"She must be there," said d'Arnot. "She must!"
"There is a possibility," explained Thetan, "but it is only a possibility."
CHAPTER 15
Wolff was genuinely terrified. The weird occurrences, the raid on the camp, the show of force by the Asharians had all contributed to impress him with the grave dangers and the futility of the venture. His desire to live outweighed his avarice, and The Father of Diamonds was forgotten in his anxiety to escape what he believed to be the certain fate of the party if it sought to enter The Forbidden City of Ashair.
When, at last, the camp slept, he awoke Mbuli. "Are you and your people going to stay here and be killed or forced into slavery?" he demanded.
"My people are afraid," replied the headman, "but what are we to do? We are afraid to stay here, and we are afraid to run away from the great Bwana Tarzan."
"You will never see that monkey-man again," Wolff assured the black. "He and the frog eater will be killed by the Asharians, who will then come back and either kill all of us or take us with them as slaves. How would you like to be chained to a galley all the rest of your life?"
"I would not like it, bwana," replied Mbuli.
"Then listen to me. The girl here is in danger. I got to save her; so I orders you and your boys to take us back to Bonga. How many do you think will come with you?"
"All, bwana."
"Good! Now get busy. Have 'em get their packs together, but see that they don't make no noise. When everything's ready, you take a couple of boys and get the girl. Don't let her make no noise."
After a night of sleeplessness and terrified apprehension for the future, Helen's attention was attracted by a slight noise in the forest behind the camp where her captors had halted for the night. Dawn was breaking, its ghastly light relieving the darkness that had enveloped the little ravine and revealing to the girl's astonished eyes the figures of great apes and men stealing stealthily upon the camp.
At first she was terrified by this new menace; then she recognized Tarzan and almost simultaneously saw d'Arnot behind him; and hope, that she had thought dead, welled strong within her, so that she could scarcely restrain a cry of relief as she realized that rescue was at hand; then an Asharian awoke and saw the danger. With a shout that aroused the others, he leaped to his feet; and, guessing that an attempt was being made to rescue the captive, he seized her and dragged her, struggling, toward the galley.
With a shout of encouragement to her, d'Arnot sprang forward in pursuit while two warriors engaged Tarzan, and Thetan and the apes fell upon the others. The warrior who was carrying Helen off was almost at the galley. He shouted to the slaves to make ready to put off the moment he was aboard, but d'Arnot was pressing him so closely he was compelled to turn and defend himself. D'Arnot faced him with drawn pistol as the man raised his spear. Behind d'Arnot, another warrior, who had escaped the apes, was running to the aid of his fellow.
The Frenchman could not fire at the warrior facing him without endangering Helen, and he did not know that another was approaching from behind.
What takes so long to tell occupied but a few seconds of time, for as the warrior was about to cast his spear, Helen, realizing d'Arnot's predicament, threw herself to one side, exposing her captor; and d'Arnot fired.
Tarzan, Thetan, and the apes had disposed of the remainder of the Asharians, with the exception of the one who was threatening d'Arnot from behind. The ape-man saw his friend's danger, but he was too far away to reach the warrior who was threatening him, before the man should drive his spear into d'Arnot's back. Helen realized the danger, and cried a warning to the Frenchman. D'Arnot swung about, his pistol ready; and pressed the trigger, but the hammer fell futilely upon an imperfect cap; then Tarzan launched his spear. His target was far beyond the range of any spear but that of the Lord of the Jungle. With all of his great strength, backed by the weight of his body, he cast the weapon; and, as the Asharian was lunging at d'Arnot, it passed through his body, piercing his heart. As the man fell dead at d'Arnot's feet, Helen went suddenly weak. She would have fallen had not d'Arnot taken her in his arms.
"Whew!" exclaimed Thetan. "That was a close call, but what a cast! In all my life I have never seen one that could compare with it."
"In all your life," said d'Arnot, "you have never seen such a man as Tarzan of the Apes."
Tarzan had passed them and reached the galley, where the slaves sat bewildered, not knowing what to do; then he called the apes and ordered them into the galley among the terrified slaves.
