24
The Messenger of Death
The sun rose to see the forces of Ja-don still held at the palace gate.The old warrior had seized the tall structure that stood just beyondthe palace and at the summit of this he kept a warrior stationed tolook toward the northern wall of the palace where Ta-den was to makehis attack; but as the minutes wore into hours no sign of the otherforce appeared, and now in the full light of the new sun upon the roofof one of the palace buildings appeared Lu-don, the high priest,Mo-sar, the pretender, and the strange, naked figure of a man, intowhose long hair and beard were woven fresh ferns and flowers. Behindthem were banked a score of lesser priests who chanted in unison: "Thisis Jad-ben-Otho. Lay down your arms and surrender." This they repeatedagain and again, alternating it with the cry: "The false Dor-ul-Otho isa prisoner."
In one of those lulls which are common in battles between forces armedwith weapons that require great physical effort in their use, a voicesuddenly arose from among the followers of Ja-don: "Show us theDor-ul-Otho. We do not believe you!"
"Wait," cried Lu-don. "If I do not produce him before the sun has movedhis own width, the gates of the palace shall be opened to you and mywarriors will lay down their arms."
He turned to one of his priests and issued brief instructions.
The ape-man paced the confines of his narrow cell. Bitterly hereproached himself for the stupidity which had led him into this trap,and yet was it stupidity? What else might he have done other than rushto the succor of his mate? He wondered how they had stolen her fromJa-lur, and then suddenly there flashed to his mind the features of thewarrior whom he had just seen with her. They were strangely familiar.He racked his brain to recall where he had seen the man before and thenit came to him. He was the strange warrior who had joined Ja-don'sforces outside of Ja-lur the day that Tarzan had ridden upon the greatGRYF from the uninhabited gorge next to the Kor-ul-JA down to thecapital city of the chieftain of the north. But who could the man be?Tarzan knew that never before that other day had he seen him.
Presently he heard the clanging of a gong from the corridor without andvery faintly the rush of feet, and shouts. He guessed that his warriorshad been discovered and a fight was in progress. He fretted and chafedat the chance that had denied him participation in it.
Again and again he tried the doors of his prison and the trap in thecenter of the floor, but none would give to his utmost endeavors. Hestrained his eyes toward the aperture above but he could see nothing,and then he continued his futile pacing to and fro like a caged lionbehind its bars.
The minutes dragged slowly into hours. Faintly sounds came to him as ofshouting men at a great distance. The battle was in progress. Hewondered if Ja-don would be victorious and should he be, would hisfriends ever discover him in this hidden chamber in the bowels of thehill? He doubted it.
And now as he looked again toward the aperture in the roof thereappeared to be something depending through its center. He came closerand strained his eyes to see. Yes, there was something there. Itappeared to be a rope. Tarzan wondered if it had been there all thetime. It must have, he reasoned, since he had heard no sound from aboveand it was so dark within the chamber that he might easily haveoverlooked it.
He raised his hand toward it. The end of it was just within his reach.He bore his weight upon it to see if it would hold him. Then hereleased it and backed away, still watching it, as you have seen ananimal do after investigating some unfamiliar object, one of the littletraits that differentiated Tarzan from other men, accentuating hissimilarity to the savage beasts of his native jungle. Again and againhe touched and tested the braided leather rope, and always he listenedfor any warning sound from above.
He was very careful not to step upon the trap at any time and whenfinally he bore all his weight upon the rope and took his feet from thefloor he spread them wide apart so that if he fell he would fallastride the trap. The rope held him. There was no sound from above, norany from the trap below.
Slowly and cautiously he drew himself upward, hand over hand. Nearerand nearer the roof he came. In a moment his eyes would be above thelevel of the floor above. Already his extended arms projected into theupper chamber and then something closed suddenly upon both hisforearms, pinioning them tightly and leaving him hanging in mid-airunable to advance or retreat.
Immediately a light appeared in the room above him and presently he sawthe hideous mask of a priest peering down upon him. In the priest'shands were leathern thongs and these he tied about Tarzan's wrists andforearms until they were completely bound together from his elbowsalmost to his fingers. Behind this priest Tarzan presently saw othersand soon several lay hold of him and pulled him up through the hole.
