Part 10 (1/2)

Moving as only the jungle-wise can e enough to adrass; he was but a white shadow of a man

There was no scarcity of s, but all were barred by slender columns of stone To attempt to force them would be a noisy method at best If he meant to find and rescue Dylara healone For all his herculean strength he would be helpless against an entire city

He was nearing one corner of the building when his eyes caught sight of a narrow slit-like break in the stone just above the level of his head

There was no indication of bars, and as it appeared large enough to adht the lip and drew himself up and within

The awful stench that sround He had no way of knowing, of course, that he had stumbled across a refuse chute; it was from this vent that waste was thrown into containers below

Holding his breath, he cla stone, thrust away a wooden screen and stood upright

He was in co slowly forward, his outthrust hands struck a wooden panel which proved to be a door A second later he had solved the latch and stepped through

Here, light cah several s He was in the palace kitchens, although his limited experience did not enable him to identify them as such Across the room was a closed door; he directed his steps toward it

Silently the door swung open, and the cave-e room, occupied by a massive table and numerous backless stools

Tharn took in all that with a single swift glance So off the roouards- hastily about, they passed silently through to the kitchens

As the last one disappeared fro table and vanished into the roos it, too, was e each successive chan of human life

He was determined not to quit this place until completely satisfied Dylara was held elsewhere The task, not easy at best, would prove even uards on the lookout for an intruder

Stronger by the e race of people, ere capable of erecting their own caves of stone, who could e weapons to throw tiny spears with unbelievable accuracy, whose hands could shape such a variety of articles--were sadly lacking in the qualities without which Tharn could never have arrived at young th from him and yet remain unaware of his nearness, was inconceivable to the man of the caves Were their noses ornaments, he wondered, that they could not sense a hidden foe?

Were their wits so dull they could pass up so obvious a hiding place as he had chosen?

No wonder that they had erected a great wall between thele! His lip curled with contee of Sadu

By this tireat hall inside the palace , its cover reht in a brilliant cascade of light that left no shadows or darkened corners

Froantic staircase of stone to the second floor Tharn, reasoning that the palace sleeping quarters would be above, stole warily toward the stairway

And then a horde of armed men broke unexpectedly fro Tharn, bore down upon hi a chorus of exultant yells as they caht Tharn to the steps, up which he fled with all the speed of Jalok, the panther Three spears hurled with senseless enthusiasm, fell short of their intended mark But the shouts of alar other inhabitants of the building

From somewhere above, Tharn heard a door sla feet in the upper corridor to his left Hence thethe still deserted hallway, his naked feet soundless on the bare stone

Because of the fugitive's silent approach, four guards, who stood facing in the opposite direction, did not hear him as he rounded a turn of the corridor and caht of those backs, Tharn slid to a stop and turned to retrace his steps