4
Tarzan-jad-guru
As Tarzan and Om-at clambered back to the vestibule of Pan-at-lee'scave and took their stand beside Ta-den in readiness for whatevereventuality might follow the death of Es-sat, the sun that topped theeastern hills touched also the figure of a sleeper upon a distant,thorn-covered steppe awakening him to another day of tireless trackingalong a faint and rapidly disappearing spoor.
For a time silence reigned in the Kor-ul-JA. The tribesmen waited,looking now down upon the dead thing that had been their chief, now atone another, and now at Om-at and the two who stood upon his eitherside. Presently Om-at spoke. "I am Om-at," he cried. "Who will say thatOm-at is not gund of Kor-ul-JA?"
He waited for a taker of his challenge. One or two of the larger youngbucks fidgeted restlessly and eyed him; but there was no reply.
"Then Om-at is gund," he said with finality. "Now tell me, where arePan-at-lee, her father, and her brothers?"
An old warrior spoke. "Pan-at-lee should be in her cave. Who shouldknow that better than you who are there now? Her father and herbrothers were sent to watch Kor-ul-lul; but neither of these questionsarouse any tumult in our breasts. There is one that does: Can Om-at bechief of Kor-ul-JA and yet stand at bay against his own people with aHo-don and that terrible man at his side--that terrible man who has notail? Hand the strangers over to your people to be slain as is the wayof the Waz-don and then may Om-at be gund."
Neither Tarzan nor Ta-den spoke then, they but stood watching Om-at andwaiting for his decision, the ghost of a smile upon the lips of theape-man. Ta-den, at least, knew that the old warrior had spoken thetruth--the Waz-don entertain no strangers and take no prisoners of analien race.
Then spoke Om-at. "Always there is change," he said. "Even the oldhills of Pal-ul-don appear never twice alike--the brilliant sun, apassing cloud, the moon, a mist, the changing seasons, the sharpclearness following a storm; these things bring each a new change inour hills. From birth to death, day by day, there is constant change ineach of us. Change, then, is one of Jad-ben-Otho's laws.
"And now I, Om-at, your gund, bring another change. Strangers who arebrave men and good friends shall no longer be slain by the Waz-don ofKor-ul-JA!"
There were growls and murmurings and a restless moving among thewarriors as each eyed the others to see who would take the initiativeagainst Om-at, the iconoclast.
"Cease your mutterings," admonished the new gund. "I am your chief. Myword is your law. You had no part in making me chief. Some of youhelped Es-sat to drive me from the cave of my ancestors; the rest ofyou permitted it. I owe you nothing. Only these two, whom you wouldhave me kill, were loyal to me. I am gund and if there be any whodoubts it let him speak--he cannot die younger."
Tarzan was pleased. Here was a man after his own heart. He admired thefearlessness of Om-at's challenge and he was a sufficiently good judgeof men to know that he had listened to no idle bluff--Om-at would backup his words to the death, if necessary, and the chances were that hewould not be the one to die. Evidently the majority of theKor-ul-jaians entertained the same conviction.
"I will make you a good gund," said Om-at, seeing that no one appearedinclined to dispute his rights. "Your wives and daughters will besafe--they were not safe while Es-sat ruled. Go now to your crops andyour hunting. I leave to search for Pan-at-lee. Ab-on will be gundwhile I am away--look to him for guidance and to me for an accountingwhen I return--and may Jad-ben-Otho smile upon you."
He turned toward Tarzan and the Ho-don. "And you, my friends," he said,"are free to go among my people; the cave of my ancestors is yours, dowhat you will."
"I," said Tarzan, "will go with Om-at to search for Pan-at-lee."
"And I," said Ta-den.
Om-at smiled. "Good!" he exclaimed. "And when we have found her weshall go together upon Tarzan's business and Ta-den's. Where firstshall we search?" He turned toward his warriors. "Who knows where shemay be?"
None knew other than that Pan-at-lee had gone to her cave with theothers the previous evening--there was no clew, no suggestion as to herwhereabouts.
"Show me where she sleeps," said Tarzan; "let me see something thatbelongs to her--an article of her apparel--then, doubtless, I can helpyou."
Two young warriors climbed closer to the ledge upon which Om-at stood.They were In-sad and O-dan. It was the latter who spoke.
"Gund of Kor-ul-JA," he said, "we would go with you to search forPan-at-lee."