Almost instantly his eyes were above the level of the floor heunderstood how they had trapped him. Two nooses had lain encircling theaperture into the cell below. A priest had waited at the end of each ofthese ropes and at opposite sides of the chamber. When he had climbedto a sufficient height upon the rope that had dangled into his prisonbelow and his arms were well within the encircling snares the twopriests had pulled quickly upon their ropes and he had been made aneasy captive without any opportunity of defending himself or inflictinginjury upon his captors.
And now they bound his legs from his ankles to his knees and pickinghim up carried him from the chamber. No word did they speak to him asthey bore him upward to the temple yard.
The din of battle had risen again as Ja-don had urged his forces torenewed efforts. Ta-den had not arrived and the forces of the oldchieftain were revealing in their lessened efforts their increasingdemoralization, and then it was that the priests carriedTarzan-jad-guru to the roof of the palace and exhibited him in thesight of the warriors of both factions.
"Here is the false Dor-ul-Otho," screamed Lu-don.
Obergatz, his shattered mentality having never grasped fully themeaning of much that was going on about him, cast a casual glance atthe bound and helpless prisoner, and as his eyes fell upon the noblefeatures of the ape-man, they went wide in astonishment and fright, andhis pasty countenance turned a sickly blue. Once before had he seenTarzan of the Apes, but many times had he dreamed that he had seen himand always was the giant ape-man avenging the wrongs that had beencommitted upon him and his by the ruthless hands of the three Germanofficers who had led their native troops in the ravishing of Tarzan'speaceful home. Hauptmann Fritz Schneider had paid the penalty of hisneedless cruelties; Unter-lieutenant von Goss, too, had paid; and nowObergatz, the last of the three, stood face to face with the Nemesisthat had trailed him through his dreams for long, weary months. That hewas bound and helpless lessened not the German's terror--he seemed notto realize that the man could not harm him. He but stood cringing andjibbering and Lu-don saw and was filled with apprehension that othersmight see and seeing realize that this bewhiskered idiot was nogod--that of the two Tarzan-jad-guru was the more godly figure. Alreadythe high priest noted that some of the palace warriors standing nearwere whispering together and pointing. He stepped closer to Obergatz."You are Jad-ben-Otho," he whispered, "denounce him!"
The German shook himself. His mind cleared of all but his great terrorand the words of the high priest gave him the clue to safety.
"I am Jad-ben-Otho!" he screamed.
Tarzan looked him straight in the eye. "You are Lieutenant Obergatz ofthe German Army," he said in excellent German. "You are the last of thethree I have sought so long and in your putrid heart you know that Godhas not brought us together at last for nothing."
The mind of Lieutenant Obergatz was functioning clearly and rapidly atlast. He too saw the questioning looks upon the faces of some of thosearound them. He saw the opposing warriors of both cities standing bythe gate inactive, every eye turned upon him, and the trussed figure ofthe ape-man. He realized that indecision now meant ruin, and ruin,death. He raised his voice in the sharp barking tones of a Prussianofficer, so unlike his former maniacal screaming as to quickly arousethe attention of every ear and to cause an expression of p
uzzlement tocross the crafty face of Lu-don.
"I am Jad-ben-Otho," snapped Obergatz. "This creature is no son ofmine. As a lesson to all blasphemers he shall die upon the altar at thehand of the god he has profaned. Take him from my sight, and when thesun stands at zenith let the faithful congregate in the temple courtand witness the wrath of this divine hand," and he held aloft his rightpalm.
Those who had brought Tarzan took him away then as Obergatz haddirected, and the German turned once more to the warriors by the gate."Throw down your arms, warriors of Ja-don," he cried, "lest I call downmy lightnings to blast you where you stand. Those who do as I bid shallbe forgiven. Come! Throw down your arms."
