CHAPTER X
THE RAID ON THE CAVE-PRISON
His head was turned over his shoulder as I first saw him--he waslooking back toward the village. As I leaped for him his eyes fellupon me. Never in my life have I seen a more surprised mortal thanthis poor cave man. Before he could utter a single scream of warningor alarm I had my fingers on his throat and had dragged him behind theboulder, where I proceeded to sit upon him, while I figured out what Ihad best do with him.
He struggled a little at first, but finally lay still, and so Ireleased the pressure of my fingers at his windpipe, for which Iimagine he was quite thankful--I know that I should have been.
I hated to kill him in cold blood; but what else I was to do with him Icould not see, for to turn him loose would have been merely to have theentire village aroused and down upon me in a moment. The fellow laylooking up at me with the surprise still deeply written on hiscountenance. At last, all of a sudden, a look of recognition enteredhis eyes.
"I have seen you before," he said. "I saw you in the arena at theMahars' city of Phutra when the thipdars dragged the tarag from you andyour mate. I never understood that. Afterward they put me in thearena with two warriors from Gombul."
He smiled in recollection.
"It would have been the same had there been ten warriors from Gombul.I slew them, winning my freedom. Look!"
He half turned his left shoulder toward me, exhibiting the newly healedscar of the Mahars' branded mark.
"Then," he continued, "as I was returning to my people I met some ofthem fleeing. They told me that one called Hooja the Sly One had comeand seized our village, putting our people into slavery. So I hurriedhither to learn the truth, and, sure enough, here I found Hooja and hiswicked men living in my village, and my father's people but slavesamong them.
"I was discovered and captured, but Hooja did not kill me. I am thechief's son, and through me he hoped to win my father's warriors backto the village to help him in a great war he says that he will sooncommence.
"Among his prisoners is Dian the Beautiful One, whose brother, Dacorthe Strong One, chief of Amoz, once saved my life when he came toThuria to steal a mate. I helped him capture her, and we are goodfriends. So when I learned that Dian the Beautiful One was Hooja'sprisoner, I told him that I would not aid him if he harmed her.
"Recently one of Hooja's warriors overheard me talking with anotherprisoner. We were planning to combine all the prisoners, seizeweapons, and when most of Hooja's warriors were away, slay the rest andretake our hilltop. Had we done so we could have held it, for thereare only two entrances--the narrow tunnel at one end and the steep pathup the cliffs at the other.
"But when Hooja heard what we had planned he was very angry, andordered that I die. They bound me hand and foot and placed me in acave until all the warriors should return to witness my death; butwhile they were away I heard someone calling me in a muffled voicewhich seemed to come from the wall of the cave. When I replied thevoice, which was a woman's, told me that she had overheard all that hadpassed between me and those who had brought me thither, and that shewas Dacor's sister and would find a way to help me.
"Presently a little hole appeared in the wall at the point from whichthe voice had come. After a time I saw a woman's hand digging with abit of stone. Dacor's sister made a hole in the wall between the cavewhere I lay bound and that in which she had been confined, and soon shewas by my side and had cut my bonds.
"We talked then, and I offered to make the attempt to take her away andback to the land of Sari, where she told me she would be able to learnthe whereabouts of her mate. Just now I was going to the other end ofthe island to see if a boat lay there, and if the way was clear for ourescape. Most of the boats are always away now, for a great many ofHooja's men and nearly all the slaves are upon the Island of Trees,where Hooja is having many boats built to carry his warriors across thewater to the mouth of a great river which he discovered while he wasreturning from Phutra--a vast river that empties into the sea there."
The speaker pointed toward the northeast. "It is wide and smooth andslow-running almost to the land of Sari," he added.
"And where is Dian the Beautiful One now?" I asked.
I had released my prisoner as soon as I found that he was Hooja'senemy, and now the pair of us were squat-ting beside the boulder whilehe told his story.
"She returned to the cave where she had been imprisoned," he replied,"and is awaiting me there."
