13

Tarzan the Terrible

by Edgar R. Burroughs

13, TARZAN THE TERRIBLE by Edgar R. Burroughs
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The Masquerader

AS TARZAN dropped to the ground beyond the temple wall there was
in his mind no intention to escape from the City of A-lur until
he had satisfied himself that his mate was not a prisoner there,
but how, in this strange city in which every man's hand must be
now against him, he was to live and prosecute his search was far
from clear to him.

There was only one place of which he knew that he might find even
temporary sanctuary and that was the Forbidden Garden of the
king. There was thick shrubbery in which a man might hide, and
water and fruits. A cunning jungle creature, if he could reach
the spot unsuspected, might remain concealed there for a
considerable time, but how he was to traverse the distance
between the temple grounds and the garden unseen was a question
the seriousness of which he fully appreciated.

"Mighty is Tarzan," he soliloquized, "in his native jungle, but
in the cities of man he is little better than they."

Depending upon his keen observation and sense of location he felt
safe in assuming that he could reach the palace grounds by means
of the subterranean corridors and chambers of the temple through
which he had been conducted the day before, nor any slightest
detail of which had escaped his keen eyes. That would be better,
he reasoned, than crossing the open grounds above where his
pursuers would naturally immediately follow him from the temple
and quickly discover him.

And so a dozen paces from the temple wall he disappeared from
sight of any chance observer above, down one of the stone
stairways that led to the apartments beneath. The way that he had
been conducted the previous day had followed the windings and
turnings of numerous corridors and apartments, but Tarzan, sure
of himself in such matters, retraced the route accurately without
hesitation.

He had little fear of immediate apprehension here since he
believed that all the priests of the temple had assembled in the
court above to witness his trial and his humiliation and his
death, and with this idea firmly implanted in his mind he rounded
the turn of the corridor and came face to face with an under
priest, his grotesque headdress concealing whatever emotion the
sight of Tarzan may have aroused.

However, Tarzan had one advantage over the masked votary of
Jad-ben-Otho in that the moment he saw the priest he knew his
intention concerning him, and therefore was not compelled to
delay action. And so it was that before the priest could
determine on any suitable line of conduct in the premises a long,
keen knife had been slipped into his heart.

As the body lunged toward the floor Tarzan caught it and snatched
the headdress from its shoulders, for the first sight of the
creature had suggested to his ever-alert mind a bold scheme for
deceiving his enemies.

The headdress saved from such possible damage as it must have
sustained had it fallen to the floor with the body of its owner,
Tarzan relinquished his hold upon the corpse, set the headdress
carefully upon the floor and stooping down severed the tail of
the Ho-don close to its root. Near by at his right was a small
chamber from which the priest had evidently just emerged and into
this Tarzan dragged the corpse, the headdress, and the tail.

Quickly cutting a thin strip of hide from the loin cloth of the
priest, Tarzan tied it securely about the upper end of the
severed member and then tucking the tail under his loin cloth
behind him, secured it in place as best he could. Then he fitted
the headdress over his shoulders and stepped from the apartment,
to all appearances a priest of the temple of Jad-ben-Otho unless
one examined too closely his thumbs and his great toes.

He had noticed that among both the Ho-don and the Waz-don it was
not at all unusual that the end of the tail be carried in one
hand, and so he caught his own tail up thus lest the lifeless
appearance of it dragging along behind him should arouse
suspicion.

Passing along the corridor and through the various chambers he
emerged at last into the palace grounds beyond the temple. The
pursuit had not yet reached this point though he was conscious of
a commotion not far behind him. He met now both warriors and
slaves but none gave him more than a passing glance, a priest
being too common a sight about the palace.

And so, passing the guards unchallenged, he came at last to the
inner entrance to the Forbidden Garden and there he paused and
scanned quickly that portion of the beautiful spot that lay
before his eyes. To his relief it seemed unoccupied and
congratulating himself upon the ease with which he had so far
outwitted the high powers of A-lur he moved rapidly to the
opposite end of the enclosure. Here he found a patch of flowering
shrubbery that might safely have concealed a dozen men.

Crawling well within he removed the uncomfortable headdress and
sat down to await whatever eventualities fate might have in store
for him the while he formulated plans for the future. The one
night that he had spent in A-lur had kept him up to a late hour,
apprising him of the fact that while there were few abroad in the
temple grounds at night, there were yet enough to make it
possible for him to fare forth under cover of his disguise
without attracting the unpleasant attention of the guards, and,
too, he had noticed that the priesthood constituted a privileged
class that seemed to come and go at will and unchallenged
throughout the palace as well as the temple. Altogether then, he
decided, night furnished the most propitious hours for his
investigation--by day he could lie up in the shrubbery of the
Forbidden Garden, reasonably free from detection. From beyond the
garden he heard the voices of men calling to one another both far
and near, and he guessed that diligent was the search that was
being prosecuted for him.

