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 slunkthrough 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 moondappled an occasional clearing which the great cat was always carefulto avoid. Though he moved through thick verdure across a carpet ofinnumerable twigs, broken branches, and leaves, his passing gave forthno sound that might have been apprehended by dull human ears. 

Apparently less cautious was the hunted thing moving even as silentlyas the lion a hundred paces ahead of the tawny carnivore, for insteadof skirting the moon-splashed natural clearings it passed directlyacross them, and by the tortuous record of its spoor it might indeed beguessed that it sought these avenues of least resistance, as well itmight, since, unlike its grim stalker, it walked erect upon twofeet--it walked upon two feet and was hairless except for a blackthatch upon its head; its arms were well shaped and muscular; its handspowerful and slender with long tapering fingers and thumbs reachingalmost to the first joint of the index fingers. Its legs too wereshapely but its feet departed from the standards of all races of men, except possibly a few of the lowest races, in that the great toesprotruded at right angles from the foot. 

Pausing momentarily in the full light of the gorgeous African moon thecreature turned an attentive ear to the rear and then, his head lifted, his features might readily have been discerned in the moonlight. Theywere strong, clean cut, and regular--features that would have attractedattention for their masculine beauty in any of the great capitals ofthe world. But was this thing a man? It would have been hard for awatcher in the trees to have decided as the lion's prey resumed its wayacross the silver tapestry that Luna had laid upon the floor of thedismal jungle, for from beneath the loin cloth of black fur thatgirdled its thighs there depended a long hairless, white tail. 

In one hand the creature carried a stout club, and suspended at itsleft side from a shoulder belt was a short, sheathed knife, while across belt supported a pouch at its right hip. Confining these strapsto the body and also apparently supporting the loin cloth was a broadgirdle which glittered in the moonlight as though encrusted with virgingold, and was clasped in the center of the belly with a huge buckle ofornate design that scintillated as with precious stones. 

Closer and closer crept Numa, the lion, to his intended victim, andthat the latter was not entirely unaware of his danger was evidenced bythe increasing frequency with which he turned his ear and his sharpblack eyes in the direction of the cat upon his trail. He did notgreatly increase his speed, a long swinging walk where the open placespermitted, but he loosened the knife in its scabbard and at all timeskept his club in readiness for instant action. 

Forging at last through a narrow strip of dense jungle vegetation theman-thing broke through into an almost treeless area of considerableextent. For an instant he hesitated, glancing quickly behind him andthen up at the security of the branches of the great trees wavingoverhead, but some greater urge than fear or caution influenced hisdecision apparently, for he moved off again across the little plainleaving the safety of the trees behind him. At greater or lessintervals leafy sanctuaries dotted the grassy expanse ahead of him andthe route he took, leading from one to another, indicated that he hadnot entirely cast discretion to the winds. But after the second treehad been left behind the distance to the next was considerable, and itwas then that Numa walked from the concealing cover of the jungle and, seeing his quarry apparently helpless before him, raised his tailstiffly erect and charged. 

Two months--two long, weary months filled with hunger, with thirst, with hardships, with disappointment, and, greater than all, withgnawing pain--had passed since Tarzan of the Apes learned from thediary of the dead German captain that his wife still lived. A briefinvestigation in which he was enthusiastically aided by theIntelligence Department of the British East African Expedition revealedthe fact that an attempt had been made to keep Lady Jane in hiding inthe interior, for reasons of which only the German High Command mightbe cognizant. 

In charge of Lieutenant Obergatz and a detachment of native Germantroops she had been sent across the border into the Congo Free State. 

Starting out alone in search of her, Tarzan had succeeded in findingthe village in which she had been incarcerated only to learn that shehad escaped months before, and that the German officer had disappearedat the same time. From there on the stories of the chiefs and thewarriors whom he quizzed, were vague and often contradictory. Even thedirection that the fugitives had taken Tarzan could only guess at bypiecing together bits of fragmentary evidence gleaned from varioussources. 

Sinister conjectures were forced upon him by various observations whichhe made in the village. One was incontrovertible proof that thesepeople were man-eaters; the other, the presence in the village ofvarious articles of native German uniforms and equipment. At great riskand in the face of surly objection on the part of the chief, theape-man made a careful inspection of every hut in the village fromwhich at least a little ray of hope resulted from the fact that hefound 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 forthe most part with dense thorn, coming at last into a district that hadprobably never been previously entered by any white man and which wasknown only in the legends of the tribes whose country bordered it. Herewere precipitous mountains, well-watered plateaus, wide plains, andvast swampy morasses, but neither the plains, nor the plateaus, nor themountains were accessible to him until after weeks of arduous effort hesucceeded in finding a spot where he might cross the morasses--ahideous stretch infested by venomous snakes and other larger dangerousreptiles. On several occasions he glimpsed at distances or by nightwhat might have been titanic reptilian monsters, but as there werehippopotami, rhinoceri, and elephants in great numbers in and about themarsh 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 herealized why it was that for perhaps countless ages this territory haddefied the courage and hardihood of the heroic races of the outer worldthat had, after innumerable reverses and unbelievable sufferingpenetrated to practically every other region, from pole to pole. 

From the abundance and diversity of the game it might have appearedthat every known species of bird and beast and reptile had sought herea refuge wherein they might take their last stand against theencroaching multitudes of men that had steadily spread themselves overthe surface of the earth, wresting the hunting grounds from the lowerorders, from the moment that the first ape shed his hair and ceased towalk upon his knuckles. Even the species with which Tarzan wasfamiliar showed here either the results of a divergent line ofevolution or an unaltered form that had been transmitted withoutvariation for countless ages. 

Too, there were many hybrid strains, not the least interesting of whichto Tarzan was a yellow and black striped lion. Smaller than the specieswith which Tarzan was familiar, but still a most formidable beast, since it possessed in addition to sharp saber-like canines thedisposition of a devil. To Tarzan it presented evidence that tigers hadonce roamed the jungles of Africa, possibly giant saber-tooths ofanother epoch, and these apparently had crossed with lions with theresultant terrors that he occasionally encountered at the present day. 

The true lions of this new, Old World differed but little from thosewith which he was familiar; in size and conformation they were almostidentical, but instead of shedding the leopard spots of cubhood, theyretained them through life as definitely marked as those of the leopard. 

Two months of effort had revealed no slightest evidence that she hesought had entered this beautiful yet forbidding land. Hisinvestigation, however, of the cannibal village and his questioning ofother tribes in the neighborhood had convinced him that if Lady Janestill lived it must be in this direction that he seek her, since by aprocess of elimination he had reduced the direction of her flight toonly this possibility. How she had crossed the morass he could notguess and yet something within seemed to urge upon him belief that shehad crossed it, and that if she still lived it was here that she mustbe sought. But this unknown, untraversed wild was of vast extent; grim, forbidding mountains blocked his way, torrents tumbling from rockyfastnesses impeded his progress, and at every turn he was forced tomatch wits and muscles with the great carnivora that he might procuresustenance. 

Time and again Tarzan and Numa stalked the same quarry and now one, nowthe other bore off the prize. Seldom however did the ape-man go hungryfor the country was rich in game animals and birds and fish, in fruitand the countless other forms of vegetable life upon which thejungle-bred man may subsist. 

Tarzan often wondered why in so rich a country he found no evidences ofman and had at last come to the conclusion that the parched, thorn-covered steppe and the hideous morasses had formed a sufficientbarrier to protect this country effectively from the inroads of mankind. 

After days of searching he had succeeded finally in discovering a passthrough the mountains and, coming down upon the opposite side, hadfound himself in a country practically identical with that which he hadleft. The hunting was good and at a water hole in the mouth of a canonwhere it debouched upon a tree-covered plain Bara, the deer, fell aneasy victim to the ape-man's cunning. 

It was just at dusk. The voices of great four-footed hunters rose nowand again from various directions, and as the canon afforded among itstrees no comfortable retreat the ape-man shouldered the carcass of thedeer and started downward onto the plain. At its opposite side roselofty trees--a great forest which suggested to his practiced eye amighty jungle. Toward this the ape-man bent his step, but when midwayof the plain he discovered standing alone such a tree as best suitedhim 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 ofthe carcass to the opposite side of the tree where he deposited it farabove the ground in a secure place. Returning to his crotch he settledhimself for sleep and in another moment the roars of the lions and thehowlings of the lesser cats fell upon deaf ears. 

The usual noises of the jungle composed rather than disturbed theape-man but an unusual sound, however imperceptible to the awakened earof civilized man, seldom failed to impinge upon the consciousness ofTarzan, however deep his slumber, and so it was that when the moon washigh a sudden rush of feet across the grassy carpet in the vicinity ofhis tree brought him to alert and ready activity. Tarzan does notawaken as you and I with the weight of slumber still upon his eyes andbrain, for did the creatures of the wild awaken thus, their awakeningswould be few. As his eyes snapped open, clear and bright, so, clearand bright upon the nerve centers of his brain, were registered thevarious perceptions of all his senses. 

Almost beneath him, racing toward his tree was what at first glanceappeared to be an almost naked white man, yet even at the first instantof discovery the long, white tail projecting rearward did not escapethe ape-man. Behind the fleeing figure, escaping, came Numa, the lion, in full charge. Voiceless the prey, voiceless the killer; as twospirits in a dead world the two moved in silent swiftness toward theculminating tragedy of this grim race. 

Even as his eyes opened and took in the scene beneath him--even in thatbrief instant of perception, followed reason, judgment, and decision, so rapidly one upon the heels of the other that almost simultaneouslythe ape-man was in mid-air, for he had seen a white-skinned creaturecast in a mold similar to his own, pursued by Tarzan's hereditaryenemy. So close was the lion to the fleeing man-thing that Tarzan hadno time carefully to choose the method of his attack. As a diver leapsfrom the springboard headforemost into the waters beneath, so Tarzan ofthe Apes dove straight for Numa, the lion; naked in his right hand theblade of his father that so many times before had tasted the blood oflions. 

A raking talon caught Tarzan on the side, inflicting a long, deep woundand then the ape-man was on Numa's back and the blade was sinking againand again into the savage side. Nor was the man-thing either longerfleeing, or idle. He too, creature of the wild, had sensed on theinstant the truth of the miracle of his saving, and turning in histracks, had leaped forward with raised bludgeon to Tarzan's assistanceand Numa's undoing. A single terrific blow upon the flattened skull ofthe beast laid him insensible and then as Tarzan's knife found the wildheart a few convulsive shudders and a sudden relaxation marked thepassing of the carnivore. 

Leaping to his feet the ape-man placed his foot upon the carcass of hiskill and, raising his face to Goro, the moon, voiced the savage victorycry that had so often awakened the echoes of his native jungle. 

As the hideous scream burst from the ape-man's lips the man-thingstepped quickly back as in sudden awe, but when Tarzan returned hishunting knife to its sheath and turned toward him the other saw in thequiet dignity of his demeanor no cause for apprehension. 

For a moment the two stood appraising each other, and then theman-thing spoke. Tarzan realized that the creature before him wasuttering articulate sounds which expressed in speech, though in alanguage with which Tarzan was unfamiliar, the thoughts of a manpossessing to a greater or less extent the same powers of reason thathe possessed. In other words, that though the creature before him hadthe tail and thumbs and great toes of a monkey, it was, in all otherrespects, quite evidently a man. 

The blood, which was now flowing down Tarzan's side, caught thecreature's attention. From the pocket-pouch at his side he took a smallbag and approaching Tarzan indicated by signs that he wished theape-man to lie down that he might treat the wound, whereupon, spreadingthe edges of the cut apart, he sprinkled the raw flesh with powder fromthe little bag. The pain of the wound was as nothing to the exquisitetorture of the remedy but, accustomed to physical suffering, theape-man withstood it stoically and in a few moments not only had thebleeding ceased but the pain as well. 

In reply to the soft and far from unpleasant modulations of the other'svoice, Tarzan spoke in various tribal dialects of the interior as wellas in the language of the great apes, but it was evident that the manunderstood none of these. Seeing that they could not make each otherunderstood, the pithecanthropus advanced toward Tarzan and placing hisleft hand over his own heart laid the palm of his right hand over theheart of the ape-man. To the latter the action appeared as a form offriendly greeting and, being versed in the ways of uncivilized races, he responded in kind as he realized it was doubtless intended that heshould. His action seemed to satisfy and please his new-foundacquaintance, who immediately fell to talking again and finally, withhis head tipped back, sniffed the air in the direction of the treeabove them and then suddenly pointing toward the carcass of Bara, thedeer, he touched his stomach in a sign language which even the densestmight interpret. With a wave of his hand Tarzan invited his guest topartake of the remains of his savage repast, and the other, leapingnimbly as a little monkey to the lower branches of the tree, made hisway quickly to the flesh, assisted always by his long, strong sinuoustail. 

The pithecanthropus ate in silence, cutting small strips from thedeer's loin with his keen knife. From his crotch in the tree Tarzanwatched his companion, noting the preponderance of human attributeswhich were doubtless accentuated by the paradoxical thumbs, great toes, and tail. 

He wondered if this creature was representative of some strange race orif, what seemed more likely, but an atavism. Either supposition wouldhave seemed preposterous enough did he not have before him the evidenceof the creature's existence. There he was, however, a tailed man withdistinctly arboreal hands and feet. His trappings, gold encrusted andjewel studded, could have been wrought only by skilled artisans; butwhether they were the work of this individual or of others like him, orof an entirely different race, Tarzan could not, of course, determine. 

His meal finished, the guest wiped his fingers and lips with leavesbroken from a nearby branch, looked up at Tarzan with a pleasant smilethat revealed a row of strong white teeth, the canines of which were nolonger than Tarzan's own, spoke a few words which Tarzan judged were apolite expression of thanks and then sought a comfortable place in thetree for the night. 

The earth was shadowed in the darkness which precedes the dawn whenTarzan was awakened by a violent shaking of the tree in which he hadfound shelter. As he opened his eyes he saw that his companion was alsoastir, and glancing around quickly to apprehend the cause of thedisturbance, 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 hesaw that it was the scraping of the giant body against the branchesthat had awakened him. That such a tremendous creature could haveapproached so closely without disturbing him filled Tarzan with bothwonderment and chagrin. In the gloom the ape-man at first conceived theintruder to be an elephant; yet, if so, one of greater proportions thanany he had ever before seen, but as the dim outlines became lessindistinct he saw on a line with his eyes and twenty feet above theground the dim silhouette of a grotesquely serrated back that gave theimpression of a creature whose each and every spinal vertebra grew athick, heavy horn. Only a portion of the back was visible to theape-man, the rest of the body being lost in the dense shadows beneaththe tree, from whence there now arose the sound of giant jawspowerfully crunching flesh and bones. From the odors that rose to theape-man's sensitive nostrils he presently realized that beneath him wassome huge reptile feeding upon the carcass of the lion that had beenslain there earlier in the night. 

As Tarzan's eyes, straining with curiosity, bored futilely into thedark shadows he felt a light touch upon his shoulder, and, turning, sawthat his companion was attempting to attract his attention. Thecreature, pressing a forefinger to his own lips as to enjoin silence, attempted by pulling on Tarzan's arm to indicate that they should leaveat once. 

Realizing that he was in a strange country, evidently infested bycreatures of titanic size, with the habits and powers of which he wasentirely unfamiliar, the ape-man permitted himself to be drawn away. With the utmost caution the pithecanthropus descended the tree upon theopposite side from the great nocturnal prowler, and, closely followedby Tarzan, moved silently away through the night across the plain. 

The ape-man was rather loath thus to relinquish an opportunity toinspect a creature which he realized was probably entirely differentfrom anything in his past experience; yet he was wise enough to knowwhen 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 aresufficiently filled with danger in their ordinary routine of feedingand mating. 

As the rising sun dispelled the shadows of the night, Tarzan foundhimself again upon the verge of a great forest into which his guideplunged, taking nimbly to the branches of the trees through which hemade his way with the celerity of long habitude and hereditaryinstinct, but though aided by a prehensile tail, fingers, and toes, theman-thing moved through the forest with no greater ease or surety thandid the giant ape-man. 

It was during this journey that Tarzan recalled the wound in his sideinflicted upon him the previous night by the raking talons of Numa, thelion, and examining it was surprised to discover that not only was itpainless but along its edges were no indications of inflammation, theresults doubtless of the antiseptic powder his strange companion hadsprinkled upon it. 

They had proceeded for a mile or two when Tarzan's companion came toearth upon a grassy slope beneath a great tree whose branches overhunga clear brook. Here they drank and Tarzan discovered the water to benot only deliciously pure and fresh but of an icy temperature thatindicated its rapid descent from the lofty mountains of its origin. 

Casting aside his loin cloth and weapons Tarzan entered the little poolbeneath the tree and after a moment emerged, greatly refreshed andfilled with a keen desire to breakfast. As he came out of the pool henoticed his companion examining him with a puzzled expression upon hisface. Taking the ape-man by the shoulder he turned him around so thatTarzan's back was toward him and then, touching the end of Tarzan'sspine with his forefinger, he curled his own tail up over his shoulderand, wheeling the ape-man about again, pointed first at Tarzan and thenat his own caudal appendage, a look of puzzlement upon his face, thewhile he jabbered excitedly in his strange tongue. 

The ape-man realized that probably for the first time his companion haddiscovered that he was tailless by nature rather than by accident, andso he called attention to his own great toes and thumbs to furtherimpress upon the creature that they were of different species. 

The fellow shook his head dubiously as though entirely unable tocomprehend why Tarzan should differ so from him but at last, apparentlygiving 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 seatedhimself at the foot of the tree and motioning Tarzan to a place besidehim, opened the pouch that hung at his right side taking from it stripsof dried flesh and a couple of handfuls of thin-shelled nuts with whichTarzan was unfamiliar. Seeing the other break them with his teeth andeat the kernel, Tarzan followed the example thus set him, discoveringthe meat to be rich and well flavored. The dried flesh also was farfrom unpalatable, though it had evidently been jerked without salt, acommodity which Tarzan imagined might be rather difficult to obtain inthis locality. 

As they ate Tarzan's companion pointed to the nuts, the dried meat, andvarious other nearby objects, in each instance repeating what Tarzanreadily discovered must be the names of these things in the creature'snative language. The ape-man could but smile at this evident desireupon the part of his new-found acquaintance to impart to himinstructions that eventually might lead to an exchange of thoughtsbetween them. Having already mastered several languages and a multitudeof dialects the ape-man felt that he could readily assimilate anothereven though this appeared one entirely unrelated to any with which hewas familiar. 

So occupied were they with their breakfast and the lesson that neitherwas aware of the beady eyes glittering down upon them from above; norwas Tarzan cognizant of any impending danger until the instant that ahuge, hairy body leaped full upon his companion from the branches abovethem. 

2

"To the Death!"

In the moment of discovery Tarzan saw that the creature was almost acounterpart of his companion in size and conformation, with theexception that his body was entirely clothed with a coat of shaggyblack hair which almost concealed his features, while his harness andweapons were similar to those of the creature he had attacked. EreTarzan could prevent the creature had struck the ape-man's companion ablow upon the head with his knotted club that felled him, unconscious, to the earth; but before he could inflict further injury upon hisdefenseless prey the ape-man had closed with him. 

Instantly Tarzan realized that he was locked with a creature of almostsuperhuman strength. The sinewy fingers of a powerful hand sought histhroat while the other lifted the bludgeon above his head. But if thestrength of the hairy attacker was great, great too was that of hissmooth-skinned antagonist. Swinging a single terrific blow withclenched fist to the point of the other's chin, Tarzan momentarilystaggered his assailant and then his own fingers closed upon the shaggythroat, as with the other hand he seized the wrist of the arm thatswung the club. With equal celerity he shot his right leg behind theshaggy brute and throwing his weight forward hurled the thing over hiship heavily to the ground, at the same time precipitating his own bodyupon the other's chest. 

With the shock of the impact the club fell from the brute's hand andTarzan's hold was wrenched from its throat. Instantly the two werelocked in a deathlike embrace. Though the creature bit at Tarzan thelatter was quickly aware that this was not a particularly formidablemethod of offense or defense, since its canines were scarcely moredeveloped than his own. The thing that he had principally to guardagainst was the sinuous tail which sought steadily to wrap itself abouthis throat and against which experience had afforded him no defense. 

Struggling and snarling the two rolled growling about the sward at thefoot of the tree, first one on top and then the other but each moreoccupied at present in defending his throat from the other's chokinggrasp than in aggressive, offensive tactics. But presently the ape-mansaw his opportunity and as they rolled about he forced the creaturecloser and closer to the pool, upon the banks of which the battle wasprogressing. At last they lay upon the very verge of the water and nowit remained for Tarzan to precipitate them both beneath the surface butin such a way that he might remain on top. 

At the same instant there came within range of Tarzan's vision, justbehind the prostrate form of his companion, the crouching, devil-facedfigure of the striped saber-tooth hybrid, eyeing him with snarling, malevolent face. 

Almost simultaneously Tarzan's shaggy antagonist discovered themenacing figure of the great cat. Immediately he ceased his belligerentactivities against Tarzan and, jabbering and chattering to the ape-man, he tried to disengage himself from Tarzan's hold but in such a way thatindicated that as far as he was concerned their battle was over. Appreciating the danger to his unconscious companion and being anxiousto protect him from the saber-tooth the ape-man relinquished his holdupon 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 forescape. To his surprise, however, the beast, after regaining its club, advanced at his side. 

The great cat, flattened upon its belly, remained motionless except fortwitching tail and snarling lips where it lay perhaps fifty feet beyondthe body of the pithecanthropus. As Tarzan stepped over the body of thelatter he saw the eyelids quiver and open, and in his heart he felt astrange sense of relief that the creature was not dead and arealization that without his suspecting it there had arisen within hissavage bosom a bond of attachment for this strange new friend. 

Tarzan continued to approach the saber-tooth, nor did the shaggy beastat his right lag behind. Closer and closer they came until at adistance of about twenty feet the hybrid charged. Its rush was directedtoward the shaggy manlike ape who halted in his tracks with upraisedbludgeon to meet the assault. Tarzan, on the contrary, leaped forwardand with a celerity second not even to that of the swift-moving cat, hethrew himself headlong upon him as might a Rugby tackler on an Americangridiron. His right arm circled the beast's neck in front of the rightshoulder, his left behind the left foreleg, and so great was the forceof the impact that the two rolled over and over several times upon theground, the cat screaming and clawing to liberate itself that it mightturn upon its attacker, the man clinging desperately to his hold. 

Seemingly the attack was one of mad, senseless ferocity unguided byeither reason or skill. Nothing, however, could have been farther fromthe truth than such an assumption since every muscle in the ape-man'sgiant frame obeyed the dictates of the cunning mind that longexperience had trained to meet every exigency of such an encounter. Thelong, powerful legs, though seemingly inextricably entangled with thehind feet of the clawing cat, ever as by a miracle, escaped the rakingtalons and yet at just the proper instant in the midst of all therolling and tossing they were where they should be to carry out theape-man's plan of offense. So that on the instant that the cat believedit had won the mastery of its antagonist it was jerked suddenly upwardas the ape-man rose to his feet, holding the striped back close againsthis body as he rose and forcing it backward until it could but claw theair helplessly. 

Instantly the shaggy black rushed in with drawn knife which it buriedin the beast's heart. For a few moments Tarzan retained his hold butwhen the body had relaxed in final dissolution he pushed it from himand the two who had formerly been locked in mortal combat stood facingeach other across the body of the common foe. 

Tarzan waited, ready either for peace or war. Presently two shaggyblack hands were raised; the left was laid upon its own heart and theright extended until the palm touched Tarzan's breast. It was the sameform of friendly salutation with which the pithecanthropus had sealedhis alliance with the ape-man and Tarzan, glad of every ally he couldwin in this strange and savage world, quickly accepted the profferedfriendship. 

At the conclusion of the brief ceremony Tarzan, glancing in thedirection of the hairless pithecanthropus, discovered that the latterhad recovered consciousness and was sitting erect watching themintently. He now rose slowly and at the same time the shaggy blackturned in his direction and addressed him in what evidently was theircommon language. The hairless one replied and the two approached eachother slowly. Tarzan watched interestedly the outcome of their meeting. They halted a few paces apart, first one and then the other speakingrapidly but without apparent excitement, each occasionally glancing ornodding toward Tarzan, indicating that he was to some extent thesubject of their conversation. 

Presently they advanced again until they met, whereupon was repeatedthe brief ceremony of alliance which had previously marked thecessation of hostilities between Tarzan and the black. They thenadvanced toward the ape-man addressing him earnestly as thoughendeavoring to convey to him some important information. Presently, however, they gave it up as an unprofitable job and, resorting to signlanguage, conveyed to Tarzan that they were proceeding upon their waytogether and were urging him to accompany them. 

As the direction they indicated was a route which Tarzan had notpreviously traversed he was extremely willing to accede to theirrequest, as he had determined thoroughly to explore this unknown landbefore definitely abandoning search for Lady Jane therein. 

For several days their way led through the foothills parallel to thelofty range towering above. Often were they menaced by the savagedenizens of this remote fastness, and occasionally Tarzan glimpsedweird 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 alow cliff at the foot of which tumbled one of the numerous mountainbrooks that watered the plain below and fed the morasses in thelowlands at the country's edge. Here the three took up their temporaryabode where Tarzan's instruction in the language of his companionsprogressed more rapidly than while on the march. 

The cave gave evidence of having harbored other manlike forms in thepast. Remnants of a crude, rock fireplace remained and the walls andceiling were blackened with the smoke of many fires. Scratched in thesoot, and sometimes deeply into the rock beneath, were strangehieroglyphics and the outlines of beasts and birds and reptiles, someof the latter of weird form suggesting the extinct creatures ofJurassic times. Some of the more recently made hieroglyphics Tarzan'scompanions read with interest and commented upon, and then with thepoints of their knives they too added to the possibly age-old record ofthe blackened walls. 

Tarzan's curiosity was aroused, but the only explanation at which hecould arrive was that he was looking upon possibly the world's mostprimitive hotel register. At least it gave him a further insight intothe development of the strange creatures with which Fate had thrownhim. Here were men with the tails of monkeys, one of them as haircovered as any fur-bearing brute of the lower orders, and yet it wasevident that they possessed not only a spoken, but a written language. The former he was slowly mastering and at this new evidence ofunlooked-for civilization in creatures possessing so many of thephysical attributes of beasts, Tarzan's curiosity was still furtherpiqued and his desire quickly to master their tongue strengthened, withthe result that he fell to with even greater assiduity to the task hehad set himself. Already he knew the names of his companions and thecommon names of the fauna and flora with which they had most often comein contact. 

Ta-den, he of the hairless, white skin, having assumed the role oftutor, prosecuted his task with a singleness of purpose that wasreflected 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 hisbroad shoulders a portion of the burden of responsibility for Tarzan'seducation, with the result that either one or the other of them wasalmost constantly coaching the ape-man during his waking hours. Theresult was only what might have been expected--a rapid assimilation ofthe 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 butneither could give him any slightest thread of hope to weave into thefabric of his longing. Never had there been in their country a womansuch as he described, nor any tailless man other than himself that theyever had seen. 

"I have been gone from A-lur while Bu, the moon, has eaten seventimes, " said Ta-den. "Many things may happen in seven timestwenty-eight days; but I doubt that your woman could have entered ourcountry across the terrible morasses which even you found an almostinsurmountable obstacle, and if she had, could she have survived theperils that you already have encountered beside those of which you haveyet to learn? Not even our own women venture into the savage landsbeyond the cities. "

"'A-lur, ' Light-city, City of Light, " mused Tarzan, translating theword into his own tongue. "And where is A-lur?" he asked. "Is it yourcity, Ta-den, and Om-at's?"

"It is mine, " replied the hairless one; "but not Om-at's. The Waz-donhave no cities--they live in the trees of the forests and the caves ofthe hills--is it not so, black man?" he concluded, turning toward thehairy giant beside him. 

"Yes, " replied Om-at, "We Waz-don are free--only the Hodon imprisonthemselves in cities. I would not be a white man!"

Tarzan smiled. Even here was the racial distinction between white manand black man--Ho-don and Waz-don. Not even the fact that they appearedto be equals in the matter of intelligence made any difference--one waswhite and one was black, and it was easy to see that the whiteconsidered himself superior to the other--one could see it in his quietsmile. 

"Where is A-lur?" Tarzan asked again. "You are returning to it?"

"It is beyond the mountains, " replied Ta-den. "I do not return toit--not yet. Not until Ko-tan is no more. "

"Ko-tan?" queried Tarzan. 

"Ko-tan is king, " explained the pithecanthropus. "He rules this land. Iwas one of his warriors. I lived in the palace of Ko-tan and there Imet O-lo-a, his daughter. We loved, Likestar-light, and I; but Ko-tanwould have none of me. He sent me away to fight with the men of thevillage 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 finewarriors. And I was not killed. Instead I returned victorious with thetribute and with Dak-at himself my prisoner; but Ko-tan was not pleasedbecause he saw that O-lo-a loved me even more than before, her lovebeing strengthened and fortified by pride in my achievement. 

"Powerful is my father, Ja-don, the Lion-man, chief of the largestvillage outside of A-lur. Him Ko-tan hesitated to affront and so hecould not but praise me for my success, though he did it with half asmile. But you do not understand! It is what we call a smile that movesonly the muscles of the face and affects not the light of the eyes--itmeans hypocrisy and duplicity. I must be praised and rewarded. Whatbetter 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 whosegreat-grandfather was king and who thinks that he should be king. Thuswould Ko-tan appease the wrath of Mo-sar and win the friendship ofthose who think with Mo-sar that Mo-sar should be king. 

"But what reward shall repay the faithful Ta-den? Greatly do we honorour priests. Within the temples even the chiefs and the king himselfbow down to them. No greater honor could Ko-tan confer upon asubject--who wished to be a priest, but I did not so wish. Priestsother 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 giventhe commands that would set in motion the machinery of the temple. Amessenger was on his way in search of me to summon me to Ko-tan'spresence. To have refused the priesthood once it was offered me by theking would have been to have affronted the temple and the gods--thatwould have meant death; but if I did not appear before Ko-tan I wouldnot have to refuse anything. O-lo-a and I decided that I must notappear. 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 palacegrounds I pressed her to me for, perhaps, the last time and then, lestby ill-fate I meet the messenger, I scaled the great wall that guardsthe palace and passed through the darkened city. My name and rankcarried me beyond the city gate. Since then I have wandered far fromthe haunts of the Ho-don but strong within me is the urge to return ifeven but to look from without her walls upon the city that holds hermost dear to me and again to visit the village of my birth, to seeagain 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 seethis City of Light, this A-lur of yours, and search there for my lostmate even though you believe that there is little chance that I findher. And you, Om-at, do you come with us?"

"Why not?" asked the hairy one. "The lairs of my tribe lie in the cragsabove A-lur and though Es-sat, our chief, drove me out I should like toreturn again, for there is a she there upon whom I should be glad tolook once more and who would be glad to look upon me. Yes, I will gowith you. Es-sat feared that I might become chief and who knows butthat Es-sat was right. But Pan-at-lee! it is she I seek first evenbefore a chieftainship. "

"We three, then, shall travel together, " said Tarzan. 

"And fight together, " added Ta-den; "the three as one, " and as he spokehe drew his knife and held it above his head. 

"The three as one, " repeated Om-at, drawing his weapon and duplicatingTa-den's act. "It is spoken!"

"The three as one!" cried Tarzan of the Apes. "To the death!" and hisblade flashed in the sunlight. 

"Let us go, then, " said Om-at; "my knife is dry and cries aloud for theblood of Es-sat. "

The trail over which Ta-den and Om-at led and which scarcely could bedignified even by the name of trail was suited more to mountain sheep, monkeys, or birds than to man; but the three that followed it weretrained to ways which no ordinary man might essay. Now, upon the lowerslopes, it led through dense forests where the ground was so mattedwith fallen trees and over-rioting vines and brush that the way heldalways to the swaying branches high above the tangle; again it skirtedyawning gorges whose slippery-faced rocks gave but momentary footholdeven to the bare feet that lightly touched them as the three leapedchamois-like from one precarious foothold to the next. Dizzy andterrifying was the way that Om-at chose across the summit as he ledthem around the shoulder of a towering crag that rose a sheer twothousand feet of perpendicular rock above a tumbling river. And when atlast they stood upon comparatively level ground again Om-at turned andlooked at them both intently and especially at Tarzan of the Apes. 

"You will both do, " he said. "You are fit companions for Om-at, theWaz-don. "

"What do you mean?" asked Tarzan. 

"I brought you this way, " replied the black, "to learn if either lackedthe courage to follow where Om-at led. It is here that the youngwarriors of Es-sat come to prove their courage. And yet, though we areborn and raised upon cliff sides, it is considered no disgrace to admitthat Pastar-ul-ved, the Father of Mountains, has defeated us, for ofthose who try it only a few succeed--the bones of the others lie at thefeet 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 afull day. So much the sooner shall Tarzan look upon the Valley ofJad-ben-Otho. Come!" and he led the way upward along the shoulder ofPastar-ul-ved until there lay spread below them a scene of mystery andof beauty--a green valley girt by towering cliffs of marblewhiteness--a green valley dotted by deep blue lakes and crossed by theblue trail of a winding river. In the center a city of the whiteness ofthe marble cliffs--a city which even at so great a distance evidenced astrange, yet artistic architecture. Outside the city there were visibleabout the valley isolated groups of buildings--sometimes one, again twoand three and four in a cluster--but always of the same glaringwhiteness, 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 downwardtoward a central sea of green. 

"Jad Pele ul Jad-ben-Otho, " murmured Tarzan in the tongue of thepithecanthropi; "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 donot 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 saidto Om-at, "over that which all the ages have not proved sufficient timein which to reconcile the Ho-don and Waz-don; but let me whisper to youa secret, Om-at. The Ho-don live together in greater or less peaceunder one ruler so that when danger threatens them they face the enemywith 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 fightnot only with the Ho-don but with one another. When one of your tribesgoes forth upon the fighting trail, even against the Ho-don, it mustleave behind sufficient warriors to protect its women and its childrenfrom the neighbors upon either hand. When we want eunuchs for thetemples or servants for the fields or the homes we march forth in greatnumbers upon one of your villages. You cannot even flee, for uponeither side of you are enemies and though you fight bravely we comeback with those who will presently be eunuchs in the temples andservants in our fields and homes. So long as the Waz-don are thusfoolish the Ho-don will dominate and their king will be king ofPal-ul-don. "

"Perhaps you are right, " admitted Om-at. "It is because our neighborsare fools, each thinking that his tribe is the greatest and should ruleamong the Waz-don. They will not admit that the warriors of my tribeare the bravest and our shes the most beautiful. "

Ta-den grinned. "Each of the others presents precisely the samearguments that you present, Om-at, " he said, "which, my friend, is thestrongest bulwark of defense possessed by the Ho-don. "

"Come!" exclaimed Tarzan; "such discussions often lead to quarrels andwe three must have no quarrels. I, of course, am interested in learningwhat I can of the political and economic conditions of your land; Ishould like to know something of your religion; but not at the expenseof 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 atrace of excitement in his voice. 

"Differ!" almost shouted Ta-den; "and why should we not differ? Whocould 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 yourinformation, 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 Tarzaninterposed himself between them. 

"Enough!" he snapped. "Let us be true to our oaths of friendship thatwe may be honorable in the sight of God in whatever form we conceiveHim. "

"You are right, Tailless One, " said Ta-den. "Come, Om-at, let us lookafter our friendship and ourselves, secure in the conviction thatJad-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 ourway down toward the valley?" he asked. "The gorge below us isuninhabited; that to the left contains the caves of my people. I wouldsee Pan-at-lee once more. Ta-den would visit his father in the valleybelow and Tarzan seeks entrance to A-lur in search of the mate thatwould be better dead than in the clutches of the Ho-don priests ofJad-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 wethree, may not hope to overcome Es-sat and all his warriors. At anytime may we go to the village where my father is chief, for Ja-donalways will welcome the friends of his son. But for Tarzan to enterA-lur is another matter, though there is a way and he has the courageto put it to the test--listen, come close for Jad-ben-Otho has keenears and this he must not hear, " and with his lips close to the ears ofhis 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 butfor a loin cloth and weapons, moved silently across a thorn-covered, waterless steppe, searching always along the ground before him withkeen eyes and sensitive nostrils. 

3

Pan-at-lee

Night had fallen upon unchartered Pal-ul-don. A slender moon, low inthe 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 ahairy figure emerged--the head and shoulders first--and fierce eyesscanned the cliff side in every direction. 

It was Es-sat, the chief. To right and left and below he looked asthough to assure himself that he was unobserved, but no other figuremoved upon the cliff face, nor did another hairy body protrude from anyof the numerous cave mouths from the high-flung abode of the chief tothe habitations of the more lowly members of the tribe nearer thecliff's base. Then he moved outward upon the sheer face of the whitechalk wall. In the half-light of the baby moon it appeared that theheavy, shaggy black figure moved across the face of the perpendicularwall in some miraculous manner, but closer examination would haverevealed stout pegs, as large around as a man's wrist protruding fromholes in the cliff into which they were driven. Es-sat's four handlikemembers and his long, sinuous tail permitted him to move withconsummate ease whither he chose--a gigantic rat upon a mighty wall. Ashe progressed upon his way he avoided the cave mouths, passing eitherabove or below those that lay in his path. 

The outward appearance of these caves was similar. An opening fromeight to as much as twenty feet long by eight high and four to six feetdeep was cut into the chalklike rock of the cliff, in the back of thislarge opening, which formed what might be described as the frontveranda of the home, was an opening about three feet wide and six feethigh, evidently forming the doorway to the interior apartment orapartments. On either side of this doorway were smaller openings whichit were easy to assume were windows through which light and air mightfind their way to the inhabitants. Similar windows were also dottedover the cliff face between the entrance porches, suggesting that theentire face of the cliff was honeycombed with apartments. From many ofthese smaller apertures small streams of water trickled down theescarpment, 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 inchesto as much as a foot, suggesting that some of the tiny streams had beentrickling downward to the green carpet of vegetation below for ages. 

In this primeval setting the great pithecanthropus aroused no jarringdiscord for he was as much a part of it as the trees that grew upon thesummit of the cliff or those that hid their feet among the dank fernsin the bottom of the gorge. 

Now he paused before an entrance-way and listened and then, noiselesslyas the moonlight upon the trickling waters, he merged with the shadowsof the outer porch. At the doorway leading into the interior he pausedagain, listening, and then quietly pushing aside the heavy skin thatcovered the aperture he passed within a large chamber hewn from theliving rock. From the far end, through another doorway, shone a light, dimly. Toward this he crept with utmost stealth, his naked feet givingforth no sound. The knotted club that had been hanging at his backfrom a thong about his neck he now removed and carried in his left hand. 

Beyond the second doorway was a corridor running parallel with thecliff face. In this corridor were three more doorways, one at each endand a third almost opposite that in which Es-sat stood. The light wascoming from an apartment at the end of the corridor at his left. Asputtering flame rose and fell in a small stone receptacle that stoodupon a table or bench of the same material, a monolithic benchfashioned at the time the room was excavated, rising massively from thefloor, of which it was a part. 

In one corner of the room beyond the table had been left a dais ofstone about four feet wide and eight feet long. Upon this were piled afoot or so of softly tanned pelts from which the fur had not beenremoved. Upon the edge of this dais sat a young female Waz-don. In onehand she held a thin piece of metal, apparently of hammered gold, withserrated edges, and in the other a short, stiff brush. With these shewas occupied in going over her smooth, glossy coat which bore aremarkable resemblance to plucked sealskin. Her loin cloth of yellowand black striped jato-skin lay on the couch beside her with thecircular breastplates of beaten gold, revealing the symmetrical linesof her nude figure in all its beauty and harmony of contour, for eventhough the creature was jet black and entirely covered with hair yetshe was undeniably beautiful. 

That she was beautiful in the eyes of Es-sat, the chief, was evidencedby the gloating expression upon his fierce countenance and theincreased rapidity of his breathing. Moving quickly forward he enteredthe room and as he did so the young she looked up. Instantly her eyesfilled with terror and as quickly she seized the loin cloth and with afew deft movements adjusted it about her. As she gathered up herbreastplates 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 spyupon the Kor-ul-lul? I will not have you. Leave the cave of myancestors!"

Es-sat smiled. It was the smile of a strong and wicked man who knowshis power--not a pleasant smile at all. "I will leave, Pan-at-lee, " hesaid; "but you shall go with me--to the cave of Es-sat, the chief, tobe the envied of the shes of Kor-ul-ja. Come!"

"Never!" cried Pan-at-lee. "I hate you. Sooner would I mate with aHo-don than with you, beater of women, murderer of babes. "

A frightful scowl distorted the features of the chief. "She-jato!" hecried. "I will tame you! I will break you! Es-sat, the chief, takeswhat he will and who dares question his right, or combat his leastpurpose, will first serve that purpose and then be broken as I breakthis, " and he picked a stone platter from the table and broke it in hispowerful hands. "You might have been first and most favored in the caveof the ancestors of Es-sat; but now shall you be last and least andwhen I am done with you you shall belong to all of the men of Es-sat'scave. Thus for those who spurn the love of their chief!"

He advanced quickly to seize her and as he laid a rough hand upon hershe struck him heavily upon the side of his head with her goldenbreastplates. Without a sound Es-sat, the chief, sank to the floor ofthe apartment. For a moment Pan-at-lee bent over him, her improvisedweapon raised to strike again should he show signs of returningconsciousness, her glossy breasts rising and falling with her quickenedbreathing. Suddenly she stooped and removed Es-sat's knife with itsscabbard and shoulder belt. Slipping it over her own shoulder shequickly adjusted her breastplates and keeping a watchful glance uponthe figure of the fallen chief, backed from the room. 

In a niche in the outer room, just beside the doorway leading to thebalcony, were neatly piled a number of rounded pegs from eighteen totwenty inches in length. Selecting five of these she made them into alittle bundle about which she twined the lower extremity of her sinuoustail and thus carrying them made her way to the outer edge of thebalcony. Assuring herself that there was none about to see, or hinderher, she took quickly to the pegs already set in the face of the cliffand with the celerity of a monkey clambered swiftly aloft to thehighest row of pegs which she followed in the direction of the lowerend of the gorge for a matter of some hundred yards. Here, above herhead, were a series of small round holes placed one above another inthree parallel rows. Clinging only with her toes she removed two of thepegs from the bundle carried in her tail and taking one in either handshe inserted them in two opposite holes of the outer rows as far aboveher as she could reach. Hanging by these new holds she now took one ofthe three remaining pegs in each of her feet, leaving the fifth graspedsecurely in her tail. Reaching above her with this member she insertedthe 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 thepegs upward to new holes, thus carrying her stairway with her as sheascended. 

At the summit of the cliff a gnarled tree exposed its time-worn rootsabove the topmost holes forming the last step from the sheer face ofthe precipice to level footing. This was the last avenue of escape formembers of the tribe hard pressed by enemies from below. There werethree such emergency exits from the village and it were death to usethem in other than an emergency. This Pan-at-lee well knew; but sheknew, too, that it were worse than death to remain where the angeredEs-sat might lay hands upon her. 

When she had gained the summit, the girl moved quickly through thedarkness in the direction of the next gorge which cut the mountain-sidea mile beyond Kor-ul-ja. It was the Gorge-of-water, Kor-ul-lul, towhich her father and two brothers had been sent by Es-sat ostensibly tospy upon the neighboring tribe. There was a chance, a slender chance, that she might find them; if not there was the deserted Kor-ul-gryfseveral miles beyond, where she might hide indefinitely from man if shecould elude the frightful monster from which the gorge derived its nameand whose presence there had rendered its caves uninhabitable forgenerations. 

Pan-at-lee crept stealthily along the rim of the Kor-ul-lul. Just whereher father and brothers would watch she did not know. Sometimes theirspies remained upon the rim, sometimes they watched from the gorge'sbottom. Pan-at-lee was at a loss to know what to do or where to go. Shefelt very small and helpless alone in the vast darkness of the night. Strange noises fell upon her ears. They came from the lonely reaches ofthe towering mountains above her, from far away in the invisible valleyand from the nearer foothills and once, in the distance, she heard whatshe thought was the bellow of a bull gryf. It came from the directionof the Kor-ul-gryf. She shuddered. 

Presently there came to her keen ears another sound. Somethingapproached her along the rim of the gorge. It was coming from above. She halted, listening. Perhaps it was her father, or a brother. It wascoming closer. She strained her eyes through the darkness. She did notmove--she scarcely breathed. And then, of a sudden, quite close itseemed, there blazed through the black night two yellow-green spots offire. 

Pan-at-lee was brave, but as always with the primitive, the darknessheld infinite terrors for her. Not alone the terrors of the known butmore frightful ones as well--those of the unknown. She had passedthrough much this night and her nerves were keyed to the highestpitch--raw, taut nerves, they were, ready to react in an exaggeratedform to the slightest shock. 

But this was no slight shock. To hope for a father and a brother and tosee death instead glaring out of the darkness! Yes, Pan-at-lee wasbrave, but she was not of iron. With a shriek that reverberated amongthe hills she turned and fled along the rim of Kor-ul-lul and behindher, 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 nodoubt, but to die beneath the rending fangs of the carnivore, congenital terror of her kind--it was unthinkable. But there was analternative. The lion was almost upon her--another instant and he wouldseize her. Pan-at-lee turned sharply to her left. Just a few steps shetook in the new direction before she disappeared over the rim ofKor-ul-lul. The baffled lion, planting all four feet, barely stoppedupon the verge of the abyss. Glaring down into the black shadowsbeneath he mounted an angry roar. 

Through the darkness at the bottom of Kor-ul-ja, Om-at led the waytoward 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. Thenwill 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 shallwe go together to Ta-den's people. "

He moved silently toward the foot of the cliff up which Tarzan couldpresently see him ascending like a great fly on a wall. In the dimlight 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 asentry. His knowledge of his people and their customs told him, however, that in all probability the sentry was asleep. In this he wasnot mistaken, yet he did not in any way abate his wariness. Smoothlyand swiftly he ascended toward the cave of Pan-at-lee while from belowTarzan and Ta-den watched him. 

"How does he do it?" asked Tarzan. "I can see no foothold upon thatvertical surface and yet he appears to be climbing with the utmostease. "

Ta-den explained the stairway of pegs. "You could ascend easily, " hesaid, "although a tail would be of great assistance. "

They watched until Om-at was about to enter the cave of Pan-at-leewithout seeing any indication that he had been observed and then, simultaneously, both saw a head appear in the mouth of one of the lowercaves. It was quickly evident that its owner had discovered Om-at forimmediately he started upward in pursuit. Without a word Tarzan andTa-den sprang forward toward the foot of the cliff. The pithecanthropuswas the first to reach it and the ape-man saw him spring upward for ahandhold on the lowest peg above him. Now Tarzan saw other pegs roughlyparalleling each other in zigzag rows up the cliff face. He sprang andcaught one of these, pulled himself upward by one hand until he couldreach a second with his other hand; and when he had ascended far enoughto use his feet, discovered that he could make rapid progress. Ta-denwas outstripping him, however, for these precarious ladders were nonovelty to him and, further, he had an advantage in possessing a tail. 

Nevertheless, the ape-man gave a good account of himself, beingpresently urged to redoubled efforts by the fact that the Waz-don aboveTa-den glanced down and discovered his pursuers just before the Ho-donovertook him. Instantly a wild cry shattered the silence of thegorge--a cry that was immediately answered by hundreds of savagethroats as warrior after warrior emerged from the entrance to his cave. 

