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Within an hour of the fall of Lu-don and Mo-sar, the chiefs and

principal warriors of Pal-ul-don gathered in the great throneroom of

the palace at A-lur upon the steps of the lofty pyramid and placing

Ja-don at the apex proclaimed him king. Upon one side of the old

chieftain stood Tarzan of the Apes, and upon the other Korak, the

Killer, worthy son of the mighty ape-man.

And when the brief ceremony was over and the warriors with upraised

clubs had sworn fealty to their new ruler, Ja-don dispatched a trusted

company to fetch O-lo-a and Pan-at-lee and the women of his own

household from Ja-lur.

And then the warriors discussed the future of Pal-ul-don and the

question arose as to the administration of the temples and the fate of

the priests, who practically without exception had been disloyal to the

government of the king, seeking always only their own power and comfort

and aggrandizement. And then it was that Ja-don turned to Tarzan. "Let

the Dor-ul-Otho transmit to his people the wishes of his father," he

said.

"Your problem is a simple one," said the ape-man, "if you but wish to

do that which shall be pleasing in the eyes of God. Your priests, to

increase their power, have taught you that Jad-ben-Otho is a cruel god,

that his eyes love to dwell upon blood and upon suffering. But the

falsity of their teachings has been demonstrated to you today in the

utter defeat of the priesthood.

"Take then the temples from the men and give them instead to the women

that they may be administered in kindness and charity and love. Wash

the blood from your eastern altar and drain forever the water from the

western.

"Once I gave Lu-don the opportunity to do these things but he ignored

my commands, and again is the corridor of sacrifice filled with its

victims. Liberate these from every temple in Pal-ul-don. Bring

offerings of such gifts as your people like and place them upon the

altars of your god. And there he will bless them and the priestesses of

Jad-ben-Otho can distribute them among those who need them most."

As he ceased speaking a murmur of evident approval ran through the

throng. Long had they been weary of the avarice and cruelty of the

priests and now that authority had come from a high source with a

feasible plan for ridding themselves of the old religious order without

necessitating any change in the faith of the people they welcomed it.

"And the priests," cried one. "We shall put them to death upon their

own altars if it pleases the Dor-ul-Otho to give the word."

"No," cried Tarzan. "Let no more blood be spilled. Give them their

freedom and the right to take up such occupations as they choose."

That night a great feast was spread in the pal-e-don-so and for the

first time in the history of ancient Pal-ul-don black warriors sat in

peace and friendship with white. And a pact was sealed between Ja-don

and Om-at that would ever make his tribe and the Ho-don allies and

friends.

It was here that Tarzan learned the cause of Ta-den's failure to attack

at the stipulated time. A messenger had come from Ja-don carrying

instructions to delay the attack until noon, nor had they discovered

until almost too late that the messenger was a disguised priest of

Lu-don. And they had put him to death and scaled the walls and come to

the inner temple court with not a moment to spare.

The following day O-lo-a and Pan-at-lee and the women of Ja-don's

family arrived at the palace at A-lur and in the great throneroom

Ta-den and O-lo-a were wed, and Om-at and Pan-at-lee.

For a week Tarzan and Jane and Korak remained the guests of Ja-don, as

did Om-at and his black warriors. And then the ape-man announced that

he would depart from Pal-ul-don. Hazy in the minds of their hosts was

the location of heaven and equally so the means by which the gods

traveled between their celestial homes and the haunts of men and so no

questionings arose when it was found that the Dor-ul-Otho with his mate

and son would travel overland across the mountains and out of

Pal-ul-don toward the north.

They went by way of the Kor-ul-JA accompanied by the warriors of that

tribe and a great contingent of Ho-don warriors under Ta-den. The king

and many warriors and a multitude of people accompanied them beyond the

limits of A-lur and after they had bid them good-bye and Tarzan had

invoked the blessings of God upon them the three Europeans saw their

simple, loyal friends prostrate in the dust behind them until the

cavalcade had wound out of the city and disappeared among the trees of

the nearby forest.

They rested for a day among the Kor-ul-JA while Jane investigated the

ancient caves of these strange people and then they moved on, avoiding

the rugged shoulder of Pastar-ul-ved and winding down the opposite

slope toward the great morass. They moved in comfort and in safety,

surrounded by their escort of Ho-don and Waz-don.

In the minds of many there was doubtless a question as to how the three

would cross the great morass but least of all was Tarzan worried by the

problem. In the course of his life he had been confronted by many

obstacles only to learn that he who will may always pass. In his mind

lurked an easy solution of the passage but it was one which depended

wholly upon chance.

It was the morning of the last day that, as they were breaking camp to

take up the march, a deep bellow thundered from a nearby grove. The

ape-man smiled. The chance had come. Fittingly then would the

Dor-ul-Otho and his mate and their son depart from unmapped Pal-ul-don.

He still carried the spear that Jane had made, which he had prized so

highly because it was her handiwork that he had caused a search to be

made for it through the temple in A-lur after his release, and it had

been found and brought to him. He had told her laughingly that it

should have the place of honor above their hearth as the ancient

flintlock of her Puritan grandsire had held a similar place of honor

above the fireplace of Professor Porter, her father.

At the sound of the bellowing the Ho-don warriors, some of whom had

accompanied Tarzan from Ja-don's camp to Ja-lur, looked questioningly

at the ape-man while Om-at's Waz-don looked for trees, since the GRYF

was the one creature of Pal-ul-don which might not be safely

encountered even by a great multitude of warriors. Its tough, armored

hide was impregnable to their knife thrusts while their thrown clubs

rattled from it as futilely as if hurled at the rocky shoulder of

Pastar-ul-ved.

"Wait," said the ape-man, and with his spear in hand he advanced toward

the GRYF, voicing the weird cry of the Tor-o-don. The bellowing ceased

and turned to low rumblings and presently the huge beast appeared. What

followed was but a repetition of the ape-man's previous experience with

these huge and ferocious creatures.

And so it was that Jane and Korak and Tarzan rode through the morass

that hems Pal-ul-don, upon the back of a prehistoric triceratops while

the lesser reptiles of the swamp fled hissing in terror. Upon the

opposite shore they turned and called back their farewells to Ta-den

and Om-at and the brave warriors they had learned to admire and

respect. And then Tarzan urged their titanic mount onward toward the

north, abandoning him only when he was assured that the Waz-don and the

Ho-don had had time to reach a point of comparative safety among the

craggy ravines of the foothills.

Turning the beast's head again toward Pal-ul-don the three dismounted

and a sharp blow upon the thick hide sent the creature lumbering

majestically back in the direction of its native haunts. For a time

they stood looking back upon the land they had just quit--the land of

Tor-o-don and GRYF; of JA and JATO; of Waz-don and Ho-don; a primitive

land of terror and sudden death and peace and beauty; a land that they

all had learned to love.

And then they turned once more toward the north and with light hearts

and brave hearts took up their long journey toward the land that is

best of all--home.