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Chapter 18 Tarzan and the City of Gold by Edgar Rice Burroughs

FLAMING XARATOR

Her wrists and ankles bound, Doria, the daughter of Thudos, lay on a pile of skins in a room upon the third floor of the temple of Thoos . Diffused moonlight entered the single window, relieving the darkness of the interior of her prison. She had seen her father seized and dragged away; she was in the power of one so ruthless that she knew she could expect no mercy and that either death or cruel disfigurement awaited her, yet she did not weep.

Above her grief rose the pride of the noble blood of the house of Thudos, the courage of a line of warriors that stretched back into the forgotten ages; and she was brave.

She thought of Gemnon, and then the tears almost came, not for herself but for him, because of the grief that would be his when he learned of her fate. She did not know that he, too, had fallen into the clutches of the enemies of her father.

Presently she heard the sound of footsteps approaching along the corridor, heard them stop before the door behind which she was locked. The door swung open and the room was illuminated by the light of a torch held in the hand of a man who entered and closed the door behind him.

The girl lying upon the pile of skins recognized Erot. She saw him place the blazing torch in a wall socket designed for the purpose and turn toward her.

'Ah, the lovely Doria!' he exclaimed. 'What ill fate has brought you here?'

'Doubtless the noble Erot could answer that question better than I,' she replied.

'Yes, I believe that he could; in fact, I know it. It was I who caused you to be brought here; it was I who caused your father to be imprisoned; it was I who sent Gemnor. to the same cell with the noble Thudos.'

'Gemnon imprisoned!' cried the girl.

'Yes, with many other conspirators against the throne. Behind his back they used to sneer at Erot because he was not a lion man. They will not sneer for long.'

'And what is to be done with me?' asked the girl.

'Nemone has decreed Xarator for you,' replied Erot. 'You are even now lying upon the skins in which you are to be sewn. It is for that purpose that I am here. My good friend Tomos the councillor sent me to sew you into the bag.'

At that moment, a low growl sounded from the direction of the window. Erot looked up, and his face went ashy white. He leaped back and fled toward the door upon the opposite side of the room, his craven heart pounding in terror.

It was early in the morning as the procession formed that was to accompany the doomed Doria to Xarator, for Xarator lies sixteen miles from the city of Cathne in the mountains at the far end of the valley of Onthar, and the procession could move no faster than the lions drawing the chariot of the queen would walk, which was not fast.

Bred for generations for this purpose, the lions of Cathne had far greater endurance than forest bred lions, yet it would be well into the night before it could be hoped to make the long journey to Xarator and return. Hundreds of slaves bore torches with which to light the homeward Journey after night had fallen.

Nemone entered her chariot. She was wrapped in woollen robes and the skins of animals, for the morning air was still chill. At her side walked Tomos, nervous and ill at ease. He knew that M'duze was dead and wondered if he would be next. The queen's manner was curt and abrupt, filling him with dread, for now there was no M'duze to protect him from the easily aroused wrath of Nemone.

'Where is Tarzan?' she demanded.

'I do not know, majesty,' replied Tomos. 'I have not seen him.'

'Produce him,' commanded Nemone sullenly. 'It grows late, and Nemone is not accustomed to wait upon any.

'But, majesty…' began Tomos again.

'Here he comes now!' exclaimed Nemone as Tarzan strode up the avenue toward her.

Tomos breathed a sigh of relief and wiped the perspiration from his forehead. He did not like Tarzan, but in all his life he had never before been so glad to see anyone alive and well.

'You are late,' said Nemone as Tarzan stopped beside her chariot.

The Lord of the Jungle made no reply.

'We are not accustomed to being delayed,' she continued a little sharply.

'Perhaps if you placed me in the custody of Erot, as I suggested, he would deliver me on time in future.'

Nemone ignored this and turned to Tomos. 'We are ready,' she said.

At a word from the councillor a trumpeter at his side raised his instrument to his lips and sounded a call. Slowly the long procession began to move, and like a huge serpent crawled toward the bridge of gold. The citizens lining the avenue moved with it, men, women, and children. The women and children carried packages in which food was wrapped, the men bore arms. A journey to Xarator was an event. It took them the length of Onthar where wild lions roamed and where Athnean raiders might set upon them at any moment of the day or night, especially of the night, so the march took on something of the aspects of both a pageant and a military excursion.

Behind the golden chariot of the queen rolled a second chariot on the floor of which lay a bundle sewn in the skins of lions. Chained to this chariot were Thudos and Gemnon. Following were a hundred chariots driven by nobles in gold and ivory, while other nobles on foot entirely surrounded the chariot of the queen.

There were columns of marching warriors in the lead, and in the rear were the war lions of Cathne, the royal fighting lions of the queen. Keepers held them on leashes of gold, and proud nobles of ancient families marched beside them-the lion men of Cathne.

The barbaric splendour of the scene impressed even the ape-man who cared little for display, though he gave no outward sign of interest as he strode at the wheel of Nemone's chariot drawn by its eight great lions held in leash by twenty four powerful slaves in tunics of red and gold.

The sun, climbing into the heavens, was bringing heat. Slaves carrying an umbrella over the queen adjusted it to fend the hot rays from her; others waved lions' tails attached to the ends of long poles to and fro about her to drive the insects away. A gentle breeze carried the dust of the long column lazily toward the west.

Nemone sighed and turned to Tarzan. 'Why were you late?' she asked.

'Would it be strange that I overslept?' he asked. 'It was late when I left the palace, and there was no keeper to awaken me since you took Gemnon away.

'Had you wished to see me again as badly as I wished to see you, you would not have been late.'

'I was as anxious to be here as you,' he replied.

'You have never seen Xarator?' she asked.

'No'.

'It is a holy mountain, created by Thoos for the enemies of the kings and queens of Cathne. In all the world there is nothing like it.'

'I am going to enjoy seeing it,' replied the ape-man grimly.

They were approaching a fork in the road. 'That road leading to the right runs through the Pass of the Warriors into the valley of Thenar ,' she explained. 'Some day I shall send you on a raid to Thenar, and you shall bring me Athne's greatest warriors as hostages.'