The creature who had raised the alarm had now reached the recess beforePan-at-lee's cave and here he halted and turned to give battle toTa-den. Unslinging his club which had hung down his back from a thongabout his neck he stood upon the level floor of the entrance-wayeffectually blocking Ta-den's ascent. From all directions the warriorsof Kor-ul-ja were swarming toward the interlopers. Tarzan, who hadreached a point on the same level with Ta-den but a little to thelatter'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 wasdeserted or whose occupants had not as yet been aroused, for the levelrecess remained unoccupied. Resourceful was the alert mind of Tarzan ofthe Apes and quick to respond were the trained muscles. In the timethat you or I might give to debating an action he would accomplish itand now, though only seconds separated his nearest antagonist from him, in the brief span of time at his disposal he had stepped into therecess, unslung his long rope and leaning far out shot the sinuousnoose, with the precision of long habitude, toward the menacing figurewielding its heavy club above Ta-den. There was a momentary pause ofthe rope-hand as the noose sped toward its goal, a quick movement ofthe right wrist that closed it upon its victim as it settled over hishead and then a surging tug as, seizing the rope in both hands, Tarzanthrew back upon it all the weight of his great frame. 

Voicing a terrified shriek, the Waz-don lunged headforemost from therecess above Ta-den. Tarzan braced himself for the coming shock whenthe creature's body should have fallen the full length of the rope andas it did there was a snap of the vertebrae that rose sickeningly inthe momentary silence that had followed the doomed man's departingscream. Unshaken by the stress of the suddenly arrested weight at theend of the rope, Tarzan quickly pulled the body to his side that hemight remove the noose from about its neck, for he could not afford tolose so priceless a weapon. 

During the several seconds that had elapsed since he cast the rope theWaz-don warriors had remained inert as though paralyzed by wonder or byterror. Now, again, one of them found his voice and his head andstraightway, shrieking invectives at the strange intruder, startedupward for the ape-man, urging his fellows to attack. This man was theclosest to Tarzan. But for him the ape-man could easily have reachedTa-den's side as the latter was urging him to do. Tarzan raised thebody of the dead Waz-don above his head, held it poised there for amoment as with face raised to the heavens he screamed forth the horridchallenge of the bull apes of the tribe of Kerchak, and with all thestrength of his giant sinews he hurled the corpse heavily upon theascending warrior. So great was the force of the impact that not onlywas the Waz-don torn from his hold but two of the pegs to which heclung were broken short in their sockets. 

As the two bodies, the living and the dead, hurtled downward toward thefoot 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 twofigures, locked in deathlike embrace, stumbled through the doorway ofthe cave to the outer porch. One was Om-at, the other a creature of hisown kind but with a rough coat, the hairs of which seemed to growstraight outward from the skin, stiffly, unlike Om-at's sleek covering. The two were quite evidently well matched and equally evident was thefact that each was bent upon murder. They fought almost in silenceexcept for an occasional low growl as one or the other acknowledgedthus some new hurt. 

Tarzan, following a natural impulse to aid his ally, leaped forward toenter the dispute only to be checked by a grunted admonition fromOm-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 mustbe Es-sat, the chief. If Om-at kills him without assistance Om-at maybecome chief. "

Tarzan smiled. It was the law of his own jungle--the law of the tribeof Kerchak, the bull ape--the ancient law of primitive man that neededbut the refining influences of civilization to introduce the hireddagger and the poison cup. Then his attention was drawn to the outeredge of the vestibule. Above it appeared the shaggy face of one ofEs-sat's warriors. Tarzan sprang to intercept the man; but Ta-den wasthere ahead of him. "Back!" cried the Ho-don to the newcomer. "It isgund-bar. " The fellow looked scrutinizingly at the two fighters, thenturned his face downward toward his fellows. "Back!" he cried, "it isgund-bar between Es-sat and Om-at. " Then he looked back at Ta-den andTarzan. "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 anddisappeared below the edge of the recess. 

The battle upon the ledge continued with unabated ferocity, Tarzan andTa-den having difficulty in keeping out of the way of the contestantswho 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 sideswung a sheathed knife which he made no effort to draw. That would havebeen contrary to their savage and primitive code for the chief-battlemust be fought with nature's weapons. 

Sometimes they separated for an instant only to rush upon each otheragain with all the ferocity and nearly the strength of mad bulls. Presently one of them tripped the other but in that viselike embraceone could not fall alone--Es-sat dragged Om-at with him, toppling uponthe brink of the niche. Even Tarzan held his breath. There they surgedto and fro perilously for a moment and then the inevitablehappened--the two, locked in murderous embrace, rolled over the edgeand disappeared from the ape-man's view. 

Tarzan voiced a suppressed sigh for he had liked Om-at and then, withTa-den, approached the edge and looked over. Far below, in the dimlight of the coming dawn, two inert forms should be lying stark indeath; but, to Tarzan's amazement, such was far from the sight that methis eyes. Instead, there were the two figures still vibrant with lifeand still battling only a few feet below him. Clinging always to thepegs with two holds--a hand and a foot, or a foot and a tail, theyseemed as much at home upon the perpendicular wall as upon the levelsurface of the vestibule; but now their tactics were slightly altered, for each seemed particularly bent upon dislodging his antagonist fromhis holds and precipitating him to certain death below. It was soonevident that Om-at, younger and with greater powers of endurance thanEs-sat, was gaining an advantage. Now was the chief almost wholly onthe defensive. Holding him by the cross belt with one mighty hand Om-atwas forcing his foeman straight out from the cliff, and with the otherhand and one foot was rapidly breaking first one of Es-sat's holds andthen another, alternating his efforts, or rather punctuating them, withvicious blows to the pit of his adversary's stomach. Rapidly was Es-satweakening and with the knowledge of impending death there came, asthere comes to every coward and bully under similar circumstances, acrumbling of the veneer of bravado which had long masqueraded ascourage and with it crumbled his code of ethics. Now was Es-sat nolonger chief of Kor-ul-ja--instead he was a whimpering craven battlingfor life. Clutching at Om-at, clutching at the nearest pegs he soughtany support that would save him from that awful fall, and as he stroveto push aside the hand of death, whose cold fingers he already feltupon his heart, his tail sought Om-at's side and the handle of theknife that hung there. 

Tarzan saw and even as Es-sat drew the blade from its sheath he droppedcatlike to the pegs beside the battling men. Es-sat's tail had drawnback for the cowardly fatal thrust. Now many others saw the perfidiousact and a great cry of rage and disgust arose from savage throats; butas the blade sped toward its goal, the ape-man seized the hairy memberthat wielded it, and at the same instant Om-at thrust the body ofEs-sat from him with such force that its weakened holds were broken andit 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'scave and took their stand beside Ta-den in readiness for whatevereventuality might follow the death of Es-sat, the sun that topped theeastern hills touched also the figure of a sleeper upon a distant, thorn-covered steppe awakening him to another day of tireless trackingalong 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 atone another, and now at Om-at and the two who stood upon his eitherside. Presently Om-at spoke. "I am Om-at, " he cried. "Who will say thatOm-at is not gund of Kor-ul-ja?"

He waited for a taker of his challenge. One or two of the larger youngbucks fidgeted restlessly and eyed him; but there was no reply. 

"Then Om-at is gund, " he said with finality. "Now tell me, where arePan-at-lee, her father, and her brothers?"

An old warrior spoke. "Pan-at-lee should be in her cave. Who shouldknow that better than you who are there now? Her father and herbrothers were sent to watch Kor-ul-lul; but neither of these questionsarouse any tumult in our breasts. There is one that does: Can Om-at bechief of Kor-ul-ja and yet stand at bay against his own people with aHo-don and that terrible man at his side--that terrible man who has notail? Hand the strangers over to your people to be slain as is the wayof the Waz-don and then may Om-at be gund. "

Neither Tarzan nor Ta-den spoke then, they but stood watching Om-at andwaiting for his decision, the ghost of a smile upon the lips of theape-man. Ta-den, at least, knew that the old warrior had spoken thetruth--the Waz-don entertain no strangers and take no prisoners of analien race. 

Then spoke Om-at. "Always there is change, " he said. "Even the oldhills of Pal-ul-don appear never twice alike--the brilliant sun, apassing cloud, the moon, a mist, the changing seasons, the sharpclearness following a storm; these things bring each a new change inour hills. From birth to death, day by day, there is constant change ineach of us. Change, then, is one of Jad-ben-Otho's laws. 

"And now I, Om-at, your gund, bring another change. Strangers who arebrave men and good friends shall no longer be slain by the Waz-don ofKor-ul-ja!"

There were growls and murmurings and a restless moving among thewarriors as each eyed the others to see who would take the initiativeagainst Om-at, the iconoclast. 

"Cease your mutterings, " admonished the new gund. "I am your chief. Myword is your law. You had no part in making me chief. Some of youhelped Es-sat to drive me from the cave of my ancestors; the rest ofyou permitted it. I owe you nothing. Only these two, whom you wouldhave me kill, were loyal to me. I am gund and if there be any whodoubts it let him speak--he cannot die younger. "

Tarzan was pleased. Here was a man after his own heart. He admired thefearlessness of Om-at's challenge and he was a sufficiently good judgeof men to know that he had listened to no idle bluff--Om-at would backup his words to the death, if necessary, and the chances were that hewould not be the one to die. Evidently the majority of theKor-ul-jaians entertained the same conviction. 

"I will make you a good gund, " said Om-at, seeing that no one appearedinclined to dispute his rights. "Your wives and daughters will besafe--they were not safe while Es-sat ruled. Go now to your crops andyour hunting. I leave to search for Pan-at-lee. Ab-on will be gundwhile I am away--look to him for guidance and to me for an accountingwhen 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, dowhat 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 weshall go together upon Tarzan's business and Ta-den's. Where firstshall we search?" He turned toward his warriors. "Who knows where shemay be?"

None knew other than that Pan-at-lee had gone to her cave with theothers the previous evening--there was no clew, no suggestion as to herwhereabouts. 

"Show me where she sleeps, " said Tarzan; "let me see something thatbelongs to her--an article of her apparel--then, doubtless, I can helpyou. "

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 forPan-at-lee. "

It was the first acknowledgment of Om-at's chieftainship andimmediately following it the tenseness that had prevailed seemed torelax--the warriors spoke aloud instead of in whispers, and the womenappeared from the mouths of caves as with the passing of a suddenstorm. In-sad and O-dan had taken the lead and now all seemed glad tofollow. Some came to talk with Om-at and to look more closely atTarzan; others, heads of caves, gathered their hunters and discussedthe business of the day. The women and children prepared to descend tothe fields with the youths and the old men, whose duty it was to guardthem. 

"O-dan and In-sad shall go with us, " announced Om-at, "we shall notneed more. Tarzan, come with me and I shall show you where Pan-at-leesleeps, though why you should wish to know I cannot guess--she is notthere. I have looked for myself. "

The two entered the cave where Om-at led the way to the apartment inwhich Es-sat had surprised Pan-at-lee the previous night. 

"All here are hers, " said Om-at, "except the war club lying on thefloor--that was Es-sat's. "

The ape-man moved silently about the apartment, the quivering of hissensitive nostrils scarcely apparent to his companion who only wonderedwhat good purpose could be served here and chafed at the delay. 

"Come!" said the ape-man, presently, and led the way toward the outerrecess. 

Here their three companions were awaiting them. Tarzan passed to theleft side of the niche and examined the pegs that lay within reach. Helooked at them but it was not his eyes that were examining them. Keenerthan his keen eyes was that marvelously trained sense of scent that hadfirst been developed in him during infancy under the tutorage of hisfoster mother, Kala, the she-ape, and further sharpened in the grimjungles by that master teacher--the instinct of self-preservation. 

From the left side of the niche he turned to the right. Om-at wasbecoming impatient. 

"Let us be off, " he said. "We must search for Pan-at-lee if we wouldever find her. "

"Where shall we search?" asked Tarzan. 

Om-at scratched his head. "Where?" he repeated. "Why all Pal-ul-don, ifnecessary. "

"A large job, " said Tarzan. "Come, " he added, "she went this way, " andhe took to the pegs that led aloft toward the summit of the cliff. Herehe followed the scent easily since none had passed that way sincePan-at-lee had fled. At the point at which she had left the permanentpegs and resorted to those carried with her Tarzan came to an abrupthalt. "She went this way to the summit, " he called back to Om-at whowas directly behind him; "but there are no pegs here. "

"I do not know how you know that she went this way, " said Om-at; "butwe will get pegs. In-sad, return and fetch climbing pegs for five. "

The young warrior was soon back and the pegs distributed. Om-at handedfive to Tarzan and explained their use. The ape-man returned one. "Ineed but four, " he said. 

Om-at smiled. "What a wonderful creature you would be if you were notdeformed, " he said, glancing with pride at his own strong tail. 

"I admit that I am handicapped, " replied Tarzan. "You others go aheadand leave the pegs in place for me. I am afraid that otherwise it willbe 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, youfollow and O-dan bring up the rear and collect the pegs--we cannotleave 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 notknow which of all the holes you see are deep enough for pegs--theothers are made to confuse our enemies and are too shallow to hold apeg. "

At the top of the cliff beside the gnarled tree Tarzan again took upthe trail. Here the scent was fully as strong as upon the pegs and theape-man moved rapidly across the ridge in the direction of theKor-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 gatheredabout the ape-man. 

Tarzan nodded. "I do not think the lion got her, " he added; "but thatwe shall determine quickly. No, he did not get her--look!" and hepointed toward the southwest, down the ridge. 

Following the direction indicated by his finger, the others presentlydetected 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 factthat it was indeed a lion they were not left long in doubt. Presentlythe bushes parted and the creature stepped out in full view, facingthem. It was a magnificent beast, large and beautifully maned, with thebrilliant leopard spots of its kind well marked and symmetrical. For amoment it eyed them and then, still chafing at the loss of its preyearlier in the morning, it charged. 

The Pal-ul-donians unslung their clubs and stood waiting the onrushingbeast. Tarzan of the Apes drew his hunting knife and crouched in thepath of the fanged fury. It was almost upon him when it swerved to theright and leaped for Om-at only to be sent to earth with a staggeringblow upon the head. Almost instantly it was up and though the menrushed fearlessly in, it managed to sweep aside their weapons with itsmighty paws. A single blow wrenched O-dan's club from his hand and sentit hurtling against Ta-den, knocking him from his feet. Takingadvantage of its opportunity the lion rose to throw itself upon O-danand at the same instant Tarzan flung himself upon its back. Strong, white teeth buried themselves in the spotted neck, mighty armsencircled the savage throat and the sinewy legs of the ape-man lockedthemselves about the gaunt belly. 

The others, powerless to aid, stood breathlessly about as the greatlion lunged hither and thither, clawing and biting fearfully andfutilely at the savage creature that had fastened itself upon him. Overand over they rolled and now the onlookers saw a brown hand raisedabove the lion's side--a brown hand grasping a keen blade. They saw itfall and rise and fall again--each time with terrific force and in itswake they saw a crimson stream trickling down ja's gorgeous coat. 

Now from the lion's throat rose hideous screams of hate and rage andpain as he redoubled his efforts to dislodge and punish his tormentor;but always the tousled black head remained half buried in the darkbrown mane and the mighty arm rose and fell to plunge the knife againand again into the dying beast. 

The Pal-ul-donians stood in mute wonder and admiration. Brave men andmighty hunters they were and as such the first to accord honor to amightier. 

"And you would have had me slay him!" cried Om-at, glancing at In-sadand 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 spasmodicquiverings lay still. The ape-man rose and shook himself, even as mightja, the leopard-coated lion of Pal-ul-don, had he been the one tosurvive. 

O-dan advanced quickly toward Tarzan. Placing a palm upon his ownbreast and the other on Tarzan's, "Tarzan the Terrible, " he said, "Iask no greater honor than your friendship. "

"And I no more than the friendship of Om-at's friends, " replied theape-man simply, returning the other's salute. 

"Do you think, " asked Om-at, coming close to Tarzan and laying a handupon 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 andagain taking up his interrupted tracking he led them down the ridge andat a sharp turning of the trail to the left brought them to the vergeof the cliff that dropped into the Kor-ul-lul. For a moment Tarzanexamined the ground to the right and to the left, then he stood erectand looking at Om-at pointed into the gorge. 

For a moment the Waz-don gazed down into the green rift at the bottomof which a tumultuous river tumbled downward along its rocky bed, thenhe 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 hechecked his charge upon the very verge of the abyss. "

"Is there any chance--" commenced Om-at, to be suddenly silenced by awarning gesture from Tarzan. 

"Down!" whispered the ape-man, "many men are coming. They arerunning--from down the ridge. " He flattened himself upon his belly inthe grass, the others following his example. 

For some minutes they waited thus and then the others, too, heard thesound 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 huntingcry of men who hunt men. Presently shall we see them and ifJad-ben-Otho is pleased with us they shall not too greatly outnumberus. "

"They are many, " said Tarzan, "forty or fifty, I should say; but howmany are the pursued and how many the pursuers we cannot even guess, except that the latter must greatly outnumber the former, else thesewould 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 lookingat Om-at, the chief, for a sign. 

"Come!" cried the latter, springing to his feet and running rapidly tointercept 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 joinedthem but they eyed Ta-den and Tarzan with puzzled glances. 

"The Kor-ul-lul are many, " shouted An-un. "Would that we might pauseand 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 backand slay Es-sat. "

Now the enemy broke into sight behind them. 

"Come!" cried Tarzan, "let us turn and charge them, raising a greatcry. They pursued but three and when they see eight charging upon themthey will think that many men have come to do battle. They will believethat there are more even than they see and then one who is swift willhave time to reach the gorge and warn your people. "

"It is well, " said Om-at. "Id-an, you are swift--carry word to thewarriors of Kor-ul-ja that we fight the Kor-ul-lul upon the ridge andthat Ab-on shall send a hundred men. "

Id-an, the son of An-un, sped swiftly toward the cliff-dwellings of theKor-ul-ja while the others charged the oncoming Kor-ul-lul, the warcries 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 whilethe balance of their number had not yet emerged from the brush; and nowas Om-at and his companions fell upon them with a ferocity born ofnecessity they fell back, so that when their companions at last came insight of them they appeared to be in full rout. The natural result wasthat 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 loudand terrifying were the savage yells with which they pursued thefleeing enemy. The brush, while not growing so closely together as toimpede progress, was of such height as to hide the members of the partyfrom one another when they became separated by even a few yards. Theresult was that Tarzan, always swift and always keen for battle, wassoon pursuing the enemy far in the lead of the others--a lack ofprudence 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 theylong in guessing that the number of their pursuers was fewer than theirown. They made a stand then where the brush was densest--an ambush itwas, 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 whichthey knew as you know your front parlor, and they were following theirown tactics, of which Tarzan knew nothing. 

A single black warrior appeared to Tarzan a laggard in the rear of theretreating enemy and thus retreating he lured Tarzan on. At last heturned at bay confronting the ape-man with bludgeon and drawn knife andas Tarzan charged him a score of burly Waz-don leaped from thesurrounding brush. Instantly, but too late, the giant Tarmanganirealized his peril. There flashed before him a vision of his lost mateand a great and sickening regret surged through him with therealization that if she still lived she might no longer hope, forthough she might never know of the passing of her lord the fact of itmust inevitably seal her doom. 

And consequent to this thought there enveloped him a blind frenzy ofhatred for these creatures who dared thwart his purpose and menace thewelfare of his wife. With a savage growl he threw himself upon thewarrior before him twisting the heavy club from the creature's hand asif he had been a little child, and with his left fist backed by theweight and sinew of his giant frame, he crashed a shattering blow tothe center of the Waz-don's face--a blow that crushed the bones anddropped the fellow in his tracks. Then he swung upon the others withtheir fallen comrade's bludgeon striking to right and left mighty, unmerciful blows that drove down their own weapons until that wieldedby the ape-man was splintered and shattered. On either hand they fellbefore his cudgel; so rapid the delivery of his blows, so catlike hisrecovery that in the first few moments of the battle he seemedinvulnerable to their attack; but it could not last--he was outnumberedtwenty to one and his undoing came from a thrown club. It struck himupon the back of the head. For a moment he stood swaying and then likea 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'sparty. They could be heard fighting at a short distance and it wasevident that the Kor-ul-ja were falling slowly back and as they fellOm-at called to the missing one: "Tarzan the Terrible! Tarzan theTerrible!"

"Jad-guru, indeed, " repeated one of the Kor-ul-lul rising from whereTarzan 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 theouter verge of the morass that encircles Pal-ul-don. Naked he wasexcept for a loin cloth and three belts of cartridges, two of whichpassed over his shoulders, crossing upon his chest and back, while thethird encircled his waist. Slung to his back by its leathernsling-strap was an Enfield, and he carried too a long knife, a bow anda quiver of arrows. He had come far, through wild and savage lands, menaced by fierce beasts and fiercer men, yet intact to the lastcartridge was the ammunition that had filled his belts the day that heset out. 

The bow and the arrows and the long knife had brought him thus farsafely, yet often in the face of great risks that could have beenminimized by a single shot from the well-kept rifle at his back. Whatpurpose might he have for conserving this precious ammunition? inrisking his life to bring the last bright shining missile to hisunknown goal? For what, for whom were these death-dealing bits of metalpreserved? In all the world only he knew. 

When Pan-at-lee stepped over the edge of the cliff above Kor-ul-lul sheexpected to be dashed to instant death upon the rocks below; but shehad chosen this in preference to the rending fangs of ja. Instead, chance had ordained that she make the frightful plunge at a point wherethe tumbling river swung close beneath the overhanging cliff to eddyfor a slow moment in a deep pool before plunging madly downward againin a cataract of boiling foam, and water thundering against rocks. 

Into this icy pool the girl shot, and down and down beneath the waterysurface until, half choked, yet fighting bravely, she battled her wayonce more to air. Swimming strongly she made the opposite shore andthere dragged herself out upon the bank to lie panting and spent untilthe approaching dawn warned her to seek concealment, for she was in thecountry of her people's enemies. 

Rising, she moved into the concealment of the rank vegetation thatgrows so riotously in the well-watered kors[1] of Pal-ul-don. 

Hidden amidst the plant life from the sight of any who might chance topass along the well-beaten trail that skirted the river Pan-at-leesought rest and food, the latter growing in abundance all about her inthe form of fruits and berries and succulent tubers which she scoopedfrom the earth with the knife of the dead Es-sat. 

Ah! if she had but known that he was dead! What trials and risks andterrors she might have been saved; but she thought that he still livedand so she dared not return to Kor-ul-ja. At least not yet while hisrage was at white heat. Later, perhaps, her father and brothersreturned to their cave, she might risk it; but not now--not now. Norcould she for long remain here in the neighborhood of the hostileKor-ul-lul and somewhere she must find safety from beasts before thenight set in. 

As she sat upon the bole of a fallen tree seeking some solution of theproblem of existence that confronted her, there broke upon her earsfrom up the gorge the voices of shouting men--a sound that sherecognized all too well. It was the war cry of the Kor-ul-lul. Closerand closer it approached her hiding place. Then, through the veil offoliage she caught glimpses of three figures fleeing along the trail, and behind them the shouting of the pursuers rose louder and louder asthey neared her. Again she caught sight of the fugitives crossing theriver below the cataract and again they were lost to sight. And now thepursuers came into view--shouting Kor-ul-lul warriors, fierce andimplacable. Forty, perhaps fifty of them. She waited breathless; butthey did not swerve from the trail and passed her, unguessing that anenemy she lay hid within a few yards of them. 

Once again she caught sight of the pursued--three Waz-don warriorsclambering the cliff face at a point where portions of the summit hadfallen away presenting a steep slope that might be ascended by such asthese. 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 shemight have joined them, for they were her father and two brothers. Nowit was too late. With bated breath and tense muscles she watched therace. 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 theloose shale and slipped back! The Kor-ul-lul were ascending--one hurledhis club at the nearest fugitive. The Great God was pleased with thebrother of Pan-at-lee, for he caused the club to fall short of itstarget, and to fall, rolling and bounding, back upon its owner carryinghim 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 notsee he lowered his body and his long tail to the father beneath him. The latter, seizing this support, extended his own tail to the sonbelow--the one who had slipped back--and thus, upon a living ladder oftheir own making, the three reached the summit and disappeared fromview before the Kor-ul-lul overtook them. But the latter did notabandon the chase. On they went until they too had disappeared fromsight and only a faint shouting came down to Pan-at-lee to tell herthat the pursuit continued. 

The girl knew that she must move on. At any moment now might come ahunting party, combing the gorge for the smaller animals that fed orbedded there. 

Behind her were Es-sat and the returning party of Kor-ul-lul that hadpursued her kin; before her, across the next ridge, was theKor-ul-gryf, the lair of the terrifying monsters that brought the chillof 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 peopleand everywhere were the wild beasts that eat the flesh of man. 

For but a moment she debated and then turning her face toward thesoutheast she set out across the gorge of water toward theKor-ul-gryf--at least there were no men there. As it is now, so it wasin the beginning, back to the primitive progenitor of man which istypified by Pan-at-lee and her kind today, of all the hunters thatwoman fears, man is the most relentless, the most terrible. To thedangers of man she preferred the dangers of the gryf. 

Moving cautiously she reached the foot of the cliff at the far side ofKor-ul-lul and here, toward noon, she found a comparatively easyascent. Crossing the ridge she stood at last upon the brink ofKor-ul-gryf--the horror place of the folklore of her race. Dank andmysterious grew the vegetation below; giant trees waved their plumedtops almost level with the summit of the cliff; and over all brooded anominous silence. 

Pan-at-lee lay upon her belly and stretching over the edge scanned thecliff face below her. She could see caves there and the stone pegswhich the ancients had fashioned so laboriously by hand. She had heardof these in the firelight tales of her childhood and of how the gryfshad come from the morasses across the mountains and of how at last thepeople had fled after many had been seized and devoured by the hideouscreatures, leaving their caves untenanted for no man living knew howlong. Some said that Jad-ben-Otho, who has lived forever, was still alittle boy. Pan-at-lee shuddered; but there were caves and in them shewould be safe even from the gryfs. 

She found a place where the stone pegs reached to the very summit ofthe cliff, left there no doubt in the final exodus of the tribe whenthere was no longer need of safeguarding the deserted caves againstinvasion. Pan-at-lee clambered slowly down toward the uppermost cave. She found the recess in front of the doorway almost identical withthose of her own tribe. The floor of it, though, was littered withtwigs and old nests and the droppings of birds, until it was halfchoked. She moved along to another recess and still another, but allwere alike in the accumulated filth. Evidently there was no need inlooking further. This one seemed large and commodious. With her knifeshe fell to work cleaning away the debris by the simple expedient ofpushing it over the edge, and always her eyes turned constantly towardthe silent gorge where lurked the fearsome creatures of Pal-ul-don. Andother eyes there were, eyes she did not see, but that saw her andwatched her every move--fierce eyes, greedy eyes, cunning and cruel. They watched her, and a red tongue licked flabby, pendulous lips. Theywatched her, and a half-human brain laboriously evolved a brutishdesign. 

As in her own Kor-ul-ja, the natural springs in the cliff had beendeveloped by the long-dead builders of the caves so that fresh, purewater trickled now, as it had for ages, within easy access to the caveentrances. Her only difficulty would be in procuring food and for thatshe must take the risk at least once in two days, for she was sure thatshe could find fruits and tubers and perhaps small animals, birds, andeggs near the foot of the cliff, the last two, possibly, in the cavesthemselves. Thus might she live on here indefinitely. She felt now acertain sense of security imparted doubtless by the impregnability ofher high-flung sanctuary that she knew to be safe from all the moredangerous beasts, and this one from men, too, since it lay in theabjured Kor-ul-gryf. 

Now she determined to inspect the interior of her new home. The sunstill in the south, lighted the interior of the first apartment. It wassimilar to those of her experience--the same beasts and men weredepicted in the same crude fashion in the carvings on thewalls--evidently there had been little progress in the race of Waz-donduring the generations that had come and departed since Kor-ul-gryf hadbeen abandoned by men. Of course Pan-at-lee thought no such thoughts, for evolution and progress existed not for her, or her kind. Thingswere as they had always been and would always be as they were. 

That these strange creatures have existed thus for incalculable ages itcan scarce be doubted, so marked are the indications of antiquity abouttheir dwellings--deep furrows worn by naked feet in living rock; thehollow in the jamb of a stone doorway where many arms have touched inpassing; the endless carvings that cover, ofttimes, the entire face ofa great cliff and all the walls and ceilings of every cave and eachcarving wrought by a different hand, for each is the coat of arms, onemight say, of the adult male who traced it. 

And so Pan-at-lee found this ancient cave homelike and familiar. Therewas less litter within than she had found without and what there waswas mostly an accumulation of dust. Beside the doorway was the niche inwhich wood and tinder were kept, but there remained nothing now otherthan mere dust. She had however saved a little pile of twigs from thedebris on the porch. In a short time she had made a light by firing abundle of twigs and lighting others from this fire she explored some ofthe inner rooms. Nor here did she find aught that was new or strangenor any relic of the departed owners other than a few broken stonedishes. She had been looking for something soft to sleep upon, but wasdoomed to disappointment as the former owners had evidently made aleisurely departure, carrying all their belongings with them. Below, inthe gorge were leaves and grasses and fragrant branches, but Pan-at-leefelt no stomach for descending into that horrid abyss for thegratification of mere creature comfort--only the necessity for foodwould drive her there. 

And so, as the shadows lengthened and night approached she prepared tomake as comfortable a bed as she could by gathering the dust of agesinto a little pile and spreading it between her soft body and the hardfloor--at best it was only better than nothing. But Pan-at-lee was verytired. She had not slept since two nights before and in the intervalshe had experienced many dangers and hardships. What wonder then thatdespite the hard bed, she was asleep almost immediately she hadcomposed herself for rest. 

She slept and the moon rose, casting its silver light upon the cliff'swhite face and lessening the gloom of the dark forest and the dismalgorge. In the distance a lion roared. There was a long silence. Fromthe upper reaches of the gorge came a deep bellow. There was a movementin the trees at the cliff's foot. Again the bellow, low and ominous. Itwas answered from below the deserted village. Something dropped fromthe foliage of a tree directly below the cave in which Pan-at-leeslept--it dropped to the ground among the dense shadows. Now it moved, cautiously. It moved toward the foot of the cliff, taking form andshape in the moonlight. It moved like the creature of a baddream--slowly, sluggishly. It might have been a huge sloth--it mighthave been a man, with so grotesque a brush does the moon paint--mastercubist. 

Slowly it moved up the face of the cliff--like a great grubworm itmoved, but now the moon-brush touched it again and it had hands andfeet and with them it clung to the stone pegs and raised itselflaboriously aloft toward the cave where Pan-at-lee slept. From thelower reaches of the gorge came again the sound of bellowing, and itwas answered from above the village. 

Tarzan of the Apes opened his eyes. He was conscious of a pain in hishead, and at first that was about all. A moment later grotesqueshadows, rising and falling, focused his arousing perceptions. Presently he saw that he was in a cave. A dozen Waz-don warriorssquatted about, talking. A rude stone cresset containing burning oillighted the interior and as the flame rose and fell the exaggeratedshadows 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 wasborn without one, for there is no scar to mark where a tail had beencut off. The thumbs upon his hands and feet are unlike those of theraces of Pal-ul-don. He is more powerful than many men put together andhe attacks with the fearlessness of ja. We brought him alive, that youmight see him before he is slain. "

The chief rose and approached the ape-man, who closed his eyes andfeigned unconsciousness. He felt hairy hands upon him as he was turnedover, none too gently. The gund examined him from head to foot, makingcomments, especially upon the shape and size of his thumbs and greattoes. 

"With these and with no tail, " he said, "it cannot climb. "

"No, " agreed one of the warriors, "it would surely fall even from thecliff pegs. "

"I have never seen a thing like it, " said the chief. "It is neitherWaz-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 thatthey 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 itshead that I may question it. Remain here, In-tan, and watch it. When itcan 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 Tarzancaught snatches of their conversation which indicated that theKor-ul-ja reinforcements had fallen upon their little party in greatnumbers and driven them away. Evidently the swift feet of Id-an hadsaved the day for the warriors of Om-at. The ape-man smiled, then hepartially opened an eye and cast it upon In-tan. The warrior stood atthe entrance to the cave looking out--his back was toward his prisoner. Tarzan tested the bonds that secured his wrists. They seemed none toostout and they had tied his hands in front of him! Evidence indeed thatthe Waz-don took few prisoners--if any. 

Cautiously he raised his wrists until he could examine the thongs thatconfined them. A grim smile lighted his features. Instantly he was atwork upon the bonds with his strong teeth, but ever a wary eye was uponIn-tan, the warrior of Kor-ul-lul. The last knot had been loosened andTarzan's hands were free when In-tan turned to cast an appraising eyeupon his ward. He saw that the prisoner's position was changed--he nolonger lay upon his back as they had left him, but upon his side andhis hands were drawn up against his face. In-tan came closer and bentdown. The bonds seemed very loose upon the prisoner's wrists. Heextended his hand to examine them with his fingers and instantly thetwo hands leaped from their bonds--one to seize his own wrist, theother his throat. So unexpected the catlike attack that In-tan had noteven time to cry out before steel fingers silenced him. The creaturepulled him suddenly forward so that he lost his balance and rolled overupon the prisoner and to the floor beyond to stop with Tarzan upon hisbreast. In-tan struggled to release himself--struggled to draw hisknife; but Tarzan found it before him. The Waz-don's tail leaped to theother's throat, encircling it--he too could choke; but his own knife, in the hands of his antagonist, severed the beloved member close to itsroot. 

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 deadfoe. 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 fromhis shoulders and that they had replaced his knife in its sheath. Ithad been in his hand when he was felled. Strange creatures! He did notknow that they held a superstitious fear of the weapons of a deadenemy, believing that if buried without them he would forever haunt hisslayers in search of them and that when he found them he would kill theman who killed him. Against the wall leaned his bow and quiver ofarrows. 

Tarzan stepped toward the doorway of the cave and looked out. Night hadjust fallen. He could hear voices from the nearer caves and therefloated to his nostrils the odor of cooking food. He looked down andexperienced a sensation of relief. The cave in which he had been heldwas 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 hima thought that brought a grin to his savage lips--a thought that wasborn of the name the Waz-don had given him Tarzan-jad-guru--Tarzan theTerrible--and a recollection of the days when he had delighted inbaiting the blacks of the distant jungle of his birth. He turned backinto the cave where lay the dead body of In-tan. With his knife hesevered the warrior's head and carrying it to the outer edge of therecess tossed it to the ground below, then he dropped swiftly andsilently down the ladder of pegs in a way that would have surprised theKor-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 theshadows of the trees carrying the grisly trophy by its shock of shaggyhair. Horrible? But you are judging a wild beast by the standards ofcivilization. You may teach a lion tricks, but he is still a lion. Tarzan looked well in a Tuxedo, but he was still a Tarmangani andbeneath his pleated shirt beat a wild and savage heart. 

Nor was his madness lacking in method. He knew that the hearts of theKor-ul-lul would be filled with rage when they discovered the thingthat he had done and he knew too, that mixed with the rage would be aleaven of fear and it was fear of him that had made Tarzan master ofmany jungles--one does not win the respect of the killers with bonbons. 

Below the village Tarzan returned to the foot of the cliff searchingfor a point where he could make the ascent to the ridge and thus backto the village of Om-at, the Kor-ul-ja. He came at last to a placewhere the river ran so close to the rocky wall that he was forced toswim it in search of a trail upon the opposite side and here it wasthat his keen nostrils detected a familiar spoor. It was the scent ofPan-at-lee at the spot where she had emerged from the pool and taken tothe safety of the jungle. 

Immediately the ape-man's plans were changed. Pan-at-lee lived, or atleast she had lived after the leap from the cliff's summit. He hadstarted in search of her for Om-at, his friend, and for Om-at he wouldcontinue 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 pointat 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 branchof a tree, for he knew that it would handicap him in his ascent of thesteep escarpment. Apelike he ascended, following easily the scentspoor of Pan-at-lee. Over the summit and across the ridge the traillay, plain as a printed page to the delicate senses of the jungle-bredtracker. 

Tarzan knew naught of the Kor-ul-gryf. He had seen, dimly in theshadows of the night, strange, monstrous forms and Ta-den and Om-at hadspoken of great creatures that all men feared; but always, everywhere, by night and by day, there were dangers. From infancy death hadstalked, grim and terrible, at his heels. He knew little of any otherexistence. To cope with danger was his life and he lived his life assimply and as naturally as you live yours amidst the dangers of thecrowded city streets. The black man who goes abroad in the jungle bynight is afraid, for he has spent his life since infancy surrounded bynumbers of his own kind and safeguarded, especially at night, by suchcrude means as lie within his powers. But Tarzan had lived as the lionlives and the panther and the elephant and the ape--a true junglecreature dependent solely upon his prowess and his wits, playing a lonehand against creation. Therefore he was surprised at nothing and fearednothing and so he walked through the strange night as undisturbed andunapprehensive as the farmer to the cow lot in the darkness before thedawn. 

Once more Pan-at-lee's trail ended at the verge of a cliff; but thistime there was no indication that she had leaped over the edge and amoment's search revealed to Tarzan the stone pegs upon which she hadmade her descent. As he lay upon his belly leaning over the top of thecliff examining the pegs his attention was suddenly attracted bysomething at the foot of the cliff. He could not distinguish itsidentity, but he saw that it moved and presently that it was ascendingslowly, apparently by means of pegs similar to those directly belowhim. He watched it intently as it rose higher and higher until he wasable to distinguish its form more clearly, with the result that hebecame convinced that it more nearly resembled some form of great apethan a lower order. It had a tail, though, and in other respects it didnot seem a true ape. 

Slowly it ascended to the upper tier of caves, into one of which itdisappeared. Then Tarzan took up again the trail of Pan-at-lee. Hefollowed it down the stone pegs to the nearest cave and then furtheralong the upper tier. The ape-man raised his eyebrows when he saw thedirection in which it led, and quickened his pace. He had almostreached the third cave when the echoes of Kor-ul-gryf were awakened bya shrill scream of terror. 

[1] I have used the Pal-ul-don word for gorge with the English plural, which is not the correct native plural form. The latter, it seems tome, is awkward for us and so I have generally ignored it throughout mymanuscript, permitting, for example, Kor-ul-ja to answer for bothsingular and plural. However, for the benefit of those who may beinterested in such things I may say that the plurals are formed simplyfor all words in the Pal-ul-don language by doubling the initial letterof the word, as k'kor, gorges, pronounced as though written kakor, thea having the sound of a in sofa. Lions, d' don. 

6

The Tor-o-don

Pan-at-lee slept--the troubled sleep, of physical and nervousexhaustion, filled with weird dreamings. She dreamed that she sleptbeneath a great tree in the bottom of the Kor-ul-gryf and that one ofthe fearsome beasts was creeping upon her but she could not open hereyes 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 itclosed and seemed to be dragging her toward it. With a super-humaneffort of will she opened her eyes. In the instant she knew that shewas dreaming and that quickly the hallucination of the dream wouldfade--it had happened to her many times before. But it persisted. Inthe dim light that filtered into the dark chamber she saw a form besideher, she felt hairy fingers upon her and a hairy breast against whichshe was being drawn. Jad-ben-Otho! this was no dream. And then shescreamed and tried to fight the thing from her; but her scream wasanswered by a low growl and another hairy hand seized her by the hairof the head. The beast rose now upon its hind legs and dragged her fromthe cave to the moonlit recess without and at the same instant she sawthe figure of what she took to be a Ho-don rise above the outer edge ofthe niche. 

The beast that held her saw it too and growled ominously but it did notrelinquish its hold upon her hair. It crouched as though waiting anattack, and it increased the volume and frequency of its growls untilthe horrid sounds reverberated through the gorge, drowning even thedeep bellowings of the beasts below, whose mighty thunderings hadbroken out anew with the sudden commotion from the high-flung cave. Thebeast that held her crouched and the creature that faced it crouchedalso, and growled--as hideously as the other. Pan-at-lee trembled. Thiswas no Ho-don and though she feared the Ho-don she feared this thingmore, with its catlike crouch and its beastly growls. She waslost--that Pan-at-lee knew. The two things might fight for her, butwhichever won she was lost. Perhaps, during the battle, if it came tothat, she might find the opportunity to throw herself over into theKor-ul-gryf. 

The thing that held her she had recognized now as a Tor-o-don, but theother thing she could not place, though in the moonlight she could seeit very distinctly. It had no tail. She could see its hands and itsfeet, 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 agleaming knife. Now it spoke and to Pan-at-lee's terror was added anequal weight of consternation. 

"When it leaves go of you, " it said, "as it will presently to defenditself, run quickly behind me, Pan-at-lee, and go to the cave nearestthe pegs you descended from the cliff top. Watch from there. If I amdefeated you will have time to escape this slow thing; if I am not Iwill 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 didnot understand. How did this strange creature know her name? How did itknow 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, ofKor-ul-ja, in search of you. "

Om-at, gund of Kor-ul-ja! What wild talk was this? She would havequestioned him further, but now he was approaching the Tor-o-don andthe latter was screaming and growling so loudly as to drown the soundof her voice. And then it did what the strange creature had said thatit would do--it released its hold upon her hair as it prepared tocharge. Charge it did and in those close quarters there was no room tofence for openings. Instantly the two beasts locked in deadly embrace, each seeking the other's throat. Pan-at-lee watched, taking noadvantage of the opportunity to escape which their preoccupation gaveher. She watched and waited, for into her savage little brain had comethe resolve to pin her faith to this strange creature who had unlockedher heart with those four words--"I am Om-at's friend!" And so shewaited, with drawn knife, the opportunity to do her bit in thevanquishing of the Tor-o-don. That the newcomer could do it unaided shewell knew to be beyond the realms of possibility, for she knew well theprowess of the beastlike man with whom it fought. There were not manyof them in Pal-ul-don, but what few there were were a terror to thewomen of the Waz-don and the Ho-don, for the old Tor-o-don bulls roamedthe mountains and the valleys of Pal-ul-don between rutting seasons andwoe betide the women who fell in their paths. 

With his tail the Tor-o-don sought one of Tarzan's ankles, and findingit, tripped him. The two fell heavily, but so agile was the ape-man andso quick his powerful muscles that even in falling he twisted the beastbeneath him, so that Tarzan fell on top and now the tail that hadtripped him sought his throat as had the tail of In-tan, theKor-ul-lul. In the effort of turning his antagonist's body during thefall Tarzan had had to relinquish his knife that he might seize theshaggy body with both hands and now the weapon lay out of reach at thevery edge of the recess. Both hands were occupied for the moment infending off the clutching fingers that sought to seize him and drag histhroat within reach of his foe's formidable fangs and now the tail wasseeking its deadly hold with a formidable persistence that would not bedenied. 

Pan-at-lee hovered about, breathless, her dagger ready, but there wasno opening that did not also endanger Tarzan, so constantly were thetwo duelists changing their positions. Tarzan felt the tail slowly butsurely insinuating itself about his neck though he had drawn his headdown between the muscles of his shoulders in an effort to protect thisvulnerable part. The battle seemed to be going against him for thegiant beast against which he strove would have been a fair match inweight and strength for Bolgani, the gorilla. And knowing this hesuddenly exerted a single super-human effort, thrust far apart thegiant hands and with the swiftness of a striking snake buried his fangsin the jugular of the Tor-o-don. At the same instant the creature'stail coiled about his own throat and then commenced a battle royal ofturning and twisting bodies as each sought to dislodge the fatal holdof the other, but the acts of the ape-man were guided by a human brainand thus it was that the rolling bodies rolled in the direction thatTarzan wished--toward the edge of the recess. 

The choking tail had shut the air from his lungs, he knew that hisgasping lips were parted and his tongue protruding; and now his brainreeled and his sight grew dim; but not before he reached his goal and aquick hand shot out to seize the knife that now lay within reach as thetwo 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 hisinjunction to make good her escape while he engaged the Tor-o-don, forit was to this fact that he owed his life. Close beside the strugglingforms during the brief moments of the terrific climax she had realizedevery detail of the danger to Tarzan with which the emergency wasfraught and as she saw the two rolling over the outer edge of the nicheshe seized the ape-man by an ankle at the same time throwing herselfprone upon the rocky floor. The muscles of the Tor-o-don relaxed indeath with the last thrust of Tarzan's knife and with its hold upon theape-man released it shot from sight into the gorge below. 

It was with infinite difficulty that Pan-at-lee retained her hold uponthe ankle of her protector, but she did so and then, slowly, she soughtto 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 thatsome plan would suggest itself before her powers of endurance failed. She wondered if, after all, the creature was already dead, but that shecould not bring herself to believe--and if not dead how long it wouldbe before he regained consciousness. If he did not regain it soon henever would regain it, that she knew, for she felt her fingers numbingto the strain upon them and slipping, slowly, slowly, from their hold. It was then that Tarzan regained consciousness. He could not know whatpower upheld him, but he felt that whatever it was it was slowlyreleasing its hold upon his ankle. Within easy reach of his hands weretwo pegs and these he seized upon just as Pan-at-lee's fingers slippedfrom their hold. 

As it was he came near to being precipitated into the gorge--only hisgreat strength saved him. He was upright now and his feet found otherpegs. His first thought was of his foe. Where was he? Waiting abovethere to finish him? Tarzan looked up just as the frightened face ofPan-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 areunharmed?" he asked. 

"You came just in time, " replied Pan-at-lee; "but who are you and howdid you know that I was here and what do you know of Om-at and wheredid 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 allalike--the shes of the tribe of Kerchak, the ladies of England, andtheir sisters of Pal-ul-don. Have patience and I will try to tell youall that you wish to know. Four of us set out with Om-at from Kor-ul-jato search for you. We were attacked by the Kor-ul-lul and separated. Iwas taken prisoner, but escaped. Again I stumbled upon your trail andfollowed it, reaching the summit of this cliff just as the hairy onewas climbing up after you. I was coming to investigate when I heardyour scream--the rest you know. "

"But you called Om-at, gund of Kor-ul-ja, " she insisted. "Es-sat isgund. "

"Es-sat is dead, " explained the ape-man. "Om-at slew him and now Om-atis gund. Om-at came back seeking you. He found Es-sat in your cave andkilled him. "

"Yes, " said the girl, "Es-sat came to my cave and I struck him downwith my golden breastplates and escaped. "

"And a lion pursued you, " continued Tarzan, "and you leaped from thecliff into Kor-ul-lul, but why you were not killed is beyond me. "

"Is there anything beyond you?" exclaimed Pan-at-lee. "How could youknow that a lion pursued me and that I leaped from the cliff and notknow 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 andprevented me continuing upon your trail. But now I would ask you aquestion--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. Theyare terrible creatures with the cunning of man and the ferocity of abeast. 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 returnto Kor-ul-ja and Om-at, and I doubt that you have had much rest thesetwo nights. "

Pan-at-lee, lulled by a feeling of security, slept peacefully into themorning while Tarzan stretched himself upon the hard floor of therecess just outside her cave. 

The sun was high in the heavens when he awoke; for two hours it hadlooked down upon another heroic figure miles away--the figure of agodlike man fighting his way through the hideous morass that lies likea filthy moat defending Pal-ul-don from the creatures of the outerworld. Now waist deep in the sucking ooze, now menaced by loathsomereptiles, the man advanced only by virtue of Herculean efforts gaininglaboriously by inches along the devious way that he was forced tochoose in selecting the least precarious footing. Near the center ofthe morass was open water--slimy, green-hued water. He reached it atlast after more than two hours of such effort as would have left anordinary man spent and dying in the sticky mud, yet he was less thanhalfway across the marsh. Greasy with slime and mud was his smooth, brown hide, and greasy with slime and mud was his beloved Enfield thathad shone so brightly in the first rays of the rising sun. 

