still talking, so +much had each to tell the other; so many questions there were to be +asked and answered. + +"And Jack," she asked, "where is he?" + +"I do not know," replied Tarzan. "The last I heard of him he was on the +Argonne Front." + +"Ah, then our happiness is not quite complete," she said, a little note +of sadness creeping into her voice. + +"No," he replied, "but the same is true in countless other English +homes today, and pride is learning to take the place of happiness in +these." + +She shook her head, "I want my boy," she said. + +"And I too," replied Tarzan, "and we may have him yet. He was safe and +unwounded the last word I had. And now," he said, "we must plan upon +our return. Would you like to rebuild the bungalow and gather together +the remnants of our Waziri or would you rather return to London?" + +"Only to find Jack," she said. "I dream always of the bungalow and +never of the city, but John, we can only dream, for Obergatz told me +that he had circled this whole country and found no place where he +might cross the morass." + +"I am not Obergatz," Tarzan reminded her, smiling. "We will rest today +and tomorrow we will set out toward the north. It is a savage country, +but we have crossed it once and we can cross it again." + +And so, upon the following morning, the Tarmangani and his mate went +forth upon their journey across the Valley of Jad-ben-Otho, and ahead +of them were fierce men and savage beasts, and the lofty mountains of +Pal-ul-don; and beyond the mountains the reptiles and the morass, and +beyond that the arid, thorn-covered steppe, and other savage beasts and +men and weary, hostile miles of untracked wilderness between them and +the charred ruins of their home. + +Lieutenant Erich Obergatz crawled through the grass upon all fours, +leaving a trail of blood behind him after Jane's spear had sent him +crashing to the ground beneath her tree. He made no sound after the one +piercing scream that had acknowledged the severity of his wound. He was +quiet because of a great fear that had crept into his warped brain that +the devil woman would pursue and slay him. And so he crawled away like +some filthy beast of prey, seeking a thicket where he might lie down +and hide. + +He thought that he was going to die, but he did not, and with the +coming of the new day he discovered that his wound was superficial. The +rough obsidian-shod spear had entered the muscles of his side beneath +his right arm inflicting a painful, but not a fatal wound. With the +realization of this fact came a renewed desire to put as much distance +as possible between himself and Jane Clayton. And so he moved on, still +going upon all fours because of a persistent hallucination that in this +way he might escape observation. Yet though he fled his mind still +revolved muddily about a central desire--while he fled from her he +still planned to pursue her, and to his lust of possession was added a +desire for revenge. She should pay for the suffering she had inflicted +upon him. She should pay for rebuffing him, but for some reason which +he did not try to explain to himself he would crawl away and hide. He +would come back though. He would come back and when he had finished +with her, he would take that smooth throat in his two hands and crush +the life from her. + +He kept repeating this over and over to himself and then he fell to +laughing out loud, the cackling, hideous laughter that had terrified +Jane. Presently he realized his knees were bleeding and that they hurt +him. He looked cautiously behind. No one was in sight. He listened. He +could hear no indications of pursuit and so he rose to his feet and +continued upon his way a sorry sight--covered with filth and blood, his +beard and hair tangled and matted and filled with burrs and dried mud +and unspeakable filth. He kept no track of time. He ate fruits and +berries and tubers that he dug from the earth with his fingers. He +followed the shore of the lake and the river that he might be near +water, and when JA roared or moaned he climbed a tree and hid there, +shivering. + +And so after a time he came up the southern shore of Jad-ben-lul until +a wide river stopped his progress. Across the blue water a white city +glimmered in the sun. He looked at it for a long time, blinking his +eyes like an owl. Slowly a recollection forced itself through his +tangled brain. This was A-lur, the City of Light. The association of +ideas recalled Bu-lur and the Waz-ho-don. They had called him +Jad-ben-Otho. He commenced to laugh aloud and stood up very straight +and strode back and forth along the shore. "I am Jad-ben-Otho," he +cried, "I am the Great God. In A-lur is my temple and my high priests. +What is Jad-ben-Otho doing here alone in the jungle?" + +He stepped out into the water and raising his voice shrieked loudly +across toward A-lur. "I am Jad-ben-Otho!" he screamed. "Come hither +slaves and take your god to his temple." But the distance was great and +they did not hear him and no one came, and the feeble mind was +distracted by other things--a bird flying in the air, a school of +minnows swimming around his feet. He lunged at them trying to catch +them, and falling upon his hands and knees he crawled through the water +grasping futilely at the elusive fish. + +Presently it occurred to him that he was a sea lion and he forgot the +fish and lay down and tried to swim by wriggling his feet in the water +as though they were a tail. The hardships, the privations, the terrors, +and for the past few weeks the lack of proper nourishment had reduced +Erich Obergatz to little more than a gibbering idiot. + +A water snake swam out upon the surface of the lake and the man pursued +it, crawling upon his hands and knees. The snake swam toward the shore +just within the mouth of the river where tall reeds grew thickly and +Obergatz followed, making grunting noises like a pig. He lost the snake +within the reeds but he came upon something else--a canoe hidden there +close to the bank. He examined it with cackling laughter. There were +two paddles within it which he took and threw out into the current of +the river. He watched them for a while and then he sat down beside the +canoe and commenced to splash his hands up and down upon the water. He +liked to hear the noise and see the little splashes of spray. He rubbed +his left forearm with his right palm and the dirt came off and left a +white spot that drew his attention. He rubbed again upon the now +thoroughly soaked blood and grime that covered his body. He was not +attempting to wash himself; he was merely amused by the strange +results. "I am turning white," he cried. His glance wandered from his +body now that the grime and blood were all removed and caught again the +white city shimmering beneath the hot sun. + +"A-lur--City of Light!" he shrieked and that reminded him again of +Tu-lur and by the same process of associated ideas that had before +suggested it, he recalled that the Waz-ho-don had thought him +Jad-ben-Otho. + +"I am Jad-ben-Otho!" he screamed and then his eyes fell again upon the +canoe. A new idea came and persisted. He looked down at himself, +examining his body, and seeing the filthy loin cloth, now water soaked +and more bedraggled than before, he tore it from him and flung it into +the lake. "Gods do not wear dirty rags," he said aloud. "They do not +wear anything but wreaths and garlands of flowers and I am a god--I am +Jad-ben-Otho--and I go in state to my sacred city of A-lur." + +He ran his fingers through his matted hair and beard. The water had +softened the burrs but had not removed them. The man shook his head. +His hair and beard failed to harmonize with his other godly attributes. +He was commencing to think more clearly now, for the great idea had +taken hold of his scattered wits and concentrated them upon a single +purpose, but he was still a maniac. The only difference being that he +was now a maniac with a fixed intent. He went out on the shore and +gathered flowers and ferns and wove them in his beard and hair--blazing +blooms of different colors--green ferns that trailed about his ears or +rose bravely upward like the plumes in a lady's hat. + +When he was satisfied that his appearance would impress the most casual +observer with his evident deity he returned to the canoe, pushed it +from shore and jumped in. The impetus carried it into the river's +current and the current bore it out upon the lake. The naked man stood +erect in the center of the little craft, his arms folded upon his +chest. He screamed aloud his message to the city: "I am Jad-ben-Otho! +Let the high priest and the under priests attend upon me!" + +As the current of the river was dissipated by the waters of the lake +the wind caught him and his craft and carried them bravely forward. +Sometimes he drifted with his back toward A-lur and sometimes with his +face toward it, and at intervals he shrieked his message and his +commands. He was still in the middle of the lake when someone +discovered him from the palace wall, and as he drew nearer, a crowd of +warriors and women and children were congregated there watching him and +along the temple walls were many priests and among them Lu-don, the +high priest. When the boat had drifted close enough for them to +distinguish the bizarre figure standing in it and for them to catch the +meaning of his words Lu-don's cunning eyes narrowed. The high priest +had learned of the escape of Tarzan and he feared that should he join +Ja-don's forces, as seemed likely, he would attract many recruits who +might still believe in him, and the Dor-ul-Otho, even if a false one, +upon the side of the enemy might easily work havoc with Lu-don's plans. + +The man was drifting close in. His canoe would soon be caught in the +current that ran close to shore here and carried toward the river that +emptied the waters of Jad-ben-lul into Jad-bal-lul. The under priests +were looking toward Lu-don for instructions. + +"Fetch him hither!" he commanded. "If he is Jad-ben-Otho I shall know +him." + +The priests hurried to the palace grounds and summoned warriors. "Go, +bring the stranger to Lu-don. If he is Jad-ben-Otho we shall know him." + +And so Lieutenant Erich Obergatz was brought before the high priest at +A-lur. Lu-don looked closely at the naked man with the fantastic +headdress. + +"Where did you come from?" he asked. + +"I am Jad-ben-Otho," cried the German. "I came from heaven. Where is my +high priest?" + +"I am the high priest," replied Lu-don. + +Obergatz clapped his hands. "Have my feet bathed and food brought to +me," he commanded. + +Lu-don's eyes narrowed to mere slits of crafty cunning. He bowed low +until his forehead touched the feet of the stranger. Before the eyes of +many priests, and warriors from the palace he did it. + +"Ho, slaves," he cried, rising; "fetch water and food for the Great +God," and thus the high priest acknowledged before his people the +godhood of Lieutenant Erich Obergatz, nor was it long before the story +ran like wildfire through the palace and out into the city and beyond +that to the lesser villages all the way from A-lur to Tu-lur. + +The real god had come--Jad-ben-Otho himself, and he had espoused the +cause of Lu-don, the high priest. Mo-sar lost no time in placing +himself at the disposal of Lu-don, nor did he mention aught about his +claims to the throne. It was Mo-sar's opinion that he might consider +himself fortunate were he allowed to remain in peaceful occupation of +his chieftainship at Tu-lur, nor was Mo-sar wrong in his deductions. + +But Lu-don could still use him and so he let him live and sent word to +him to come to A-lur with all his warriors, for it was rumored that +Ja-don was raising a great army in the north and might soon march upon +the City of Light. + +Obergatz thoroughly enjoyed being a god. Plenty of food and peace of +mind and rest partially brought back to him the reason that had been so +rapidly slipping from him; but in one respect he was madder than ever, +since now no power on earth would ever be able to convince him that he +was not a god. Slaves were put at his disposal and these he ordered +about in godly fashion. The same portion of his naturally cruel mind +met upon common ground the mind of Lu-don, so that the two seemed +always in accord. The high priest saw in the stranger a mighty force +wherewith to hold forever his power over all Pal-ul-don and thus the +future of Obergatz was assured so long as he cared to play god to +Lu-don's high priest. + +A throne was erected in the