In the compound there were a number of armed guards; and presently other prisoners were brought, men whom Tarzan had not before seen. They had been brought from the city behind the elephants of lesser dignitaries who had ridden in the rear of Menofra. Several of these prisoners, who spoke to Valthor, were evidently men of distinction.
'We are about the last of the aristocracy who did not escape or go over to the Erythra,' Valthor explained to Tarzan. 'Phoros and Menofra think that by killing off all their enemies they will have no opposition and nothing more to fear; but as a matter of fact they are only making more enemies, for the middle classes were naturally more in sympathy with the aristocracy than with the scum which constitutes the Erythra.'
About four feet from the top of the inner palisade was a horizontal beam supporting the ends of braces that held the palisade upright, and upon this beam the prisoners were allowed to stand and witness what took place in the arena until it was their turn to enter. When Tarzan and Valthor took their places on the beam the royal pageant had just completed a circuit of the arena, and Menofra was clumsily descending from the howdah of her elephant to enter the royal loge. The grandstands were about half filled, and crowds were still pouring through the tunnels. There was little noise other than the shuffling of sandaled feet and the occasional trumpeting of an elephant. It did not seem to Tarzan a happy, carefree throng out to enjoy a holiday; but rather a sullen mob suppressed by fear. A laugh would have been as startling as a scream.
The first encounter was between two men; one a huge Erythros warrior armed with sword and spear; the other a former noble whose only weapon was a dagger. It was an execution, not a duel-an execution preceded by torture. The audience watched it, for the most part, in silence. There were a few shouts of encouragement from the loges of the officials and the new nobility.
Valthor and Tarzan watched with disgust. 'I think he could have killed that big fellow,' said the ape-man. 'I saw how he might be easily handled. It is too bad that the other did not think of it.'
'You think you could kill Hyark?' demanded a guard standing next to Tarzan.
'Why not?' asked the ape-man. 'He is clumsy and stupid; most of all he is a coward.'
'Hyark a coward? That is a good one. There are few braver among the Erythra.'
'I can believe that,' said Tarzan, and Valthor laughed.
Hyark was strutting to and fro before the royal box receiving the applause of Menofra and her entourage, slaves were dragging out the mutilated corpse of his victim, and an officer was approaching the paddock to summon forth the next combatants.
The guard called to him, 'Here is one who thinks he can kill Hyark.'
The officer looked up. 'Which one thinks that?' he demanded.
The guard jerked a thumb toward Tarzan. 'This wild-man here. Perhaps Menofra would like to see such an encounter. It should prove amusing.'
'Yes,' said the officer, 'I should like to see it myself. Maybe after the next combat. I'll ask her.'
The next prisoner to be taken into the arena was an old man. He was given a dagger to defend himself; then a lion was loosed upon him.
'That is a very old lion,' said Tarzan to Valthor. 'Most of his teeth are gone. He is weak from mange and hunger.'
'But he will kill the man,' said Valthor.
'Yes, he will kill the man; he is still a powerful brute.'
'I suppose you think you could kill him, too,' jeered the guard.
'Probably,' assented the ape-man.
The guard thought this very funny, and laughed uproariously.
The lion made short work of the old man, giving him, at least, a merciful death; then the officer came, after they had driven the lion back into his cage with many spears, and said that Menofra had given assent to the fight between Hyark and the wild-man.
'She has promised to make Hyark a captain for killing two men in one afternoon,' said the officer.
'This one says he can kill the lion, too,' screamed the guard, rocking with laughter.
'But Hyark is going to kill your wild-man now; so we will never know if he could kill the lion,' said the officer, pretending to be deeply grieved.
'I will fight them both at once,' said Tarzan; 'that is if Hyark is not afraid to go into the arena with a lion.'
'That would be something to see,' said the officer. 'I will go at once and speak to Menofra.'
'Why did you say that Tarzan?' asked Valthor.
'Didn't I tell you that I'd rather be killed by a lion than an elephant?'
Valthor shook his head. 'Perhaps you are right. At least it will be over sooner. This waiting is getting on my nerves.'
Very soon the officer returned. 'It is arranged,' he said.
'What did Hyark think of it?' asked Valthor.
'I think he did not like the idea at all. He said he just recalled that his wife was very ill, and asked Menofra to give some one else the honor of killing the wild-man.'
'And what did Menofra say?'
'She said that if Hyark didn't get into the arena and kill the wild-man she would kill Hyark.'
'Menofra has a grand sense of humor,' remarked Valthor.
Tarzan dropped to the ground and was taken into the arena, where the iron collar was removed from about his neck and he was handed a dagger. He walked toward the royal box below which Hyark was standing. Hyark came running to meet him, hoping to dispatch him quickly and get out of the arena before the lion could be loosed. The men at the lion's cage were having some difficulty in raising the door. The lion, nervous and excited from his last encounter, was roaring and growling as he struck at the bars trying to reach the men working about him.
Hyark held his spear in front of him. He hoped to thrust it through Tarzan the moment that he came within reach of him. There would be no playing with his victim in this encounter, his sole idea being to get it over and get out of the arena.
Tarzan advanced slightly crouched. He had stuck the dagger into the cord that supported his loin cloth. The fact that he came on with bare hands puzzled the crowd and confused Hyark, who had long since regretted that he had accepted the challenge so boastfully. He was not afraid of the man, of course; but the two of them! What if the man avoided being killed until the lion was upon them? The lion might as readily leap upon Hyark as upon the other. It was this that added to Hyark's confusion.
They were close now. With an oath, Hyark lunged his spear point at the naked breast of his antagonist; then Tarzan did just what he had planned to do knowing as he did his own agility and strength. He seized the haft of the spear and wrenched the weapon from Hyark's grasp, hurling it to the ground behind him; then Hyark reached for his sword; but he was too slow. The ape-man was upon him; steel thewed fingers seized him and swung him around.
A great shout went up from the crowd-the lion was loosed!
Grasping Hyark by the collar of his jerkin and his sword belt, the ape-man held him helpless despite his struggles. For the first time the crowd became really vocal. They laughed, jeering at Hyark; they screamed warnings at the wildman, shouting that the lion was coming; but Tarzan knew that already. From the corner of an eye he was watching the carnivore as it came down the length of the arena at a trot. He could get a better estimate of the beast now as it came closer. It was a small lion, old and pitifully emaciated. Evidently it had been starved a long time to make it ravenous. Tarzan's anger rose against those who had been responsible for this cruelty, and because of it there was born in his mind a plan to avenge the lion.
As the lion approached, Tarzan went to meet it, pushing the frantic Hyark ahead of him; and just before the beast launched its lethal charge, the ape-man gave Hyark a tremendous shove directly toward the great cat; and then Hyark did precisely what Tarzan had anticipated he would do-he turned quickly to one side and broke into a run. Tarzan stood still-not a muscle moved. He was directly in the path of the lion, but the latter did not hesitate even an instant; it turned and pursued the fleeing Hyark, the screaming, terrified Hyark.
'The brave Hyark will have to run much faster if he hopes to get his captaincy,' said Valthor to the guard. 'He would have been better off had he stood still; the lion was sure to pursue him if he ran. Had he stepped to one side and stood still, the lion might have continued his charge straight for Tarzan. At least he would have had a chance then, but he certainly cannot outrun a lion.'
