"And why not?" inquired Tarzan.
"This may be another trap for you."
The ape-man shrugged. "It is quite possible, but I cannot remain cooped up in hiding. I should like to see what a grand hunt is; I have heard the term often since I came to Cathne. Who is Pindes? I do not recall him."
"He was an officer of the guard when Erot became the queen's favorite, but through Erot he was dismissed. He is not a bad fellow but weak and easily influenced; however he must hate Erot, and so I think you have nothing to fear from him."
"I have nothing to fear from anyone," Tarzan assured "Perhaps "you think not, but be on guard."
"I am always on guard; had I not been I should have been dead long ago."
"Your self-complacency may be your undoing," growled Gemnon testily.
Tarzan laughed. "I appreciate both danger and my own limitations, but I cannot let fear rob me of my liberty and pleasures of life. Fear is to be more dreaded than death. You are afraid, Erot is afraid, Nemone is afraid; and are all unhappy. Were I afraid, I should be unhappy but no safer. I prefer to be simply cautious.
And by the way, way, speaking of caution, Nemone instructed Me to tell you to take me from the palace and keep me in your father's house. She says the palace is no safe place for me. I really think that it is M'duze who is after me."
"M'duze and Erot and Tomos," said Gemnon; "there is a triumvirate of greed and malice and duplicity that I should hate to have upon my trail."
At his quarters, Gemnon gave orders that his and Tarzan's belongings be moved to the house of his father while the two men were hunting; then they went to the avenue where they found Xerstle and Pindes awaiting them. The latter was a man of about thirty, rather good looking but with a weak face and eyes that invariably dropped from a direct gaze. He met Tarzan with great cordiality, and as the four men walked along the main avenue of the city toward the eastern gate he was most affable.
Beyond the eastern gate an open parklike plain stretched for a short distance to the forest. Near the gate four stalwart slaves held two lions in leash, while a fifth man, naked but for a dirty loin- cloth, squatted upon the ground a short distance away.
As the four hunters approached the party, Xerstle explained to Tarzan that the leashed beasts were his hunting lions, and as the ape- man's observant eyes ran over the five men who were to accompany them on the hunt he recognized the stalwart black seated upon the ground apart as the man he had seen upon the auction block in the market- place. Xerstle approached the fellow and spoke briefly with him, evidently giving him orders.
When Xerstle had finished, the black started off at a trot across the plain in the direction of the forest. Everyone watched his progress.
"Why is he running ahead?" asked Tarzan. "He will frighten away the quarry."
Pindes laughed. "He is the quarry."
"You mean "demanded Tarzan with a scowl.
"That this is a grand hunt," cried Xerstle, "where we hunt man, the grandest quarry."
"What happens if you do not get him? Is he free then?"
"I should say not; not if we can capture him again cried Xerstle. "Slaves cost too much money to be lightly thrown away like that."
When the native reached the forest, Xerstle spoke a word of command to the keepers and they unleashed the two great beasts. The lions bounded away in pursuit of the quarry.
Halfway to the forest the lions settled down to a slower gait, and the hunters commenced gradually to overhaul them. Xerstle and Pindes appeared excited, far more excited than the circumstances of the hunt warranted; Gemnon was silent and thoughtful; Tarzan was disgusted and bored. But before they reached the forest his interest was aroused, for a plan had occurred to him whereby he might derive some pleasure from the day's sport.
The wood, which the hunters presently entered a short distance behind the lions, was of extraordinary beauty. The trees were very old and gave evidence of having received the intelligent care of man, as did the floor of the forest. There was little or no deadwood in the trees, and only occasional clumps of underbrush upon the ground between them. As far as Tarzan could see among the boles of the trees, the aspect was that of a well-kept park rather than of a natural wood, and in answer to a comment he made upon this fact Gemnon explained that for ages his people had given regular attention to the conservation of this forest from the city of gold to the Pass of the Warriors.
Once within the forest, Tarzan dropped gradually to the near of the party, and then, when none was looking, swung the branches of a tree. Plain to his nostrils had been the scent spoor of the quarry from the beginning of the chase and now the ape-man knew, possibly even better than the lions, the direction of the hopeless flight of the man.
Swinging through the trees in a slight detour that Carried him around and beyond the hunters without revealing his desertion to them, Tarzan sped through the middle terraces of the forest as only the Lord of the Jungle can. Stronger and stronger in his nostrils waxed the scent of the quarry; behind him came the lions and the hunters.
And he knew that he must act quickly, for they were no great distance in his rear. A grim smile lighted his gray eyes as he considered the denouement of the project he had undertaken.
Presently he saw the native running through the forest just ahead of him. The fellow was moving at a dogged trot, casting an occasional glance behind him.
Tarzan was directly above the man now, and he spoke to him in the language of his people. "Take to the trees," he called down.
The native looked up, but he did not stop. "Who are you?" he demanded.
"An enemy of your master, who would help you escape," replied the ape-man.
"There is no escape; if I take to the trees they will stone me down."
"They will not find you; I will see to that."
"Why should you help me?" demanded the man, but he stopped now and looked up again, searching for the man whose voice came down to him in a tongue that gave him confidence in the speaker.
"I have told you that I am an enemy of your master."
Now the native saw the bronzed figure of the giant above him. "You are a white man!" he exclaimed. "You are trying to trick me. Why should a white man help me?" "Hurry!" admonished Tarzan, "or it will be too late, and no one can help you.
For just an instant longer the native hesitated; then be leaped for a low-hanging branch and swung himself up into the tree as Tarzan came down to meet him.
15. THE PLOT THAT FAILED
Swiftly, the giant of the jungle bore the Galla slave toward the east where, beyond the forest, loomed the mountains that hemmed Onthar upon that side. For a mile he carried him through the trees and then swung lightly to the ground.
"If the lions ever pick up your trail now," he said, it will not be until long after you have reached the mountains and safety. But do not delay —go now.
The man fell upon his knees and took the hand of his savor in his own. "I am Hafim," he said. "If I could serve you, I would die for you. Who are you?"
"I am Tarzan of the Apes. Now go your way and lose no time."
One more favor," begged the native.
"What?"
"I have a brother. He, too, was captured by these when they captured me. He is a slave in the gold mines south of Cathne. His name is Niaka. If you should to the gold mines, tell him that Hafim has escaped."
"I shall tell him. Now go."
Silently the native disappeared among the boles of the Forest trees, and Tarzan sprang again into the branches and Swung rapidly back in the direction of the hunters. When he reached them, dropping to the ground and approaching them from behind, they were clustered near the spot at which Hafim had taken to the trees.