Tarzan thought of Valthor and wondered if he had reached Athne in safety. He glanced back at Thudos and Gemnon. He had not spoken to them, but it was because of them that he was here. He might easily have escaped had he not determined to remain until he was certain that he could not aid these friends. Their case appeared hopeless, yet the ape-man had not given up hope.

At noon the procession stopped for lunch. The populace scattered about seeking the shade of the trees that dotted the plain and that had not already been selected by the queen and the nobles. The lions were led into shade, where they lay down to rest. Warriors, always on the lookout for danger, stood guard about the temporary encampment.

There was always danger on the Field of the Lions.

The halt was brief; in half an hour the cavalcade was on the march again. There was less talking now; silence and the great heat hung over the dusty column. The hills that bounded the valley upon the north were close, and soon they entered them, following a canyon upward to a winding mountain road that led into the hills above.

Presently the smell of sulphur fumes came plainly to the nostrils of the ape-man, and a little later the column turned the shoulder of a great mass of volcanic rock and came upon the edge of a huge crater. Far below, molten rock bubbled, sending up spurts of flame, geysers of steam, and columns of yellow smoke. The scene was impressive and awe-inspiring. Tarzan stood with folded arms and bent head gazing down into the seething inferno until the queen touched him on the shoulder. 'What do you think of Xarator?' she asked.

He shook his head. 'There are some emotions,' he answered slowly, 'for which no words have yet been coined.'

'It was created by Thoos for the kings of Cathne,' she explained proudly.

Tarzan made no reply; perhaps he was thinking that here again the lexicographers had failed to furnish words adequate to the occasion.

On either side of the royal party the people crowded close to the edge of the crater that they might miss nothing of what was about to transpire. The children laughed and played, or teased their mothers for the food that was being saved for the evening meal upon the return journey to Cathne.

The ceremony at Xarator, though it bore the authority of so-called justice, was of a semi-religious nature that required the presence and active participation of priests, two of whom lifted the sack containing the victim from the chariot and placed it at the edge of the crater at the feet of the queen.

As two other priests lifted the body from the ground and were about to hurl it into the crater, she stopped them with a curt command. 'Wait!' she cried. 'We would look upon the too great beauty of Doria, the daughter of Thudos, the traitor.'

All eyes were upon the priest who drew his dagger and ripped open the bag along one loosely sewn seam. The eyes of Thudos and Gemnon were fixed upon the still figure outlined beneath the tawny skins of lions. Beads of perspiration stood upon their foreheads; their jaws and their fists were clenched. The eyes of Tarzan turned from the activities of the priest to the face of the queen; between narrowed lids, from beneath stern brows they watched her.

The priests, gathering the bag by one side, raised it and let the body roll out upon the ground where all could see it. There was a gasp of astonishment. Nemone cried out in a sudden fit of rage. The body was that of Erot, and he was dead!

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Chapter 16 Tarzan and the City of Gold by Edgar Rice Burroughs

IN THE TEMPLE OF THOOS

As Tarzan sat with Gemnon and the latter's father and mother at dinner that evening, a slave entered the room to announce that a messenger had come from the house of Thudos, the father of Doria, with an important communication for Gemnon.

'Fetch him here,' directed the young noble, and a moment later a tall slave was ushered into the apartment.

'Ah, Gemba!' exclaimed Gemnon in a kindly tone.

'You have a message for me?'

'Yes, master,' replied the slave, 'but it is important—and secret.'

'You may speak before these others, Gemba,' replied Gemnon. 'What is it?'

'Doria, the daughter of Thudos, my master, has sent me to tell you that by a ruse the noble Erot gained entrance to her father's house and spoke with her today. What he said to her was of no importance; only the fact that he saw her is important.'

'The jackal!' exclaimed Gemnon's father.

Gemnon paled. 'That is all?' he inquired.

'That is all, master,' replied Gemba.

Gemnon took a gold coin from his pocket pouch and handed it to the slave. 'Return to your mistress, and tell her that I shall come and speak with her lather tomorrow. After the slave had withdrawn, Gemnon looked hopelessly at his father. 'What can I do?' he asked. 'What can Thudos do? What can anyone do? We are helpless.'

'Perhaps I can do something,' suggested Tarzan. 'For the moment I seem to hold the confidence of your queen. When I see her I shall question her, and if it is necessary I shall intercede in your behalf.'

A new hope sprang to Gemnon's eyes. 'If you will!' he cried. 'She will listen to you. I believe that you alone might save Doria. But remember that the queen must not see her.'

Early the next morning a messenger from the palace brought a command to Tarzan to visit the queen at noon, with instructions to Gemnon to accompany Tarzan with a strong guard as she feared treachery on the part of Tarzan's enemies.

'They must be powerful enemies that dare attempt to thwart the wishes of Nemone,' commented Gemnon's father.

'There is only one in all Cathne who dares do that,' replied Gemnon, 'and that is M'duze.

'Come,' he continued, 'we have the morning to ourselves. What shall we do in the meantime?'

'I should like to visit the mines of Cathne,' replied Tarzan; 'shall we have time?'

'Yes, we shall,' replied Gemnon. 'The Mine of the Rising Sun is not far, and as there is little to see after you get there, the trip will not take long.'

On the road from Cathne to the mine, Gemnon pointed out the place where the war and hunting lions of Cathne were bred; but they did not stop to visit the place, and presently they were winding up the short mountain road to the Gold Mine of the Rising Sun.

As Gemnon had warned him, there was little of interest for Tarzan to see. The workings were open, the mother lode lying practically upon the surface of the ground. So rich was it that only a few slaves working with crude picks and bars were needed to supply the coffers of Cathne with vast quantities of the precious metal. But it was not the mines nor gold that had caused Tarzan to wish to visit the diggings. He had promised Hafim that he would carry a message to his brother Niaka, and it was for this purpose that he had suggested the visit.

