The Seattle star. [volume] (Seattle, Wash.) 1899-1947, 1921-08-06
CHAPTER Xxx
Silently in tho Nirhl


In A-lur the fortunes OF the city
The party % ko-nn's loyal warriors
that Tartan had led tn the render.
vous ~ the entrance q the secret
passage below tho palace gates had
met with disaster Their first rush
had been met with soft words from
the priests. They had been exhors.
I'd to defend the faith Of their
fathers from biaxphemcrs. Ja.tion
was painted To them ~ q dcfiicr Of
temples. and tho wrath Of Jad.ben'
Ohio WINS prophessed for those who
embraced his cause The priests In.
sisted that Lu- don's only wish was
to prevent tho seizure Of the throne
b.. Ja-dca until . new king could be
chAsen according 10 ths laws OF the
Hcdcn.
The result wAs hat many Of the
palace warriors Joined their fellows
Of the city. and when the priests
Nw that those whom they could In.
uuence ousnumbered those who re-
manned loyal TO the palace. they
caused the former 20 fall upon the
latter with the result that many
were killed and only q handful sue.
cceded In reaching tho safety OF the
palace gates. which they quickly
barred.
The priests led their own forces
thru the secret passnErway into the
temple. while some OF the loyal ones
sought out ia don and told him all
that had happened. The fight In
the banquet han had spread over a
considerable portion OF the palace
grounds and had At last resulted In
the temporary defeat Of those who
had opposed Ja-don. This force.
counscicd BY ~ er.priesss sent for
the purpose BY Lu don. had with
drawn within the temple grounds 70
that nov the issue was plainly
marked a. between Ja-don on the
one aide and Lu-don on the other.
The former had been told OF all
that had occurred In the apartments
Of Olo-a. TO whose safety he had
attended At the first opportunity,
ard he had also learned of Tarzan's
part In leading his men to the gath.
ering Of Lu-don's warriors
These things had naturally In
creased the old warriors former In
ciinations OF friendliness toward the
ape-man. and now he regretted that
the other had departed from the
city.
The testimony Of O-lo-a and Pan
at-lee was such an to strengthen
whatever belief In the gpdliness OF
the stranger Ja-don and others of
the warriors had previously enter.
tanned. until presently there APP
peared a strong tendency upon the
part Of this palace faction to make
the Dor-uiA,tho an issue OF their or.
iginai quarrel with Lu.don. whcth.
cr this occurred as the natural Sc
quencc 10 repeated variations of the
apem exploits. which lost moth.
ings by repetition. In conjunction
with Lu-don's enmity toward him.
or It was the shrcwd design Of some
willy old warrior OF Ja-don. who re.
allied the value of adding a reIi.
gious cause TO their temporal one,
i II were difficult to determine: but
the fact remained that Js-don's fol.
lowers developed bitter hatred for
| the followers OF Lu-don because OF
the high priests antagonism Of Tar
xan.
| Unfortunately, however. Tarzan
was not there 20 inspire the follow
ers Of Ja-don with the holy zeal that
might have quickly settled the dis
pute In the old chieftain's favor. In
stead, he was miles away and be
cause their repeated prayers for his
presence were unanswered. the
weaker spirits among them com
menced to suspect that their cause
did not have divine favor. There was
also another and a potent cause for
detection from the ranks Of Ja-don
IL emanated from the city where the
friends and relatives Of the palace
warriors, who were largely also the
| friends and relatives OF Ludon'f
forces, found the means, urged or
by the priesthood. 10 circulate PERM
cious propaganda turnout the pal
ace.
The result was that Lu-don's pow
err increased while that OF Ja-dor
waned. Then followed sortie fron
the temple which resulted In the de
feat OF the palace forces, and thu
they we're able 70 withdraw In de
cent order, withdraw they did, lcav
ing the palace TO Ludon, who wal
now virtually ruler Of Pal-ul-don.
Ja-don, taking with him the prin