23

Tarzan the Terrible

by Edgar R. Burroughs

23, TARZAN THE TERRIBLE by Edgar R. Burroughs
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Taken Alive

AS NIGHT fell a warrior from the palace of Ja-lur slipped into
the temple grounds. He made his way to where the lesser priests
were quartered. His presence aroused no suspicion as it was not
unusual for warriors to have business within the temple. He came
at last to a chamber where several priests were congregated after
the evening meal. The rites and ceremonies of the sacrifice had
been concluded and there was nothing more of a religious nature
to make call upon their time until the rites at sunrise.

Now the warrior knew, as in fact nearly all Pal-ul-don knew, that
there was no strong bond between the temple and the palace at
Ja-lur and that Ja-don only suffered the presence of the priests
and permitted their cruel and abhorrent acts because of the fact
that these things had been the custom of the Ho-don of Pal-ul-don
for countless ages, and rash indeed must have been the man who
would have attempted to interfere with the priests or their
ceremonies. That Ja-don never entered the temple was well known,
and that his high priest never entered the palace, but the people
came to the temple with their votive offerings and the sacrifices
were made night and morning as in every other temple in
Pal-ul-don.

The warriors knew these things, knew them better perhaps than a
simple warrior should have known them. And so it was here in the
temple that he looked for the aid that he sought in the carrying
out of whatever design he had.

As he entered the apartment where the priests were he greeted
them after the manner which was customary in Pal-ul-don, but at
the same time he made a sign with his finger that might have
attracted little attention or scarcely been noticed at all by one
who knew not its meaning. That there were those within the room
who noticed it and interpreted it was quickly apparent, through
the fact that two of the priests rose and came close to him as he
stood just within the doorway and each of them, as he came,
returned the signal that the warrior had made.

The three talked for but a moment and then the warrior turned and
left the apartment. A little later one of the priests who had
talked with him left also and shortly after that the other.

In the corridor they found the warrior waiting, and led him to a
little chamber which opened upon a smaller corridor just beyond
where it joined the larger. Here the three remained in whispered
conversation for some little time and then the warrior returned
to the palace and the two priests to their quarters.

The apartments of the women of the palace at Ja-lur are all upon
the same side of a long, straight corridor. Each has a single
door leading into the corridor and at the opposite end several
windows overlooking a garden. It was in one of these rooms that
Jane slept alone. At each end of the corridor was a sentinel, the
main body of the guard being stationed in a room near the outer
entrance to the women's quarters.

The palace slept for they kept early hours there where Ja-don
ruled. The pal-e-don-so of the great chieftain of the north knew
no such wild orgies as had resounded through the palace of the
king at A-lur. Ja-lur was a quiet city by comparison with the
capital, yet there was always a guard kept at every entrance to
the chambers of Ja-don and his immediate family as well as at the
gate leading into the temple and that which opened upon the city.

These guards, however, were small, consisting usually of not more
than five or six warriors, one of whom remained awake while the
others slept. Such were the conditions then when two warriors
presented themselves, one at either end of the corridor, to the
sentries who watched over the safety of Jane Clayton and the
Princess O-lo-a, and each of the newcomers repeated to the
sentinels the stereotyped words which announced that they were
relieved and these others sent to watch in their stead. Never is
a warrior loath to be relieved of sentry duty. Where, under
different circumstances he might ask numerous questions he is now
too well satisfied to escape the monotonies of that universally
hated duty. And so these two men accepted their relief without
question and hastened away to their pallets.

And then a third warrior entered the corridor and all of the
newcomers came together before the door of the ape-man's
slumbering mate. And one was the strange warrior who had met
Ja-don and Tarzan outside the city of Ja-lur as they had
approached it the previous day; and he was the same warrior who
had entered the temple a short hour before, but the faces of his
fellows were unfamiliar, even to one another, since it is seldom
that a priest removes his hideous headdress in the presence even
of his associates.

Silently they lifted the hangings that hid the interior of the
room from the view of those who passed through the corridor, and
stealthily slunk within. Upon a pile of furs in a far corner lay
the sleeping form of Lady Greystoke. The bare feet of the
intruders gave forth no sound as they crossed the stone floor
toward her. A ray of moonlight entering through a window near her
couch shone full upon her, revealing the beautiful contours of an
arm and shoulder in cameo-distinctness against the dark furry
pelt beneath which she slept, and the perfect profile that was
turned toward the skulking three.

