He had little fear of immediate apprehension here since he believed
that all the priests of the temple had assembled in the court above
to witness his trial and his humiliation and his death, and with
this idea firmly implanted in his mind he rounded the turn of the
corridor and came face to face with an under priest, his grotesque
headdress concealing whatever emotion the sight of Tarzan may have
aroused.
However, Tarzan had one advantage over the masked votary
of Jad-ben-Otho in that the moment he saw the priest he knew his
intention concerning him, and therefore was not compelled to delay
action. And so it was that before the priest could determine on
any suitable line of conduct in the premises a long, keen knife
had been slipped into his heart.
As the body lunged toward the floor Tarzan caught it and snatched
the headdress from its shoulders, for the first sight of the creature
had suggested to his ever-alert mind a bold scheme for deceiving
his enemies.
The headdress saved from such possible damage as it must have
sustained had it fallen to the floor with the body of its owner,
Tarzan relinquished his hold upon the corpse, set the headdress
carefully upon the floor and stooping down severed the tail of the
Ho-don close to its root. Near by at his right was a small chamber
from which the priest had evidently just emerged and into this
Tarzan dragged the corpse, the headdress, and the tail.
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