Ko-tan was surprised and inwardly disgusted to discover that his
godly guest had no desire to gorge himself upon rich foods and
that he would not even so much as taste the villainous brew of the
Ho-don. To Tarzan the banquet was a dismal and tiresome affair,
since so great was the interest of the guests in gorging themselves
with food and drink that they had no time for conversation, the
only vocal sounds being confined to a continuous grunting which,
together with their table manners reminded Tarzan of a visit he
had once made to the famous Berkshire herd of His Grace, the Duke
of Westminster at Woodhouse, Chester.
One by one the diners succumbed to the stupefying effects of the
liquor with the result that the grunting gave place to snores, so
presently Tarzan and the slaves were the only conscious creatures
in the banquet hall.
Rising, the ape-man turned to a tall black who stood behind him.
"I would sleep," he said, "show me to my apartment."
As the fellow conducted him from the chamber the slave who had
shown surprise earlier in the evening at sight of him, spoke again
at length to one of his fellows. The latter cast a half-frightened
look in the direction of the departing ape-man. "If you are right,"
he said, "they should reward us with our liberty, but if you are
wrong, O Jad-ben-Otho, what will be our fate?"
"But I am not wrong!" cried the other.
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