Adventure stories; Fantasy fiction; Tarzan (Fictitious character) -- Fiction
As they halted before the entrance to this room a white-tunicked slave
came forward in response to the summons of one of the warriors of the
escort.
"A green tunic for this fellow from Trohanadalmakus," he ordered.
"Whose insignia upon his back?" inquired the slave.
"He belongs to Zoanthrohago," replied the warrior.
The slave ran quickly to one of the shelves from which he selected a
green tunic. From another he took two large, wooden blocks upon the
face of each of which was carved a different device. These he covered
evenly with some sort of paint or ink, slipped a smooth board inside
the tunic, placed one of the dies face downward upon the cloth, tapped
it smartly with a wooden mallet several times and then repeated the
operation with the other die upon the reverse side of the tunic. When
he handed the garment to Tarzan with the instructions to don it the
ape-man saw that it bore a device in black upon the breast and another
upon the back, but he could not read them--his education had not
progressed thus far.
The slave then gave him a pair of sandals and when he had strapped
these to his feet the warriors motioned him on down the corridor,
which, as they proceeded, he was aware changed rapidly in appearance.
The rough bowlder walls were plastered now and decorated with colored
paintings portraying, most often, battle scenes and happenings of the
hunt, usually framed in panels bordered in intricate, formal designs.
Vivid colorings predominated. Many-hued candles burned in frequent
niches. Gorgeously trapped warriors were numerous. The green-tunicked
slave almost disappeared, while the white tunics of the higher caste
bondsmen were of richer material and the slaves themselves often
resplendently trapped with jewels and fine leather.
The splendor of the scene, the brilliancy of the lighting, increased
until the corridor came to an abrupt end before two massive doors of
hammered gold in front of which stood gorgeously trapped warriors who
halted them and questioned the commander of the escort as to their
business.
"By the king's command we bring the slave of Zoanthrohago," replied the
commander; "the giant who was taken prisoner at Trohanadalmakus."
The warrior who had challenged them turned to one of his fellows. "Go
with this message and deliver it to the king!" he said.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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