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Chapter 18 · Tarzan and the Lost Empire

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  Chapter eighteen of Tarzan and the Lost Empire by Edgar Risboroughs. This LibriVox recording
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  is in the public domain. Tarzan and the Lost Empire, chapter eighteen.
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  In the Dungeons of Alitis Augustus in Castro Mari, Eric van Harbin and Melius
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  Leppis awaited the triumph of Alidas Augustus and the opening of the games upon the
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  morrow. We have nothing to expect but death, said Leppis, gloomily.
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  Our friends are in disfavor, or in prison or in exile. The jealousy
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  of Alidas Augustus against his nephew Cassius Hasta has been invoked against us by Fulvus
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  Fupus to serve his own aims, and the fault is mine, said Van
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  Harbin. Do not reproach yourself, replied his friend, that Favonia gave you
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  her love cannot be held against you. It is only the jealous and scheming
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  mind of Pupus that is to my love, has brought sorrow to Favonia and
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  disaster to her friends, said Van Herban. And here am I chained to
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  a stone wall, unable to strike a blow in her defense or theirs ah
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  if Cassius hasta were but here, exclaimed Leppis, there is a man with
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  pupus adopted by Caesar. The whole city would arise against Validus Augustus if Cassia's
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  hasta were but here to lead us. And as they conversed sadly and hopelessly
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  in the dungeons of Castru Mari, noble guests gathered in the throne room of
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  Subladas. In the city of Castra Sanguinarius, at the opposite end of the
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  valley, there were senators in rich robes, and high officers of the court
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  and of the army, resplendent in jewels and embroidered linen, who with their
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  wives and daughters, formed a gorgeous and glittering company in the pillared chamber.
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  For Fastus, the son of Caesar, was to wed the daughter of Dion
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  Splendidus. That evening, in the avenue beyond the palace gates, a great
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  crowd had assembled, a multitude of people, pushing and surging to and fro
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  but pressing ever upon the gates up to the very pikes of the legionaries.
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  It was a noisy crowd, noisy with the deep throated roar of anger down
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  with the tyrant. Death to Sublatis, death to Fastus was the burden of
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  their hymn of hate. The menacing notes filled the palace, reaching to the
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  throne room, but the haughty patricians pretended not to hear the voice of the
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  cattle. Why should they fear had not Sublattus distributed donations to all the troops
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  that very day, would not the pikes of the legionaries protect the source of
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  their gratuity. It would serve the ungrateful, populous rite if Sublatas set the
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  legions upon them, For had he not given them such a pageant and such
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  a week of games as Castro Sanguinarius never had known before. For the rebbel,
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  without their contempt, knew no bounds now that they were within the palace
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  of the Emperor. But they did not speak among themselves of the fact that
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  most of them had entered by a back gate. After the crowd had upset
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  the litter of a noble senator and spilled its passengers into the dust of the
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  avenue. With pleasure, they anticipated the banquet that would follow the marriage ceremony.
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  And while they laughed and chattered over the gossip of the weak, the
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  bride sat stark and cold in an upper chamber of the palace, surrounded by
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  her female slaves and comforted by her mother. It shall not be, she
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  said, I shall never be the wife of Fastus, and in the folds
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  of her flowing robe, she clutched the hilt of a slim dagger. In
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  the corridor beneath the Colosseum, Tarzan marshaled his forces. He summoned Leukiedi and
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  a chief of one of the outer villages, who had been a fellow prisoner
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  with him, and with whom he had fought shoulder to shoulder in the Games.
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  Go to the port of Pretoria, he said, and ask Appius Aplosus
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  to pass you through the city wall as a favor to Maximus Proclarus. Go
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  then among the villages and gather warriors. Tell them that if they would be
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  avenged upon Caesar and free to live their own lives in their own way,
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  they must rise now and join the citizens who are ready to revolt and destroy
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  the tyrant hasten. There is no time to be lost. Gather them quickly
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  and lead them into the city by the port of Pretoria, straight to the
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  palace of Caesar, warning their followers to silence. Tarzan and Maximus Proclarus led
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  them in the direction of the barracks of the Colosseum Guard, where were quartered
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  the men of Perclarus's own cohort. It was a motley throng of near naked
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  black warriors from the outer villages, black slaves from the city, and brown
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  half castes, among whom were murderers, thieves, and professional gladiators. Proclarus
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  and Hasta a Metellus and tar And led them, and swarming close to Tarzan
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  were Gayat, Zutho and Goyad and their three fellow apes. Oganyo was certain
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  now that Tarzan was a demon, for who else might command the hairy men
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  of the woods. Doubtless in each of these fierce bodies presided the ghost of
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  some great Bagigo chief. If little ten Khima had been the ghost of his
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  grandfather, then these must be the ghosts of very great men. Indeed,
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  Oganyo did not press too closely to the savage allies, nor as a matter
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  of fact, did any of the others. Not even the most ferocious of
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  the gladiators at the barracks, Maximus Proclaius knew to whom to speak and what
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  to say. For mutiny had long been rife in the ranks of the legionaries.