He paused a moment upon the edge of the open water and then throwinghimself forward struck out to swim across. He swam with long, easy, powerful strokes calculated less for speed than for endurance, for hiswas, primarily, a test of the latter, since beyond the open water wasanother two hours or more of gruelling effort between it and solidground. He was, perhaps, halfway across and congratulating himself uponthe ease of the achievement of this portion of his task when therearose 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 deepdraughts of the fresh morning air. His clear eyes scanned the wondrousbeauties of the landscape spread out before them. Directly below layKor-ul-gryf, a dense, somber green of gently moving tree tops. ToTarzan it was neither grim, nor forbidding--it was jungle, belovedjungle. To his right there spread a panorama of the lower reaches ofthe Valley of Jad-ben-Otho, with its winding streams and its bluelakes. Gleaming whitely in the sunlight were scattered groups ofdwellings--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 theshoulder of the cliff in which the deserted village lay. 

For a moment Tarzan gave himself over to that spiritual enjoyment ofbeauty that only the man-mind may attain and then Nature assertedherself and the belly of the beast called aloud that it was hungry. Again Tarzan looked down at Kor-ul-gryf. There was the jungle! Grewthere a jungle that would not feed Tarzan? The ape-man smiled andcommenced the descent to the gorge. Was there danger there? Of course. Who knew it better than Tarzan? In all jungles lies death, for life anddeath go hand in hand and where life teems death reaps his fullestharvest. Never had Tarzan met a creature of the jungle with which hecould not cope--sometimes by virtue of brute strength alone, again by acombination of brute strength and the cunning of the man-mind; butTarzan had never met a gryf. 

He had heard the bellowings in the gorge the night before after he hadlain down to sleep and he had meant to ask Pan-at-lee this morning whatmanner of beast so disturbed the slumbers of its betters. He reachedthe foot of the cliff and strode into the jungle and here he halted, his keen eyes and ears watchful and alert, his sensitive nostrilssearching each shifting air current for the scent spoor of game. Againhe advanced deeper into the wood, his light step giving forth no sound, his bow and arrows in readiness. A light morning breeze was blowingfrom up the gorge and in this direction he bent his steps. Many odorsimpinged upon his organs of scent. Some of these he classified withouteffort, but others were strange--the odors of beasts and of birds, oftrees and shrubs and flowers with which he was unfamiliar. He sensedfaintly the reptilian odor that he had learned to connect with thestrange, nocturnal forms that had loomed dim and bulky on severaloccasions 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 cryof joy, for it loved the flesh of Bara. The ape-man moved rapidly, butcautiously forward. The prey was not far distant and as the hunterapproached it, he took silently to the trees and still in his nostrilswas the faint reptilian odor that spoke of a great creature which hehad never yet seen except as a denser shadow among the dense shadows ofthe night; but the odor was of such a faintness as suggests to thejungle bred the distance of absolute safety. 

And now, moving noiselessly, Tarzan came within sight of Bara drinkingat a pool where the stream that waters Kor-ul-gryf crosses an openplace in the jungle. The deer was too far from the nearest tree to riska charge, so the ape-man must depend upon the accuracy and force of hisfirst arrow, which must drop the deer in its tracks or forfeit bothdeer and shaft. Far back came the right hand and the bow, that you or Imight not move, bent easily beneath the muscles of the forest god. There was a singing twang and Bara, leaping high in air, collapsed uponthe ground, an arrow through his heart. Tarzan dropped to earth and ranto his kill, lest the animal might even yet rise and escape; but Barawas safely dead. As Tarzan stooped to lift it to his shoulder therefell upon his ears a thunderous bellow that seemed almost at his rightelbow, and as his eyes shot in the direction of the sound, there brokeupon his vision such a creature as paleontologists have dreamed ashaving possibly existed in the dimmest vistas of Earth's infancy--agigantic creature, vibrant with mad rage, that charged, bellowing, uponhim. 

When Pan-at-lee awoke she looked out upon the niche in search ofTarzan. 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 searchof food and there she caught a glimpse of him disappearing into theforest. For an instant she was panic-stricken. She knew that he was astranger in Pal-ul-don and that, so, he might not realize the dangersthat lay in that gorge of terror. Why did she not call to him toreturn? You or I might have done so, but no Pal-ul-don, for they knowthe ways of the gryf--they know the weak eyes and the keen ears, andthat 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 thepurpose of overhauling Tarzan and warning him in whispers of hisdanger. It was a brave act, since it was performed in the face ofcountless ages of inherited fear of the creatures that she might becalled upon to face. Men have been decorated for less. 

Pan-at-lee, descended from a long line of hunters, assumed that Tarzanwould move up wind and in this direction she sought his tracks, whichshe soon found well marked, since he had made no effort to concealthem. She moved rapidly until she reached the point at which Tarzan hadtaken to the trees. Of course she knew what had happened; since her ownpeople were semi-arboreal; but she could not track him through thetrees, having no such well-developed sense of scent as he. 

She could but hope that he had continued on up wind and in thisdirection she moved, her heart pounding in terror against her ribs, hereyes glancing first in one direction and then another. She had reachedthe edge of a clearing when two things happened--she caught sight ofTarzan bending over a dead deer and at the same instant a deafeningroar sounded almost beside her. It terrified her beyond description, but it brought no paralysis of fear. Instead it galvanized her intoinstant action with the result that Pan-at-lee swarmed up the nearesttree to the very loftiest branch that would sustain her weight. Thenshe looked down. 

The thing that Tarzan saw charging him when the warning bellowattracted his surprised eyes loomed terrifically monstrous beforehim--monstrous and awe-inspiring; but it did not terrify Tarzan, itonly angered him, for he saw that it was beyond even his powers tocombat and that meant that it might cause him to lose his kill, andTarzan was hungry. There was but a single alternative to remaining forannihilation and that was flight--swift and immediate. And Tarzan fled, but he carried the carcass of Bara, the deer, with him. He had not morethan a dozen paces start, but on the other hand the nearest tree wasalmost as close. His greatest danger lay, he imagined, in the great, towering height of the creature pursuing him, for even though hereached the tree he would have to climb high in an incredibly shorttime as, unless appearances were deceiving, the thing could reach upand 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 hindlegs. 

But Tarzan was no sluggard and though the gryf was incredibly fastdespite its great bulk, it was no match for Tarzan, and when it comesto climbing, the little monkeys gaze with envy upon the feats of theape-man. And so it was that the bellowing gryf came to a baffled stopat the foot of the tree and even though he reared up and sought toseize his prey among the branches, as Tarzan had guessed he might, hefailed in this also. And then, well out of reach, Tarzan came to a stopand there, just above him, he saw Pan-at-lee sitting, wide-eyed andtrembling. 

"How came you here?" he asked. 

She told him. "You came to warn me!" he said. "It was very brave andunselfish of you. I am chagrined that I should have been thussurprised. The creature was up wind from me and yet I did not sense itsnear presence until it charged. I cannot understand it. "

"It is not strange, " said Pan-at-lee. "That is one of the peculiaritiesof the gryf--it is said that man never knows of its presence until itis 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 Isensed the gryf, too, but faintly as at a great distance. " Tarzansuddenly ceased speaking and looked down at the bellowing creaturebelow 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 thatdoubtless permeates the entire jungle because of the long presence ofmany of the creatures--it is the sort of odor that would remain for along time, faint as it is. 

"Pan-at-lee, did you ever hear of a triceratops? No? Well this thingthat you call a gryf is a triceratops and it has been extinct forhundreds of thousands of years. I have seen its skeleton in the museumin London and a figure of one restored. I always thought that thescientists who did such work depended principally upon an overwroughtimagination, but I see that I was wrong. This living thing is not anexact counterpart of the restoration that I saw; but it is so similaras to be easily recognizable, and then, too, we must remember thatduring the ages that have elapsed since the paleontologist's specimenlived many changes might have been wrought by evolution in the livingline 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 angrycreature below them. Instantly the great bony hood over the neck waserected and a mad bellow rolled upward from the gigantic body. Fulltwenty feet at the shoulder the thing stood, a dirty slate-blue incolor except for its yellow face with the blue bands encircling theeyes, the red hood with the yellow lining and the yellow belly. Thethree parallel lines of bony protuberances down the back gave a furthertouch of color to the body, those following the line of the spine beingred, while those on either side are yellow. The five- and three-toedhoofs 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 onthe nose, had persisted through all the ages. Weird and terrible as wasits appearance Tarzan could not but admire the mighty creature loomingbig below him, its seventy-five feet of length majestically typifyingthose things which all his life the ape-man had admired--courage andstrength. In that massive tail alone was the strength of an elephant. 

The wicked little eyes looked up at him and the horny beak opened todisclose a full set of powerful teeth. 

"Herbivorous!" murmured the ape-man. "Your ancestors may have been, butnot you, " and then to Pan-at-lee: "Let us go now. At the cave we willhave 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 cliffthrough the trees and be back in the cave before it knows what hasbecome 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 footof each tree when we would descend. It will never give us up. "

"We can live in the trees for a long time if necessary, " repliedTarzan, "and sometime the thing will leave. "

The girl shook her head. "Never, " she said, "and then there are theTor-o-don. They will come and kill us and after eating a little willthrow 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 waitinghere for someone to come along and eat part of me and then feed thebalance to that beast below. If I don't get out of this place whole itwon't be my fault. Come along now and we'll make a try at it, " and sosaying he moved off through the tree tops with Pan-at-lee close behind. Below them, on the ground, moved the horned dinosaur and when theyreached the edge of the forest where there lay fifty yards of openground to cross to the foot of the cliff he was there with them, at thebottom 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 gorgethrough 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 thetrees, swiftly, swinging monkey-like from limb to limb, following azigzag course that he tried to select with an eye for the difficultiesof the trail beneath. Where the underbrush was heaviest, where fallentrees 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 gorgethe gryf was with them. 

"Back again, " said Tarzan, and, turning, the two retraced theirhigh-flung way through the upper terraces of the ancient forest ofKor-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 thetree in which they stopped. 

The cliff looming high above them with its innumerable cave mouthsseemed to beckon and to taunt them. It was so near, yet eternity yawnedbetween. The body of the Tor-o-don lay at the cliff's foot where it hadfallen. It was in plain view of the two in the tree. One of the gryfswalked over and sniffed about it, but did not offer to devour it. Tarzan had examined it casually as he had passed earlier in themorning. He guessed that it represented either a very high order of apeor a very low order of man--something akin to the Java man, perhaps; atruer example of the pithecanthropi than either the Ho-don or theWaz-don; possibly the precursor of them both. As his eyes wandered idlyover the scene below his active brain was working out the details ofthe 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 thegorge. 

"Whee-oo! Whee-oo!" it sounded, coming closer. 

The gryfs below raised their heads and looked in the direction of theinterruption. One of them made a low, rumbling sound in its throat. Itwas not a bellow and it did not indicate anger. Immediately the"Whee-oo!" responded. The gryfs repeated the rumbling and at intervalsthe "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 anotherhorrid 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, advancedat a slow, lumbering gait. It walked directly toward the gryfs whomoved aside, as though afraid. Tarzan watched intently. The Tor-o-donwas now quite close to one of the triceratops. It swung its head andsnapped at him viciously. Instantly the Tor-o-don sprang in andcommenced to belabor the huge beast across the face with his stick. Tothe ape-man's amazement the gryf, that might have annihilated thecomparatively puny Tor-o-don instantly in any of a dozen ways, cringedlike a whipped cur. 

"Whee-oo! Whee-oo!" shouted the Tor-o-don and the gryf came slowlytoward him. A whack on the median horn brought it to a stop. Then theTor-o-don walked around behind it, clambered up its tail and seatedhimself astraddle of the huge back. "Whee-oo!" he shouted and proddedthe beast with a sharp point of his stick. The gryf commenced to moveoff. 

So rapt had Tarzan been in the scene below him that he had given nothought to escape, for he realized that for him and Pan-at-lee time hadin these brief moments turned back countless ages to spread beforetheir eyes a page of the dim and distant past. They two had looked uponthe first man and his primitive beasts of burden. 

And now the ridden gryf halted and looked up at them, bellowing. It wassufficient. The creature had warned its master of their presence. Instantly the Tor-o-don urged the beast close beneath the tree whichheld them, at the same time leaping to his feet upon the horny back. Tarzan saw the bestial face, the great fangs, the mighty muscles. Fromthe loins of such had sprung the human race--and only from such couldit have sprung, for only such as this might have survived the horriddangers 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 swayingbranch--straight and beautiful as a demigod--unspoiled by the taint ofcivilization--a perfect specimen of what the human race might have beenhad 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. ThePast basing its claims upon brute strength sought to reach the otherand drag him down; but the loosed arrow sank deep into the savage heartand the Past sank back into the oblivion that had claimed his kind. 

"Tarzan-jad-guru!" murmured Pan-at-lee, unknowingly giving him out ofthe fullness of her admiration the same title that the warriors of hertribe had bestowed upon him. 

The ape-man turned to her. "Pan-at-lee, " he said, "these beasts maykeep us treed here indefinitely. I doubt if we can escape together, butI have a plan. You remain here, hiding yourself in the foliage, while Istart back across the gorge in sight of them and yelling to attracttheir attention. Unless they have more brains than I suspect they willfollow me. When they are gone you make for the cliff. Wait for me inthe cave not longer than today. If I do not come by tomorrow's sun youwill have to start back for Kor-ul-ja alone. Here is a joint of deermeat for you. " He had severed one of the deer's hind legs and this hepassed up to her. 

"I cannot desert you, " she said simply; "it is not the way of my peopleto 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 fittingmate 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 myOm-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 provingsuccessful and he was filled with elation as he led the bellowingbeasts farther and farther from Pan-at-lee. He hoped that she wouldtake advantage of the opportunity afforded her for escape, yet at thesame time he was filled with concern as to her ability to survive thedangers which lay between Kor-ul-gryf and Kor-ul-ja. There were lionsand Tor-o-dons and the unfriendly tribe of Kor-ul-lul to hinder herprogress, though the distance in itself to the cliffs of her people wasnot great. 

He realized her bravery and understood the resourcefulness that shemust share in common with all primitive people who, day by day, mustcontend face to face with nature's law of the survival of the fittest, unaided by any of the numerous artificial protections that civilizationhas thrown around its brood of weaklings. 

Several times during this crossing of the gorge Tarzan endeavored tooutwit his keen pursuers, but all to no avail. Double as he would hecould not throw them off his track and ever as he changed his coursethey changed theirs to conform. Along the verge of the forest upon thesoutheastern side of the gorge he sought some point at which the treestouched some negotiable portion of the cliff, but though he traveledfar both up and down the gorge he discovered no such easy avenue ofescape. The ape-man finally commenced to entertain an idea of thehopelessness of his case and to realize to the full why the Kor-ul-gryfhad been religiously abjured by the races of Pal-ul-don for all thesemany ages. 

Night was falling and though since early morning he had soughtdiligently a way out of this cul-de-sac he was no nearer to libertythan at the moment the first bellowing gryf had charged him as hestooped over the carcass of his kill: but with the falling of nightcame renewed hope for, in common with the great cats, Tarzan was, to agreater or lesser extent, a nocturnal beast. It is true he could notsee by night as well as they, but that lack was largely recompensed forby the keenness of his scent and the highly developed sensitiveness ofhis other organs of perception. As the blind follow and interpret theirBraille characters with deft fingers, so Tarzan reads the book of thejungle with feet and hands and eyes and ears and nose; eachcontributing its share to the quick and accurate translation of thetext. 

But again he was doomed to be thwarted by one vital weakness--he didnot know the gryf, and before the night was over he wondered if thethings never slept, for wheresoever he moved they moved also, andalways they barred his road to liberty. Finally, just before dawn, herelinquished his immediate effort and sought rest in a friendly treecrotch 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 hisjailers lest in the act he might apprise them of his movements. Insteadhe sought cautiously and silently to melt away among the foliage of thetrees. His first move, however, was heralded by a deep bellow frombelow. 

Among the numerous refinements of civilization that Tarzan had failedto acquire was that of profanity, and possibly it is to be regrettedsince there are circumstances under which it is at least a relief topent emotion. And it may be that in effect Tarzan resorted to profanityif there can be physical as well as vocal swearing, since immediatelythe bellow announced that his hopes had been again frustrated, heturned quickly and seeing the hideous face of the gryf below him seizeda large fruit from a nearby branch and hurled it viciously at thehorned snout. The missile struck full between the creature's eyes, resulting in a reaction that surprised the ape-man; it did not arousethe beast to a show of revengeful rage as Tarzan had expected andhoped; instead the creature gave a single vicious side snap at thefruit 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 mindsimilar action on the preceding day when the Tor-o-don had struck oneof the creatures across the face with his staff, and instantly theresprung to the cunning and courageous brain a plan of escape from hispredicament that might have blanched the cheek of the most heroic. 

The gambling instinct is not strong among creatures of the wild; thechances of their daily life are sufficient stimuli for the beneficialexcitement of their nerve centers. It has remained for civilized man, protected in a measure from the natural dangers of existence, to inventartificial stimulants in the form of cards and dice and roulettewheels. Yet when necessity bids there are no greater gamblers than thesavage denizens of the jungle, the forest, and the hills, for aslightly as you roll the ivory cubes upon the green cloth they willgamble with death--their own lives the stake. 

And so Tarzan would gamble now, pitting the seemingly wild deductionsof his shrewd brain against all the proofs of the bestial ferocity ofhis antagonists that his experience of them had adduced--against allthe age-old folklore and legend that had been handed down for countlessgenerations 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 makein the game of life, he smiled; nor was there any indication of hasteor excitement or nervousness in his demeanor. 

First he selected a long, straight branch about two inches in diameterat its base. This he cut from the tree with his knife, removed thesmaller branches and twigs until he had fashioned a pole about ten feetin length. This he sharpened at the smaller end. The staff finished tohis satisfaction he looked down upon the triceratops. 

"Whee-oo!" he cried. 

Instantly the beasts raised their heads and looked at him. From thethroat of one of them came faintly a low rumbling sound. 

"Whee-oo!" repeated Tarzan and hurled the balance of the carcass of thedeer to them. 

Instantly the gryfs fell upon it with much bellowing, one of themattempting to seize it and keep it from the other: but finally thesecond obtained a hold and an instant later it had been torn asunderand greedily devoured. Once again they looked up at the ape-man andthis time they saw him descending to the ground. 

One of them started toward him. Again Tarzan repeated the weird cry ofthe Tor-o-don. The gryf halted in his track, apparently puzzled, whileTarzan slipped lightly to the earth and advanced toward the nearerbeast, his staff raised menacingly and the call of the first-man uponhis lips. 

Would the cry be answered by the low rumbling of the beast of burden orthe horrid bellow of the man-eater? Upon the answer to this questionhung the fate of the ape-man. 

Pan-at-lee was listening intently to the sounds of the departing gryfsas Tarzan led them cunningly from her, and when she was sure that theywere far enough away to insure her safe retreat she dropped swiftlyfrom the branches to the ground and sped like a frightened deer acrossthe open space to the foot of the cliff, stepped over the body of theTor-o-don who had attacked her the night before and was soon climbingrapidly up the ancient stone pegs of the deserted cliff village. In themouth of the cave near that which she had occupied she kindled a fireand cooked the haunch of venison that Tarzan had left her, and from oneof the trickling streams that ran down the face of the escarpment sheobtained water to satisfy her thirst. 

All day she waited, hearing in the distance, and sometimes close athand, the bellowing of the gryfs which pursued the strange creaturethat had dropped so miraculously into her life. For him she felt thesame keen, almost fanatical loyalty that many another had experiencedfor Tarzan of the Apes. Beast and human, he had held them to him withbonds that were stronger than steel--those of them that were clean andcourageous, and the weak and the helpless; but never could Tarzan claimamong 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 ofthese reasons Pan-at-lee would have died for Tarzan, for such is theloyalty of the simple-minded children of nature. It has remained forcivilization to teach us to weigh the relative rewards of loyalty andits antithesis. The loyalty of the primitive is spontaneous, unreasoning, unselfish and such was the loyalty of Pan-at-lee for theTarmangani. 

And so it was that she waited that day and night, hoping that he wouldreturn that she might accompany him back to Om-at, for her experiencehad taught her that in the face of danger two have a better chance thanone. But Tarzan-jad-guru had not come, and so upon the followingmorning Pan-at-lee set out upon her return to Kor-ul-ja. 

She knew the dangers and yet she faced them with the stolidindifference of her race. When they directly confronted and menaced herwould be time enough to experience fear or excitement or confidence. Inthe meantime it was unnecessary to waste nerve energy by anticipatingthem. She moved therefore through her savage land with no greater showof concern than might mark your sauntering to a corner drug-store for asundae. But this is your life and that is Pan-at-lee's and even now asyou read this Pan-at-lee may be sitting upon the edge of the recess ofOm-at's cave while the ja and jato roar from the gorge below and fromthe ridge above, and the Kor-ul-lul threaten upon the south and theHo-don from the Valley of Jad-ben-Otho far below, for Pan-at-lee stilllives and preens her silky coat of jet beneath the tropical moonlightof Pal-ul-don. 

But she was not to reach Kor-ul-ja this day, nor the next, nor for manydays after though the danger that threatened her was neither Waz-donenemy nor savage beast. 

She came without misadventure to the Kor-ul-lul and after descendingits rocky southern wall without catching the slightest glimpse of thehereditary enemies of her people, she experienced a renewal ofconfidence that was little short of practical assurance that she wouldsuccessfully terminate her venture and be restored once more to her ownpeople 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 cautionabated no wit by her confidence, for wariness is an instinctive traitof the primitive, something which cannot be laid aside even momentarilyif one would survive. And so she came to the trail that follows thewindings of Kor-ul-lul from its uppermost reaches down into the broadand fertile Valley of Jad-ben-Otho. 

And as she stepped into the trail there arose on either side of herfrom out of the bushes that border the path, as though materializedfrom thin air, a score of tall, white warriors of the Ho-don. Like afrightened deer Pan-at-lee cast a single startled look at thesemenacers of her freedom and leaped quickly toward the bushes in aneffort to escape; but the warriors were too close at hand. They closedupon 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 araging tiger-cat. They did not try to kill her, but only to subdue andcapture her; and so it was that more than a single Ho-don warrior feltthe keen edge of her blade in his flesh before they had succeeded inoverpowering her by numbers. And still she fought and scratched and bitafter they had taken the knife from her until it was necessary to tieher hands and fasten a piece of wood between her teeth by means ofthongs passed behind her head. 

At first she refused to walk when they started off in the direction ofthe valley but after two of them had seized her by the hair and draggedher for a number of yards she thought better of her original decisionand came along with them, though still as defiant as her bound wristsand gagged mouth would permit. 

Near the entrance to Kor-ul-lul they came upon another body of theirwarriors with which were several Waz-don prisoners from the tribe ofKor-ul-lul. It was a raiding party come up from a Ho-don city of thevalley after slaves. This Pan-at-lee knew for the occurrence was by nomeans unusual. During her lifetime the tribe to which she belonged hadbeen sufficiently fortunate, or powerful, to withstand successfully themajority of such raids made upon them, but yet Pan-at-lee had known offriends and relatives who had been carried into slavery by the Ho-donand she knew, too, another thing which gave her hope, as doubtless itdid to each of the other captives--that occasionally the prisonersescaped from the cities of the hairless whites. 

After they had joined the other party the entire band set forth intothe valley and presently, from the conversation of her captors, Pan-at-lee knew that she was headed for A-lur, the City of Light; whilein the cave of his ancestors, Om-at, chief of the Kor-ul-ja, bemoanedthe 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 openwater near the center of the morass on the frontier of Pal-ul-don itseemed to the man that this indeed must be the futile termination of anarduous and danger-filled journey. It seemed, too, equally futile topit his puny knife against this frightful creature. Had he beenattacked on land it is possible that he might as a last resort haveused his Enfield, though he had come thus far through all these weary, danger-ridden miles without recourse to it, though again and again hadhis life hung in the balance in the face of the savage denizens offorest, jungle, and steppe. For whatever it may have been for which hewas preserving his precious ammunition he evidently held it more sacredeven than his life, for as yet he had not used a single round and nowthe decision was not required of him, since it would have beenimpossible for him to have unslung his Enfield, loaded and fired withthe necessary celerity while swimming. 

Though his chance for survival seemed slender, and hope at its lowestebb, he was not minded therefore to give up without a struggle. Insteadhe drew his blade and awaited the oncoming reptile. The creature waslike no living thing he ever before had seen although possibly itresembled a crocodile in some respects more than it did anything withwhich he was familiar. 

As this frightful survivor of some extinct progenitor charged upon himwith distended jaws there came to the man quickly a full consciousnessof the futility of endeavoring to stay the mad rush or pierce thearmor-coated hide with his little knife. The thing was almost upon himnow and whatever form of defense he chose must be made quickly. Thereseemed but a single alternative to instant death, and this he took atalmost the instant the great reptile towered directly above him. 

With the celerity of a seal he dove headforemost beneath the oncomingbody and at the same instant, turning upon his back, he plunged hisblade into the soft, cold surface of the slimy belly as the momentum ofthe hurtling reptile carried it swiftly over him; and then withpowerful strokes he swam on beneath the surface for a dozen yardsbefore he rose. A glance showed him the stricken monster plunging madlyin pain and rage upon the surface of the water behind him. That it waswrithing in its death agonies was evidenced by the fact that it made noeffort to pursue him, and so, to the accompaniment of the shrillscreaming of the dying monster, the man won at last to the farther edgeof the open water to take up once more the almost superhuman effort ofcrossing the last stretch of clinging mud which separated him from thesolid ground of Pal-ul-don. 

A good two hours it took him to drag his now weary body through theclinging, stinking muck, but at last, mud covered and spent, he draggedhimself out upon the soft grasses of the bank. A hundred yards away astream, winding its way down from the distant mountains, emptied intothe morass, and, after a short rest, he made his way to this andseeking a quiet pool, bathed himself and washed the mud and slime fromhis weapons, accouterments, and loin cloth. Another hour was spentbeneath the rays of the hot sun in wiping, polishing, and oiling hisEnfield though the means at hand for drying it consisted principally ofdry grasses. It was afternoon before he had satisfied himself that hisprecious weapon was safe from any harm by dirt, or dampness, and thenhe arose and took up the search for the spoor he had followed to theopposite side of the swamp. 

Would he find again the trail that had led into the opposite side ofthe morass, to be lost there, even to his trained senses? If he foundit not again upon this side of the almost impassable barrier he mightassume that his long journey had ended in failure. And so he sought upand down the verge of the stagnant water for traces of an old spoorthat would have been invisible to your eyes or mine, even had wefollowed directly in the tracks of its maker. 

As Tarzan advanced upon the gryfs he imitated as closely as he couldrecall them the methods and mannerisms of the Tor-o-don, but up to theinstant that he stood close beside one of the huge creatures herealized that his fate still hung in the balance, for the thing gaveforth no sign, either menacing or otherwise. It only stood there, watching him out of its cold, reptilian eyes and then Tarzan raised hisstaff and with a menacing "Whee-oo!" struck the gryf a vicious blowacross the face. 

The creature made a sudden side snap in his direction, a snap that didnot reach him, and then turned sullenly away, precisely as it had whenthe Tor-o-don commanded it. Walking around to its rear as he had seenthe shaggy first-man do, Tarzan ran up the broad tail and seatedhimself upon the creature's back, and then again imitating the acts ofthe Tor-o-don he prodded it with the sharpened point of his staff, andthus goading it forward and guiding it with blows, first upon one sideand then upon the other, he started it down the gorge in the directionof the valley. 

At first it had been in his mind only to determine if he couldsuccessfully assert any authority over the great monsters, realizingthat in this possibility lay his only hope of immediate escape from hisjailers. But once seated upon the back of his titanic mount the ape-manexperienced the sensation of a new thrill that recalled to him the dayin his boyhood that he had first clambered to the broad head of Tantor, the elephant, and this, together with the sense of mastery that wasalways meat and drink to the lord of the jungle, decided him to put hisnewly acquired power to some utilitarian purpose. 

Pan-at-lee he judged must either have already reached safety or metwith death. At least, no longer could he be of service to her, whilebelow Kor-ul-gryf, in the soft green valley, lay A-lur, the City ofLight, which, since he had gazed upon it from the shoulder ofPastar-ul-ved, had been his ambition and his goal. 

Whether or not its gleaming walls held the secret of his lost mate hecould not even guess but if she lived at all within the precincts ofPal-ul-don it must be among the Ho-don, since the hairy black men ofthis 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 terriblecreature that the races of Pal-ul-don held in such awe?

A little mountain stream tumbles down from Kor-ul-gryf to be joined inthe foothills with that which empties the waters of Kor-ul-lul into thevalley, forming a small river which runs southwest, eventually enteringthe valley's largest lake at the City of A-lur, through the center ofwhich the stream passes. An ancient trail, well marked by countlessgenerations of naked feet of man and beast, leads down toward A-lurbeside the river, and along this Tarzan guided the gryf. Once clear ofthe forest which ran below the mouth of the gorge, Tarzan caughtoccasional glimpses of the city gleaming in the distance far below him. 

The country through which he passed was resplendent with the riotousbeauties of tropical verdure. Thick, lush grasses grew waist high uponeither side of the trail and the way was broken now and again bypatches of open park-like forest, or perhaps a little patch of densejungle where the trees overarched the way and trailing creepersdepended in graceful loops from branch to branch. 

At times the ape-man had difficulty in commanding obedience upon thepart of his unruly beast, but always in the end its fear of therelatively puny goad urged it on to obedience. Late in the afternoon asthey approached the confluence of the stream they were skirting andanother which appeared to come from the direction of Kor-ul-ja theape-man, emerging from one of the jungle patches, discovered aconsiderable party of Ho-don upon the opposite bank. Simultaneouslythey saw him and the mighty creature he bestrode. For a moment theystood in wide-eyed amazement and then, in answer to the command oftheir 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 sufficientindication that there were Waz-don with them, doubtless prisoners takenin one of the raids upon the Waz-don villages of which Ta-den and Om-athad told him. 

At the sound of their voices the gryf had bellowed terrifically andstarted in pursuit even though a river intervened, but by dint of muchprodding and beating, Tarzan had succeeded in heading the animal backinto the path though thereafter for a long time it was sullen and moreintractable than ever. 

As the sun dropped nearer the summit of the western hills Tarzan becameaware that his plan to enter A-lur upon the back of a gryf was likelydoomed to failure, since the stubbornness of the great beast wasincreasing momentarily, doubtless due to the fact that its huge bellywas crying out for food. The ape-man wondered if the Tor-o-dons had anymeans of picketing their beasts for the night, but as he did not knowand as no plan suggested itself, he determined that he should have totrust to the chance of finding it again in the morning. 

There now arose in his mind a question as to what would be theirrelationship when Tarzan had dismounted. Would it again revert to thatof hunter and quarry or would fear of the goad continue to hold itssupremacy over the natural instinct of the hunting flesh-eater? Tarzanwondered but as he could not remain upon the gryf forever, and as hepreferred dismounting and putting the matter to a final test while itwas still light, he decided to act at once. 

How to stop the creature he did not know, as up to this time his soledesire had been to urge it forward. By experimenting with his staff, however, he found that he could bring it to a halt by reaching forwardand striking the thing upon its beaklike snout. Close by grew a numberof leafy trees, in any one of which the ape-man could have foundsanctuary, but it had occurred to him that should he immediately taketo the trees it might suggest to the mind of the gryf that the creaturethat had been commanding him all day feared him, with the result thatTarzan would once again be held a prisoner by the triceratops. 

And so, when the gryf halted, Tarzan slid to the ground, struck thecreature a careless blow across the flank as though in dismissal andwalked indifferently away. From the throat of the beast came a lowrumbling sound and without even a glance at Tarzan it turned andentered the river where it stood drinking for a long time. 

Convinced that the gryf no longer constituted a menace to him theape-man, spurred on himself by the gnawing of hunger, unslung his bowand selecting a handful of arrows set forth cautiously in search offood, evidence of the near presence of which was being borne up to himby a breeze from down river. 

Ten minutes later he had made his kill, again one of the Pal-ul-donspecimens of antelope, all species of which Tarzan had known sincechildhood as Bara, the deer, since in the little primer that had beenthe basis of his education the picture of a deer had been the nearestapproach to the likeness of the antelope, from the giant eland to thesmaller bushbuck of the hunting grounds of his youth. 

Cutting off a haunch he cached it in a nearby tree, and throwing thebalance of the carcass across his shoulder trotted back toward the spotat which he had left the gryf. The great beast was just emerging fromthe river when Tarzan, seeing it, issued the weird cry of theTor-o-don. The creature looked in the direction of the sound voicing atthe same time the low rumble with which it answered the call of itsmaster. Twice Tarzan repeated his cry before the beast moved slowlytoward him, and when it had come within a few paces he tossed thecarcass of the deer to it, upon which it fell with greedy jaws. 

"If anything will keep it within call, " mused the ape-man as hereturned to the tree in which he had cached his own portion of hiskill, "it is the knowledge that I will feed it. " But as he finished hisrepast and settled himself comfortably for the night high among theswaying branches of his eyrie he had little confidence that he wouldride into A-lur the following day upon his prehistoric steed. 

When Tarzan awoke early the following morning he dropped lightly to theground and made his way to the stream. Removing his weapons and loincloth he entered the cold waters of the little pool, and after hisrefreshing bath returned to the tree to breakfast upon another portionof Bara, the deer, adding to his repast some fruits and berries whichgrew in abundance nearby. 

His meal over he sought the ground again and raising his voice in theweird cry that he had learned, he called aloud on the chance ofattracting the gryf, but though he waited for some time and continuedcalling there was no response, and he was finally forced to theconclusion that he had seen the last of his great mount of thepreceding day. 

And so he set his face toward A-lur, pinning his faith upon hisknowledge 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 coolof the morning along the bank of the joyous river, he found delightfulin the extreme. Differentiating him from his fellows of the savagejungle were many characteristics other than those physical and mental. Not the least of these were in a measure spiritual, and one that haddoubtless been as strong as another in influencing Tarzan's love of thejungle had been his appreciation of the beauties of nature. The apescared more for a grubworm in a rotten log than for all the majesticgrandeur of the forest giants waving above them. The only beauties thatNuma acknowledged were those of his own person as he paraded thembefore the admiring eyes of his mate, but in all the manifestations ofthe creative power of nature of which Tarzan was cognizant heappreciated the beauties. 

As Tarzan neared the city his interest became centered upon thearchitecture of the outlying buildings which were hewn from thechalklike limestone of what had once been a group of low hills, similarto the many grass-covered hillocks that dotted the valley in everydirection. Ta-den's explanation of the Ho-don methods of houseconstruction accounted for the ofttimes remarkable shapes andproportions of the buildings which, during the ages that must have beenrequired for their construction, had been hewn from the limestonehills, the exteriors chiseled to such architectural forms as appealedto the eyes of the builders while at the same time following roughlythe original outlines of the hills in an evident desire to economizeboth labor and space. The excavation of the apartments within had beensimilarly governed by necessity. 

As he came nearer Tarzan saw that the waste material from thesebuilding operations had been utilized in the construction of outerwalls about each building or group of buildings resulting from a singlehillock, and later he was to learn that it had also been used for thefilling of inequalities between the hills and the forming of pavedstreets throughout the city, the result, possibly, more of the adoptionof an easy method of disposing of the quantities of broken limestonethan by any real necessity for pavements. 

There were people moving about within the city and upon the narrowledges and terraces that broke the lines of the buildings and whichseemed to be a peculiarity of Ho-don architecture, a concession, nodoubt, to some inherent instinct that might be traced back to theirearly cliff-dwelling progenitors. 

Tarzan was not surprised that at a short distance he aroused nosuspicion or curiosity in the minds of those who saw him, since, untilcloser scrutiny was possible, there was little to distinguish him froma native either in his general conformation or his color. He had, ofcourse, formulated a plan of action and, having decided, he did nothesitate in the carrying out his plan. 

With the same assurance that you might venture upon the main street ofa neighboring city Tarzan strode into the Ho-don city of A-lur. Thefirst person to detect his spuriousness was a little child playing inthe 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 andits eyes wide as it sensed that this creature was something other thana mere Ho-don warrior who had lost his tail. With a gasp the childturned and fled screaming into the courtyard of its home. 

Tarzan continued on his way, fully realizing that the moment wasimminent when the fate of his plan would be decided. Nor had he long towait since at the next turning of the winding street he came face toface with a Ho-don warrior. He saw the sudden surprise in the latter'seyes, followed instantly by one of suspicion, but before the fellowcould speak Tarzan addressed him. 

"I am a stranger from another land, " he said; "I would speak withKo-tan, your king. "

The fellow stepped back, laying his hand upon his knife. "There are nostrangers that come to the gates of A-lur, " he said, "other than asenemies or slaves. "

"I come neither as a slave nor an enemy, " replied Tarzan. "I comedirectly from Jad-ben-Otho. Look!" and he held out his hands that theHo-don might see how greatly they differed from his own, and thenwheeled about that the other might see that he was tailless, for it wasupon this fact that his plan had been based, due to his recollection ofthe quarrel between Ta-den and Om-at, in which the Waz-don had claimedthat Jad-ben-Otho had a long tail while the Ho-don had been equallywilling 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 itis also true that Jad-ben-Otho has no tail. Come, " he said, "I willtake you to Ko-tan, for this is a matter in which no common warrior mayinterfere. Follow me, " and still clutching the handle of his knife andkeeping a wary side glance upon the ape-man he led the way throughA-lur. 

The city covered a large area. Sometimes there was a considerabledistance between groups of buildings, and again they were quite closetogether. There were numerous imposing groups, evidently hewn from thelarger hills, often rising to a height of a hundred feet or more. Asthey advanced they met numerous warriors and women, all of whom showedgreat curiosity in the stranger, but there was no attempt to menace himwhen 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 considerablearea, its western front facing upon a large blue lake and evidentlyhewn from what had once been a natural cliff. This group of buildingswas surrounded by a wall of considerably greater height than any thatTarzan had before seen. His guide led him to a gateway before whichwaited a dozen or more warriors who had risen to their feet and formeda barrier across the entrance-way as Tarzan and his party appearedaround the corner of the palace wall, for by this time he hadaccumulated such a following of the curious as presented to the guardsthe appearance of a formidable mob. 

The guide's story told, Tarzan was conducted into the courtyard wherehe was held while one of the warriors entered the palace, evidentlywith the intention of notifying Ko-tan. Fifteen minutes later a largewarrior appeared, followed by several others, all of whom examinedTarzan with every sign of curiosity as they approached. 

The leader of the party halted before the ape-man. "Who are you?" heasked, "and what do you want of Ko-tan, the king?"

"I am a friend, " replied the ape-man, "and I have come from the countryof Jad-ben-Otho to visit Ko-tan of Pal-ul-don. "

The warrior and his followers seemed impressed. Tarzan could see thelatter whispering among themselves. 

"How come you here, " asked the spokesman, "and what do you want ofKo-tan?"

Tarzan drew himself to his full height. "Enough!" he cried. "Must themessenger of Jad-ben-Otho be subjected to the treatment that might beaccorded to a wandering Waz-don? Take me to the king at once lest thewrath of Jad-ben-Otho fall upon you. "

There was some question in the mind of the ape-man as to how far hemight carry his unwarranted show of assurance, and he waited thereforewith amused interest the result of his demand. He did not, however, have long to wait for almost immediately the attitude of his questionerchanged. He whitened, cast an apprehensive glance toward the easternsky and then extended his right palm toward Tarzan, placing his leftover his own heart in the sign of amity that was common among thepeoples of Pal-ul-don. 

Tarzan stepped quickly back as though from a profaning hand, a feignedexpression of horror and disgust upon his face. 

"Stop!" he cried, "who would dare touch the sacred person of themessenger of Jad-ben-Otho? Only as a special mark of favor fromJad-ben-Otho may even Ko-tan himself receive this honor from me. Hasten! Already now have I waited too long! What manner of receptionthe 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-Othohimself but it occurred to him that it might prove embarrassing andconsiderable of a bore to be compelled constantly to portray thecharacter of a god, but with the growing success of his scheme it hadsuddenly occurred to him that the authority of the son of Jad-ben-Othowould be far greater than that of an ordinary messenger of a god, whileat the same time giving him some leeway in the matter of his acts anddemeanor, the ape-man reasoning that a young god would not be held sostrictly accountable in the matter of his dignity and bearing as anolder and greater god. 

This time the effect of his words was immediately and painfullynoticeable upon all those near him. With one accord they shrank back, the spokesman almost collapsing in evident terror. His apologies, whenfinally the paralysis of his fear would permit him to voice them, wereso abject that the ape-man could scarce repress a smile of amusedcontempt. 

"Have mercy, O Dor-ul-Otho, " he pleaded, "on poor old Dak-lot. Precedeme and I will show you to where Ko-tan, the king, awaits you, trembling. Aside, snakes and vermin, " he cried pushing his warriors toright and left for the purpose of forming an avenue for Tarzan. 

"Come!" cried the ape-man peremptorily, "lead the way, and let theseothers follow. "

The now thoroughly frightened Dak-lot did as he was bid, and Tarzan ofthe 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 interiorwas rather beautifully carved in geometric designs, and within thewalls were similarly treated, though as he proceeded from one apartmentto another he found also the figures of animals, birds, and men takingtheir places among the more formal figures of the mural decorator'sart. Stone vessels were much in evidence as well as ornaments of goldand the skins of many animals, but nowhere did he see an indication ofany woven fabric, indicating that in that respect at least the Ho-donwere still low in the scale of evolution, and yet the proportions andsymmetry of the corridors and apartments bespoke a degree ofcivilization. 

The way led through several apartments and long corridors, up at leastthree flights of stone stairs and finally out upon a ledge upon thewestern side of the building overlooking the blue lake. Along thisledge, or arcade, his guide led him for a hundred yards, to stop atlast before a wide entrance-way leading into another apartment of thepalace. 

Here Tarzan beheld a considerable concourse of warriors in an enormousapartment, the domed ceiling of which was fully fifty feet above thefloor. Almost filling the chamber was a great pyramid ascending inbroad steps well up under the dome in which were a number of roundapertures which let in the light. The steps of the pyramid wereoccupied by warriors to the very pinnacle, upon which sat a large, imposing figure of a man whose golden trappings shone brightly in thelight of the afternoon sun, a shaft of which poured through one of thetiny apertures of the dome. 

"Ko-tan!" cried Dak-lot, addressing the resplendent figure at thepinnacle of the pyramid. "Ko-tan and warriors of Pal-ul-don! Behold thehonor that Jad-ben-Otho has done you in sending as his messenger hisown son, " and Dak-lot, stepping aside, indicated Tarzan with a dramaticsweep of his hand. 

Ko-tan rose to his feet and every warrior within sight craned his neckto have a better view of the newcomer. Those upon the opposite side ofthe pyramid crowded to the front as the words of the old warriorreached them. Skeptical were the expressions on most of the faces; buttheirs was a skepticism marked with caution. No matter which wayfortune jumped they wished to be upon the right side of the fence. Fora moment all eyes were centered upon Tarzan and then gradually theydrifted to Ko-tan, for from his attitude would they receive the cuethat would determine theirs. But Ko-tan was evidently in the samequandary as they--the very attitude of his body indicated it--it wasone of indecision and of doubt. 

The ape-man stood erect, his arms folded upon his broad breast, anexpression of haughty disdain upon his handsome face; but to Dak-lotthere seemed to be indications also of growing anger. The situation wasbecoming strained. Dak-lot fidgeted, casting apprehensive glances atTarzan and appealing ones at Ko-tan. The silence of the tomb wrappedthe 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? Othoforbid! Dak-lot cast a side glance at Tarzan--a glance that he intendedshould carry the assurance of his own faith; but that succeeded only inimpressing the ape-man with the other's pitiable terror. 

"O Ko-tan!" pleaded Dak-lot, "your own eyes must convince you thatindeed he is the son of Otho. Behold his godlike figure, his hands, andhis feet, that are not as ours, and that he is entirely tailless as ishis mighty father. "

Ko-tan appeared to be perceiving these facts for the first time andthere was an indication that his skepticism was faltering. At thatmoment a young warrior who had pushed his way forward from the oppositeside of the pyramid to where he could obtain a good look at Tarzanraised his voice. 

"Ko-tan, " he cried, "it must be even as Dak-lot says, for I am sure nowthat I have seen Dor-ul-Otho before. Yesterday as we were returningwith the Kor-ul-lul prisoners we beheld him seated upon the back of agreat gryf. We hid in the woods before he came too near, but I sawenough to make sure that he who rode upon the great beast was noneother than the messenger who stands here now. "

This evidence seemed to be quite enough to convince the majority of thewarriors that they indeed stood in the presence of deity--their facesshowed it only too plainly, and a sudden modesty that caused them toshrink behind their neighbors. As their neighbors were attempting to dothe same thing, the result was a sudden melting away of those who stoodnearest the ape-man, until the steps of the pyramid directly before himlay vacant to the very apex and to Ko-tan. The latter, possiblyinfluenced as much by the fearful attitude of his followers as by theevidence adduced, now altered his tone and his manner in such a degreeas might comport with the requirements if the stranger was indeed theDor-ul-Otho while leaving his dignity a loophole of escape should itappear that he had entertained an impostor. 

"If indeed you are the Dor-ul-Otho, " he said, addressing Tarzan, "youwill know that our doubts were but natural since we have received nosign from Jad-ben-Otho that he intended honoring us so greatly, nor howcould we know, even, that the Great God had a son? If you are he, allPal-ul-don rejoices to honor you; if you are not he, swift and terribleshall be the punishment of your temerity. I, Ko-tan, King ofPal-ul-don, have spoken. "

"And spoken well, as a king should speak, " said Tarzan, breaking hislong silence, "who fears and honors the god of his people. It is wellthat you insist that I indeed be the Dor-ul-Otho before you accord methe homage that is my due. Jad-ben-Otho charged me specially toascertain if you were fit to rule his people. My first experience ofyou indicates that Jad-ben-Otho chose well when he breathed the spiritof a king into the babe at your mother's breast. "

The effect of this statement, made so casually, was marked in theexpressions and excited whispers of the now awe-struck assemblage. Atlast they knew how kings were made! It was decided by Jad-ben-Othowhile the candidate was still a suckling babe! Wonderful! A miracle!and this divine creature in whose presence they stood knew all aboutit. Doubtless he even discussed such matters with their god daily. Ifthere had been an atheist among them before, or an agnostic, there wasnone now, for had they not looked with their own eyes upon the son ofgod?

