第95章

Close behind came Tarzan of the Apes.He had cast aside his torch and drawn the long knife that had been his father's.With the impetuosity of a charging bull he rushed into the chamber in pursuit of Pan-sat to find himself, when the hangings dropped behind him, in utter darkness.Almost immediately there was a crash of stone on stone before him followed a moment later by a similar crash behind.No other evidence was necessary to announce to the ape-man that he was again a prisoner in Lu-don's temple.

He stood perfectly still where he had halted at the first sound of the descending stone door.Not again would he easily be precipitated to the gryf pit, or some similar danger, as had occurred when Lu-don had trapped him in the Temple of the Gryf.

As he stood there his eyes slowly grew accustomed to the darkness and he became aware that a dim light was entering the chamber through some opening, though it was several minutes before he discovered its source.In the roof of the chamber he finally discerned a small aperture, possibly three feet in diameter and it was through this that what was really only a lesser darkness rather than a light was penetrating its Stygian blackness of the chamber in which he was imprisoned.

Since the doors had fallen he had heard no sound though his keen ears were constantly strained in an effort to discover a clue to the direction taken by the abductor of his mate.Presently he could discern the outlines of his prison cell.It was a small room, not over fifteen feet across.On hands and knees, with the utmost caution, he examined the entire area of the floor.In the exact center, directly beneath the opening in the roof, was a trap, but otherwise the floor was solid.With this knowledge it was only necessary to avoid this spot in so far as the floor was concerned.The walls next received his attention.There were only two openings.One the doorway through which he had entered, and upon the opposite side that through which the warrior had borne Jane Clayton.These were both closed by the slabs of stone which the fleeing warrior had released as he departed.

Lu-don, the high priest, licked his thin lips and rubbed his bony white hands together in gratification as Pan-sat bore Jane Clayton into his presence and laid her on the floor of the chamber before him.

"Good, Pan-sat!" he exclaimed."You shall be well rewarded for this service.Now, if we but had the false Dor-ul-Otho in our power all Pal-ul-don would be at our feet."

"Master, I have him!" cried Pan-sat.

"What!" exclaimed Lu-don, "you have Tarzan-jad-guru? You have slain him perhaps.Tell me, my wonderful Pan-sat, tell me quickly.My breast is bursting with a desire to know."

"I have taken him alive, Lu-don, my master," replied Pan-sat."He is in the little chamber that the ancients built to trap those who were too powerful to take alive in personal encounter."

"You have done well, Pan-sat, I--"

A frightened priest burst into the apartment."Quick, master, quick," he cried, "the corridors are filled with the warriors of Ja-don."

"You are mad," cried the high priest."My warriors hold the palace and the temple."

"I speak the truth, master," replied the priest, "there are warriors in the corridor approaching this very chamber, and they come from the direction of the secret passage which leads hither from the city."

"It may be even as he says," exclaimed Pan-sat."It was from that direction that Tarzan-jad-guru was coming when I discovered and trapped him.He was leading his warriors to the very holy of holies."

Lu-don ran quickly to the doorway and looked out into the corridor.At a glance he saw that the fears of the frightened priest were well founded.A dozen warriors were moving along the corridor toward him but they seemed confused and far from sure of themselves.The high priest guessed that deprived of the leadership of Tarzan they were little better than lost in the unknown mazes of the subterranean precincts of the temple.