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 restrai
ning 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 w
hose 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.