As Tarzan approached the village of Abraham, the son of Abraham, he was
seen by a watcher who immediately warned his fellows, with the result
that when the ape-man arrived the huts were deserted, the villagers
having taken refuge in the caves in the face of the towering cliff.
Abraham, the son of Abraham, from the safety of the highest cave,
exhorted his people to repel the advance of this strange creature,
whose partial nakedness and strange armament filled him with alarm,
with the result that when Tarzan came near the base of the cliff the
villagers, with much shouting, rolled rocks down the steep declivity in
an effort to destroy him.
The Lord of the Jungle looked up at the howling creatures above him.
Whatever his emotions his face did not reveal them. Doubtless contempt
was predominant, for he read in the reception of him only fear and
cowardice.
As naught but curiosity had prompted his visit to this strange village,
since he knew that Smith already had quitted it, he remained only long
enough for a brief survey of the people and their culture, neither of
which was sufficiently attractive to detain him; and then he turned and
retracted his steps toward the place on the shore of Chinnereth where
he had picked up the northbound spoor of Smith and Lady Barbara and
Jezebel.
He made his way in a leisurely manner, stopping beside the lake to
quench his thirst and eat from his small store of boar meat; and then
he lay down to rest, after the manner of beasts who have fed and are
not hurried.
In the village he had quitted Abraham, the son of Abraham, gave thanks
to Jehovah for their deliverance from the barbarian, though reserving
proper credit to himself for his masterly defense of his flock.
And how fared it with Lady Barbara and Lafayette Smith? Following their
recapture they were permitted no second opportunity to escape, as,
heavily guarded, they were conducted northward toward the village of
Elija, the son of Noah.
The girl was much depressed; and Smith sought to reassure her, though
upon what grounds he himself could scarcely explain.
"I cannot believe that they intend to harm us," he said. "We have
done nothing worse than kill one of their goats and that only because
we were starving. I can pay them whatever price they name for the
animal, and thus they will be recompensed and have no further cause for
complaint against us."
"With what will you pay them?" asked Lady Barbara.
"I have money," replied Smith.
"Of what good would it be to them?"
"Of what good would it be to them! Why they could buy another goat if
they wanted to," he replied.
"These people know nothing of money," she said. "It would be worthless
to them."
"I suppose you are right," he admitted. "I hadn't thought of that.
Well, I could give them my pistol, then."
"They already have it."
"But it's mine," he exclaimed. "They'll have to give it back to me."
She shook her head. "You are not dealing with civilized people guided
by the codes and customs of civilization or responsible to the
law-enforcing agencies with which we are familiar and which, perhaps,
are all that keep us civilized."
"We escaped once," he ventured; "perhaps we can escape again."
"That, I think, is our only hope."
The village of the North Midians, where they presently arrived, was
more pretentious than that of the people at the southern end of the
valley. While there were many crude huts there were also several of
stone, while the entire appearance of the village was more cleanly and
prosperous.
Several hundred villagers came to meet the party as soon as it was
sighted, and the prisoners noted that there was no evidence of the
degeneracy and disease which were such marked characteristics of the
South Midians. On the contrary, these people appeared endowed with
abundant health, they looked intelligent and, physically, they were
a splendid race, many of them being handsome. All were golden haired
and blue eyed. That they were descended from the same stock that had
produced Abraham, the son of Abraham, and his degraded flock would have
appeared impossible, yet such was the fact.
The women and children pushed and jostled one another and the men in
their efforts to get close to the prisoners. They jabbered and laughed
incessantly, the clothing of the prisoners seeming to arouse the
greatest wonder and mirth.
Their language being practically the same as that of the South Midians
Lady Barbara had no difficulty in understanding what they were saying,
and from scraps of their conversation which she overheard she realized
that her worst fears might be realized. However, the crowd offered them
no personal injury; and it was apparent that in themselves they were
not inherently a cruel people, though their religion and their customs
evidently prescribed harsh treatment for enemies who fell into their
hands.
Upon arrival in the village Lady Barbara and Smith were separated. She
was taken to a hut and put in charge of a young woman, while Smith was
confined, under guard of several men, in another.