"There is no danger that Hooja will come while you are away?"
"Hooja is upon the Island of Trees," he replied.
"Can you direct me to the cave so that I can find it alone?" I asked.
He said he could, and in the strange yet explicit fashion of thePellucidarians he explained minutely how I might reach the cave wherehe had been imprisoned, and through the hole in its wall reach Dian.
I thought it best for but one of us to return, since two couldaccomplish but little more than one and would double the risk ofdiscovery. In the meantime he could make his way to the sea and guardthe boat, which I told him lay there at the foot of the cliff.
I told him to await us at the cliff-top, and if Dian came alone to dohis best to get away with her and take her to Sari, as I thought itquite possible that, in case of detection and pursuit, it might benecessary for me to hold off Hooja's people while Dian made her wayalone to where my new friend was to await her. I impressed upon himthe fact that he might have to resort to trickery or even to force toget Dian to leave me; but I made him promise that he would sacrificeeverything, even his life, in an attempt to rescue Dacor's sister.
Then we parted--he to take up his position where he could watch theboat and await Dian, I to crawl cautiously on toward the caves. I hadno difficulty in following the directions given me by Juag, the name bywhich Dacor's friend said he was called. There was the leaning tree,my first point he told me to look for after rounding the boulder wherewe had met. After that I crawled to the balanced rock, a huge boulderresting upon a tiny base no larger than the palm of your hand.
From here I had my first view of the village of caves. A low bluff randiagonally across one end of the mesa, and in the face of this bluffwere the mouths of many caves. Zig-zag trails led up to them, andnarrow ledges scooped from the face of the soft rock connected thoseupon the same level.
The cave in which Juag had been confined was at the extreme end of thecliff nearest me. By taking advantage of the bluff itself, I couldapproach within a few feet of the aperture without being visible fromany other cave. There were few people about at the time; most of thesewere congregated at the foot of the far end of the bluff, where theywere so engrossed in excited conversation that I felt but little fearof detection. However I exercised the greatest care in approaching thecliff. After watching for a while until I caught an instant when everyhead was turned away from me, I darted, rabbitlike, into the cave.
Like many of the man-made caves of Pellucidar, this one consisted ofthree chambers, one behind another, and all unlit except for whatsunlight filtered in through the external opening. The result wasgradually increasing darkness as one passed into each succeedingchamber.
In the last of the three I could just distinguish objects, and that wasall. As I was groping around the walls for the hole that should leadinto the cave where Dian was imprisoned, I heard a man's voice quiteclose to me.
The speaker had evidently but just entered, for he spoke in a loudtone, demanding the whereabouts of one whom he had come in search of.
"Where are you, woman?" he cried. "Hooja has sent for you."
And then a woman's voice answered him:
"And what does Hooja want of me?"
The voice was Dian's. I groped in the direction of the sounds, feelingfor the hole.
"He wishes you brought to the Island of Trees," replied the man; "forhe is ready to take you as his mate."
"I will not go," said Dian. "I will die first."
"I am sent to bring yo
u, and bring you I shall."
I could hear him crossing the cave toward her.
Frantically I clawed the wall of the cave in which I was in an effortto find the elusive aperture that would lead me to Dian's side.
I heard the sound of a scuffle in the next cave. Then my fingers sankinto loose rock and earth in the side of the cave. In an instant Irealized why I had been unable to find the opening while I had beenlightly feeling the surface of the walls--Dian had blocked up the holeshe had made lest it arouse suspicion and lead to an early discovery ofJuag's escape.
Plunging my weight against the crumbling mass, I sent it crashing intothe adjoining cavern. With it came I, David, Emperor of Pellucidar. Idoubt if any other potentate in a world's history ever made a moreundignified entrance. I landed head first on all fours, but I camequickly and was on my feet before the man in the dark guessed what hadhappened.
