The king looked apprehensively to right and left.
He cast terrified glances at the ape-man and then raising his face
and turning his eyes upward he cried: "Jad-ben-Otho be my witness
that I do not this thing of my own accord." There was a moment's
silence which was again broken by Ko-tan. "Seize him," he cried to
the warriors about him, "for Lu-don, the high priest, swears that
he is an impostor."
To have offered armed resistance to this great concourse of warriors
in the very heart of the palace of their king would have been worse
than fatal. Already Tarzan had come far by his wits and now that
within a few hours he had had his hopes and his suspicions partially
verified by the vague admissions of O-lo-a he was impressed with
the necessity of inviting no mortal risk that he could avoid.
"Stop!" he cried, raising his palm against them. "What is the
meaning of this?"
"Lu-don claims he has proof that you are not the son of Jad-ben-Otho,"
replied Ko-tan. "He demands that you be brought to the throneroom
to face your accusers. If you are what you claim to be none knows
better than you that you need have no fear in acquiescing to his
demands, but remember always that in such matters the high priest
commands the king and that I am only the bearer of these commands,
not their author."
Tarzan saw that Ko-tan was not entirely convinced of his duplicity
as was evidenced by his palpable design to play safe.
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