"It is well then, " continued the ape-man, "that you should assureyourself that I am no impostor. Come closer that you may see that I amnot as are men. Furthermore it is not meet that you stand upon a higherlevel than the son of your god. " There was a sudden scramble to reachthe floor of the throne-room, nor was Ko-tan far behind his warriors, though he managed to maintain a certain majestic dignity as hedescended the broad stairs that countless naked feet had polished to agleaming smoothness through the ages. "And now, " said Tarzan as theking stood before him, "you can have no doubt that I am not of the samerace as you. Your priests have told you that Jad-ben-Otho is tailless. Tailless, therefore, must be the race of gods that spring from hisloins. But enough of such proofs as these! You know the power ofJad-ben-Otho; how his lightnings gleaming out of the sky carry death ashe wills it; how the rains come at his bidding, and the fruits and theberries and the grains, the grasses, the trees and the flowers springto life at his divine direction; you have witnessed birth and death, and those who honor their god honor him because he controls thesethings. How would it fare then with an impostor who claimed to be theson of this all-powerful god? This then is all the proof that yourequire, for as he would strike you down should you deny me, so wouldhe 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 thetacit admission of lack of faith in the omnipotence of Jad-ben-Otho. Ko-tan was satisfied that he was entertaining deity, but as to justwhat form his entertainment should take he was rather at a loss toknow. His conception of god had been rather a vague and hazy affair, though in common with all primitive people his god was a personal oneas were his devils and demons. The pleasures of Jad-ben-Otho he hadassumed to be the excesses which he himself enjoyed, but devoid of anyunpleasant reaction. It therefore occurred to him that the Dor-ul-Othowould be greatly entertained by eating--eating large quantities ofeverything 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 byallowing corn to soak in the juices of succulent fruits, to which theyhad added certain other ingredients best known to themselves. Ko-tanknew by experience that a single draught of this potent liquor wouldbring happiness and surcease from worry, while several would cause evena king to do things and enjoy things that he would never even think ofdoing or enjoying while not under the magical influence of the potion, but unfortunately the next morning brought suffering in direct ratio tothe joy of the preceding day. A god, Ko-tan reasoned, could experienceall the pleasure without the headache, but for the immediate present hemust think of the necessary dignities and honors to be accorded hisimmortal guest. 

No foot other than a king's had touched the surface of the apex of thepyramid in the throneroom at A-lur during all the forgotten agesthrough 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 himto the Dor-ul-Otho? And so he invited Tarzan to ascend the pyramid andtake his place upon the stone bench that topped it. As they reached thestep below the sacred pinnacle Ko-tan continued as though to mount tohis throne, but Tarzan laid a detaining hand upon his arm. 

"None may sit upon a level with the gods, " he admonished, steppingconfidently up and seating himself upon the throne. The abashed Ko-tanshowed his embarrassment, an embarrassment he feared to voice lest heincur the wrath of the king of kings. 

"But, " added Tarzan, "a god may honor his faithful servant by invitinghim to a place at his side. Come, Ko-tan; thus would I honor you in thename of Jad-ben-Otho. "

The ape-man's policy had for its basis an attempt not only to arousethe fearful respect of Ko-tan but to do it without making of him anenemy at heart, for he did not know how strong a hold the religion ofthe Ho-don had upon them, for since the time that he had preventedTa-den and Om-at from quarreling over a religious difference thesubject had been utterly taboo among them. He was therefore quick tonote the evident though wordless resentment of Ko-tan at the suggestionthat he entirely relinquish his throne to his guest. On the whole, however, the effect had been satisfactory as he could see from therenewed evidence of awe upon the faces of the warriors. 

At Tarzan's direction the business of the court continued where it hadbeen interrupted by his advent. It consisted principally in thesettling of disputes between warriors. There was present one who stoodupon the step just below the throne and which Tarzan was to learn wasthe place reserved for the higher chiefs of the allied tribes whichmade up Ko-tan's kingdom. The one who attracted Tarzan's attention wasa stalwart warrior of powerful physique and massive, lion-likefeatures. He was addressing Ko-tan on a question that is as old asgovernment and that will continue in unabated importance until manceases to exist. It had to do with a boundary dispute with one of hisneighbors. 

The matter itself held little or no interest for Tarzan, but he wasimpressed by the appearance of the speaker and when Ko-tan addressedhim as Ja-don the ape-man's interest was permanently crystallized, forJa-don was the father of Ta-den. That the knowledge would benefit himin any way seemed rather a remote possibility since he could not revealto Ja-don his friendly relations with his son without admitting thefalsity of his claims to godship. 

When the affairs of the audience were concluded Ko-tan suggested thatthe son of Jad-ben-Otho might wish to visit the temple in which wereperformed the religious rites coincident to the worship of the GreatGod. And so the ape-man was conducted by the king himself, followed bythe warriors of his court, through the corridors of the palace towardthe northern end of the group of buildings within the royal enclosure. 

The temple itself was really a part of the palace and similar inarchitecture. There were several ceremonial places of varying sizes, the purposes of which Tarzan could only conjecture. Each had an altarin the west end and another in the east and were oval in shape, theirlongest diameter lying due east and west. Each was excavated from thesummit of a small hillock and all were without roofs. The westernaltars invariably were a single block of stone the top of which washollowed into an oblong basin. Those at the eastern ends were similarblocks of stone with flat tops and these latter, unlike those at theopposite ends of the ovals were invariably stained or painted a reddishbrown, nor did Tarzan need to examine them closely to be assured ofwhat his keen nostrils already had told him--that the brown stains weredried and drying human blood. 

Below these temple courts were corridors and apartments reaching farinto the bowels of the hills, dim, gloomy passages that Tarzan glimpsedas he was led from place to place on his tour of inspection of thetemple. A messenger had been dispatched by Ko-tan to announce thecoming visit of the son of Jad-ben-Otho with the result that they wereaccompanied through the temple by a considerable procession of priestswhose distinguishing mark of profession seemed to consist in grotesqueheaddresses; sometimes hideous faces carved from wood and entirelyconcealing the countenances of their wearers, or again, the head of awild beast cunningly fitted over the head of a man. The high priestalone 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 dangerto his ruse, for he saw at a glance that the man was antagonistictoward him and his pretensions, and he knew too that doubtless of allthe people of Pal-ul-don the high priest was most likely to harbor thetruest estimate of Jad-ben-Otho, and, therefore, would look withsuspicion on one who claimed to be the son of a fabulous god. 

No matter what suspicion lurked within his crafty mind, Lu-don, thehigh priest of A-lur, did not openly question Tarzan's right to thetitle of Dor-ul-Otho, and it may be that he was restrained by the samedoubts which had originally restrained Ko-tan and his warriors--thedoubt that is at the bottom of the minds of all blasphemers even andwhich is based upon the fear that after all there may be a god. So, forthe time being at least Lu-don played safe. Yet Tarzan knew as well asthough the man had spoken aloud his inmost thoughts that it was in theheart of the high priest to tear the veil from his imposture. 

At the entrance to the temple Ko-tan had relinquished the guidance ofthe guest to Lu-don and now the latter led Tarzan through thoseportions of the temple that he wished him to see. He showed him thegreat room where the votive offerings were kept, gifts from thebarbaric chiefs of Pal-ul-don and from their followers. These thingsranged in value from presents of dried fruits to massive vessels ofbeaten gold, so that in the great main storeroom and its connectingchambers and corridors was an accumulation of wealth that amazed eventhe eyes of the owner of the secret of the treasure vaults of Opar. 

Moving to and fro throughout the temple were sleek black Waz-donslaves, fruits of the Ho-don raids upon the villages of their lesscivilized neighbors. As they passed the barred entrance to a dimcorridor, Tarzan saw within a great company of pithecanthropi of allages and of both sexes, Ho-don as well as Waz-don, the majority of themsquatted upon the stone floor in attitudes of utter dejection whilesome paced back and forth, their features stamped with the despair ofutter hopelessness. 

"And who are these who lie here thus unhappily?" he asked of Lu-don. Itwas the first question that he had put to the high priest sinceentering the temple, and instantly he regretted that he had asked it, for Lu-don turned upon him a face upon which the expression ofsuspicion 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 otherquestions, " said the ape-man quietly, "and it may interest Lu-don, thehigh priest, to know that the blood of a false priest upon the altar ofhis temple is not displeasing in the eyes of Jad-ben-Otho. "

Lu-don paled as he answered Tarzan's question. "They are the offeringswhose blood must refresh the eastern altars as the sun returns to yourfather at the day's end. "

"And who told you, " asked Tarzan, "that Jad-ben-Otho was pleased thathis 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 listeningattentively to the dialogue. Some of the poor victims behind the barredgateway had heard and rising, pressed close to the barrier throughwhich one was conducted just before sunset each day, never to return. 

"Liberate them!" cried Tarzan with a wave of his hand toward theimprisoned victims of a cruel superstition, "for I can tell you in thename of Jad-ben-Otho that you are mistaken. "

10

The Forbidden Garden

Lu-don paled. "It is sacrilege, " he cried; "for countless ages have thepriests of the Great God offered each night a life to the spirit ofJad-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 thathas failed to read the messages of their god. Your warriors die beneaththe knives and clubs of the Wazdon; your hunters are taken by ja andjato; no day goes by but witnesses the deaths of few or many in thevillages of the Ho-don, and one death each day of those that die arethe toll which Jad-ben-Otho has exacted for the lives you take upon theeastern 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 betweenhis fear that this indeed might be the son of god and his hope that itwas not, but at last his fear won and he bowed his head. "The son ofJad-ben-Otho has spoken, " he said, and turning to one of the lesserpriests: "Remove the bars and return these people from whence theycame. "

He thus addressed did as he was bid and as the bars came down theprisoners, now all fully aware of the miracle that had saved them, crowded forward and throwing themselves upon their knees before Tarzanraised their voices in thanksgiving. 

Ko-tan was almost as staggered as the high priest by this ruthlessoverturning of an age-old religious rite. "But what, " he cried, "may wedo that will be pleasing in the eyes of Jad-ben-Otho?" turning a lookof puzzled apprehension toward the ape-man. 

"If you seek to please your god, " he replied, "place upon your altarssuch gifts of food and apparel as are most welcome in the city of yourpeople. These things will Jad-ben-Otho bless, when you may distributethem among those of the city who need them most. With such things areyour storerooms filled as I have seen with mine own eyes, and othergifts will be brought when the priests tell the people that in this waythey find favor before their god, " and Tarzan turned and signified thathe would leave the temple. 

As they were leaving the precincts devoted to the worship of theirdeity, the ape-man noticed a small but rather ornate building thatstood entirely detached from the others as though it had been cut froma little pinnacle of limestone which had stood out from its fellows. Ashis interested glance passed over it he noticed that its door andwindows were barred. 

"To what purpose is that building dedicated?" he asked of Lu-don. "Whodo you keep imprisoned there?"

"It is nothing, " replied the high priest nervously, "there is no onethere. The place is vacant. Once it was used but not now for manyyears, " and he moved on toward the gateway which led back into thepalace. Here he and the priests halted while Tarzan with Ko-tan and hiswarriors passed out from the sacred precincts of the temple grounds. 

The one question which Tarzan would have asked he had feared to ask forhe knew that in the hearts of many lay a suspicion as to hisgenuineness, but he determined that before he slept he would put thequestion to Ko-tan, either directly or indirectly--as to whether therewas, or had been recently within the city of A-lur a female of the samerace as his. 

As their evening meal was being served to them in the banquet hall ofKo-tan's palace by a part of the army of black slaves upon whoseshoulders fell the burden of all the heavy and menial tasks of thecity, Tarzan noticed that there came to the eyes of one of the slaveswhat was apparently an expression of startled recognition, as he lookedupon the ape-man for the first time in the banquet hall of Ko-tan. Andagain later he saw the fellow whisper to another slave and nod his headin his direction. The ape-man did not recall ever having seen thisWaz-don before and he was at a loss to account for an explanation ofthe fellow's interest in him, and presently the incident was all butforgotten. 

Ko-tan was surprised and inwardly disgusted to discover that his godlyguest had no desire to gorge himself upon rich foods and that he wouldnot even so much as taste the villainous brew of the Ho-don. To Tarzanthe banquet was a dismal and tiresome affair, since so great was theinterest of the guests in gorging themselves with food and drink thatthey had no time for conversation, the only vocal sounds being confinedto a continuous grunting which, together with their table mannersreminded Tarzan of a visit he had once made to the famous Berkshireherd of His Grace, the Duke of Westminster at Woodhouse, Chester. 

One by one the diners succumbed to the stupefying effects of the liquorwith the result that the grunting gave place to snores, so presentlyTarzan and the slaves were the only conscious creatures in the banquethall. 

Rising, the ape-man turned to a tall black who stood behind him. "Iwould sleep, " he said, "show me to my apartment. "

As the fellow conducted him from the chamber the slave who had shownsurprise earlier in the evening at sight of him, spoke again at lengthto one of his fellows. The latter cast a half-frightened look in thedirection of the departing ape-man. "If you are right, " he said, "theyshould reward us with our liberty, but if you are wrong, OJad-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 lookedsour when this Dor-ul-Otho was brought to the temple and that while theso-called son of Jad-ben-Otho was there he gave this one every cause tofear 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 promiseof 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 hourwas late Lu-don saw him, and when he had heard his story he promisedhim and his friend not only their freedom but many gifts if they couldprove the correctness of their claims. 

And as the slave talked with the high priest in the temple at A-lur thefigure of a man groped its way around the shoulder of Pastar-ul-ved andthe moonlight glistened from the shiny barrel of an Enfield that wasstrapped to the naked back, and brass cartridges shed tiny rays ofreflected light from their polished cases where they hung in thebandoliers across the broad brown shoulders and the lean waist. 

Tarzan's guide conducted him to a chamber overlooking the blue lakewhere he found a bed similar to that which he had seen in the villagesof the Waz-don, merely a raised dais of stone upon which was piledgreat quantities of furry pelts. And so he lay down to sleep, thequestion that he most wished to put still unasked and unanswered. 

With the coming of a new day he was awake and wandering about thepalace and the palace grounds before there was sign of any of theinmates of the palace other than slaves, or at least he saw no othersat first, though presently he stumbled upon an enclosure which layalmost within the center of the palace grounds surrounded by a wallthat piqued the ape-man's curiosity, since he had determined toinvestigate as fully as possible every part of the palace and itsenvirons. 

This place, whatever it might be, was apparently without doors orwindows but that it was at least partially roofless was evidenced bythe sight of the waving branches of a tree which spread above the topof the wall near him. Finding no other method of access, the ape-manuncoiled his rope and throwing it over the branch of the tree where itprojected beyond the wall, was soon climbing with the ease of a monkeyto the summit. 

There he found that the wall surrounded an enclosed garden in whichgrew trees and shrubs and flowers in riotous profusion. Withoutwaiting to ascertain whether the garden was empty or contained Ho-don, Waz-don, or wild beasts, Tarzan dropped lightly to the sward on theinside and without further loss of time commenced a systematicinvestigation of the enclosure. 

His curiosity was aroused by the very evident fact that the place wasnot for general use, even by those who had free access to other partsof the palace grounds and so there was added to its natural beauties anabsence of mortals which rendered its exploration all the more alluringto Tarzan since it suggested that in such a place might he hope to comeupon 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 thecunning hand of some master gardener, so faithfully did it carry outthe beauties and contours of nature upon a miniature scale. 

The interior surface of the wall was fashioned to represent the whitecliffs of Pal-ul-don, broken occasionally by small replicas of theverdure-filled gorges of the original. 

Filled with admiration and thoroughly enjoying each new surprise whichthe scene offered, Tarzan moved slowly around the garden, and as alwayshe moved silently. Passing through a miniature forest he came presentlyupon a tiny area of flowerstudded sward and at the same time beheldbefore him the first Ho-don female he had seen since entering thepalace. A young and beautiful woman stood in the center of the littleopen space, stroking the head of a bird which she held against hergolden breastplate with one hand. Her profile was presented to theape-man and he saw that by the standards of any land she would havebeen accounted more than lovely. 

Seated in the grass at her feet, with her back toward him, was a femaleWaz-don slave. Seeing that she he sought was not there and apprehensivethat an alarm be raised were he discovered by the two women, Tarzanmoved back to hide himself in the foliage, but before he had succeededthe Ho-don girl turned quickly toward him as though apprised of hispresence by that unnamed sense, the manifestations of which are more orless familiar to us all. 

At sight of him her eyes registered only her surprise though there wasno expression of terror reflected in them, nor did she scream or evenraise 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, risingto her feet. "Tarzan-jad-guru!" she exclaimed in tones of mingledastonishment and relief. 

"You know him?" cried her mistress turning toward the slave andaffording Tarzan an opportunity to raise a cautioning finger to hislips lest Pan-at-lee further betray him, for it was Pan-at-lee indeedwho stood before him, no less a source of surprise to him than had hispresence been to her. 

Thus questioned by her mistress and simultaneously admonished tosilence by Tarzan, Pan-at-lee was momentarily silenced and thenhaltingly she groped for a way to extricate herself from her dilemma. "I thought--" she faltered, "but no, I am mistaken--I thought that hewas 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 ofdoubt and questioning in her eyes. "But you have not answered me, " shecontinued presently; "who are you?"

"You have not heard then, " asked Tarzan, "of the visitor who arrived atyour king's court yesterday?"

"You mean, " she exclaimed, "that you are the Dor-ul-Otho?" And now theerstwhile 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 ratherthan priesthood. Tarzan had approached more closely the daintybarbarian princess. "Daughter of Ko-tan, " he said, "Jad-ben-Otho ispleased with you and as a mark of his favor he has preserved for youthrough many dangers him whom you love. "

"I do not understand, " replied the girl but the flush that mounted toher 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-latthat 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 thendispleased the Great God?" she asked. 

"No, " replied Tarzan; "as I told you he is well satisfied and for yoursake he has saved Ta-den for you. "

"Jad-ben-Otho knows all, " whispered the girl, "and his son shares hisgreat knowledge. "

"No, " Tarzan hastened to correct her lest a reputation for omnisciencemight prove embarrassing. "I know only what Jad-ben-Otho wishes me toknow. "

"But tell me, " she said, "I shall be reunited with Ta-den? Surely theson of god can read the future. "

The ape-man was glad that he had left himself an avenue of escape. "Iknow nothing of the future, " he replied, "other than what Jad-ben-Othotells me. But I think you need have no fear for the future if youremain 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 ofKor-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 notspeak. I am receiving a message from Jad-ben-Otho, my father. "

The two women dropped to their knees, covering their faces with theirhands, stricken with awe at the thought of the awful nearness of theGreat God. Presently Tarzan touched O-lo-a on the shoulder. 

"Rise, " he said. "Jad-ben-Otho has spoken. He has told me that thisslave girl is from the tribe of Kor-ul-ja, where Ta-den is, and thatshe 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, hersimple mind unable to determine whether or not she and her mistresswere the victims of a colossal hoax. "It is even as he says, " shewhispered. 

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, " shecried. "Carry to him my poor thanks for the happiness that he hasbrought to O-lo-a. "

"It would please my father, " said Tarzan, "if you were to causePan-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 traceof hauteur in her tone. 

"There is but one god, " replied Tarzan, "and he is the god of theWaz-don as well as of the Ho-don; of the birds and the beasts and theflowers and of everything that grows upon the earth or beneath thewaters. If Pan-at-lee does right she is greater in the eyes ofJad-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 interpretationof divine favor, so contrary was it to the teachings of the priesthoodof her people. In one respect only did Tarzan's teachings coincide withher belief--that there was but one god. For the rest she had alwaysbeen 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 servesome useful purpose for the benefit of the Ho-don race. And now to betold by the son of god that she stood no higher in divine esteem thanthe black handmaiden at her side was indeed a shock to her pride, hervanity, 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 communionwith god in heaven?

"The will of Jad-ben-Otho be done, " said O-lo-a meekly, "if it lieswithin my power. But it would be best, O Dor-ul-Otho, to communicateyour father's wish directly to the king. "

"Then keep her with you, " said Tarzan, "and see that no harm befallsher. "

O-lo-a looked ruefully at Pan-at-lee. "She was brought to me butyesterday, " she said, "and never have I had slave woman who pleased mebetter. 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 onePan-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 ofthe 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 apoor ignorant mortal like O-lo-a?"

"As I told you before, " replied Tarzan, "Jad-ben-Otho alone isall-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 astutenessshould beat him at his own game, yet in a measure her evasion of thequestion might be an answer to it. "There have been other strangershere then recently?" he persisted. 

"I cannot tell you what I do not know, " she replied. "Always is thepalace of Ko-tan filled with rumors, but how much fact and how muchfancy 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 thequestion and awaited her answer he thought that his heart ceased tobeat, so grave to him was the issue at stake. 

The girl hesitated before replying, and then. "No, " she said, "I cannotspeak of this thing, for if it be of sufficient importance to elicitthe interest of the gods then indeed would I be subject to the wrath ofmy father should I discuss it. "

"In the name of Jad-ben-Otho I command you to speak, " said Tarzan. "Inthe 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 Iwill tell you all that I know. "

"Tell what?" demanded a stern voice from the shrubbery behind them. Thethree turned to see the figure of Ko-tan emerging from the foliage. Anangry scowl distorted his kingly features but at sight of Tarzan itgave place to an expression of surprise not unmixed with fear. "Dor-ul-Otho!" he exclaimed, "I did not know that it was you, " andthen, raising his head and squaring his shoulders he said, "but thereare 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 noteof apology in it, indicating that in his superstitious mind thereflourished 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 butwhatever you would know Ko-tan, the king, will tell you. O-lo-a, go toyour quarters immediately, " and he pointed with stern finger toward theopposite 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 anotherdirection. Close to that part of the wall which they approached Tarzanperceived a grotto in the miniature cliff into the interior of whichKo-tan led him, and down a rocky stairway to a gloomy corridor theopposite end of which opened into the palace proper. Two armed warriorsstood at this entrance to the Forbidden Garden, evidencing howjealously were the sacred precincts of the place guarded. 

In silence Ko-tan led the way back to his own quarters in the palace. Alarge chamber just outside the room toward which Ko-tan was leading hisguest was filled with chiefs and warriors awaiting the pleasure oftheir ruler. As the two entered, an aisle was formed for them thelength of the chamber, down which they passed in silence. 

Close to the farther door and half hidden by the warriors who stoodbefore him was Lu-don, the high priest. Tarzan glimpsed him but brieflybut in that short period he was aware of a cunning and malevolentexpression upon the cruel countenance that he was subconsciously awareboded him no good, and then with Ko-tan he passed into the adjoiningroom and the hangings dropped. 

At the same moment the hideous headdress of an under priest appeared inthe entrance of the outer chamber. Its owner, pausing for a moment, glanced quickly around the interior and then having located him whom hesought moved rapidly in the direction of Lu-don. There was a whisperedconversation which was terminated by the high priest. 

"Return immediately to the quarters of the princess, " he said, "and seethat the slave is sent to me at the temple at once. " The under priestturned and departed upon his mission while Lu-don also left theapartment and directed his footsteps toward the sacred enclosure overwhich 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, inthe temple, " he announced, "and it is his wish that he come alone. "

Ko-tan nodded to indicate that he accepted the command which even theking must obey. "I will return presently, Dor-ul-Otho, " he said toTarzan, "and in the meantime my warriors and my slaves are yours tocommand. "

11

The Sentence of Death

But it was an hour before the king re-entered the apartment and in themeantime the ape-man had occupied himself in examining the carvingsupon the walls and the numerous specimens of the handicraft ofPal-ul-donian artisans which combined to impart an atmosphere ofrichness and luxury to the apartment. 

The limestone of the country, close-grained and of marble whiteness yetworked with comparative ease with crude implements, had been wrought bycunning craftsmen into bowls and urns and vases of considerable graceand beauty. Into the carved designs of many of these virgin gold hadbeen hammered, presenting the effect of a rich and magnificentcloisonne. A barbarian himself the art of barbarians had alwaysappealed to the ape-man to whom they represented a natural expressionof man's love of the beautiful to even a greater extent than thestudied and artificial efforts of civilization. Here was the real artof old masters, the other the cheap imitation of the chromo. 

It was while he was thus pleasurably engaged that Ko-tan returned. AsTarzan, attracted by the movement of the hangings through which theking entered, turned and faced him he was almost shocked by theremarkable alteration of the king's appearance. His face was livid; hishands trembled as with palsy, and his eyes were wide as with fright. His appearance was one apparently of a combination of consuming angerand 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 intothe apartment so great a number of warriors that they choked theentrance-way. The king looked apprehensively to right and left. He castterrified glances at the ape-man and then raising his face and turninghis eyes upward he cried: "Jad-ben-Otho be my witness that I do notthis thing of my own accord. " There was a moment's silence which wasagain broken by Ko-tan. "Seize him, " he cried to the warriors abouthim, "for Lu-don, the high priest, swears that he is an impostor. "

To have offered armed resistance to this great concourse of warriors inthe very heart of the palace of their king would have been worse thanfatal. Already Tarzan had come far by his wits and now that within afew hours he had had his hopes and his suspicions partially verified bythe vague admissions of O-lo-a he was impressed with the necessity ofinviting no mortal risk that he could avoid. 

"Stop!" he cried, raising his palm against them. "What is the meaningof 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 toface your accusers. If you are what you claim to be none knows betterthan you that you need have no fear in acquiescing to his demands, butremember always that in such matters the high priest commands the kingand that I am only the bearer of these commands, not their author. "

Tarzan saw that Ko-tan was not entirely convinced of his duplicity aswas evidenced by his palpable design to play safe. 

"Let not your warriors seize me, " he said to Ko-tan, "lestJad-ben-Otho, mistaking their intention, strike them dead. " The effectof his words was immediate upon the men in the front rank of those whofaced him, each seeming suddenly to acquire a new modesty thatcompelled him to self-effacement behind those directly in his rear--amodesty that became rapidly contagious. 

The ape-man smiled. "Fear not, " he said, "I will go willingly to theaudience chamber to face the blasphemers who accuse me. "

Arrived at the great throneroom a new complication arose. Ko-tan wouldnot acknowledge the right of Lu-don to occupy the apex of the pyramidand Lu-don would not consent to occupying an inferior position whileTarzan, to remain consistent with his high claims, insisted that no oneshould stand above him, but only to the ape-man was the humor of thesituation apparent. 

To relieve the situation Ja-don suggested that all three of them occupythe throne, but this suggestion was repudiated by Ko-tan who arguedthat no mortal other than a king of Pal-ul-don had ever sat upon thehigh 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 werebetter to dispense then with any formalities and ask Lu-don to sentenceme. " His tone was ironical and his sneering face, looking straight intothat of the high priest, but caused the latter's hatred to rise tostill greater proportions. 

It was evident that Ko-tan and his warriors saw the justice of Tarzan'simplied objection to this unfair method of dispensing justice. "OnlyKo-tan can judge in the throneroom of his palace, " said Ja-don, "lethim hear Lu-don's charges and the testimony of his witnesses, and thenlet Ko-tan's judgment be final. "

Ko-tan, however, was not particularly enthusiastic over the prospect ofsitting in trial upon one who might after all very possibly be the sonof his god, and so he temporized, seeking for an avenue of escape. "Itis purely a religious matter, " he said, "and it is traditional that thekings 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 allresponsibility in the matter. This suggestion was more thansatisfactory to the high priest who inwardly condemned himself for nothaving thought of it before. 

"It is true, " he said, "this man's sin is against the temple. Let himbe dragged thither then for trial. "

"The son of Jad-ben-Otho will be dragged nowhere, " cried Tarzan. "Butwhen this trial is over it is possible that the corpse of Lu-don, thehigh priest, will be dragged from the temple of the god he woulddesecrate. Think well, then, Lu-don before you commit this folly. "

His words, intended to frighten the high priest from his positionfailed utterly in consummating their purpose. Lu-don showed no terrorat the suggestion the ape-man's words implied. 

"Here is one, " thought Tarzan, "who, knowing more of his religion thanany of his fellows, realizes fully the falsity of my claims as he doesthe falsity of the faith he preaches. "

He realized, however, that his only hope lay in seeming indifference tothe charges. Ko-tan and the warriors were still under the spell oftheir belief in him and upon this fact must he depend in the final actof the drama that Lu-don was staging for his rescue from the jealouspriest whom he knew had already passed sentence upon him in his ownheart. 

With a shrug he descended the steps of the pyramid. "It matters not toDor-ul-Otho, " he said, "where Lu-don enrages his god, for Jad-ben-Othocan reach as easily into the chambers of the temple as into thethroneroom of Ko-tan. "

Immeasurably relieved by this easy solution of their problem the kingand the warriors thronged from the throneroom toward the templegrounds, their faith in Tarzan increased by his apparent indifferenceto the charges against him. Lu-don led them to the largest of the altarcourts. 

Taking his place behind the western altar he motioned Ko-tan to a placeupon the platform at the left hand of the altar and directed Tarzan toa similar place at the right. 

As Tarzan ascended the platform his eyes narrowed angrily at the sightwhich met them. The basin hollowed in the top of the altar was filledwith water in which floated the naked corpse of a new-born babe. "Whatmeans this?" he cried angrily, turning upon Lu-don. 

The latter smiled malevolently. "That you do not know, " he replied, "isbut added evidence of the falsity of your claim. He who poses as theson of god did not know that as the last rays of the setting sun floodthe eastern altar of the temple the lifeblood of an adult reddens thewhite stone for the edification of Jad-ben-Otho, and that when the sunrises again from the body of its maker it looks first upon this westernaltar and rejoices in the death of a new-born babe each day, the ghostof which accompanies it across the heavens by day as the ghost of theadult returns with it to Jad-ben-Otho at night. 

"Even the little children of the Ho-don know these things, while he whoclaims to be the son of Jad-ben-Otho knows them not; and if this proofbe not enough, there is more. Come, Waz-don, " he cried, pointing to atall slave who stood with a group of other blacks and priests on thetemple floor at the left of the altar. 

The fellow came forward fearfully. "Tell us what you know of thiscreature, " cried Lu-don, pointing to Tarzan. 

"I have seen him before, " said the Waz-don. "I am of the tribe ofKor-ul-lul, and one day recently a party of which I was one encountereda few of the warriors of the Kor-ul-ja upon the ridge which separatesour villages. Among the enemy was this strange creature whom theycalled Tarzan-jad-guru; and terrible indeed was he for he fought withthe strength of many men so that it required twenty of us to subduehim. But he did not fight as a god fights, and when a club struck himupon the head he sank unconscious as might an ordinary mortal. 

"We carried him with us to our village as a prisoner but he escapedafter cutting off the head of the warrior we left to guard him andcarrying it down into the gorge and tying it to the branch of a treeupon the opposite side. "

"The word of a slave against that of a god!" cried Ja-don, who hadshown 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 willhave greater weight with the great chief from the north, though thefather of a son who fled the holy offer of the priesthood may notreceive with willing ears any testimony against another blasphemer. "

Ja-don's hand leaped to his knife, but the warriors next him laiddetaining fingers upon his arms. "You are in the temple ofJad-ben-Otho, Ja-don, " they cautioned and the great chief was forced toswallow Lu-don's affront though it left in his heart bitter hatred ofthe high priest. 

And now Ko-tan turned toward Lu-don. "What knoweth my daughter of thismatter?" he asked. "You would not bring a princess of my house totestify thus publicly?"

"No, " replied Lu-don, "not in person, but I have here one who willtestify for her. " He beckoned to an under priest. "Fetch the slave ofthe princess, " he said. 

His grotesque headdress adding a touch of the hideous to the scene, thepriest stepped forward dragging the reluctant Pan-at-lee by the wrist. 

"The Princess O-lo-a was alone in the Forbidden Garden with but thisone slave, " explained the priest, "when there suddenly appeared fromthe foliage nearby this creature who claims to be the Dor-ul-Otho. Whenthe slave saw him the princess says that she cried aloud in startledrecognition and called the creature by name--Tarzan-jad-guru--the samename that the slave from Kor-ul-lul gave him. This woman is not fromKor-ul-lul but from Kor-ul-ja, the very tribe with which the Kor-ul-lulsays the creature was associating when he first saw him. And furtherthe princess said that when this woman, whose name is Pan-at-lee, wasbrought to her yesterday she told a strange story of having beenrescued 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 werepursued in the bottom of the gorge by two monster gryfs, and of how theman led them away while Pan-at-lee escaped, only to be taken prisonerin 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. Didhe tell you that he was the son of god?" he almost shouted, turningsuddenly upon Pan-at-lee. 

The girl shrank back terrified. "Answer me, slave!" cried the highpriest. 

"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 offorgiveness at Tarzan who returned a smile of encouragement andfriendship. 

"That is no proof that he is not the son of god, " cried Ja-don. "Dostthink Jad-ben-Otho goes about crying 'I am god! I am god!' Hast everheard him Lu-don? No, you have not. Why should his son do that whichthe father does not do?"

"Enough, " cried Lu-don. "The evidence is clear. The creature is animpostor 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 whichLu-don evidently paused for the dramatic effect of his climax. "And ifI am wrong may Jad-ben-Otho pierce my heart with his lightnings as Istand here before you all. "

The lapping of the wavelets of the lake against the foot of the palacewall was distinctly audible in the utter and almost breathless silencewhich ensued. Lu-don stood with his face turned toward the heavens andhis arms outstretched in the attitude of one who bares his breast tothe dagger of an executioner. The warriors and the priests and theslaves gathered in the sacred court awaited the consuming vengeance oftheir god. 

It was Tarzan who broke the silence. "Your god ignores you Lu-don, " hetaunted, with a sneer that he meant to still further anger the highpriest, "he ignores you and I can prove it before the eyes of yourpriests and your people. "

"Prove it, blasphemer! How can you prove it?"

"You have called me a blasphemer, " replied Tarzan, "you have proved toyour own satisfaction that I am an impostor, that I, an ordinarymortal, have posed as the son of god. Demand then that Jad-ben-Othouphold his godship and the dignity of his priesthood by directing hisconsuming fires through my own bosom. "

Again there ensued a brief silence while the onlookers waited forLu-don to thus consummate the destruction of this presumptuous impostor. 

"You dare not, " taunted Tarzan, "for you know that I would be struckdead no quicker than were you. "

"You lie, " cried Lu-don, "and I would do it had I not but just receiveda 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. Secretlythey hated and feared Lu-don, but so ingrained was their sense ofreverence for the office of the high priest that none dared raise avoice against him. 

None? Well, there was Ja-don, fearless old Lion-man of the north. "Theproposition was a fair one, " he cried. "Invoke the lightnings ofJad-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 highpriest? Seize the prisoner, " he cried to the priests and warriors, "andon 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 toobey the high priest's command, but the lesser priests on the otherhand, imbued with the courage of fanaticism leaped eagerly forward likea flock of hideous harpies to seize upon their prey. 

The game was up. That Tarzan knew. No longer could cunning anddiplomacy usurp the functions of the weapons of defense he best loved. And so the first hideous priest who leaped to the platform wasconfronted by no suave ambassador from heaven, but rather a grim andferocious beast whose temper savored more of hell. 

The altar stood close to the western wall of the enclosure. There wasjust room between the two for the high priest to stand during theperformance of the sacrificial ceremonies and only Lu-don stood therenow behind Tarzan, while before him were perhaps two hundred warriorsand priests. 

The presumptuous one who would have had the glory of first layingarresting hands upon the blasphemous impersonator rushed forward withoutstretched hand to seize the ape-man. Instead it was he who wasseized; seized by steel fingers that snapped him up as though he hadbeen a dummy of straw, grasped him by one leg and the harness at hisback and raised him with giant arms high above the altar. Close at hisheels were others ready to seize the ape-man and drag him down, andbeyond 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 tofritter away precious moments in the uncertainty of belated decision. Before Lu-don or any other could guess what was in the mind of thecondemned, Tarzan with all the force of his great muscles dashed thescreaming hierophant in the face of the high priest, and, as though thetwo actions were one, so quickly did he move, he had leaped to the topof the altar and from there to a handhold upon the summit of the templewall. As he gained a footing there he turned and looked down upon thosebeneath. For a moment he stood in silence and then he spoke. 

"Who dare believe, " he cried, "that Jad-ben-Otho would forsake hisson?" and then he dropped from their sight upon the other side. 

There were two at least left within the enclosure whose hearts leapedwith involuntary elation at the success of the ape-man's maneuver, andone 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-donhad been dashed out against the temple wall while the high priesthimself had escaped with only a few bruises, sustained in his fall tothe hard pavement. Quickly scrambling to his feet he looked around infear, in terror and finally in bewilderment, for he had not been awitness to the ape-man's escape. "Seize him, " he cried; "seize theblasphemer, " and he continued to look around in search of his victimwith such a ridiculous expression of bewilderment that more than asingle warrior was compelled to hide his smiles beneath his palm. 

The priests were rushing around wildly, exhorting the warriors topursue the fugitive but these awaited now stolidly the command of theirking or high priest. Ko-tan, more or less secretly pleased by thediscomfiture of Lu-don, waited for that worthy to give the necessarydirections which he presently did when one of his acolytes excitedlyexplained to him the manner of Tarzan's escape. 

Instantly the necessary orders were issued and priests and warriorssought the temple exit in pursuit of the ape-man. His departing words, hurled at them from the summit of the temple wall, had had littleeffect in impressing the majority that his claims had not beendisproven by Lu-don, but in the hearts of the warriors was admirationfor a brave man and in many the same unholy gratification that hadrisen 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 thepriesthood, were examined by these while the warriors scattered throughthe palace and the palace grounds without the temple. Swift runnerswere dispatched to the city to arouse the people there that all mightbe upon the lookout for Tarzan the Terrible. The story of his impostureand of his escape, and the tales that the Waz-don slaves had broughtinto the city concerning him were soon spread throughout A-lur, nor didthey lose aught in the spreading, so that before an hour had passed thewomen and children were hiding behind barred doorways while thewarriors crept apprehensively through the streets expecting momentarilyto be pounced upon by a ferocious demon who, bare-handed, didvictorious battle with huge gryfs and whose lightest pastime consistedin tearing strong men limb from limb. 

12

The Giant Stranger

And while the warriors and the priests of A-lur searched the temple andthe palace and the city for the vanished ape-man there entered the headof Kor-ul-ja down the precipitous trail from the mountains, a nakedstranger bearing an Enfield upon his back. Silently he moved downwardtoward the bottom of the gorge and there where the ancient trailunfolded more levelly before him he swung along with easy strides, though always with the utmost alertness against possible dangers. Agentle breeze came down from the mountains behind him so that only hisears and his eyes were of value in detecting the presence of dangerahead. Generally the trail followed along the banks of the windingbrooklet at the bottom of the gorge, but in some places where thewaters tumbled over a precipitous ledge the trail made a detour alongthe side of the gorge, and again it wound in and out among rockyoutcroppings, and presently where it rounded sharply the projectingshoulder of a cliff the stranger came suddenly face to face with onewho was ascending the gorge. 

Separated by a hundred paces the two halted simultaneously. Before himthe 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 cluband a short knife, the latter hanging in its sheath at his left hipfrom the end of one of his cross belts, the opposite belt supporting aleathern pouch at his right side. It was Ta-den hunting alone in thegorge of his friend, the chief of Kor-ul-ja. He contemplated thestranger with surprise but no wonder, since he recognized in him amember of the race with which his experience of Tarzan the Terrible hadmade 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 symbolof 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 afellow-tribesman of his lost friend, was more than glad to accept thisoverture of peace, the sign of which he returned in kind as he ascendedthe trail to where the other stood. "Who are you?" he asked, but thenewcomer 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 followinga trail that had led him over a period of many days from some placebeyond the mountains and Ta-den was convinced that the newcomer soughtTarzan-jad-guru. He wished, however, that he might discover whether asfriend or foe. 

The stranger perceived the Ho-don's prehensile thumbs and great toesand his long tail with an astonishment which he sought to conceal, butgreater than all was the sense of relief that the first inhabitant ofthis strange country whom he had met had proven friendly, so greatlywould he have been handicapped by the necessity for forcing his waythrough a hostile land. 

Ta-den, who had been hunting for some of the smaller mammals, the meatof which is especially relished by the Ho-don, forgot his intendedsport in the greater interest of his new discovery. He would take thestranger to Om-at and possibly together the two would find some way ofdiscovering the true intentions of the newcomer. And so again throughsigns he apprised the other that he would accompany him and togetherthey descended toward the cliffs of Om-at's people. 

As they approached these they came upon the women and children workingunder guard of the old men and the youths--gathering the wild fruitsand herbs which constitute a part of their diet, as well as tending thesmall acres of growing crops which they cultivate. The fields lay insmall level patches that had been cleared of trees and brush. Theirfarm implements consisted of metal-shod poles which bore a closerresemblance to spears than to tools of peaceful agriculture. Supplementing these were others with flattened blades that were neitherhoes nor spades, but instead possessed the appearance of an unhappyattempt to combine the two implements in one. 

At first sight of these people the stranger halted and unslung his bowfor these creatures were black as night, their bodies entirely coveredwith 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 thestranger discovered his guide understood though it was entirelyunintelligible to the former. They made no attempt to molest him and hewas 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 reachedthese Ta-den led the way aloft upon the wooden pegs, assured that thiscreature whom he had discovered would have no more difficulty infollowing him than had Tarzan the Terrible. Nor was he mistaken forthe other mounted with ease until presently the two stood within therecess 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 ineach instance the latter was more thoroughly impressed with thefriendly and peaceable spirit of his hosts, little guessing that he wasbeing entertained by a ferocious and warlike tribe who never before thecoming of Ta-den and Tarzan had suffered a stranger among them. 

At last Om-at returned and the guest sensed intuitively that he was inthe presence of a great man among these people, possibly a chief orking, for not only did the attitude of the other black warriorsindicate this but it was written also in the mien and bearing of thesplendid creature who stood looking at him while Ta-den explained thecircumstances of their meeting. "And I believe, Om-at, " concluded theHo-don, "that he seeks Tarzan the Terrible. "

At the sound of that name, the first intelligible word that had fallenupon the ears of the stranger since he had come among them, his facelightened. "Tarzan!" he cried, "Tarzan of the Apes!" and by signs hetried to tell them that it was he whom he sought. 

They understood, and also they guessed from the expression of his facethat he sought Tarzan from motives of affection rather than thereverse, but of this Om-at wished to make sure. He pointed to thestranger's knife, and repeating Tarzan's name, seized Ta-den andpretended to stab him, immediately turning questioningly toward thestranger. 

The latter shook his head vehemently and then first placing a handabove 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 Icould only speak your language. " And again reverting to sign languagehe sought to ascertain where Tarzan was. He would pronounce the nameand point in different directions, in the cave, down into the gorge, back toward the mountains, or out upon the valley below, and each timehe would raise his brows questioningly and voice the universal "eh?" ofinterrogation which they could not fail to understand. But always Om-atshook his head and spread his palms in a gesture which indicated thatwhile he understood the question he was ignorant as to the whereaboutsof the ape-man, and then the black chief attempted as best he might toexplain to the stranger what he knew of the whereabouts of Tarzan. 

He called the newcomer Jar-don, which in the language of Pal-ul-donmeans "stranger, " and he pointed to the sun and said _as_. This herepeated several times and then he held up one hand with the fingersoutspread and touching them one by one, including the thumb, repeatedthe word adenen until the stranger understood that he meant five. Againhe pointed to the sun and describing an arc with his forefingerstarting at the eastern horizon and terminating at the western, herepeated again the words as adenen. It was plain to the stranger thatthe words meant that the sun had crossed the heavens five times. Inother words, five days had passed. Om-at then pointed to the cave wherethey stood, pronouncing Tarzan's name and imitating a walking man withthe first and second fingers of his right hand upon the floor of therecess, sought to show that Tarzan had walked out of the cave andclimbed upward on the pegs five days before, but this was as far as thesign language would permit him to go. 

This far the stranger followed him and, indicating that he understoodhe pointed to himself and then indicating the pegs leading aboveannounced that he would follow Tarzan. 

"Let us go with him, " said Om-at, "for as yet we have not punished theKor-ul-lul for killing our friend and ally. "

"Persuade him to wait until morning, " said Ta-den, "that you may takewith you many warriors and make a great raid upon the Kor-ul-lul, andthis time, Om-at, do not kill your prisoners. Take as many as you canalive 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 yousay, and having made prisoners of all the Kor-ul-lul we shall make themtell us what we wish to know. And then we shall march them to the rimof Kor-ul-gryf and push them over the edge of the cliff. "

Ta-den smiled. He knew that they would not take prisoner all theKor-ul-lul warriors--that they would be fortunate if they took one andit was also possible that they might even be driven back in defeat, buthe knew too that Om-at would not hesitate to carry out his threat if hehad the opportunity, so implacable was the hatred of these neighborsfor each other. 

It was not difficult to explain Om-at's plan to the stranger or to winhis consent since he was aware, when the great black had made it plainthat they would be accompanied by many warriors, that their venturewould probably lead them into a hostile country and every safeguardthat he could employ he was glad to avail himself of, since thefurtherance of his quest was the paramount issue. 

He slept that night upon a pile of furs in one of the compartments ofOm-at's ancestral cave, and early the next day following the morningmeal they sallied forth, a hundred savage warriors swarming up the faceof the sheer cliff and out upon the summit of the ridge, the main bodypreceded by two warriors whose duties coincided with those of the pointof modern military maneuvers, safeguarding the column against thedanger of too sudden contact with the enemy. 

Across the ridge they went and down into the Kor-ul-lul and therealmost immediately they came upon a lone and unarmed Waz-don who wasmaking his way fearfully up the gorge toward the village of his tribe. Him they took prisoner which, strangely, only added to his terror sincefrom the moment that he had seen them and realized that escape wasimpossible, he had expected to be slain immediately. 

"Take him back to Kor-ul-ja, " said Om-at, to one of his warriors, "andhold him there unharmed until I return. "

And so the puzzled Kor-ul-lul was led away while the savage companymoved stealthily from tree to tree in its closer advance upon thevillage. Fortune smiled upon Om-at in that it gave him quickly what hesought--a battle royal, for they had not yet come in sight of the cavesof the Kor-ul-lul when they encountered a considerable band of warriorsheaded down the gorge upon some expedition. 

Like shadows the Kor-ul-ja melted into the concealment of the foliageupon either side of the trail. Ignorant of impending danger, safe inthe knowledge that they trod their own domain where each rock and stonewas as familiar as the features of their mates, the Kor-ul-lul walkedinnocently into the ambush. Suddenly the quiet of that seeming peacewas 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-jathroats with which were soon mingled the war cries of their enemies. The air was filled with flying clubs and then as the two forcesmingled, the battle resolved itself into a number of individualencounters as each warrior singled out a foe and closed upon him. Knives gleamed and flashed in the mottling sunlight that filteredthrough the foliage of the trees above. Sleek black coats werestreaked with crimson stains. 

In the thick of the fight the smooth brown skin of the stranger mingledwith the black bodies of friend and foe. Only his keen eyes and hisquick wit had shown him how to differentiate between Kor-ul-lul andKor-ul-ja since with the single exception of apparel they wereidentical, but at the first rush of the enemy he had noticed that theirloin cloths were not of the leopard-matted hides such as were worn byhis allies. 

Om-at, after dispatching his first antagonist, glanced at Jar-don. "Hefights with the ferocity of jato, " mused the chief. "Powerful indeedmust be the tribe from which he and Tarzan-jad-guru come, " and then hiswhole attention was occupied by a new assailant. 

The fighters surged to and fro through the forest until those whosurvived were spent with exhaustion. All but the stranger who seemednot to know the sense of fatigue. He fought on when each new antagonistwould have gladly quit, and when there were no more Kor-ul-lul who werenot engaged, he leaped upon those who stood pantingly facing theexhausted Kor-ul-ja. 

And always he carried upon his back the peculiar thing which Om-at hadthought was some manner of strange weapon but the purpose of which hecould not now account for in view of the fact that Jar-don never usedit, and that for the most part it seemed but a nuisance and needlessencumbrance since it banged and smashed against its owner as he leaped, catlike, hither and thither in the course of his victorious duels. Thebow and arrows he had tossed aside at the beginning of the fight butthe Enfield he would not discard, for where he went he meant that itshould go until its mission had been fulfilled. 

