"And now that you have found me," queried Tarzan, "will you give me up
to Lu-don, the high priest?"
Pan-at-lee threw herself upon her knees at O-lo-a's feet. "Princess!
Princess!" she beseeched, "do not discover him to his enemies."
"But Ko-tan, my father," whispered O-lo-a fearfully, "if he knew of my
perfidy his rage would be beyond naming. Even though I am a princess
Lu-don might demand that I be sacrificed to appease the wrath of
Jad-ben-Otho, and between the two of them I should be lost."
"But they need never know," cried Pan-at-lee, "that you have seen him
unless you tell them yourself for as Jad-ben-Otho is my witness I will
never betray you."
"Oh, tell me, stranger," implored O-lo-a, "are you indeed a god?"
"Jad-ben-Otho is not more so," replied Tarzan truthfully.
"But why do you seek to escape then from the hands of mortals if you
are a god?" she asked.
"When gods mingle with mortals," replied Tarzan, "they are no less
vulnerable than mortals. Even Jad-ben-Otho, should he appear before you
in the flesh, might be slain."
"You have seen Ta-den and spoken with him?" she asked with apparent
irrelevancy.
"Yes, I have seen him and spoken with him," replied the ape-man. "For
the duration of a moon I was with him constantly."
"And--" she hesitated--"he--" she cast her eyes toward the ground and a
flush mantled her cheek--"he still loves me?" and Tarzan knew that she
had been won over.
"Yes," he said, "Ta-den speaks only of O-lo-a and he waits and hopes
for the day when he can claim her."
"But tomorrow they give me to Bu-lot," she said sadly.
"May it be always tomorrow," replied Tarzan, "for tomorrow never comes."
"Ah, but this unhappiness will come, and for all the tomorrows of my
life I must pine in misery for the Ta-den who will never be mine."
"But for Lu-don I might have helped you," said the ape-man. "And who
knows that I may not help you yet?"
"Ah, if you only could, Dor-ul-Otho," cried the girl, "and I know that
you would if it were possible for Pan-at-lee has told me how brave you
are, and at the same time how kind."
"Only Jad-ben-Otho knows what the future may bring," said Tarzan. "And
now you two go your way lest someone should discover you and become
suspicious."
"We will go," said O-lo-a, "but Pan-at-lee will return with food. I
hope that you escape and that Jad-ben-Otho is pleased with what I have
done." She turned and walked away and Pan-at-lee followed while the
ape-man again resumed his hiding.
At dusk Pan-at-lee came with food and having her alone Tarzan put the
question that he had been anxious to put since his conversation earlier
in the day with O-lo-a.
"Tell me," he said, "what you know of the rumors of which O-lo-a spoke
of the mysterious stranger which is supposed to be hidden in A-lur.
Have you too heard of this during the short time that you have been
here?"
"Yes," said Pan-at-lee, "I have heard it spoken of among the other
slaves. It is something of which all whisper among themselves but of
which none dares to speak aloud. They say that there is a strange she
hidden in the temple and that Lu-don wants her for a priestess and that
Ko-tan wants her for a wife and that neither as yet dares take her for
fear of the other."
"Do you know where she is hidden in the temple?" asked Tarzan.
"No," said Pan-at-lee. "How should I know? I do not even know that it
is more than a story and I but tell you that which I have heard others
say."
"There was only one," asked Tarzan, "whom they spoke of?"
"No, they speak of another who came with her but none seems to know
what became of this one."
Tarzan nodded. "Thank you Pan-at-lee," he said. "You may have helped me
more than either of us guess."
"I hope that I have helped you," said the girl as she turned back
toward the palace.
"And I hope so too," exclaimed Tarzan emphatically.
14