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 becameawar
e 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 thenwheele
d 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.