Presently the Kor-ul-ja, seemingly shamed by the example of Jar-donclosed once more with the enemy, but the latter, moved no doubt toterror by the presence of the stranger, a tireless demon who appearedinvulnerable to their attacks, lost heart and sought to flee. And thenit was that at Om-at's command his warriors surrounded a half-dozen ofthe most exhausted and made them prisoners. 

It was a tired, bloody, and elated company that returned victorious tothe Kor-ul-ja. Twenty of their number were carried back and six ofthese were dead men. It was the most glorious and successful raid thatthe Kor-ul-ja had made upon the Kor-ul-lul in the memory of man, and itmarked Om-at as the greatest of chiefs, but that fierce warrior knewthat advantage had lain upon his side largely because of the presenceof his strange ally. Nor did he hesitate to give credit where creditbelonged, with the result that Jar-don and his exploits were upon thetongue of every member of the tribe of Kor-ul-ja and great was the fameof 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 inbated breath of this second demon that had joined forces with theirancient enemy. 

Returned to his cave Om-at caused the Kor-ul-lul prisoners to bebrought into his presence singly, and each he questioned as to the fateof Tarzan. Without exception they told him the same story--that Tarzanhad been taken prisoner by them five days before but that he had slainthe warrior left to guard him and escaped, carrying the head of theunfortunate sentry to the opposite side of Kor-ul-lul where he had leftit suspended by its hair from the branch of a tree. But what had becomeof him after, they did not know; not one of them, until the lastprisoner was examined, he whom they had taken first--the unarmedKor-ul-lul making his way from the direction of the Valley ofJad-ben-Otho toward the caves of his people. 

This one, when he discovered the purpose of their questioning, barteredwith them for the lives and liberty of himself and his fellows. "I cantell you much of this terrible man of whom you ask, Kor-ul-ja, " hesaid. "I saw him yesterday and I know where he is, and if you willpromise to let me and my fellows return in safety to the caves of ourancestors 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 methis promise; so if I am to be killed the thing I know shall go withme. "

"He is right, Om-at, " said Ta-den, "promise him that they shall havetheir liberty. "

"Very well, " said Om-at. "Speak Kor-ul-lul, and when you have told meall, you and your fellows may return unharmed to your tribe. "

"It was thus, " commenced the prisoner. "Three days since I was huntingwith a party of my fellows near the mouth of Kor-ul-lul not far fromwhere you captured me this morning, when we were surprised and set uponby a large number of Ho-don who took us prisoners and carried us toA-lur where a few were chosen to be slaves and the rest were cast intoa chamber beneath the temple where are held for sacrifice the victimsthat are offered by the Ho-don to Jad-ben-Otho upon the sacrificialaltars of the temple at A-lur. 

"It seemed then that indeed was my fate sealed and that lucky werethose who had been selected for slaves among the Ho-don, for they atleast might hope to escape--those in the chamber with me must bewithout hope. 

"But yesterday a strange thing happened. There came to the temple, accompanied by all the priests and by the king and many of hiswarriors, one whom all did great reverence, and when he came to thebarred gateway leading to the chamber in which we wretched ones awaitedour fate, I saw to my surprise that it was none other than thatterrible man who had so recently been a prisoner in the village ofKor-ul-lul--he whom you call Tarzan-jad-guru but whom they addressed asDor-ul-Otho. And he looked upon us and questioned the high priest andwhen he was told of the purpose for which we were imprisoned there hegrew angry and cried that it was not the will of Jad-ben-Otho that hispeople be thus sacrificed, and he commanded the high priest to liberateus, and this was done. 

"The Ho-don prisoners were permitted to return to their homes and wewere led beyond the City of A-lur and set upon our way towardKor-ul-lul. There were three of us, but many are the dangers that liebetween 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 ofus 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 whomthey call Lu-don, the high priest at A-lur, was very angry, and thatone of the two priests who guided us out of the city said to the otherthat the stranger was not Dor-ul-Otho at all; that Lu-don had said soand that he had also said that he would expose him and that he shouldbe punished with death for his presumption. That is all they saidwithin 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 toguard them until they are safely within the Kor-ul-lul. 

"Jar-don, " he said beckoning to the stranger, "come with me, " andrising he led the way toward the summit of the cliff, and when theystood upon the ridge Om-at pointed down into the valley toward the Cityof 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 hismind no intention to escape from the City of A-lur until he hadsatisfied himself that his mate was not a prisoner there, but how, inthis strange city in which every man's hand must be now against him, hewas 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 eventemporary sanctuary and that was the Forbidden Garden of the king. There was thick shrubbery in which a man might hide, and water andfruits. A cunning jungle creature, if he could reach the spotunsuspected, might remain concealed there for a considerable time, buthow he was to traverse the distance between the temple grounds and thegarden unseen was a question the seriousness of which he fullyappreciated. 

"Mighty is Tarzan, " he soliloquized, "in his native jungle, but in thecities of man he is little better than they. "

Depending upon his keen observation and sense of location he felt safein assuming that he could reach the palace grounds by means of thesubterranean corridors and chambers of the temple through which he hadbeen conducted the day before, nor any slightest detail of which hadescaped his keen eyes. That would be better, he reasoned, than crossingthe open grounds above where his pursuers would naturally immediatelyfollow him from the temple and quickly discover him. 

And so a dozen paces from the temple wall he disappeared from sight ofany chance observer above, down one of the stone stairways that led tothe apartments beneath. The way that he had been conducted the previousday had followed the windings and turnings of numerous corridors andapartments, but Tarzan, sure of himself in such matters, retraced theroute accurately without hesitation. 

He had little fear of immediate apprehension here since he believedthat all the priests of the temple had assembled in the court above towitness his trial and his humiliation and his death, and with this ideafirmly implanted in his mind he rounded the turn of the corridor andcame face to face with an under priest, his grotesque headdressconcealing whatever emotion the sight of Tarzan may have aroused. 

However, Tarzan had one advantage over the masked votary ofJad-ben-Otho in that the moment he saw the priest he knew his intentionconcerning him, and therefore was not compelled to delay action. And soit was that before the priest could determine on any suitable line ofconduct in the premises a long, keen knife had been slipped into hisheart. 

As the body lunged toward the floor Tarzan caught it and snatched theheaddress from its shoulders, for the first sight of the creature hadsuggested to his ever-alert mind a bold scheme for deceiving hisenemies. 

The headdress saved from such possible damage as it must have sustainedhad it fallen to the floor with the body of its owner, Tarzanrelinquished his hold upon the corpse, set the headdress carefully uponthe floor and stooping down severed the tail of the Ho-don close to itsroot. Near by at his right was a small chamber from which the priesthad evidently just emerged and into this Tarzan dragged the corpse, theheaddress, 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 andthen tucking the tail under his loin cloth behind him, secured it inplace as best he could. Then he fitted the headdress over his shouldersand stepped from the apartment, to all appearances a priest of thetemple of Jad-ben-Otho unless one examined too closely his thumbs andhis great toes. 

He had noticed that among both the Ho-don and the Waz-don it was not atall unusual that the end of the tail be carried in one hand, and so hecaught his own tail up thus lest the lifeless appearance of it draggingalong behind him should arouse suspicion. 

Passing along the corridor and through the various chambers he emergedat last into the palace grounds beyond the temple. The pursuit had notyet reached this point though he was conscious of a commotion not farbehind him. He met now both warriors and slaves but none gave him morethan a passing glance, a priest being too common a sight about thepalace. 

And so, passing the guards unchallenged, he came at last to the innerentrance to the Forbidden Garden and there he paused and scannedquickly that portion of the beautiful spot that lay before his eyes. Tohis relief it seemed unoccupied and congratulating himself upon theease with which he had so far outwitted the high powers of A-lur hemoved rapidly to the opposite end of the enclosure. Here he found apatch of flowering shrubbery that might safely have concealed a dozenmen. 

Crawling well within he removed the uncomfortable headdress and satdown to await whatever eventualities fate might have in store for himthe while he formulated plans for the future. The one night that he hadspent in A-lur had kept him up to a late hour, apprising him of thefact 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 undercover of his disguise without attracting the unpleasant attention ofthe guards, and, too, he had noticed that the priesthood constituted aprivileged class that seemed to come and go at will and unchallengedthroughout the palace as well as the temple. Altogether then, hedecided, night furnished the most propitious hours for hisinvestigation--by day he could lie up in the shrubbery of the ForbiddenGarden, reasonably free from detection. From beyond the garden he heardthe voices of men calling to one another both far and near, and heguessed that diligent was the search that was being prosecuted for him. 

The idle moments afforded him an opportunity to evolve a moresatisfactory scheme for attaching his stolen caudal appendage. Hearranged it in such a way that it might be quickly assumed ordiscarded, and this done he fell to examining the weird mask that hadso 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 beencarved and afterward the interior hollowed out until only acomparatively thin shell remained. Two-semicircular notches had beenrounded out from opposite sides of the lower edge. These fitted snuglyover his shoulders, aprons of wood extending downward a few inches uponhis chest and back. From these aprons hung long tassels or switches ofhair tapering from the outer edges toward the center which reachedbelow the bottom of his torso. It required but the most cursoryexamination to indicate to the ape-man that these ornaments consistedof human scalps, taken, doubtless, from the heads of the sacrificesupon the eastern altars. The headdress itself had been carved to depictin formal design a hideous face that suggested both man and gryf. Therewere the three white horns, the yellow face with the blue bandsencircling the eyes and the red hood which took the form of theposterior and anterior aprons. 

As Tarzan sat within the concealing foliage of the shrubbery meditatingupon the hideous priest-mask which he held in his hands he became awarethat he was not alone in the garden. He sensed another presence andpresently his trained ears detected the slow approach of naked feetacross the sward. At first he suspected that it might be one stealthilysearching the Forbidden Garden for him but a little later the figurecame within the limited area of his vision which was circumscribed bystems and foliage and flowers. He saw then that it was the princessO-lo-a and that she was alone and walking with bowed head as though inmeditation--sorrowful meditation for there were traces of tears uponher lids. 

Shortly after his ears warned him that others had entered thegarden--men they were and their footsteps proclaimed that they walkedneither slowly nor meditatively. They came directly toward the princessand when Tarzan could see them he discovered that both were priests. 

"O-lo-a, Princess of Pal-ul-don, " said one, addressing her, "thestranger who told us that he was the son of Jad-ben-Otho has but justfled from the wrath of Lu-don, the high priest, who exposed him and allhis wicked blasphemy. The temple, and the palace, and the city arebeing 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 timeand have seen nor heard no other than myself. However, search it if youwill. "

"No, " said the priest who had before spoken, "it is not necessary sincehe could not have entered without your knowledge and the connivance ofthe guards, and even had he, the priest who preceded us must have seenhim. "

"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 notsee him. " The two priests made their obeisance and turned to depart. 

"Stupid as Buto, the rhinoceros, " soliloquized Tarzan, who consideredButo a very stupid creature indeed. "It should be easy to outwit suchas these. "

The priests had scarce departed when there came the sound of feetrunning rapidly across the garden in the direction of the princess toan accompaniment of rapid breathing as of one almost spent, either fromfatigue or excitement. 

"Pan-at-lee, " exclaimed O-lo-a, "what has happened? You look asterrified as the doe for which you were named!"

"O Princess of Pal-ul-don, " cried Pan-at-lee, "they would have killedhim in the temple. They would have killed the wondrous stranger whoclaimed 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 theyrushed upon him he hurled one in the face of Lu-don with the same easethat you might cast your breastplates at me, and then he leaped uponthe altar and from there to the top of the temple wall and disappearedbelow. They are searching for him, but, O Princess, I pray that they donot find him. "

"And why do you pray that?" asked O-lo-a. "Has not one who has soblasphemed 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 betrayedyourself and then attempted to deceive me. The slaves of O-lo-a do notsuch things with impunity. He is then the same Tarzan-jad-guru of whomyou told me? Speak woman and speak only the truth. "

Pan-at-lee drew herself up very erect, her little chin held high, forwas 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 protectherself. "

"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 forhis courage and his strength are more than those of mortal man, as arealso his kindness and his honor: for when he might have harmed me heprotected me, and when he might have saved himself he thought only ofme. And all this he did because of his friendship for Om-at, who isgund of Kor-ul-ja and with whom I should have mated had the Ho-don notcaptured me. "

"He was indeed a wonderful man to look upon, " mused O-lo-a, "and he wasnot as are other men, not alone in the conformation of his hands andfeet or the fact that he was tailless, but there was that about himwhich made him seem different in ways more important than these. "

"And, " supplemented Pan-at-lee, her savage little heart loyal to theman who had befriended her and hoping to win for him the considerationof 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, OPrincess, 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. "Itell you, my Princess, that if he is not a god he is at least more thanHo-don or Waz-don. He followed me from the cave of Es-sat in Kor-ul-jaacross Kor-ul-lul and two wide ridges to the very cave in Kor-ul-gryfwhere I hid, though many hours had passed since I had come that way andmy bare feet left no impress upon the ground. What mortal man could dosuch things as these? And where in all Pal-ul-don would virgin maidfind 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 togive you your Ta-den, Princess. "

"Ah, if he only could, " sighed O-lo-a, "but alas it is too late fortomorrow I am to be given to Bu-lot. "

"He who came to your quarters yesterday with your father?" askedPan-at-lee. 

"Yes; the one with the awful round face and the big belly, " exclaimedthe Princess disgustedly. "He is so lazy he will neither hunt norfight. To eat and to drink is all that Bu-lot is fit for, and he thinksof naught else except these things and his slave women. But come, Pan-at-lee, gather for me some of these beautiful blossoms. I wouldhave them spread around my couch tonight that I may carry away with mein the morning the memory of the fragrance that I love best and which Iknow that I shall not find in the village of Mo-sar, the father ofBu-lot. I will help you, Pan-at-lee, and we will gather armfuls ofthem, for I love to gather them as I love nothing else--they wereTa-den's favorite flowers. "

The two approached the flowering shrubbery where Tarzan hid, but as theblooms grew plentifully upon every bush the ape-man guessed there wouldbe no necessity for them to enter the patch far enough to discover him. With little exclamations of pleasure as they found particularly largeor perfect blooms the two moved from place to place upon the outskirtsof Tarzan's retreat. 

"Oh, look, Pan-at-lee, " cried O-lo-a presently; "there is the king ofthem all. Never did I see so wonderful a flower--No! I will get itmyself--it is so large and wonderful no other hand shall touch it, " andthe princess wound in among the bushes toward the point where the greatflower bloomed upon a bush above the ape-man's head. 

So sudden and unexpected her approach that there was no opportunity toescape and Tarzan sat silently trusting that fate might be kind to himand lead Ko-tan's daughter away before her eyes dropped from thehigh-growing bloom to him. But as the girl cut the long stem with herknife 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-denwho 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 upto 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 myperfidy his rage would be beyond naming. Even though I am a princessLu-don might demand that I be sacrificed to appease the wrath ofJad-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 himunless you tell them yourself for as Jad-ben-Otho is my witness I willnever 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 youare a god?" she asked. 

"When gods mingle with mortals, " replied Tarzan, "they are no lessvulnerable than mortals. Even Jad-ben-Otho, should he appear before youin the flesh, might be slain. "

"You have seen Ta-den and spoken with him?" she asked with apparentirrelevancy. 

"Yes, I have seen him and spoken with him, " replied the ape-man. "Forthe duration of a moon I was with him constantly. "

"And--" she hesitated--"he--" she cast her eyes toward the ground and aflush mantled her cheek--"he still loves me?" and Tarzan knew that shehad been won over. 

"Yes, " he said, "Ta-den speaks only of O-lo-a and he waits and hopesfor 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 mylife 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 whoknows that I may not help you yet?"

"Ah, if you only could, Dor-ul-Otho, " cried the girl, "and I know thatyou would if it were possible for Pan-at-lee has told me how brave youare, and at the same time how kind. "

"Only Jad-ben-Otho knows what the future may bring, " said Tarzan. "Andnow you two go your way lest someone should discover you and becomesuspicious. "

"We will go, " said O-lo-a, "but Pan-at-lee will return with food. Ihope that you escape and that Jad-ben-Otho is pleased with what I havedone. " She turned and walked away and Pan-at-lee followed while theape-man again resumed his hiding. 

At dusk Pan-at-lee came with food and having her alone Tarzan put thequestion that he had been anxious to put since his conversation earlierin the day with O-lo-a. 

"Tell me, " he said, "what you know of the rumors of which O-lo-a spokeof 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 beenhere?"

"Yes, " said Pan-at-lee, "I have heard it spoken of among the otherslaves. It is something of which all whisper among themselves but ofwhich none dares to speak aloud. They say that there is a strange shehidden in the temple and that Lu-don wants her for a priestess and thatKo-tan wants her for a wife and that neither as yet dares take her forfear 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 itis more than a story and I but tell you that which I have heard otherssay. "

"There was only one, " asked Tarzan, "whom they spoke of?"

"No, they speak of another who came with her but none seems to knowwhat became of this one. "

Tarzan nodded. "Thank you Pan-at-lee, " he said. "You may have helped memore than either of us guess. "

"I hope that I have helped you, " said the girl as she turned backtoward 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 thepriest he had slain in the vaults beneath the temple. He judged that itwould not do to attempt again to pass the guard, especially so late atnight as it would be likely to arouse comment and suspicion, and so heswung into the tree that overhung the garden wall and from its branchesdropped to the ground beyond. 

Avoiding too grave risk of apprehension the ape-man passed through thegrounds to the court of the palace, approaching the temple from theside opposite to that at which he had left it at the time of hisescape. He came thus it is true through a portion of the grounds withwhich he was unfamiliar but he preferred this to the danger offollowing the beaten track between the palace apartments and those ofthe temple. Having a definite goal in mind and endowed as he was withan almost miraculous sense of location he moved with great assurancethrough the shadows of the temple yard. 

Taking advantage of the denser shadows close to the walls and of whatshrubs and trees there were he came without mishap at last to theornate building concerning the purpose of which he had asked Lu-dononly to be put off with the assertion that it was forgotten--nothingstrange in itself but given possible importance by the apparenthesitancy of the priest to discuss its use and the impression theape-man had gained at the time that Lu-don lied. 

And now he stood at last alone before the structure which was threestories in height and detached from all the other temple buildings. Ithad a single barred entrance which was carved from the living rock inrepresentation of the head of a gryf, whose wide-open mouth constitutedthe doorway. The head, hood, and front paws of the creature weredepicted as though it lay crouching with its lower jaw on the groundbetween its outspread paws. Small oval windows, which were likewisebarred, flanked the doorway. 

Seeing that the coast was clear, Tarzan stepped into the darkenedentrance where he tried the bars only to discover that they wereingeniously locked in place by some device with which he was unfamiliarand that they also were probably too strong to be broken even if hecould have risked the noise which would have resulted. Nothing wasvisible within the darkened interior and so, momentarily baffled, hesought the windows. Here also the bars refused to yield up theirsecret, but again Tarzan was not dismayed since he had counted uponnothing different. 

If the bars would not yield to his cunning they would yield to hisgiant strength if there proved no other means of ingress, but first hewould assure himself that this latter was the case. Moving entirelyaround the building he examined it carefully. There were other windowsbut they were similarly barred. He stopped often to look and listen buthe saw no one and the sounds that he heard were too far away to causehim any apprehension. 

He glanced above him at the wall of the building. Like so many of theother walls of the city, palace, and temple, it was ornately carved andthere were too the peculiar ledges that ran sometimes in a horizontalplane and again were tilted at an angle, giving ofttimes an impressionof irregularity and even crookedness to the buildings. It was not adifficult wall to climb, at least not difficult for the ape-man. 

But he found the bulky and awkward headdress a considerable handicapand so he laid it aside upon the ground at the foot of the wall. Nimblyhe ascended to find the windows of the second floor not only barred butcurtained within. He did not delay long at the second floor since hehad in mind an idea that he would find the easiest entrance through theroof which he had noticed was roughly dome shaped like the throneroomof Ko-tan. Here there were apertures. He had seen them from the ground, and if the construction of the interior resembled even slightly that ofthe throneroom, bars would not be necessary upon these apertures, sinceno one could reach them from the floor of the room. 

There was but a single question: would they be large enough to admitthe 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 tohis nostrils from within a scent that stripped from him temporarily anyremnant of civilization that might have remained and left him a fierceand terrible bull of the jungles of Kerchak. So sudden and complete wasthe metamorphosis that there almost broke from the savage lips thehideous challenge of his kind, but the cunning brute-mind saved himthis blunder. 

And now he heard voices within--the voice of Lu-don he could havesworn, demanding. And haughty and disdainful came the answering wordsthough utter hopelessness spoke in the tones of this other voice whichbrought Tarzan to the pinnacle of frenzy. 

The dome with its possible apertures was forgotten. Every considerationof stealth and quiet was cast aside as the ape-man drew back his mightyfist and struck a single terrific blow upon the bars of the smallwindow before him, a blow that sent the bars and the casing that heldthem clattering to the floor of the apartment within. 

Instantly Tarzan dove headforemost through the aperture carrying thehangings of antelope hide with him to the floor below. Leaping to hisfeet he tore the entangling pelt from about his head only to findhimself in utter darkness and in silence. He called aloud a name thathad 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 theStygian blackness of the room, his nostrils assailed and his braintantalized by the delicate effluvia that had first assured him that hismate had been within this very room. And he had heard her dear voicecombatting the base demands of the vile priest. Ah, if he had but actedwith greater caution! If he had but continued to move with quiet andstealth he might even at this moment be holding her in his arms whilethe body of Lu-don, beneath his foot, spoke eloquently of vengeanceachieved. But there was no time now for idle self-reproaches. 

He stumbled blindly forward, groping for he knew not what till suddenlythe floor beneath him tilted and he shot downward into a darkness evenmore utter than that above. He felt his body strike a smooth surfaceand he realized that he was hurtling downward as through a polishedchute while from above there came the mocking tones of a taunting laughand the voice of Lu-don screamed after him: "Return to thy father, ODor-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 beyondhe saw the moonlight playing on the waters of the blue lake below. Simultaneously he was conscious of a familiar odor in the air of thechamber, which a quick glance revealed in the semidarkness as ofconsiderable proportion. 

It was the faint, but unmistakable odor of the gryf, and now Tarzanstood silently listening. At first he detected no sounds other thanthose of the city that came to him through the window overlooking thelake; but presently, faintly, as though from a distance he heard theshuffling of padded feet along a stone pavement, and as he listened hewas aware that the sound approached. 

Nearer and nearer it came, and now even the breathing of the beast wasaudible. Evidently attracted by the noise of his descent into itscavernous retreat it was approaching to investigate. He could not seeit but he knew that it was not far distant, and then, deafeningly therereverberated through those gloomy corridors the mad bellow of the gryf. 

Aware of the poor eyesight of the beast, and his own eyes now grownaccustomed to the darkness of the cavern, the ape-man sought to eludethe infuriated charge which he well knew no living creature couldwithstand. Neither did he dare risk the chance of experimenting uponthis strange gryf with the tactics of the Tor-o-don that he had foundso efficacious upon that other occasion when his life and liberty hadbeen the stakes for which he cast. In many respects the conditions weredissimilar. Before, in broad daylight, he had been able to approach thegryf under normal conditions in its natural state, and the gryf itselfwas one that he had seen subjected to the authority of man, or at leastof a manlike creature; but here he was confronted by an imprisonedbeast in the full swing of a furious charge and he had every reason tosuspect that this gryf might never have felt the restraining influenceof authority, confined as it was in this gloomy pit to serve likely butthe single purpose that Tarzan had already seen so graphicallyportrayed in his own experience of the past few moments. 

To elude the creature, then, upon the possibility of discovering someloophole of escape from his predicament seemed to the ape-man thewisest course to pursue. Too much was at stake to risk an encounterthat might be avoided--an encounter the outcome of which there wasevery reason to apprehend would seal the fate of the mate that he hadjust found, only to lose again so harrowingly. Yet high as hisdisappointment and chagrin ran, hopeless as his present estate nowappeared, there tingled in the veins of the savage lord a warm glow ofthanksgiving and elation. She lived! After all these weary months ofhopelessness and fear he had found her. She lived!

To the opposite side of the chamber, silently as the wraith of adisembodied soul, the swift jungle creature moved from the path of thecharging Titan that, guided solely in the semi-darkness by its keenears, bore down upon the spot toward which Tarzan's noisy entrance intoits lair had attracted it. Along the further wall the ape-man hurried. Before him now appeared the black opening of the corridor from whichthe beast had emerged into the larger chamber. Without hesitationTarzan plunged into it. Even here his eyes, long accustomed to darknessthat would have seemed total to you or to me, saw dimly the floor andthe walls within a radius of a few feet--enough at least to prevent himplunging into any unguessed abyss, or dashing himself upon solid rockat a sudden turning. 

The corridor was both wide and lofty, which indeed it must be toaccommodate the colossal proportions of the creature whose habitat itwas, and so Tarzan encountered no difficulty in moving with reasonablespeed along its winding trail. He was aware as he proceeded that thetrend of the passage was downward, though not steeply, but it seemedinterminable and he wondered to what distant subterranean lair it mightlead. There was a feeling that perhaps after all he might better haveremained in the larger chamber and risked all on the chance of subduingthe gryf where there was at least sufficient room and light to lend tothe experiment some slight chance of success. To be overtaken here inthe narrow confines of the black corridor where he was assured the gryfcould not see him at all would spell almost certain death and now heheard the thing approaching from behind. Its thunderous bellows fairlyshook the cliff from which the cavernous chambers were excavated. Tohalt and meet this monstrous incarnation of fury with a futile whee-oo!seemed to Tarzan the height of insanity and so he continued along thecorridor, increasing his pace as he realized that the gryf wasoverhauling him. 

Presently the darkness lessened and at the final turning of the passagehe saw before him an area of moonlight. With renewed hope he sprangrapidly forward and emerged from the mouth of the corridor to findhimself in a large circular enclosure the towering white walls of whichrose high upon every side--smooth perpendicular walls upon the sheerface of which was no slightest foothold. To his left lay a pool ofwater, one side of which lapped the foot of the wall at this point. Itwas, doubtless, the wallow and the drinking pool of the gryf. 

And now the creature emerged from the corridor and Tarzan retreated tothe edge of the pool to make his last stand. There was no staff withwhich to enforce the authority of his voice, but yet he made his standfor there seemed naught else to do. Just beyond the entrance to thecorridor the gryf paused, turning its weak eyes in all directions asthough searching for its prey. This then seemed the psychologicalmoment for his attempt and raising his voice in peremptory command theape-man voiced the weird whee-oo! of the Tor-o-don. Its effect upon thegryf was instantaneous and complete--with a terrific bellow it loweredits 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 theplacid waters of the pool, while down upon him from before thunderedannihilation. The mighty body seemed already to tower above him as theape-man turned and dove into the dark waters. 

Dead in her breast lay hope. Battling for life during harrowing monthsof imprisonment and danger and hardship it had fitfully flickered andflamed only to sink after each renewal to smaller proportions thanbefore and now it had died out entirely leaving only cold, charredembers that Jane Clayton knew would never again be rekindled. Hope wasdead as she faced Lu-don, the high priest, in her prison quarters inthe Temple of the Gryf at A-lur. Both time and hardship had failed toleave their impress upon her physical beauty--the contours of herperfect form, the glory of her radiant loveliness had defied them, yetto these very attributes she owed the danger which now confronted her, for Lu-don desired her. From the lesser priests she had been safe, butfrom Lu-don, she was not safe, for Lu-don was not as they, since thehigh 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 fromeither was the fear of each for the other, but at last Lu-don had castaside discretion and had come in the silent watches of the night toclaim her. Haughtily had she repulsed him, seeking ever to gain time, though what time might bring her of relief or renewed hope she couldnot even remotely conjecture. A leer of lust and greed shone hungrilyupon 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 forhim. He read her expression and while it angered him, it but increasedhis 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 usshall die before ever your purpose is accomplished. "

He was close beside her now. His laugh grated upon her ears. "Lovedoes not kill, " he replied mockingly. 

He reached for her arm and at the same instant something clashedagainst the bars of one of the windows, crashing them inward to thefloor, to be followed almost simultaneously by a human figure whichdove headforemost into the room, its head enveloped in the skin windowhangings which it carried with it in its impetuous entry. 

Jane Clayton saw surprise and something of terror too leap to thecountenance of the high priest and then she saw him spring forward andjerk upon a leather thong that depended from the ceiling of theapartment. Instantly there dropped from above a cunningly contrivedpartition that fell between them and the intruder, effectively barringhim from them and at the same time leaving him to grope upon itsopposite side in darkness, since the only cresset the room containedwas upon their side of the partition. 

Faintly from beyond the wall Jane heard a voice calling, but whose itwas and what the words she could not distinguish. Then she saw Lu-donjerk upon another thong and wait in evident expectancy of someconsequent happening. He did not have long to wait. She saw the thongmove suddenly as though jerked from above and then Lu-don smiled andwith another signal put in motion whatever machinery it was that raisedthe partition again to its place in the ceiling. 

Advancing into that portion of the room that the partition had shut offfrom them, the high priest knelt upon the floor, and down tilting asection of it, revealed the dark mouth of a shaft leading below. Laughing loudly he shouted into the hole: "Return to thy father, ODor-ul-Otho!"

Making fast the catch that prevented the trapdoor from opening beneaththe feet of the unwary until such time as Lu-don chose the high priestrose 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 thereshe saw framed in the entrance-way to the apartment the mighty figureof a warrior, upon whose massive features sat an expression of sternand uncompromising authority. 

"I come from Ko-tan, the king, " replied Ja-don, "to remove thebeautiful 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 whosemanner was no sign of either fear or respect for the priest. 

Lu-don well knew why the king had chosen this messenger whose heresywas notorious, but whose power had as yet protected him from themachinations of the priest. Lu-don cast a surreptitious glance at thethongs hanging from the ceiling. Why not? If he could but maneuver toentice 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 thepriest, fearing treachery. 

Jane watched them. In the face and figure of the warrior she foundreflected those admirable traits of courage and honor that theprofession of arms best develops. In the hypocritical priest there wasno redeeming quality. Of the two then she might best choose thewarrior. With him there was a chance--with Lu-don, none. Even the veryprocess of exchange from one prison to another might offer somepossibility of escape. She weighed all these things and decided, forLu-don's quick glance at the thongs had not gone unnoticed noruninterpreted by her. 

"Warrior, " she said, addressing Ja-don, "if you would live enter notthat 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 highpriest could prevent she had seized that which controlled the partitionwhich shot downward separating Lu-don from the warrior and herself. 

Ja-don looked inquiringly at her. "He would have tricked me neatly butfor you, " he said; "kept me imprisoned there while he secreted youelsewhere in the mazes of his temple. "

"He would have done more than that, " replied Jane, as she pulled uponthe other thong. "This releases the fastenings of a trapdoor in thefloor beyond the partition. When you stepped on that you would havebeen precipitated into a pit beneath the temple. Lu-don has threatenedme with this fate often. I do not know that he speaks the truth, but hesays 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 thesacrifices, the priests keep us busy supplying them with prisoners, though the victims are sometimes those for whom Lu-don has conceivedhatred among our own people. He has had his eyes upon me for a longtime. This would have been his chance but for you. Tell me, woman, whyyou warned me. Are we not all equally your jailers and your enemies?"

"None could be more horrible than Lu-don, " she replied; "and you havethe appearance of a brave and honorable warrior. I could not hope, forhope has died and yet there is the possibility that among so manyfighting men, even though they be of another race than mine, there isone who would accord honorable treatment to a stranger within hisgates--even though she be a woman. "

Ja-don looked at her for a long minute. "Ko-tan would make you hisqueen, " he said. "That he told me himself and surely that werehonorable 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. "Hebelieves, although he did not tell me so in fact, that you are of therace of gods. And why not? Jad-ben-Otho is tailless, therefore it isnot strange that Ko-tan should suspect that only the gods are thus. Hisqueen is dead leaving only a single daughter. He craves a son and whatmore desirable than that he should found a line of rulers forPal-ul-don descended from the gods?"

"But I am already wed, " cried Jane. "I cannot wed another. I do notwant him or his throne. "

"Ko-tan is king, " replied Ja-don simply as though that explained andsimplified everything. 

"You will not save me then?" she asked. 

"If you were in Ja-lur, " he replied, "I might protect you, even againstthe 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 ofall the valley beyond. "

"Where is it?" she insisted, and "is it far?"

"No, " he replied, smiling, "it is not far, but do not think ofthat--you could never reach it. There are too many to pursue andcapture you. If you wish to know, however, it lies up the river thatempties into Jad-ben-lul whose waters kiss the walls of A-lur--up thewestern fork it lies with water upon three sides. Impregnable city ofPal-ul-don--alone of all the cities it has never been entered by afoeman 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 glowagain! She sighed and shook her head, realizing the inutility ofHope--yet the tempting bait dangled before her mind's eye--Ja-lur!

"You are wise, " commented Ja-don interpreting her sigh. "Come now, wewill 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 bebetter 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 daysbefore you become queen, and one of them may be difficult ofarrangement. " He laughed, then. 

"What?" she asked. 

"Only the high priest may perform the marriage ceremony for a king, " heexplained. 

"Delay!" she murmured; "blessed delay!" Tenacious indeed of life isHope even though it be reduced to cold and lifeless char--a veritablephoenix. 

15

"The King Is Dead!"

As they conversed Ja-don had led her down the stone stairway that leadsfrom the upper floors of the Temple of the Gryf to the chambers and thecorridors that honeycomb the rocky hills from which the temple and thepalace are hewn and now they passed from one to the other through adoorway upon one side of which two priests stood guard and upon theother two warriors. The former would have halted Ja-don when they sawwho it was that accompanied him for well known throughout the templewas the quarrel between king and high priest for possession of thisbeautiful stranger. 

"Only by order of Lu-don may she pass, " said one, placing himselfdirectly in front of Jane Clayton, barring her progress. Through thehollow eyes of the hideous mask the woman could see those of the priestbeneath gleaming with the fires of fanaticism. Ja-don placed an armabout her shoulders and laid his hand upon his knife. 

"She passes by order of Ko-tan, the king, " he said, "and by virtue ofthe 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 yourcommands. "

The second priest now interposed. "Let them pass, " he admonished hiscompanion. "We have received no direct commands from Lu-don to thecontrary and it is a law of the temple and the palace that chiefs andpriests 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--wehave 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 themain entrance-way, loitered a small guard of palace warriors andseveral 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 notescape. "

Through a number of corridors and apartments lighted by stone cressetsthe eunuch led Lady Greystoke halting at last before a doorwayconcealed by hangings of jato skin, where the guide beat with his staffupon the wall beside the door. 

"O-lo-a, Princess of Pal-ul-don, " he called, "here is the strangerwoman, 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 fourcorners a kneeling figure of stone seemed to be bearing its portion ofthe weight of the ceiling upon its shoulders. These figures wereevidently intended to represent Waz-don slaves and were not withoutbold artistic beauty. The ceiling itself was slightly arched to acentral dome which was pierced to admit light by day, and air. Upon oneside of the room were many windows, the other three walls being blankexcept for a doorway in each. The princess lay upon a pile of furswhich were arranged over a low stone dais in one corner of theapartment and was alone except for a single Waz-don slave girl who satupon the edge of the dais near her feet. 

As Jane entered O-lo-a beckoned her to approach and when she stoodbeside the couch the girl half rose upon an elbow and surveyed hercritically. 

"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 soradiant as the Princess O-lo-a. "

"Ah!" exclaimed the princess delightedly; "you speak my language! I wastold that you were of another race and from some far land of which weof Pal-ul-don have never heard. "

"Lu-don saw to it that the priests instructed me, " explained Jane; "butI am from a far country, Princess; one to which I long to return--and Iam 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 amalready wed. Ah, Princess, if you had known what it was to love and tobe 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 atlast, "and I am very sorry for you; but if the king's daughter cannotsave herself from such a fate who may save a slave woman? for such infact you are. "

The drinking in the great banquet hall of the palace of Ko-tan, king ofPal-ul-don had commenced earlier this night than was usual, for theking was celebrating the morrow's betrothal of his only daughter toBu-lot, son of Mo-sar, the chief, whose great-grandfather had been kingof Pal-ul-don and who thought that he should be king, and Mo-sar wasdrunk and so was Bu-lot, his son. For that matter nearly all of thewarriors, including the king himself, were drunk. In the heart ofKo-tan was no love either for Mo-sar, or Bu-lot, nor did either ofthese love the king. Ko-tan was giving his daughter to Bu-lot in thehope that the alliance would prevent Mo-sar from insisting upon hisclaims to the throne, for, next to Ja-don, Mo-sar was the most powerfulof the chiefs and while Ko-tan looked with fear upon Ja-don, too, hehad 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 theevent that Mo-sar declare war upon Ko-tan, the king could not guess. 

Primitive people who are also warlike are seldom inclined toward eithertact 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 asingle gulp. "And this, " seizing a full one from a neighbor, "to herson and mine who will bring back the throne of Pal-ul-don to itsrightful owners!"

"The king is not yet dead!" cried Ko-tan, rising to his feet; "nor isBu-lot yet married to his daughter--and there is yet time to savePal-ul-don from the spawn of the rabbit breed. "

The king's angry tone and his insulting reference to Bu-lot'swell-known cowardice brought a sudden, sobering silence upon theroistering company. Every eye turned upon Bu-lot and Mo-sar, who sattogether directly opposite the king. The first was very drunk thoughsuddenly he seemed quite sober. He was so drunk that for an instant heforgot to be a coward, since his reasoning powers were so effectuallyparalyzed by the fumes of liquor that he could not intelligently weighthe consequences of his acts. It is reasonably conceivable that a drunkand angry rabbit might commit a rash deed. Upon no other hypothesis isthe thing that Bu-lot now did explicable. He rose suddenly from theseat to which he had sunk after delivering his toast and seizing theknife from the sheath of the warrior upon his right hurled it withterrific force at Ko-tan. Skilled in the art of throwing both theirknives and their clubs are the warriors of Pal-ul-don and at this shortdistance and coming as it did without warning there was no defense andbut one possible result--Ko-tan, the king, lunged forward across thetable, the blade buried in his heart. 

A brief silence followed the assassin's cowardly act. White withterror, now, Bu-lot fell slowly back toward the doorway at his rear, when suddenly angry warriors leaped with drawn knives to prevent hisescape and to avenge their king. But Mo-sar now took his stand besidehis son. 

"Ko-tan is dead!" he cried. "Mo-sar is king! Let the loyal warriors ofPal-ul-don protect their ruler!"

Mo-sar commanded a goodly following and these quickly surrounded himand Bu-lot, but there were many knives against them and now Ja-donpressed forward through those who confronted the pretender. 

"Take them both!" he shouted. "The warriors of Pal-ul-don will choosetheir own king after the assassin of Ko-tan has paid the penalty of histreachery. "

Directed now by a leader whom they both respected and admired those whohad been loyal to Ko-tan rushed forward upon the faction that hadsurrounded Mo-sar. Fierce and terrible was the fighting, devoid, apparently, of all else than the ferocious lust to kill and while itwas at its height Mo-sar and Bu-lot slipped unnoticed from the banquethall. 

To that part of the palace assigned to them during their visit to A-lurthey hastened. Here were their servants and the lesser warriors oftheir party who had not been bidden to the feast of Ko-tan. These weredirected quickly to gather together their belongings for immediatedeparture. When all was ready, and it did not take long, since thewarriors 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. "Wemust not leave the city without her--she is half the battle for thethrone. "

Bu-lot, now entirely sober, demurred. He had had enough of fighting andof risk. "Let us get out of A-lur quickly, " he urged, "or we shall havethe whole city upon us. She would not come without a struggle and thatwould delay us too long. "

"There is plenty of time, " insisted Mo-sar. "They are still fighting inthe pal-e-don-so. It will be long before they miss us and, with Ko-tandead, 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 thewarriors to await them just inside the gateway of the palace. Rapidlythe two approached the quarters of the princess. Within theentrance-way only a handful of warriors were on guard. The eunuchs hadretired. 

"There is fighting in the pal-e-don-so, " Mo-sar announced in feignedexcitement as they entered the presence of the guards. "The kingdesires you to come at once and has sent us to guard the apartments ofthe princess. Make haste!" he commanded as the men hesitated. 

The warriors knew him and that on the morrow the princess was to bebetrothed to Bu-lot, his son. If there was trouble what more naturalthan that Mo-sar and Bu-lot should be intrusted with the safety of theprincess. And then, too, was not Mo-sar a powerful chief to whoseorders disobedience might prove a dangerous thing? They were but commonfighting men disciplined in the rough school of tribal warfare, butthey had learned to obey a superior and so they departed for thebanquet hall--the place-where-men-eat. 

Barely waiting until they had disappeared Mo-sar crossed to thehangings at the opposite end of the entrance-hall and followed byBu-lot made his way toward the sleeping apartment of O-lo-a and amoment later, without warning, the two men burst in upon the threeoccupants 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 hadentered a plan to trick her. If it succeeded it would prove easier thantaking her by force, and then his eyes fell upon Jane Clayton and healmost gasped in astonishment and admiration, but he caught himself andreturned to the business of the moment. 

"O-lo-a, " he cried, "when you know the urgency of our mission you willforgive us. We have sad news for you. There has been an uprising in thepalace and Ko-tan, the king, has been slain. The rebels are drunk withliquor and now on their way here. We must get you out of A-lur atonce--there is not a moment to lose. Come, and quickly!"

"My father dead?" cried O-lo-a, and suddenly her eyes went wide. "Thenmy place is here with my people, " she cried. "If Ko-tan is dead I amqueen until the warriors choose a new ruler--that is the law ofPal-ul-don. And if I am queen none can make me wed whom I do not wishto 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 andevery precious minute counted. He looked again at the beautiful womanwho stood beside O-lo-a. He had never before seen her but he well knewfrom palace gossip that she could be no other than the godlike strangerwhom Ko-tan had planned to make his queen. 

"Bu-lot, " he cried to his son, "take you your own woman and I willtake--mine!" and with that he sprang suddenly forward and seizing Janeabout the waist lifted her in his arms, so that before O-lo-a orPan-at-lee might even guess his purpose he had disappeared through thehangings near the foot of the dais and was gone with the stranger womanstruggling and fighting in his grasp. 

And then Bu-lot sought to seize O-lo-a, but O-lo-a had herPan-at-lee--fierce little tiger-girl of the savageKor-ul-ja--Pan-at-lee whose name belied her--and Bu-lot found that withthe two of them his hands were full. When he would have lifted O-lo-aand borne her away Pan-at-lee seized him around the legs and strove todrag him down. Viciously he kicked her, but she would not desist, andfinally, realizing that he might not only lose his princess but be sodelayed 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 seizingPan-at-lee by the hair drew his knife and--

The curtains behind him suddenly parted. In two swift bounds a lithefigure crossed the room and before ever the knife of Bu-lot reached itsgoal his wrist was seized from behind and a terrific blow crashing tothe 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 thetemple at A-lur one might have accounted for his act on the hypothesisthat it was the last blind urge of self-preservation to delay, even fora moment, the inevitable tragedy in which each some day must play theleading role upon his little stage; but no--those cool, gray eyes hadcaught the sole possibility for escape that the surroundings and thecircumstances offered--a tiny, moonlit patch of water glimmeringthrough a small aperture in the cliff at the surface of the pool uponits farther side. With swift, bold strokes he swam for speed aloneknowing that the water would in no way deter his pursuer. Nor did it. Tarzan heard the great splash as the huge creature plunged into thepool behind him; he heard the churning waters as it forged rapidlyonward in his wake. He was nearing the opening--would it be largeenough to permit the passage of his body? That portion of it whichshowed above the surface of the water most certainly would not. Hislife, then, depended upon how much of the aperture was submerged. Andnow it was directly before him and the gryf directly behind. There wasno alternative--there was no other hope. The ape-man threw all theresources of his great strength into the last few strokes, extended hishands before him as a cutwater, submerged to the water's level and shotforward toward the hole. 

Frothing with rage was the baffled Lu-don as he realized how neatly thestranger she had turned his own tables upon him. He could of courseescape the Temple of the Gryf in which her quick wit had temporarilyimprisoned him; but during the delay, however brief, Ja-don would findtime to steal her from the temple and deliver her to Ko-tan. But hewould have her yet--that the high priest swore in the names ofJad-ben-Otho and all the demons of his faith. He hated Ko-tan. Secretlyhe had espoused the cause of Mo-sar, in whom he would have a willingtool. Perhaps, then, this would give him the opportunity he had longawaited--a pretext for inciting the revolt that would dethrone Ko-tanand place Mo-sar in power--with Lu-don the real ruler of Pal-ul-don. Helicked his thin lips as he sought the window through which Tarzan hadentered and now Lu-don's only avenue of escape. Cautiously he made hisway across the floor, feeling before him with his hands, and when theydiscovered that the trap was set for him an ugly snarl broke from thepriest's lips. "The she-devil!" he muttered; "but she shall pay, sheshall pay--ah, Jad-ben-Otho; how she shall pay for the trick she hasplayed upon Lu-don!"

He crawled through the window and climbed easily downward to theground. Should he pursue Ja-don and the woman, chancing an encounterwith the fierce chief, or bide his time until treachery and intrigueshould accomplish his design? He chose the latter solution, as mighthave been expected of such as he. 

Going to his quarters he summoned several of his priests--those whowere most in his confidence and who shared his ambitions for absolutepower of the temple over the palace--all men who hated Ko-tan. 

"The time has come, " he told them, "when the authority of the templemust be placed definitely above that of the palace. Ko-tan must makeway 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 tothe city and prepare the faithful warriors that they may be inreadiness when the time comes. "

For another hour they discussed the details of the coup d'etat that wasto overthrow the government of Pal-ul-don. One knew a slave who, asthe signal sounded from the temple gong, would thrust a knife into theheart of Ko-tan, for the price of liberty. Another held personalknowledge of an officer of the palace that he could use to compel thelatter to admit a number of Lu-don's warriors to various parts of thepalace. With Mo-sar as the cat's paw, the plan seemed scarce possibleof failure and so they separated, going upon their immediate errands topalace and to city. 

As Pan-sat entered the palace grounds he was aware of a suddencommotion in the direction of the pal-e-don-so and a few minutes laterLu-don was surprised to see him return to the apartments of the highpriest, 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 withthe warriors of the palace but they have no head, while Ja-don leadsthe others. I could learn but little from frightened slaves who hadfled at the outburst of the quarrel. One told me that Bu-lot had slainthe king and that he had seen Mo-sar and the assassin hurrying from thepalace. "

"Ja-don, " muttered the high priest. "The fools will make him king if wedo not act and act quickly. Get into the city, Pan-sat--let your feetfly and raise the cry that Ja-don has killed the king and is seeking towrest the throne from O-lo-a. Spread the word as you know best how tospread it that Ja-don has threatened to destroy the priests and hurlthe altars of the temple into Jad-ben-lul. Rouse the warriors of thecity and urge them to attack at once. Lead them into the temple by thesecret way that only the priests know and from here we may spew themout 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 theapartment; "saw or heard you anything of the strange white woman thatJa-don stole from the Temple of the Gryf where we have had herimprisoned?"

