25

Tarzan the Terrible

by Edgar R. Burroughs

25, TARZAN THE TERRIBLE by Edgar R. Burroughs
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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 Pa-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.