It was the first acknowledgment of Om-at's chieftainship andimmediately following it the tenseness that had prevailed seemed torelax--the warriors spoke aloud instead of in whispers, and the womenappeared from the mouths of caves as with the passing of a suddenstorm. In-sad and O-dan had taken the lead and now all seemed glad tofollow. Some came to talk with Om-at and to look more closely atTarzan; others, heads of caves, gathered their hunters and discussedthe business of the day. The women and children prepared to descend tothe fields with the youths and the old men, whose duty it was to guardthem.
"O-dan and In-sad shall go with us," announced Om-at, "we shall notneed more. Tarzan, come with me and I shall show you where Pan-at-leesleeps, though why you should wish to know I cannot guess--she is notthere. I have looked for myself."
The two entered the cave where Om-at led the way to the apartment inwhich Es-sat had surprised Pan-at-lee the previous night.
"All here are hers," said Om-at, "except the war club lying on thefloor--that was Es-sat's."
The ape-man moved silently about the apartment, the quivering of hissensitive nostrils scarcely apparent to his companion who only wonderedwhat good purpose could be served here and chafed at the delay.
"Come!" said the ape-man, presently, and led the way toward the outerrecess.
Here their three companions were awaiting them. Tarzan passed to theleft side of the niche and examined the pegs that lay within reach. Helooked at them but it was not his eyes that were examining them. Keenerthan his keen eyes was that marvelously trained sense of scent that hadfirst been developed in him during infancy under the tutorage of hisfoster mother, Kala, the she-ape, and further sharpened in the grimjungles by that master teacher--the instinct of self-preservation.
From the left side of the niche he turned to the right. Om-at wasbecoming impatient.
"Let us be off," he said. "We must search for Pan-at-lee if we wouldever find her."
"Where shall we search?" asked Tarzan.
Om-at scratched his head. "Where?" he repeated. "Why all Pal-ul-don, ifnecessary."
"A large job," said Tarzan. "Come," he added, "she went this way," andhe took to the pegs that led aloft toward the summit of the cliff. Herehe followed the scent easily since none had passed that way sincePan-at-lee had fled. At the point at which she had left the permanentpegs and resorted to those carried with her Tarzan came to an abrupthalt. "She went this way to the summit," he called back to Om-at whowas directly behind him; "but there are no pegs here."
"I do not know how you know that she went this way," said Om-at; "butwe will get pegs. In-sad, return and fetch climbing pegs for five."
The young warrior was soon back and the pegs distributed. Om-at handedfive to Tarzan and explained their use. The ape-man returned one. "Ineed but four," he said.
Om-at smiled. "What a wonderful creature you would be if you were notdeformed," he said, glancing with pride at his own strong tail.
"I admit that I am handicapped," replied Tarzan. "You others go aheadand leave the pegs in place for me. I am afraid that otherwise it willbe slow work as I cannot hold the pegs in my toes as you do."
"All right," agreed Om-at; "Ta-den, In-sad, and I will go first, youfollow and O-dan bring up the rear and collect the pegs--we cannotleave them here for our enemies."
"Can't your enemies bring their own pegs?" asked Tarzan.
"Yes; but it delays them and makes easier our defense and--they do notknow which of all the holes you see are deep enough for pegs--theothers are made to confuse our enemies and are too shallow
to hold apeg."
At the top of the cliff beside the gnarled tree Tarzan again took upthe trail. Here the scent was fully as strong as upon the pegs and theape-man moved rapidly across the ridge in the direction of theKor-ul-lul.
Presently he paused and turned toward Om-at. "Here she moved swiftly,running at top speed, and, Om-at, she was pursued by a lion."
"You can read that in the grass?" asked O-dan as the others gatheredabout the ape-man.
Tarzan nodded. "I do not think the lion got her," he added; "but thatwe shall determine quickly. No, he did not get her--look!" and hepointed toward the southwest, down the ridge.
Following the direction indicated by his finger, the others presentlydetected a movement in some bushes a couple of hundred yards away.
"What is it?" asked Om-at. "It is she?" and he started toward the spot.
"Wait," advised Tarzan. "It is the lion which pursued her."
"You can see him?" asked Ta-den.
"No, I can smell him."
The others looked their astonishment and incredulity; but of the factthat it was indeed a lion they were not left long in doubt. Presentlythe bushes parted and the creature stepped out in full view, facingthem. It was a magnificent beast, large and beautifully maned, with thebrilliant leopard spots of its kind well marked and symmetrical. For amoment it eyed them and then, still chafing at the loss of its preyearlier in the morning, it charged.