The warriors of Ja-don moved uneasily, casting looks of appeal at theirleader and of apprehension toward the figures upon the palace roof.Ja-don sprang forward among his men. "Let the cowards and knaves throwdown their arms and enter the palace," he cried, "but never will Ja-donand the warriors of Ja-lur touch their foreheads to the feet of Lu-donand his false god. Make your decision now," he cried to his followers.
A few threw down their arms and with sheepish looks passed through thegateway into the palace, and with the example of these to bolster theircourage others joined in the desertion from the old chieftain of thenorth, but staunch and true around him stood the majority of hiswarriors and when the last weakling had left their ranks Ja-don voicedthe savage cry with which he led his followers to the attack, and onceagain the battle raged about the palace gate.
At times Ja-don's forces pushed the defenders far into the palaceground and then the wave of combat would recede and pass out into thecity again. And still Ta-den and the reinforcements did not come. Itwas drawing close to noon. Lu-don had mustered every available man thatwas not actually needed for the defense of the gate within the temple,and these he sent, under the leadership of Pan-sat, out into the citythrough the secret passageway and there they fell upon Ja-don's forcesfrom the rear while those at the gate hammered them in front.
Attacked on two sides by a vastly superior force the result wasinevitable and finally the last remnant of Ja-don's little armycapitulated and the old chief was taken a prisoner before Lu-don. "Takehim to the temple court," cried the high priest. "He shall witness thedeath of his accomplice and perhaps Jad-ben-Otho shall pass a similarsentence upon him as well."
The inner temple court was packed with humanity. At either end of thewestern altar stood Tarzan and his mate, bound and helpless. The soundsof battle had ceased and presently the ape-man saw Ja-don being ledinto the inner court, his wrists bound tightly together before him.Tarzan turned his eyes toward Jane and nodded in the direction ofJa-don. "This looks like the end," he said quietly. "He was our lastand only hope."
"We have at least found each other, John," she replied, "and our lastdays have been spent together. My only prayer now is that if they takeyou they do not leave me."
Tarzan made no reply for in his heart was the same bitter thought thather own contained--not the fear that they would kill him but the fearthat they would not kill her. The ape-man strained at his bonds butthey were too many and too strong. A priest near him saw and with ajeering laugh struck the defenseless ape-man in the face.
"The brute!" cried Jane Clayton.
Tarzan smiled. "I have been struck thus before, Jane," he said, "andalways has the striker died."
"You still have hope?" she asked.
"I am still alive," he said as though that were sufficient answer. Shewas a woman and she did not have the courage of this man who knew nofear. In her heart of hearts she knew that he would die upon the altarat high noon for he had told her, after he had been brought to theinner court, of the sentence of death that Obergatz had pronounced uponhim, and she knew too that Tarzan knew that he would die, but that hewas too courageous to admit it even to himself.
As she looked upon him standing there so straight and wonderful andbrave among his savage captors her heart cried out against the crueltyof the fate that had overtaken him. It seemed a gross and hideous wrongthat that wonderful creature, now so quick with exuberant life andstrength and purpose should be presently naught but a bleeding lump ofclay--and all so uselessly and wantonly. Gladly would she have offeredher life for his but she knew that it was a waste of words since theircaptors would work upon them whatever it was their will to do--for him,death; for her--she shuddered at the thought.
And now came Lu-don and the naked Obergatz, and the high priest led theGerman to his place behind the altar, himself standing upon the other'sleft. Lu-don whispered a word to Obergatz, at the same time nodding inthe direction of Ja-don. The Hun cast a scowling look upon the oldwarrior.
"And after the false god," he cried, "the false prophet," and hepointed an accusing finger at Ja-don. Then his eyes wandered to theform of Jane Clayton.
"And the woman, too?" asked Lu-don.
"The case of the woman I will attend to later," replied Obergatz. "Iwill talk with her tonight after she has had a chance to meditate uponthe consequences of arousing the wrath of Jad-ben-Otho."
He cast his eyes upward at the sun. "The time approaches," he said toLu-don. "Prepare the sacrifice."
