登陆注册
15329300000097

第97章

The Messenger of Death

THE sun rose to see the forces of Ja-don still held at the palace gate.The old warrior had seized the tall structure that stood just beyond the palace and at the summit of this he kept a warrior stationed to look toward the northern wall of the palace where Ta-den was to make his attack; but as the minutes wore into hours no sign of the other force appeared, and now in the full light of the new sun upon the roof of one of the palace buildings appeared Lu-don, the high priest, Mo-sar, the pretender, and the strange, naked figure of a man, into whose long hair and beard were woven fresh ferns and flowers.Behind them were banked a score of lesser priests who chanted in unison: "This is Jad-ben-Otho.Lay down your arms and surrender." This they repeated again and again, alternating it with the cry: "The false Dor-ul-Otho is a prisoner."

In one of those lulls which are common in battles between forces armed with weapons that require great physical effort in their use, a voice suddenly arose from among the followers of Ja-don:

"Show us the Dor-ul-Otho.We do not believe you!"

"Wait," cried Lu-don."If I do not produce him before the sun has moved his own width, the gates of the palace shall be opened to you and my warriors will lay down their arms."

He turned to one of his priests and issued brief instructions.

The ape-man paced the confines of his narrow cell.Bitterly he reproached himself for the stupidity which had led him into this trap, and yet was it stupidity? What else might he have done other than rush to the succor of his mate? He wondered how they had stolen her from Ja-lur, and then suddenly there flashed to his mind the features of the warrior whom he had just seen with her.They were strangely familiar.He racked his brain to recall where he had seen the man before and then it came to him.He was the strange warrior who had joined Ja-don's forces outside of Ja-lur the day that Tarzan had ridden upon the great gryf from the uninhabited gorge next to the Kor-ul-ja down to the capital city of the chieftain of the north.But who could the man be?

Tarzan knew that never before that other day had he seen him.

Presently he heard the clanging of a gong from the corridor without and very faintly the rush of feet, and shouts.He guessed that his warriors had been discovered and a fight was in progress.He fretted and chafed at the chance that had denied him participation in it.

Again and again he tried the doors of his prison and the trap in the center of the floor, but none would give to his utmost endeavors.He strained his eyes toward the aperture above but he could see nothing, and then he continued his futile pacing to and fro like a caged lion behind its bars.

The minutes dragged slowly into hours.Faintly sounds came to him as of shouting men at a great distance.The battle was in progress.He wondered if Ja-don would be victorious and should he be, would his friends ever discover him in this hidden chamber in the bowels of the hill? He doubted it.

And now as he looked again toward the aperture in the roof there appeared to be something depending through its center.He came closer and strained his eyes to see.Yes, there was something there.It appeared to be a rope.Tarzan wondered if it had been there all the time.It must have, he reasoned, since he had heard no sound from above and it was so dark within the chamber that he might easily have overlooked it.

He raised his hand toward it.The end of it was just within his reach.He bore his weight upon it to see if it would hold him.

Then he released it and backed away, still watching it, as you have seen an animal do after investigating some unfamiliar object, one of the little traits that differentiated Tarzan from other men, accentuating his similarity to the savage beasts of his native jungle.Again and again he touched and tested the braided leather rope, and always he listened for any warning sound from above.

He was very careful not to step upon the trap at any time and when finally he bore all his weight upon the rope and took his feet from the floor he spread them wide apart so that if he fell he would fall astride the trap.The rope held him.There was no sound from above, nor any from the trap below.

Slowly and cautiously he drew himself upward, hand over hand.

Nearer and nearer the roof he came.In a moment his eyes would be above the level of the floor above.Already his extended arms projected into the upper chamber and then something closed suddenly upon both his forearms, pinioning them tightly and leaving him hanging in mid-air unable to advance or retreat.

Immediately a light appeared in the room above him and presently he saw the hideous mask of a priest peering down upon him.In the priest's hands were leathern thongs and these he tied about Tarzan's wrists and forearms until they were completely bound together from his elbows almost to his fingers.Behind this priest Tarzan presently saw others and soon several lay hold of him and pulled him up through the hole.