The Pal-ul-donians unslung their clubs and stood waiting the onrushingbeast. Tarzan of the Apes drew his hunting knife and crouched in thepath of the fanged fury. It was almost upon him when it swerved to theright and leaped for Om-at only to be sent to earth with a staggeringblow upon the head. Almost instantly it was up and though the menrushed fearlessly in, it managed to sweep aside their weapons with itsmighty paws. A single blow wrenched O-dan's club from his hand and sentit hurtling against Ta-den, knocking him from his feet. Takingadvantage of its opportunity the lion rose to throw itself upon O-danand at the same instant Tarzan flung himself upon its back. Strong,white teeth buried themselves in the spotted neck, mighty armsencircled the savage throat and the sinewy legs of the ape-man lockedthemselves about the gaunt belly.
The others, powerless to aid, stood breathlessly about as the greatlion lunged hither and thither, clawing and biting fearfully andfutilely at the savage creature that had fastened itself upon him. Overand over they rolled and now the onlookers saw a brown hand raisedabove the lion's side--a brown hand grasping a keen blade. They saw itfall and rise and fall again--each time with terrific force and in itswake they saw a crimson stream trickling down JA's gorgeous coat.
Now from the lion's throat rose hideous screams of hate and rage andpain as he redoubled his efforts to dislodge and punish his tormentor;but always the tousled black head remained half buried in the darkbrown mane and the mighty arm rose and fell to plunge the knife againand again into the dying beast.
The Pal-ul-donians stood in mute wonder and admiration. Brave men andmighty hunters they were and as such the first to accord honor to amightier.
"And you would have had me slay him!" cried Om-at, glancing at In-sadand O-dan.
"Jad-ben-Otho reward you that you did not," breathed In-sad.
And now the lion lunged suddenly to earth and with a few spasmodicquiverings lay still. The ape-man rose and shook himself, even as mightJA, the leopard-coated lion of Pal-ul-don, had he been the one tosurvive.
O-dan advanced quickly toward Tarzan. Placing a palm upon his ownbreast and the other on Tarzan's, "Tarzan the Terrible," he said, "Iask no greater honor than your friendship."
"And I no more than the friendship of Om-at's friends," replied theape-man simply, returning the other's salute.
"Do you think," asked Om-at, coming close to Tarzan and laying a handupon the other's shoulder, "that he got her?"
"No, my friend; it was a hungry lion that charged us."
"You seem to know much of lions," said In-sad.
"Had I a brother I could not know him better," replied Tarzan.
"Then where can she be?" continued Om-at.
"We can but follow while the spoor is fresh," answered the ape-man andagain taking up his interrupted tracking he led them down the ridge andat a sharp turning of the trail to the left brought them to the vergeof the cliff that dropped into the Kor-ul-lul. For a moment Tarzanexamined the ground to the right and to the left, then he stood erectand looking at Om-at pointed into the gorge.
For a moment the Waz-don gazed down into the green rift at the bottomof which a tumultuous river tumbled downward along its rocky bed, thenhe closed his eyes as to a sudden spasm of pain and turned away.
"You--mean--she jumped?" he asked.
"To escape the lion," replied Tarzan. "He was right behind her--look,you can see where his four paws left their impress in the turf as hechecked his charge upon the very verge of the abyss."
"Is there any chance--" commenced Om-at, to be suddenly silenced by awarning gesture from Tarzan.
"Down!" whispered the ape-man, "many men are coming. They arerunning--from down the ridge." He flattened himself upon his belly inthe grass, the others following his example.
For some minutes they waited thus and then the others, too, heard thesound of running feet and now a hoarse shout followed by many more.
"It is the war cry of the Kor-ul-lul," whispered Om-at--"the huntingcry of men who hunt men. Presently shall we see them and ifJad-ben-Otho is pleased with us they shall not too greatly outnumberus."
"They are many," said Tarzan, "forty or fifty, I should say; but howmany are the pursued and how many the pursuers we cannot even guess,except that the latter must greatly outnumber the former, else thesewould not run so fast."
"Here they come," said Ta-den.
"It is An-un, father of Pan-at-lee, and his two sons," exclaimed O-dan."They will pass without seeing us if we do not hurry," he added lookingat Om-at, the chief, for a sign.
"Come!" cried the latter, springing to his feet and running rapidly tointercept the three fugitives. The others followed him.
"Five friends!" shouted Om-at as An-un and his sons discovered them.
"Adenen yo!" echoed O-dan and In-sad.
The fugitives scarcely paused as these unexpected reinforcements joinedthem but they eyed Ta-den and Tarzan with puzzled glances.
