The ape-man was elated. He had doubted that he could control the
beast should it take it into its head to charge a victim and had
intended abandoning it before they reached the Kor-ul-ja. Now he
altered his plans--they would ride to the very village of Om-at
upon the gryf, and the Kor-ul-ja would have food for conversation
for many generations to come. Nor was it the theatric instinct
of the ape-man alone that gave favor to this plan. The element of
Jane's safety entered into the matter for he knew that she would
be safe from man and beast alike so long as she rode upon the back
of Pal-ul-don's most formidable creature.
As they proceeded slowly in the direction of the Kor-ul-ja, for the
natural gait of the gryf is far from rapid, a handful of terrified
warriors came panting into A-lur, spreading a weird story of the
Dor-ul-Otho, only none dared call him the Dor-ul-Otho aloud. Instead
they spoke of him as Tarzan-jad-guru and they told of meeting him
mounted upon a mighty gryf beside the beautiful stranger woman whom
Ko-tan would have made queen of Pal-ul-don. This story was brought
to Lu-don who caused the warriors to be hailed to his presence,
when he questioned them closely until finally he was convinced that
they spoke the truth and when they had told him the direction in
which the two were traveling, Lu-don guessed that they were on their
way to Ja-lur to join Ja-don, a contingency that he felt must be
prevented at any cost.
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