Ki-Gor and the Nirvana of the Seven Voodoos | Page 8

afraid you ain't goin' to see your woman, again. There's some awful queer doin's over th' other side of the mountain. I don't know just what it is. But these yere great big gorilla-men comes around in pairs and grabs people and carries 'em away and don't nobody ever see 'em again."
"Where do the gorilla-men carry those people?" Ki-Gor demanded.
"Over th' other side of the mountain is all I know," Robert replied. "There's a story around yere about a queer kind of place over there, where there's a man who's kind of King of the gorilla-men. They say the big apes kidnaps the people, an' then they is just slaves in this place for the rest of their lives. They never come out, once they is carried in."
"Then I must go there quickly," said Ki-Gor, "and take my woman away. She must not be a slave."
"Man, you haven't got a chance,"' Robert said, earnestly. "I went over the east shoulder of the mountain, once with some of my boys, and we come out on to the entrance of a deep rocky canyon. The boys told me that was the entrance to the Land of the Living Dead, and there was a whole lot of the biggest gorilla-men I ever seen around there. I just said, 'C'mon boys,' an' walked away from there.
"I once went two rounds with Dempsey 'fore he was champ, but I don't believe in messing around with no gorilla."
The jungle man stood up, blue eyes flashing, "I am Ki-Gor, Lord of the Jungle," he said, "and I am going into the Land of the Living Dead, and take my woman away from the gorilla-men, no matter how many they are. Give me a boy to guide me to that entrance, I am going now."
"But, Mr. Ki-Gor," said Robert, "you ain't got a chance. One man can't lick an army, no matter how big or strong he is."
"I will find a way," said Ki-Gor.
"Say, you must set a great store by your woman," Robert said, with an admiring shake of his head, "is she English, too?"
"Her name is Helene" said Ki-Gor. "She has a white face and red hair, and she says she is of the tribe of 'Mericans."
"An American girl!" Robert shouted. "Wait a minute! That's different! Hold on, now, we can't let them apes take an American girl into that awful place."
"You know her tribe?" Ki-Gor asked, curiously.
"Know 'em!" cried Robert. "I'm American, myself."
"But you have a black skin," Ki-Gor said, blankly.
"Don' make no difference," said Robert, stoutly. "I'm jus' as good an American as anybody else. An' I suttinly don' aim to leave another American lay in the Land of the Livin' Dead, I don' care how many gorillas is guardin' the place."
"You mean you will come with me?" said Ki-Gor.
"I do," said Robert, emphatically, "an' moreover, we'll take my army along. As head man of this yere M'balla tribe I c'n call out about seventy good fightin' spearmen. I got a rifle and a Luger of my own with plenty of bullets. I'll let you use the rifle-"
"I don't know how to shoot a rifle," Ki-Gor interrupted. "Give me some assegais."
"Mr. Ki-Gor," said Robert, "someday when we got mo' time, I'm going to set down and really ask you-. Right now we better get goin'."
The huge negro stood up and bellowed some orders. Feet padded out of the house, and a moment later, a great drum began to throb.
"C'mon out an watch this," Robert said. "I got to give the boys a fight talk."
Outside, in the open space in the middle of the village, men, women and children were assembling. They came running from all directions, and squatted on the ground, arranging themselves in a wide circle. Into the middle of the circle, Robert strode, carrying his giant frame like an Emperor. The excited crowd ceased its chattering and fell silent under his commanding gaze. Then Robert's deep voice rolled forth in the rapid dialect of the M'balla.
He had hardly begun before he was interrupted by cries of anguish and terror from all about him. He whirled about and raised a threatening hand, and the crowd quieted down. Then Robert launched into an impassioned oration.
Presently the crowd began to sway and murmur. As Robert's emotions mounted higher and higher, the responsive murmur grew louder and rhythmic. And finally, when he wound up his oration at fever heat, the men of the Whalla leaped to their feet shouting and brandishing their assegais.
Robert made his way through the howling gesticulating mob over to Ki-Gor.
"Well, I got the ahmy lined up," he said. "They didn't like the idea so good, at first, but I talked 'em around. In about an hour we-all'll be ready to go beat up on the gorilla-men, an' see whut kin' of a