Lady Barbara's jailer, far from being ill favored, was quite beautiful,
bearing a strong resemblance to Jezebel; and she proved to be quite as
loquacious as the men who had captured them.
"You are the strangest looking South Midian I ever saw," she remarked,
"and the man does not look at all like one. Your hair is neither the
color of those they keep nor of those they destroy--it is just between,
and your garments are such as no one ever saw before."
"We are not Midians," said Lady Barbara.
"But that is impossible," cried the woman. "There are none but Midians
in the land of Midian and no way to get in or out. Some say there are
people beyond the great cliffs, and some say there are only devils. If
you are not a Midian perhaps you are a devil; but then, of course, you
are a Midian."
"We come from a country beyond the cliffs," Lady Barbara told her, "and
all we want is to go back to our own country."
"I do not think Elija will let you. He will treat you as we always
treat South Midians."
"And how is that?"
"The men are put to death because of their heresy; and the women, if
they are good looking, are kept as slaves. But being a slave is not
bad. I am a slave. My mother was a slave. She was a South Midian who
was captured by my father who owned her. She was very beautiful. After
a while the South Midians would have killed her, as you do to all your
beautiful women just before their first child is born.
"But we are different. We kill the bad looking ones, both boys and
girls, and also any who become subject to the strange demons which
afflict the South Midians. Do you have these demons?"
"I am not a Midian, I told you," said Lady Barbara.
The woman shook her head. "It is true that you do not look like them,
but if Elija ever believes you are not you are lost."
"Why?" asked Lady Barbara.
"Elija is one of those who believe that the world beyond the cliffs is
inhabited by demons; so, if you are not a South Midian, you must be a
demon; and he would certainly destroy you as he will destroy the man;
but for my part I am one of those who say they do not know. Some say
that perhaps this world around Midian is inhabited by angels. Are you
an angel?"
"I am not a demon," replied Lady Barbara.
"Then you must be a South Midian or an angel."
"I am no South Midian," insisted the English girl.
"Then you are an angel," reasoned the woman, "And if you are you will
have no difficulty in proving it."
"How?"
"Just perform a miracle."
"Oh," said Lady Barbara.
"Is the man an angel?" demanded the woman.
"He is an American."
"I never heard of that--is it a kind of angel?"
"Europeans do not call them that."
"But really I think Elija will say he is a South Midian, and he will be
destroyed."
"Why do your people hate the South Midians so?" asked Lady Barbara.
"They are heretics."
"They are very religious," said Lady Barbara; "they pray all the time
to Jehovah and they never smile. Why do you think them heretics?"
"They insist that Paul's hair was black, while we know that it was
yellow. They are very wicked, blasphemous people. Once, long before
the memory of man, we were all one people; but there were many wicked
heretics among us who had black hair and wished to kill all those with
yellow hair; so those with yellow hair ran away and came to the north
end of the valley. Ever since, the North Midians have killed all those
with black hair and the South Midians all those with yellow hair. Do
you think Paul had yellow hair?"
"Certainly I do," said Lady Barbara.
"That will be a point in your favor," said the woman.
Just then a man came to the door of the hut and summoned Lady Barbara.
"Come with me," he commanded.
The English girl followed the messenger, and the woman who had been
guarding her accompanied them. Before a large stone hut they found
Elija surrounded by a number of the older men of the village, while the
remainder of the population was grouped in a semi-circle facing them.
Lafayette Smith stood before Elija, and Lady Barbara was conducted to
the side of the American.
Elija, the Prophet, was a middle aged man of not unprepossessing
appearance. He was short and stocky, extremely muscular in build, and
his face was adorned with a wealth of blond whiskers. Like the other
North Midians he was garbed in a single garment of goat skin, his only
ornament being the pistol he had taken from Smith, which he wore on a
leather thong that encircled his neck.
"This man," said Elija, addressing Lady Barbara, "will not talk. He
makes noises, but they mean nothing. Why will he not talk?"
"He does not understand the language of the land of Midian," replied
the English girl.
"He must understand it," insisted Elija; "everyone understands it."
"He is not from Midian," said Lady Barbara.
"Then he must be a demon," said Elija.