main temple court before the eastern altar +where Jad-ben-Otho might sit in person and behold the sacrifices that +were offered up to him there each day at sunset. So much did the +cruel, half-crazed mind enjoy these spectacles that at times he even +insisted upon wielding the sacrificial knife himself and upon such +occasions the priests and the people fell upon their faces in awe of +the dread deity. + +If Obergatz taught them not to love their god more he taught them to +fear him as they never had before, so that the name of Jad-ben-Otho was +whispered in the city and little children were frightened into +obedience by the mere mention of it. Lu-don, through his priests and +slaves, circulated the information that Jad-ben-Otho had commanded all +his faithful followers to flock to the standard of the high priest at +A-lur and that all others were cursed, especially Ja-don and the base +impostor who had posed as the Dor-ul-Otho. The curse was to take the +form of early death following terrible suffering, and Lu-don caused it +to be published abroad that the name of any warrior who complained of a +pain should be brought to him, for such might be deemed to be under +suspicion, since the first effects of the curse would result in slight +pains attacking the unholy. He counseled those who felt pains to look +carefully to their loyalty. The result was remarkable and +immediate--half a nation without a pain, and recruits pouring into +A-lur to offer their services to Lu-don while secretly hoping that the +little pains they had felt in arm or leg or belly would not recur in +aggravated form. + + + +22 + +A Journey on a Gryf + +Tarzan and Jane skirted the shore of Jad-bal-lul and crossed the river +at the head of the lake. They moved in leisurely fashion with an eye to +comfort and safety, for the ape-man, now that he had found his mate, +was determined to court no chance that might again separate them, or +delay or prevent their escape from Pal-ul-don. How they were to recross +the morass was a matter of little concern to him as yet--it would be +time enough to consider that matter when it became of more immediate +moment. Their hours were filled with the happiness and content of +reunion after long separation; they had much to talk of, for each had +passed through many trials and vicissitudes and strange adventures, and +no important hour might go unaccounted for since last they met. + +It was Tarzan's intention to choose a way above A-lur and the scattered +Ho-don villages below it, passing about midway between them and the +mountains, thus avoiding, in so far as possible, both the Ho-don and +Waz-don, for in this area lay the neutral territory that was +uninhabited by either. Thus he would travel northwest until opposite +the Kor-ul-JA where he planned to stop to pay his respects to Om-at and +give the gund word of Pan-at-lee, and a plan Tarzan had for insuring +her safe return to her people. It was upon the third day of their +journey and they had almost reached the river that passes through A-lur +when Jane suddenly clutched Tarzan's arm and pointed ahead toward the +edge of a forest that they were approaching. Beneath the shadows of the +trees loomed a great bulk that the ape-man instantly recognized. + +"What is it?" whispered Jane. + +"A GRYF," replied the ape-man, "and we have met him in the worst place +that we could possibly have found. There is not a large tree within a +quarter of a mile, other than those among which he stands. Come, we +shall have to go back, Jane; I cannot risk it with you along. The best +we can do is to pray that he does not discover us." + +"And if he does?" + +"Then I shall have to risk it." + +"Risk what?" + +"The chance that I can subdue him as I subdued one of his fellows," +replied Tarzan. "I told you--you recall?" + +"Yes, but I did not picture so huge a creature. Why, John, he is as big +as a battleship." + +The ape-man laughed. "Not quite, though I'll admit he looks quite as +formidable as one when he charges." + +They were moving away slowly so as not to attract the attention of the +beast. + +"I believe we're going to make it," whispered the woman, her voice +tense with suppressed excitement. A low rumble rolled like distant +thunder from the wood. Tarzan shook his head. + +"'The big show is about to commence in the main tent,'" he quoted, +grinning. He caught the woman suddenly to his breast and kissed her. +"One can never tell, Jane," he said. "We'll do our best--that is all we +can do. Give me your spear, and--don't run. The only hope we have lies +in that little brain more than in us. If I can control it--well, let +us see." + +The beast had emerged from the forest and was looking about through his +weak eyes, evidently in search of them. Tarzan raised his voice in the +weird notes of the Tor-o-don's cry, "Whee-oo! Whee-oo! Whee-oo!" For a +moment the great beast stood motionless, his attention riveted by the +call. The ape-man advanced straight toward him, Jane Clayton at his +elbow. "Whee-oo!" he cried again peremptorily. A low rumble rolled +from the GRYF's cavernous chest in answer to the call, and the beast +moved slowly toward them. + +"Fine!" exclaimed Tarzan. "The odds are in our favor now. You can keep +your nerve?--but I do not need to ask." + +"I know no fear when I am with Tarzan of the Apes," she replied softly, +and he felt the pressure of her soft fingers on his arm. + +And thus the two approached the giant monster of a forgotten epoch +until they stood close in the shadow of a mighty shoulder. "Whee-oo!" +shouted Tarzan and struck the hideous snout with the shaft of the +spear. The vicious side snap that did not reach its mark--that +evidently was not intended to reach its mark--was the hoped-for answer. + +"Come," said Tarzan, and taking Jane by the hand he led her around +behind the monster and up the broad tail to the great, horned back. +"Now will we ride in the state that our forebears knew, before which +the pomp of modern kings pales into cheap and tawdry insignificance. +How would you like to canter through Hyde Park on a mount like this?" + +"I am afraid the Bobbies would be shocked by our riding habits, John," +she cried, laughingly. + +Tarzan guided the GRYF in the direction that they wished to go. Steep +embankments and rivers proved no slightest obstacle to the ponderous +creature. + +"A prehistoric tank, this," Jane assured him, and laughing and talking +they continued on their way. Once they came unexpectedly upon a dozen +Ho-don warriors as the GRYF emerged suddenly into a small clearing. The +fellows were lying about in the shade of a single tree that grew alone. +When they saw the beast they leaped to their feet in consternation and +at their shouts the GRYF issued his hideous, challenging bellow and +charged them. The warriors fled in all directions while Tarzan +belabored the beast across the snout with his spear in an effort to +control him, and at last he succeeded, just as the GRYF was almost upon +one poor devil that it seemed to have singled out for its special prey. +With an angry grunt the GRYF stopped and the man, with a single +backward glance that showed a face white with terror, disappeared in +the jungle he had been seeking to reach. + +The ape-man was elated. He had doubted that he could control the beast +should it take it into its head to charge a victim and had intended +abandoning it before they reached the Kor-ul-JA. Now he altered his +plans--they would ride to the very village of Om-at upon the GRYF, and +the Kor-ul-JA would have food for conversation for many generations to +come. Nor was it the theatric instinct of the ape-man alone that gave +favor to this plan. The element of Jane's safety entered into the +matter for he knew that she would be safe from man and beast alike so +long as she rode upon the back of Pal-ul-don's most formidable creature. + +As they proceeded slowly in the direction of the Kor-ul-JA, for the +natural gait of the GRYF is far from rapid, a handful of terrified +warriors came panting into A-lur, spreading a weird story of the +Dor-ul-Otho, only none dared call him the Dor-ul-Otho aloud. Instead +they spoke of him as Tarzan-jad-guru and they told of meeting him +mounted upon a mighty GRYF beside the beautiful stranger woman whom +Ko-tan would have made queen of Pal-ul-don. This story was brought to +Lu-don who caused the warriors to be hailed to his presence, when he +questioned them closely until finally he was convinced that they spoke +the truth and when they had told him the direction in which the two +were traveling, Lu-don guessed that they were on their way to Ja-lur to +join Ja-don, a contingency that he felt must be prevented at any cost. +As was his wont in the stress of emergency, he called Pan-sat into +consultation and for long the two sat in close conference. When they +arose a plan had been developed. Pan-sat went immediately to his own +quarters where he removed the headdress and trappings of a priest to +don in their stead the harness and weapons of a warrior. Then he +returned to Lu-don. + +"Good!" cried the latter, when he saw him. "Not even your +fellow-priests or the slaves that wait upon you daily would know you +now. Lose no time, Pan-sat, for all depends upon the speed with which +you strike and--remember! Kill the man if you can; but in any event +bring the woman to me here, alive. You understand?" + +"Yes, master," replied the priest, and so it was that a lone warrior +set out from A-lur and made his way northwest in the direction of +Ja-lur. + +The gorge next above Kor-ul-JA is uninhabited and here the wily Ja-don +had chosen to mobilize his army for its descent upon A-lur. Two +considerations influenced him--one being the fact that could he keep +his plans a secret from the enemy he would have the advantage of +delivering a surprise attack upon the forces of Lu-don from a direction +that they would not expect attack, and in the meantime he would be able +to keep his men from the gossip of the cities where strange tales were +already circulating relative to the coming of Jad-ben-Otho in person to +aid the high priest in his war against Ja-don. It took stout hearts and +loyal ones to ignore the implied threats of divine vengeance that these +tales suggested. Already there had been desertions and the cause of +Ja-don seemed tottering to destruction. + +Such was the state of affairs when a sentry posted on the knoll in the +mouth of the gorge sent word that he had observed in the valley below +what appeared at a distance to be nothing less than two people mounted +upon the back of a GRYF. He said that he had caught glimpses of them, +as they passed open spaces, and they seemed to be traveling up the +river in the direction of the Kor-ul-JA. + +At first Ja-don was inclined to doubt the veracity of his informant; +but, like all good generals, he could not permit even palpably false +information to go uninvestigated and so he determined to visit the +knoll himself and learn precisely what it was that the sentry had +observed through the distorting spectacles of fear. He had scarce taken +his place beside the man ere the fellow touched his arm and pointed. +"They are closer now," he whispered, "you can see them plainly." And +sure enough, not a quarter of a mile away Ja-don saw that which in his +long experience in Pal-ul-don he had never before seen--two humans +riding upon the broad back of a GRYF. + +At first he could scarce credit even this testimony of his own eyes, +but soon he realized that the creatures below could be naught else than +they appeared, and then he recognized the man and rose to his feet with +a loud cry. + +"It is he!" he shouted to those about him. "It is the Dor-ul-Otho +himself." + +The GRYF and his riders heard the shout though not the words. The +former bellowed terrifically and started in the direction of the knoll, +and Ja-don, followed by a few of his more intrepid warriors, ran to +meet him. Tarzan, loath to enter an unnecessary quarrel, tried to turn +the animal, but as the beast was far from tractable it always took a +few minutes to force the will of its master upon it; and so the two +parties were quite close before the ape-man succeeded in stopping the +mad charge of his furious mount. + +Ja-don and his warriors, however, had come to the realization that this +bellowing creature was bearing down upon them with evil intent and they +had assumed the better part of valor and taken to trees, accordingly. +It was beneath these trees that Tarzan finally stopped the GRYF. Ja-don +called down to him. + +"We are