"The Kor-ul-lul are many," shouted An-un. "Would that we might pauseand fight; but first we must warn Es-sat and our people."
"Yes," said Om-at, "we must warn our people."
"Es-sat is dead," said In-sad.
"Who is chief?" asked one of An-un's sons.
"Om-at," replied O-dan.
"It is well," cried An-un. "Pan-at-lee said that you would come backand slay Es-sat."
Now the enemy broke into sight behind them.
"Come!" cried Tarzan, "let us turn and charge them, raising a greatcry. They pursued but three and when they see eight charging upon themthey will think that many men have come to do battle. They will believethat there are more even than they see and then one who is swift willhave time to reach the gorge and warn your people."
"It is well," said Om-at. "Id-an, you are swift--carry word to thewarriors of Kor-ul-JA that we fight the Kor-ul-lul upon the ridge andthat Ab-on shall send a hundred men."
Id-an, the son of An-un, sped swiftly toward the cliff-dwellings of theKor-ul-JA while the others charged the oncoming Kor-ul-lul, the warcries of the two tribes rising and falling in a certain grim harmony.The leaders of the Kor-ul-lul paused at sight of the reinforcements,waiting apparently for those behind to catch up with them and,possibly, also to learn how great a force confronted them. The leaders,swifter runners than their fellows, perhaps, were far in advance whilethe balance of their number had not yet emerged from the brush; and nowas Om-at and his companions fell upon them with a ferocity born ofnecessity they fell back, so that when their companions at last came insight of them they appeared to be in full rout. The natural result wasthat the others turned and fled.
Encouraged by this first success Om-at followed them into the brush,his little company charging valiantly upon his either side, and loudand terrifying were the savage yells with which they pursued thefleeing enemy. The brush, while not growing so closely together as toimpede progress, was of such height as to hide the members of the partyfrom one another when they became separated by even a few yards. Theresult was that Tarzan, always swift and always keen for battle, wassoon pursuing the enemy far in the lead of the others--a lack ofprudence which was to prove his undoing.
The warriors of Kor-ul-lul, doubtless as valorous as their foemen,retreated only to a more strategic position in the brush, nor were theylong in guessing that the number of their pursuers was fewer than theirown. They made a stand then where the brush was densest--an ambush itwas, and into this ran Tarzan of the Apes. They tricked him neatly.Yes, sad as is the narration of it, they tricked the wily jungle lord.But then they were fighting on their own ground, every foot of whichthey knew as you know your front parlor, and they were following theirown tactics, of which Tarzan knew nothing.
A single black warrior appeared to Tarzan a laggard in the rear of theretreating enemy and thus retreating he lured Tarzan on. At last heturned at bay confronting the ape-man with bludgeon and drawn knife andas Tarzan charged him a score of burly Waz-don leaped from thesurrounding brush. Instantly, but too late, the giant Tarmanganirealized his peril. There flashed before him a vision of his lost mateand a great and sickening regret surged through him with therealization that if she still lived she might no longer hope, forthough she might never know of the passing of her lord the fact of itmust inevitably seal her doom.
And consequent to this thought there enveloped him a blind frenzy ofhatred for these creatures who dared thwart his purpose and menace thewelfare of his wife. With a savage growl he threw himself upon thewarrior before him twisting the heavy club from the creature's hand asif he had been a little child, and with his left fist backed by theweight and sinew of his giant frame, he crashed a shattering blow tothe center of the Waz-don's face--a blow that crushed the bones anddropped the fellow in his tracks. Then he swung upon the others withtheir fallen comrade's bludgeon striking to right and left mighty,unmerciful blows that drove down their own weapons until that wieldedby the ape-man was splintered and shattered. On either hand they fellbefore his cudgel; so rapid the delivery of his blows, so catlike hisrecovery that in the first few moments of the battle he seemedinvulnerable to their attack; but it could not last--he was outnumberedtwenty to one and his undoing came from a thrown club. It struck himupon the back of the head. For a moment he stood swaying and then likea great pine beneath the woodsman's ax he crashed to earth.
Others of the Kor-ul-lul had rushed to engage the balance of Om-at'sparty. They could be heard fighting at a short distance and it wasevident that the Kor-ul-JA were falling slowly back and as they fellOm-at called to the missing one: "Tarzan the Terrible! Tarzan theTerrible!"
"Jad-guru, indeed," repeated one of the Kor-ul-lul rising from whereTarzan had dropped him. "Tarzan-jad-guru! He was worse than that."