When Gemnon entered the living room of their quarters the morning after
Tarzan's audience with Nemone, he found the ape-man standing by the
window looking out over the palace grounds.
"I am glad to see you here this morning," said the Cathnean.
"And surprised, perhaps," suggested the lord of the jungle.
"I should not have been surprised had you never returned," replied
Gemnon. "How did she receive you? And Erot? I suppose he was glad to
have you there!"
Tarzan smiled. "He did not appear to be, but it did not matter much as
the Queen sent him away immediately."
"And you were alone with her all evening?" Gemnon appeared incredulous.
"Belthar and I," Tarzan corrected him. "Belthar does not seem to like
me any better than Erot does."
"Yes, Belthar would be there," commented Gemnon. "She usually has him
chained near her. But do not be offended if he does not like you;
Belthar likes no one. Perhaps I should qualify that by saying that
he likes no one alive, for he is very fond of dead men. Belthar is a
man-eater. How did Nemone treat you?"
"She was gracious," Tarzan assured him, "and that, too, notwithstanding
the fact that the first thing that I did offended her royal majesty."
"And what was that?" demanded Gemnon.
"I remained standing when I should have kneeled," explained Tarzan.
"But I told you to kneel," exclaimed Gemnon.
"So did the noble at the door."
"And you forgot?"
"No."
"You refused to kneel? and she did not have you destroyed! It is
incredible."
"But it is true, and she offered to make me a noble and give me a
hundred lions."
Gemnon shook his head. "What enchantment have you worked to so change
Nemone?"
"None; it was I who was under a spell. I have told you these things
because I do not understand them. You are the only friend I have
in Cathne, and I come to you for an explanation of much that was
mysterious in my visit to the Queen last night; I doubt that I or
another can ever understand the woman herself. She can be tender or
terrible, weak or strong within the span of a dozen seconds. One moment
she is the autocrat, the next the obedient vassal of a slave."
"Ah!" exclaimed Gemnon; "so you saw M'duze! I'll warrant she was none
too cordial."
"No," admitted the ape-man. "As a matter of fact she did not pay any
attention to me; she just ordered Nemone out of the room, and Nemone
went. The remarkable feature of the occurrence lies in the fact that,
though the Queen did not want to leave and was very angry about it, she
obeyed the old black woman meekly."
"There are many legends surrounding M'duze," said Gemnon; "but there
is one that is whispered more often than the others, though you may
rest assured that it is only whispered and, at that, only among trusted
friends.
"M'duze has been a slave in the royal family since the days of Nemone's
grandfather; she was only a child then, a few years older than the
King's son, Nemone's father. The oldsters recall that she was a
fine-looking young negress, and the legend that is only whispered is
that Nemone is her daughter.
"About a year after Nemone was born, in the tenth year of her father's
reign, the Queen died under peculiar and suspicious circumstances just
before she was to have been confined. The child, a son, was born just
before the Queen expired. He was named Alextar, and he still lives."
"Then why is he not king?" demanded Tarzan.
"That is a long story of mystery and court intrigue and murder,
perhaps, of which more is surmised than is actually known by more than
two now living. Perhaps Nemone knows, but that is doubtful though she
must guess close to the truth.
"Immediately following the death of the Queen the influence of M'duze
increased and became more apparent. M'duze favored Tomos, a noble of
little or no importance at the time; and from that day the influence
and power of Tomos grew. Then, about a year after the death of the
Queen, the King died. It was so obvious that he had been poisoned that
a revolt of the nobles was barely averted; but Tomos, guided by M'duze,
conciliated them by fixing the guilt upon a slave woman of whom M'duze
was jealous and executing her.
"For ten years Tomos ruled as regent for the boy, Alextar. During
this time he had, quite naturally, established his own following in
important positions in the palace and in the council. Alextar was
adjudged insane and imprisoned in the temple; Nemone, at the age of
twelve, was crowned Queen of Cathne.
"Erot is a creature of M'duze and Tomos, a situation that has produced
a _contretemps_ that would be amusing were it not so tragic. Tomos
wishes to marry Nemone, but M'duze will not permit it, and, if another
theory is correct, her objection is well grounded. This theory is that
Tomos, and not the old king, is the father of Nemone. M'duze wishes
Nemone to marry Erot, but Erot is not a lion man, and, so far, the
Queen has refused to break this ancient custom that requires the ruler
to marry into this highest class of Cathneans.
"M'duze is insistent upon the marriage because she can control Erot;
and she discourages any interest which Nemone may manifest in other
men, which undoubtedly accounts for her having interrupted the Queen's
visit with you.