The idle moments afforded him an opportunity to evolve a more
satisfactory scheme for attaching his stolen caudal appendage. He
arranged it in such a way that it might be quickly assumed or
discarded, and this done he fell to examining the weird mask that
had so effectively hidden his features.

The thing had been very cunningly wrought from a single block of
wood, very probably a section of a tree, upon which the features
had been carved and afterward the interior hollowed out until
only a comparatively thin shell remained. Two-semicircular
notches had been rounded out from opposite sides of the lower
edge. These fitted snugly over his shoulders, aprons of wood
extending downward a few inches upon his chest and back. From
these aprons hung long tassels or switches of hair tapering from
the outer edges toward the center which reached below the bottom
of his torso. It required but the most cursory examination to
indicate to the ape-man that these ornaments consisted of human
scalps, taken, doubtless, from the heads of the sacrifices upon
the eastern altars. The headdress itself had been carved to
depict in formal design a hideous face that suggested both man
and gryf. There were the three white horns, the yellow face with
the blue bands encircling the eyes and the red hood which took
the form of the posterior and anterior aprons.

As Tarzan sat within the concealing foliage of the shrubbery
meditating upon the hideous priest-mask which he held in his
hands he became aware that he was not alone in the garden. He
sensed another presence and presently his trained ears detected
the slow approach of naked feet across the sward. At first he
suspected that it might be one stealthily searching the Forbidden
Garden for him but a little later the figure came within the
limited area of his vision which was circumscribed by stems and
foliage and flowers. He saw then that it was the princess O-lo-a
and that she was alone and walking with bowed head as though in
meditation--sorrowful meditation for there were traces of tears
upon her lids.

Shortly after his ears warned him that others had entered the
garden--men they were and their footsteps proclaimed that they
walked neither slowly nor meditatively. They came directly toward
the princess and when Tarzan could see them he discovered that
both were priests.

"O-lo-a, Princess of Pal-ul-don," said one, addressing her, "the
stranger who told us that he was the son of Jad-ben-Otho has but
just fled from the wrath of Lu-don, the high priest, who exposed
him and all his wicked blasphemy. The temple, and the palace, and
the city are being searched and we have been sent to search the
Forbidden Garden, since Ko-tan, the king, said that only this
morning he found him here, though how he passed the guards he
could not guess."

"He is not here," said O-lo-a. "I have been in the garden for
some time and have seen nor heard no other than myself. However,
search it if you will."

"No," said the priest who had before spoken, "it is not necessary
since he could not have entered without your knowledge and the
connivance of the guards, and even had he, the priest who
preceded us must have seen him."

"What priest?" asked O-lo-a.

"One passed the guards shortly before us," explained the man.

"I did not see him," said O-lo-a.

"Doubtless he left by another exit," remarked the second priest.

"Yes, doubtless," acquiesced O-lo-a, "but it is strange that I
did not see him." The two priests made their obeisance and turned
to depart.

"Stupid as Buto, the rhinoceros," soliloquized Tarzan, who
considered Buto a very stupid creature indeed. "It should be easy
to outwit such as these."

The priests had scarce departed when there came the sound of feet
running rapidly across the garden in the direction of the
princess to an accompaniment of rapid breathing as of one almost
spent, either from fatigue or excitement.

"Pan-at-lee," exclaimed O-lo-a, "what has happened? You look as
terrified as the doe for which you were named!"

"O Princess of Pal-ul-don," cried Pan-at-lee, "they would have
killed him in the temple. They would have killed the wondrous
stranger who claimed to be the Dor-ul-Otho."

"But he escaped," said O-lo-a. "You were there. Tell me about
it."

"The head priest would have had him seized and slain, but when
they rushed upon him he hurled one in the face of Lu-don with the
same ease that you might cast your breastplates at me, and then
he leaped upon the altar and from there to the top of the temple
wall and disappeared below. They are searching for him, but, O
Princess, I pray that they do not find him."

"And why do you pray that?" asked O-lo-a. "Has not one who has so
blasphemed earned death?"

"Ah, but you do not know him," replied Pan-at-lee.