"Only that Ja-don took her into the palace where he threatened thepriests with violence if they did not permit him to pass, " repliedPan-sat. "This they told me, but where within the palace she is hiddenI know not. "

"Ko-tan ordered her to the Forbidden Garden, " said Lu-don, "doubtlesswe shall find her there. And now, Pan-sat, be upon your errand. "

In a corridor by Lu-don's chamber a hideously masked priest leanedclose to the curtained aperture that led within. Were he listening hemust have heard all that passed between Pan-sat and the high priest, and that he had listened was evidenced by his hasty withdrawal to theshadows of a nearby passage as the lesser priest moved across thechamber toward the doorway. Pan-sat went his way in ignorance of thenear presence that he almost brushed against as he hurried toward thesecret passage that leads from the temple of Jad-ben-Otho, far beneaththe palace, to the city beyond, nor did he sense the silent creaturefollowing in his footsteps. 

16

The Secret Way

It was a baffled gryf that bellowed in angry rage as Tarzan's sleekbrown body cutting the moonlit waters shot through the aperture in thewall of the gryf pool and out into the lake beyond. The ape-man smiledas he thought of the comparative ease with which he had defeated thepurpose of the high priest but his face clouded again at the ensuingremembrance of the grave danger that threatened his mate. His soleobject now must be to return as quickly as he might to the chamberwhere he had last seen her on the third floor of the Temple of theGryf, but how he was to find his way again into the temple grounds wasa question not easy of solution. 

In the moonlight he could see the sheer cliff rising from the water fora great distance along the shore--far beyond the precincts of thetemple and the palace--towering high above him, a seemingly impregnablebarrier against his return. Swimming close in, he skirted the wallsearching diligently for some foothold, however slight, upon itssmooth, forbidding surface. Above him and quite out of reach werenumerous apertures, but there were no means at hand by which he couldreach them. Presently, however, his hopes were raised by the sight ofan opening level with the surface of the water. It lay just ahead and afew strokes brought him to it--cautious strokes that brought forth nosound from the yielding waters. At the nearer side of the opening hestopped and reconnoitered. There was no one in sight. Carefully heraised his body to the threshold of the entrance-way, his smooth brownhide glistening in the moonlight as it shed the water in tiny sparklingrivulets. 

Before him stretched a gloomy corridor, unlighted save for the faintillumination of the diffused moonlight that penetrated it for but ashort distance from the opening. Moving as rapidly as reasonablecaution warranted, Tarzan followed the corridor into the bowels of thecave. There was an abrupt turn and then a flight of steps at the top ofwhich lay another corridor running parallel with the face of the cliff. This passage was dimly lighted by flickering cressets set in niches inthe walls at considerable distances apart. A quick survey showed theape-man numerous openings upon each side of the corridor and his quickears caught sounds that indicated that there were other beings not fardistant--priests, he concluded, in some of the apartments letting uponthe passageway. 

To pass undetected through this hive of enemies appeared quite beyondthe range of possibility. He must again seek disguise and knowing fromexperience how best to secure such he crept stealthily along thecorridor toward the nearest doorway. Like Numa, the lion, stalking awary prey he crept with quivering nostrils to the hangings that shutoff his view from the interior of the apartment beyond. A moment laterhis head disappeared within; then his shoulders, and his lithe body, and the hangings dropped quietly into place again. A moment later therefiltered to the vacant corridor without a brief, gasping gurgle andagain silence. A minute passed; a second, and a third, and then thehangings were thrust aside and a grimly masked priest of the temple ofJad-ben-Otho strode into the passageway. 

With bold steps he moved along and was about to turn into a diverginggallery when his attention was aroused by voices coming from a roomupon his left. Instantly the figure halted and crossing the corridorstood with an ear close to the skins that concealed the occupants ofthe room from him, and him from them. Presently he leaped back intothe concealing shadows of the diverging gallery and immediatelythereafter the hangings by which he had been listening parted and apriest emerged to turn quickly down the main corridor. The eavesdropperwaited until the other had gained a little distance and then steppingfrom his place of concealment followed silently behind. 

The way led along the corridor which ran parallel with the face of thecliff for some little distance and then Pan-sat, taking a cresset fromone of the wall niches, turned abruptly into a small apartment at hisleft. The tracker followed cautiously in time to see the rays of theflickering light dimly visible from an aperture in the floor beforehim. Here he found a series of steps, similar to those used by theWaz-don in scaling the cliff to their caves, leading to a lower level. 

First satisfying himself that his guide was continuing upon his wayunsuspecting, the other descended after him and continued his stealthystalking. The passageway was now both narrow and low, giving but bareheadroom to a tall man, and it was broken often by flights of stepsleading always downward. The steps in each unit seldom numbered morethan six and sometimes there was only one or two but in the aggregatethe tracker imagined that they had descended between fifty andseventy-five feet from the level of the upper corridor when thepassageway terminated in a small apartment at one side of which was alittle pile of rubble. 

Setting his cresset upon the ground, Pan-sat commenced hurriedly totoss the bits of broken stone aside, presently revealing a smallaperture at the base of the wall upon the opposite side of which thereappeared to be a further accumulation of rubble. This he also removeduntil he had a hole of sufficient size to permit the passage of hisbody, and leaving the cresset still burning upon the floor the priestcrawled through the opening he had made and disappeared from the sightof the watcher hiding in the shadows of the narrow passageway behindhim. 

No sooner, however, was he safely gone than the other followed, findinghimself, after passing through the hole, on a little ledge abouthalfway between the surface of the lake and the top of the cliff above. The ledge inclined steeply upward, ending at the rear of a buildingwhich stood upon the edge of the cliff and which the second priestentered 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 doorwayand quickly surveyed his surroundings. He was satisfied the priest whohad led him hither had served his purpose in so far as the tracker wasconcerned. Above him, and perhaps a hundred yards away, the white wallsof the palace gleamed against the northern sky. The time that it hadtaken him to acquire definite knowledge concerning the secretpassageway between the temple and the city he did not count as lost, though he begrudged every instant that kept him from the prosecution ofhis main objective. It had seemed to him, however, necessary to thesuccess of a bold plan that he had formulated upon overhearing theconversation between Lu-don and Pan-sat as he stood without thehangings of the apartment of the high priest. 

Alone against a nation of suspicious and half-savage enemies he couldscarce hope for a successful outcome to the one great issue upon whichhung the life and happiness of the creature he loved best. For her sakehe must win allies and it was for this purpose that he had sacrificedthese precious moments, but now he lost no further time in seeking toregain entrance to the palace grounds that he might search out whatevernew prison they had found in which to incarcerate his lost love. 

He found no difficulty in passing the guards at the entrance to thepalace for, as he had guessed, his priestly disguise disarmed allsuspicion. As he approached the warriors he kept his hands behind himand trusted to fate that the sickly light of the single torch whichstood beside the doorway would not reveal his un-Pal-ul-donian feet. Asa matter of fact so accustomed were they to the comings and goings ofthe priesthood that they paid scant attention to him and he passed oninto the palace grounds without even a moment's delay. 

His goal now was the Forbidden Garden and this he had little difficultyin reaching though he elected to enter it over the wall rather than tochance arousing any suspicion on the part of the guards at the innerentrance, since he could imagine no reason why a priest should seekentrance there thus late at night. 

He found the garden deserted, nor any sign of her he sought. That shehad been brought hither he had learned from the conversation he hadoverheard between Lu-don and Pan-sat, and he was sure that there hadbeen no time or opportunity for the high priest to remove her from thepalace grounds. The garden he knew to be devoted exclusively to theuses of the princess and her women and it was only reasonable to assumetherefore that if Jane had been brought to the garden it could onlyhave been upon an order from Ko-tan. This being the case the naturalassumption would follow that he would find her in some other portion ofO-lo-a's quarters. 

Just where these lay he could only conjecture, but it seemed reasonableto believe that they must be adjacent to the garden, so once more hescaled the wall and passing around its end directed his steps toward anentrance-way which he judged must lead to that portion of the palacenearest the Forbidden Garden. 

To his surprise he found the place unguarded and then there fell uponhis ear from an interior apartment the sound of voices raised in angerand excitement. Guided by the sound he quickly traversed severalcorridors and chambers until he stood before the hangings whichseparated him from the chamber from which issued the sounds ofaltercation. Raising the skins slightly he looked within. There weretwo women battling with a Ho-don warrior. One was the daughter ofKo-tan and the other Pan-at-lee, the Kor-ul-ja. 

At the moment that Tarzan lifted the hangings, the warrior threw O-lo-aviciously to the ground and seizing Pan-at-lee by the hair drew hisknife and raised it above her head. Casting the encumbering headdressof the dead priest from his shoulders the ape-man leaped across theintervening space and seizing the brute from behind struck him a singleterrible blow. 

As the man fell forward dead, the two women recognized Tarzansimultaneously. Pan-at-lee fell upon her knees and would have bowed herhead upon his feet had he not, with an impatient gesture, commanded herto rise. He had no time to listen to their protestations of gratitudeor answer the numerous questions which he knew would soon be flowingfrom those two feminine tongues. 

"Tell me, " he cried, "where is the woman of my own race whom Ja-donbrought here from the temple?"

"She is but this moment gone, " cried O-lo-a. "Mo-sar, the father ofthis thing here, " and she indicated the body of Bu-lot with a scornfulfinger, "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 whichMo-sar had passed. "They would have taken the princess and the strangerwoman 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 Isurvive 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 ofthe door near the foot of the dais. The corridor through which he ranwas illy lighted and like nearly all its kind in the Ho-don city woundin and out and up and down, but at last it terminated at a sudden turnwhich brought him into a courtyard filled with warriors, a portion ofthe palace guard that had just been summoned by one of the lesserpalace chiefs to join the warriors of Ko-tan in the battle that wasraging in the banquet hall. 

At sight of Tarzan, who in his haste had forgotten to recover hisdisguising headdress, a great shout arose. "Blasphemer!" "Defiler ofthe temple!" burst hoarsely from savage throats, and mingling withthese were a few who cried, "Dor-ul-Otho!" evidencing the fact thatthere were among them still some who clung to their belief in hisdivinity. 

To cross the courtyard armed only with a knife, in the face of thisgreat throng of savage fighting men seemed even to the giant ape-man athing impossible of achievement. He must use his wits now and quicklytoo, for they were closing upon him. He might have turned and fled backthrough the corridor but flight now even in the face of dire necessitywould 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-Othoand I come to you with a word from Ja-don, who it is my father's willshall 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 thatMo-sar may be made king--Mo-sar who will be the tool and creature ofLu-don. Follow me. There is no time to lose if you would prevent thetraitors whom Lu-don has organized in the city from entering the palaceby a secret way and overpowering Ja-don and the faithful band within. "

For a moment they hesitated. At last one spoke. "What guarantee havewe, " he demanded, "that it is not you who would betray us and byleading us now away from the fighting in the banquet hall cause thosewho fight at Ja-don's side to be defeated?"

"My life will be your guarantee, " replied Tarzan. "If you find that Ihave not spoken the truth you are sufficient in numbers to executewhatever penalty you choose. But come, there is not time to lose. Already are the lesser priests gathering their warriors in the citybelow, " and without waiting for any further parley he strode directlytoward them in the direction of the gate upon the opposite side of thecourtyard which led toward the principal entrance to the palace ground. 

Slower in wit than he, they were swept away by his greater initiativeand that compelling power which is inherent to all natural leaders. Andso they followed him, the giant ape-man with a dead tail dragging theground behind him--a demi-god where another would have been ridiculous. Out into the city he led them and down toward the unpretentiousbuilding that hid Lu-don's secret passageway from the city to thetemple, and as they rounded the last turn they saw before them agathering of warriors which was being rapidly augmented from alldirections as the traitors of A-lur mobilized at the call of thepriesthood. 

"You spoke the truth, stranger, " said the chief who marched at Tarzan'sside, "for there are the warriors with the priests among them, even asyou told us. "

"And now, " replied the ape-man, "that I have fulfilled my promise Iwill go my way after Mo-sar, who has done me a great wrong. TellJa-don that Jad-ben-Otho is upon his side, nor do you forget to tellhim also that it was the Dor-ul-Otho who thwarted Lu-don's plan toseize the palace. "

"I will not forget, " replied the chief. "Go your way. We are enough tooverpower 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, " repliedthe chief, "the lake that is called Jad-in-lul. "

They were now approaching the band of traitors, who evidently thoughtthat this was another contingent of their own party since they made noeffort either toward defense or retreat. Suddenly the chief raised hisvoice in a savage war cry that was immediately taken up by hisfollowers, and simultaneously, as though the cry were a command, theentire party broke into a mad charge upon the surprised rebels. 

Satisfied with the outcome of his suddenly conceived plan and sure thatit would work to the disadvantage of Lu-don, Tarzan turned into a sidestreet and pointed his steps toward the outskirts of the city in searchof 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, thewoman struggled incessantly to regain her freedom. He tried to compelher to walk, but despite his threats and his abuse she would notvoluntarily take a single step in the direction in which he wished herto go. Instead she threw herself to the ground each time he sought toplace her upon her feet, and so of necessity he was compelled to carryher though at last he tied her hands and gagged her to save himselffrom further lacerations, for the beauty and slenderness of the womanbelied her strength and courage. When he came at last to where his menhad gathered he was glad indeed to turn her over to a couple ofstalwart warriors, but these too were forced to carry her sinceMo-sar's fear of the vengeance of Ko-tan's retainers would brook nodelays. 

And thus they came down out of the hills from which A-lur is carved, tothe meadows that skirt the lower end of Jad-ben-lul, with Jane Claytoncarried between two of Mo-sar's men. At the edge of the lake lay afleet of strong canoes, hollowed from the trunks of trees, their bowsand sterns carved in the semblance of grotesque beasts or birds andvividly colored by some master in that primitive school of art, whichfortunately is not without its devotees today. 

Into the stern of one of these canoes the warriors tossed their captiveat a sign from Mo-sar, who came and stood beside her as the warriorswere finding their places in the canoes and selecting their paddles. 

"Come, Beautiful One, " he said, "let us be friends and you shall not beharmed. You will find Mo-sar a kind master if you do his bidding, " andthinking to make a good impression on her he removed the gag from hermouth and the thongs from her wrists, knowing well that she could notescape surrounded as she was by his warriors, and presently, when theywere out on the lake, she would be as safely imprisoned as though heheld her behind bars. 

And so the fleet moved off to the accompaniment of the gentle splashingof a hundred paddles, to follow the windings of the rivers and lakesthrough which the waters of the Valley of Jad-ben-Otho empty into thegreat morass to the south. The warriors, resting upon one knee, facedthe bow and in the last canoe Mo-sar tiring of his fruitless attemptsto win responses from his sullen captive, squatted in the bottom of thecanoe with his back toward her and resting his head upon the gunwalesought sleep. 

Thus they moved in silence between the verdure-clad banks of the littleriver through which the waters of Jad-ben-lul emptied--now in themoonlight, now in dense shadow where great trees overhung the stream, and at last out upon the waters of another lake, the black shores ofwhich seemed far away under the weird influence of a moonlight night. 

Jane Clayton sat alert in the stern of the last canoe. For months shehad been under constant surveillance, the prisoner first of oneruthless race and now the prisoner of another. Since the long-gone daythat Hauptmann Fritz Schneider and his band of native German troops hadtreacherously wrought the Kaiser's work of rapine and destruction onthe Greystoke bungalow and carried her away to captivity she had notdrawn a free breath. That she had survived unharmed the countlessdangers through which she had passed she attributed solely to thebeneficence of a kind and watchful Providence. 

At first she had been held on the orders of the German High Commandwith a view of her ultimate value as a hostage and during these monthsshe had been subjected to neither hardship nor oppression, but when theGermans had become hard pressed toward the close of their unsuccessfulcampaign in East Africa it had been determined to take her further intothe 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 anypossible military value. 

Bitter indeed were the Germans against that half-savage mate of herswho had cunningly annoyed and harassed them with a fiendishness ofpersistence and ingenuity that had resulted in a noticeable loss inmorale in the sector he had chosen for his operations. They had tocharge against him the lives of certain officers that he haddeliberately taken with his own hands, and one entire section of trenchthat had made possible a disastrous turning movement by the British. Tarzan had out-generaled them at every point. He had met cunning withcunning and cruelty with cruelties until they feared and loathed hisvery name. The cunning trick that they had played upon him indestroying his home, murdering his retainers, and covering theabduction of his wife in such a way as to lead him to believe that shehad been killed, they had regretted a thousand times, for athousandfold had they paid the price for their senseless ruthlessness, and now, unable to wreak their vengeance directly upon him, they hadconceived the idea of inflicting further suffering upon his mate. 

In sending her into the interior to avoid the path of the victoriousBritish, they had chosen as her escort Lieutenant Erich Obergatz whohad been second in command of Schneider's company, and who alone of itsofficers had escaped the consuming vengeance of the ape-man. For a longtime Obergatz had held her in a native village, the chief of which wasstill under the domination of his fear of the ruthless Germanoppressors. While here only hardships and discomforts assailed her, Obergatz himself being held in leash by the orders of his distantsuperior but as time went on the life in the village grew to be averitable hell of cruelties and oppressions practiced by the arrogantPrussian upon the villagers and the members of his native command--fortime hung heavily upon the hands of the lieutenant and with idlenesscombining with the personal discomforts he was compelled to endure, hisnone too agreeable temper found an outlet first in petty interferencewith the chiefs and later in the practice of absolute cruelties uponthem. 

What the self-sufficient German could not see was plain to JaneClayton--that the sympathies of Obergatz' native soldiers lay with thevillagers and that all were so heartily sickened by his abuse that itneeded now but the slightest spark to detonate the mine of revenge andhatred that the pig-headed Hun had been assiduously fabricating beneathhis own person. 

And at last it came, but from an unexpected source in the form of aGerman native deserter from the theater of war. Footsore, weary, andspent, he dragged himself into the village late one afternoon, andbefore Obergatz was even aware of his presence the whole village knewthat the power of Germany in Africa was at an end. It did not take longfor the lieutenant's native soldiers to realize that the authority thatheld them in service no longer existed and that with it had gone thepower to pay them their miserable wage. Or at least, so they reasoned. To them Obergatz no longer represented aught else than a powerless andhated foreigner, and short indeed would have been his shrift had not anative woman who had conceived a doglike affection for Jane Claytonhurried to her with word of the murderous plan, for the fate of theinnocent white woman lay in the balance beside that of the guiltyTeuton. 

"Already they are quarreling as to which one shall possess you, " shetold 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 fightfor him they still fear the white man. And so they will come at nightand kill him while he sleeps. "

Jane thanked the woman and sent her away lest the suspicion of herfellows be aroused against her when they discovered that the two whiteshad learned of their intentions. The woman went at once to the hutoccupied by Obergatz. She had never gone there before and the Germanlooked up in surprise as he saw who his visitor was. 

Briefly she told him what she had heard. At first he was inclined tobluster arrogantly, with a great display of bravado but she silencedhim peremptorily. 

"Such talk is useless, " she said shortly. "You have brought uponyourself the just hatred of these people. Regardless of the truth orfalsity of the report which has been brought to them, they believe init and there is nothing now between you and your Maker other thanflight. We shall both be dead before morning if we are unable to escapefrom the village unseen. If you go to them now with your sillyprotestations of authority you will be dead a little sooner, that isall. "

"You think it is as bad as that?" he said, a noticeable alteration inhis tone and manner. 

"It is precisely as I have told you, " she replied. "They will cometonight and kill you while you sleep. Find me pistols and a rifle andammunition and we will pretend that we go into the jungle to hunt. Thatyou have done often. Perhaps it will arouse suspicion that I accompanyyou but that we must chance. And be sure my dear Herr Lieutenant tobluster and curse and abuse your servants unless they note a change inyour manner and realizing your fear know that you suspect theirintention. If all goes well then we can go out into the jungle to huntand we need not return. 

"But first and now you must swear never to harm me, or otherwise itwould be better that I called the chief and turned you over to him andthen put a bullet into my own head, for unless you swear as I haveasked I were no better alone in the jungle with you than here at themercies of these degraded blacks. "

"I swear, " he replied solemnly, "in the names of my God and my Kaiserthat no harm shall befall you at my hands, Lady Greystoke. "

"Very well, " she said, "we will make this pact to assist each other toreturn to civilization, but let it be understood that there is andnever can be any semblance even of respect for you upon my part. I amdrowning 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 wouldhave been wholly dissipated by the scathing contempt of her tone. Andso Obergatz, without further parley, got pistols and an extra rifle forJane, as well as bandoleers of cartridges. In his usual arrogant anddisagreeable manner he called his servants, telling them that he andthe white kali were going out into the brush to hunt. The beaters wouldgo north as far as the little hill and then circle back to the east andin toward the village. The gun carriers he directed to take the extrapieces and precede himself and Jane slowly toward the east, waiting forthem at the ford about half a mile distant. The blacks responded withgreater alacrity than usual and it was noticeable to both Jane andObergatz that they left the village whispering and laughing. 

"The swine think it is a great joke, " growled Obergatz, "that theafternoon before I die I go out and hunt meat for them. "

As soon as the gun bearers disappeared in the jungle beyond the villagethe two Europeans followed along the same trail, nor was there anyattempt upon the part of Obergatz' native soldiers, or the warriors ofthe chief to detain them, for they too doubtless were more than willingthat the whites should bring them in one more mess of meat before theykilled them. 

A quarter of a mile from the village, Obergatz turned toward the southfrom the trail that led to the ford and hurrying onward the two put asgreat a distance as possible between them and the village before nightfell. They knew from the habits of their erstwhile hosts that there waslittle danger of pursuit by night since the villagers held Numa, thelion, in too great respect to venture needlessly beyond their stockadeduring the hours that the king of beasts was prone to choose forhunting. 

And thus began a seemingly endless sequence of frightful days andhorror-laden nights as the two fought their way toward the south in theface of almost inconceivable hardships, privations, and dangers. Theeast coast was nearer but Obergatz positively refused to chancethrowing himself into the hands of the British by returning to theterritory which they now controlled, insisting instead upon attemptingto make his way through an unknown wilderness to South Africa where, among the Boers, he was convinced he would find willing sympathizerswho would find some way to return him in safety to Germany, and thewoman was perforce compelled to accompany him. 

And so they had crossed the great thorny, waterless steppe and come atlast to the edge of the morass before Pal-ul-don. They had reached thispoint just before the rainy season when the waters of the morass wereat their lowest ebb. At this time a hard crust is baked upon the driedsurface of the marsh and there is only the open water at the center tomaterially impede progress. It is a condition that exists perhaps notmore than a few weeks, or even days at the termination of long periodsof drought, and so the two crossed the otherwise almost impassablebarrier without realizing its latent terrors. Even the open water inthe center chanced to be deserted at the time by its frightful denizenswhich the drought and the receding waters had driven southward towardthe mouth of Pal-ul-don's largest river which carries the waters out ofthe Valley of Jad-ben-Otho. 

Their wanderings carried them across the mountains and into the Valleyof Jad-ben-Otho at the source of one of the larger streams which bearsthe mountain waters down into the valley to empty them into the mainriver just below The Great Lake on whose northern shore lies A-lur. Asthey had come down out of the mountains they had been surprised by aparty of Ho-don hunters. Obergatz had escaped while Jane had beentaken prisoner and brought to A-lur. She had neither seen nor heardaught of the German since that time and she did not know whether he hadperished in this strange land, or succeeded in successfully eluding itssavage denizens and making his way at last into South Africa. 

For her part, she had been incarcerated alternately in the palace andthe temple as either Ko-tan or Lu-don succeeded in wresting hertemporarily 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 knewfrom 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 wastoward her, while almost at her feet Mo-sar's loud snores gave ampleevidence of his unconsciousness to his immediate surroundings. 

The dark shore loomed closer to the south as Jane Clayton, LadyGreystoke, slid quietly over the stern of the canoe into the chillwaters of the lake. She scarcely moved other than to keep her nostrilsabove the surface while the canoe was yet discernible in the last raysof the declining moon. Then she struck out toward the southern shore. 

Alone, unarmed, all but naked, in a country overrun by savage beastsand hostile men, she yet felt for the first time in many months asensation of elation and relief. She was free! What if the next momentbrought death, she knew again, at least a brief instant of absolutefreedom. Her blood tingled to the almost forgotten sensation and it waswith difficulty that she restrained a glad triumphant cry as sheclambered from the quiet waters and stood upon the silent beach. 

Before her loomed a forest, darkly, and from its depths came thosenameless sounds that are a part of the night life of the jungle--therustling of leaves in the wind, the rubbing together of contiguousbranches, the scurrying of a rodent, all magnified by the darkness tosinister and awe-inspiring proportions; the hoot of an owl, the distantscream of a great cat, the barking of wild dogs, attested the presenceof the myriad life she could not see--the savage life, the free life ofwhich she was now a part. And then there came to her, possibly for thefirst time since the giant ape-man had come into her life, a fullerrealization of what the jungle meant to him, for though alone andunprotected from its hideous dangers she yet felt its lure upon her andan exaltation that she had not dared hope to feel again. 

Ah, if that mighty mate of hers were but by her side! What utter joyand bliss would be hers! She longed for no more than this. The paradeof cities, the comforts and luxuries of civilization held forth noallure half as insistent as the glorious freedom of the jungle. 

A lion moaned in the blackness to her right, eliciting deliciousthrills that crept along her spine. The hair at the back of her headseemed to stand erect--yet she was unafraid. The muscles bequeathed herby some primordial ancestor reacted instinctively to the presence of anancient enemy--that was all. The woman moved slowly and deliberatelytoward the wood. Again the lion moaned; this time nearer. She sought alow-hanging branch and finding it swung easily into the friendlyshelter of the tree. The long and perilous journey with Obergatz hadtrained her muscles and her nerves to such unaccustomed habits. Shefound a safe resting place such as Tarzan had taught her was best andthere she curled herself, thirty feet above the ground, for a night'srest. She was cold and uncomfortable and yet she slept, for her heartwas warm with renewed hope and her tired brain had found temporarysurcease 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. Asensation of ease and comfort and happiness pervaded her being. Sherose upon her gently swaying couch and stretched luxuriously, her nakedlimbs and lithe body mottled by the sunlight filtering through thefoliage above combined with the lazy gesture to impart to herappearance something of the leopard. With careful eye she scrutinizedthe ground below and with attentive ear she listened for any warningsound that might suggest the near presence of enemies, either man orbeast. Satisfied at last that there was nothing close of which sheneed have fear she clambered to the ground. She wished to bathe but thelake was too exposed and just a bit too far from the safety of thetrees for her to risk it until she became more familiar with hersurroundings. She wandered aimlessly through the forest searching forfood which she found in abundance. She ate and rested, for she had noobjective as yet. Her freedom was too new to be spoiled by planningsfor the future. The haunts of civilized man seemed to her now as vagueand unattainable as the half-forgotten substance of a dream. If shecould but live on here in peace, waiting, waiting for--him. It was theold hope revived. She knew that he would come some day, if he lived. She had always known that, though recently she had believed that hewould come too late. If he lived! Yes, he would come if he lived, andif he did not live she were as well off here as elsewhere, for thennothing mattered, only to wait for the end as patiently as might be. 

Her wanderings brought her to a crystal brook and there she drank andbathed beneath an overhanging tree that offered her quick asylum in theevent of danger. It was a quiet and beautiful spot and she loved itfrom the first. The bottom of the brook was paved with pretty stonesand bits of glassy obsidian. As she gathered a handful of the pebblesand held them up to look at them she noticed that one of her fingerswas bleeding from a clean, straight cut. She fell to searching for thecause and presently discovered it in one of the fragments of volcanicglass which revealed an edge that was almost razor-like. Jane Claytonwas elated. Here, God-given to her hands, was the first beginning withwhich she might eventually arrive at both weapons and tools--a cuttingedge. Everything was possible to him who possessed it--nothing without. 

She sought until she had collected many of the precious bits ofstone--until the pouch that hung at her right side was almost filled. Then she climbed into the great tree to examine them at leisure. Therewere some that looked like knife blades, and some that could easily befashioned into spear heads, and many smaller ones that nature seemed tohave intended for the tips of savage arrows. 

The spear she would essay first--that would be easiest. There was ahollow 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 slendersapling that grew arrow-straight she hacked and sawed until she couldbreak it off without splitting the wood. It was just the right diameterfor the shaft of a spear--a hunting spear such as her beloved Wazirihad liked best. How often had she watched them fashioning them, andthey had taught her how to use them, too--them and the heavy warspears--laughing and clapping their hands as her proficiency increased. 

She knew the arborescent grasses that yielded the longest and toughestfibers and these she sought and carried to her tree with the spearshaft 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 thefirst time in all these bitter months that song had passed her lips orsuch a smile. 

"I feel, " she sighed, "I almost feel that John is near--my John--myTarzan!"

She cut the spear shaft to the proper length and removed the twigs andbranches and the bark, whittling and scraping at the nubs until thesurface was all smooth and straight. Then she split one end andinserted a spear point, shaping the wood until it fitted perfectly. This done she laid the shaft aside and fell to splitting the thickgrass stems and pounding and twisting them until she had separated andpartially cleaned the fibers. These she took down to the brook andwashed and brought back again and wound tightly around the cleft end ofthe shaft, which she had notched to receive them, and the upper part ofthe 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 atime. Later, she promised herself, she should have others--many ofthem--and they would be spears of which even the greatest of the Wazirispear-men might be proud. 

18

The Lion Pit of Tu-lur

Though Tarzan searched the outskirts of the city until nearly dawn hediscovered nowhere the spoor of his mate. The breeze coming down fromthe mountains brought to his nostrils a diversity of scents but therewas not among them the slightest suggestion of her whom he sought. Thenatural deduction was therefore that she had been taken in some otherdirection. In his search he had many times crossed the fresh tracks ofmany men leading toward the lake and these he concluded had probablybeen made by Jane Clayton's abductors. It had only been to minimize thechance of error by the process of elimination that he had carefullyreconnoitered every other avenue leading from A-lur toward thesoutheast where lay Mo-sar's city of Tu-lur, and now he followed thetrail to the shores of Jad-ben-lul where the party had embarked uponthe quiet waters in their sturdy canoes. 

He found many other craft of the same description moored along theshore and one of these he commandeered for the purpose of pursuit. Itwas daylight when he passed through the lake which lies next belowJad-ben-lul and paddling strongly passed within sight of the very treein which his lost mate lay sleeping. 

Had the gentle wind that caressed the bosom of the lake been blowingfrom a southerly direction the giant ape-man and Jane Clayton wouldhave been reunited then, but an unkind fate had willed otherwise andthe opportunity passed with the passing of his canoe which presentlyhis powerful strokes carried out of sight into the stream at the lowerend of the lake. 

Following the winding river which bore a considerable distance to thenorth before doubling back to empty into the Jad-in-lul, the ape-manmissed a portage that would have saved him hours of paddling. 

It was at the upper end of this portage where Mo-sar and his warriorshad debarked that the chief discovered the absence of his captive. AsMo-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, itwas impossible to conjecture with any degree of accuracy the placewhere she had escaped. The consensus of opinion was, however, that ithad been in the narrow river connecting Jad-ben-lul with the lake nextbelow it, which is called Jad-bal-lul, which freely translated meansthe lake of gold. Mo-sar had been very wroth and having himself beenthe only one at fault he naturally sought with great diligence to fixthe blame upon another. 

He would have returned in search of her had he not feared to meet apursuing company dispatched either by Ja-don or the high priest, bothof whom, he knew, had just grievances against him. He would not evenspare a boatload of his warriors from his own protection to return inquest of the fugitive but hastened onward with as little delay aspossible across the portage and out upon the waters of Jad-in-lul. 

The morning sun was just touching the white domes of Tu-lur whenMo-sar's paddlers brought their canoes against the shore at the city'sedge. Safe once more behind his own walls and protected by manywarriors, the courage of the chief returned sufficiently at least topermit him to dispatch three canoes in search of Jane Clayton, and alsoto 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 thetime of the flight from the northern city had in no way delayedMo-sar's departure, his own safety being of far greater moment thanthat of his son. 

As the three canoes reached the portage on their return journey thewarriors who were dragging them from the water were suddenly startledby the appearance of two priests, carrying a light canoe in thedirection of Jad-in-lul. At first they thought them the advance guardof a larger force of Lu-don's followers, although the correctness ofsuch a theory was belied by their knowledge that priests never acceptedthe risks or perils of a warrior's vocation, nor even fought untildriven into a corner and forced to do so. Secretly the warriors ofPal-ul-don held the emasculated priesthood in contempt and so insteadof immediately taking up the offensive as they would have had the twomen been warriors from A-lur instead of priests, they waited toquestion them. 

At sight of the warriors the priests made the sign of peace and uponbeing asked if they were alone they answered in the affirmative. 

The leader of Mo-sar's warriors permitted them to approach. "What doyou here, " he asked, "in the country of Mo-sar, so far from your owncity?"

"We carry a message from Lu-don, the high priest, to Mo-sar, " explainedone. 

"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 fightingman. 

"We are alone, " the priest assured him. "None in A-lur save Lu-donknows 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 theupper end of the lake at the point where the river from Jad-bal-lulentered it. 

All eyes turned in the direction that he had indicated to see a lonewarrior paddling rapidly into Jad-in-lul, the prow of his canoepointing toward Tu-lur. The warriors and the priests drew into theconcealment of the bushes on either side of the portage. 

"It is the terrible man who called himself the Dor-ul-Otho, " whisperedone of the priests. "I would know that figure among a great multitudeas far as I could see it. "

"You are right, priest, " cried one of the warriors who had seen Tarzanthe day that he had first entered Ko-tan's palace. "It is indeed he whohas been rightly called Tarzan-jad-guru. "

"Hasten priests, " cried the leader of the party. "You are two paddlesin a light canoe. Easily can you reach Tu-lur ahead of him and warnMo-sar of his coming, for he has but only entered the lake. "

For a moment the priests demurred for they had no stomach for anencounter with this terrible man, but the warrior insisted and evenwent so far as to threaten them. Their canoe was taken from them andpushed into the lake and they were all but lifted bodily from theirfeet and put aboard it. Still protesting they were shoved out upon thewater where they were immediately in full view of the lone paddlerabove them. Now there was no alternative. The city of Tu-lur offeredthe only safety and bending to their paddles the two priests sent theircraft swiftly in the direction of the city. 

The warriors withdrew again to the concealment of the foliage. IfTarzan had seen them and should come hither to investigate there werethirty of them against one and naturally they had no fear of theoutcome, but they did not consider it necessary to go out upon the laketo meet him since they had been sent to look for the escaped prisonerand not to intercept the strange warrior, the stories of whose ferocityand prowess doubtless helped them to arrive at their decision toprovoke no uncalled-for quarrel with him. 

If he had seen them he gave no sign, but continued paddling steadilyand strongly toward the city, nor did he increase his speed as the twopriests shot out in full view. The moment the priests' canoe touchedthe shore by the city its occupants leaped out and hurried swiftlytoward the palace gate, casting affrighted glances behind them. Theysought immediate audience with Mo-sar, after warning the warriors onguard that Tarzan was approaching. 

They were conducted at once to the chief, whose court was a smallerreplica of that of the king of A-lur. "We come from Lu-don, the highpriest, " explained the spokesman. "He wishes the friendship of Mo-sar, who has always been his friend. Ja-don is gathering warriors to makehimself king. Throughout the villages of the Ho-don are thousands whowill obey the commands of Lu-don, the high priest. Only with Lu-don'sassistance can Mo-sar become king, and the message from Lu-don is thatif Mo-sar would retain the friendship of Lu-don he must returnimmediately the woman he took from the quarters of the Princess O-lo-a. "

At this juncture a warrior entered. His excitement was evident. "TheDor-ul-Otho has come to Tu-lur and demands to see Mo-sar at once, " hesaid. 

"The Dor-ul-Otho!" exclaimed Mo-sar. 

"That is the message he sent, " replied the warrior, "and indeed he isnot as are the people of Pal-ul-don. He is, we think, the same of whomthe warriors that returned from A-lur today told us and whom some callTarzan-jad-guru and some Dor-ul-Otho. But indeed only the son of godwould dare come thus alone to a strange city, so it must be that hespeaks the truth. "

Mo-sar, his heart filled with terror and indecision, turnedquestioningly toward the priests. 

"Receive him graciously, Mo-sar, " counseled he who had spoken before, his advice prompted by the petty shrewdness of his defective brainwhich, under the added influence of Lu-don's tutorage leaned alwaystoward duplicity. "Receive him graciously and when he is quiteconvinced of your friendship he will be off his guard, and then you maydo with him as you will. But if possible, Mo-sar, and you would win theundying gratitude of Lu-don, the high-priest, save him alive for mymaster. "

Mo-sar nodded understandingly and turning to the warrior commanded thathe conduct the visitor to him. 

"We must not be seen by the creature, " said one of the priests. "Giveus 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 lostto him entirely had it not been for me. I sought to bring her to Tu-lurthat I might save her for him from the clutches of Ja-don, but duringthe night she escaped. Tell Lu-don that I have sent thirty warriors tosearch 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 purposeof their journey. "

"It is as I have told you, " said Mo-sar, "and if they find her, assureyour master that she will be kept unharmed in Tu-lur for him. Also tellhim that I will send my warriors to join with his against Ja-donwhenever he sends word that he wants them. Now go, for Tarzan-jad-guruwill 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 andpermitted to return to A-lur when they will. "

The two priests were conducted from the apartment by the slave througha doorway other than that at which they had entered, and a moment laterTarzan-jad-guru strode into the presence of Mo-sar, ahead of thewarrior whose duty it had been to conduct and announce him. The ape-manmade no sign of greeting or of peace but strode directly toward thechief who, only by the exertion of his utmost powers of will, hid theterror that was in his heart at sight of the giant figure and thescowling face. 

"I am the Dor-ul-Otho, " said the ape-man in level tones that carried tothe mind of Mo-sar a suggestion of cold steel; "I am Dor-ul-Otho, and Icome 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 theeffect of giving him a great moral advantage over Mo-sar and the savagewarriors who stood upon either side of the chief. Truly it seemed tothem that no other than the son of Jad-ben-Otho would dare so heroic anact. Would any mortal warrior act thus boldly, and alone enter thepresence of a powerful chief and, in the midst of a score of warriors, arrogantly demand an accounting? No, it was beyond reason. Mo-sar wasfaltering in his decision to betray the stranger by seemingfriendliness. He even paled to a sudden thought--Jad-ben-Otho kneweverything, even our inmost thoughts. Was it not therefore possiblethat this creature, if after all it should prove true that he was theDor-ul-Otho, might even now be reading the wicked design that thepriests had implanted in the brain of Mo-sar and which he hadentertained so favorably? The chief squirmed and fidgeted upon thebench 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 thechief. "You may search the palace and the temple and the entire citybut you will not find her, for she is not here. "

"Where is she, then?" demanded the ape-man. "You took her from thepalace at A-lur. If she is not here, where is she? Tell me not thatharm has befallen her, " and he took a sudden threatening step towardMo-sar, that sent the chief shrinking back in terror. 

"Wait, " he cried, "if you are indeed the Dor-ul-Otho you will know thatI speak the truth. I took her from the palace of Ko-tan to save her forLu-don, the high priest, lest with Ko-tan dead Ja-don seize her. Butduring the night she escaped from me between here and A-lur, and I havebut just sent three canoes full-manned in search of her. "

Something in the chief's tone and manner assured the ape-man that hespoke in part the truth, and that once again he had braved incalculabledangers and suffered loss of time futilely. 

"What wanted the priests of Lu-don that preceded me here?" demandedTarzan chancing a shrewd guess that the two he had seen paddling sofrantically to avoid a meeting with him had indeed come from the highpriest at A-lur. 

"They came upon an errand similar to yours, " replied Mo-sar; "to demandthe return of the woman whom Lu-don thought I had stolen from him, thuswronging me as deeply, O Dor-ul-Otho, as have you. "

"I would question the priests, " said Tarzan. "Bring them hither. " Hisperemptory and arrogant manner left Mo-sar in doubt as to whether to bemore incensed, or terrified, but ever as is the way with such as he, heconcluded that the first consideration was his own safety. If he couldtransfer the attention and the wrath of this terrible man from himselfto Lu-don's priests it would more than satisfy him and if they shouldconspire to harm him, then Mo-sar would be safe in the eyes ofJad-ben-Otho if it finally developed that the stranger was in realitythe son of god. He felt uncomfortable in Tarzan's presence and thisfact rather accentuated his doubt, for thus indeed would mortal feel inthe 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 theapartment. His hurried steps brought him quickly to the temple, for thepalace grounds of Tu-lur, which also included the temple as in all ofthe Ho-don cities, covered a much smaller area than those of the largercity of A-lur. He found Lu-don's messengers with the high priest of hisown 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 hemay depart in peace, for who knows but that he is indeed theDor-ul-Otho?"

"We know that he is not, " replied Lu-don's emissary. "We have everyproof 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 inhis belief that this creature is not the son of god. If the high priestof A-lur, who is the highest priest of all the high priests ofPal-ul-don is thus so sure that the creature in an impostor as to stakehis life upon his judgment then who are we to give credence to theclaims of this stranger? No, Mo-sar, you need not fear him. He is onlya warrior who may be overcome with the same weapons that subdue yourown fighting men. Were it not for Lu-don's command that he be takenalive I would urge you to set your warriors upon him and slay him, butthe commands of Lu-don are the commands of Jad-ben-Otho himself, andthose we may not disobey. "

But still the remnant of a doubt stirred within the cowardly breast ofMo-sar, urging him to let another take the initiative against thestranger. 

"He is yours then, " he replied, "to do with as you will. I have noquarrel 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 inthe matter. "

The priests turned to him who guided the destinies of the temple atTu-lur. "Have you no plan?" they asked. "High indeed will he stand inthe counsels of Lu-don and in the eyes of Jad-ben-Otho who finds themeans to capture this impostor alive. "

"There is the lion pit, " whispered the high priest. "It is now vacantand what will hold ja and jato will hold this stranger if he is not theDor-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 ofthose from A-lur spoke. "It should not be difficult, " he said, "if weuse the wits that Jad-ben-Otho gave us instead of the worldly muscleswhich were handed down to us from our fathers and our mothers and whichhave not even the power possessed by those of the beasts that run abouton 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 priestsconducted him through the temple. It would arouse in his mind nosuspicion were you to do the same, and let the high priest of Tu-lurinvite him to the temple and gathering all the priests make a greatshow of belief in his kinship to Jad-ben-Otho. And what more naturalthen than that the high priest should wish to show him through thetemple as did Lu-don at A-lur when Ko-tan commanded it, and if bychance he should be led through the lion pit it would be a simplematter for those who bear the torches to extinguish them suddenly andbefore the stranger was aware of what had happened, the stone gatescould be dropped, thus safely securing him. "

"But there are windows in the pit that let in light, " interposed thehigh priest, "and even though the torches were extinguished he couldstill see and might escape before the stone door could be lowered. "

"Send one who will cover the windows tightly with hides, " said thepriest from A-lur. 

"The plan is a good one, " said Mo-sar, seeing an opportunity forentirely eliminating himself from any suspicion of complicity, "for itwill require the presence of no warriors, and thus with only priestsabout him his mind will entertain no suspicion of harm. "

They were interrupted at this point by a messenger from the palace whobrought word that the Dor-ul-Otho was becoming impatient and if thepriests from A-lur were not brought to him at once he would comehimself to the temple and get them. Mo-sar shook his head. He could notconceive of such brazen courage in mortal breast and glad he was thatthe plan evolved for Tarzan's undoing did not necessitate his activeparticipation. 

And so, while Mo-sar left for a secret corner of the palace by aroundabout way, three priests were dispatched to Tarzan and withwhining words that did not entirely deceive him, they acknowledged hiskinship to Jad-ben-Otho and begged him in the name of the high priestto honor the temple with a visit, when the priests from A-lur would bebrought to him and would answer any questions that he put to them. 

Confident that a continuation of his bravado would best serve hispurpose, and also that if suspicion against him should crystallize intoconviction on the part of Mo-sar and his followers that he would be noworse off in the temple than in the palace, the ape-man haughtilyaccepted the invitation of the high priest. 

And so he came into the temple and was received in a manner befittinghis high claims. He questioned the two priests of A-lur from whom heobtained only a repetition of the story that Mo-sar had told him, andthen the high priest invited him to inspect the temple. 

They took him first to the altar court, of which there was only one inTu-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 thewest, and the grizzly fringes upon the headdresses of the priestsattested the fact that the eastern altar was an active force in therites of the temple. Through the chambers and corridors beneath theyled him, and finally, with torch bearers to light their steps, into adamp 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 craftypriests of Tu-lur encompassed their shrewd design. 

The torches were suddenly extinguished. There was a hurried confusionof bare feet moving rapidly across the stone floor. There was a loudcrash as of a heavy weight of stone falling upon stone, and thensurrounding the ape-man naught but the darkness and the silence of thetomb. 

19

Diana of the Jungle

Jane had made her first kill and she was very proud of it. It was not avery formidable animal--only a hare; but it marked an epoch in herexistence. Just as in the dim past the first hunter had shaped thedestinies of mankind so it seemed that this event might shape hers insome new mold. No longer was she dependent upon the wild fruits andvegetables for sustenance. Now she might command meat, the giver of thestrength and endurance she would require successfully to cope with thenecessities of her primitive existence. 

The next step was fire. She might learn to eat raw flesh as had herlord and master; but she shrank from that. The thought even wasrepulsive. She had, however, a plan for fire. She had given the matterthought, but had been too busy to put it into execution so long as firecould be of no immediate use to her. Now it was different--she hadsomething to cook and her mouth watered for the flesh of her kill. Shewould grill it above glowing embers. Jane hastened to her tree. Amongthe treasures she had gathered in the bed of the stream were severalpieces of volcanic glass, clear as crystal. She sought until she hadfound the one in mind, which was convex. Then she hurried to the groundand gathered a little pile of powdered bark that was very dry, and somedead leaves and grasses that had lain long in the hot sun. Near at handshe arranged a supply of dead twigs and branches--small and large. 

Vibrant with suppressed excitement she held the bit of glass above thetinder, moving it slowly until she had focused the sun's rays upon atiny spot. She waited breathlessly. How slow it was! Were her highhopes to be dashed in spite of all her clever planning? No! A thinthread of smoke rose gracefully into the quiet air. Presently thetinder glowed and broke suddenly into flame. Jane clasped her handsbeneath her chin with a little gurgling exclamation of delight. She hadachieved fire!

She piled on twigs and then larger branches and at last dragged a smalllog to the flames and pushed an end of it into the fire which wascrackling merrily. It was the sweetest sound that she had heard formany a month. But she could not wait for the mass of embers that wouldbe required to cook her hare. As quickly as might be she skinned andcleaned her kill, burying the hide and entrails. That she had learnedfrom Tarzan. It served two purposes. One was the necessity for keepinga sanitary camp and the other the obliteration of the scent that mostquickly 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 timepermitted the meat to cook thoroughly all the way through. When it wasdone she scampered high into the safety of her tree to enjoy her mealin quiet and peace. Never, thought Lady Greystoke, had aught moredelicious passed her lips. She patted her spear affectionately. It hadbrought her this toothsome dainty and with it a feeling of greaterconfidence and safety than she had enjoyed since that frightful daythat she and Obergatz had spent their last cartridge. She would neverforget that day--it had seemed one hideous succession of frightfulbeast after frightful beast. They had not been long in this strangecountry, yet they thought that they were hardened to dangers, for dailythey had had encounters with ferocious creatures; but this day--sheshuddered when she thought of it. And with her last cartridge she hadkilled a black and yellow striped lion-thing with great saber teethjust as it was about to spring upon Obergatz who had futilely emptiedhis rifle into it--the last shot--his final cartridge. For another daythey had carried the now useless rifles; but at last they had discardedthem and thrown away the cumbersome bandoleers, as well. How they hadmanaged to survive during the ensuing week she could never quiteunderstand, and then the Ho-don had come upon them and captured her. Obergatz had escaped--she was living it all over again. Doubtless hewas dead unless he had been able to reach this side of the valley whichwas quite evidently less overrun with savage beasts. 

