"It will mean death by torture if we are caught," explained the latter, "and a life of danger if we escape, for we shall have no place to go in Tuen-Baka and must live in caves and hide for the remainder of our lives."
"I shall have a place to go," said a Thobotian. "I can go back to Thobos, and I can show the rest of you a secret foot trail out of Tuen-Baka, that only we of Thobos know."
"Anything, even death," said Brian, "would be better than these filthy cages and the treatment we receive here."
"Well," exlaimed the man from Thobos, "why do we stand here talking? Will you lead us out, Herkuf?"
"Yes," said the former priest; "come with me."
He led them along the corridor that ran beneath the lake to the bottom of the elevator shaft. For a moment he fumbled at a great slab of lava that formed a part of one of the walls of the corridor beside the shaft. Presently it swung toward him, revealing the mouth of an opening as dark as Erebus.
"You'll have to feel your way along this corridor," he said. "There are many stairways, some of them winding; but there are no pitfalls and no side corridors. I shall go slowly."
After all were inside the mouth of the corridor, Herkuf pulled the slab back in place; then he took the lead; and the long, slow climb commenced.
"It commences to look as though the impossible were about to be achieved," said d'Arnot.
"And a few minutes ago it appeared so very impossible," replied Helen.
"And we owe it all to you, darling."
"We owe it to Zytheb," she corrected, "or to Brulor for selecting the Keeper of the Keys as my husband."
"Well, whatever it was, we sure got a break at last," said Brian, "and the Lord knows we had one coming to us."
It was still dark when the nine fugitives emerged into the open air at the end of the secret passage.
"Where are we?" asked Brian.
"We are on the hillside above Ashair," replied Herkuf, "and we shall breathe pure air and know freedom for a few hours at least."
"And which way do we go now?"
"We should head toward the upper end of the lake," said the Thobotian. "It is there that the trail begins that leads out of Tuen-Baka."
"Very well," said Herkuf, "come on! I know a canyon we can hide in if we don't want to travel by day. We can just about reach it by sunrise. As soon as they find we have escaped, they will search for us; so the farther away we can get and the more secluded the hiding place, the better off we shall be."
Chapter 21
IN NO DUNGEON had Magra been incarcerated, but in well appointed apartments with slave women to attend her. She wondered why she had been accorded these luxuries, until the door opened and King Herat entered; then she guessed the reason for her preferment. He wore an ingratiating smile and the self-satisfied look of a cat that has cornered a canary.
"You are being well treated and well served?" asked Herat .
"Yes, Your Majesty," replied Magra.
"I am glad; I wish you to be happy. You are my guest, you know," he explained.
"That is very kind of you. I hope you are treating my companions as generously."
"Scarcely," he replied, "though I have been very fair and lenient with them; but do you know why I am treating you so well?"
"Because the Thobotians are a kindly people, I suppose," she replied, "and their King a kindly king."
"Bosh!" exclaimed Herat . "It is because you are beau-tiful, my dear; and because you please me. Those who please a king may fair very well indeed." He came toward her. "I shall see that you live like a queen," he said, suddenly taking her into his arms.
"I shall not please you for long," she snapped, "nor will you ever be pleased by anything again if you don't get out of here and leave me alone," and as she spoke, she snatched his dagger from its sheath and pressed the point of it against his side.
"You she-devil!" he cried, as he jumped away. "You'll pay for this."
"I think not," said Magra, "but you shall, if you annoy me or try to punish me."
"You dare threaten me, slave!"
"I certainly do," Magra assured him; "and it is no idle threat, either."
"Huh!" sneered Herat . "What can you do, other than threaten?"
"I can see that the Queen learns of this. My slaves have told me that she has a high temper."
"You win," said Herat , "but let us be friends."
While King Herat visited Magra, Queen Mentheb lay on a couch in one of her apartments while slave women enameled her toenails and arranged her hair.
"That story is so old it smells," said the Queen, peevishly.
"I am sorry, Majesty," said the woman who had just sought to amuse Mentheb with a story; "but have you heard the one about the farmer's wife?"
"About a hundred times," snapped the Queen. "Every time Herat drinks too much wine he tells it. I am the only one who doesn't have to laugh at it every time he tells it. That is one of the advantages of being a queen."
"Oh, I know one, Your Majesty," exclaimed another of the women. "It seems there were two Romans—"
"Shut up!" commanded Mentheb. "You all bore me."
"Perhaps we could send for an entertainer to amuse Your Majesty," suggested another.
Mentheb thought for a moment before she replied. "Now, there is one whom it would amuse me to talk with," she said. "That man who killed the Asharian in the arena. He is a man, indeed. Mesnek, suppose you go fetch him!"
"But, Majesty, what of the King? Other men are not supposed to come to these apartments. Suppose the King should come while he was here?"
" Herat won't come here tonight," said the Queen. "He is gaming with his nobles. He told me so, and that he would not be here tonight. Go fetch this super-man, Mesnek; and hurry."
As Tarzan and Thetan talked in Thetan's apartments, a dark-skinned slave entered. "Most noble Thetan," he said, "Her Majesty, Queen Mentheb, commands the presence of him who slew the Asharian in the arena."
"Where?" asked Thetan.
"In Her Majesty's apartments."
"Wait outside the door to guide him to Her Majesty," Thetan directed the slave; and when the fellow had gone, he turned to Tarzan. "You'll have to go," he said, "but be very careful. Get away as quickly as you can, and while you are there be as discreet as you know how to be. Mentheb fancies that she is something of a siren, and Herat is insanely jealous. I think he is more fearful of being made a fool of than anything else."
"Thanks," said Tarzan; "I shall be discreet."
As Tarzan was ushered into the presence of Mentheb, she greeted him with a winning smile. "So you are the man who killed the famous killer of men," she said. "That was very amusing. I do not know when I have seen anything so amusing or so entertaining."
"It is amusing to see men die?" asked the ape-man.
"Oh, well, he was only an Asharian," said the Queen, with a shrug. "What are you called?"
"Tarzan."
"'Tarzan'! It is a nice name; I like it. Come and sit down beside me and tell me that you will not fight the lion. I wish you to live and remain here."
"I shall fight the lion," said Tarzan.
"But the lion will kill you; and I do not wish you to die, Tarzan." Her tone was almost a caress.
"The lion will not kill me," replied the ape-man. "If I kill him, will you intercede with the King in behalf of my friends?"
"It would be useless," she said. "The law is the law, and Herat is just. They will die anyway, but you must live and remain in Thobos." Suddenly she started up. " Isis !" she cried. "Here comes the King! Hide!"
Tarzan remained standing where he was with arms folded, making no move to hide; and there the King found him when he entered the apartment.
Herat 's face clouded with an angry scowl as he saw the ape-man. "What means this?" he demanded.