11
The Sentence of Death
But it was an hour before the king re-entered the apartment and
in the meantime the ape-man had occupied himself in examining the
carvings upon the walls and the numerous specimens of the handicraft
of Pal-ul-donian artisans which combined to impart an atmosphere
of richness and luxury to the apartment.
The limestone of the country, close-grained and of marble whiteness
yet worked with comparative ease with crude implements, had been
wrought by cunning craftsmen into bowls and urns and vases of
considerable grace and beauty. Into the carved designs of many of
these virgin gold had been hammered, presenting the effect of a rich
and magnificent cloisonne. A barbarian himself the art of barbarians
had always appealed to the ape-man to whom they represented a natural
expression of man's love of the beautiful to even a greater extent
than the studied and artificial efforts of civilization. Here was
the real art of old masters, the other the cheap imitation of the
chromo.
It was while he was thus pleasurably engaged that Ko-tan returned.
As Tarzan, attracted by the movement of the hangings through which
the king entered, turned and faced him he was almost shocked by
the remarkable alteration of the king's appearance. His face was
livid; his hands trembled as with palsy, and his eyes were wide as
with fright. His appearance was one apparently of a combination of
consuming anger and withering fear. Tarzan looked at him questioningly.
"You have had bad news, Ko-tan?" he asked.
The king mumbled an unintelligible reply. Behind there thronged
into the apartment so great a number of warriors that they choked
the entrance-way. The king looked apprehensively to right and left.
He cast terrified glances at the ape-man and then raising his face
and turning his eyes upward he cried: "Jad-ben-Otho be my witness
that I do not this thing of my own accord." There was a moment's
silence which was again broken by Ko-tan. "Seize him," he cried to
the warriors about him, "for Lu-don, the high priest, swears that
he is an impostor."
To have offered armed resistance to this great concourse of warriors
in the very heart of the palace of their king would have been worse
than fatal. Already Tarzan had come far by his wits and now that
within a few hours he had had his hopes and his suspicions partially
verified by the vague admissions of O-lo-a he was impressed with
the necessity of inviting no mortal risk that he could avoid.
"Stop!" he cried, raising his palm against them. "What is the
meaning of this?"
"Lu-don claims he has proof that you are not the son of Jad-ben-Otho,"
replied Ko-tan. "He demands that you be brought to the throneroom
to face your accusers. If you are what you claim to be none knows
better than you that you need have no fear in acquiescing to his
demands, but remember always that in such matters the high priest
commands the king and that I am only the bearer of these commands,
not their author."
Tarzan saw that Ko-tan was not entirely convinced of his duplicity
as was evidenced by his palpable design to play safe.
"Let not your warriors seize me," he said to Ko-tan, "lest
Jad-ben-Otho, mistaking their intention, strike them dead." The
effect of his words was immediate upon the men in the front rank
of those who faced him, each seeming suddenly to acquire a new
modesty that compelled him to self-effacement behind those directly
in his rear--a modesty that became rapidly contagious.
The ape-man smiled. "Fear not," he said, "I will go willingly to
the audience chamber to face the blasphemers who accuse me."
Arrived at the great throneroom a new complication arose. Ko-tan
would not acknowledge the right of Lu-don to occupy the apex of
the pyramid and Lu-don would not consent to occupying an inferior
position while Tarzan, to remain consistent with his high claims,
insisted that no one should stand above him, but only to the ape-man
was the humor of the situation apparent.
To relieve the situation Ja-don suggested that all three of them
occupy the throne, but this suggestion was repudiated by Ko-tan
who argued that no mortal other than a king of Pal-ul-don had ever
sat upon the high eminence, and that furthermore there was not room
for three there.
"But who," said Tarzan, "is my accuser and who is my judge?"
"Lu-don is your accuser," explained Ko-tan.
"And Lu-don is your judge," cried the high priest.
"I am to be judged by him who accuses me then," said Tarzan. "It
were better to dispense then with any formalities and ask Lu-don to
sentence me." His tone was ironical and his sneering face, looking
straight into that of the high priest, but caused the latter's
hatred to rise to still greater proportions.
It was evident that Ko-tan and his warriors saw the justice
of Tarzan's implied objection to this unfair method of dispensing
justice. "Only Ko-tan can judge in the throneroom of his palace,"
said Ja-don, "let him hear Lu-don's charges and the testimony of
his witnesses, and then let Ko-tan's judgment be final."