As he moved about among the slaves, ostensibly inspecting the lode, he finally succeeded in separating himself sufficiently from Gemnon and the warriors who guarded the workers to permit him to speak unnoticed to one of the slaves.

'Which is Niaka?' he asked in Galla, lowering his voice to a whisper.

The man looked up in surprise, but at a warning gesture from Tarzan bent his head again and answered in a whisper, 'Niaka is the big man at my right. He is headman; you see that he does not work.'

Tarzan moved then in the direction of Niaka, and, when he was close, stopped beside him and leaned as though inspecting the lode that was uncovered at his feet.

'Listen,' he whispered. 'I bring you a message, but let no one know that I am talking to you. it is from your brother Hafim. He has escaped.'

'How?' whispered Niaka.

Briefly, Tarzan explained.

'It was you, then, who saved him?'

The ape-man nodded.

'I am only a poor slave,' said Niaka, 'and you are a powerful noble, no doubt, so I can never repay you. But should you ever need any service that Niaka can render, you have but to command; with my life I would serve you. In that hut I live with my woman; because I am headman I am trusted and thus live alone. If you ever want me you will find me there.' 'I ask no return for what I did,' replied Tarzan. 'but I shall remember where you live; one never knows what the future holds.' He moved away then and joined Gemnon, and presently the two turnmed back toward the city, while in the palace of the queen, Tomos entered the apartment of Nemone and knelt.

'What now?' she demanded. 'Is the affair so urgent that I must be interrupted at my toilet?'

'It is, majesty,' replied the councillor, 'and I beg that you send your slaves away. What I have to say is for your ears alone.'

Nemone dismissed the girls. Then she turned to the councillor, who had arisen. 'Well, what is it?'

'Your majesty has long had reason to suspect the loyalty of Thudos,' Tomos reminded her, 'and in the interest of your majesty's welfare and the safety of the throne, I am constantly watchful of the activities of this powerful enemy. Spurred on by love and loyalty, the noble Erot has been my most faithful agent and ally, and it is really to him that we owe the information that I bring you.

Nemone tapped her sandalled foot impatiently upon the mosaic floor. 'Have done with the self-serving preamble, and tell me what you have to tell me,' she snapped.

'Briefly, then, it is this: Gemnon conspires also with Thudos, hoping, doubless, that his reward will be the beautiful daughter of his chief.'

'That hollow-cheeked strumpet!' exclaimed Nemone. 'Who said she was beautiful?'

'Erot tells me that Gemnon and Thudos believe her the most beautiful woman in the world,' replied Tomos.

'There are others who think so, too,' he added.

'What others?'

'I but hesitated to name the other for fear of wounding your majesty,' said Tomos oilily, 'but if you insist, it is the stranger called Tarzan.'

Nemone sat up very straight. 'What fabric of lies is this you and M'duze are weaving?' she demanded.

'It is no lie, majesty. Tarzan and Gemnon were seen coming from the house of Thudos late at night. Erot had followed them there. He saw them go in, and they were there long while. Hiding in the shadows across the avenue, he saw them come out. He says that they were quarrelling over Doria, and he believes that it was Gemnon who sought the life of Tarzan because of jealousy.'

Nemone sat straight and stiff upon her couch; her face was pale and tense with fury. 'Someone shall die for this,' she said in a low voice. 'Go!'

Tomos backed from the room. He was elated until he had time to reflect more fully upon her words; then he reflected that Nemone had not stated explicitly who should die.

It was almost noon when Tarzan and Gemnon returned to the city, and time for the latter to conduct Tarzan to his audience with Nemone. With a guard of warriors they went to the palace, where the ape-man was immediately admitted alone into the presence of the queen.

'Where have you been?' she demanded.

Tarzan looked at her in surprise; then he smiled. 'I visited the Mine of the Rising Sun.'

'Where were you last night?'

'At the house of Gemnon,' he replied.

'You were with Doria!' accused Nemone.

'No,' said the ape-man; 'that was the night before.'

He had been surprised by the accusation and the knowledge that it connoted, but he did not let her see that he was surprised. He was not thinking of himself but of Doria and Gemnon, seeking a plan whereby he might protect them. It was evident that some enemy had turned informer and that Nemone already knew of the visit to the house of Thudos. Therefore, he felt that it would but have aroused the queen's suspicions to have denied it; to admit it freely, to show that he sought to conceal nothing, would allay them. As a matter of fact Tarzan's frank and ready reply left Nemone rather flat.

'Why did you go to the house of Thudos' she asked, but this time her tone was not accusing.

'You see, Gemnon does not dare to leave me alone for fear that I shall escape or that something may befall me, and so he is forced to take me wherever he goes. It is rather hard on him, Nemone, and I have been intending to ask you to make someone else responsible for me for at least a part of the time.'

'We will speak of that later,' replied the queen. 'Why does Gemnon go to the house of Thudos?' Nemone's eyes narrowed suspiciously.

The ape-man smiled. 'What a foolish question for a woman to ask!' he exclaimed. 'Gemnon is in love with Doria. I thought all Cathne knew that; he certainly takes enough pains to tell all his acquaintances.'

'You are sure that it is not you who are in love with her?' demanded Nemone.

Tarzan looked at her with disgust he made no effort to conceal. 'Do not be a fool, Nemone,' he said. 'I do not like fool women.'

The jaw of the queen of Cathne dropped. In all her life no one had ever addressed her in words or tones like these.

When she spoke again, she had regained her calm. 'I was told that you loved her,' she explained, 'but I did not believe it. Is she very beautiful? I have heard that she is considered the most beautiful woman in Cathne.'
'Perhaps Gemnon thinks so,' replied Tarzan with a laugh, 'but you know what love does to the eyes of youth.'

'What do you think of her?' demanded the queen.

The ape-man shrugged. 'She is not bad looking,' he said.

'Is she as beautiful as Nemone?' demanded the queen.

'As the brilliance of a far star is to the brilliance of the sun.'

The reply appeared to please Nemone. She arose and came closer to Tarzan. There was a rattling of chains at the far end of the room, followed by a terrific roar as Belthar sprang to his feet. Nemone shrank suddenly away from the ape-man, a shudder ran through her body, and an expression, half fright, half anger, suffused her face.

