They were approaching the temple now and his attention was distracted by the approach of a number of priests leading a slave girl in chains. They brought her to the chariot of Nemone, and while the procession halted the priests chanted in a strange gibberish that Tarzan could not understand. Later he learned that no one understood it, not even the priests; but when he asked why they recited something that they could not understand no one could tell him.
Gemnon thought that once the words had meant something, but they had been repeated mechanically for so many ages that at length the original pronunciation had been lost and the meaning of the words forgotten.
When the chant was completed the priests chained the girl to the rear of the Queen's chariot; and the march was resumed, the priests following behind the girl.
At the entrance to the temple Phobeg was on guard as a girl entered to worship. Recognizing the warrior, she greeted him and paused for a moment's conversation, the royal party having not yet entered the temple square.
"I have not seen you to talk with for a long time, Phobeg," she said. "I am glad that you are back again on the temple guard."
"Thanks to the stranger called Tarzan I am alive and here," replied Phobeg.
"I should think that you would hate him," exclaimed the girl.
"Not I," cried Phobeg. "I know a better man when I see one. I admire him. And did he not grant me my life when the crowd screamed for my death?"
"That is true," admitted the girl. "And now he needs a friend."
"What do you mean, Maluma?" demanded the warrior.