Ko-tan, however, was not particularly enthusiastic over the prospect
of sitting in trial upon one who might after all very possibly be
the son of his god, and so he temporized, seeking for an avenue
of escape. "It is purely a religious matter," he said, "and it is
traditional that the kings of Pal-ul-don interfere not in questions
of the church."
"Then let the trial be held in the temple," cried one of the chiefs,
for the warriors were as anxious as their king to be relieved of
all responsibility in the matter. This suggestion was more than
satisfactory to the high priest who inwardly condemned himself for
not having thought of it before.
"It is true," he said, "this man's sin is against the temple. Let
him be dragged thither then for trial."
"The son of Jad-ben-Otho will be dragged nowhere," cried Tarzan.
"But when this trial is over it is possible that the corpse of
Lu-don, the high priest, will be dragged from the temple of the
god he would desecrate. Think well, then, Lu-don before you commit
this folly."
His words, intended to frighten the high priest from his position
failed utterly in consummating their purpose. Lu-don showed no
terror at the suggestion the ape-man's words implied.
"Here is one," thought Tarzan, "who, knowing more of his religion
than any of his fellows, realizes fully the falsity of my claims
as he does the falsity of the faith he preaches."
He realized, however, that his only hope lay in seeming indifference
to the charges. Ko-tan and the warriors were still under the spell
of their belief in him and upon this fact must he depend in the
final act of the drama that Lu-don was staging for his rescue from
the jealous priest whom he knew had already passed sentence upon
him in his own heart.
With a shrug he descended the steps of the pyramid. "It matters
not to Dor-ul-Otho," he said, "where Lu-don enrages his god, for
Jad-ben-Otho can reach as easily into the chambers of the temple
as into the throneroom of Ko-tan."
Immeasurably relieved by this easy solution of their problem
the king and the warriors thronged from the throneroom toward the
temple grounds, their faith in Tarzan increased by his apparent
indifference to the charges against him. Lu-don led them to the
largest of the altar courts.
Taking his place behind the western altar he motioned Ko-tan to a
place upon the platform at the left hand of the altar and directed
Tarzan to a similar place at the right.
As Tarzan ascended the platform his eyes narrowed angrily at the
sight which met them. The basin hollowed in the top of the altar was
filled with water in which floated the naked corpse of a new-born
babe. "What means this?" he cried angrily, turning upon Lu-don.
The latter smiled malevolently. "That you do not know," he replied,
"is but added evidence of the falsity of your claim. He who poses
as the son of god did not know that as the last rays of the setting
sun flood the eastern altar of the temple the lifeblood of an adult
reddens the white stone for the edification of Jad-ben-Otho, and
that when the sun rises again from the body of its maker it looks
first upon this western altar and rejoices in the death of a
new-born babe each day, the ghost of which accompanies it across
the heavens by day as the ghost of the adult returns with it to
Jad-ben-Otho at night.
"Even the little children of the Ho-don know these things, while
he who claims to be the son of Jad-ben-Otho knows them not; and if
this proof be not enough, there is more. Come, Waz-don," he cried,
pointing to a tall slave who stood with a group of other blacks
and priests on the temple floor at the left of the altar.
The fellow came forward fearfully. "Tell us what you know of this
creature," cried Lu-don, pointing to Tarzan.
"I have seen him before," said the Waz-don. "I am of the tribe
of Kor-ul-lul, and one day recently a party of which I was one
encountered a few of the warriors of the Kor-ul-ja upon the ridge
which separates our villages. Among the enemy was this strange
creature whom they called Tarzan-jad-guru; and terrible indeed was
he for he fought with the strength of many men so that it required
twenty of us to subdue him. But he did not fight as a god fights,
and when a club struck him upon the head he sank unconscious as
might an ordinary mortal.
"We carried him with us to our village as a prisoner but he escaped
after cutting off the head of the warrior we left to guard him
and carrying it down into the gorge and tying it to the branch of
a tree upon the opposite side."
"The word of a slave against that of a god!" cried Ja-don, who had
shown previously a friendly interest in the pseudo godling.
"It is only a step in the progress toward truth," interjected
Lu-don. "Possibly the evidence of the only princess of the house
of Ko-tan will have greater weight with the great chief from the
north, though the father of a son who fled the holy offer of the
priesthood may not receive with willing ears any testimony against
another blasphemer."
