"Will you help me to go with her?" asked Gregory.
"Yes," said Thetan. "I got you into this, and I should get you out of it. I shall help you because you are Tar-zan's friends, and Tarzan saved my life. But never return to Thobos, for if you escape her now, Mentheb will never forget. Follow the trail on the west side of the lake south; it will bring you to Ashair and probably to death there—it is the law of Tuen-Baka."
A half hour later Thetan led Magra and Gregory to a small gate in the city wall and wished them luck as they went out into the night and set their faces toward The Forbidden City.
"Well," said d'Arnot, "here we are right back where we started from," as the party of six reached the entrance to the secret passage to the Temple of Brulor on the rocky hillside above Ashair.
"I spent two years trying to get out of that hole," said Brian, "and now here I am trying to get back in again. That Herat certainly gave you a tough job, Tarzan."
"It was merely the old boy's way of condemning us all to death," said Lavac, "—an example of Thobotian humor. At least it was at first; but after Tarzan disposed of the bad man from Ashair and the two lions, I really believe that Herat came to the conclusion that he might acually bring back Brulor and The Father of Diamonds."
"Why does he want them so badly?" asked Helen.
"The Father of Diamonds belongs in Thobos," explained Herkuf, "where the temple of the true god, Chon, is located. It was stolen by Atka's warriors years ago when they attacked and sank Chon's galley in which it was being carried during a solemn religious rite. Brulor is a false god. Herat wishes to destroy him."
"Do you think that there is any possibility that we may be able to recover The Father of Diamonds and kidnap Brulor?" asked d'Arnot.
"Yes," replied Herkuf, "I do. We have the temple keys that Helen took from Zytheb; and I know where Brulor sleeps and the hours of the day that are supposedly set apart for meditation; but which, in reality, Brulor devotes to sleeping off the effects of the strong drink to which he is addicted. During these periods the throne room is deserted, and all the inmates of the temple are compelled to remain in their own quarters. We can go directly to the throne room and get the casket, and then to Brulor's room. If we threaten him with death, he will come with us without making any outcry."
"It all sounds very easy," said Brian, "—almost too easy."
"I shall keep my fingers crossed all the time," said Helen.
"When can we make the attempt?" asked d'Arnot.
Herkuf looked up at the sun. "Now," he said, "would be a good time."
"Well, how about getting started, Tarzan?" asked Brian.
"Herkuf and I shall go in," said the ape-man. "The rest of you hide near here and wait for us. If we are not out within an hour, you will know that we have failed; then you must try to save yourselves. Find the trail over the rim. It lies somewhere near Thobos. Get out of Tuen-Baka. It will be useless for you to try to do anything for Herkuf or me or to rescue Magra and Gregory."
"Am I not to go in with you, Tarzan?" asked d'Arnot.
"No. Too many of us might result in confusion and discovery; and, anyway, your place is with Helen. Come, Herkuf, let's get started."
As the two entered the secret passage, a sentinel priest who had been crouching behind a boulder watching the party, turned and ran as fast as he could toward the nearest city gate; while, miles away, the objects of all this now useless risk and sacrifice trudged doggedly along the trail to Ashair in an effort to avert it.
Ignorant of anything that has transpired in Ashair, not knowing that his son and daughter lived and were free, Gregory accompanied Magra rather hopelessly, his only inspiration loyalty to Tarzan and Lavac, whom he knew to be risking their lives in an effort to save his and Mag-ra's. Magra was inspired by this same loyalty and by love—a love that had done much to change and ennoble her.
"It all seems so utterly hopeless," said Gregory. "Only four of us left, pitting our puny efforts against two cities filled with enemies. If one of them doesn't get us, the other will."
"I suppose you are right," agreed Magra. "Even the forces of nature are against us. Look up at that towering escarpment of lava, always frowning down upon us, threatening, challenging; and yet how different it would all seem if Tarzan were with us."
"Yes, I know," said Gregory. "He inspires confidence. Even the walls of Tuen-Baka would seem less unsur-mountable if he were here. I think he has spoiled us all. We have come to depend upon him to such an extent that we are really quite helpless without him."