'It is always something,' she said irritably, trembling a little. 'Belthar is jealous. There is a strange bond linking the life of that beast to my life. I do not know what it is; I wish I did.' A light, almost of madness, glittered in her eyes. 'But this I know: when Belthar dies, I die!'

She looked up rather sadly at Tarzan as again her mood changed. 'Come, my friend,' she said. 'We shall go to the temple together and perhaps Thoos may answer the questions that are in the heart of Nemone.' She struck a bronze disc that depended from the ceiling, and as the brazen notes reverberated in the room, a door opened and a noble bowed low upon the threshold.

'The guard!' commanded the queen. 'We are visiting Thoos in his temple.'

The progress to the temple was in the nature of a pageant-marching warriors with pennons streaming from spear tips, nobles resplendent in gorgeous trappings, the queen in a golden chariot drawn by lions. Tomos walked upon one side of the glittering car, Tarzan upon the other where Erot had previously walked.

The ape-man was as uneasy as a forest lion as he strode between the lines of gaping citizenry. Crowds annoyed and irritated him; formalities irked him. His thoughts were far away in the distant jungle that he loved. He knew that Gemnon was nearby watching him, but whether he was nearby or not, Tarzan would not attempt to escape this friend was responsible for him. His mind occupied with such thoughts, he spoke to the queen.

'At the palace,' he reminded her, 'I spoke to you concerning the matter of relieving Gemnon of the irksome job of watching me.'

'Gemnon has acquitted himself well,' she replied. 'I see no reason for changing.'

'Relieve him then, occasionally,' suggested Tarzan. 'Let Erot take his place.'

Nemone looked at him in astonishment. 'But Erot hates you!' she exclaimed.

'All the more reason that he would watch me carefully,' argued Tarzan.

'He would probably kill you.'

'He would not dare if he knew that he must pay for my death or escape with his own life,' suggested Tarzan.

'You like Gemnon, do you not?' inquired Nemone innocently.

'Very much,' the ape-man assured her.

'Then he is the man to watch you, for you would not imperil his life by escaping while he is responsible.' Tarzan smiled inwardly and said no more. It was evident that Nemone was no fool. He would have to devise some other plan of escape that would not jeopardize the safety of his friend.

At the entrance to the temple Phobeg was on guard as a girl entered to worship. Recognizing the warrior, she greeted him and paused for a moment's conversation, the royal party having not yet entered the temple square.

'I have not seen you to talk with for a long time, Phobeg,' she said. 'I am glad that you are back again on the temple guard.'

'Thanks to the stranger called Tarzan I am alive and here,' replied Phobeg.

'I should think that you would hate him!' exclaimed the girl.

'Not I,' cried Phobeg. 'I know a better man when I see one. I admire him. And did he not grant me my life when the crowd screamed for my death?'

'That is true,' admitted the girl. 'And now he needs a friend.'

'What do you mean, Mamma?' demanded the warrior.

'I was in the adjoining room when Tomos visited the queen this morning,' explained the girl, 'and I overheard him tell her that Thudos and Gemnon and Tarzan were conspiring against her and that Tarzan loved Doria, the daughter of Thudos.'

'How did Tomos know these things?' asked Phobeg.

'Did he offer proof?'

'He said that Erot had watched and had seen Gemnon and Tarzan visit the house of Thudos,' explained Maluma. 'He also told her that Erot had seen Doria and had reported that she was very beautiful.'

Phobeg whistled. 'That will be the end of the daughter of Thudos,' he said.

'It will be the end of the stranger, too,' prophesied Maluma, 'and I am sorry, for I like him. He is not like the jackal Erot, whom everyone hates.'

'Here comes the queen!' exclaimed Phobeg as the procession entered the temple square.

Before the temple, Nemone alighted from her chariot and walked up the broad stairway to the ornate entrance. Behind her were the priests. Following them came the nobles of the court, the warriors of the guard remaining in the temple square before the entrance.

The temple was a large three-storied building with a great central dome, about the interior of which ran galleries at the seco nd and third stories. The interior of the dome was of gold as were the pillars that supported the galleries, while the walls of the building were embellished with colourful mosaics. Directly opposite the main entrance, on a level with a raised dais, a great cage was built into a niche, and on either side of the cage was an altar supporting a lion carved from solid gold. Before the dais was a stone railing inside of which was a throne and a row of stone benches facing the cage in the niche.

Nemone advanced and seated herself upon the throne while the nobles took their places upon the benches. Nc one paid any attention to Tarzan, so he remained outside the railing, a mildly interested spectator.

The high priest began a meaningless singsong chant, in which the others joined occasionally as though making responses. Nemone leaned forward eagerly; her eyes were fastened upon the old lion.

Suddenly the chanting ceased and the queen arose.

'O Thoos!' she cried, her hands outstretched toward the mangy old carnivore. 'Nemone brings you greetings. Receive them from Nemone and bless her. Give her life and health and happiness; most of all Nemone prays for happiness. Preserve her friends and destroy her enemies. And, O Thoos, give her the one thing that she most desires-love, the love of the one man in all the world that Nemone has ever loved!' And the lion glared at her through the bars.

She spoke as though in a tiance, as though oblivious to all else around her save the god to which she prayed.

Nemone sat, silent and rigid, upon her throne, staring straight ahead at the lion in the cage. The priests and many of the nobles were reciting prayers in monotones. It was evident to Tarzan that they were praying to the lion, for every eye was upon the repulsive beast. Some of the questions that had puzzled him when he had first come to Cathne were answered. He understood now the strange oaths of Phobeg and his statement that he had stepped upon the tail of Thoos.

Tarzan turned away in disgust and anger and walked from the temple out into the fresh air and the sunlight, and as he did so a warrior at the entrance hailed him by name in a whisper. There was a cautionary warning in the voice that prompted the ape-man to give no apparent sign of having heard as he turned his eyes casually in the direction from which the words had come, nor did he betray any interest when he discovered that it was Phobeg addressed him.

