As Tarzan and Om-at clambered back to the vestibule of Pan-at-lee's
cave and took their stand beside Ta-den in readiness for whatever
eventuality might follow the death of Es-sat, the sun that topped the
eastern hills touched also the figure of a sleeper upon a distant,
thorn-covered steppe awakening him to another day of tireless tracking
along 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 at
one another, and now at Om-at and the two who stood upon his either
side. Presently Om-at spoke. "I am Om-at," he cried. "Who will say that
Om-at is not gund of Kor-ul-JA?"
He waited for a taker of his challenge. One or two of the larger young
bucks fidgeted restlessly and eyed him; but there was no reply.
"Then Om-at is gund," he said with finality. "Now tell me, where are
Pan-at-lee, her father, and her brothers?"
An old warrior spoke. "Pan-at-lee should be in her cave. Who should
know that better than you who are there now? Her father and her
brothers were sent to watch Kor-ul-lul; but neither of these questions
arouse any tumult in our breasts. There is one that does: Can Om-at be
chief of Kor-ul-JA and yet stand at bay against his own people with a
Ho-don and that terrible man at his side--that terrible man who has no
tail? Hand the strangers over to your people to be slain as is the way
of the Waz-don and then may Om-at be gund."
Neither Tarzan nor Ta-den spoke then, they but stood watching Om-at and
waiting for his decision, the ghost of a smile upon the lips of the
ape-man. Ta-den, at least, knew that the old warrior had spoken the
truth--the Waz-don entertain no strangers and take no prisoners of an
alien race.
Then spoke Om-at. "Always there is change," he said. "Even the old
hills of Pal-ul-don appear never twice alike--the brilliant sun, a
passing cloud, the moon, a mist, the changing seasons, the sharp
clearness following a storm; these things bring each a new change in
our hills. From birth to death, day by day, there is constant change in
each of us. Change, then, is one of Jad-ben-Otho's laws.
"And now I, Om-at, your gund, bring another change. Strangers who are
brave men and good friends shall no longer be slain by the Waz-don of
Kor-ul-JA!"
There were growls and murmurings and a restless moving among the
warriors as each eyed the others to see who would take the initiative
against Om-at, the iconoclast.
"Cease your mutterings," admonished the new gund. "I am your chief. My
word is your law. You had no part in making me chief. Some of you
helped Es-sat to drive me from the cave of my ancestors; the rest of
you permitted it. I owe you nothing. Only these two, whom you would
have me kill, were loyal to me. I am gund and if there be any who
doubts it let him speak--he cannot die younger."
Tarzan was pleased. Here was a man after his own heart. He admired the
fearlessness of Om-at's challenge and he was a sufficiently good judge
of men to know that he had listened to no idle bluff--Om-at would back
up his words to the death, if necessary, and the chances were that he
would not be the one to die. Evidently the majority of the
Kor-ul-jaians entertained the same conviction.
"I will make you a good gund," said Om-at, seeing that no one appeared
inclined to dispute his rights. "Your wives and daughters will be
safe--they were not safe while Es-sat ruled. Go now to your crops and
your hunting. I leave to search for Pan-at-lee. Ab-on will be gund
while I am away--look to him for guidance and to me for an accounting
when 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, do
what 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 we
shall go together upon Tarzan's business and Ta-den's. Where first
shall we search?" He turned toward his warriors. "Who knows where she
may be?"
None knew other than that Pan-at-lee had gone to her cave with the
others the previous evening--there was no clew, no suggestion as to her
whereabouts.
"Show me where she sleeps," said Tarzan; "let me see something that
belongs to her--an article of her apparel--then, doubtless, I can help
you."
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 for
Pan-at-lee."
It was the first acknowledgment of Om-at's chieftainship and
immediately following it the tenseness that had prevailed seemed to
relax--the warriors spoke aloud instead of in whispers, and the women
appeared from the mouths of caves as with the passing of a sudden
storm. In-sad and O-dan had taken the lead and now all seemed glad to
follow. Some came to talk with Om-at and to look more closely at
Tarzan; others, heads of caves, gathered their hunters and discussed
the business of the day. The women and children prepared to descend to
the fields with the youths and the old men, whose duty it was to guard
them.
"O-dan and In-sad shall go with us," announced Om-at, "we shall not
need more. Tarzan, come with me and I shall show you where Pan-at-lee
sleeps, though why you should wish to know I cannot guess--she is not
there. I have looked for myself."
The two entered the cave where Om-at led the way to the apartment in
which Es-sat had surprised Pan-at-lee the previous night.
"All here are hers," said Om-at, "except the war club lying on the
floor--that was Es-sat's."
The ape-man moved silently about the apartment, the quivering of his
sensitive nostrils scarcely apparent to his companion who only wondered
what good purpose could be served here and chafed at the delay.
