countered.
I may have seen him often, yet have forgotten him; that would not be strange, I see so many of them.'
'And you,' the queen addressed a young noble standing near, 'have you ever seen this man before?'
Often,' replied the noble. 'He was a member of the palace guard and in my company.'
'How long has he been attached to the palace?' demanded Nemone. 'Not a month, your majesty.'
'And before that? Do you know anything about his prior service?'
'He was attached to the retinue of a noble, your replied the young officer hesitantly.'
'What noble?' demanded Nemone.
'Erot,' replied the witness in a low voice.
The queen looke dlong and searchingly at Erot. 'You have a short memory,' she said presently, an undisguised sneer in her voice.
Erot was pale and shaken. He looked long at the face of the dead man before he spoke again. 'I do recall him now, your majesty, but he does not look the same. Death has changed him; that is why I did not recognize him immediately.'
'You are lying,' snapped Nemone. 'There are some things about this affair that I do not understand. What part you have had in it, I do not know, but I am sure that you had some part, and I am going to find out what.
In the meantime you are banished from the palace. There may be others,' she looked meaningly at Tomos, 'but I shall find them all out, and when I do it will be the lion pit for the lot!'
Rising, she descended from the throne, and all knelt save Tarzan. As she passed him on her way from the chamber, she paused and looked long and searchingly into his eyes. 'Be careful,' she whispered; 'your life is in danger. I dare not see you for a while, for there is one so desperate that not even I could protect you should you visit my apartments again. Tell Gemnon to quit the palace and take you to his father's house. You will be safer there, but even then far from safe. In a few days I shall have removed the obstacles that stand between us. Until then, Tarzan, good-bye!'
The ape-man bowed, and the queen of Cathne passed on out of the audience chamber. The nobles rose. They drew away from Erot and clustered about Tarzan. In disgust the ape-man drew away. 'Come, Gemnon,' he said. 'There is nothing to keep us here longer.'
Xerstle blocked their way as they were leaving the chamber. 'Everything is ready for the grand hunt!' he exclaimed, rubbing his palms together genially. 'I thought this tiresome audience would prevent our starting today, but it is still early. The lions and the quarry are awaiting us at the edge of the forest. Get your weapon, and join me in the avenue.'
Gemnon hesitated. 'Who are hunting with you?' he asked.
'Just you and Tarzan and Pindes,' explained Xerstle, 'a small and select company that ensures a good hunt.'
'We will come,' said the ape-man.
As the two returned to their quarters to get their weapons, Gemnon appeared worried. 'I am not sure that it is wise to go,' he said.
'And why not?' inquired Tarzan.
'This may be another trap for you.'
The ape-man shrugged. 'It is quite possible, but I cannot remain cooped up in hiding. I should like to see what a grand hunt is; I have heard the term often since I came to Cathne. Who is Pindes? I do not recall him.'
'He was an officer of the guard when Erot became the queen's favourite, but through Erot he was dismissed. He is not a bad fellow but weak and easily influenced; however he must hate Erot, and so I think you have nothing to fear from him.'
'I have nothing to fear from anyone,' Tarzan assured 'Perhaps 'you think not, but be on guard.'
'I am always on guard; had I not been I should have been dead long ago.'
'Your self-complacency may be your undoing,' growled Gemnon testily.
Tarzan laughed. 'I appreciate both danger and my own limitations, but I cannot let fear rob me of my liberty and pleasures of life. Fear is to be more dreaded than death. You are afraid, Erot is afraid, Nemone is afraid; and are all unhappy. Were I afraid, I should be unhappy but no safer. I prefer to be simply cautious.
And by the way, way, speaking of caution, Nemone instructed Me to tell you to take me from the palace and keep me in your father's house. She says the palace is no safe place for me. I really think that it is M'duze who is after me.'
'M'duze and Erot and Tomos,' said Gemnnon; 'there is a triumvirate of greed and malice and duplicity that I should hate to have upon my trail.'
At his quarters, Gemnon gave orders that his and Tarzan's belongings be moved to the house of his father while the two men were hunting; then they went to the avenue where they found Xerstle and Pindes awaiting them. The latter was a man of about thirty, rather good looking but with a weak face and eyes that invariably dropped from a direct gaze. He met Tarzan with great cordiality, and as the four men walked along the main avenue of the city toward the eastern gate he was most affable.
Beyond the eastern gate an open parklike plain stretched for a short distance to the forest. Near the gate four stalwart slaves held two lions in leash, while a fifth man, naked but for a dirty loin-cloth, squatted upon the ground a short distance away.
As the four hunters approached the party, Xerstle explained to Tarzan that the leashed beasts were his hunting lions, and as the ape-man's observant eyes ran over the five men who were to accompany them on the hunt he recognized the stalwart black seated upon the ground apart as the man he had seen upon the auction block in the market-place. Xerstle approached the fellow and spoke briefly with him, evidently giving him orders.
When Xerstle had finished, the black started off at a trot across the plain in the direction of the forest. Everyone watched his progress.
'Why is he running ahead?' asked Tarzan. 'He will frighten away the quarry.'
Pindes laughed. 'He is the quarry.'
'You mean 'demanded Tarzan with a scowl.
'That this is a grand hunt,' cried Xerstle, 'where we hunt man, the grandest quarry.'
'What happens if you do not get him? Is he free then?'
'I should say not; not if we can capture him again cried Xerstle. 'Slaves cost too much money to be lightly thrown away like that.'
When the native reached the forest, Xerstle spoke a word of command to the keepers and they unleashed the two great beasts. The lions bounded away in pursuit of the quarry.
Halfway to the forest the lions settled down to a slower gait, and the hunters commenced gradually to overhaul them. Xerstle and Pindes appeared excited, far more excited than the circumstances of the hunt warranted; Gemnon was silent and thoughtful; Tarzan was disgusted and bored. But before they reached the forest his interest was aroused, for a plan had occurred to him whereby he might derive some pleasure from the day's sport.
The wood, which the hunters presently entered a short distance behind the lions, was of extraordinary beauty. The trees were very old and gave evidence of having received the intelligent care of man, as did the floor of the forest. There was little or no deadwood in the trees, and only occasional clumps of underbrush upon the ground between them. As far as Tarzan could see among the boles of the trees, the aspect was that of a well-kept park rather than of a natural wood, and in answer to a comment he made upon this fact Gemnon explained that for ages his people had given regular attention to the conservation of this forest from the city of gold to the Pass of the Warriors.
Once within the forest, Tarzan dropped gradually to the near of the party, and then, when none was looking, swung the branches of a tree. Plain to his nostrils had been the scent spoor of the quarry from the beginning of the chase and now the ape-man knew, possibly even better than the lions, the direction of the hopeless flight of the man.
Swinging through the trees in a slight detour that Carried him around and beyond the hunters without revealing his desertion to them, Tarzan sped through the middle terraces of the forest as only the Lord of the Jungle can. Stronger and stronger in his nostrils waxed the scent of the quarry; behind him came the lions and the hunters.
And he knew that he must act quickly, for they were no great distance in his rear. A grim smile lighted his