Lu-don nodded to the priests who were gathered about Tarzan. Theyseized the ape-man and lifted him bodily to the altar where they laidhim upon his back with his head at the south end of the monolith, but afew feet from where Jane Clayton stood. Impulsively and before theycould restrain her the woman rushed forward and bending quickly kissedher mate upon the forehead. "Good-bye, John," she whispered.
"Good-bye," he answered, smiling.
The priests seized her and dragged her away. Lu-don handed thesacrificial knife to Obergatz. "I am the Great God," cried the German,"thus falleth the divine wrath upon all my enemies!" He looked up atthe sun and then raised the knife high above his head.
"Thus die the blasphemers of God!" he screamed, and at the same instanta sharp staccato note rang out above the silent, spell-bound multitude.There was a screaming whistle in the air and Jad-ben-Otho crumpledforward across the body of his intended victim. Again the same alarmingnoise and Lu-don fell, a third and Mo-sar crumpled to the ground. Andnow the warriors and the people, locating the direction of this new andunknown sound turned toward the western end of the court.
Upon the summit of the temple wall they saw two figures--a Ho-donwarrior and beside him an almost naked creature of the race ofTarzan-jad-guru, across his shoulders and about his hips were strangebroad belts studded with beautiful cylinders that glinted in themid-day sun, and in his hands a shining thing of wood and metal fromthe end of which rose a thin wreath of blue-gray smoke.
And then the voice of the Ho-don warrior rang clear upon the ears ofthe silent throng. "Thus speaks the true Jad-ben-Otho," he cried,"through this his Messenger of Death. Cut the bonds of the prisoners.Cut the bonds of the Dor-ul-Otho and of Ja-don, King of Pal-ul-don, andof the woman who is the mate of the son of god."
Pan-sat, filled with the frenzy of fanaticism saw the power and theglory of the regime he had served crumpled and gone. To one and onlyone did he attribute the blame for the disaster that had but justoverwhelmed him. It was the creature who lay upon the sacrificial altarwho had brought Lu-don to his death and toppled the dreams of powerthat day by day had been growing in the brain of the under priest.
The sacrificial knife lay upon the altar where it had fallen from thedead fingers of Obergatz. Pan-sat crept closer and then with a suddenlunge he reached forth to seize the handle of the blade, and even ashis clutching fingers were poised above it, the strange thing in thehands of the strange creature upon the temple wall cried out itscrashing word of doom and Pan-sat the under priest, screaming, fellback upon the dead body of his master.
"Seize all the priests," cried Ta-den to the warriors, "and let nonehesitate lest Jad-ben-Otho's messenger send forth still other bolts oflightning."
The warriors and the people had now witnessed such an exhibition ofdivine power as might have convinced an even less superstitious andmore enlightened p
eople, and since many of them had but lately waveredbetween the Jad-ben-Otho of Lu-don and the Dor-ul-Otho of Ja-don it wasnot difficult for them to swing quickly back to the latter, especiallyin view of the unanswerable argument in the hands of him whom Ta-denhad described as the Messenger of the Great God.
And so the warriors sprang forward now with alacrity and surrounded thepriests, and when they looked again at the western wall of the templecourt they saw pouring over it a great force of warriors. And the thingthat startled and appalled them was the fact that many of these wereblack and hairy Waz-don.
At their head came the stranger with the shiny weapon and on his rightwas Ta-den, the Ho-don, and on his left Om-at, the black gund ofKor-ul-JA.
A warrior near the altar had seized the sacrificial knife and cutTarzan's bonds and also those of Ja-don and Jane Clayton, and now thethree stood together beside the altar and as the newcomers from thewestern end of the temple court pushed their way toward them the eyesof the woman went wide in mingled astonishment, incredulity, and hope.And the stranger, slinging his weapon across his back by a leatherstrap, rushed forward and took her in his arms.
"Jack!" she cried, sobbing on his shoulder. "Jack, my son!"
And Tarzan of the Apes came then and put his arms around them both, andthe King of Pal-ul-don and the warriors and the people kneeled in thetemple court and placed their foreheads to the ground before the altarwhere the three stood.