But neither the beauty nor the helplessness of the sleeper
aroused such sentiments of passion or pity as might stir in the
breasts of normal men. To the three priests she was but a lump of
clay, nor could they conceive aught of that passion which had
aroused men to intrigue and to murder for possession of this
beautiful American girl, and which even now was influencing the
destiny of undiscovered Pal-ul-don.

Upon the floor of the chamber were numerous pelts and as the
leader of the trio came close to the sleeping woman he stooped
and gathered up one of the smaller of these. Standing close to
her head he held the rug outspread above her face. "Now," he
whispered and simultaneously he threw the rug over the woman's
head and his two fellows leaped upon her, seizing her arms and
pinioning her body while their leader stifled her cries with the
furry pelt. Quickly and silently they bound her wrists and gagged
her and during the brief time that their work required there was
no sound that might have been heard by occupants of the adjoining
apartments.

Jerking her roughly to her feet they forced her toward a window
but she refused to walk, throwing herself instead upon the floor.
They were very angry and would have resorted to -cruelties to
compel her obedience but dared not, since the wrath of Lu-don
might fall heavily upon whoever mutilated his fair prize.

And so they were forced to lift and carry her bodily. Nor was the
task any sinecure since the captive kicked and struggled as best
she might, making their labor as arduous as possible. But finally
they succeeded in getting her through the window and into the
garden beyond where one of the two priests from the Ja-lur temple
directed their steps toward a small barred gateway in the south
wall of the enclosure.

Immediately beyond this a flight of stone stairs led downward
toward the river and at the foot of the stairs were moored
several canoes. Pan-sat had indeed been fortunate in enlisting
aid from those who knew the temple and the palace so well, or
otherwise he might never have escaped from Ja-lur with his
captive. Placing the woman in the bottom of a light canoe Pan-sat
entered it and took up the paddle. His companions unfastened the
moorings and shoved the little craft out into the current of the
stream. Their traitorous work completed they turned and retraced
their steps toward the temple, while Pan-sat, paddling strongly
with the current, moved rapidly down the river that would carry
him to the Jad-ben-lul and A-lur.

The moon had set and the eastern horizon still gave no hint of
approaching day as a long file of warriors wound stealthily
through the darkness into the city of A-lur. Their plans were all
laid and there seemed no likelihood of their miscarriage. A
messenger had been dispatched to Ta-den whose forces lay
northwest of the city. Tarzan, with a small contingent, was to
enter the temple through the secret passageway, the location of
which he alone knew, while Ja-don, with the greater proportion of
the warriors, was to attack the palace gates.

The ape-man, leading his little band, moved stealthily through
the winding alleys of A-lur, arriving undetected at the building
which hid the entrance to the secret passageway. This spot being
best protected by the fact that its existence was unknown to
others than the priests, was unguarded. To facilitate the passage
of his little company through the narrow winding, uneven tunnel,
Tarzan lighted a torch which had been brought for the purpose and
preceding his warriors led the way toward the temple.

That he could accomplish much once he reached the inner chambers
of the temple with his little band of picked warriors the ape-man
was confident since an attack at this point would bring confusion
and consternation to the easily overpowered priests, and permit
Tarzan to attack the palace forces in the rear at the same time
that Ja-don engaged them at the palace gates, while Ta-den and
his forces swarmed the northern walls. Great value had been
placed by Ja-don on the moral effect of the Dor-ul-Otho's
mysterious appearance in the heart of the temple and he had urged
Tarzan to take every advantage of the old chieftain's belief that
many of Lu-don's warriors still wavered in their allegiance
between the high priest and the Dor-ul-Otho, being held to the
former more by the fear which he engendered in the breasts of all
his followers than by any love or loyalty they might feel toward
him.

There is a Pal-ul-donian proverb setting forth a truth similar to
that contained in the old Scotch adage that "The best laid
schemes o' mice and men gang aft a-gley." Freely translated it
might read, "He who follows the right trail sometimes reaches the
wrong destination," and such apparently was the fate that lay in
the footsteps of the great chieftain of the north and his godlike
ally.

