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 t
o 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.