Jane's days were very full ones now, and the daylight hours seemed alltoo short in which to accomplish the many things she had determinedupon, since she had concluded that this spot presented as ideal a placeas she could find to live until she could fashion the weapons sheconsidered necessary for the obtaining of meat and for self-defense. 

She felt that she must have, in addition to a good spear, a knife, andbow and arrows. Possibly when these had been achieved she mightseriously consider an attempt to fight her way to one of civilization'snearest outposts. In the meantime it was necessary to construct somesort of protective shelter in which she might feel a greater sense ofsecurity by night, for she knew that there was a possibility that anynight she might receive a visit from a prowling panther, although shehad as yet seen none upon this side of the valley. Aside from thisdanger she felt comparatively safe in her aerial retreat. 

The cutting of the long poles for her home occupied all of the daylighthours that were not engaged in the search for food. These poles shecarried high into her tree and with them constructed a flooring acrosstwo stout branches binding the poles together and also to the brancheswith fibers from the tough arboraceous grasses that grew in profusionnear the stream. Similarly she built walls and a roof, the latterthatched with many layers of great leaves. The fashioning of the barredwindows and the door were matters of great importance and consuminginterest. The windows, there were two of them, were large and the barspermanently fixed; but the door was small, the opening just largeenough to permit her to pass through easily on hands and knees, whichmade it easier to barricade. She lost count of the days that the housecost her; but time was a cheap commodity--she had more of it than ofanything else. It meant so little to her that she had not even anydesire to keep account of it. How long since she and Obergatz had fledfrom the wrath of the Negro villagers she did not know and she couldonly roughly guess at the seasons. She worked hard for two reasons; onewas to hasten the completion of her little place of refuge, and theother a desire for such physical exhaustion at night that she wouldsleep through those dreaded hours to a new day. As a matter of fact thehouse was finished in less than a week--that is, it was made as safe asit ever would be, though regardless of how long she might occupy it shewould keep on adding touches and refinements here and there. 

Her daily life was filled with her house building and her hunting, towhich was added an occasional spice of excitement contributed by rovinglions. To the woodcraft that she had learned from Tarzan, that masterof the art, was added a considerable store of practical experiencederived from her own past adventures in the jungle and the long monthswith Obergatz, nor was any day now lacking in some added store ofuseful knowledge. To these facts was attributable her apparent immunityfrom harm, since they told her when ja was approaching before he creptclose enough for a successful charge and, too, they kept her close tothose 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. Thefirst night that she spent in her completed house behind barred windowsand barricaded door was one of almost undiluted peace and happiness. The night noises seemed far removed and impersonal and the soughing ofthe wind in the trees was gently soothing. Before, it had carried amournful note and was sinister in that it might hide the approach ofsome real danger. That night she slept indeed. 

She went further afield now in search of food. So far nothing butrodents had fallen to her spear--her ambition was an antelope, sincebeside the flesh it would give her, and the gut for her bow, the hidewould prove invaluable during the colder weather that she knew wouldaccompany the rainy season. She had caught glimpses of these waryanimals and was sure that they always crossed the stream at a certainspot 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 andlisten for aught that might menace her--herself the personification ofa hunted deer. Now she moved silently down upon the chosen spot. Whatluck! A beautiful buck stood drinking in the stream. The woman wormedher way closer. Now she lay upon her belly behind a small bush withinthrowing distance of the quarry. She must rise to her full height andthrow her spear almost in the same instant and she must throw it withgreat force and perfect accuracy. She thrilled with the excitement ofthe minute, yet cool and steady were her swift muscles as she rose andcast her missile. Scarce by the width of a finger did the point strikefrom the spot at which it had been directed. The buck leaped high, landed upon the bank of the stream, and fell dead. Jane Clayton sprangquickly forward toward her kill. 

"Bravo!" A man's voice spoke in English from the shrubbery upon theopposite side of the stream. Jane Clayton halted in hertracks--stunned, almost, by surprise. And then a strange, unkemptfigure 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 itnot?"

He was looking at her naked limbs and her golden breastplates, the loincloth of jato-hide, the harness and ornaments that constitute theapparel of a Ho-don woman--the things that Lu-don had dressed her in ashis passion for her grew. Not Ko-tan's daughter, even, had finertrappings. 

"But why are you here?" Jane insisted. "I had thought you safely amongcivilized men by this time, if you still lived. "

"Gott!" he exclaimed. "I do not know why I continue to live. I haveprayed to die and yet I cling to life. There is no hope. We are doomedto remain in this horrible land until we die. The bog! The frightfulbog! I have searched its shores for a place to cross until I haveentirely circled the hideous country. Easily enough we entered; but therains have come since and now no living man could pass that slough ofslimy mud and hungry reptiles. Have I not tried it! And the beasts thatroam 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. Ihave remained hungry and thirsty in tree tops for days at a time. Ihave fashioned weapons--clubs and spears--and I have learned to usethem. I have slain a lion with my club. So even will a cornered ratfight. And we are no better than rats in this land of stupendousdangers, you and I. But tell me about yourself. If it is surprisingthat I live, how much more so that you still survive. "

Briefly she told him and all the while she was wondering what she mightdo to rid herself of him. She could not conceive of a prolongedexistence with him as her sole companion. Better, a thousand timesbetter, to be alone. Never had her hatred and contempt for him lessenedthrough the long weeks and months of their constant companionship, andnow that he could be of no service in returning her to civilization, she shrank from the thought of seeing him daily. And, too, she fearedhim. Never had she trusted him; but now there was a strange light inhis eye that had not been there when last she saw him. She could notinterpret it--all she knew was that it gave her a feeling ofapprehension--a nameless dread. 

"You lived long then in the city of A-lur?" he said, speaking in thelanguage 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 aproscribed race that dwells in the rock-bound gut through which theprincipal river of the valley empties into the morass. They are calledWaz-ho-don and their village is partly made up of cave dwellings andpartly 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 andrealized that I had no tail and that my hands and feet were not liketheirs they were afraid of me. They thought that I was either god ordemon. Being in a position where I could neither escape them nor defendmyself, I made a bold front and succeeded in impressing them to such anextent 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 theirlanguage I sought to impress them more and more with the idea that Iwas a god, and I succeeded, too, until an old fellow who was somethingof a priest among them, or medicine-man, became jealous of my growingpower. That was the beginning of the end and came near to being the endin fact. He told them that if I was a god I would not bleed if a knifewas stuck into me--if I did bleed it would prove conclusively that Iwas not a god. Without my knowledge he arranged to stage the ordealbefore the whole village upon a certain night--it was upon one of thosenumerous occasions when they eat and drink to Jad-ben-Otho, their pagandeity. Under the influence of their vile liquor they would be ripe forany bloodthirsty scheme the medicine-man might evolve. One of the womentold me about the plan--not with any intent to warn me of danger, butprompted merely by feminine curiosity as to whether or not I wouldbleed if stuck with a dagger. She could not wait, it seemed, for theorderly procedure of the ordeal--she wanted to know at once, and when Icaught her trying to slip a knife into my side and questioned her sheexplained the whole thing with the utmost naivete. The warriorsalready had commenced drinking--it would have been futile to make anysort of appeal either to their intellects or their superstitions. Therewas but one alternative to death and that was flight. I told the womanthat I was very much outraged and offended at this reflection upon mygodhood and that as a mark of my disfavor I should abandon them totheir 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 eyeswould be blasted by the fire surrounding my departure and that she mustleave at once and not return to the spot for at least an hour. I alsoimpressed upon her the fact that should any other approach this part ofthe village within that time not only they, but she as well, wouldburst into flames and be consumed. 

"She was very much impressed and lost no time in leaving, calling backas she departed that if I were indeed gone in an hour she and all thevillage would know that I was no less than Jad-ben-Otho himself, and sothey must thank me, for I can assure you that I was gone in much lessthan an hour, nor have I ventured close to the neighborhood of the cityof Bu-lur since, " and he fell to laughing in harsh, cackling notes thatsent a shiver through the woman's frame. 

As Obergatz talked Jane had recovered her spear from the carcass of theantelope and commenced busying herself with the removal of the hide. The man made no attempt to assist her, but stood by talking andwatching her, the while he continually ran his filthy fingers throughhis matted hair and beard. His face and body were caked with dirt andhe was naked except for a torn greasy hide about his loins. His weaponsconsisted of a club and knife of Waz-don pattern, that he had stolenfrom the city of Bu-lur; but what more greatly concerned the woman thanhis filth or his armament were his cackling laughter and the strangeexpression in his eyes. 

She went on with her work, however, removing those parts of the buckshe wanted, taking only as much meat as she might consume before itspoiled, as she was not sufficiently a true jungle creature to relishit beyond that stage, and then she straightened up and faced the man. 

"Lieutenant Obergatz, " she said, "by a chance of accident we have metagain. Certainly you would not have sought the meeting any more than I. We have nothing in common other than those sentiments which may havebeen engendered by my natural dislike and suspicion of you, one of theauthors of all the misery and sorrow that I have endured for endlessmonths. This little corner of the world is mine by right of discoveryand occupation. Go away and leave me to enjoy here what peace I may. Itis the least that you can do to amend the wrong that you have done meand 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 goingto be good friends. There is no one else in the world but us. No onewill ever know what we do or what becomes of us and now you ask me togo away and live alone in this hellish solitude. " Again he laughed, though neither the muscles of his eyes or his mouth reflected anymirth--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--wetaught the world that at Liege and Louvain. No, no! I will not goaway. I shall stay and protect you. "

"I do not need your protection, " she insisted. "You have already seenthat I can use a spear. "

"Yes, " he said; "but it would not be right to leave you here alone--youare but a woman. No, no; I am an officer of the Kaiser and I cannotabandon 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 tohide her aversion. 

"You do not like me?" he asked. "Ah, well; it is too sad. But some dayyou will love me, " and again the hideous laughter. 

The woman had wrapped the pieces of the buck in the hide and this shenow raised and threw across her shoulder. In her other hand she heldher spear and faced the German. 

"Go!" she commanded. "We have wasted enough words. This is my countryand I shall defend it. If I see you about again I shall kill you. Doyou understand?"

An expression of rage contorted Obergatz' features. He raised his cluband 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 onewill ever know what we do here. Put these two facts together, German, and draw your own conclusions before you take another step in mydirection. "

The man halted and his club-hand dropped to his side. "Come, " he beggedin what he intended as a conciliatory tone. "Let us be friends, LadyGreystoke. We can be of great assistance to each other and I promisenot to harm you. "

"Remember Liege and Louvain, " she reminded him with a sneer. "I amgoing now--be sure that you do not follow me. As far as you can walk ina day from this spot in any direction you may consider the limits of mydomain. 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 manseemed convinced for he but stood sullenly eyeing her as she backedfrom sight beyond a turn in the game trail that crossed the ford wherethey 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 therendezvous at the entrance to the secret passage below the palace gateshad met with disaster. Their first rush had been met with soft wordsfrom the priests. They had been exhorted to defend the faith of theirfathers from blasphemers. Ja-don was painted to them as a defiler oftemples, and the wrath of Jad-ben-Otho was prophesied for those whoembraced his cause. The priests insisted that Lu-don's only wish was toprevent the seizure of the throne by Ja-don until a new king could bechosen according to the laws of the Ho-don. 

The result was that many of the palace warriors joined their fellows ofthe city, and when the priests saw that those whom they could influenceoutnumbered those who remained loyal to the palace, they caused theformer to fall upon the latter with the result that many were killedand only a handful succeeded in reaching the safety of the palacegates, which they quickly barred. 

The priests led their own forces through the secret passageway into thetemple, while some of the loyal ones sought out Ja-don and told him allthat had happened. The fight in the banquet hall had spread over aconsiderable portion of the palace grounds and had at last resulted inthe temporary defeat of those who had opposed Ja-don. This force, counseled by under priests sent for the purpose by Lu-don, hadwithdrawn within the temple grounds so that now the issue was plainlymarked 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 ofO-lo-a to whose safety he had attended at the first opportunity and hehad also learned of Tarzan's part in leading his men to the gatheringof Lu-don's warriors. 

These things had naturally increased the old warrior's formerinclinations of friendliness toward the ape-man, and now he regrettedthat the other had departed from the city. 

The testimony of O-lo-a and Pan-at-lee was such as to strengthenwhatever belief in the godliness of the stranger Ja-don and others ofthe warriors had previously entertained, until presently there appeareda strong tendency upon the part of this palace faction to make theDor-ul-otho an issue of their original quarrel with Lu-don. Whetherthis occurred as the natural sequence to repeated narrations of theape-man's exploits, which lost nothing by repetition, in conjunctionwith Lu-don's enmity toward him, or whether it was the shrewd design ofsome wily old warrior such as Ja-don, who realized the value of addinga religious cause to their temporal one, it were difficult todetermine; but the fact remained that Ja-don's followers developedbitter hatred for the followers of Lu-don because of the high priest'santagonism to Tarzan. 

Unfortunately however Tarzan was not there to inspire the followers ofJa-don with the holy zeal that might have quickly settled the disputein the old chieftain's favor. Instead, he was miles away and becausetheir repeated prayers for his presence were unanswered, the weakerspirits among them commenced to suspect that their cause did not havedivine favor. There was also another and a potent cause for defectionfrom the ranks of Ja-don. It emanated from the city where the friendsand relatives of the palace warriors, who were largely also the friendsand relatives of Lu-don's forces, found the means, urged on by thepriesthood, to circulate throughout the palace pernicious propagandaaimed at Ja-don's cause. 

The result was that Lu-don's power increased while that of Ja-donwaned. Then followed a sortie from the temple which resulted in thedefeat of the palace forces, and though they were able to withdraw indecent order withdraw they did, leaving the palace to Lu-don, who wasnow 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 faithfulfollowers, retreated not only from the palace but from the city ofA-lur as well and fell back upon his own city of Ja-lur. Here heremained, recruiting his forces from the surrounding villages of thenorth which, being far removed from the influence of the priesthood ofA-lur, were enthusiastic partisans in any cause that the old chieftainespoused, since for years he had been revered as their friend andprotector. 

And while these events were transpiring in the north, Tarzan-jad-gurulay in the lion pit at Tu-lur while messengers passed back and forthbetween Mo-sar and Lu-don as the two dickered for the throne ofPal-ul-don. Mo-sar was cunning enough to guess that should an openbreach occur between himself and the high priest he might use hisprisoner to his own advantage, for he had heard whisperings among evenhis own people that suggested that there were those who were more thana trifle inclined to belief in the divinity of the stranger and that hemight indeed be the Dor-ul-Otho. Lu-don wanted Tarzan himself. Hewanted to sacrifice him upon the eastern altar with his own handsbefore a multitude of people, since he was not without evidence thathis own standing and authority had been lessened by the claims of thebold and heroic figure of the stranger. 

The method that the high priest of Tu-lur had employed to trap Tarzanhad left the ape-man in possession of his weapons though there seemedlittle likelihood of their being of any service to him. He also had hispouch, in which were the various odds and ends which are the naturalaccumulation of all receptacles from a gold meshbag to an attic. Therewere bits of obsidian and choice feathers for arrows, some pieces offlint and a couple of steel, an old knife, a heavy bone needle, andstrips of dried gut. Nothing very useful to you or me, perhaps; butnothing useless to the savage life of the ape-man. 

When Tarzan realized the trick that had been so neatly played upon himhe had awaited expectantly the coming of the lion, for though the scentof ja was old he was sure that sooner or later they would let one ofthe beasts in upon him. His first consideration was a thoroughexploration of his prison. He had noticed the hide-covered windows andthese he immediately uncovered, letting in the light, and revealing thefact that though the chamber was far below the level of the templecourts it was yet many feet above the base of the hill from which thetemple was hewn. The windows were so closely barred that he could notsee over the edge of the thick wall in which they were cut to determinewhat lay close in below him. At a little distance were the blue watersof Jad-in-lul and beyond, the verdure-clad farther shore, and beyondthat the mountains. It was a beautiful picture upon which he looked--apicture of peace and harmony and quiet. Nor anywhere a slightestsuggestion of the savage men and beasts that claimed this lovelylandscape as their own. What a paradise! And some day civilized manwould come and--spoil it! Ruthless axes would raze that age-old wood;black, sticky smoke would rise from ugly chimneys against that azuresky; grimy little boats with wheels behind or upon either side wouldchurn the mud from the bottom of Jad-in-lul, turning its blue waters toa dirty brown; hideous piers would project into the lake from squalidbuildings of corrugated iron, doubtless, for of such are the pioneercities of the world. 

But would civilized man come? Tarzan hoped not. For countlessgenerations civilization had ramped about the globe; it had dispatchedits emissaries to the North Pole and the South; it had circledPal-ul-don once, perhaps many times, but it had never touched her. Godgrant that it never would. Perhaps He was saving this little spot to bealways just as He had made it, for the scratching of the Ho-don and theWaz-don upon His rocks had not altered the fair face of Nature. 

Through the windows came sufficient light to reveal the whole interiorto Tarzan. The room was fairly large and there was a door at eachend--a large door for men and a smaller one for lions. Both were closedwith heavy masses of stone that had been lowered in grooves running tothe floor. The two windows were small and closely barred with the firstiron that Tarzan had seen in Pal-ul-don. The bars were let into holesin the casing, and the whole so strongly and neatly contrived thatescape seemed impossible. Yet within a few minutes of his incarcerationTarzan had commenced to undertake his escape. The old knife in hispouch was brought into requisition and slowly the ape-man began toscrape and chip away the stone from about the bars of one of thewindows. It was slow work but Tarzan had the patience of absolutehealth. 

Each day food and water were brought him and slipped quickly beneaththe smaller door which was raised just sufficiently to allow the stonereceptacles to pass in. The prisoner began to believe that he was beingpreserved for something beside lions. However that was immaterial. Ifthey would but hold off for a few more days they might select what fatethey 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 ofTu-lur. He came ostensibly with a fair message for Mo-sar from the highpriest at A-lur. Lu-don had decided that Mo-sar should be king and heinvited Mo-sar to come at once to A-lur and then Pan-sat, havingdelivered the message, asked that he might go to the temple of Tu-lurand pray, and there he sought the high priest of Tu-lur to whom was thetrue message that Lu-don had sent. The two were closeted alone in alittle 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-Othoand Lu-don wishes to kill him, and now, " he leaned even closer to theear of the high priest of Tu-lur, "if you would be high priest at A-lurit is within your power. "

Pan-sat ceased speaking and waited for the other's reply. The highpriest was visibly affected. To be high priest at A-lur! That wasalmost as good as being king of all Pal-ul-don, for great were thepowers of him who conducted the sacrifices upon the altars of A-lur. 

"How?" whispered the high priest. "How may I become high priest atA-lur?"

Again Pan-sat leaned close: "By killing the one and bringing the otherto A-lur, " replied he. Then he rose and departed knowing chat the otherhad swallowed the bait and could be depended upon to do whatever wasrequired to win him the great prize. 

Nor was Pan-sat mistaken other than in one trivial consideration. Thishigh priest would indeed commit murder and treason to attain the highoffice at A-lur; but he had misunderstood which of his victims was tobe killed and which to be delivered to Lu-don. Pan-sat, knowing himselfall the details of the plannings of Lu-don, had made the quite naturalerror of assuming that the ocher was perfectly aware that only bypublicly sacrificing the false Dor-ul-Otho could the high priest atA-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 hiscombining the offices of high priest and king. The high priest atTu-lur thought that he had been commissioned to kill Tarzan and bringMo-sar to A-lur. He also thought that when he had done these things hewould be made high priest at A-lur; but he did not know that alreadythe priest had been selected who was to murder him within the hour thathe arrived at A-lur, nor did he know that a secret grave had beenprepared for him in the floor of a subterranean chamber in the verytemple he dreamed of controlling. 

And so when he should have been arranging the assassination of hischief he was leading a dozen heavily bribed warriors through the darkcorridors beneath the temple to slay Tarzan in the lion pit. Night hadfallen. A single torch guided the footsteps of the murderers as theycrept stealthily upon their evil way, for they knew that they weredoing the thing that their chief did not want done and their guiltyconsciences warned them to stealth. 

In the dark of his cell the ape-man worked at his seemingly endlesschipping and scraping. His keen ears detected the coming of footstepsalong the corridor without--footsteps that approached the larger door. Always before had they come to the smaller door--the footsteps of asingle slave who brought his food. This time there were many more thanone and their coming at this time of night carried a sinistersuggestion. Tarzan continued to work at his scraping and chipping. Heheard them stop beyond the door. All was silence broken only by thescrape, scrape, scrape of the ape-man's tireless blade. 

Those without heard it and listening sought to explain it. Theywhispered in low tones making their plans. Two would raise the doorquickly and the others would rush in and hurl their clubs at theprisoner. They would take no chances, for the stories that hadcirculated in A-lur had been brought to Tu-lur--stories of the greatstrength and wonderful prowess of Tarzan-jad-guru that caused the sweatto stand upon the brows of the warriors, though it was cool in the dampcorridor and they were twelve to one. 

And then the high priest gave the signal--the door shot upward and tenwarriors leaped into the chamber with poised clubs. Three of the heavyweapons flew across the room toward a darker shadow that lay in theshadow of the opposite wall, then the flare of the torch in thepriest's hand lighted the interior and they saw that the thing at whichthey had flung their clubs was a pile of skins torn from the windowsand that except for themselves the chamber was vacant. 

One of them hastened to a window. All but a single bar was gone and tothis was tied one end of a braided rope fashioned from strips cut fromthe leather window hangings. 

To the ordinary dangers of Jane Clayton's existence was now added themenace of Obergatz' knowledge of her whereabouts. The lion and thepanther had given her less cause for anxiety than did the return of theunscrupulous Hun, whom she had always distrusted and feared, and whoserepulsiveness was now immeasurably augmented by his unkempt and filthyappearance, his strange and mirthless laughter, and his unnaturaldemeanor. She feared him now with a new fear as though he had suddenlybecome the personification of some nameless horror. The wholesome, outdoor life that she had been leading had strengthened and rebuilt hernervous system yet it seemed to her as she thought of him that if thisman should ever touch her she should scream, and, possibly, even faint. Again and again during the day following their unexpected meeting thewoman reproached herself for not having killed him as she would ja orjato or any other predatory beast that menaced her existence or hersafety. There was no attempt at self-justification for these sinisterreflections--they needed no justification. The standards by which theacts of such as you or I may be judged could not apply to hers. We haverecourse to the protection of friends and relatives and the civilsoldiery that upholds the majesty of the law and which may be invokedto protect the righteous weak against the unrighteous strong; but JaneClayton comprised within herself not only the righteous weak but allthe 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 dangerousanimal. And so she determined that should he ignore her warning therewould be no temporizing upon the occasion of their next meeting--thesame swift spear that would meet ja's advances would meet his. 

That night her snug little nest perched high in the great tree seemedless the sanctuary that it had before. What might resist the sanguinaryintentions of a prowling panther would prove no great barrier to man, and influenced by this thought she slept less well than before. Theslightest noise that broke the monotonous hum of the nocturnal junglestartled her into alert wakefulness to lie with straining ears in anattempt to classify the origin of the disturbance, and once she wasawakened thus by a sound that seemed to come from something moving inher own tree. She listened intently--scarce breathing. Yes, there itwas again. A scuffing of something soft against the hard bark of thetree. The woman reached out in the darkness and grasped her spear. Nowshe felt a slight sagging of one of the limbs that supported hershelter as though the thing, whatever it was, was slowly raising itsweight to the branch. It came nearer. Now she thought that she coulddetect its breathing. It was at the door. She could hear it fumblingwith the frail barrier. What could it be? It made no sound by which shemight identify it. She raised herself upon her hands and knees andcrept stealthily the little distance to the doorway, her spear clutchedtightly in her hand. Whatever the thing was, it was evidentlyattempting to gain entrance without awakening her. It was just beyondthe pitiful little contraption of slender boughs that she had boundtogether with grasses and called a door--only a few inches lay betweenthe thing and her. Rising to her knees she reached out with her lefthand and felt until she found a place where a crooked branch had leftan opening a couple of inches wide near the center of the barrier. Intothis she inserted the point of her spear. The thing must have heard hermove within for suddenly it abandoned its efforts for stealth and toreangrily at the obstacle. At the same moment Jane thrust her spearforward with all her strength. She felt it enter flesh. There was ascream and a curse from without, followed by the crashing of a bodythrough 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 nofurther sound. Had she, then, killed him? She prayed so--with all herheart she prayed it. To be freed from the menace of this loathsomecreature were relief indeed. During all the balance of the night shelay there awake, listening. Below her, she imagined, she could see thedead man with his hideous face bathed in the cold light of themoon--lying there upon his back staring up at her. 

She prayed that ja might come and drag it away, but all during theremainder of the night she heard never another sound above the drowsyhum of the jungle. She was glad that he was dead, but she dreaded thegruesome ordeal that awaited her on the morrow, for she must bury thething that had been Erich Obergatz and live on there above the shallowgrave of the man she had slain. 

She reproached herself for her weakness, repeating over and over thatshe had killed in self-defense, that her act was justified; but she wasstill a woman of today, and strong upon her were the iron mandates ofthe social order from which she had sprung, its interdictions and itssuperstitions. 

At last came the tardy dawn. Slowly the sun topped the distantmountains beyond Jad-in-lul. And yet she hesitated to loosen thefastenings of her door and look out upon the thing below. But it mustbe done. She steeled herself and untied the rawhide thong that securedthe barrier. She looked down and only the grass and the flowers lookedup at her. She came from her shelter and examined the ground upon theopposite side of the tree--there was no dead man there, nor anywhere asfar as she could see. Slowly she descended, keeping a wary eye and analert ear ready for the first intimation of danger. 

At the foot of the tree was a pool of blood and a little trail ofcrimson drops upon the grass, leading away parallel with the shore ofJad-ben-lul. Then she had not slain him! She was vaguely aware of apeculiar, double sensation of relief and regret. Now she would bealways in doubt. He might return; but at least she would not have tolive above his grave. 

She thought some of following the bloody spoor on the chance that hemight have crawled away to die later, but she gave up the idea for fearthat she might find him dead nearby, or, worse yet badly wounded. Whatthen could she do? She could not finish him with her spear--no, sheknew that she could not do that, nor could she bring him back and nursehim, nor could she leave him there to die of hunger or of thirst, or tobecome the prey of some prowling beast. It were better then not tosearch for him for fear that she might find him. 

That day was one of nervous starting to every sudden sound. The daybefore 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 thereaction. Tomorrow it might be different, but something told her thatnever again would her little shelter and the patch of forest and junglethat she called her own be the same. There would hang over them alwaysthe menace of this man. No longer would she pass restful nights ofdeep slumber. The peace of her little world was shattered forever. 

That night she made her door doubly secure with additional thongs ofrawhide cut from the pelt of the buck she had slain the day that shemet Obergatz. She was very tired for she had lost much sleep the nightbefore; but for a long time she lay with wide-open eyes staring intothe darkness. What saw she there? Visions that brought tears to thosebrave and beautiful eyes--visions of a rambling bungalow that had beenhome to her and that was no more, destroyed by the same cruel forcethat haunted her even now in this remote, uncharted corner of theearth; visions of a strong man whose protecting arm would never pressher close again; visions of a tall, straight son who looked at heradoringly out of brave, smiling eyes that were like his father's. Always the vision of the crude simple bungalow rather than of thestately 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 shehad come to love them best, too. 

At last she slept, the sleep of utter exhaustion. How long it lastedshe did not know; but suddenly she was wide awake and once again sheheard the scuffing of a body against the bark of her tree and again thelimb bent to a heavy weight. He had returned! She went cold, tremblingas with ague. Was it he, or, O God! had she killed him then and wasthis--? She tried to drive the horrid thought from her mind, for thisway, she knew, lay madness. 

And once again she crept to the door, for the thing was outside just asit had been last night. Her hands trembled as she placed the point ofher 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 hisbody to pass had been removed as Tarzan heard the warriors whisperingbeyond the stone door of his prison. Long since had the rope of hidebeen braided. To secure one end to the remaining bar that he had leftfor this purpose was the work of but a moment, and while the warriorswhispered without, the brown body of the ape-man slipped through thesmall aperture and disappeared below the sill. 

Tarzan's escape from the cell left him still within the walled areathat comprised the palace and temple grounds and buildings. He hadreconnoitered as best he might from the window after he had removedenough bars to permit him to pass his head through the opening, so thathe knew what lay immediately before him--a winding and usually desertedalleyway leading in the direction of the outer gate that opened fromthe palace grounds into the city. 

The darkness would facilitate his escape. He might even pass out of thepalace and the city without detection. If he could elude the guard atthe palace gate the rest would be easy. He strode along confidently, exhibiting no fear of detection, for he reasoned that thus would hedisarm suspicion. In the darkness he easily could pass for a Ho-don andin truth, though he passed several after leaving the deserted alley, noone accosted or detained him, and thus he came at last to the guard ofa half-dozen warriors before the palace gate. These he attempted topass in the same unconcerned fashion and he might have succeeded had itnot been for one who came running rapidly from the direction of thetemple shouting: "Let no one pass the gates! The prisoner has escapedfrom the pal-ul-ja!"

Instantly a warrior barred his way and simultaneously the fellowrecognized him. "Xot tor!" he exclaimed: "Here he is now. Fall uponhim! Fall upon him! Back! Back before I kill you. "

The others came forward. It cannot be said that they rushed forward. Ifit was their wish to fall upon him there was a noticeable lack ofenthusiasm other than that which directed their efforts to persuadesomeone else to fall upon him. His fame as a fighter had been too longa topic of conversation for the good of the morale of Mo-sar'swarriors. It were safer to stand at a distance and hurl their clubs andthis they did, but the ape-man had learned something of the use of thisweapon since he had arrived in Pal-ul-don. And as he learned great hadgrown his respect for this most primitive of arms. He had come torealize that the black savages he had known had never appreciated thepossibilities of their knob sticks, nor had he, and he had discovered, too, why the Pal-ul-donians had turned their ancient spears intoplowshares and pinned their faith to the heavy-ended club alone. Indeadly execution it was far more effective than a spear and itanswered, too, every purpose of a shield, combining the two in one andthus reducing the burden of the warrior. Thrown as they throw it, after the manner of the hammer-throwers of the Olympian games, anordinary shield would prove more a weakness than a strength while onethat would be strong enough to prove a protection would be too heavy tocarry. Only another club, deftly wielded to deflect the course of anenemy missile, is in any way effective against these formidable weaponsand, too, the war club of Pal-ul-don can be thrown with accuracy a fargreater distance than any spear. 

And now was put to the test that which Tarzan had learned from Om-atand Ta-den. His eyes and his muscles trained by a lifetime of necessitymoved with the rapidity of light and his brain functioned with anuncanny celerity that suggested nothing less than prescience, and thesethings more than compensated for his lack of experience with the warclub he handled so dexterously. Weapon after weapon he warded off andalways he moved with a single idea in mind--to place himself withinreach of one of his antagonists. But they were wary for they fearedthis strange creature to whom the superstitious fears of many of themattributed the miraculous powers of deity. They managed to keep betweenTarzan and the gateway and all the time they bawled lustily forreinforcements. Should these come before he had made his escape theape-man realized that the odds against him would be unsurmountable, andso he redoubled his efforts to carry out his design. 

Following their usual tactics two or three of the warriors were alwayscircling behind him collecting the thrown clubs when Tarzan's attentionwas directed elsewhere. He himself retrieved several of them which hehurled with such deadly effect as to dispose of two of his antagonists, but now he heard the approach of hurrying warriors, the patter of theirbare feet upon the stone pavement and then the savage cries which wereto 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 dodgedhe rushed in and seized him, at the same time casting his second clubat another of his opponents. The Ho-don with whom he grappled reachedinstantly for his knife but the ape-man grasped his wrist. There was asudden twist, the snapping of a bone and an agonized scream, then thewarrior was lifted bodily from his feet and held as a shield betweenhis fellows and the fugitive as the latter backed through the gateway. Beside Tarzan stood the single torch that lighted the entrance to thepalace grounds. The warriors were advancing to the succor of theirfellow when the ape-man raised his captive high above his head andflung him full in the face of the foremost attacker. The fellow wentdown and two directly behind him sprawled headlong over their companionas the ape-man seized the torch and cast it back into the palacegrounds to be extinguished as it struck the bodies of those who led thecharging reinforcements. 

In the ensuing darkness Tarzan disappeared in the streets of Tu-lurbeyond the palace gate. For a time he was aware of sounds of pursuitbut the fact that they trailed away and died in the direction ofJad-in-lul informed him that they were searching in the wrongdirection, for he had turned south out of Tu-lur purposely to throwthem off his track. Beyond the outskirts of the city he turned directlytoward the northwest, in which direction lay A-lur. 

In his path he knew lay Jad-bal-lul, the shore of which he wascompelled to skirt, and there would be a river to cross at the lowerend of the great lake upon the shores of which lay A-lur. What otherobstacles lay in his way he did not know but he believed that he couldmake better time on foot than by attempting to steal a canoe and forcehis way up stream with a single paddle. It was his intention to put asmuch distance as possible between himself and Tu-lur before he sleptfor he was sure that Mo-sar would not lightly accept his loss, but thatwith the coming of day, or possibly even before, he would dispatchwarriors in search of him. 

A mile or two from the city he entered a forest and here at last hefelt such a measure of safety as he never knew in open spaces or incities. The forest and the jungle were his birthright. No creature thatwent upon the ground upon four feet, or climbed among the trees, orcrawled upon its belly had any advantage over the ape-man in his nativeheath. As myrrh and frankincense were the dank odors of rottingvegetation in the nostrils of the great Tarmangani. He squared hisbroad shoulders and lifting his head filled his lungs with the air thathe loved best. The heavy fragrance of tropical blooms, the commingledodors of the myriad-scented life of the jungle went to his head with apleasurable intoxication far more potent than aught contained in theoldest vintages of civilization. 

He took to the trees now, not from necessity but from pure love of thewild freedom that had been denied him so long. Though it was dark andthe forest strange yet he moved with a surety and ease that bespokemore a strange uncanny sense than wondrous skill. He heard ja moaningsomewhere ahead and an owl hooted mournfully to the right of him--longfamiliar sounds that imparted to him no sense of loneliness as theymight to you or to me, but on the contrary one of companionship forthey betokened the presence of his fellows of the jungle, and whetherfriend 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 notmeet above it so he was forced to descend to the ground and wadethrough the water and upon the opposite shore he stopped as thoughsuddenly his godlike figure had been transmuted from flesh to marble. Only his dilating nostrils bespoke his pulsing vitality. For a longmoment he stood there thus and then swiftly, but with a caution andsilence that were inherent in him he moved forward again, but now hiswhole attitude bespoke a new urge. There was a definite and masterfulpurpose in every movement of those steel muscles rolling softly beneaththe smooth brown hide. He moved now toward a certain goal that quiteevidently filled him with far greater enthusiasm than had the possibleevent of his return to A-lur. 

And so he came at last to the foot of a great tree and there he stoppedand looked up above him among the foliage where the dim outlines of aroughly rectangular bulk loomed darkly. There was a choking sensationin Tarzan's throat as he raised himself gently into the branches. Itwas as though his heart were swelling either to a great happiness or agreat fear. 

Before the rude shelter built among the branches he paused listening. From within there came to his sensitive nostrils the same delicatearoma that had arrested his eager attention at the little stream a mileaway. 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 breaththat was half gasp and half sigh, and the sound of a body falling tothe floor. Hurriedly Tarzan sought to release the thongs which held thedoor but they were fastened from the inside, and at last, impatientwith further delay, he seized the frail barrier in one giant hand andwith a single effort tore it completely away. And then he entered tofind the seemingly lifeless body of his mate stretched upon the floor. 

He gathered her in his arms; her heart beat; she still breathed, andpresently he realized that she had but swooned. 

When Jane Clayton regained consciousness it was to find herself heldtightly in two strong arms, her head pillowed upon the broad shoulderwhere so often before her fears had been soothed and her sorrowscomforted. 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. "Butthere is something in my throat, " he said haltingly, "that makes ithard for me to speak. "

She smiled and snuggled closer to him. "God has been good to us, Tarzanof the Apes, " she said. 

For some time neither spoke. It was enough that they were reunited andthat each knew that the other was alive and safe. But at last theyfound their voices and when the sun rose they were still talking, somuch had each to tell the other; so many questions there were to beasked and answered. 

"And Jack, " she asked, "where is he?"

"I do not know, " replied Tarzan. "The last I heard of him he was on theArgonne Front. "

"Ah, then our happiness is not quite complete, " she said, a little noteof sadness creeping into her voice. 

"No, " he replied, "but the same is true in countless other Englishhomes today, and pride is learning to take the place of happiness inthese. "

She shook her head, "I want my boy, " she said. 

"And I too, " replied Tarzan, "and we may have him yet. He was safe andunwounded the last word I had. And now, " he said, "we must plan uponour return. Would you like to rebuild the bungalow and gather togetherthe remnants of our Waziri or would you rather return to London?"

"Only to find Jack, " she said. "I dream always of the bungalow andnever of the city, but John, we can only dream, for Obergatz told methat he had circled this whole country and found no place where hemight cross the morass. "

"I am not Obergatz, " Tarzan reminded her, smiling. "We will rest todayand 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 wentforth upon their journey across the Valley of Jad-ben-Otho, and aheadof them were fierce men and savage beasts, and the lofty mountains ofPal-ul-don; and beyond the mountains the reptiles and the morass, andbeyond that the arid, thorn-covered steppe, and other savage beasts andmen and weary, hostile miles of untracked wilderness between them andthe 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 himcrashing to the ground beneath her tree. He made no sound after the onepiercing scream that had acknowledged the severity of his wound. He wasquiet because of a great fear that had crept into his warped brain thatthe devil woman would pursue and slay him. And so he crawled away likesome filthy beast of prey, seeking a thicket where he might lie downand hide. 

He thought that he was going to die, but he did not, and with thecoming of the new day he discovered that his wound was superficial. Therough obsidian-shod spear had entered the muscles of his side beneathhis right arm inflicting a painful, but not a fatal wound. With therealization of this fact came a renewed desire to put as much distanceas possible between himself and Jane Clayton. And so he moved on, stillgoing upon all fours because of a persistent hallucination that in thisway he might escape observation. Yet though he fled his mind stillrevolved muddily about a central desire--while he fled from her hestill planned to pursue her, and to his lust of possession was added adesire for revenge. She should pay for the suffering she had inflictedupon him. She should pay for rebuffing him, but for some reason whichhe did not try to explain to himself he would crawl away and hide. Hewould come back though. He would come back and when he had finishedwith her, he would take that smooth throat in his two hands and crushthe life from her. 

He kept repeating this over and over to himself and then he fell tolaughing out loud, the cackling, hideous laughter that had terrifiedJane. Presently he realized his knees were bleeding and that they hurthim. He looked cautiously behind. No one was in sight. He listened. Hecould hear no indications of pursuit and so he rose to his feet andcontinued upon his way a sorry sight--covered with filth and blood, hisbeard and hair tangled and matted and filled with burrs and dried mudand unspeakable filth. He kept no track of time. He ate fruits andberries and tubers that he dug from the earth with his fingers. Hefollowed the shore of the lake and the river that he might be nearwater, 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 untila wide river stopped his progress. Across the blue water a white cityglimmered in the sun. He looked at it for a long time, blinking hiseyes like an owl. Slowly a recollection forced itself through histangled brain. This was A-lur, the City of Light. The association ofideas recalled Bu-lur and the Waz-ho-don. They had called himJad-ben-Otho. He commenced to laugh aloud and stood up very straightand strode back and forth along the shore. "I am Jad-ben-Otho, " hecried, "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 loudlyacross toward A-lur. "I am Jad-ben-Otho!" he screamed. "Come hitherslaves and take your god to his temple. " But the distance was great andthey did not hear him and no one came, and the feeble mind wasdistracted by other things--a bird flying in the air, a school ofminnows swimming around his feet. He lunged at them trying to catchthem, and falling upon his hands and knees he crawled through the watergrasping futilely at the elusive fish. 

Presently it occurred to him that he was a sea lion and he forgot thefish and lay down and tried to swim by wriggling his feet in the wateras though they were a tail. The hardships, the privations, the terrors, and for the past few weeks the lack of proper nourishment had reducedErich Obergatz to little more than a gibbering idiot. 

A water snake swam out upon the surface of the lake and the man pursuedit, crawling upon his hands and knees. The snake swam toward the shorejust within the mouth of the river where tall reeds grew thickly andObergatz followed, making grunting noises like a pig. He lost the snakewithin the reeds but he came upon something else--a canoe hidden thereclose to the bank. He examined it with cackling laughter. There weretwo paddles within it which he took and threw out into the current ofthe river. He watched them for a while and then he sat down beside thecanoe and commenced to splash his hands up and down upon the water. Heliked to hear the noise and see the little splashes of spray. He rubbedhis left forearm with his right palm and the dirt came off and left awhite spot that drew his attention. He rubbed again upon the nowthoroughly soaked blood and grime that covered his body. He was notattempting to wash himself; he was merely amused by the strangeresults. "I am turning white, " he cried. His glance wandered from hisbody now that the grime and blood were all removed and caught again thewhite city shimmering beneath the hot sun. 

"A-lur--City of Light!" he shrieked and that reminded him again ofTu-lur and by the same process of associated ideas that had beforesuggested it, he recalled that the Waz-ho-don had thought himJad-ben-Otho. 

"I am Jad-ben-Otho!" he screamed and then his eyes fell again upon thecanoe. A new idea came and persisted. He looked down at himself, examining his body, and seeing the filthy loin cloth, now water soakedand more bedraggled than before, he tore it from him and flung it intothe lake. "Gods do not wear dirty rags, " he said aloud. "They do notwear anything but wreaths and garlands of flowers and I am a god--I amJad-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 hadsoftened 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 hadtaken hold of his scattered wits and concentrated them upon a singlepurpose, but he was still a maniac. The only difference being that hewas now a maniac with a fixed intent. He went out on the shore andgathered flowers and ferns and wove them in his beard and hair--blazingblooms of different colors--green ferns that trailed about his ears orrose bravely upward like the plumes in a lady's hat. 

When he was satisfied that his appearance would impress the most casualobserver with his evident deity he returned to the canoe, pushed itfrom shore and jumped in. The impetus carried it into the river'scurrent and the current bore it out upon the lake. The naked man stooderect in the center of the little craft, his arms folded upon hischest. 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 lakethe wind caught him and his craft and carried them bravely forward. Sometimes he drifted with his back toward A-lur and sometimes with hisface toward it, and at intervals he shrieked his message and hiscommands. He was still in the middle of the lake when someonediscovered him from the palace wall, and as he drew nearer, a crowd ofwarriors and women and children were congregated there watching him andalong the temple walls were many priests and among them Lu-don, thehigh priest. When the boat had drifted close enough for them todistinguish the bizarre figure standing in it and for them to catch themeaning of his words Lu-don's cunning eyes narrowed. The high priesthad learned of the escape of Tarzan and he feared that should he joinJa-don's forces, as seemed likely, he would attract many recruits whomight 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 thecurrent that ran close to shore here and carried toward the river thatemptied the waters of Jad-ben-lul into Jad-bal-lul. The under priestswere looking toward Lu-don for instructions. 

"Fetch him hither!" he commanded. "If he is Jad-ben-Otho I shall knowhim. "

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 atA-lur. Lu-don looked closely at the naked man with the fantasticheaddress. 

"Where did you come from?" he asked. 

"I am Jad-ben-Otho, " cried the German. "I came from heaven. Where is myhigh priest?"

"I am the high priest, " replied Lu-don. 

Obergatz clapped his hands. "Have my feet bathed and food brought tome, " he commanded. 

Lu-don's eyes narrowed to mere slits of crafty cunning. He bowed lowuntil his forehead touched the feet of the stranger. Before the eyes ofmany priests, and warriors from the palace he did it. 

"Ho, slaves, " he cried, rising; "fetch water and food for the GreatGod, " and thus the high priest acknowledged before his people thegodhood of Lieutenant Erich Obergatz, nor was it long before the storyran like wildfire through the palace and out into the city and beyondthat 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 thecause of Lu-don, the high priest. Mo-sar lost no time in placinghimself at the disposal of Lu-don, nor did he mention aught about hisclaims to the throne. It was Mo-sar's opinion that he might considerhimself fortunate were he allowed to remain in peaceful occupation ofhis 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 tohim to come to A-lur with all his warriors, for it was rumored thatJa-don was raising a great army in the north and might soon march uponthe City of Light. 

Obergatz thoroughly enjoyed being a god. Plenty of food and peace ofmind and rest partially brought back to him the reason that had been sorapidly 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 hewas not a god. Slaves were put at his disposal and these he orderedabout in godly fashion. The same portion of his naturally cruel mindmet upon common ground the mind of Lu-don, so that the two seemedalways in accord. The high priest saw in the stranger a mighty forcewherewith to hold forever his power over all Pal-ul-don and thus thefuture of Obergatz was assured so long as he cared to play god toLu-don's high priest. 

A throne was erected in the main temple court before the eastern altarwhere Jad-ben-Otho might sit in person and behold the sacrifices thatwere offered up to him there each day at sunset. So much did thecruel, half-crazed mind enjoy these spectacles that at times he eveninsisted upon wielding the sacrificial knife himself and upon suchoccasions the priests and the people fell upon their faces in awe ofthe dread deity. 

If Obergatz taught them not to love their god more he taught them tofear him as they never had before, so that the name of Jad-ben-Otho waswhispered in the city and little children were frightened intoobedience by the mere mention of it. Lu-don, through his priests andslaves, circulated the information that Jad-ben-Otho had commanded allhis faithful followers to flock to the standard of the high priest atA-lur and that all others were cursed, especially Ja-don and the baseimpostor who had posed as the Dor-ul-Otho. The curse was to take theform of early death following terrible suffering, and Lu-don caused itto be published abroad that the name of any warrior who complained of apain should be brought to him, for such might be deemed to be undersuspicion, since the first effects of the curse would result in slightpains attacking the unholy. He counseled those who felt pains to lookcarefully to their loyalty. The result was remarkable andimmediate--half a nation without a pain, and recruits pouring intoA-lur to offer their services to Lu-don while secretly hoping that thelittle pains they had felt in arm or leg or belly would not recur inaggravated form. 

22

A Journey on a Gryf

Tarzan and Jane skirted the shore of Jad-bal-lul and crossed the riverat the head of the lake. They moved in leisurely fashion with an eye tocomfort and safety, for the ape-man, now that he had found his mate, was determined to court no chance that might again separate them, ordelay or prevent their escape from Pal-ul-don. How they were to recrossthe morass was a matter of little concern to him as yet--it would betime enough to consider that matter when it became of more immediatemoment. Their hours were filled with the happiness and content ofreunion after long separation; they had much to talk of, for each hadpassed through many trials and vicissitudes and strange adventures, andno important hour might go unaccounted for since last they met. 