Tarzan, more familiar with the windings of the corridors than his
fellows and having the advantage of the full light of the torch,
which at best was but a dim and flickering affair, was some
distance ahead of the others, and in his keen anxiety to close
with the enemy he gave too little thought to those who were to
support him. Nor is this strange, since from childhood the
ape-man had been accustomed to fight the battles of life
single-handed so that it had become habitual for him to depend
solely upon his own cunning and prowess.

And so it was that he came into the upper corridor from which
opened the chambers of Lu-don and the lesser priests far in
advance of his warriors, and as he turned into this corridor with
its dim cressets flickering somberly, he saw another enter it
from a corridor before him--a warrior half carrying, half
dragging the figure of a woman. Instantly Tarzan recognized the
gagged and fettered captive whom he had thought safe in the
palace of Ja-don at Ja-lur.

The warrior with the woman had seen Tarzan at the same instant
that the latter had discovered him. He heard the low beastlike
growl that broke from the ape-man's lips as he sprang forward to
wrest his mate from her captor and wreak upon him the vengeance
that was in the Tarmangani's savage heart. Across the corridor
from Pan-sat was the entrance to a smaller chamber. Into this he
leaped carrying the woman with him.

Close behind came Tarzan of the Apes. He had cast aside his torch
and drawn the long knife that had been his father's. With the
impetuosity of a charging bull he rushed into the chamber in
pursuit of Pan-sat to find himself, when the hangings dropped
behind him, in utter darkness. Almost immediately there was a
crash of stone on stone before him followed a moment later by a
similar crash behind. No other evidence was necessary to announce
to the ape-man that he was again a prisoner in Lu-don's temple.

He stood perfectly still where he had halted at the first sound
of the descending stone door. Not again would he easily be
precipitated to the gryf pit, or some similar danger, as had
occurred when Lu-don had trapped him in the Temple of the Gryf.
As he stood there his eyes slowly grew accustomed to the darkness
and he became aware that a dim light was entering the chamber
through some opening, though it was several minutes before he
discovered its source. In the roof of the chamber he finally
discerned a small aperture, possibly three feet in diameter and
it was through this that what was really only a lesser darkness
rather than a light was penetrating its Stygian blackness of the
chamber in which he was imprisoned.

Since the doors had fallen he had heard no sound though his keen
ears were constantly strained in an effort to discover a clue to
the direction taken by the abductor of his mate. Presently he
could discern the outlines of his prison cell. It was a small
room, not over fifteen feet across. On hands and knees, with the
utmost caution, he examined the entire area of the floor. In the
exact center, directly beneath the opening in the roof, was a
trap, but otherwise the floor was solid. With this knowledge it
was only necessary to avoid this spot in so far as the floor was
concerned. The walls next received his attention. There were only
two openings. One the doorway through which he had entered, and
upon the opposite side that through which the warrior had borne
Jane Clayton. These were both closed by the slabs of stone which
the fleeing warrior had released as he departed.

Lu-don, the high priest, licked his thin lips and rubbed his bony
white hands together in gratification as Pan-sat bore Jane
Clayton into his presence and laid her on the floor of the chamber
before him.

"Good, Pan-sat!" he exclaimed. "You shall be well rewarded for
this service. Now, if we but had the false Dor-ul-Otho in our
power all Pal-ul-don would be at our feet."

"Master, I have him!" cried Pan-sat.

"What!" exclaimed Lu-don, "you have Tarzan-jad-guru? You have
slain him perhaps. Tell me, my wonderful Pan-sat, tell me
quickly. My breast is bursting with a desire to know."

"I have taken him alive, Lu-don, my master," replied Pan-sat. "He
is in the little chamber that the ancients built to trap those
who were too powerful to take alive in personal encounter."

"You have done well, Pan-sat, I--"

A frightened priest burst into the apartment. "Quick, master,
quick," he cried, "the corridors are filled with the warriors of
Ja-don."

"You are mad," cried the high priest. "My warriors hold the
palace and the temple."

