_Bride of the Ape_
Blake squatted upon the stone floor in the utter darkness of his
dungeon. After his jailers had left he had spoken to his fellow
prisoners, but only one had replied and his jibbering tones assured the
American that the poor wretch had been reduced to stark insanity by the
horrors of imprisonment in this foul hole.
The young man, accustomed to freedom, light, activity, already felt the
hideousness of his position and wondered how long it would be before
he, too, jibbered incoherently at the end of a rusting chain, how long
before he, too, was but mildewed bones upon a clammy floor.
In utter darkness and in utter silence there is no time, for there is
no means by which one may compute the passage of time. How long Blake
crouched in the stifling air of his dank dungeon he could not know. He
slept once, but whether he had dozed for an instant or slept the clock
around he could not even hazard a guess. And of what moment was it? A
second, a day, a year meant nothing here. There were only two things
that could mean anything to Jim Blake now--freedom or death. He knew
that it would not be long before he would welcome the latter.
A sound disturbed the silence of the buried vault. Footsteps were
approaching. Blake listened as they came nearer. Presently he
discerned a flickering light that grew in intensity until a pine torch
illuminated the interior of his prison. At first it blinded his eyes so
that he could not see who came, bearing the light, but whoever it was
crossed and stopped before him.
Blake looked up, his eyes more accustomed to the unwonted brilliance,
and saw two knights standing before him.
"It be he," said one.
"Dost thou not know us, Sir Black Knight?" demanded the other.
Blake looked at them closely. A slow smile lighted his face, as he saw
a great bandage wrapped about the neck of the younger man.
"I suppose," he said, "here is where I get mine."
"Get thine! What meanest thou?" demanded the older man.
"Well, you two certainly haven't come to pin any medals on me, Sir
Wildred," said Blake, with a wry smile.
"Thou speakest in riddles," said Wildred. "We have come to free thee
that the young king may not bring disgrace upon the Knights of the
Sepulcher by carrying out his wicked will with thee. Sir Guy and I
heard that he would burn thee at the stake, and we said to one another
that while blood flowed in our bodies we would not let so valorous a
knight be thus shamelessly wronged by any tyrant."
As he spoke Wildred stooped and with a great rasp commenced filing upon
the iron rivets that held the hinged anklet in place.
"You are going to help me to escape!" exclaimed Blake. "But suppose you
are discovered--will not the king punish you?"
"We shall not be discovered," said Wildred, "though I would take that
chance for so noble a sir knight as thee. Sir Guy be upon the outer
barbican this night and 'twill be no trick to get thee that far. He can
pass thee through and thou canst make thy way down the mountain side
and cross to Nimmr. We cannot get thee through the city gates for these
be held by two of Bohun's basest creatures, but perchance upon the
morrow Sir Guy or I may find the way to ride out upon the plain with a
led horse, and that we shall if so it hap that it be possible."
"Tell us of a thing that hath filled us with questioning," said Sir Guy.
"I don't follow you," said Blake.
"Thou didst, and mighty prettily too, take the Princess Guinalda from
under the very nose of Bohun," continued Guy, "and yet later she was
seen in the clutches of the Saracens. How came this to pass?"
"She was seen?" demanded Blake. "Where?"
"Beyond the outer barbican she was and the Saracens carried her away
through the pass that leadeth no man knoweth where," said Wildred.
Blake told them of all that had transpired since he had taken Guinalda
from Bohun, and by the time he had finished the rivets had been cut and
he stood again a free man.
Wildred smuggled him through secret passages to his own quarters and
there gave him food and new clothing and a suit of armor, for now that
they knew he was riding out over the pass into the strange country they
had decided that he could only be permitted to do so properly armored,
armed and mounted.
It was midnight when Wildred smuggled Blake through the castle gate
and rode with him toward the outer barbican. Here Sir Guy met them and
a few minutes later Blake bid these chivalrous enemies good-bye and,
mounted on a powerful charger, his own colors flying from his lance
tip, rode beneath the portcullis and out upon the starlit road that led
to the summit of the Mountains of the Sepulcher.
* * * * *
Toyat, the king ape, picked a succulent beetle from the decaying bark
of a fallen tree. About him were the great, savage people of his tribe.
It was afternoon and the apes loafed in the shade of great trees
beside a little natural clearing in the jungle. They were content and
at peace with all the world.
Coming toward them were three people, but the wind blew from the apes
toward the people and so neither Toyat nor any of his fellows caught
the scent spoor of the Tarmangani. The jungle trail was soft with damp
mold, for it had rained the night before, and the feet of the three
gave forth no sound that the apes heard. Then, too, the three were
moving cautiously for they had not eaten for two days and they were
hunting for food.
There was a gray old man, emaciated by fever, tottering along with the
aid of a broken tree branch; there was a wicked-eyed Beduin carrying
a long musket; and the third was a girl whose strange garments of
splendid stuffs were torn and soiled. Her face was streaked with dirt
and was drawn and thin, yet still it was a face of almost heavenly
beauty. She walked with an effort, and though she sometimes stumbled
from weariness never did she lose a certain regalness of carriage, nor
lower the haughty elevation of her well moulded chin.