Turning slowly, so that his back was toward the warrior, Tarzen looked back into the temple as though expecting the retuirn of the royal party. Then he backed to the side of the entrance as one might who waits and stood so close to Phobeg that the latter might have touched him by moving his spear hand a couple of inches; but neither gave any sign of being aware of the identity or presence of the other.

In a low whisper, through lips that scarcely moved, Phobeg spoke. 'I must speak to you! Come to the rear of the temple two hours after the sun has set. Do not answer, but if you hear and will come, turn your head to the right.'

As Tarzan gave the assenting signal, the royal party commenced to file from the temple, and he fell in behind Nemone. The queen was quiet and moody, as she always was after the temple had aroused her to religious frenzy; the reaction left her weak and indifferent. At the palace, she dismissed her following, including Tarzan, and withdrew to the seclusion of her apartments.

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Chapter 17 Tarzan and the City of Gold by Edgar Rice Burroughs

THE SECRET OF THE TEMPLE

After the royal party left the temple, Maluma came out and paused again to gossip with Phobeg. For some time they talked before she bid him good-bye and started back toward the palace. They spoke of many things-of the man in the secret prison behind a heavy golden door beneath the temple floor, of Erot and Tomos, of Nemone and Tarzan, of Gemnon and Doria, and of themselves. Being human, they talked mostly of themselves. It was late when Maluma returned to the palace. It was already the evening meal hour.

In the home of his father, Gemnon paced the floor of the patio as he awaited the summons to the evening meal.

Seeking to divert Gemnon's mind from his troubles, Tarzan spoke of the ceremony at the temple, but principally of the temple itself, praising its beauty, commenting upon its magnificence.

'The temple does hide a real wrong,' Gemnon said.

'Somewhere within it is hidden Alextar, the brother of Nemone, and while he rots there the corrupt Tomos and the cruel M'duze rule Cathne through the mad Nemone. 'There are many who would have a change and place Alextar on the throne, but they fear the wrath of the terrible triumvirate. So we go on, and nothing is done. Victim after victim succumbs to the jealousy and fear that constantly animate the throne.

'We have little hope today; we shall have no hope if the queen carries out the plan she is believed to be contemplating and destroys Alextar. There are reasons why it would be to her advantage to do so, the most important being the right of Alextar to proclaim himself king should he ever succeed in reaching the palace.

'If Nemone should die, Alextar would become king, and the populace would insist that he take his rightful place. For this reason Tomos and M'duze are anxious to destroy him. It is to Nemone's credit that she has withstood their arguments for all these years, steadfastly refusing to destroy Alextar. But if ever he seriously threatens her powers, he is lost. Rumours that have reached her ears that a plot has been perfected to place him on the throne may already have sealed his doom.'

During the meal that evening, Tarzan considered plans for visiting Phobeg at the temple. He wished to go alone but knew that he would place Gemnon in an embarrassing position should he suggest such a plan, while to permit the noble to accompany him might not only seal Phobeg's lips but jeopardize his safety as well. Therefore, he decided to go secretly.

Following the stratagem he had adopted, he remained in conversation with Gemnon and his parents until almost two hours after the sun had set; then he excused himself, saying that he was tired, and went to the room that had been assigned him. But he did not tarry there. Instead, he merely crossed the room from the door to the window and stepped out into the patio upon which it faced. Here, as throughout the gardens and avenues of the section of the city occupied by the nobility, grew large, old trees, and a moment later the Lord of the Jungle was winging through his native element toward the golden temple of Thoos .

He stopped at last in a tree near the rear of the temple where he saw the huge and familiar figure of Phobez waiting in the shadows below. Soundlessly, the ape-man dropped to the ground in front of the astonished warrior 'By the great fangs of Thoos!' ejaculated Phobeg 'but you gave me a start.'

'You expected me,' was Tarzan's only comment.

'But not from the skies,' retorted Phobeg. 'However, you are here and it is well; I have much more to tell you than when I asked you to come. I have learned more since.

'I am listening,' said Tarzan.

'A girl in the service of the queen overheard a conversation between Nemone and Tomos,' commenced Phobeg. 'Tomos accused you and Gemnon and Thudos of conspiring against her. Erot spied upon you and knew of your long visit at the home of Thudos a few nights since. He also managed to enter the house on some pretext the following night and saw Doria, the daughter of Thudos. Tomos told Nemone that Doria was very beautiful and that you were in love with her.

'Nemone is not yet convinced that you love Doria, but to be on the safe side she has ordered Tomos to have the girl abducted and brought to the temple where she will be imprisoned until Nemone decides upon her fate. She may destroy her, or she may be content to have her beauty disfigured.

'But what you must know is this: if you give Nemone the slightest reason to believe that you are conspiring against her or that you are fond of Doria, she will have you killed. All that I can do is warn you.

'You warned me once before, did you not,' asked Tarzan, 'the night that Gemnon and I went to the house of Thudos?'

'Yes, that was I,' replied Phobeg.

'Why have you done these things?' asked the ape-man.

'Because I owe my life to you,' replied the warrior, 'and because I know a man when I see one. If a man can pick Phobeg up and toss him around as though he were a baby, Phobeg is willing to be his slave.'

'I can only thank you for what you have told me, Phobeg,' said Tarzan. 'Now tell me more. If Doria is brought to the temple, where will she be imprisoned?'

'That is hard to say. Alextar is kept in rooms beneath the floor of the temple, but there are rooms upon the second and third floors where a prisoner might be safely confined, especially a woman.'

'Could you get word to me if she is arrested?'

'I could try,' replied Phobeg.

'Good! Is there anything further?'

'No.'

'Then I shall return to Gemnon and warn him. Perhaps we shall find a way to pacify Nenome or outwit her.'

'Either would be difficult,' commented Phobeg, 'but good-bye and good luck!'

Tarzan swung into the tree above the warrior's head and disappeared among the shadows of the night, while Phobeg shook his head in wonderment and returned to his quarters in the temple.