friends," he cried. "I am Ja-don, Chief of Ja-lur. I and my +warriors lay our foreheads upon the feet of Dor-ul-Otho and pray that +he will aid us in our righteous fight with Lu-don, the high priest." + +"You have not defeated him yet?" asked Tarzan. "Why I thought you would +be king of Pal-ul-don long before this." + +"No," replied Ja-don. "The people fear the high priest and now that he +has in the temple one whom he claims to be Jad-ben-Otho many of my +warriors are afraid. If they but knew that the Dor-ul-Otho had returned +and that he had blessed the cause of Ja-don I am sure that victory +would be ours." + +Tarzan thought for a long minute and then he spoke. "Ja-don," he said, +"was one of the few who believed in me and who wished to accord me fair +treatment. I have a debt to pay to Ja-don and an account to settle with +Lu-don, not alone on my own behalf, but principally upon that of my +mate. I will go with you Ja-don to mete to Lu-don the punishment he +deserves. Tell me, chief, how may the Dor-ul-Otho best serve his +father's people?" + +"By coming with me to Ja-lur and the villages between," replied Ja-don +quickly, "that the people may see that it is indeed the Dor-ul-Otho and +that he smiles upon the cause of Ja-don." + +"You think that they will believe in me more now than before?" asked +the ape-man. + +"Who will dare doubt that he who rides upon the great GRYF is less than +a god?" returned the old chief. + +"And if I go with you to the battle at A-lur," asked Tarzan, "can you +assure the safety of my mate while I am gone from her?" + +"She shall remain in Ja-lur with the Princess O-lo-a and my own women," +replied Ja-don. "There she will be safe for there I shall leave trusted +warriors to protect them. Say that you will come, O Dor-ul-Otho, and my +cup of happiness will be full, for even now Ta-den, my son, marches +toward A-lur with a force from the northwest and if we can attack, with +the Dor-ul-Otho at our head, from the northeast our arms should be +victorious." + +"It shall be as you wish, Ja-don," replied the ape-man; "but first you +must have meat fetched for my GRYF." + +"There are many carcasses in the camp above," replied Ja-don, "for my +men have little else to do than hunt." + +"Good," exclaimed Tarzan. "Have them brought at once." + +And when the meat was brought and laid at a distance the ape-man +slipped from the back of his fierce charger and fed him with his own +hand. "See that there is always plenty of flesh for him," he said to +Ja-don, for he guessed that his mastery might be short-lived should the +vicious beast become over-hungry. + +It was morning before they could leave for Ja-lur, but Tarzan found the +GRYF lying where he had left him the night before beside the carcasses +of two antelope and a lion; but now there was nothing but the GRYF. + +"The paleontologists say that he was herbivorous," said Tarzan as he +and Jane approached the beast. + +The journey to Ja-lur was made through the scattered villages where +Ja-don hoped to arouse a keener enthusiasm for his cause. A party of +warriors preceded Tarzan that the people might properly be prepared, +not only for the sight of the GRYF but to receive the Dor-ul-Otho as +became his high station. The results were all that Ja-don could have +hoped and in no village through which they passed was there one who +doubted the deity of the ape-man. + +As they approached Ja-lur a strange warrior joined them, one whom none +of Ja-don's following knew. He said he came from one of the villages to +the south and that he had been treated unfairly by one of Lu-don's +chiefs. For this reason he had deserted the cause of the high priest +and come north in the hope of finding a home in Ja-lur. As every +addition to his forces was welcome to the old chief he permitted the +stranger to accompany them, and so he came into Ja-lur with them. + +There arose now the question as to what was to be done with the GRYF +while they remained in the city. It was with difficulty that Tarzan had +prevented the savage beast from attacking all who came near it when +they had first entered the camp of Ja-don in the uninhabited gorge next +to the Kor-ul-JA, but during the march to Ja-lur the creature had +seemed to become accustomed to the presence of the Ho-don. The latter, +however, gave him no cause for annoyance since they kept as far from +him as possible and when he passed through the streets of the city he +was viewed from the safety of lofty windows and roofs. However +tractable he appeared to have become there would have been no +enthusiastic seconding of a suggestion to turn him loose within the +city. It was finally suggested that he be turned into a walled +enclosure within the palace grounds and this was done, Tarzan driving +him in after Jane had dismounted. More meat was thrown to him and he +was left to his own devices, the awe-struck inhabitants of the palace +not even venturing to climb upon the walls to look at him. + +Ja-don led Tarzan and Jane to the quarters of the Princess O-lo-a who, +the moment that she beheld the ape-man, threw herself to the ground and +touched her forehead to his feet. Pan-at-lee was there with her and she +too seemed happy to see Tarzan-jad-guru again. When they found that +Jane was his mate they looked with almost equal awe upon her, since +even the most skeptical of the warriors of Ja-don were now convinced +that they were entertaining a god and a goddess within the city of +Ja-lur, and that with the assistance of the power of these two, the +cause of Ja-don would soon be victorious and the old Lion-man set upon +the throne of Pal-ul-don. + +From O-lo-a Tarzan learned that Ta-den had returned and that they were +to be united in marriage with the weird rites of their religion and in +accordance with the custom of their people as soon as Ta-den came home +from the battle that was to be fought at A-lur. + +The recruits were now gathering at the city and it was decided that the +next day Ja-don and Tarzan would return to the main body in the hidden +camp and immediately under cover of night the attack should be made in +force upon Lu-don's forces at A-lur. Word of this was sent to Ta-den +where he awaited with his warriors upon the north side of Jad-ben-lul, +only a few miles from A-lur. + +In the carrying out of these plans it was necessary to leave Jane +behind in Ja-don's palace at Ja-lur, but O-lo-a and her women were with +her and there were many warriors to guard them, so Tarzan bid his mate +good-bye with no feelings of apprehension as to her safety, and again +seated upon the GRYF made his way out of the city with Ja-don and his +warriors. + +At the mouth of the gorge the ape-man abandoned his huge mount since it +had served its purpose and could be of no further value to him in their +attack upon A-lur, which was to be made just before dawn the following +day when, as he could not have been seen by the enemy, the effect of +his entry to the city upon the GRYF would have been totally lost. A +couple of sharp blows with the spear sent the big animal rumbling and +growling in the direction of the Kor-ul-GRYF nor was the ape-man sorry +to see it depart since he had never known at what instant its short +temper and insatiable appetite for flesh might turn it upon some of his +companions. + +Immediately upon their arrival at the gorge the march on A-lur was +commenced. + + + +23 + +Taken Alive + +As night fell a warrior from the palace of Ja-lur slipped into the +temple grounds. He made his way to where the lesser priests were +quartered. His presence aroused no suspicion as it was not unusual for +warriors to have business within the temple. He came at last to a +chamber where several priests were congregated after the evening meal. +The rites and ceremonies of the sacrifice had been concluded and there +was nothing more of a religious nature to make call upon their time +until the rites at sunrise. + +Now the warrior knew, as in fact nearly all Pal-ul-don knew, that there +was no strong bond between the temple and the palace at Ja-lur and that +Ja-don only suffered the presence of the priests and permitted their +cruel and abhorrent acts because of the fact that these things had been +the custom of the Ho-don of Pal-ul-don for countless ages, and rash +indeed must have been the man who would have attempted to interfere +with the priests or their ceremonies. That Ja-don never entered the +temple was well known, and that his high priest never entered the +palace, but the people came to the temple with their votive offerings +and the sacrifices were made night and morning as in every other temple +in Pal-ul-don. + +The warriors knew these things, knew them better perhaps than a simple +warrior should have known them. And so it was here in the temple that +he looked for the aid that he sought in the carrying out of whatever +design he had. + +As he entered the apartment where the priests were he greeted them +after the manner which was customary in Pal-ul-don, but at the same +time he made a sign with his finger that might have attracted little +attention or scarcely been noticed at all by one who knew not its +meaning. That there were those within the room who noticed it and +interpreted it was quickly apparent, through the fact that two of the +priests rose and came close to him as he stood just within the doorway +and each of them, as he came, returned the signal that the warrior had +made. + +The three talked for but a moment and then the warrior turned and left +the apartment. A little later one of the priests who had talked with +him left also and shortly after that the other. + +In the corridor they found the warrior waiting, and led him to a little +chamber which opened upon a smaller corridor just beyond where it +joined the larger. Here the three remained in whispered conversation +for some little time and then the warrior returned to the palace and +the two priests to their quarters. + +The apartments of the women of the palace at Ja-lur are all upon the +same side of a long, straight corridor. Each has a single door leading +into the corridor and at the opposite end several windows overlooking a +garden. It was in one of these rooms that Jane slept alone. At each end +of the corridor was a sentinel, the main body of the guard being +stationed in a room near the outer entrance to the women's quarters. + +The palace slept for they kept early hours there where Ja-don ruled. +The pal-e-don-so of the great chieftain of the north knew no such wild +orgies as had resounded through the palace of the king at A-lur. Ja-lur +was a quiet city by comparison with the capital, yet there was always a +guard kept at every entrance to the chambers of Ja-don and his +immediate family as well as at the gate leading into the temple and +that which opened upon the city. + +These guards, however, were small, consisting usually of not more than +five or six warriors, one of whom remained awake while the others +slept. Such were the conditions then when two warriors presented +themselves, one at either end of the corridor, to the sentries who +watched over the safety of Jane Clayton and the Princess O-lo-a, and +each of the newcomers repeated to the sentinels the stereotyped words +which announced that they were relieved and these others sent to watch +in their stead. Never is a warrior loath to be relieved of sentry duty. +Where, under different circumstances he might ask numerous questions he +is now too well satisfied to escape the monotonies of that universally +hated duty. And so these two men accepted their relief without question +and hastened away to their pallets. + +And then a third warrior entered the corridor and all of the newcomers +came together before the door of the ape-man's slumbering mate. And one +was the strange warrior who had met Ja-don and Tarzan outside the city +of Ja-lur as they had approached it the previous day; and he was the +same warrior who had entered the temple a short hour before, but the +faces of his fellows were unfamiliar, even to one another, since it is +seldom that a priest removes his hideous headdress in the presence even +of his associates. + +Silently they lifted the hangings that hid the interior of the room +from the view of those who passed through the corridor, and stealthily +slunk within. Upon a pile of furs in a far corner lay the sleeping form +of Lady Greystoke. The bare feet of the intruders gave forth no sound +as they crossed the stone floor toward her. A ray of moonlight entering +through a window near her couch shone full upon her, revealing the +beautiful contours of an arm and shoulder in cameo-distinctness against +the dark furry pelt beneath which she slept, and the perfect profile +that was turned toward the skulking three. + +But neither the beauty nor the helplessness of the sleeper aroused such +sentiments of passion or pity as might stir in the breasts of normal +men. To the three priests she was but a lump of clay, nor could they +conceive aught of that passion which had aroused men to intrigue and to +murder for possession of this beautiful American girl, and which even +now was influencing the destiny of undiscovered Pal-ul-don. + +Upon the floor of the chamber were numerous pelts and as the leader of +the trio came close to the sleeping woman he stooped and gathered up +one of the smaller of these. Standing close to her head he held the rug +outspread above her face. "Now," he whispered and simultaneously he +threw the rug over the woman's head and his two fellows leaped upon +her, seizing her arms and pinioning her body while their leader stifled +her cries with the furry pelt. Quickly and silently they bound her +wrists and gagged her and during the brief time that their work +required there was no sound that might have been heard by occupants of +the adjoining apartments. + +Jerking her roughly to her feet they forced her toward a window but she +refused to walk, throwing herself instead upon the floor. They were +very angry and would have resorted to cruelties to compel her obedience +but dared not, since the wrath of Lu-don might fall heavily upon +whoever mutilated his fair prize. + +And so they were forced to lift and carry her bodily. Nor was the task +any sinecure since the captive kicked and struggled as best she might, +making their labor as arduous as possible. But finally they succeeded +in getting her through the window and into the garden beyond where one +of the two priests from the Ja-lur temple directed their steps toward a +small barred gateway in the south wall of the enclosure. + +Immediately beyond this a flight of stone stairs led downward toward +the river and at the foot of the stairs were moored several canoes. +Pan-sat had indeed been fortunate in enlisting aid from those who knew +the temple and the palace so well, or otherwise he might never have +escaped from Ja-lur with his captive. Placing the woman in the bottom +of a light canoe Pan-sat entered it and took up the paddle. His +companions unfastened the moorings and shoved the little craft out into +the current of the stream. Their traitorous work completed they turned +and retraced their steps toward the temple, while Pan-sat, paddling +strongly with the current, moved rapidly down the river that would +carry him to the Jad-ben-lul and A-lur. + +The moon had set and the eastern horizon still gave no hint of +approaching day as a long file of warriors wound stealthily through the +darkness into the city of A-lur. Their plans were all laid and there +seemed no likelihood of their miscarriage. A messenger had been +dispatched to Ta-den whose forces lay northwest of the city. Tarzan, +with a small contingent, was to enter the temple through the secret +passageway, the location of which he alone knew, while Ja-don, with the +greater proportion of the warriors, was to attack the palace gates. + +The ape-man, leading his little band, moved stealthily through the +winding alleys of A-lur, arriving undetected at the building which hid +the entrance to the secret passageway. This spot being best protected +by the fact that its existence was unknown to others than the priests, +was unguarded. To facilitate the passage of his little company through +the narrow winding, uneven tunnel, Tarzan lighted a torch which had +been brought for the purpose and preceding his warriors led the way +toward the temple. + +That he could accomplish much once he reached the inner chambers of the +temple with his little band of picked warriors the ape-man was +confident since an attack at this point would bring confusion and +consternation to the easily overpowered priests, and permit Tarzan to +attack the palace forces in the rear at the same time that Ja-don +engaged them at the palace gates, while Ta-den and his forces swarmed +the northern walls. Great value had been placed by Ja-don on the moral +effect of the Dor-ul-Otho's mysterious appearance in the heart of the +temple and he had urged Tarzan to take every advantage of the old +chieftain's belief that many of Lu-don's warriors still wavered in +their allegiance between the high priest and the Dor-ul-Otho, being +held to the former more by the fear which he engendered in the breasts +of all his followers than by any love or loyalty they might feel toward +him. + +There is a Pal-ul-donian proverb setting forth a truth similar to that +contained in the old Scotch adage that "The best laid schemes o' mice +and men gang aft a-gley." Freely translated it might read, "He who +follows the right trail sometimes reaches the wrong destination," and +such apparently was the fate that lay in the footsteps of the great +chieftain of the north and his godlike ally. + +Tarzan, more familiar with the windings of the corridors than his +fellows and having the advantage of the full light of the torch, which +at best was but a dim and flickering affair, was some distance ahead of +the others, and in his keen anxiety to close with the enemy he gave too +little thought to those who were to support him. Nor is this strange, +since from childhood the ape-man had been accustomed to fight the +battles of life single-handed so that it had become habitual for him to +depend solely upon his own cunning and prowess. + +And so it was that he came into the upper corridor from which opened +the chambers of Lu-don and the lesser priests far in advance of his +warriors, and as he turned into this corridor with its dim cressets +flickering somberly, he saw another enter it from a corridor before +him--a warrior half carrying, half dragging the figure of a woman. +Instantly Tarzan recognized the gagged and fettered captive whom he had +thought safe in the palace of Ja-don at Ja-lur. + +The warrior with the woman had seen Tarzan at the same instant that the +latter had discovered him. He heard the low beastlike growl that broke +from the ape-man's lips as he sprang forward to wrest his mate from her +captor and wreak upon him the vengeance that was in the Tarmangani's +savage heart. Across the corridor from Pan-sat was the entrance to a +smaller chamber. Into this he leaped carrying the woman with him. + +Close behind came Tarzan of the Apes. He had cast aside his torch and +drawn the long knife that had been his father's. With the impetuosity +of a charging bull he rushed into the chamber in pursuit of Pan-sat to +find himself, when the hangings dropped behind him, in utter darkness. +Almost immediately there was a crash of stone on stone before him +followed a moment later by a similar crash behind. No other evidence +was necessary to announce to the ape-man that he was again a prisoner +in Lu-don's temple. + +He stood perfectly still where he had halted at the first sound of the +descending stone door. Not again would he easily be precipitated to the +GRYF pit, or some similar danger, as had occurred when Lu-don had +trapped him in the Temple of the Gryf. As he stood there his eyes +slowly grew accustomed to the darkness and he became aware that a dim +light was entering the chamber through some opening, though it was +several minutes before he discovered its source. In the roof of the +chamber he finally discerned a small aperture, possibly three feet in +diameter and it was through this that what was really only a lesser +darkness rather than a light was penetrating its Stygian blackness of +the chamber in which he was imprisoned. + +Since the doors had fallen he had heard no sound though his keen ears +were constantly strained in an effort to discover a clue to the +direction taken by the abductor of his mate. Presently he could discern +the outlines of his prison cell. It was a small room, not over fifteen +feet across. On hands and knees, with the utmost caution, he examined +the entire area of the floor. In the exact center, directly beneath the +opening in the roof, was a trap, but otherwise the floor was solid. +With this knowledge it was only necessary to avoid this spot in so far +as the floor was concerned. The walls next received his attention. +There were only two openings. One the doorway through which he had +entered, and upon the opposite side that through which the warrior had +borne Jane Clayton. These were both closed by the slabs of stone which +the fleeing warrior had released as he departed. + +Lu-don, the high priest, licked his thin lips and rubbed his bony white +hands together in gratification as Pan-sat bore Jane Clayton into his +presence and laid her on the floor of the chamber before him. + +"Good, Pan-sat!" he exclaimed. "You shall be well rewarded for this +service. Now, if we but had the false Dor-ul-Otho in our power all +Pal-ul-don would be at our feet." + +"Master, I have him!" cried Pan-sat. + +"What!" exclaimed Lu-don, "you have Tarzan-jad-guru? You have slain him +perhaps. Tell me, my wonderful Pan-sat, tell me quickly. My breast is +bursting with a desire to know." + +"I have taken him alive, Lu-don, my master," replied Pan-sat. "He is in +the little chamber that the ancients built to trap those who were too +powerful to take alive in personal encounter." + +"You have done well, Pan-sat, I--" + +A frightened priest burst into the apartment. "Quick, master, quick," +he cried, "the corridors are filled with the warriors of Ja-don." + +"You are mad," cried the high priest. "My warriors hold the palace and +the temple." + +"I speak the truth, master," replied the priest, "there are warriors in +the corridor approaching this very chamber, and they come from the +direction of the secret passage which leads hither from the city." + +"It may be even as he says," exclaimed Pan-sat. "It was from that +direction that Tarzan-jad-guru was coming when I discovered and trapped +him. He was leading his warriors to the very holy of holies." + +Lu-don ran quickly to the doorway and looked out into the corridor. At +a glance he saw that the fears of the frightened priest were well +founded. A dozen warriors were moving along the corridor toward him but +they seemed confused and far from sure of themselves. The high priest +guessed that deprived of the leadership of Tarzan they were little +better than lost in the unknown mazes of the subterranean precincts of +the temple. + +Stepping back into the apartment he seized a leathern thong that +depended from the ceiling. He pulled upon it sharply and through the +temple boomed the deep tones of a metal gong. Five times the clanging +notes rang through the corridors, then he turned toward the two +priests. "Bring the woman and follow me," he directed. + +Crossing the chamber he passed through a small doorway, the others +lifting Jane Clayton from the floor and following him. Through a +narrow corridor and up a flight of steps they went, turning to right +and left and doubling back through a maze of winding passageways which +terminated in a spiral staircase that gave forth at the surface of the +ground within the largest of the inner altar courts close beside the +eastern altar. + +From all directions now, in the corridors below and the grounds above, +came the sound of hurrying footsteps. The five strokes of the great +gong had summoned the faithful to the defense of Lu-don in his private +chambers. The priests who knew the way led the less familiar warriors +to the spot and presently those who had accompanied Tarzan found +themselves not only leaderless but facing a vastly superior force. They +were brave men but under the circumstances they were helpless and so +they fell back the way they had come, and when they reached the narrow +confines of the smaller passageway their safety was assured since only +one foeman could attack them at a time. But their plans were frustrated +and possibly also their entire cause lost, so heavily had Ja-don banked +upon the success of their venture. + +With the clanging of the temple gong Ja-don assumed that Tarzan and his +party had struck their initial blow and so he launched his attack upon +the palace gate. To the ears of Lu-don in the inner temple court came +the savage war cries that announced the beginning of the battle. +Leaving Pan-sat and the other priest to guard the woman he hastened +toward the palace personally to direct his