Ja-don's hand leaped to his knife, but the warriors next him
laid detaining fingers upon his arms. "You are in the temple of
Jad-ben-Otho, Ja-don," they cautioned and the great chief was forced
to swallow Lu-don's affront though it left in his heart bitter
hatred of the high priest.
And now Ko-tan turned toward Lu-don. "What knoweth my daughter of
this matter?" he asked. "You would not bring a princess of my house
to testify thus publicly?"
"No," replied Lu-don, "not in person, but I have here one who will
testify for her." He beckoned to an under priest. "Fetch the slave
of the princess," he said.
His grotesque headdress adding a touch of the hideous to the scene,
the priest stepped forward dragging the reluctant Pan-at-lee by
the wrist.
"The Princess O-lo-a was alone in the Forbidden Garden with but this
one slave," explained the priest, "when there suddenly appeared from
the foliage nearby this creature who claims to be the Dor-ul-Otho.
When the slave saw him the princess says that she cried aloud in startled
recognition and called the creature by name--Tarzan-jad-guru--the
same name that the slave from Kor-ul-lul gave him. This woman is
not from Kor-ul-lul but from Kor-ul-ja, the very tribe with which
the Kor-ul-lul says the creature was associating when he first
saw him. And further the princess said that when this woman, whose
name is Pan-at-lee, was brought to her yesterday she told a strange
story of having been rescued from a Tor-o-don in the Kor-ul-gryf by
a creature such as this, whom she spoke of then as Tarzan-jad-guru;
and of how the two were pursued in the bottom of the gorge by two
monster gryfs, and of how the man led them away while Pan-at-lee
escaped, only to be taken prisoner in the Kor-ul-lul as she was
seeking to return to her own tribe.
"Is it not plain now," cried Lu-don, "that this creature is no god.
Did he tell you that he was the son of god?" he almost shouted,
turning suddenly upon Pan-at-lee.
The girl shrank back terrified. "Answer me, slave!" cried the high
priest.
"He seemed more than mortal," parried Pan-at-lee.
"Did he tell you that he was the son of god? Answer my question,"
insisted Lu-don.
"No," she admitted in a low voice, casting an appealing look of
forgiveness at Tarzan who returned a smile of encouragement and
friendship.
"That is no proof that he is not the son of god," cried Ja-don.
"Dost think Jad-ben-Otho goes about crying 'I am god! I am god!'
Hast ever heard him Lu-don? No, you have not. Why should his son
do that which the father does not do?"
"Enough," cried Lu-don. "The evidence is clear. The creature is
an impostor and I, the head priest of Jad-ben-Otho in the city of
A-lur, do condemn him to die." There was a moment's silence during
which Lu-don evidently paused for the dramatic effect of his
climax. "And if I am wrong may Jad-ben-Otho pierce my heart with
his lightnings as I stand here before you all."
The lapping of the wavelets of the lake against the foot of the
palace wall was distinctly audible in the utter and almost breathless
silence which ensued. Lu-don stood with his face turned toward the
heavens and his arms outstretched in the attitude of one who bares
his breast to the dagger of an executioner. The warriors and the
priests and the slaves gathered in the sacred court awaited the
consuming vengeance of their god.
It was Tarzan who broke the silence. "Your god ignores you Lu-don,"
he taunted, with a sneer that he meant to still further anger the
high priest, "he ignores you and I can prove it before the eyes of
your priests and your people."
"Prove it, blasphemer! How can you prove it?"
"You have called me a blasphemer," replied Tarzan, "you have proved
to your own satisfaction that I am an impostor, that I, an ordinary
mortal, have posed as the son of god. Demand then that Jad-ben-Otho
uphold his godship and the dignity of his priesthood by directing
his consuming fires through my own bosom."
Again there ensued a brief silence while the onlookers waited for
Lu-don to thus consummate the destruction of this presumptuous
impostor.
"You dare not," taunted Tarzan, "for you know that I would be struck
dead no quicker than were you."
"You lie," cried Lu-don, "and I would do it had I not but just
received a message from Jad-ben-Otho directing that your fate be
different."
A chorus of admiring and reverential "Ahs" arose from the priesthood.
Ko-tan and his warriors were in a state of mental confusion. Secretly
they hated and feared Lu-don, but so ingrained was their sense of
reverence for the office of the high priest that none dared raise
a voice against him.
None? Well, there was Ja-don, fearless old Lion-man of the north.