"They won't harm you," Tarzan assured them, and when Helen, d'Arnot and Thetan were aboard, he directed the slaves to row them down river to the Gregory camp.
D'Arnot sat in the stern with his arm around Helen, who evinced no inclination to resent the familiarity. On the contrary, she seemed quite content.
"I thought I had lost you, darling," he whispered.
She made no reply, other than to snuggle closer and sigh happily, which, to d'Arnot, was at least an acceptance of his love, if not an avowal of her own. He was content to leave the matter as it stood.
Gregory, Lavac, and Ogabi were standing by the river when the galley rounded a bend and came within sight.
"The Asharians are returning!" cried Gregory. "We'd better get into the forest and hide. We three haven't a chance against them."
"Wait!" said Lavac. "That boat's full of apes."
"By George! So it is," exclaimed Gregory.
"And there is Bwana Tarzan," exclaimed Ogabi.
A few moments later the boat touched shore; and as the apes poured out, Gregory took his daughter in his arms. "Thank God, you've found her," he said to Tarzan; "but now we have some bad news for you."
"What now?" demanded d'Arnot.
"Magra and Wolff deserted with all the men and equipment last night," said Gregory.
"Oh, I can't believe that Magra would have done a thing like that," exclaimed Helen.
Gregory shook his head. "Don't forget," he reminded her, "that she was in cahoots with Thorne."
"Any way," said Lavac, "she's gone."
"What are we to do now?" demanded Gregory. "It looks like the end of the trail to me."
"On the way down," said Tarzan, "I questioned some of the galley slaves. They tell me that a white man is held prisoner in the temple of The Father of Diamonds at Ashair. It may be your son. I have talked with Thetan; and he believes it may be possible that the King of Thobos will receive us kindly and even help in the rescue of your son, if there is any possibility that it may be accomplished. Under the circumstances, it may be well to go to Thobos. We have a galley, and by entering the lake after dark we should be able to pass Ashair safely."
"I should like to do that," said Gregory, "but I can't ask the rest of you to risk your lives further for me. Had I had any idea that we were to encounter such dangers, I should never have started out without a strong force of white men."
"I'll go with you," said d'Arnot.
"And I," said Lavac.
"Where Bwana Tarzan goes, I go," said Ogabi.
"Then we all go," said the ape-man.
An exhausted warrior stumbled into the presence of Atka, Queen of Ashair. "We were camped for the night in the ravine below the tunnel," he reported. "We had with us a girl whom we had captured in the camp of the strangers. At dawn we were attacked by three men and a band of apes. One of the men was a Thobotian. The leader was a naked white warrior. In the beginning of the fight, I was knocked senseless. I knew nothing more until I regained consciousness and found myself alone with the dead. The galley was gone. I think they must have thought me dead."
"Which way did they go?" demanded Atka.
"That I do not know," replied the warrior, "but it is probable that they went back down stream to their camp."
The Queen turned to a noble standing near the throne. "Man six galleys," she ordered, "and bring me those people, dead or alive! They shall taste the anger of Brulor!"
CHAPTER 16
Wolff had stu
mbled along the back trail all night, and his disposition had not been improved by the fact that he had had to drag a resisting Magra most of the way. He had stopped now for a brief rest. The boys had dropped their packs and thrown themselves to the ground. Wolff was wiping the sweat from his forehead and glaring at the girl.
"You might as well come along peaceable," said the man. "It'll be easier for both of us. I got you, and I'm goin' to keep you. You might as well make up your mind to that."
"You're wasting your time," replied Magra. "You can lead a horse to water, you know—"
"And I can make it drink, too," growled Wolff. "Come here, you!" He seized her and drew her to him.
With her right hand, Magra attempted to push him away, while her left hand sought the pistol at his hip. "Stop!" she cried, "or, before God, I'll kill you!" but Wolff only laughed at her and drew her closer.