It was Tarzan's intention to choose a way above A-lur and the scatteredHo-don villages below it, passing about midway between them and themountains, thus avoiding, in so far as possible, both the Ho-don andWaz-don, for in this area lay the neutral territory that wasuninhabited by either. Thus he would travel northwest until oppositethe Kor-ul-ja where he planned to stop to pay his respects to Om-at andgive the gund word of Pan-at-lee, and a plan Tarzan had for insuringher safe return to her people. It was upon the third day of theirjourney and they had almost reached the river that passes through A-lurwhen Jane suddenly clutched Tarzan's arm and pointed ahead toward theedge of a forest that they were approaching. Beneath the shadows of thetrees 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 placethat we could possibly have found. There is not a large tree within aquarter of a mile, other than those among which he stands. Come, weshall have to go back, Jane; I cannot risk it with you along. The bestwe 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 bigas a battleship. "

The ape-man laughed. "Not quite, though I'll admit he looks quite asformidable as one when he charges. "

They were moving away slowly so as not to attract the attention of thebeast. 

"I believe we're going to make it, " whispered the woman, her voicetense with suppressed excitement. A low rumble rolled like distantthunder 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 wecan do. Give me your spear, and--don't run. The only hope we have liesin that little brain more than in us. If I can control it--well, letus see. "

The beast had emerged from the forest and was looking about through hisweak eyes, evidently in search of them. Tarzan raised his voice in theweird notes of the Tor-o-don's cry, "Whee-oo! Whee-oo! Whee-oo!" For amoment the great beast stood motionless, his attention riveted by thecall. The ape-man advanced straight toward him, Jane Clayton at hiselbow. "Whee-oo!" he cried again peremptorily. A low rumble rolledfrom the gryf's cavernous chest in answer to the call, and the beastmoved slowly toward them. 

"Fine!" exclaimed Tarzan. "The odds are in our favor now. You can keepyour 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 epochuntil they stood close in the shadow of a mighty shoulder. "Whee-oo!"shouted Tarzan and struck the hideous snout with the shaft of thespear. The vicious side snap that did not reach its mark--thatevidently was not intended to reach its mark--was the hoped-for answer. 

"Come, " said Tarzan, and taking Jane by the hand he led her aroundbehind the monster and up the broad tail to the great, horned back. "Now will we ride in the state that our forebears knew, before whichthe 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. Steepembankments and rivers proved no slightest obstacle to the ponderouscreature. 

"A prehistoric tank, this, " Jane assured him, and laughing and talkingthey continued on their way. Once they came unexpectedly upon a dozenHo-don warriors as the gryf emerged suddenly into a small clearing. Thefellows 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 andat their shouts the gryf issued his hideous, challenging bellow andcharged them. The warriors fled in all directions while Tarzanbelabored the beast across the snout with his spear in an effort tocontrol him, and at last he succeeded, just as the gryf was almost uponone 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 singlebackward glance that showed a face white with terror, disappeared inthe jungle he had been seeking to reach. 

The ape-man was elated. He had doubted that he could control the beastshould it take it into its head to charge a victim and had intendedabandoning it before they reached the Kor-ul-ja. Now he altered hisplans--they would ride to the very village of Om-at upon the gryf, andthe Kor-ul-ja would have food for conversation for many generations tocome. Nor was it the theatric instinct of the ape-man alone that gavefavor to this plan. The element of Jane's safety entered into thematter for he knew that she would be safe from man and beast alike solong 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 thenatural gait of the gryf is far from rapid, a handful of terrifiedwarriors came panting into A-lur, spreading a weird story of theDor-ul-Otho, only none dared call him the Dor-ul-Otho aloud. Insteadthey spoke of him as Tarzan-jad-guru and they told of meeting himmounted upon a mighty gryf beside the beautiful stranger woman whomKo-tan would have made queen of Pal-ul-don. This story was brought toLu-don who caused the warriors to be hailed to his presence, when hequestioned them closely until finally he was convinced that they spokethe truth and when they had told him the direction in which the twowere traveling, Lu-don guessed that they were on their way to Ja-lur tojoin 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 intoconsultation and for long the two sat in close conference. When theyarose a plan had been developed. Pan-sat went immediately to his ownquarters where he removed the headdress and trappings of a priest todon in their stead the harness and weapons of a warrior. Then hereturned to Lu-don. 

"Good!" cried the latter, when he saw him. "Not even yourfellow-priests or the slaves that wait upon you daily would know younow. Lose no time, Pan-sat, for all depends upon the speed with whichyou strike and--remember! Kill the man if you can; but in any eventbring the woman to me here, alive. You understand?"

"Yes, master, " replied the priest, and so it was that a lone warriorset out from A-lur and made his way northwest in the direction ofJa-lur. 

The gorge next above Kor-ul-ja is uninhabited and here the wily Ja-donhad chosen to mobilize his army for its descent upon A-lur. Twoconsiderations influenced him--one being the fact that could he keephis plans a secret from the enemy he would have the advantage ofdelivering a surprise attack upon the forces of Lu-don from a directionthat they would not expect attack, and in the meantime he would be ableto keep his men from the gossip of the cities where strange tales werealready circulating relative to the coming of Jad-ben-Otho in person toaid the high priest in his war against Ja-don. It took stout hearts andloyal ones to ignore the implied threats of divine vengeance that thesetales suggested. Already there had been desertions and the cause ofJa-don seemed tottering to destruction. 

Such was the state of affairs when a sentry posted on the knoll in themouth of the gorge sent word that he had observed in the valley belowwhat appeared at a distance to be nothing less than two people mountedupon 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 theriver 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 falseinformation to go uninvestigated and so he determined to visit theknoll himself and learn precisely what it was that the sentry hadobserved through the distorting spectacles of fear. He had scarce takenhis place beside the man ere the fellow touched his arm and pointed. "They are closer now, " he whispered, "you can see them plainly. " Andsure enough, not a quarter of a mile away Ja-don saw that which in hislong experience in Pal-ul-don he had never before seen--two humansriding 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 thanthey appeared, and then he recognized the man and rose to his feet witha loud cry. 

"It is he!" he shouted to those about him. "It is the Dor-ul-Othohimself. "

The gryf and his riders heard the shout though not the words. Theformer bellowed terrifically and started in the direction of the knoll, and Ja-don, followed by a few of his more intrepid warriors, ran tomeet him. Tarzan, loath to enter an unnecessary quarrel, tried to turnthe animal, but as the beast was far from tractable it always took afew minutes to force the will of its master upon it; and so the twoparties were quite close before the ape-man succeeded in stopping themad charge of his furious mount. 

Ja-don and his warriors, however, had come to the realization that thisbellowing creature was bearing down upon them with evil intent and theyhad assumed the better part of valor and taken to trees, accordingly. It was beneath these trees that Tarzan finally stopped the gryf. Ja-doncalled down to him. 

"We are friends, " he cried. "I am Ja-don, Chief of Ja-lur. I and mywarriors lay our foreheads upon the feet of Dor-ul-Otho and pray thathe 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 wouldbe king of Pal-ul-don long before this. "

"No, " replied Ja-don. "The people fear the high priest and now that hehas in the temple one whom he claims to be Jad-ben-Otho many of mywarriors are afraid. If they but knew that the Dor-ul-Otho had returnedand that he had blessed the cause of Ja-don I am sure that victorywould 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 fairtreatment. I have a debt to pay to Ja-don and an account to settle withLu-don, not alone on my own behalf, but principally upon that of mymate. I will go with you Ja-don to mete to Lu-don the punishment hedeserves. Tell me, chief, how may the Dor-ul-Otho best serve hisfather's people?"

"By coming with me to Ja-lur and the villages between, " replied Ja-donquickly, "that the people may see that it is indeed the Dor-ul-Otho andthat he smiles upon the cause of Ja-don. "

"You think that they will believe in me more now than before?" askedthe ape-man. 

"Who will dare doubt that he who rides upon the great gryf is less thana god?" returned the old chief. 

"And if I go with you to the battle at A-lur, " asked Tarzan, "can youassure 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 trustedwarriors to protect them. Say that you will come, O Dor-ul-Otho, and mycup of happiness will be full, for even now Ta-den, my son, marchestoward A-lur with a force from the northwest and if we can attack, withthe Dor-ul-Otho at our head, from the northeast our arms should bevictorious. "

"It shall be as you wish, Ja-don, " replied the ape-man; "but first youmust have meat fetched for my gryf. "

"There are many carcasses in the camp above, " replied Ja-don, "for mymen 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-manslipped from the back of his fierce charger and fed him with his ownhand. "See that there is always plenty of flesh for him, " he said toJa-don, for he guessed that his mastery might be short-lived should thevicious beast become over-hungry. 

It was morning before they could leave for Ja-lur, but Tarzan found thegryf lying where he had left him the night before beside the carcassesof two antelope and a lion; but now there was nothing but the gryf. 

"The paleontologists say that he was herbivorous, " said Tarzan as heand Jane approached the beast. 

The journey to Ja-lur was made through the scattered villages whereJa-don hoped to arouse a keener enthusiasm for his cause. A party ofwarriors preceded Tarzan that the people might properly be prepared, not only for the sight of the gryf but to receive the Dor-ul-Otho asbecame his high station. The results were all that Ja-don could havehoped and in no village through which they passed was there one whodoubted the deity of the ape-man. 

As they approached Ja-lur a strange warrior joined them, one whom noneof Ja-don's following knew. He said he came from one of the villages tothe south and that he had been treated unfairly by one of Lu-don'schiefs. For this reason he had deserted the cause of the high priestand come north in the hope of finding a home in Ja-lur. As everyaddition to his forces was welcome to the old chief he permitted thestranger 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 gryfwhile they remained in the city. It was with difficulty that Tarzan hadprevented the savage beast from attacking all who came near it whenthey had first entered the camp of Ja-don in the uninhabited gorge nextto the Kor-ul-ja, but during the march to Ja-lur the creature hadseemed to become accustomed to the presence of the Ho-don. The latter, however, gave him no cause for annoyance since they kept as far fromhim as possible and when he passed through the streets of the city hewas viewed from the safety of lofty windows and roofs. Howevertractable he appeared to have become there would have been noenthusiastic seconding of a suggestion to turn him loose within thecity. It was finally suggested that he be turned into a walledenclosure within the palace grounds and this was done, Tarzan drivinghim in after Jane had dismounted. More meat was thrown to him and hewas left to his own devices, the awe-struck inhabitants of the palacenot 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 andtouched her forehead to his feet. Pan-at-lee was there with her and shetoo seemed happy to see Tarzan-jad-guru again. When they found thatJane was his mate they looked with almost equal awe upon her, sinceeven the most skeptical of the warriors of Ja-don were now convincedthat they were entertaining a god and a goddess within the city ofJa-lur, and that with the assistance of the power of these two, thecause of Ja-don would soon be victorious and the old Lion-man set uponthe throne of Pal-ul-don. 

From O-lo-a Tarzan learned that Ta-den had returned and that they wereto be united in marriage with the weird rites of their religion and inaccordance with the custom of their people as soon as Ta-den came homefrom the battle that was to be fought at A-lur. 

The recruits were now gathering at the city and it was decided that thenext day Ja-don and Tarzan would return to the main body in the hiddencamp and immediately under cover of night the attack should be made inforce upon Lu-don's forces at A-lur. Word of this was sent to Ta-denwhere 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 Janebehind in Ja-don's palace at Ja-lur, but O-lo-a and her women were withher and there were many warriors to guard them, so Tarzan bid his mategood-bye with no feelings of apprehension as to her safety, and againseated upon the gryf made his way out of the city with Ja-don and hiswarriors. 

At the mouth of the gorge the ape-man abandoned his huge mount since ithad served its purpose and could be of no further value to him in theirattack upon A-lur, which was to be made just before dawn the followingday when, as he could not have been seen by the enemy, the effect ofhis entry to the city upon the gryf would have been totally lost. Acouple of sharp blows with the spear sent the big animal rumbling andgrowling in the direction of the Kor-ul-gryf nor was the ape-man sorryto see it depart since he had never known at what instant its shorttemper and insatiable appetite for flesh might turn it upon some of hiscompanions. 

Immediately upon their arrival at the gorge the march on A-lur wascommenced. 

23

Taken Alive

As night fell a warrior from the palace of Ja-lur slipped into thetemple grounds. He made his way to where the lesser priests werequartered. His presence aroused no suspicion as it was not unusual forwarriors to have business within the temple. He came at last to achamber where several priests were congregated after the evening meal. The rites and ceremonies of the sacrifice had been concluded and therewas nothing more of a religious nature to make call upon their timeuntil the rites at sunrise. 

Now the warrior knew, as in fact nearly all Pal-ul-don knew, that therewas no strong bond between the temple and the palace at Ja-lur and thatJa-don only suffered the presence of the priests and permitted theircruel and abhorrent acts because of the fact that these things had beenthe custom of the Ho-don of Pal-ul-don for countless ages, and rashindeed must have been the man who would have attempted to interferewith the priests or their ceremonies. That Ja-don never entered thetemple was well known, and that his high priest never entered thepalace, but the people came to the temple with their votive offeringsand the sacrifices were made night and morning as in every other templein Pal-ul-don. 

The warriors knew these things, knew them better perhaps than a simplewarrior should have known them. And so it was here in the temple thathe looked for the aid that he sought in the carrying out of whateverdesign he had. 

As he entered the apartment where the priests were he greeted themafter the manner which was customary in Pal-ul-don, but at the sametime he made a sign with his finger that might have attracted littleattention or scarcely been noticed at all by one who knew not itsmeaning. That there were those within the room who noticed it andinterpreted it was quickly apparent, through the fact that two of thepriests rose and came close to him as he stood just within the doorwayand each of them, as he came, returned the signal that the warrior hadmade. 

The three talked for but a moment and then the warrior turned and leftthe apartment. A little later one of the priests who had talked withhim left also and shortly after that the other. 

In the corridor they found the warrior waiting, and led him to a littlechamber which opened upon a smaller corridor just beyond where itjoined the larger. Here the three remained in whispered conversationfor some little time and then the warrior returned to the palace andthe two priests to their quarters. 

The apartments of the women of the palace at Ja-lur are all upon thesame side of a long, straight corridor. Each has a single door leadinginto the corridor and at the opposite end several windows overlooking agarden. It was in one of these rooms that Jane slept alone. At each endof the corridor was a sentinel, the main body of the guard beingstationed 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 wildorgies as had resounded through the palace of the king at A-lur. Ja-lurwas a quiet city by comparison with the capital, yet there was always aguard kept at every entrance to the chambers of Ja-don and hisimmediate family as well as at the gate leading into the temple andthat which opened upon the city. 

These guards, however, were small, consisting usually of not more thanfive or six warriors, one of whom remained awake while the othersslept. Such were the conditions then when two warriors presentedthemselves, one at either end of the corridor, to the sentries whowatched over the safety of Jane Clayton and the Princess O-lo-a, andeach of the newcomers repeated to the sentinels the stereotyped wordswhich announced that they were relieved and these others sent to watchin their stead. Never is a warrior loath to be relieved of sentry duty. Where, under different circumstances he might ask numerous questions heis now too well satisfied to escape the monotonies of that universallyhated duty. And so these two men accepted their relief without questionand hastened away to their pallets. 

And then a third warrior entered the corridor and all of the newcomerscame together before the door of the ape-man's slumbering mate. And onewas the strange warrior who had met Ja-don and Tarzan outside the cityof Ja-lur as they had approached it the previous day; and he was thesame warrior who had entered the temple a short hour before, but thefaces of his fellows were unfamiliar, even to one another, since it isseldom that a priest removes his hideous headdress in the presence evenof his associates. 

Silently they lifted the hangings that hid the interior of the roomfrom the view of those who passed through the corridor, and stealthilyslunk within. Upon a pile of furs in a far corner lay the sleeping formof Lady Greystoke. The bare feet of the intruders gave forth no soundas they crossed the stone floor toward her. A ray of moonlight enteringthrough a window near her couch shone full upon her, revealing thebeautiful contours of an arm and shoulder in cameo-distinctness againstthe dark furry pelt beneath which she slept, and the perfect profilethat was turned toward the skulking three. 

But neither the beauty nor the helplessness of the sleeper aroused suchsentiments of passion or pity as might stir in the breasts of normalmen. To the three priests she was but a lump of clay, nor could theyconceive aught of that passion which had aroused men to intrigue and tomurder for possession of this beautiful American girl, and which evennow was influencing the destiny of undiscovered Pal-ul-don. 

Upon the floor of the chamber were numerous pelts and as the leader ofthe trio came close to the sleeping woman he stooped and gathered upone of the smaller of these. Standing close to her head he held the rugoutspread above her face. "Now, " he whispered and simultaneously hethrew the rug over the woman's head and his two fellows leaped uponher, seizing her arms and pinioning her body while their leader stifledher cries with the furry pelt. Quickly and silently they bound herwrists and gagged her and during the brief time that their workrequired there was no sound that might have been heard by occupants ofthe adjoining apartments. 

Jerking her roughly to her feet they forced her toward a window but sherefused to walk, throwing herself instead upon the floor. They werevery angry and would have resorted to cruelties to compel her obediencebut dared not, since the wrath of Lu-don might fall heavily uponwhoever mutilated his fair prize. 

And so they were forced to lift and carry her bodily. Nor was the taskany sinecure since the captive kicked and struggled as best she might, making their labor as arduous as possible. But finally they succeededin getting her through the window and into the garden beyond where oneof the two priests from the Ja-lur temple directed their steps toward asmall barred gateway in the south wall of the enclosure. 

Immediately beyond this a flight of stone stairs led downward towardthe river and at the foot of the stairs were moored several canoes. Pan-sat had indeed been fortunate in enlisting aid from those who knewthe temple and the palace so well, or otherwise he might never haveescaped from Ja-lur with his captive. Placing the woman in the bottomof a light canoe Pan-sat entered it and took up the paddle. Hiscompanions unfastened the moorings and shoved the little craft out intothe current of the stream. Their traitorous work completed they turnedand retraced their steps toward the temple, while Pan-sat, paddlingstrongly with the current, moved rapidly down the river that wouldcarry him to the Jad-ben-lul and A-lur. 

The moon had set and the eastern horizon still gave no hint ofapproaching day as a long file of warriors wound stealthily through thedarkness into the city of A-lur. Their plans were all laid and thereseemed no likelihood of their miscarriage. A messenger had beendispatched to Ta-den whose forces lay northwest of the city. Tarzan, with a small contingent, was to enter the temple through the secretpassageway, the location of which he alone knew, while Ja-don, with thegreater proportion of the warriors, was to attack the palace gates. 

The ape-man, leading his little band, moved stealthily through thewinding alleys of A-lur, arriving undetected at the building which hidthe entrance to the secret passageway. This spot being best protectedby the fact that its existence was unknown to others than the priests, was unguarded. To facilitate the passage of his little company throughthe narrow winding, uneven tunnel, Tarzan lighted a torch which hadbeen brought for the purpose and preceding his warriors led the waytoward the temple. 

That he could accomplish much once he reached the inner chambers of thetemple with his little band of picked warriors the ape-man wasconfident since an attack at this point would bring confusion andconsternation to the easily overpowered priests, and permit Tarzan toattack the palace forces in the rear at the same time that Ja-donengaged them at the palace gates, while Ta-den and his forces swarmedthe northern walls. Great value had been placed by Ja-don on the moraleffect of the Dor-ul-Otho's mysterious appearance in the heart of thetemple and he had urged Tarzan to take every advantage of the oldchieftain's belief that many of Lu-don's warriors still wavered intheir allegiance between the high priest and the Dor-ul-Otho, beingheld to the former more by the fear which he engendered in the breastsof all his followers than by any love or loyalty they might feel towardhim. 

There is a Pal-ul-donian proverb setting forth a truth similar to thatcontained in the old Scotch adage that "The best laid schemes o' miceand men gang aft a-gley. " Freely translated it might read, "He whofollows the right trail sometimes reaches the wrong destination, " andsuch apparently was the fate that lay in the footsteps of the greatchieftain of the north and his godlike ally. 

Tarzan, more familiar with the windings of the corridors than hisfellows and having the advantage of the full light of the torch, whichat best was but a dim and flickering affair, was some distance ahead ofthe others, and in his keen anxiety to close with the enemy he gave toolittle thought to those who were to support him. Nor is this strange, since from childhood the ape-man had been accustomed to fight thebattles of life single-handed so that it had become habitual for him todepend solely upon his own cunning and prowess. 

And so it was that he came into the upper corridor from which openedthe chambers of Lu-don and the lesser priests far in advance of hiswarriors, and as he turned into this corridor with its dim cressetsflickering somberly, he saw another enter it from a corridor beforehim--a warrior half carrying, half dragging the figure of a woman. Instantly Tarzan recognized the gagged and fettered captive whom he hadthought safe in the palace of Ja-don at Ja-lur. 

The warrior with the woman had seen Tarzan at the same instant that thelatter had discovered him. He heard the low beastlike growl that brokefrom the ape-man's lips as he sprang forward to wrest his mate from hercaptor and wreak upon him the vengeance that was in the Tarmangani'ssavage heart. Across the corridor from Pan-sat was the entrance to asmaller chamber. Into this he leaped carrying the woman with him. 

Close behind came Tarzan of the Apes. He had cast aside his torch anddrawn the long knife that had been his father's. With the impetuosityof a charging bull he rushed into the chamber in pursuit of Pan-sat tofind himself, when the hangings dropped behind him, in utter darkness. Almost immediately there was a crash of stone on stone before himfollowed a moment later by a similar crash behind. No other evidencewas necessary to announce to the ape-man that he was again a prisonerin Lu-don's temple. 

He stood perfectly still where he had halted at the first sound of thedescending stone door. Not again would he easily be precipitated to thegryf pit, or some similar danger, as had occurred when Lu-don hadtrapped him in the Temple of the Gryf. As he stood there his eyesslowly grew accustomed to the darkness and he became aware that a dimlight was entering the chamber through some opening, though it wasseveral minutes before he discovered its source. In the roof of thechamber he finally discerned a small aperture, possibly three feet indiameter and it was through this that what was really only a lesserdarkness rather than a light was penetrating its Stygian blackness ofthe chamber in which he was imprisoned. 

Since the doors had fallen he had heard no sound though his keen earswere constantly strained in an effort to discover a clue to thedirection taken by the abductor of his mate. Presently he could discernthe outlines of his prison cell. It was a small room, not over fifteenfeet across. On hands and knees, with the utmost caution, he examinedthe entire area of the floor. In the exact center, directly beneath theopening 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 faras the floor was concerned. The walls next received his attention. There were only two openings. One the doorway through which he hadentered, and upon the opposite side that through which the warrior hadborne Jane Clayton. These were both closed by the slabs of stone whichthe fleeing warrior had released as he departed. 

Lu-don, the high priest, licked his thin lips and rubbed his bony whitehands together in gratification as Pan-sat bore Jane Clayton into hispresence and laid her on the floor of the chamber before him. 

"Good, Pan-sat!" he exclaimed. "You shall be well rewarded for thisservice. Now, if we but had the false Dor-ul-Otho in our power allPal-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 himperhaps. Tell me, my wonderful Pan-sat, tell me quickly. My breast isbursting with a desire to know. "

"I have taken him alive, Lu-don, my master, " replied Pan-sat. "He is inthe little chamber that the ancients built to trap those who were toopowerful 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 andthe temple. "

"I speak the truth, master, " replied the priest, "there are warriors inthe corridor approaching this very chamber, and they come from thedirection of the secret passage which leads hither from the city. "

"It may be even as he says, " exclaimed Pan-sat. "It was from thatdirection that Tarzan-jad-guru was coming when I discovered and trappedhim. He was leading his warriors to the very holy of holies. "

Lu-don ran quickly to the doorway and looked out into the corridor. Ata glance he saw that the fears of the frightened priest were wellfounded. A dozen warriors were moving along the corridor toward him butthey seemed confused and far from sure of themselves. The high priestguessed that deprived of the leadership of Tarzan they were littlebetter than lost in the unknown mazes of the subterranean precincts ofthe temple. 

Stepping back into the apartment he seized a leathern thong thatdepended from the ceiling. He pulled upon it sharply and through thetemple boomed the deep tones of a metal gong. Five times the clangingnotes rang through the corridors, then he turned toward the twopriests. "Bring the woman and follow me, " he directed. 

Crossing the chamber he passed through a small doorway, the otherslifting Jane Clayton from the floor and following him. Through anarrow corridor and up a flight of steps they went, turning to rightand left and doubling back through a maze of winding passageways whichterminated in a spiral staircase that gave forth at the surface of theground within the largest of the inner altar courts close beside theeastern altar. 

From all directions now, in the corridors below and the grounds above, came the sound of hurrying footsteps. The five strokes of the greatgong had summoned the faithful to the defense of Lu-don in his privatechambers. The priests who knew the way led the less familiar warriorsto the spot and presently those who had accompanied Tarzan foundthemselves not only leaderless but facing a vastly superior force. Theywere brave men but under the circumstances they were helpless and sothey fell back the way they had come, and when they reached the narrowconfines of the smaller passageway their safety was assured since onlyone foeman could attack them at a time. But their plans were frustratedand possibly also their entire cause lost, so heavily had Ja-don bankedupon the success of their venture. 

With the clanging of the temple gong Ja-don assumed that Tarzan and hisparty had struck their initial blow and so he launched his attack uponthe palace gate. To the ears of Lu-don in the inner temple court camethe savage war cries that announced the beginning of the battle. Leaving Pan-sat and the other priest to guard the woman he hastenedtoward the palace personally to direct his force and as he passedthrough the temple grounds he dispatched a messenger to learn theoutcome of the fight in the corridors below, and other messengers tospread the news among his followers that the false Dor-ul-Otho was aprisoner in the temple. 

As the din of battle rose above A-lur, Lieutenant Erich Obergatz turnedupon his bed of soft hides and sat up. He rubbed his eyes and lookedabout 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 andtouched her forehead to the floor. "It must be that the enemy havecome, O Jad-ben-Otho. " She spoke soothingly for she had reason to knowthe terrors of the mad frenzy into which trivial things sometimes threwthe Great God. 

A priest burst suddenly through the hangings of the doorway and fallingupon his hands and knees rubbed his forehead against the stoneflagging. "O Jad-ben-Otho, " he cried, "the warriors of Ja-don haveattacked the palace and the temple. Even now they are fighting in thecorridors near the quarters of Lu-don, and the high priest begs thatyou come to the palace and encourage your faithful warriors by yourpresence. "

Obergatz sprang to his feet. "I am Jad-ben-Otho, " he screamed. "Withlightning I will blast the blasphemers who dare attack the holy city ofA-lur. "

For a moment he rushed aimlessly and madly about the room, while thepriest and the slave remained upon hands and knees with their foreheadsagainst the floor. 

"Come, " cried Obergatz, planting a vicious kick in the side of theslave girl. "Come! Would you wait here all day while the forces ofdarkness overwhelm the City of Light?"

Thoroughly frightened as were all those who were forced to serve theGreat God, the two arose and followed Obergatz towards the palace. 

Above the shouting of the warriors rose constantly the cries of thetemple priests: "Jad-ben-Otho is here and the false Dor-ul-Otho is aprisoner in the temple. " The persistent cries reached even to the earsof 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 beyondthe palace and at the summit of this he kept a warrior stationed tolook toward the northern wall of the palace where Ta-den was to makehis attack; but as the minutes wore into hours no sign of the otherforce appeared, and now in the full light of the new sun upon the roofof one of the palace buildings appeared Lu-don, the high priest, Mo-sar, the pretender, and the strange, naked figure of a man, intowhose long hair and beard were woven fresh ferns and flowers. Behindthem were banked a score of lesser priests who chanted in unison: "Thisis Jad-ben-Otho. Lay down your arms and surrender. " This they repeatedagain and again, alternating it with the cry: "The false Dor-ul-Otho isa prisoner. "

In one of those lulls which are common in battles between forces armedwith weapons that require great physical effort in their use, a voicesuddenly arose from among the followers of Ja-don: "Show us theDor-ul-Otho. We do not believe you!"

"Wait, " cried Lu-don. "If I do not produce him before the sun has movedhis own width, the gates of the palace shall be opened to you and mywarriors 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 hereproached himself for the stupidity which had led him into this trap, and yet was it stupidity? What else might he have done other than rushto the succor of his mate? He wondered how they had stolen her fromJa-lur, and then suddenly there flashed to his mind the features of thewarrior 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 thenit came to him. He was the strange warrior who had joined Ja-don'sforces outside of Ja-lur the day that Tarzan had ridden upon the greatgryf from the uninhabited gorge next to the Kor-ul-ja down to thecapital 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 andvery faintly the rush of feet, and shouts. He guessed that his warriorshad been discovered and a fight was in progress. He fretted and chafedat the chance that had denied him participation in it. 

Again and again he tried the doors of his prison and the trap in thecenter of the floor, but none would give to his utmost endeavors. Hestrained his eyes toward the aperture above but he could see nothing, and then he continued his futile pacing to and fro like a caged lionbehind its bars. 

The minutes dragged slowly into hours. Faintly sounds came to him as ofshouting men at a great distance. The battle was in progress. Hewondered if Ja-don would be victorious and should he be, would hisfriends ever discover him in this hidden chamber in the bowels of thehill? He doubted it. 

And now as he looked again toward the aperture in the roof thereappeared to be something depending through its center. He came closerand strained his eyes to see. Yes, there was something there. Itappeared to be a rope. Tarzan wondered if it had been there all thetime. It must have, he reasoned, since he had heard no sound from aboveand it was so dark within the chamber that he might easily haveoverlooked 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 hereleased it and backed away, still watching it, as you have seen ananimal do after investigating some unfamiliar object, one of the littletraits that differentiated Tarzan from other men, accentuating hissimilarity to the savage beasts of his native jungle. Again and againhe touched and tested the braided leather rope, and always he listenedfor any warning sound from above. 

He was very careful not to step upon the trap at any time and whenfinally he bore all his weight upon the rope and took his feet from thefloor he spread them wide apart so that if he fell he would fallastride the trap. The rope held him. There was no sound from above, norany from the trap below. 

Slowly and cautiously he drew himself upward, hand over hand. Nearerand nearer the roof he came. In a moment his eyes would be above thelevel of the floor above. Already his extended arms projected into theupper chamber and then something closed suddenly upon both hisforearms, pinioning them tightly and leaving him hanging in mid-airunable to advance or retreat. 

Immediately a light appeared in the room above him and presently he sawthe hideous mask of a priest peering down upon him. In the priest'shands were leathern thongs and these he tied about Tarzan's wrists andforearms until they were completely bound together from his elbowsalmost to his fingers. Behind this priest Tarzan presently saw othersand soon several lay hold of him and pulled him up through the hole. 

Almost instantly his eyes were above the level of the floor heunderstood how they had trapped him. Two nooses had lain encircling theaperture into the cell below. A priest had waited at the end of each ofthese ropes and at opposite sides of the chamber. When he had climbedto a sufficient height upon the rope that had dangled into his prisonbelow and his arms were well within the encircling snares the twopriests had pulled quickly upon their ropes and he had been made aneasy captive without any opportunity of defending himself or inflictinginjury upon his captors. 

And now they bound his legs from his ankles to his knees and pickinghim up carried him from the chamber. No word did they speak to him asthey bore him upward to the temple yard. 

The din of battle had risen again as Ja-don had urged his forces torenewed efforts. Ta-den had not arrived and the forces of the oldchieftain were revealing in their lessened efforts their increasingdemoralization, and then it was that the priests carriedTarzan-jad-guru to the roof of the palace and exhibited him in thesight of the warriors of both factions. 

"Here is the false Dor-ul-Otho, " screamed Lu-don. 

Obergatz, his shattered mentality having never grasped fully themeaning of much that was going on about him, cast a casual glance atthe bound and helpless prisoner, and as his eyes fell upon the noblefeatures of the ape-man, they went wide in astonishment and fright, andhis pasty countenance turned a sickly blue. Once before had he seenTarzan of the Apes, but many times had he dreamed that he had seen himand always was the giant ape-man avenging the wrongs that had beencommitted upon him and his by the ruthless hands of the three Germanofficers who had led their native troops in the ravishing of Tarzan'speaceful home. Hauptmann Fritz Schneider had paid the penalty of hisneedless cruelties; Unter-lieutenant von Goss, too, had paid; and nowObergatz, the last of the three, stood face to face with the Nemesisthat had trailed him through his dreams for long, weary months. That hewas bound and helpless lessened not the German's terror--he seemed notto realize that the man could not harm him. He but stood cringing andjibbering and Lu-don saw and was filled with apprehension that othersmight see and seeing realize that this bewhiskered idiot was nogod--that of the two Tarzan-jad-guru was the more godly figure. Alreadythe high priest noted that some of the palace warriors standing nearwere 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 terrorand 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 ofthe German Army, " he said in excellent German. "You are the last of thethree I have sought so long and in your putrid heart you know that Godhas not brought us together at last for nothing. "

The mind of Lieutenant Obergatz was functioning clearly and rapidly atlast. He too saw the questioning looks upon the faces of some of thosearound them. He saw the opposing warriors of both cities standing bythe gate inactive, every eye turned upon him, and the trussed figure ofthe ape-man. He realized that indecision now meant ruin, and ruin, death. He raised his voice in the sharp barking tones of a Prussianofficer, so unlike his former maniacal screaming as to quickly arousethe attention of every ear and to cause an expression of puzzlement tocross the crafty face of Lu-don. 

"I am Jad-ben-Otho, " snapped Obergatz. "This creature is no son ofmine. As a lesson to all blasphemers he shall die upon the altar at thehand of the god he has profaned. Take him from my sight, and when thesun stands at zenith let the faithful congregate in the temple courtand witness the wrath of this divine hand, " and he held aloft his rightpalm. 

Those who had brought Tarzan took him away then as Obergatz haddirected, 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 downmy lightnings to blast you where you stand. Those who do as I bid shallbe forgiven. Come! Throw down your arms. "

The warriors of Ja-don moved uneasily, casting looks of appeal at theirleader and of apprehension toward the figures upon the palace roof. Ja-don sprang forward among his men. "Let the cowards and knaves throwdown their arms and enter the palace, " he cried, "but never will Ja-donand the warriors of Ja-lur touch their foreheads to the feet of Lu-donand his false god. Make your decision now, " he cried to his followers. 

A few threw down their arms and with sheepish looks passed through thegateway into the palace, and with the example of these to bolster theircourage others joined in the desertion from the old chieftain of thenorth, but staunch and true around him stood the majority of hiswarriors and when the last weakling had left their ranks Ja-don voicedthe savage cry with which he led his followers to the attack, and onceagain the battle raged about the palace gate. 

At times Ja-don's forces pushed the defenders far into the palaceground and then the wave of combat would recede and pass out into thecity again. And still Ta-den and the reinforcements did not come. Itwas drawing close to noon. Lu-don had mustered every available man thatwas 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 citythrough the secret passageway and there they fell upon Ja-don's forcesfrom the rear while those at the gate hammered them in front. 

Attacked on two sides by a vastly superior force the result wasinevitable and finally the last remnant of Ja-don's little armycapitulated and the old chief was taken a prisoner before Lu-don. "Takehim to the temple court, " cried the high priest. "He shall witness thedeath of his accomplice and perhaps Jad-ben-Otho shall pass a similarsentence upon him as well. "

The inner temple court was packed with humanity. At either end of thewestern altar stood Tarzan and his mate, bound and helpless. The soundsof battle had ceased and presently the ape-man saw Ja-don being ledinto the inner court, his wrists bound tightly together before him. Tarzan turned his eyes toward Jane and nodded in the direction ofJa-don. "This looks like the end, " he said quietly. "He was our lastand only hope. "

"We have at least found each other, John, " she replied, "and our lastdays have been spent together. My only prayer now is that if they takeyou they do not leave me. "

Tarzan made no reply for in his heart was the same bitter thought thather own contained--not the fear that they would kill him but the fearthat they would not kill her. The ape-man strained at his bonds butthey were too many and too strong. A priest near him saw and with ajeering 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, "andalways has the striker died. "

"You still have hope?" she asked. 

"I am still alive, " he said as though that were sufficient answer. Shewas a woman and she did not have the courage of this man who knew nofear. In her heart of hearts she knew that he would die upon the altarat high noon for he had told her, after he had been brought to theinner court, of the sentence of death that Obergatz had pronounced uponhim, and she knew too that Tarzan knew that he would die, but that hewas too courageous to admit it even to himself. 

As she looked upon him standing there so straight and wonderful andbrave among his savage captors her heart cried out against the crueltyof the fate that had overtaken him. It seemed a gross and hideous wrongthat that wonderful creature, now so quick with exuberant life andstrength and purpose should be presently naught but a bleeding lump ofclay--and all so uselessly and wantonly. Gladly would she have offeredher life for his but she knew that it was a waste of words since theircaptors 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 theGerman to his place behind the altar, himself standing upon the other'sleft. Lu-don whispered a word to Obergatz, at the same time nodding inthe direction of Ja-don. The Hun cast a scowling look upon the oldwarrior. 

"And after the false god, " he cried, "the false prophet, " and hepointed an accusing finger at Ja-don. Then his eyes wandered to theform of Jane Clayton. 

"And the woman, too?" asked Lu-don. 

"The case of the woman I will attend to later, " replied Obergatz. "Iwill talk with her tonight after she has had a chance to meditate uponthe consequences of arousing the wrath of Jad-ben-Otho. "

He cast his eyes upward at the sun. "The time approaches, " he said toLu-don. "Prepare the sacrifice. "

Lu-don nodded to the priests who were gathered about Tarzan. Theyseized the ape-man and lifted him bodily to the altar where they laidhim upon his back with his head at the south end of the monolith, but afew feet from where Jane Clayton stood. Impulsively and before theycould restrain her the woman rushed forward and bending quickly kissedher 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 thesacrificial knife to Obergatz. "I am the Great God, " cried the German, "thus falleth the divine wrath upon all my enemies!" He looked up atthe sun and then raised the knife high above his head. 

"Thus die the blasphemers of God!" he screamed, and at the same instanta sharp staccato note rang out above the silent, spell-bound multitude. There was a screaming whistle in the air and Jad-ben-Otho crumpledforward across the body of his intended victim. Again the same alarmingnoise and Lu-don fell, a third and Mo-sar crumpled to the ground. Andnow the warriors and the people, locating the direction of this new andunknown sound turned toward the western end of the court. 

Upon the summit of the temple wall they saw two figures--a Ho-donwarrior and beside him an almost naked creature of the race ofTarzan-jad-guru, across his shoulders and about his hips were strangebroad belts studded with beautiful cylinders that glinted in themid-day sun, and in his hands a shining thing of wood and metal fromthe 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 ofthe 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, andof the woman who is the mate of the son of god. "

Pan-sat, filled with the frenzy of fanaticism saw the power and theglory of the regime he had served crumpled and gone. To one and onlyone did he attribute the blame for the disaster that had but justoverwhelmed him. It was the creature who lay upon the sacrificial altarwho had brought Lu-don to his death and toppled the dreams of powerthat 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 thedead fingers of Obergatz. Pan-sat crept closer and then with a suddenlunge he reached forth to seize the handle of the blade, and even ashis clutching fingers were poised above it, the strange thing in thehands of the strange creature upon the temple wall cried out itscrashing word of doom and Pan-sat the under priest, screaming, fellback upon the dead body of his master. 

"Seize all the priests, " cried Ta-den to the warriors, "and let nonehesitate lest Jad-ben-Otho's messenger send forth still other bolts oflightning. "

The warriors and the people had now witnessed such an exhibition ofdivine power as might have convinced an even less superstitious andmore enlightened people, and since many of them had but lately waveredbetween the Jad-ben-Otho of Lu-don and the Dor-ul-Otho of Ja-don it wasnot difficult for them to swing quickly back to the latter, especiallyin view of the unanswerable argument in the hands of him whom Ta-denhad described as the Messenger of the Great God. 

And so the warriors sprang forward now with alacrity and surrounded thepriests, and when they looked again at the western wall of the templecourt they saw pouring over it a great force of warriors. And the thingthat startled and appalled them was the fact that many of these wereblack and hairy Waz-don. 

At their head came the stranger with the shiny weapon and on his rightwas Ta-den, the Ho-don, and on his left Om-at, the black gund ofKor-ul-ja. 

A warrior near the altar had seized the sacrificial knife and cutTarzan's bonds and also those of Ja-don and Jane Clayton, and now thethree stood together beside the altar and as the newcomers from thewestern end of the temple court pushed their way toward them the eyesof the woman went wide in mingled astonishment, incredulity, and hope. And the stranger, slinging his weapon across his back by a leatherstrap, 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, andthe King of Pal-ul-don and the warriors and the people kneeled in thetemple court and placed their foreheads to the ground before the altarwhere the three stood. 

25

Home

Within an hour of the fall of Lu-don and Mo-sar, the chiefs andprincipal warriors of Pal-ul-don gathered in the great throneroom ofthe palace at A-lur upon the steps of the lofty pyramid and placingJa-don at the apex proclaimed him king. Upon one side of the oldchieftain stood Tarzan of the Apes, and upon the other Korak, theKiller, worthy son of the mighty ape-man. 

And when the brief ceremony was over and the warriors with upraisedclubs had sworn fealty to their new ruler, Ja-don dispatched a trustedcompany to fetch O-lo-a and Pan-at-lee and the women of his ownhousehold from Ja-lur. 

And then the warriors discussed the future of Pal-ul-don and thequestion arose as to the administration of the temples and the fate ofthe priests, who practically without exception had been disloyal to thegovernment of the king, seeking always only their own power and comfortand aggrandizement. And then it was that Ja-don turned to Tarzan. "Letthe Dor-ul-Otho transmit to his people the wishes of his father, " hesaid. 

"Your problem is a simple one, " said the ape-man, "if you but wish todo that which shall be pleasing in the eyes of God. Your priests, toincrease 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 thefalsity of their teachings has been demonstrated to you today in theutter defeat of the priesthood. 

"Take then the temples from the men and give them instead to the womenthat they may be administered in kindness and charity and love. Washthe blood from your eastern altar and drain forever the water from thewestern. 

"Once I gave Lu-don the opportunity to do these things but he ignoredmy commands, and again is the corridor of sacrifice filled with itsvictims. Liberate these from every temple in Pal-ul-don. Bringofferings of such gifts as your people like and place them upon thealtars of your god. And there he will bless them and the priestesses ofJad-ben-Otho can distribute them among those who need them most. "

As he ceased speaking a murmur of evident approval ran through thethrong. Long had they been weary of the avarice and cruelty of thepriests and now that authority had come from a high source with afeasible plan for ridding themselves of the old religious order withoutnecessitating any change in the faith of the people they welcomed it. 

"And the priests, " cried one. "We shall put them to death upon theirown altars if it pleases the Dor-ul-Otho to give the word. "

"No, " cried Tarzan. "Let no more blood be spilled. Give them theirfreedom 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 thefirst time in the history of ancient Pal-ul-don black warriors sat inpeace and friendship with white. And a pact was sealed between Ja-donand Om-at that would ever make his tribe and the Ho-don allies andfriends. 

It was here that Tarzan learned the cause of Ta-den's failure to attackat the stipulated time. A messenger had come from Ja-don carryinginstructions to delay the attack until noon, nor had they discovereduntil almost too late that the messenger was a disguised priest ofLu-don. And they had put him to death and scaled the walls and come tothe 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'sfamily arrived at the palace at A-lur and in the great throneroomTa-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, asdid Om-at and his black warriors. And then the ape-man announced thathe would depart from Pal-ul-don. Hazy in the minds of their hosts wasthe location of heaven and equally so the means by which the godstraveled between their celestial homes and the haunts of men and so noquestionings arose when it was found that the Dor-ul-Otho with his mateand son would travel overland across the mountains and out ofPal-ul-don toward the north. 

They went by way of the Kor-ul-ja accompanied by the warriors of thattribe and a great contingent of Ho-don warriors under Ta-den. The kingand many warriors and a multitude of people accompanied them beyond thelimits of A-lur and after they had bid them good-bye and Tarzan hadinvoked the blessings of God upon them the three Europeans saw theirsimple, loyal friends prostrate in the dust behind them until thecavalcade had wound out of the city and disappeared among the trees ofthe nearby forest. 

They rested for a day among the Kor-ul-ja while Jane investigated theancient caves of these strange people and then they moved on, avoidingthe rugged shoulder of Pastar-ul-ved and winding down the oppositeslope 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 threewould cross the great morass but least of all was Tarzan worried by theproblem. In the course of his life he had been confronted by manyobstacles only to learn that he who will may always pass. In his mindlurked an easy solution of the passage but it was one which dependedwholly upon chance. 

It was the morning of the last day that, as they were breaking camp totake up the march, a deep bellow thundered from a nearby grove. Theape-man smiled. The chance had come. Fittingly then would theDor-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 sohighly because it was her handiwork that he had caused a search to bemade for it through the temple in A-lur after his release, and it hadbeen found and brought to him. He had told her laughingly that itshould have the place of honor above their hearth as the ancientflintlock of her Puritan grandsire had held a similar place of honorabove the fireplace of Professor Porter, her father. 

At the sound of the bellowing the Ho-don warriors, some of whom hadaccompanied Tarzan from Ja-don's camp to Ja-lur, looked questioninglyat the ape-man while Om-at's Waz-don looked for trees, since the gryfwas the one creature of Pal-ul-don which might not be safelyencountered even by a great multitude of warriors. Its tough, armoredhide was impregnable to their knife thrusts while their thrown clubsrattled from it as futilely as if hurled at the rocky shoulder ofPastar-ul-ved. 

"Wait, " said the ape-man, and with his spear in hand he advanced towardthe gryf, voicing the weird cry of the Tor-o-don. The bellowing ceasedand turned to low rumblings and presently the huge beast appeared. Whatfollowed was but a repetition of the ape-man's previous experience withthese huge and ferocious creatures. 

And so it was that Jane and Korak and Tarzan rode through the morassthat hems Pa-ul-don, upon the back of a prehistoric triceratops whilethe lesser reptiles of the swamp fled hissing in terror. Upon theopposite shore they turned and called back their farewells to Ta-denand Om-at and the brave warriors they had learned to admire andrespect. And then Tarzan urged their titanic mount onward toward thenorth, abandoning him only when he was assured that the Waz-don and theHo-don had had time to reach a point of comparative safety among thecraggy ravines of the foothills. 

Turning the beast's head again toward Pal-ul-don the three dismountedand a sharp blow upon the thick hide sent the creature lumberingmajestically back in the direction of its native haunts. For a timethey stood looking back upon the land they had just quit--the land ofTor-o-don and gryf; of ja and jato; of Waz-don and Ho-don; a primitiveland of terror and sudden death and peace and beauty; a land that theyall had learned to love. 

And then they turned once more toward the north and with light heartsand brave hearts took up their long journey toward the land that isbest of all--home. 

Glossary

From conversations with Lord Greystoke and from his notes, there havebeen gleaned a number of interesting items relative to the language andcustoms of the inhabitants of Pal-ul-don that are not brought out inthe story. For the benefit of those who may care to delve into thederivation of the proper names used in the text, and thus obtain someslight insight into the language of the race, there is appended anincomplete glossary taken from some of Lord Greystoke's notes. 

A point of particular interest hinges upon the fact that the names ofall male hairless pithecanthropi begin with a consonant, have an evennumber of syllables, and end with a consonant, while the names of thefemales of the same species begin with a vowel, have an odd number ofsyllables, and end with a vowel. On the contrary, the names of the malehairy black pithecanthropi while having an even number of syllablesbegin with a vowel and end with a consonant; while the females of thisspecies have an odd number of syllables in their names which beginalways 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.