"I speak the truth, master," replied the priest, "there are
warriors in the corridor approaching this very chamber, and they
come from the direction of the secret passage which leads hither
from the city."

"It may be even as he says," exclaimed Pan-sat. "It was from that
direction that Tarzan-jad-guru was coming when I discovered and
trapped him. He was leading his warriors to the very holy of
holies."

Lu-don ran quickly to the doorway and looked out into the
corridor. At a glance he saw that the fears of the frightened
priest were well founded. A dozen warriors were moving along the
corridor toward him but they seemed confused and far from sure of
themselves. The high priest guessed that deprived of the
leadership of Tarzan they were little better than lost in the
unknown mazes of the subterranean precincts of the temple.

Stepping back into the apartment he seized a leathern thong that
depended from the ceiling. He pulled upon it sharply and through
the temple boomed the deep tones of a metal gong. Five times the
clanging notes rang through the corridors, then he turned toward
the two priests. "Bring the woman and follow me," he directed.

Crossing the chamber he passed through a small doorway, the
others lifting Jane Clayton from the floor and following him.
Through a narrow corridor and up a flight of steps they went,
turning to right and left and doubling back through a maze of
winding passageways which terminated in a spiral staircase that
gave forth at the surface of the ground within the largest of the
inner altar courts close beside the eastern altar.

From all directions now, in the corridors below and the grounds
above, came the sound of hurrying footsteps. The five strokes of
the great gong had summoned the faithful to the defense of Lu-don
in his private chambers. The priests who knew the way led the
less familiar warriors to the spot and presently those who had
accompanied Tarzan found themselves not only leaderless but
facing a vastly superior force. They were brave men but under
the circumstances they were helpless and so they fell back the
way they had come, and when they reached the narrow confines of
the smaller passageway their safety was assured since only one
foeman could attack them at a time. But their plans were
frustrated and possibly also their entire cause lost, so heavily
had Ja-don banked upon the success of their venture.

With the clanging of the temple gong Ja-don assumed that Tarzan
and his party had struck their initial blow and so he launched
his attack upon the palace gate. To the ears of Lu-don in the
inner temple court came the savage war cries that announced the
beginning of the battle. Leaving Pan-sat and the other priest to
guard the woman he hastened toward the palace personally to
direct his force and as he passed through the temple grounds he
dispatched a messenger to learn the outcome of the fight in the
corridors below, and other messengers to spread the news among
his followers that the false Dor-ul-Otho was a prisoner in the
temple.

As the din of battle rose above A-lur, Lieutenant Erich Obergatz
turned upon his bed of soft hides and sat up. He rubbed his eyes
and looked about him. It was still dark without.

"I am Jad-ben-Otho," he cried, "who dares disturb my slumber?"

A slave squatting upon the floor at the foot of his couch
shuddered and touched her forehead to the floor. "It must be that
the enemy have come, O Jad-ben-Otho." She spoke soothingly for
she had reason to know the terrors of the mad frenzy into which
trivial things sometimes threw the Great God.

A priest burst suddenly through the hangings of the doorway and
falling upon his hands and knees rubbed his forehead against the
stone flagging. "O Jad-ben-Otho," he cried, "the warriors of
Ja-don have attacked the palace and the temple. Even now they
are fighting in the corridors near the quarters of Lu-don, and
the high priest begs that you come to the palace and encourage
your faithful warriors by your presence."

Obergatz sprang to his feet. "I am Jad-ben-Otho," he screamed.
"With lightning I will blast the blasphemers who dare attack the
holy city of A-lur."

For a moment he rushed aimlessly and madly about the room, while
the priest and the slave remained upon hands and knees with their
foreheads against the floor.

"Come," cried Obergatz, planting a vicious kick in the side of
the slave girl. "Come! Would you wait here all day while the
forces of darkness overwhelm the City of Light?"

Thoroughly frightened as were all those who were forced to serve
the Great God, the two arose and followed Obergatz towards the
palace.

Above the shouting of the warriors rose constantly the cries of
the temple priests: "Jad-ben-Otho is here and the false
Dor-ul-Otho is a prisoner in the temple." The persistent cries
reached even to the ears of the enemy as it was intended that
they should.