tarzan the terrible-第52章
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ks had not altered the fair face of Nature。
Through the windows came sufficient light to reveal the whole interior to Tarzan。 The room was fairly large and there was a door at each enda large door for men and a smaller one for lions。 Both were closed with heavy masses of stone that had been lowered in grooves running to the floor。 The two windows were small and closely barred with the first iron that Tarzan had seen in Pal…ul…don。 The bars were let into holes in the casing； and the whole so strongly and neatly contrived that escape seemed impossible。 Yet within a few minutes of his incarceration Tarzan had commenced to undertake his escape。 The old knife in his pouch was brought into requisition and slowly the ape…man began to scrape and chip away the stone from about the bars of one of the windows。 It was slow work but Tarzan had the patience of absolute health。
Each day food and water were brought him and slipped quickly beneath the smaller door which was raised just sufficiently to allow the stone receptacles to pass in。 The prisoner began to believe that he was being preserved for something beside lions。 However that was immaterial。 If they would but hold off for a few more days they might select what fate they wouldhe would not be there when they arrived to announce it。
And then one day came Pan…sat； Lu…don's chief tool； to the city of Tu…lur。 He came ostensibly with a fair message for Mo…sar from the high priest at A…lur。 Lu…don had decided that Mo…sar should be king and he invited Mo…sar to come at once to A…lur and then Pan…sat； having delivered the message； asked that he might go to the temple of Tu…lur and pray； and there he sought the high priest of Tu…lur to whom was the true message that Lu…don had sent。 The two were closeted alone in a little chamber and Pan…sat whispered into the ear of the high priest。
〃Mo…sar wishes to be king；〃 he said； 〃and Lu…don wishes to be king。 Mo…sar wishes to retain the stranger who claims to be the Dor…ul…Otho and Lu…don wishes to kill him； and now；〃 he leaned even closer to the ear of the high priest of Tu…lur； 〃if you would be high priest at A…lur it is within your power。〃
Pan…sat ceased speaking and waited for the other's reply。 The high priest was visibly affected。 To be high priest at A…lur！ That was almost as good as being king of all Pal…ul…don； for great were the powers of him who conducted the sacrifices upon the altars of A…lur。
〃How？〃 whispered the high priest。 〃How may I become high priest at A…lur？〃
Again Pan…sat leaned close： 〃By killing the one and bringing the other to A…lur；〃 replied he。 Then he rose and departed knowing chat the other had swallowed the bait and could be depended upon to do whatever was required to win him the great prize。
Nor was Pan…sat mistaken other than in one trivial consideration。 This high priest would indeed commit murder and treason to attain the high office at A…lur； but he had misunderstood which of his victims was to be killed and which to be delivered to Lu…don。 Pan…sat； knowing himself all the details of the plannings of Lu…don； had made the quite natural error of assuming that the ocher was perfectly aware that only by publicly sacrificing the false Dor…ul…Otho could the high priest at A…lur bolster his waning power and that the assassination of Mo…sar； the pretender； would remove from Lu…don's camp the only obstacle to his combining the offices of high priest and king。 The high priest at Tu…lur thought that he had been commissioned to kill Tarzan and bring Mo…sar to A…lur。 He also thought that when he had done these things he would be made high priest at A…lur； but he did not know that already the priest had been selected who was to murder him within the hour that he arrived at A…lur； nor did he know that a secret grave had been prepared for him in the floor of a subterranean chamber in the very temple he dreamed of controlling。
And so when he should have been arranging the assassination of his chief he was leading a dozen heavily bribed warriors through the dark corridors beneath the temple to slay Tarzan in the lion pit。 Night had fallen。 A single torch guided the footsteps of the murderers as they crept stealthily upon their evil way； for they knew that they were doing the thing that their chief did not want done and their guilty consciences warned them to stealth。
In the dark of his cell the ape…man worked at his seemingly endless chipping and scraping。 His keen ears detected the coming of footsteps along the corridor withoutfootsteps that approached the larger door。 Always before had they come to the smaller doorthe footsteps of a single slave who brought his food。 This time there were many more than one and their coming at this time of night carried a sinister suggestion。 Tarzan continued to work at his scraping and chipping。 He heard them stop beyond the door。 All was silence broken only by the scrape； scrape； scrape of the ape…man's tireless blade。
Those without heard it and listening sought to explain it。 They whispered in low tones making their plans。 Two would raise the door quickly and the others would rush in and hurl their clubs at the prisoner。 They would take no chances； for the stories that had circulated in A…lur had been brought to Tu…lurstories of the great strength and wonderful prowess of Tarzan…jad…guru that caused the sweat to stand upon the brows of the warriors； though it was cool in the damp corridor and they were twelve to one。
And then the high priest gave the signalthe door shot upward and ten warriors leaped into the chamber with poised clubs。 Three of the heavy weapons flew across the room toward a darker shadow that lay in the shadow of the opposite wall； then the flare of the torch in the priest's hand lighted the interior and they saw that the thing at which they had flung their clubs was a pile of skins torn from the windows and that except for themselves the chamber was vacant。
One of them hastened to a window。 All but a single bar was gone and to this was tied one end of a braided rope fashioned from strips cut from the leather window hangings。
To the ordinary dangers of Jane Clayton's existence was now added the menace of Obergatz' knowledge of her whereabouts。 The lion and the panther had given her less cause for anxiety than did the return of the unscrupulous Hun； whom she had always distrusted and feared； and whose repulsiveness was now immeasurably augmented by his unkempt and filthy appearance； his strange and mirthless laughter； and his unnatural demeanor。 She feared him now with a new fear as though he had suddenly become the personification of some nameless horror。 The wholesome； outdoor life that she had been leading had strengthened and rebuilt her nervous system yet it seemed to her as she thought of him that if this man should ever touch her she should scream； and； possibly； even faint。 Again and again during the day following their unexpected meeting the woman reproached herself for not having killed him as she would ja or jato or any other predatory beast that menaced her existence or her safety。 There was no attempt at self…justification for these sinister reflectionsthey needed no justification。 The standards by which the acts of such as you or I may be judged could not apply to hers。 We have recourse to the protection of friends and relatives and the civil soldiery that upholds the majesty of the law and which may be invoked to protect the righteous weak against the unrighteous strong； but Jane Clayton comprised within herself not only the righteous weak but all the various agencies for the protection of the weak。 To her； then； Lieutenant Erich Obergatz presented no different problem than did ja； the lion； other than that she considered the former the more dangerous animal。 And so she determined that should he ignore her warning there would be no temporizing upon the occasion of their next meetingthe same swift spear that would meet ja's advances would meet his。
That night her snug little nest perched high in the great tree seemed less the sanctuary that it had before。 What might resist the sanguinary intentions of a prowling panther would prove no great barrier to man； and influenced by this thought she slept less well than before。 The sligh