The ape-man made his way to his room by the same avenue he had left it and went immediately to the common living room where the family ordinarily congregated for the evenings. Here he found Gemnon's father and mother, but Gemnon was not there.

'You could not sleep?' inquired the mother.

'No,' replied the ape-man. 'Where is Gemnon?'

'He was summoned to the palace a short time alter you went to your room,' explained Gemnon's father.

Announcing that he would wait up until the son returned, Tarzan remained in the living room in conversation with the parents. He wondered a little that Gemnon should have been summoned to the palace at such an hour, and the things that Phobeg had told him made him a little apprehensive, but he kept his own council rather than frighten his host and hostess.

Scarcely an hour had passed when they heard a summons at the outer gate, and presently a slave came to announce that a warrior wished to speak to Tarzan upon a matter of urgent necessity.

The ape-man arose. 'I will go outside and see him,' he said.

'Be careful,' cautioned Gemnon's father. 'You have bitter enemies who would be glad to see you destroyed.'

'I shall be careful,' Tarzan assured him as he left the room behind the slave.

At the gate two warriors connected with the house were detaining a huge man whom Tarzan recognized even from a distance as Phobeg. 'I must speak with you at once and alone,' said the latter.

'This man is all right,' Tarzan told the guards. 'Let him enter and I will talk with him in the garden.'

When they had walked a short distance from the guards, Tarzan paused and faced his visitor. 'What is it?' he asked. 'You have brought me bad news?'
'Very bad,' replied Phobeg. 'Gemnon, Thudos, and many of their friends have been arrested and are now in the dungeons. Doria has been taken and is imprisoned in the temple. I did not expect to find you at liberty, but took the chance that Nemone's interest in you might have saved you temporarily. If you can escape from Cathne, do so at once. Her mood may change at any moment; she is as mad as a monkey.'

'Thank you, Phobeg,' said the ape-man. 'Now get back to your quarters before you become embroiled in this affair.' 'And you will escape?' asked the warrior.

'I owe something to Gemnon,' replied Tarzan, 'for his kindness and his friendship, so I shall not go until I have done what I can to help him.'

'No one can help him,' stated Phobeg emphatically.

'All that you will do is get yourself in trouble.'

'I shall have to chance it, and now good-bye, my friend; but before you go tell me where Doria is imprisoned.'

'On the third floor of the temple at the rear of the building, just above the doorway where I awaited you this evening.'

Tarzan accompanied Phobeg to the gate and out into the avenue. 'Where are you going?' demanded the latter.

'To the palace.'

'You, too, are mad,' protested Phobeg, but already the ape-man had left him and was walking rapidly along the avenue in the direction of the palace.

It was late, but Tarzan was now a familiar figure to the palace guards, and when he told them that Nemone had summoned him they let him enter, nor was he stopped until he had reached the anteroom outside the queen's apartments. Here a noble on guard protested that the hour was late and that the queen had retired, but Tarzan insisted upon seeing her.

'Tell her it is Tarzan,' he said.

'I do not dare disturb her,' explained the noble nervously.

'I dare,' said Tarzan and stepped to the door leading to the ivory room where Nemone had been accustomed to receive him. The noble sought to interfere but the ape-man pushed him aside and attempted to open the door, only to find it securely bolted upon the opposite side. Then with his clenched fist he pounded loudly upon its carved surface.

Instantly from beyond it came the savage growls of Belthar and a moment later the frightened voice of a woman. 'Who is there?' she demanded. 'The queen sleeps. Who dares disturb her?'

'Go and awaken her,' shouted Tarzan through the door. 'Tell her that Tarzan is here and wishes to see her at once.'

'I am afraid,' replied the girl. 'The queen will be angry. Go away, and come in the morning.'

Then Tarzan heard another voice beyond the door demanding, 'Who is it comes pounding on Nemone's door at such an hour?' and recognized it as the queen's.

'It is the noble Tarzan,' replied the slave girl.

'Draw the bolts and admit him,' commanded Nemone, and as the door swung open Tarzan stepped into the ivory room.

The queen stood halfway across the apartment, facing him. She directed the slave to rebolt the door and leave the apartment; then she turned and, walking to the couch, motioned Tarzan to approach. As she sank among the soft cushions she motioned Tarzan to her side.

'I am glad you came,' she said. 'I could not sleep. I have been thinking of you. But tell me, why did you come? Had you been thinking of me?'

'I have been thinking of you, Nemone,' replied the ape-man. 'I have been thinking that perhaps you will help me; that you can help me, I know.'

'You have only to ask,' replied the queen softly.

'There is no favour that you may not have from Nemone for the asking.'

A single cresset shed a soft, flickering light that scarcely dispelled the darkness of the room, at the far end of which the yellow-green eyes of Belthar blazed like twin lamps.

Then that same fatal door at the far end of the apartment opened and the tapping of a metal-shod staff upon the stone floor brought them both erect to gaze into the snarling face of M'duze.

'You fool!' cried the old hag in a shrill falsetto. 'Send the man away, unless you would see him killed here before your eyes! Send him away at once!'

Nemone sprang to her feet and faced the old woman who was now trembling with rage.

'You have gone too far, M'duze,' she said in a cold and level voice. 'Remember that I am queen.

She glided quickly toward the old woman, and as she passed a low stand she stooped and seized something that lay there. Suddenly the slave woman shrieked and shrank away, but before she could turn and flee Nemone was upon her and seized her by the hair.

'Always you have ruined my life,' cried Nemone, 'you and Tomos. You have robbed me of happiness, and for that, this' and she drove the gleaming blade of a knife into the withered breast of the screaming woman.

Presently M'duze ceased shrieking and sank to the floor. Someone was pounding upon the door to the anteroom and the terrified voices of nobles and guardsmen could be heard demanding entrance. In his corner Belthar tugged at his chains and roared. Nemone stood looking down upon M'duze with blazing eyes and snarling lips. Then she turned slowly towards the door upon which the pounding of her retainers' fists resounded. 'Have done!' she called imperiously. 'I, Nemone the queen, am safe.'