force and as he passed +through the temple grounds he dispatched a messenger to learn the +outcome of the fight in the corridors below, and other messengers to +spread the news among his followers that the false Dor-ul-Otho was a +prisoner in the temple. + +As the din of battle rose above A-lur, Lieutenant Erich Obergatz turned +upon his bed of soft hides and sat up. He rubbed his eyes and looked +about him. It was still dark without. + +"I am Jad-ben-Otho," he cried, "who dares disturb my slumber?" + +A slave squatting upon the floor at the foot of his couch shuddered and +touched her forehead to the floor. "It must be that the enemy have +come, O Jad-ben-Otho." She spoke soothingly for she had reason to know +the terrors of the mad frenzy into which trivial things sometimes threw +the Great God. + +A priest burst suddenly through the hangings of the doorway and falling +upon his hands and knees rubbed his forehead against the stone +flagging. "O Jad-ben-Otho," he cried, "the warriors of Ja-don have +attacked the palace and the temple. Even now they are fighting in the +corridors near the quarters of Lu-don, and the high priest begs that +you come to the palace and encourage your faithful warriors by your +presence." + +Obergatz sprang to his feet. "I am Jad-ben-Otho," he screamed. "With +lightning I will blast the blasphemers who dare attack the holy city of +A-lur." + +For a moment he rushed aimlessly and madly about the room, while the +priest and the slave remained upon hands and knees with their foreheads +against the floor. + +"Come," cried Obergatz, planting a vicious kick in the side of the +slave girl. "Come! Would you wait here all day while the forces of +darkness overwhelm the City of Light?" + +Thoroughly frightened as were all those who were forced to serve the +Great God, the two arose and followed Obergatz towards the palace. + +Above the shouting of the warriors rose constantly the cries of the +temple priests: "Jad-ben-Otho is here and the false Dor-ul-Otho is a +prisoner in the temple." The persistent cries reached even to the ears +of the enemy as it was intended that they should. + + + +24 + +The Messenger of Death + +The sun rose to see the forces of Ja-don still held at the palace gate. +The old warrior had seized the tall structure that stood just beyond +the palace and at the summit of this he kept a warrior stationed to +look toward the northern wall of the palace where Ta-den was to make +his attack; but as the minutes wore into hours no sign of the other +force appeared, and now in the full light of the new sun upon the roof +of one of the palace buildings appeared Lu-don, the high priest, +Mo-sar, the pretender, and the strange, naked figure of a man, into +whose long hair and beard were woven fresh ferns and flowers. Behind +them were banked a score of lesser priests who chanted in unison: "This +is Jad-ben-Otho. Lay down your arms and surrender." This they repeated +again and again, alternating it with the cry: "The false Dor-ul-Otho is +a prisoner." + +In one of those lulls which are common in battles between forces armed +with weapons that require great physical effort in their use, a voice +suddenly arose from among the followers of Ja-don: "Show us the +Dor-ul-Otho. We do not believe you!" + +"Wait," cried Lu-don. "If I do not produce him before the sun has moved +his own width, the gates of the palace shall be opened to you and my +warriors will lay down their arms." + +He turned to one of his priests and issued brief instructions. + +The ape-man paced the confines of his narrow cell. Bitterly he +reproached himself for the stupidity which had led him into this trap, +and yet was it stupidity? What else might he have done other than rush +to the succor of his mate? He wondered how they had stolen her from +Ja-lur, and then suddenly there flashed to his mind the features of the +warrior whom he had just seen with her. They were strangely familiar. +He racked his brain to recall where he had seen the man before and then +it came to him. He was the strange warrior who had joined Ja-don's +forces outside of Ja-lur the day that Tarzan had ridden upon the great +GRYF from the uninhabited gorge next to the Kor-ul-JA down to the +capital city of the chieftain of the north. But who could the man be? +Tarzan knew that never before that other day had he seen him. + +Presently he heard the clanging of a gong from the corridor without and +very faintly the rush of feet, and shouts. He guessed that his warriors +had been discovered and a fight was in progress. He fretted and chafed +at the chance that had denied him participation in it. + +Again and again he tried the doors of his prison and the trap in the +center of the floor, but none would give to his utmost endeavors. He +strained his eyes toward the aperture above but he could see nothing, +and then he continued his futile pacing to and fro like a caged lion +behind its bars. + +The minutes dragged slowly into hours. Faintly sounds came to him as of +shouting men at a great distance. The battle was in progress. He +wondered if Ja-don would be victorious and should he be, would his +friends ever discover him in this hidden chamber in the bowels of the +hill? He doubted it. + +And now as he looked again toward the aperture in the roof there +appeared to be something depending through its center. He came closer +and strained his eyes to see. Yes, there was something there. It +appeared to be a rope. Tarzan wondered if it had been there all the +time. It must have, he reasoned, since he had heard no sound from above +and it was so dark within the chamber that he might easily have +overlooked it. + +He raised his hand toward it. The end of it was just within his reach. +He bore his weight upon it to see if it would hold him. Then he +released it and backed away, still watching it, as you have seen an +animal do after investigating some unfamiliar object, one of the little +traits that differentiated Tarzan from other men, accentuating his +similarity to the savage beasts of his native jungle. Again and again +he touched and tested the braided leather rope, and always he listened +for any warning sound from above. + +He was very careful not to step upon the trap at any time and when +finally he bore all his weight upon the rope and took his feet from the +floor he spread them wide apart so that if he fell he would fall +astride the trap. The rope held him. There was no sound from above, nor +any from the trap below. + +Slowly and cautiously he drew himself upward, hand over hand. Nearer +and nearer the roof he came. In a moment his eyes would be above the +level of the floor above. Already his extended arms projected into the +upper chamber and then something closed suddenly upon both his +forearms, pinioning them tightly and leaving him hanging in mid-air +unable to advance or retreat. + +Immediately a light appeared in the room above him and presently he saw +the hideous mask of a priest peering down upon him. In the priest's +hands were leathern thongs and these he tied about Tarzan's wrists and +forearms until they were completely bound together from his elbows +almost to his fingers. Behind this priest Tarzan presently saw others +and soon several lay hold of him and pulled him up through the hole. + +Almost instantly his eyes were above the level of the floor he +understood how they had trapped him. Two nooses had lain encircling the +aperture into the cell below. A priest had waited at the end of each of +these ropes and at opposite sides of the chamber. When he had climbed +to a sufficient height upon the rope that had dangled into his prison +below and his arms were well within the encircling snares the two +priests had pulled quickly upon their ropes and he had been made an +easy captive without any opportunity of defending himself or inflicting +injury upon his captors. + +And now they bound his legs from his ankles to his knees and picking +him up carried him from the chamber. No word did they speak to him as +they bore him upward to the temple yard. + +The din of battle had risen again as Ja-don had urged his forces to +renewed efforts. Ta-den had not arrived and the forces of the old +chieftain were revealing in their lessened efforts their increasing +demoralization, and then it was that the priests carried +Tarzan-jad-guru to the roof of the palace and exhibited him in the +sight of the warriors of both factions. + +"Here is the false Dor-ul-Otho," screamed Lu-don. + +Obergatz, his shattered mentality having never grasped fully the +meaning of much that was going on about him, cast a casual glance at +the bound and helpless prisoner, and as his eyes fell upon the noble +features of the ape-man, they went wide in astonishment and fright, and +his pasty countenance turned a sickly blue. Once before had he seen +Tarzan of the Apes, but many times had he dreamed that he had seen him +and always was the giant ape-man avenging the wrongs that had been +committed upon him and his by the ruthless hands of the three German +officers who had led their native troops in the ravishing of Tarzan's +peaceful home. Hauptmann Fritz Schneider had paid the penalty of his +needless cruelties; Unter-lieutenant von Goss, too, had paid; and now +Obergatz, the last of the three, stood face to face with the Nemesis +that had trailed him through his dreams for long, weary months. That he +was bound and helpless lessened not the German's terror--he seemed not +to realize that the man could not harm him. He but stood cringing and +jibbering and Lu-don saw and was filled with apprehension that others +might see and seeing realize that this bewhiskered idiot was no +god--that of the two Tarzan-jad-guru was the more godly figure. Already +the high priest noted that some of the palace warriors standing near +were whispering together and pointing. He stepped closer to Obergatz. +"You are Jad-ben-Otho," he whispered, "denounce him!" + +The German shook himself. His mind cleared of all but his great terror +and the words of the high priest gave him the clue to safety. + +"I am Jad-ben-Otho!" he screamed. + +Tarzan looked him straight in the eye. "You are Lieutenant Obergatz of +the German Army," he said in excellent German. "You are the last of the +three I have sought so long and in your putrid heart you know that God +has not brought us together at last for nothing." + +The mind of Lieutenant Obergatz was functioning clearly and rapidly at +last. He too saw the questioning looks upon the faces of some of those +around them. He saw the opposing warriors of both cities standing by +the gate inactive, every eye turned upon him, and the trussed figure of +the ape-man. He realized that indecision now meant ruin, and ruin, +death. He raised his voice in the sharp barking tones of a Prussian +officer, so unlike his former maniacal screaming as to quickly arouse +the attention of every ear and to cause an expression of puzzlement to +cross the crafty face of Lu-don. + +"I am Jad-ben-Otho," snapped Obergatz. "This creature is no son of +mine. As a lesson to all blasphemers he shall die upon the altar at the +hand of the god he has profaned. Take him from my sight, and when the +sun stands at zenith let the faithful congregate in the temple court +and witness the wrath of this divine hand," and he held aloft his right +palm. + +Those who had brought Tarzan took him away then as Obergatz had +directed, and the German turned once more to the warriors by the gate. +"Throw down your arms, warriors of Ja-don," he cried, "lest I call down +my lightnings to blast you where you stand. Those who do as I bid shall +be forgiven. Come! Throw down your arms." + +The warriors of Ja-don moved uneasily, casting looks of appeal at their +leader and of apprehension toward the figures upon the palace roof. +Ja-don sprang forward among his men. "Let the cowards and knaves throw +down their arms and enter the palace," he cried, "but never will Ja-don +and the warriors of Ja-lur touch their foreheads to the feet of Lu-don +and his false god. Make your decision now," he cried to his followers. + +A few threw down their arms and with sheepish looks passed through the +gateway into the palace, and with the example of these to bolster their +courage others joined in the desertion from the old chieftain of the +north, but staunch and true around him stood the majority of his +warriors and when the last weakling had left their ranks Ja-don voiced +the savage cry with which he led his followers to the attack, and once +again the battle raged about the palace gate. + +At