'You are trying to trap me,' he said. 'That man is gone forever, unless he is recaptured. He certainly wouldn't be fool enough to come back here of his own volition.'
'He is here,' I said in a whisper. 'Come with me, Zor.'
He hesitated. What could I do? I knew that he was suspicious of all these people and that he might think this a ruse to get him off somewhere, out of sight for a moment, and murder him. The Jukans are that way. However, I could not reveal my identity while there were so many people within earshot of even a whisper. I glanced back at my guide. No one was paying any attention to him; but he seemed to be recovering from his seizure. I knew that I should have to do something quickly now before the fellow regained consciousness. As I raised my eyes from the prostrate form of my former guide, I saw Bruma's gaze fixed upon me, and then I saw him start toward me across the floor; then I turned back to Zor.
'You must come with me,' I said; 'and you must know that I am speaking the truth, for how else would I know about the garden of Gluck ?'
'That is right,' said Zor. 'I did not think of that. Where do you want me to go?'
'Back to get Kleeto,' I said in a whisper.
He looked at me very intently then, and presently his eyes widened a little.
'I am a fool,' he said; 'come.' But I couldn't come for just then Bruma confronted us.
'Where is this Napolapart from?' he asked Zor. Zor looked puzzled. 'Your friend, Napolapart,' insisted Bruma.
'I never heard of anybody by that name,' said Zor.
'Ah-ah, an impostor,' said Bruma, glaring at me. 'This man, Napolapart, said that he was a friend of yours.'
'You misunderstood me, Bruma,' I interrupted. 'I said my name was Napoleon Bonaparte.'
'Oh,' said Zor. 'Of course I know Napoleon Bonaparte very well. He is an old friend of mine.'
'There is something very familiar about his face,' said Bruma. 'I think I must have known him, too. Where have I known you, Napolapart?'
'I have never been here before,' I said.
'Where are you from then?' he demanded.
'From Gamba,' I replied.
'Excellent!' exclaimed Bruma, 'Just the man I am looking for as a sacrifice to Ogar.'
Now here was a pretty mess, and mighty disheartening, too, with my plan right on the verge of success. What could I do? I had heard that crazy people should be humored; but how could I humor Bruma?
Chapter XIV
I AM NOT inclined to panics; but the situation in which I now found myself tended to induce that state to a greater degree than any other which I can recall in my long experience in this savage world of danger.
Here I was, in a palace from which I could not find my way without a guide, surrounded by maniacs, all of whom were potential enemies; but the most terrifying feature of the situation lay in the fact that Dian would most assuredly be lost were I not able to return to her. I reproached myself for thus jeopardizing her safety for two who really had no hold upon my loyalty, other than that dictated by a sense of decency and common humanity. Right then, I would have sacrificed them both without a single qualm of conscience, could I, by such means, have returned to Dian. I realized that I had over-estimated both my luck and my cunning. The former seemed to have deserted me and the latter was about to be nullified by the still more cunning minds of madmen. Finally, I decided to try to bluff it through. I knew that Zor would be with me if it came to a fight; and I also knew that if we should try to fight our way from the palace, the reactions of the Jukans were unpredictable. I drew my knife and looked Bruma straight in the eyes.
'You are not going to sacrifice me to Ogar,' I said in a loud tone of voice that attracted the attention of all around us, including Meeza, the king.
'Why?' demanded Bruma.
'Because I am a guest of Meeza,' I replied, 'and I demand his protection.'
'Who is this man?' cried the king.
'His name is Napolapart,' replied Bruma, 'and he comes from Gamba. I shall sacrifice him to Ogar; so that Ogar will tell us what has become of Moko, your son.'
I was facing away from Meeza at the time, because I was looking at Bruma and listening to him. Beyond the crowd I could see the doorway leading into the throne room. The backs of nearly all except those on the dais upon which Meeza sat were toward the door, and the attention of those on the dais was riveted upon Bruma and me; thus I was the only one to see a cadaverous figure stagger from the corridor and lean weakly against the frame of the doorway.
'Will Ogar tell us where Moko is, if you offer this sacrifice to him?' demanded Meeza of Bruma.
'If the sacrifice is acceptable to Ogar, he will tell us,' replied the high priest. 'If it is not acceptable, we shall have to try another.'
I turned toward Meeza. 'You do not need Ogar to tell you where Moko is,' I said, 'for I can tell you. Will you let Zor and me go in peace, if I tell you?'
'Yes,' said the king.
I turned and pointed toward the doorway. 'There is Moko,' I said.
All eyes turned in the direction I had pointed to see Moko stagger forward into the room. He looked like a cadaver temporarily endowed with the power of locomotion. His body and his extremities were very thin, and his body was literally covered with blood that had dried and caked upon it from a now partially healed wound below his heart.
So I hadn't killed Moko, after all; and now, by an ironical trick of Fate, he had come back, perhaps to save me. I watched him stagger across the room to Meeza's throne, where he sank to the floor, exhausted.
'Where have you been?' demanded the king. There was nothing in his voice that denoted paternal affection or sympathy.
Weak, gasping for breath, Moko replied in a feeble whisper, 'He tried to kill me. When I regained consciousness, I was in darkness for he had dragged me into the corridor of which only the king and his son have knowledge. He was gone, and with him the girl from Sari.'
'Who was he?' demanded Meeza.
'I do not know,' replied Moko.
'It must have been the man, David, who escaped from the cell in which he was confined,' suggested Bruma.
'We shall find them,' said Meeza. 'Send warriors out to search the forest for them, and search in the great cave in the Ravine of the Kings.'
Immediately warriors started for the door, and Zor and I joined them. I do not believe that Bruma saw us go, as his attention was fixed upon Moko over whom he was chanting some weird jargon, doubtless something in the nature of a healing incantation.
'What shall we do?' asked Zor.
'We must find Kleeto,' I replied; 'and then try to leave the village with these warriors, pretending that we are going out to help search for David.'
'You can't get a woman out of the village,' said Zor. 'Don't you remember what Kleeto told us?'
'That's right,' I replied. 'I had forgotten; but I have another way.'
'What is it?'
'It is the corridor through which I escaped before; but the only trouble is that it leads to the large cave which they are going to search.'
'What became of the girl from Sari?' he asked.
'I took her with me and hid her in another cave near the large one.'
'Of course, you are going to take her with us?'
'Absolutely,' I replied, 'for when I found her with Moko, I made an amazing discovery.'