The Beduin was in the lead. It was he who first sighted a young ape
playing at the edge of the clearing, farthest from the great bulls of
the tribe of Toyat. Here was food! The Beduin raised his ancient weapon
and took aim. He pressed the trigger and the ensuing roar mingled with
the scream of pain and terror that burst from the wounded balu.
Instantly the great bulls leaped to action. Would they flee the feared
and hated thunder stick of the Tarmangani, or would they avenge the
hurting of the balu? Who might know? Today they might do the one,
tomorrow, under identical circumstances, the other. Today they chose
vengeance.
Led by Toyat, growling hideously, the bulls lumbered forward to
investigate. It was this sight that met the horrified gaze of the three
as they followed up Fahd's shot to learn if at last they were to eat
or if they must plod on hopelessly, weakened by the hunger gnawing at
their vitals.
Fahd and Stimbol turned and bolted back down the trail, the Arab, in
his cowardly haste, pushing Guinalda to one side and hurling her to
the ground. The leading bull, seeing the girl, leaped upon her and was
about to sink his teeth into her neck when Toyat seized him and dragged
him from her, for Toyat had recognized her for what she was. The king
ape had once seen another Tarmangani she and had decided that he would
like to have one as a wife.
The other ape, a huge bull, seeing that Toyat wanted the prey and
angered by the bullying manner of the king, immediately decided to
contest Toyat's right to what he had first claimed. Baring his fangs he
advanced menacingly toward Toyat who had dragged the girl back into the
clearing.
Toyat snarled back at him. "Go away," said Toyat. "This is Toyat's she."
"It is Go-yad's," replied the other, advancing.
Toyat turned back. "I kill!" he screamed.
Go-yad came on and suddenly Toyat seized Guinalda in his hairy arms
and fled into the jungle. Behind him, bellowing and screaming, pursued
Go-yad.
The Princess Guinalda, wide-eyed with horror, fought to free herself
from the hideous, hairy creature that was bearing her off. She had
never seen nor even heard of such a thing as a great ape, and she
thought them now some hideous, low inhabitant of that outer world
that she had always been taught consisted of encircling armies of
Saracens and beyond and at a great distance a wonderful country known
as England. What else was there she had not even tried to guess, but
evidently it was a horrid place peopled by hideous creatures, including
dragons.
Toyat had run no great distance when he realized that he could not
escape while burdened with the she, and as he had no mind to give her
up he turned suddenly and faced the roaring Go-yad. Go-yad did not
stop. He came on frothing at the mouth, bristling, snarling--a picture
of bestial savagery, power and frenzied rage.
Toyat, relinquishing his hold upon the girl, advanced to meet the
charge of his rebellious subject, while Guinalda, weakened by
unaccustomed exertion and lack of nourishment, appalled by the hideous
circumstances of her plight, sank panting to the ground.
Toyat and Go-yad, immersed in the prospect of battle, were oblivious
to all else. Could Guinalda have taken advantage of this temporary
forgetfulness of her she might have escaped; but she was too stunned,
too exhausted to take advantage of her opportunity. Spellbound,
fascinated by the horror of it, she watched these terrifying,
primordial man-beasts preparing to do battle for possession of her.
Nor was Guinalda the sole witness of these savage preliminaries. From
the concealment of a low bush behind which he lay another watched the
scene with steady, interested eyes. Absorbed by their own passion
neither Toyat nor Go-yad noted the occasional movement of the outer
leaves of the bush behind which this other watcher lay, a movement
imparted by the body of the watcher with each breath and with each
slightest change of position.
Perhaps the watcher discovered no sporting interest in the impending
duel, for just as the two apes were about to engage he arose and
stepped into the open--a great black-maned lion, whose yellow coat
gleamed golden in the sunlight.
Toyat saw him first and with a growl of rage turned and fled, leaving
his adversary and their prize to whatever fate Providence might hold in
store for them.
Go-yad, thinking his rival had abandoned the field through fear of
him, beat loudly upon his breast and roared forth the victory cry of
the bull ape, then, swaggering as became a victor and a champion, he
turned to claim the prize.
Between himself and the girl he saw the lion standing, gazing with
serious mien straight into his eyes. Go-yad halted. Who would not
have? The lion was within springing distance but he was not crouched.
Go-yad backed away, snarling, and when the lion made no move to follow,
the great ape suddenly turned and lumbered off into the jungle,
casting many a backward glance in the direction of the great cat until
intervening foliage shut him from his view.
Then the lion turned toward the girl. Poor little Princess! Hopeless,
resigned, she lay upon the ground staring, wide-eyed, at this new
engine of torture and destruction. The king of beasts surveyed her for
a moment and then walked toward her. Guinalda clasped her hands and
prayed--not for life, for hope of that she had long since resigned, but
for death, speedy and painless.
The tawny beast came close. Guinalda closed her eyes to shut out the
fearsome sight. She felt hot breath upon her cheek, its fetid odor
assailed her nostrils. The lion sniffed about her. God! why did he not
end it? Tortured nerves could endure no more and Guinalda swooned.
Merciful surcease of her suffering.