"And you do, then?" retorted O-lo-a quickly. "This morning you
betrayed yourself and then attempted to deceive me. The slaves of
O-lo-a do not such things with impunity. He is then the same
Tarzan-jad-guru of whom you told me? Speak woman and speak only
the truth."

Pan-at-lee drew herself up very erect, her little chin held high,
for was not she too among her own people already as good as a
princess? "Pan-at-lee, the Kor-ul-ja does not lie," she said, "to
protect herself."

"Then tell me what you know of this Tarzan-jad-guru," insisted
O-lo-a.

"I know that he is a wondrous man and very brave," said
Pan-at-lee, "and that he saved me from the Tor-o-don and the gryf
as I told you, and that he is indeed the same who came into the
garden this morning; and even now I do not know that he is not
the son of Jad-ben-Otho for his courage and his strength are more
than those of mortal man, as are also his kindness and his honor:
for when he might have harmed me he protected me, and when he
might have saved himself he thought only of me. And all this he
did because of his friendship for Om-at, who is gund of Kor-ul-ja
and with whom I should have mated had the Ho-don not captured
me."

"He was indeed a wonderful man to look upon," mused O-lo-a, "and
he was not as are other men, not alone in the conformation of his
hands and feet or the fact that he was tailless, but there was
that about him which made him seem different in ways more
important than these."

"And," supplemented Pan-at-lee, her savage little heart loyal to
the man who had befriended her and hoping to win for him the
consideration of the princess even though it might not avail him;
"and," she said, "did he not know all about Ta-den and even his
whereabouts. Tell me, O Princess, could mortal know such things
as these?"

"Perhaps he saw Ta-den," suggested O-lo-a.

"But how would he know that you loved Ta-den," parried
Pan-at-lee. "I tell you, my Princess, that if he is not a god he
is at least more than Ho-don or Waz-don. He followed me from the
cave of Es-sat in Kor-ul-ja across Kor-ul-lul and two wide ridges
to the very cave in Kor-ul-gryf where I hid, though many hours
had passed since I had come that way and my bare feet left no
impress upon the ground. What mortal man could do such things as
these? And where in all Pal-ul-don would virgin maid find friend
and protector in a strange male other than he?"

"Perhaps Lu-don may be mistaken--perhaps he is a god," said
O-lo-a, influenced by her slave's enthusiastic championing of the
stranger."

"But whether god or man he is too wonderful to die," cried
Pan-at-lee. "Would that I might save him. If he lived he might
even find a way to give you your Ta-den, Princess."

"Ah, if he only could," sighed O-lo-a, "but alas it is too late
for tomorrow I am to be given to Bu-lot."

"He who came to your quarters yesterday with your father?" asked
Pan-at-lee.

"Yes; the one with the awful round face and the big belly,"
exclaimed the Princess disgustedly. "He is so lazy he will
neither hunt nor fight. To eat and to drink is all that Bu-lot is
fit for, and he thinks of naught else except these things and his
slave women. But come, Pan-at-lee, gather for me some of these
beautiful blossoms. I would have them spread around my couch
tonight that I may carry away with me in the morning the memory
of the fragrance that I love best and which I know that I shall
not find in the village of Mo-sar, the father of Bu-lot. I will
help you, Pan-at-lee, and we will gather armfuls of them, for I
love to gather them as I love nothing else--they were Ta-den's
favorite flowers."

The two approached the flowering shrubbery where Tarzan hid, but
as the blooms grew plentifully upon every bush the ape-man
guessed there would be no necessity for them to enter the patch
far enough to discover him. With little exclamations of pleasure
as they found particularly large or perfect blooms the two moved
from place to place upon the outskirts of Tarzan's retreat.

"Oh, look, Pan-at-lee," cried O-lo-a presently; "there is the
king of them all. Never did I see so wonderful a flower--No! I
will get it myself--it is so large and wonderful no other hand
shall touch it," and the princess wound in among the bushes
toward the point where the great flower bloomed upon a bush above
the ape-man's head.

So sudden and unexpected her approach that there was no
opportunity to escape and Tarzan sat silently trusting that fate
might be kind to him and lead Ko-tan's daughter away before her
eyes dropped from the high-growing bloom to him. But as the girl
cut the long stem with her knife she looked down straight into
the smiling face of Tarzan-jad-guru.

With a stifled scream she drew back and the ape-man rose and
faced her.

"Have no fear, Princess," he assured her. "It is the friend of
Ta-den who salutes you," raising her fingers to his lips.

Pan-at-lee came now excitedly forward. "O Jad-ben-Otho, it is
he!"

"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.