Almost instantly his eyes were above the level of the floor he understood how they had trapped him.Two nooses had lain encircling the aperture into the cell below.A priest had waited at the end of each of these ropes and at opposite sides of the chamber.When he had climbed to a sufficient height upon the rope that had dangled into his prison below and his arms were well within the encircling snares the two priests had pulled quickly upon their ropes and he had been made an easy captive without any opportunity of defending himself or inflicting injury upon his captors.

And now they bound his legs from his ankles to his knees and picking him up carried him from the chamber.No word did they speak to him as they bore him upward to the temple yard.

同类推荐
热门推荐
  • 分手怎能轻易说出口

    分手怎能轻易说出口

    第一次的相遇,便注定了缘分,突如其来的变故,她不知该如何去面对,我那叛逆的青春印满了你的足迹,相爱的人会相守一生吗
  • 附体重生之大圣归来

    附体重生之大圣归来

    一场千年前的遭遇,一场末世的拯救;一种忍气吞声的重生,一次有一种磨难中成长;一位前世的爱憎分明,一次成熟历练的自我!切看一代风云人物,如何再度驰刹风云,震烁古今!
  • 斗武

    斗武

    论成败,人生豪迈,不可以从头再来,倒霉催的,吃馒头,一定可以噎死,轩辕明意外来到了……
  • 来者是兔

    来者是兔

    懂事以来就拥有“领家弟弟”这一属性,开窍后一直收获“好人卡”无数的陆明,在一次情场失意的日子捡到一只稀世粉兔子,更稀世的是兔子变成了十六岁的美少女一枚,但为什么她的智商是婴儿级别?!此书又名《与兔子不得不说的一二三事》《论如何养成一只兔子》《当处男喜当爸》《同居生活‘趣’多多》观看需知:1,作者依旧小学生水平,不喜误入!2,此书不确定蹦,乃三无产品!3,小短片,作者君尚未开发出写长文的能力!4,作者玻璃心,不喜勿喷!5,此文绝壁原创,如果雷同了,作者表示抱歉QAQ
  • 惑人妖孽重生:惊世老二

    惑人妖孽重生:惊世老二

    一朝重生,一代天骄渡劫期大神因失败渡劫重生于都市15岁傻缺身上。这也就算了,但为毛还是个男的?她颜卿可是一个大美妞啊!——他,光洁白皙的脸庞,透着棱角分明的冷俊;乌黑深邃的眼眸,泛着迷人的色泽;那浓密的眉,高挺的鼻,绝美的唇形,无一不在张扬着高贵与优雅。从今以后,她就是他!
  • 白泽之梦

    白泽之梦

    虚空之中,亡灵之王的灵魂碎片飘荡着。忽然一颗蔚蓝的行星吸引了他,亡灵之王看着这个小行星。一个又一个的人走动着。忽然一道圣洁的灵魂吸引了他
  • 异域之龙帝

    异域之龙帝

    一次意外使龙帆死了,却又复活重生在另一个世界里,寻大道,人挡弑神,佛挡弒佛。
  • 星纵奇缘

    星纵奇缘

    十二副星座图腾,十二句天机妙语;相继遥天而挂,诉说着他{她}们的爱恨情仇。一派、二宗、三门、四族、五峰,诸派并起,群雄逐鹿;演绎着他{她}们的恩怨纠缠。魔门始乱,浩劫初临,十二星座纷纷现至,同抗魔门,共渡大劫,看十二星座谁主沉浮。
  • 天注定之谁与争锋

    天注定之谁与争锋

    “杀一人是罪,屠万人是雄,千秋不朽业,尽在杀人中!”以吾之天赋,吾之血脉,吾之能力,此生不崛起,何以对苍天!今生今世,吾必主宰,此乃天注定!
  • 琪缘

    琪缘

    欧阳琪,来自21世纪的富家少女,却在17岁生日那天失去所有亲人,因承受不住痛苦一心求死,却被一个男人利用日食之日把她送到一个不为人知的朝代,开始了她的新生活,可就在她爱上之后硬生生把她拉回21世纪,并告诉她父母并非意外身亡,法定继承人的归来,故事将如何演变......