"And he is going to almost certain death for us," said Magra. "Thetan told me that it would be impossible for him to escape alive from Ashair, if he succeeded in getting in; and, knowing Tarzan, we know that he will get in. Oh, if we could only reach him before he does!"
"Look!" exclaimed Gregory. "Here come some men!"
"They have seen us," said Magra. "We can't escape them."
"They look very old and weak," said Gregory.
"But they carry spears."
The three surviving fugitives from the cages of the Temple of Brulor who had chosen to go on in search of freedom rather than return to Ashair with Tarzan's party halted in the trail.
"Who are you?" they demanded.
"Strangers looking for a way out of Tuen-Baka," replied Gregory.
The three whispered among themselves for a moment; then one of them said, "We, too, are looking for a way out of Tuen-Baka. Perhaps we should go together, for in numbers there is strength."
"We can't go until we find our friends," replied Magra. "They were on their way to Ashair."
"Perhaps we saw them. Was one of them called Tar-zan?"
"Yes. Have you seen him?" demanded Gregory.
"We saw him yesterday. He and his friends went back to Ashair."
"His friends? There was but one with him," said Magra.
"There were five with him. Four men and a girl went back to Ashair with him."
"Whom could they have been, do you suppose?" Gregory asked Magra.
"Do you know who they were?" she inquired of the fugitive who had been acting as spokesman.
"Yes. One was called Herkuf, and one Lavac, and there was d'Arnot, and Brian Gregory was with him and a girl called Helen."
Gregory turned very pale. Magra caught his arm, for she thought he was going to fall. "I'm stunned," he said "I can't believe that they're all alive. It's just like having people come back from the grave—I was so sure that they were dead. Think of it, Magra! My son and my daughter both alive—and on their way back to that terrible city. We must hurry on. Maybe we can overtake them. Tell us," he said to the fugitive, "where we may find them if they have not already been captured by the Asharians."
The man gave them explicit directions for locating the hidden entrance to the secret passage to the temple. "That is where you will find them," he said, "if they have not already entered the city; but do not enter. As you value your lives, do not enter the passage. If they have done so, they are lost. You might as well give them up, for you will never see them again."
"They weren't very encouraging," said Magra, as she and Gregory continued on their way; "but perhaps they overestimate the dangers—let's hope so."
Gregory shook his head. "I'm afraid they didn't," he said. "I doubt if the dangers that lurk in The Forbidden City of Ashair can be overestimated."
"It is a strange place, this Tuen-Baka," said Magra. "No wonder that it is taboo."
Chapter 24
TARZAN AND HERKUF followed the dark passageway and the winding stairs down to the lava slab that closed the secret doorway leading to the corridor they must follow beneath the lake to reach the temple.
"Here we are," said Herkuf. "If the gods are with us, we shall soon be in Brulor's room behind the throne. I'll attend to him, you get the casket. I have waited years for such an opportunity to avenge Chon, the true god, and make Brulor pay for the indignities and torture he imposed upon me. I see now how I have lived through all that I have lived through.
It was for this hour. If we fail, it will mean death; but if we fail I shall welcome death."
Beyond the lava slab a group of Asharian warriors, their short spears ready, awaited them, for the sentinel priest had done his duty well.
"They must be close," said the leader of the warriors. "Be ready! but do not forget that it is the Queen's command that we take them alive for torture before death."
"I should hate to be Herkuf when Brulor gets him back in his cage," said a warrior.
"And that wild man," said another. "It was he who killed so many of our warriors that night in the tunnel. I should hate to be the wild man when Atka gets him."
The lava slab was thick, and it was skillfully fitted in the aperture; so the voices of the whispering warriors did not reach the ears of the two upon the other side of it. Ignorant of the trap into which they were walking, they paused for a moment while Herkuf groped for the knob which would open the door.
And while they paused upon the brink of disaster, another detail of warriors crept up upon the unsuspecting four who were waiting at the entrance to the secret passageway, ignorant of the imminent peril that hovered just above them among the boulders of the hillside.
