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FOR PUBLIC DOMAIN ETEXTS*Ver.07/27/01*END* + + + + + + + + + + + +Prepared by Judy Boss, Omaha, NE. + + + + + +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 canon 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 canon 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. + +_______________________________________________________________ + +(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. + +_______________________________________________________________ + +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 it's 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. + + + + + +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 in 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 thank 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 chat +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 ocher +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 Pa-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 The Project Gutenberg Etext of Tarzan the Terrible +by Edgar Rice Burroughs + |