He saw me, though, when I arose and, sensing that no friend came thusprecipitately, turned to meet me even as I charged him. I had my stoneknife in my hand, and he had his. In the darkness of the cave therewas little opportunity for a display of science, though even at that Iventure to say that we fought a very pretty duel.
Before I came to Pellucidar I do not recall that I ever had seen astone knife, and I am sure that I never fought with a knife of anydescription; but now I do not have to take my hat off to any of themwhen it comes to wielding that primitive yet wicked weapon.
I could just see Dian in the darkness, but I knew that she could notsee my features or recognize me; and I enjoyed in anticipation, evenwhile I was fighting for her life and mine, her dear joy when sheshould discover that it was I who was her deliverer.
My opponent was large, but he also was active and no mean knife-man.He caught me once fairly in the shoulder--I carry the scar yet, andshall carry it to the grave. And then he did a foolish thing, for asI leaped back to gain a second in which to calm the shock of the woundhe rushed after me and tried to clinch. He rather neglected his knifefor the moment in his greater desire to get his hands on me. Seeingthe opening, I swung my left fist fairly to the point of his jaw.
Down he went. Before ever he could scramble up again I was on him andhad buried my knife in his heart. Then I stood up--and there was Dianfacing me and peering at me through the dense gloom.
"You are not Juag!" she exclaimed. "Who are you?"
I took a step toward her, my arms outstretched.
"It is I, Dian," I said. "It is David."
At the sound of my voice she gave a little cry in which tears weremingled--a pathetic little cry that told me all without words how farhope had gone from her--and then she ran forward and threw herself inmy arms. I covered her perfect lips and her beautiful face withkisses, and stroked her thick black hair, and told her again and againwhat she already knew--what she had known for years--that I loved herbetter than all else which two worlds had to offer. We couldn't devotemuch time, though, to the happiness of love-making, for we were in themidst of enemies who might discover us at any moment.
I drew her into the adjoining cave. Thence we made our way to themouth of the cave that had given me entrance to the cliff. Here Ireconnoitered for a moment, and seeing the coast clear, ran swiftlyforth with Dian at my side. We dodged around the cliff-end, thenpaused for an instant, listening. No sound reached our ears toindicate that any had seen us, and we moved cautiously onward along theway by which I had come.
As we went Dian told me that her captors had informed her how close Ihad come in search of her--even to the Land of Awful Shadow--and howone of Hooja's men who knew me had discovered me asleep and robbed meof all my possessions. And then how Hooja had sent four others to findme and take me prisoner. But these men, she said, had not yetreturned, or at least she had not heard of their return.
"Nor will you ever," I responded, "for they have gone to that placewhence none ever returns." I then related my adventure with these four.
We had come almost to the cliff-edge where Juag should be awaiting uswhen we saw two men walking rapidly toward the same spot from anotherdirection. They did not see us, nor did they see Juag, whom I nowdiscovered hiding behind a low bush close to the verge of the precipicewhich drops into the sea at this point. As quickly as possible,without exposing ourselves too much to the enemy, we hastened forwardthat we might reach Juag as quickly as they.
But they noticed him first and immediately charged him, for one of themhad been his guard, and they had both been sent to search for him, hisescape having been discovered between the time he left the cave and thetime when I reached it. Evidently they had wasted precious momentslooking for him in other portions of the mesa.
When I saw that the two of them were rushing him, I called out toattract their attention to the fact that they had more than a singleman to cope with. They paused at the sound of my voice and lookedabout.
When they discovered Dian and me they exchanged a few words, and one ofthem continued toward Juag while the other turned upon us. As he camenearer I saw that he carried in his hand one of my six-shooters, but hewas holding it by the barrel, evidently mistaking it for some sort ofwarclub or tomahawk.
I could scarce refrain a grin when I thought of the wastedpossibilities of that deadly revolver in the hands of an untutoredwarrior of the stone age. Had he but reversed it and pulled thetrigger he might still be alive; maybe he is for all I know, since Idid not kill him then. When he was about twenty feet from me I flungmy javelin with a quick movement that I had learned from Ghak. Heducked to avoid it, and instead of receiving it in his heart, for whichit was intended, he got it on the side of the head.
