slender figure of Zora Drinov as the sheykh sat in silent meditation.
Chapter 6: Betrayed
THE heart of little Nkima had been torn by conflicting emotions, as from the vantage point of the summit of the rocky hillock he had watched the departure of Miguel Romero from the city of Opar. Seeing these brave Tarmangani, armed with death-dealing thundersticks, driven away from the ruins, he was convinced that something terrible must have befallen his master within the grim recesses of that crumbling pile. His loyal heart prompted him to return and investigate, but Nkima was only a very little Manu –a little Manu who was very much afraid; and though he started twice again toward Opar, he could not muster his courage to the sticking point; and at last, whimpering pitifully, he turned back across the plains toward the grim forest, where, at least, the dangers were familiar ones.
The door of the gloomy chamber which Tarzan had entered swung inward, and his hands were still upon it as the menacing roar of the lion apprised him of the danger of his situation. Agile and quick is Numa, the lion, but with even greater celerity functioned the mind and muscles of Tarzan of the Apes. In the instant that the lion sprang toward him a picture of the whole scene flashed to the mind of the ape-man. He saw the gnarled priests of Opar advancing along the corridor in pursuit of him. He saw the heavy door that swung inward. He saw the charging lion, and he pieced these various factors together to create a situation far more to his advantage than they normally presented. Drawing the door quickly inward, he stepped behind it as the lion charged, with the result that the beast, either carried forward by his own momentum or sensing escape, sprang into the corridor full in the faces of the advancing priests, and at the same instant Tarzan closed the door behind him.
Just what happened in the corridor without he could not see, but from the growls and screams that receded quickly into the distance he was able to draw a picture that brought a quiet smile to his lips; and an instant later a piercing shriek of agony and terror announced the fate of at least one of the fleeing Oparians.
Realizing that he would gain nothing by remaining where he was, Tarzan decided to leave the cell and seek a way out of the labyrinthine mazes of the pits beneath Opar. He knew that the lion upon its prey would doubtless bar his passage along the route he had been following when his escape had been interrupted by the priests and though, as a last resort, he might face Numa, he was of no mind to invite such an unnecessary risk; but when he sought to open the heavy door he found that he could not budge it, and in an instant he realized what had happened and that he was now in prison once again in the dungeons of Opar.
The bar that secured this particular door was not of the sliding type but, working upon a pin at the inner end, dropped into heavy wrought iron keepers bolted to the door itself and to its frame. When he had entered, he had raised the bar, which had dropped into place of its own weight when the door slammed to, imprisoning him as effectually as though the work had been done by the hand of man.
The darkness of the corridor without was less intense than that of the passage upon which his former cell had been located; and though not enough light entered the cell to illuminate its interior, there was sufficient to show him the nature of the ventilating opening in the door, which he found to consist of a number of small round holes, none of which was of sufficient diameter to permit him to pass his hand through in an attempt to raise the bar.
As Tarzan stood in momentary contemplation of his new predicament, the sound of stealthy movement came to him from the black recesses at the rear of the cell. He wheeled quickly, drawing his hunting knife from its sheath. He did not have to ask himself what the author of this sound might be, for he knew that the only other living creature that might have occupied this cell with its former inmate was another lion. Why it had not joined in the attack upon him, he could not guess, but that it would eventually seize him was a foregone conclusion. Perhaps even now it was preparing to sneak upon him. He wished that his eyes might penetrate the darkness, for if he could see the lion as it charged he might be better prepared to meet it. In the past he had met the charges of other lions, but always before he had been able to see their swift spring and to elude the sweep of their mighty talons as they reared upon their hind legs to seize him. Now it would be different, and for once in his life, Tarzan of the Apes felt death was inescapable. He knew that his time had come.
He was not afraid. He simply knew that he did not wish to die and that the price at which he would sell his life would cost his antagonist dearly. In silence he waited. Again he heard that faint, yet ominous sound. The foul air of the cell reeked with the stench of the carnivores. From somewhere in a distant corridor he heard the growling of a lion at its kill; and then a voice broke the silence.
'Who are you?' it asked. It was the voice of a woman, and it came from the back of the cell in which the ape-man was imprisoned.
'Where are you?' demanded Tarzan.
'I am here at the back of the cell,' replied the woman.
'Where is the lion?'
'He went out when you opened the door,' she replied.
'Yes, I know,' said Tarzan, 'but the other one. Where is he?'
'There is no other one. There was but one lion here and it is gone. Ah, now I know you!' she exclaimed. 'I know the voice. It is Tarzan of the Apes.'
'La!' exclaimed the ape-man, advancing quickly across the cell. 'How could you be here with the lion and still live?'
'I am in an adjoining cell that is separated from this one by a door made of iron bars,' replied La. Tarzan heard metal hinges creak. 'It is not locked,' she said. 'It was not necessary to lock it, for it opens into this other cell where the lion was.'
Groping forward through the dark, the two advanced until their hands touched one another.
La pressed close to the man. She was trembling. 'I have been afraid,' she said, 'but I shall not be afraid now.'
'I shall not be of much help to you,' said Tarzan. 'I also am a prisoner.'
'I know it,' replied La, 'but I always feel safe when you are near.'
'Tell me what has happened,' demanded Tarzan. 'How is it that Oah is posing as high priestess and you a prisoner in your own dungeons?'
'I forgave Oah her former treason when she conspired with Cadj to wrest my power from me,' explained La, 'but she could not exist without intrigue and duplicity. To further her ambitions, she made love to Dooth, who has been high priest since Jad-bal-ja killed Cadj. They spread stories about me through the city; and as my people have never forgiven me for my friendship for you, they succeeded in winning enough to their cause to overthrow and imprison me. All the ideas were Oah's, for Dooth and the other priests, as you well know, are stupid beasts. It was Oah's idea to imprison me thus with a lion for company, merely to make my suffering more terrible, until the time should come when she might prevail upon the priests to offer me in sacrifice to the Flaming God. In that she has had some difficulty, I know, as those who have brought my food have told me.'
'How could they bring food to you here?' asked Tarzan. 'No one could pass through the outer cell while the lion was there.'
'There is another opening in the lion's cell, that leads into a low, narrow corridor into which they can drop meat from above. Thus they would entice the lion from this outer cell, after which they would lower a gate of iron bars across the opening of the small corridor into which he went, and while he was thus imprisoned they brought my food to me. But they did not feed him much. He was always hungry and often growling and pawing at the bars of my cell. Perhaps Oah hoped that some day he would batter them down.'
'Where does this other corridor, in which they fed the lion, lead?' asked Tarzan.
'I do not know,' replied La, 'but I imagine that it is only a blind tunnel built in ancient times for this very purpose.'
'We must have a look at it,' said Tarzan. 'It may offer a means of escape.'
'Why not escape through the door by which you entered?' asked La; and when the ape-man had explained why this was impossible, she pointed out the location of the entrance to the small tunnel.
'We must get out of here as quickly as possible, if it is possible at all,' said Tarzan, 'for if they are able to capture the lion, they will certainly return him to this cell.'