"You may rest assured that M'duze is your enemy, and it may be of value
to you to recall that whoever has stood in the old hag's path has died
a violent death. Beware of M'duze and Tomos and Erot; and, as a friend,
I may say to you in confidence, beware of Nemone, also. And now let
us forget the cruel and sordid side of Cathne and go for that walk I
promised you for this morning that you may see the beauty of the city
and the riches of her citizens."
Along avenues bordered by old trees Gemnon led Tarzan between the low,
white and gold homes of nobles, glimpses of which were discernible
only occasionally through grilled gateways in the walls that enclosed
their spacious grounds. For a mile they walked along the stone-flagged
street. Passing nobles greeted Gemnon, some nodding to his companion;
artizans, tradesmen, and slaves stopped to stare at the strange,
bronzed giant who had overthrown the strongest man in Cathne.
Then they came to a high wall that separated this section of the city
from the next. Massive gates, swung wide now and guarded by warriors,
opened into a portion of the city inhabited by better class artizans
and tradesmen. Their grounds were less spacious, their houses smaller
and plainer; but evidences of prosperity and even affluence were
apparent everywhere.
Beyond this was a meaner district, yet even here all was orderly and
neat, nor was there any sign of abject poverty in either the people
or their homes. Here, as in the other portions of the city, they
occasionally met a tame lion either wandering about or lying before the
gate of its master's grounds.
Presently the ape-man's attention was attracted by a lion a short
distance ahead of them; the beast was lying on the body of a man which
it was devouring.
"Your streets do not seem to be entirely safe for pedestrians,"
commented the lord of the jungle, indicating the feeding lion with a
nod of the head.
Gemnon laughed. "You notice that the pedestrians do not seem to be much
concerned," he replied, calling attention to the people passing to and
fro past the lion and its prey, merely turning aside enough to avoid
them. "The lions must eat."
"Do they kill many of your citizens?"
"Very few. The man you see there died, and his corpse was thrown into
the street for the lions. The lion did not kill him. You see he is
naked; that shows that he was dead before the lion got him. When a
person dies, if there be no one who can or will pay for a funeral
_cortège_, the body is disposed of in this way if not diseased; those
who die of disease and those whose relatives can afford a funeral
_cortège_ find their last resting place in Xarator, though there are
also many of the latter that are thrown to the lions by preference.
You know we think a great deal of lions here in Cathne, and it is no
disgrace but rather the contrary to be devoured by one. You see, our
god is a lion."
"Do the lions eat human flesh exclusively?"
"No. We hunt sheep, goats, and elephants in Thenar to provide them
with food when there is not enough human flesh to keep them well fed,
for we must keep them from hunger if we are to prevent them turning
man-eaters."
"Then they never kill men for food?"
"Oh, yes, occasionally; but a lion that develops that habit is
destroyed; and, after all, only a few old pets are turned loose in the
streets. There are about five hundred lions inside the city, and all
but a few of these are kept in enclosures on their owners' property.
The best racing and hunting lions are kept in private stables.
"The Queen has fully three hundred full-grown males; these are the war
lions. Some of the Queen's lions are trained for racing and some for
hunting; she likes to hunt, and now that the rainy season is over the
hunting lions of Nemone will doubtless soon be in the field."
"Where do you get all these lions?" asked the ape-man.
"We raise them ourselves," explained Gemnon. "Outside the city is a
breeding plant where the females are kept. It is maintained by Nemone,
and each lion man who owns females pays a stipulated sum for their
keep. We raise a great many lions, for there are many killed each year
in hunting, during raids, and in war. You see, we hunt elephants with
them; and in these hunts many lions are killed. The Athneans also kill
a number each year when we take our lions into Thenar to hunt or raid,
and quite a few escape. Most of these are still running wild in the
valley or in Thenar, and there are some wild lions that have come in
from the mountains. All of these are very ferocious."
As they talked they continued on toward the center of the city until
they came to a large square that was bounded on all sides by shops.
Here were many people. All classes from nobles to slaves mingled before
the shops and in the great open square of the market place. There were
lions held by slaves who were exhibiting them for sale for their noble
masters who dickered with prospective purchasers, other nobles.
Near the lion market was the slave block; and as slaves, unlike lions,
might be owned by anyone, there was brisk bidding on the part of many
wishing to buy. A huge, black Galla was on the block as Tarzan and
Gemnon paused to watch the scene. The man was entirely naked that the
buyers might examine him for blemishes; his expression was one of
unconcern ordinarily, though occasionally he shot a venomous glance at
the owner who was expatiating upon his virtues.