"Come!" said the ape-man, presently, and led the way toward the outer
recess.
Here their three companions were awaiting them. Tarzan passed to the
left side of the niche and examined the pegs that lay within reach. He
looked at them but it was not his eyes that were examining them. Keener
than his keen eyes was that marvelously trained sense of scent that had
first been developed in him during infancy under the tutorage of his
foster mother, Kala, the she-ape, and further sharpened in the grim
jungles by that master teacher--the instinct of self-preservation.
From the left side of the niche he turned to the right. Om-at was
becoming impatient.
"Let us be off," he said. "We must search for Pan-at-lee if we would
ever find her."
"Where shall we search?" asked Tarzan.
Om-at scratched his head. "Where?" he repeated. "Why all Pal-ul-don, if
necessary."
"A large job," said Tarzan. "Come," he added, "she went this way," and
he took to the pegs that led aloft toward the summit of the cliff. Here
he followed the scent easily since none had passed that way since
Pan-at-lee had fled. At the point at which she had left the permanent
pegs and resorted to those carried with her Tarzan came to an abrupt
halt. "She went this way to the summit," he called back to Om-at who
was directly behind him; "but there are no pegs here."
"I do not know how you know that she went this way," said Om-at; "but
we will get pegs. In-sad, return and fetch climbing pegs for five."
The young warrior was soon back and the pegs distributed. Om-at handed
five to Tarzan and explained their use. The ape-man returned one. "I
need but four," he said.
Om-at smiled. "What a wonderful creature you would be if you were not
deformed," he said, glancing with pride at his own strong tail.
"I admit that I am handicapped," replied Tarzan. "You others go ahead
and leave the pegs in place for me. I am afraid that otherwise it will
be 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, you
follow and O-dan bring up the rear and collect the pegs--we cannot
leave 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 not
know which of all the holes you see are deep enough for pegs--the
others are made to confuse our enemies and are too shallow to hold a
peg."
At the top of the cliff beside the gnarled tree Tarzan again took up
the trail. Here the scent was fully as strong as upon the pegs and the
ape-man moved rapidly across the ridge in the direction of the
Kor-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 gathered
about the ape-man.
Tarzan nodded. "I do not think the lion got her," he added; "but that
we shall determine quickly. No, he did not get her--look!" and he
pointed toward the southwest, down the ridge.
Following the direction indicated by his finger, the others presently
detected 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 fact
that it was indeed a lion they were not left long in doubt. Presently
the bushes parted and the creature stepped out in full view, facing
them. It was a magnificent beast, large and beautifully maned, with the
brilliant leopard spots of its kind well marked and symmetrical. For a
moment it eyed them and then, still chafing at the loss of its prey
earlier in the morning, it charged.
The Pal-ul-donians unslung their clubs and stood waiting the onrushing
beast. Tarzan of the Apes drew his hunting knife and crouched in the
path of the fanged fury. It was almost upon him when it swerved to the
right and leaped for Om-at only to be sent to earth with a staggering
blow upon the head. Almost instantly it was up and though the men
rushed fearlessly in, it managed to sweep aside their weapons with its
mighty paws. A single blow wrenched O-dan's club from his hand and sent
it hurtling against Ta-den, knocking him from his feet. Taking
advantage of its opportunity the lion rose to throw itself upon O-dan
and at the same instant Tarzan flung himself upon its back. Strong,
white teeth buried themselves in the spotted neck, mighty arms
encircled the savage throat and the sinewy legs of the ape-man locked
themselves about the gaunt belly.
The others, powerless to aid, stood breathlessly about as the great
lion lunged hither and thither, clawing and biting fearfully and
futilely at the savage creature that had fastened itself upon him. Over
and over they rolled and now the onlookers saw a brown hand raised
above the lion's side--a brown hand grasping a keen blade. They saw it
fall and rise and fall again--each time with terrific force and in its
wake they saw a crimson stream trickling down JA's gorgeous coat.
Now from the lion's throat rose hideous screams of hate and rage and
pain as he redoubled his efforts to dislodge and punish his tormentor;
but always the tousled black head remained half buried in the dark
brown mane and the mighty arm rose and fell to plunge the knife again
and again into the dying beast.
The Pal-ul-donians stood in mute wonder and admiration. Brave men and
mighty hunters they were and as such the first to accord honor to a
mightier.
"And you would have had me slay him!" cried Om-at, glancing at In-sad
and 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 spasmodic
quiverings lay still. The ape-man rose and shook himself, even as might
JA, the leopard-coated lion of Pal-ul-don, had he been the one to
survive.
O-dan advanced quickly toward Tarzan. Placing a palm upon his own
breast and the other on Tarzan's, "Tarzan the Terrible," he said, "I
ask no greater honor than your friendship."
"And I no more than the friendship of Om-at's friends," replied the
ape-man simply, returning the other's salute.