The voices beyond the door died away as the guardsmen returned to their posts; then Nemone faced Tarzan. She looked suddenly worn and very tired. 'That favour,' she said, 'ask it another time. Nemone is unstrung.'

'I must ask it now,' replied Tarzan; 'tomorrow may be too late.'

'Very well,' she said. 'I am listening. 'What is it?'

'There is a noble in your court who has been very kind to me since I have been in Cathne,' commenced Tarzan.

'Now he is in trouble, and I have come to ask you to save him.'

Nemone's brow clouded. 'Who is he?' she demanded.

'Gemnon,' replied the ape-man. 'He has been arrested with Thudos and the daughter of Thudos and several of their friends. It is only a plot to destroy me.

'You dare come to me to intercede for traitors!' cried the queen, blazing with sudden fury. 'But I know the reason; you love Doria!'

'I do not love her. I have seen her but once. Gemnon loves her. Let them be happy, Nemone.'

'I am not happy,' she replied; 'why should they be happy?'

She turned away and buried her face in her arms as she sank to the couch; he saw her shoulders shaken by sobs, and pity filled his heart. He drew nearer to console her, but he had no chance to speak before she wheeled upon him, her eyes flashing through tears. 'The girl, Doria, dies!' she cried. 'Xarator shall have her tomorrow!'

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Chapter 15 Tarzan and the City of Gold by Edgar Rice Burroughs

THE PLOT THAT FAILED

Swiftly, the giant of the jungle bore the Galia slave toward the east where, beyond the forest, loomed the mountains that hemmed Onthar upon that side. For a mile he carried him through the trees and then swung lightly to the zround.

'If the lions ever pick up your trail now,' he said, it will not be until long after you have reached the mountains and safety. But do not delay-go now.

The man fell upon his knees and took the hand of his savour in his own. 'I am Hafim,' he said. 'If I could serve you, I would die for you. Who are you?'

'I am Tarzan of the Apes. Now go your way and lose no time.'

One more favour,' begged the native.

'What?'

'I have a brother. He, too, was captured by these when they captured me. He is a slave in the gold mines south of Cathne. His name is Niaka. If you should to the gold mines, tell him that Hafim has escaped.'

'I shall tell him. Now go.'

Silently the native disappeared among the boles of the Forest trees, and Tarzan sprang again into the branches and Swung rapidly back in the direction of the hunters. When he reached them, dropping to the ground and approaching them from behind, they were clustered near the spot at which Hafim had taken to the trees.

'Where have you been?' asked Xerstle. 'We thought that you had become lost.'

'I dropped behind,' replied the ape-man. 'Where is your quarry? I thought that you would have had him by this time.'

'We cannot understand it,' admitted Xerstle. 'It is evident that he climbed this tree, because the lions followed him to this very spot, where they stood looking up into the tree; but they did not growl as though they saw the man. Then we leashed them again and sent one of the keepers into the tree, but he saw no sign of the quarry.

'It is a mystery!' exclaimed Pindes.

'It is indeed,' agreed Tarzan; 'at least for those who do not know the secret.'

'Who does know the secret?' demanded Xerstle.

'The black slave who has escaped you must know, if no other.'

'He has not escaped me,' snapped Xerstle. 'He has but prolonged the hunt and increased its interest. Come, let us go. I shall hunt with Gemnon and Pindes with Tarzan. We shall take one lion, they the other.'

'Agreed,' said Tarzan.

'But I am responsible to the queen for the safe return of Tarzan,' demurred Gemnon. 'I do not like to have him out of my sight even for a short time.'

'I promise that I shall not try to escape,' the ape-man assured him.

'It was not that alone of which I was thinking,' explained Gemnon.

'And I can assure you that I can take care of myself, if you feel fears for my safety,' added Tarzan.

Reluctantly Gemnon assented to the arrangement, and presently the two parties separated, Xerstle and Gemnon going towards the northwest while Pindes and Tarzan took an easterly direction. The latter had proceeded but a short distance, the lion still upon its leash, when Pindes suggested that they separate, spreading out through the forest, and thus combing it more carefully.

'You go straight east,' he said to Tarzan, 'the keepers and the lion will go northeast, and I will go north. If any comes upon the trail he may shout to attract the others to his position. If we have not located the quarry in an hour let us all converge toward the mountains at the eastern side of the forest.'

The ape-man nodded and started off in the direction assigned him, soon disappearing among the trees. But neither Pindes nor the keepers moved from where he had left them, the keepers held by a whispered word from Pindes. The leashed lion looked after the departing ape-man, and Pindes smiled. The keepers looked at him questioningly.

'Such sad accidents have happened many times before,' said Pindes.

Tarzan moved steadily toward the east. Presently he heard a noise behind him and glancing back was not surprised by what he saw. A lion was stalking him, a lion wearing the harness of a hunting lion of Cathne. It was one of Xerstle's lions; it was the same lion that had accompanied Pindes and Tarzan.

Instantly the ape-man guessed the truth, and a grim light glinted in his eyes. It was no light of anger, but there was disgust in it and the shadowy suggestion of a savage smile. The lion, realizing that its quarry had discovered it, began to roar. In the distance Pindes heard and smiled.

Let us go now,' he said to the keepers. 'We must not find the remains too quickly; that might not look well.'

The three men moved slowly off toward the north.

From a distance Gemnon and Xerstle heard the roar of The hunting lion. 'They have picked up the trail.' said Gemnon, halting; 'we had best join them.'

'Not yet,' demurred Xerstle. 'It may be a false trail. We will wait until we hear the hunters call. But Gemnon was troubled.

Tarzan stood awaiting the coming of the lion. He could have taken to the trees and escaped, but a spirit of bravado prompted him to remain. He hated treachery, and exposing it gave him pleasure. He carried a Cathnean spear and his own hunting knife; his bow and arrows he had left behind.

The lion came nearer; it seemed vaguely disturbed. Perhaps it did not understand why the quarry stood and faced it instead of running away. Its tail twitched; its head was flattened; slowly it came on again, its wicked eyes gleaming angrily.