"Perhaps he is an angel," suggested Lady Barbara; "he believes that
Paul's hair was yellow."
This statement precipitated a wordy argument and so impressed Elija
and his apostles that they withdrew into the interior of the hut for a
secret conference.
"What's it all about, Lady Barbara?" asked Smith, who, of course, had
understood nothing of what had been said.
"You believe Paul's hair was yellow, don't you?" she asked.
"I don't know what you are talking about."
"Well, I told them you were a firm believer in the yellowness of Paul's
hair."
"Why did you tell them that?" demanded Smith.
"Because the North Midians prefer blonds," she replied.
"But who is Paul?"
"Was, you mean. He is dead."
"Of course I'm sorry to hear that, but who _was_ he?" insisted the
American.
"I am afraid you have neglected the scriptures." She told
"Oh, the apostle; but what difference does it make what color his hair
was?"
"It doesn't make any difference," she explained. "What does make a
difference is that you have stated, through me, that you believe he had
yellow hair; and that may be the means of saving your life."
"What nonsense!"
"Of course--the other fellow's religion is always nonsense; but not to
him. You are also suspected of being an angel. Can you imagine!"
"No! Who suspects me?"
"It was I; or at least I suggested it, and I am hoping Elija will
now suspect it. If he does we are both safe, provided that, in your
celestial capacity, you will intercede for me."
"You are as good as saved then," he said, "for inasmuch as I cannot
speak their language you can put any words you wish into my mouth
without fear of being called to account."
"That's a fact, isn't it?" she said, laughing. "If our emergency were
not so critical I could have a lot of fun, couldn't I?"
"You seem to find fun in everything," he replied, admiringly; "even in
the face of disaster."
"Perhaps I am whistling in the dark," she said.
They talked a great deal while they waited for Elija and the apostles
to return, for it helped them to tide over the anxious minutes of
nervous strain that slowly dragged into hours. They could hear the
chatter and buzz of conversation within the hut, as Elija and his
fellows debated, while, outside, the villagers kept up a constant babel
of conversation.
"They like to talk," commented Smith.
"And perhaps you have noticed an idiosyncrasy of the North Midians in
this respect?" she asked.
"Lots of people like to talk."
"I mean that the men gabble more than the women."
"Perhaps in self-defense."
"Here they come!" she exclaimed as Elija appeared in the doorway of the
hut, fingering the pistol he wore as an ornament.
Darkness was already falling as the Prophet and the twelve apostles
filed out to their places in the open. Elija raised his hands in a
signal for silence and when quiet had been restored he spoke.
"With the aid of Jehovah," he said, "we have wrestled with a mighty
question. There were some among us who contend that this man is a South
Midian, and others that he is an angel. Mighty was the weight of the
statement that he believes that Paul had yellow hair, for if such is
the truth then indeed he is not a heretic; and if he is no heretic he
is not a South Midian, for they, as all the world knows, are heretics.
Yet again, it was brought forth that if he is a demon he might still
claim that he believed in the yellowness of Paul, in order that he
might deceive us.
"How were we to know? We must know lest we, through our ignorance, do
sin against one of His angels and bring down the wrath of Jehovah upon
our heads.
"But at last I, Elija, the son of Noah, True Prophet of Paul, the son
of Jehovah, discovered the truth. The man is no angel! The revelation
descended upon me in a burst of glory from Jehovah Himself--the man
cannot be an angel because he has no wings!"
There was an immediate burst of "Amens" and "Hallelujahs" from the
assembled villagers, while Lady Barbara went cold with dread.
"Therefore," continued Elija, "he must be either a South Midian or a
demon, and in either case he must be destroyed."
Lady Barbara turned a pale face toward Lafayette Smith--pale even
through its coating of tan. Her lip trembled, just a little. It was the
first indication of a weaker, feminine emotion that Smith had seen this
remarkable girl display.
"What is it?" he asked. "Are they going to harm you?"
"It is you, my dear friend," she replied. "You must escape."
"But how?" he asked.
"Oh, I don't know; I don't know," she cried, "There is only one way.