"Do you think," asked Om-at, coming close to Tarzan and laying a hand
upon 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 and
again taking up his interrupted tracking he led them down the ridge and
at a sharp turning of the trail to the left brought them to the verge
of the cliff that dropped into the Kor-ul-lul. For a moment Tarzan
examined the ground to the right and to the left, then he stood erect
and looking at Om-at pointed into the gorge.
For a moment the Waz-don gazed down into the green rift at the bottom
of which a tumultuous river tumbled downward along its rocky bed, then
he 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 he
checked his charge upon the very verge of the abyss."
"Is there any chance--" commenced Om-at, to be suddenly silenced by a
warning gesture from Tarzan.
"Down!" whispered the ape-man, "many men are coming. They are
running--from down the ridge." He flattened himself upon his belly in
the grass, the others following his example.
For some minutes they waited thus and then the others, too, heard the
sound 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 hunting
cry of men who hunt men. Presently shall we see them and if
Jad-ben-Otho is pleased with us they shall not too greatly outnumber
us."
"They are many," said Tarzan, "forty or fifty, I should say; but how
many are the pursued and how many the pursuers we cannot even guess,
except that the latter must greatly outnumber the former, else these
would 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 looking
at Om-at, the chief, for a sign.
"Come!" cried the latter, springing to his feet and running rapidly to
intercept 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 joined
them but they eyed Ta-den and Tarzan with puzzled glances.
"The Kor-ul-lul are many," shouted An-un. "Would that we might pause
and 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 back
and slay Es-sat."
Now the enemy broke into sight behind them.
"Come!" cried Tarzan, "let us turn and charge them, raising a great
cry. They pursued but three and when they see eight charging upon them
they will think that many men have come to do battle. They will believe
that there are more even than they see and then one who is swift will
have time to reach the gorge and warn your people."
"It is well," said Om-at. "Id-an, you are swift--carry word to the
warriors of Kor-ul-JA that we fight the Kor-ul-lul upon the ridge and
that Ab-on shall send a hundred men."
Id-an, the son of An-un, sped swiftly toward the cliff-dwellings of the
Kor-ul-JA while the others charged the oncoming Kor-ul-lul, the war
cries 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 while
the balance of their number had not yet emerged from the brush; and now
as Om-at and his companions fell upon them with a ferocity born of
necessity they fell back, so that when their companions at last came in
sight of them they appeared to be in full rout. The natural result was
that 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 loud
and terrifying were the savage yells with which they pursued the
fleeing enemy. The brush, while not growing so closely together as to
impede progress, was of such height as to hide the members of the party
from one another when they became separated by even a few yards. The
result was that Tarzan, always swift and always keen for battle, was
soon pursuing the enemy far in the lead of the others--a lack of
prudence 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 they
long in guessing that the number of their pursuers was fewer than their
own. They made a stand then where the brush was densest--an ambush it
was, 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 which
they knew as you know your front parlor, and they were following their
own tactics, of which Tarzan knew nothing.
A single black warrior appeared to Tarzan a laggard in the rear of the
retreating enemy and thus retreating he lured Tarzan on. At last he
turned at bay confronting the ape-man with bludgeon and drawn knife and
as Tarzan charged him a score of burly Waz-don leaped from the
surrounding brush. Instantly, but too late, the giant Tarmangani
realized his peril. There flashed before him a vision of his lost mate
and a great and sickening regret surged through him with the
realization that if she still lived she might no longer hope, for
though she might never know of the passing of her lord the fact of it
must inevitably seal her doom.
And consequent to this thought there enveloped him a blind frenzy of
hatred for these creatures who dared thwart his purpose and menace the
welfare of his wife. With a savage growl he threw himself upon the
warrior before him twisting the heavy club from the creature's hand as
if he had been a little child, and with his left fist backed by the
weight and sinew of his giant frame, he crashed a shattering blow to
the center of the Waz-don's face--a blow that crushed the bones and
dropped the fellow in his tracks. Then he swung upon the others with
their fallen comrade's bludgeon striking to right and left mighty,
unmerciful blows that drove down their own weapons until that wielded
by the ape-man was splintered and shattered. On either hand they fell
before his cudgel; so rapid the delivery of his blows, so catlike his
recovery that in the first few moments of the battle he seemed
invulnerable to their attack; but it could not last--he was outnumbered
twenty to one and his undoing came from a thrown club. It struck him
upon the back of the head. For a moment he stood swaying and then like
a 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's
party. They could be heard fighting at a short distance and it was
evident that the Kor-ul-JA were falling slowly back and as they fell
Om-at called to the missing one: "Tarzan the Terrible! Tarzan the
Terrible!"
"Jad-guru, indeed," repeated one of the Kor-ul-lul rising from where
Tarzan had dropped him. "Tarzan-jad-guru! He was worse than that."
5