times Ja-don's forces pushed the defenders far into the palace +ground and then the wave of combat would recede and pass out into the +city again. And still Ta-den and the reinforcements did not come. It +was drawing close to noon. Lu-don had mustered every available man that +was not actually needed for the defense of the gate within the temple, +and these he sent, under the leadership of Pan-sat, out into the city +through the secret passageway and there they fell upon Ja-don's forces +from the rear while those at the gate hammered them in front. + +Attacked on two sides by a vastly superior force the result was +inevitable and finally the last remnant of Ja-don's little army +capitulated and the old chief was taken a prisoner before Lu-don. "Take +him to the temple court," cried the high priest. "He shall witness the +death of his accomplice and perhaps Jad-ben-Otho shall pass a similar +sentence upon him as well." + +The inner temple court was packed with humanity. At either end of the +western altar stood Tarzan and his mate, bound and helpless. The sounds +of battle had ceased and presently the ape-man saw Ja-don being led +into the inner court, his wrists bound tightly together before him. +Tarzan turned his eyes toward Jane and nodded in the direction of +Ja-don. "This looks like the end," he said quietly. "He was our last +and only hope." + +"We have at least found each other, John," she replied, "and our last +days have been spent together. My only prayer now is that if they take +you they do not leave me." + +Tarzan made no reply for in his heart was the same bitter thought that +her own contained--not the fear that they would kill him but the fear +that they would not kill her. The ape-man strained at his bonds but +they were too many and too strong. A priest near him saw and with a +jeering laugh struck the defenseless ape-man in the face. + +"The brute!" cried Jane Clayton. + +Tarzan smiled. "I have been struck thus before, Jane," he said, "and +always has the striker died." + +"You still have hope?" she asked. + +"I am still alive," he said as though that were sufficient answer. She +was a woman and she did not have the courage of this man who knew no +fear. In her heart of hearts she knew that he would die upon the altar +at high noon for he had told her, after he had been brought to the +inner court, of the sentence of death that Obergatz had pronounced upon +him, and she knew too that Tarzan knew that he would die, but that he +was too courageous to admit it even to himself. + +As she looked upon him standing there so straight and wonderful and +brave among his savage captors her heart cried out against the cruelty +of the fate that had overtaken him. It seemed a gross and hideous wrong +that that wonderful creature, now so quick with exuberant life and +strength and purpose should be presently naught but a bleeding lump of +clay--and all so uselessly and wantonly. Gladly would she have offered +her life for his but she knew that it was a waste of words since their +captors would work upon them whatever it was their will to do--for him, +death; for her--she shuddered at the thought. + +And now came Lu-don and the naked Obergatz, and the high priest led the +German to his place behind the altar, himself standing upon the other's +left. Lu-don whispered a word to Obergatz, at the same time nodding in +the direction of Ja-don. The Hun cast a scowling look upon the old +warrior. + +"And after the false god," he cried, "the false prophet," and he +pointed an accusing finger at Ja-don. Then his eyes wandered to the +form of Jane Clayton. + +"And the woman, too?" asked Lu-don. + +"The case of the woman I will attend to later," replied Obergatz. "I +will talk with her tonight after she has had a chance to meditate upon +the consequences of arousing the wrath of Jad-ben-Otho." + +He cast his eyes upward at the sun. "The time approaches," he said to +Lu-don. "Prepare the sacrifice." + +Lu-don nodded to the priests who were gathered about Tarzan. They +seized the ape-man and lifted him bodily to the altar where they laid +him upon his back with his head at the south end of the monolith, but a +few feet from where Jane Clayton stood. Impulsively and before they +could restrain her the woman rushed forward and bending quickly kissed +her mate upon the forehead. "Good-bye, John," she whispered. + +"Good-bye," he answered, smiling. + +The priests seized her and dragged her away. Lu-don handed the +sacrificial knife to Obergatz. "I am the Great God," cried the German, +"thus falleth the divine wrath upon all my enemies!" He looked up at +the sun and then raised the knife high above his head. + +"Thus die the blasphemers of God!" he screamed, and at the same instant +a sharp staccato note rang out above the silent, spell-bound multitude. +There was a screaming whistle in the air and Jad-ben-Otho crumpled +forward across the body of his intended victim. Again the same alarming +noise and Lu-don fell, a third and Mo-sar crumpled to the ground. And +now the warriors and the people, locating the direction of this new and +unknown sound turned toward the western end of the court. + +Upon the summit of the temple wall they saw two figures--a Ho-don +warrior and beside him an almost naked creature of the race of +Tarzan-jad-guru, across his shoulders and about his hips were strange +broad belts studded with beautiful cylinders that glinted in the +mid-day sun, and in his hands a shining thing of wood and metal from +the end of which rose a thin wreath of blue-gray smoke. + +And then the voice of the Ho-don warrior rang clear upon the ears of +the silent throng. "Thus speaks the true Jad-ben-Otho," he cried, +"through this his Messenger of Death. Cut the bonds of the prisoners. +Cut the bonds of the Dor-ul-Otho and of Ja-don, King of Pal-ul-don, and +of the woman who is the mate of the son of god." + +Pan-sat, filled with the frenzy of fanaticism saw the power and the +glory of the regime he had served crumpled and gone. To one and only +one did he attribute the blame for the disaster that had but just +overwhelmed him. It was the creature who lay upon the sacrificial altar +who had brought Lu-don to his death and toppled the dreams of power +that day by day had been growing in the brain of the under priest. + +The sacrificial knife lay upon the altar where it had fallen from the +dead fingers of Obergatz. Pan-sat crept closer and then with a sudden +lunge he reached forth to seize the handle of the blade, and even as +his clutching fingers were poised above it, the strange thing in the +hands of the strange creature upon the temple wall cried out its +crashing word of doom and Pan-sat the under priest, screaming, fell +back upon the dead body of his master. + +"Seize all the priests," cried Ta-den to the warriors, "and let none +hesitate lest Jad-ben-Otho's messenger send forth still other bolts of +lightning." + +The warriors and the people had now witnessed such an exhibition of +divine power as might have convinced an even less superstitious and +more enlightened people, and since many of them had but lately wavered +between the Jad-ben-Otho of Lu-don and the Dor-ul-Otho of Ja-don it was +not difficult for them to swing quickly back to the latter, especially +in view of the unanswerable argument in the hands of him whom Ta-den +had described as the Messenger of the Great God. + +And so the warriors sprang forward now with alacrity and surrounded the +priests, and when they looked again at the western wall of the temple +court they saw pouring over it a great force of warriors. And the thing +that startled and appalled them was the fact that many of these were +black and hairy Waz-don. + +At their head came the stranger with the shiny weapon and on his right +was Ta-den, the Ho-don, and on his left Om-at, the black gund of +Kor-ul-JA. + +A warrior near the altar had seized the sacrificial knife and cut +Tarzan's bonds and also those of Ja-don and Jane Clayton, and now the +three stood together beside the altar and as the newcomers from the +western end of the temple court pushed their way toward them the eyes +of the woman went wide in mingled astonishment, incredulity, and hope. +And the stranger, slinging his weapon across his back by a leather +strap, rushed forward and took her in his arms. + +"Jack!" she cried, sobbing on his shoulder. "Jack, my son!" + +And Tarzan of the Apes came then and put his arms around them both, and +the King of Pal-ul-don and the warriors and the people kneeled in the +temple court and placed their foreheads to the ground before the altar +where the three stood. + + + +25 + +Home + +Within an hour of the fall of Lu-don and Mo-sar, the chiefs and +principal warriors of Pal-ul-don gathered in the great throneroom of +the palace at A-lur upon the steps of the lofty pyramid and placing +Ja-don at the apex proclaimed him king. Upon one side of the old +chieftain stood Tarzan of the Apes, and upon the other Korak, the +Killer, worthy son of the mighty ape-man. + +And when the brief ceremony was over and the warriors with upraised +clubs had sworn fealty to their new ruler, Ja-don dispatched a trusted +company to fetch O-lo-a and Pan-at-lee and the women of his own +household from Ja-lur. + +And then the warriors discussed the future of Pal-ul-don and the +question arose as to the administration of the temples and the fate of +the priests, who practically without exception had been disloyal to the +government of the king, seeking always only their own power and comfort +and aggrandizement. And then it was that Ja-don turned to Tarzan. "Let +the Dor-ul-Otho transmit to his people the wishes of his father," he +said. + +"Your problem is a simple one," said the ape-man, "if you but wish to +do that which shall be pleasing in the eyes of God. Your priests, to +increase their power, have taught you that Jad-ben-Otho is a cruel god, +that his eyes love to dwell upon blood and upon suffering. But the +falsity of their teachings has been demonstrated to you today in the +utter defeat of the priesthood. + +"Take then the temples from the men and give them instead to the women +that they may be administered in kindness and charity and love. Wash +the blood from your eastern altar and drain forever the water from the +western. + +"Once I gave Lu-don the opportunity to do these things but he ignored +my commands, and again is the corridor of sacrifice filled with its +victims. Liberate these from every temple in Pal-ul-don. Bring +offerings of such gifts as your people like and place them upon the +altars of your god. And there he will bless them and the priestesses of +Jad-ben-Otho can distribute them among those who need them most." + +As he ceased speaking a murmur of evident approval ran through the +throng. Long had they been weary of the avarice and cruelty of the +priests and now that authority had come from a high source with a +feasible plan for ridding themselves of the old religious order without +necessitating any change in the faith of the people they welcomed it. + +"And the priests," cried one. "We shall put them to death upon their +own altars if it pleases the Dor-ul-Otho to give the word." + +"No," cried Tarzan. "Let no more blood be spilled. Give them their +freedom and the right to take up such occupations as they choose." + +That night a great feast was spread in the pal-e-don-so and for the +first time in the history of ancient Pal-ul-don black warriors sat in +peace and friendship with white. And a pact was sealed between Ja-don +and Om-at that would ever make his tribe and the Ho-don allies and +friends. + +It was here that Tarzan learned the cause of Ta-den's failure to attack +at the stipulated time. A messenger had come from Ja-don carrying +instructions to delay the attack until noon, nor had they discovered +until almost too late that the messenger was a disguised priest of +Lu-don. And they had put him to death and scaled the walls and come to +the inner temple court with not a moment to spare. + +The following day O-lo-a and Pan-at-lee and the women of Ja-don's +family arrived at the palace at A-lur and in the great throneroom +Ta-den and O-lo-a were wed, and Om-at and Pan-at-lee. + +For a week Tarzan and Jane and Korak remained the guests of Ja-don, as +did Om-at and his black warriors. And then the ape-man announced that +he would depart from Pal-ul-don. Hazy in the minds of their hosts was +the location of heaven and equally so the means by which the gods +traveled between their celestial homes and the haunts of men and so no +questionings