You will have to make a break for it--now. It is dark. They will not
expect it. I will do something to engage their attention, and then you
make a dash for the forest."
He shook his head. "No," he said. "We shall go together, or I do not
go."
"Please," she begged, "or it will be too late."
Elija had been talking to one of his apostles, and now he raised his
voice again so that all might hear. "Lest we have mistaken the divine
instructions of Jehovah," he said, "we shall place this man in the
mercy of Jehovah and as Jehovah wills so shall it be. Make ready the
grave. If he is indeed an angel he will arise unharmed."
"Oh, go; please go!" cried Lady Barbara.
"What did he say?" demanded Smith.
"They are going to bury you alive," she cried.
"And you," he asked; "what are they going to do to you?"
"I am to be held in slavery."
With sharpened sticks and instruments of bone and stone a number of men
were already engaged in excavating a grave in the center of the village
street before the hut of Elija, who stood waiting its completion
surrounded by his apostles. The Prophet was still toying with his new
found ornament, concerning the purpose and mechanism of which he was
wholly ignorant.
Lady Barbara was urging Smith to attempt escape while there was yet an
opportunity, and the American was considering the best plan to adopt.
"You will have to come with me," he said. "I think if we make a sudden
break right back through the village toward the cliffs we shall find
our best chance for success. There are fewer people congregated on that
side."
From the darkness beyond the village on the forest side a pair of eyes
watched the proceedings taking place before the hut of Elija. Slowly,
silently the owner of the eyes crept closer until he stood in the
shadow of a hut at the edge of the village.
Suddenly Smith, seizing Lady Barbara's hand, started at a run toward
the north side of the village; and so unexpected was his break for
liberty that, for a moment, no hand was raised to stay him; but an
instant later, at a cry from Elija, the entire band leaped in pursuit,
while from the shadow of the hut where he had stood concealed the
watcher slipped forward into the village where he stood near the hut
of Elija watching the pursuit of the escaped prisoners. He was alone,
for the little central compound of the village had emptied as by magic,
even the women and children having joined in the chase.
Smith ran swiftly holding tightly to the girl's hand; and close on
their heels came the leaders of the pursuit. No longer did the village
fires light their way; and only darkness loomed ahead, as the moon had
not yet risen.
Gradually the American bore to the left, intending to swing in a half
circle toward the south. There was yet a chance that they might make
good their escape if they could outdistance the nearer of their
pursuers until they reached the forest, for their strait gave them both
speed and endurance far above normal.
But just as success seemed near they entered a patch of broken lava
rock, invisible in the darkness; and Smith stumbled and fell dragging
Lady Barbara down with him. Before they could scramble to their feet
the leading Midian was upon them.
The American freed himself for a moment and struggled to his feet; and
again the fellow sought to seize him, but Smith swung a heavy blow to
his chin and felled him.
Brief, however, was this respite, for almost immediately both the
American and the English girl were overwhelmed by superior numbers and
once again found themselves captives, though Smith fought until he was
overpowered, knocking his antagonists to right and left.
Miserably dejected, they were dragged back to the village compound,
their last hope gone; and again the Midians gathered around the open
grave to witness the torture of their victim.
Smith was conducted to the edge of the excavation, where he was held
by two stalwart men, while Elija raised his voice in prayer, and the
remainder of the assemblage knelt, bursting forth occasionally with
hallelujahs and amens.
When he had concluded his long prayer the Prophet paused. Evidently
there was something on his mind which vexed him. In fact it was the
pistol! which dangled from the thong about his neck. He was not quite
sure of its purpose, and he was about to destroy the only person who
might tell him.
To Elija the pistol was quite the most remarkable possession that had
ever fallen into his hands, and he was filled with a great curiosity
concerning it. It might be, he argued, some magic talisman for averting
evil, or, upon the other hand, it might be the charm of a demon or a
sorcerer, that would work evil upon him. At that thought he quickly
removed the thong from about his neck, but he still held the weapon in
his hand.
"What is this?" he demanded, turning to Lady Barbara and exhibiting the
pistol.
"It is a weapon," she said. "Be careful or it will kill some one."
"How does it kill?" asked Elija.
"What is he saying?" demanded Smith.