He died with the ugly grin upon his face, as Magra wrested his weapon from its holster and shot him through the chest. As Wolff fell, Mbuli leaped to his feet, followed by his boys. The white girl was alone now, in their power; and Mbuli knew where she would bring a good price. Also, there were two thousand English pounds on the dead man.
Magra swung around and faced Mbuli. "Pick up your loads and get going back to camp!" she ordered. Mbuli hesitated and came toward her. His attitude was insubordinate and threatening. "Do as I tell you, Mbuli," snapped the girl, "or you'll get what Wolff got."
"We are tired," said Mbuli, seeking tune. "Let us rest."
"You can rest in camp. Get going!"
Urging the men on, Magra drove them back along the trail toward camp. They grumbled; but they obeyed, for they had seen her kill Wolff. She walked behind them, with Mbuli just in front of her; and she never let him forget that a pistol was aimed at the small of his back. She would have driven them faster had she known that her companions were about to abandon the camp along a route she could not follow, but she did not know.
As the others in the Gregory camp discussed their plans, Lavac stood aside moodily, eyeing d'Arnot and Helen who stood hand in hand; and as the others went to their tents to gather a few of the personal belongings the deserting porters had left behind, he accosted d'Arnot.
"You are very familiar with Mam'selle Helen," he said; "and I resent it, but I suppose she prefers you because you are a captain and have more money than I."
D'Arnot, ordinarily slow to anger, flushed and then went white. "And I resent that, you pig!" he snapped, slapping Lavac across the face.
"You can't do that to me!" growled Lavac, whipping his gun from its holster.
Fortunately, Tarzan chanced to be passing close to Lavac. He leaped between the two men and seized the lieutenant's gun hand. "None of that!" he snapped. "We've enough troubles without fighting among ourselves. I'll keep your gun until you cool off and get a little sense. Now, into the barge, all of you. We're leaving for Thobos at once."
"We can't have any of this," said Gregory. "If Lieutenant Lavac feels as he does, I think he had better wait here for us."
"How about it, Lavac?" asked Tarzan.
"It will not occur again," said the man. "I lost my head. If Captain d'Arnot will accept my apology, I offer it."
"Certainly," said d'Arnot. "I regret the whole affair, and I am sorry that I struck you." Then the two men shook hands quite perfunctorily, and separated coldly. It was obvious that from now on nothing but bad blood would exist between them.
"What about the apes?" asked Gregory, more to bridge the awkward silence than because he was interested.
"I have told them to stay around here for a moon and hunt," replied Tarzan. "If they don't forget it, they'll stay; unless the hunting is very poor."
As Tarzan was about to board the galley, his keen ears caught the sound of approaching footsteps from the direction of the forest. "Some one is coming," he said. "We'll wait and see who it is. Be ready to push off—they may not be friends."
Presently the head of a safari came into view, debouching from the forest. "Why, those are our men!" exclaimed Helen.
"Yes," said Tarzan, "and there's Magra bringing up the rear. You were quite right about her."
"I was sure she'd never desert us like that," said Helen. "I wonder where Wolff is."
"She's got a gun on Mbuli," said d'Arnot. "There is a woman!"
Magra herded them down to the river, where she told briefly of how Wolff had persuaded Mbuli and his men to abduct her and desert, and of Wolff's death. "I found these on him," she said, "The £2000 of which he defrauded Mr. Gregory and Thorne and the map he stole from Helen's room."
"We are well rid of him," said Gregory.
Tarzan ordered the natives to load all of the supplies and equipment on board the galley, and when they had done so he dismissed them.
"You may wait here for us if you wish," he said, "or you may go back to your own country. Eventually you will be punished for what you have done."
Bending to their oars, the slaves drove the galley up stream, as the members of the party momentarily relaxed from the nervous strain of the past hours. Lavac sat in the bow, looking forward, so that he would not see d'Arnot and Helen sitting close to one another. Magra sat beside Tarzan. All were quiet, grateful for the peace and restfulness of the river. For a tune, at least, their way seemed assured as far as Thobos, for they would pass Ashair by night. What their reception in Thobos would be was uncertain. Even Thetan could assure them of nothing more than that he would intercede with his uncle, the King, in their behalf; but he thought that the fact that Tarzan had saved his life and that they were all enemies of the Asharians would go a long way toward insuring them a friendly attitude on the part of King Herat.