"At last, darling," said d'Arnot, "I can see a ray of hope. Herkuf knows the customs of the temple, and before the inmates leave their apartments again he and Tar-zan will be back with Brulor and the accursed Father of Diamonds."
"I have grown to hate the very name of the thing," said the girl. "There surely must be a curse upon it and everything connected with it. I feel that so strongly that I can't believe it possible that it is going to be the means of releasing Dad and Magra. Something will happen to turn success into failure."
"I don't wonder you're pessimistic and skeptical, but this time I'm sure you're wrong."
"I certainly hope so. I don't know when I've ever so wanted to be wrong."
Lavac and Brian were sitting on the ground a few paces from Helen and d'Arnot, the former with his back toward them that he might not see the little intimacies that still hurt him so sorely notwithstanding his honest intention to give up all hope of winning the girl. He was facing up the slope of the rocky hillside above which towered the stupendous rampart of Tuen-Baka, and so it was he who first saw the Asharian warriors as they broke cover and started down toward their quarry. As he leaped to his feet with a cry of warning, the others turned; and in the instant their hopes came rumbling about their heads like a house of match wood. The Asharians were yelling triumphantly now, as they charged down the hill, brandishing their short spears. The three men might have put up a battle even against these terrific odds, futile as it would have been, had they not feared for the safety of the girl should they invite the Asharians to hurl their spears; so they stood in silence while the warriors surrounded them, and a moment later they were being herded down toward the nearest city gate.
"You were right, after all," said d'Arnot.
"Yes," she replied, dejectedly; "the curse of the diamond is still on us. Oh, Paul, I'd rather die than go back to that awful place! This time there will be no hope for us, and what I dread most is that they will not kill me."
As the four prisoners were being marched down to the city, Herkuf pulled the lava slab toward him; and the two men stepped into the trap that had been laid for them. They hadn't a chance, not even the mighty ape-man, for the Asharians had planned well. As they stepped from the mouth of the passageway, two warriors, crouching low, seized them around their ankles and tripped them; and, as they fell, a dozen others swarmed upon them, slipping nooses about their ankles and wrists.
"You knew we were coming?" Herkuf asked one of the warriors, as they were being led along the corridor toward the temple.
"Certainly," replied the man. "A sentry has been watching above the city, for Atka thought that you might come back to Ashair to steal a galley. It was the only way that the strangers could escape from Tuen-Baka. It would have been better had you stayed in your cage, Herkuf, for now Brulor will have you tortured; and you know what that means."
The throne room of the temple was silent and vacant, except for the three prisoners in the cages, as Tarzan and Herkuf were led in, for it was still the period of meditation, during which the inmates of the temple were compelled to remain in their quarters; and so there was a delay while a warrior sought permission from Brulor to summon the Keeper of the Keys that the cages might be unlocked to receive the new prisoners.
Presently, Herkuf touched Tarzan on the arm. "Look!" he said. "The others have been taken, also."
Tarzan turned to see Helen, d'Arnot, Brian, and Lavac being herded into the chamber; and greeted them with one of his rare smiles. Even in the face of death he could see the humor of the situation, that they who had come so confidently to conquer should have been so ignominiously conquered themselves without the striking of a blow. D'Arnot saw the smile and returned it.
"We meet again, mon ami," he said; "but not where we expected to meet."
"And for the last time," added Lavac. "There will be no more meetings after this one for any of us, at least not in this life. As for me, I shall be glad. I have nothing to live for." He did not look at Helen, but they all knew what he meant.
"And you all die because of me," said Brian, "because of my stupid avarice; and I shall die without being able to atone."
"Let's not talk abut it," urged Helen. "It's bad enough as it is without constantly reminding ourselves of it."
"When one is about to die by slow torture, one does not have to be reminded of it," said Herkuf. "It occupies one's mind to the exclusion of all else. Sometimes it is a relief to talk of it."
Atan Thome looked out between the bars of his cage at the six prisoners. "So we are reunited at last!" he cackled, "we who sought The Father of Diamonds. There it is, in that casket there; but do not touch it—it is mine. It is for me alone;" then he broke into loud, maniacal laughter.