"He is asking how the pistol kills," replied the girl.
A brilliant idea occurred to the American. "Tell him to give it to me,
and I will show him," he said.
But when she translated the offer to Elija he demurred. "He could then
kill me with it," he said, shrewdly.
"He won't give it to you," the girl told Smith. "He is afraid you want
to kill him."
"I do," replied the man.
"Tell him," said Elija, "to explain to me how I may kill some one with
it."
"Repeat my instructions to him very carefully," said Smith, after Lady
Barbara had translated the demand of the prophet. "Tell him how to
grasp the pistol," and when Lady Barbara had done so and Elija held the
weapon by the grip in his right hand, "now tell him to place his index
finger through the guard, but warn him not to pull the trigger."
Elija did as he was bid. "Now," continued Smith, "explain to him that
in order to see how the weapon operates he should place one eye to the
muzzle and look down the barrel."
"But I can see nothing," expostulated Elija when he had done as Lady
Barbara directed. "It is quite dark down the little hole."
"He says it is too dark in the barrel for him to see anything,"
repeated Lady Barbara to the American.
"Explain to him that if he pulls the trigger there will be a light in
the barrel," said Smith.
"But that will be murder," exclaimed the girl.
"It is war," said Smith, "and in the subsequent confusion we may
escape."
Lady Barbara steeled herself. "You could see nothing because you did
not press the little piece of metal beneath your index finger," she
explained to Elija.
"What will that do?" demanded the prophet.
"It will make a light in the little hole," said Lady Barbara.
Elija again placed his eye against the muzzle; and this time he pulled
the trigger; and as the report cracked the tense silence of the
watching villagers Elija, the son of Noah, pitched forward upon his
face.
Instantly Lady Barbara sprang toward Smith, who simultaneously sought
to break away from the grip of the men who held him; but they, although
astonished at what had occurred, were not to be caught off their guard,
and though he struggled desperately they held him.
For an instant there was hushed silence; and then pandemonium broke
loose as the villagers realized that their prophet was dead, slain
by the wicked charm of a demon; but at the very outset of their
demands for vengeance their attention was distracted by a strange and
remarkable figure that sprang from the hut of Elija, stooped and picked
up the pistol that had fallen from the hands of the dead man, and
leaped to the side of the prisoner struggling with his guards.
This was such a man as none of them had ever seen--a giant white man
with a tousled shock of black hair and with grey eyes that sent a
shiver through them, so fierce and implacable were they. Naked he was
but for a loin cloth of skin, and the muscles that rolled beneath his
brown hide were muscles such as they never had seen before.
As the newcomer sprang toward the American one of the men guarding
Smith, sensing that an attempt was being made to rescue the prisoner,
swung his club in readiness to deal a blow against the strange creature
advancing upon him. At the same time the other guard sought to drag
Smith from the compound.
The American did not at first recognize Tarzan of the Apes, yet, though
he was not aware that the stranger was bent upon his rescue, he sensed
that he was an enemy of the Midians, and so struggled to prevent his
guard from forcing him away.
Another Midian seized Lady Barbara with the intention of carrying her
from the scene, for all the villagers believed that the strange giant
was a friend of the prisoners and had come to effect their release.
Smith was successful in tearing himself free from the man who held him,
and immediately sprang to the girl's assistance, felling her captor
with a single blow, just as Tarzan levelled the American's pistol at
the guard who was preparing to cudgel him.
The sound of this second shot and the sight of their fellow dropping to
the ground, as had Elija, filled the Midians with consternation; and
for a moment they fell back from the three, leaving them alone in the
center of the compound.
"Quick!" called Tarzan to Smith. "You and the girl get out of here
before they recover from their surprise. I will follow you. That way,"
he added, pointing toward the south.
As Lafayette Smith and Lady Barbara hurried from the village Tarzan
backed slowly after them, keeping the little pistol in full view of the
frightened villagers, who, having seen two of their number die beneath
its terrifying magic, were loath to approach it too closely.
Until out of range of a thrown club Tarzan continued his slow retreat;
then he wheeled and bounded off into the night in pursuit of Lafayette
Smith and Lady Barbara Collis.