"For all the interest he shows," remarked Tarzan, "one might think
that being sold like a piece of merchandise or a bullock was a daily
occurrence in his life."
"Not quite daily," replied Gemnon, "but no novelty. He has been sold
many times. I know him well; I used to own him."
"Look at him!" shouted the seller. "Look at those arms; look at those
legs; look at that back! He is as strong as an elephant, and not a
blemish on him. Sound as a lion's tooth he is; never ill a day in his
life. And docile! a child can handle him."
"He is so refractory that no one can handle him," commented Gemnon in
a whisper to the ape-man. "That is the reason I had to get rid of him;
that is the reason he is up for sale so often."
"There seem to be plenty of customers interested in him," observed
Tarzan.
"Do you see that slave in the red tunic?" asked Gemnon. "He belongs to
Xerstle, and he is bidding on that fellow. He knows all about him, too;
he knew him when the man belonged to me."
"Then why does he want to buy him?" asked the ape-man.
"I do not know, but there are other uses to which a slave may be put
than labor. Xerstle may not care what sort of a disposition the fellow
has or even whether he will work. If he owned lions I might think that
he was buying the fellow for lion food as he will probably go cheap."
It was Xerstle's slave who bought the Galla as Tarzan and Gemnon
moved on to look at the goods displayed in the shops. There were many
articles of leather, wood, ivory, or gold; there were dagger-swords,
spears, shields, habergeons, helmets, and sandals. One shop displayed
nothing but articles of apparel for women; another, perfumes and
incense; there were jewelry shops, vegetable shops, and meat shops. The
last displayed dried meats and fish and carcasses of goats and sheep.
The fronts of these shops were heavily barred to prevent passing lions
from raiding them, Gemnon explained.
Wherever Tarzan went he attracted attention; and a small crowd always
followed him, for he had been recognized the moment that he had entered
the market place. Boys and girls clustered about him gazing at him
admiringly, and men and women who had been at the stadium the previous
day told those who had not how this stranger giant had lifted Phobeg
above his head and hurled him up among the audience.
"Let's get out of here," suggested the lord of the jungle; "I do not
like crowds."
"Suppose we go back to the palace and look at the Queen's lions," said
Gemnon.
"I would rather look at lions than people," Tarzan assured him.
The war lions of Cathne were kept in stables within the royal grounds
at a considerable distance from the palace. The building was of stone
neatly laid and painted white; in it each lion had his separate cage;
and outside were yards surrounded by high stone walls near the tops of
which pointed sticks, set close together and inclined downward on the
inside of the walls, kept the lions from escaping. In these yards the
lions exercised themselves; there was another, larger arena where they
were trained by a corps of keepers under the supervision of nobles;
here the racing lions were broken to harness and the hunting lions
taught to obey the commands of the hunter, to trail, to charge, to
retrieve.
As Tarzan entered the stable a familiar scent spoor impinged upon his
nostrils, "Belthar is here," he remarked to Gemnon.
"It is possible," replied the noble, "but I don't understand how you
know it."
As they were walking along in front of the cages inspecting the lions
that were inside, Gemnon, who was in advance, suddenly halted. "How
do you do it?" he demanded. "Last night you knew that Erot was with
Nemone, though you could not see him and no one could have informed
you; and now you knew that Belthar was here, and, sure enough, he is!"
Tarzan approached and stood beside Gemnon, and the instant that
Belthar's eyes fell upon him the beast leaped against the bars of his
cage in an effort to seize the ape-man, at the same time voicing an
angry roar that shook the building.
Instantly keepers came running to the spot, certain that something had
gone amiss; but Gemnon assured them that it was only Belthar exhibiting
his bad temper.
"He does not like me," said Tarzan.
"If he ever got you, he would make short work of you," said a head
keeper.
"It is evident that he would like to," replied the ape-man.
"He is a bad one and a man-killer," said Gemnon after the keepers had
departed, "but Nemone will not have him destroyed. Occasionally he
is loosed in the palace arena with someone who has incurred Nemone's
disfavor; thus she derives pleasure from the sufferings of the culprit.
"Formerly he was her best hunting lion, but the last time he was used
he killed four men and nearly escaped. He has already eaten three
keepers who ventured into the arena with him, and he will eat more
before good fortune rids us of him.
"Nemone is supposed to entertain a superstition that in some peculiar
way her life and the life of Belthar are linked by some mysterious,
supernatural bond and that when one dies the other must die. Naturally,
under the circumstances, it is neither politic nor safe to suggest
that she destroy the old devil. It is odd that he has conceived such a
violent dislike for you."
"I have met lions before which did not like me," said Tarzan.
"May you never meet Belthar in the open, my friend!"