Part 5 (1/2)
”It is An-un, father of Pan-at-lee, and his two sons,” exclai us if we do not hurry,” he added looking at On
”Co rapidly to intercept the three fugitives The others followed him
”Five friends!” shouted Om-at as An-un and his sons discovered theitives scarcely paused as these unexpected reinforcements joined thelances
”The Kor-ul-lul are ht; but first we must warn Es-sat and our people”
”Yes,” said Om-at, ”we must warn our people”
”Es-sat is dead,” said In-sad
”Who is chief?” asked one of An-un's sons
”Om-at,” replied O-dan
”It is well,” cried An-un ”Pan-at-lee said that you would coht behind thee thereat cry They pursued but three and when they see eight charging upon them they will think that many men have come to do battle They will believe that there are more even than they see and then one who is sill have tie and warn your people”
”It is well,” said Om-at ”Id-an, you are swift-carry word to the warriors of Kor-ul-JA that we fight the Kor-ul-lul upon the ridge and that Ab-on shall send a hundred men”
Id-an, the son of An-un, sped swiftly toward the cliff-dwellings of the Kor-ul-JA while the others charged the onco and falling in a certain griht of the reinforce apparently for those behind to catch up with thereat a force confronted them The leaders, swifter runners than their fellows, perhaps, were far in advance while the balance of their nued from the brush; and now as Om-at and his companions fell upon them with a ferocity born of necessity they fell back, so that when their coht of them they appeared to be in full rout The natural result was that the others turned and fled
Encouraged by this first success O valiantly upon his either side, and loud and terrifying were the savage yells hich they pursued the fleeing eneether as to iht as to hide the members of the party from one another when they became separated by even a few yards The result was that Tarzan, always swift and always keen for battle, was soon pursuing the enemy far in the lead of the others-a lack of prudence which was to prove his undoing
The warriors of Kor-ul-lul, doubtless as valorous as their foeic position in the brush, nor were they long in guessing that the number of their pursuers was fewer than their own They made a stand then where the brush was densest-an ambush it was, and into this ran Tarzan of the Apes They tricked him neatly Yes, sad as is the narration of it, they tricked the wily jungle lord But then they were fighting on their own ground, every foot of which they knew as you know your front parlor, and they were following their own tactics, of which Tarzan knew nothing
A single black warrior appeared to Tarzan a laggard in the rear of the retreating ene he lured Tarzan on At last he turned at bay confronting the ape-ed hi brush Instantly, but too late, the giant Tarani realized his peril There flashed before hiret surged through hiht no longer hope, for though sheof her lord the fact of it must inevitably seal her dooht there enveloped him a blind frenzy of hatred for these creatures who dared thwart his purpose and rowl he threw hi the heavy club from the creature's hand as if he had been a little child, and with his left fist backed by the weight and sinew of his giant fra blow to the center of the Waz-don's face-a blow that crushed the bones and dropped the fellow in his tracks Then he swung upon the others with their fallen cohty, unmerciful blows that drove down their oeapons until that wielded by the ape-man was splintered and shattered On either hand they fell before his cudgel; so rapid the delivery of his blows, so catlike his recovery that in the first few moments of the battle he seemed invulnerable to their attack; but it could not last-he was outnu came from a thrown club It struck hi and then like a great pine beneath the woodsman's ax he crashed to earth
Others of the Kor-ul-lul had rushed to engage the balance of O at a short distance and it was evident that the Kor-ul-JA were falling slowly back and as they fell O one: ”Tarzan the Terrible! Tarzan the Terrible!”
”Jad-guru, indeed,” repeated one of the Kor-ul-lul rising frouru! He orse than that”
5
In the Kor-ul-GRYF
As Tarzan fell a his enee of the morass that encircles Pal-ul-don Naked he was except for a loin cloth and three belts of cartridges, two of which passed over his shoulders, crossing upon his chest and back, while the third encircled his waist Slung to his back by its leathern sling-strap was an Enfield, and he carried too a long knife, a bow and a quiver of arrows He had coe lands, menaced by fierce beasts and fiercer e was the ammunition that had filled his belts the day that he set out