"The proposition was a fair one," he cried. "Invoke the lightnings
of Jad-ben-Otho upon this man if you would ever convince us of his
guilt."
"Enough of this," snapped Lu-don. "Since when was Ja-don created high
priest? Seize the prisoner," he cried to the priests and warriors,
"and on the morrow he shall die in the manner that Jad-ben-Otho
has willed."
There was no immediate movement on the part of any of the warriors
to obey the high priest's command, but the lesser priests on the
other hand, imbued with the courage of fanaticism leaped eagerly
forward like a flock of hideous harpies to seize upon their prey.
The game was up. That Tarzan knew. No longer could cunning and
diplomacy usurp the functions of the weapons of defense he best
loved. And so the first hideous priest who leaped to the platform
was confronted by no suave ambassador from heaven, but rather a
grim and ferocious beast whose temper savored more of hell.
The altar stood close to the western wall of the enclosure. There
was just room between the two for the high priest to stand during
the performance of the sacrificial ceremonies and only Lu-don stood
there now behind Tarzan, while before him were perhaps two hundred
warriors and priests.
The presumptuous one who would have had the glory of first laying
arresting hands upon the blasphemous impersonator rushed forward
with outstretched hand to seize the ape-man. Instead it was he who
was seized; seized by steel fingers that snapped him up as though
he had been a dummy of straw, grasped him by one leg and the harness
at his back and raised him with giant arms high above the altar.
Close at his heels were others ready to seize the ape-man and drag
him down, and beyond the altar was Lu-don with drawn knife advancing
toward him.
There was no instant to waste, nor was it the way of the ape-man
to fritter away precious moments in the uncertainty of belated
decision. Before Lu-don or any other could guess what was in
the mind of the condemned, Tarzan with all the force of his great
muscles dashed the screaming hierophant in the face of the high
priest, and, as though the two actions were one, so quickly did
he move, he had leaped to the top of the altar and from there to a
handhold upon the summit of the temple wall. As he gained a footing
there he turned and looked down upon those beneath. For a moment
he stood in silence and then he spoke.
"Who dare believe," he cried, "that Jad-ben-Otho would forsake his
son?" and then he dropped from their sight upon the other side.
There were two at least left within the enclosure whose hearts
leaped with involuntary elation at the success of the ape-man's
maneuver, and one of them smiled openly. This was Ja-don, and the
other, Pan-at-lee.
The brains of the priest that Tarzan had thrown at the head of
Lu-don had been dashed out against the temple wall while the high
priest himself had escaped with only a few bruises, sustained in
his fall to the hard pavement. Quickly scrambling to his feet he
looked around in fear, in terror and finally in bewilderment, for
he had not been a witness to the ape-man's escape. "Seize him," he
cried; "seize the blasphemer," and he continued to look around in
search of his victim with such a ridiculous expression of bewilderment
that more than a single warrior was compelled to hide his smiles
beneath his palm.
The priests were rushing around wildly, exhorting the warriors to
pursue the fugitive but these awaited now stolidly the command of
their king or high priest. Ko-tan, more or less secretly pleased
by the discomfiture of Lu-don, waited for that worthy to give the
necessary directions which he presently did when one of his acolytes
excitedly explained to him the manner of Tarzan's escape.
Instantly the necessary orders were issued and priests and warriors
sought the temple exit in pursuit of the ape-man. His departing
words, hurled at them from the summit of the temple wall, had had
little effect in impressing the majority that his claims had not
been disproven by Lu-don, but in the hearts of the warriors was
admiration for a brave man and in many the same unholy gratification
that had risen in that of their ruler at the discomfiture of Lu-don.
A careful search of the temple grounds revealed no trace of the
quarry. The secret recesses of the subterranean chambers, familiar
only to the priesthood, were examined by these while the warriors
scattered through the palace and the palace grounds without the
temple. Swift runners were dispatched to the city to arouse the
people there that all might be upon the lookout for Tarzan the
Terrible. The story of his imposture and of his escape, and the
tales that the Waz-don slaves had brought into the city concerning
him were soon spread throughout A-lur, nor did they lose aught
in the spreading, so that before an hour had passed the women and
children were hiding behind barred doorways while the warriors
crept apprehensively through the streets expecting momentarily to
be pounced upon by a ferocious demon who, bare-handed, did victorious
battle with huge gryfs and whose lightest pastime consisted in
tearing strong men limb from limb.
