ed he had feared to ask for
he knew that in the hearts of many lay a suspicion as to his
genuineness, but he determined that before he slept he would put the
question to Ko-tan, either directly or indirectly--as to whether there
was, or had been recently within the city of A-lur a female of the same
race as his.

As their evening meal was being served to them in the banquet hall of
Ko-tan's palace by a part of the army of black slaves upon whose
shoulders fell the burden of all the heavy and menial tasks of the
city, Tarzan noticed that there came to the eyes of one of the slaves
what was apparently an expression of startled recognition, as he looked
upon the ape-man for the first time in the banquet hall of Ko-tan. And
again later he saw the fellow whisper to another slave and nod his head
in his direction. The ape-man did not recall ever having seen this
Waz-don before and he was at a loss to account for an explanation of
the fellow's interest in him, and presently the incident was all but
forgotten.

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.

"Then there is but one to tell this to, for I have he