his spear or Jason to fire again the creature stumbled forward, its nose dug into the ground and it rolled over upon its side dead.
'It is dead!' said the warrior in a surprised tone. 'What could have killed it? Neither one of us has cast a spear.'
Jason slipped his Colts into their holsters. 'These killed it,' he said, tapping them.
'Noises do not kill,' said the warrior skeptically. 'It is not the bark of the jalok or the growl of the ryth that rends the flesh of man. The hiss of the thipdar kills no one.'
'It was not the noise that killed it,' said Jason, 'but if you will examine its head and especially the roof of its mouth you will see what happened when my weapons spoke.'
Following Jason's suggestion the warrior examined the head and the mouth of the dyrodor and when he had seen the gaping wounds he looked at Jason with a new respect. 'Who are you,' he asked, 'and what are you doing in the land of Zoram ?'
'My God!' exclaimed Jason. 'Am I in Zoram?'
'You are.'
'And you are one of the men of Zoram?' demanded the American.
'I am; but who are you?'
'Tell me, do you know Jana, The Red Flower of Zoram?' insisted Jason.
'What do you know of The Red Flower of Zoram, stranger?' demanded the other. And then suddenly his eyes widened to a new thought. 'Tell me,' he cried, 'by what name do they call you in the country from which you come?'
'My name is Gridley.' replied the American; 'Jason Gridley.'
'Jason!' exclaimed the other; 'yes, Jason Gridley, that is it. Tell me, man, where is The Red Flower of Zoram? What did you with her?'
'That is what I am asking you,' said Jason. 'We became separated and I have been searching for her. But what do you know of me?'
'I followed you for a long time,' replied the other, 'but the waters fell and obliterated your tracks.'
'Why did you follow me?' asked Jason.
'I followed because you were with The Red Flower of Zoram,' replied the other. 'I followed to kill you, but he said you would not harm her; he said that she went with you willingly. Is that true?'
'She came with me willingly for a while,' replied Jason, 'and then she left me; but I did not harm her.'
'Perhaps he was right then,' said the warrior. 'I shall wait until I find her and if you have not harmed her, I shall not kill you.'
'Whom do you mean by 'he'?' asked Jason. 'There is no one in Pellucidar who could possibly know anything about me, except Jana.'
'Do you not know Tarzan?' asked the warrior.
'Tarzan!' exclaimed Jason. 'You have seen Tarzan? He is alive?'
'I saw him. We hunted together and we followed you and Jana, but he is not alive now, he is dead.'
'Dead! You are sure that he is dead?'
'Yes, he is dead.'
'How did it happen?'
'We were crossing the summit of the mountains when he was seized by a thipdar and carried away.'
Tarzan dead! He had feared as much and yet now that he had proof it seemed unbelievable. His mind could scarcely grasp the significance of the words that he had heard as he recalled the strength and vitality of that man of steel. It seemed incredible that that giant frame should cease to pulsate with life; that those mighty muscles no longer rolled beneath the sleek, bronzed hide; that that courageous heart no longer beat.
'You were very fond of him?' asked the warrior, noticing the silence and dejection of the other.
'Yes,' said Jason.
'So was I,' said the warrior; 'but neither Tar-gash nor I could save him, the thipdar struck so swiftly and was gone before we could cast a weapon.'
'Who is Tar-gash?' asked Jason.
'A Sagoth—one of the hairy men,' replied the warrior. 'They live in the forest and are often used as warriors by the Mahars.'
'And he was with you and Tarzan?' inquired Jason.
'Yes. They were together when I first saw them, but now Tarzan is dead and Tar-gash has gone back to his own country and I must proceed upon my search for The Red Flower of Zoram. You have saved my life, man from another country, but I do not know that you have not harmed Jana. Perhaps you have slain her. How am I to know? I do not know what I should do.'
'I, too, am looking for Jana,' said Jason. 'Let us look for her together.'
'Then if we find her, she shall tell me whether or not I shall kill you,' said the warrior.
Jason could not but recall how angry Jana had been with him. She had almost killed him herself. Perhaps she would find it easier to permit this warrior to kill him. Doubtless the man was her sweetheart and if he knew the truth he would need no urging to destroy a rival, but neither by look nor word did he reveal any apprehension as he replied.
'I will go with you,' he said, 'and if I have harmed The Red Flower of Zoram you may kill me. What is your name?'
'Thoar,' replied the warrior.
Jana had spoken of her brother to Jason, but if she had ever mentioned his name, the American had forgotten it, and so he continued to think that Thoar was the sweetheart and possibly the mate of The Red Flower and his reaction to this belief was unpleasant; yet why it should have been he could not have explained. The more he thought of the matter the more certain he was that Thoar was Jana's mate, for who was there who might more naturally desire to kill one who had wronged her. Yes, he was sure that the man was Jana's mate. The thought made him angry for she had certainly led him to believe that she was not mated. That was just like a woman, he meditated; they were all flirts; they would make a fool of a man merely to pass an idle hour, but she had not made a fool of him. He had not fallen victim to her lures, that is why she had been so angry—her vanity had been piqued —and being a very primitive young person the first thought that had come to her mind had been to kill him. What a little devil she was to try to get him to make love to her when she already had a mate, and thus Jason almost succeeded in working himself into a rage until his sense of humor came to his rescue; yet even though he smiled, way down deep within him something hurt and he wondered why.
'Where did you last see Jana?' asked Thoar. 'We can return there and try and locate her tracks.'
'I do not know that I can explain,' replied Jason. 'It is very difficult for me to locate myself or anything else where there are no points of compass.'
'We can start together at the point where we found your tracks with Jana's,' said Thoar.
'Perhaps that will not be necessary if you are familiar with the country on the other side of the range,' said Jason. 'Returning toward the mountains from the spot where I first saw Jana, there was a tremendous gorge upon our left. It was toward this gorge that the two men of the four that had been pursuing her ran after I had killed two of their number. Jana tried to find a way to the summit, far to the right of this gorge, but our path was blocked by a deep rift which paralleled the base of the mountains, so that she was compelled to turn back again toward the gorge, into which she descended. The last I saw of her she was going up the gorge, so that if you know where this gorge lies it will not be necessary for us to go all the way back to the point at which I first met her.'
'I know the gorge,' said Thoar, 'and if the two Phelians entered it it is possible that they captured her. We will search in the direction of the gorge then and if we do not find any trace of her, we shall drop down to the country of the Phelians in the lowland.'
Through a maze of jagged peaks Thoar led the way. To him time meant nothing; to Jason Gridley it was little more than a memory. When they found food they ate; when they were tired they slept, and always just ahead there were perilous crags to skirt and stupendous cliffs to scale. To the American it would have seemed incredible that a girl ever could find her way here had he not had occasion to follow where The Red Flower of Zoram led.
Occasionally they were forced to take a lower route which led into the forests that climbed high along the slopes of the mountains, and here they found more game and with Thoar's assistance Jason fashioned a garment from the hide of a mountain goat. It was at best but a sketchy garment; yet it sufficed for the purpose for which it
