"The she-devil!" he muttered; "but she shall pay, she shall
pay--ah, Jad-ben-Otho; how she shall pay for the trick she has
played upon Lu-don!"
He crawled through the window and climbed easily downward to the
ground. Should he pursue Ja-don and the woman, chancing an encounter
with the fierce chief, or bide his time until treachery and intrigue
should accomplish his design? He chose the latter solution, as
might have been expected of such as he.
Going to his quarters he summoned several of his priests--those
who were most in his confidence and who shared his ambitions for
absolute power of the temple over the palace--all men who hated
Ko-tan.
"The time has come," he told them, "when the authority of the temple
must be placed definitely above that of the palace. Ko-tan must
make way for Mo-sar, for Ko-tan has defied your high priest. Go
then, Pan-sat, and summon Mo-sar secretly to the temple, and you
others go to the city and prepare the faithful warriors that they
may be in readiness when the time comes."
For another hour they discussed the details of the coup d'etat that
was to overthrow the government of Pal-ul-don. One knew a slave
who, as the signal sounded from the temple gong, would thrust a
knife into the heart of Ko-tan, for the price of liberty. Another
held personal knowledge of an officer of the palace that he could
use to compel the latter to admit a number of Lu-don's warriors
to various parts of the palace.
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