Tarzan waited. In his right hand was the sturdy Cathnean spear, in his left his hunting knife. He measured the distance with a trained eye as the lion started its swift, level charge; then, when it was coming at full speed, his spear hand flew back and he launched the heavy weapon.

Deep beneath the left shoulder it drove, deep into the savage heart, but it checked the beast's charge for but an instant. Infuriated now, the carnivore rose upon its hind legs above the ape-man, its great, taloned paws reaching to drag him to the slavering jowls; but Tarzan, swift as Ara the lightning, stooped and sprang beneath them, sprang to one side and then in again, closing with the lion, leaping upon its back.

With a hideous roar, the animal wheeled and sought to bury its great fangs in the bronzed body or reach it with those raking talons. It threw itself to right and left as the creature clinging to it drove a steel blade repeatedly into the already torn and bleeding heart.

The vitality and life tenacity of a lion are astounding, but even that mighty frame could not long withstand the lethal wounds its adversary had inflicted, and presently it slumped to earth and, with a little quiver, died.

Then the ape-man leaped to his feet. With one foot upon the carcass of his kill, Tarzan of the Apes raised his face to the leafy canopy of the Cathnean forest and from his great chest rolled the hideous victory cry of the bull ape which has killed.

As the uncanny challenge reverberated down the forest aisles, Pindes and the two keepers looked questioningly at one another and laid their hands upon their sword hilts.

'In the name of Thoos! What was that?' demanded one of the keepers.

'Silence!' admonished Pindes. 'Do you want the thing to creep upon us unheard because of your jabbering!'

'What was it, master?' asked one of the men in a whisper.

'It may have been the death cry of the stranger,' suggested Pindes, voicing the hope that was in his heart.

'It sounded not like a death cry, master,' replied the keeper. 'There was a note of strength and elation in it, and none of weakness and defeat.'

At a little distance, Gemnon and Xerstle heard, too. 'What was that?' demanded the latter.

Gemnon shook his head. 'I do not know, but we had better go and find out. I did not like the sound of it.'

Xerstle appeared nervous. 'It was nothing, perhaps, but the wind in the trees. Let us go on with our hunting.' 'There is no wind,' demurred Gemnon. 'I am going to investigate. I am responsible for the safety of the stranger; but, of even more importance than that, I like him.'

'Oh, so do I!' exclaimed Xerstle eagerly. 'But nothing could have happened to him. Pindes is with him.'

'That is precisely what I was thinking,' observed Gemnon.

'That nothing could have happened to him?'

'That Pindes is with him!'

Xerstle shot a quick, suspicious look at the other, motioned to the keepers to follow with the leashed lion, and fell in behind Gemnon, who had already started back toward the point at which they had separated from their companions.

In the meantime Pindes, unable to curb his curiosity, overcame his fears and started after Tarzan.

They had not gone far when Pindes, who was in the lead, halted suddenly and pointed straight ahead. 'What is that?' he demanded.

The keepers pressed forward. 'Mane of Thoos!' cried one. 'It is the lion!'

They advanced slowly, watching the lion, looking to nght and left. 'It is dead!' exclaimed Pindes.

The three men examined the body of the dead beast, turning it over. 'It has been stabbed to death,' announced one of the keepers.

'The Galla slave had no weapon,' said Pindes thoughtfully.

'The stranger carried a knife,' a keeper reminded him.

'Whoever killed the lion must have fought it hand to hand,' reflected Pindes aloud.

'Then he must be lying nearby dead or wounded, master.'

'He could have killed Phobeg with his bare hands that day that he threw him into the audience at the stadium,' a keeper reminded the noble. 'He carried him around as though Phobeg were a babe. He is very strong.'

'What has that to do with the matter?' demanded Pindes irritably.

'I do not know, master. I was only thinking.'

I did not tell you to think,' snapped Pindes; 'I told You to hunt for the man that killed the lion. He must be dying or dead nearby.'

While they hunted, Xerstle and Gemnon were drawing Nearer. The latter was much concerned about the welfare of his charge. He trusted neither Xerstle nor Pindes, and now he commenced to suspect that he and Tarzan had been deliberately separated sinister purposes. He was walking a little behind Xerstle at the time: the keepers, with the lion lion, were just ahead of them. He felt a hand upon his shoulder and wheeled about. There stood Tarzan, a smile upon his lips. 'Where did you drop from?' demanded Gemnon.

'We separated to search for the Galla. Pindes and I,' explained the ape-man as Xerstle turned at the sound of Gemnon' s voice and discovered him.

'Did you hear that terrible scream a while ago?' demanded Xerstle. 'We thought it possible that one of you was hurt, and we were hurrying to investigate.'

'Did someone scream?' inquired Tarzan innocently.

'Perhaps it was Pindes, for I am not hurt.'

Shortly after Tarzan had rejoined them, Xerstle and Gemnon came upon Pindes and his two lion keepers searching the underbrush and the surrounding forest.

As his eyes fell upon Tarzan, Pindes's eyes went wide in astonishment, and he paled a little.

'What has happened?' demanded Xerstle. 'What are you looking for? Where is your lion?'

'He is dead,' explained Pindes. 'Someone or something stabbed him to death.' He did not look at Tarzan; he feared to do so. 'We have been looking for the man who did it, thinking that he must have been badly mauled and, doubtless, killed.'

'Have you found him?' asked Tarzan.

'No'.

'Shall I help you search for him? Suppose you and I, Pindes, go away alone and look for him!'

For a moment Pindes seemed choking as he sought for a reply. 'No!' he exclaimed presently. 'It would be useless; we have searched carefully. There is not even a sign of blood to indicate that he was wounded.'

'And you found no trace of the quarry?' asked Xerstle.

'None,' replied Pindes. 'He has escaped, and we might as well return to the city. I have had enough hunting for today.'

Xerstle only grunted and strode on moodily toward the city. When the party separated before the house of Gemnon's father, Tarzan stood close to Xerstle and whispered in a low voice, 'My compliments to Erot, and may he have better luck next time!'

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