TARZAN AND THE LOST EMPIRE
“And whom does Favonia lover” asked Cassius Hasta. “It cannot be Mallius Lepus, her cousin?”
“No,” replied Metellus, “it is a stranger. One whom you have never known.”
“How can that be?” demanded Cassius Hasta. “Do I not know every patrician in Castrum Mare?”
“He is not of Castrum Mare.”
“Not a Sanguinarian?” demanded Cassius Hasta.
“No, he is a barbarian chieftain from Germania.”
“What nonsense is this?” demanded Hasta.
“I speak the truth,” replied Metellus. “He came shortly after you departed from Castrum Mare, and being a scholar well versed in the history of ancient and modern Rome he won the favor of Validus Augustus, but he brought ruin upon himself and upon Mallius Lepus and upon Septimus Favonius by winning the love of Favonia and with it the jealous hatred of Fulvus Fupus.”
“What is his name?” asked Cassius Hasta.
“He calls himself Erich von Harben,” replied Metellus.
“Erich von Harben,” repeated Tarzan. “I know him. Where is he now? Is he safe?”
Caecilius Metellus turned his eyes in the direction of the ape-man. “How do you know Erich von Harben, Sanguinarian?” he demanded. “Perhaps then the story that Fulvus Fupus told Validus Augustus is true—that this Erich von Harben is in reality a spy from Castra Sanguinarius.”
“No,” said Maximus Praeclarus. “Do not excite yourself. This Erich von Harben has never been in Castra Sanguinarius, and my friend here is not himself a Sanguinarian. He is a white barbarian from the outer world, and if his story be true, and I have no reason to doubt it, he came here in search of this Erich von Harben.”
“You may believe this story, Metellus,” said Cassius Hasta. “These both are honorable men and since we have been in prison together we have become good friends. What they tell you is the truth.”
“Tell me something of von Harben,” insisted Tarzan. “Where is he now and is he in danger from the machinations of this Fulvus Fupus?”
119