"Silence! you crazy pig," growled Lal Taask.
It was then that the Keeper of the Keys came and opened the cages. "Into their dens with them," snapped an officer, "all but this fellow here." He nodded at Tarzan. "The Queen wants to see him."
Atka sat upon her lava throne surrounded by her white plumed nobles, as the Lord of the Jungle, his hands still bound behind him, was brought before her. For a long time she sat studying him with half-closed, appraising eyes; and with neither deference nor boldness Tarzan returned her scrutiny, much as a captive lion might regard a spectator outside his cage.
"So you are the man who killed so many of my warriors," she said at last, "and captured one of my galleys."
Tarzan stood silent before her. Finally she tapped her toe upon the floor of the dais, "Why do you not reply?" she demanded.
"You asked me nothing," he said. "You simply told me something I already knew."
"When Atka speaks, the person who is thus honored makes some reply."
Tarzan shrugged. "I do not like useless talk," he said; "but if you like to hear it, I admit that I killed some of your warriors. I should have killed more that night on the river had there been more in the galley. Yesterday, I killed six in the forest."
"So that is why they did not return!" exclaimed Atka.
"I think that must be the reason," Tarzan admitted.
"Why did you come to Ashair?" the Queen demanded.
"To free my friends who were prisoners here."
"Why are you my enemy?" asked Atka.
"I am not your enemy. I wish only the freedom of my friends," the ape-man assured her.
"And The Father of Diamonds," added Atka.
"I care nothing for that," replied Tarzan.
"But you are an accomplice of Atan Thome," she accused, "and he came to steal The Father of Diamonds."
"He is my enemy," said Tarzan.
She looked at him again for some time in silence, apparently playing with a new idea. At last she spoke.
"I think," she said, "that you are not the type that lies. I believe what you have told me, and
so I would befriend you. They have told me how you fought with your ape allies at the camp below the tunnel and also of the fight in the galley, for all of the warriors did not drown: two of them swam out of the tunnel to safety. Such a man as you would be valuable to me, if loyal. Swear loyalty to me, and you shall be free."
"And my friends?" asked Tarzan. "They will be freed too?"
"Of course not. They are no good to me. Why should I free them? The man, Brian Gregory, came here solely for the purpose of stealing The Father of Diamonds. I think the others came to help him. No, they shall die in good time."
"I told you that I came here to free them," said Tarzan. "The granting of their freedom is the only condition under which I will remain."
"Slaves do not impose conditions upon Atka," snapped the Queen, imperiously. She turned to a noble. "Take him away!"
They returned Tarzan to the throne room of the temple then, but they did not free his hands until they had him locked safely in a cage. It was evident that the fighting men of Ashair held him in deep respect.
"What luck?" asked d'Arnot.
"I am here in a cage," replied Tarzan. "That is answer enough. The Queen wishes us all dead."
"I imagine her wish will come true," said d'Arnot ruefully.
"Queens have but to wish."
It was a dejected and disheartened company that awaited the next eventuality of their disastrous adventure. There were only two of them who appeared to be not entirely without hope—the ape-man, whose countenance seldom revealed his inward feelings, and Atan Thome, who continually cackled and prated of The Father of Diamonds.
When life began to stir in the throne room with the ending of the period of meditation, priests and handmaidens appeared; and finally Brulor entered and took his place upon the throne, while all knelt and beat their heads upon the floor. After a brief religious ceremony, some of the handmaidens commenced to dance before Brulor, a suggestive, lascivious dance in which some of the priests soon joined, in the midst of which a plumed warrior entered from the long corridor and announced the coming of the Queen. Instantly the music and the dancing stopped, and the dancers took their places in sanctimonious attitudes about the throne of Brulor. A loud fanfare of trumpets billowed from the mouth of the corridor, and a moment later the head of a procession appeared and marched down the center of the room toward the dais where Brulor sat. Surrounded by warriors, the Queen moved majestically to the dais, where she took her place in a second throne chair that stood beside Bailor's.
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