arose when it was found that the Dor-ul-Otho with his mate +and son would travel overland across the mountains and out of +Pal-ul-don toward the north. + +They went by way of the Kor-ul-JA accompanied by the warriors of that +tribe and a great contingent of Ho-don warriors under Ta-den. The king +and many warriors and a multitude of people accompanied them beyond the +limits of A-lur and after they had bid them good-bye and Tarzan had +invoked the blessings of God upon them the three Europeans saw their +simple, loyal friends prostrate in the dust behind them until the +cavalcade had wound out of the city and disappeared among the trees of +the nearby forest. + +They rested for a day among the Kor-ul-JA while Jane investigated the +ancient caves of these strange people and then they moved on, avoiding +the rugged shoulder of Pastar-ul-ved and winding down the opposite +slope toward the great morass. They moved in comfort and in safety, +surrounded by their escort of Ho-don and Waz-don. + +In the minds of many there was doubtless a question as to how the three +would cross the great morass but least of all was Tarzan worried by the +problem. In the course of his life he had been confronted by many +obstacles only to learn that he who will may always pass. In his mind +lurked an easy solution of the passage but it was one which depended +wholly upon chance. + +It was the morning of the last day that, as they were breaking camp to +take up the march, a deep bellow thundered from a nearby grove. The +ape-man smiled. The chance had come. Fittingly then would the +Dor-ul-Otho and his mate and their son depart from unmapped Pal-ul-don. + +He still carried the spear that Jane had made, which he had prized so +highly because it was her handiwork that he had caused a search to be +made for it through the temple in A-lur after his release, and it had +been found and brought to him. He had told her laughingly that it +should have the place of honor above their hearth as the ancient +flintlock of her Puritan grandsire had held a similar place of honor +above the fireplace of Professor Porter, her father. + +At the sound of the bellowing the Ho-don warriors, some of whom had +accompanied Tarzan from Ja-don's camp to Ja-lur, looked questioningly +at the ape-man while Om-at's Waz-don looked for trees, since the GRYF +was the one creature of Pal-ul-don which might not be safely +encountered even by a great multitude of warriors. Its tough, armored +hide was impregnable to their knife thrusts while their thrown clubs +rattled from it as futilely as if hurled at the rocky shoulder of +Pastar-ul-ved. + +"Wait," said the ape-man, and with his spear in hand he advanced toward +the GRYF, voicing the weird cry of the Tor-o-don. The bellowing ceased +and turned to low rumblings and presently the huge beast appeared. What +followed was but a repetition of the ape-man's previous experience with +these huge and ferocious creatures. + +And so it was that Jane and Korak and Tarzan rode through the morass +that hems Pal-ul-don, upon the back of a prehistoric triceratops while +the lesser reptiles of the swamp fled hissing in terror. Upon the +opposite shore they turned and called back their farewells to Ta-den +and Om-at and the brave warriors they had learned to admire and +respect. And then Tarzan urged their titanic mount onward toward the +north, abandoning him only when he was assured that the Waz-don and the +Ho-don had had time to reach a point of comparative safety among the +craggy ravines of the foothills. + +Turning the beast's head again toward Pal-ul-don the three dismounted +and a sharp blow upon the thick hide sent the creature lumbering +majestically back in the direction of its native haunts. For a time +they stood looking back upon the land they had just quit--the land of +Tor-o-don and GRYF; of JA and JATO; of Waz-don and Ho-don; a primitive +land of terror and sudden death and peace and beauty; a land that they +all had learned to love. + +And then they turned once more toward the north and with light hearts +and brave hearts took up their long journey toward the land that is +best of all--home. + + + +Glossary + +From conversations with Lord Greystoke and from his notes, there have +been gleaned a number of interesting items relative to the language and +customs of the inhabitants of Pal-ul-don that are not brought out in +the story. For the benefit of those who may care to delve into the +derivation of the proper names used in the text, and thus obtain some +slight insight into the language of the race, there is appended an +incomplete glossary taken from some of Lord Greystoke's notes. + +A point of particular interest hinges upon the fact that the names of +all male hairless pithecanthropi begin with a consonant, have an even +number of syllables, and end with a consonant, while the names of the +females of the same species begin with a vowel, have an odd number of +syllables, and end with a vowel. On the contrary, the names of the male +hairy black pithecanthropi while having an even number of syllables +begin with a vowel and end with a consonant; while the females of this +species have an odd number of syllables in their names which begin +always with a consonant and end with a vowel. + + + A. Light. + ab. Boy. + Ab-on. Acting gund of Kor-ul-JA. + Ad. Three. + Adad. Six. + Adadad. Nine. + Adaden. Seven. + Aden. Four. + Adenaden. Eight. + Adenen. Five. + A-lur. City of light. + An. Spear. + An-un. Father of Pan-at-lee. + As. The sun. + At. Tail. + + Bal. Gold or golden. + Bar. Battle. + Ben. Great. + Bu. Moon. + Bu-lot (moon face). Son of chief Mo-sar. + Bu-lur (moon city). The city of the Waz-ho-don. + + Dak. Fat. + Dak-at (fat tail). Chief of a Ho-don village. + Dak-lot. One of Ko-tan's palace warriors. + Dan. Rock. + Den. Tree. + Don. Man. + Dor. Son. + Dor-ul-Otho + (son of god). Tarzan. + + E. Where. + Ed. Seventy. + El. Grace or graceful. + En. One. + Enen. Two. + Es. Rough. + Es-sat (rough skin). Chief of Om-at's tribe of hairy blacks. + Et. Eighty. + + Fur. Thirty. + + Ged. Forty. + Go. Clear. + Gryf. "Triceratops. A genus of huge + herbivorous dinosaurs of the group + Ceratopsia. The skull had two large + horns above the eyes, a median + horn on the nose, a horny beak, and a + great bony hood or transverse crest over + the neck. Their toes, five in front and + three behind, were provided with hoofs, + and the tail was large and strong." + Webster's Dict. The GRYF of Pal-ul-don + is similar except that it is + omnivorous, has strong, powerfully + armed jaws and talons instead of hoofs. + Coloration: face yellow with blue bands + encircling the eyes; hood red on top, + yellow underneath; belly yellow; body a + dirty slate blue; legs same. Bony + protuberances yellow except along the + spine--these are red. Tail conforms with + body and belly. Horns, ivory. + Gund. Chief. + Guru. Terrible. + + Het. Fifty. + Ho. White. + Ho-don. The hairless white men of Pal-ul-don. + + Id. Silver. + Id-an. One of Pan-at-lee's two brothers. + In. Dark. + In-sad. Kor-ul-JA warrior accompanying Tarzan, Om-at, + and Ta-den in search of Pan-at-lee. + In-tan. Kor-ul-lul left to guard Tarzan + + Ja. Lion. + Jad. The + Jad-bal-lul. The golden lake. + Jad-ben-lul. The big lake. + Jad-ben-Otho. The Great God. + Jad-guru-don. The terrible man. + Jad-in-lul. The dark lake. + Ja-don (the lion-man). Chief of a Ho-don village and father of Ta-den. + Jad Pele ul + Jad-ben-Otho. The valley of the Great God. + Ja-lur (lion city). Ja-don's capital. + Jar. Strange. + Jar-don. Name given Korak by Om-at. + Jato. Saber-tooth hybrid. + + Ko. Mighty. + Kor. Gorge. + Kor-ul-GRYF. Gorge of the GRYF. + Kor-ul-JA. Name of Es-sat's gorge and tribe. + Kor-ul-lul. Name of another Waz-don gorge and tribe. + Ko-tan. King of the Ho-don. + + Lav. Run or running. + Lee. Doe. + Lo. Star. + Lot. Face. + Lu. Fierce. + Lu-don (fierce man). High priest of A-lur. + Lul. Water. + Lur. City. + + Ma. Child. + Mo. Short. + Mo-sar (short nose). Chief and pretender. + Mu. Strong. + + No. Brook. + + O. Like or similar. + Od. Ninety. + O-dan. Kor-ul-JA warrior accompanying Tarzan, Om-at, + and Ta-den in search of Pan-at-lee. + Og. Sixty. + O-lo-a + (like-star-light). Ko-tan's daughter + Om. Long. + Om-at (long tail). A black. + On. Ten. + Otho. God. + + Pal. Place; land; country. + Pal-e-don-so + (place where men eat). Banquet hall. + Pal-ul-don + (land of man). Name of the country. + Pal-ul-JA. Place of lions. + Pan. Soft. + Pan-at-lee. Om-at's sweetheart. + Pan-sat (soft skin). A priest. + Pastar. Father. + Pastar-ul-ved. Father of Mountains. + Pele. Valley. + + Ro. Flower. + + Sad. Forest. + San. One hundred + Sar. Nose. + Sat. Skin. + So. Eat. + Sod. Eaten. + Sog. Eating. + Son. Ate. + + Ta. Tall. + Ta-den (tall tree). A white. + Tan. Warrior. + Tarzan-jad-guru. Tarzan the Terrible. + To. Purple. + Ton. Twenty. + Tor. Beast. + Tor-o-don. Beastlike man. + Tu. Bright. + Tu-lur (bright city). Mo-sar's city. + + Ul. Of. + Un. Eye. + Ut. Corn. + + Ved. Mountain + + Waz. Black. + Waz-don. The hairy black men of Pal-ul-don. + Waz-ho-don + (black white men). A mixed race + + Xot. One thousand. + + Yo. Friend. + + Za. Girl. + + + + + + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's Tarzan the Terrible, by Edgar Rice Burroughs + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK TARZAN THE TERRIBLE *** + +***** This file should be named 2020.txt or 2020.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/2/0/2/2020/ + +Produced by Judy Boss. + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. Project +Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you +charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission. If you +do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the +rules is very easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose +such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and +research. They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do +practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks. Redistribution is +subject to the trademark license, especially commercial +redistribution. + + + +*** START: FULL LICENSE *** + +THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE +PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK + +To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free +distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work +(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project +Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project +Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at +https://gutenberg.org/license). + + +Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic works + +1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to +and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property +(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all +the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy +all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession. +If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the +terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or +entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8. + +1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be +used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who +agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few +things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works +even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See +paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement +and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. See paragraph 1.E below. + +1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation" +or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual works in the +collection are in the public domain in the United States. If an +individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are +located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from +copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative +works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg +are removed. Of course, we hope that you will support the Project +Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by +freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of +this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with +the work. You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by +keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project +Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others. + +1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern +what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are in +a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, check +the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement +before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or +creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project +Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no representations concerning +the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United +States. + +1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: + +1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate +access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently +whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the +phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project +Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed, +copied or distributed: + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + +1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived +from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is +posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied +and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees +or charges. If you are redistributing or providing access to a work +with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the +work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 +through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the +Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or +1.E.9. + +1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted +with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution +must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional +terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms will be linked +to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the +permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work. + +1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this +work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm. + +1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this +electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without +prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with +active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project +Gutenberg-tm License. + +1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, +compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any +word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access to or +distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than +"Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version +posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.org), +you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a +copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon +request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other +form. Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. + +1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, +performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works +unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. + +1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing +access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided +that + +- You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from + the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method + you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is + owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he + has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the + Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments + must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you + prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax + returns. Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and + sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the + address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to + the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation." + +- You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies + you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he + does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm + License. You must require such a user to return or + destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium + and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of + Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +- You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any + money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the + electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days + of receipt of the work. + +- You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free + distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set +forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from +both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael +Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark. Contact the +Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below. + +1.F. + +1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable +effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread +public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm +collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain +"Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or +corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual +property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a +computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by +your equipment. + +1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right +of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project +Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all +liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal +fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT +LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE +PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH F3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE +TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE +LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR +INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH +DAMAGE. + +1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a +defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can +receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a +written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you +received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with +your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you with +the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a +refund. If you received the work electronically, the person or entity +providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to +receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If the second copy +is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further +opportunities to fix the problem. + +1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth +in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS' WITH NO OTHER +WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO +WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. + +1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied +warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages. +If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the +law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be +interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by +the applicable state law. The invalidity or unenforceability of any +provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions. + +1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the +trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone +providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance +with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production, +promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works, +harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees, +that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do +or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm +work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any +Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause. + + +Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm + +Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of +electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers +including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It exists +because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from +people in all walks of life. + +Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the +assistance they need, is critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's +goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will +remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure +and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations. +To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation +and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4 +and the Foundation web page at https://www.pglaf.org. + + +Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive +Foundation + +The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit +501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the +state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal +Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification +number is 64-6221541. Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at +https://pglaf.org/fundraising. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent +permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws. + +The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S. +Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered +throughout numerous locations. Its business office is located at +809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email +business@pglaf.org. Email contact links and up to date contact +information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official +page at https://pglaf.org + +For additional contact information: + Dr. Gregory B. Newby + Chief Executive and Director + gbnewby@pglaf.org + + +Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation + +Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide +spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of +increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be +freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest +array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations +($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt +status with the IRS. + +The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating +charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United +States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a +considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up +with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations +where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To +SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any +particular state visit https://pglaf.org + +While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we +have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition +against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who +approach us with offers to donate. + +International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make +any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from +outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. + +Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation +methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other +ways including including checks, online payments and credit card +donations. To donate, please visit: https://pglaf.org/donate + + +Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. + +Professor Michael S. Hart was the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm +concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared +with anyone. For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project +Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support. + + +Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S. +unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not necessarily +keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. + + +Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: + + https://www.gutenberg.org + +This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, +including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to +subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. |