Magra sighed and turned to Tarzan. "You have all been so splendid to me," she said, "although you knew that I was an accomplice of Thorne. I want you to know that I am loyal to you now."
Tarzan made no reply. His attention was centered on another matter. The galley was too heavily laden. Its gunwales were almost awash as it moved slowly up the narrow gorge.
"Well have to put some of this stuff ashore in that ravine where we found Helen," he said. "If we ran into swift water in the river or any sort of a blow on the lake, we'd founder."
"Look!" cried Lavac. "Here comes a galley."
"An Asharian!" exclaimed Thetan, "and there are others right behind it."
"Six of 'em," said Lavac.
"Good Lord!" exclaimed Gregory. "We'd better turn back."
"They'd overtake us in no time," said Thetan. "We're in for it."
Tarzan smiled. "There is nothing to do, then, but fight," he said.
"We haven't a chance, have we?" asked Magra.
"It doesn't look like it," replied d'Arnot.
"If there is such a thing as a jinx," said Helen, "we certainly have one camping on our trail."
The narrow gorge echoed to the war cries of the Asharians, as their galleys bore down on their hapless victims. Gregory's party met them with gunfire and arrows, while the short Asharian spears hurtled about them. As the men had leaped to their feet to fire over the heads of the slaves, the galley tipped dangerously, shipping water and spoiling their aim. A spear struck one of the oarsmen; and as he lurched forward, dead, his oar fouled that of another slave; and a moment later the galley swung broadside across the river as the leading Asharian galley, sped down stream by forty oars, bore down upon it. There was a crash of splintering wood as the prow of the enemy rammed the Gregory galley amidships. Already listing crazily, she careened to the impact; and as the water poured over her port gunwale, she began to sink, leaving her passengers floundering in the river and her slaves screaming in their chains; then the other galleys moved in to pick up the survivors.
D'Arnot and Helen were dragged into the galley farthest up stream, which immediately set out for Ashair. The other members of the party had drifted down stream before they were finally picked up by a second galley. Tarzan had swum beside Magra, encouraging and supporting her, while Gregory, Lavac, and Ogabi rem
ained nearby. Night was falling, and it would soon be dark in the narrow gorge. When they were in the craft, they saw that Thetan was already there, having been picked up before they were; but Helen and d'Arnot were not there; and the boat in which they were prisoners was out of sight around a bend in the river.
"Did you see anything of Helen?" asked Gregory, but no one had.
"I could almost wish that she drowned," he added. "God! Why did I ever undertake this stupid venture?"
"It would have been better had we all drowned," said Thetan. "There is no hope for those who fall into the hands of the Asharians."
"All that has happened to us so far," said Tarzan, "is that we have gotten wet. Wait until something really bad happens before you give up hope."
"But look at what lies ahead of us!" exclaimed Lavac.
"I do not know what lies ahead of us, and neither do you," the ape-man reminded him; "therefore we might as well anticipate the best as the worst."
"A most excellent philosophy," commented Gregory, "but a strain on one's credulity."
"I think it is good," said Magra.
In the leading galley, Helen and d'Arnot sat huddled together, shivering with cold.
"I wonder what became of the others," said the girl.
"I don't know, dear," replied d'Arnot; "but thank God that you and I were not separated."
"Yes," she whispered, and then, "I suppose this is the end; but we shall go together."
"Keep a stiff upper lip, darling. Don't give up hope; they haven't harmed us yet."
"Poor Dad," said Helen. "Do you suppose he and all the others drowned?"
"They may have been picked up, too," encouraged d'Arnot.
"Little good it will do any of us," continued the girl. "No wonder poor Brian never returned from Ashair. What was that?"
An eerie scream shattered the silence of the night, reverberating weirdly in the narrow gorge.
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