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  Only their affection for some of their officers, among whom was Proclarius,
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  had kept them thus long in leash, and now they welcomed the opportunity to
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  follow the young patrician to the very gates of Caesar's palace. Following a plan
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  that had been decided upon, Proclarus dispatched a detachment under an officer to the
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  port of Bytaria, with orders to take it by force if they could not
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  persuade Appias Oplosus to join them and throw it open to the warriors from the
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  outer villages. When they should arrive along the broad via Principalace, overhung by
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  giant trees that formed the tunnel of Darkness. In the night, Tarzan of
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  the Apes led his followers toward the palace in the wake of a few torch
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  bearers who lighted the way. As they approached their goal. Some one upon
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  the outskirts of the crowd pressing the palace guard, was attracted by the light
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  of their torches, and quickly the wereb was passed that Caesar had sent for
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  reinforcements that more troops were coming. The temper of the crowd, already inflamed,
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  was not improved as this news spread quickly through its ranks. A few
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  following a self appointed leader, moved forward menacingly to meet the newcomers. Who
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  comes, shouted one. It is I Tarzan of the apes, replied the
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  ape man. The shout that went up in response to this declaration proved that
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  the fickle populace had not as yet turned against him. Within the palace,
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  the cries of the people brought a scowl to the face of Caesar and a
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  sneer to many a patrician lip. But their reaction might have been far different
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  had they known the cause of the elation of the mob. Why are you
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  here, cried voices, What are you going to do? We have come
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  to rescue Delecta from the arms of Fastus and to drag the tyrant from the
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  throne of Castris Sanguinarius. Roars of approval greeted the announcement death to the tyrant.
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  Down with the palace guards. Kill them, kill them, rose from
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  a thousand lips. The crowd pushed forward. The officer of the guard,
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  seeing the reinforcements, among which were many legionaries, ordered his men to all
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  back within the palace grounds and close and bar the gate. Nor did they
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  succeed in accomplishing this an instant too soon, for as the bolts were shot,
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  the crowd hurled itself upon the stout barriers of iron and oak. A
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  pale faced messenger hastened to the throne room and to Caesar's side. The people
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  have risen, he whispered hoarsely, and many soldiers and gladiators and slaves have
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  joined them. They are throwing themselves against the gates, which cannot hold for
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  long. Caesar arose and paced nervously to and fro, and presently he paused,
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  and summoned officers, dispatch messengers to every gate and every barracks. He
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  ordered some in the troops to the last man that may be spared from the
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  gates. Order them to fall upon the brable and kill. Let them kill
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  until no citizen remains alive in the streets of Castra Sanguinarius, Take no prisoners.
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  As word finds its way through a crowd, as though by some strange
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  telepathic means, so the knowledge soon became common that Seblettus had ordered every legionary
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  in the city to the palace with instructions to destroy the revolutionaries to the last
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  man. The people, encouraged by the presence of the legionaries led by Perclarus,
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  had renewed their assaults upon the gates, and though many were piped through
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  its bars, their bodies were dragged away by their friends, and others took
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  their places, so that the gates sagged and bent beneath their numbers. Yet
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  they held, and Tarzan saw that they might hold for long, or at
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  least long enough to permit the arrival of the reinforcements, that if they remained
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  loyal to Caesar, might overcome this undisciplined mob. With ease. Gathering around
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  him, some of those he knew best, Tarzan explained a new plan that
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  was greeted with exclamations of approval, and summoning the apes, he moved down
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  the dark avenue, followed by Maximus Proclarus, Cassius, Hasta, Cecilius,
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  Mattellus, umpingu and a half dozen of Castra Sanguinarius's most famous gladiators. The
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  wedding of Faestus and Delecta was to take place upon the steps of Caesar's throne.
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  The High priest of the temple stood facing the audience, and just below
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  him, and at one side fastest waited, while slowly up the center of
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  the long chamber came the bride, followed by the vestal virgins who tended the
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  temple's sacred fires. Delecta was pale, but she did not falter as she
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  moved slowly forward to her doom. There were many who whispered that she looked
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  the empress already, So noble was her mien, so stately her carriage,
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  they could not see the slim dagger clutched in her right hand, beneath the
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  flowing bridal robes. Up the aisle she moved, but she did not halt
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  before the priest, as fast as had done, and as she should have
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  done, but passed him, and mounting the first steps toward the throne,
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  she halted, facing sublatis. The people of cas ext to Sanguinarius have been
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  taught through all the ages that they may look to Caesar for protection. She
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  said. Caesar not only makes the law, he is the law. He
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  is either the personification of justice, or he is a tyrant, which sabladis
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  are you Caesar flushed? What mad whim? Is this child, he demanded,
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  Who has set you to speak such words to Caesar. I have not
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  been prompted, replied the girl wearily. It is my last hope, and
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  though I knew beforehand that it was futile, I felt that I must not
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  cast it aside as useless before putting it to the test. Come, come,
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  snapped Caesar. Enough of this foolishness. Take your place before the priest
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  and repeat your marriage vows. You cannot refuse me, cried the girl,
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  stubbornly. I appeal to Caesar, which is my right as a citizen of
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  Rome, the mother city that we have never seen, but whose right to
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  citizenship has been handed down to us from our ancient sires. Unless the spark
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  of freedom is to be denied us, you cannot refuse me that right,
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  Sai bladys. The Emperor paled and then flushed with anger. Come to me
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  tomorrow, he said, you shall have whatever you wish. If you do
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  not hear me now, there will be no tomorrow. She said. I
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  demand my rights now, well, demanded Caesar coldly, What favor do you
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  seek? I seek no favor, replied Delecta. I seek the right to
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  know if the thing for which I am paying this awful price has been done
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  as it was promised. What do you mean, demanded Subladas. What proof
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  do you wish? I wish to see Maximus Proclarus here, alive and free,
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  replied the girl, before I pledge my troth to fast us. That,
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  as you well know, was the price of my promise to wed him.
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  Caesar arose angrily. That cannot be, he said, Oh yes,
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  it can be, cried a voice from the balcony at the sight of the
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  chamber, for Maximus Proclarus stands just behind me. End of Chapter eighteen.