Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1921-07-19

4 I
Moving entirely around the building he
Examined IL carefully. There were
ether windows, but they were SINH
lar,y barred. Ite. stopped often to look
ana listen, but he saw no one. and
the sounds that he heard were too far
cway to cause him any apprehension,
lic. glanced above him at the wall of
the building. Like 40 many of the
other. walls Of the city, palace and
temple. It was ornatcly carved. and
there were. too. the peculiar ledgcs that
ran sometimes in Il horizontal plane
md again were tilted at an angle. Civ
ing ofttimes an impression OF irregu-
iarlty and even crookcdness &c the
buildings. 1t was not difficult wall
to climb. at least not diflcuur Tor the
| ape man.
But he found the bulky anu uwkward
l'ead dress considerable handicap. and
no ne laid 1t aside upon the ground
at the foot Of the wall. Nimbly he
nscendcd to find the windows of the
'econd floor not only barred but cur
tnined within. He did not delay long
at the second floor. since he had in
mind an idea that he would find the
easiest entrance through the roof, which
he had noticed was roughly dome
shaped. like the throne room of Ko-
tan. Here there were apcrturcs He
Fad seen them Fl ON the ground, aud
II the construction of the interior re-
"embled even slightly that of the
throne room. bars would not be ncccs-
Snry upon these apcrtures, since no
one could reach them from the floor
Of the room.
There was but a single question:
would they be large enough to admit
tho broad shoulders of the ape man?
lie paused again ut the third floor.
and bore, in spite of the hnngings, he
saw that the interior was lighted and
simultaneously there cane TO his nos
trils from within scent that stripped
from him temporarily any remnant Of
civilization that might have remained
and left him fierce and terrible bull
Of the junglcs of Kcrchak. So sudden
and complete was the metamorphosis
that there almost broke from the savage
lips the hideous challenge of his kind,
but the cunning brute mind saved him
this blunder
And now he heard voices within
the voice of IM-don he could have
sworn. demanding. And naughty and
disdainful ;amc the answering words.
though utter hopcleSsness spoke in the
tones of this other voice which brought
Tarzan to the pinnacle of frenzy.
The dome with its possible apertures
was forgotten. Every consideration Of
stealth and quiet was cast aside ns
the ape man drew back his mighty fist
and struck n single terrific blow upon
the bars of the small window before
him. blow that sent the bars and the
easing that held them clattcring to the
floor of the apartment within.
Instantly TnrzGn divcd headforemost
Al, ha rnp n n n
ings of antelope hide with him to the
floor below. I.eaping to his feet he tore
the entanglng pc!t from about his
head only to find himself in utter dark
ness and in silence. He called aloud a
name that had not passed his lips for
many weary months. Jane. Jane. y
he cried, where are you?' But there
was only silence in reply.
Again and again he called. cropping
with outstretchcd hands through the
Stygian blackncss Of the room. his
nostrils assailcd and his brain tantalzed
by the delicate cfHuvia that had first as
sured him that his mate had been with
in this very room. And he had heard
her dear voice combating the base de-
mands of the vile priest. All. If he had
but acted with greater caution! If he
mad but continued to move with quiet
and stealth he might even at this mo-
ment be holding her in his arms while
the body of Lu don, beneath his foot,
spoke eloqucntly of vengeance achieved.
But there was no time now for idle
self-reproaches.
He stumbled blndly forward, group
ing for he knew not what, till suddenly
the floor beneath him tilted and he shot
downward into darkness even more
nj m a 10 fol
body strike a smooth surface and he
realized that he was hurtling down
ward as through a polished chute while
from above there came the mocking
tones of taunting laugh and the voice
Of Lu- don screamed after him. RE
turn to thy father. o Dor -ul Otho !"
The ape-man came to sudden and
painful stop upon a rocky floor. Di-
rectly before him was an oval window
crossed by many bars. and beyond he
saw the moonlight playing on the waters
of the blue lake below. simultaneously
he was conscious of familiar odor in
the air of the chamber. which quick
glance revealed in the semi darkness as
of considerable proportion.
1t was the faint but unmistakable
odor of the gryf, and now Tarzan stood
silently listening. At first he detected
no sounds other than those of the city
that came to him through the window
overlooking the lake; but presently,
family as though from n distance, he
heard the shutting of padded feet along
n stone pavement, and as he listened he
was aware that the sound approached.
Nearer and nearer it came. and now
even the breathing of the beast was
audible. Evidently attracted by the
noise of his descent into its cavernous
retreat it was approaching to invcHti-
gate, He could not see it, but he knew
that it was not far distant, and then,
dCafcningly there rcvcrbcratcd through
those gloomy corridors the mad below
of the gryf
Aware of the poor eyesight of the
beast, and his own eyes now grown ac-
customcd to the darkness of the cavern,
the ape sought to elude the in
furiated charge which he well knew
Neither did he dare risk the chance of
experimenting upon this strange gryf
with the tactics of the Tor o don that
he had found so cfficacous upon that
other occasion when his life and liberty
had been the stakes for which he cast.
In many respects the conditions were
dissimilar. Before, in broad daylight.
he had been able to approach the gryf
under normal conditions in its natural
state. and the gryf itself was one that
he had seen subjected to the authority
of man, or at least Of manlike creature
but here he was confronted by an i'm
prisoned beast in the full swing of
furious charge and he had every reason
to suspect that this gryf might never
have felt the restraining influence of