Part 6 (2/2)
”When it leaves go of you,” it said, ”as it will presently to defend itself, run quickly behind s you descended from the cliff top Watch from there If I a; if I am not I will come to you there I am Om-at's friend and yours”
The last words took the keen edge from Pan-at-lee's terror; but she did not understand How did this strange creature know her nas by a certain cave? It must, then, have been here when she came Pan-at-lee was puzzled
”Who are you?” she asked, ”and from whence do you come?”
”I am Tarzan,” he replied, ”and just now I caund of Kor-ul-JA! What wild talk was this? She would have questioned hi the Tor-o-don and the latter was screa so loudly as to drown the sound of her voice And then it did what the strange creature had said that it would do-it released its hold upon her hair as it prepared to charge Charge it did and in those close quarters there was no roos Instantly the two beasts locked in deadly e the other's throat Pan-at-lee watched, taking no advantage of the opportunity to escape which their preoccupation gave her She watched and waited, for into her savage little brain had coe creature who had unlocked her heart with those four words-”I am Om-at's friend!” And so she waited, with drawn knife, the opportunity to do her bit in the vanquishi+ng of the Tor-o-don That the newcomer could do it unaided she well knew to be beyond the realms of possibility, for she kneell the prowess of the beastlike ht There were not many of them in Pal-ul-don, but what few there ere a terror to the women of the Waz-don and the Ho-don, for the old Tor-o-don bulls roamed theseasons and woe betide the women who fell in their paths
With his tail the Tor-o-don sought one of Tarzan's ankles, and finding it, tripped hiile was the ape- he twisted the beast beneath him, so that Tarzan fell on top and now the tail that had tripped hiht his throat as had the tail of In-tan, the Kor-ul-lul In the effort of turning his antagonist's body during the fall Tarzan had had to relinquish his knife that he y body with both hands and now the weapon lay out of reach at the very edge of the recess Both hands were occupied for the ht to seize hi his throat within reach of his foe's for its deadly hold with a formidable persistence that would not be denied
Pan-at-lee hovered about, breathless, her dagger ready, but there was no opening that did not also endanger Tarzan, so constantly were the two duelists changing their positions Tarzan felt the tail slowly but surely insinuating itself about his neck though he had drawn his head down between the muscles of his shoulders in an effort to protect this vulnerable part The battle seeainst which he strove would have been a fair orilla And knowing this he suddenly exerted a single super-huiant hands and with the swiftness of a striking snake buried his fangs in the jugular of the Tor-o-don At the same instant the creature's tail coiled about his own throat and then co bodies as each sought to dislodge the fatal hold of the other, but the acts of the ape-uided by a hu bodies rolled in the direction that Tarzan wished-toward the edge of the recess
The choking tail had shut the air fro lips were parted and his tongue protruding; and now his brain reeled and his sight grew dioal and a quick hand shot out to seize the knife that now lay within reach as the two bodies tottered perilously upon the brink of the chasth the ape-man drove home the blade-once, twice, thrice, and then all went black before him as he felt himself, still in the clutches of the Tor-o-don, topple from the recess
Fortunate it was for Tarzan that Pan-at-lee had not obeyed his injunction to ed the Tor-o-don, for it was to this fact that he owed his life Close beside the struggling for the brief moments of the terrific clier to Tarzan hich the e over the outer edge of the niche she seized the ape- herself prone upon the rocky floor The muscles of the Tor-o-don relaxed in death with the last thrust of Tarzan's knife and with its hold upon the ape-e below
It ith infinite difficulty that Pan-at-lee retained her hold upon the ankle of her protector, but she did so and then, slowly, she sought to drag the dead weight back to the safety of the niche This, however, was beyond her strength and she could but hold on tightly, hoping that soest itself before her powers of endurance failed She wondered if, after all, the creature was already dead, but that she could not bring herself to believe-and if not dead how long it would be before he regained consciousness If he did not regain it soon he never would regain it, that she knew, for she felt her fingers nu, slowly, slowly, froained consciousness He could not knohat power upheld hi its hold upon his ankle Within easy reach of his hands were two pegs and these he seized upon just as Pan-at-lee's fingers slipped fro precipitated into the gorge-only his great strength saved his His first thought was of his foe Where was he? Waiting above there to finish hihtened face of Pan-at-lee appeared over the threshold of the recess
”You live?” she cried
”Yes,” replied Tarzan ”Where is the shaggy one?”
Pan-at-lee pointed doard ”There,” she said, ”dead”
”Good!” exclai to her side ”You are unharmed?” he asked
”You came just in time,” replied Pan-at-lee; ”but who are you and how did you know that I was here and what do you know of Om-at and where did you cound?”
”Wait, wait,” cried Tarzan; ”one at a time My, but you are all alike-the shes of the tribe of Kerchak, the ladies of England, and their sisters of Pal-ul-don Have patience and I will try to tell you all that you wish to know Four of us set out with Om-at from Kor-ul-JA to search for you We were attacked by the Kor-ul-lul and separated I was taken prisoner, but escaped Again I stu the su up after you I was coate when I heard your screaund of Kor-ul-JA,” she insisted ”Es-sat is gund”
”Es-sat is dead,” explained the ape-und O you He found Es-sat in your cave and killed hiirl, ”Es-sat caolden breastplates and escaped”
”And a lion pursued you,” continued Tarzan, ”and you leaped from the cliff into Kor-ul-lul, but why you were not killed is beyondbeyond you?” exclaimed Pan-at-lee ”How could you know that a lion pursued me and that I leaped from the cliff and not know that it was the pool of deep water below that saved me?”
”I would have known that, too, had not the Kor-ul-lul co upon your trail But noould ask you a question-by what naht?”
”It was a Tor-o-don,” she replied ”I have seen but one before They are terrible creatures with the cunning of man and the ferocity of a beast Great indeed azed at him in open admiration