Down he went all in a heap. Then I glanced toward Juag. He was havinga most exciting time. The fellow pitted against Juag was a veritablegiant; he was hacking and hewing away at the poor slave with avillainous-looking knife that might have been designed for butcheringmastodons. Step by step, he was forcing Juag back toward the edge ofthe cliff with a fiendish cunning that permitted his adversary nochance to side-step the terrible consequences of retreat in thisdirection. I saw quickly that in another moment Juag must deliberatelyhurl himself to death over the precipice or be pushed over by hisfoeman.
And as I saw Juag's predicament I saw, too, in the same instant, a wayto relieve him. Leaping quickly to the side of the fellow I had justfelled, I snatched up my fallen revolver. It was a desperate chance totake, and I realized it in the instant that I threw the gun up from myhip and pulled the trigger. There was no time to aim. Juag was uponthe very brink of the chasm. His relentless foe was pushing him hard,beating at him furiously with the heavy knife.
And then the revolver spoke--loud and sharp. The giant threw his handsabove his head, whirled about like a huge top, and lunged forward overthe precipice.
And Juag?
He cast a single affrighted glance in my direction--never before, ofcourse, had he heard the report of a firearm--and with a howl of dismayhe, too, turned and plunged headforemost from sight. Horror-struck, Ihastened to the brink of the abyss just in time to see two splashesupon the surface of the little cove below.
For an instant I stood there watching with Dian at my side. Then, tomy utter amazement, I saw Juag rise to the surface and swim stronglytoward the boat.
The fellow had dived that incredible distance and come up unharmed!
I called to him to await us below, assuring him that he need have nofear of my weapon, since it would harm only my enemies. He shook hishead and mut-tered something which I could not hear at so great adistance; but when I pushed him he promised to wait for us. At thesame instant Dian caught my arm and pointed toward the village. Myshot had brought a crowd of natives on the run toward us.
The fellow whom I had stunned with my javelin had regainedconsciousness and scrambled to his feet. He was now racing as fast ashe could go back toward his people. It looked mighty dark for Dian andme with that ghastly descent between us and even the beginnings ofliberty, and a horde of savage enemies advancing
at a rapid run.
There was but one hope. That was to get Dian started for the bottomwithout delay. I took her in my arms just for an instant--I felt,somehow, that it might be for the last time. For the life of me Icouldn't see how both of us could escape.
I asked her if she could make the descent alone--if she were notafraid. She smiled up at me bravely and shrugged her shoulders. Sheafraid! So beautiful is she that I am always having difficulty inremembering that she is a primitive, half-savage cave girl of the stoneage, and often find myself mentally limiting her capacities to those ofthe effete and overcivilized beauties of the outer crust.
"And you?" she asked as she swung over the edge of the cliff.
"I shall follow you after I take a shot or two at our friends," Ireplied. "I just want to give them a taste of this new medicine whichis going to cure Pellucidar of all its ills. That will stop them longenough for me to join you. Now hurry, and tell Juag to be ready toshove off the moment I reach the boat, or the instant that it becomesapparent that I cannot reach it.
"You, Dian, must return to Sari if anything happens to me, that you maydevote your life to carrying out with Perry the hopes and plans forPellucidar that are so dear to my heart. Promise me, dear."
She hated to promise to desert me, nor would she; only shaking her headand making no move to descend. The tribesmen were nearing us. Juagwas shouting up to us from below. It was evident that he realized frommy actions that I was attempting to persuade Dian to descend, and thatgrave danger threatened us from above.
"Dive!" he cried. "Dive!"
I looked at Dian and then down at the abyss below us. The cove appearedno larger than a saucer. How Juag ever had hit it I could not guess.
"Dive!" cried Juag. "It is the only way--there is no time to climbdown."